Sharing a Love Story ♥

Today I share with you a beautiful, young couple in love. So very in love! You'll read about how they met as well their future plans together. Love is powerful. Keep on spreading it ♥

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     * 

    

Nav: NavLand: Style, Tips, My Life

Ryan (my boyfriend/Fiancee) met at a university we attended 7 years ago. At the time, we were both dating other people. We had 2 classes together and I used to get pretty annoyed with him bec whenever the professors would ask questions, he was always eager to answer. Being the keener and nerd that I was, with him answering every question in class drove many students crazy, including myself.

Well we started talking once because I sat by him and asked him for his math textbook to check a question. He whispered something with his friend - he thought i was hitting on him. But I wasnt (we still disagree to this day) on that. As we got to hang out more and more into the semester, and having lockers in the same hallway helped lots to get to know each other. My goodness! Was I wrong? He was the nicest guy I had met in a LONG time. There was a mutual understanding between us that we got along, but it couldnt be more than that bec I was seeing someone else.

The guy I was dating at the time - cheated on me with my best girlfriend at the time. I was heart-broken. Lost a guy and my best friend with it. Ryan supported me throughout this hard time. I wanted to drop out of school, things were crazy at home bec my parents were mad (mainly my mom) at me that I dated a guy like him (Well I didnt know beforehand what him and my best friend was planning behind my back!) but Ryan mostly kept me on track. He constantly reminded me education is important and maybe things happened for a reason and that maybe I would meet someone better, little that I knew I would fall head over heels in love with this guy. I remember hanging out even more than usual at this point in time. We even studied together at the library after classes and friends had started commenting - if we were dating yet?

When school ended, I went back home over summer - 2 months to India and Ryan and I would e-mail each other every week and set phone dates but bec of the 12 hours time diffeernce, we only got to talk for 5 minutes once.Thats when we both knew that we were more than friends. We both told a mutual friend of ours - Tanya and she ofcourse told both of us seperately that we had liked each other. Well when I returned from India back to Canada, Ryan asked me out with a blue rose. Just so you know, I am a "blue-fanatic" annd had told him on randomnly once that I don't think I have seen a blue rose. Well, him and his grandma got together and searched in many flower stores to look for a blue rose. They found one and first day back to school, he asked me out. And guess what? I said no! and didnt even give him a hug. I didnt think my parents would EVER ACCEPT US! I thought about it for about 3 weeks and he had told me that he would date other girls if I couldnt make my mind. I remember thinking to myself - I dont know if this will work but I cant let him go either! It just felt so RIGHT to say yes!

I bit the bullet and said yes! We dated for 3 years - happiest days of my life. And I had Ryan coming over to my place sometimes to "drop off my textbooks" or as Ryan - the nice white guy from School come over for movies on a weekend - it felt like my parents liked him but that was all "as a friend". We also had his parents over for some East-Indian food for lunch. That all was part of the "Strategy" to introduce both sides. This was all nice, we had high hopes that it was time to tell my parents and we were hoping things might not be as worse. Well, were we wrong? The minute Ryan and his family came over to ask my hand for marriage (thats how its done traditionally in India), my dad didnt say yes or no. He said he needed time to think. My dad had asked me if it was possible for Ryan to get to learn some Punjabi - my native language. I talked to him and we said yes, he will learn it and I remember we spent all our summer evenings learning the language from youtube. God bless youtube! Luckily for us, the university he was doing his masters at, started offering Punjabi language classes and he enjoyed them immenself. He can make sentences now! He has come so far :) I am so proud of him!!

With all that was going on, the hard phase had started and I have to say it was (and still is) the HARDEST thing we went through as a family. Times were tough, I had to quit a great job that I had gotten into, Ryan was doing his masters and was super stressed out. My brother couldnt handle the stress at home and had dropped out of school. It was all a bad phase. I dont remember how many nights, I cried myself to sleep and felt guilty that everything was my fault. I would pray everyday to god to make this work. Some days, I just wanted to run away from home and end all the drama. But Ryan and I made committment to each other to make this work and do it the "right" way. We didn't want to run away and wanted to have their blessings and love. Ryan is my rock and always will be. I am very sensitive and emotional but he is very strategic and thinks from his brain. It makes us very different individual but works like magic as a couple!

Fast forward 2 years of this tough phase, Dad flew to India to talk to his extended family and introduced the idea of marrying into a different culture. I am such a PROUD daughter of my DADDY to take such a big step against his family wishes and support me! I owe him one for letting me choosing what's right for me and supporting me for it. I respect him so much, I dont have words how much I love him. My mom is having harder time accepting it, she is very traditional. And I try to accept that.

But the good news is - We are kind of planning an Indian wedding next year in Feb 2012 in India and then come back to Canada for a summer Canadian wedding. Nothing is set yet but things are in much better shape.

