Ashley Layton: [00:00:00] A pilot is now like holding this sign and it says, will you marry me? And I have no idea. So like, there’s funny photos, you know, I can’t, I don’t even know where they are now, but of me still posing, just oblivious that the sign’s right next to me and says, will you marry me? And, and Josh is looking at me like, are you gonna look?

Yeah. Like,

Josh Layton: I’m like, are you gonna look at this? Like, what’s go? And then it was the photographer that said, Hey, yeah, what’s that? Yeah. What’s, what’s this over here? Like that. And so

Ashley Layton: I look over and then of course he gets down on me and he’s holding the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. And I’m just like, you have to be kidding me.

Like this is really, I, I, I think I asked you, are you serious

Dawn Pruszkowski: love stories fill us with joy and inspire hope for the future. And a true life romance can remind us that sometimes just one spark is all it takes to change everything.[00:01:00]

She kept him in the friend zone for years and tried to ignore the spark that was burning, but he took his time and tenderly nurtured it into a flame. Welcome to Unexpected Love Stories. I’m your host, Don Kowski. Our guests today are so precious. Josh and Ashley Leighton are originally from Washington State, but now they live in southern Utah with their two daughters.

Josh is an amazing recruiter and Ashley is such a creative entrepreneur. They love family adventures into nature with their VW bus that Josh restored and renovated into a camper, and you’ll love their story of faith, family, and a love that just continues to grow stronger over time. Hi guys. How you doing?

Hi. Hey, what’s up? So glad to be here. I’m so glad you’re here too. Oh, I can’t wait to hear this story. I think it’s something that everyone needs to hear. It’s been an eventful one.

Josh Layton: You sure Teed us up Well,

Dawn Pruszkowski: yeah. I love it. [00:02:00] Alright, well let’s start with how you two met. How’d you become friends? What were you doing?

Okay,

Ashley Layton: I’ll start this one.

Josh Layton: Yeah, go for it. Um,

Ashley Layton: we, so after some college, uh, in northern Nevada in the Reno Tahoe area, I moved back to Washington where I was originally born and pursued a little bit of college, decided to go to beauty school, and I met this girl, Heather. Uh, Heather became one of my very best friends.

Um, we just clicked. She was an esthetician. We worked at a day spa together and Josh and Heather had gone to high school together. Um, and so when I moved back to Washington, I have a lot of family there. It was fun. You know, I was young. I was in my early twenties and. I hung out with my cousins. We were all the same age, and I became friends with all of their friends, but Heather was like my special friend.

Mm-hmm. Like my friend that wasn’t family. Um, and so we ran in a great circle. We had [00:03:00] tons of friends, guys and girls, and we loved to go out Karaoking on the weekends and barhop and just kind of paint the town. It was the prime of our, my life, I’ll say that. Um, living on my own, living with some family. And Josh and I ran in the same circle.

Um, but it’s funny because we were friends for a good two and a half years, um, before anything changed and no offense, but I never thought twice about you in any romantic way. It was, I didn’t

Josh Layton: either. Yeah. It just didn’t.

Ashley Layton: It was casual. Um, I’d see him out one. I am five foot eight, almost five foot nine curvy blonde hair.

At the time I had red hair. Um, I’m a hairdresser, so I changed my hair often. Um, but all the, the women I would see him out with were short, very big chested, tiny little things with long brown hair. Like totally. I, I don’t know that I, maybe I wasn’t, didn’t think about him romantically, [00:04:00] but I just, I didn’t, but I also didn’t think I was even his type.

Um, so we were casual. We’d see each other out. Um, but I’ve always really been into snowboarding and turns out he was too. Um, I knew he was kind of an outdoorsy guy. Uh, just based on the company we kept, you know, we all had a lot in common. Um, we did sing on stage at a karaoke bar one night, like while I was dating another guy he knew, um, like totally.

Platonic not interested, just had fun. But I knew he was a good time. Um, and he was trustworthy. You know, he, he went to school with my friend Heather. They were like besties. And so when I had posted on social media that I wanted to go snowboarding, if anyone was going and wanted to join me, he was the first to chime in.

And he said, well, hey, I’m already going tomorrow, randomly, and, uh, but I’m going to a different mountain, you know, if you wanna tag along with me and my friends, like, the invite [00:05:00] is open. And I like, didn’t hesitate at all. I was like, okay. Like, that’d be cool. You know, I, I don’t have anyone in Washington that I got to go snowboarding with.

It wasn’t something that I did there. I did it in college all the time, but I really wanted to start doing it in Washington. They have great mountains there and I knew he liked that and so I was like, sure, I’ll come. So what, you picked me up at my dad’s, I think that night.

Josh Layton: Yeah. This is the first time we, we hung out kind of one on one.

Ever because we’ve always been in the, uh, the group sort of setting.

Ashley Layton: Yeah.

Josh Layton: So, um, yeah,

Ashley Layton: I remember being a little nervous just because we were going to hang out with his friends who I had never met before. And one of them happened to be a girl. We were going to a girl’s house and I’m like, oh, great. Like, this is one of Josh’s, like girlfriend bimbo, like, no offense, but like, I was just so, I was a little nervous, but we went up, it was an hour and a half drive.

We had fun. It was like casual, easy. We woke up the next morning, went snowboarding, drove [00:06:00] another hour and a half to get there. So it was a three hour drive in total and we got to kind of know each other in the car. Um, it was easy. It was always easy to be around Josh. Um, we had really good conversation.

We were both really into music too, and had a lot of just like parallels in life. And I was like, okay. Like Josh is fun. No wonder everyone likes Josh. Um, and we went on the mountain and. I was a pretty good snowboarder. I don’t mean to toot my own home horn, but I really like, enjoy the sport. And I think you were impressed a little.

I felt like there was maybe a little flirting. Yeah, no, there was,

Josh Layton: there was definitely a little spark there for me. ’cause um, you know, I’ve had my fair share of just, you know, dating girls off and on and that’s always been a passion of mine is snowboarding, but I’ve never had anybody close to really being on my level, like being able to kind of keep up and she totally could.

So I was like, well this is kind of cool, like having, you [00:07:00] know, uh, having a girlfriend, you know, in quotes, uh, that, that can, you know, keep up with me. So that was, um, I would say that was probably the first little spark for me at least. Not fully like, engaged in like, oh, I’m ready to date. But I was little bit of a turn on for me.

I was like, oh, this is, that’s attractive to me, you know? And, uh,

Ashley Layton: I think I even remember you like throwing a snowball at me. Like, I was like, are we flirting? Like, what is happening? I don’t even know what’s happening.

Josh Layton: But it

Ashley Layton: wasn’t anything to like question at that point. Um, and so we rode all day. We had a lot of fun.

