Countdown to Edmonton

Darcy and I are trying to set an agenda for wedding errands we need to do when we're in Edmonton. We will be meeting with our officiant on Dec. 23. Other errands, in no particular order are: picking up my wedding band at Birks; checking out a flower shop that my brother used for his wedding; visiting the special events rental place; driving the Chevelle (currently in storage near Thorsby) into town and getting it checked out at Maaco and Sandy Lane Automotive Service. Ideally I'd like to store Bessie (the car) in Edmonton and get it fixed up for next summer. Also need to try and secure an official photographer. Ed, a friend of mine, said he would take some photos. I'm sure Darcy will want to shop around for a dress! We also want to look for decorations and invitation cards. I'll write myself a cheque from my Washington Mutual account and deposit it in my Bank of Montreal account. This will be for money that Darcy contributed to the wedding fund (just over $2,000 U.S. at this point). I'll match whatever she has as I can tap into my B of M savings account (my grandmother's inheritance is there). My family has been invited to the Sharman's on Boxing Day so that will be a good time for all of us discuss wedding plans. That's all for now...

Long overdue, I suppose, but here's a picture of Michael and me together in Ottawa. Would have posted it earlier but we only just got it scanned!

Wedding night and other things

Yesterday I booked our wedding night lodgings at the Union Bank Inn in Edmonton. I had not heard of it but Darcy had seen it and liked it. We naturally preferred the honeymoon rustic suite over the cream and celadon toned suite. It costs $239.00 Canadian so that is reasonable I guess. We can check in after 3:00 but don't know when we'd arrive there. Ideally it would be nice to get there in the early evening.

Val, one of Darcy's friends from our days at SLIS, mentioned the Bear and Bison Inn as a place to honeymoon. It looks really nice but the rates are damn expensive. Room #3 with the jacuzzi is $350 a night. Their two night Romance Package looks great but is a hefty $900 including the refundable GST for Canadian visitors like us! Andrew, a friend and colleague of mine also mentioned taking a Caribbean cruise. I think the money value for that exceeds what staying in the Canadian Rockies has to offer. But Darcy and I miss the rugged outdoors of the northwest!

So we have decided to go with the Alpine Village at Jasper. Darcy likes their one bedroom cabins and they're moderately priced at $190 per night. Since they're closed now for the winter I need to complete their online form. Apparently I will get an email from them soon after they receive my request. One more thing - I read a book called Promises to Keep: Crafting Your Wedding Ceremony that was very good. It's written by a woman pastor and focuses on vows. It's something that not many couples dwell on much yet is what the wedding day is all about. It's 10:30 pm ET so I better head home....

Honeymoon update

My quest for a honeymoon spot continues. Darcy's mother sent an article from the Edmonton Journal about alternative honeymoons (eco type tours) . One stood out in that the Wilderness Outpost. It has short getaways for people wanting a short eco-adventure in the rugged outdoors. The luxury tents caught our eye but the prices are insane - over $9,000 for a week. Granted the company pampers it customers but we could spend that money instead on a long overseas trip to an exotic place. Banff Rocky Mountain Resort looks nice. Their standard suite room costs $221 (with AAA discount) and includes one queen bed and a pull-out sofa or two double beds, gas fireplace, seating area, bar-size fridge and coffee maker. Darcy's Mom also mentioned the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff - their rates are higher. My dad told me about a website to check out for accomodations around Jasper. At the moment Alpine Village Cabin Resort looks very nice and starts at around $175. It also has a pool! Well, that's all for now...

Honeymoon news...

