Okay, friends, I think It’s about time I share how the northern lights proposal actually went down.

He said yes.

Just kidding, but that was a hard contender for the social media caption announcing our engagement. 

I feel like I should preface this post by noting that I’ve always been a bit private when it comes to this kind of thing- I know this sounds weird given that I blog about my life for all to see on a daily basis, but when it comes to the really personal stuff, I keep that to myself.

When Rob and I would have the conversation about getting engaged I always told him one thing; it needed to be a moment for us. I know some girls want the big public display of affection with fireworks and crowds, but since I put so much of my life on social media, I wanted this moment to be for us. We started a private joke about how he would ultimately end up proposing to me in the back of an Uber. 

For a while, I believed that, but on Thursday, October 14th the question was popped.

We show up in Alaska and rented an igloo at the Borealis Basecamp which is a true bucket list experience. The Borealis Basecamp is specific for awesome viewings of the Northern Lights, which was why we booked it. This beautiful igloo is all ours in the middle of nowhere surrounded by maybe 30 other people. Quaint. Private. Quiet.

We had multiple experiences planned at the Borealis Basecamp. If you want those details you can check them out on my Borealis Basecamp itinerary post.

Pause. Just so we are aware, every girl has thoughts around their proposal, and once you find the one that you think is going to do it, you start to wonder if “ this is the moment” more and more frequently. I definitely had those thoughts while on this trip but he had multiple chances to propose at the start of this trip, but he didn’t take them, so I was completely clueless.

Unpause. 

The Proposal

We didn’t have the best of luck with the Northern lights. They didn’t come out the first two nights we were there because it was so cloudy. I was beginning to think we were never going to see them.

I was laying in bed on the third and final night of our time in the igloo ready to chill, watch another episode of Schitt’s Creek and fall asleep. *DING* My Aurora Borealis app said the lights were going to be out that night at midnight. Awesome! Just enough time to get a quick nap in. I told Rob I was going to go to bed and wake up around midnight, but Rob had other plans in mind. 

Rob: Babe, let’s call the on-site photographer and see if we can take some photos tonight!

Me: Nah, I’m pretty tired, we don’t have to. Plus I’m sure he is booked tonight. I think I’ll just go to bed and wake up when the lights are out.

Rob: Well, wake up buttercup because I already called him. I booked a private session for us.

Me: *In disbelief this guy planned anything* “What?!

I almost didn’t believe him for half of a second.

Rob: Yeah, he’ll be here in 30 minutes! Go get dressed!

Okay, so now I am scrambling. Again, I had a fleeting moment of “maybe he’s going to propose?” It was kind of in the back of my mind but I was also talking myself out of it while I was frantically putting on my makeup. The next thing I know, we have a knock on the door and the Northern Lights alarm is blaring in our igloo. 

It was so much all at once. 

*Knock knock* The photographer was here…

The lights were out and we were running out the door to catch them. The photographer had us do some couple shots and got a few shots of the lights too. We had done about 12 photos in three different spots at this point and I figured if he was going to go to all this trouble to propose we would have done it by now. So, I ruled it out in my head again. 

We get to a really dense forest spot and the photographer asks us if we have any poses we want to try. Still in shock that this was happening, and assuming I was the one who would be taking the lead on this now, I said “Nothing is coming to mind but if you want to give me a moment to think I can come up with something.”

Rob chimes in, “I have a pose!”

Immediately I think it is going to be some ridiculous pose where we’re in a fighting stance or something so I look at the photographer and say “Oh boy,” and kind of rolled my eyes. Then I looked back and Rob and he’s down on one knee.

He even referenced the fact that this wasn’t the back of an Uber, haha.

I think the best part of this whole story is since we were trying to capture the Northern lights in the background, the shutter speed on the photo is about 25 seconds. You have to hold your pose for 25 seconds. Of course, when he is proposing we are moving all over the place and this is the actual proposal happening. The light in the ring box kept picking up light in the camera so it put a cute little glow around us. 

And that’s the story of the day Rob asked me to marry him. I can’t quit smiling when I think about it.

I never thought I’d be that annoying girl who can’t stop looking at her ring but I am. Who knows, I might even get crazy and create a wedding board on Pinterest tonight. Look at me go…