How We Met

It happened one night in Nashville, and the rest is history... but we will come back to that. The years before and the coincidences leading up to meeting would make even the hardest of hearts believe in fate. From living in San Diego and Dallas, to Houston and New York, from happenstance mutual connections and drastic career changes, distance and time were no barrier to finding each other. Years before meeting, through friends of friends and mutual friends, we had each heard about each other on various occasions. It was even suggested by Ashlan's oldest friend Heather (who knew Ash would settle for no less than Mr. Darcy) that "this Jon guy who lives in San Diego" would be a perfect fit for her. However, because of distance, her suggestion was dismissed with a laugh. It was when Jon moved from San Diego to New York that our names came up to each other again, because Jon had started working at KPMG. Despite both working in the Healthcare industry, KPMG is a very large place. Not only was Jon a part of the New York office, but Ashlan worked in the Dallas office, and was part of a completely different consulting practice. The odds were that despite knowing mutual people, our paths would never cross.

At this point in her career, Ashlan needed a drastic change. It wasn't until she happened to be placed on a two week project with a random girl named Jess from the Cleveland office that this change was initiated. Finding an instant friend (or more forcing her friendship upon this girl), they remained close over the next year. After working together, Jess transitioned into a very small niche group within KPMG, telling Ashlan how the work was exactly what she was looking for in her career and that she should make the change as well. It was at this point (and after lots of sales pitches on Houston from the lovely Desiree Lynch) that Ashlan made the decision to leave Dallas and internal audit to join her friends in an adventurous move to Houston and the Revenue Cycle practice.

Over the past years, Ashlan had heard countless stories from Jess about her two good friends in the practice, Trupti and Jon. When Ashlan started her first project in her new job, she finally met the infamous Trupti. To say the least, they instantly bonded over their love of working out, puppies, coffee, and running the show at work. When Trupti and Jess always mentioned their friend Jon, Ashlan finally connected the dots and realized this is the same Jon she had heard about multiple times, from multiple unconnected friends, over multiple years. To be fair, Jon is a very common name. Now, curiosity was getting the best of her and she knew she had to meet this person.

Now back to the fateful night in Nashville. Everyone in the practice was attending a specialized training, and Ashlan, Jess and Trupti had gone early to make the most of Uncle Peat's free travel. J + T were texting Jon the whole weekend, telling him about our adventures in Nashville, including in the background their friend Ashlan, this girl he had never even met. Enough was enough. At the social gathering the first night of the training, Ashlan strode right up to Jon in typical Ashlan fashion with a simple "So are we going to talk about this?" We instantly laughed heartily about how small a world it is, and how crazy life can be sometimes. Little did we know. There were multiple influences in our lives pushing us closer and closer together. Even Ashlan's boss Kim, during a general conversation about relationships, pointed to Jon and said "he is the kind of man you marry". Needless to say, after finally meeting each other, we had an instant connection. (This connection was probably cemented for Jon as true love when Ashlan "borrowed" some solo cups and a few beers from the bar, looked him deeply in the eyes, and challenged "flip cup"?Records of who actually won this challenge have been lost, the winner is still up for debate.)

Throughout the training, we had many adventures. Whether it was going on a quest to find Trupti, convincing our Uber driver take us to Taco Bell, or playing cards in the hotel lobby and finishing each other's sentences, we knew we had to keep in touch after training was over. Despite all of the signs and influences, the fact was that Jon lived in New York and Ashlan lived in Houston, and we didn't think we could be more than friends. When Jon happened to be placed onto the same project in North Carolina not a week later, that friendship quickly grew to love. Now, the adventure begins!

As many of you know, since welcoming their puppy Juliet to the family, the trio has been inseparable. Because a Texas girl and a puppy dog appreciate the finer things in life like fresh air and the outdoors, no place has been quite as special as the Kitchawan Reserve near Jon's childhood home. Since Juliet could obviously not miss out on such an important milestone, it was very clear to Jon that the place our family had enjoyed long walks and built fond memories HAD to be the spot for a proposal. The timing, however, did not become clearer until trusted spy/co-Maid of Honor (or double agent, depending how you look at it) Desiree let Jon know that Ashlan was suspicious of a Columbus Day proposal. After all, the family was planning a long weekend getaway to the Catskills, and in Ashlan's mind it would be a great opportunity to have them around to join in the celebration.

Ashlan's birthday happened to be the weekend before the planned getaway. Determining that this was the best possible disguise his duplicitous intentions, Jon persuaded super-friend/bridesmaid Morgan to fly in from Oklahoma for a surprise "birthday" visit. Ashlan was completely blindsided when Morgan walked in to the apartment on Friday night, thinking this was obviously the best birthday present they could have dreamed up! Jon departed for the evening to "let the girls catch up" aka be shady and make final preparations for the proposal in Millwood.

The morning of Ashlan's birthday, Jon asked Ashlan & Morgan to meet him at Kitchawan with Juliet for their typical weekend walk. As it had been raining for days, Kitchawan was going to be a muddy mess. Unaware that this was no ordinary stroll, Ashlan was attempting to persuade Morgan to borrow some shabby clothes and not bother with hair or makeup. Thankfully (being the thoughtful friend that she is) Morgan insisted on at least some minimal primping, even if she wasn't able to make Ashlan change out of her Hattie B's Hot Chicken t-shirt from Nashville. At this point, Jon & his mother were hurriedly finalizing last minute odds and ends for the proposal, and the girls were on their way. Ever the efficient consultant, Ashlan insisted on picking Jon up from his parents house, much to Jon's frantic displeasure. (After all, the house was on the way, and there was no sense in taking multiple cars). Luckily, after much deliberation, Ashlan caved to Jon's "stupid idea" to meet up at Kitchawan, and the plan stayed on course. Jon & Judi arrived to Kitchawan only minutes before the girls, allowing Judi just enough time to scurry up the trail and prepare the ambiance. Seeing that Jon was acting very frenzied, Ashlan asked him whether he had brought tennis balls for the dog (because that's the whole point of why we are here). Needing an excuse to finalize the plan with Morgan, the ever so chivalrous Jon sent Ashlan back to the car for Juliet's tennis balls while got Morgan up to speed.

For those who have the privilege of knowing the bride-to-be, they could probably tell those that don't that Ashlan has a terrific ability to tell stories. As you might imagine, some can run a bit long (I am just trying to make sure relevant details are included!), one of which she decided to tell at the outset of the walk. About five minutes in to the walk, the scene was set; pink balloons, rose petals on the trail, and large sign with a picture of Jon and Ashlan were in sight...but the end of her story was not. Needing to "smoothly" interrupt the story, Jon grabbed Ashlan's hand mid conversation and dragged the birthday girl ahead towards the spot. Thinking the balloons were for her birthday, Ashlan couldn't quite comprehend what was going on until Jon was on one knee asking the most important question of his life. The following moments were neither of their finest; Ashlan failed to muster an answer and just gave him a big hug and kiss, and Jon didn't even take the ring out of the box, but both were so overcome with joy that none of it mattered. Even Juliet was ferociously celebrating by running circles around the scene and jumping on everyone.

That was definitely not the end of Ashlan's surprises for the weekend, as there was breakfast set up at the house and the rest of Jon's family was waiting to celebrate. Even Desiree fooled Ashlan into thinking she had a wedding to attend and shocked her with a surprise appearance.

All in all, we got to celebrate our engagement in the best way, possible, with friends and loved ones by our side. We cannot wait to celebrate our wedding with you all in Texas in the same way!