Entry Five

As I sit here trying to creatively write a “he said, she said” story of how we met, I am once again smitten with my Calvin. We are you’re not so typical high school sweethearts. I was 14; he was 15 when we met. He was shy; I was outgoing and totally boy crazy. He swears he liked me from fair the summer before freshman year even began, I remember his friends much more vividly than I do him. My first memory of Calvin is freshman year when I introduced myself to my locker buddy which happened to be him. He was tall, over six feet and had nice eyes but was so quiet. He didn’t even say hi back, just nodded at me…

Fast forward three months, we were friends but mostly hung out with mutual friends. Even still I was interested in someone else, Ryan.  There were daily texts shared between Calvin and I, sometimes I would talk about Ryan, sometimes he would talk about the girl he liked and sometimes we would talk about nothing at all, still day after day he was always there. Eventually Ryan got sick of waiting to date me since my parents had a “no dating till you’re 16 rule,” and Calvin still remained. On April 24, 2010 he told me I was the girl he had liked and been talking about the whole time. I was in SHOCK! The kind of cheesy, stupid freshman girl love shock. Rule remaining, once again he waited and 16 or not in six months he had won my parents over and after asking my dad’s permission on October 24, 2010 we began dating. 

By then he was my best friend. Sophomore year became junior year, and junior year became Senior and still we remained.  He supported me in everything, from pageants to helping me wash my animals before the county fair. I went from hating sports, to becoming his biggest fan. He took me hunting, I took him fishing, and we were together more than we were apart. 

On December 20, 2013 we went out to feed the cows and gather the eggs, after stealing the flashlight from him and running over to the chicken’s favorite haystack along with the eggs was a box. I was in SHOCK all over again and, after loudly saying, “OH MY GOSH” and turning around to find him down on one knee I tackled him. Screaming and “squeezing his guts out” as he tells the story, he asked me to join him in all of life’s adventures, I said YES! It’s pretty obvious when you see the picture that I was not expecting him to ask; especially when you see that I was wearing shorts, my sister’s jacket and my dad’s mud boots but, where else would a country girl get engaged to the man of her dreams.  This summer we are ecstatic to stand once again in a barn, with our closest family and friends and make a promise to each other, forever.  At 18, I am so thankful to be marrying my biggest blessing, my first kiss, high school sweetheart and best friend. We are so excited to see where God takes us these next few months and forever years.

-        Future Mrs. Calvin Prinsen

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Entry Four

Good day all!

We are so excited for this opportunity. We want to start off by telling you how Joe and I met. It is actually a funny story and to this day he will still turn red whenever anyone tells it.  

Joe and I both went to college at Purdue University. I was in New York for a year doing an associates degree program the year of my 21st birthday so I was not able to celebrate with friends. When I returned that summer my parents grilled out and I was going to have a few friends over to camp out in the yard and hang out. We got a keg and invited about 10 people. Most of my college friends happen to be from the same town as each other (Lebanon, IN), as I met most of them through my best friend who is also from there. They called me a few days prior to the party, and asked if they could bring this guy named Joe that was roommates with our friend Kyle who was invited. At first I was resistant as I didn't want people there who would cause issues at my parents house.  They all vouched for him and assured me he would be no problem at all so I consented. 

When they all arrived Joe seemed nice enough, He was polite and everyone seemed to have a great time. The boys played a lot of beer pong and as the night went on some people faded away into tents in the front yard but a few of us were left hanging out and eating left overs in our kitchen after my parents went to bed.  

Our kitchen is attached to our living room. I had all my fashion books from school out on the coffee table where I had been showing them to my mom the day before. Several of us were in the kitchen and Joe had passed out on the couch in the living room.  A few of us were talking when someone walked into the other room and started shouting at Joe.  We rush in to find him asleep but standing up and peeing, yes peeing all over my fashion books and the living room coffee table. Attempts to wake him up were futile so my friend Megan rushed into the kitchen and got a nice glass bowl that had chips in it.  She dumped out the food and ran to help minimize the mess.  (trying not to look the whole time) Eventually Joe finished and lay back down to sleep and the group of us were left standing around trying to clean up.  Luckily my best friend pushed my books out of the way, putting himself in the line of fire, and saved my books from any permanent damage. 

As I am wiping down the table and trying to lay towels on the carpet Joe wakes up and asks what I'm doing. I was a little aggravated at this point so I told him very bluntly that he had peed all over, and his response was "oh no, not again!" Clearly this did not help his case so I banished him to the tent outside with 2 other guys. 

