Nick surprised me with a planned trip to celebrate my graduation, but he kept the location a secret. As it turns out, Nick’s brother and his wife, Zach and Allie, joined us on the trip! I was super happy to have them. Later, Nick revealed to me that we’d be going to Helen. The trip was planned for the second weekend in December, which was the weekend where we got a whole lot of snow. This made the trip even more special, but it did change our plans a bit. We originally wanted to go hiking, but all of the trails were closed due to the snow. We found this out while driving around. Then, Nick asked if he could blind fold me for a surprise. I said yes, and we continued to drive. Once we arrived in our final location, Nick untied my blind fold. We were back at our cozy cabin, and all I could see were the hundreds of red rose petals laid beneath my feet on a path from the cabin toward a snow-covered hill. I followed the path, which led me to a box that contained a love letter that Nick had written for me. As I finished reading the letter, I turned around and Nick was on one knee. He said those sweet four words – will you marry me? And of course, I said yes. It was beautiful. You always dream about the day you get engaged, and the day I got engaged was perfect. I get to marry my best friend, and I couldn't be happier.

I planned a trip to the mountains with my brother and his wifenand surprised Madeline with the trip by telling her we’d be going in celebration of her upcoming graduation. I knew when planning the trip that my true intentions were to ask her to be my wife, but I wanted to keep that a secret so I could create the most special moment for Madeline. Before the trip, a few friends and I visited Helen so we could scout the best hiking trail for me to propose on. We found a beautiful trail with a waterfall, and I knew instantly that was where I wanted to ask Madeline to be my forever wife. Fast forward to the trip, and we are snowed in at our cabin. The power shut off, and I knew we were in trouble. As I had guessed, the trail I wanted to take Madeline to was closed due to icy conditions. Although the trail was closed, I knew I needed to come up with another plan because I could not go another day without asking her to be my wife. To throw off any suspicion for Madeline, the four of us left the cabin and headed to the trail, even though I knew it was closed. Madeline was disappointed the trail was blocked off, but I was not worried because I knew what was about to happen. While we were gone, my friend, Nick, had laid beautiful rose petals leading a path into the valley adjacent to our cabin. He also prepared a box with a letter enclosed that I had written to Madeline and laid it in the center of the valley. Somehow, I convinced Madeline to wear a blindfold until we got back to the cabin. I wanted her to be fully surprised… and it worked! We arrived, and I untied her blindfold. Madeline and I walked down the path of roses, and she opened the box and read the letter. I was very nervous, but she finished reading and turned around and this was the moment. I bent down on one knee and said, “Will you marry me?” She replied yes. All I remember after the proposal was feeling pure happiness that I was lucky enough to spend the rest of my days with my best friend and future wife.