His friends were great, and then we decided we weren’t staying the night at his friends on the way back. We were gonna drive back to the Tacoma area. Um, and it was gonna be just over three hours. And so it was a long drive home. Um, we were both exhausted, tired, but like we really got into deep conversations.

That’s the first time I ever remember like, getting to really know you. Um, and we like completely bonded over songs. I think we [00:08:00] each got even emotional at one point,

Josh Layton: like mm-hmm.

Ashley Layton: We learned, we had both been engaged before we had, had failed relationships. Um, we both had been single for about three years at that point.

Um, struggled to kind of find that person that we felt was willing to give the same effort that we had in our past relationships. Um, we were, we shared, I think we were both open and ready to meet someone, but it just like had to make sense. Mm-hmm. Um,

Josh Layton: yeah. And even really at that time, I still wasn’t thinking like girlfriend material.

Mm-hmm. I was thinking this is a really cool girl. And, um, and, and a little backstory on that. I, um, you know, I’ve had a lot of just platonic girlfriends over the years that are just friends of mine, like truly just friends of mine. And of course. Know, I, I would, I would date somebody and they would meet a few girlfriends and they always thought it was just a little bit odd.

They’re like, [00:09:00] man, you have a lot of girlfriends. And I’m a lot of friends. I just friends

that are girls, a

lot of them I grew up with. I really did a lot of ’em. I grew up with some of ’em. Uh, um, you know, we might dive into it a little bit later, but, you know, I’ve, I’ve always felt like I’ve needed to be a, a protector, um, to a lot of women in, in my life that I care about deeply.

Um, and so I always kind of felt like I needed to be, uh, more of a, you know, a brother figure to a lot of the girlfriends that, uh, you know, that I’ve been around most of my life. And it’s funny, they would always call me and say, I’m gonna, I’m dating this guy. What do you think? And so they’d always kind of call me for advice.

And, um, so yeah, maybe a little bit different than an atypical guy where there may be red flags from a woman where it’s like, oh man, he’s got a lot of girlfriends. Maybe he’s a womanizer or a player, or something. It’s never really been my mo I wasn’t a serial dater, I wasn’t a, you know, I wasn’t a cheater.

I wasn’t somebody that [00:10:00] was, you know, out for the one night stands. That was never my thing. Um, when I was interested in somebody, uh, it, it, you know, it lasted a long time. And then when it didn’t, you know, uh, it, it’s, you know, organically that the next one would happen and, but it was never seeking, you know, lust or, you know, just like I said, the whole one night stand sort of thing.

Calm, cool,

Ashley Layton: and collected. That was Josh’s mo.

Josh Layton: Yeah. But anyway, we,

Ashley Layton: we drove, um, drove home and I just remember kind of ending the night with like, I am so tired. I just wanna like, go home and order a pizza and crash. Like, I need my bed like now. And he was like, well, that sounds good, you know, do you wanna come over and have pizza and watch a movie?

And I was like, thank you for the invite. But no, like, I don’t, like I need to go to bed and. So we went our separate ways. He dropped me off and over the next, like, we obviously had exchanged numbers at that point. Um, and over the next like week or two, he [00:11:00] invited me over a few times and I’d say yes, not really thinking too much into it.

Again, a little, little questionable, like, did we have fun? Like, is this gonna happen? Turn into something, or again, are we just like gonna see where this friendship goes? You know, now that we’re friends. Um, and for some reason, every time that it was time to either go or follow through with the plans, I would cancel.

Like I, that was so not like me, but I just found myself canceling. Every time, like a handful of times. I think what went on for like three weeks of just like, yeah,

Josh Layton: I’d say probably, honestly probably four or five cancellations.

Ashley Layton: Yeah. Really. And leading literally up to maybe like 20 minutes before I’m supposed to be there.

I would just like, oh yeah, there was a few that was

Josh Layton: right. Like Right. She’s about to show up. Oh, I can’t make it. Like, oh, I can’t make it. Sorry. Was was that on

Dawn Pruszkowski: purpose, Ashley, or was that like legit? I, oh, something came up.

Ashley Layton: Oh no, it was in, [00:12:00] it was on, it was both. I just, I started to get a little in my head and I don’t even know what it was.

I just like had this weird feeling where like, I just kind of was like, what’s, what’s happening? Like I don’t, I don’t know what I want. And it didn’t feel right in that moment. I’ll just say that. But I was nervous. I think I was very nervous. Um, and so we stopped calling and a few more weeks went by and I was like, okay, whatever.

It is what it is. Um. I worked in at a spa up in this town called Bonnie Lake, and I had to drive through Pew Wallop, which was where he lived, to get back to Tacoma where I lived. It was about a 40 minute drive, and I got off early one day and I text him and just said, Hey, uh, any chance you’re up for a movie tonight?

I am getting off early. And his exact words right back were like, yeah, as long as you’re not gonna be a flake, as long as you’re not [00:13:00] gonna flake out on me. And I was like, okay, man. Yep. Call me out. I will be there in 30 minutes. And I remember I showed up there and it was easy, it was friendly. We watched a movie.

He didn’t touch me, he didn’t hardly even hug me. Like there was zero flirting. Zero flirting. And I was like. I remember leaving there that night thinking, Ashley, you are so dumb. Like you got so nervous about nothing. You’re just another friend that’s a girl in Josh’s life. Like there was nothing there. I don’t know what you thought, you thought was sparking or whatever.

And I went home. I’m kind of relieved, but like laughing more so laughing, making fun of myself. And then within an hour I got a text. Do you remember what the text said?

Josh Layton: I had fun tonight. Um, hope to see you again soon. Yeah, I’d love to. I’d love to take you to dinner sometime. Take you to dinner or something.

So, yeah, I mean, even for me, [00:14:00] the, you know, the first night of hanging out and even all of the, the buildup, um, I guess leading up to the first time hanging out, I still had no idea what I wanted either. Um, all I know is I had fun with her. And that was about it. I mean, it wasn’t much deeper for me, it was just more of a curiosity thing.

Um, you know, and, and again, with me having, having girlfriends, you know, that are just girlfriends, um, I wanted to see, is this just a girlfriend or could this turn into something? And, and really deep down, for me at least, I was okay with either one because I had

same,

such a, uh, a good time with her. And so that kind of led to, I would say the next couple months, a couple months of figuring out like, what is [00:15:00] this?

All I know in my own words, and I’ve said this from day one, is, uh, it didn’t make any sense even to me. I know it didn’t make sense to her. It didn’t make sense to me, but all I know. I wanted was to be around her. Like I, I just wanted to be around her. I didn’t know what that meant. I was confused. I was like, okay, am I really into her or is this just another close friend?