I guess there hasn't been much news to report in a while. I decided to check out the Jasper Park Lodge as Darcy and I decided it would be nice to spend part of our honeymoon there. It's close to home but in a fairly exotic area. Our extended honeymoon would, ideally, be in Greece and Turkey for a month or two. So I first checked the website's Package Finder and selected the Celebration package. That costs $1,300 Canadian for two nights. That was the only package that seemed to suit our needs. I should call them to see if there is a honeymoon package. Then I tried finding rates for Aug. 7 to 11, 2005 and got this sobering result. For that price we could get a package deal somewhere in Mexico or the Caribbean. So I don't think we'll be staying there. I talked to my friend Keith last night and said he and his wife stayed in a cabin at the Pyramid Lake Resort that is close to Jasper. The reviews are mixed but it's worth to call the place. I just checked availability online and it appears the entire complex is booked from August 1-10. There's either one hell of a big wedding there and/or several guests have booked the place. I'll still call but this doesn't look good. Anyone know of other places?

We have an officiant!

Our wedding plans continue to firm up with us now having an officiant. Darcy had emailed the Canadian Unitarian Council and quickly got a reply. The Rev. Brian Kiely, President of the Canadian Unitarian Council, emailed back with a reassuring message that our beliefs were typical of couples and he would find a chaplain in Edmonton. Within a week we got an email from Pam Willerton, a lay chaplain. We will meet her in Edmonton when we fly up for Christmas. This is comforting and we can start planning our ceremony and vows. Darcy and I have begun sorting out what items we may need to rent from Special Event Rentals. We may have enough tables but will need a tent and many chairs, glasses, cups. I printed a checklist from a wedding planning book that is helping. Remember to keep it simple! That's all the news for now...

More good news!

I think either Michael or I had posted earlier about our search for an officiant, and how we were starting to feel a little nervous about finding someone who could comfortably do the kind of ceremony we want. Well, we have some good news on that front now, too!

After that uncomfortable conversation with a recommended marriage commissioner whose feelings turned out to be exactly the opposite of what we needed, I joined a couple of local message boards and otherwise nosed around a bit looking for more ideas. A couple of people, including my dad, suggested we try talking to the Unitarians. I contacted them this past week via email, and it looks like they will be able to perform our wedding for us!

I was initially a little leery of contacting a "church" for this; I fall into the "spiritual-but-not-what-I-would-call-religious" category, and Michael, as previously mentioned, is agnostic. I knew the Unitarians were a pretty open organization, but couldn't get past the idea that a church is, well, a Church, and we weren't looking for a Christian or conventionally religious ritual. But after talking to some people on the message boards I went ahead and wrote them, describing the two of us and what we were thinking of doing, and asking if it would be appropriate for one of their chaplains. And they said it was! A Lay Chaplain is supposed to be contacting us soon to talk about everything.

Needless to say this is a relief. At a minimum, we should have all the essentials--family, location, rings, officiant--in place very soon, and so whatever else ends up happening the wedding will still go on! All the rest is really just details.

ta daaaaaaa!

Dresses and rings

I haven't posted a blog in ages due to work piling up. Poor excuse, I know... Anyway Darcy and I looked at a very nice wedding band for me at Birks in downtown Ottawa. It had a white and yellow gold (two bands) fused together with a slight angular cut and had a sparkling finish. It was similar, at a distance, to the yellow gold and titanium rings I had seen in Florida. But the sales rep. stated that the store did not carry titanium because the metal was difficult to cut off a finger if the person was in an accident. I was impressed that the store had researched the metal's properties. I will likely ask Darcy to order if for me unless I see another ring jump out at me here. We can call a store in Edmonton and not pay sales tax on it and pay in Canadian dollars - heck of a deal! Darcy continues to read many wedding books that look very interesting - I've browsed a few of them. I need to get my butt in gear and contact some tent rental places in Edmonton. Also need to think more about what I want to wear on the Big Day. I want it to be simple and comfortable so no tuxedo! We're unsure about what to serve for refreshments afte the ceremony. But it will be kept simple and easy to clean up. Hopefully Darcy's rings will be ready for the weekend - we'll find out tomorrow...

Don't know if I'd ever wear it, but this is a pretty dress, no?

Odds and ends

Here's a really interesting article on the history of handfasting that I stumbled across on my travels this week....

Still no rings...they are now supposed to be done "maybe by next Thursday, but the end of the month for sure." I certainly hope so!

