This past month has been a whirlwind. I wanted to post about this for a while, but with the craziness I wasn't able to get all of my thoughts together until today. This past month the love of my life asked me the most important question, 'would you want to go to the North Shore in a couple of weeks?'. Seeing as he loves to plan trips, and weekends are our time together I was so excited. What really got me thinking was the fact that he booked our Airbnb and then wouldn't tell me where/what it was. I have done this move on him a few times (our six year anniversary we stayed at the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis) but never had this been sprung on me! I had a feeling in my gut that this was going to be the weekend for us, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
Fast forward to the weekend before we left, I had a trip planned to see my best friend in Chicago. For months now I had kept my secret without telling anyone of my suspicion. I told myself millions of times 'Georgi, do not mess this up. You cannot tell Whitney', but what did I do within 10 minutes of having a glass of wine the first night? I told Whitney. We fantasied all weekend about how we thought it was going to happen, what my future wedding plans were going to be (Whitney coming up with the idea of having my bridesmaids carry puppies instead of flowers, lol) and how crazy it was that we made it to this point in life.
When I bid farewell to Whitney that Sunday, I couldn’t stop the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach when I thought about what the next week would hold. Having someone else agree that is was going to happen was exactly what I DIDN'T need. For the next week all my mind could think about was how this could be our last week as boyfriend and girlfriend. We had spent six and a half years with this title, one question would change all of that.
Nick decided to drive down to the cities that Thursday night so that we could head up together. I of course thought that was so weird! He wanted to drive 3 hours to then drive 4 with me, spend the weekend and then do it all again in one day? I guess thats what you call true love. As we were heading to the North Shore, I have the biggest flutters. All I could think about was when it would happen. We first stopped at Gooseberry falls. My mind was racing the entire time, 'is it going to happen here? You have to stop thing about this! Oh but maybe here!'. We enjoyed the chilly weather and quiet park as we visited one of the most beautiful waterfalls.
When we left, I suggested we find a cute place for dinner but Nick had other plans. He wanted to get to the Airbnb and get settled. We grabbed some frozen pizza and headed to the place. As we turned off the main road, I realized that Nick had found probably the cutest Airbnb in the upper Midwest. The quaint cabin was sitting right on Lake Superior with a newly purposed boat house.
I was all about the pizza and wine when we got our bags inside, but Nick wanted to figure out how to turn the lights on in the boat house. I popped the pizzas in the oven, cracked open a bottle of wine and enjoyed the foggy view of the lake while he tried every switch on the inside and outside of the house. Finally he came to the conclusion that it was probably set on a timer. We enjoyed our pizza and chitchatted.
Once dusk settled and the boat lights turned on, to Nick's delight, we bundled up and headed out to the deck inside of the boat house. I couldn't get the smile off of my face; a peaceful lake in front of us, a full glass of wine, my favorite music playing and my fella right next to me. I couldn't have been any happier in that moment.
Side note: I have a playlist called 'Art' that I have listened to for the past 10 years. It has changed over the years, but has the same base line of artists and acoustic vibes. Two artists that my parents listened to are David Gray and Norah Jones. Their music reminds me of my favorite place in the world, Door County, so when I was playing that music in the boat house I was in my heaven.
Nick had finished his beer so he went to replenish and grab me another jacket (of course this was the weekend of 40 degree weather in May). When he came out, I bundled up we enjoyed the view as it slowly grew darker. David Gray's 'Sail Away' came on the speaker and Nick asked me to dance. Whenever I tell this story people always ask me if that was when I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't. Nick loves to dance and isn't afraid to ask me to slow dance. As we were twirling around under the sparkling lights, he got down on one knee he asked me if I would spend the rest of my life with him. I was over the moon with joy that my eyes started watering instantly. I didn't even see the ring in the box or on my finger until I could wipe my eyes. It was the happiest day of my entire life, this boy has been my best friend and fella for what seemed like forever. I couldn't imagine my life without him.
After I had freaked out for what felt like hours, we went inside and called both of our families. Nick had asked my parents a few weeks prior, but I was able to surprise my sister. Elliott was crying and it couldn't have been a better night. We chose to only tell our family (and I told Whitney because she was the only other person who knew I had an inkling) that night, the next day we told a few other friends and families but kept it to ourselves. I think it was probably the best decision we could have made because we were able to enjoy the start of a new chapter just the two of us.
The rest of the weekend was filled with exploring state parks, wine, spaghetti, champagne, checking out Grand Marais and more wine! Nick had one last surprise for me when we got back from our weekend up north. He had gathered some of the closest people in our lives at his parent's house and we enjoyed my favorite style of food; Italian!
I could not have asked for a more perfect weekend, fiancé or new family. I have been blessed with this man for the past six and a half years, and I cannot wait to be this blessed for another 60+. Ciao to Crummer, I am becoming a Macklem!
