Aristotle

For when wife and husband are agreed about the best things in life, of necessity the friends of each will also be mutually agreed; and the strength which the pair gain from their unity will make them formidable to their enemies and helpful to their own.

Moving

Something we've forgotten to mention here is that we have a house to rent. It's really quite exciting. House hunting was on the to-do list for August. We had started looking around generally at the various condos and apartments in the general area--made a list of what we were looking for in a place, and were becoming increasingly aware of how hard it was going to be to find time to go look at places. Nick has a 2 hour commute (each way) and class twice a week, which pretty much just left us with weekends.

And we certainly didn't have many weekends.

We tried not to stress about this, to pray that God would provide, and to start doing our best to fit everything in.

And then a house climbed into our laps and begged to stay. Almost literally. A friend was moving out because she and her housemates were in a time of transition, and transition was making the house a less than ideal spot to stay for them. She'd lived there 4 years and loved it. Did we want to come see it this weekend? Sure.

It's 2 stories tall and has a basement, there is also a tiny attic. It's so narrow that it looks like it escaped from a town house neighborhood, but it's a spacious 2000 sq ft (counting the basement, which is largely unfinished). It has a big beautiful kitchen, a deck, a little front porch and a postage stamp yard. It also has 2 full baths, and 2 half baths, and 3 bedrooms. : it has a driveway and no speed bumps. It's also in a great location, very close to the highway, so easy access for my commute and Nick's. It's all we wanted and more.

The rent was also extremely reasonable, and about what you would pay for a condo a third of the size.

So, we're moving Nick this weekend into the house that God plunked in our lap with a twinkle in His eye.

-the Lady

"Awake! arise! my love, and fearless be,
For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee."
-John Keats, The Eve of St. Agnes

Barn Dance

We went to a barn dance this weekend for an evening of BBQ, silent auctions, live rockabilly swing goodness and (naturally) romance. The night before that we'd sat on top of a parking garage listening to the outdoor live performers at the local pubs in town. Yes, we took two whole evenings off in a row two weeks before the wedding, a week and a half before I leave for the north. It was fabulous.

Moral: Always take the time to dance because it is good for your soul.

12 Months

A year ago today instant messenger was pitching a hissy fit and eating my and Nick's IM conversation every hour or so.

A year ago today Nick was trying very hard to figure out exactly how to word asking me out to ice cream.

A year ago today Nick asked me out to ice cream and I said yes--on the condition that it was Baskin Robbins.

A year ago today I spent the 3 hours between getting off work and Nick getting back from D.C. trying desperately to remain calm, collected, and natural. I watched a peculiar mini series inspired by The Wizard of Oz, it was called Tin Man. Either that or I watched most of The Muppets Take Manhattan. (I watched both in those few days while waiting for either Nick, or calls from home)

A year ago today we had a very pleasant two hour conversation over ice cream. I can't remember anything that we talked about, because eventually Nick explained that he wanted to court me--and then tried to give me time to think about it. I cut him off. I didn't need any more time to think about it so I tried to spare him getting the words out. I think he got them out anyway, even though I'd already said yes.

So...here we are. It's been a wonderful year.

-The Lady

Aunt Millicent

There is nothing so difficult to marry as a novelist.
(Aunt Millicent from Peter Pan)

The Proposal: His side

[with the facts of the tale already given in her side of the tale (see here) I guess I can just focus on the behind-the-scenes story… ]

“Have you asked her yet? When are you going to propose?” the questioning was becoming more frequent from my colleagues and friends. Maps, moon phase calendars, lists of pros and cons for various schemes mixed along with copies of term papers had littered my desk for weeks.

“I don’t know.”

It wasn’t cold feet. It was waiting for the right time. Like a musical crescendo, there is a moment in time that just begs to be the culmination of every note leading to that point. That point had not yet come, and I didn’t know when it would come. All I could do was get ready for when it arrived.

“Plan to be spontaneous” – that is usually my modus operandi. A delightful oxymoron designed to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, or for those times when a brilliant idea strikes, but it is just not feasible to put it into immediate practice and must be saved for later.

The problem with dating a clever girl is that they can usually tell when you are plotting something. If the plan involved something too particularly out of the ordinary, it was liable to tip her off. I had a good idea of my ideal proposal plan for a long while, but I was open to other opportunities. I realized that I really couldn’t definitively plan for when I was going to propose. I knew if I did, it would make me nervous. And nervous people act funny. Funny acting would be suspicious. And suspicious girls are not readily surprised.

There were months of preparation. Suggestions for future visits to vineyards, scenic overlooks, late night drives through the countryside under the stars. . . wonderful trips all in their own right, but doubling as attempts to normalize any hints and remove potential giveaways. After one too many “that would have been a perfect time!” moments, I started carrying the ring around with me – working towards my ideal, but trying to be ready for that perfect moment.

April 20: It looked like the pieces were finally coming together. Tuesdays were our standing date night, she had just returned from a conference, and was preparing to leave again for a surprise trip to see her brother, the weather was supposed to be pleasant—perfect for a starlit night, and I had a paper due the following day that had been keeping me “busy” to boot (already written by then). Right before leaving the office for the day I took another look at the weather—just in case.

