Fly away with me. . .
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Silly me! I was so thrilled to be sharing this sweet sesh with y'all I plum forgot to welcome you back to TWP! Welcome, welcome friends. Happy you are here. :)
So. . . how much do you love these pics? We are especially in love with the Air Force Base shoot. The images have a romantic, nostalgic sort of Hollywood feel which we adore. Special thanks to Meredith Melody for sharing her majorly awesome work with TWP. We are so very grateful.
NOW!!!! Here's the MOST special part of this post. We are privileged to have the GROOM'S perspective. Yep! Read on. . ."HOW WE MET:
Kara and I met at a friends after wedding party. She was the best friend of a girl dating one of the groomsmen and I had known the groom since high school. The second Kara walked in I knew I had to talk to her and she has had my attention ever since. As the night went on we chatted, mostly me having to prove I really wasn't from the North and me realizing this was a girl I wanted to get to know more of. At the end of the night, she told me that she needed to get home so her "roommates" wouldn't get worried (I called her on this since she had told me she was home from school for the summer) and we parted ways. With the exception of a couple days here and there due to my job, not a day goes by that we don't talk to each other.
OUR FIRST KISS:
So Kara and I met in the summer of 11 but our first date wasn't until Columbus Day weekend later that year after lots of chatting and Skyping. We had planned on me flying up there to see her but due to a work event I wasn't going to be able to. So after some convincing and her trying to explain to her parents that they wouldn't find her in a ditch in Arkansas, Kara fought the New Jersey traffic and came to visit me in Arkansas. I picked her up at the airport with her entire wordrobe, thanks Liz (Kara's roommate), and we went to downtown Little Rock. We grabbed some dinner and then went for a walk. There is a nice walking trail that has an old railroad bridge that crosses the Arkansas River and as we were halfway across the moment felt right and we shared our first kiss. So, if you are wondering why we took engagement photos on an old railroad bridge, now you know, it's because that's where we shared our first kiss.
OUR FIRST DEPLOYMENT:
Kara and I had only been together for a few months when I found out that I would be going to Qatar for my third deployment. I knew that I loved her but I didn't get the chance to tell her before I had to leave for training right after the New Year. I've only been able to surprise Kara twice. The second time was our engagement. The first time was between going to training and leaving for Qatar. I had an unplanned stop over for nine days and was able to drive up to New England to visit her and let her know how I felt about her before I left the country for five months. After two plane flights, eight states and seven hours of driving (plus some creative planning with her roommates and friends), I pulled up and surprised Kara while letting her know how much I loved her. We spent the next five months exchanging cards and care packages, love letters and text messages. It was rough being apart that long, but we only grew closer.
THE ENGAGEMENT:
If anyone knows Kara, they know she loves to be surprised. They also know that she hates being kept in the dark and she won't stop asking questions until she feels she has the information. So if you plan on surprising Kara, you are in for an adventure. I knew when I was in Qatar that I was going to ask Kara to marry me so that was when the planning began. I bought the plane ticket and asked our friend Ashley Lopes to help me out with some of the logistics so Kara wouldn't find out. I had planned on asking her Columbus Day weekend, which was our weekend, but I had to tell her that we wouldn't be able to spend it together that year. My cover story was perfect, well perfect if you were in the military and you weren't Kara Kinchla. She didn't buy it, so to throw her off the scent I told her I was going to surprise her that weekend and had already gotten the plane ticket. She felt so bad about ruining her surprise she stopped asking questions which allowed me to continue planning on how I would ask her to marry me. For those who know us together, Kara is a planner and I am not. So she was planning our whole weekend out and one of the events was a trip to Sleeping Giant State Park. I said to myself, that sounds perfect. A couple of days before I was going to fly up, I called Kara's dad to ask for permission to marry Kara and asked him to keep it quiet for the two days until I had a chance. I had been dropping distractors this whole time to keep everyone off the trail. I told her sister not to keep her hopes up on a ring any time soon, friends would get a "it will be awhile". So after Kara got out of class on Oct 4, 2012 we went hiking at Sleeping Giant. It was a foggy day so there weren't really any other people at the park. We made it to the top of the hill which had a look out tower. I told Kara to turn around, close her eyes, and that I had something for her. I reminded her that she needed to close her eyes (come on people it is Kara). I pulled the ring out of my backpack and got down on my knee and told her to turn around. When she did I asked Kara Elizabeth Kinchla to marry me. Then the partying began..."
How sweet!!! I do believe that's a man in complete love with his lady. :)
Kara Kinchla and Scott Patton will be exchanging marriage vows November 2, 2013. TWP wishes these two all the happiness in the world. We consider it an honor to get to share their happiness with the whole state of Arkansas. Here's to happily ever after!!!
Oh, and Scott. THANK YOU for your service. :)
Have a lovely day, y'all. Hope to see ya' back here tomorrow.
XOXO,
Deborah
