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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