Farwell, Madison

As you probably know by now, Janessa and I are beginning our move from Madison to Mesa this week. While I'm excited to go and get started with the next chapter of our life, it is going to be sad to leave. So much has happened to Janessa and I in this town that I feel like I'll be leaving a bit of myself behind. Not only did I spend four years of my life here, Madison's where the most important thing to have happened to me occurred - meeting Janessa.

Because of all of this, Janessa and I decided to take our final walk downtown today and document some of the most important places here in town. Below are the photos we took, along with a little explanation of each. We'll be posting as we move across the country, but this will be our final entry from Madison.



The Madison Institute building where Janessa and I first met. She was having a conversation with someone she knew from BYU when I butted in and proceeded to introduce myself. It was her saying she was a poli sci major that first caught my eye. Weird, I know, but that's the way I am...


The week after we met at institute, I somehow convinced Janessa to go on a date with me. Madison's got a lot of confusing one-way streets, so I had to wait a little bit...Like an hour and a half for Janessa to get there. While I was waiting and thinking she wouldn't show I sat on this fire hydrant outside my old apartment.




When Janessa finally did show up, we walked to a burger place down the street called Dotty Dumpling's Dowry. I was supposed to take her on a tour of Madison after eating, but that never happened...we just ended up going back to my apartment and watching a movie.



As you well know, that first date wasn't our last. One night after institute I suggested we go on a "walk" down by the lake. Little did Janessa know, however, that earlier that day I'd called her dad and asked if I could marry her. So the above picture is from the approximate location where I popped the question.




That was not, however, the place where I first wanted to ask Janessa to marry me. I originally intended to propose on the roof of the lakeside terrace in the middle of the garden area. We were sitting on the above bench, I was preparing myself to propose, and then I saw a crowd of people coming. Remembering Janessa's request to be proposed to in private I held off until we reached the lakeside path.



Now we'll end with a picture of the capitol. It'll be sad to leave this city, but at least I'll be able to share this next chapter of my life with Janessa.