Yeah. I don’t know. But all I know is I want to be around her. And it, it was

Ashley Layton: very slow though. It was, I’ll say for me, it was probably the slowest start of any relationship I’ve ever had. Um,

Josh Layton: same for me. We, it really was. We,

Ashley Layton: it was annoyingly slow for me. I like, well, I’ll tell one story. Okay. We, we kept, we’d go out.

So we started like going out with our same group of friends, but we started showing up together and no one ever really said [00:16:00] anything. No one asked, you know, they just, people knew, like Ashley and Josh are arriving together. It was kind of this unsaid thing. And, um. Honestly, like I was spending probably four or five days a week with you, like between either daytime hanging out or a casual, you know, spend the night here and there.

We were not intimate, we hardly kissed, but like, I would sleep over, like we would, you know, snuggle and cuddle, but it was not physical like intimacy at all. Um, and I was so used to every guy I’ve ever dated. It was like hot, fast, furious, like not always probably healthy in my spiritual world. You know, my, my like faith, but like that’s, I was used to men wanting me, desiring me, and, and Josh was very slow.

Um. We’d go out and like, we’d be sitting next to each other and Josh grew up in Tacoma. I didn’t, and I grew up in Las Vegas. And so girls, people would come up to him all the time when we’re out and about and he would [00:17:00] start talking and never introduce me. Like I wasn’t used to that, you know? And, and I’m like, okay, we’re three months in at this point.

You don’t even in introduce me to anyone. I didn’t feel we had never had the talk.

Josh Layton: Mm-hmm.

Ashley Layton: I’m like, I’m not his girlfriend, but I know we’re seeing each other. Like, I’m ready to either take that next step or like, we gotta figure this out. Because at this stage of hanging out, I’m like, we’re either gonna ruin our friendship because like, I’ve caught feelings and I, and I don’t know where you’re at.

Or we just need to call this just friends and be friends and not make this weird, like either all in or not. And he just kept saying things like, well, I’m just not on the same page. I’m just not sure. And I was like. That’s crap, you know? So there was one night we went out to, um, listen to some live music and he’s sitting at the table with the rest of the guy friends that we were there with.

And a girl walks up and same thing happened. I wasn’t introduced. It was a little bit of a trigger for me and I. I went and stood [00:18:00] away about 20 feet away and started listening to the music. And a gentleman came up and started talking to me, and I knew exactly what I was doing. I batted my eyes and smiled and just had a, a nice conversation.

This guy actually, you know, we studied the same thing in college. We had a lot in common and he asked for my number and I gave it to him and Josh watched the whole thing. And I was, I guess, playing a little bit of a game, but I’m like, you know what? If you can’t figure it out, then like, I’m gonna open my options.

It’s like, ’cause I know what I was worth. Yeah,

Dawn Pruszkowski: it’s like a chest, like your chest move kind of a little bit. I had

Ashley Layton: to play a move a little bit just to get a little fire risen outta him. He was so calm and cool all the time, you know? And, um,

Josh Layton: and that was smart. I mean, it

was, it was for her to do that because,

Ashley Layton: so yeah, you came up and you’re like, who’s this

Josh Layton: fired me up?

Like I walked right over and I’m like, who’s friend? Like, Hey, what’s going on? Like, who’s this guy? And, um, and that was really, I would say the turning

point.

The, it was the [00:19:00] turning point where, um, I’m like, okay, based on my reaction, uh, I’m a little bit of an over analyzer. Um, based on my reaction, I’m like, okay, there’s definitely feelings here of more than just, Hey, this is Ash, my friend.

Ashley Layton: Yeah.

Josh Layton: And, um, and it’s, you know, it’s sad that it had to come that way, but that’s a part of the story, I guess. Right? Yeah. So it’s, um, I’m glad it did. I mean, that was probably, uh, one of the best nights funny enough ever because it led us to, you know, um, something more than whatever we were at the time.

Ashley Layton: Mm-hmm. It brought up conversations that we hadn’t had yet.

Josh Layton: Yeah.

Ashley Layton: In a fighting scenario. I mean, we’ve never really yelled and fought, but like it allowed us to ask each other those questions. Like, what are we doing? What is this? Um, I’m ready for more. If you’re not, then I’m okay walking away. ’cause I also know what I’m worth.

You know, I, I said those words to him like, I, I value me. And if you don’t [00:20:00] in this way, then that’s okay. But like, I choose you. I don’t need you. Um, I remember saying that to you, like, I don’t need to be with you. I want to be with you, but if you don’t reciprocate that, then, then let’s just be friends. And there was a lot of other things happening in my life at the time.

Um, you know, I have a father that battles some addiction and, uh, living situations, life was kind of not very healthy for me at that point. Um, and we had a moment where we kind of like, again, this wishy washiness, one foot in, one foot out. Like we kind of called it quits for a hot second. For like two weeks kind of thing, where it’s just like, you need to figure it out because I’m over it.

Like, I’m ready to be with you and, and I’m sick of waiting for you to get on the same page as me. Like I’m moving on. And um, I think like within two to three weeks you invited me over. He said, I love you. We said, I love you. We went out with friends. I said it first actually, but, and he asked me to [00:21:00] move in like all within the same week.

So life from there kind of really started to I think move quicker. Um, I had never said, I love you to a guy first. We were out dancing and it just kind of slipped outta my mouth and I was like, oh crap. Oh. And he kind of laughed at me and he is like, I love you too. It was like, so not romantic, but it was, I was like, oh, dang it.

Like I just, I couldn’t hold it, hold it in anymore. Um, and then we moved in together and three months after that we moved to Las Vegas on a whim. Yeah.

Josh Layton: I mean, it was

Ashley Layton: to be near my family.

Josh Layton: Yeah. We went, we went from like, you know, what the heck are we for four months to wham bam, new state, moving in, new life.

All within a matter of a couple months after we said, you know, said essentially, yes, we’re in. I do.

Ashley Layton: Yeah.

Josh Layton: And, uh,

Ashley Layton: he was up for an adventure. I was kind of in a sense coming home. I grew up in the Las Vegas Valley area with, um, my immediate family. My [00:22:00] mom and my siblings were still living there at the time, and I have a sister with heart disease.

Um, and so it had been about nine years between Reno for college and then back in Washington and dating him. And, um, the life we had kind of made in Washington when my sister had to have, um, a major procedure done on her heart. And it kind of put into perspective for me how much I really missed. I was homesick.

I missed my siblings. And he was like, let’s move. And I was like, wait, what? Like, huh? Like, we’re not even solid like we are so not, we’re not close to being engaged. We’re like, I’m like, we are barely actually now committed to each other. And he is like, let’s go. He’s like, what do we have to lose? The worst that happens is we end up right back here.

