Kellan's Version

It all started in the Summer of 2021. I heard rumblings of a new Math teacher from Russell County–no big deal I’m not a numbers guy, right? Later in the summer, I discovered I’d share my classroom with this “new Math teacher”. We exchange hellos and then school starts. The first six and a half months before school, I would be on the computer doing a crossword puzzle or something to give me time to wake up before having to teach (I’m not a morning person), and she’d come in to drop her stuff off, I’d say “Good morning” or “Have a good day” or something along those lines. Eventually the morning one-liners transitioned to “How are you?” or “Something’s up, what’s wrong?” which led to some good, deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep conversations. These led to even deeper conversations, maybe even some relationship-type conversations, that went about as smooth as sandpaper. Eventually, we finally agreed to go watch “Where the Crawdads Sing” after having her read it, and we finally had a “first date”. Things have only gone up from there–honestly, I didn’t know it could. Just how easy it was to do life with her, started to get me thinking about the “M” word but I kept telling myself, “Let’s see how she handles a baseball season.” I watched a girl who’d never understood a lick of baseball coming into the season, who would watch the Reds with me almost every night and be able to tell me about what she likes about Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz, and Matt McLain. She had no interest in it–she just knew how much I loved it. Which is a perfect representation of the type of person, girlfriend, fiancee, and wife that Marissia has been/will be to me. My family absolutely adores her–almost to the point that they want to see her more at family functions than me :)) It is really hard to summarize the best two and a half years of my life, but just know this: I fall in love with you more every day. I can’t wait for you to be Marissia Jones!

Marissia's Version

The beginning of what would be my favorite love story is a bit unconventional. You see, I was a twenty-four-year-old high school teacher who had her heart shattered by some dumb boy that she thought she loved. In reality, the love that all the fairytales are written about is the kind of love that I had never seen, let alone experienced, until Kellan Jones. Kellan is not your typical English teacher (I know, I know, ew English) you know the type, those who now try to one-up you with their intellectual being. Although Kellan is brilliant, he never made me feel less than myself, and when I was going through what I thought to be the end of my life (losing a boy and such), he was the one person who never made me question who I was. If anything, he made me feel that I would never need a boy in my life and that I was very independent and capable of whatever I set my mind to. What started as two teachers sharing a classroom very quickly became, Man, I want to see him again, and do you think I would bother him if I stayed in our classroom with him during teacher work days, or maybe he would like to hang out over the summer? During that summer, I found more than just a man to love; I found my partner, the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, and the one who truly has more confidence in me than I do myself. That summer, everything changed; I found myself wanting to spend as much time with Kellan as I possibly could, and when I tell you that miles and miles were put on my car, that would be an understatement (that was the summer I bought my first set of tires) driving back and forth from Russell County to Somerset. Falling in love with Kellan was the easiest, most effortless thing I have ever done! Now I am a twenty-six year old high school teacher who sees her future every time she looks into her partner’s eyes. I can not wait to fall more and more in love with the most amazing man for the rest of my life! I absolutely can not wait to be your wife, Kellan Jones! Oh, if I forgot to mention, “Where the Crawdads Sing” is my favorite book & movie;)

M&K

Wedding Day

Reception