He Put a Ring on It

Nine short days ago, my lovely beau of six years asked me the four most wonderful words in the universe:

"Will you marry me?"

I of course said, "Yes!"

But I want to rewind and tell you all my incredibly romantic proposal story.

About a month ago, I went to a ring sale over my lunch break.

I put a ring on that gave me chills.

The lady wrote it down for me, and Travis went back that day, but it was sold.

I was heartbroken, but vowed to not be a part of this process any longer.

Last weekend, Travis insisted we go visit family since he had work off.

I was a bit suspicious, but I did not want to get my hopes up.

On the way home, Travis told me to go ring shopping with a friend that weekend to send him a report because I needed help.

I thought, "I guess he really doesn't have a ring."

On Friday evening, he took me out on a date and told me to dress pretty.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant, and I hinted at my suspicions.

He joked, "Just wait til you get to the center of that bread!"

Again, I thought, "Okay, not tonight."

Afterwards, we were driving to my house to watch a movie, when he stopped at my favorite little white chapel behind my house.

There, waiting for us, was a perfectly laid out picnic with a dozen roses and his quilt made from his grandmother's clothes.

It was beautiful

but no proposal.

We sat and reminisced over the past six years and enjoyed the scenery.

I was on cloud nine.

We laid down to look at the sky, and out of no where, he said,

"Will you marry me?"

No box.

No knee.

Just his sweet smile and the beautiful ring that he had told me was gone!

I called him a liar, said, "Of course!," and immediately put my favorite ring on.

Then he began to mess with his phone,

and shortly afterward, fireworks began shooting off in the distance.

It was magical.

He had given my best friend, Suzie, "the signal,"

and she lit them.

(She is great at keeping secrets.)

The next night, he had a whole party planned with our family to celebrate.

It was fun and perfect and a little quirky.

Just like us.

I still cannot believe I am a bride-to-be,

but I could not be happier!

Travis is the most wonderful man I have ever known, and I cannot wait to have countless adventures with him as his wife. :)

-Beth

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Closing a Chapter

Today, I am officially closing a chapter in my life:

SCHOOL.

I graduated from Missouri State on Friday morning 

with a B.S. in Public Relations and Spanish.

All the work has finally paid off.

Although I never plan to stop learning,

after tomorrow,

my life will not be the same.

I will be a professional

not a student.

On Friday, I had a lovely time with my and the beau's families. 

It was great to have their love and support on a special day.

I would not be where I am at now without them.

I had the privilege of sitting next to two of my awesome PRSSA buddies, Doug and Chelly, who were of course live-tweeting the whole time.

I also had the privilege of having my new boss, Shawn Askinosie, give my commencement address after receiving his honorary doctorate in Public Affairs.

His words were both honest and inspiring.

He shared his post-grad struggles and how that shaped him as well as the lessons he has learned from farmers in poverty-stricken areas of the world.

I could not help being moved to tears thinking about the people I have encountered myself in Latin America over the years.

My thoughts wandered to their

 love,

sacrifice,

and joy.

I feel so honored to begin making a difference in some of those people's lives starting tomorrow at Askinosie Chocolate.

One of my special guests was my Aunt Pam Parry, who drove nearly EIGHT hours to see me graduate. 

She is a public relations professor at Belmont University, 

and one of the reasons I decided to pursue PR and join PRSSA. 

She has been such a great support and resource throughout these four years.

After graduation, I got to watch the beau graduate as well.

It was just too perfect to share that day with him.

I am so proud of all he has accomplished in his college career.

After two graduation ceremonies, I took my family to the chocolate factory and gave my first tour. 

It was great to share this next part of my life with them, 

and I think everyone had a blast trying all the chocolate. :)

Tomorrow is my first day at Askinosie, and a million emotions are running through my mind, but I am mostly excited. 

Because I have no other point of reference, I am treating tomorrow as if it were the first day of school.

I went to Staples and bought supplies.

I picked out my outfit.

I have packed my little briefcase,

and now, I am just waiting for tomorrow to come.

The sermon at church this morning was about Elijah passing his job on to Elisha, which was so fitting.

It is time for me to close this chapter and fill some big professional shoes tomorrow.

Here's to NEW beginnings!

-Coffeegirl

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Reflecting the Adventure Bug: Part Uno

I spent a good portion of this morning reading some of my blog posts from 2010. I love that about blogging! I can see where I was this time last year: my dreams, my passions and my accomplishments. I had almost forgotten about my Adventure Bug bucket lists I had made, and I thought I should revisit them to review everything I did in 2011.

2011 was an adventurous year for me. It is amazing all I was able to do, and I am so thankful for the opportunities I was given. I did not complete everything off my bucket list of course, but I crossed off a few.

Seattle: The Coffee Capitol of the World
My first adventure of the year was going to Seattle to represent my student organization at the National Assembly. It was a life-changing venture. It was my first solo flight, my first National event to attend and my first time on the West coast.

I met so many wonderful people in PRSSA, Public Relations Student Society of America. Because of that trip, I made lasting connections with people across the States and jumpstarted my passion for PRSSA. Now, I am vp of our university's Chapter, and I am loving every minute of it.

My favorite moments from Seattle were:

1. Realizing we took pictures in the WRONG Starbucks thinking it was the original.
2. Seeing the fun coffee sights with Robbie and Katie.
3. Watching the new PRSSA committee get elected!

Pittsburgh: The City with a Front Door
My next adventure was driving across the country to Pittsburgh, Pa. with the beau to visit our lovely friends Jay and Amber. This was an awesome way to spend my Spring Break. It was my first true road trip, my first time in the New England area and my first real adventure with the beau.

We drove all 14 hours through the night and arrived early in the morning. It was great to see our friends and how they were living in a community. Everyone was so sweet and welcoming. The city itself was so fun and historic. I loved everything about it!

My favorite moments of Pittsburgh were:

1. Driving through the "front door" of Pittsburgh. It took my breath away.
2. Exploring an awesome used book store.
3. Watching Jay and Travis build a giant snow man in March.

Quito: Te extraño mucho
My biggest adventure of the year was spending four weeks in Quito, Ecuador, studying Spanish. It truly was an adventure of a lifetime, and I miss it so much. It was my first time in South America, first time traveling abroad without my parents or longer than one week, and my first time traveling with my university.

Traveling to Ecuador was a different experience for me because every other trip abroad had been with my church, so it was definitely different traveling with college students. Occasionally, I got annoyed with being a "tourist" because I just wanted to emerge myself. However, I made friends that I would have never expected and made memories that will last a lifetime.

My favorite moments in Quito were:

1. The weekend spent on the beach in Puerto Lopez. It was so unexpectedly wonderful.
2. Sliding down the side of Cotopaxi, the largest active volcano in the world.
3. Watching movies and eating pizza with my three roomies and host mom instead of going to the party because one of them twisted her ankle.
4. Discovering a tiny coffee shop called El Ristretto.
5. Visiting the art museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin called "La Capilla del Hombre."

There were so many other wonderful moments on all of these adventures, and I took other small ventures on the way to Kansas City and St. Louis. Even though I got to experience many new adventures, they only deepened my adventure bug, so I am excited to see where 2012 takes me!

Happy New Year,

Beth

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