It’s on,

Dawn Pruszkowski: you’re in Vegas? Mm-hmm. Brand new life.

Josh Layton: Mm-hmm.

Dawn Pruszkowski: Um, growing together. When did the proposal happen and how did it happen?

Ashley Layton: So I’d say about two years in.

Josh Layton: Mm-hmm.

Ashley Layton: We both had gotten [00:23:00] established, had good careers, had a lot of fun. Um, we had had some har some conversations. I felt like my clock again was ticking as a woman.

I never wanted to give an ultimatum or whatever, but. I came from a family of four divorces. My mom has been married four times or three divorces. My mom’s been married four times, so I didn’t really have the best, um, example. And he came from a totally opposite life. His mom and dad have been together, were together 43 years, but never married.

And so at this point we had been together close to three and a half, four years total. Mm-hmm. And no, not that long. Two and a half, three years, like

Josh Layton: two, two and a half.

Ashley Layton: And I’m like, okay, marriage is something I desperately want. Like I want to be a wife someday. Um, I, I, I see that life for me. I want a family.

I want the same last name as my future kids. [00:24:00] Um, and we hadn’t had that conversation before and I knew that his belief on marriage was slightly different than mine just because of his upbringing. You know, he didn’t see the importance of it. Um, it was just a piece of paper to him at first, and. That was kind of frustrating.

But I also knew my conviction. I’m like, Hey, I love you and I love the life we’re building, but like, that’s a non-negotiable for me. And I knew that. So like, are you at least open to the possibility of that? Because if not, then like, what are we doing? Um, and he was like, yes, I’m open. And I was like, okay.

And that was kind of where that conversation stopped. I didn’t wanna poke, I didn’t wanna push obviously like I want, I want my future husband to want to marry me, not me. Push them to marry me. Um, and so life kept going. And why don’t you talk about leading up to that? Because you were the one that was doing it all.

Yeah, yeah.

Josh Layton: Um, yeah, I, I’d always been open to marriage ’cause I was previously [00:25:00] engaged. Um, but I would say the, uh, the lead up to this, um, of course there’s a little PTSD, right? ’cause it’s like you don’t want to do that again, right? You don’t want to have to go through that again. And that’s my own insecurities.

Um, but yeah, when I, when I would say I was starting to get really serious about it, um,

Ashley Layton: you always say you just woke up one day?

Josh Layton: Uh, yeah, I would say woke up one day for that and, and for children, which we’ll go into that one too later. But, um, yeah, it’s, uh, I, I would say most of my life, some of my larger decisions, again, like I mentioned, I’m so over analytical, but I’ll just wake up and all of a sudden I’m like, yeah, no, I’m ready for that.

And I can’t even describe it. It’s bizarre. It just, it’s almost kind, kind of like a god moment in a way where it’s almost like he tells you in your dreams, you wake up in the morning, you accidentally say something out loud and then you’re like, wait, hold on. That kind of makes sense, I guess. Um, and that’s, uh, [00:26:00] yeah, that’s kind of where that went.

Um, it was a, it was a special moment for me because her grandmother was one of her. Uh, closest family members, really more of a, a mother figure in some, some cases. That’s fair. Um, I became very, very close with her grandmother too, and I remember, um, reaching out to her because Ash was like,

Ashley Layton: if you ever wanna marry me, if you ever

Josh Layton: want Yeah.

My, my, my grandmother has, uh, some diamonds that she is basically kind of really, really encouraging whoever that man may be to have involved in, in, you know, the engagement process. And I just

Ashley Layton: kind of let him know that, ’cause it was really important to me. Um, and he was like, uh, no, I don’t need anyone’s help.

And I said, no, you’re missing the point. Like, it’s important to me. Like, I want those diamonds in my ring.

Josh Layton: And, and it, and, and yeah, I’m pretty stubborn that way because I, I don’t wanna come off as, you know, oh, I’m [00:27:00] borrowing somebody’s stuff because I can’t take care of it myself. Right. But after meeting with her grandma about it, uh, ’cause I basically talked to her grandma first before anybody else saying, Hey, I think I’m gonna do this.

And

of course she, you know, um, was excited, but also was grinding me out a little bit too. She’s like, okay, well how do you know you’re ready? You know? And of course is asking me 21 questions. And then she’s like, I, I’d be honored, you know, if you would take some of these diamonds and, and, and put them in an engagement ring.

And, and I said, uh, well this means the world to me. And of course, you know, I, uh, I said, I, I don’t wanna feel like I need this. And she’s just, she came right out and said it to me too. She goes, listen, you defend me if you don’t take these. Um, and so I, I’m like, okay. Alright. So I did, um, had a, uh, had an engagement ring, uh, made.

Ashley Layton: He

Josh Layton: designed it and uh, I designed it all on my own.

Ashley Layton: It was my 27th or 28th birthday, I think 28th birthday. Yeah. And. [00:28:00] We, so I was in on the plans. I kind of helped, he asked me like, what do you wanna do for your birthday? And I’d never been in a helicopter. And I was like, it’d be really fun to do this. And he is like, done.

Let’s do it. And so I, I knew about it, I was excited. And my best friend Jen, at the time, lived with us too. And uh, you know, I was like, do you think he’s gonna do it? Like, I hope, do you think Josh is ever gonna propose? Maybe it’s coming. I just had this feeling. We had kind of like talked about rings, like we had been having some conversations, so I wasn’t in the dark, but I like didn’t have a clue that it was happening then.

That’s for sure. And um. So I remember thinking like any special thing we do, I’m gonna make sure I look great. My nails are fresh, like I’m gonna be ready for this moment. And so I got all dolled up, I had a brand new dress, had my nails done. And he goes to Jen that night. Do you think she knows? Does she thinks something’s happening tonight?

’cause if she thinks it’s happening tonight, I’m not doing anything. [00:29:00] And she was like, no, she hopes you’re doing something tonight. But like she doesn’t know anything. And so we go in this helicopter and I’m thinking to myself, okay, this is it. He’s gonna do it when we’re up in the air, like it has to be.

And we’re up there and we’re having fun and it doesn’t happen. Oh, lemme backtrack. So we were supposed to be in a helicopter with another group of people and we show up and they’re like, oh hey, by the way, that couple canceled. So

Josh Layton: by the way, that was all bogus.

Ashley Layton: He planned it that way. You guys are alone tonight.

And I was like, yes, like even better. And so we’re up in the air. It’s like the perfect time. The, the Bellagio Fountain water fountains are going off and we’re like right above it and nothing happens. And I like remember thinking in my gut, like, okay, like it is what it is, whatever.

