John and I met the new age way: eHarmony. I'd had my fair share of meeting guys at work, out with friends, and being set-up. I knew my prince charming was out there somewhere, if only I could find him. With the holidays coming up in late 2010, I was feeling the lonely girl blues and decided to sign up for eHarmony. By January the end of my subscription was looming near and I still was having no luck. In a last ditch effort I opened up my matches to include guys within 60 miles of Champaign instead of only 30. There popped John into my matches. He was incredibly handsome and his profile made me smile. We quickly completed the inital communciation stages of eHarmony and were soon emailing and then talking on the phone. I had never known a guy who could make me laugh out loud just from an email and our phone conversations lasted for hours.
Our first date was incredible. We had lunch at the Bread Company and then I showed him all around U of I's campus. We got back to our cars, but neither of us wanted the date to end. We ended up going to the movies to see King's Speech. I was so relieved that he was as amazing in person as he was over email and phone. After our second date I had dinner with my friend Jackie and as I was telling her all about this new guy I'd met she told me, "Kim, I have a feeling you are going to marry him." All I thought was, "Whoa, girl, we've only been out twice!" A few days later was Valentine's Day weekend and John surprised me with the most romantic evening at Buttita's restaurant where we had a special table in an area all to ourselves with candles and flowers and wine. No man before John had EVER done something so sweet and romantic for me. I emailed Jackie later that night and told her she was right, I'm marrying this guy. A year and a half later, here we are! :) |
After taking a trip together to Denver in June 2011, John and I fell in love...with Colorado. When the opportunity came to travel to Colorado again over Memorial Day Weekend 2012, we took it. We decided to stay up in the mountains in Breckridge this time around.
On the first day there we planned to go hiking up to Mohawk Lake which we were told was a beautiful lake with waterfalls and historic cabins, a real showstopper. Our plan was to get sandwiches in town to take up with us and to have a picnic by the lake. Well our quick trip into town turned into the entire morning as we hunted down open shops to buy a blanket to sit on and a coat for me because it was extra chilly in the mountains that day. Finally we were on our way to the trailhead of Mohawk Lake, or so we thought until we realized the GPS sent us to the completely wrong place and we went off roading in our Chrysler sedan rental car. Finally we made it to the trailhead of Mohawk Lake and began our "short" 3.5 mile hike up the mountain.
I had noticed that John was acting really strange that day and he was determined to make it Mohawk Lake, despite the fact that we were both suffering from altitude sickness, hungry, and I was still dealing with motion sickness from the winding roads we drove to the trailhead. He was also acting really funny anytime I asked to get something out of the backback we brought. He would bark at me, "it's in the small pocket!" when I wanted my camera or some water. After hiking for so long and realizing we were no where near Mohawk Lake, we decided to backtrack and have our picnic lunch at a clearing near a small pond we'd passed earlier. We found a beautiful spot by the pond and proceed to eat our lunches and make friends with a wild bird we named Fluffy who loved sharing the bread from our sandwiches that we offered him.
As we finished up our lunch, I noticed John reaching into the backback and he said, "Kim,...." Suddenly out popped that little square box every girl dreams about. I gasped as John took a few minutes to gather himself and his nerves. It felt like eternity to me! Finally he said, "Kim, I love you more than anything in the world. I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me." Pause. I said nothing as I was waiting for the big question. Poor John is wondering why I'm not saying yes, until he realizes he never asked. Then he says, "Will you marry me?" With hesitation I screamed, "Absolutely!" |
May 25th, 2013! Almost 1 year to the day as our engagement (May 28th, 2012).
The ceremony will be at Allerton Park in Monticello in the Sunken Garden. It is by far the most beautiful and unique wedding spot in the area.
The reception will be at the IHotel in Champaign. A super cool and eclectic hotel right across from the Assembly Hall. |
