We're Getting Married!

We were both freshmen in college at the time. When one night we just happened to go to the same get together at a friend's house. I walked into the room where Matt was chatting with some friends and BAM, we locked eyes! I said, "hey" and he said, "hi". Being shy we went our separate ways for a while, but I knew I needed his number. Once the party was over I invited his friend group over to my tiny apartment to hang out with some of my friends for a little longer. That's when I made my move! After that night, we talked or hung out almost every day, we couldn't get enough of each other. So our adventure began.

About 1 month after meeting I asked him to be my date to an ROTC Commissioning Ceremony/Ball. Although, I felt bad since he had to go out and buy a new suit just to come. He said he didn't care, and I was glad since I only wanted to go with him. Getting ready and running late, as usual, I burnt my face with my curling iron and everything else was hectic trying to make it there. Matt got me ice for my burn and sat patiently waiting to ask me a nerve-racking question. Finally, I was ready. Matt, being the perfect gentleman, promptly opened the passenger side of his truck. A beautiful bouquet of flowers waited for me on my seat. I looked closer, reading a note that read, "Harmony, will you be my girlfriend?" I lit up with uncontrollable joy! When he finally got around his truck to the driver seat I yelled, "YES! Yes, of course!". The rest of the night was pure smiles for both of us. I told him he was crazy since I left for Army Basic Combat Training in two short months, but he said we could make it through anything. Two months went by like a blink and I was gone, so our love letters began. I still call Matt my personal Nicholas Sparks romance writer. Five months dragged on but the day finally came when I was back home to his arms. I knew I wouldn't be able to bare the nine months that he was gone all alone, so we picked up our puppy Bella two weeks after being back home! Only two incredibly short months go by and he was shipped off to Marine Corps Boot Camp, and so the letters began again for an additional nine months. To this day the only things that are so important enough to us to keep in our fireproof safe are all the letters we wrote and received while we were away for military training.

I suspected something was up. Matt isn't the best at keeping cool when there's a surprise in the making. I caved and asked him if his plans were to propose since we've always talked about it. He quickly assured me that he simply wanted to have a nice dinner up in the Twin Cities since we never really go on nice dates much. I immediately put it out of my mind. We enjoyed dinner at Aster Cafe, on a beautiful outdoor patio by the river. It was a gorgeous night in August with the biggest full moon we had ever seen! We took a walk after dinner, strolling through a park on our way to the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. At the second light pole, he stopped. Matt said, "so I asked your dad if he would be okay with losing a Hazelett to become a Vlasak..." and I couldn't believe it! Tears of pure joy immediately started streaming down my face. Unable to talk, I impulsively nodded my head not seeming to be able to stop until I could get the words, "are you serious!? Yes, I will, of course, I will" out of my mouth. I could see the unmistakable happiness in his eyes when he put the ring on and picked me up with a bear hug. What more could a girl want than to know she'll be marrying the man of her dreams?! Yet out pops a professional photographer from the park we just walked through; he got every detail of the proposal. Alas, we were engaged! We took more pictures on the bridge with the gorgeous city in the background and finished the night with excited phone calls to our parents with the good news.