My "Yes"
I wish I could freeze a moment in time. I'd capture it, stare at it, and then tuck it away somewhere close to my heart where I'd be able to remember it exactly as it was-every second, every detail-forever. I guess this is the closest I can get to doing that, because Tuesday night contained one of those moments for me. The day I had dreamed about my whole life became a reality. The man I want to spend the rest of my life with fell to his knee and asked me to marry him, and I said yes.
I've always known my vocation is to be a wife and a mother. Since I was a little girl, I've pictured my wedding day. I could see myself walking down the aisle, but I wondered who the groom would be. I remember talking about it with a friend in high school. She said how crazy it is to think that God knows exactly who that person is and He is preparing him right now to meet me. We talked about how that man would be exactly who God wants us to be with, without a doubt. He would be the most amazing man, planned perfectly by God to love me, raise a family with me, and help me get to heaven. Seven years later, I know who that man is, and I will say yes to giving myself to him for the rest of our lives on December 28th of this year.
I met Chaz my first year of college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I knew his sister Shannon through FOCUS. She was really involved in the Newman Center and I became involved, too. I remember after Christmas that first year someone telling me that Shannon's brother Chaz was transferring to UNL from a small college in Iowa. I remember that person pointing him out to me in the back lobby of the Newman Center after Mass that night. I remember thinking to myself what a hunk that Chaz guy was. I thought that was the night I met Chaz, but he assures me we had already met that fall at one of his parents' Husker football tailgates. I believe him because I don't trust my own memory. Nevertheless, at the tailgate Chaz told me we shook hands and he remembered thinking I was really pretty. From the moment I remember meeting him, I felt the same way. We had a lot of mutual friends and hung out quite a bit. It was a confusing time for me though. I was talking to another guy in a different state, and Chaz was discerning the seminary. I remember having a crush on him but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Apparently, Chaz had a larger crush on me, and he thought he "blew it" in the fall of sophomore year when he hit me in the face with a football. :-)
Here is a photo of some of our friends at a Reliant K concert not long after Chaz and I started hanging out. (2008)
As God's plan would have it, I would begin dating someone sophomore year and Chaz decided to enter the seminary at the start of our junior year in college. He crossed my mind now and again. I missed our friendship, we didn't communicate at all really except for the occasional run-in at his parent's tailgate when he was back in town.
Time passed and with that we both grew a lot. During the fall of 2010 my other relationship ended and Chaz discerned out of the seminary. One of my best friends (Beth) just so happened to be marrying his best friend (Josh) on New Year's Eve that year. We reconnected at their rehearsal dinner and again at the wedding. I remember the song "The Best of Times" by Styx coming on over the speakers. Chaz and I ended up dancing together (I say 'ended up' because we literally kind of spun into each other and started dancing). We had a blast, but it was cut short by the groomsmen grabbing Chaz to take part in the Benedictine College tradition of drinking in the bathroom with the groom. I didn't realize then how upset this made Chaz. :-)
We started hanging out and talking a lot more that semester. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Chaz asked me to go to the Newman formal with him in April. We had a great time, and he called me a week later to ask me to dinner. We ate dinner at Lazlo's. I will never forget as we walked back to the car that Chaz asked me to dance. He turned on the song, "The Best of Times" and told me he'd been waiting an awful long time to finish that dance. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to marry him.
The rest is history as they say (or history in the making in this case). I'll let the pictures do the talking of the year we dated. Let's just say, it has been the best year of my life.
Through dating Chaz, God has shown me clearly and beautifully the plans He has for me. I have never doubted that I am supposed to be with him because of the peace God has blessed me with. Chaz is everything I could have dreamed of and more. He is unbelievably humble and selfless, and never stops serving others. He strives to grow in virtue and love of Christ daily, and helps me along my journey to heaven. I know he will be the best husband and father because of the way he lets Christ work through him.
Fast forward to May 29, 2012-our one year anniversary. Chaz and I planned to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo, followed by dinner, and then an evening with wine at his parents' vineyard/reception hall Bella Terre. Little did I know that he planned to propose that evening. Looking back now and knowing how antsy Chaz was, everything about that day leading up to the proposal was hilarious.
I was supposed to come up to Omaha at 11 am because Chaz was going to work at the vineyard in the morning. (He was actually running around setting up for the evening's events). I was running late but when I arrived we headed to the zoo. We took a wrong turn for parking and drove through some backwoods alleys in Omaha. We finally found a spot (front row, actually) and headed inside. We checked out every exhibit in the whole zoo, I think. The best part was that I really wanted to see the elephants even though they are an eternity away from everything else. When we finally got there, there were no elephants. Apparently the exhibit is under construction. It was getting late and we'd been at the zoo for several hours, so we decided to end with the Desert Dome. Seeing the dome from every angle in the zoo is one thing, finding a path to get there is another. Three wrong turns and a half hour later, we arrived at our final destination. (Poor Chaz...)
