We're Getting Married!

HER STORY: In the summer of 2015 Jolene took the leap of faith to move from Texas (a place she had spent all of her life) to Pittsburg, KS, (where she didn’t know a single person) in support of her mother and family. During this transition, Jolene spent a lot of her time focusing on her education, her new job, and in her free time, focusing on herself by working out at the gym and going out to meet new people to become acquainted with her new surroundings. Frequently when she would go to the gym she would observe the others working out as well, sometimes seeing the same people. This led her to self nickname some of them. For example, one guy was your average meathead you would see at the gym who looked like the soviet boxer from the movie Rocky IV, while another guy looked like a veteran who would focus heavily on his upper body strength as he was in a wheelchair. And then there was “shoulder poppin’ guy' '.... This guy would come in about once or twice a week. When Jolene was wrapping up her workout or heading out of the gym, he would come in to begin doing his stretches and he would pop his right shoulder, which led to the nickname…”shoulder poppin’ guy”. Time went on and they would briefly see eachother on occasion at the gym through passing. Until one day, Jolene had one last workout to do, as she was heading toward the ab machine, so was “shoulder poppin’ guy”. Who would get there first you might wonder? He did… of course. She gave him a smirk and rolled her eyes when he looked back at her and politely offered, “Would you like to use this machine first?” In that moment, immediately she noticed something she had never noticed before…. his deep blue eyes, handsome smile, dark brown hair, peaceful presence and his gentle but stern voice. Caught off guard and speechless, she accepted his offer to use the ab machine. As she left the gym that day, she could not stop thinking about those blue eyes and the handsome man that she had been seeing from a distance all this time had been in front of her all along. A few days went by and Jolene’s friend, Carli came to visit from Texas. Just like typical Jolene fashion, she and her sister, Joycelyn had to show Carli the nightlife in small town Pittsburg, KS. Ironically there was a man playing pool who caught Jolene’s eye, but she hadn’t realized where she recognized him from because this time he was dressed to impress. So after a little bit of liquid courage she gave him her phone number. The next day she received a text message from him asking to hang out. However, due to Jolene focusing on spending time with her Texas friend, she respectfully declined. After a day or so, he texted her again requesting to spend some time together. This time she said “YES, come on over!” When he showed up to her house they both realized they had recognized each other prior to meeting at the bar that night. Finally it dawned on her, IT WAS HIM, “SHOULDER POPPIN GUY”! With prayer, clarity, and understanding, over time she quickly came to realize that he was the person that she wants to spend the rest of her life with!

HIS STORY: Well it really just came out of nowhere. The fall of 2015 saw Adam coming out of the best summer of his life. Traveling and experiencing life to its fullest. But as with every year things slow down and become a lot more simple in the months to follow. Spending time at the gym was a normal routine for Adam as he would go for an hour after work every day during the week. So as part of his routine he would find himself running into a girl that would need to use what he was using or vice versa. Definitely taking notice but not thinking too much into it he would go on his way. Until one Thursday night when with no intention of going out that night was talked into going to the club with a friend. As he was shooting pool he locked eyes with a girl that had looked very familiar but looking a lot different at the same time. And so they talked and talked around the pool table in the very crowded and very vibrantly loud room that they were in while the night took hold of everyone around. After exchanging numbers and going on their ways it would take a few days before they had the opportunity to meet again. But when they did it didn't take very long to figure out where it was that they had known each other from. It also didn't take very long to find themselves spending a lot of time together right away. Just a few weeks later Jolene was involved in an accident situation where her ankle would get broken and she would have to be in cast. This caused things to remain slow down and keep them grounded and indoors, mostly getting to know each other. By the time that spring came around something had grown out of that. They would go on to start traveling and experiencing life together. And now after having two children, amassing three dogs total, and moving to a new place and buying a house together it brings us to now. And so while on vacation in Mexico on the morning of Jolenes birthday Adam got down on one knee on the balcony of their room overlooking the ocean and told her that he knew that she was the one that he wanted to spend his life with. He showed her a ring and asked her to marry him and waited for her to walk into the room before finally turning around and coming back to him and saying yes. Then the celebration was on!!