Thats my love story, crazy but we are so in love. I cannot wait to start to live our lives and grow old together and spend our 20's, 30's ...........and 80's, 90's together. Now I need your best wishes and prayers to make this work for us - come follow me along on my journey at my blog :)

 You can visit Nav at:

Blog

Chictopia

Twitter

All stories will be archived here. We would love to read your story so if you would like to share please visit for details ♥:

Sponsor Love: Lady M & Yeah, That's Macho and Tough

Hi Love is Everywhere Readers! It is lovely to meet you all! My name is Monique from blog Lady M!

I started my blog originally because I had a love of fashion and I wanted to make the most out of my wardrobe! I am a university student full-time so it is hard to be able to afford a large wardrobe, so I am slowly learning how to make the most of the wardrobe I already have!

 I would love for you to join me on my journey!

My Blog

Follow me on Twitter

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

 

*Do you have any features you created on your blog? Each Tuesday we have a Tutorial Tuesday.  We usually cover a fun, easy, and inexpensive craft.  Although, one day I locked myself out of my car so I gave a really lovely tutorial on how to do that.  I also have a Friday freebie called Happy Free-day that includes some sort of printable free for everyone to print off.  This last week was an inspirational printable that deals with one of my favorite quotes. 

*What do you want to do with your life, do you have a passion for something you’re working towards? I would love to be a stay-at-home-mommy-graphic-designer-web-developer; fighting diapers by day and fighting HTML by night.  I also would love to play soccer everyday and sell my jewelry in a cute little shop somewhere.   

*Is there something you do to ‘de-stress’? Normally I go for a run or Facebook and blog stalk people to no end.  Only one of those things is productive, can you guess which one? 

 

*Do you have a funny/embarrassing story you’d like to share? In the past month I have locked myself out of the car and my house three times.  I also have locked myself just out of the house like 2 other times.  I have become VERY good at crawling through my window. 

*What is a perfect day in your eyes? Everyday that I get to be with Husband is a GREAT day.  But, I must tell you that today was probably the most perfect day ever (I'm really glad that today happened so I could tell you what a perfect day is!).  It started off with a 5k that I ran and Husband took pictures at.  Then, we went to the farmers market to buy some super awesome raw honey, produce, jewelry, and other odds and ends.  We continued on to get breakfast and stopped by the animal shelter to play with the kitties.  Afterwards, I took a nap with my own kitties while Jared watched Dilbert.  Out to dinner we went for my mommio's bday and then home for some movie watching on the projector screen.  Seriously, I'm full of ice cream and sunshine, and today has been a day of unicorns and rainbows. 

 You can visit Cody at:

Blog: Macho and Tough

Etsy: Cdot Designs

Friends make a difference in our lives.

I wanted to take a step away from photos for this one post. I wanted to tell a story about how one choice can redirect your path in life. We all know that, a simple yes versus a no, or a left versus a right can change the rest of your life in a just one moment. Of all these choices we make, making a new friend does too.

When we were younger, there is always a small group of friends that we'll remember from our childhood. As the years pass, you not only grow out of your clothes, but you grow out of that group of friends. You no longer share the same interests and you just take off in different directions. It's natural, it's a part of life and yes it's always sad. However, when you step out of something you step right into something new.

I feel that throughout my life, I've stepped out of many groups of friends, which I've always kept in touch with. Now that I'm in my 'late' 20s I've found myself surrounded by an extraordinary group of friends that I feel confident that I will grow old with. They are spread out and I share different interests with them all and I love the friendships we have for those specific reasons.

There is one friend I wanted to write about today, Alisha. She's become one of my best friends over the past 4-5 years. Charlie and I have spent a great deal with her and her husband, Ryan. They recently had a beautiful baby, RJ who I've mentioned quite a bit recently. Ryan is a Marine and he's been stationed out west, in which this week they will be leaving. I find myself in tears for my own selfish reasons because we will not see them as much. I find myself in tears out of happiness as well.

I think back to the first time I met her in Elementary School. She went to a different school but we shared a common friend. I always saw her each year at our friend's birthday party. It wasn't though, until Jr. High I got to know her a little more. Our lockers were next to each other up until the point when we graduated, so we always said quick hellos in passing and smiled. I always felt strongly on how sweet of a person she was; however, we did not have a strong friendship as we spent time with different groups of friends. It was not until years back that we truly built our friendship.

It's strange yet amazing, in life how you can pass someone bye and you never would think that in 10-15 years from that point you two would be part of one another's lives. You never think that you'll be there as the other is getting married and giving a speech about the lovely couple. You never think that you'll be visiting the day the other gives birth to their first child. It never crosses your mind to think you'll experience some rough times in life and that person that you just say hello to as you get your books out of your locker, will be the friend to console you. Alisha has been that friend.