Sigh....

Okay, first the good news. Michael and I found a lovely hand-made broom to jump over during our ceremony while we were in Ottawa! We got it in Upper Canada Village, an historic site near the town of Morrisburg that recreates a working 19th century village. It was too big to carry on to the plane going home but it seems to have survived the journey relatively unscathed.

But....

My rings were delayed because of Hurricane Frances. They are supposed to be done next week but with Ivan looming, I foresee more business closures/evacuations and further delays.

I was also really hoping that I could post today and say that we had an officiant booked. Michael and I are planning to create a non-traditional ceremony that draws in part on my pagan spiritual leanings. I had received a recommendation for a specific marriage commissioner on a Canadian wedding-themed online message board from an Edmonton wedding co-ordinator who had worked on a similar event. However, when I called the officiant she recommended, it turned out that while he had indeed done the wedding in question, he hadn't known about the non-traditional components beforehand, he was actually very uncomfortable with the way the ceremony unfolded, and he would rather not be involved in anymore weddings of that nature. Not that we are planning anything like what he described this ceremony to be like (what's a "Wicca Book" and why was it brought out during the ceremony???? And why would anyone include anti-Christian rhetoric as part of their wedding????) but it looks like we are going to have to search some more before we find someone who is comfortable with doing the kind of ceremony we both want. Either that or perform a separate, private ceremony outside of the "real" wedding, which is not really in line with what we want to do. Too bad the Government of Alberta has now placed so many restrictions on the Temporary Marriage Commissioner program. Then we could have chosen a friend or family member to do it, which really would have been more meaningful anyway.

Thankfully, we still have plenty of time! Maybe we can work out some details as we are hunkered down riding out Hurricane Ivan.

Patience was never my strong suit

Feeling a little disappointed right now. I called our jeweler today and he said that while I should check back with him tomorrow to make sure, our rings probably won't be ready until after we get back from our trip to Ottawa. I knew that it was a bit of a stretch to hope we would get them before we left, as they're being made from scratch, but I was still hoping to be able to wear them in Ottawa and show them to my aunt and family! Oh well. He says they should definitely be ready by the time we get back, and so I guess that this way we will be able to pick them up together rather than going alone.

Still wish I could find a picture of them, as the style is unique and I haven't really seen anything else like them. Soon I guess....just not too good at all the sitting on my hands and waiting!

Oh, by the way...Mom...we'd like Strawberry cheesecake and Mocha layer cake instead of store-bought, traditional, tiered wedding cake, okay? Taste trumps inedible "decoration" any day! :)

Finally!

We found my rings this weekend! I'm so excited about it. On a tip from a friend who just got married, we took a trip down to Miami to the Seybold Jewelry Building. We've lived here for four years, but are so unfamilar with Miami that we didn't know this whole "jewelry district" even existed...besides this building there are tons of other jewelry stores and centres in this area. After a couple hours of browsing the different stores, trying on various styles and sets, we ended up in Richard's Gems and Jewelry, where we finally found something right.

It's a little hard to explain exactly what it looks like...we got a set with an engagement ring and a matching band. We chose the centre stone separately--Princess cut, .59 carats, graded H for colour and VS1 for clarity. On the sides of the engagement ring, and across the band, tiny round diamonds alternate with baguettes set lengthwise. Total carat weight is just over 1c. It kind of looks like the band in the picture below, except on my rings the stones are channelset with a thin milgrain edge:

The set we looked at was in platinum, but we chose to get it made in 14k white gold instead (what can I say...too much Thomas Covenant at too young an age set me on having white gold a long time ago). The ultimate effect is a little bit antique, a little bit modern--not too flashy or fussy but with more detail to discover after the first casual glance. We should have them in time for our trip to Ottawa, so I can start showing the engagement ring off to my family members then. When we get them, we'll take a picture so that we can post it here and you can see what they really look like.

