Me and the Hubs.
Team Ashley came from very humble beginnings. John and I met at a bar in Bellingham, WA while I was attending school at Western Washington University. John and a friend boldly sent my friend and I a drink. Having recently turned 21 I had never been sent a drink before, and definitely not by such a handsome man. I went over and thanked them and my friend and I ended up talking to them the rest of the night. We ran into them again at an 80s night a few days later. Then we exchanged phone numbers and John soon called. He asked, "So... do you ever get hungry?" which led to our first day. We spent the next year and a half doing the long distance thing between Bellingham and Spokane (where John was going to school).
On February 7, 2009 John and I decided to spend the day in Mount Vernon. We went to Little Mountain Park (which has a beautiful view of the city), his great-grandparents gravesite, and were planning on seeing a movie at the Lincoln Theatre, a historic landmark (and also, where his grandmother used to go as a kid). John ran in to get tickets then we were going to go eat before the movie. He called me from the lobby and said they were giving tours of the historic building and suggested we do it. Well, not surprisingly, we were the only ones on the tour. We saw the dressing rooms, the old organs, and discussed the architecture of the theatre. During this enthralling tour the lights went dim in the auditorium and music started playing. I looked up on the screen to see a picture of John and I. He coolly suggested, "Well, I guess we should watch this" so we sat down in the theatre by ourselves and proceeded to watch a slideshow of our time together (complete with a theatre-screen size shot of me mooning him....). The end credits (all John of course) ended and the screen kept rolling until a few new words came up: "Will you marry me?"
The movie stopped and John got on his knee and gave some speech. I tried to hug him but he pushed me away so he could keep talking (typical), then showed me the ring. I don't really remember any of this, just like they say, but John said I took the ring and put it on my own hand. I was definitely doing an "ugly cry" because it caught me so off guard. We thanked the people that he worked with to make this happen (they came in early that day and did this all for free!!) and went on our merry way. We drove back up to Bellingham then went to dinner at Anthony's on the water. We ate at the bar because we're cheap and didn't even tell anyone we were engaged! Then we went to a restaurant my friend (who I was with when John and I met) worked and had dessert. She knew about it and freaked out when we came - and gave us free dessert! After that we all met up at the Ranch Room where we met. A month later I finished school! And 5 months later we were married! And a month later I got hired full-time! And 7 months later we bought a house!
On February 7, 2009 John and I decided to spend the day in Mount Vernon. We went to Little Mountain Park (which has a beautiful view of the city), his great-grandparents gravesite, and were planning on seeing a movie at the Lincoln Theatre, a historic landmark (and also, where his grandmother used to go as a kid). John ran in to get tickets then we were going to go eat before the movie. He called me from the lobby and said they were giving tours of the historic building and suggested we do it. Well, not surprisingly, we were the only ones on the tour. We saw the dressing rooms, the old organs, and discussed the architecture of the theatre. During this enthralling tour the lights went dim in the auditorium and music started playing. I looked up on the screen to see a picture of John and I. He coolly suggested, "Well, I guess we should watch this" so we sat down in the theatre by ourselves and proceeded to watch a slideshow of our time together (complete with a theatre-screen size shot of me mooning him....). The end credits (all John of course) ended and the screen kept rolling until a few new words came up: "Will you marry me?"
The movie stopped and John got on his knee and gave some speech. I tried to hug him but he pushed me away so he could keep talking (typical), then showed me the ring. I don't really remember any of this, just like they say, but John said I took the ring and put it on my own hand. I was definitely doing an "ugly cry" because it caught me so off guard. We thanked the people that he worked with to make this happen (they came in early that day and did this all for free!!) and went on our merry way. We drove back up to Bellingham then went to dinner at Anthony's on the water. We ate at the bar because we're cheap and didn't even tell anyone we were engaged! Then we went to a restaurant my friend (who I was with when John and I met) worked and had dessert. She knew about it and freaked out when we came - and gave us free dessert! After that we all met up at the Ranch Room where we met. A month later I finished school! And 5 months later we were married! And a month later I got hired full-time! And 7 months later we bought a house!