Josh Layton: I

Ashley Layton: was so bummed. And we get down and they had told us like, Hey, after your ride, we’ll take pictures on the tarmac in front of the helicopter, [00:30:00] um, and we’ll do it afterwards since you’re our final tour of the night.

And I’m like, okay, that’s fine. So we get out, we’re taking pictures. Um, the pilot is on Josh’s other side. I’m on this side. You know, I’m posing my hand’s on my hip. Yeah.

Josh Layton: They give us little, you know, um, uh, drinks. Yeah,

Ashley Layton: we have champagne and they’re taking photos. And I don’t realize at that point that the sign that he made and had the.

The pilot hold. The pilot is now like holding this sign and it says, will you marry me? And I have no idea. So like, there’s funny photos, you know, I can’t, I don’t even know where they are now, but of me still posing, just oblivious that the sign’s right next to me and says, will you marry me? And the photographer?

And Josh is looking at me like, are you gonna look? Yeah. Like,

Josh Layton: I’m like, are you gonna look at this? Like, what’s, and then it was the photographer that said, Hey, what’s that? Yeah, what’s, what’s this over here? Like that. So I

Ashley Layton: look over and then of course he gets down on my knee and he is holding the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.

And I’m just like, you have to be kidding me. Like this was [00:31:00] really, I I, I think I asked you, are you serious?

Josh Layton: Yeah, she did like three or four times. Are you serious? Are you serious? Are you serious?

Ashley Layton: And so then it was exciting though, because it was my birthday. All my family and closest friends were meeting us for dinner after, and they all knew, so they all

Josh Layton: knew what was going on.

Ashley Layton: So it ended up being a kind of like

Josh Layton: a pre-engagement

Ashley Layton: party, an engagement party when we got there too. So it was just so much fun celebrating with everyone. I just remember, like, I don’t think I’ve ever smiled that hard, that big. Um, and then the, the next year was kind of

Dawn Pruszkowski: crazy@unexpectedlovestories.com.

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Ashley Layton: Wedding planning was not our favorite season. Um, yeah,

Josh Layton: she was a, she was a straight up wedding monster, but on all the, the best of ways, like it’s, uh, she, she basically just said, Hey, I’m gonna tackle all of this. Um, and of course like [00:33:00] I wanted to be involved, but not to sound like I don’t want to be involved, but I knew she had this like, vision she

did.

And I’m like, you, it, this, you, yeah. This is all you. Like, I mean, you can ask me about colors, ask me about flowers, ask me about, you know, obviously food, but I’m just gonna likely do this

because

I already know you’ve got kind of that vision of what you want and we’re gonna allow it to happen. And she, uh, she funded about 80% of this with her own guide, probably

Ashley Layton: more than that.

Yeah.

Josh Layton: Um, and it’s, uh.

Ashley Layton: It was a very hard, hard year of hard work. Mm-hmm. Um, but I at that point, like had such a dream and a vision and I knew I was only gonna do this once. Like, I vowed in my heart that I was gonna break the cycle of my family. And when I get married to someone that I know, no one ever goes into marriage with the intention of getting divorced.

But it was like very important to me, um, that this is it. And if [00:34:00] for some reason, worst case scenario, he died and I found love again after that. Like, that’s the only reason I see us not ever being together. Um, I probably wouldn’t have that big, beautiful wedding. Mm-hmm. Again, you know what I mean? I, I don’t know.

It just, it felt special to me and it was so important to me and I was working so hard for it that I was gonna have what I wanted. Mm-hmm. And um, with us being in Vegas and the majority of our family and friends back in Washington, we decided to have the wedding in Washington. And so it was a lot of out out-of-state planning.

Yes. Which came with its own hurdles. But we picked the most beautiful venue. Yeah. Um, a 500 year old castle, uh, originally from England, brought over and rebuilt Brick by Brick. Uh, it’s called Thornwood Castle. It’s on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington. Mm-hmm. And it’s a bed and breakfast. It is. Think of secret Garden meets Alice in Wonderland.

Um, meets like [00:35:00] medieval Gothic, like, it’s just so cool.

Josh Layton: It’s really cool. Yes.

Ashley Layton: Um, and they have a sunken hidden garden that we got married in with wild flowers everywhere, um, grass, everywhere. Uh, this beautiful old gothic style brick, air apple’s. Not Airbnb, but like hotel basically. But it’s so amazing. Wood.

Just so cool. And, um, we had a 1920s Gatsby themed wedding. It was very formal, very, um, beautiful. Um. Just, it was such a beautiful evening. Yeah.

Josh Layton: We flew out our pastor, uh, to, you know, to from Vegas to marry us from Vegas, uh, which was really cool. That was very, very special.

Ashley Layton: He’s been one of the pastors in my life since I was 10.

He watched me grow up. Um, so it was very, very special to have him there. And then, uh, we decided our farewell instead of like sparklers, this is the funniest story. Oh yeah. We had to take out a $2 million insurance policy to have our wedding at this place. Yeah. How much does [00:36:00] that cost?

Josh Layton: It really wasn’t that.

It wasn’t much bad. It was like 500 bucks for the night, but it was still, it was, it was a largest, it was a, it was a requirement. They’re like, whoa, you must do this. And it was like, Ooh.

Ashley Layton: And we had gotten authorized to be able to light lanterns, like the ones that floated away. Um, and we were gonna do that as our farewell, have everyone write love notes and well wishes for the happy couple for us.

And we were gonna light them over the lake. And that was gonna be like the end of our evening. And it happened to be a little windy. Uh, none of us had done lanterns. There’s definitely a way to do them and to let them fully fill with air before you let them go.

Josh Layton: No idea what we

Ashley Layton: were. Um, the Pacific Northwest, just to set the stage, there’s a lot of trees, a lot of brush, and um, and it hadn’t rained and it hadn’t rained in a while, so

Josh Layton: very dry vegetation.

Ashley Layton: Um, and one lantern flew directly into a tree. While it was on fire, we’re [00:37:00]

Josh Layton: talking 120 year old massive tree.

Ashley Layton: Right next to this castle. Right next to

Josh Layton: the castle. And you’re like, oh, dear Lord, everybody about fluted,

Ashley Layton: fainted. Everyone was screaming, running like we didn’t know what to do. Thank heavens. It’s like snuffed itself out.

It

Josh Layton: just kind of snuffed itself out. Yeah. We were like,

Ashley Layton: I just remember thinking, is this a bad omen? Like this is, are we doomed? We like looked at each other like, what are we gonna do? Um, but yeah. Anyway, we went back to Vegas and life kind of got rocky for a hot minute. Um, I had been on such a high and hard work of planning the wedding.

