We had been near each other almost our entire lives without ever actually connecting. Jacob worked tech on The Sound of Music when Skylar was in the cast. We both worked tech on Mary Poppins. His aunt, Mandy Heinold, was Skylar’s English teacher for two years. Both of our moms worked for VISD. We went to the same elementary school, Shields. At one point, we even lived right down the street from each other in Austin, Texas.

The universe kept putting us in the same room. We just refused to look up.

In 2022, Skylar began working closely with Mandy Heinold at East High School. Mandy decided it was time to play matchmaker. She started telling Skylar about her handsome nephew Jacob Correll. She recruited Melissa, her sister and Jacob's mom, who both started pressuring him about her beautiful friend Skylar Jones.

We are both introverts. Stubborn introverts. Admitting Mandy might be right? Following her advice? Absolutely not. But she did not stop trying! She invited us to the same events, the Renaissance Festival, rigging and programming lights for shows, theatre functions. We would stand in the same space and somehow avoid eye contact like professionals.

Then in January 2025, Skylar caved and invited Jacob and a few other friends to a game night. That was the night everything shifted. We discovered we had entirely too much in common to ignore. A shared love of film, Skylar with her degree in Radio, Television, and Film from the University of Texas at Austin and Jacob with his Bachelor of Arts and Humanities from UT Dallas focused on Film Studies. We bonded over art, storytelling, ghosts, aliens, video games, and journaling.

We started off like two nerdy introverts would; playing Fortnite and Minecraft together online, which we now joke was our first date.

Our first official date was in February 2025 at The Box Coffee Shop followed by Joe’s Pizza and Pasta. Our second date was ghost hunting around Victoria. Because of course it was. By then, we both quietly knew we had found something rare.

Since that January game night, we have not stopped hanging out with each other. People always say you should marry your best friend. We can say with complete certainty that is exactly what we are doing.

Our story is only just beginning, but somehow it feels like it started a long time ago. We cannot wait to celebrate with you in June!!!