WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOO excited and thankful and blessed. Good things really do come to those who wait :)
Kevin and I started dating 3 and a half years ago in December 2009 and are now getting married at the end of this year! Everyone is asking me the story of how Kevin proposed so here it is!!
My family has been going to Maine for the past 20 years for vacation and it is one of my favorite places on the planet. I knew I wasn't going to bring a guy I was dating to Maine unless I knew I was going to marry him. It is a very sacred place! The house is right on the Atlantic Ocean and was built by my great, great grandfather. There is no electricity so we read, paint rocks, relax, and just listen to the ocean. I invited Kevin to come to Maine last year and he had a great time. I knew he was the one! It was great for him to get to know my family better over that week in such an amazing place. Okay onto the story…
The day before the proposal Kevin and I had an awesome day together. My parents went to pick up Austin and Kristy so Kevin and I got to walk to the wharf, lay in the hammock and read and take pictures. Later that night there was a HUGE storm and it was pouring. Poor Kevin was so nervous that it would be raining the next day! Kevin waited to propose until Kristy and Austin came because he wanted to have Kristy take pictures and Austin video and also just have them there :) Erin and Luke weren't able to come to Maine this year because Erin was at JMU with her Young Life girls and Luke was working on projects all week. (This will be an important detail to know about later in the story!) Last year Kevin and I picked out a few rocks to paint and he saved one of them to paint for me. He decided to paint if for the proposal and painted "Will you Marry me?" on it with an ANCHOR!! If you want to know why I love anchors and why they will be a part of our wedding you can check out this post.
The day of, we woke up and it was gorgeous outside. I thought nothing of it - I had no idea the whole time that it was going to happen. I went about my day reading in bed all cozy and happy. While we were in Maine I thought it would be fun to teach Kristy how to use the advanced settings on her camera and let her play with some of my lenses. It was really fun bonding time! Little did I know I was teaching her how to use my camera so she could take pictures of me getting engaged later that night! She did SUCH AN AMAZING JOB :)
Normally every year in Maine we take pictures out on the Point, which is a place where there are beautiful rocks that overlook the ocean. This year I mentioned doing the pictures on Thursday around 7 because it was the day after Austin and Kristy would get there and we would have time to put a little makeup on and put on cute outfits. Little did I know that in Kevin's timeline he sent to the family for the day of the proposal he wanted to propose at 7. Meaning I was already going to be dressed pretty and ready to take pictures for my proposal and I had no idea!
So that day around 6:00 everyone started getting ready to go take pictures. The only problem was, Kristy and Austin had to find a way to get me out of the house so they could take my camera bag without me knowing and set up for the proposal. Normally I don't like when people use my camera unless I am around or ask me first so it was a little bit of a problem when I found out they had just "taken my bag" without asking :) To get me out of the house my dad had us walk 1/4 mile to the car to get some speakers he planted in the car earlier that day. My dad asked Kevin and I to go get the speakers, but I didn't want to because I didn't want to get my hair messed up. I know, so stupid. I said, "Why can't Kristy and Austin go get it" because I was still getting ready for the pictures. To make that problem go away my mom had the idea of Kristy and Austin getting into a "fake fight" so that they couldn't go get the speakers. I totally bought it and walked with Kevin to the car to get the speakers.
The whole time we were walking to the car he was trying to stall me so Kristy and Austin would have enough time to grab my camera bag and set up where they were going to take pictures and film. He tried stalling me by stopping me on the path and giving me a kiss so in return I put my hands on his waist and he quickly pushed me away. Little did I know the ring was on his hip inside his pants because he thought it would be less noticeable there. I almost ruined that one!
