Welcome to theAggens.com! We're excited to have our own area on the internet where we can share ourselves with our family, friends and the occasional curious visitor. As time goes on, the site will, of course, improve and grow. Right now Matt's treating this site as a learning tool.

What you'll find on this site are fun links, pictures, and our wedding information when it comes up. We haven't gotten very far in our wedding plans, but we hope to be by the end of this summer. September 29, 2007 cannot come soon enough for both of us! In the meantime, enjoy what we've put on the site, including the story of how we met which you will find below.

If you need to contact us, here's our contact email: Matt (matt@theaggens.com) and Amanda (amanda@theaggens.com). Yes, she has one even though she's not an Aggen, yet. ;-)

Amanda looks back and says, "First of all, I do want to acknowledge that it is all God. I owe it all to Him and His providence, but it's also the people He used here on earth and in my life.

"I think being friends with a girl named Megan Zegers was the biggest catalyst. We started off my freshman year at Trinity Christian College just being neighbors, and we developed a close friendship that not only did others not understand, but I didn't understand as well. We got along great and yet we didn't. We tore each other down a lot, but at the same time, held each other up. People had asked how in the world we were friends because they saw us interacting. I just shrugged and told them that it was because we love each other and we just are. For some weird reason it worked, and in that way, we spent half our free time together.

"We went to churches together, trying to find one that we both liked. Hope, the church found at Chicago Christian High School, Parkview, Calvary Reformed Church, and I'm sure there were other ones in there. We went to Parkview for awhile cause we both seemed to like it. But other means brought us to Calvary...

"During the fall of 2004, my sophomore year of college, Megan and two of my roommates, Jenny and Liz, all took the Sign Language class offered at Trinity. I moved through that semester watching the three of them sit in front of the TV with the book open on their laps and practicing with each other. I enjoyed watching it, and even got a few of the signs myself. I remembered them talking about trying to come up with a question that they could ask the deaf guest that was coming into the classroom to speak. I'm not positive, but I think it was when I first heard the name of Matt Aggen. It was just a name at the time.

"At this time, Megan was dating a guy named Jason. He went to Calvary and she was always curious about the church and wanted to visit it because she heard some great things about it.

"Megan found out from the Sign Language professor, Patti Powell, that this Matt Aggen went to Calvary, and that because he did there was a sign language interpreter there. She got Matt's email from Patti and emailed him to find out which service he went to in order to see the interpreter. She took me and Jenny along. I remember when we went for the first time. And we hit the right service. There they were, the interpreters just to our right for the whole service. At this point, I'd not met Matt Aggen yet and I remember looking at each individual sitting in front of the interpreters trying to figure out who it was. Couldn't do it.

"Either way, we ended up going to that church week after week because we both really liked it. We liked the preaching and we loved how it was a blended service. Come spring, Megan emailed Matt again because she wanted to actually meet him. So that following Sunday or a Sunday later, she ended up going to Calvary without me and met him in person. I remember Megan afterwards saying that she was nervous because she didn't know sign language that well and still wasn't sure on how well he could read lips. But it went fine and communication turned out to be easy despite possible communication barriers.

"The next week I went with Megan, and this time after the service, I finally got to meet this Matt Aggen that I had been hearing about here and there for the past few months. She introduced him to me, and then it meant nothing. There was nothing there between us. I just remember being as nervous as Megan said she was because I've never interacted with a deaf person before... he was the first. The meeting was ok, but I remember that something I said had slipped because for a brief moment I forgot he was deaf. I was so embarrased. Anyway, I think that day, I went to Megan's Xanga blog because I knew Matt had one. I wanted to say 'hi' again and maybe just start a new friendship. I was seriously not looking for anything more...

"...but after that first conversation online between Matt and I... it just started from there. The more I talked to him, the more I got to know him... the more I just wanted to be with him. He just seemed like... the perfect guy for me. Then a couple weeks later he asked me out on that first date and that was to be the beginning of our lives together."

And, now, it's Matt's turn.

"You expect me to remember something that happened a while ago?

