On December 14th, 2011, Matt popped the question!!

If only it were that simple...

There is an interesting story that leads up to it all, including a guest-appearance from Mickey Mouse, (though he quit the show early on), a late night into a bottle of wine that ended up being the best thing that could've ever happened, and dress-shopping with the future groom before there even was an engagement.

Confused yet? It will all make sense in due time.

For now, how about you kick back, crack open a bottle of a favorite beverage, and get ready to enjoy the show!

Buckeyes really can become Wolverines!! It's true, and I'm living proof of it!

Originally from Custar, Ohio, (a small community about 17 miles southwest of Bowling Green, OH--home of Bowling Green State University), I grew up not having any clue about football, buckeyes, (other than the buckeye tree being our "State Tree"--thanks, 4th grade Social Studies), or even what in the world a "wolverine" happened to be. (Aren't they like some sort of Tazmanian Devil-looking thing??)

Never having been what one would call "well-traveled", I had never even visited Michigan, nor did I have any idea at all that I would be living up here, enjoying a beautiful view every morning, and planning a wedding in Mexico. But that's life for you!

Personally, I enjoy reading and writing, I hold a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing for Mercy College of Northwest Ohio, I work as a Pediatric/Medical-Surgical RN at Carson City Hospital, and for hobbies I read, (A LOT!), I write, (working on the proverbial "first novel"), and I RIDE!! I LOVE to bike! Had a few nasty crashes, have a few nasty scars, and had a good concussion one year--

Wait--what were we talking about?

Just kidding!

--but all in all, I love my life! Matt and I really enjoy attending steam shows together every summer, and that's basically how we met. I was introduced to him and Dave one summer, at a show, and the first thought that popped into my mind was, "Wow--my future husband is really hot!" Like...where did THAT come from? So needless to say, several years go by, we keep running into each other, and finally I ended up tagging along and coming up to Dave and Jackie's big fall threshing event. Matt and I struck up several conversations during the day, there may or may not have been some suspicious-looking reconnaisance photos taken using the zoom future on my camera, and after planning to set him up with "a few of my classmates. You know I go to Nursing school, so lots of single girls," I ended up being selfish and decided that I wanted to keep him for myself.

He is MY future husband, after all.

I came up for my first visit December 17th, 2009. (For those of you that are reading this that happen to be relatives of Jackie's, you all might recall that year's Van Harn Christmas, where "Matt having a girl at the house" ended up being quite the topic of conversation, from what I heard!) Matt was a total gentleman, making me wonderful dishes of leftovers and Schwann's pizza, gracing me with his impeccable conversational skills,  and that is where I fell head over heels.

And he proposed almost 2 years to that day, on Dec. 14th, 2011. :)

Matt did it!! He is getting married!! Just when we all thought pigs (or cows, in his case), couldn't fly...

They FLEW!!

When writing this, I had Matt sitting right next to me, and I asked him what his perspective of our meeting...becoming a couple...me moving up here...getting a house...and finally making the decision to get married. His statement, in typical "Matt-fashion", was very succinct yet precise and on the mark.

"Girls go after what they want. So it's best if you just stay out of their way, let them have what they want, (within reason), and enjoy your steam engines."

There you have it. Words of wisdom for us all to live by.

But as we sat working on this the first time, (this is by-product of two attempts, as the first attempt, the 7-page, formatted and dialogued original website complete with photos ended up not saving properly), we did have some pretty good reminiscing about the who-what-where-when-why-and how.

Matt, as most of you know, thoroughly enjoys his farming lifestyle, as evidenced by working as a dairyman for the last 12 years. Ask him to describe a typical day and he will very humbly tell you, (as he told me during one of our many phone conversations), "I get up, I go to work, I milk cows, I come home, I work in the barn, I eat, I go back to work, I come back home, I eat again, work in the barn again, and go to bed."

But in all actuality, there is more to his day-to-day life, including some of the amazing restoration work that he and Dave complete, including the 10-hp Advance steam engine that was the "hot-and-happening" project of the last few weeks, and of course Matt's own, (and growing!), collection that includes but is not limited to: a 16-hp Russell steam engine, a 25-hp Russell steam Engine, a 32-100-hp Port Huron steam engine, and countless John Deere tractors, accessories, memorabilia, catalogs, stationery, advertisements, etc.

I have a learned MUCH during the last 2 and a half years!

