Shelby & Josh In Oklahoma

We are both from small towns in rural Oklahoma. Towns we both thought we’d stay in forever. However, we were both wrong and couldn’t be happier to be in the city. Since we both grew up in small towns, we still have those same values like caring for and looking out for our neighbors, hospitality, family-oriented and overall kindness and compassion in our souls. We bring these to the “big city”, Oklahoma City.

We met on an online dating site in the summer of 2017. While Josh likes to say Shelby didn’t like him at first, that wasn’t really the case. Shelby wanted to making sure it was all just right. Once she knew it was a good thing, she began to open up, and the rest is history. We began dating and truly became each other's best friends. From there, we fell in love through spending time together, countless conversations, and innumerable laughs. We can look at each other and know what the other is thinking at times. We have a fun-loving relationship that we both cherish, and we laugh A LOT.

Josh has been a mail carrier for USPS for the last 7 years and really enjoys being able to build relationships with his customers who count on him. He knows his visit is the most interaction some people get daily, and he takes pride in being there for them. Shelby was an elementary teacher for 8 years, but left teaching this past year, and took an office job at a payroll company in order to be more present at home and have more free time with our future children. She enjoys being able to still use her teaching skills with her clients and assisting with system navigation.

The first few years of our relationship, we lived in a small apartment saving money to buy our first house, which we did in January of 2020. We then got engaged in March of 2020 and married in October of 2021 during a small wedding ceremony in the Bahamas. We bought our 2nd home together in February of 2022. We moved into an area with better schools as we began to think about our future family.

We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom roomy corner house in a quiet, family friendly neighborhood. We chose this house because of the school district, but also for the backyard. Shelby spent many days playing in her family’s backyard and knew that when raising a family this would be a nonnegotiable. We live 30 minutes away from our local zoo, one of Shelby’s favorite places, science museums, multiple parks, 3 different history museums and local lakes with great walking trails. We enjoy walks around the neighborhood, local parks, but Josh especially enjoys walking by the lake on a Sunday morning with our little dog, Max.

Our extended family is pretty big. We live within 30 minutes of both sets of Shelby’s parents who we see every few months. They are always near if we need anything. Josh’s parents have both passed sadly, but we are extremely close with his sister even though she lives 3 hours away. We talk weekly and see her about every other month. In addition to family, our friends are very important to us. We have a group of friends who live 10-15 minutes away that we get together with every few months. We’ve had the privilege to watch these friends become parents through both adoption and natural conception. We are excited to walk through parenting with them now too.

We value experiences over material items. This specifically includes zoos, Sundays, and football. Every Sunday, Shelby cooks a big breakfast after we sleep in a little. We value Sunday mornings as we get to spend the day together as a small family at a much slower pace. We stay in our pajamas until 11 and either take a morning nap or watch some tv together. We love sports, football to be exact, so during football season, we try to go to at least one Dallas Cowboys game. We also almost always have wings on Sunday nights while we watch the game especially if the Cowboys are playing. We also are lovers of zoos. It started as being Shelby's thing, but Josh is now along for the ride! Anytime we go to a different state/city, we try to go to the local zoo. Shelby loves animal, especially sea lions, but the zoo is also a place of calmness and such an educational experience. Ultimately, Sunday is family day. Whether we’re in our PJs too late, watching football, doing yard work, going to the zoo, or simply relaxing, we do it together.

We found out we were unable to conceive naturally, but we did not want that to stop us from being parents. We want to be able to give all the love and guidance we have to a child and adoption allows us to do just that with a child. We are so excited to embark on this journey of adoption that will lead us to fulfill our dreams of becoming parents.