Magnets!

If you are viewing this blog, then you have probably received one of our Save-the-Date magnets! We were so happy to receive the magnets as a gift from Geographics, one of my dad's customers. We think they are gorgeous and we hope that you all love them just as much! Be on the lookout for invitations soon!

We shot up a Macy's!

and a Target, too, with one of these babies: a store registry phaser... um... scanner.

We actually had a great deal of fun, picking out dishes and towels and such. It was also a challenge to try to balance between what we need now (and will match the eggshell walls) and what we'll want later (when we have a home we can paint). We've also got a good bit of research still to do, particularly regarding cookware and vacuum cleaners -- which are not all created equal, but are nonetheless too expensive to replace readily when they are annoying but still functional. Still, we managed to get the bulk of the job done, and you can check out the results by clicking the registry links over on the left sidebar.

Of course, the real fun was the scanner, which was primarily my job. Perhaps it was undignified of me to pad down the aisle with it in the two-hand TV cop grip*, and to demand that Katie hold up the targets to see how accurate I could be from a distance, but I blame the store: if you don't want me to play like it's a gun, don't give it a grip and a trigger. In case anyone wonders, the Target scanners are vastly superior to the Macy's scanners: they're lighter, newer, easier to use, and accurate past eight feet. And the Macy's scanner had a battery life shorter than Katie's phone, compared to which the mayfly is venerable.

* The Palm-Supported Grip, aka the "cup and saucer grip", is what I was using. I recommend it.

Engagement Pictures! UPDATED!

(Originally posted 12/3/2007; also posted at The Oak Hermitage.)

So, yesterday we frolicked about the Georgia Botanical Garden for our engagement photos. Other than the one in which I make a goofy face, they're all quite splendid! Our photographer is Katherine Birkbeck (KB Photography); she has a good eye and is very easy to work with, not at all intrusive or dictatorial.

Here are the ones she liked: Katie & David's Engagement Photos.

Which one is your favorite, dear reader?

UPDATE: The link above is to our photographer's blog, but this one is to a much more extensive photo gallery: Katie & David's Engagement Photos. Here are some samples to whet your appetite...

Of Rice and the Wanton Slaughter of Birds

You've heard this, of course: don't throw rice at weddings, because it kills birds. This is, incidentally, a lie: an "urban legend" (Sorry, Dr. Henken!) perpetuated by Ann Landers and the Bird Seed Industrial Complex. (Ann Landers, at any rate.) Skeptical? Then consult the Snopes.com article on the subject: "Is rice bad for birds?"

This, then, is a fair warning: if we decide to have our guests pelt us with rice as we leave, let none condemn us as persecutors of our feathered friends.

"Our nuptial hour draws on apace..."

Obviously David and I have not updated this blog in a while, but things have been happening and new information demands a new post! We are now about 6 months and 10 days out from the wedding, and a lot of things have been decided!

We now have an official wedding party:

* Maid of Honor: my fab sister Bethany

* Bridesmaids: My best friend Leslie, my soon-to-be sister-in-law Lia, and my English comradess-in-arms Laura Nix.

* Best Man: David's brother Brian

* Groomsmen: David's best friend Jonathan Floyd, Todd "Admiral Sandecker" Hower, and Eugene Cuevas, offical ninja of the wedding party.

* Flower Girls: Heiress to the WinShape lands Addie Grace Trejo, and Olivia Cuevas, Eugene and Jennifer's precious little girl.

* Ringbearer: Darrell Trejo, keeper of the Rings of Power (yes, he has hobbit hair!)

We have also found a minister to perform the ceremony (Thad Blount of David's family's church) and a Wedding Director. Flowery miracles will be performed by Mr. Fred, florist to the rich and famous (he did the flowers for the Sweet Home Alabama wedding scene!). We have a great caterer, Mrs. Pat Hyde, and an awesome cake baker, Barbara Cameron, who is going to bake my strawberry-creme-filled bridal confection and construct David's Tower O' Cupcakes. [Tower of London? The White Tower of Minas Tirith? -- DNG] We have secured hotel rooms and I have even chosen bridesmaid dresses (coral). Basically, thanks to my mom, we are on the ball!!

In a future post, I will place a link to our wedding website at theknot.com, which will provide valuable information for our guests (times, directions, registries, etc.). Until then, readers, be sure to watch the countdown clock on David's blog [And on this one! -- DNG] to count down the days with us until that momentous day!

[I find this post's title specially apt, though I'll not spoil the puzzle by naming it! -- DNG]

Where the Party's At

Or, more precisely, where our (Katie and I) wedding reception will be at. To help my dear readers appreciate the full effect, I'm having you scroll down to reveal (magically!) the first picture. Otherwise, you see the picture before your know what it is, and that blunts the impact!

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Just a bit further...

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Ta-DAAAAH! Drink it in for a few moments before closing your mouth and moving on...

This austere heap of stone is Ford Dining Hall, on the campus of Berry College in Rome, GA. It's no longer used as the college dining hall, but is still used for special occasions. Wedding receptions, for instance.

