My Cody, I love him dearly. He is genuine, loyal, real, loving, selfless, honest, and purposeful. He spoils me with thoughtfulness, love, friendship, partnership, laughter, and the promise of tomorrow. He humors me and I so appreciate that he does. And now, after three years together, we are engaged!

The popular question: how did he do it? It’s not a surprise that he proposed, I mean, we’ve talked about it and knew we were moving in this direction. Last year I sold my home and together we moved to Bear Vale Farm. I am overjoyed to become Mrs. Cody Pulvermacher!

I thought he might propose on Valentine’s this year. Not because it is the romantic holiday of our society, but because it was our three-year anniversary, because there was a full moon (big fan!), and because we had planned a quiet evening in, cooking our own elaborate dinner. Rather than jumping onto the commercialized holiday bandwagon, he waited a week. Within about an hour or so, during the late afternoon on Friday, February 21, he managed to call my parents, get their permission and blessing, buy the ring, and propose. No time wasted there!

We had plans to meet friends for dinner that night. As we were ready to walk out the door, Cody noticed my boots had a stain. He inquired and I informed him that it was just a salt ring from our winter season. “Why don’t you wash it off?”

Now, keep in mind this is Cody, Mr. “do I have to do my hair, or can I wear a hat.” Why is he concerned about the appearance of my boots?

He grabbed the wash cloth from the sink, knelt down on one knee, and began washing my boots. Wa-la, stain removed. Before standing, he reached into his coat pocket, grabbed the jewelry store box, popped it open, and popped the question! He thought he was pretty funny, and smooth. No frills, but genuine, real, and purposeful. There in our kitchen I said “yes” and delighted in the symbol of our engagement. The ring is gorgeous! He did good! It has a wonderful vintage feel to it and I love the detail of the band.

He then claimed that I couldn’t wear the ring that night–again we were about to walk out the door to join friends for dinner. Well you can’t give a gal a ring and then say “don’t wear it!” He wanted to be sure our family received the news first before our friends. Well we let our friends know we were going to be running late and we hit the road to make stops. Along the way we made calls to spread our joy to those not close enough for a personal visit. Needless to say we were an hour late for our dinner plans, but were quickly forgiven!

We’ve been engaged for just over a week now. But, we couldn’t just make a post to Facebook proclaiming we are engaged (after all, our sister’s did that for us!). No, no, we needed a photo, or several, that illustrated and helped tell the story (OK, I needed that, Cody humored me). I was already scheduled to do a lifestyle family session with my dear friends. As my friend is also a photographer, I thought how perfect, we can do a photo session exchange! So Cody and I went off to Madison this morning to get some photos! Photos will be a very important component in our story, and this is only the beginning!

We are excited to share this news and so thankful for the love and support of our friends and family. I am looking forward to our September 13, 2014, wedding. We will share our wedding date with my mama, as that is her birthday!

Thank you, dear Cody, for always humoring me, and to Rachel for the great images! Copyright and credit to Rachel Manzke Photography.

For other couples out there, I encourage you to have some FUN with your photos. Add a little flair, personalization, and/or stylization. Whether you are getting engaged, or just updating your portraits, you won’t regret it!

We enjoyed hot cocoa outside on this beautiful Wisconsin winter day….cocoa made by Cody’s Grandma Betty! 🙂