I walked in the gym one day and there was a new guy intensely working out without a trainer around. Strangely, the guy got up and introduced himself to me; turns out he was the new trainer. I somehow quickly decided I wasn't a fan, he seemed too intense. Nonetheless as time went on, we began a friendship by casual banter in IG comments (for some reason he didn't understand why I didn't want to sweat after getting my hair done, ha!) Several months passed, and one night I responded to his Snapchat story that he should probably slow down and try to fit sleep into his busy schedule. He seemed flattered that I actually cared about his well being, and through a series of messages, I realized that maybe this guy wasn't just the overly intense trainer I first met. As he was logging off, he asked if he could message me again tomorrow (cute, right?), and I one upped him and gave him my phone number (complete with screaming, throwing my phone, and walking off while I waited for his response; now that I think about it, this probably was a trap and I failed, womp). Thankfully, he used my number the next day, and almost 2 months later we made it official :)

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in the middle of coaching a shift at the gym. I was still a new employee to the studio so I made sure to introduce myself to each member as they walked through door. I tend to jump in and out of workouts to help show another way of motivation. So I am zoned in on the floor giving a heavy bag a ground and pound freestyle. Jab, cross, elbow, cross, elbow, jab, jab. I mean I’m all in it. The bell rings for the members to switch stations. I hopped off the bag and jogged to the front door to introduce myself to the new wave of members that just walked in the door. “Hey, I’m Coach D the newest Coach to the studio. What’s your name?” “Hey my name is Ashay”. Now she said Asha, but I heard Ashay. So for the next 2-3 months she would come to the gym and things would be business as usual, we workout, have very small talk, and then she leaves. One day I was able to find her on social media and made a comment about her jumping in a playhouse. One thing she would always mention when she came to the studio is that she couldn’t sweat today because of her hair but yet she was in this playhouse having more fun than the little ones. I called her out on it and that kind of kicked off the beginning of our relationship. After that became friendship, first date, late night phone calls, and got chased by some crazy dogs one night cycling through the Medical Center. Me jumping in the comment section changed it all.