“mostly cloudy”

*facepalm*

Out of my three criteria for proposals - - (1) the moment is special, (2) it’s a surprise – even if she knows it is coming eventually, and (3) the grand plan works - - the third was fairly expendable – to the point of not planning on actually proposing through most of the evening.

However, the plan was tentatively reinstated as the clouds broke in a glorious sunset over the mountains, and I took her for a drive to kill the hour or so until it was suitably dark.

As darkness fell, so did the cloud cover. I watched as the stars slowly disappeared, throwing a mental “message in a bottle” heavenwards, figuring that the “planned” part was gone, and things were now relying on the “spontaneous” as I turned the car back towards my final destination.

“ok god, I brought the ring, I hope you brought the fireworks…”

Now, the advantage to an intentional lack of knowledge is a legitimate reliance on other’s knowledge. It’s much easier to seem not to know exactly where you are going when you actually _don’t_ know exactly where you are going. Sure, I had scouted out the location beforehand. . . once. . . in daylight. But at night, through the trees, no streetlights, not even the moon to light the surroundings – I only hoped that my search with Abby (who had traveled this road many times while going home to New England) for “a good stopping point” to eat our ice cream would not involve turning around after missing my “random” turnoff.

Thankfully, I managed to locate the roadway with relatively little difficulty and parked under the tree line separating the road from the vineyard fields. As I fished around the car in the dark for a blanket (and one or two other key items), I realized that—just beyond the trees—the entire field was bathed in moonlight. As we walked out under the stars, I’m almost certain I heard a chorus of angels somewhere—it was beyond perfection.

As we sat under the stars, we started reminiscing about the past several months, and the prior summer leading up to our courtship. Her voice faded in my mind as I tried to figure out some form of lead-in to an actual proposal. I knew it was time to ask, but I didn’t quite know how. The whole “plan to be spontaneous” had served me well thus far, but now I was stuck.

“. . . and that was when I realized that I wanted to be with you, forever”

*insert blow to head with massive cue card*



The subsequent events are still very much a blur in my memory, but apparently something went right. Because now here I am, less than 3 weeks away from a lifetime with the girl of my dreams.


- The Knight

"That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too"

Fun Numbers

Several times in the past weeks I've considered posting whatever random thing I associate with the countdown number of the day. For example:



42-the answer to life the universe and everything! (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)



37-"37 years ago a witch done put a spell on me..." (the Goat from Hoodwinked)



28- 28 Days, which being a reference to a movie about drug rehab just isn't romantic, sorry.

23-probably the most well known chapter in the Bible.

21-legal drinking age in the US

18-legal drinking age in the UK, it's also the age when the US government deems you an adult.

As soon as you get to "10, 9, 8," all I can hear is the resonant voice of whatever unsung icon of NASA counts down to blastoff. But we haven't gotten there yet. Of course, there are other numbers, but we haven't gotten to those yet, either. It's also been far too busy at work, and at home (wait, when I am home?) for me to remember to do it :-P But for fun, I thought I would compile as many nerdy numbers as I could.



With the exception of 100 (the number of years sleeping beauty was to wait for her prince) and 80 (the number of days it took Phileas Fogg to make it around the world) most of the Very Significant Numbers are small.

12-the dirty dozen.

11-Ocean's Eleven.

10-the other common number of roses in bouquets

9-rings for mortal men, doomed to die

8-the fellowship of the ring, after Boromir dies

7-rings for dwarf lords, in their halls of stone

6--"silver bullets, a mask to disquise him! One man lived to fight! Hi Ho, Silver!" It is also the number of Texas Rangers ambushed by an outlaw gang, the survivor became The Lone Ranger

5-the number of Texas Rangers that did not live through the aforementioned ambush

4-hobbits outside the shire (in the fellowship of the ring)

3-rings for the elven kings

2-by two God brought the animals to the Ark

1-one ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Gee, that's ominous. How about One way to heaven. Or "the only one I see"

-The Lady

September Showers, pt 2

We have entered the season of wedding showers and falling leaves. Classes have started up again for Nick (we had just gotten used to having our choice of weeknights)

This was a shower held in the south, we got a lot of nifty presents.

Some particularly clever ones, too.

Look at that spread of goodies!

Just a few short weeks, and then D-Day!

September Showers, pt 1

We drove north over Labor Day weekend to get our marriage license and to attend the Engagement Party and Shower my parents threw for the friends in CT. This party was especially important because our destination wedding will be so small, we wanted to give dear folk a chance to meet and greet and congratulate.

Happy Guests Enjoying Dessert and Fellowship

Nick and I catching up with an old friend


Our audience

our new bedding set!

His and Hers Spatulas

Telling "our story"

It was a wonderful visit up north. The drive up after work was a bit grueling, but the trip itself was lovely, and the drive back was a lark. We are one step closer.

The Lady

Licensed

Well, I assume so. This rests on their mailing the license Tuesday, so it should be arriving soon.

Even MORE pictures!

I'm starting to think perhaps she is as addicted to us as we are to her photography. . . but Jennifer has posted yet again from our photoshoot with her. Click here for more photographic goodness!

- The Knight