Wedding in the hat. By Nashville wedding photographer.

Ashley and Josh first met snowboarding in early 2008. Ashley was 18 and Josh was 24.  Josh’s younger sister Nicole, who was a co-worker of Ashley asked her if she wanted to go snowboarding at Sierra-at-Tahoe with some of her friends which included her brother Josh.  After that initial meeting Ashley and Josh got to know each other at work and through sports related activities.  Both worked for the El Dorado Hills Community Services District (EDHCSD) and shared similar interests which included skiing, swimming, basketball, hiking and flag football.     Shortly thereafter, Ashley assembled an adult flag football team and asked Josh to join it.  Their first public photo together was on May 17, 2009.   It was a photo of their team, “The Flying Squirrels”. 

The first official date was on February 14, 2010, Valentines Day.  It was a long and event-filled courtship that included several colleges and moves to multiple states.     Josh had already graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a degree in Finance while Ashley was completing community college requirements.  Ashley eventually graduated from the same University as Josh in 2014 with a Bachelors Degree in Kinesiology and set her sights set on attending the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, Tennessee to obtain a masters degree in Occupational Therapy.  During that time Josh was working two jobs, employed at the EDHCSD part time and Gekkeikan Sake in Folsom, full time.  Yet when it was time for Ashley to move to Tennessee, Josh made the decision to quit his jobs, leave his family and friends to help support his girlfriend’s dreams and ambition. 

While Ashley attended school, Josh not only found a job at Costco, but they also adopted a cat named Morris through their volunteering efforts at a local animal shelter. Shortly thereafter came another member of the family, a catahoula breed dog named Lola.  Both made life long friends and enjoyed the natural beauty of the Tennessee area.  Ashley continued to play flag football and Josh took up basketball.   After Ashley’s graduation in May, 2017 events began to happen at an alarmingly fast pace.   On July 3, 2017 Josh made a phone call to Frank, Ashley’s dad, to ask permission for Ashley’s hand in marriage.  After a long talk with Josh, Frank said yes as did Ashley (no surprise there)!  The grand proposal took place at the picturesque mountain background of Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. 

Soon after graduation, Ashley received several job offers and took a job in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Josh, Morris and Lola followed and all began the relocation process and the making of new friends.  Ashley found full time employment as an Occupational Therapist (O.T.) and Josh took a job at Chase Bank.  Ashley’s work environment proved to be not as desirable as expected so she found a job in Phoenix, Arizona in the same line of work.  Josh was able to transfer to Chase Bank in Phoenix and the family of 4 moved to Phoenix, where they currently reside.  They bought their first house in Phoenix and have spent many bonding hours making home improvements and getting to know the beauty of Phoenix and the surrounding areas.  

Josh and Ashley compliment each other in many ways, and both bring out the best in each other.  Through Josh, Ashley has become more outgoing and confident and Josh has become more understanding and able to take on more difficult life tasks with new found confidence and expertise.  They are both wonderful parents to Morris the cat and Lola the dog.  Their marriage on June 1, 2019, was part of a natural sequence of events that all the previous chapters were pointing to.  As Josh and Ashley enter into a new level of commitment, understanding and partnership, we wish them a long and happy marriage as husband and  wife.