Want to know the events that brought us together and set us on a path to wedded bliss? Here's the story, with all the juicy details. Once upon a time...
At 6:17 A.M. in Bluffton, Indiana, Curt and Karen Foughty become parents and welcome their firstborn, Trevor, into the world. He promptly decides it will be the last time he will get up that early again.
In the opposite corner of the state in Evansville, Brad and Cindi Gehlhausen give birth to their first child, Whitney, six weeks early. 26 years later, it remains the only moment in her life that she's been ready early or on time.
For the first few years of his life, Trevor lives in Chicago. The Cubs make the playoffs for the first time in nearly forty years, and the Bears have a Super Bowl season. He's too young to remember either event. The family moves back to Indiana and both teams return to mediocrity. His family breeds Boxers for many years, and he forever becomes a dog person (the two Boxers they own are named Roxy and Balboa, a terrible pun on a series of Sly Stalone movies). As he gets older, he realizes that he is a talented artist and wants to be a cartoonist when he grows up. He draws constantly and makes plans to go to art school. After some disagreements with his high school art teacher about what his art should look like, he decides he doesn't need a degree to tell him how to draw and enrolls at Bethel College as an English major (and a philosophy major and a history minor). It's his hope that strengthening his writing skills will make him marketable as somone who can both write an illustrate stories.
At just four months old, Whitney gets into a swimming pool for the first time in her life and becomes an instant water baby. This love of swimming will dominate much of her early life. She joins the Newburgh Sea Creatures club swim team through middle school. At the age of four, a stray cat shows up outside her house that her family starts to feed. She names him Vince (after Vince Gill), and she forever becomes a cat person (it's unclear if Vince was as fond of people, especially after Whitney realized he was the perfect size to fit into the trunk of Barbi's Dream Car). She gets her first kitten, Amy (named after Amy Grant), at the age of eight. In 2000, Vince Gill and Amy Grant get married, but it's unclear if they knew about Whitney's cats. She is too busy swimming for her high school swim team to notice this coincidence.
In his junior year of college, Trevor (who is the editor of his college newspaper) is asked by a faculty member running for local office to write campaign press releases. They win a three-way primary in May 2004 with just shy of a majority. He ends up loving the world of politics and government so much that he gives up illustrating, thus foregoing the chance to end up the Sunday funny pages.
In her senior year of high school, Whitney joins her school's "We the People" team, a quiz and debate competition on government issues (she wants it made clear there were very competitive tryouts for the team). She ends up loving the world of politics and government so much that she gives up swimming, thus foregoing the chance to become known as Mrs. Michael Phelps.
After interning for Rep. Chris Chocola's campaign in northern Indiana in 2004, Trevor works as its field director for the 2006 campaign (where he learns a lot from the great Chris Faulkner, who's company graciously designed, printed and mailed our Save the Dates).
After enrolling at Indiana University in 2004 as a political science major (and an economics major), Whitney begins interning for Rep. Mike Sodrel's campaign in southern Indiana in 2006 (where she learns a lot from the great Cam Savage, who is best man in the wedding).
After finishing a Congressional race in the May, Trevor is hired as the campaign manager for Tony Bennett's State Superintendent campaign. He meets the Indiana Republican Party's field director assigned to the 8th Congressional District. He decides she must be uptight and take herself way too seriously (because she doesn't seem to get his sense of humor).
After graduating from Indiana University in May, Whitney is hired by the Indiana Republican Party as the field director for the 8th Congressional District to help with Mitch Daniels' reelection bid. She meets the campaign manager for Tony Bennett's State Superintendent campaign. She decides he is an arrogant jerk (because she doesn't get his sense of humor).
Though we didn't realize it at the time, this picture from the Terre Haute Labor Day parade was the first time we ever got our picture taken together. The matching Chuck Taylor's should have tipped us off that this was the start of something special.
Tony Bennett wins in November, and Trevor accepts a job with the Indiana Department of Education. At a post-election party at his house, Whitney teaches him how to play Rummy, and he wows her with awesome card tricks. He decides she isn't totally uptight.
Mitch Daniels wins in November, and Whitney accepts a job with the Indiana Department of Administration. As a post-election party at Trevor's, she teaches him how to play Rummy, and pretends to be wowed by his lame card tricks. She decides he isn't a total jerk.
One day while eating lunch with a group of friends at the Circle Centre Mall food court, Trevor notices Whitney is eating Subway. He tells her that his parents own a Subway in his hometown of Ossian. As she is starting to understand Trevor's sense of humor, she accuses him of making it up (who has ever heard of Ossian, anyway?). To prove it, he asks her what her favorite Subway cookies are. After work, he calls his mom and asks her to send him an entire case of oatmeal raisin cookies from Subway.