I mean, it was like every ounce of my waking day was spent either researching, planning. Providing, working the, for the money. Uh, I was putting in 12 hour days, like five, six days a week. And then I all of a sudden had nothing to work on. Mm-hmm. Like,

Josh Layton: yeah. Nothing to work [00:38:00] towards, work

Ashley Layton: towards. And my body was so used to operating at such a high level of stress for a very long time.

It really wasn’t healthy for me that I ended up full blown in the darkest spiral of depression. Mm. I mean, one of them I’ve ever had, um, and I mean sobbing, crying, and poor Josh, there was a moment where he was just like, are we gonna make it through this? Like, can I endure this? Like, she is not the woman that she was before and we’re supposed to be celebrating this like happy honeymoon phase of our relationship.

You know, our relationship has always been a really slow burn. There was never this wild romantic honeymoon phase. And so he’s expecting, like, now we’re married. I got her. I’m like, so content. And now she is deeply darkly depressed.

Josh Layton: Yeah. It was very, very dark. And it got me very depressed too as well, because, you know, I’m a fixer, like, I guess most guys are.

[00:39:00] Um, I just wanted to fix it. How do I fix how you feel?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

And um, and I was striking out and striking out and, and so of course it got to a point where I think like anybody’s gonna feel, I started taking it personal, like, this has to be me. You’re, you’re feeling this way because of, I don’t know, uh, maybe deep down regret, um, insecurities, questioning yourself.

Of course I threw that all on me. Um, and yeah, it kind of put me in a very dark place too, and I’m like. Wow. We, you know, we just went through one of the

Ashley Layton: best moments of our life. Yeah. Best

Josh Layton: moments of our life to, you know, um, about as rocky as it could get in a zero to 60 moment. Mm-hmm. More like the other way around.

It was just a hundred miles an hour e-brake stop. And it was, yeah, it was rough. It was really rough. [00:40:00] Sounds like it was a

Dawn Pruszkowski: real challenge to your vows all of a sudden.

Ashley Layton: It was. I feel like that’s kind of, there’s been a lot of those seasons though, where like,

Josh Layton: yeah,

Ashley Layton: life kind of wanted to take us out, um, let’s call it evil.

Doesn’t want the light to shine or a good holy like union to thrive and flourish. Um, we kind of had lost focus. God wasn’t the center, I don’t think at that moment. We like, weren’t supporting each other maybe. We’re probably not

Josh Layton: communicating the way we should be, which again, is the root to a lot of issues to relationships.

Right. And um, and again, we’ll kind of go into that a little bit later, but it’s,

Ashley Layton: but I feel like there was always this like, special protection over us. Um, and when we lean into each other and we start, I mean, we’re really good at doing things together and supporting each other in like, so many different areas.

[00:41:00] And as long as like in that moment we found each other back to each other in fitness and like taking care of our health. And then we kind of had something to look forward to again. Yes. We waited three months to go on our honeymoon. Yeah.

Josh Layton: And that, the honeymoon was great. We went to Costa Rica.

Ashley Layton: Ooh.

Josh Layton: Um, funny enough, there’s, uh, we, we went on a Groupon.

Dawn Pruszkowski: We did. I didn’t group, I didn’t know Groupon. Did trips to Costa Rica. Tell you what. And went amazing. Tell, I’m gonna have to look.

Josh Layton: Groupon

Dawn Pruszkowski: trips. Really?

Josh Layton: Groupon trips or legit. I, I will, uh, I will endorse those to anybody that has any interest in making a, a very inexpensive, fun trip. They’re, they’re great.

But, um,

Ashley Layton: it was a partially guided tour. We got to meet 25 other people,

Josh Layton: we’re still friends with a handful of ’em, and that was from, you know, what, 11 years ago. We always kind of joke and say, wouldn’t it be cool to get the old gang back together for, uh, you know, uh, for another big trip someplace? And, um, yeah, that was a, that was a great, [00:42:00] great trip.

Um, I was, especially locals if we, if we go outta the country, I’m like, okay, I gotta befriend somebody that’s a local, you know, and that’s just kind of my thing. But, um, yeah, no, that was a very, very special trip and I think that kind of recalibrated us again when we came back home. Yeah. That’s when we started becoming a lot more focused on fitness.

That was kind of like, again, the new, uh, I don’t wanna say obsession, but it was the new drive. Mm-hmm. Uh, that we had. Um,

Ashley Layton: well, I think I had a freak out moment just because again, how important marriage was to me. Like all of a sudden it, it hit me, it became so real and I was like, oh my gosh. Like one, what did I do?

Two, like, Ashley, you just made the biggest decision of your commitment of your entire life. Um, now there, there was all this pressure on me that I had to like, make it work and, and see it through and, and all these things. ’cause I wanted so [00:43:00] badly like that merging from two people to becoming one unit like that.

There was a mourning period for me. I, I mourned for a second the old version of Ashley because I knew I had to shed her in order to become Mrs. Leighton. There was no longer Ashley Paulson. And I think that season or that couple month depression thing had a lot to do with that. That was, I was mourning the, the version of me, the identity that I had always carried as this independent woman that didn’t need a man.

I could do it all myself. You know, I grew up with a, a mom that kind of taught me that because of the life that she had lived and the decisions that were made and multiple marriages and multiple men in the life, and, and I was surrendering to that. I was, I was laying that down and choosing to have something different, and then going on that honeymoon and just having so much fun and just knowing like, okay, you made the right decision.

Like this man loves you. This man nurtures into you. [00:44:00] I mean, this man lays out your vitamins every single morning, so you don’t have to think about it like, this man, even though he doesn’t ever need to lose weight, will like go on the same meal plan as me, just to hold me accountable because he knows it’s hard to do something alone, like.

You are so giving and so loving and so connected to like my needs. Like I hadn’t had that before. I hadn’t had a man stop and pause long enough to like know what I needed before I had to say it, or even maybe even knew that I needed it myself.

Josh Layton: That’s nice. Thank you.

Ashley Layton: And then all of a sudden we woke up one day, fast forward, um, shortly after I think we’re maybe a month or two back from the honeymoon, and you were like, I’m ready to have kids.

And I was like, oh gosh. Oh, here we go.

Josh Layton: And that, that was, uh, again, one of those god moments for me because, um, that was not in my mind at all. That [00:45:00] was, I mean, of course, you know, you grow up and you, you think of the time you get married and, um, and have kids, kid, whatever, but there’s not, um, there’s never really a, uh, a plan.

Well, it never was for me. There was never really a. Clear plan of what that looked like. Mm-hmm. Um, and for the longest time, didn’t even know if I wanted that to happen

Ashley Layton: again. We’re open. We both had, we had conversations.

