We can't wait to celebrate with you!

We met during a couple different events at the University of Missouri. Ben was a mentor for the Chancellor’s Leadership Class I was taking that fall, and a fellow Mizzou Army ROTC cadet. We ended up being placed on the same detail that raises the flag above Crowder Hall every morning, and got breakfast afterwards. We kept talking and spending time hanging out, but our first official dinner date was in the Southwest Dining Hall after Ben got home from Ranger Challenge at Fort Leonard Wood. The rest is history!

Benjamin had planned a very romantic weekend which included steakhouses, flowers, and more. He set up a date for us at the Nelson-Atkin’s Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO. We got a tour of some of the most romantic art galleries they had on display thanks to a friend of Ben’s Aunt Lara. Then we arrived at my favorite painting in the place… one of Claude Monét’s famous “Water Lilies” paintings. We sat for awhile and talked before Ben asked me to marry him. Pretty sure the first words out of Elizabeth’s mouth were, “oh sh*t” out of pure shock. Elizabeth said, “yes” and we celebrated with some champagne and chocolates at the museum. Everyone was so excited for us and it was such a wonderful surprise Ben pulled off!

Ben had gotten word he was due to deploy to Europe on the first week of March, so this didn’t give us much time to enjoy our engagement period. We planned to get married at the Columbia, MO courthouse on February 18th and take some nice pictures together afterwards. However, Columbia had terrible weather on the 17th, which left most of their government buildings closed and we were unable to obtain the necessary paperwork in order to get married the next day. This is when the panic set in. We didn’t really have time to wait due to Ben’s impending deployment, so we called Cole County in Jefferson City (just 20 minutes over). They were open and willing to process our paperwork for us. We braved the snowy roads to Jefferson City, and were able to grab our paperwork. The problem was, we had no idea what judge was supposed to marry us tomorrow, so here was another obstacle. Thankfully, the Cole County clerks called around and were able to find someone who could perform an “emergency wedding” in her home. We drove to her house, once again braving the snow, and said our “I do’s” in this woman’s living room. We were married.