How did the two of you meet?
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota I stopped at Wiley’s Tavern with my coworkers for a celebratory beer after a day of tax training. Another group of accountants, one of which was handsome, wearing a blue sweatshirt, and looked more like an outdoorsman than a tax accountant, joined us. He talked about a 12-person beer bike him and his group had rented for the next night. They had a few spots open, so a friend and I volunteered to go on the bike. Later that night, I ended up standing next to him while playing a game and learned his name was Adam from Colorado. We spent the evening having fun, talking, and laughing. While we were walking away, my friend said, “That guy you were talking to was pretty cute!” I just giggled and looked at that tall, handsome man smiling back at me. After classes the next day, we headed to the bar to join the group from Colorado and board the beer bike.
“Adam and I spent the evening laughing, flirting and dancing. When I got back to the hotel that night, I was on cloud nine with excitement!”
The weather had turned a bit chilly, so Adam kindly lent my friend his extra jacket for the evening. I tried flirting with Adam throughout the ride and afterward when we all ended back at Wiley’s Tavern. However, unlike the night before, he didn’t seem to want anything to do with that! I shrugged it off and figured I may have misinterpreted him. Later that evening at the hotel, I realized that I still had his jacket. Luckily, I had gotten his number when he sent me the picture of us all from the beer bike ride so I texted him to tell him I’d bring his jacket to him the next day. He responded with a sweet, funny, and flirty response—only confusing me more! That next evening was even colder and rainier than the first. I asked Adam if I could use his spare jacket and give it to him when the night was over. Later on, I approached him to give back the jacket and got roped into heading to get a drink. It was the last night of the tax training so off to Wiley’s we went. Adam and I spent the evening laughing, flirting and dancing. When I got back to the hotel that night, I was on cloud nine with excitement!
On Friday, we spent the morning finishing classes and all went out to lunch. On our walk through downtown Sioux Falls to the restaurant, Adam put his arm around me for a brief moment, and I felt butterflies. I remember thinking, “I may never see him again, and I don’t know what he’s thinking. But, I like this handsome, Texan turned Coloradan accountant!” At the airport, I knew we’d need to say our goodbyes. Yet the airline had a different plan! They put our seats in the same row on the plane from Sioux Falls to Denver. After a quick switch with the gentleman sitting between us, Adam and I had another hour and 45 minutes to spend together. After both dozing off through the majority of the flight, we said our awkward goodbyes. He said, “If you ever come to Colorado, hit me up.” I said, “Yeah, let me know if you ever come up to Montana, and I’ll be your tour guide.” As we began to disembark the plane, I looked back at Adam, smiled, and walked off the plane leaving him behind to collect his bag. I knew in that moment that I’d never see or talk to Adam again, so it wasn’t worth dragging out the goodbye. Little did I know just how wrong I was. Half an hour later the following texts were exchanged:
Adam: I was hoping to say bye but you were gone…
Ashley: Oh no! I’m sorry! I’m only two gates down from where we landed…
Adam: On man didn’t know that. We are already on our plane.
Ashley: Oh okay! Well I hope you have a safe flight! I had a lot of fun with you. You definitely made my first tax advantage memorable!
Adam: Haha I’m glad I could help. I had a lot of fun too. Hopefully I’ll see you soon!
Ashley: Now having never done this, do we keep in touch? Or just say goodbye?
Adam: I vote for the stay in touch option.
That’s exactly what we did. After thousands of texts and at least a hundred calls and video chats, Adam drove the 11 hours to Montana to see me again for the first time in nine months! After fighting back the butterflies, we both had an incredible three days. At one point, singing and driving up the Beartooth Pass into Wyoming, I looked over at Adam and thought, “I’m going to marry that man.” Over Thanksgiving, he asked my father to do just that.
In December, at the Midland International Air and Space Port, Adam held a sign reading “Ashley McGowen?” and asked me to marry him. (He’ll tell you he wasn’t nervous, but he was so nervous he put my ring on the wrong hand, then moved it to the right hand but the wrong finger before finally getting it right!) Of course, I said, “Yes!” A month later, I got a job working as an accountant for the City of Grand Junction and moved in the little yellow house on Rood Avenue that we now call home. Looking back, I recall a conversation with my best friend and roommate, Casey. I’d told her that I’d never date another accountant, that I’d never meet anyone through work, and that I’d never date a guy I met in a bar. On September 29, 2018, I’ll marry the accountant that I met through work at the bar, and I couldn’t be happier. God sure does have a sense of humor, and I’m certainly glad he does!
Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
I was headed to meet his family for the first time in Texas. When I arrived and walked out of security, Adam was there with a sign that simply said, “Ashley McGowen?” His parents were there too!
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
Dress shopping! If you go into it wanting to have fun with your girlfriends and try on pretty dresses, you’ll love it.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
I can’t lie and say that it hasn’t been a stressful process. We’ve learned that we need to focus on those few things that are truly important to us and the rest will fall into place one way or another. As Adam always says, “Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations.”
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
The website builder is easy to use, has every feature we need, and looks like a perfectly put together website!
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Take time to determine what information you want to get out to people before you sit down and build your site. Then when building it, you’ll know exactly what to focus on.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
I’m marrying the love of my life. Although there will be challenges, I know that we’ll always be able to find joy in our life together!