Here's a shot looking up from the door at the magnificent long window in the center of the Hall's face. Quite Gothic!

This is the interior of the Hall. Note the massive oak beams and the long windows: also quite Gothic. Some say Ford Dining Hall resembles a dining hall in this movie; it actually is a dining hall in this movie.

Since I've not been gifted with flight (really!), you may be puzzled by the downward angle of the previous photo. I was not hovering like a wisp of down, however: I was standing on this balcony which overlooks the Hall. The long window you see in the middle is the same long window you saw from the outside.

And, again, that selfsame window, only closer.

This is a different window, however: one of the many windows that stretch from floor to ceiling in two walls flanking the Hall.

This is the ceiling, in all its intricate Gothic glory. Hooray for visible rafters! I felt like I was in the refectory of a Cluniac abbey.

This is the only fly in the otherwise perfect ointment: an immense photographic portrait of Henry Ford, leering down with devil eyes from his perch squarely amidships. Alas, it cannot be removed, for 'twas the eponymous founder's filthy lucre that built Ford Dining Hall.

The Proposal: Katie's Version

Okay everybody, you've asked for it, so here it is: the story of my engagement. David and I had been talking for a little while about how we want to get married, and we had both informed our parents of this fact, so the time was drawing near. My two weeks in Nicaragua on a mission trip provided the perfect opportunity for some sneakiness on the part of my fiancee. I knew that he was meaning to go see my parents while I was gone and "ask them if he could ask me," and I also had some idea of what type of ring he might get, because he had asked me to go ahead with Leslie and scout out what type I might like so she could show him later. So when I returned from out the country I knew these things had happened, but I had no idea when he would actually propose or where, or which ring he had chosen.

So on Father's Day, June 17, we had been in Birmingham all weekend with his family (who all knew what was about to happen, by the way), and were heading over to Berry to meet my parents. They were dropping off Tucker at camp there, and so we were ostensibly going over so I could have dinner with my dad on Father's Day. However, I thought it was a little odd that they knew we were getting in to Berry at 6:00, but didn't want to have dinner with us until 7:30. Then, when we arrived in Rome and stopped at Walgreen's to get my Dad a Father's Day card, we encountered them there!!

I figured then that they would just say, "Well, why don't we just do dinner now?" but they didn't, they just said they would see us later, which got me even more suspicious. David had said he wanted to take me to the Oak Hill Gardens, but when I saw we were going to get there after the gates were closed for the day, I told him we wouldn't make it. He said that was okay, we would just go to Frost Chapel instead. When we got to Frost he wanted to go inside, but all of the doors were locked! Foiled again! He said then he was disappointed because he had written me a sonnet that was meant to be recited in the Oak Hill Gardens, but that he guessed he would just have to do it outside Frost Chapel. I then said maybe he could wait and do it at Oak Hill next weekend when we come for Eliza's wedding, but he said, "No, I think I want to do it now!" So we sit down on a low wall next to Frost, and I was trying to tell myself I wasn't going to get engaged right then, because I didn't want to get my hopes up! He told me to imagine that I was in the Oak Hill Gardens. I obligingly closed my eyes (which ended up helping him out, because he could rummage in his pocket for the ring without me seeing) and tried to imagine it. He began to recite the absolutely beautiful sonnet he had written for me, and as he continued I heard him moving around, so when he was at the last few lines I opened my eyes. He was no longer sitting next to me, but was down on one knee in front of me!!

Incredibly, your favorite cold-hearted girl began to cry! The last two lines of the sonnet asked the best question of all, and David held out the ring to me. Well, I snatched him up to kiss him, and he said, "So I guess that's a yes?" And then I said, "Absolutely yes!!" and kissed him some more and cried some more. I was exclaiming over how perfect the proposal was when he gave me an even bigger surprise! A while back, before my trip, when we first started talking about getting married, I had called Berry and asked if Frost Chapel was available next May. The lady told me we could put ourselves on the waiting list for some dates, but that it was basically a lost cause, because we would be like fifth down on every date. But I had her put us down for May 17, 24, and 30 just in case. She had said she would only contact me if she had positive news, so when I didn't hear from her, I assumed it was a done deal, and started considering getting married in my parents' church in McDonough on May 24 or 30. Anyway, fast forward back to proposal night. So after proposing to me, David then says, "Oh, but babe, I'm really sorry, but we aren't going to be able to get married on May 24 or 30 like you wanted." "But why?" I asked worriedly. "Because May 17th is the only day Frost is available!" he said. At which point I screamed, and flailed my arms and legs around some, and generally got ridiculous for a few minutes. Apparently, while I was out of the country, I had gotten a letter saying we had gotten Frost for that day, and David got it, because he was picking up my mail. He, along with my family, decided to keep it a secret from me until proposal time. It was such a huge surprise, and they were all so sneaky!!

So that's my story guys, and if anybody wants even more details (what we were wearing, or crazy stuff like that), give me a call! We will post more pictures of the ring online very soon! (And we did.--Ed.)

To sum up, I have the most wonderful fiancee in the entire world, and I cannot wait to be his wife!