Ben asked me to be his wife. It was finals week of our senior year, which explains my sweatshirt, baseball cap, and lack of makeup, and obviously, I was very excited about marrying my very best friend -- and about the big diamond on my finger.
A couple of days after we were engaged, I wrote down everything that had happened and asked Ben to do the same so that we would always remember all the details of our special day. I'm going warn you -- our stories are long (especially mine), so grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy.
My version of the story:"While working all day on a group project on campus, Ben continued to call me to make sure that we were still going to be able to hang out that night. Both his mom and his aunt were scheduled to have surgery that week, and he had planned to leave the next day to be with them for the rest of the week. Each time he called, he asked when I was going to be done, and I responded by telling him that I had ABSOLUTELY no idea. The last time that he called he told me that he wanted to cook me dinner and asked me if I preferred hamburgers or lemon pepper chicken. We decided on hamburgers, and he asked me to call him when I left campus so that he could have dinner on the table when I got home (we live in the same apartment complex). I called him just as soon as I left, and after parking my car and finishing up my phone conversation with my mom, I went upstairs to his apartment. To my surprise, he was not there, and the grill had not even been started. Needless to say, I was a little confused (and a little ticked!). His roommate John Kimla said that he was not really sure where he was but that he thought that he had gone over to my apartment. I went over there, but only found my roommate Katie McGhee and her boyfriend John Livas. They said that they had not seen him, and I began to call him as I walked into my room. On my desk I found a dozen beautiful red roses with the sweetest note ever written. He told me how special I was, apologized for leaving me alone in College Station during this very stressful week, and asked me to meet him on the bridge in Spence Park (the park on Texas A&M campus). He answered the phone, and I asked him why I was meeting him in the park on this cold December night. He said that he wanted to have a picnic and that we had to eat dinner anyway and that he wanted to do something a little different. After calling my roommate into my room and showing off both my note and the flowers, I grabbed my coat and headed out the door. On my way to the park, I also called my mom to brag about how wonderful my boyfriend was. I even thought to myself that he was going to start doing special little things like that so that I wouldn’t suspect anything when he eventually proposed (or so I thought). When I got to the park, it was dark, and it wasn’t until I got to the end of the bridge that I saw him on the other side. We began to walk towards each other and met in the middle of the bridge. He was wearing a pressed shirt and khakis (which is VERY rare), and I asked why he was so dressed up. He said that he just wanted to make the evening special, and I apologized for looking AWFUL. I was wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, a baseball cap, and no make-up because of the fact that this special evening fell in finals week. He insisted that I looked beautiful and said that he wouldn’t have it any other way. I asked where the picnic was (I was a little hungry!), and he said that it was over in the pavilion. After taking a few steps in the direction from which he came, he stopped me and said that he had something that he wanted to give me. He told me to close my eyes and hold out my arms. He then gave me another dozen roses, but this time they were all different colors (something I had told him that I had always loved). His voice then became very nervous as he said, “Lindsay, the real reason that I brought you out here is you’re my best friend and…” After that I couldn’t concentrate on anything he said because of the fact that I was crying (and shaking a little – okay, a lot!). He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and I, of course, said “yes!” We then walked to the edge of the bridge where he had champagne and two glass flutes. He opened the bottle, and the cork shot out into the darkness. Ben made a comment about the cork being as good as gone, but I insisted that we search for it so that I could keep it forever. After gaining my composure (at least a little bit), I asked if my parents knew, and Ben said that while he was home the previous Friday, he had taken my dad out for lunch and asked for his blessing. Ben had also asked my dad not to say anything to my mom because he knew how special it would be for me to tell her. After heading back to his truck (and finding the cork), I called both of my parents and my sister. Both my mom and my sister were ecstatic and ready to start the wedding planning that night! After calling both of my grandmothers as well, Ben and I stopped by Stephanie Warner’s house to share the news. Both she and Erin Saucier had actually known for weeks that he had planned on proposing that night (and were actually initially part of the plan before I stayed so late working on my project). Before heading back home (so that Ben could study for a test that he had that next morning), we stopped by Cheddar’s to pick up dinner to go. Ben got a steak, and I ordered baked potato soup. He ate his dinner while I told the ENTIRE story to Katie and John (even though they had known about the plans for weeks as well). That night while he studied, I called all of my friends to tell them the big news. After spending hours talking on the phone (and staring at my big sparkly ring), I realized that I had forgotten about my dinner, and reheated it in the microwave. After eating (and staring at my ring some more), I decided to call it a night. That day was definitely the best day of my life. I remember falling asleep to the wonderful thought of marrying my very best friend. Nothing could be better."
