Rants, Recipes, and Running

This chapter of our story is about literally the fall of the year, and how Ryan and I took "the fall". (I loove cheesy). Our first dates were the like the dates out of my dreams. Our 2nd date I invited him on one of my training runs. At the time I was training for the Twin Cities marathon, and told him that Wednesday I would be doing an easy run. So we went on a 6 mile run. Ryan left that date thinking I was crazy, but still took me out for dinner that night. He's more into normal sports involving skill, strategy, and talent--not just running in a latent state for extended periods of time apparently ;) The dates preceding those only got better. We would sneak onto the golf course late at night and put on the green. There were also -30 degree Grand Forks, ND days where Ryan would call me up, tell me to put on my swimming suit and he'd be picking me up in 10 minutes. I would be hesitant; but just went with it. We would then sneak into hotels around town, and r...

Ryan and I met at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. However, it tooks a few meetings before the we felt sparks fly. The first week of our first year at UND, we both joined a student government group called "Emerging Leaders". At the first meeting, we were put into groups and 4, and sure enough; Ryan and I were in the same group, and I was chosen as "group leader". Well, I quit the next day--so that ended things very quickly! The year went by, and we both got settled in at school; with different groups and friends and different lives. We ran into each other every once in awhile--and he would occasionally tease me about being a "quitter". It was the last day of our school before summer, and I ran into him again. However, my impression I made on him was less than excellent; where I tripped over a chair, fell into a door, and cut my eye open. Despite that, I remember leaving school for the summer being smitten by Ryan Nastase. Summer passed...

On a perfect afternoon in September, in a perfect little bridal shop in Tucson, the search for the perfect wedding gown commenced. Our bride-to-be had her mom in tow, (as well as the tag-a-long step mom of her groom-to-be) and in true "perfect-bride-to-be" fashion, she found her perfect gown in less than an hour. However, accommodating as always, our sweet Abby continued to model several dresses that we just wanted to see her in them. (Afterwards she tried her perfect wedding gown again, just because she loves it so much!) Following are pictures of an amazing, emotional and noteworthy event in the planning of the Perfect Wedding.