It was a comfortable fall day in Minnesota with a slight breeze and radiant sun beaming down through large, white, fluffy clouds. I remember thinking that the day could not have turned out any better, since one of my fears was that the one day I had picked, in fact, engraved on a plaque, would turn out to be the worst fall day anyone could image. Thankfully, that was not the case and we were on our way to the spot I had picked for this momentous occasion. It was after church and we were with some of our best friends, Tyson and Marielle, whom I had solicited to help film and photograph. The spot I had chosen was a beautiful yet simple outdoor area with a crashing water fall to set the backdrop to a cozy, shady area with beautiful color in the rocks and vibrant green on the trees. I remember loving this place the first time Tyson took me to the area looking for birds and it is a place we have gone many times since, while visiting Tyson and Marielle.

As we arrived, I remember feeling like I had done a really great job of keeping this whole thing under wraps from Tabby until this point. As we unloaded the car with what had seemed like a normal amount of gear to document the occasion that morning, I now realized it might be giving us away. None-the-less, everyone did a great job of acting as if this was perfectly normal and we started to walk out to the water fall. It was such a nice day, that it seemed like everyone from Pipestone had also decided to come out and enjoy the day, so the place was a bit busy with everyone taking pictures and enjoying the falls. We had made up the cover story that we were all going to take some pictures together, so we tried to burn a little time “looking” for a good spot to take photos hoping for some of the crowd to clear out. This worked pretty well and we soon had the place all to ourselves. I sat down with Tabby on a rock in front of the falls and pulled out a scrapbook I had my sister make for us with many of the major memories from our dating relationship. It was one of those moments where you feel time stand still. For the next few minutes, I walked her through the scrapbook sharing all these great memories I had with her, then, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. The rest is a bit of a blissful blur during which I also gave Tabby a present (a mantel clock) I had engraved with our names, the date, and a pun. The pun is another story for another time. In the end, it could not have been any better. I now look forward to more moments where time stands still on our wedding day to add to the memory bank. There are some things so priceless, people can spend their lifetime in pursuit of them. Love is one of those things. I am so happy to have found the one I get to love for the rest of my life.

Pipestone MN is home to a beautiful anomaly of nature in the midwestern style landscape. Tucked away in a state monument there is a peaceful and beautiful waterfall. We set out that afternoon to take pictures because Cid and I were spending the weekend with our dear friends, Tyson and Marielle. The occasion of having all four of us in the same place at the same time hadn’t happened as often as we would have liked. So, according to the guys this occasion called for some nice pictures! I am always looking for an opportunity to take pictures and was more than happy to oblige; however, as the intensity of the boys’ desire to take these pictures increased, so did my suspicions. When we arrived at the monument I was expecting one camera to accompany us to the waterfall, but instead, we had a Go-pro, multiple phones, multiple cameras, and Cid began unloading ALL of his cameral gear; tripods, extra lenses, his entire camera bag, and a giant reflector. I asked why we needed all of this and got some sort of answer about how seldom we are all together and dressed up nice, so we wanted these pictures to be good!

So we headed out toward the waterfall, Cid and Tyson lead the way, a considerable distance out in front of us. At this point I noticed, amid ALL of Cid’s camera gear, an extra bag in his hand that I knew was not part of his photography equipment. I decided to mention my suspicions to Marielle who had been going along with this plan of taking pictures while simultaneously complaining about wanting to take a nap. “I just wanna go sleep” was the only response I received from her, and we continued on.

When we got to the waterfall it was as beautiful as ever and we were among allot of visitors admiring it that day. We went around to each side and angle of it in search of the very best place for these pictures to take place. Once more when we had gone to the top of it I expressed my suspicion to Marielle, “I’m nervous” I said, to which she responded with an emphatic, “why!?” and continued walking. So I concluded that I was just imagining things and since Marielle clearly was not in on the plan if there was one, it must be all in my head. Shortly after that we found the perfect spot to take the so sought after pictures of the four of us, we snapped a couple quick pictures, not even on Cid’s camera, and then he said, ok, “now our turn!”

Cid pointed to a cluster of large rocks at the base of the waterfall and wanted to take pictures of the two of us there. He said we needed props for this picture and went for the bag that was not part of his camera gear. The other visitors to the waterfall had disappeared and as we sat down on the rocks he pulled out a scrapbook. Instantly Tyson and (oh so tired) Marielle turned into the paparazzi! He said, “you know that love story I said I would tell you? Well here it is.” As we started through the beautiful scrapbook of our relationship, with all the events and photos in chronological order he began to tell me our story. At the very beginning of the book I knew what was coming and started to cry; the tears of joy came so quickly! I took some deep breaths and pulled myself together to hear the rest of the story; it was beautiful. At the end he turned the last page, which was totally blank, but had wedding paper for the background. He smiled and said, “this is where we get to write the rest of the story, but first, I have a question for you.” He then got down on one knee, took my hand, and said, “Tabitha Joy Schumacher, will you marry me?” I hardly let the words leave his mouth before wrapping him in a big hug and almost giggled my response, “yes!!”

Almost immediately after, the mysterious lull in visitors to the falls ended, and as people began to mill around us we realized that we had had the whole place to ourselves during the precious few minutes of the proposal. I felt shaky from excitement and just when I thought it couldn’t be any better Cid said he wasn’t done yet. He pulled another gift out of his bag and said, “You know me, an occasion like this would not be complete without a good pun!” The gift was a beautiful mental clock engraved with the words, “its time to build a future!” along with our names and that day’s date; September 26, 2015.