Alaska is for Lovers

Scott and I ventured to Alaska in May and it was a wonderful time. We flew into Anchorage and then checked out our compact rental car. We set sail for Seward. The sunlight in Alaska is amazing, its sunny forever. We stopped frequently to admire God's grand creations. Melting fjords a big deal in Alaska so we hiked around to some of those.

When we arrived in Seward we toured the aquarium, local stores for tourists and enjoyed some tasty food. At the aquarium, I fell in love with this little speckled seal that followed me as I ran back and forth in the view window. After the aquarium, we decided to sit on the rocky shore for a bit and much to our surprise we saw this scaly brown abyss pop out of the water and blow misty water.  Scott and I were so baffled at what we saw, was it a seal or a brown dolphin but no it was a whale! They come really close to the shore to grab tasty krill so we saw a whale without even trying!

Our hotel in Seward was a really old building that had recently been shook up a bit during a earthquake. The place had an odd odor but a great big stuff bear in the lobby, so a win all around.

The following day we took a 50 passenger boat out to sea. We saw tons of beauty, birds galore, mega mountains, lounging seals, otters and the most majestic thing of all whales. While on this tour, we were always on the lookout for whales. We saw a mother and baby whale and booked over to their area. They jumped out of the water together. I squealed so loud and snapped as many photos as I could. We also saw glaciers calving which sounds like small claps of thunder. The boat tour is a total must if you go to Alaska. We had dinner on this little island which was nice too. After the tour we headed to Talkeetna.

Talkeetna is the major town outside of Denali National Park. We stayed in the cutest little cabin outside of the town. The place was just magical. We walked around Talkeetna the following day and enjoyed some breakfast. Then we hiked around some more and I found myself annoyed. I was like when the crap is Scott going to propose to me. I kept thinking, I see beautiful places with this man and I love him so much, I don't want to make memories with someone who is just going to dump me. So I started to get a bit whinny and said to Scott, "Are you ever going to propose to me?" He responded with, "Maybe on another trip." Well that bummed me out, but I tried to stay sorta positive which turned into me just being quiet.

After that conversation, we drove over to this little airport to take our tour of Denali via plane. The mountains were so incredible. The plane was a little bumpy and we had to wear earphones to hear the pilot. I had never seen such soaring mountains before. As part of our tour we landed on a glacier, Ruth's Glacier to be exact. The landing was cool since it was just on a bed of snow. Scott and I walked around and he started acting a bit strange. I was throwing snowballs at him and he seemed preoccupied. He said, "Let's go walk over here," and I was thinking "Is he going to propose or break-up with me? People only use that phrase 'let's go for a walk' in those contexts." Well I was right, he proposed to me. He said so many wonderful things, like he loves me and wants to spend his life with me and have a family with me and how I make him so incredibly happy. I was in sheer smiley shock. I just couldn't stop smiling. I popped down to him on his knees and said "Yes!!!" I then immediately apologized for being such a brat earlier that morning. This weight of confusion had lifted and I felt just immense joy.

I made sure that night I said the biggest gratitude prayer. I had prayed my whole life to find a man to have as a partner and God led me to the best man I had ever known. I'm so grateful for Scott in my life. Scott is the biggest sweetie. He had packed two rings, just in case he lost one. He wanted me to pick out my real ring but also wanted the proposal ring to be special too. I love this blue ring so much!

After the glacier flight I just wanted to tell everyone! We called friends and family as we smiled with so much glee. We also enjoyed a dinner at Subway since that was the only place open near us.  We were engaged May 29, 2016 and it was just such a wonderful day. We hiked some more that night and got a bit lost in a park but it was still really lovely.

The next day we drove back to Anchorage and hung out there until our evening flight. We took a hike to a really lame waterfall, we also stopped at a Lake that was a beautiful color of blue but sorta underwhelming. We ended up hanging out in the mall in Anchorage for a bit too. On the way to the airport we saw a Moose and her baby. It was such an incredible sight to see!!

Alaska will be a special place because I saw so many beautiful things but also because it represents the beginning of my engagement to my love! This video by Scott shows everything perfectly