So how 'bout it? How 'bout marryin' me?

Seriously, who in his right mind would not want to marry this lady?
Let's consider a little list of pros and cons about Abbie.
Pros:
1) Perfect
2) Wonderful
3) Brilliant
4) Beautiful
5) etc.

Cons:
1) Not very confident at parallel parking
2) That's about it

Basically, everything is stacked in favor of my wanting to be with Abbie all the time. Which is why we decided to get engaged recently. Yep, that's right, we're gonna tie the knot.

In case, by some miracle, you are a reader of this blog who is not already intimately familiar with all my goings-on, here's some background. Abbie and I have been dating for nearly two years, and it has been basically wonderful. We had talked about marriage before, but had always agreed that it would be years before we ever decided anything. Then the travelling started.

Abbie spent last spring--four months!--in Prague, followed almost immediately by a month in Washington, D.C. During these times, we both missed each other so miserably that we realized how important we were in to each other. Upon being reunited, our love for each other grew exponentially, and we very quickly confirmed that we wanted to spend our lives together.
That's when I started concocting secret plans. This past Labor Day, Abbie and I went to her house to pick up some school supplies, and I put the first step of my plan into action: I talked to her father. This wasn't just any old conversation either. It was a real heart-to-heart about my wanting to marry his daughter. Now, in case you are unaware, Mr. Hesse (Abbie's father), is quite mean and sometimes has an unstable temper. He also has won awards in the past for bare-knuckle boxing.* Understandably, I think, I was ridiculously nervous. After all, it's not every day that a fella has to tell another fella that he wants to marry his daughter.
*not actually true

After that step, I moved on to planning the talk with Abbie herself. I decided to scratch my original plan for asking her to marry me on a gondola ride because gondolas are in short supply in Kirksville. So I mused to myself for a while about possible schemes, until finally putting one into action on a chilly Wednesday night, not too long ago.

So here's what I did. On the fateful Wednesday, I had to work at Domino's. I made sure that I would get off early, but I kept calling Abbie to tell her that I was going to be stuck there until late. Then, after getting to go home, I prepared everything and then went to Abbie's house. We had planned on going for a jog that evening, which was when I was going to ask her. Upon my arrival, Abbie began telling me about how it was so cold and icky outside, and how she had a bunch of homework to do still, and that we should just go jogging on a different night. After much discrete cajoling and teeth-grinding, I finally convinced her to take a quick jog.

We headed out toward the football field on campus, where I led her to the uprights. At this location, I had cleverly hidden a love note for her. I imagine she suspicioned what was up right away, but she didn't let on. So we continued on our way, until we discovered another note. You probably get the idea: I had hidden a bunch of notes all around campus and town that she had to find. It was like a little scavenger hunt. At one point, we walked by a local ice cream shop. I thought that some ice cream would really hit the spot, as well as make Abbie more inclined to grant me a favorable answer later. Unfortunately, I didn't have any money on me. Fortunately, I had stopped at this ice cream shop and pre-ordered and paid for a delicious concrete, which they handed over to us during the middle of our jog.

As we neared the end of the hunt, Abbie kept counting up the notes. "22, 22 notes. I wonder how many are left." Uh-oh. At this point in the stroll, Abbie was supposed to have 23 notes! I had skipped right over the note planted at the Farmer's Market site! I decided just to play it cool and hope she didn't notice.
Our last stop was a little playground near my house. This playground has been the site of much revelry for Abbie and me because we used to joust on the playground equipment there. Sadly, we can't do that anymore since they ripped up the jousting equipment, but the park still has a lot of sentimental value. When we arrived there, I led Abbie over to a small pile of flowers and the final love note: "If these reasons haven't been enough to show my love for you, then I will happily write 25, 50, or even 100 more. But if they get my message across..." At this point, I dropped to one knee and pulled out the ring while asking her to marry me. Luckily, she agreed!

Just this past weekend, we told all of our families. They were quite overjoyed about the good news. Now we are in a frenzy of wedding planning since we only have about 8 months until the big day! On June 29 or 30, we will look just like this couple here (except we will be in Vandalia instead of Rome):

You can read Abbie's account of the wonderful events here.