Our Story
When Matt and Caitlin crossed paths on a cold January day at the Carmel Ice Skadium, they had no idea that a chance encounter with a Zamboni would so drastically shape their futures.

Where the magic happened...
Having small children during the winter months in Indiana can provide some challenges when trying to answer the question "what are we going to do today, mommy?" Answering that question is what brought Caitlin and Matt to the Carmel Ice Skadium on January 29, 2011, a favorite haunt of Carmel schoolchildren and one which Caitlin had not been to in decades.

Their shoes were stored side by side. Their girls skated around each other and shared (begrudgingly) the skating prop that helped them both stay vertical. They both decided to stay after open skate and watch the magic of the Zamboni. Their cars were next to each other in the parking lot. After a few minutes of awkward thoughts about why that guy from the bleachers was following her, Matt broke the ice.

    With trepidation, he said. "Come here often?"

    "Not really, in fact, I haven't been here since grade school." she replied.

    "Oh really? Did you grow up around here?" he asked inquisitively.

    She bragged, "Yea, I went to Mt. Carmel and Cathedral. You?"

    "I went to Brebeuf." he said sheepishly.

    Ever so judgingly, she asked, "How's that working out for you?"

    "Very funny. Hey, do you know Eric Tobias?" he said with a gleam in his eye.

And so it continued and they proceeded to find that grew up a mere mile from each other and shared many mutual friends. It all seemed too good to be true. Phone numbers were exchanged and as any 17, I mean, 35 year olds would do, they started texting. And the rest is history . . . until Chicago.

To celebrate the end of a long, but wildly successful year, Matt and Caitlin pointed Matt's Ford Flex a.k.a the "Manivan" north to the Windy City. Having learned a great appreciation for food from their parents, the destination for dinner was Charlie Trotters Restaurant. After getting all gussied up in the hotel room (wonderfully priced thanks to Groupon) they headed to what is now commonly referred to as just "THE dinner." Of course, it was fabulous. Matt's sister and brother-in-law graciously offered to pick them up from dinner and chauffeur them back to he hotel or perhaps a watering hole of their choice. Because Caitlin knows the city of Chicago fairly well, she was quite confused when the chauffeur began driving strangely, leading her away from the hotel and ultimately landing at Millenium Park.

Millenium Park, and specifically, Cloud Gate (a.k.a the Bean)

What better place to give a shiny thing?
, is perfectly situated overlooking an ice skating rink. Yes, no detail is left to chance with Matt Coffman doing the planning. On that very, very cold Chicago evening, Matt got down on one knee and asked Caitlin to marry him. Though her lips were frozen, she squeaked, "YES!" As he picked her up and twirled her around, they were greeted with a round of applause from a group of twenty bystanders. Matt's sister, Sara, did a wonderful job chronicling her and Mike's role in the event on her blog. It was truly magical! And the rest is history . . . until June 22, 2012 when the future starts.