There isn’t much that I love more in the summer months in Lake Tahoe than hopping in my car, driving with the windows down and country music blaring… and I was THRILLED that Katherine and Michael were up for an engagement session with a side of adventure that involved JUST that.

We took off on the Fiberboard Freeway- the back road that connects Kings Beach, Tahoe City and Truckee, winding up towards Watson Peak and dipping down on the 06 with breathtaking views of Squaw Valley from above. I won Michael over by bonding over cars, beer and the love of back roads while Katherine sang along in the back seat, reminiscing over another shoot she had done with me a few months prior.

These two have a love for adventure and I asked Katherine to tell me all about how they met, and fell in love…

How did you two meet?

We met through a mutual friend who I work with, kind of a blind date that I was not really into the idea of. It was surprisingly not one of those super awkward first/blind dates, and he was so sweet. He even put his jacket around me at the end of the night because he was worried that I was cold, and he walked on the outside of the sidewalk, closet to the road (true old school gentleman, in my books). We just kind of hit it off and were constantly texting and going out from there on out, although I tried to play hard to get the whole time to make sure that he was actually into it. I’m glad he played along.

I wouldn’t say that it was love at first sight, but I really liked him the more we hung out. About a month into it, he finally asked me to be his girlfriend and I was swooning. For the last three years we’ve been on a roller-coaster of a relationship; new jobs, new degrees, family tragedies, happiness and heartbreak, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. We have grown so much together as a couple, and as individuals, and I truly love him more and more every day.

And the more I was around him, the more I knew that he was who I wanted to marry and share my life with…

Tell me about the proposal…

His mom and I have gotten pretty close over the years and she asked me if I wanted to go get lemon drops one night. I didn’t have anything going on, so I took it as an opportunity to get dressed up and get the heck out of the house. This is about a week or two after we had gotten back from our snowmobiling trip to Idaho where we both decided to break a part of our right legs on two separate days, so I hadn’t been out of the house for a while. I knew a little bar that a friend used to work at, so we ended up there (The Tractor Bar) and had a few lemon drops and just chatted for a while…

…Well, I look over and see Michael hobbling in on his crutches and I am very surprised to see him! “What the heck are you doing here?” I asked. He replied, “I got something for you, Booger.” (my nickname that I have no idea how he came up with) He took off his jacket, leaned his crutches up against the chair next to me, and got down on his bad leg and asked me to marry him. All I really remember is repetitively telling him to get off of his leg because I didn’t want him to hurt himself! Of course I say yes, and try not to cry as he shows me the ring and puts it on my finger as his mom is snapping away pictures.

What is your favorite thing to do together?

I absolutely love going on adventures with him, even if it’s an adventure to the grocery store. We snowmobile, go crawling, boating, go on walks, and just make an adventure out of everything that we do together. I just love it.