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login"It was unexpected. I didn't know until he got down on one knee and proposed," said Ashley, 26. "He always jokes that I almost didn't get proposed to because I was in a bad mood that day."
But Ashley's mood changed soon after dinner. For someone who has always been a planner, it's only right that Ashley knew she and Ryan would be together after some time apart.
"We got engaged the same night as two of our friends got engaged, and that's why I didn't know he was going to propose," Ashley said. "All the focus was on them, although I knew we would get married at some point."
And after six years of friendship and relationship, Ryan and Ashley wed June 12, 2010.
"She killed me with our vows," Ryan said . "I thought you could just wing it, so I wrote some sentences in my Blackberry."
Ashley says he basically talked off the top of his head, while she gave their vows much more thought.
"A few days before, he asked me how many sentences I had and I told him that I had six," Ashley said. "He was like, 'Six, how are you going to have six?' He made me feel bad, so I went back and re-wrote them. I added these great metaphors and analogies and everything."
Ashley describes her vows as a "slam dunk," but she admire d the eloquence of Ryan's speech.
The couple met back in spring 2004 at Texas Southern University. Although they aren't sure what constitutes a proper introduction, mutual friends put Ryan in the right direction to ask Ashley out .
They both describe their first year of marriage as fun and exciting. The two always have a good time traveling together from coast to coast. They also share in the operation of a public relations brand-development firm, Medley-Inc., which Ashley founded.
"It's a learning experience still," Ryan said. "It's just like we've known each other all this time, and when you get married things just seem a little different. I had to realize I'm not talking to my girlfriend anymore; she is my wife."
Ashley says that Ryan brings out the best in her.
"Ryan is outgoing. I'm more conservative, but we balance each other," Ashley said. "I try to give him the qualities he'll respond to, such as love and compassion, because that's what he gives off. They say marriage is hard, but I don't think it's as hard as people say it is."
Ryan makes it easy.
"When it comes down to it, she has a different status," Ryan said. "She is the queen of the household."
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