Needless to say I am very glad we finally found the right rings. Between not having a ring, not having made a formal announcement of our engagement to many of our friends yet (we decided to wait until after our friends' wedding to spread the news openly), and not being able to make any concrete wedding plans before finding out the status of our UAE applications, I was really starting to feel stuck in limbo. Hopefully, with the Al-Ain interviews coming up soon too, we will finally be able to get things in motion!

Here is the photo of the dress Michael mentioned in his last post.

Blustery Update

This is our first posting with the wedding countdown banner! Thanks to Darcy for posting the last few blogs. I have had no excuse for not posting other than I haven't made time for it. I'm at work on my day off (see my personal blog if you're interested) and should really be at home. Hurricane Charley is looming west about 170 miles so it is quite windy here. Anyway I'm glad that Darcy compiled a webliography of wedding books she's checked out. Bear in mind she's read most of them! However, I think my favorite one is The Budget Wedding Sourcebook by Barilla. I especially like the Budget Blueprint chapter and its ten categories. One column lists the product/service, another column has the estimated price and the last column has the actual price. I need to photocopy the checklist.

I guess there really isn't much of an update for our wedding plans. We've been engaged two and a half months but haven't been able to make many concrete decisions. Darcy is right that we could start on creating our wedding vows. Neither of us want biblical references but I would like to have some Pagan comments. One book we looked at discussed Pagan ceremonies that incorporated elements from other religions. Darcy and I have discussed a bit about what we may wear. I've only seen one magazine ad for wedding dress that I really liked. It was not your traditional fluffy, poofy thing. I'd have to have the picture in front of me to describe it. Apparently it was the same advertisement that Darcy's Mom had seen!

My Dad sent me links to three tent sites in Edmonton. There is Special Event Rentals, Big Top Rentals, Superior Show Services, and Event Ready Rentals and Services. I think my Dad rented supplies from Special Events Rentals for his wedding to Heather in 1997. It was a nice big tent they had in their backyard. This should be something that I can plan with my Dad's help.

We've also looked in more stores for rings but have not had much luck. Darcy bugs me that I should have picked one out for her beforehand. But I'm glad I didn't because I would have likely chosen something she wouldn't have liked. She could have returned it but it would have felt strange doing it. There have been a few that I've liked but I forget the metal that is used with the gold. It's gun metal grey and very light weight. A few have a gold strip inlaid and others have had a wavey design. The traditional plain bands are nice too but I think I want something a bit different. Darcy mentioned the option of just buying her ring without a rock and buying one online. Stores online have money back guarantees (assuming we feel comfortable with the website). There have been testamonials about people getting good deals online. If we don't suddenly buy a diamond ring here we can shop at Birks in Ottawa in a couple of weeks.

We wish we could have a date settled and begin planning but that is contingent on our fate with securing jobs at the UAE library. If we're not hired then we'll have the ceremony on August 6, 2005. If we are hired then we would likely move the ceremony back to perhaps Christmas. So the waiting continues...

This Just In!

After some deliberation, we have changed our wedding date from Sunday August 7th to Saturday the 6th. We hope that this will make things easier for the out-of-town people to relax and enjoy the party without having to worry about the drive home! We had just started to get attached to the idea of an outdoor evening wedding when I talked to my mom and she said one word: Mosquitos. So we are back to figuring that the festivities will start in the late morning, and continue into the afternoon.

Also, Michael suggested we create a bibliography of all the wedding planning books we've read so far. I know, I know, librarians are geeks :)

Diamond Dreams

Wow. Who knew that finding an engagement ring would be such a difficult process? But two months later, we're still looking! I told Michael last weekend that he should have got one before he proposed--whatever it was, I probably would have loved it just because he got it, and we wouldn't have to worry about it now!

Part of the difficulty has been that our schedules have been in such opposition that it's been hard to find enough time to see each other at all, never mind a date to go ring shopping. And of course, we have to go all over trying to find the right one...it's not like we can do it in one day! I'm also having difficulty finding a ring that looks good on me...none of the rings I've seen have really "hit" me. So far I think I like the vintage-looking ones like the Tacori styles best. Which, naturally, are more expensive. And then there was the lovely $27 000 ring I tried on in Naples last weekend. Oh, the joys of having expensive taste on a plebian salary!