The next morning we were all in a better mood and our friend Kyle treated us to the funniest breakfast I have ever had, throwing out innuendos and one liners that all implied the event of the previous evening.  

Joe and I remained friends throughout college and we saw each other a few times at social functions.  A few years later when we were out of school I moved to Chicago with a friend (a person he went to high school with). We moved into a building where Joe was rooming with our mutual friend Kyle. (The same friend Kyle, and now Joe's best man.) Within 6 months Joe and I were dating.  We moved in together the next year and have been living together for about 3 years.

Joe and I have a condo and a standard poodle named Plato.  He is like our child and will be in the wedding in some form. We live in Chicago and I work in logistics and make clothing on the side for privet clients with my best friend Ben and Joe is an industrial engineer.

We are an active couple and like to do a lot of backpacking and hiking trips. If you were to ask Joe when he knew i was the one he would tell you it was the time he took me on a 42 mile backpacking trip in the Upper Peninsula.  It was freezing cold and one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was also our best trip to date and he said he knew I was a keeper because anyone who would follow him into the woods for 4 days and could keep up with him was someone to hold on to. My moment was a little more intimate and doesn't have a real distinct event.  We were just laying around watching a movie and I was so comfortable with his arms around me. For the first time I felt like I was home without being at my parents house. Joe is home to me now and together we will build our life and our future.  

Just to entice you and give you a few ideas of what we are thinking for our wedding I will share my vision with you. I am a big believer that you can have a magazine worthy wedding without spending a fortune. We are going to have the wedding in my home town of Goshen Indiana at my aunt's house. She has a very large yard and lots of property with big pine trees. We plan on having an outdoor wedding with lights in the trees and tents set up. I have a very large family and they love to cook so they will be making all the food.  My step father is from TX and he used to own a restaurant, so the food will be outstanding.  My brides maids are all going to be wearing different pastel colors and long day dresses. I want to incorporate the formal feel of nice clothes, and china with the woods. The boys are going to be dressed very hipster with suspenders and bow-ties. We are going to make a lot of the flowers and center pieces ourselves and I would like to post a how-to guide on Reddit, Pintrest, and Facebook about doing a wedding on a budget. The photos displaying how beautiful it is would help to punctuate my point that a beautiful wedding is possible even if you are on a budget. My friend and I intend to make my dress and we have a date set for Aug 31st.

Thank you for your considerations! 

Joe and Chloe (Gwin)

 

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Entry Three

I’m Nikky. My fiancé David and I have a story that is a bit untraditional. However as I look back on it I never once wondered if we would make it. We have simply never allowed circumstances to dictate our happiness. As the story unfolds you will see what I mean.

Our story starts at work, nearly 7 years ago. We really didn’t have much to do with each other besides the everyday ins and outs. I was his boss. A fact he still does not swallow easily. While a natural attraction existed between the two of us, I always thought he was too risky and restless. I was right. He was so restless he quit his job to join the Army. However before he left we had already kindled an extremely strong friendship. As he bounced around the country training and getting stationed here and there our friendship remained strong. It really is true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder. So fond in fact, I found myself travelling to odd destinations like Oklahoma just to visit him. Other times we would meet halfway between our two locations just to spend the day together at the zoo, or go to dinner and a movie.

Needless to say, at this point it seemed to be more than friendship. However, no matter how our relationship evolved, it always seemed like the natural progression of things for people that shared such a deep bond and inspired friendship. We maintained this type of relationship for two years. I don’t think either of us ever had the “he’s/she’s the one moment. The strength of our friendship had always dictated that we would be part of each other’s lives forever. Instead of a moment we had a slow settling in, like falling asleep with a big blanket on a cold evening.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. He deployed to Afghanistan. Shortly before he deployed I found out we were pregnant with our first son, Chase. We could have had a quick wedding and been done with it just to keep up appearances but he was always convinced that I deserved better. He wanted to be able to give me the grand treatment. So, we waited.
The relationship was now tried like it had never been before. He was deployed to a hostile zone for over a year. He watched our son’s birth on Skype. It was so odd to see the tears stream from the face of a big tough Army man in full uniform. I think he was crying more about not being with me than the joys of fatherhood.

We kept up with letters, email, and Skype but it was so hard. Being a working mom without my partner was difficult. It was easy to get mad at him for not being around, but I had to remember he was doing the best thing for his family and his country. He was not able to come home on leave for three months. When he did come home on leave our love was still as vibrant and as passionate as ever. It was amazing watching him interact with our son for the first time and I found new reasons to love him every day. We were also able to remember many old reasons to love each other as we prepared for his inevitable return to combat.
The day he had to return to Afghanistan was the hardest we have endured to date. Even our son at 3 months old was restless and clingy. He would not return for nearly 6 months. It would have been easy to grow apart but we worked hard every day to make sure we kept him involved in home life and that we kept our relationship strong by focusing on the positive things. The things we loved about each other.

