There’s a waterfall in Decorah, Iowa that Katie Vaske simply loves. She’s at all times felt relaxed close to water, and she or he takes any alternative to spend time on the shore, basking within the waves. However waterfalls maintain a particular place in Katie’s coronary heart; there’s magic there.
After courting her boyfriend Doug for a few 12 months, she determined to indicate him her favourite waterfall. They drove the 90 minutes from Manchester, Iowa and took the brief hike to the highest of the falls. Looking on the water, with Doug beside her, Katie smiled. She turned to Doug, and jokingly mentioned, “You realize, you may ask me to marry you up right here.”
A 12 months earlier, Katie didn’t assume marriage was within the playing cards for her, or not less than not for some time. She was solely in her mid-20s, however she’d already gone to school for veterinary aiding and was working full-time. She didn’t actually have time to this point, she says, and she or he particularly didn’t wish to wade by means of the overwhelming prospect of on-line courting. “I talked to my buddy and informed her I used to be by no means going to join a courting website,” Katie recollects. However, after some extra thought, Katie relented. “I signed up for that one considering, ‘oh, I ain’t gonna discover anyone. After which look what occurred.’”
Katie wasn’t all for courting websites reminiscent of OkCupid and eHarmony, the place there have been hundreds of questions and too many selections to make. As a substitute, she thought concerning the form of man she hoped to satisfy: somebody sensible, adventurous and never afraid of onerous work. So she turned to Farmers Solely, a courting website for, effectively, farmers solely.
Fairly quickly, Katie obtained a message from Doug, who grew up and nonetheless labored on his household farm. For the primary few exchanges, the positioning lets customers ship pre-fab stickers or emojis, after which you may resolve if you wish to discuss extra. Doug’s first be aware to her? ‘I’ll ship you a dozen roses.’ Katie responded with a winky ‘you’re cute.’ (One way or the other, she swears they began off as pals and constructed a relationship from there.) However, inside a couple of days, they have been messaging usually and able to meet in particular person.
Extremely, neither of them needed to go far.
Though the 2 had by no means met earlier than, they lived solely 5 miles aside, straddling the border of Manchester. In all that point, their paths had by no means crossed. Now that they lastly had, the 2 began seeing one another usually.
At first, talkative Katie needed to coax shy Doug out of his shell. She remembers their first date dialog revolved round tractors. “It was numerous farm discuss,” Katie says with fun. However, finally, Doug opened up and, as they obtained to know one another, proved to be simply as romantic as his first be aware concerning the dozen roses instructed.
A number of years into the connection, Doug and Katie have been on the lookout for one thing to do on a uncommon shared time without work. The 2 love taking impromptu street journeys and occurring mini adventures. Katie started itemizing a couple of locations they might go to. When Doug instructed the waterfall in Decorah, off they went. “There’s lots of people there, so I’m like ‘OK, we are able to keep down right here.’ And he’s like, ‘No, let’s go to the highest,’” Katie says. She was just a little confused, questioning why they needed to hike to the highest of this waterfall when there are all these individuals round? However Doug appeared excited, in order that they began climbing.
“I’m going ahead to the deck, and he’s standing behind me. And I say, ‘What are you standing behind me for, stand up right here!’ Effectively, I rotated, and he was on one knee.” Katie’s joke from years earlier had come true. Doug proposed on high of that waterfall, and she or he mentioned sure.
Whereas Katie couldn’t see herself getting married, her household might. The primary time she introduced Doug house to satisfy her dad and mom, she says, “My dad pulled me to the facet and he mentioned ‘you’re going to marry that man.’” The pair obtained married in October 2018, and since then, have settled down on their very own farm, simply down the street from the Vaske household farm. They develop 25 acres of corn and beans, and so they additionally assist out on Doug’s household farm, which covers 300 acres. They dream of increasing someday: They’d wish to get extra land and perhaps some animals, a couple of calves to lift.
Within the meantime, Katie and Doug are nonetheless adventuring and roadtripping at any time when they will. They’ve now visited each waterfall in Iowa. All as a result of Katie took an opportunity and clicked.
