Happy October!

Is it really already half-way through October?  Life in the past month has gotten even crazier - not only due to the ridiculous amount of school work I've had, but now I've got a wedding to plan!  That's right - Cole and I are engaged!  And a month after the fact, I finally have a little time to write about it:

Cole and I were celebrating my 23rd  birthday a week late because of his work.  I had told him I really wanted to drive to Topeka to get Red Lobster for my birthday (I love seafood) - which gave him the perfect opportunity to plan to propose to me at our favorite spot, the Old Stone Church in Maple Hill.

Cole didn't like the idea of our "engagement dinner" being at Red Lobster, but he knows that when I get set on a restaurant there is no changing my mind without a fight...  So he went with it :)

He recently moved into a new apartment and there has been much discussion over what should go on the wall behind the couch.  After I suggested a canvas picture of Little Bear (my cat) which got shot down immediately, we finally agreed on a canvas picture of Kansas Landscape.  So after dinner, we were going to go to our favorite spot, the Old Stone Church, to take some pretty sunset pictures to get printed on canvas for behind the couch, as part of my birthday present.

Cole and I had talked about getting married for a while at this point, but he told me it wouldn't be for a while.  So while I was secretly thinking this would be the perfect place to get proposed to, I trusted him when he said it wouldn't be for a while, and was doing my best to enjoy his thoughtfulness on my birthday.
 
After we got parked out at the church Cole gave me the camera and the tripod to work on setting up while he went to grab some stuff from the car.  When he came back over he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  I just looked at him and said, "Is this real life?!" - he had to ask me a second time before I could process what was happening enough to say yes!  

We enjoyed the "post-engagement bliss" time out at the church and watched the sunset for a while before heading back home to share the excitement with my parents.  We had to make a pit-stop by Cole's apartment to grab his keys which he had "locked in his apartment" earlier that day.  When we went inside both my parents and his parents were there to celebrate with us!  I had no idea there could be any more surprises, but it was wonderful having the people we love most there to be excited with us!

Fun Facts: Cole proposed on Friday the 13th, in the graveyard surrounding the church, and on our drive back to the interstate a black cat ran across our road.  I found out later that Friday the 13th was always a lucky day for my Grandpa, so I guess I'm carrying on the Addison tradition :)

Now after all that - I guess I'm supposed to still be concentrating on school.  It's going well - pretty overwhelming right now.  A few weeks ago I had 3 tests within 7 days - talk about being brain dead after that.  About to get hit with another 6 weeks of frequent testing starting next week, so I can't promise I'll be blogging anytime soon - but who knows... maybe I'll need a study break :)

PS - Today happens to be Cole's birthday!  So..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLE ;)