Trevor gets the case of oatmeal raisin cookies from his mom, and invites Whitney to come over and pick them up so she can bake them for a Valentine's Day party they are both going to that evening. She is forced to admit that a place called Ossian exists and that his parents own a Subway. They talk for awhile, but Trevor doesn't think much of it besides a general intrigue with her. Whitney realizes that she might actually like this guy.
After seeing Trevor wearing a plaid shirt earlier in the day, Whitney decides to wear her new plaid shirt to the party that night. Just to make sure he notices her, and constantly starts conversations with him. At first, he can't figure out why she is behind him every time he turns around. Eventually, he realizes that he might actually like this girl.
After enjoying each other's company so much at the party the night before, Trevor invites Whitney to come over and hang out at his place. They spend most of the day (and several more evenings in the following week) together talking and getting to know each other. Foughthausen begins!
In June, Trevor accepts a job as the communications director for the Indiana Republican Party. A few months later, Whitney accepts a job as the field director for the Indiana Republican Party. Later they would agree they should never work in the same office again, but for the time being they think it's wonderful to be employed at the same place. Their relationship continues to bloom.
Realizing his affinity for Chicago sports, Whitney bought Trevor tickets to a Cubs-Cardinals game in St. Louis for his birthday. When the big day arrived, though, he felt extremely sick, and his throat was so sore he couldn't swallow. Because it was the first gift Whitney had ever bought for him, though, he decided he had to go. Her dad, a big Cardinals fan, also went along. The trash talk between the men was incessant, especially after Whitney decided to wear a Ryne Sandberg jersey and declared herself a Cubs fan. After a wild finish and premature celebration from the Cardinals, Trevor was thrilled to see the Cubs win and didn't care that he was so sick. Two days later, with his throat almost swollen shut, he finds out he has strep throat. Potentially infecting 45,000 Cardinals fans was just icing on the cake.
Despite suffering from the lingering affects of strep throat, Trevor and Whitney go to Ohio for a family wedding. The first night there, Trevor learns the hard way that he is allergic to the penicillin he has been taking. By the second day, 90% of his body is covered in an allergic rash (for some reason, he decides it is OK to keep taking the medicine). Maybe it's the reaction, or maybe it's remembering her choosing his Cubs over her dad's Cardinals the weekend before, or maybe he's just feeling sentimental after the wedding, but he says, "I love you," for the first time. She smiles a big smile and says, "I love you, too."
Over the next year and some change, they work hard for big Republicans victories. On Election night, there is plenty to celebrate (but mostly that they didn't tear each other's heads off after working in the same office for so long).
To relax after a grueling campaign season, Whitney and Trevor take their first vacation together on the beaches of Cancun. Because of big Republican gains in Congress, Trevor has been talking with an incoming member about a possible job in Washington, D.C. They spend a lot of the vacation talking about what the future holds and whether or not they both want to move halfway across the country. A few weeks later, Trevor accepts the job, and Whitney finds a job in a new Congressional office, too.
After weeks of preparation, Trevor and Whitney pack up a U-Haul with all of their stuff (minus the boxes Trevor hid in his brother's attic). He drives the truck and she follows in her car. They leave at 8:30 at night so that they can arrive in D.C. during a non-rush hour period, and plan to go five or six hours before finding a place to stay for the night. She lasts about two and a half hours before she's tired and doesn't want to keep up with his lead foot anymore. They leave early the next morning, and Trevor trusts the GPS a little too much. They had planned to avoid the mountains as much as possible, and instead end up driving the U-Haul on windy, snow covered roads with a twelve to fifeteen degree slope. Whitney nearly has a heart attack and aneurysm simultaneously. They arrive in D.C. during rush hour, and the GPS is trusted too much again. Their route takes them on a virtually unused road that ends at the back of the Pentagon (the sight of a U-Haul speeding down this road probably set off a minor national security incident). When they finally arrive, they are exhausted but must unload and unpack. To this day, Whitney is still waiting for Trevor to admit she was right at the beginning of this whole ordeal: They should have hired professional movers.
After eight months out east, Whitney is offered a good job with a Congressional campaign back in Indiana. After much discussion, they agree it is a good move for her, even though it means they will live apart until at least the following May. They miss each other immensely, but talk every night on the phone before bed. It isn't easy, but it helps them grow stronger as a couple.
