Our Story

How We Met

 It was in May of 2012, Kara had been home from college for about two months and was on her way to graduating from Texas Tech that August. Gary was working for the City of Waco fixing different machinery everyday, but mostly garbage trucks. Yuck!

Now Kara and Gary have been attending the Ennis National Polka Festival for as long as they both can remember, but they have never seen each other there before. It was the Friday night of Polkafest and Kara was there with her mom watching the Polka King and Queen contest which is something they do almost every year. Gary was there with Fritz Hodde and the Fabulous Six which was the band for the evening and the band he is now a member of. While Kara was there she went over to her cousins Sandra, Brianna, and Savannah to talk with them for a bit. While over there Kara asked Sandra if she knew if there were any single guys there that evening. Sandra said if she saw any she would be sure to point them out. That night Gary took it upon himself to make sure that Fritz and Scott Hodde of the band were never without a beer so he was taking many trips from the stage to the bar. On one of his trips Sandra stopped him to introduce him to Kara. They both exchange hello's, but soon Gary was off again to the bar to fulfill his duty. Even though they only spoke to each other for a brief minute Gary caught Kara's eye and he had her looking for where he was the rest of the night.

Later that evening Sandra was having an after party at her house. Both Gary and Kara were invited to this party, but neither knew they would end up hitting it off. It was not till later in the evening that Gary and Kara found themselves in the same room as each other. While sitting next to each other they talked briefly and were some what picked on by people that knew them both. At one point Gary's friend Dianne Hodde asked Kara if it would be alright if Gary put his arm around her. Kara laughed and hesitantly said yes while Gary sat there embarrassed. At the end of the night Kara said she was going to walk home since she did not live far from Sandra's house, Gary offered to walk home with her. While they walked together they talked about different things and just had friendly conversation. Gary was staying at Chris and Savannah Gilburt's that evening which was in the opposite direction of Kara's house, so when they were almost to Kara's house she said she would walk the rest of the way. Gary of course made double sure this was ok before heading towards the Gilburts. By the time Gary had got to the Gilburts Kara had already friended him on Facebook :)

The next afternoon Kara decided to go to the hall and Facebook-ed Gary that he should meet her. Gary came to the hall Kara was at and they danced together a talked for a little, but did not really hang out the whole evening. Right before Kara was about to leave, because she had to go help her mother clean a hall, she made sure to go and tell Gary goodnight and that she hoped to see him the next day. Gary's friend that were there with him told him that he should have offered to go with her, but that would have changed the story. Every year Kara and her family spend the entire day at one of the halls, from going to Polka Mass to staying till the end of Brave Combo. Kara invited Gary to come and hang out with her and her family, but had no idea if he would show up. To Kara's surprise Gary showed up in about the middle of the day and came to sit by her. They talked, danced, and laughed the rest of the day, Gary even did the Hokey Pokey with her and her family. At the end of the night Gary walked Kara to her car, he had still not asked her for her phone number yet. Kara being the brusque person that she is decided to take matters into her own hands and sent him her number over Facebook and since then it has been history for these two.

How We Got Engaged

Well by now you have probably realized that Polka music is a big part of both Gary and Kara's life everyday. Gary and Kara had discussed getting married a few months after going out they even decided to go engagement ring shopping. They found the perfect ring and Gary wanted time to be able to pay it off before he actually proposed to Kara. This kept Kara on her toes because she never knew when he was going to actually pop the question.

Kara and Gary decided to compete in the 2013 Polka King and Queen dance contest, it is something Kara has always wanted to win. Unfortunately, they did not win this year, but they are going to continue to compete till they do. The next day Kara was in the parade with the dance studio she was working at and Gary was setting up with his band at the Sokol hall. Gary's mom, step-dad, sister, brother in-law, and his new baby niece were all in town for the festival. Kara quickly made her way to the hall after the parade was over. Kara was excited to hang out with her god-daughter and the rest of Gary's family, but had no idea how awesome this day was going to be. Gary came down and asked Kara to dance while another one of his band members played the drums for him, this was common for him to do every now and then. Gary's sister videoed them dancing which also was not uncommon for her to do. After the dance was over Kara was about to leave the dance floor when the next thing she knew Gary was on his knee and putting the ring on her finger. She was in complete shock as the band was announcing what was happening. Kara never expected a public proposal so it was a complete surprise to her.





















This amazing story is what has spurred Kara to create this blog to document her adventure to becoming the future Mrs. Greener.