{Stacy helped me write this entry! – you’ll find her words in red!}
For this blog post, I wanted to do something a little different. As much as this site exists to show the work that I create for couples in love and people enjoying life, sometimes I have the rare opportunity to show a little glimpse of myself and what goes on in the life of the dude behind the camera. My girlfriend, Stacy, and I had been planning a day trip for this particular weekend for some time – it was the first Saturday I’d have off in the few months since wedding season had started. Originally the plan was to go big and go to NYC and see some of the sights we hadn’t seen before, but as the day got closer, we realized we needed to keep things low key and slightly more relaxed! In a slightly spur-of-the-moment decision, we decided to visit the local zoo. Neither of us had been there before so it was still a new adventure for us to share together.
The decision was really Bryan’s as a surprise to me. After a stressful few days at work I was okay with going anywhere fun to spend the day with my favorite guy. By some miracle I missed every single sign between my house and the zoo that mentioned Claws and Paws. As we turned the final time to see the very large welcome sign and the realization hit me…. I nearly had a heart attack. I was so delighted and surprised I could barely contain my excitement. I may have been more excited than any small child there! I had only ever been to one zoo before and it had been with Bryan and his family last summer at the Detroit Zoo. This trip turned out to be even more exciting and it had nothing to do with the animals! There was a small hidden agenda behind the choice to go to the zoo.
A friend of ours works there and I knew he’d be able to take a couple of photos of us during one of the giraffe feedings. We have so few photos together and I wanted to make sure we got a few on this day – because it was a pretty special day. The zoo has a pretty neat design and you can start out on many of the loops and see the different animals and exhibits at your own pace. It wasn’t particularly crowded either which was nice. Right when you walk in though, they have this cute desert garden.
Our first stop was the reptile house. I had an iguana growing up, so I had to snap a shot of this guy. 
This guy was also out with his stellar posing skills on display. 
This was a rather intense moment as a passerby. At first I thought he was finishing his lunch… thankfully that is just his tongue, which is still a little scary. 
After leaving our reptilian friends behind we found some fury ones that were busy “monkeying around.” And don’t miss those lovely Capybaras! (for you, Eric Pencek.) 
I wonder what sort of cultural norms alligators have, but apparently it’s okay to sit on your children. 
Oh, me? Just hanging out. 
“Draw me like one of your french girls…” 
And then this hideous ape showed up! Seriously, what a baboon…
Yep, that is my boyfriend… it’s totally okay to be jealous. 
To the best of our recollection this is a baby deer of some sort. Whatever he is, those eyes just scream “hug me!” 
Yes, this one moment of being taller than the sign was exciting. It took years for me to be big enough to ride some of the best rides at Hershey Park. Thankfully that isn’t an issue here. 🙂
Yep, my lady love is barely taller than a penguin. At least she doesn’t waddle like one! 
Obligatory alpaca. 
He looks like a friendly creature now doesn’t he? He was pretty loudly calling for some attention… or dinner. 
Now that’s a gorgeous house cat. 
Of the two lions at the zoo, we’re pretty sure this was Henry. He looks like a Henry. 
Derp. 
Soft kitty. warm kitty. little ball of… 
Love the gracefulness of the step. She’s got legs – she knows how to use them. 
Live action from down under with the wallabies! 
According to the sign, these little guys enormous ears help regulate their body temperature. It also helps hang time in hurricanes. 
They are awfully cute in any case. 
This unbelievable adorable fox is Oscar. I am not much of a pet person, but I would take him home any day!
The baby bob cat was only a few months old. Look at those stunning eyes! 
Who knew.. a punk rock rabbit?! 
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Deville.” 
One of the attractions at the zoo is a chance to feed the Lorry birds. Someone decided that it’s cute and fun to have a hundred hungry wild birds clawing and fighting over little bits of apple in your hand. Stacy was inside the pen for about 10 seconds before she was accosted by the 3 amigos. 
I only ever had one at a time. I must have smelled funny. 
And then there was this guy. By far the most awesome looking bird I’ve ever seen. 
And now we get to the main attraction! Our friend Dylan, amongst his other responsibilities, works with the zoos giraffe, Twigga. Stacy had been excited to meet Twigga ever since we found out that Dylan worked with him at the zoo. Giraffes have been an inside joke for Stacy and I for nearly two years since we had found some silly giraffe toy on a shopping trip that got us both laughing hysterically. Since then, we’ve exchanged stuffed giraffe pets, and Stacy has a giraffe print blanket and giraffe earrings as well! So this was going to be a super awesome adventure for us being able to see a giraffe up close and get to feed him as well. Here’s the man of the hour: 
She was really jazzed to see him. 
Dylan showed up to help supervise the feeding. (and take photos, remember?) 
Can you feel the love? 
And this is the extent of Dylan and Twigga’s bromance. The ‘kiss’ is actually Twigga taking a piece of carrot from between Dylan’s lips! 
Pucker up. 
Twigga kindly wrapped his 20-inch tongue completely around Stacy’s hand... 
And then this…
After finally getting to feed Twigga I was so bursting with joy that I was suddenly oblivious to everything around me… I turn to Bryan and said, “Honey, I love him, can I keep him?!“ Bryan’s response, “No, but can I keep you?” (this is Stacy, still clueless…) 
Then I started to catch on… 
I have often dreamed of how I would feel in a moment like this… I only remember being shocked, as evidenced by my stunning facial expressions. 
The shock slowly morphed into realization that he was asking me to marry him!
I had all sorts of really sweet and romantic words and phrases flying around in my head that I wanted to say – but I got all giddy and teary-eyed once Stacy got all giddy and teary-eyed and then none of the words came out. I could tell at this point that she knew what was going on so I just went ahead and popped the question right there in front of Twigga and a handful of random people that I’ll never see again in my life. 
It took a few moments for Stacy to compose herself and prepare her one word acceptance speech. But after she said yes it was all celebration – and random children feeding the giraffe. 
Twigga Photobombing like a boss. 
A selfie taken by the man who made these photos happen. Thanks to Sir Dylan O’keefe for his excellent skills. (And his willingness to help out at the end of a ridiculously long day.) 
Someone decided to use MY shirt to dry their teary eyes… 
He forgave me for using his shirt as a tissue. I mean after all, he gave me this amazing ring, how big of a deal is the t-shirt? 
I then proceeded to walk around with this crazy grin on my face for about a week or so… I am the girl who is now planning her wedding to the most amazing man (and photographer) on the planet! I cannot wait to share the rest of forever with you, my best friend and love of my life!! xoxox 
I’m super excited as well! We’re rolling and planning like a boss trying to make this all happen before the winter hits. We’ll be sending out save the date cards and invitations closely thereafter once we nail the date down for sure (small little hangup on that which should be worked out this week).
I hope you enjoyed sharing in our cute little proposal story – I’m so glad that everything worked out so well and I can’t wait to start this next chapter in life with such an amazing lady.
Cheers,
Bryan
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