All week we were planning on going to a haunted house with some friends on Friday night. Robbie did not want to go, but I did. Robbie said if it was raining he was not going, which there was like a 70% chance it would rain. I was hopeful that it would not rain and left it at that. Friday night comes and it was raining. We argued weather we were going to go to the Haunted house or not. Robbie's excuse was that he wanted to take me out to eat, we hadn't done that in a while and thought it would be nice to just spend the night together. I finally gave up and faced the fact that we would just be going out to eat. I called my friend Abby and told her what was up. As I was talking and kind of disappointed, she comes up with the ideal that she thinks Robbie is going to propose to me. I told her "no way" I thought Robbie would have given me a little warning, not just up and surprising me! I told her if he did I would be calling her at midnight to let her know!! Well, we got ready and drove to Dubuque to eat at Houlihan's, my favorite restaurant. The whole way in I was talking up a storm, Robbie was very quite. I even asked him if something was wrong, he wasn't saying much. He told me that he was just listening to me talk. I for some reason believed him and later realized he probable didn't hear a single word I said!! We got to Houlihan's and they were very busy. But we got our table and ordered our food. We both ordered a drink and sat there talking. Half way through our meal Robbie orders BOTH of us another drink. He normally does not do this, and I thought it was a little weird for him, but whatever, still clueless. After we finished our meal, Robbie was really lingering on and taking his time. I asked him if he was ready to go one time and he said no, so I put my coat on, I could then tell he was looking at me like "she is so clueless, what is her hurry, why is she putting her coat on?" I asked him a second time if he was ready and he responded very sternly "NO", he was then fishing in his coat pocket and I was beginning to realize what was about to happen. The next thing I know Robbie is down on one knee and asking me to marry him, right in the middle of the restaurant!! I was blowen away and of course said "YES". We ran out of the restaurant and got in the car. I kept asking him the whole way home if this was real. We had been dating for over five years, and I think when you wait so long, it doesn't seem real at first. I must have turned the light on in the car about 10 times between Dubuque and Farley, just to see the sparkling ring on my finger!! The rest of the night we spent driving all around to tell our family. And yes, I did call Abby at midnight to tell her. She did not believe me at first, I had to have my sister-in-law get on the phone and talk to her as well before she would believe me!! It was a great night, and I still cannot believe that Robbie surprised me the way he did!!!

It was October 18, 2008, a sunny gorgeous fall day. Sean wanted to go on a hike in the Mines of Spain which is our favorite place to hike, its beautiful with the fall trees and the view of the Mississippi . So we packed our gear and left for our hike. This time Sean said he wanted to take me to a place he used to come to all the time to get away and be alone; he had never shown this place to anybody. In order to get to this place we had to really hike and climb rocks and bluffs. But it was so worth it. It was beautiful, on top of this huge bluff and overlooking the river. Along our hike Sean was very determined to find walnuts “to eat when we got to our spot” So during our hike he found what he said were walnut trees and pocketed a few walnuts (little did I know he already had them in his pocket anyway). So we get to our spot, he sets down a blanket that was in his backpack and a knife to cut open the walnut. He started his speech about how much he loves me and wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with me and opens the walnut where he had previously placed the ring!

Now the kicker is the ring fell out of the walnut! So this is when panic set it, we searched for over an hr for this ring, we looked at the proposal spot, backtracked our steps through our hike and even went back home thinking it may have fallen out between coat swaps, he hadn’t. So we went BACK to the Mines of Spain, retraced our steps and went back to the proposal site and that’s when I found it, about a foot away from the Mississippi drop off! This is when all the emotion set it, we found the ring, it was beautiful, and the proposal (even with the mishap) was the most romantic ever. But it was not over yet, by far.

Sean then told me we had to get home and get dressed because he had “several surprises lined up for me” So I got dressed, the second surprise of the day was dinner at Timmermans, once again with a seat overlooking the Mississippi and a bottle of champagne. Sean never told me what each surprise was until it was happening so I was on my toes all night long, just waiting! The third surprise was a one hour horse and carriage ride at night all around Dubuque , all snuggled up in a blanket and a bottle of wine. The final surprise of the evening was a hotel suite, complete with a dozen roses, rose pedals spread around the room and the bed, candles lit and another bottle of wine. It was way more than I ever expected, and although Sean wishes the ring would have stayed in the walnut as planned to make it even more romantic, imp glad it happened the way it did because now we have a heck of a story behind it!

We set a wedding date for October 9, 2010 Fall is our favorite season which is why he prposed that month and we could not imagine getting married in any other month.