Ryan and I met at camp. We were both counselors at Camp Goodtimes, the American Cancer Society's annual week-long summer camp for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings.
Ryan had emceed a fundraising event for the camp and was recruited to be a counselor. I had been an active volunteer with Relay For Life and had found my way to camp the year earlier. For several years I watched Ryan in his zany personality as "Coastie" working with the older boys. Ryan had selected his camp name because he was a Coast Guard reservist, and I had chosen "Bug" as my name for no other reason than I really wasn't that fond of the real thing, and it fit.
For three years we saw each other once or twice a year. We were always fans of one another, but the sparks really flew when we started dating in the summer of 2006. Ryan says it took me three years to take his flirting seriously, and I think it took me three years to take HIM seriously. He is a true personality!
It turned out that we both had successful professional lives, many similar interests and goals and fell in love very quickly. The next six months were a blur. He started law school, we crammed every minute together in that we could, and soon he moved to where I owned a home and we got engaged. Last summer we bought a house and moved North, closer to school and much of our social circle.
We were married in December. We had a beautiful ceremony and reception with close family and friends. We rang in the the new year as newlyweds then spent almost two weeks in Central America. We reluctantly returned to the cold and immediately prepared for the next big event in our lives, Ryan being deployed to Iraq.
He spent a long year away, but is now home and has completed two years of law school. We are enjoying our home, friends, family and spending time with our "kids" Bonnie and Clyde.
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