Ryan & I met at Sailors Return in Stuart, FL on December 8, 2017. Ryan had just accepted his new job with Martin County Fire Rescue, but hadn’t moved down from Tallahassee yet. He was hanging out at the bar with Kevin Bellucy (who he had worked with at the Tallahassee Fire Department & who are like brothers). They were also hanging out with my really good friends, Tom & Beth Ardito. I walked over to the bar to take a shot with the crew & they introduced me to Ryan. Naturally, I made some sarcastic remark to him and went on with my night! The next night, Kevin, Tom, and Beth invited me on the boat to watch the Christmas parade on the water. As I was walking down the dock, I noticed that same guy (Ryan) from the bar the night before was standing on Kevin’s boat! I gave Tom & Beth the death stare for not telling me he would be there (I think they knew what they were doing lol). I was annoyed at first (because that guy had friend requested me on FB so, obviously I thought, “what a creeper!”) LOL but almost instantly I realized that he wasn’t so bad and he seemed like a genuinely sweet and down to earth guy 🙂 One thing led to another and we quickly became inseparable, hanging out every weekend, and planning future trips together! Almost annoying how much all of my friends & family loved him right off the bat (I think more than they loved me!) Even my niece & nephews (who are MY besties) instantly had a strong bond with him! (Obviously, I secretly loved it lol) I was still traveling back & forth from Tampa to Stuart, and he from Tallahassee to Stuart for the first couple of months. He finally settled into a tiny place which we called “The Shoebox” 😀 Slowly, (jk actually very quickly) he told me to start leaving things at his place! I said absolutely not! About a week later, I found myself buying the entire store at CVS to fill up his bathroom with MY things! 🙂 Shortly thereafter, he kept asking me for my opinion on houses…soooo awkward! Were we that serious that he wanted to know what I wanted in a house?? A few months later, there we were, looking at houses together. After searching for a few months, we walked through a model home that we fell in love with and in the blink of an eye, there was a down payment and new construction beginning!! 🙂 We decided to move in with my mom (that was the real test ;)) while the house was being built, so Ryan could save up a few dollars (was hoping to go towards a ring possibly?). Flash forward to February 2019…our house was almost finished and we took a trip to Steamboat, CO with my sister, brother in law, and friends. Skiing has been a yearly family tradition of mine since I was 4 years old, so it was special to have Ryan join in! Little did I know, that crazy guy had planned to pop the question on our trip! The first night we were there, he kept trying to get me to go outside to “look at the night skiers”. Me being difficult, I kept saying it’s too cold, I don’t wanna go outside! So, he coerced me outside by asking me to take a shot of fireball with him, my sister, and bro in law lol! Of course I wasn’t going to turn that down!! As we were on the balcony and I was taking my shot (with the beautiful mountains lit up in the background), Ryan got down on one knee and held up the ring! I looked down at him, waiting for him to say something, but he just stared at me lol!! The poor guy was so nervous, he literally didn’t say a thing at first! He finally found his words, which I don’t remember at all lol, but something along the lines of, will you marry me?? That handsome man & that beautiful rock were mine foreverrrrr 🙂 Now, here we are living in our new home & planning one big ass party to make it official & to celebrate with all of you on February 8, 2020!!!!
Ceremony|Reception: Ever After Farms – Hair & makeup : Kelly Haggerty – Caterer: Curbside Gourmet Food Truck – Cake: The Cake Lady – DJ: Custom DJ Services – Officiant: Brian Panczak (a friend) – Wedding Dress: Wtoo Montgomery in ivory – Bridesmaids dresses: Amazon in Dusty Pink
