The Adventures Continue...

Ruth's love of cars, in particular Mustangs started at a young age. She would be in the garage with her father and step-father handing them tools while they worked on their cars and trucks. As she grew up, her mother taught her how to drive a manual transmission and her father and step-father taught her mechanical things such as how to do an oil change or change a flat tire. Ruth always loved sports cars and fell in love with Mustangs in her teenage years. In April 2016, Ruth finally had an opportunity to make the dream of owning her very own Mustang a reality. A client of Ruth's bought the new 2016 Mustang GT and was selling his 2007 Mustang GT. The client gave Ruth a deal she couldn't refuse. So Ruth purchased her first Mustang, a 2007 Vista Blue GT named Belle. Phil's love of cars was always there but the love really blossomed in High School. He had a friend with a Trans Am and another with a 302 Boss. Plus he got to ride to school for a while in an El Camino. The 302 Boss began his passion for Mustangs as well as his step-father, Jim owning Mustangs. In 2016, Phil finally got a chance to be an owner of his very own sports car. In May Phil saw a Mustang that melted his heart on a website. He got pre-approved and financed for the Mustang before he even looked at the car in person. When he got to the car lot, he knew he had to have the Mustang because of it's colors of Orange and Black. So Phil bought his Mustang, Tang.

Ruth heard about a local car enthusiast group on FaceBook from a fellow Mustang owner over the summer of 2016. After researching this group, she decided to check them out. On October 2, 2016, Ruth attended the MNFE Fall Meet Up at Lac Lavon Park in Burnsville, Minnesota. She arrived late on purpose because she was a bit shy and nervous about going to a car event alone. So she waited for her son, Dylan to get off work and go with her. As they arrived at the meet up, she noticed a rather remarkable set of Grabber Orange Mustangs parked next to each other. But being shy she did not approach any car owner. She did however, go to the table where Shelly was standing. Ruth asked Shelly several questions and learned about the all female car enthusiast group called CarQueenz. Little did Ruth know at the time but CarQueenz would become a major part of her life. One of the two Grabber Orange Mustangs at this event belonged to none other than Phil. They actually both were owned by Phils. But the important one was owned by our Phil. Phil and Ruth did not meet this day. Nor did they learn about each other. Soon after this event, Ruth's car, Belle went into winter hibernation. However, Phil' car, Tang did not.

Over the Winter of 2016/2017, Ruth kept in touch with Shelly and began to meet other CarQueenz. Once Winter was over, Belle came out of hibernation and attended a few car shows with Ruth representing the CarQueenz. One show in particular was Ignition 2017 at Canterbury Park in May 2017. Ruth volunteered to work the CarQueenz booth with Shelly at this show. While working the booth, a gentleman came up to it and talked with Shelly for a bit. After he walked away, Ruth asked Shelly who he was. Her reply was "That's Phil. He owns an Orange Mustang. He is a nice guy and he is single." with a little elbow nudge and chuckle. At that moment, Ruth decided she needed to investigate this Orange Mustang owner named Phil a little further. When she got a break from volunteering at the CarQueenz booth, Ruth walked around with a fellow CarQueenz member named Paige. While walking around the car show, Ruth found this Grabber Orange Mustang but did not get to meet it's owner, Phil; as he was not near his car.

Ruth threw a BBQ and Seafood Boil at her townhouse on June 2, 2017. She invited a few CarQueenz to the BBQ and told them they could invite other people since Ruth was still fairly new to the car scene in Minnesota. A fellow Carqueen, Rochelle, invited Phil to Ruth's BBQ as well as a few other people like Phil's daughter Jordan. Ruth had changed the time of the BBQ to an hour later due to working late. However, Phil did not get the message of the later start time. So when Ruth got to her townhouse after work, there was this beautiful Grabber Orange Mustang in her driveway with it's owner, Phil. Ruth mentioned to him that he was really early and Phil asked if Ruth minded that he just stay and hang out. Of course Ruth didn't mind especially when this sexy Mustang owner offered to help her carry in groceries from her trunk into the townhouse. Once inside the townhouse, Phil and Ruth struck up a conversation while waiting for every one else to get there. During this conversation, Phil offered to help Ruth prepare the food for the BBQ. Ruth was pleasantly surprised by all of this. As the night went on and others arrived, everyone ate and hung out together. At the end of the night, Phil left. After he left, Roschelle and her boyfriend Brett, asked Ruth what was up between her and Phil. Of course, Ruth said "Nothing. I just really met him tonight. We are friends. Besides he has a girlfriend."

The next morning Ruth met up with Phil, his roommate Dave, Phil's daughter Jordan and a few other fellow car enthusiasts at Phil's house. The group went to Cars and Coffee at Canterbury Park together. Once again Ruth and Phil hit it off and had really good conversations about sports cars, Mustangs and life in general. This was the beginning of a great friendship that neither one of them knew was going to happen.

After a couple of car shows together and Phil helping Ruth with her tail lights to her Mustang, Phil and Ruth's friendship was blossoming. On June 18th, Phil messaged Ruth asking her if she liked Ice Cream. Of course, Ruth loves Ice Cream, especially special flavors that are not vanilla. After a few texts back and forth, Ruth agreed to go get Ice Cream with Phil. Phil arrived at Ruth's townhouse that afternoon. Their text conversation continued in person at her townhouse and the two never made it to have actual Ice Cream.

Over the summer of 2017, Ruth and Phil's friendship became closer and closer. At almost ever car event, one would see Belle and Tang parked next to each other. One would also see Ruth and Phil hanging out together talking and having fun. Fellow car enthusiasts actually thought Ruth and Phil were more than friends. But they weren't...... yet!

