Well where do we start?

They've done everything in reverse and some might say bass-ackwards. Maybe this one time we'll start at the beginning . . .

They met when Ryan joined the gym that Tanya was working at. Tanya had just moved to L.A. from Thousand Oaks to be a personal trainer. She left her dreary job at State Farm to a chorus of "you'll be back." (Thankfully she hasn't!)

Back to Our Story. Tanya was living with some people she met at the L.A. Temple. To say that they were her besties might be going to far. She tolerated them and living in Culver City while following her desire to be a personal trainer.

Ryan in the meantime was working for a shady wanna-be producer who was trying to make the books he self-published into a couple of movies. It was fun but ultimately not financially rewarding. In other words zero dollars and going down hill fast.

One thing Ryan decided to do though was to join a gym. He's heard Tanya's new boss and his ads on the local talk radio station and decided to give it a try. Let's be honest, he kind of let himself go when he was in New York getting his M.B.A.

So now Ryan is working out at the same gym that Tanya works at. They never really talked, because they were never really there at the same time. They'd seen each other of course but that was about it. But, there's always a but, one day Ryan's job did what so many Hollywood jobs do, it disappeared. Well, The Better Body Maker (ie. Tanya's boss) offered Ryan a job to help with the sales and the marketing of the gym. Ryan took him up on his offer and started seeing a lot more of Tanya during daylight hours.

They started hanging out, eating lunch with each other and talking all the time on the phone (you can all see where this is going right?)

So right about this time Tanya is sick and tired of her living situation and asks Ryan to go look at apartments with her one night after work. Of course Ryan agrees, because, well that's just the kind of guy he is.

They look at some total dumps and not at all affordable. A couple even have mini-fridges and hot plates.

Now, to be fair Ryan has lived with some female roommates in the past, all quite platonic. So he suggests that his living situation really isn't the best either. In fact he was living in the Reno Street apartments near the Rampart District at the time of the drug dealing cop scandal. (see the television show "The Shield" and you'll get the idea)

Tanya and Ryan, on this particular day, when this particular suggestion is proferred, were looking at an apartment on a little street in Westwood (a city within the city of L.A.). It just so happened that down the street, clear as day, is the Mormon Temple. We couldn't make this up if we tried. Tanya replies that she doesn't think that would work out because she's Mormon. Well the sensitive soul that Ryan is starts cracking up.

She. Is. Serious.

Ok. So now they start talking about it. It could work out though if they kept it on the down low. They would save some money and actually get a better place to live in a nice part of town, maybe something near the beach. Ryan feels terrible about Tanya struggling with her moral demons, but hey living by the beach is why he moved out here right? Well that and the movie biz.

Well, they start looking at places on the weekends and doing the apartment tour that most Angelenos will be familiar with. One disappointment after another. Until . . . one foggy morning in Venice having coffee they spot an ad in the L.A. Times. It's in Brentwood. 2 Bed 2 Bath. Sound perfect. Price is ridiculous. They have to see it immediately.

That's the thing about L.A. You have about 10 minutes from learning of a vacancy to taking it or risk losing it. Seriously.

So they get it.

There is absolutely nothing romantic going on . . . for a while.

Well about two months go by and they decide to go out to dinner. On. A. Date.

And that my friends, as they say, is history.

Ryan and Tanya have been together 6 years April 1st. It's been a long strange trip. Many of you have joined us on our journey at one time or another just as we've joined you on your own journeys. And it's been great, the whole ride.

As Tanya likes to say, they are getting the 7 year itch but instead of breaking up they decided the best course of action was to get married and that's how you find yourself reading this.

Ryan likes to say that he knew he was going to marry Tanya the day he saw her at the gym while he was on the elliptical machine and saw her walking by. He had just gotten his hair cut and Tanya said her first words to him, "Nice hair."

Whatever the reason, whatever the truth is, this is their story and they're sticking to it.