Ben and I met and became friends at youthgroup when we were in middle school. Our friendship continued to grow throughout high school and we eventually went on our first date to a school dance. Ben and I officially started dating in April when I was a junior in high school and Ben was a senior. Even though Ben went away to college and I went to a different college the next year, our relationship continued to grow. We spent hours on the phone and visited each other on the weekends. The more that we got to know each other and the more time we spent together, the more certain I became that Ben was the man I wanted to marry.
On September 15, 2007 Ben proposed at Brown County state park. We had spent the day hiking and talking and then as we were getting ready to leave we stopped to look at an overview as the sun was setting. There were candles and a path of flower petals leading to a blanket. We walked up to the blanket and Ben got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said "yes!" I was so surprised! He told me that my family had set everything up for us at the park and that they were in Bloomington to have dinner with us to celebrate! We sat on the blanket and watched the sun set and talked about getting married, and then we had dinner with my family, it was perfect! We are having fun planning the wedding and we are excited to begin our lives together!