Ryan likes adventure, taking risks and just became the youngest World Champion of Public Speaking in history. Chelsea likes stability, smaller risks (like trying something different on a menu) and being outside. We met in 2007 at a friend’s birthday party where we laughed solidly for 5 hours straight.
We spent the next 37 days getting to know each other before Ryan was off on a 7 month journey which included Washington, D.C., Italy and the Czech Republic. From the beginning, we had a unique connection and a comfort level that neither of us had experienced before. We decided to give the long-distance relationship a shot. It was an interesting way to start out our relationship because it relied heavily on communication and math (to figure out the time difference). We wrote letters (Ryan gets the award for writing to Chelsea every single day while abroad), talked on the phone and used web cams to get to know each other. It literally forced us to figure out how one another communicates and how to adapt our own styles.
Ryan returned to Colorado, got his appendix removed and we became inseparable. While being apart for that long helped us establish our communication style and appreciate being in the same time zone-it also gave us some separation anxiety. It makes us nervous to be apart for too long too often. We wrapped up college, moved to Portland, Oregon, (flew back to Colorado to make it official September 3, 2010) and we are learning life lessons together through the journey of life!
Our plan for #success is as follows:
LIVE a healthy and happy life
GIVE 10% to good causes
SAVE for tomorrow
TRAVEL to see what else is out there
Now that we live in Portland, we get overly excited about sunshine and brunch. Ryan loves his job as Director of Marketing and Communications and Chelsea is a social worker.
August 1, 2012 - 7:34 am
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January 23, 2013 - 5:41 pm
Congrats on your speaking achievements! Great job! I just started Toastmasters last night, awesome organization. Here’s to your future success…
January 23, 2013 - 5:54 pm
Thank you Brian. Welcome to the Toastmaster family :)