Authentic Engagement Session on the Boardman River | Kelsie + James
Kelsie + James‘ engagement story is one of authentic connection and unfiltered love.
“I think I knew Jimmy was the one when I could 100% be myself around him. No walls, no barriers, no mask, I didn’t feel like I needed to be a specific type of person for him. He embraced all my weirdness, not only listened to my crazy ideas and thoughts, but embraced everything about them. I always call him my ‘yes man.’ Always down to do anything.”
Kelsie + Jimmy met sixteen years ago in high school through a mutual friend, Michelle. Jimmy was a senior; Kelsie was a sophomore. “Michelle was friends with a lot of the seniors at Northern and would have Jimmy drive her home from school or tennis practice, and one day I was with her when Jimmy picked us up his navy Saab convertible. Obviously he was a super cool senior driving a convertible in high school so cue the heart eye emoji from me. Since that day we had hung out at a few mutual friends houses occasionally and Facebook messaged back and forth over the next few years but slowly drifted apart through college. It wasn’t until the prime of COVID in 2020, when I moved from Florida back to Grand Rapids, MI, to be closer to my mom, and Jimmy invited me over to his house to have game night with him and his family (since Michigan was basically in lockdown at that point and there was nothing to do). We’ve pretty much been inseparable since.”
One thing both Kelsie + Jimmy love to do is travel. “This last year I planned a two week camping road trip out west to visit the Badlands National Park, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Glacier National Park. I wanted to show Jimmy something that I always enjoyed doing growing up. We bought a tent, packed up our dogs, and took off out west. I had no idea he had an engagement ring hidden in the bottom of his center console! It wasn’t until day five of our trip when he got down on one knee in front of the Grand Tetons. We both hadn’t showered in five days, I could barely grasp what was happening, and I’ll never forget the cute Australian family cheering for us in the background. We had no cell phone service to call anyone and share the good news, and we still had a week left of our trip! I call it our ‘engagement-moon.’”
Kelsie + Jimmy, it’s clear you two work perfectly together. Congrats on your engagement!