After freshening up we went to dinner at Upstream Brewery in the Old Market. Dinner was great but we seemed to eat fast and head out. Another moment of torture for antsy-Chaz: it took us about ten minutes to find the on-ramp to the Interstate. The overpass was directly above us the whole time, but the on-ramp was nowhere to be found.
I was honestly not suspicious about a proposal until we got to Bella Terre. For some reason I started thinking 'this was it', and got really anxious as we walked in. I don't know what I expected, but as soon as we entered and everything was normal I was fine again. We went outside to watch the stars and were having a great time. Suddenly Chaz said, 'Emily I have a gift for you for our anniversary. It's in a little box but I don't want to get your hopes up-it's not a ring'. Talk about anti-climatic-haha. I opened up the box and it was a beautiful Claddagh ring-an Irish symbol of loyalty, love, and friendship. He told me he wished he had enough money for an engagement ring, but that he still wanted to show me he was "in it for the long haul". I loved the ring and as I hugged him was able to surrender my desire to get engaged to God. I wouldn't change it for the world, because I was able to tell God that I wanted it to be completely His timing and according to His will, not mine. After a few minutes Chaz wanted to go inside and dance to our song, but first he had to go to the bathroom. He was in the bathroom for literally about 10 minutes and then emerged wearing a suit and carrying a rose. For a split second I wondered, 'is this it?' but then everything told me 'no', he had just told me he couldn't afford a ring yet. Sensing my confusion Chaz said to me, "Emily, I'm proposing right now." It was both hilarious and stunning at the same time. Leave it to me to have to have my boyfriend explicitly tell me he is proposing. I wish I could deny this, but I did actually respond with, "I thought you were in the bathroom pooping!" (sigh. yep, I said it) Chaz said we should dance first, but the iPod wouldn't work. Poor guy-I honestly didn't care one bit though. He then read me the most beautiful letter I've ever heard and then proposed on bended knee. After my ecstatic yes, we figured out the iPod and danced to "The Best of Times" for what I'm sure won't be the last time.
It was beautiful and perfect and I wouldn't change any of it for anything.
I am so thankful to God for the joy in my heart and I can't wait to call Chaz my husband in seven months!
I've always known my vocation is to be a wife and a mother. Since I was a little girl, I've pictured my wedding day. I could see myself walking down the aisle, but I wondered who the groom would be. I remember talking about it with a friend in high school. She said how crazy it is to think that God knows exactly who that person is and He is preparing him right now to meet me. We talked about how that man would be exactly who God wants us to be with, without a doubt. He would be the most amazing man, planned perfectly by God to love me, raise a family with me, and help me get to heaven. Seven years later, I know who that man is, and I will say yes to giving myself to him for the rest of our lives on December 28th of this year.
I met Chaz my first year of college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I knew his sister Shannon through FOCUS. She was really involved in the Newman Center and I became involved, too. I remember after Christmas that first year someone telling me that Shannon's brother Chaz was transferring to UNL from a small college in Iowa. I remember that person pointing him out to me in the back lobby of the Newman Center after Mass that night. I remember thinking to myself what a hunk that Chaz guy was. I thought that was the night I met Chaz, but he assures me we had already met that fall at one of his parents' Husker football tailgates. I believe him because I don't trust my own memory. Nevertheless, at the tailgate Chaz told me we shook hands and he remembered thinking I was really pretty. From the moment I remember meeting him, I felt the same way. We had a lot of mutual friends and hung out quite a bit. It was a confusing time for me though. I was talking to another guy in a different state, and Chaz was discerning the seminary. I remember having a crush on him but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Apparently, Chaz had a larger crush on me, and he thought he "blew it" in the fall of sophomore year when he hit me in the face with a football. :-)
Here is a photo of some of our friends at a Reliant K concert not long after Chaz and I started hanging out. (2008)
As God's plan would have it, I would begin dating someone sophomore year and Chaz decided to enter the seminary at the start of our junior year in college. He crossed my mind now and again. I missed our friendship, we didn't communicate at all really except for the occasional run-in at his parent's tailgate when he was back in town.
Time passed and with that we both grew a lot. During the fall of 2010 my other relationship ended and Chaz discerned out of the seminary. One of my best friends (Beth) just so happened to be marrying his best friend (Josh) on New Year's Eve that year. We reconnected at their rehearsal dinner and again at the wedding. I remember the song "The Best of Times" by Styx coming on over the speakers. Chaz and I ended up dancing together (I say 'ended up' because we literally kind of spun into each other and started dancing). We had a blast, but it was cut short by the groomsmen grabbing Chaz to take part in the Benedictine College tradition of drinking in the bathroom with the groom. I didn't realize then how upset this made Chaz. :-)
Josh and Beth's wedding party, December 31, 2010.