On Halloween, Phil and Ruth went to see a scary movie together. After the movie was over, Phil took Ruth home. On the way home, Phil asked Ruth to be his girlfriend. Ruth of course said yes. The two of them made their relationship Facebook official that night. The two have been pretty much inseparable since.

In December 2017, Ruth was at Phil's place getting ready for a date night out. While in the bathroom putting on makeup, Ruth mentioned to Phil that there was an opportunity for her to buy a house closer to him in Scott County for a good deal. From the bedroom where Phil was playing XBox, Ruth hears Phil say "Let's do it.". Ruth drops her makeup and goes to the doorway of the bedroom. She looks at Phil and says "Let's???". Phil stops playing his XBox, looks at Ruth and says "Let's do it. I mean if you want to." Ruth says "Do you want to?" This goes back and forth for a little bit until they are both smiling and laughing and saying okay let's do this. After looking at over 30 plus houses because the good deal fell through and placing a bid on one house that they didn't win, Phil and Ruth closed on their first home together in Prior Lake, Minnesota on January 30, 2018. At the time, they didn't know it, but this home would become a home of a blended family. During 2018, Ruth's son came back home to live with them. As well as Phil's daughter, Jordan and her boyfriend. Then in late September 2018, Phil and Ruth welcomed a granddaughter into this world with Phil's daughter Jordan.

Ruth and Phil got invited in early March to go with their friend Paige to Florida on vacation. Since they had not had a real vacation in years, the two agreed to go. On April 2nd, all four flew out of Minneapolis to Tampa. They proceeded to go to Paige's parents house in Weeki Wachee, Florida where they would stay for the next week. On April 3, 2019 towards the end of the night, Phil pulls out his laptop. He tells everyone he has been working on a video for the CarQueenz. Phil plays the video on his laptop. After the video is done playing, Phil turns to Ruth with a ring in his hand and a tear in his eye. He tells Ruth how much she means to him and that he would give up all earthly possessions but still be happy as long as Ruth was in his life. After hugging and telling Ruth how much she means to him, he asks her to marry him. She nods yes and goes to take the ring. Phil grabs her hand and places the ring on her finger. Then the two hug for what feels like an eternity.

In 2018, Ruth & Phil was able to participate in Crown Rally & Kannonfall. They drove Ruth's Mustang for Crown Rally & Phil's Mustang for Kannonfall. The two love birds enjoyed themselves so much on the rallies that they came home & started throwing around ideas of doing their own rally that benefited charities. During their Friendsgiving they held at their house in November 2018, they brought their ideas to their close friends. All of their friends said they loved the idea. Ruth immediately began working on rally route plans. A whole year later, for Phil's birthday, in November, Ruth took one of her route ideas & created a weekend road trip for Phil. They hopped into Ruth's Mustang on a Friday morning with Phil not knowing where they were going. Ruth handed Phil a small booklet of step-by-step directions. They headed south from their home. Then started to head west. So Phil thought Ruth was taking him to South Dakota. But suddenly the next directions had them heading south again towards Okoboji. Phil was excited about this since Ruth & Phil had talked about going to Okoboji for a weekend getaway before. After driving through Okoboji, the directions had them turn toward the west again. Then Phil was wondering if Ruth had planned a weekend in Sioux Falls. However, the next set of directions had Phil turn south again. Now he was wondering if Ruth planned a weekend away in Omaha, NE. To which Ruth replied "Where is Omaha, NE?". They eventually stopped for the night in Sioux City. The next morning, they continued their adventure further south down the Loess Hills Byway before eventually turning around & going back to the hotel in Sioux City. On Sunday, they made a little detour on their way home for Ice Cream, thanks to the advice a Sioux City resident. During their 3 day road trip, Ruth & Phil took notes/pictures of all the different checkpoints Ruth had planned for them. Thus Survivor Rally 2020 ~ Loess Hills Byway route was planned.

Upon arriving back home from their weekend birthday road trip to Sioux City, Ruth and Phil began work on Survivor Rally, a non-profit 501(c)(3) MN corporation. Survivor Rally unites automotive enthusiasts from the Twin Cities for a weekend road trip to benefit “Unspoken Causes" every year in the Fall. For 2020, the rally brought 21 teams consisting of 45 people through 4 states via 13 checkpoints and 11 bonus points. The rally had vehicles consisting of everything from a Lamborghini Gallardo, a classic Chevy Corvette to Mustangs and more. There were 5 awards given to different teams at the awards ceremony held the last night of the rally. The 3rd day of the rally, all participants participated in a mini car parade/show for elderly residents at the Mill Pond Senior Living Facility in Ankeny, IA. Then they went on to an exhilarating track event at North Iowa Drag Strip, where a 6th award was given to another team. By the end of the rally, Survivor Rally raised over $7,500 to donate to Cornerstone for domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking victims/survivors. For 2021, Survivor Rally will be heading down the Great River Road to St. Louis, MO from October 1st thru the 3rd. The Unspoken Cause chosen is Suicide. Survivor Rally has partnered with SAVE, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. SAVE is a National Organization, head-quartered in Minnesota with local chapters that focus on Suicide Awareness Education and Support for Survivors/Families. We are hoping to raise over $15,000 for this worthy cause. Check out Survivor Rally's website at www.survivorrally.com for more information on how you can participate and/or donate. This brings us to the next adventure in Ruth and Phil's story.... The Wedding!