True Love Comes in the Most Unexpected Places

How I found my soulmate.

In 2013 I was a 25-year-old introverted homebody, working a full-time job and on a mission to become the fittest and strongest girl I could be. My life included getting up at 4 A.M. each weekday morning, going to the gym for my workout, coming home, getting ready for work, eating breakfast, and then it was off to work by 7:30 A.M.

I sat at a desk for eight hours a day, five days a week. After work, I would take my 25-minute drive home, relax, eat, and sometimes sneak out to my condo complex gym for a short second workout of the day (usually some quick cardio).

Anyone else hates machine cardio? It’s just so boring!

At about 7 in the evening I would start to get sleepy… you know, from waking up at 4 in the morning. I would have my nightcap snack of either some oatmeal (don’t forget the pop tart crumbled on top) or cereal and be fast asleep by 8 P.M.

So now that you know what my daily routine looked like back then, you can see why I never was able to meet many new people, especially guys I would be interested in dating. The only place I had a chance to meet new people was at the gym, but when I was there, I was focused and not looking to mingle. I was SERIOUS about my GAINS. If you know… you know.

It had crossed my mind months prior to join an online dating website, but then I quickly dismissed the thought, thinking there was no way I would meet my husband on one of those things.

Can you say… CATFISH?! No thanks!

One day I was relaxing in my room and the thought came to my mind again. I thought to myself, “I have to be considering this again for a reason.” I did some research on a couple of different dating websites and landed on Match.com. This was the best option for a girl like me since this girl wasn’t looking for no “booty call.”

I decided to sign up and give it a try even though doing something like this was completely out of my comfort zone. To be honest, I didn’t expect much and still thought all the guys on these dating sites were only after one thing and not long-term serious relationships… but hey, it’s worth a shot.

A few months had gone by and I started messaging back and forth with a few guys off and on. I went on a couple of dates with a couple of different guys, but nothing stuck long-term.

I found myself back in my bedroom scrolling this dating app, seeing if anyone new caught my eye. Back then, if I remember correctly when you find someone’s profile you are interested in you can “wink” or “like” their profile, and a notification would be sent to that person to let them know you were interested. You could go further and just message the person right away, but I didn’t like doing that.

As I was scrolling through all these guys’ profiles, I came across this one very handsome man, in particular, who REALLY caught my eye. He was tall, had an incredible smile, and I could tell he took his gym time seriously (his biceps were the first to pop out at me after his smile). I gave his profile a little “wink” and just left it there. I wanted to see if he was interested and might send me a message.

I believe it was that very next day that I went on the app and noticed that he had actually written me a message! He was interested! But now I needed to actually read the message and see if I was as attracted to his words as much as I was to his profile picture.

Most of the time that is not the case.

I wish I had saved a screenshot of that first message from him because I cannot recall exactly what it was that he said, but I specifically remember being STUNNED by his words. I could tell he was so intelligent and respectful. It shocked me because I was not at all expecting that! No other guy I had ever talked to impressed me that much with just a simple message of hello before. I knew I needed to see where this might lead.

We messaged back and forth for the next few days. Things were looking up! Our conversations came so easy and natural. It was refreshing, to say the least. He asked me if I wanted to go out with him, and I of course said yes.

We met up at a local Starbucks, grabbed some coffee, and walked across the street to a local university campus. We spent the next hours just talking and getting to know each other. It was very natural, nothing forced. He made me laugh and we had a great time!

That next week we went on a couple more dates, grabbing some food, and went to a movie. My birthday was the following week, so he took me to a nice dinner, we came back to my condo, ate some pop tarts for dessert (I was a bad influence), and watched our very first show together, The Big Bang Theory.

We could both tell this was something very special between us!

In the following days, he invited me over to his apartment to meet his mom. She was visiting him and would be leaving that next weekend. I went to his place that Friday night, met and visited with his mom, and had a nice dinner. I left his apartment that night, went back to my condo, and we started texting each other right away. He asked me if I would come back the following day when he got back from taking his mom to the airport.

We spent Saturday evening together, went home on Sunday, and as we were texting that Sunday night he asked me if I would come back that very next day… the rest is history.

We haven’t spent a night apart since.

We will be celebrating our five-year wedding anniversary this year (2021), we currently have our first child on the way and we couldn’t be happier.

It is true what they say…

Love comes where and when you least expect it.

I went outside my comfort zone but I stayed true to who I was and it paid off. I am glad I took the chance that day and signed up for Match.com because I met my soulmate and my best friend.

Here is our YouTube video, where we tell our story from both of our perspectives if you are interested. We really enjoyed sharing our story with you all!

Find Ashley Nicole on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, or by email: [email protected]