Upon his return he brought me a ring. Our engagement was probably not glamorous but he did make a production out of it. We stayed at a beautiful waterfront hotel on Lake Michigan, in Chicago. We had expensive dinners every night, spa treatments, and sightseeing. He popped the question at an old farmhouse south of Chicago that we had gone to so we could be part of a Murder Mystery Dinner. He ended up being the “murdrer”(through a little finagling with the staff) and he had only these words to say in defense of his crime: “Will you marry me Nikky?”

Again, we found our lives in upheaval as he transitioned out of the Army. We had homes and jobs to find, plans for the future, and a relationship tried by fire that we knew could withstand anything the future would bring. Shortly after he left the military we found out we were pregnant with our second son, Owen. Again our relationship would be tried in ways we could never imagine.

Owen was born with a rare deformation of the hand known as symbradachtly. We now had a disabled, yet gorgeous, and otherwise healthy, infant. Again, our wedding plans were put on hold. We grew so much as a family and a couple over the following several months. It is not to say that we didn’t have our bumps, and that our relationship was not continuously tried, but we found ways to keep the focus on our love. We kept that passion burning that had been going for so long now.

Finally here we are. Now we are planning our wedding for September 20th, 2014. Looking back on the long journey it took just to stand where we are today always brings a smile to my face. As I said, it is an untraditional story, but we have always been untraditional people. It’s far from a fairytale, but at the same time it is OUR story. We have endured more trials in just a few short years then most couples face in their lifetime. Through it all, our love has grown stronger than I could have ever imagined. We are now ready to marry and begin the next chapter in the story. If the first one was this exciting, we are in for one crazy, love filled romance.

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Entry Two

 Eric and I both attended Manchester College (now University), graduating in 2011. We were good friends during those four years. After graduating, I found a job in the Phoenix area. I then suggested to Eric that he should also apply out west. Luckily we both landed a job and that's where it all began. Many weekends we would both visit each other for company, then one weekend Eric surprised me with a first date. I was hesitant at first (just ask my best friend), but couldn't deny the fact that this guy was making me laugh and enjoy myself more than any other guy I've met. I decided to give dating him a try, and I am so glad I did. For the first time, I felt as though I could be my goofy self without reservation. After that our friendship grew into something more. Eric treats me like a princess, and I am so lucky to have found such an outstanding guy. He is so sensitive, and truly knows me better than anyone else. In fact, he often knows what I'm thinking before I even know. His outgoing personality is contagious. He has taught me not to take life too seriously, and put fun into everything. Eric is the guy I want to spend my life with. I can't wait to be married to him! 

Jessica is the most amazing girl I have ever met and I am so lucky to spend the rest of my life with her. When we were at Manchester we were just friends but we always would flirt with each other in and out of class. She would always do a hair flip which would get my attention. ;-) In the end of our senior year at Manchester I started to develop a crush on Jessica. I told her best friend Cam but it was to late in the year and we were all headed in different directions. When Jessica messaged me telling me that she got a job in Arizona and told me to apply, I thought this would be my chance... maybe if I moved across the country I would get her attention, so that is exactly what I did. I knew there was no one else like this girl. 

We lived about 2 hours away from each other. I invited here out on a date in October to a concert (Eli Young Band) and dinner.  Two days before the date I got sick with a cold. I knew this was my only shot with Jess so I had to go on the date and pretend I was feeling great. She says to this day she didn't know I was sick. When she showed up at my house she had no idea it was a date until she saw me dressed in my yellow button down and khakis.  We went to dinner and had a great time at the concert. It was the best night of my life. The next day Jessica left and I was thinking to myself that it went great, and I hope she felt the same. 30 Minutes after Jessica left the door bell rang. It was Jessica saying she forgot her license. I took this as a sign that she wanted to see me again. I believe she left it on purpose because she knew deep down I was the one for her and that she wanted to see her future husband one more time before she made the two hour drive. 

The rest is history I moved to Avondale to be closer to Jessica, so close that we worked in the same building and shared a wall! Best job location ever! I couldn't be happier in life. Manchester was great to me and led me to my future wife, best friend, and the overall best person I have ever met. 

 This is how we got engaged...

