If you follow me on Twitter or are lucky enough (or not so?) to know me in real life, you might have heard some bloody amazing news from our recent holiday to the USA. We booked our Trek America from LA to San Francisco over a year ago but little did I know, Simon was planning a surprise…

Three days into the trek, we arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Besides the bright lights of Vegas the canyon was one of the reasons we booked the trip, and it was about to become a highlight of our year. When we arrived at the canyon, our trek leader made us close our eyes and walk hand in hand towards the rim. He wanted us to see the view as he’d seen it, without walking gradually up the edge, and instead taking everything in under one blink. One-by-one he led us up to the rim and told us to open our eyes, and every time each person either gasped, screamed or swore at what they were seeing. It’s a truly incredible way to catch your first sight of the Grand Canyon, and I’m so pleased he decided to show it to us that way.

After we’d got over the shock of our first sight of the canyon, the group split to explore the park separately and planned to meet to watch the sunset together. We headed over to the rim trail to take photos without barriers in the way. Photos of the Grand Canyon definitely don’t do it justice. You can’t understand the sheer size, depth and beauty of the place unless you really see it. Photos might look impressive, but the real deal is just indescribable.

We snapped ourselves at the edge…

And photographed some brave souls who ventured out onto the boulders…

Then as I was taking photos of the view from an open spot, Simon took out a ring from his pocket and asked me to marry him!

I was so stunned! Apparently the first thing I said was “Oh my god! Really?” and then, of course, said yes! He’d been planning this for months, had carried the ring around in his pocket for 3 days until we’d got to the canyon and he’d picked his spot, and not told a single soul about his plans – not even our parents! I was so shocked I had to walk away from the canyon rim for fear of shaking myself over the edge! We’d hoped that this holiday would be something special, and memorable it definitely is.

I wasn’t expecting to be proposed to at such an amazing place. I thought maybe he’d pick somewhere nice in London but no, the boy went that extra mile and asked me somewhere he knew would be such an awesome memory. I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.