I'm so excited to announce that I'm engaged! I couldn't be more happy that I get to marry my favorite human on earth, Nik Larsen. Introducing him as my fiancé is going to take some getting-used-to, I'll admit, but it's a pretty awesome thing to be able to say! I didn't think it would feel different being engaged, but it does. This is next-level love.
For those of you who don't know, Nik was one of the very first people to buy art from me back when I was a Senior at MCAD. I didn't realize he owned one of my first originals until we met a couple years ago and he told me! It goes without saying, he's been a supporter of my artwork since the very beginning. His support has never wavered. He lets me make art messes all over our condo (literally in every room and on every surface) and never says a word about it. It's true love!
When Nik proposed, he didn't disappoint. He'd been planning how he'd do it for months! We took a trip to St. Lucia and stayed at the picture-perfect Viceroy Sugar Beach- situated in between two giant volcanoes called the "Pitons".
On the day he proposed, he woke up early and left me all alone. I didn't even hear him leave.
I woke up to a very loud knock on my hotel door around 7:30am. There were two strange men, which would normally be alarming, but one of them was holding an iPad and the other coffee and this had me curious. One of the men introduced himself as Cannis and he asked if he could come in and show me something. I was confused!
Cannis showed me a video on the iPad (it was Nik's iPad!) . This was the first video in a series of very professional, very fun videos that Nik had created back in Minneapolis! The first video was of him basically telling me "This is a proposal, and I will see you at the end of this journey!" Cannis instructed me to put on hiking clothes and to get ready for an adventure. I brushed my teeth and out the door I went!
The next stop was breakfast, where Cannis showed me the second video. In this video, Nik had convinced many of the employees at his company, The Stable, to participate as actors! The video included SNL-style skits and funny clips that had me laughing through breakfast...ending with a custom rap song and music video. I could hardly eat my huevos because I was laughing so hard! After breakfast, I found myself following Cannis into a van to the next unknown location.
The next leg of the journey was a hard one, but well worth it! Cannis led me up to the top of the Grand Piton! It took us about two hours, it was hot, and I was a sweaty mess, but I loved it! As we were climbing, I kept telling Cannis "I know he's up here waiting! He just has to be! He'd never let me climb this mountain without him!". Cannis would never confirm this was the truth, but I knew Nik was up there.
And I was right. Right before we reached the peak of the Piton, Cannis showed me one last video. This video...made me cry! Nik had taken video of himself driving up to my Mom's house in Forest Lake,with lunch and an orchid in his passenger seat with the mission to ask her if he could marry me. He also wanted to ask my father (who passed when I was in college) while being at my home with my Mom. What a guy! At the top of the mountain, Nik was waiting. He asked me, I said "yes"!
St. Lucia will always be the most magical place on earth to me. Sugar Beach, the Pitons, the people at the Viceroy who helped make our trip so memorable are all memories I'll cherish forever!
Comments