Jay & Kelli In Ohio

We met at graduate school in Richmond, Virginia ten years ago. Jay had been working at the school’s library when Kelli arrived from Ohio. Our romantic library story was off and running when Kelli walked into the library and asked if they were hiring.

We fell in love over our joint, deep connection to the library and the role we got to play in helping eager students to learn more about what they were studying. It only took a couple of months before we knew that we were meant to find each other.

Less than a year into dating, Jay, through mutual friends, got Kelli to throw him a “surprise” birthday party, but Kelli was the one getting surprised. Everyone but Kelli knew that this was in fact, a different kind of party. The library in which we fell in love was also the place that we got engaged surrounded by coworkers and friends. One year later, in a small church in Sidney, Ohio, we each got to say “I do” to our person, marking one of the happiest days of our lives.

After Kelli finished her graduate studies, we moved to Columbus, Ohio to be closer to Kelli’s family. After completing a chaplain residency at the Ohio State hospital, Jay began working for Lifeline of Ohio, an organization that helps all the people waiting for a life-saving organ find a match. Kelli is now a minister at a large local church. Both of us love the profound and meaningful work that we do, getting to live our values on a daily basis.

In our free time, we love to play with our cat, Lily, hang out with cousins, play games, watch movies and spend time together. Kelli enjoys reading, baking and cross-stitching, all of which she learned to love from her grandma. Jay enjoys running, singing, and being out in nature.

We currently live in a great two-story condominium. The baby’s nursery has its own bathroom and plenty of natural light to make it warm and safe. We have a spacious, modern kitchen, dining room and living room on the first floor with lots of space to play. We have a brand new patio and abundant yard space. We also have a playground and a swimming pool, and there is a big park in our neighborhood.

Our home is in a suburb that has children playing and families walking dogs whenever the sun is up. Our school district is one of the best and a primary reason we moved here. If we ever need a bigger home then we will stay in this area as we are very near restaurants, theaters, stores, art festivals, stadiums, and concerts.

Kelli’s brother, aunt, uncle and cousins are all in Columbus and are all such a critical part of our lives. Her parents and grandparents are also nearby and we visit them as much as possible. For Kelli, there are no two more special people in this world than her grandparents. Growing up across town from them, Kelli and her brother got to spend as much time as they wanted over at their house. Kelli’s grandma would take them on hikes through the woods, swinging across vines and trekking through mud puddles. Kelli’s grandpa was the only one who could get Kelli to sleep when she was a baby, and they have been inseparable ever since. Moving closer to family when it was time for us to start our family was the most important thing, as we want our kids to have an amazing experience of being surrounded by loved ones.

Jay’s mom lives in upstate New York near cousins, and his brother married into a large family in Denver. Unfortunately, Jay’s dad, Mike, passed away in 2019 right before we moved back to Ohio. We were fortunate to be at his bedside when he passed. Mike was a gentle soul who taught Jay what it meant to be patient and kind. There is so much of Mike in Jay from his humor and his laugh to the way that Jay cares deeply for those around him.

Gathering for holidays, celebrations, or just to say hello are some of the few “excuses” we find to be together. In our family, we show up for each other. When Kelli recently had surgery there was always someone here to help clean the house, make food or visit. We know that our children will grow up knowing that they are loved by so many people.

We enjoy getting away, periodically spending several days in a cabin in the woods. We hike, play games and just enjoy spending uninterrupted time with each other. We take an annual trip with extended family to a large cabin too, opting into hikes, reading, cooking, hot tubs, making fires, full-size video games, board games, playing pool or throwing darts.

We have each always wanted to be parents. Like most people, we thought it would happen relatively quickly. When we learned that having biological children was not going to be possible for us, we thought our dreams to be parents were also over. As we began exploring options, we started learning more about adoption and realized that our dreams were still very much possible.

We have several people in our lives who have adopted children and we’ve spent a lot of time learning from them about the process and the joy that comes from meeting your child for the first time.

If you choose to move forward with us, we look forward to the opportunity to get to meet you and thank you for the amazing gift that you are giving us.