If ya haven’t heard the news, on September 21st Justin and I got engaged! We’ve been together for about 6.5 years, are high school sweethearts and are SO beyond excited. The weekend we got engaged was so so magical and I want to remember all the cute and silly details forever – thus why this post!
Without too much rambling on, I’ll get to the story of how he proposed! (Oh! I also added a little Q&A at the very end of this post to answer a few repeated questions we’e gotten so far, if you’re nosy and like all the deets!)
Here’s the story (with a little backstory for reference):
There’s a place we go camping a few times every summer that’s so special. It’s a farm, fully equipped for camping with a covered fire pit surrounded by trees with twinkly lights, camping spots, an outdoor hall, and it’s also an airport (for mostly RC planes).
The farm is owned by a family friend of Justin’s parents, and his dad has been going out there for 40 years! Justin’s gone there every summer of his life, and I’ve tagged along for the past 7 years, and I’ve always felt like part of the fam out there. Being out on the farm and out of the city makes for the best star gazing (and even sometimes northern lights!), the best campfire chats and the most wonderful company you could ask for.
The Day Of
Anywho, this was our last big camping trip of the season, not too much special going on, but a core group of the regulars (our closest family friends) were coming out this weekend so we were really looking forward to seeing everyone.
We towed the trailer out, set everything up, and started saying hi to everyone. It was a pretty chilly weekend (for being September!) so we made sure to bring lots of layers. My mom was coming out on this trip, which she’s been there many a time before so it wasn’t unusual, but I was quite surprised she was willing to brave the weather.
Justin’s sister was also coming out and staying with their parents since her husband was working, which also wasn’t super unusual because she’s done that a few times before.
Our very best friend was also coming out, but he had just bought a new car that day and “wanted to show it off” so that didn’t seem unusual to me either, despite the weather (he’s really into cars okay).
When it started to get a little darker, we were back at the trailer getting refills and Justin grabbed a lantern to see better. Normally he would use this thermos drinking cup that he has that also had a light on it, but he said that, “it’s so cold out, I don’t need the thermos cup, a red solo will do” – turns out it’s so there was a cute lantern lighting our proposal, not a drinking cup, LOL.
The Proposal
At around 8:00pm, everyone was out at the fire, chatting, listening to music and having a good time. Justin pulled me away from the fire and out towards the field – not a super unusual thing because we would often go out to lay in the field to look at the stars. But, this particular night there was some snow on the ground, and so many clouds that you couldn’t see any of the stars, LOL.
So I start to question him –
“What are we doing!?”
“I’m not laying on the ground, it’s way too wet”
“I’m cold, can’t we just go back to the fire?”
“Dude we can’t even see any of the stars lol.”
We got to a spot that was seemingly a little less snow covered than the rest, and we stopped. He pulled a box out of his pocket – annnnd I immediately thought he was bullshitting me LOL. I just kept saying, “nu uh” “eff off” “you’re effing with me” “no way” – and so on LOL. I really couldn’t believe it was happening.
He got down on one knee and opened the box and said the sweetest words (of which neither of us can remember because the entire night was such a daze). I put the lantern down (and my drink, LOL) to see the absolutely beautiful ring he got me and wait for the very special question –
Will you marry me?
“WELL OF COURSE” I yelled to him and hugged him so tight. At this point he was all emotional and I was still reeling at the reality of it all (I really thought I was going to throw up, lol).
I went to grab the ring out of the box and realize, oh yeah I’m not supposed to do that, LOL and waited for him to place it on my finger. I just stared and stared at it cause it’s so dang beautiful, all while shaking and freaking out and trying not to throw up LOL.
We spent a good 5 to 10 minutes in that field as I pondered how the heck we were supposed to go back to the firepit and share the news with everyone. Still freaking out, still wondering if this is real, still trying not to throw up LOL. But still no tears, which I was surprised by because I’m normally a little more emotional than that LOL.
Justin asked me, “Why do you think our best friend came out here in this freezing cold!?” Knowing our friend drove all the way out there (it’s about a 1.5hr trip from home) just for this was what made me tear up for the first time, lol!
We slowly wandered back, as the first one to hear the news came running up to us – Justin’s parent’s dog, Missy! I knelt down and hugged her and said, “Missy, I’m going to be apart of your family now!!” LOL.