And then, being librarians and all, we need to make ourselves diamond experts before we can go shopping. If you're going to spend that much money on something, you should at least learn enough to make sure that what you're getting is worth it, right?? :) There are actually quite a few good education sites online, like pricescope and good old gold, which are helping us in our quest.

So, who knows what we will end up with. I'll try to figure out how to post pictures, so once the ring is actually bought we can show you all what it looks like!

After long silence...

Well, it's been quite a while since we posted here. Mostly because so many of our attempts to make concrete plans have been thwarted! Everything seems up in the air right now. We don't have engagement rings yet, because we never seem to have time to do any research or go out shopping. We thought we had picked a firm date two or three times, but other factors--possible visa issues should we still be in Florida, timing conflicts with family--kept getting in the way. And then, just to make things more complicated, we both applied for jobs in the United Arab Emirates! Should we get positions there we would need, for cultural and Islamic-law-compliance reasons, to get married before we left for the Middle East. Whenever that might end up being--from our informal discussions, it sounds like formal interviews won't even take place until September.

Whew.

So, the only new information we really have to share is that, unless we end up going to the Emirates after a quick trip to city hall, we have tentatively decided to get married on Sunday, August 7th, 2005, in my parents' backyard, in a small celebration with immediate family and friends. Nothing is really finalized yet, though, so until we've got a clearer idea of what's going to be going on in the rest of our lives in the next half year we can't say that's definite.

It's frustrating, because we do really want to start planning and spreading the news and generally getting on with this new stage of our lives. However, our relationship has often been somewhat complicated logistically, and so I guess that in one sense it's just a variation on a long-established theme!

the early days part 2

Darcy's *early days* narrative was very accurate. But I'll add a few comments. I probably seemed a bit overbearing at our icebreaker session at SLIS back in early Sept. 1998. It wasn't my intention but once Darcy mentioned that she had a boyfriend I had no thoughts of *pursuing* her. However, Darcy often caught my eye due in part to her curvy body and clothes she wore. She had a stylish floor length overcoat. She'd sometimes wear black tights and a shirt along with her green United Farmers of Alberta blazer. Other times she's wear a blouse with jeans an a silk(?) scarf tied to one of the belt buckles. I was intrigued by her unique wardrobe.

Another interesting thing about Darcy was her subtle style of flirting. During class breaks many students would flock to HUB for coffee. I would often saunter out last and would pass Darcy but I was too shy to talk long with her. We'd make small talk and then she'd almost always wink at me. Few people, including me, wink nowadays but I thought it was a nice touch.

I recall that about a month before our first date I was biking home late at night and saw Darcy walking. It was around 112 street and south of Jasper Ave near the LRT station and Ezio Farone (sp) park. Anyway we chatted for a few minutes and I was impressed by the amount of walking she did. She lived on 124 street north of 111 ave. The next day she emailed me and the email's subject line was *snowy musings*. Another little flirt that piqued my curiosity.

I spent many long hours in the SLIS computer lab and recall Darcy and her long overcoat flowing as she would stroll out the lab door with her boyfriend. I'd sometimes wish I was the one going out with her instead before I'd return to my homework. Darcy neglected to mention that she brought some of her exotic oils on our first date. I think she used to carry a little bottle or two where ever she went but at the Library Bar she took a bottle out and began massaging my hand with the oil. That was a nice touch. I think I ordered a cubalibra or rye and coke and Darcy ordered a Guiness. I have to mention this incident although Darcy may be embarrassed about it. One late night we were cuddling outside the back door of the SLIS building. U of A campus security was doing its rounds and saw us bundled together. They instinctively thought there was an incident and the officer strolled over and asked us separately if we *both wanted to be here*. We both said yes but he didn't seemed to be convinced but soon left us alone. A similar incident happened again.