"It was a dark and stormy night... Ok, alright, seriously, well, let's see... I attended Trinity from 1998 to 2003. During that time, I had met some wonderful people, people who will remain my friends for a long, long time. I watched them meet their future spouses and always had wanted the same thing for myself. I prayed, wondered, and prayed some more for that wonderful thing to happen to me as well. I asked God to give me a wife from Trinity. When I crossed that stage on May of 2003, I had no idea that the prayer I sent up so many times would be answered in the affirmative in a twist I would have never seen coming.

"During my time at Trinity, I became friends with the Sign Language professor there, Patti Powell. I guess we're supposed to call her Dr. Powell, but she's Patti to me. We had kept in touch after my graduation. She would invite me to come to her classes and speak about myself and my experiences as a deaf person. I went with her on an interim trip to Jamaica in 2002, and she invited me to go again in 2005, so I accepted. Meanwhile, I was working at Calvary Church at the time. It was my home church, a church I've attended for nearly twenty years now.

"One day, around December of 2004, I got an email from a person named Megan Zegers. I didn't know who she was. She introduced herself as a student from Patti's class and wanted to know which church services the interpreters were at. 'The second service at 11 o'clock,' I remember telling her. I had just spoken in Patti's class just before Thanksgiving and couldn't recall who she was. I soon forgot about it.

"Went to Jamaica, had a blast, and came back. Life went back to normal. And then Megan showed up again. She had stayed after a service by herself to chat with me. Never one to turn down someone who was interested in who I was, I chatted with her a bit. She seemed nice. After a few minutes, we said goodbye. Next week, she brought two of her friends with. I ran into them in the narthex of the church. Megan introduced me to them: Jenny and Amanda. 'Hi, how's it going. Nice to meet you guys.' I don't know any couple who's had love at first sight. We certainly didn't have that. Jenny and Amanda seemed nice, but that was it. For the next few weeks, they came to Calvary and joined the Young Adult small group that was just being formed. I wasn't active with the group, but because I worked at Calvary, I helped out with the publicity of the group and the leaders asked me to come by. I saw them again at a Sunday afternoon gathering and even then, things hadn't changed.

"Then I don't remember how, but I got sucked into Xanga. I had a blog of my own, but not on Xanga. For those of you who know me, know that I love technology and if something impresses me, I usually become an adopter. I found a Trinity Christian College blogring and through that I found Megan's Xanga and through that, I found Amanda's. Just being my usual friendly self and thinking it would be fun to have another friend, I found her instant messenger name and started chatting with her online. That first conversation was two hours long.

"I found myself attracted to this girl the more I talked with her and the more I discovered about her through the website she had made. Each subsequent conversation would be two hours minimum. We got to know each other remarkably well in such a short span of time (two weeks). Sharing our likes and dislikes, our family history, everything that we could think to share, we did. I found myself falling for her. The Thursday before Good Friday, at the end of a six-hour online conversation, at 5 a.m. in the morning, I asked Amanda out on our first date. And like they say, the rest is history. I look back and it's amazing how God pulled all of these disparate things just to have us meet. Amanda's right when no one else deserves this glory, but God alone.

"God answered my prayer request. I found my future spouse from Trinity. Just not when I was there!"

On April 8, 2006, we got engaged. Here's how it happened!

Here's the story:

We left the dance at about midnight. He told me he wanted to leave early cause he wanted some quiet time to spend with each other after the dance. I was getting really tired on the ride home, so I just told him to take me home 'cause I wanted to go to bed. He easily agreed.

So we returned to quiet Alumni and headed up to my room. When I stepped inside, the first thing I noticed was how clean the room was. It was spotless.... even the sinks and counters (which normally wouldn't be if my roommates and I are all getting ready for something). Both bedroom doors were shut... but there was a rose resting on the floor in front of mine.

"What... what is that for?"

I opened the door and my mouth dropped. The room was lit only by candles and filled with roses. There were even petals on the floor.

I didn't know what to think... at first I didn't believe it was for me... but who would do it for Jenna [my roommate]? But it had to be for me. All I could do was ask questions... I was so surprised. He basically then told me to shut up.