Jessica was visiting her best friend Cambria in Los Angeles. I had told Cam about two months before how much I loved Jessica and how I planned on  proposing. We set up a time and place to meet on the beach for the proposal. Then, poor Cam broke her ankle just one week before! We had to regroup and come up with a new plan that was wheelchair friendly, and fast before Jess made her way out to L.A. When came up with the perfect plan, and everything was set. She was very excited for us and promised not to say a word. School let out for the summer on a Thursday and Jessica was planning on leaving for L.A. right after school. She left and had a couple great days with Cam. I left on Monday morning for  L.A. She had no idea I was coming.  Cambria helped me find an amazing hotel with an awesome courtyard. I set the destination in the GPS and made the 5 hour drive. I showed up at the hotel a little frazzled and tried to figure out how everything was going to work. I texted Cam to let her know I was there, and we settled on a time to meet. 

Before Jessica and Cam arrived I had about two hours in a hotel room by myself. I was getting ready which took all of 10 minutes and had plenty of time left over. I started to get nervous so I turned on the T.V. and watched some baseball (Dodgers vs Angels) which calmed me down. I have a feeling I will always remember that game and what happened. Time got closer and my nerves grew more and more. My best friends gave me some kind words and I knew I had their support. The best text I got came from Jessica's Mom telling me how excited she was to have me be a part of their family. That really hit home with me. I told Jessica's mom the girls were late which isn't a big surprise. She responded with, "Sorry she gets that from me".

Two minutes later Cam text me and told me they were here and seated. I grabbed the ring and headed for the elevator. That ride down was probably no more than a minute long, but it felt like a 20 minute ride to go down 3 floors. The doors opened and all my nerves went a away when I saw Jessica. Cam sent me a smile and gave me the confidence to walk across the courtyard. 

Jessica was so confused to see me and called me a goofball. She said, "I am going to see you tomorrow, did you miss me that much?" I handed her a dozen roses and told her how much I loved her just to remind her. I reached for the ring and asked her, "Will you marry me?" She said yes and here we are today planning a wedding. She had no idea it was coming and no idea I would come to L.A. to surprise her. After the proposal we walked down the quaint streets both on cloud nine! What an unforgettable day! I want to thank Cam so much for all she did and I will never be able to repay her for the happiness in my heart! 

We are so excited to be married! We can't imagine life without each other. :)

 

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Entry One

My name is Alyssa Clevenger and my fiancé and dream man is Neil Shepherd. Neil is twenty-four years old and is from Warsaw, IN. I am nineteen years old and born and raised in the small town of Rochester, IN. Neil and I met in April of 2012 when he was hired as an engineer to work for my parents.  My parents own two small businesses Athens Archery and Lyntech Engineering. Although we met in 2012 we did not interact much, he was just my "eye candy." He didn't know it at the time but I referred to him as “Sexy Neil.” The summer after we met I had taken all of my friends out to my parents’ business for "show and tell." Although we tried pretending like I was showing them my new bow all of the giggles and smiles made it obvious that was not the case. I never flirted with Neil or went out of my way to talk to him but I did intentionally walk by his office to catch glimpses of him; he was strictly eye candy.

          Throughout the next year Neil came to my house with my step-dad from time to time. He came to euchre night, had dinner at our house when he worked late, and came for a few family gatherings. I love to hula hoop and took hoop dance classes.  I spent many hours hula hooping. During a couple of family birthday parties Neil participated in hula hooping contests with my brothers, my sisters, and I.  We still didn't interact much, not until March of 2013. In March, we had a big snow storm and school was cancelled.  My parents were in Fort Wayne with my little sister.  Neil stopped by the house during his lunch break with my younger brother, Chad.  Chad said Neil wanted to stop by and see if we needed anything.  I was in the shower but my sister and Neil talked for a while. While they were talking a thought popped into her head and she told him, "Alyssa is perfect for you," which confirmed what he had already been thinking.  When I got out of the shower and saw Alli and Neil talking around the corner I quickly threw some clothes on and headed to the kitchen but by the time I walked in the room he and Chad were headed out the door. My first thought was that Alli and Sexy Neil would end up together, because she thought he was attractive as well, but before I could say anything Alli declared that Neil and I are perfect for each other.  I laughed it off but still had him on my mind

 The next day I realized I had to run an errand after school and I wanted someone to go with me.  My parents were still with my sister in Fort Wayne, my other siblings had to work, and all of my friends were busy. I had no one else to turn to but my parents’ employees and of course Neil would be my number one pick. I texted my step-dad, Jason, and asked for Neil's number and sent him a text. The text went something along the lines of "Hey Neil, it’s Alyssa, I have to run an errand to Tick Tock Trophy Shop do you want to come with me? I need help picking out trophies for a pageant. Let me know." He wanted to go and so I met him afterschool at Lyntech Engineering and we went.  What I didn’t know at the time was that Neil had been mentioning me around work.  When I texted him, he told Pam, the office manager, about me inviting him to the trophy shop and that it was a sign that we were meant to be. When we finished picking out trophies it was dinner time so we went to the local café to grab a bite to eat; our very first dinner date.

