About
Since we’re each from different ends of the country, we know many of you haven’t had the chance to meet our “better half”. 🙂 We’ve each written about the other one below.
ABOUT JASON
by Lizzie
“The minute I met Jason, I could tell there was something special about him. I didn’t know much about him, but I could just tell.
I was SO hesitant to get married up until Jason came along. He changed everything. He is the first guy who has made me feel excited about tying the knot. It’s the first time I’ve felt calm, peaceful and happy, instead of unsure and reluctant. Words can’t express how grateful I feel to have found him. I adore him and feel incredibly lucky to be with him.
Jason is brave, driven and determined. He has lived and traveled all over the world. He is loyal and will do anything for his friends. He loves stories. He is entrepreneurial and amazingly brilliant. He just has a way of making things happen. I watch him do countless things that I would never have the confidence to do. He is an amazing example to me. He is also hilarious! 97% of the time, he’s the funniest person I know. 🙂
Jason grew up just outside of Washington D.C., the son of two phenomenal parents, and the older brother to Casey and Maggie. He grew up near grandparents that adored him and aunts and uncles that taught him everything he knows. Jason has always loved dogs and has fond memories of Speck, Smokey, and Bluesy. Jason loves DC sports, particularly the Redskins and Washington Nationals.
When Jason was eight years old, his grandmother introduced him to the LDS Church. His Grandmother took him out of school unbeknownst to Jason’s mom and dad. She brought him back to her house where Mormon missionaries taught him the LDS Mormon Missionary discussions. Jason was the first person in his family to join the LDS Church. His parents and siblings started coming to church with him about a year later and eventually they also joined.
He was always extremely athletic and loved to play sports. He was so muscular, that at his childhood soccer games, the other kids’ parents would just stare – pointing at him saying, “Oh my gosh, look at that kid’s legs!”
Jason wanted to make his mother and grandmother proud, so at 14 years old, he fulfilled their wish for him to earn his Eagle Scout award.
In high school, he was passionate about sports, playing football (Linebacker) and lacrosse (Crease defense). Jason obsessed over working out in the weight room and was named the team MVP his Junior and Senior seasons in both sports.
Jason was unsure where to go to college, but was lucky enough to earn a nomination to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York when he graduated high school in 1995.
Jason attended West Point and also played football there all four years. In the middle of his time there, he served a two-year LDS mission to St. Petersburg, Russia. Jason absolutely loved his time in Russia and reminisces about his time there fondly. He told me it was one of the happiest times of his life.
He survived West Point, graduating in 2001, as the recipient of the prestigious General Loeffke Friendship Award for excellence in foreign languages, and was commissioned as an officer in the US Army.
During his early Army days, Jason made it through a grueling and extremely selective selection process and became a U.S. Army Ranger. He then made it through an even more grueling and selective selection process to become a Green Beret in the United States Special Forces. He served five special forces deployments – three to Iraq, one to Africa and one to Korea.
As a Major in the Special Forces, Jason was a Detachment Commander and led his team on close to 300 combat missions to kill/capture high value targets (bad guys).
He created and commanded one of the largest Foreign Internal Defense Force in U.S. history, training nearly 4000 Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers in hand to hand combat, raid and patrolling techniques, unconventional warfare and personal security detail tactics. This resulted in the capture of 27 Al Qaeda high value targets.
Of his recognition for service, Jason was awarded three Bronze Stars, including one Bronze Star with ‘v’ device for valor.
In 2011, Jason was given a reprieve from the Special Forces so that he could pursue a graduate degree. He chose to get his MBA at Brigham Young University, and graduated in 2013. I’m so grateful he chose to come to Utah, since we wouldn’t have met otherwise.
Jason also runs Warrior Rising, a non profit organization that helps wounded soldiers start and develop their own businesses. He also owns a leadership development company, Mission 6 Zero (Formerly Mission Essential), which specializes in training professional sports teams, athletes and corporate groups. He has done extensive training events with the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders. He is also the Vice President of XONano, an up and coming smart foam technology company.
Jason is my hero. I am in awe of the person he is and the person he has worked to become. He truly treats me like a princess. I am reminded every day of how lucky I am. I feel honored to be with him and I can’t believe I get to marry him.”
– Lizzie
ABOUT LIZZIE
by Jason
“Lizzie is my everything. She makes me feel like the man I’ve always aspired to be. She listens to you, laughs with you, and makes you feel like the most important person in the room. Lizzie is approachable, fun, and so humble. You would never know the amazing things that Lizzie has accomplished in her life because she never talks about them.
Lizzie is absolutely solar powered – she loves the summer, the sunshine, and the ocean. She is truly a tiny baby mermaid princess. Lizzie gets cold really easy and is sometimes shy when trying new things which I find adorable. She also loves and adores her nieces and nephews and one of her favorite things in the world is to spend time with them.
If you want to know about Lizzie, it’s important to know her roots. Lizzie was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the third of five children (and the first daughter) to John and Ann Jackson. She was born in to a devout Mormon family and Lizzie has remained a loyal member of the LDS (Mormon) church her whole life. At a young age, Lizzie displayed playful competitiveness which she focused towards early year endeavors such as mastering the violin, art and ballet. She was one of only a few dancers from the state of Utah to be accepted into the San Francisco Ballet School. Living and dancing in San Francisco is one of Lizzie’s favorite memories. Lizzie has such a great attitude and tries to (and does) excel at everything that she attempts. Just ask my family about trying to play board games with her over Christmas.
In high school, one of Lizzie’s friends encouraged her to try out for the Track and Field team. Lizzie tried it and didn’t like it, but she kept at it. She eventually (and inevitably) won three state championships, set a state record and was named an Academic All-American and Utah’s Most Outstanding Cross Country Athlete. She also received a scholarship to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Lizzie loved BYU for several reasons – most of all she became a notorious serial dater who broke young returned Mormon missionary hearts over the course of a distinguished dating career. Her exploits are legendary and still talked about in hushed whispers by young female coeds in and around Helaman Halls.
During her four years of college, Lizzie’s strength, skill, and determination made her a nine-time All-American in cross country and track, and one of the most-successful athletes in BYU history. She became the first athlete in BYU history to earn All-America honors in cross country all four years. She also helped BYU to win two Cross Country National Championships. In track and field, she set an American record, won the NCAA Championships and then went on to break the American record twice more that summer at competitions in Scotland and France.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in business management, Lizzie signed with Nike and continued competing, traveling to meets around the world as a professional track athlete.
During her professional career she won four individual U.S. national titles and was ranked No. 1 in the nation five different years. She was also ranked third in the world (2001) and seventh in the world (2005) by the IAAF. Lizzie represented the United States at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, where she placed ninth.
For her accomplishments, Lizzie was inducted into the Brigham Young University Athletics Hall of Fame on September 27, 2012.
During her running days, she also appeared in a Nike commercial and in Sports Illustrated.
Nowadays, you can find Lizzie working as a self-employed web developer and SEO expert. She also works as a fitness model.
Lizzie and I work out every day at Lifetime Fitness gym in South Jordan. When Lizzie and I went to look for houses to buy, her only criteria was that we live close to the gym. If you ever see Lizzie at the gym, there’s a 100% probability that she is either working on her biceps or her calves.
Lizzie is one of a kind – she is so kind and epitomizes the word “quality.” Clearly, I am lucky to have her – I am out of my league here and will devote the rest of my life, in spite of my terrible jokes, to making her laugh and keeping her happy, safe, and cared for.
– Jason