Love and Luaus

10.20.09

While Dan and I are away for ten days on the beautiful islands of Maui and Kauai, things may be quiet on the blog front. Do not be alarmed. I will return! As we renew our wedding vows in the company of our close friends and family – I thought it best to take a break from all things computer related to truly focus on those that matter most to me!

In the meantime...a walk down memory lane seems appropriate...

So how did Dan and I meet? Do you really want to know? Ok, the truth is about to be revealed…

Four years ago Dan sent me a friend request on MySpace. Yes. That’s pretty much the end of the story. Well, ok, I had to accept his friend request first, but not without a little investigation. I browsed his profile and was impressed with what I saw, he was handsome, intelligent, and driven, and it seemed too good to be true. I almost denied the request; I mean this could have been a potential stalker! But apparently any rationality I had all when out the window when I sent him a reply and started jabbering away about all our shared interests. Within minutes we were sending emails back and forth all day every day. Weeks went by with me frantically glued to my laptop waiting for his latest response (Obsessed, maybe?). Eventually he gave me his phone number and we progressed into the stage involving hour long phone conversationgs. It didn’t take long after that before we agreed to meet.

Our first date was unlike any other first date – I mean we were already practically dating and we had never even met in person! We went to this martini bar in Bellingham where I proceeded to get him drunk (and the guy doesn’t even drink – even to this day I have never been able to get him to take another sip of anything alcoholic!). He claims it was due to the nerves, but I think he was just trying to impress me with his palate for the dirty school girl martini.

Pretty much the rest is history. After that one date we were inseparable. I was intrigued by the fact that Dan had never travelled and I was determined to change that. Several months into dating, I put our relationship to the ultimate test: the road trip. Thousands of miles in, I realized we had gone five days without once turning on the radio. Our silence was content and our conversations many, this was great news and I concluded that our relationship could withstand anything. Following our first road trip together through the red rocks of Utah, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, and Redwood National Park, we made several more road trips. The Rocky Mountains, Vegas, Disneyland, and Yosemite – these were all highlights of our many miles on the road together. Eventually we graduated to flying and made trips to Colorado, New York, Mexico, Alaska, Europe, and Egypt. Dan is officially my favorite travel companion, and I think I can safely say that he has caught the travel bug.

When travelling through Europe last summer, Dan proposed. It was a starry night in Paris and the Eiffel Tower glittered in a dazzling display of lights. Sitting at the foot of the Trocadero, Dan knelt down and popped the question I had been waiting to hear all summer (a girl just knows when these things are going to happen!). He didn’t have a ring. Being tied at the hip all summer left him with little opportunity to do any potential jewelry shopping, but improvise he did. I knew something was fishy as we sat admiring the city and he kept fiddling with his coat, not to mention, I could practically feel his rapid heartbeat through the stone steps. With a little ingenuity he removed the zipper pull from his jacket and tied it into a ring just minutes before proposing. Truth be told, he completely gave himself away, but in those moments I couldn’t have been more elated. Eventually we went and picked out a ring, but in the meantime I continued to wear the nylon string like it was five carat diamond.

This past April we got tired of waiting for the right opportunity to plan a destination wedding and in a period of several weeks we scheduled a court house wedding and casual reception for our family and friends. The day turned out perfect as we celebrated the night away with those we love.

Now we get the opportunity to share our vows again – this time with all our closest family and friends on the beach in Maui. We have planned a simple, fun ceremony, followed by a sunset barbeque on the beach. My Aunt is officiating and my Dad will accompany on the ukulele - things could get crazy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here’s to luaus, hulu skirts, mai tais, and the love of my life – Dan. I can’t wait to spend every day for the rest of my life with you! I look forward to our next adventure and to many years of discovering the world together!