She says that the first time she showed me her apartment I blurted out something to the effect of *Gee you have a messy kitchen*. I admit to keeping a fairly neat kitchen and keeping the sink free of clutter but I shouldn't have made that comment. I'm surprised she didn't get mad at me and I don't remember how she reacted to my unpolite comment.

I was also intrigued by Darcy's belief in Wicca. I honestly didn't know too much about it and attracted me more to Darcy. Simple things like her buring incense made our moments special. Something sparked my interest to draw her using my pencils and sketchbook. I remember sketching a photo of her at my apartment that quickly turned into a series of sketches. One of my favorites is one I sketched from my mind (using no photo) on Sept. 4, 2000. Darcy correctly mentioned in the previous posting that the next few months of our relationship were strange. I only saw her apartment a few times before I left on my nine week overseas trip on April 20.

We were reunited briefly in Edmonton in late June early July 2000 before I drove to Spokane and took the train to Chicago for the ALA conference. Then we met up a week later there and spent much of the time scouring for jobs. We didn't have a clue what would happen to us but I had a feeling that although we may be apart for a while somehow we would find employment somewhere and begin a new life together. As sappy as it sounds it happened by the end of that year.

The early days

Michael suggested to a friend that we might post the story of how our relationship began, so I thought I'd take a stab at it while I have some free time. This is, of course, my version of events only--Michael may have some editorial comments and extra details from his perspective here and there to post later!

Michael and I met on the first day of classes at the University of Alberta's School of Library and Information Studies, September 1998. The school's director was having us do some get-to-know-you-activities; we were split up into groups and had a set amount of time to find 5 things in common between the group members. I remember Michael speaking up at the start of the exercise, saying, "well, obviously we're all hockey fans, right?" To which I had to unfortunately reply no (I've since discovered the excitement inherent in a live hockey game, btw, though I still don't watch it on TV). He tells me that he remembers me saying in a pointed/significant manner early on during this same exercise that I had a boyfriend (I was still dating my ex Greg, who lives in Claresholm, though that relationship would soon end), which led him to think I was "warning everyone off" and dampened any initial interest he may have had in me. I honestly don't remember this, but I believe I brought it up, seeing as the entire 3 or 4 years previous had been taken up with the question of whether I would move to small-town Alberta with him and work in his greenhouse, or not.

Anyway. I ended up on the rebound pretty quickly after starting school, and began dating another classmate. One of those things that should have lasted for 3 months, but dragged on for 1 1/2 years. Not long after that relationship began, I did hear through the grapevine that Michael was possibly interested in me. I was not unhappy to hear this (he was the "cutest guy in school," after all!), but nothing came of it except and on again/off again crush on my part until March of 2000, as things with Mr. Rebound were falling apart.

So. The big moment. Before the day we got our graduation photos taken, Michael and I had talked on and off, but he never responded to my casual/friendly flirting. I laughed about it sometimes with my friends, saying that it was like trying to flirt with a brick wall. But that day, we were talking, and suddenly I flirted and he flirted back. And I thought...whoa...there's a chink in the armour here! Maybe something is possible! We spent a couple of days pretending to work on school assignments as we talked through DOS instant messaging on the school computers, and we went out for our first date--drinks on St Patrick's Day--at the Library Bar just off campus (I know you're rolling your eyes at that but it's true).

The first few months of our relationship were strange. We started dating six weeks before Michael left on his nine-week "grand tour" of The Middle East, Europe and the UK. He was home for only a few days afterwards before he left to visit relatives in Spokane for a couple of weeks, and then we were both off to ALA. He found his first job there, and we were only together in Edmonton for a couple weeks more before he moved to Florida. It made for an intense, emotional time, with many life-changing decisions to be made in a short period. I got my job with Broward County Library in the fall, and we were reunited in Florida in November of 2000.

Since then we've had lots of good experiences, and worked through some really tough times too. But, we made it, and now here we are!

