One fateful evening in September of 2018, a young Ryan Nash arrived to Jake’s Sports Bar in Columbia, South Carolina. He checked his phone to see a text from Will Whitney.
“Charlie’s cousin is here and she wants to meet you.”

My cousin Charlie had told me about Ryan Nash. I knew a few things about him by the time we got to Jake’s that night:
1. He’s in law school with Charlie’s then fiancé (now husband) Will
2. He’s from West Virginia
3. He has the cutest bloodhound named Verne.
To be honest, I knew more about Verne than I did Ryan. (My informant was biased towards dogs)
I remember telling Charlie not to worry about setting me up with anyone. I had recently moved into my own apartment by myself and was enjoying the simple life with just me and Mr. Louie- or so I told myself… isn’t that what they always say in the rom-coms right before Prince Charming enters the scene? Well my Prince Charming was right on queue. Ryan and I claim that night, September 21, 2018, as the beginning of our dating relationship. We had an instant click and spent the next several months driving back and forth on I-20 to and from Columbia and Augusta.
Ryan moved to Augusta with me after he graduated law school. While I worked in the ICU in Augusta, Ryan spent his days studying for the bar exam. I’ll never forget one evening, after work, Ryan had cooked dinner and we were eating on the small patio behind my townhouse. We shared a bottle of wine and started talking about what comes next. Ryan knew he would more than likely be moving back to West Virginia at the end of the summer to be closer to family. There was never a question of if I was going to come with him. The answer was always yes.
In September of 2019, after a year of dating, we took the country roads up to our new home in West Virginia. We were so fortunate to live with Ryan’s mom while we took time to stabilize ourselves in our new environment.
We decided to make West Virginia our permanent home in November of 2020 when we bought our first home in Charleston.
A few months later, on my birthday, June 17, 2021, Ryan proposed. I was sooo surprised ;)

I think it’s fair to say that Ryan and I knew we loved each other from day one. But our love has grown and we have learned so much about just what it means to love. We have grown together and look forward to our lives together.
Thank you for being a part of what makes us “us”. We wouldn’t be here without you all!