Avalanches and waist-deep snow wasn’t enough to get in the way of Julia’s surprise proposal, which was captured perfectly by a hidden photographer.
Words by Julia
Heidi and I met a little over six years ago through an online dating app. Heidi was looking for a relationship at the time, and I was looking to expand my LGBTQ+ community. We became best friends immediately (bonding over Lord of the Rings, books, and travel), and we have been inseparable ever since.
We have never gone a day without talking- except when Heidi was abroad in Honduras for a medical school trip. A year of being friends turned into five years of dating and an engagement in 2020.
I decided to propose to Heidi first, and I wanted it to be somewhere that was special to us. Since we first started our journey together as friends and then partners, the outdoors has always been our thing. Colorado was the place where we first traveled together and conquered our first 14er back in 2015. We head out there once or twice a year to be among the mountains, so it just made sense for me to propose to Heidi in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
We made a weekend out of it, the same weekend where the mountains got hit with 4ft of snow, and we almost didn’t make it to our final destinations – Breckenridge and Vail. While our plans got a bit derailed due to the snow, our photographer, Bailee, came to the rescue and found a beautiful little hike (avalanche free) near the mountains. The snow was up to our waist in some areas, but that didn’t stop us from getting to the perfect spot so I could pop the question.
I cried, she cried, our photographer cried, and Heidi’s sister, who was there, cried and cheered us on the whole way.
It felt unreal to be proposing to the woman who makes me the happiest human alive. There is no one else I would rather be with and grow to 99 with (and argue who gets to have the better rocking chair). I can’t wait to plan our elvish wedding together (we are seriously Lord of the Rings obsessed- who wouldn’t want to get married in Rivendell, right?).
We are an interracial couple and are so proud of that. Heidi is Korean and has very strong family ties and roots in her culture. I hope to learn authentic Korean cooking from her mother and the language so that we can someday raise our kids in her family’s footsteps.
Captured by Wander Often Photography