Michael's Story

I just emailed my friends in the U.S., Canada and overseas about the Big Event. As Darcy mentioned it hasn't sunk in and likely won't for a while. But it's a special feeling. I remember Darcy introducing me to someone at her old workplace and the person replied "Oh this is part of you". A rather strange comment! I think it was the same individual who later said something to the effect that "the two of you look like a plastic couple perched on top of a wedding cake. Darcy gagged at that sickly sweet comment too. Finally someone else commented that we looked like male and female versions of each other. I also had to think about that comment for a minute.

Anyway, to make it official I proposed at around 11 am on Sunday, May 30 2004. I had been mulling the idea for a while but decided to make the decision when Darcy wanted to spend the Memorial Day long weekend in the remote resort of Flamingo, Florida. It's located at the tail end of mainland Florida in the Everglades National Park. Only one road in and out. We had first visited it in March 2001 and loved it. Not many people were there which suited us fine. It is popular with fishermen but many tourists would maybe spend a night and then head back north. Darcy wanted to stay in a cottage at Flamingo Lodge that was near Eco Pond. It was very spacious and had no television. We didn't miss not having a tv.

I still wasn't sure exactly when or where to propose but decided on the morning of May 30. We woke up early due to the power being out for the past twelve hours due to a turkey vulture (buzzard) running into a transformer and starting a fire. It knocked out power to the park. Luckily we had had the a/c maxed out all day so our cottage did not heat up quickly as the hours ticked by. Luckily we had the motel's poolside barbecue to cook our salmon. We used our candles for dinner and one person asked us if we were newlyweds!

Anyway we had breakfast the next morning and then headed outside to practice yoga. We take yoga classes every Monday night and had practiced the previous morning. We chose to practice by the campground picnic area under a shady tree. After a good half hour session I suggested we walk over to a bench overlooking Florida Bay and the keys and that's where I asked. I did not have a ring but Darcy suggested we could both get one at Birks (arguably Canada's finest jewelry store--Ask Darcy because she worked there). I had given Darcy a small diamond ring when I was in Thailand in 2002 but it was a committment ring.

We had dinner that night at the Buttonwood Cafe that is beside the motel. It was a beautiful evening and we had a view of the Florida Bay. Another omen was when our waiter asked if we were on our honeymoon! I was tempted to tell him our news but Darcy didn't want to. Sadly we had to check out the next day and head back to the rat race of Broward County. But we took our time by canoeing for two hours and walking around some of the trails. The scenery was beautiful and peaceful but god was it hot and humid. We saw lots of alligators and a few baby ones.

I guess thinking of all the things that go into planning a wedding makes my head spin. One step at a time so maybe that begins with investigating what Darcy and I need to do about her getting a green card at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We agreed to both set aside money (not sure how much yet) each month for the wedding and maybe honeymoon too. We also agree to spend more money on our honeymoon than the wedding. Darcy said that the average cost of a wedding is $19,000 - that's insane! Even half that amount is nuts. What happened to just having coffee, tea and cookies like what my parents did? And that was the norm! Darcy and I do not want to fall into the trap of couples bickering over mundane things like the color of napkins matching dresses. Okay - I'll get off my soapbox now.

Until next time...

The Announcement

It's finally happened...we got engaged! Michael proposed during a trip to the Everglades, on a bench overlooking Florida Bay. It's exciting, yet all a little strange...I don't think that it's really sunk in for either of us that we've actually decided to get married. Oh well, I guess we'll have plenty of time to get used to it! ;)

Especially since we live so far away from many of our family and friends, we thought that we'd set up this site to provide information and have conversations about all of our plans. We both maintain separate blogs, but with one specifically devoted to the wedding we'll be able to put all the important details in one place, and let people who would be bored by reading about our thoughts and preparations have the chance to avoid most of it altogether. Obviously at this point, we don't have a lot of specific plans...we haven't even been engaged a week and we don't even have a date set! But more information will follow. We hope that you'll join us in our excitement and our joy as we work it all out. Feel free to leave comments with suggestions, advice, warnings, or other ramblings!