Engagement Photos

Seriously where does the time go? 

I can't believe I haven't "blogged" in 3 months! 

What the heck!

A lot has happened :) 

Including these engagement photos of ours: 

And then it will be 7 months from now and we will be MARRIED!!

Love Trumps (Diary Post)

My closest friends and family know I am not the "sappy/gushy/lovie-dovie" person so writing this is way out of my comfort zone, which is why I'm giving it a go. 

I've been thinking a lot lately (with the whole engagement thing, ya know) about how much my life will change in the next year. 

And I love my life now! 

I really do. 

I love my job. 

Actually head over heels with the people, mission, and location.

I love my friends and family and being close to them. 

I love my gym and my group ex classes. 

With that said, I'm only half full. 

Ryan (my fiancé) is stationed in San Diego. Other side of the country, not to mention we're in different time zones. 

And this trumps everything. 

It's crazy to think about!

How one person has so much influence on your life (in a good way) and that after it's all said and done, I am willing to change everything about my life to be with him. 

Because I really am - and I really want to. 

It makes me think about our society and I guess just human nature in general. 

How finding that one person you want to share the rest of your life with (possibly) changes everything.. I guess we are on a different circumstance given the military relationship. 

But still, other people who meet and are working in different parts of the country or even the world!

How much would someone change their life to be with another person? 

And let me tell you... distance is hard. It sucks. 

Especially a long distance engagement. 

Ryan and I will be the first to tell you that.

It's kind of depressing going to locations alone (luckily I have my wonderful parents and 8 bridesmaids to drag along) **kiss emoji**

Does that mean I care about the other things in my life less? Not at all! 

But just knowing I will be sharing experiences from going to the grocery store to creating a family together makes me feel like nothing else matters. 

Am I crazy? Yes. 

Crazy about this guy.

Okay love rant/diary over for now.

xxx

SB BARRE Training

As my fitness freak self, I am always looking for new ways to 

feel the burn, 

get an awesome workout, 

and create a better me. 

And I think I've found it..

SB Barre classes. 

Omg. 

A mix of Pilates, Yoga, and the ballet Barre.

It's so awesome! And it seriously doesn't get easier.

The first 30 minutes of class is on the mat using a small Pilates ball, resistance band, sliding disks for your feet, and 2-4 pound weights. 

I know what you're thinking.. 2-4 pound weights?? Seriously? 

How puny right..

By the end of the class I had to actually set them down. 

Don't forget I am a Les Mills BODYPUMP® instructor!!

Both workouts are awesome and helps to create that overall fitness and muscle definition with resistance and weights.

Barre training is a completely different style of body training, using the tiniest muscles to really magnify the movement and sculpt your body.

Trust me, and get the tiny weights -

 you will feel the burn. 

The second half of the class, also 30 minutes, is at the ballet barre for thighs, hips/seat, and buns.

And ohhhh does it burn. 

My legs shake.. every class.

It's awesome :)

So, I decided to go through training with Soul Body Barre! 

Three days of training, all doing the workout about three times a day.

Holy. Sore.

By the end I think I could feel every muscle in my body screaming with one step.

Sounds like fun right?! :)

But now I will be guiding others on how to squeeze, tone, and feel the BURN :)

See ya there!

Our Story :) - oh and WE'RE ENGAGED

Our story starts even before our time. 

Both being Naval Academy graduates, our dads actually flew together in the NAVY. 

Our moms even worked together as teachers in the same school... weird, I know. Living in Pensacola together, our parents were friends and my parents even met newborn baby Ryan before I was in the picture (two years before). 

Growing up on opposite ends of the world, Hawaii for me and Maine for Ryan, we ended up in MD when we were both heading into high school. Fate continued to intervene when our families built houses right down the street from one another in Southern Maryland.

In middle school, (Ryan in high school) I would actually go over to the Dishman's house to play with Sydney and Ashlyn after school, unaware they even had an older brother.. LOL. When I started high school, Ryan being a junior with a car and driver's license, offered to drive me, a scrawny awkward freshman to school in the mornings. 

We didn't speak. No joke - silent car rides! 

Awkward.

Ryan graduated Leonardtown High School in 2008 and went on to play football and baseball at Peddie Prep School before heading to the Naval Academy. Ryan played baseball for the academy until undergoing a back injury. I went on to graduate high school in 2010 and then went to Wingate University in Charlotte, NC on a scholarship to play NCAA DII Women's Soccer. 

Christmas break of 2010, Ryan was a youngster (sophomore) and I had just begun my freshman year of college. Both of us were home for the holidays and Ryan saw my car parked in the driveway on his way home. After not talking for a few years, Ryan decided to text me out of the blue and see if I wanted to go out and run last minute errands and help him get a basketball. 

Perfectly normal right..?

Not really sure why, but I agreed and we went to Target and Kohl’s. We had our first car ride with conversation and Ryan invited me over to his house (across the street) to his family's Christmas party a "small get together." So I went and quickly found out it was their entire extended family who had traditions of Port & Cigars and toasting on the stump in front of everyone. You could say the Port definitely helped my toasts... 'Tis the season!

After Christmas break and the whole fam bam slam, we continued to keep in touch and visit each other as much as we could (being in Maryland and North Carolina). Ryan would make the 9 hour drives down to Wingate on a Friday night and back again to the Academy on Sunday. 

We started dating that April of 2011. 

My soccer passion dwindled and ended up realizing a small school away from my family was not my match. I transferred to Towson University in Baltimore in fall of 2012. Ryan and I were now only 45 minutes (30 with Ryan's Pontiac Solstice) away from each other and we spent almost every weekend together in Towson, Annapolis, and/or St. Mary's County. 

Soo much better than the distance.

Ryan graduated from the Naval Academy class of 2013 and became stationed in San Diego, CA the following fall as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO). I finished my senior year at Towson University and graduated with a Business Finance degree in May 2014.

We continued our long-distance relationship with the help of text, email, Facebook, and Skype - with the 3 hour time difference not helping. We went on vacation with Ryan's family to the beautiful islands of the Abacos in the Bahamas in August 2014 following Captain Dishman's 29 year retirement ceremony. 

Ryan proposed on the dock of Lubber Lee and I said yes!!! 

We were engaged on August 7, 2014 :)

 I cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams on 

July 18, 2015! :)

Paris Lookbook 7.5.14

 Paris with your best friend... check

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