JESS SAID YES!

(The fiancé came up with that one.)

You probably saw the Instagram photos from my recent trip to South Dakota (cannot wait to share the entire trip with everyone), but what you didn't see was that on one beautiful hike... my boyfriend popped the question!

We saw heart rocks everywhere.

We were doing our last hike of the trip - over three hours to reach 7,242 feet above sea level to Harney Peak in the Black Elk Wilderness, the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Pyrenees in Spain. (And let's not forget three hours more to get back down). After enjoying the beautiful views of the Black Hills of South Dakota and hanging out with the local wildlife, we headed back down the mountain to our campsite. Or so I thought was the plan! We took one last look above the breathtaking landscape, and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! Cue the tears.

What was so amazing about the trip was that it was not that one moment that made the trip, but it was the most bonding (have you ever spent 31+ hours in a car with someone?!) and accomplishing trip (we hiked for hours) that we've ever done. Everything we did together this past week made us even more certain that there isn't any one else we would rather do it with!

With that, of course I said yes!

The view from Harney Peak.

I'm not the most conventional girl and I surely don't own anything "blingy", so this rose gold Cartier Love band with alternating diamonds was perfect. We spent some time deciding on a ring (did you really think I wouldn't have a say in jewelry I would wear for the rest of my life?), and after months at jeweler after jeweler, we knew this ring was the one the second I put it on.

There's no rush on our end for a wedding just yet (unless I can persuade Jill on that double-wedding idea), but that just means wedding-themed posts for even longer!

Jess