Love, Rings, Coffee and Things...

Yesterday Rich and I publicly announced our engagement by posting this picture: 

Since then I have received many inquires, "Who is this man?!" Ha, well I don't blame you all! I did not expect to run off to Indiana and in the midst of grad-school craziness to also find my soul-mate. But, here he is, surprise, surprise! So for all my lovelies back home, I'd like you to meet Richard Buchanan Jr. 

Rich is from Maryland and I am from Utah. We both found ourselves in Indiana after auditioning for graduate schools. Purdue chose us, and we met in August as we prepared for classes. 

I insisted he wasn't my type, while he knew from the beginning that I would be trouble. 

Rich and I grew to be good friends, mostly because we were working closely together on Anna in the Tropics. He was playing my cheating husband, Palomo. Since then he has also played the mischievous Wicham to my Lizzy Bennet.  

We continued to grow closer as he helped me through some pretty rough emotional experiences. My first semester of grad school was tough (to say the least) and I needed all the help I could get. Still, I insisted that we were just friends while I knew that he was falling in love with me. 

Suddenly everything changed when I received a little advice from a good friend. He was talking about his own relationship, saying that he had made a choice to just try with this girl, and that he was committing to this choice. Okay, okay, so I'd give this relationship with Rich a real chance.

As soon as I opened my heart to him I was done for. I had no choice but to fall for this wonderful man. 

(Oh, and there may have been a little help from this man too, Mr. Sylvester Little. Yep, he is Rich's wing-man and vice-versa. These boys are trouble.)

So what is it about Rich? We'll start with the little things. 

There's his little curly-que hair, squinty-eyed smile, and crooked nose. 

He is incredibly addicted to coffee. So addicted that this probably should  have been the very first thing that I said about him. Rich is most likely 75% coffee. Oh, and now he has decided to spread this addiction on to me. I need my morning cup, thanks Rich...

He is talented, venturing down this theatre road with me (gah, I said I'd never be with another actor!). But it's not just theatre, he is remarkably creative. He creates journals out of old book covers, makes masks and puppets, and sees the world in a beautiful way. Each day he makes me curious about something, and I can see his mind constantly racing as stimuli send different vibrations through him. He makes me wonder, and I love that. 

I cannot leave out how goofy he is. Random sounds? Check. Sitting in boxes with me? Check. Amusing sleep-talking? Check. And you should see him when he has stuff to physically play with. Rolling around on mats, jumping up on acting blocks, climbing to upper window-sills. He has a playful heart that is incredibly refreshing. 

Rich is also considerate. He knows that I hate cooking, so he frequently feeds me (the other grads are extremely happy to see me eating things that aren't cup-o-noodles). He will run lines with me, study with me, be a spring-board and bounce around ideas with me. He encourages me daily, reinforcing the wonderful things I know about myself. He reminds me that I'm beautiful, smart, and talented when I struggle to remember. 

This boy is incredibly quirky. He enjoys vintage stores and old-houses. Sometimes his love for character overshadows his practicality (yes, I'm referring to that time when he rented an apartment without functioning water pressure, but it "had amazing windows!"). I will frequently catch him looking up real-estate on his computer for fun. We like to watch Rehab Addict together and see Nicole renovate old houses; we then day dream about living in said houses. 

He's a dreamer.

 

Finally, people are wanting to know how he proposed. It was in a little park over spring break. I had known he was planning on proposing, why? Because I saw this picture and knew that he had purchased a ring...

He likes to refer to this chocolate brown diamond as a "chai diamond" after my favorite chai tea lattes. I prefer to call it our "coffee diamond" because, well, coffee and Rich are synonymous. 

While I knew he had the ring I had no idea when it would happen. I was blissfully surprised when we found a lovely little pond, surrounded by mossy rocks, and Rich began speaking love-filled words to me. He pulled out a ring box he made himself and asked me to marry him. He had been carrying this ring around for weeks, waiting for the right moment, finally telling me that he could not wait a moment longer without asking me to be a part of his life forever. As we got back to the car he pulled out some flowers that he had been keeping. We had dinner at the Lafayette Brewing Company, the first place we met back in August. 

I am so grateful for the support that we have received from our family and friends. I hope this lets you all know a little more about Rich and I. We are planning on having a small ceremony in October of next year. Thank you all for celebrating love with us.

Until next time!

With Love,
Kelsie