Landlocked love

In the scorching heat of July 2019, Dustin Ross booked a trip to a water park in Louisville, to escape the heat and celebrate his son Gabriel’s sixth birthday.

To Dustin’s surprise, his friend Nickie also planned to go down to the park, and their families decided to carpool. On the way up, Nickie said her cousin Jess, a marine biologist, was working at the park this summer doing a sea lion show and invited Dustin and his kids, Gabriel and Katie, to come watch.

“Sitting there during that show and watching Jess up there doing her thing was mesmerizing. No doubt she was gorgeous, but also had a great sense of humor and incredibly knowledgeable about her vocation,” Dustin said. “After the show we all got to go backstage to chat and see the sea lions a little closer. Jess and I mainly just had small talk at that point but I couldn’t take my eyes off her and I hung on every word she said.”

The whole group went to dinner, where Dustin realized his kids absolutely adored Jess. They got to know each other throughout dinner, and Dustin was hooked. Luckily for him, Jess felt the same. She texted him shortly after, and the two never stopped talking.

The next week, Dustin drove from Cynthiana to Louisville to spend some more time with Jess. He made that same drive three days in a row, and joked he only slept for six hours that week. Jess realized Dustin was the one on their first date, as he rambled on about water softeners. She said his nervous jumble was one of the cutest things she’d seen.

“We’ve pretty much been connected ever since then,” Jess said.

The couple spent the rest of the summer pretty much inseparable, until the time came for Jess to get back on the road. She packed up her life and sea lions, and spent the next few months traveling for work. She and Dustin stayed in contact, and made long distance work while she traveled.

Around five months after they met for the first time, Dustin flew down to meet Jess’ parents for the second time and asked her father’s blessing for marriage. He proposed and they tied the knot in December of 2019.

“I somehow got this beautiful gingered marine biologist to move to a landlocked state. Now here we are, just celebrated 4 amazing years this past December and loving every moment,” Dustin said.

Though there aren’t many marine animals in Kentucky, Jess and Dustin moved to Cynthiana and Dustin learned to welcome a herd of pets. Their house currently has 10 dogs, five cats, two horses, two snakes, three pigs, a bunch of chickens and four parrots.

While some people told Jess and Dustin they were crazy for jumping into a marriage so quickly, their faith in each other has never wavered. Jess said their life together has been a rollercoaster and she couldn’t imagine not being married to Dustin.

“Trust your gut. He’s my best friend. I love him more than anything and I just knew that immediately,” Jess said.