Josh Layton: Yeah. I wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t like a no, but I was like, if it doesn’t happen, I don’t really care either way.

Uh, but yeah, I just kind of woke up one morning and was like, I, I want to have kids. And it just came out of my mouth, just like the whole kind of marriage thing for me too. Was it, it was just this like immediate sense of clarity. Uh, I don’t know what this is gonna look like, but I know I want it. Mm-hmm.

And,

um, and yeah, that was, that was crazy. It took a, took almost a year for us to get pregnant. Um,

Ashley Layton: [00:46:00] and this story’s so cool though. And,

Josh Layton: and funny enough, we ended up getting pregnant, um, at Thornwood Castle where we got married. Got,

Ashley Layton: so talk about this. So we tried for 11 months. Um. Couldn’t get pregnant. I’d miss a period here and there would end up, you know, starting a week or two later, like, I didn’t even really consider that a miscarriage.

Um, but just like was starting to get frustrated. Um, we had been training so hard, we really had taken fitness into, you know, account, uh, prior or after the wedding. And so for that year we were very avid in the gym. I had dropped a lot of weight. I was probably in the best shape of my life. Um, but I think almost underweight.

Like I, I needed to let go of some of that heart, like that just grind, um, and soften a little bit. Like I ended up gaining 10 pounds. I said, enough’s enough. Like, I’m sick of getting my period. And it just like gut wrenching my [00:47:00] heart. Like it wasn’t fun. It felt like a job. It felt like we were, it just, we were losing that spark and that intimacy.

Mm-hmm. Because it was just like so much pressure to start a family and it wasn’t happening. Um, lot of prayer, lot of prayer. And we decided to just like, let’s let loose, let’s enjoy the summer. Let’s not think about it anymore. Um, and we ended up flying back to Washington. It was our one year anniversary coming up, and we didn’t get to actually stay at the castle on our wedding night.

Um, we had the celebration there, but we didn’t stay the night there. Um, and we had always wanted to stay there. It’s, you know, a special bed and breakfast. And so we said, okay, well at one year we will go back and we’ll stay on our anniversary and it’ll be like a, a special remembrance. And so we were going for another wedding that actually didn’t happen, but that’s a different story.

Um, so the night before that wedding was [00:48:00] supposed to happen is when we stayed and we checked in and we had fun and we drank a little wine and. We made love. And my mom at this point had told me, Ashley, have you stood on your head? And I said, no. And she’s like, you need to stand on your head afterward.

That’s the secret. And I’m like, okay. And so I stood on my head. We took a picture, we

Josh Layton: had pictures of it, which is hilarious. We made,

Ashley Layton: like we laughed, sent it to my mom the next morning and I said, can you guess what I did like? But the next day I woke up, it was so weird. Like I woke up, I think I threw up the next day.

We like went to see his family before flying home and I just already, I didn’t feel good, already. Didn’t think anything of it though. And like, I don’t know, we get home a few weeks later, we have some friends come to town. I’m out. I was like getting irritable with them. I’m like, what is wrong with me? We were going wine tasting the next day for a girlfriend’s birthday and my periods were always like [00:49:00] on and.

I was supposed to have started that day and like no symptoms, no signs of a period coming. And I was just like, holy moly, like, what if I am? And he’s like, well, if you don’t get it today, let’s take a test tomorrow. And so I remember the next day you went to work and I like, couldn’t wait. I was gonna like, try, take a test and if it was positive, I was gonna try to surprise him.

I couldn’t. So I took a test and it was positive. And um,

Josh Layton: I think you texted me.

Ashley Layton: I do. It was like so not special. I couldn’t hold it in.

Josh Layton: Texted me and I’m like, oh. And then I call it immediately and I’m like, well we’re doing this, like we’re doing this, you know, game on. We were

Ashley Layton: so excited.

Josh Layton: So, um,

Ashley Layton: and then, yeah, pregnancy was rough.

We had a beautiful baby girl, Lenin, Lenin’s nine now. Mm-hmm. Um, and a lot of life in between her. And we have another daughter, Indy, who’s now five. Um. Lot of life lived in there. Mm-hmm. We [00:50:00] lived in Vegas. We spent some time apart. Um, I took a job in Mexico for a while. Um, we did long distance for a year and, you know, had our hardships, but we always have found each other our way back.

Um, we are advocates for couples therapy. Mm-hmm. We loved it. We think it’s a tool that is like so helpful on getting on the right page with communication. Um,

Josh Layton: yeah, we just quit another session about a month ago, so just to, you know, give, uh, a little hope to anybody that’s, um, you know, worried that if they’re in, you know, a long-term relationship, uh, that you know.

Therapy is not a bad thing. It’s a very good thing. It’s

Ashley Layton: a very good thing, especially when you find a therapist that aligns with your values. Um, as a couple, um, marriage takes work. It has not been the easiest thing, but my, my goodness, like it’s the most rewarding thing to choose him and know that I’m chosen back.

Josh Layton: Mm-hmm.

Ashley Layton: Um, to be in partnership with [00:51:00] your very best friend. I think being best friends is so important. Like the romance comes and goes. There’s ups and downs and seasons and especially, you know, in different peaks of life and different poles with career. And especially when you throw kids into the mix, like there’s nights where you’re tired and when we’ve felt like, I don’t know, more roommates probably, or more friends than lovers, um, but like the amount of respect we have for each other just.

Josh Layton: Force yourself to date each other too. Oh, that’s so important. Because, you know, that’s one thing that we’ve been really good at is, um, not allowing a lot of time in between,

Ashley Layton: but really we found things that we enjoy to do together. Yeah. Like, we genuinely like hanging out together. We never stopped doing the things that we did when we were just friends and dating, even like snowboarding and camping and hanging out with friends and going to concerts.

Like we’ve kept up on that. Um, and we are night and day [00:52:00] different people than we were when we first dated, like unrecognizable, I would say on. And I think the key to, to us in that way has just been like, we have not kept each other from having dreams individually. We’ve supported, like we’ve taken on different roles.

Sometimes you’re gonna be the supporter in a relationship and you’re gonna stand side by side, but help elevate them. And then your time’s gonna come where the roles are gonna reverse, and now it’s your time to shine, you know? And, and that person is meant to like stand shoulder to shoulder and help support you.

Um, there’s been times in our, our 15 years together that financially I carried more weight than he did early on in our relationship. I made more money and supported us. And then, you know, when we’ve had kids, life has taken a turn and now he supports us. It’s like we’ve both made a commitment that we’re in this and it takes both of us to make it work.