We've been trying to get in as much free time together as possible before she leaves. I think to myself everyday, what will I do without her? Then the waterworks come pouring out. But the truth is, we'll still keep in touch while they're gone for the next 3 years. Charlie and I look forward to visiting them. They will begin a new life out West and they are such a strong trio that things will work out beautifully for them. Even though there is distance between us, we know we'll still be apart of their lives.

Life is amazing and the choices we make, the directions it takes us is so worth while. I'm sure if you took a moment to think, you'll find yourself agreeing with me and perhaps right now someone came into your head that fits this story in a similar way. Everyone who is in your life or has left, was there for a reason. They played a special role to help you move forward with your life in some way. I'm looking forward to what the future brings but at this time I'm happy with living in the moment with these wonderful friends that I have. ♥

Do you see what I see?

Last week when I was walking around my yard I put this little picture together. I said that every week I'll try to find objects around me shaped like letters. I'm trying to prove that putting just a few little items together can create complete beauty and most of all L.O.V.E. So today all the effort I put into finding these?.. Well, I literally sat my butt on my couch with a glass of wine and looked around. Every one of these pictures was within the distance that my site could reach. I challenge each of you to do the same! ♥

L = The pretty grapevines that I bought at Big Lots that light up. They surround our doorway going into our kitchen. The picture require me to tilt my head but the letter was so clear :)
O = What else but my wine glass. Yummy...
V = Our front door is open and that is actually part of the railing going down our front steps.
E = My pretty curtains I spent a little too much money for, because in my eyes they were the perfect touch to completing our living room. This is part of the design embroidered throughout ♥

A Prom and a Blog Meetup = One Fine Day!

There are two great things that happened for me yesterday, that I felt the need they are mucho importante to share ♥

The first..
Timmy who is my cousin, but he's that cool and we're that close.. I call him my little brother, went to his Junior Prom yesterday. It's hard enough knowing he's 10 years younger than me and a whole foot (and then some) taller than me. To see him all dressed up, looking incredibly handsome with his beautiful date made me realize that yes, he's growing up now. I can't imagine what all you moms go through when your children hit milestones in their lives. My heart goes out to each and every one of you!

The second... We had officially our first CT Blogger Meetup last night.
We went to Olive Garden which I know at this very moment you're all thinking or perhaps saying out loud..."mmmmm..". Yes, everything was delicious and our bottles of wine were put to good use! We all discussed our blogs, how we began writing, who and what was our inspiration. We talked about things going on presently in our lives. I simply adore each one of these ladies that I had the honor of being apart of their company. It's a great feeling to know how one moment can change your life. Meeting them has changed my life ♥

These are the fabulous women I got to share wine, food, and tons of laughs with. You will love them too ♥

Kim from Book Worm Runs

Kat from Living Like Kings 

Emily from Life on Food 

Molly from MK and an MBA

Kari from Running Ricig

 We had this wonderful waitress Jenn, who took our photos. We explained that it was our first time meeting each other and when she brought the bill out to us, she included this cute little message:

Living it up on a new Saturday!

Welcome to the weekend! I've been keeping my excitement under control for the first CT Blogger Meet Up tonight, but now it's time to let it out! I cannot WAIT to meet all of these other beautiful bloggers. We're looking forward to a yummy dinner, delicious drinks and of course getting to know one another. I'll be bringing my camera with me to share with you our first event. For those who were unable to attend, we promise we'll be doing more ♥

My wish for you today is:

♥ try something new.

♥ say hello to a stranger as you pass bye and be sure to share your beautiful smile.

♥ spread your love.

♥ and most of all.. live.

Also, today Love is Everywhere is being featured at the one and only Shine Project. So head on over and visit the very beautiful Ashley. She's truly amazing and what she's taken on in her life by starting up the Shine Project is out of this world. Get ready to be inspired ♥

1,000 Followers

Today is quite an amazing day on all different levels. Let's just start with the Sun is out ♥ When I came home, you had to see my face when I looked at 1,000 followers. I never thought that Love is Everywhere would reach that many people. When I began writing my hope was to make a difference in just one life and that would comfort me. As time went on, I began receiving such amazing feedback how people love to see what is posted, because it makes them smile or it turns their days around. Just that alone is inspiring to me.

I thank you all so much for being apart of Love is Everywhere, for spreading the love in directions that are closer to you than me. For making choices in your lives that are best for you and no one else. For staying positive during tough times and looking at the bright side of things.

Thank you for being you. I love you all so much ♥

I'm sending you all tons of hugs & kisses, x's & o's, just know you are all such extraordinary people :)

With all my love,
Katie

Sponsor Love: Lily Love / Choosing to be Happy / A Little Bit of This & That

What is your favorite hobby? My favorite hobby would have to be writing. I absolutely love to write. So much of my life have been painted on the pages of my journal for the past 5 years. I either write poetry or short stories. It's a total stress reliever too!

