Keeping up with the Hardemans: "Will You Marry Me???"

If you are like me you have been planning your wedding since the day you learned to walk. Growing up I thought I had every little detail planned out and I couldn't wait till I was old enough to get married. Now, I'm getting married and it's crazy how fast those years flew by. Well, by the time Trav proposed, I was pretty sure I had thought of every possible way he could propose. It was to the point where everytime we would go out I made sure I liked my outfit ( just in case of course) and whenever he would bend down to pick something up or tie his shoe, I want to yell," Yes, I do!!!!" ( Thankfully I never embarressed myself in such a way.) But no matter how much I had day dreamed about that day, I never would have thought he would surprise me in the way he did!

It was a Thursday night and I randomly called my brother in law in St.Louis to see if I could surprise my sister and their kids and stay with them on my week off. He called me back to say he found a ticket and asked if I could leave the next morning! I jumped at the chance to go but I was bummed Trav was staying behind. I hadn't seen him in a week since he was doing a medical study and I was not going to see him for another week. Looking back, I should have been able to put all the clues together but I'm just not that on top of things. It was much better as a surprise though.

The night I arrived we went to Monkey Joes for dinner. On our way I was sitting in the back seat with Maddie and Sam while Lea and Jon were whispering up front. ( Mind you, it drives me crazy when people are in the front of the car and whisper because they know there is no way you can hear them. My parents still try to pull that on me but I haven't mastered the eavesdropping skills yet!) The next day they pulled the same thing while we were on the tram at Grant's Farm. I heard my sister say, " Do you think she heard?" But i thought they were talking about my niece so I started talking to her to distract her. Little did I know that both times they were talking about a phone call they reveived from Trav asking if he could come out there. The week went by and I was having a blast with them but still missing Trav. I was bummed because we talked on the phone once the whole week and we were barley texting. And to top it off, Jon's bro was coming into town for the Cubs/Cardinals game on Fri. and we were going to go to the Arch with him downtown before. I was excited to see the Arch but not so thrilled to have Dave as my date instead of Trav. Plus, to show how gullible I am, Jon had me believing that there was a restaurant at the top of the Arch we were eating at. If you have been to the Arch you know that there is no way a restaurant could be up there!!! I kept myspacing Trav that I wished he was going and I even texted Heidi on that Friday asking if she could put Trav on a plane and send him to STL so he could come with!!!!

My sister was persuasive and made sure I showered and dressed cute for dinner despite the fact that I really didn't care what I was going to look like for Dave. On the car ride there, it was just me and Lea, but Jon kept calling her a thousand times to see where we were and how soon we would be there. When we pulled in the parking lot he was waiting for us but Dave was not there. He claimed he was in the underground museum. ( Yes, that is a really place unlike the restaurant) I was making fun of Jon because he had his video camera yet he lived in STL and had been to the Arch before. But I am so thankful he had it now!!!We walked up to the edge of the grassy field that laid under teh Arch. I heard Jon say he saw someone that looked like Trav. I looked but didn't see anything. Then my sister repeated what Jon had just said and pointed to the middle of the field directly under the Arch. All I could see was a guy down on one knee, just waiting in the grass. I looked at my sister as if to ask, " Is it really Trav?" and she just smiled. I took off walking, feeling as if I was floating. It felt like I walked a football field to get to him! As I was walking I realized I had tears streaming down my face. I couldn't believe this was really happening! There he was, on one knee, waiting to ask me to spend the rest of my life with him! As I got closer I could see he was nervous and I realized that I was shaking and my heart was pounding! I made some stupid comment like ," aren't you supposed to be at practice?" ( Duh Emma. Obviously not!) Anyways, Trav took my hands and said the sweetest things before saying, " Emma, will you marry me?" AH!!!! But you know what the first thing out of my mouth was? " Did you ask my Dad?" He just laughed and said yes and then I said yes!!!! He stood up, kissed me and gave me a ginormous hug! ( Oops, sorry Mom and Mrs. H....that was the first time we kissed, don't worry!) Right when that happened all the tourists around us started clapping and cheering! I felt like I was in a movie!!!!

The longest walk of my life to get to him!

" Emma, will you marry me?"

" YEESSSS!!!!

Never felt as happy as I did at that exact moment!

Trav then pulled out the ring and when he opened the box all I could see was sparkling! It was the most beautiful ring I had ever sing!My sister and Jon came up and hugged us then we spent the next few minutes calling our family! When I called my parents they both said the same thing, " How are you engaged? Travis is here in California!" :) I still can't believe he surprised me that way! And it was so neat having my sister there and a part of it!Plus, we got some great pictures and video! It's going to be such a great story to tell our kids one day!