Join us in celebrating our marriage!

We met at Roanoke College in choir and intramural ultimate frisbee. Kent used to make silly faces at me across the room in choir. We would sit next to each other on the sidelines during frisbee games and chat because neither one of us played on the field very often. Sitting on the sidelines together at frisbee and walking together to choir, I always found myself gravitating toward Kent. His joy, excitability, and compassion are contagious.

We met on the Ultimate Frisbee team and in choir. Most of our core friends were in both ultimate frisbee and choir, so we started to spend a lot of time together. We would pretty much eat all of our meals together (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and second dinner). I had, in fact, fallen into a little love trance. On Taryn's birthday, her mom and friend were in town, so I decided to throw a little surprise birthday party for her. We, of course, had cookie cake, party hats, and streamers. I think the party went well. A few weeks later, I asked her to go to church with me at the First United Methodist Church in Salem. With the end of freshman year approaching, we parted ways until the next school year. Sophomore year was the year of countless coffee dates and meals together. One fond memory we both had was walking each other to our dorms at night. Taryn would walk me to my dorm room in Shenandoah, and then I would escort her to her dorm across campus in Sections. We would continue this cycle until one of us got tired (usually me) going back and forth from our dorms. I should mention that we were still friends at this point and not dating. Sometimes, you have to play the long game. I might have annoyed some of the groomsmen with how many times I said I was going to ask Taryn out. But I was being pretty bold if you think about it. During the summer between my sophomore and junior years, I thought of the great idea of taking Taryn to the Biltmore. We had a blast and loved walking through the gardens and the Biltmore house. Junior year came along. We were still friends at this point in the story, but things were looking up. We continued going on countless coffee dates. I would also bring coffee to Taryn if she didn't wake up in time for her class. Taryn was gone for the last semester of junior year for a semester abroad. During the summer between junior and senior year, I knew I needed to be bold. So, I planned a whole trifecta of dates on August 6, 2017. I drove up to Asheville and took Taryn on a hike along a creekside. I made a little picnic basket, and we ate our lunch by the creek. We then went on a date in Downtown Asheville and walked around a bit. When we got to the Sam's Club where Taryn's mom was picking her up so I didn't have to drive all the way back to Waynesville, I finally asked Taryn to be my girlfriend. Some things I always loved about Taryn: • Spunk • Caring spirit • Always present • Joyful presence • Perseverance and Grit • Willingness to learn • Adventurous Spirt

Kent and I first met during choir class each weeknight, excluding Fridays, at 6pm throughout all of college. We would sometimes have dinner together before choir and then walk to choir together or walk together to dinner at 7pm after choir. I always enjoyed Kent's company. We would often walk to choir together holding hands. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I did know that I loved him. Kent would also regularly make silly faces at me from across the room during class. Kent has always been so fun and goofy and completely, unapologetically himself and these are some of the qualities I love most about him. Post-college, we have been members of three church choirs together. At St. Micheal's in Blacksburg, VA, Kent sat right behind me in the choir loft, and it was the immediate fall-out of COVID, so we would present communion to one another from the pre-packaged vessels. At Epiphany Lutheran in Richmond, VA, Kent would help me hang up my choir robe while I put his music folder away. Currently, at Good Sheppard, we trade choir folders because Kent's assigned folder is at ground level in the cabinet and my assigned folder is at Kent's eye-level. Trading folders makes more sense for our height difference. I've loved all choral experiences with Kent and the theme throughout our life together.

I've always loved spending time with Kent. I would always get the most excited when I walked into the student center, rounded the corner, and then would see Kent through the windows eating breakfast in Commons, our main food hall. I would enjoy seeing Kent's face light up as he saw me walking in and would excitedly wave. I would wave back and I could always feel my face lighting up, too.

Kent found a really sweet hound dog online from a post by the local shelter when we were in Roanoke, VA. We went together that afternoon to meet her. She was a very quiet, distracted dog. She was very friendly and timid. Kent fell in love with her instantly. I was in the middle of the final drafts of my thesis before my defense, so I was rather distracted and wasn't convinced I could provide this puppy a really attentive life at the time. Kent took me aside and told me he had been looking for a companion for a really long time and requested that I help him by watching and caring for Sasha if he ever needed to leave town or go to an event. I hesitantly obliged as I could tell how much Kent loved Sasha and was so excited to have a puppy best friend. Sasha and I grew together really quickly. We spent so much time together as I was writing from home. We would lay out in the yard together, cuddle on the couch for writing breaks, and take morning runs together. I am eternally grateful Kent had the foresight to see that our little family included Sasha as soon as we met her.