Then it came...

"Last year at Formal, I told you I loved you..."
*tears began to well up in his eyes*
"...I wanted this year to be special too..."

He pulled out a small box from behind the picture on my desk.
*What is this? Is it...?*

It can't be...
it WAS.

He fell on one knee.

I KNEW.

"Will you marry me?"

I threw my arms around him, stared at the ring, then slipped it on my finger.

I was shaking. I was crying. I couldn't think straight.

"So is it a yes?"

"YES!!!!!"

What Amanda didn't know how was how much thought and time went into planning this whole thing.

On Saturday, April 8, the day had finally come. I hadn't been able to fall asleep right away for the past couple of days since my mind was like a hamster who had just snorted crack and wasn't ready to come down just yet. But today, the proverbial cat would finally be let out of the bag completely. I would propose to my girlfriend who didn't have a clue to what was going on or what kind of events had been happening behind her back.

One month prior...
It dawned on me that I wanted to propose to Amanda and I wanted to do it soon. But when? Formal would be a perfect day. So, I started asking her roommates about their Formal plans and told them that I would like to propose to Amanda that day. Would it happen? I didn't know. There was a lot to be done. I prayed to God for confirmation and for His blessing, that if things worked out smoothly and the pieces fell when I needed them to fall, I would proceed.

Three weeks prior...
After somewhat dabbling in ring research on-and-off for the past couple of months, I started looking with a purpose, trying to find a great ring. I found a great one online, but I decided to go shopping at brick-and-mortar places, just in case. I wanted to get an idea of what the ring I found online would look like. I took my best friend, Mike, with since he was waiting for his construction company to start up for the spring. Amanda got ahold of me while we were out, so I told her we were at the mall (true) and that we were shopping for tools for Mike (lie).

Upon shopping, I found an even greater deal on a ring with a great lifetime warranty. Rogers & Holland impressed me so much that I reserved the ring that I found there. There was still more things that had to be done.

Two weeks prior...
I told Amanda's roommates, Brooke, Jenna, and Kristin, that I found the ring for her, but all of this would be moot unless I got her mom's blessing, which was next on the list of things I had to do. Meanwhile, Amanda was on Spring Break and we were busy shuttling back and forth from Palos to Joliet. One night while we were watching something on TV, she looked at me and made me promise to propose to her by the end of August. We pinky swore on it. I turned away from her and smiled in the dark. She would have no idea what was going on until it was upon her.

The Saturday prior...
After work, I discovered that Amanda had moved back to Trinity from her home. She didn't tell me and I wasn't expecting her to move back until Sunday. She had to go to work and asked if I could drive out to her house and pick up the cell phone charger that she had forgotten. I saw the perfect opportunity and I seized it. I asked her mother if she would be home because she forgot her cell phone charger and I wanted to get it for her. The answer was yes. So, I went home and changed and then drove out to Joliet, thinking about what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.

We started out with small talk and then I brought up the future, possible job opportunities, and then casually mentioned that I had been shopping for rings. That brought our conversation where I needed it to go. I asked her for her blessing. She gave it. We hugged. On the drive home, I don't think I ever touched the ground.

Monday: Five Days to Go...
With her mother's blessing in hand, I was finally able to unveil and roll out the plan I had in mind for a few weeks. I contacted one of my best friends who happens to be a big sister figure in my life, Joanne, and told her what had just happened over the weekend. We formally set up the plan. She would go on Friday and buy 6 bunches of 24 roses, for a total of 144 roses. I thought it would be great and romantic to have an obscene amount of roses. I would buy a box of flower petals and a bunch of small votive candles. We would do the hand over on Saturday morning when Joanne was going to be on campus for a community expo.

She would set up the room and pretty it up after we left for Formal. I trusted her because 1) she's a woman and she knows what women like and 2) she used to work for FTD! You can't get better qualifications than that.

Meanwhile, I contacted my ex-roommate and best friend, Doug, to see if he would be willing to come in just before Amanda and I were to arrive and light the candles. He said yes and was excited to be playing with fire, just like I knew he would.

