It’s been almost four years since I first met Julie. In that time, I’ve come to truly appreciate her not only as a partner-in-crime at work, but also as an incredibly lovely young lady. I feel like Julie is seventy years younger than I am, so it makes sense that her approach to, well, everything is just so youthful and sweet. She is one of those truly special individuals that just make you want to be better. Suffice it to say, I really like Julie.

I feel like I’ve literally watched her grow up in the past four years. She still texts me to let me know when she’ll be late (which typically proves to be a highlight in my day), but she’s grown so much professionally and I look forward to her continued growth. Aside from that, though, I’ve also had the pleasure of watching her fall in love.

I remember when Julie first started talking about Joe. She would giggle and blush as her head tilted. It was really sweet. And then when I met Joe, I could tell why. He was clearly smitten with her and they just looked like they went together … like peas and carrots or Ken and Yoga Barbie.

Fast-forward to this past October when Julie was going on a trip with Joe to Arizona. All of us had a feeling this was the trip. I mean, we’d anticipated the last few were ‘the one’ so we were actually running out of planned trips to anticipate Joe would finally take care of business propose.

I was delighted to take some photos of Julie and Joe last weekend in Grand Rapids. I’m grateful the Downtown Market was kind enough to share their common spaces with us so we could escape the 20 degree temps and that the sun shone enough to get a little silly outside.

I really appreciated getting to know Joe better because, just like a mother bear protects her young, I want to make sure Julie will be well cared for. And it’s clear … she will be. But I also know that Joe is a wise man for choosing one very special woman. Congratulations to the both of you!