how it started::
It was the Fall of my senior year of high school and a group of my friends were standing in the parking lot after school talking to my Young Life leader, Jessica when we noticed a new face on campus. Jess informed us that it was Ben Wright, the newest leader at Broughton. From then on, he was known by the senior girls as "Hot New Leader Ben". Fast forward 1 year and "Hot New Leader Ben" and freshman Elkie met again at the NCSU College Life cookout. For the next few months, my roommates and Ben's roommates became great friends. Ben became my best friend as we continued to get to know each other and fall in love throughout the rest of college.
our engagement::
This was written by Ben right after he proposed, I'm so glad he took the time to put the details of this special day into writing...love him!
After months of preparation and prayer, sleepless nights, and counting days, December 11, 2009 was finally here. It was a cold Friday in North Carolina's Piedmont when I woke up around 4 AM with thoughts of the proposal running through my head. I wanted it to be perfect. It was the day I had been waiting for my entire life, the day I would to tell the love of my life that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. It was a profound, and special morning. I found myself praising God, that somehow, someway I had found her and she had found me. It was the beginning of a perfect day, and the beginning of an exciting new life together.
I have never been able to surprise Elkie, and never thought that I would be able to. She is too sharp, and knows me far to well for that. Most of the time she knows what I am feeling before I do. That day was different though, she set the entire event up without knowing it. Months prior, I planned to propose sometime around her birthday which happened to fall on a Friday. I asked her what she would like to for do her birthday (knowing she had a fun idea, being the planner that she is). She suggested a weekend in Brevard, NC hiking in our favorite mountains. She had unknowingly, set herself up for a surprise proposal on her birthday. She organized the plans so that she would stop by the farm where I live and work to pick up our dog Amos on her way to meet me in Concord at my parents house. She thought I was busy at a conference in Black Mountain.
I stood shaking with nerves, and shivering from the cold in the hayloft of our barn, peeking through the cracks as I watched her and some friends pull into the driveway at the farm. I heard her open the barn doors (where she was supposed to pick up Amos), with sounds of confusion and surprise as she observed the candle lit rose petals on the ground, and the candles lining the steps to the hay loft. After some encouragement from my brother Graham, she made her way up the steps to the hay loft where I was waiting. I stood under strings of lights and a backdrop of candles, flowers, and framed pictures of us from events past, as she approached me with laughter and hugs. I told her of my love in very broken and confused language, and asked her to marry me on one knee. It was a surreal moment. It truly felt like a dream.
Reality soon set in as we celebrated with our families, and friends who were waiting by the lake for us as we pulled in on our big red tractor. We shared hugs, love, laughter, and joy as we celebrated by a bon-fire, with champagne and appetizers. After sharing a huge meal prepare by both of our sweet mothers, a perfect day came to a perfect end.
engagement session at peacehaven::
the wedding::
Our wedding weekend was the best few days of my life. Ben and I were able to commit to loving and serving each other for the rest of our lives in front of our friends and family in the most beautiful setting I could have ever imagined. We were married in Harkers Island, NC on a family friend's piece of land in June 2010.
married life::
Ben and I were married in 2010 after I graduated from NC State. After our wedding, I moved to Burlington, NC to join him where he had been living and working for a year at a non-profit called Peacehaven Community Farm (http://www.peacehavenfarm.org/). We loved our time in Burlington where we were able to grow together and learn how to be married. About a year later, Ben got a job in Raleigh at the company where he currently works and we made the move back to the city we met in. We are now first time homeowners with two doggies and a baby boy on the way!