Formal Day
The week dragged by and I got impatient, waiting for the day to arrive. And then it finally did! I had an easy time waking up.

I saw Joanne and dropped off the candles that I bought the day before and the flower petals I had just picked up. After getting my hair cut, I drove to Doug's and dropped off the lighter. He and Kim were excited and said they would bring some sparkling grape juice since alcohol isn't allowed on campus.

After lunch, I went and got a new tie for Formal and basically all I had left to do was wait and enjoy the evening. At 5 o'clock, I stopped by her room to pick her up. I wasn't allowed to see her yet, so I snuck the ring to Jenna to hide. She finally walked in and was absolutely gorgeous. Her dress, the way her hair was done, her earrings, everything, including the 100-watt smile on her face, made her look like she belonged on the red carpet. I felt so lucky and it was the first time it really hit me that I would be asking her to marry me.

We drove through non-existent traffic and got to U.S. Cellular Field an hour early. That was fine with me since I knew we were safe. While waiting in the car for the doors to open, I told her, "I'm sorry I can't give you what you want right now, but it will come soon." 30 minutes later, we were inside the Stadium Club with all the early goers. The place was absolutely beautiful and being a Sox fan, seeing the empty field made my day. The food was delicious and top notch. The dancing was... small. There was only a small dance floor, so people were packed in there. It was hot and sweaty at times.

Finally, midnight rolled around, the time I wanted to leave. I managed to convince her to leave without too much of a problem. It helped that she was getting sleepy in the car, so I shut up, knowing she would get one of the biggest shocks in her life. I texted Doug to let him know it was time to light the candles, telling her I was texting another friend of mine.

The Engagement
We parked in the Alumni parking lot, and I knew this was it. I tried to keep myself calm and act like it was just another day. She wanted to just chill for a little bit and then I would go home. Nothing more, nothing less. Since I hadn't seen the room set up, I didn't know what to expect.

She looked around her dorm front room and the bathroom and remarked on how spotless everything was. I smiled since I knew her roommates and Joanne had cleaned up after we left. There was a single rose lying on the floor next to her closed bedroom door. "What's that?" she asked. I shrugged and mumbled, "I don't know."

She opened the door and her mouth was open. The room looked gorgeous. The petals were on the floor, roses stuffed in vases scattered around the room, everything lit by about 50 votive candles. I was surprised and impressed. "Who did this? Who's this for? Who did this? I want to know who did this!" she kept asking.

"Shut up," I essentially said to her, smiling. She could not keep her eyes off the room. "So this is why you wanted to come back early," she said. I walked towards her, taking her arms in my hands.

I nodded. "Yes. Last year, at Formal, I told you I loved you." At this point, everything became a blur. I became aware that my body was shaking, including my voice. I walked over to her dresser and groped around behind the poster where the ring was to be. My hands felt the box and grabbed it. I'm surprised I was able to do so with my hands trembling and the muscles not quite working. There was so much I wanted to say, but I couldn't say it all verbally so I got on my knee and asked her, "Amanda, will you marry me?"

Her eyes were wide open, looking at the box in front of her. "What? What are you doing?" her eyes said to me. She took the box and looked at it, as if making sure everything she was seeing in front of her was real. She gasped and hugged me, shaking. Both of us were shaking. She finally stood up and I stood up with her. Suddenly, I realized I hadn't gotten an answer. I smiled and said, "So, is that a yes?"

"YES!"

Doug, and his wife Kim, came in a few minutes later to congratulate us. They had been hiding in the Tibstra parking lot. Then she called her best friend, Jenny and then her mother. We sat in the candlelit room until her roommates came back. Finally, we both were tired so I kissed my new fiancee goodnight.

Thanks to everybody who helped out, including her roommates, Joanne & Matt and Doug & Kim. I think it's cool that we had two great married couples helping us get engaged.

I went to bed, replaying everything again in my head. It was one of the greatest days of my life. I was glad that everything went well and everything's out in the open. I'm marrying Amanda.

"The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of Divine accident."
--- Sir Hugh Walpole