We met through a common love of ours, Kickball. Yes, the “child’s” game with the big red ball
I was invited to join a competitive travel women’s kickball team and was so excited and nervous to try it. Being so competitive I just wanted to do a good job. At my first tournament in San Diego our team had a couple guy coaches, one caught my eye but that tournament just left off with me kicking a grand slam and meeting a bunch of new friends. Fast forward almost 9 months I find out through social media that Ryan and I have the same birthday! What a great excuse to write on his wall. :) Later that month we reconnected at another tournament in Atlanta, GA. That’s when we really hit it off! The very next day at the women’s tournament was when I broke my ankle. Ryan ran over and was so concerned, it was so kind! Living in different states seemed complicated but he checked on me so often during my recovery and even came out to help while I was still on crutches. The very next time I saw him after Atlanta, that was it for me! The rest is history.
I signed on to help coach a women’s kickball team that I hadn’t coached previously, but was familiar with or knew the majority of the players on the team. I’ve played travel kickball for a while and am usually familiar with most of the players and where their strengths lie, but there were a few, including Jordan, that I had never seen play before. Naturally, as any good coach would do, I tried getting a scouting report on the players I didn’t know. In this case, this meant me creeping their Facebook profiles and I’ll never forget taking an extra few minutes to admire a very pretty girl peeking out of the bushes.
At our first tournament in San Diego and I tried playing it cool around the cute girl. I did get to watch her kick a grand slam and was really impressed with her arm and her unique pitches that crossed the plate on the third bounce, which made it tough to kick. She was really good, and I had nothing really to coach her on, but still tried initiating some small talk with her. Overall, it was a good tournament, but I went back to Phoenix. We ended up seeing each other again several months later in Atlanta and major sparks flew for me once I saw and talked to her again. After dinner with her and some other kickball players, I was smitten. I told two of my friends that night, “I am going to marry her!” She was probably a long way off from that conclusion, but I had made up my mind. It took some time and some coaxing, but I’m glad we both ended up on that same decision. :)
With the help of his sister-in-law Melissa and brother Jordan, Ryan pulled off the most beautiful surprise engagement! I still get goosebumps thinking about it