Jordan told me back in December that he was planning on waiting until after I got back from Summer Project in Italy to propose. We had decided to wait for many reasons, one being that Jordan really wanted me to be able to co-lead the project in Italy since I had been praying about it and looking forward to it for over a year. Because I'm marrying a man who is so gracious and kind, he sacrificially wanted me to have that experience without the stress of a wedding on my mind.
I went to Italy suspecting nothing, although behind the scenes since January several of my friends and family were preparing for Jordan to visit me while in Bologna. Our team was in Bologna for about a month, and it was a normal Friday. I was headed to a bakery for my meeting with my co-leader Karl. Thirty minutes passed and I hadn't seen him....I was starting to think he wasn't going to make it, and I had no minutes on my Italian cell phone to call him. So I headed back to our apartment. There Karl's wife, Keri called him and said he was in traffic (totally random since we never drove in Bologna.....but what I didn't know is he was picking Jordan up from the airport!) I waited for Karl at the apartment and suggested we go to Caffe Zamboni, my favorite coffee bar, but Karl wanted to go to another one down the street (Jordan was waiting for me at Zamboni).
After our meeting we headed to Zamboni to meet Keri and another staff girl, Caitlin, for our staff meeting. Karl directed me to the front of the building where I saw one of our student guys on his cell phone -- I waved and said hi but he didn't acknowledge me -- turns out he was giving the single that I was walking in!!! When I walked into the cafe I immediately saw Keri and Caitlin and said hi -- when Karl turned me around and said "Someone else is here to see you."
I saw Jordan and I couldn't believe it. So many things were running through my mind, my heart started beating really fast and I was trying to wrap my mind around how he got to Bologna!!!! We sat down at a table and he explained that he had been planning this trip since January, had talked to Karl and the staff in Bologna to work it all out, and that he was really excited to be there. He said he wanted to come to Italy to see what the ministry was like there, spend time with our team, but most importantly to see me and share some things with me. It's at that point that I started noticing Keri taking pictures of us and two of our students capturing everything on video!!! I clued in -- this is a proposal!!! After that, I can't remember what he said -- some amazing words about me and why he wanted me to be his wife. Shock stole my memory of that sweet moment! The next thing I remember he was getting down on one knee and asking me to marry him -- I said yes!!
I was totally surprised.... I could have never imagined that he would fly to Italy to ask me to marry him. We spent a sweet 4 days together, experiencing Bologna together, introducing him to my Italian friends, and getting to even go on campus and share our faith together with Italians! It was so fun and a time I will always cherish.
And a little video of my *crazy* reaction......so glad this was captured.