What is your most embarrassing story? We were at a Hyatt here in Hawai'i and I hadn't really slept the night before and while I was walking back to our spot at the pool from the poolside restaurant, I fell (I'd like to say "sorta-fainted") in the middle of the path. Face first, with my chocolate yogurt planted in the gravel surrounding the plants that decorate the 5 star hotel's poolside. Did I mention that it was during the busiest time of the day? Yeah, imagine that. I'm so thankful my cousins and I can laugh about these days...

You can visit Che'Lyssa at:

Blog: Lily Love

Bloglovin: Lily Love

Twitter: @chelyssamae

Facebook: LilyLoveBlog 

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Hi everyone!

I am Chelsea,

From Choose to be Happy

And I am so happy to be here today!

I could easily tell you all about me.

But where’s the fun in that?

So today….

I present to you my own little version of “my favorite things”

Sound of music has nothing on me…

It’s obviously the best. ever

If you never had a childhood and therefore are unfamiliar with this sweet little classic here is the tune:

Road trips on weekends and sunshine on beaches

Sweet tasting cocktails and bright orange peaches

 Long conversations while eating like kings

These are a few of my favorite things

Sweet family outings and cute kissy poses

Game days in Crimson and smelling the roses

French toast with sugars, the full bellies it brings

These are a few of my favorite things

girls in formal dresses with no work day stresses

Sunshine and tanning with no inside messes

boyfriend throws a strike and the hitter cant swing

These are a few of my favorite things

When the weathers cold

When “last call” rings

When I’m feeling paleeeee

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don’t feel so bad

I would love for you to come visit me at Choose to be Happy so we can chat (sing?) some more :)

 
You can visit Chelsea at:
Blog

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Hello lovelies! I'm Michelle from a little bit of this & that and I'm so happy to be a sponsor for Love is Everywhere.  Katie is a sweetheart and I love reading her blog!

*When did you begin blogging and what inspired you? I began blogging just a mere four months ago in January.  I can happily say that blogging has changed my life!  It has been such an amazing experience and I've met so many wonderful people.  :)   I was inspired by others in the blog world!  Last year,  I began to notice a lot of baking blogs as I scoured the Internet for recipes (baking is another passion of mine) and started to follow them.  I thought that creating a blog would be a great creative outlet for me so I put "create a blog" on my bucket list.  When the new year began,  I knew it was the right time for me to cross it off my bucket list and get blogging! And here I am :)   

*Do you have any features you created on your blog? If so, tell us about them/it. I have a few features that I am very happy to share with all of you.  I love link ups!  When I began blogging, I starting linking up each week with other blogs and I met so many amazing bloggers that way.   I decided that I thought it would be fun to create a few link ups of my own.  

Last month,  I created two one-time link ups called Me on the Map and You Say It's Your Birthday.  Me on the Map was a link up where I asked bloggers to share where they live and highlight their town to allow readers to know more about where they come from.  In the You Say It's Your Birthday link up,  I asked bloggers to share their dream birthday or favorite birthday celebration with us.  Both link ups received such a great response that I'm trying to come up with a weekly link up!  Until then, I currently have a few series running on my blog. On Mondays,  I host a two-part dating series: Not Another Bad Date where I share bad dating stories sent in by bloggers (shared anonymously unless otherwise noted) and The Road to Finding Love where I share bloggers dating stories that have a happy ending.





I also co-host a series/soon-to-be link up called Tastes & Travels where we share food, fashion, and destination information as we virtually travel the world! It just started this month, I hope you'll come visit and travel the world with us :)  

*What is your favorite hobby and when did it begin? I love to write, take pictures, use photoshop programs, as well as cook and bake.   I couldn't just pick one hobby.  These are all my favorites and I have a few more that I enjoy as well.  I've always considered myself a creative person.  I always had interest in photography.  My camera has always come everywhere with me.   I've also always loved technology and was given my first computer in elementary school.  I began writing and using programs and have been hooked ever since!  As far as cooking and baking goes,  that is something that is new to me within the last year or so.  I love learning more and more each time I'm in the kitchen.  Blogging has quickly become another hobby of mine and I'm glad that I'm able to bring all of my other favorite hobbies into my blog.

*What do you want to do with your life, do you have a passion for something you’re working towards? My current passion is my job.  I am a teacher and am very lucky to love and adore my job and students!  I teach Special Education in an elementary school and my kids mean the absolutely world to me!  I couldn't imagine waking up each day to go to a different job.  

*Do you have advice for other bloggers who are just starting off? My advice to you would be to make your blog your own space.  Don't try to be follow anyone else's style .. just BE YOU!   Once you have created your blog, visit other blogs and leave comments... you'll be sure to make friends in no time!  
 

I love new friends!  You can find me here ...

Blog

Twitter

Facebook