Ben's version of the story:
"After another night of not sleeping I woke up and headed to campus to turn in a project. When I left campus, I headed to the florist to double check the order that I had placed on Friday. When the flowers were ready, I headed to Lindsay’s apartment to drop off the flowers. The only hard part of this situation was the fact that Lindsay called me, and I almost blew it and told her I was at the florist. When I got to Lindsay’s apartment, I put the flowers and my note on her desk. After that I went back to my apartment and tried to kill time. I had an exam the next day so I tried to study, but I couldn’t sit still for longer than five minutes. Basically all I did was walk around and drive my roommate crazy. Throughout the day I would call Lindsay to see how her day was going and to make sure that my plan would work out. Around four I called Lindsay to see what her plan was for the night since she was working on a project. She said that she was going to work a little while longer and then go home to take a nap. I realized that her going home could totally screw up my plan and leave her on the bridge by herself with me somewhere else. I told her that she should wait. That way I could meet her at her apartment and make her dinner or something of the sort. Eventually she decided that she would wait for me to get out of my review I had that night. At five I went to a review all dressed up nervous that Lindsay would head home without me knowing. When I got out of my review, I nervously called Lindsay to make sure she was still on campus. She said she would be working for a little while longer. I told her to call me whenever she was packing up so that I could have dinner on the table when she came home. I was scared that she would forget to call me so I called her several other times to make sure that she hadn’t left yet. As soon as she called me, I was out the door headed to campus the long way that way we wouldn’t pass each other. When I got there, I put the flowers and the champagne on the far side of the bridge. I waited on the opposite side of the bridge underneath the shade of a clump of trees. I sat there and waited at least twenty minutes for Lindsay to get there. I called several people to pass time and to calm my nerves. Eventually Lindsay called me to ask what was going on and why she should meet me at the park. I told her we were going to have a picnic. Finally Lindsay showed up, and the time came. I waited for Lindsay to get to the bridge, and I started making my way to the bridge. It worked out perfectly. I was able to meet her in the middle with perfect timing. I started talking to her about how her day went and how the project was going. When we near the end of the bridge, I told her that I had lied to her about why I had her come out to the park. After I told her more about why I brought her out there, I got down on one knee and proposed, and thankfully she said yes."
We ate at Red Lobster (our family favorite!) and then went to Holly's apartment for cake and presents. As soon as we walked into her apartment though, I got a call from Paul -- a call that I had been anxiously awaiting the past few days. Baby Ella was finally on her way, and I needed to get over to the Messerli house to watch Will while Stephanie and Paul went to the hospital.
Stephanie and Paul got to the hospital at about 10:00 p.m. last night, and Ella Rose was born at 12:10 a.m. this morning. She weighs 7.5 pounds, is 20 inches long, and is super cute.
She has the cutest little round face just like her big brother Will, and I can already tell that I'm gonna love her to pieces. After 3 little boys, I finally have a girl to spoil. :)
Me and the Messerli kids.
A picture of Stephanie with the "best BIG brother".
After we left the hospital, we headed up to Ben's office for a little bit and then stopped by Kevin and Molly's house to see one of my other favorite babies. Charlie is almost 6 weeks now, and I hadn't seen him in about 3 weeks, so I definitely needed my fix. 
We had a great time catching up with Molly and Kevin, and Charlie napped in my arms almost the whole time that we were there. He did wake up for a little bit towards the end of our visit, which was pretty exciting since it was my first time to see him awake, but after few minutes of staring at the ceiling fan, he was back asleep in no time. Such a rough life. ;)
