Finally.

We met in science class in 6th grade, though it was a year or so before Jake could be convinced to talk to me directly. Throughout middle and high school, it took us some time and a few tries to get on the same page (which could've had something to do with the fact that we were teenagers with more than our fair share of angst). Persistence prevailed, however, and we kept finding our way back to each other. Across the distance from inner-state to inter-continental, we've been inseparable now since the age of 14, so Jake figured it was about time to make it official. ;)

We had planned a weekend in Minneapolis to celebrate my 26th birthday, beginning with dinner with my family on Friday night. Claiming a lack of good gift ideas, Jake had set it up by saying he'd just buy me dinner for my birthday in lieu of a gift, which I was more than happy with. As we were sitting at the restaurant, however, he said he'd ended up picking me up something quickly after work as a surprise and he just had to go get it out of the car. I suspected nothing when he came back in with a little birthday gift bag, and even when I pulled out of the bag what looked suspiciously like a jewelry box, I thought maybe he'd bought me earrings. I guess after so many years, I had no reason to suspect it then more than any other time, or maybe I just hadn't wanted to get my hopes up, but whatever the cause I was entirely surprised! When it came down to it after almost 12 years of being together, Jake was tongue-tied and ended up proposing so quietly and subtly that some of my family members around the long table didn't even realize it was happening! But he got the words out, I of course said yes, (my family was made aware of the occurrence and we took the photo below), and now we're so excited to celebrate with you all!