EMPIRE RANCH EMPIRE RANCH

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Empire Ranch

Neighbors

April 2014

The

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hat happens when a woman of the world meets a laid-back surfer from southern California? They settle down in Folsom and start a family, of course! Ryan and Adrienn Chang met in November of 2001 at a fraternity/sorority fundraising event in Irvine, Ca. Ryan was a Pi Alpha Phi at UC Irvine (where he later graduated in 2003 with a BA in economics) and Adrienn was a Sigma Omicron Pi at UC Davis (where she graduated with a BA in social sciences in 2003). The two had mutual friends and after meeting they began dating long distance, before Adrienn moved to Newport Beach in 2002. They were married on October 7, 2006 at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui, Hi, where Adrienn was born. Now, some of you may be thinking…“What?! She left the beautiful island of Maui to live in Folsom?!” Not that there is anything wrong with Folsom; it is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. 4

In Adrienn’s case, the move was not her own choice but a family necessity. She is, what Ryan lovingly refers to as, a “military brat.” Adrienn was born in Wailuku, Maui, Hi. Her father was an Air Force Major and was often called on for secret missions. As a result, Adrienn’s family was always moving. When she was four years old she moved to Tokyo, Japan where she became fluent in Japanese and often times had to interpret for her English speaking parents. Her family then moved to Seoul, Korea when she was eight, to Virginia Beach, Va when she was twelve and Ramstein, Germany is where she spent her high school years from age fifteen to eighteen. Her father retired in 1997 and they relocated to the Gold River (Sacramento) area.

children and in 2007 Adrienn became pregnant with their oldest son, Julian. Julian is now five years old and his younger brother, Brennan (three), has since joined the family. When considering the life and upbringing they wanted for their children, both Ryan and Adrienn agreed they wanted something steady. Adrienn knew how difficult it was to pick up her life and move to a different country every few years. Ryan was fortunate to have grown up with the same group of friends throughout his schooling…friends he still

Ryan and Adrienn said they both always wanted to have April 2014

has today. The decision was a no-brainer. “We felt the importance of creating roots and we fell in love with Folsom’s Empire Ranch,” they said. “It’s a place where our kids were born and where they can be raised through their elementary, junior and high school years and, hopefully, return to raise their own children so we can have a little team of Chang members as we grow old here.” Creating roots is exactly what they are doing. They moved into their home in Empire Ranch in 2010 and are incredibly grateful for the positive environment they live in. “We really like the fact that the neighborhood is safe and our children are able to congregate out in the street without

Empire Ranch Neighbors | Folsom

having to worry about them,” they said. “From day one the neighbors have been extremely welcome and we try to return the favor.” While Julian and Brennan may not be involved in a lot of activities YET, they still keep Ryan and Adrienn plenty busy! Chang weekends consist primarily of birthday parties for friends of the boys’, play dates with classmates and family friends, or acting out movie scenes from Batman, Ironman and Spiderman, complete with costumes of which each of them has over 20! And, if Adrienn has any say, sports will begin to make their way into the daily routine as well. Adrienn played basketball in school, is a

single handicap golfer, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and “can beat any guy in bowling, billiards and can throw a football better than a majority of her guy friends,” Ryan said. T-ball, soccer, basketball and pee-wee football are all on the horizon. In the meantime, Ryan and Adrienn take advantage of traveling to visit family (in both southern California and Hawai’i) to keep Julian and Brennan in touch with their roots and heritage. The friendships that have developed (for all four) and their wish to raise well-rounded children have Ryan and Adrienn convinced that Folsom, and Empire Ranch, is exactly where they need to be.

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