Heather & Justin’s Wedding

The Groom, Justin Randall Dittmann

Justin:

I grew up in the awesome town of Saint Cloud, MN, surrounded by a caring
group of friends and family. After high school I attended college at the University of
Wisconsin – Madison, intending to pursue Computer Engineering with my sights set on a
career in medicine. After a few semesters at school I decided to concentrate my efforts
entirely on Engineering, and never looked back. After four years I graduated (with a
degree!) and got a job as an Electrical Engineer with Hewlett-Packard in Fort Collins,
Colorado.

My spare time is spent hiking (in the summer), playing video games (in the
winter), hobby-programming (keeping my skills sharp?), playing guitar (I’m an 80’smetal type of guy; think hair), and reading (Agatha Christie is Heather’s and my most recent favorite). I also enjoy cooking (I surprised even myself) – I absolutely love Italian food and cooking.

Heather:

After a short stint in Duluth, Justin returned to MN, family in tow, to finish his school days. An active member in band and church, and a nerd through and through he graduated from high school and accepted the position as full time student/ robot builder/ computer guy in Madison, WI.  Made his way through UW in four years with a few visits back home (to the Badger proudly displayed on the lawn) and a summer or two at the paper mill. Upon completion of his degree, Justin moved to Fort Collins, Colorado able to get paid by HP to play with his favorite toy with interesting people who can appreciate (and understand) the compu-speak.

When Justin is not working he likes to program on his computer and play video games. Hobbies that get him out of the house include hiking, playing catch, Frisbee golf and sometimes falling down a snow covered hill with a big board binding both feet together. We also like to spend time trying new recipies and seeing if we can make the best (insert food item here) and reading (Agatha Christi, at the moment).

The Bride, Heather Jean Gruba

Justin:

Heather also grew up in Saint Cloud, MN, surrounded by a caring family and MY
crazy group of high school buddies. She showed a love of math early, and always
dreamed of becoming a math teacher. After high school she decided to run away to “The Sticks”, Minnesota (Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN) to pursue a degree in Math Education and a minor in Billiards. After college that crazy girl followed me to Colorado, and is currently herding high school students at East High School in Denver.

In her spare time Heather likes to watch Gilmore Girls (hey, I’ve tried to watch it
but can only stand ~15 minutes before I have to make fun of the characters…) and read
books. If I’m really nice to her she’ll go hiking with me in the summer, and she agreed to try snowboarding last winter – we’ll see what else she tries in the years to come!

Heather:

Born and raised in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Between school, family fun, working and extracurriculars I have always been a happily busy person.  I decided early on that I wanted to be a teacher and solidified  in high school that math was going to be the thing that I taught. Went to college at Southwest MN State University, in a corn field infested town in south western Minnesota. After completing my student teaching in a classroom approximately 15 minutes from the South Dakota border with at most 18 kids in a classroom, I moved to Denver, Colorado. While the differences were vast and the initial months were full of stress and the shock of a completely different atmosphere I began to thrive and really love the kids, the school, and the community created by my coworkers.

When I’m not at school, I’m sleeping or grading papers. With the weekends comes a needed break full of reading things other that text books, playing out in the sunshine, trying new recipies, or just enjoying a little relaxing movie time.

Juicy Relationship Details

Justin:

I originally met Heather in high school. I wouldn’t peg her as “one of the guys”,
but she was part of my group of friends. We were friends throughout high school and
stayed in touch during Freshman year of college, but only on-and-off.

Then one summer I had a party (in my parents basement, as was tradition) during
which I mentioned that Heather had no ‘tact’ (I thought she was flirting and making it
pretty obvious. I didn’t think she was targeting me!). For some reason that sticks out in
my mind as the first time we really started talking. I think at this point we were still “just
friends”; the point that I consider the beginning of our courtship was when Heather called me one night when I was back to Madison. For some reason at the end of the conversation I said ‘Goodnight, I’ll call you tomorrow’. It was one of those things that come out of my mouth before I’ve given it any thought. Apparently it was the right thing to say! That kicked off our dating, which was long-distance (seven hours of driving between Madison and Marshall) for the next three years. This chapter ends in both of us moving to Colorado after graduation.

Heather:

We met in high school, shared the same friend group, but didn’t really spend time exclusively with each other. The manfort gatherings were frequently in the Dittmann basement and so that was how I got to know more about Justin. After a year of college, were were both back in St. Cloud for the summer visiting our families and working. It all began the day Justin was driving back to Mad-town to get his books and things set up for the upcoming semester. For one reason or anther I called Justin to chat with him while he was driving and before he hung up he said he’d call me the following day. Phone calls just continued from there with eventual dates.
We did the long distance thing with monthly drives across the abyss that is southern Minnestoa to visit one another. Currently, we are residing 70 miles apart as opposed to the previous 700 and are looking forward to our future in Fort Collins.

The Proposal

Justin:

Hmm… “The Proposal”. So I had tried to do this many times. I had always
wanted to do the “romantic proposal” thing – ideally in a special, natural place that
people don’t normally propose at. The initial thought was “propose when we’re hiking
on a mountain, wouldn’t that be cool?” So I packed a suit in with my hiking gear for our
second and third hiking trips (Grey Rock and Grey’s Peak, CO). Now… when you’re hiking you’re tired and sweaty – not at all in the right mood to give or accept a proposal! To cut this story short, I was more concerned with getting back safely before dark than I was with popping The Question.

After that didn’t work, I tried the “romantic dinner” setting a couple of times. Heather will probably remember that there were quite a few dressy dinners that I prepared for her in the 2008. Each one was initially planned as a proposal, but I was unable to find the “perfect moment” to give my sales pitch.

Finally, one Wednesday afternoon I thought to myself that the proposal isn’t special or romantic because of the setting or the place in which it’s offered. Rather, the proposal is special and romantic because of what it is and the promise it represents. With this thought in mind on Friday I dressed up in my suit, bought some flowers, and drove down to Denver. As soon as Heather opened the door I said “Hold on, I have a question to ask you. Heather Jean Gruba, will you marry me?” Heather sort of smiled at me replied “Yes. Of Course I Will”.

Then she immediately went to her computer and showed me all of the plans that she had been drawing up (Who? When? Where? Why? How? This many people, this many cakes, flowers, decorations, lions and tigers and bears, oh my!). I remember saying “Hold on, hold on. The proposal was stressful enough for me, so I will need a break until at least tomorrow before we start with all this stuff”. I think we watched a movie afterwards.

Heather:

Justin came to visit me in Denver one Friday night all dressed up with a bouquet of red roses. I gave him a hug and asked what that was all about and he told me to step back for a minute he had something to ask me. He posed the question, “Heather Jean Gruba, will you marry me?” My response was a resounding, ” You know I will!”. Then he told me we would go ring shopping the following day and proceeded to tell me the story about how he had wanted to propose on a previous occasion. He was going to propose on the top of the first Fourteener (14,000 foot mountian we hiked) but we were both exhausted and he learned from the sims you don’t want to ask those questions when her health and happy are not full so he decided to wait. After another month or so of waiting for the perfect time he decided to just go for it.