A little to celebrate

A lot has happened in 3 weeks... Ben graduated from grad school, Ben and I are now engaged, holidays with our families, Ben moved from Wisconsin into our apartment in Indianapolis, and we are almost 20 weeks pregnant.

It all started with being picked up by Ben's family and traveling up to Wisconsin from Indianapolis. It was Friday, the last day of class before winter break. I rushed home and gathered some last minute things for my suitcase, and was happily greeted by Ben's mother, father, and sister. We all packed up into their car for our road trip, first stop: Bloomington, Illinois.

Ben's family had reserved a hotel room for us to stop at, that was half way from Indy to Madison. Upon arriving we ran to a nearby Mexican restaurant for some lovely, warm dinner. It is also where I fantasized about hooking up Ben's sister, Sarah, with our waiter. I decided that it may be inappropriate, so I caved.

The next day, we traveled another 3 hours north to Madison, Wisconsin. It was bittersweet for me, knowing that this might be the last time that I ever step foot into the city that has warmed my heart. Not to mention, it was the city that I had envisioned myself in, as a UW grad student. Therefore, this trip was also tough in the sense, that I was also closing the door on my UW grad school intentions as well.

We arrived at Ben's apartment. I was greeted with his lovely blue eyes and two long arms wrapped around me. I hadn't seen Ben for a week, but a week is a lot of time to be separated from someone that you love. After greetings were exchanged, we met up at a cafe on State Street. Ben's cousin, Chase, and our friend, Claire also joined us. That night we began to help Ben pack up his Madison life.

The next day was a big day. It was graduation day for Ben. Words cannot express the enjoyment that I felt that day for Ben, and Ben's family. We helped him get suited up in the graduation garb, however, this was different because he wore a hood that signified him as a "Master," or so he says.

Ben found his place, and his family and I found our spots among the many other proud families inside the Kohl Center. The ceremony took about an hour or so to commence. After the graduation, we all walked to Nick's Restaurant for a celebration lunch (before Ben's parents and sister began their journey back to Cincinnati).

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Ben's family and Claire. Ben, Chase, and I continued to walk toward Bascom Hill. It is tradition for UW graduates to climb up the statue of Abraham Lincoln, that is placed at the very top of Bascom Hill, and whisper hopes, dreams, or intentions into his ear. Chase split off to go and study for a final exam that he had the following day.

Ben and I walked/hiked up to the top of Bascom Hill in the freezing Wisconsin winter air. I brought my camera to document this monumental occasion. Ben had a tough time of getting a good grip onto the icy statue so instead he whispered loud enough that Abe could hear, but no one else could.

Ben walked back to me, took the camera out of my hand, took off my gloves (at this point... I was very confused as to why he was taking off my gloves when it was a negative degree windchill), reached into his pocked, and then kneeled down before me. This is where is gets a little fuzzy for me... my mind was saying a lot of things, "Oh crap, is he proposing, his knee is going to be cold, wait is that a ring, oh crap..." Of course my mind was racing while I was missing what he was saying, and they were probably the most perfect words about our love, and yeah, there I was, wondering if his knee was cold.

I snapped back into real life, realized the proposal, started laughing and smiling, and replied with a, "YES!" Ben stood up and placed a delicate and lovely white gold band upon my ring finger. I, then, grabbed his hand and kneeled before him and asked for his hand in marriage, of which he also replied, "YES!" to. As we hugged and kissed, we were celebrated by the clapping of passerby strangers.

to be continued...