From the couple: While we were in Oregon visiting my family, I got Facebook message from my friend Alexandra Taylor, who has a professional photography business. She explained to me that she was in a photo class and had an assignment where she needed to shoot a couple, but the couple she had planned had to cancel and she was wondering if Andrew and I could step in for her. I happily agreed and so on April 15th, Alexandra drove Andrew and I to Multnomah Falls to for the shoot. It was funny because when we pulled into our parking spot, I saw my parents' car pull into the parking lot as well (Multnomah Falls is about 45 minutes from my house and it was really unusual to see them there.) I saw them get out of their car and reach for something in the back of the car and then start running up the hill towards the waterfall. I asked Alexandra and Andrew if they knew why they were there and they brushed off the question and led me in the opposite direction that my parents were running in. I really didn't suspect anything, I was that oblivious! Alexandra started shooting Andrew and I and we slowly made our way up to the pavilion area below the waterfall. When we were right underneath the waterfall, Alexandra told me to turn around and look up for one the photos. When I did, I saw a giant banner which said, "Susanna, will you marry me?" that was held by none other than my parents and my sister, who were standing on the bridge right in front of the waterfall above us. I immediately freaked out and turned back around to Andrew kneeling beside me. He proposed and of course I said yes! I was completely caught off guard because I didn't even think Andrew had the ring yet. I came to find out that the whole day was a set up; Alexandra and Andrew had planned the whole photo shoot for the purpose of the proposal. In hindsight, there were numerous times that I should have caught on, but I guess I'm just a trusting person :) The photo shoot was also our engagement session, so we killed two birds with one stone. It was great to have pictures of the proposal as well as have my family involved. It was truly a dream come true! That's been the happiest day of my life, until July 27th, 2013 that is :)
Photo credit: Alexandra Grace Photography
Their love story: Andrew and I met in September 2012, while we were both up at school in Idaho. We owe are meeting to our friends - seriously, it was so random! My roommate invited our friend over for a Sunday dinner and Andrew decided to tag along. He admits, he only came over for the free food. I was completely oblivious and chattered away about who knows what. I guess I let my geeky side out a little bit and Andrew caught on to that and for some reason felt impressed to ask me to hang out the next day. I remember feeling completely myself around him and that was something that stuck out to me right away. He came over the next night and we hung out for hours. We definitely realized it was something special and we hung out every day after that. We didn't end up going on our first official date until two weeks later - I blame him for that. Our first date was so cute, though. We drove out to a campground area and made a fire, cook up some smores, and watched a movie in the bed of his truck. Things escalated pretty fast and on October 4, he asked me to be his girlfriend. We had the best semester together. We were two peas in a pod. I gained a best friend, a partner in crime, and I found the better part of me. Just a couple weeks into dating, however, I found out that I had been accepted into a nannying program and offered a job in Washington, DC from January to April 2013, in which I excitedly accepted. At that point in the relationship, I was unsure of if we were going to become very serious or not so I put the job first. After discussing it a lot, Andrew and I decided that we had invested too much into the relationship and we weren't ready to let it go. We decided we were going to continue a long distance relationship while I was in DC and he was still at school in Idaho. I came home with him to Denver, Colorado the week before Christmas to meet his family, and I loved them. It was really bittersweet, though, because that was the last time I was going to see him until April. I went to DC and we made the most out of the time apart by Skyping and calling and talking each other's ears off. The long distance was hard, but it really showed us how much we valued each other. The long distance forced us to talk and get to know each other really deeply. We had talked about marriage and decided it would be in the near future. When you find out how you want the rest of your life to play out, there's nothing holding you back from jumping head first in. That's exactly how I felt about my relationship with Andrew. As soon as I knew he was who I wanted, I wanted to marry him as soon as I could. The best part is, he wanted to marry me too! He started looking at rings while I was still in DC. When I finished my nanny job in April, Andrew came home with me to Oregon for spring break to meet my family.