We finally got back to the cottage and Kristy and Austin were gone… with my camera bag. I went to look for my camera bag and couldn't find it and my dad told me Austin and Kristy had taken it to the Point to start taking pictures and test the light. I became EXTREMELY pissed that they took my bag without asking (because I obviously didn't know the plan) and ran off towards the point to look for them and yell at them. Yeah I know that was bad - but all I could think about was Austin tripping on a rock, my camera and lenses flying out, and me not being able to shoot the wedding I had coming up the following week. Running on the rocks I started yelling Austin's name looking for him. Meanwhile, Kevin is running after me saying, "Anna Grace it's fine stop". I got to the bend and Kevin said, "hey Anna Grace I see them over here!" So I turned around and walked towards him, still pissed, thinking he was going to tell me to chill out and that it wasn't a big deal. Instead, I walked up to him and saw the rock he painted out of the corner of my eye and Kevin said my whole face changed. He hugged me and then got down on one knee and proposed! He said some really sweet things that I will remember forever :)
Meanwhile, Kristy is taking pictures with my Mark III and Austin is filming with the new 6D that I bought Kevin a week before. I am so thankful my man knows me well enough to capture photos and video! All I have to say is I am SO GLAD THEY TOOK MY CAMERA BAG! Just goes to show it is stupid to get worked up over dumb things and it is important to always be in the moment. I am glad I forgot about my camera when Kevin was proposing and I was able to focus on the most beautiful moment of my life thus far. Kevin did an INCREDIBLE job planning everything a month in advance. He emailed my best friends and family about it and it was so perfect. He got the ring in Harrisonburg (the town JMU is located) while we were shooting a wedding one weekend. I was at lunch with my good friend Keala and Kevin was able to pick it out with Erin, Kristy, and Austin. He got exactly what I wanted and he loves it too! Anyways, back to the story.
After Kevin proposed, I hugged him and was so happy and couldn't believe it was happening. We sat down on the rocks, watched the ocean, and enjoyed the sweet and beautiful moment. After about 30 minutes, Kristy and Austin came out of the bushes with lots of hugs and bugs. Then my parents came out from the other side of the rocks and brought champagne! I was telling all of them the story of what happened with the camera bag and we are all laughing and having a great time. Kristy was also taking pictures of us which was fun :) I mentioned that I was sad Erin and Luke couldn't be there and literally 1 minute later I hear fireworks go off over on the other side of the rock beach. I look up and see two people running and cheering and I couldn't see who it was. I then said to Kevin, "is that Erin and Luke?" I asked him about 5 times and he kept smiling at me before he finally answered, "yes." Immediately I started bawling and crying from all of the wonderful emotions of having my whole family there. I knew the sacrifice Erin and Luke made to come be a part of my engagement and it meant SO much to me. Luckily we got it on video!! My parents flew them in for that day and I was so thankful. Kevin planned it all so perfectly!!!! Luke brought $300 worth of fireworks to celebrate! We shot them off the next night and it was so much fun. Thanks for that surprise Luke! And in case you were wondering, of course I said YES!!!!
After the proposal we went back to the cabin that my parents had decorated and we had a sweet dinner with some presents. One of my matron's of honor Helen sent a package to Maine with some sweet gifts in it because she knew i was getting engaged! Also, my dad woke up early that day and took a video of the sunrise and read some scripture. He showed us the video back at the cabin and it was so special. I felt so blessed! The showering of love continued when I came home and my apartment was decorated by Claire and Lauren! I am so thankful that God worked everything out. We really should trust Him in every part of our lives. He is so faithful and our relationship is a testament to that.
I am so blessed to get to marry my love and best friend. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you babe! You are one of a kind :) November 10th can't come soon enough!! AND I CAN'T WAIT TO BE A KATELYN JAMES BRIDE!!!! So excited to get behind her lens yaaay!
Enjoy these shots of the proposal and afterwards!
Thanks to everyone that made the engagement possible! Praise God for His faithfulness and that He held off the rain!! May Jesus be glorified in our engagement and through our wedding. He is the amazing creator of all things good and beautiful. And a special thanks to the love of my life for surprising me with a beautiful ring and proposal. I love you! And below is the video!!!