~ Utterly Engaged ~

It's been one month since Mount Washington and I feel like I've been caught up in a whirlwind of activity. I don't know if I have ever been so excited and simultaneously so overwhelmed in my life. I am marrying my very dearest friend. A man I love, trust and respect completely. I am so perfectly at peace with our decision to get married - but it is still a lot to take in! So much is happening in the next six months it is kind of amazing. My brother is getting married to the most lovely girl in November, my little sister is going off to UCSD in January, and now I'm getting married in April!! Oh, my poor mother. As she so perfectly put it, "They are all good things... but all at once it's just too much!"


My brother and his fiancee had the most darling engagement photos taken! Hmm... I think Brad and I may need some of these done... aren't they precious?



So, why April? Well, a few reasons. Logistically, April 17th is the only day in all of April and May that our pastor could officiate our wedding. April weddings are less expensive than June weddings and often have better weather (and everything is so green!). Everyone we have talked to has told us to keep the engagement short and the wedding simple - it's about the marriage not the wedding. Also, we believe that the Lord has plans for us and for our life together and if you truly believe that, it seems wrong to put His plans on hold so that you can have more time or money to plan a party (more or less). Not only that but we love each other and can't wait to be married! So, in the end, April is what works for us and what we feel good about.


Now the rubber hits the road! I have so many ideas and so much to do! I hope you enjoy the journey with me!

Amazing Times...

I've been putting off this blog post for almost a MONTH now - it just seemed so overwhelming I couldn't quite get it out! But here goes:


The whole trip to Rhode Island was amazing and crazy. Brad and I got to his parent's house Wednesday night. On Thursday his mom convinced us that our trip would not be complete unless we participated in her church's Cardboard Boat Regatta. So we spent much of the day making a cardboard boat. :)


On Friday we took the Vineyard Fast Ferry to Martha's Vineyard and spent some time just wandering through the cute streets of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown.


It was incredibly beautiful and relaxing...


We got breakfast, did a little shopping, visited a lighthouse, had some ice cream, and just enjoyed the day. After getting back to RI we had some BBQ with Mike and Rudy and headed home - sun burnt and sleepy.


Saturday began with high hopes of working on our, now all-consuming, boat before Danielle's wedding but that didn't work out quite as planned so we just headed straight to the church. Which was, as it turns out, just a few block's from Brad's parent's house!


The setting was idyllic, Danielle was lovely, and the ceremony was meaningful and sweet. I loved it. After the ceremony we rushed back to main street and picked up a card (oops!) from a local calligrapher. Then we took our time driving to the Narragansett Towers and stopped by Brad's alma mater, URI. It was a beautiful campus. I asked Brad if it was strange to have me there - if it felt like two different worlds were colliding. He said, "No, you are my world now. It never feels strange to have you with me." ...sigh...


Once we got to the Towers the reception had begun and it was gorgeous! They did a really nice job. The food, music, flowers, everything was perfect.


After the reception we went up to Providence to take in WaterFire. Wow. It was unbelievable! They light bonfires all long the river that runs through the city center, then they play incredible music, then they light chandeliers under the bridges, then they bring out the gondolas. It was intensely beautiful and quite romantic. I got a little teary actually.

That night we had to kick it into gear with the boat. So we put on some grubby clothes and got to work. We worked until 3 o'clock in the morning... and still had more to do when we got up!


That next morning... THE morning... we frantically glued and painted and duct taped until we were covered in paint, hot glue burns, and blisters.


Finally, we finished. Moments before the big regatta. So we threw our little boat into the car and drove like mad to park.


Shock. We had been pretty impressed with our little boat... It was, after all, merely made of cardboard. Who knew this so-called church was attended solely by engineers, craftsmen, boat-makers, and magicians??? These were not merely "cardboard boats" these were beautiful, solid, sea-worthy, watercraft! They were incredible!! Suddenly our boat, formerly the "sure thing", the undoubted winner, was the underdog!

The feeling I got looking at our sad little boat was something akin to the feeling a protective mother might get when her sickly child tries out for the soccer team. You want them to do well, you're so proud, but still you wonder... I mean, the other kids are HUGE!


Still, we took our boat-lette down to the beach amid murmurs of "look at that little boat!" and "oh! a late entry!" or "here's another one!"... Now at the beach, standing proudly in our life jackets, oars in hand, we were ready. The gun fired. We ran with our boat into the water. "Hop in!" Brad cried exuberantly. I unsteadily lower myself into our little boat... water rushes around my ankles... is that normal? Brad hops in. We hit the bottom. As our boat quickly transforms into a wet wad of toilet paper Bradley continues to paddle madly as we both gasp for air between fits of laughter. We soon give up and dragged our poor little boat to the bouy and back again, still laughing.


On the shore, our wreck drew almost as large of a crowd as the winning boat! Humans are, by nature, fascinated by the failures of others and, boy, we represented one spectacular failure! Hah! Little kids can be particularly cutting, "What happened to your boat? Did it flip?" - kid. "Nope. It stayed right-side-up the whole way down..." - Brad. :) The other boats continued to amaze. Sure, there were a few sad sacks, but the majority came out fantastically unscathed! Brad's mom's boat looked perfect!


The winners took their boat out again and paddled around for awhile... the flat bottom boat folks attached an outboard motor to their "cardboard" boat and cruised around! Disgusting.


We looked on at their success as we stuffed what was left of our little boat into a trash bag and consoled ourselves with frozen lemonade. All in all it was a pretty good day. :)


The next day was our big hike up to Mt. Washington so we ran a couple of errands, packed our backpacks, prayed, and got some sleep.


...to be continued...

I'm Home Again!

Well, I'm back from the NYIGF! It was a really good show and left us feeling optimistic about sales for the rest of the year... not to mention NY is just a fun place to hang out... :)

The day after I got home Brad and I celebrated our very first anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since we first met. I can so clearly remember coming home from NY last year and thinking about how I would meet him the next day and wondering what he would be like and whether or not it would be different in person... it was better. I so enjoyed our first date and I thought I knew him then... I knew about him then. I know him now... and I love him more every day. Sigh. Ok ok... no more gushiness... I promise... It has been an amazing year, though, and I am so blessed.

On Sunday Bradley and I hiked the Devil's Slide Trail in Idllywild up to Tahquitz Peak... it was much hotter than expected but oh so gorgeous.


We had a blast, laughing, scrambling over boulders, munching on "gorp" (good old raisins and peanuts), and taking lots of pictures... lovely.


Going for a Peter Pan shot...


View from the fire lookout... so pretty. It was getting a little late at this point so we had to head back.
Coming back down the sun was casting the most beautiful light... everything was glowing... loved it. :)