aka... the long con. They sat two seats away from each other in freshman English class at Bishop Chatard, were good school friends throughout high school, and even close to dating once or twice, but the timing never really worked out. They wrote letters back and forth the summer after high school while Steve was at basic training, and in one of his letters, he said it was one of his biggest disappointments that they never dated. Christen replied that high school relationships often don't work out, and that you never know what the future could bring! They kept in touch through college, but never really saw each other until 5 years later. Christen was in medical school and tagged along with some of her friends on a trip to Purdue. Christen texted Steve to see if he wanted to come out with her friends, and he jumped at the chance.

Steve had been planning on proposing but wanted it to be a surprise, which can be difficult because Christen likes to be in charge of making the plans... He decided the only way to catch her off guard would be right when she got home from work, because if he made any big moves, she would suspect something was up! He transformed our porch overlooking our courtyard fountain into a plant wonderland, with all 52 of their houseplants outside arranged with bouquets and of course a cheese board. She walked in from work in scrubs, and he asked her to look outside at something he had been working on. She walked outside and turned around and he was down on one knee!