The Reveal
We continued back to the fire, which has string lights all surrounding it hung up in the trees, with pathways to the firepit. We began walking down the path and I still had NO idea how I was going to share this news. Just as we were about to enter, Justin said, “Go up to my mom” and I’m so so glad I did.
I walked right up to Justin’s mom and put my ring in her face – and what reaction did she have? The exact same one as me, LOL!
“Eff off!”
“You’re joking! Don’t eff with me!”
It was so funny. She then hugged me and the waterworks started. Everyone else was kind of confused at this point, so I turned around and yelled, “We’re Engaged!”
Everyone freaked out and all the hugs came out, tears a flowin.
Meanwhile, Justin’s dad’s just sitting in his chair, wondering, “What’s going on? Why’s everyone freaking out? Is there a mouse?” LOL.
We went up to him and told him the news and he was very happy.
Justin’s sister passed around champagne for everyone and we all cheersed, the moms did some toasts and it was so nice celebrating with everyone right away.
I then found out that this was why my mom, his sister and our friend were there – they all knew beforehand. And would naaaat have braved that weather (ahem, it snowed like a foot overnight that next night) for anything else.
The Best Place
Having the moment to ourselves was so special, but being able to celebrate with so many people we love right after was the best. I’ve been around and gotten so close with all of these people over the last 7 years, and being able to celebrate “us” with them was so special – they’ve all watched our relationship grow, and not to mention many of them have watched Justin grow over the 23 years he’s spent there.
This family is so tight knit and there’s no other place I would have wanted to say yes to the love of my life, and celebrate with people who truly love and care about us.
Another reason this place was so special, and a reason Justin told me was why he chose this place to propose dates back a few years – I wanna say 2015 or 2016 maybe?
After one of many walks back from the trailer to the firepit, I looked up into the sky and saw the most amazing northern lights I’d ever seen. I was walking with Justin and we just stopped and stared. I had never felt such a moment of happiness in my life – just something about their beauty, the wonderful friends and family around us (and the love of my life!) and the love and friendship that just radiates from this place made me feel such a moment of bliss.
Of course on the night of our proposal Justin wanted stars or northern lights, but just being there was so special to me. Though the night was such a blur to me, I truly feel like I’ve never been happier – I get to marry my freaking best friend!!
I wanted to write this story down before I forget all the little details, because every moment truly made the proposal that much more special. And every person there made it so so special.
So thank you to everyone for your kind words and congratulations, it truly means the world to us. We’re so excited for this next adventure and can’t wait to share it all with you!
The Questions
We’ve gotten a few questions over and over, and I thought I’d share some more tidbits of information about our engagement and relationship (for all you nosy people) so I added a little Q&A with that info here! If you have any more engagement or wedding questions, shoot them my way (it’s so fun to talk about!!)
When’s the wedding!?
Whoa whoa whoa, give us some time here people. We were thinking probably around the Fall time of 2020. We don’t really plan on doing any major planning/booking/paying until probably after Christmas of this year.
Did you know!?
I didn’t!! I really was surprised. Yes, we’ve talked about getting married (a lot) and had figured 2020 or 2021 would be when we would have a wedding. I genuinely thought the proposal would come sometime this winter, maybe November or January, so I was very surprised to have it happen now.
I really didn’t think he would be able to surprise me, but I’m so glad he did!
Photos!?
Our friends were so nice to pull out their “big cameras” to snap a few shots for us to commemorate in the place we got engaged. It was cold and blizzardy, we were bundled up and frumpy but I’m so glad to have those memories captured.
Another friend of ours will be doing legit engagement photos for us, we’re just not sure when yet!
The ring! Was it what you wanted?
Absolutely. Pretty much exact lol. We’d discussed rings before so he had an idea of what I wanted. I showed him a picture of one that I loved probably four months ago, and what he got me was pretty much exact. It’s absolutely perfect and I couldn’t ask for anything better.
How long have you been together?
We’ve been together for almost six and a half years! We started dating in high school at the ripe old age of 16 and have only grown closer since. We’ve actually known each other since preschool (small town probs), but that’s a story for another time.