Jeff and Jason
Howdy! “That’s kind of weird…are these guys from the south or just trying to sound different?” A little bit of both actually. Jeff (left) is originally from southwest Virginia and Jason (right) is from Arkansas, so we figure we can get away with the “howdy” line. More importantly, thanks for considering us as you explore the path of adoption.
We have been a couple for seven years and currently live in a suburb outside a large (but not the largest) Midwestern city with our two Siberian huskies. Nico and Dakota, the female contingency in our house, are both gentle and loving humane society dogs who love anyone and everyone within licking distance. We have had several discussions with them regarding our plans to adopt and they are fully on board with the idea!
We met in 2003 while we were working together as flight attendants, based on the East Coast. We ended up working the same 3-day trip and Jeff knew it was love at first sight. Jason, a little slower on the uptake, took a few months to warm up to the idea. However, once we started dating, there was no looking back. We built a townhouse together six months later. And in 2005, we had a civil union ceremony in Vermont (a place we try to go back to visit at least once a year). From the very beginning, we always talked about having a family and began making a series of decisions to make that dream a reality. It is exciting as we inch closer and closer to it all coming together. Importantly, we always envisioned an open relationship because we want our child to know the complete story and be able to appreciate how he/she came to be. We, ourselves, also want to have an ongoing relationship with a birth family and look forward to adding a birth family to our own extended family in whatever form that may take. (In terms of our own families, our little person will be welcomed by four grandparents, five sets of aunts and uncles, and twelve cousins.)
Jeff grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains just outside of Roanoke, Virginia. He is a loving, warm-hearted and funny person who always sees the best in people. He likes staying on his normal exercise schedule, trying out new recipes (or making them up as he goes along), working in the yard, and riding his mountain bike. He is still a flight attendant and absolutely loves his job. Now in his ninth year, Jeff has the seniority to really control his schedule. Right now he generally goes to work twice a month for six days at a time. Once we have a child, he will give away his trips to other flight attendants looking to work extra, and stay home to be a “house husband.” If he occasionally wants to go fly a trip over the weekend when Jason is home from work, he will be able to do that too. Along with his job, comes the ability to travel for free which proves to be a great perk.
Jason grew up in Arkansas as the youngest of four children. He is a die-hard sports fan with a particular passion for college football and basketball. He also enjoys being in the yard, reading, and volunteering his time serving on boards of various non-profit organizations (and also critiquing Jeff’s recipe experiments). After growing tired of flying, Jason decided to (like the rest of his family) go to law school. He graduated in 2008 and took a job at a large law firm practicing labor and employment law. He finds his work challenging and interesting with never a dull moment. The job is fairly manageable and he is able to be home by dinner time most nights. It is also very flexible so he can work from home when he wants to.
We live in a quiet, well-established neighborhood with tree-lined streets. There are folks of all ages in our neighborhood, including a good helping of children. It seems to be the best of both worlds because you would have no idea that a city was close-by when you are at our house, but we are a short ten minute drive from downtown. Our town also has its own little downtown village with various boutique shops, restaurants, and parks. Our summers are filled with various cultural and music festivals – at least one is held each weekend. We also live very close to both the zoo as well as the baseball stadium. We look forward to sharing all of these things with our child.
We’ve enjoyed sharing this with you! Hopefully it helped just a bit as you make a very important decision.
Jeff & Jason
For this family's complete adoptive parent profile, please contact Open Adoption and Family Services.