Well, the word is out, Jacob and I are excited to announce we are officially engaged. After growing up together as close friends and dating for over two and a half years, we feel confident that the Lord is calling us into marriage and are excited for the next stage of our lives.
So upon incredibly popular demand, we are going to share the story on here for all to see. But first we want to thank everyone for the immense amount of encouragement and support we have received. I can honestly say I have never felt more loved. This past weekend has been an absolutely beautiful time of celebration with those we love most and we couldn't feel more blessed by those dear to us. Thank you!
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As most know, we are currently living a long distance relationship as I am living up in the Twin Cities this summer and Jacob is living down in Iowa. I had the past few days off of work so on Thursday I left for Sioux Falls to spend time with my roommate Jackie. Little did I know, that little sneaky girl knew the whole time and didn't let on to a single thing. I left Friday to travel the rest of the way to spend the weekend with Jake.
We had not really made any plans for the weekend other then spending some much needed quality time together. We hung out, talked, ate dinner, and had a quiet but relaxing night on Friday. Before leaving for the night he told me he had some plans of what we could do the next day, which I thought absolutely nothing suspicious of at all. So I left and stayed with my friend Jess for the night to then return Saturday morning at 10am.
As soon as I got to his place he said our plans might be ruined for the day because it had stormed out the night before and was supposed to rain through the day. He then proceeded to ask me whether I thought we should go through with them or not. Hello, I had no idea what they are, how was I supposed to answer that? Hehe, silly boy.
We checked the weather forecast and it wasn't supposed to rain until 4pm so we decided to do whatever he had planned, which I still had no suspicions about. Jake said we should plan to leave by 12:15pm so we hung out for awhile and talked. Not even 10 minutes later he said "Oh well, we should probably start getting ready to go." I was like, "Ummm, you just said we weren't leaving till 12:15pm and it's only 10:30am." Which he then explained we had to go to the grocery store and make lunch before we left.
So we headed to the grocery store and picked up ingredients to make lunch together. Ironically the cashier asked if we had anything special planned for the day to which we both said no not really.
We went back to his place and cooked lunch together, buffalo chicken wraps with caramel apples and baked chips to be precise. This whole time I was under the impression we were eating lunch there until I was finishing up putting things together and he told me he'd be right back.
When he came back from downstairs he told me to close my eyes because he had a surprise. When I opened them there was an adorable wicker picnic basket in front of me and he said "Just kidding! We're going on a picnic!" I was so pumped and surprised thinking he is thee best boyfriend ever, this is going to be such a fun date, still absolutely oblivious to anything else going on. People, he even had a picnic blanket, umbrella, and rain jackets packed.. he was so prepared.
We packed everything up and headed to Oak Grove, a beautiful state park in the area that we are frequents to when we need a break from the craziness of college life or obsessiveness of Iowa corn fields.
When we got there we tried to venture to our favorite bluff overlooking the river but unfortunately it was washed away by all the flooding. So we discovered a hill that looked fairly dry with a nice scenic view where we set everything up. Less then a minute in and hundreds of mosquitoes started to attack. It was miserable. Of course I was like oh no big deal let's just move places, he on the other hand was anxious since it wasn't working out how everything was planned.
Needless to say we moved after 20 mosquito bites had formed on each of us to a big open grassy area right next to the river. We set up our picnic, including my camera because of course I take pictures of everything, and enjoyed our lunch. Well I guess I should say, I enjoyed my lunch, Mr. Jacob barely ate a thing, which I still did not pick up on or draw any conclusions from.
After awhile he told me he had one more surprise for me and I should close my eyes. To this my stubborn self asked, "Why do I have to close my eyes again?" And he said "That's just how surprises work."
When I opened them he was down on one knee in front of me on the picnic blanket. After some screaming, lots of really romantic words neither of us remember now, and lots of hugging I officially became his fiancée.
Everything was such a blur, quite literally because both of our eyes were teared up, I hadn't even seen the ring right in front of me or remembered that was a part of getting engaged. After awhile he put it on my finger and it is absolutely beautiful, perfect for the both of us. It is a smidgen too big from my 4 1/2 size skinny finger but still just right.
We spent much time after that taking pictures, laughing, falling more in love, smiling, and celebrating. It eventually looked like it was going to storm soon so we headed on out back to Jacob's place. The rest of the day we spent calling and skyping our family and friends all over the world. It was so special but also quite exhausting.
We enjoyed some hilarious, heart felt, and meaningful reactions and shared this beautiful experience with those we love so dearly.
Unfortunately I headed back home today, already missing Jacob very much so, but looking forward to this part of our journey that is ahead.
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And there you have it our fine friends, the engagement story of Jacob and Laura. Stay tuned in the next few days for Jacob's side of the proposal when he'll answer some questions about what was happening on his end. But for now enjoy a whole lot of pictures from our special day and the rest of the weekend (all photo credit goes to my super nifty camera remote, Jacob, me, or our friend Jess).
Labels: about me, Jacob, LOVE, outdoors, photgraphy, relationships, Summer
