Clarissa and I went on a Catholic Engaged Encounter Retreat. It was an overnight retreat from February 13 to 14 at the Christ the King Retreat Center. It was a great opportunity for Clarissa and me to get away from the distractions of life and spend some time focusing on our relationship and our upcoming […]
We selected a photographer for our wedding and as part of her package, we received an engagement photo session. Our engagement pictures were scheduled for Sunday, October 18 at Elm Creek Park Reserve, and of course a week before, the weather forecast predicted rain. Luckily, it was a beautiful day and only just a little […]
Zachary wanted his proposal to be a surprise, but he also wanted to let me pick out my own ring. He got a “proposal ring” for that night, and later we went to visit Jared’s to look at engagement rings. It took us a few stops at Jared’s to find the ring we wanted, and […]
This is of course old news now, but it is something that I wanted to document and share with those who have not heard the whole story in person. I had originally planned to propose on August 14, 2009. Therefore, when the middle of June rolled around, I planned a trip home to see Clarissa […]
I did not. I am amazed at how often I get asked this question. I was planning on getting down on one knee, but the situation just didn’t lend itself to it. Clarissa and I were sitting on one of the semicircle outcroppings along the Milwaukee river. We were right next to each other, and […]
When we called our parents, we decided to call Donna first. Donna had known that Zachary was going to propose, and evidently so did my dad. Zachary had called him the Tuesday before to ask for my father’s blessing. Really my mom was the only one who “didn’t know” that we were getting engaged. Even […]
After the initial excitement had worn off, we decided to call our parents. We called my mother first and put her on speakerphone. Since I had gone engagement ring shopping with my mother, she already knew. I said, “guess what?” She said, “congratulations!” We talked for a while, and then decided to call Clarissa’s parents. […]
Clarissa drove down to Milwaukee on Friday, July 24th and got here around 2pm. The plan was to tailgate with about 15 other people before the Milwaukee Brewer’s game. Since there was a chance of rain, we had our cookout at the Men’s Catholic House (my house), and then we went to the game. After […]