We started hanging out and talking a lot more that semester. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Chaz asked me to go to the Newman formal with him in April. We had a great time, and he called me a week later to ask me to dinner. We ate dinner at Lazlo's. I will never forget as we walked back to the car that Chaz asked me to dance. He turned on the song, "The Best of Times" and told me he'd been waiting an awful long time to finish that dance. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to marry him.
The rest is history as they say (or history in the making in this case). I'll let the pictures do the talking of the year we dated. Let's just say, it has been the best year of my life.
At a friend's wedding, June 2011
With the wonderful Zurcher family, November 2011
New Year's Eve, December 2011
Lake Dillon, CO, January 2012
Copper Mountain, CO, January 2012
Easter with my wonderful family, April 2012
Double date night with the Santo's-the couple's wedding that started it all, May, 2012
Through dating Chaz, God has shown me clearly and beautifully the plans He has for me. I have never doubted that I am supposed to be with him because of the peace God has blessed me with. Chaz is everything I could have dreamed of and more. He is unbelievably humble and selfless, and never stops serving others. He strives to grow in virtue and love of Christ daily, and helps me along my journey to heaven. I know he will be the best husband and father because of the way he lets Christ work through him.
Fast forward to May 29, 2012-our one year anniversary. Chaz and I planned to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo, followed by dinner, and then an evening with wine at his parents' vineyard/reception hall Bella Terre. Little did I know that he planned to propose that evening. Looking back now and knowing how antsy Chaz was, everything about that day leading up to the proposal was hilarious.
I was supposed to come up to Omaha at 11 am because Chaz was going to work at the vineyard in the morning. (He was actually running around setting up for the evening's events). I was running late but when I arrived we headed to the zoo. We took a wrong turn for parking and drove through some backwoods alleys in Omaha. We finally found a spot (front row, actually) and headed inside. We checked out every exhibit in the whole zoo, I think. The best part was that I really wanted to see the elephants even though they are an eternity away from everything else. When we finally got there, there were no elephants. Apparently the exhibit is under construction. It was getting late and we'd been at the zoo for several hours, so we decided to end with the Desert Dome. Seeing the dome from every angle in the zoo is one thing, finding a path to get there is another. Three wrong turns and a half hour later, we arrived at our final destination. (Poor Chaz...)
After freshening up we went to dinner at Upstream Brewery in the Old Market. Dinner was great but we seemed to eat fast and head out. Another moment of torture for antsy-Chaz: it took us about ten minutes to find the on-ramp to the Interstate. The overpass was directly above us the whole time, but the on-ramp was nowhere to be found.
I was honestly not suspicious about a proposal until we got to Bella Terre. For some reason I started thinking 'this was it', and got really anxious as we walked in. I don't know what I expected, but as soon as we entered and everything was normal I was fine again. We went outside to watch the stars and were having a great time. Suddenly Chaz said, 'Emily I have a gift for you for our anniversary. It's in a little box but I don't want to get your hopes up-it's not a ring'. Talk about anti-climatic-haha. I opened up the box and it was a beautiful Claddagh ring-an Irish symbol of loyalty, love, and friendship. He told me he wished he had enough money for an engagement ring, but that he still wanted to show me he was "in it for the long haul". I loved the ring and as I hugged him was able to surrender my desire to get engaged to God. I wouldn't change it for the world, because I was able to tell God that I wanted it to be completely His timing and according to His will, not mine. After a few minutes Chaz wanted to go inside and dance to our song, but first he had to go to the bathroom. He was in the bathroom for literally about 10 minutes and then emerged wearing a suit and carrying a rose. For a split second I wondered, 'is this it?' but then everything told me 'no', he had just told me he couldn't afford a ring yet. Sensing my confusion Chaz said to me, "Emily, I'm proposing right now." It was both hilarious and stunning at the same time. Leave it to me to have to have my boyfriend explicitly tell me he is proposing. I wish I could deny this, but I did actually respond with, "I thought you were in the bathroom pooping!" (sigh. yep, I said it) Chaz said we should dance first, but the iPod wouldn't work. Poor guy-I honestly didn't care one bit though. He then read me the most beautiful letter I've ever heard and then proposed on bended knee. After my ecstatic yes, we figured out the iPod and danced to "The Best of Times" for what I'm sure won't be the last time.
It was beautiful and perfect and I wouldn't change any of it for anything.
I am so thankful to God for the joy in my heart and I can't wait to call Chaz my husband in seven months!
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