They met a year ago online. She swiped on him because he had pictures of his dog, Dewey, on his profile; “an easy conversation starter.” They are both teachers so one of their first conversations was how their summer was going.

Their first date was happy hour at Zeppelin’s. “It was still summer, so I do understand that we could meet early, but when he suggested we meet at 3pm, I thought this was really early so I pushed it to 4,” Jacqueline remembered. “The date was exactly one hour because his dog was at daycare for the day and he had to leave to go pick him up at 5. I was excited. I liked him a lot. I thought he was easy to talk to and I was bummed that the date was so short.” (Maybe that 3pm meeting time wasn’t so early, after all.) What’s even more fun is that they found out they both teach in the same school system (she in elementary; he in middle school) and have had some of the same students over the years.

Not only did Dewey grab Jacqueline’s attention in Aaron’s online profile, but many of their first dates were walks in the evening with him. With school back in session, Dewey needed the evening walks and attention and they both needed simple decompression in the evenings. About three months in, Aaron said he knew she was the one. “I just found that I could always be myself with her. We wanted all of the same things and she always made me feel safe and loved.”

They love to spend time outside so when Aaron wanted to go to Minnesota’s North Shore for some hiking and camping before school started, it occurred to Jacqueline that he might propose on the trip, “but then I talked myself out of it,” she said. Aaron added, “I screwed up the original plan so I just kept the ring in my bag and winged it.”

“On the second day of the trip, we left in the morning with Dewey to hike the Shovel Point trail in Tettegouche State Park. Aaron had hiked it the previous summer so he knew where there was an overlook with a little deck and a bench at the top of some stairs. He kept trying to get me to sit on the bench and I wouldn’t do it. I was looking at the views and I ‘wasn’t tired!’ I set up my phone to take a picture of the three of us. Dewey is uncooperative in photos so I was trying a trick I saw online where you do a video, pose, and then just screenshot the best moment. Dewey wouldn’t face the camera, so I gave up. Aaron said to ‘leave it rolling’ and then wandered around for a minute. I thought he was looking at the views, but then he got down on one knee! I remember very little of what he said (and the video didn’t pick up sound because of the water), but I do remember him trying to put the ring on and me telling him ‘No! You have to ask me!’ He asked and I said yes. (He claims he didn’t ask because he ‘knew I’d say yes.’) There was no one around at that time in the morning so we just got to stay and enjoy the views together for a bit with each other and Dewey.”

For their engagement session, we had planned on meeting up at Indian Creek, but had to pivot at the last minute as there was a race/fun run happening there. It turned out perfectly because the Palisades are gorgeous and we had such a beautiful morning there! Also, don’t believe anything they say about Dewey not listening; he was an angel dog for this session. Just look at this face!