I feel so honored to get to post this, as I played such a big (and shall I mention, rediculously fun) part in this sunrise proposal of Jenny & Austin.
So I get a phone message from Austin.. “Hey Jana, it’s your good buddy Austin, call me when you can!” And SOMEHOW, I knew INSTANTLY what he was wanting.. called him right back and said “YOU’RE PLANNING ON PROPOSING TO JENNY AND WANT ME TO TAKE PICTURES?!?” How did I know? I have no clue, it was a hunch. So many of us have been waiting for this momeny for this sweet couple. Jenny played volleyball with me at Graceland University, the captain of the women’s volleyball team, while Austin, representing the Graceland University men’s volleyball team. Both tall, both adorable, and will make you laugh your head off any day of the week.
And for Austin to be SO creative, to want to capture such an awesome moment for Jenny and him, through my photography, made me feel like a million dollars. And I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this.
So here we are, 6:40 in the a.m., I’m covered from head to toe in black hats, hoodies, gloves, scarves, and camo pants, army crawling through the thorny rose bushes of Loose Park, getting the stink eye from Austin every few minutes to varify that we were on the right track to get the PERFECT proposal.
So I lay there, dirty and soaked, starting to cramp in the legs a little bit.. man.. waiting for 7:30 for the sun to come up, staring EVERY SECOND at these two so that I don’t miss THE moment, was a little tiring. (I think I was more nervous than Austin) and I’m pretty sure I looked like a creepy person hiding in the bushes as the joggers circled their laps around me wondering why I was being so nosey on this adorable couple just eating their breakfast and watching the sunrise.
Thumbs up in the air, I let Austin know I was ready to go with the perfect view. BUT THEN….
Jenny decides to move benches so that they aren’t blocked from the beautiful sunrise. (Oh crap).. I start leaping through the thorns, as I see Austin going down on his knee. But I knew she was in the zone and NOT paying attention to me. SO I walked right up to them and I’m sure Jenny thought I was a creepy old man snooping on them, until I dropped the camera and “SURPRISE!”
I think everyone else in the park picked up on why we were there, once Austin picked her up, swung her around and received a blessing of applause from the strange people of Kansas City.
So congratulations to the wonderful Ishams to be! I am SO happy for you both and thank you again for the breakfast and thoughtful involvement. It was great to see the fam there to share in the big morning for you both!
Good job Austin!
{Enjoy}
Nearly dark
The fake out!
Love the love!
Calling the parents to share the big news.
I put in my own quotes of what I think is going on “Wait.. where are you?”
Stunning! What a beutiful story with pictures.
great moments captured for ever! Wish I could have been there. Dad
These are absolutely beautiful! Jana did such a good job telling the story! Picture perfect…literally! ๐
This honestly made me tear up! The fact you captured the real life moment is amazing! Made me think of me and my fiance and we will be contacting you for our pictures too as we have been together since 7th grade ๐ great pictures Jana. You are absolutely amazing.
Great pics Jana! You are so amazing. Glad I got to be a part of this!! Congrats to Austin and Jenny, some of my favorite people.
Jana! These pictures are great. They're perfect… I have heard of sacrificing for your art, but you creeping around in those rose bushes and getting picures like this was above and beyond. I can't imagine a better situation all around. Thanks again.
B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!! ๐
These pictures could be used for advertising for getting engaged, going to a park, seeing a sunrise, having a family, hiring a photographer…the works! They are amazing and capture each of them so well! Thanks for sharing!
You were there at heart Rick :: smiles :: We missed you!
Thankyou for sharing…a wonderful moment captured forever on film. How do you guys look so good so early in the morning…Congratulations to ALL
Julia
the whole story and pics made me tear up!!! GREAT job jana!!!
You did an AMAZING job, Jana as capturing such a special moment! These photographs are beautiful! And I couldn't be more happy for them:)
Haha, I like that only a select group of family members made the cut for this photo shoot. Sorry to those who weren't considered attractive enough, I think your beautiful.
I felt like a jerk only posting a short, silly message here that doesn't even include a congratulations… even though Austin kind of made me do it… and even though I already congratulated them…. but still, congratulations!
Also, I am aware of the fact that sometimes people don't understand jokes even when they are preceded by a "Haha", which is a pretty big clue. But just to clarify, my last comment was a joke. I don't actually really think that part of the Isham/Stone family was left out of this photo shoot on account of poor looks. I mean, have you seen the other Stone girls?? Heyo! And Colin's one sexy chap! He's got his handsome dad's genes to thank for part of that. If I missed anyone in my sudden rant of compliments, I'm sorry, but consider yourself hot in my book. To the older folks out there, "hot" is a word that young people use as a synonym for "handsome" or "pretty", even though we still also use it to describe a certain temperature range. Therefore, a typical young person of today could refer to a burning picture of Marylin Monroe as "hot" in two different ways. Okay, I'm really derailing here.
Congrats once again and great job Jana, I miss you all very much!
I really loved seeing a glimpse of a very special moment in your lives that you all will cherish forever. It is really neat that you were able to get photos of the event. I'm looking forward to all of your "events" in your future lives together!! XOXOX
So I’ve read this at LEAST 5 times and every time I CRY!!! Thank you Jana for making it so I could enjoy the story! And can totally see you and my family hiding in the bushes!! And Jenny Jackson too of course! Thank you!!
[…] And I was honored to be apart of the Isham BBQ dinner and slumber party to catch up on life and love, sports and just about anything and everything going on in all our busy lives. Austin is currently studying to be a physical therapist, and Jenny,ย in her books as always studying her medicine. I’m so proud of them both for working so hard, perusing their college sports and still leaving time for their family and of course.. a fun photo shoot. ย I hope you all enjoy their photos and their awesome story. See Austin’s proposal story here. […]