So it was a month ago, on a Friday evening. It was the second-to-last weekend before Eric would leave for his mission, and so we had planned to go to the Kansas City Symphony's opening night at the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Helzberg Hall. Eric and I had been to several Kansas City Symphony performances in the past, and this was one of our favorite activities, so it would be a nice thing to go to before he left.
I met up with Eric after class in Columbia in the "Steak and Shake" parking lot, and we headed to Kansas City. On the way, we listened to Andrea Bocelli's Christmas album (yeah, I know it was only September, but we loved listening to that when we'd drive around Logan last year!) We were kind of hungry, but didn't have a ton of time, so we drove through McDonald's and got some sandwiches, hot fresh fries (they aren't always like that!), and some surprisingly good root beer! We had a nice drive :) Eric was wearing a dark blue, long sleeved shirt, and black dress pants, and I was wearing a maroon-ish sweater dress that Eric really likes and heels. You dress up to go to a Symphony!
 |
| I couldn't believe how beautiful the Kauffman Center was! |
 |
| Eric looked nice in his dress clothes! |
 |
| Outside the Kauffman Center during Intermission |
Next, we heard the world premier of "Fountains of KC (Kansas City/Kauffman Center)", by Chen Yi, who was the first female Master of the Performing Arts in China. It was quite intense, and pretty avant garde... just a bunch of random loud noises. (On our drive to the Plaza afterward, Eric was kind of making fun of it... he didn't think that the music sounded much like Kansas City, more like big, tall, dark, scary mountains. I agreed. It was funny to hear his imitation of the song!) After that, was Respighi's "Pines of Rome". I liked that piece before (I had seen it in the Whale sequence in "Fantasia 2000"), but there is nothing like hearing it live! Man, was it AWESOME! That was without a doubt, my favorite live performance of anything I've ever heard. And the in the third movement, they had some of the horn players in the side balconies and front balcony, and so the effect was even more "surround sound"! The acoustics were already amazing, but that was just so cool. After it was over, the audience applauded for minutes and minutes! I was really hoping for an encore, but Michael Stern just invited everyone out to the lobby for a free glass of champagne. He said that the orchestra would be playing something to encourage everyone to head out to the lobby, and they started playing some classical piece and the audience laughed. Eric and I didn't have the musical knowledge to get the joke, but we left and decided to walk around the Plaza.
The Plaza had lots of people (even though it was close to 11:00 pm), because that day and the next was "Art on the Plaza". The booths and tents were all closed, but a lot of people were still out walking and shopping.
Eric and I went to Starbucks, and he bought a large Salted Carmel Hot Cocoa (I wasn't sure how it'd taste, but it was DELICIOUS!! It wasn't super sweet or chocolatey, but it was so good), and a pumpkin spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting.
We ate the cupcake inside, but because the temperature and atmosphere outside was PERFECT, we decided to drink the cocoa outside as we walked. It was so pretty out, and Eric and I were so happy because we had had such a great night! Eric knows the cool places on the plaza better than me, so when we'd get to a corner, I'd just let him decide which way we should go. Even though the temperature was nice, I wore Eric's jacket because he was just a little warm, and I was just a little cool.
We eventually made our way to the edge of the plaza, near a man-made river called "Brush Creek" (so I guess it's a creek...) Eric asked if I wanted to walk by the water, and I said "Sure!", because I knew that Eric loves that walk. As we walked down the stairs, I remembered the other times we had walked by the water... the first time I visited him in Kansas city when I was checking out UMKC three years ago, we walked there, and because I had unknowingly worn some unsensible shoes (they hadn't seemed that bad! They weren't heels or anything...) we just sat for a while on a bench, looking at the water while I rested my feet. Another time was Eric's last night living in Kansas City (two summers ago), when we had eaten at Cheesecake Factory on the plaza, and then afterward his car wouldn't start, and so we had to walk by Brush Creek to his apartment to get my car. I remember him talking to his dad on the phone on that walk about how to start the car again. It was an kind of an annoyance that car problems took up time on our last evening in KC, but at the same time it was kind of funny because Eric was mad (he doesn't get mad very often) because the reason the car was dead was because someone he had given a ride to had turned on the inside light for no reason... it was especially dumb because Eric had given him a ride during the day, when there was no reason to turn on the inside light.
Anyway, I was just commenting about the different times we had walked along Brush Creek, and how there were a lot of memories. As we walked I thought about everything that had happened that evening, from the wonderful performance, to the perfect weather, even to the nice food we had eaten, I was thinking that there couldn't be a better last visit to Kansas City before Eric left on his mission. I said "This has been a perfect night!" Eric said, "A perfect night? ...I'm going to make it better." It didn't take me a split-second to know what was coming next, although when he reached into his pocket I was just thinking "No way!" and already in a state of shock... he got on one knee, opened the box with a beautiful ring and said, "Sannah, will you marry me?" I just kind of weakly said "yes..." because I felt a little dazed. Eric said that I just had really wide eyes lol. I felt pretty shaky after that... after all, it is a big moment! Eric said that he had felt nervous, even though he knew I was going to say yes! He said that he somehow always knew that he would propose to me on Brush Creek, because it's such a pretty location, somewhat private, but very close to the Plaza. It was such a pretty ring, too!! It was a little big (it has since been refitted), and Eric told me all about when and how he had picked it out... we both had a lot of energy after that, and so we went back up to the Plaza and kept walking, happier than ever! We decided to get a snack at Cheesecake Factory since it was still open, and we ate outside (again, wonderful atmosphere!) I had a bowl of Edamame (I wasn't very hungry for too much... it was late!) and Eric had I think Clam Chowder. It was great to just sit and talk, and I had fun unshelling the beans and eating them!
When we were ready to go, we drove to Olathe where Eric's brother Mike lives, and stayed at his house. It had been a magical night! :)
Eric is currently serving his mission, and I am going to school, and we can both focus on our respective goals and activities without worrying or wondering about what will happen when Eric comes back. I am so blessed to have found such a wonderful person, and someone who I get along with so well! I'm excited for what will happen in the future, both while we're apart, and when we can be together again. When it comes closer to the time that Eric comes home, I'll plan more about everything :)
 |
| Brush Creek the next day. It's prettier at night, with the lights reflected on the water. Also, those are plants over the wall, not pollution... it kind of looks like pollution in the little picture... |
--Sannah
Correction: I actually said that "This night has been a dream come true!" Not that other thing. I just remembered!
