Justin and I met over five years ago on a discussion forum called The Circle, which is part of the official website of author Ted Dekker.  We hit it off pretty much right away and started emailing and instant messaging a lot.  At the time, I was going to Belhaven College (now University) in Jackson, Mississippi, and he was at the University Arkansas Little Rock; through numerous conversations about my classes and campus life at Belhaven, Justin became interested in transferring, so he visited the campus in March and that's when we met in person.  He transferred the following semester and we started dating.  We've been together ever since!

In April 2009, on the day before Easter, Justin took me out to a park for a picnic with some friends.  The park is on a reservoir and people go boating and stuff out there a lot.  Anyway, Justin wanted to go sit out on a dock, so we did.  It was cold, cloudy, and windy, so I was bundled up in a sweatshirt and the blanket I'd brought for the picnic. =)  We sat out on the dock for some time while Justin tried to think of a really eloquent lead-in for a proposal.  After several false starts, with me still completely in the dark (perhaps due in part to the cold), he just pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him.  It was the happiest day of our lives! - so far.

I grew up in Washington State, where my family settled when I was five, and I didn't leave until I went to college in Jackson, Mississippi, to pursue a degree in dance.  I have studied ballet for fourteen years, pointe for eleven years, and modern dance for eight years.  After receiving my BFA in Dance with an emphasis in Ballet from Belhaven College (now University), I returned to my hometown to teach ballet at a local studio.  My goal is to own my own ballet studio someday.

Justin's childhood years were spent in both Arkansas, the home of his extended family, and in Virginia, where his late father was a student and then a professor at Regent University.  An aspiring novelist, Justin has studied journalism, communications, and creative writing in college, and hopes to finish his bachelor's degree through online courses.  He hopes one day to be able to write full-time.