Trevor decides he will propose within the next year. He plans on doing it after the November election. While visiting her family in Evansville over Christmas, he asks her sister Stephanie to help him figure out what sort of ring she would like. Stephanie takes Whitney to the mall, and they look at engagement rings at a jewelry store. Stephanie takes a picture (below) of the ring Whitney falls in love with to send to him. Trevor finds the ring online that night, but the next day it is gone from the website. He later finds out it has been discontinued by the store temporarily, and he will have to hunt to find it.
After a year in D.C., Trevor heads back to Indiana for a six week trip to get his boss' reelection campaign up and running (the six week trip ends up lasting five months). He lives an hour away from Whitney, but they are excited to see each other nearly every weekend.
After two months of searching for the ring Whitney loved, Trevor heads into a jewelry store in Bloomington. He gives the item number to the salesman to look up in the computer, and it isn't in stock. Trevor decides to look around the store for a bit, and thinks he spots the ring. The salesman pulls it out of the case and they realize it is not quite the same one. It is similar, but it is a much bigger and much, much more expensive version. He is pretty dejected, and contemplates whether or not he can afford the deluxe model.
As the salesman puts the ring back in the case, Trevor notices another ring behind it. He quickly points it out to the salesman, who looks at the item number. It's the ring Whitney wanted! The salesman can't explain why it wasn't inventoried in the computer. Trevor hadn't planned on buying a ring that day, but this was a clear sign of fate and he bought it on the spot. While he is filling out paperwork, he asks the salesman what the date is and realizes it is more fateful than he realized: He bought an engagement ring on his parents' anniversary.
Every day when he wakes up, when he gets home from work, and before he goes to bed, Trevor opens the ring box to make sure it is still there. He quickly realizes that he won't be able to hold on to the ring until November. He also realizes that after three years, Whitney is going to be expecting a proposal any day after her campaign ends in May. The only way he is going to be able to surprise her is to pop the question before the election.
He hatches a plan to drive to Indianapolis to surprise her on her birthday, which was in the middle of the week. He decides to hand make a shadow box with pictures from different periods in their relationship, with the ring box in the bottom. She would never expect a ring inside of a birthday present so big, and definitely wouldn't expect it before the election. After wandering around lost in Hobby Lobby for over an hour one night, he finally asks a sales associate for help and gets the supplies he needs. Every night for two weeks, he assembles his gift until it is finished.
Whitney calls Trevor and asks him to come visit on her birthday. Realizing his surprise will be ruined, he tells her that he can't because he'll be busy on her birthday, but he'll come celebrate with her over the weekend. She tells him that she doesn't want to wait that long to see him, and wonders aloud if she should come visit him for dinner the next night. He immediately realizes that he must call an audible: Driving to see her on her birthday would be a minor surprise, but proposing at a dinner that she suggested would totally catch her off guard. He encourages her to come and promised to cook her favorite dinner if she did.
As he is wrapping the shadow box, he realizes that she might see the ring before she has the entire present unwrapped. Using scrap materials from the project, he hastily creates the ugliest collage he can. He cuts it into three pieces so that he can slowly reveal his real present underneath, with the third panel large enough to hide the ring box. He carefully lays it out on the glass cover of the shadow box.
When Whitney arrives for dinner, she is somewhat surprised to see Trevor dressed up more than usual. She also can't figure out why he seems so anxious and talkative, but she doesn't care because he cooked her favorite meal (spaghetti with his special meat sauce) and got all the little details perfect (he set out a spoon for her to twirl her spaghetti and got her favorite wine). After dinner, he tells her that he has her birthday present laying out on his bed, but isn't sure if he wants her to open it before her birthday. While he cleans up, she sits on the bed next to the present and waits. She is curious about this big present he bought her, but has no idea what's actually inside.
When Trevor comes in, he sits on the floor next to the bed and tells her to open the present. As she is unwrapping it, he tells her that he hand made her present this year. Inside, she finds the ugliest collage she has ever seen (but she pretends to love it, much like a parent pretends to love the scribbles their five year old says is a fire truck). He tells her that this was just a bad joke, and that the real present is underneath. He starts pulling off the panels one at a time, explaining why he made this shadow box about their relationship and how special she is to him.
When he gets to the third panel, he gets up on one knee, props up the box, and proposes. His surprise worked too well, as it turns out. In an utter state of shock she asks, "Is this really happening? Is there actually a ring in that box? Why aren't you getting it out and proposing?!?" He takes the ring out of the box, places it on her finger, asks her to marry him, and she says, "YES!"
On December 15, 2012, in Evansville, the story of us begins...
