Back Story: Adam & I have been together for about three and a half years since July 4, 2017. We've been living together for about 2.5 of those years. Adam is a father figure to Cole and an amazing partner to me.
Adam's parents have been taking vacation in Northern Minnesota the week of July 4 for 20+ years of their lives. Adam has gone just about every summer - as a child, teenager, and adult. He's grown up in this beautiful haven of woods and lake. Summer of 2015, I was introduced to the idea of going and couldn't wait to join in on the summer fun. Unfortunately at the time, my job was very flexible with vacation, so it wasn't until Summer of 2016 that I was able to travel to Minnesota to relax in the buggy retreat.
Cole has now had the chance to know Hoot Owl Resort as a child, and we will continue taking him. Hoot Owl has become a part of my family tradition now as well!
Summer of 2017 Hoot Owl Retreat was going to be a bit different. Cole and I were able to travel up with Adam's parents and stay for a full week. Adam was working, so he would come up later. Two days in to being at Hoot Owl, I missed seeing Adam, but while he was away, I had fun with my relentless teasing of "If only I had a ring on my finger..."
Adam drove down on the 4th of July and we got settled in as a family for a day, before we took Cole to his first church camp experience. Adam and I were able to relax in peace & quiet for a couple of days and took full advantage of child-free time.
On Thursday, July 6, Adam and I were being pretty lazy, but he kept pestering me about going out on the lake. He kept asking to go fishing, but it's really not my thing, so I kept saying no. He asked, maybe out on the paddle boat? Ok sure, I can get down with a paddle around Hoot Owl Lake.
The picture above was taken about 5 minutes prior to Adam popping the big question :)
Adam and I jumped in to the paddle boat & I really had no ideas that anything life-changing was about to happen. I had my waterproof case on my phone and immediately opened Spotify to play "Mask Off" by Future. For some reason, Adam and I listened to that song every day (or was it just me?). We paddled for a little bit and I was given some family history of the lake - his grandparents used to fish together in this area, in face, that was their first date. We decided to take a break from paddling and soak in the sun and weather. Adam asked to change the song, which I couldn't understand, because we both like the song that was playing (still the Future song). But I decided to "be nice" and let him choose a different song. As he's fiddling with my phone, I'm getting eaten alive by horse flies - my mortal enemy. I'm swatting away when I feel Adam nudge my shoulder. I turn around and look at him and what do I see? My amazing boyfriend holding a gorgeous ring. I immediately start crying and life goes in to a haze. Suddenly everything is so surreal and the most real at the same time. I'm already crying and he asks, well, will you? The answer is yes, it's always yes.
We hugged and kissed and I cried (and I swear he had tears in his eyes, but he'll never admit it) and I tried to get a grip on real life again. Vacation always seems so surreal, but add an engagement to it and I felt like real life would never live up to Vacation Life.
So here we are, almost a month later & real life has caught up. It's no longer surreal to be engaged, but the most real. And the one of the best feelings of my life. We are so excited to start a new journey in our lives. I am in full on wedding planning mode and in fact most tease me about how "on it" I am right now. Ugh, just wait until I have to come up with decor and plan how the venue will be set up and figure out the logistics of the reception - I will no longer be "on it". But I am having fun at the time and can't wait to celebrate the beautiful day with my best friends and family.
xo,
C*
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