Wedding Planning Can Be Fun!

Alex has been so great at reminding us both to enjoy the process of planning a wedding - as you can see from these pictures, he knows how to have fun!

The Proposal: Alex's side of the story

So, you've heard Renee's side of things, now it's time for the groom's version of our engagement story (sweaty palms not included).

First of all, I didn't have a particular site in mind where I would "pop the the question". I knew I wanted to propose on our first day in wine country, so we could savor the rest of the trip without that added pressure. Also, after going ring shopping together with Renee, I don't think there was too much suspense as to whether I would propose, but I did want to try to surprise her.

My first thought was that I should ask in a romantic setting (duh), e.g. high-upon a hill side, overlooking Napa valley. One of the vineyards we were going to visit that Saturday was Sterling, which is advertised as having a gondola ride to the tasting room. It sounded perfect. On closer inspection, however, I discovered that the Sterling winery was only located at the top of a hill no larger than a gopher mound, and that the gondola ride lasted about a minute. Not only that, but the wine was... shall we say.. sub par. 

So, I had the ring in my pocket, but it never made an appearance. On the way back down, Renee & I had to share a gondola cabin with two fire fighters from Texas, who were in Napa for a convention. Their wives were in the gondola in front of ours, and I distinctly recall the fire fighters telling the hapless Gondola operators to "make that one go faster". Anyhow, we all got to talking, and they asked what we were doing in Napa. I told them it was our 4 year anniversary, to which they replied "when did you get married, when you were 12?". All flattery aside, I had to admit that it was actually 4 years of "dating", and not our wedding anniversary. 

This confession brought on the inevitable: they turned to Renee and started asking her questions like: "What are you doing with this schmuck?" and to me "if she put up with you for 4 years, she might be a keeper! What are you waiting for?"

Oh, how badly I wanted to pull the ring out of my pocket right then and flash it in their smug little faces! My better judgement managed to kick in (did I mention the wine at Sterling Vineyards is mediocre? This fact alone may have saved the day!), and I restrained myself to comments like "oh, you know, soon!". sigh.

So, later that night, I did propose at our Bed & Breakfast, and the rest is pretty much as Renee described it. Needless to say, I was relieved when she said yes! The rest of the weekend was a blast, and now I have this story to tell :)

Oh, and if anyone happens to have a facebook directory of fire-fighters in the Dallas Ft.Worth Area, let me know, I'm dying to tell them how things turned out!

The Proposal: Renee's Side of the Story

So I had an idea that Alex might propose soon for two reasons. First, all of a sudden he seemed to know a lot more about Color, Cut, Carrot, and Clarity than he ever did before. Second, on the day before Thanksgiving, he picked me up early from work and when we got to the car, he started programming an address into the GPS but refused to tell me where we were going. He told me he thought we could do something fun before we headed home, and kept me guessing as to what exactly he had planned for us. We ended up outside a jewelry store and he said he thought it was a good idea to see what kind of rings I liked! It was all very cute because he was kind of nervous at first, but then started to relax and even got into looking at the diamonds up close with a jeweler’s loop!

So by the time we headed to Napa for our 4 year anniversary a couple of weeks later, I was definitely wondering if one of the rings we had looked at earlier was coming with us. We decided to go to a winery that you can only access by gondola (mainly because we wanted to ride in the gondola) and I had this feeling that he might propose there. However, the gondola ride came and went without any proposal. At this point, I figured that Alex would propose when he felt the time was right and I decided to relax and not stress about it.

Which is funny because as soon as I forgot about it, he proposed! We got back to our room at the amazing bed and breakfast we were staying at, and we went outside to sit in our own private spa. I was looking up at the stars and when I looked down, Alex had the ring in his hand! He said ‘will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man alive?’ and of course I said yes! Apparently he even got down on one knee, although I didn’t know that at the time since he was kneeling in the hot tub. We spent the rest of the weekend touring wineries and calling our friends and family to tell them the good news.

How it all began at Pomona in '03

It was a fine summer day in June of 2003, I was sitting behind my desk at the Office of Campus Life when in walked that cute Resident Advisor that I'd seen around. Hadn't she already graduated, I wondered?
"Doing the R.A. thing again this summer?" I asked.
She seemed surprised, perhaps she didn't think her notoriety as a party-buster had spread as far as South Campus (just kidding, she was a very fair R.A., by all accounts).
"Yeah, how'd you know?" She replied.
The conversation didn't go much further than that, but as fortune had it, all the mail for R.A.s came through our office, so it wouldn't be the last time that I got to see her that summer, in fact, far from it.
Shortly thereafter, a mutual acquaintance, and oft-times trouble maker, arranged a trip to Las Vegas, inviting both of us to ride along in his car. Though I remember being in the front seat, with Renee in the back, the 4 hour drive provided lots of opportunities to chat. I discovered that this girl was witty, from the Bay Area, and shared my experience of growing up an only child. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
After a few rounds of drinks at the Aladdin Hotel, and a few rounds of "two truths & a lie", I knew that she was the only girl born on her dad's side of the family in almost a hundred years! She learned that I once got an expandable Tyrannosaurus Rex sponge stuck in my nose for two weeks! Somehow, she didn't run away after this revelation, so I knew she must think I was OK. The rest of the night we were practically inseparable, and it marked the start of a great friendship.
Back at Pomona, my job was pretty boring, and apparently summer R.A.s don't have that much mischief to contend with, so we'd spend hours together watching silly Internet cartoons like homestarrunner.com and playing board games. Some nights we'd head to the local park to hear outdoor concerts. We spent sunny Saturdays days at the pool, where Renee taught me to do flip turns. All in all, it was a wonderful time in both of our lives. 

Alas, I was but a lowly Senior, and being the do-gooder that she is, Renee joined the Peace Corps. To find out what happened next, see our blog from Nicaragua!