Happy 6 months!

Rae and Ry

Today, Ryan and I have been married for 6 months. I wanted to share our story with you. I hope you enjoy reading our story!

How We Met
On January 10, 2011, Regan entered the library and met Ryan for the first time. Over time, Ryan would often stop and talk with Regan about interests and where life was leading her. Ryan was a little sad, because it sounded to him like this lovely young woman was going to be leaving the state in not too long and he'd never get the chance to really know her. Regan watched as Ryan interacted with the patrons. Ryan was patient and kind. Regan started to go to the library more often with hope that Ryan would be working.

 Taken by Beth Paulsen. Check out her blog, Playin' With The Paulsens, here to see more of her photographs!

In May 2011, one of the librarians told Ryan that he needed to "go get Regan's phone number and ask her out!" Ryan was unsure that this was possible and so he decided to "friend" Regan on Facebook. On August 24th, Ryan finally decided to ask Regan out. When Regan came into the library, Ryan asked Regan if she would like to go jet skiing with him. Regan agreed. The following Wednesday, Regan approached Ryan and greeted him. Ryan told Regan that jet skiing didn’t seem to be working out. Ryan asked Regan if she would like to hangout anyways. Ryan ask her for her phone number and received it.  Later that day, Ryan decided to step outside of his comfort zone by texting Regan. After some small talk, Regan didn’t know what to talk about so Regan asked Ryan if he preferred detailed or more shallow conversation. Ryan told Regan he liked detailed answers. Ryan found this to be an incredibly unusual question of an analytical nature. He HAD to date this woman and soon. Ryan asked if she wanted to go to lunch in 2 days. Regan said, "Yes."

Dating and Courtship

On their first date, the two talked for 4 hours and were surprisingly open and comfortable with one another. Their second date, just 3 days later, lasted 9 hours. Ryan admitted to Regan that he was interested in her. Regan laughed and told Ryan that she was interested in him too. Regan and Ryan spent much time talking on their dates. They went on walks, made meals together, went out to eat, and star gazed together. This continued until Ryan started talking about the idea of entering into a courtship together. Regan seemed to like this idea. Ryan set it up so that Regan would meet his parents, he would ask her father's permission and he bought a promise ring for Regan. Ryan’s parents loved Regan at once and Ryan’s mother even said that she knew that he would find a sweet girl, but she had no idea she would be this sweet and that he couldn’t have found anyone else like her. When Ryan told Regan that he had received her father's blessing, she thought that they were already in a courtship from that point on. On October 5th, 2011 (Regan's birthday), Ryan took Regan to CU in Waterloo. After dinner Ryan asked Regan if she would enter into a more serious relationship with him. Regan (and the waitress) thought he was proposing (since Regan already thought they were courting)! After clearing things up and having a good laugh, they had officially entered into a courtship with the intention of marrying some day.

Taken by Beth Paulsen. Check out her blog, Playin' With The Paulsens, here to see more of her photographs!

Proposal

On November 3rd, Ryan started looking online and researching rings. After looking through hundreds of designs, one stuck out and Ryan knew that it was the right ring. Ryan ordered it right away.  Ryan now needed the perfect way to propose and to make sure that it was a surprise. Ryan was trying to decide what day to propose on and joked to himself about making it the 17th because that is his favorite number. Ryan had the idea to look up when the next meteor shower, since the two had talked about wanting to watch one. A quick Google search revealed that the next meteor shower would be on the 17th of November!  Ryan obtained Regan's parents blessings and made sure that they were comfortable with him asking her and with the timing.

To throw Regan off the trail, since she knew that the day was coming soon, Ryan began on Wednesday buying her gifts and filming himself and her talking about their plans and thoughts. On Wednesday, Ryan bought Regan two board games. On Thursday, Regan went to Ryan’s home to eat lunch and play a game. Ryan gave Regan a dozen roses (He told her later that he had the ring behind the couch in case he couldn't wait for the next night to ask her).

Taken by Beth Paulsen. Check out her blog, Playin' With The Paulsens, here to see more of her photographs!

On Friday, Regan and Ryan had planned to see a meteor shower. Ryan picked Regan up at 11PM and there were three wrapped packages on the seat. Ryan told Regan that she could open them when they got to "The Land" (his parents have some land just outside of town). At "The Land" Ryan and Regan settled down to watch the meteor shower. The two watched the starsm talked together, enjoyed the peace and serenity, danced in the moonlight (until becoming too cold!) and opened gifts. The first gift was a food container (since she had been teasing Ryan for days about losing her’s). The second package contained the movies, It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas since Regan had told him she watched every year with her family on Christmas. The third package was a pair of diamond earrings which Ryan thoughtfully informed Regan was not a ring as she unwrapped it. At this point, Regan was sure she would not be getting engaged this night. Ryan then asked Regan to give some suggestions on film about the ring, about what kind of cut the diamond should be and what kind of band it should have... Regan wasn't sure what she liked so she didn't really have answers (which was good since he already had the ring). Ryan then asked Regan to stand up which she didn't think was suspicious at all for some reason, maybe she was too cold to think straight :) or maybe since he had already done that a bunch of times already, such as when he asked her to dance). Ryan got down on one knee and said, "Regan, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" Regan said, "Yes.”

Regan talking with her dad before walking down the aisle. Photo by Jacki Koch

The Wedding

One night, Ryan and Regan were talking and Ryan said he wanted to have a hypothetical conversation. Regan indulged him. Ryan said that they could be married by the weekend and then proceeded to step Regan through each hurdle that needed to be jumped prior to marriage, such as obtaining a marriage lisence, a minister, as well as a location.  Regan asked Ryan if he was serious and Ryan said that he would do it if he had any inclining that Regan would consider it. Regan said, "Let's do it". Regan and Ryan contacted their parents to ask for approval. Regan and Ryan decided to get married in Illinois so that Regan's father could attend.        

                                 

Bride and Groom with most of their family Photo by Jacki Koch

The next evening, Regan and Ryan were headed to Illinois for their marriage license. Ryan's father was able to obtain a minister's license. Regan's uncle offered to pay for the wedding at a Biaggi's restaurant. Regan and Ryan called their guests. After obtaining the marriage license, Regan and Ryan drove back to Iowa so that Regan could work her shifts. Regan worked an overnight shift from Saturday to Sunday and at 7AM on Sunday, Regan and Ryan left for Illinois with Ryan's parents.

Regan and Ryan said, "I do" at 6pm that evening.

Ryan and Regan after the wedding, posing for pictures. Photo by Bre Rottinghaus

 Our engagement photos were taken by our friend, Beth Paulsen. Check out her blog, Playin' With The Paulsens, here to see more of her photographs! Our wedding photos were taken by guests at our wedding, Bre Rottinghaus and Jacki Koch.