Forever & Always

Of course, I knew of the basketball point guard star that is Carter Snitker when I started high school, but I had never thought anything more about it. The very first time we actually had a conversation was in Mrs. Meyer's Ceramics class when I was a little freshman and he was a senior about to graduate. I never thought he was interested in me since he had a girlfriend at the time and he was about to graduate and move onto the next stage in his life. So, the flirty exchanges we shared in Mrs. Meyer's art class and a secret crush was enough for me. It wasn't until my junior year of high school that Carter and I started showing interest in each other. The way that I remember it was I was working at Subway and Carter had come in for a sandwich (he still gets the same exact sandwich: footlong, wheat bread, chicken breast with bacon, no veggies or sauce). After I made him a sandwich, he sent me a snapchat and we hit it off from the start. I always knew he'd be the one I married someday.

For the longest time, I would nag Carter about just "getting it over with" and asking me already. Eventually, I could tell I was just annoying him so I stopped nagging and gave him the space to plan a proposal on his own. Whenever we would talk about getting engaged, we discussed that we wanted to involve our families as much as possible and I wanted him to wait until after I graduated from college. Unlike me, Carter isn't a planner or organized freak, so I always teased him about waiting the last minute to plan the proposal. The day I graduated from college had come and I was finally getting to walk across the stage at Upper Iowa University's Harms-Eischeild Stadium. The thought of an engagement proposal did cross my mind because I knew his family and mine would all be in the same area for the commencement ceremony. When the ceremony was over, I was expecting something while we were taking pictures but when it didn't happen on the field the thought left my mind. Everyone headed to Skip-a-Way Campground in Clermont to celebrate my graduation with good food and good people. Since Carter's family didn't stick around after the ceremony to take pictures, they wanted to take some at the campground. We found a spot and everyone took turns taking pictures with the new college grad. After many pictures, Carter asked if we could take a few of just us even though we had already taken a handful earlier. Bobbi, Carter's sister, took the phones and we smiled for the camera. Before I knew it, he was down on one knee telling me how much I meant to him and concluded with "Will you marry me?". The funny part is; no one was paying attention! In the video, you can hear Bobbi yelling for Carter's mom to look who started bawling as soon as she realized what was happening. When my mom eventually turned around with all the commotion she started yelling for someone to take pictures. All that mattered was that I heard what he had to say. Carter's proposal was perfect

We're excited to take on the rest of our lives together! If you're reading this, you have been an important part of our lives and we want to share our very special day with you. We would like to thank each and every one of you for the love and support you've shown us throughout our relationship. Thank you from the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Snitker!