We’re ENGAGED!

Surprise!! We’re ENGAGED! Today’s post is probably one of the most fun posts I’ve ever done because it’s all about our engagement and how Allen proposed to me in Grand Teton National Park! October 27th will forever be one of my favorite days for the rest of my life. Such a special, amazing, wonderful day!

To give a little context on our fun-filled engagement weekend, one of Allen and my’s favorite place to explore is Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. We took an especially amazing camping trip there last summer over the long 4th of July weekend and fell in love with the area! So naturally we knew we wanted to go back this year. (Not necessarily for our engagement, but just because we love it so much!) Unfortunately for us, most of the campgrounds in the park closed in early September, which we didn’t know until after the fact. But Allen suggested we find a B&B of sorts to stay in over a long weekend instead, and luckily we found the perfect little cozy cabin right outside the Park on Slide Lake! All this to say, I didn’t know the proposal was coming on this particular weekend in the park, but it turned out to be a spectacular (perfect!) place to do it! We both love being outside in nature and exploring new places together, so it was very us. I’ll do a full post on our adventures in the park soon, but for now I just wanted to talk about our special engagement morning in Grand Teton.

For our first morning in Grand Teton, Allen suggested that we start out at String Lake to go on a light hike in the area. Little did I know that Allen already had BIG plans for our time there. It was funny because looking back, ALL the signs were there. First off, he had a somewhat specific schedule of when we were going to go hiking. (We usually just fly by the seat of our pants and go with the flow whenever we end up leaving the house.) Secondly, he put on jeans to go hiking in. (Allen hates jeans! Why is he trying to look so nice?) Next, he suggested I take some extra clothes in case we found a pretty spot to take blog photos. (Let’s just say Allen isn’t super interested in my fashion posts lol.) So I decided to put on some jeans and light make-up for the occasion, in the event that we did end up taking some blog photos. 😉 But my suspicions were definitely peaked at this point and I thought something might be up. But what threw me off the trail though is that we stopped to see a pair of bull moose on our way into the Park. And Allen didn’t seem rushed at all when we stopped to take pictures. So that definitely had me thinking that maybe I was over analyzing the situation.

At any rate, we finally made our way over to String Lake, walked up to one of the tree-line entrances, and started to take in all the beautiful scenery around us. It was so tranquil and peaceful, and besides one little family, we were totally alone. Funnily enough, Allen suggested that we go ask the little family to take a picture of us in front of the lake. That should’ve been a huge hint because Allen almost never wants to have his picture taken. Ha! But I obliged because I’ll never turn down a picture with the both of us in it! So we went over to the family and asked for a picture. And before I knew it, Allen was down on one knee telling me all the things he loved about me, our relationship, and our life together. I’ll save all the gooey details for just the two of us, but I do remember that he ended with, “I love you so much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” And of course, I said YES!!! with all the happy tears streaming down my face.

It turned out that the little family was actually Janelle, a local photographer, and her 2-year old son and husband. Allen had planned for the whole thing to be captured on film! That sneaky guy! But what a treat for us to have these photos to remember this beautiful day and to share it with you, our friends and family! Anyways, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves below! But we are just so so sooooo happy to finally be engaged after 4 years of dating and we can’t wait to see where the rest of our life takes us!

This is about the point I started to ugly cry because I was just so so happy! (Allen was choking up here too, for the record.)

Yes yes YES!! A thousand times YES!

We’re ENGAGED! Truly couldn’t believe it!

Also, could not stop looking at my gorgeous ring! It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. (Still can’t believe it’s mine and I get to wear it every. single. day now!) To be honest, I still look down to admire it every 5 minutes or so. How am I supposed to get any work done?! Haha.

And I was just so in shock at how quickly everything had happened! 😀 The proposal really did fly by and before I knew it we went from girlfriend/boyfriend to fiance!

I just love this man so so much and cannot wait to live the rest of my life with him!! If you don’t know Allen personally, he is truly the sweetest and most kind person I’ve ever met. I am the luckiest girl to have him!

Photos by Janelle & Co. (would highly recommend her!)

After the proposal, Janelle was kind enough to stick around and take a few more photos of us in the beautiful woods surrounding String Lake. This is where the extra change of clothes came in handy because we were able to take some engagement photos right on the spot. Allen even brought his nice sweater for the occasion. He’s such a thoughtful guy! And I can’t wait to share those photos with you soon–they are so good!

After wrapping up all the photos, Allen and I ended up taking that light hike we had planned to take around the lake, just the two of us, and it was so blissful. I have about a zillion photos of my ring hand in front of just about any pretty scene we saw, including a rainbow that appeared over the lake (picture below). But it was just so nice to be with my forever love in such a beautiful place celebrating our lives together!

Later after exploring more of the park, we went to Jackson Lake to eat lunch and found some cell signal to call our families and tell them the good news! Everyone was thrilled! We even got a HUGE cheer from my entire extended family, who happened to be at my parent’s house for a Halloween party.

I’ll end with a few of my favorite phone pictures we took over the course of the weekend! But I just want to say we are so excited and can’t wait for what’s in store for us next! Thank you all for the love we have received since our announcement! We just love you all so much!

So excited for our future together, Allen Ream! Love you with all my heart!

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