“We knew one another since middle school, as we both grew up in Cave Creek, Arizona. We were really acquaintances during that time of our lives and both moved on following different paths.” - Katy
Ryan stayed in Arizona for college at Arizona State and Katy moved to Redlands, California to attend the University of Redlands. Once graduation came, Ryan moved to Dallas, Texas and shortly thereafter to Seattle, Washington. Katy moved back to Arizona for medical school at The University of Arizona, College of Medicine Phoenix. During her third year of medical school, Ryan moved back to Phoenix to pursue a different job. Ryan’s older brother was a friend of Katy’s older sister, and Ryan found himself out for drinks with them and he started asking about Katy. They attempted to coax Katy to come out and join them for drinks that night, but studying took priority.
“I must have tried probably 3 times to ask Katy for drinks or dinner and each time, she was busy studying. It wasn’t until a few months later, when on Bumble, this dating app, that her name popped and we matched. On this app if the female does not message the male within 24 hours, then the match expires. Well, she let it expire after 24 hours and I pursued her to ask her why?” – Ryan
“He was relentless in his pursuit to take me out for a drink, so I said okay. He took me to George and Dragon, which is a total dive bar, but had pool tables, darts and was coincidentally enough, walking distance to Ryan’s apartment. Needless to say, we had several drinks, and several games of pool later and it was like we had known each other for years…” – Katy
“I knew I wanted to be with Katy from day one, and here we are, I am marrying the love of my life!” – Ryan
“I am extremely grateful that Ryan didn’t give up on pursuing me. He is my best friend and soul mate.” – Katy
March 4th, 2018: Katy was coming off of a busy pediatric surgery call weekend, and her only request to Ryan was, “lets work out, and can you please make dinner?” What Katy did not known, is that the “business trip” Ryan took to Arizona the week prior, was actually a trip to Arizona to pick up the engagement ring. He brought his mother, Carmen, and Katy’s mother, Suzanne with him to celebrate this milestone. Their Iowa friends knew it was in the works, but Katy was completely oblivious. They set off on their normal running path with their fur baby, Zoey, to a close by lake with an old wooden bridge. Although Ryan attempted to stop Katy on that bridge, she kept insisting that she wanted to finish her workout. Ryan finally got Katy to walk with him around the lake, with Zoey leading the way and he stopped her right on the bridge and after several words, and an “I love you” he got down on one knee and pulled the engagement ring from his coat zipper pocket.
“It was perfect, and it was totally us!” – Katy