As promised, this part of “my story” is going to talk about the past 1.5yrs of my life.
Our Story:
I left off with Chris + I getting married. Here is a little history of us…
We met our sophomore year at Ohio State through a mutual friend. We were pretty much inseparable after our first date [we went snowboarding!] Chris was a large part of my success in school. He kept me calm and confident. He reassured me when I thought I was doomed at my next architecture review. I think we have a great balance in our relationship and that is why we work. We both LOVE the outdoors and being active [among many other things], which let’s us share a lot of amazing experiences together. We do have our own likes + dislikes though. Chris is more into cycling, and I’m more into running. I like going on walks + painting, while Chris enjoys reading. We do both enjoy photography too, but different types [food + landscape]. I know I wouldn’t be as far + happy in my life if I didn’t have him by my side.
Chris asked me to marry him on our 4th year dating anniversary, in Charleston, SC. We were both 24 and the wedding was scheduled 1yr + 4 months later, after I was finished with grad school. We really tried to put our own creative spin on our wedding day.
Travis from Fuse Photographic took these photos. Travis + Laura normally shoot as a team, but Laura was in my wedding 
Honeymoon to Ireland = The most amazing trip ever
Desk Job For a Year:
I found a job at the end of that summer with an architecture firm in Charlotte, NC. The day I started working there, Chris was laid off. He is a civil engineer, which was a field that was quickly drying up quick in Charlotte. We had been wanting to move to Colorado for some time, so Chris started searching for jobs in NC and CO. I started searching for jobs in CO, while maintaining my job in Charlotte.
Later that winter [‘08] is when I started the ota.bar business, decided to run a 1/2 marathon and take my LEED AP test. Phew! Oh yeah, and I completed a design competition with Laura just for fun. I was busy to say the least!
Running:
I really started running in late summer of 2007. I have always worked out a lot but never enjoyed running, at all! Before this, I had run 1, 5k while at Ohio State. One day I just decided I was going to like running and soon after I actually did! I started out s.l.o.w. Even though I was in shape, I wasn’t in running shape! I literally couldn’t run more than 1/2 mile without stopping to walk. I would do 5min running, 5min walking for 30min or so to start off. I slowly increased the running and decreased the walking. I signed up for the Susan G. Komen 5k [in Charlotte] with a couple girls. We ran together a few times, which really helped keep up the motivation.
At this point, I still wasn’t sold on running. I remember completing the 5k and thinking it was SO far Well, after that, I continued running and upped my mileage to 4miles and then 5! I couldn’t believe my progress. [I run at about a 10min mile pace] So, in late winter of ‘08, I was thinking I would try running a 10k but I could already run 5 miles and didn’t think it would be a hard enough challenge. Half marathon anyone? I signed up and never looked back. I trained by myself and couldn’t believe my progress. Each Sunday I would run 1 mile further. I remember my mom was in town when I had to run my first 6 miler. She came to the park with me and walked while I ran and we met after I was done. I could NOT believe I ran 6 miles.
My parents came down from Ohio, for the race. Chris was there too and a bunch of friends met me at the finish line. I finished!! With no problems! What the heck!? Here I was, 8 months prior, running 5min + walking 5min. It is so much about mental stamina with these types of challenges. I hope to participate in more races in the future. I am not sure if I’ll be signing up for any marathons but you never know. For the past year or 2, I have had a sprint triathlon on my mind. The part that scares me the most is biking!!
To the West we go:
In the summer of 2009, we finally made the decision to just pack up and move to CO, with or without jobs. We loved Charlotte and loved our friends but knew it was time for a new adventure. We decided to move in early September and Pat + Natalie [Chris’s bro + wife] were kind enough to let us move in with them until we got on our feet.
It was a crazy summer with my full time job, the ota.bar business, and looking for new jobs in CO. We were unsuccessful with the later but moved out anyway. The past few years have been anything less than predictable, and we’re learning to be okay with that. We try not to get ahead of ourselves and take things one step at a time.
Photos, thanks to the always fabulous Fuse Photographic!
As always, thanks for stopping by!!
