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Ryan...
Ryan grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and of course is a Huskers fan (Go Big Red). He graduated from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri with a Bachelor's in chemistry and started working on his PhD in Chemistry at Texas A & M in the fall of 2005. He plans on finishing by May 2010. He swam in high school and for two years in college. Besides being with Erica, he enjoys fishing, watching football, reading his Bible, playing with kids and spending time with his (and Erica's) church family at Hope.

Erica...
Erica grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She graduated from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas with a Bachelor's in Christian Ministry in May 2006. She moved to College Station after graduation to live with her sister, Jessica and get prerequisites for Pharmacy School. She is currently working at Kroger Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician and still working on her pre-reqs. Other than spending time with Ryan, she enjoys studying, reading, talking to her mom on the phone and spending time with her (and Ryan's) church family.

How They Met...
Ryan's roomate, Luke, and Erica's sister, Jessica were in the same department at A&M. Luke invited Jessica to a Friday night Bible study at their house. The next week Jessica brought Erica with her to the Bible study and Erica met Ryan at his house! The next Sunday Erica went with the boys to their church and met the whole church family at Hope. The preacher and his wife, Rudy and Lena, invited Erica, Ryan and a few others to their house for a meal and games. Ryan was stranded without a car and Erica gave him a ride home. That night, Cara and Mike, friends from church invited Erica to dinner with them at Rosa's with Ryan and the other college kids. Cara and Mike's daughter, Regan (the flower girl) sat on Ryan's lap the whole time talking and playing with Ryan as Erica watched in admiration. Erica and Ryan spent more time together with Luke, Pam, Kazuki and other friends from church for the next couple of weeks. For spring break, Ryan drove down to Corpus and met Erica and her family that Thursday and spent the weekend at their lakehouse with Pam and Luke . Erica and Ryan drove back up to College Station together and spent the whole time talking. The next Sunday Ryan and Erica watched a movie with Luke and Pam at the boy's house. After Erica finally got the nerve to grab Ryan's hand during the movie, Ryan got up to let the cat out the front door much to Erica's shock and horror. Luckily when he came back down to sit next to her he put his arm around her and the two knew they were more than friends. Ryan took Erica out on their first date to Erica's favorite restaurant, Pei Wei, that following Tuesday. He was so nervous on the date that he forgot to check his shirt from the pile of laundry and ended up pulling a wadded up sock from his sleeve as they were walking back to his truck after dinner.

The Proposal...
Ryan told Erica he wanted to take her out to celebrate her new job at the pharmacy. They waited until the weekend, on August 9th. He showed up in the same black collared shirt he had worn on their first date and Erica noticed something bunched up in his sleeve. She laughed as she unbuttoned it and pulled out a wadded up sock. Inside the sock was a special note saying he was very proud of her getting the new job and wanted to take her out. Another sock with a note was waiting for her in the truck saying how important she was to him. Half way through their dinner he handed her another note saying he loved her more than Pei Wei's Orange Chicken which says a lot! After dinner, another sock was in the truck asking her to go with him to her favorite park where they spent the fourth of July with the Bittner family-Washington on the Brazos State Park. They drove out to the beautiful park right before sunset and walked down a nature path they had gone on back in July. When they got to a pretty pond, Ryan pulled out a piece of paper with Genesis 2:18, 20-25 and Malachi 2:15. He then recited Ephesians 5:25-27 and got down on one knee. (Erica was crying at this point) He reached in his pocket and pulled out another sock. Inside was a box with a diamond ring. He opened it up and asked her to marry him! She, of course, said yes!