How We Met
It all started in Greece…Well, really, at the airport trying to survive a 36-hour horrific trip trying to get to Greece. By the time we were on our last flight from Amsterdam to Paris, Hunter and I had seats next to each other. I was in the middle seat, while he had the aisle. I was trying so hard not to fall asleep on him, and after several times hitting him as I dozed off, I finally gave up and slept on his shoulder. I’m so glad he was too tired to notice, or we probably wouldn’t be together right now. Who wants to date the crazy lady who falls asleep on you during a flight?!
After a month in Greece, we became close friends and ended up hanging out all the time when we got back to the States. I was applying to graduate schools for the following year and asked him to tour them with me during our spring break. He agreed, and we spent 14 days going to three states and four cities. Shortly after we got back, he asked me to be his girlfriend, and the rest is history. PTL for lousy travel experiences and amazing men who let strangers sleep on their shoulder.
how they asked
Hunter completely surprised me per the usual. We had talked about getting engaged sporadically, but I didn’t expect it to happen until after I graduated from my Master’s program in May. When I came back home to South Dakota to see him over Christmas break (We currently live 1500 miles apart), he told me he a photographer friend asked if we would model for her. I joked he must be planning a proposal and throwing me off by telling me about the shoot! The next day he told me the photographer was sick, and we couldn’t get photos until the weekend. I was disappointed, but he said we would go out for coffee when he came home from work.
He got off from work, and we went downtown for coffee. It was the first beautiful snowfall of the season. Now that I’m living in Georgia, I love every opportunity to walk outside and watch the snow fall. We ended up walking down by the Riverwalk where we had one of our first dates. I was so into scenery and walking about ten paces in front of him, in my own little world. He finally said, “Hey wait up, I need to tie my shoe.” Usually I wouldn’t even turn around, but then he started laughing- the kind of laugh he only makes when he makes a joke only he thinks is funny. I turned around and there he was down on one knee. I don’t remember what he said; I just remember hugging him and telling him “yes” so many times.
The proposal was absolutely perfect. With the snow falling, trees all lit up, and just the two of us out on riverwalk, there was nothing else I could’ve wanted. It was the happiest moment of my life. Two days later, we got these amazing photos taken by my favorite photographer in Sioux Falls. I had been telling Hunter for awhile Dan was the person I wanted to book for our future wedding. I loved having a private proposal and then having pictures taken right after, so we could announce our engagement to friends & family!
