From the time she was old enough to set out on her own, she wasn't still. From city to city, state to state, she stayed on the move – going from one experience to the next until he stopped her in her tracks.

At first she didn't know she'd met the one who'd make her want to settle down. And at first he didn't know he'd met the one who'd infuse his life with her sense of adventure. 

But what Angela White and Ryan Broxterman would see soon enough was that for them, being together was too natural to be anything else.

It began with mall jobs and mutual acquaintances and group outings that threw them together time and again. At one, a Christmas party in 2010, Angela brought her step-brother as her plus-one — only to have him tease her about a guy he insisted was flirting with her. Little did Angela know that the next Christmas season, that guy would be her boyfriend and would be celebrating with her family.

But it was on another holiday, Halloween 2011, when they officially became a couple — or, more accurately, when they acknowledged they already were one.

Says Angela: “We were like, ‘Are we dating? Yep, why wouldn’t we? This is easy.’”

It’s easy because they both like rock concerts, Friday night beers with his family and weekly card games with hers. It’s easy because his laid-back nature balances her high energy. But maybe most of all, it’s easy because from the very start, their friendship felt effortless.

It was also easy for them to pinpoint admirable qualities in each other. She loved his big heart and sense of humor, the care he clearly had for his family and that he was a dog lover. She appreciated, too, his efforts to be active and fit — and the way some of this rubbed off on her. 

angela + ryan

- a match so perfect, tying the knot is a no-brainer -

By Erin Wisdom-Watson

“We were like, ‘Are we dating? 
Yep, why wouldn’t we? This is easy.’”

Despite all these ways they enhanced each other’s lives, however, they weren’t in any hurry to get to the altar. In fact, Angela initially stated she wanted to date for seven years before considering a lifetime commitment. But after only about half that time, she had a sudden change of heart upon seeing her best friend get married.

Thus, in the spring of 2015, a switch flipped and she couldn’t wait to get engaged. But Ryan didn’t hop to it quite so quickly, and a trip to Florida that June that she’d been certain would include a beach proposal (since, after all, his parents had gotten engaged on a beach) did not pan out as she’d hoped.

Months passed, and Angela resigned herself to the idea that she wouldn’t have that all-important ring on her finger until sometime in 2016. So she really wasn’t expecting Ryan to pop the question on Halloween 2015 — especially since it was already a busy day, with a Christmas card photo session that morning, followed by preparation for a murder mystery party they’d host at their home that evening.

Ryan still went an extra mile to throw her off his trail, pretending to be a bad sport about the photo session on Burnett’s Mound in Topeka, Kansas — despite the fact he’d actually been the one to recruit Angela’s friend Amber to take the photos. He and Amber knew they weren’t there for a simple photo session, of course, but this fact didn’t become evident to Angela until the very end.

She realizes in retrospect she should have known something was up when Ryan suggested taking a couple more shots even after she was ready to leave. Needless to say, it was those photos featuring him down on one knee, holding the ring she’d been waiting for, that were the real keepers that day.

… And the day was far from over. By the time they returned home, they had about 30 friends and family members waiting for them. Some had even traveled from out-of-state to be there for the celebratory engagement breakfast of biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon and hash browns (plus lots of champagne for mimosas). Angela notes that as much as she’d teared up when Ryan popped the question, she cried even more upon seeing everyone who’d come to celebrate with them.

It really was the perfect way for this future Mr. and Mrs. to mark the start of their engagement, since they have a magnetic quality that tends to draw others — even to the extent of turning vacations initially intended for just the two of them into group affairs. With this trend, they note that it may take a miracle for them to go on their honeymoon by themselves.

But before their honeymoon, obviously, will be their wedding on November 5, 2016, in Topeka. Given the get-together that took place after their engagement, this celebration of their marriage is sure to be a big event.

Yet as much as they anticipate this milestone, Angela and Ryan also look forward to all the years that will follow. They look forward to continuing life as a family of four (which also consists of their dogs, Tucker and Roxy) and to possibly having more dogs — and eventually children — in the future. They look forward to more travels and would like to make it to Europe someday. But maybe most of all, they look forward to simply enjoying more of each other and the easy dynamic they’ve always had.  

And although they’re marrying sooner than they initially thought they might, when they look at this ease that exists between them, they can’t help but be certain they’re making the right move.

“Seeing how well she fits me,” Ryan notes, “it really makes it a no-brainer.”