Mike proposed on December 22, 2018.

We had prepared for that moment long before then, so to answer those who have asked if I knew it was coming, the answer is YES! I knew around a year before it happened because we talked about it all the time and we have had an incredible support system to walk and guide us through this season.

We are so grateful that was how it panned out because it gave us a few months to work on ourselves and our relationship and of course, brainstorm, narrow down and discuss our preferences for the wedding day and the life to come following it. A clear course of action for all the questions that came afterwards made the ride smoother for us. Thank God!

What I did not know was when and how it would happen. Belcarra is a significant place for us. The first time we went here together was because a third friend who was supposed to come on the hike bailed on us. I now know it was meant to be that way. That was almost five years ago.

By the second time we came back to do this hike, Mike asked me to be his girlfriend. It seems like every time we’re here, I can only remember one thing he says. This particular time, it was “I’ve seen you dedicate so much of your life taking care of others and I want to be able to give that to you too”. 

Here’s the only photo I took on that day from my film camera. Mike is sad because he just finished crying in this photo. 

It’s our third time back and I can assure you, he cried again on this day. The phrase I remember this time was, “Three years ago when I asked you to be my girlfriend, you didn’t know whether we would be able to do it.(We lived very different lifestyles and I was unsure if we would be willing to adapt to all the changes for us to get onto the same page) But you took a chance and said yes, and since then God has worked through us and has shown us so much. I hope that this time around, you will say yes again to a forever of so much more”.Something along those lines!

To which my first response was, “did you ask my parents?”  – Ask him for the story behind that one!

A huge thank you to Therese and EJ for accompanying us on a 40 minute hike they weren’t expecting and for these photos that will help us remember this day forever!