We’re getting married!

Eva and her college friends were celebrating Rebecca's birthday in Belmar (fun fact: Rebecca is Ryan's cousin). Rebecca began dating Ryan's best friend Cory so they joined us with their friend Adam. This is when Eva and Ryan first met. Cory and Rebecca are now happily married with a beautiful daughter named Raelynn :) As far as Eva and Ryan, it took a few meet & greets and chasing on Eva's end for them to formally get together. Eva asked Rebecca for his number after a weekend in Atlantic City and luckily Ryan said "yes" on the other end. Ryan was hesitate to date after a long-term relationship but he thought Eva was a nice girl and ultimately didn't want to pass up an opportunity to get to know her. We scheduled a weekend at Eva's grandparents house with our friends to go to the beach in Avon (thank you Grandma Edie and Grandpa Jack). This was during a heat wave, so Grandpa Jack asked Ryan and his friends to put air conditioners in (Eva thought that was a funny scene). We also believe this was the first time Eva's grandparents learned what "vegan" was. Months later during a family party, Grandma Edie would whisper to guests that Ryan was a "vay-gan" (pronouncing it totally wrong but it was good spirited and a "had to be there" moment). Ryan brought his sister Marissa, friend Kristie, Cory, and Rebecca because we were joining others for a blink182 concert that weekend! We started our long distance relationship from this day forward. Ryan lived in Vernon while Eva lived in Highlands. Ryan had days off during the week so our first date was meeting at Sandy Hook beach after Eva finished work. Ryan was on time while Eva was like 2 hours late (lol Eva did feel very guilty of this). Eva and her parents were temporarily living across the street in an apartment while their house was getting lifted. One of the main reasons Eva was late was because she had to stop home (after sitting in traffic) to shave her legs (lol) but Ryan never knew this. Eva also ran out telling her parents she couldn't stay for dinner because she was late for a date! It all worked out, Ryan hid his frustration well, and we had a great meal at Good Karma, one of our favorite vegan restaurants to this day. We met up at the beach another time (Eva was on time) and the rest is history! :)