Ashley
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Oh my gosh, that’s so cool that you live in Colorado…I do too! Plus we have the same name
I live in Colorado Springs but now that I’m in college I’m up in Fort Collins. Isn’t Colorado the best? Anyways, you have so many amazing recipes that I’ve seen on other blogs so I’m glad I found yours so I could check them out!
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Ashley Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
You’re in Ft. Collins??? Meetup?
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Hey! I just stumbled on your blog from the Foodbuzz nominations (congrats by the way!). My husband, labradoodle, and I just moved to Boulder from NYC. We are loving Colorado (especially the weather)! If you plan a Meetup I’d love to join.
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Ashley Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 8:41 am
Thanks for saying hi Julie!! Welcome to Colorado!!
A meetup would be really fun…let me know if you’re ever headed up this way. I’m sure we can figure something out at some point!
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How exciting! I’m from Colorado as well (Boulder to be exact)! You’re blog looks awesome, I look forward to trying some of your recipes.
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Ashley Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 8:31 am
Thanks for saying hi Thao!!
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Hey! I just stumbled upon your website via Oh She Glows and your beer fries recipe! I love it all! I can’t believe you’re in CO, I wish I’d known sooner. A friend of mine and I drove across country from San Diego to NYC about 2 weeks ago, interviewing successful grads from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition- we’re both grads too- and feature their success stories on our website. One of our stops was Colorado and by far our FAVORITE spot. We would have loved to meet up with you and feature your story on our site! Would love to stay in touch and definitely be sharing your recipes with my clients
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Ashley Reply:
October 28th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Thanks for saying hi Kristina! Sounds like such a fun trip you were on. Sorry we missed each other!
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This is going to sound repetitive, but I’m down in Denver! It’s always fun to see CO bloggers, especially since I just recently started. I LOVE your photos.
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Ashley Reply:
November 8th, 2011 at 11:42 am
Thank you so much for saying hi Lena!!
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I found your blog tonight and love it! So so many things I relate to! My husband and I changed our diet after feeling over all unhealthy and reading the same books you mentioned…and watching Food Inc. then I found out I was gluten intolerant and that took the diet to a whole new level. Now we find it exciting to come up with recipies to make gluten free and healthy real food! I am also from MI and moved to Texas for our jobs. But after lots of long talks about not loving our jobs or lives in TX, we are moving to CO this summer!
So happy I found your blog tonight!
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Ashley Reply:
November 10th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Thanks so much for saying hi! Let me know when you’re moving to CO!
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Hi! I just found your blog- and was reading your “about” posts. I am SO JEALOUS that you and your hubby just packed up and moved to Colorado and took a chance. My husband and I literally ACHE to move there- we talk about it every day! We have a “5 year plan” to get out there- but I’d leave tomorrow if I could! We go to Colorado every summer (and he goes in the winter to ski) and even got engaged out there (in Frisco)in 2010.
Hope you are loving life out there!!
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Ashley Reply:
November 13th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Thanks for saying hi Lauren!! I’m glad you at least get out to CO once a year. I hope your 5 year plan works out!! All the best!!
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Hello there! just found your blog and just love it!! I vacationed in Colorado Springs this summer and fell in love with the state. I have also been looking for jobs there with no luck. Would you say the job market is pretty bleak in that area? It’s very frustrating to say the least, but i am really impressed you both just picked up and moved without having jobs first. good for you! Anywho, great recipes and can’t wait to read more!
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Ashley Reply:
November 13th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Thanks for saying hi Lisa! I’m so glad you enjoyed your time in Colorado. As far as the job market goes, it really depends what type of job you’re looking for. What I used to do, Architecture, is still quite slow, but other things are definitely picking up. Definitely a hard decision to pick up and move, but we just love it here!
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Ok, I’m in love with your couple photo down at the bottom there.I’m totally in search of something like that for myself. Very cute!
I’m a graphic designer so I totally understand the world of design chaos, late nights, ridicule, and desire for perfection! Healthy, good-for-you food is my escape from that world, where meals can be a hodge podge, thrown together, tasty but not perfect, and IT’S OK! (I will admit though I try to do better the next time around. It’s hard to escape that notion of perfection all together! )
Looking forward to diving into your blog!
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Ashley Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 9:24 am
Thanks for saying hi Amanda!!
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