2025 - 2026

Justin and Mitchell got married on September 20th 2025 surrounded by their village for not only the ceremony and reception but a wonderful cookout, with their friends and their family. They followed up the wedding with a honeymoon in Broken Bow, where they got engaged. Since their marriage they have begun focusing on starting their own family and are excited to see what the future brings! Justin has begun teaching microbiology at Oklahoma City Community College and continues his research as a postdoc at The University of Oklahoma Health Science Center. Mitchell has been handier than ever and constructed a new aquarium tank stand that includes an inset for a drop leaf table! While Mitchell is cooking, planning and building, Justin has learned to bake bread and has been working on the walkways through the garden.

2018 - 2025

Justin and Mitchell were both raised in church - as such, they met at church in Ada in 2018. New to Ada, Mitchell and his group of friends visited The Refuge and fell into the college/ young adult group. After the service, the whole group from church went to Applebee's for cheap appetizers. Justin quickly fit in with Mitchell and his friends - and they all started hanging out, though Mitchell and Justin seemed to be hanging out a lot more than the group as a whole. It took about a month for the two of them to identify the feelings they had for one another. The next two years are mostly what you would expect from a college relationship - spending time together between class, homework, and jobs - doing whatever we could that was free.

In 2020, Justin and Mitchell bought their first home together in OKC when Justin began his graduate program at OUHSC. Between a Global Pandemic, some health obstacles, and the workload of earning a Ph.D. - the next 4 years can be summarized pretty easily. Mostly we worked. When we weren't working, we were doing housework, and between housework, we spent most of our extra time and money creating our perfect outdoor space in the backyard with a greenhouse and beautiful flower beds.

In 2024, we finally got engaged five and a half years into our relationship. During a weekend vacation trip to Broken Bow to see the Eclipse and experience the totality event. During the Eclipse, Justin pulled out a ring to propose to Mitchell. A ring that Mitchell instantly recognized. Mitchell had purchased a ring to propose in 2020 - and had just not found the right moment to pop the question. Justin had purchased a ring to propose days before our trip to Broken Bow... when the moment came they picked the same moment to ask the same question and some how 4 years apart had purchased the same ring. It was an easy yes for both of them.