After enjoying a Bon Iver concert with friends, Colleen found herself sharing a funny story about a date she had been on a couple nights before. After laughing about the details, Colleen asked her friend, "Abe, where are all of the good guys?" to which he responds, "My friend Jeff is great." After asking to see a picture, she says, "Set it up!" Abe mentioned that Jeff lived in Chicago but Colleen said, "I love Chicago." About two months later, Abe randomly texted Colleen to ask where she was. Thank goodness she showered that day because Abe said, "Great, Jeff's in town. We're coming to meet you." Jeff and Abe showed up to meet Colleen and friends, Morgan and Taylor, at Noble Beast in Cleveland. It was the start of a friendship which eventually turned into a long distance relationship.

We were working at the PGA Tour on Kiawah Island, and decided to stay a few extra days to relax and enjoy the sun. Jeff booked an AirBnB for us in the sweet town of Summerville, SC. After a few days of touring Charleston, it was time to start our journey back to Chicago. On our way out of town, Jeff took me to see Cypress Gardens - a garden and swampland most famously known for the boat/swan scene in The Notebook. We did the boat tour - it even rained a little, like the movie - and then started the walking tour of the gardens. It was SO HOT and muggy but Jeff had planned on taking some landscape photos so we walked the path and stopped along the way for pictures. About halfway through the tour, there is a wide-open grass area with a bridge, gazebo, deck, and dock for a paddleboat. Jeff set up his camera near the dock for a photo. At this point, we both were hot and the bugs were starting to bite. As Jeff was setting up his shot, I remember saying, "I love you, but I'm not gunna last much longer." So I stood in the frame for Jeff to compose the picture and grab focus - a very normal thing for us. Jeff pressed the shutter button, which usually means "10 seconds, 10 pictures" and he runs into the frame. This time, he was walking slow and smiling at me. I even said, "Come on, what are you doing?" He made a funny comment about my feet and then reached in his pocket and got down on one knee. I remember thinking, "Whoa, this is happening! WAIT, this is happening!" Jeff said so many sweet things to me in that moment, including things about growing old together (Notebook reference) and ended with, "Miss Colleen Ward, will you marry me and be Mrs. Colleen Scheuermann?" After many happy tears and asking "is this for real?" three or four times, I said a very big, "YES!" And the best part, we have it all recorded because Jeff was filming instead of taking a photo. To top off the fun, we got kicked out. They had closed but we were taking photos and enjoying the moment. :)