Wedding Bells Get Louder

SHE SAID:

So last Christmas, Tony totally got down on one knee and proposed marriage to me. It was beautiful, he gave me a gorgeous diamond ring, made me cry... I had no clue he was going to do that.

We started talking wedding plans right away. And by "we" I meant me. I knew who my bridesmaids were, called them in the first 10 minutes to see if they were ready for duty, which of course they were. I immediately changed my facebook status from "in a relationship" to "engaged" and updated my status. I want a big wedding, all of our families there. I want a princess wedding dress and I want my dad to walk me down the aisle ... and I want to serve southwest cheese paninis and stuffed mushrooms for hors d'oeuvres and have a band play for us.

Then the economy hit us.

And it became difficult to find work for me. I had work, but the pay wasn't great .. Tony's work slowed. So I decided to go back to school and become a nurse, which I am pursuing at the moment and Tony is working and is going back to school as well.

And the more I think about wedding plans, the more I'm positive I don't want a big wedding. So we decided to fly to Vegas and get married by Elvis. Or a guy that impersonates him anyway. I'm still planning on a wedding dress and a bouquet of flowers.. just not the stuffed mushrooms and paninis.

HE SAID:

So yeah... I pulled the whole romantic-surprise-with-the-ring-on-one-knee thing. It was cute.

And weddings? As men we don't grow up making and remaking our wedding plans. It's something that just happens. Or in most cases something that our fiance makes happen since it's her dreams from childhood that have been culminating to this point. If she wants a big wedding, I'm sure we'll make it happen. Though I'd say it won't be easy all things considered, but is it ever easy? I've never heard anyone say it was.

Vegas... now that sounds like a man's type of wedding to me. Stay at the Bellagio a couple of nights, gamble a bit and drink a few. Then go to the chapel for the real gamble.

But Elvis? (No offense to the king and all)

How about John Wayne.

Just an idea Maria.

Turkey Day

SHE SAID:

So it's Thanksgiving again. It's so true what people say about the years just flying by, because I feel like Thanksgiving 2009 was just 2 months ago and I was hanging out with my sweet little sister and my Dad and brother and the rest of my family in Chicago and Tony's wonderful mom in Indiana.

Traveling just was not in the cards for us this year. We are working on a little bit of reinvention, also called nursing school for me, and Tony has a few projects that he's working on himself. I miss my family up north. I really wish I could be there. Next year we'll definitely be traveling again.

This year, I made a menu for everyone to "order" off of, just like a restaurant. I'm making 3 different pies and 4 other kinds of desserts, turkey, dressing, and all the other wonderful thanksgiving sides that were picked off of the menu. Then I'll be putting up Christmas decorations at some point over the weekend... probably in my shorts and flip flops with the air conditioner running if this weather doesn't cool off.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.

HE SAID:

Thanksgiving is my "holiday" so to speak. For the past several years the boys and I have traveled to Indiana, and the last two years we had Maria and her boys and of course Nicholas last year. Then we made the trip to Chicago to top it all off. This year we get to enjoy Thanksgiving at home.

Here I am at midnight the night before just finishing up some deserts. But tomorrow the cooking begins. And we both enjoy that. The important part of Thanksgiving for me is being able to relax. I get my 5 to 7 days to rest and recharge my batteries for the coming year, and it's always needed. There is nothing that can come between me and a relaxing week with my family.

That is of course unless Maria gets out the Christmas decorations too soon....

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Quotable Quotes

"Throughout your life you will meet one person who is unlike any other. You could talk to this person for hours and never get bored. You could tell them things and they wouldn't judge you. This amazing person is you soul mate and your best friend. Don't ever let them go." ~Author Unknown

"I pity the man who spends his entire life searching for the perfect woman. And I pity him more should he ever find her." ~Benjamin Franklin

HE SAID:

The last thing I want to do is be chauvinistic. But I'd bet my last dollar the unknown author above was a woman. Why do I say that? I have a couple of reasons. But I believe this is the person Mr. Franklin was warning us men about.

So did anyone else notice how clingy said author is? "...talk for hours..." and "...don't ever let them go." Don't get me wrong, I love talking with Maria. She is an extremely intelligent woman with a very strong personal opinion. Our conversations are interesting. But, she also knows there is that time when I need to retreat to the "cave" to chill for a while. Talk time is over at that point whether it's been 15 min or 1 hour. And yes, I know when she's done also.
And then you are never to let them go? What if they have somewhere to be? Are you going to hold them against their will? Sounds a little mental to me. We could go so far as to say this person has stalker tendencies.

That was just the "what if" part, here is the meat and potatoes of it so try to keep up. This woman apparently will not settle for anything that doesn't fit the bill of being her "soul mate". And good for her. But say after a couple years of everything being perfect she decides one day that you don't listen good enough, or long enough, or better yet you seem to be getting judgemental. Well now, I guess you weren't the "one" and it's time to move on.

Sounds kind of judgemental to me. Just saying.

SHE SAID:

Wow. I never knew you could read so much into such a beautiful quote. Kind of makes the whole thing seem dirty now. Like it has ulterior motives.

This quote actually reminded me of when Tony and I first met. We would talk on the phone for hours and hours ... until we'd fall asleep... or until Tony would lose his voice for a couple of days. (True story-- you should have seen him trying to coach his boys' baseball team with no voice). We never stopped staring at each other. And the kissing and the smiling was constant. Like a couple of teenagers. Tony would spout off some "did you know ... " information on me and I'd melt like only geeks do and cling to his every word. We would tell each other our hopes and dreams and they all seemed so possible and attainable... even if the dream was to become a Vegas showgirl (Don't laugh -Tony has really nice legs).

All jokes aside, the very things Tony chided the anonymous author on are the very things he loves about me. I can prove it. Being clingy? I'm clingy when it comes to social settings where there are a lot of people. I don't get comfortable very easily, so I'm usually on Tony's arm. He loves being my "protector". And never wanting to let them go? Ask him about the time I cried (real tears) for 2 days because I wanted to go with him on a trip and he said no. He told me that I was "cute" but I still couldn't go.

Over-analyzing the quote is just his way of showing love. Just sayin.