The Story of Us

One Monday night in June after slaving retail hours I met my Dad and my friend Katie out at a local burger place for dinner and a few drinks. I was still swearing off guys at this point and had no interest in anything other than having fun and living my single life. Across the bar sat a seemingly good-looking guy wearing a hat. My friend Katie kept nudging me saying, "Ashley, that guy keeps looking over here! He's hot!" Being the newly carefree bad ass that I was I quickly snapped back, "I can't even see his face with that stupid hat over his eyes."

Fast forward to the next night, Tuesday (see I told you I was living the party life... two week nights out at two different bars. Who was I?!). It was karaoke night at another local bar. I met Katie and a group of friends out. It was my turn to buy our group a round of drinks but the bar was full. I hesitantly tapped on a random guy's shoulder (hesitantly because he was sitting with a girl) to ask him to get the bartender's attention. He puts his hand up, waves, the bartender sees him, brings him another beer, and then disappears. "Damn, I was about to leave, I didn't even want another drink!" says the guy. I told him not to worry about it and that I'd pay for it since he was trying to help me out.

The next thing he says... "Hey, weren't you at Cheeseburger in Paradise last night?" I flash back through my mind. Oh my goodness, it's the guy in the hat! "Oh yeah! I think I saw you there!" He wasn't wearing a hat tonight and I could clearly see he was not only seemingly good-looking but actually was full-blown good-looking. We talked the rest of the night and exchanged numbers since he was new to the area and looking to meet cool people (which obviously, I was. Ha.) Oh, and that girl he was with? Just a friend. He thought she was a cool person too but it turns out she was pretty lame.

Moving on, it turned out we were both single as of 8 months ago. I knew I was going back to Arizona in a few months so I really wasn't looking for anything more than a friendship. He didn't want anything serious either. Except, you know what happens to plans? Yeah. It got serious. So in September we drove cross-country together from PA to AZ to take me, my car, and my belongings back to ASU.

Denver, CO - one of our stops on our cross-country trip

One of Shawn's trips to AZ

One of my trips home to PA

At this point we were both a little hesitant since our relationship was so new. Long distance after only dating a couple months? Yeah right. I still had 1.5 years of college left (I was on the 5 year plan since I transferred and lost a ton of credits). But, it worked. I flew home and/or he flew to Arizona each month. The long distance sucked but we made it work. We got through it. It wasn't easy, but we did it. And now we're married, so overall I'd call that a success story.

Shawn is the most hard-working, motivated, and self-sufficient person I have ever met in my entire life. He has drive like you wouldn't believe. The word "can't" does not exist in his vocabulary. Failure is not an option for him. Like I said, he's a rule-breaker and does not let anyone hold him back. He has given me motivation and drive that I didn't even know I had in me. He makes me want to be a better person. We balance each other out like crazy yet in some ways we are so similar it's scary. I married Shawn not only for the man he is today, but for the father I know he will be in the future. Our story is still relatively new, but I am really looking forward to all the chapters yet to come.

Back Stories

On my way to work on yesterday morning I kept thinking about my husband and how I wanted to write a blog post about him, and about us. Before I get into our story, here is each of our back stories.

Her Story
I was born and raised in the upper-middle class suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. My senior year of high school I decided I needed a change. I was sick of suburbia and wanted to experience the real world. So, I started my college years at Temple University (in the heart of North Philadelphia - about as diverse and opposite of suburbia as it comes). I was at Temple for two years before I decided to follow my high school boyfriend to Arizona State University. After over four years of being together, we promptly broke up about three months after I arrived in the Grand Canyon State (that is totally an entire blog post for another day).

Fast forward three more months, and I turned the wonderful age of 21 in February. Being newly single and newly legal, I went through quite a party girl stage. Needless to say, once the semester let out in May and I was back home in Pennsylvania for the summer, I was on the loose ready to have a little fun. The very last thing on my mind was a boyfriend and I was solely focused on having fun with my friends.

I had re-figured my life out after my original plan to be with my high school boyfriend 4eva fell through (thank the LORD because honestly, what was I thinking?). You see, I'm a planner by nature, so I had it all set that I was swearing off guys and was going to wait until after college to start dating anyone again. Funny thing about plans? They don't always work out. 

Me, Summer 2007

His Story
Shawn's story starts in North Carolina. He was literally raised on a farm and is a true country boy at heart. He had never loved his hometown and knew he had to get out. He was ready for a change. A friend offered him a job in Annapolis, Maryland so he packed up and left. Literally, he was offered the job on a Tuesday, quit his current job on a Friday, and moved to Maryland on a Sunday. That's Shawn's style. He's a rebel (sexy right?).

His mama always told him not to join the military (he joined without even consulting with her first and let her know he was leaving for boot camp in a matter of days), don't fly on airplanes because they crash (he was Airborne in the Army and not only flew on planes but jumped out of them), and don't marry a Yankee girl (just kidding on that one...I hope). Anyway. He quickly proved himself and moved up the ranks in the company and was offered a promotion in Pennsylvania. Not one to turn an opportunity down, he took the offer and began living in a hotel in the suburbs of Philadelphia where he knew no one. He didn't really have a plan except to succeed, and that's all he really needed.

Shawn, Summer 2007

Check back tomorrow for the story on how we met...