December 28, 2017
How we met and how he asked
Once Upon a Cable Car...
The romance between Ashley and Ryan started brewing on a cable car in San Francisco. A little company called MySpace hosted a private event where they rented out a cable car on wheels and invited partners they worked with to join in the fun. Ashley and Ryan were both working at a marketing/advertising agency and Ryan's team had worked quite a bit with MySpace. One of his team members decided not to join the event, and Ashley was able to hop on board. We traveled to popular sites around the city, including Pier 23 on the Embarcadero, Fort Point (right under the Golden Gate Bridge), and lots of fun pit stops along the way. Ashley and Ryan started chatting it up and rest is history!
Since then, we've enjoyed incredible adventures together: visiting an active volcano on the Big Island in Hawaii, sitting in the ABC/Disney press box at Candlestick Park during a Niners-Seahawks game, enjoying the magic of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (in Orlando AND Los Angeles), exploring the Kennedy Space Center, enjoying SeaFair in Seattle (Ashley's favorite city!), countless trips to wineries in Napa and Sonoma, and trips along the West Coast. We can't wait to continue our adventures in our next chapter--marriage!
Engaged in the Emerald City (Seattle!)
Ashley's favorite city is Seattle, Washington, her birthplace. She literally lights up at the mere mention of anything related to Seattle. In fact, Ryan and Ashley travel to Seattle almost once a year to visit Ashley's extended family and soak up all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. What better place to propose (she couldn't say no in her favorite place, right?)?
Ashley and Ryan's 2016 annual Seattle trip was planned for Labor Day weekend. Typically, Ashley plans every minute of the trip in order to pack in as much as possible. As fate would have it, Ashley didn't have time to plan out each minute for this trip, so the days were more flexible than normal.
On the actual day of the proposal, Ashley recommended Ryan choose the activities because she chose the previous day's activities--"How about the flight museum, Ryan?" Ashley's cousin, Dr. Jennifer Gerdts (who hosted them during the trip) quickly intervened before she left for work saying, "Maybe we can go with the kids later? You should do something else today." Little did Ashley know, Jen and the whole family were in on the secret.
The day included our favorite activities--brunch next to Green Lake, a walk around Green Lake, a trip to the Volunteer Park Conservatory where Doug the Corpse Flower was scheduled to bloom (which only happens once every 7-10 years!), a walk up Rapunzel's tower in Volunteer Park, wine tasting in Woodinville, and finally arriving at Kerry Park, which has a gorgeous view of downtown Seattle and Puget Sound. We looked out on the city for about 20 minutes and then a little Seattle sprinkle started to set in, so Ashley started to pack up her camera. That's when Ryan grabbed her hand, strategically placed himself so that she was looking at him with the view of Seattle in the background, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry him! Ashley said yes, the clouds parted so they could snap a few pictures, and then they whisked off to a celebratory dinner at Grandma Betty's favorite Italian restaurant, Piatti. When they arrived, the waiter walked them to the back and to Ashley's surprise, her family and Ryan's family were there waiting! It was the first time our parents met, so it was a wonderfully happy time!
Unbeknownst to Ashley, the entire family was in on the secret FOR MONTHS--a purple engagement party (aka the "I Do BBQ") was planned for the following day, and two days later we enjoyed a yacht trip around the beautiful Lake Washington with our dear family friends Bonnie McDonald and Gary Odegard.
It was a perfect proposal and incredible to be surrounded by so much love.
Check out some of the pictures from our engagement weekend >>
