Lauren and John Aaron's story began in June of 2018 in Oxford, Mississippi, where they met on the first day of freshman orientation at Ole Miss.

Lauren's family had just moved from northern Indiana to a town about an hour from Oxford called Tupelo, Mississippi – which happened to be John Aaron's hometown! Having never met before orientation, John Aaron first noticed Lauren when she was standing in line to get her student ID picture taken. Thinking she was very pretty in her yellow headband, he walked right up to her, introduced himself, and asked her where she was from. When she replied "Tupelo," a moment of stunned silence ensued, and he flatly told her that she wasn't from Tupelo because he was from Tupelo and would know someone his age who was as pretty as her. After a few awkward moments, Lauren went on and told him in detail about her family moving to Tupelo a few weeks before. After that initial encounter, John Aaron found himself often looking through the crowd for the pretty girl in the yellow headband and even told his grandmother when he visited her that night that he had met the kind of girl that he would like to marry! Now Lauren's recollection was a little different – she went home and told her mom that a guy from Tupelo had introduced himself and kept staring at her all day! Her mom told her, "There is such a thing as love at first sight. You never know what can happen."

Well, the rest is history. John Aaron and Lauren eventually became friends and even went on a couple of dates that first year of college. But the time wasn't yet right. They stayed friends and the following year decided to give it another try, and love blossomed. They continued to date throughout college, talking every night before they went to sleep. Looking back, it was at the beach when Lauren knew that John Aaron would be her future husband.

John Aaron and Lauren were engaged on November 20, 2022, and can't wait to spend forever together.

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