Our Engagement: From Her Perspective

I studied abroad in Spain from Sept-December 2011 and so my day was just a normal Tuesday school day except instead of staying home to eat dinner, my friends and I decided to go on a picnic by the river. I was all about this and I made sure I had a dinner packed by my "mom" and we met by the Hospital to all walk together. We really took a long time getting to the spot and the location of the picnic seemed to change a few times but I thought nothing of it. We made a few stops on the way and eventually got to the bridge. When we arrived at the bridge, there was a homeless lady looking for spare change and so my friend and I decided to give one of our sandwiches to the homeless lady and I was talking to her as my friend walked away. As I turned to catch up with the girls, I got a tap on my shoulder. A man's voice said, "Hey, Laura." I immediately went into escpae mode and started to walk faster. There was another tap on my shoulder but the man now said, "Laura, It's Caleb." I took a brief mental confusion break and then turned to see my bf just standing there bright eyed and covered in a huge smile. I was dazzed at this sight and so I just hugged him and processed this moment. We hugged until it got awkward for everyone except us and then I looked at him while holding our arms out and said, "What's next?" He immediately looked at me saying, "Well..." and got down on one knee. "Te casaria conmigo?" (Will you marry me in spanish), I SCREAMED and I am not lying "Shut up, shut the front door! Are you serious? Right here, right now? Yes!!!" I took the ring out of the box and put it on my finger. The rest is small facts but we left the group and went to a local diner-type place and ate Spanish food and talked and laughed and acted as if we were just two peas in a pod. It was a normal Caleb and Laura night filled with laughter and just being next to eachother.

How We Met: His Perspective

It was the first semester of my sophomore year and I was stuck in College Algebra at 8:45am.  I was sitting in the back row semi-listening to our professor, who was a little crazy, when in walked a girl wearing a brightly colored jacket.  Fashionably late indeed!  In this moment I said to myself, "Woah!  Who is this girl?"  After a little research I found out her name was Laura and that she lived in the Hall right above me, what luck!  Our two halls would go to dinner once a week, so I was able to talk to her a couple times in a group setting.  I then decided that I needed "help" with my algebra homework.  She agreed to meet with me and help me out.  We met, worked on the homework, and parted ways.  I thought it went terrific, and raced back to my dorm to tell my roommate Gabe how well it went.  The next day I saw Laura in the lunch room and she came over and said we should work on math again.  I told her that would be great, but in my mind I was saying, "HECK YEAH".  The next few weeks went well as we worked on math and hung out a little.  I liked her more and more each time we hung out.  Everything was progressing nicely, I had things totally under control. That is until one of my dirty rat friends spilled the beans that I really liked her.  She then text me, "I know a secret of yours".  After a lot of texting that night she agreed to go out on a date with me.  This would be my very first date, with anybody!  I couldn't screw this up, so I called my brother Tim, the ladies man of our family, for suggestions on where to take her.  I eventually settled on Applebees.  I picked her up and we ventured out on our very first date.  We talked and played paper football until the date was over.  I thought it went fantastic.  The next week I decided I was going to ask her out on another date.  My plan of action was to work on math again and when we finished, ask her if she wanted to go out to Starbucks.  Everything was going according to plan.  We were in here room and nearly done with our math assignment when in walked her roommates.  A curveball that I had not anticipated!  We finished the assignment and I left, opportunity wasted.  I would not be stopped, so I sent her a text asking if she wanted to go out again.  She said yes!(a little foreshadowing perchance?).  A second date with a beautiful girl, this was simply the greatest.  We went on our second date just before Christmas break.  I, again, thought it went great.  We parted ways as Christmas break arrived, but continued to talk and text a lot.  By early January we started dating!  I was super excited, but I sheepishly must admit that we started dating via text messages.  I will never live that down.  When we returned from Christmas break we hugged for the very first time in the parking lot behind the dorms.  It was a fantastic hug, and one of many to come!  ...And now we are getting married.  boooya!

How We Met: From Her Perspective

Caleb and I met shortly before Thanksgiving in a class that we had taken all semester. I had seen him sit two rows and two seats back from me but had never really given him a second look. One day after our 7:50a class, Caleb and two others excluding myself were talking after class about the assignment we were given and also the dynamics of personality our teacher had. Caleb had asked me if I would help him with the assignment sometime the following night to "make sure he understood it". I agreed because obviously I knew exactly what I was doing. (Did I mention I came into NWC with the mindset that I knew all and everyone THOUGHT I was God's greatest gift?) Shy, awkward Caleb came to my dorm room that following night as I had instructed him to do and did not converse to the least and strictly focused on the assignment at hand. I thought nothing of it because I really thought this was what he came to do. We finished and he left with a decent goodbye and a confirmation to do this again as I gave him my phone number incase he had any other questions. A few days later I was sitting down with a unnamed person as they brought up the fact that a certain Caleb Klinge was very interested in me and wanted to know my feelings for him.
My first reaction was a laugh and a thought to where I would have ever thought that from his interactions with me. But, because I wanted to go on a date, I thought "why, not". I text Caleb pretty much immediately to let him know I was in on the secret and his cover was blown. We "text flirt" for a good two days and one night a week later, Caleb left abruptly and this was normal so I thought it was just another assignment finished with a little flirting involved. Five minutes later, I got a text from him asking if lunch would be a good idea for us to go to Applebee's. I giggled and text back an agreement text. The date was fairly awkward and the conversation was a little sparse as the main attraction was playing paper football for a good 30 minutes. That was four years ago now and the rest is full of lasting love and a lot of growing up we did together and apart but in the end, I am fully confident without those things we would be the dynamic couple we are today.

About a Boy

I grew up in Iowa with four brothers and two sisters. Growing up with that many siblings was a struggle due to the burden of keeping the secret that I am my parents favorite child. In 2006, I moved to Minneapolis, MN to attend Northwestern College. During my time at NWC I was able to accomplish a great number of feats. I discovered a group of friends that were equally as weird/crazy as me. I finally came to the understanding that my life is not my own, I belong to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I had the privilege to learn and grow closer to God in an awesome Christian community. I found a career path that I am truly passionate about I had tons of fun (my transcripts will tell you that I had a little too much fun). and I met a girl I would like to spend the rest of my life with. I'd say I did pretty good, pretty darn good!

I am currently working in the Physical Therapy Department at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN. I am also taking several prerequisite courses in order to apply for Physical Therapy Graduate School in the fall of 2012. I am very excited about the opportunities that have been given to me. So soon I will be married to the most beautiful girl ever.

Also, I am a Chicago Bears fan. That is very important to add.