Julie and I met our freshman year at Purdue in a Physics 152 recitation course (how romantic!). We actually sat next to each other on the first day of class but sat elsewhere for the rest of the semester. It wasn't until our junior year that we were "reunited" in a biology course at Purdue. We started talking in class, studied for our first exam together, and the rest is history. Officially we have been dating since the beginning of 2005 - it certainly made our last 2 years at Purdue especially memorable.
Julie graduated from Purdue in May 2006 with her Bachelor's in Chemistry, and Dann followed in December 2006 with his Bachelor's in Civil Engineering. Currently Julie is pursuing a Master's degree at IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis) in analytical chemistry. She is fully immersed in research, teaching, and her job hunt! She's expecting to graduate sometime in the summer of 2008.
Dann currently works for The Schneider Corporation, a full service civil engineering firm headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. He works in their residential department as a site engineer, designing and developing subdivisions.
THE ENGAGEMENT:
March 9th, 2007
Julie wanted to head to Purdue to visit with some friends for the weekend. However, little did she know that it was all a setup. We arrived at Purdue on Friday night, only to find our friends were not in
their apartment. When we called - one was running late from work (BEN) and the other didn't pick up his phone (CHRIS P.) (all according to my master plan!). I suggested to take a walk on campus since it was a nice evening, and we had some time to kill. Julie agreed and we set off on foot toward the Purdue bell tower. This location had special significance to us since it was the place we met after our first biology exam to head to Starbucks to celebrate. We took a seat on the benches below the tower and reminisced on good times had at Purdue. After some talking, I finally got the nerve and got down on one knee, took out the ring, and asked Julie to marry me. Her "are you kidding me!" reaction wasn't quite what I expected but I took it as a yes and was thrilled. We returned to our friends' apartment where champagne was waiting and ran off to a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - McGraws. That evening we traveled to Merrillville, Indiana to share the news with her parents. I couldn't have asked for a better engagement!