[00:53:00] Um, and, but

Josh Layton: it’s, it, it’s a choice. It is, uh, I mean, you know, to those that want to seek the, you know, the 24 hour butterflies, um. You’ll learn real quick that that’s not real. Mm-hmm. Um, but, uh, really leaning into every stage of your partner, throughout your entire life. Um, for, for people that get, uh, I, I guess antsy when it comes to the variety, right?

I think a lot of people, uh, you know, unfortunately go into infidelity because they want something different. Well, if you look at your partner in all the stages that you’ve gone through, that’s a different person every single time commit to that one. Mm-hmm.

Uh, ‘

cause the grass, I mean, we know that the grass is not greener.

It’s, you know, it’s greener where you water it. I know that’s cliche, but it’s the god’s honest truth and it’s, um. Yeah. It’s never gonna be easy, but guess what? You know, you, [00:54:00] you get a divorce and you, and you date somebody else a year down the road, you’re gonna have the same feeling.

Ashley Layton: Yeah.

Josh Layton: So it’s, you know, uh, and the same

Ashley Layton: problems and the same like

Josh Layton: exactly.

That butterfly dies after a period of time. But the nice thing is if you, uh, again, if you nurture the one, you have that butterfly reappears, um,

Ashley Layton: and it’s even more beautiful, like, that’s so hard to explain to someone. But like, you’re gonna go with a relationship through any everything. If you’re lucky, I guess you’re gonna go through the, all the ups and the downs.

The good, the bad, the ugly, the pain, the sickness, the, the rollercoaster ride of life with someone. But the joys become even more joyful Yeah. Than they were early on. And like, I don’t, it’s just. It’s so worth it. It’s almost so rewarding, like when you can get outta that season of lull, of just stagnation ’cause that, that, that happens and then you find each other again.

You’re like, oh my gosh, I’m obsessed with [00:55:00] you. Like I’m more obsessed with you now than I’ve ever been. Mm-hmm. And I feel we laugh and say that because like we never again had that honeymoon phase. Like it’s been this slow, steady burn mm-hmm. Almost too slow in the beginning. And we, we had every reason for us not to work, but fate and I, I too believe God just kind of kept pushing us together.

And once we surrendered into that and made a commitment to nurture that, to feed that, to be honest and, and open to growing together, like, it’s so cool.

Josh Layton: Yeah. And that’s so cool. I love too

Dawn Pruszkowski: that like you guys made that choice now just a few months back to move to Utah. You probably have, we did more time together now we do.

Than so, so you, we have to, uh, it’s a whole new phase now of, of life. It is. And, and we’re, we’re

Ashley Layton: kind of learning, [00:56:00] you know, this new navigation. We know that now we have two little girls who are looking at us as role models and we knew that we needed life to slow down. Like there was no way it was gonna slow down in our, the current situation we were living in.

And so we made a radical shift, um, moved out to a small town just to try to slow life down a little bit. Um, my dream is always to be home with the kids more and be a more hands-on wife and not be, I, I dreamed of an opportunity where I didn’t have to go to work five days a week full-time. And, and with a lot of hard work, we’ve been able to make that happen.

Um, and shift my schedule around where I can work. Nine days out of the month and, and be home with the family the, the other days. And so, yeah, we just moved to Utah, what, six weeks ago, seven weeks ago. And it really good. Yeah. And again, that

Josh Layton: was also one of those like, woke up and just did it sort of moments.

It wasn’t a lot of buildup to it. [00:57:00] So that’s where again, um,

Ashley Layton: took a leap of faith.

Josh Layton: It, it’s very much a leap of faith. It’s, it’s again, these little god moments that it’s hard to deny that there’s, you know, uh, any, any other sort of influence, especially to somebody that is an over analyzer. So anybody that’s listening this, that might feel like, you know, oh, hey, I kind of relate to that guy.

Um, YY you know, it’s, uh, it’s, it’s, it’s a challenge, but trust God, I don’t know how else to say it. Mm-hmm. I mean, especially if, uh, you know, if you, if that person is spiritual and, um. Yeah. I don’t know. Yeah. It’s been a, it’s been a fun ride. It’s gonna continue to be a fun ride and, um, I don’t know. So it’s, it’s, uh,

Ashley Layton: it’s only just begun.

Yeah. I,

Josh Layton: I, I don’t even know what else to say because I’m like, I can’t even predict what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Uh, but I know that, you know, I’m [00:58:00] excited to do it with her.

Ashley Layton: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Josh Layton: And, um, you know, really, there’s no other person I wanna be around. Um,

Ashley Layton: we had a fun little vow renewal in Las Vegas. Okay.

Yeah. On our 10 year anniversary. Mm-hmm. Um, and we had so much fun that we decided like every 10 years we’d like to honor our vows again. Sure. And just publicly recommit. And celebrate with the people that are in our life in that moment. Um, it was just a really fun, fun time. And it, you know, the, the first wedding was serious and emotional.

Yeah. It was very vegasy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um, but it, you know, the first one was beautiful and emotional and, and important and just like sacred and this second one. And this one was

Josh Layton: just party

Ashley Layton: reflected, just like,

Josh Layton: just a good

Ashley Layton: celebration. It was just pure fun and celebration. Um, and then the next one I’d love to incorporate the kids and, you know, who knows?

So

Dawn Pruszkowski: That’s beautiful. Well, thank you so much for sharing your [00:59:00] sweet love story. I just love how you guys are so supportive of each other. Um, I know that there’s been times of, uh, trying different entrepreneurial things and just the support that you guys have for each other. It’s just amazing. So I’m just really grateful that you guys were here, that you shared your story, and I just wanna say friends, remember that love doesn’t always arrive fast, but it always arrives on time as they showed you.

Sure does. Um, so question. Have you subscribed to our podcast yet? If not, just click and follow or, or subscribe. You know, there’s that little button. Just go ahead and click that so that you don’t miss a single story, because there’s no two stories alike. But every story is inspiring. It’s delightful. And visit our website to learn more about Josh and Ashley.

Um, they have links there that go along with, uh, all, all the things that they’re doing. So you [01:00:00] could connect with them. You could see what, um, what other entrepreneurial things that they’re doing. Um, you wanna see their beautiful photos that are there. They have their wedding. Well, we’ve got the 10 year, got so many great photos, they’re very photogenic.

Just to let you know, um, again, that’s at, uh, unexpected love stories.com. Just look for the link below in the show notes. Uh, it’s just right there. Take you right to their page. And while you’re there, I want you to download a special gift that I’ve made for you. It’s a beautiful guide to help you capture and document your own love story in a variety of creative ways.

Your story is a gift and it’s worth sharing. Well, I hope that your heart feels lighter and full of hope after hearing this beautiful story. You know, often the best love stories are the ones we never saw coming. So keep your heart open because love is truly waiting for you. We’ll see you [01:01:00] next time.