We can't wait to share our "I do" with you!

When Jodi and I met for the first time, I was about 6 months into my PhD and Jodi was finishing up her senior year at Purdue. Jodi was working as a bartender at the 1869 Taproom, a bar on Purdue's campus. I just happened to stumble upon the Taproom one day, and everyone knows I can't say no to a cold beer so I stopped in. Luckily for me, the cutest bartender (Jodi) was working, and it was a slow night. I ended up sitting at the bar flirting with Jodi for hours until her shift ended, when I then offered to walk her to her car. Instead of simply going home we ended up walking around campus for over three hours. Jodi showed me all the bells and whistles of Purdue ( I didn't know anything other than where my office was) and the conversation never dulled. It didn't take long for us to decide we wanted to get to know each other a little better. While walking around campus, we made plans to see each other the next evening (we made this decision while walking through Discovery Park, where I proposed 19 months later). And from that night on the rest, as they say, is history.

Jodi told me three things I had to make sure happened when I proposed: I had to ask for her parents blessing first, I had to make sure her nails were done, and I had to make sure someone was there to take pictures. At this same time, she informed me that I would not be able to surprise her with the proposal because she "would see it coming". Thus, I made it my mission to give her the biggest surprise of her life. To actually surprise her, I had to convince her that a proposal was not occurring in the year 2020. I would constantly remind her that I didn't want to ask her to marry me this year, even going as far as convincing her I had already made plans for a 2021 proposal. All the while, I was planning the real thing for Oct 3, 2020. To ask for her parent's blessing, and not have her aware of it, I had to choose a weekend we were visiting her parents, and find an excuse to get her out of the house. Thus, I enlisted help from her best friend Jessica, and had her take Jodi away for an afternoon. To make sure her nails were painted, I used her birthday (Sep 29), as an excuse to send (and pay for) her to get a manicure. On the day of the engagement, which also happened to be the day we had been dating for 18 months, I convinced her I wanted to take her for dinner for our 1.5 year anniversary, and I wanted to buy us new outfits for the evening. So we went shopping, and she unknowingly picked out the outfit she would get engaged in. Before dinner, I told her I wanted to go for a walk around Purdue, and I had her other best friend, Bre, waiting there to be our photographer. I proposed at Discovery Park on campus, which is a location that has tons of importance for our relationship. After that, I again surprised her with more friends and family for a surprise engagement/late birthday dinner. Safe to say I think I proved her wrong and surprised her!