Ashley was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended Parkway South High School, and then Saint Louis University. Her classmates at SLU affectionately called Ashley "Todd the Nomad" because she was rarely in the same spot, always wandering about from venue to venue, bar to bar, never really settling down anywhere. She earned a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing in May of 2006, and promptly began galavanting about the U.S.A. 

As a pediatric nurse, the world was hers to explore. First to Boston, Massachusetts, then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, followed by a brief stint in Dallas, Texas, and a slightly longer stay in Los Angeles, California,  including an extended vacation in Hawaii, before eventually returning to her hometown in October of 2009.

Life as a staff nurse at Saint Louis Children's Hospital was fairly routine for about 5 years, until the travel bug bit her again, and she found herself back in her favorite city not named St. Louis (Boston) in January of 2015. It was the time apart from Josh and the realization of what she had left behind that finally cemented what she had known since they first met over the exact same coffee in the Central West End during the summer of 2014. 

Six months and a new job later, and off she went to the booming metropolis of Oklahoma City to be closer to the love of her life.... and the rest, as the say, is history. 

Joshua was born in Belleville, Illinois and unlike everyone from St. Louis, he doesn't put much stock into where he went to high school.  However, once the awkward teenage years concluded, Josh attend The University of Illinois from 2001-2006 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering....aka Rocket Science!  After college, Josh followed in his mother’s footsteps and joined the United States Air Force, earning a commission as a 2nd LT from the Reserve Officer Training Corp. 

Over the next 8 years, he traveled the country and the world.  From Texas to Wyoming to Italy and Mississippi, Josh enjoyed a fulfilling career as an Air Force Officer but something always seemed lacking.  In 2014 he decided to leave the Air Force and start his search for "The One"!  Unbeknownst to him, she wasn’t very far from his childhood home.   

On a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon, he mustered up the courage to meet Ashley for a cup of coffee.  And then something amazing happened.  Josh is not one to believe in signs but after he ordered his cup of coffee he found out Ashley ordered the exact same vanilla fu-fu concoction.  

A few Cardinals baseball games passed over a dozen wine bottles were finished, and too many sushi rolls to count were consumed as he was falling in love with this wonderful woman.  But sometimes distance makes the heart grow founder.  Josh was hired with McKesson Corp and had to move to Oklahoma City for training and Ashley left for Boston for a 6 month stint at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. 

A couple thousand dollars in plane tickets later, he managed to convince Ashley to move to the booming metropolis of Oklahoma City to be near him to continue their journey together.  

Neither of them knows where this fantastic journey will take them.  But they are truly happy to be on it hand in hand and heart in heart!