We´re Engaged!!!!



4 months of travel in South America has taught Jon and I many important lessons. However, 4 months of spending every minute together, and being the only support system and sense of home for each other, has helped us come to the most important decision of all: we want to spend the rest of our lives together!

We are still riding high from our engagement on the beaches of Brazil. Jon proposed on a deserted stretch of beach in a small northern beach town called Praia de Pipa. We had gone up to the famed Northern beaches of Brazil for just a few days to soak in the sunlight. We were staying in a private thatched roof cabin in the sand, which had a hammock on the porch overlooking the ocean....not bad considering the state of our accomodations for the majority of our trip!! I had some idea that the engagement was coming (read on...) so jon had a tough job of surprising me. Our second day in Pipa, after spending the morning paddling kayaks with the dolphins, we decided to explore an immense and rocky stretch of deserted beach past all of the hotels, hostels, and restaurants. We were in our bathing suits and had been in and out of the water all morning, so when jon got down on his knee and proposed in the middle of our walk down the beach, I was VERY surprised to say the least. We celebrated with a bottle of Champaigne on our hammocked porch and then a delicious dinner of fresh fish in an oceanside restaurant.

Jon had begun to think about how to craft a proposal in Brazil a few months back, and had researched a small town in Brazil called Ouro Preto that is famous for its gemstone mines. After racking his brain to try to think about how to get there and buy a ring without me knowing, he gave up and decided he would have to include me in the process. So, together we made the 10 hour busride from Sao Paulo to the little colonial town of Ouro Preto. We spent two days looking at stones and talking to different jewelers about what we wanted our ring to look like. By the second day of our searching, we knew that we wanted an imperial topaz center stone (this is only mined in Ouro Preto) and two diamond side stones. We found an amazing jeweler to design and create the ring--she was very excited to be participating in our engagement and had her daughter drive the diamonds up from a nearby town. I did not get to see the finished product until the proposal, but the ring turned out beautifully, and it will always remind us of our world traveling adventures--the beaches of Australia, where we met, those of Brazil where we were engaged, and the many places in between where we have strengthened and deepened our love.

We are still feeling like every day is a celebration, but are looking forward to catching up in person and sharing our excitement upon our imminent return!!