Jordan had convinced me that he was in Joplin for his basketball team's pool party that Saturday. So, when some of my PT school friends suggested we all get dressed up and go out to dinner in Springfield, I agreed! We ate dinner at Black Sheep and took a detour to see the World's Largest Fork before heading to a nearby park to take pictures and celebrate nearing the end of our time in PT school (or so I thought). We were busy trying to figure out the sundial in the park when suddenly music started playing and Jordan appeared behind me. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and I said yes! We're so excited to have each one of you celebrate with us in June! See you there! Love, Hannah and Jordan

I heard Jordan long before I ever saw him. Caitie and I were Biology study sessions leaders during our junior year of college. We spent many weeknights in the science building leading the study sessions for different professors. While my study sessions were full of students who barely wanted to talk, Caitie had a trio of three boys, including Jordan, who showed up to every session. I was able to hear them through the adjoining wall, and that, combined with Caitie's stories of how the sessions went, led me to conclude that Jordan had no idea what was happening in biology class, but that he was really eager to learn. [Time passes, insert story of Jordan and Hannah's tortilla story here]. The trend of hearing Jordan before I saw him continued into the fall of our senior year, when Caitie and I would sit at the college coffee shop (usually without any coffee) every Friday afternoon, hoping our crushes would walk by (embarrassing, I know). Hearing Jordan enter the building and shouting his hellos gave me plenty of time to stress about what to say when he walked by. Turns out, I never had to say much of anything because Jordan had thought I was cute for more than a year! We started dating in the spring of senior year, during which Jordan learned a lot about viruses, bacteria, and just general science to help me study and kept up a steady supply of study snacks, including his famous chocolate chip pancakes. I learned a lot about history as he wrote papers or prepped for his own study sessions. Dating in college turned into dating over a longer distance when Jordan moved to Joplin to teach and I stayed in Bolivar to start grad school. After almost three years, we've made it! I love you, Jordan, and I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with you!

In my opinion, Hannah liked me for a while. Before Covid, Hannah and I were just friends who went together on a mission trip to Guatemala. On this mission trip, Hannah and I became friends by working in the same house of young boys helping them out. One day during lunch, I wanted to make all of the boys (ages 8-14) in the house laugh. The first thing that came to my mind was taking a tortilla and playfully slapping Hannah with it. When I did that, all of the boys were laughing very loudly, thinking that Hannah would be mad, she joined in the laughter as well. As Covid changed everyone's lives, our friendship would halt for the Summer of 2020. I had a small crush on her, and I was too shy to ask her out, so I waited until we got back to school in August of 2020. The first week of our Senior year, I asked her out and she said "wait 6 months." Yep, you read that right, 6 months!!! So I did wait 6 months, and in that process, I learned a lot about Hannah, a lot about her passions, a lot about her goals, and a lot about the way she views the world. After we graduated college, we have been living in a long distance relationship for the past couple of years. Although it has been challenging, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. She is a great example of a follower of Christ. When I am around Hannah, I feel relaxed and at ease. I feel at peace with myself. I was so honored to ask for her hand in marriage. Ever since the day that I slapped her with a tortilla, my life has been completely changed (especially laughing a lot!) Love you, Hannah Lee!