The Story of Us

This is how most love stories begin, right? Two people, very different in their approach to life, are hired to start work the same day, spend two weeks in a windowless room arguing about the appropriate manner to speak to students, how to handle their daily work load, and lots of eyerolls about someone’s (we won’t say who, but you all already know) lack of professionalism. That’s right, Mindy Kaling could have written our love story herself. While Ashley and Tyler didn’t see eye-to-eye on many (any) issues early in their friendship, at least they still had a friendship, and that’s all that ever mattered to either of them. Well, most of the time they had a friendship. Ask Ashley how many times she left internal online group chats at work due to Tyler making a rude comment or the time she called him ‘a clown’ to a colleague in the field (even though the colleague was her close friend). But even with the occasional blips, there was always an unexplained strong connection between the two of them, even if it wouldn’t blossom to love until years later.

After a company trip to the Dominican Republic (at least this company trip Tyler didn’t spend two hours walking Ashley back to her hotel in Budapest at 1 am, in the rain, while Ashley sang and danced to Lion King across every small cobblestoned street they passed), something started to change between them. That spark that was always there, dormant, hiding beneath office squabbles and snarky comments, exploded like a firework in both of their faces, shocking them both to their core. In what was extremely uncharted territory, the two searched for an answer to what was happening. Was it possible, that after years of friendship, this unplanned love would emerge and be the missing piece of both of their lives? Tyler bought in right away. He sized up the height of the cliff, walked a few steps back, took a deep breath, and darted to the edge, jumping head-first into whatever would happen between him and Ashley. In what is a metaphor for their personalities, Ashley was a bit more hesitant, pragmatic, and slow to follow her feelings for Tyler. Not only were they co-workers, but close friends, and anything that didn’t work out between them would lead to a messy work situation and the loss of a close friend. As per usual, Tyler didn’t consider it a concern and never wavered in his steadfast pursuit of a person he saw as a true life partner. Ashley, on the other hand, took 3 months of Tyler's persistence to fully win over. After a few (dozen) dates, cards expressing true feelings, lots of late-night talks over Chipotle (one of the first times they ever hung out as more than friends, Tyler left Ashley alone on his couch to go do his laundry and walk to get Chipotle--so chivalrous), Ashley was ready to give it a go.

One evening, on a walk through Lincoln Park in Chicago, Ashley told Tyler she was ready. Not only ready to tell people at work and openly share their relationship, but ready for all of the crazy, unpredictable turns their life could take together. It didn’t matter how many scenarios she ran through her brain, the constant was that she wanted Tyler to be with her. As the months passed, Tyler became close with her family (especially those crazy nephews), went to Illinois football games, BBQs, and even sat through long oral family history sessions with her mother. They also traveled more and more together, making epic memories and talking about their goals and next steps. There was never any doubt in Tyler’s mind, but after Ashley surprised Tyler with tickets to see his beloved 49ers play the Packers at Lambeau Field for his birthday, it was definitely no secret how Tyler felt. That month they moved in together, spent most of the winter in Colombia, and planned a move across the country to Portland, Oregon. After a crazy summer of weddings and an autumn full of trips, Tyler took Ashley to Hong Kong—a place that he holds dear to his heart after several years teaching there—and asked her to officially make him the happiest man in the world and take his hand in marriage. -------- While the full journey of our love could never fit on a website page, we hope you truly feel how blessed and lucky we are to have not only found each other in the madness of the world, but that we didn’t turn our backs once we did.

After two changed venues and a full-on cancelation of our 9/12/20 wedding in Portland, OR we are ready to begin anew! We're both fully vaccinated (#thankscience) and hope that adding a full year from now to everyone's timeline that things will continue to get even better on a U.S. and global scale with the pandemic, travel restrictions, and safety. We're thrilled to be replanning our big day & hope you will join us in sunny Sacramento, CA next April 2022!