For those of you that know me, you know that I have a tough time making choices - ask anyone that's ever tried going shopping with me (@Kristen). I'm a thinker (and overthinker). I think things through very carefully and am a pretty cautious person, especially before making any big decisions. My version of taking a risk is not bringing a jacket along in case it gets cold or only getting to the airport 90 minutes before the flight leaves. So, when it came to dating, things weren't any different. Abdul and I met at Iggy's in downtown Lincoln my last semester of college. We would see each other out in Lincoln every now and then and talked/texted for a while. He tried to get me to go on a date with him, but I was hesitant. I didn't know him very well and didn't feel like it was a "good time" to start dating. I was graduating soon and didn't know what my post-graduation plans looked like. Plus, his favorite sport was the wrong kind of football. However, when I was driving with my friend in Lincoln one afternoon, we got talking about Abdul. And while stopped at a light (you can ask me to show you the spot sometime), I decided to give it a try. Just one date wouldn't hurt anything, right? Right...

On our first date, Abdul took me to Yia Yia's in downtown Lincoln for pizza (Abdul found out very quickly that pizza was a sure way to my heart). We went to a movie too and had an awkward but funny encounter with a random stranger (a story for another time). But, even after that first date, I wasn't sure it would work out. Abdul was living in Omaha and I was in Lincoln, so we sort of lost touch. BUT, as fate would have it, we later reconnected almost a year later from that first meeting. The second time around, things seemed to click much better. And after making Abdul work really hard and be very patient, we started officially dating. While it didn't work out the first time, now seemed to be just right for both of us. In the end, it turns out I was indeed right (which is usually the case). One date with Abdul didn't hurt at all. Instead it led me down a path that I couldn't see coming. And through our journey, we learned what would be the first of many life lessons together. 1) Nothing worth it ever comes easy. 2) God's timing is perfect. Trust Him. 3) Love truly is patient. 4) Pizza makes everything better.

I picked out the ring about six weeks before I proposed. I wanted to make it perfect, so I was in no rush. My first thought was I need a location that would be great for the pictures - that proved to be a little more difficult in Nebraska than I imagined. I knew Erica wouldn’t want me to propose at a restaurant or a party with a lot of people, so I needed to find somewhere both beautiful and uncrowded. The most iconic place in Lincoln is Memorial Stadium. If you know Erica, you would know that she works in Memorial Stadium everyday so this may have been the last place on Earth she would have wanted the proposal to be. I knew about the beautiful glass Holy Family Shrine located between Lincoln and Omaha. Although neither of us had been there, we always talked about visiting when we would drive past it. While in Omaha one day, I decided to go location scouting. I stopped at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha. It really was a beautiful church but not quite right for the proposal. I checked out a historic hotel in downtown Omaha with a picturesque patio but due to the weather (early November), I just thought it would be a logistical nightmare. Finally, on my way back to Lincoln, I stopped at the Holy Family Shrine. This is it. I knew it instantly. I was blown away by the design, and it also helped that it was Catholic Shrine. I knew Erica would love that. So, then the logistical planning began. I thought, “we will come in here”, “the pictures would be taken from this angle”, “I am going to drop down to one knee at this exact spot”. Every detail was considered. I emailed the Shrine to familiarize myself with their rules about visits and photography, didn’t want anything unexpected on the day. Bridget from the Shrine responded the next day and said my plan would work for them.

Before I went forward with the plan, I wanted to ask Erica’s parents for their blessing. I knew it would mean a lot to Erica and her parents, but it was also important to me because if I have a daughter, I want to know that she is marrying a man who respects me enough to ask. It was less of an obligation and more of a privilege. With that being said, I have NEVER been more nervous in my entire life. I am pretty sure I stuttered through my first couple of sentences, stalled as long as I could with small talk, and I felt like throwing up the entire time. I was thankful they said yes. It lifted all my nerves about proposing, I had a pretty good feeling Erica was going to say yes as well. The day of the proposal I came over to Erica and Kristen’s (Erica's sister) place to pick them up. After I got a good sense of when we were going to leave, I called up the restaurant to make the reservation and left for Omaha (which is about 45 minutes away). During the drive, I let Erica use my phone to play music. I was nervous the whole time that something from my conversation with Kristen would pop up and the whole plan would be ruined. Luckily, Erica was only interested in the music. The closer we got to the Shrine’s exit, the sweatier my hands got. I turned the music up to distract Erica from my nerves. We take the Shrine exit and Erica has this confused look on her face, but I told her to “go with the flow” today so she did not say anything. The Shrine shares an exit with the Nebraska Outlet Mall so I know for a second, she thought we might be going shopping. We take a right, away from the outlets. It is becoming increasingly obvious where we are going so Kristen and I begin to small talk about the Shrine and the fact that Erica had never been there before.

We enter the Shrine grounds and began to look around for a few minutes. Kristen says, “I have to go back to the car, I forgot my phone”. We had planned this of course. I left the ring in the center console. I give her my keys. Erica and I go into the Shrine. I timed our exit so that Kristen would be out there when we came out. She was but no ring insight. Now Erica seems even more suspicious. I am little confused about where the ring is, and Kristen is acting completely normal. I look over to Kristen, she gives me the nod. It’s a go. I get Erica in the perfect spot. Kristen walks over to where she’ll be taking pictures. Kristen throws the ring box to me and I drop to one knee. Erica starts laughing nervously, I start laughing. It felt like minutes before I actually started talking but I think it was just a couple of seconds. She now starts tearing up a little. The next 30 seconds or so were somewhat of a blur so I would be lying if I told you I knew exactly what I said. I did not want to write it down beforehand because I knew how I felt, but both Erica and I were hearing those words for the first time together. I do remember calling her beautiful, smart and kind. I told her one of the things I loved about her was her big heart for people. I said that she made me a better person (which she did) and she’s helped me become a better Christian; her faithfulness is truly inspirational. I said, “will you do me the honor of being my wife?”. Erica laughed nervously through the whole thing but thankfully she said yes. I have a fiancé. The photoshoot began shortly after, with Kristen, getting in on some pictures herself. As you would expect, the FaceTimes, phone calls and text messages took up the rest of our day. But we did make it to the restaurant, with a bottle of champagne to celebrate.