We didn't talk for a week after that. It was about mid- March and Neil and Jason had worked really late so Jason told him he could crash on the couch at our house so he didn’t have to drive home.  I got a text at midnight from Neil saying, “you should come down stairs and watch a movie with Jason and I." We watched a movie and Jason fell asleep. Neil and I stayed up all night talking and getting to know each other. We jokingly planned every aspect of our future. We laughed and talked until early the next morning when he left for work and I went to school, extremely tired. From then on, we were nearly inseparable. We went bass fishing, bow fishing, cruising, and shopping.  Our relationship felt like one big date. We made everything fun. We were only apart for work, school, and sleep.

On April 30th, I was scheduled to have surgery on my right hip. Neil was by my side in the waiting room, while they put in my IV, and outside waiting to take care of me when surgery was over. During my surgery Neil watched the clock anxiously waiting with my mom on the doctor to return with an update on how the surgery went.  The surgery was scheduled to take four hours.  Four-and-a-half hours passed and Neil started to worry. By the time five hours passed, he was nauseous.  At that moment Neil knew that even though we hadn’t dated long he had fallen in love with me and that he didn’t ever want to be without me. After the surgery I was in extreme pain for two weeks and needed assistance sitting, standing, and getting up and down our steps. Neil was there by my side ready to meet my every need. He propped my leg up, brought me ice, food and medicine. He carried me up and down the stairs and everywhere else my crutches couldn’t take me. Realizing how big Neil's heart is and watching him care for me made it clear I loved him too. 

I graduated the first weekend of June and left two days later for a ten week internship at the church camp I went to growing up. Neil and I did not what to expect but we knew we could make it through anything no matter how difficult. People told us that absence makes the heart grow fonder or wander.  It was difficult falling in love and then suddenly being apart.  We talked as much as we could but only got to see each other three times for just a few hours.  It was still a young relationship and we had good days and bad days.  During one of our difficult days my mom suggested when I return Neil and I should go on a road trip. We needed to keep that fun, spontaneous relationship we had before I left. We counted down the days until my return in August.  Neil and my mom picked me up from camp and a few days later we left on our trip. While we were apart our hearts had grown fonder and we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Our relationship was as if I had never left. We had a blast driving all over in his Mercedes. We spent five days together traveling from Indiana to the Mall of America to Amnicon Falls to Traverse City and back to Indiana. We did not get engaged on this trip but we did commit to and purchase wedding straws for our wedding reception. However, Neil later told me he regretted not buying a ring and bringing it on the trip. He did not want to wait any longer to be married.

After returning from our road trip I started a new job as the middle school cheerleading coach, and began taking online classes while interning for my church.  Neil continued to work for my parents and our relationship continued to grow stronger.

 In October, Neil and I bought 12.7 acres of woods in my home town so we could build a house with the intentions of being married in June. We began cutting down trees and clearing for the drive way and foundation.  We worked every night after work cutting and stacking wood.  By November, we were pouring concrete. On November 7^th, Neil called and told me to meet him out at the property at 5:30.  The concrete foundation had just been poured so we took several photos in front of what would soon be our home. He said he wanted to get the rest of the wood stacked and then we could do whatever I wanted the rest of the evening. I decided on a pizza and board game night with my family. I stacked my pile of wood while Neil stacked his. I finally got to the bottom of my stack where I saw a thin cut log engraved with "November 7th, 2013" written below the date was “Will you marry me?" As I was reading the log, Neil got down on one knee with the ring and asked me to marry him. We were so excited.  We spent the rest of the evening sharing our engagement news with family and friends. 

Neil and I shared our first winter together going back and forth to each other’s houses for the holidays. We are still building our house. We are doing the majority of the construction ourselves so most evenings you will find us there working on our home.  If all continues to go well the house should be complete by April, although we will not move into it until after we get married in June.

Currently, we are working, building a house, planning a wedding, balancing dating life with family time, and continually growing together in our relationship with God. We will be married in Logansport, IN.  Our wedding will be outdoors in a pasture and our reception will be in a barn. Our rustic theme fits both of our personalities well and we are very excited for our wedding on June 14th and even more excited about our marriage.

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