How We Met
We met at college in Eau Claire, WI – starting off as best friends for two and a half years before ever becoming romantically involved. Randomly one night in March, my friend Shelby said to Ben (while standing next to me at a party) ‘Ben, you won’t kiss Claire…’ I know, so 4th grade lol. Of course, he did and I thought it was funny. Didn’t think tooo much of it, but I also didn’t hate it ;)
Summer of 2014 we were both single and happened to stay in Eau Claire for the whole summer. Ben helped me move ALL of my stuff from a house to my senior year apartment (moving in college…who can relate??). I remember thinking, ‘WOW, Ben is such a nice guy; I can’t believe he took all day (multiple hours) to move me when we are “just friends”‘. Well, I soon found out that he wanted to be more than just friends, and the rest is history :)
how they asked
In the middle of November I received a text message from my mom that said ‘Hey Claire! Are you available Friday December 1st? I want to take you and your sister on a surprise mother/daughter date Downtown. Meet at mine and your dad’s house at 3PM that day, ready to go out.” I was SUPER excited to go out downtown with my mom and sister – something we hadn’t done in a while! That Friday arrived and I was excited to go. I drove to my parent’s house and was VERY surprised to what I drove up on…In the circle driveway was a high-top table with roses, rose pedals, a sign that said ‘Claire’, and a framed letter. It was a love letter from Ben; ending with ‘I have an individual that is here with me today. This individual is going to assist me in asking you the most important question I will ever ask you. You have never met this individual; however, I think they love you as much as I do! When you are ready, walk down to the lake and let the surprise unfold :) I love you, Ben’
My heart was RACING as I walked down towards the lake. I had a feeling what the question was…but who was the ‘individual’?! As I looked at the house, I saw no one. I looked down towards the lake and saw Ben and a PUPPY stick their heads out from behind some tall bushes. My heart immediately grew 10 times larger. Ben handed me the puppy and said ‘Read his tag’…as I found the tag that said ‘Marry Me?’ I look over and Ben is down on one knee with a ring in hand. As I look up towards the house, my sister was photographing the whole thing. Our parents and friends celebrated with us and our new puppy (Royce) all night and we were ENGAGED!
**I had been wanting a puppy for a long time. Ben and I moved in together in September, and he continuously told me that we shouldn’t get a puppy because we live in an apartment, aren’t ready, etc. etc. (every excuse he could think of to divert me from thinking he was actually planning on getting one). Little did I know…that Ben had called the breeder back in JUNE, and when we were looking for places to live in August he was only saying yes to dog-friendly houses & apartments (this makes sense now why he was saying no to some of the coolest spots in town without a good reason lol) This was hands down one of the best days of my life! We love Royce and we are SO excited to be engaged :)
