Above: right before, and right after.
The first full day we were in Michigan, I was dying to take a walk along Lake Superior. I had spent so much time on that beach, but had never seen it look so alien – and I wanted to explore! Micah and I bundled up and headed out.
There was a snowmobile path to the south, which we took as we didn't have the energy (or sure-footedness) to navigate the deep, snow-covered ice ledges that covered the rest of the beach. We waddled slowly for almost a mile, him sometimes wandering off to take a picture, me sometimes stopping to fill him in on local history or geography. On our way back to the cabin, his phone died as we talked about what to do next. It's always a bummer for Micah when his phone dies – dude loves to capture moments (we call it "going sorority-girl" when he starts taking photos of everything, especially if he's also drinky or the stuff he's photographing is an indecipherable inside joke). We decided to get to our cabin, then figure out if it was time to either try the path less-traveled to the north, or head inside for a drink and a long thaw-out in front of the fire. I remember finally working up the courage to venture out onto the ice cliffs at water's edge in front of our cabin. I was taking photos of everything – animal tracks, the snowy dunes, the horizon, Micah pacing around me – even a few obligatory selfies of us, which I never do. I was ready to move on or go in, so I turned to him to make a decision. Like he does several times a day, he told me he loved me, and that I was his favorite. I asked, "What do you want to do now?"
"Spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
while kneeling (rather elegantly, for being in snowpants!), and revealing my grandmother's ring. I had no idea what was happening, and fell to my knees as well, and managed to say yes before I started crying. We helped each other up, and he was wiping the tears from my face when we heard loud knocking from the front windows of the cabin. Turns out, my mother had seen us walking around, ran off to get her camera, and without knowing what was going on, managed to capture us mere seconds after Micah proposed. She missed the actual proposal - so Micah and I will always have that moment just between us (something I've always wanted in a proposal). BUT, between my over-eager "before" photos and Mom's paparazzi "after" shots, we had managed to collectively, unconsciously "go sorority-girl" and capture the moment for Micah. Win-win.
We both gave her huge, deliriously cheesy smiles for one more photo, then started waddling back up towards the cabin to break the good news.
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Note: Micah has expressed interest in also writing about his perspective of this outing. I hope he does. I love hearing it! – since he obviously knew what was about to unfold, his side seems much more exciting. If he does, I'll be sure to share it somehow.
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UPDATE: Micah's perspective!