On July 11, 2018 I stood oceanside, amongst wild flowers, next to a beautiful medieval castle in Scotland. I turned around and received the biggest surprise of my life.

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We'd finally booked our long awaited trip to Scotland and England. With the crazy packed schedule that I’d put together, stopping at numerous castles on the way up to the top of the most northern part of Scotland, we rushed to get to Ackergill Castle to check in for the night. We arrived at our room and realized that we only had 10 minutes to get ready for our dinner reservation. After being soaked along the way... and me openly regretting that I'd chosen a jacket without a hood... we rushed to the dining room for the seating. Donovan looked debonaire in a full navy suit, and I was a little less thrilled to be in jeans and a sweater since I had not had much time to throw myself together. However, a few glasses of wine took my mind off of my frizzy hair and less formal ensemble and I enjoyed my wonderful view of a gorgeous dining room adored with hand-painted coats of arms... and of course my handsome date. We spent the night talking about our adventure and listening to the sound of bagpipes.

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In the morning, I pushed to get on the road, but Donovan suggested we take our time and offered a walk through a garden of wildflowers. Since the weather was much nicer than the night before, we walked along the wild flowers with a beautiful view of the castle, just the two of us. There was no one else around. Everyone else had checked out, and it was completely quiet. He took the camera and suggested a profile of me looking out at the castle. When I turned back around, he was on one knee asking if I would be his wife. I'm pretty sure I managed a yes after the shock had worn off!

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Donovan had planned to asked me the night before, but in the rush, he had decided to wait. We called my parents to tell them the news. It must have been meant to be as the day he proposed was also my parent's wedding anniversary.