Our Proposal

as told by caitlin

Nick and I took a two-week road trip out west in September 2016, visiting so many beautiful national parks and monuments. From Devil's Tower to Yellowstone to Glacier National Park and all the great towns and pull-offs and cattle drives in between, we had been on the road for a little over a week when we stayed one night to camp in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

Our drive into Roosevelt National Park was gorgeous with a pink supermoon hanging over the horizon. We had hoped to get to the campsite in time to watch the moonrise from the cottonwood grove we'd be camping in, but honestly the view as we crested the northern badlands in the lavender light of twilight was probably better than what we could have seen from the camp.

By the light of the Prius headlights, we set up camp next to the Missouri River, heated up instant Indian food and watched the stunning moonlight against the badlands and river below us.

It had been a long day, and I was getting pretty tired. As I yawned I started thinking about bed and (this is 100% honest) how grateful I am for a relationship with Nick where we can be so close and yet so independent and how totally cool he would be with me going to bed soon without him while he stayed up to film the moonlight. 

To my surprise, Nick insisted I stay at the water's edge with him.

He showed me the moonlight in his camera and fussed with his lenses, and I began wondering why, though I do love learning about the technical considerations of filmmaking, he was so set on sharing this with me. 

Then to my surprise, instead of pulling out a new lens, he revealed a ring and the reason we were staying under a full moon that night.

It was really lovely planning on Nick's part too that we were headed to Minnesota to visit my family the next several days so we were able to share the news with my parents and family in person.