Matt LOVES to travel, and from that, I have learned that I really love travelling and seeing new things myself. Hence--destination wedding at Beach Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico! During the last two years, he and I have been to Illinois for a steam show where he and Dave were featured guests, (Dave gave an amazing presentation, I might add!), we have been to La Grange, Indiana together, Matt has taken me down to the Greenville, OH steam show, (where I got to meet the cool southern Bucks, Sam and John Meyers, and Johnny Holp, to name a few), we made a couple trips up to Mio, MI to meet-and-greet with my new Amish friends, the Byler crew, and we even went on a couple of vacations together. Disney World over Halloween 2010, (that was my first time EVER on a commercial airplane!), and then for Matt's 33rd birthday, I surprised him with four days, 3 nights in Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island.  

All in all, we really enjoy each other's company. In fact, when I was writing this, (the first time), I asked Matt what some of his favorite things to do are, and he answered, "Ohhh....pretty much anything that involves steam engines and spending time with you. It's a really thing you like my hobbies."

I thought that was the sweetest thing he could've ever said!

So of course on every single solitary wedding website, there's always the traditional "How we got engaged" story. So from this, I feel inclined to share ours, but there is one caveat: we actually were kind of..."agreed", rather than "engaged" for a while, but then that obviously changed, but on the very good chance that you're all sorts of confused right now, let me attempt to clarify the situation, and see if that helps at all...

All right, where to begin? I think I'll start about a year ago. We were about 5 months out from coming back from our big Disney trip, and we both had the BEST time! Our photos were developed, the albums were complete, the souvenirs were all put away on display...it was just...a great trip with lots of good memories. If you've never trick-or-treated inside the Magic Kingdom, you're seriously missing out! So in typical "Andrea-fashion", I was trying to find SOMETHING...some good reason in which we "just absolutely have to go back!" And I really wanted a good reason to justify bringing my family along, because we had NEVER been on "vacation". (Hence, my first ride in a commercial jet). Looking through one of my wedding magazines I just happened to have lying around, (I'm a girl, okay?), I saw an ad for "Disney Fairytale Weddings". Never one to ignore the door when opportunity come knocking, I looked up the website, and when Matt came home later on that night, I had supper ready, (loosening his resolve with BBQ ribs), and my new-found "information" at hand.

Andrea: "What do think about getting married, Matt?"

Matt: "Well...it's not so much being MARRIED that bothers me, you know we kinda already are, what with me living here and all, but it's just...being up in front of all those people, having everyone looking at me...I've just never been one for being the center of attention."

Andrea: "Well...how about...a compromise. Close family only, but a destination wedding."

Matt: "Well...close family, you say? Like, just mom and dad, your family, my family, that's it?"

Andrea: "Absolutely. I would be willing to compromise with you on this one." *Bats eyelashes* "Because I love you."

Matt: *Always falling for the eyelashes* "I love you, too. So, I guess what do we have to do for this?"

Andrea: "Well, I happened to already send away for the information, so that should be coming soon."

And off to the races we went!!

So after we dress-shopped, ring-shopped, and started pricing out Dining packages and Park-Hopper passes, & poor Sawyer was all hiked about his uncle getting married in DISNEY WORLD, the inevitable happens:

Another couple with a lot more money than Andrea wants our date/venue!

I got that phone call, and immediately was panicked. I was thinking, "Oh my gosh--how is this going to work? This is not cool, etc., etc." But lo and behold, after a night of "easing my sorrows" with a bottle of wine, at 2AM I found an advertisement for "Palace Resorts: Arrival: 2, Depart: 1".

Sounded good...so I clicked on the site and started looking.

Holy smokes!! Turns out that YES, they do weddings!! YES, they do weddings for up to 30 guests, YES, they do PURPLE weddings!! And YES, they are WELL within my budget! As in...BELOW my budget!!

Commence angels singing from above!

So after quickly pleading my case to Matt, and then approaching the idea with the families, it turns out that EVERYONE seems to be on board with taking off south of the border for our wedding.

And on December 14th, 2011, as I was sitting here at the kitchen table, much like I am now, eating absent-mindedly, waiting for Matt to come back with the car so we could go to Grand Rapids and get this book I had been DYING for, Matt comes up through the basement, and with his hands in his pockets, has the weirdest look on his face.

My first thought? The car blew up and we can't go get my book.

Matt: "Well...you know I love you very very much, right?"

My next thought? The car blew up AND he hit my truck, and we STILL can't go get my book.

Matt: *Getting down on one knee* "And you know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So..." *reaching inside his pocket* "...we're going to do this Mexico thing next year, right?"

Tears!! Let the tears fall!! It was the best moment!! And my ring, as you can see by the picture at the top of this page, is BEAUTIFUL!!! He really did do a good job.

And even though we're not getting married in Disney World, he's still my Prince Charming. Or...Prince Guapo, or something.