A Very Happy Fiance

Yep, Patrick has been in a great mood tonight.

We went to dinner tonight at the Cornish Pasty (the restaurant we went to on our first date - exactly two years ago). The food was really good, and Patrick even finished the meal with a glass of Jameson.

After we finished eating, we had some time to kill. Patrick had been wanting to go to a store called "Brew Your Own Brew" for a while now. They sell everything you could want/need to brew beer, wine, cider, etc.

Apparently, he has watched a few videos on how to brew your own hard apple cider over the last few days, and he had his heart set. I couldn't dash his excitement, so we left with a 1-gallon brewing kit. You should have seen the smile on Patrick's face - he was pumped.

From the store, we headed to a complimentary dance session at a dance studio a few blocks away. I had no idea what to expect from a free 45 minute session, but I feel like it was a good start for the basics of dancing. I have to say that the tiny Russian girl who led our lessons was a little bit too "touchy/feel-y." Don't get me wrong; nothing she did was over the line, but she liked to hold hands and link arms any time we were moving around the studio. It was just a little bit much for me.

I think that Patrick thought it was a little TOO basic, but I think it was a great start. I bought a Groupon yesterday for five dance classes, so from this point, we'll be able to work with one instructor (at a different studio). I'm excited, and even if we don't catch on enough to completely choreograph a dance, I really think we'll be able to feel confident for our first dance.

On the way home, we stopped at a grocery store to get apple cider for the brewing kit, and then Patrick's night got even better by getting a Shamrock Shake at McDonald's (his first in two years). Once home, we mixed up the cider and it's started the process of fermenting for 2-3 weeks until it forms hard apple cider.

Jameson + buying a home brewing kit + a Shamrock Shake + mixing up the start to hard apple cider + a celebration for two years of being together = happiness, and I like him being happy!

-Lisa

75 and 1

75 = the number of days until our wedding!

1 = the number of days until the two year anniversary of our first date.

Before I met Patrick, I amused myself by writing an online dating diary/blog. I thought it'd be fun to look back & read my entry after that first date (I referred to Patrick as "Red")...

Post-date update: We went to a cute little restaurant that served a kind of gourmet hot pocket that originated in England. It had a long wine/beer list and was a great, casual atmosphere. We sat talking for about 3 hours. The conversation wasn't awkward at any time, and I tested it by intentionally not saying anything a couple times to see if he would keep the conversation going and ask questions. He passed! Red was very nice, has a great job that he loves, is in the process of buying a house, is close with his family and we seem to have a lot in common. We went our separate ways after dinner: he went home to take care of his dog, and I headed out to meet friends. We've texted back and forth a few times this week, and he's coming to kickball again tomorrow. I'm a little iffy because my parents will be there, too lol. I'm totally not trying to be the girl who introduces a guy to her parents after one date, but at the same time, I don't want to be rude!

The plan for next time is to go to the driving range on Sunday after my parents leave. I'm looking forward to hanging out with him again, and we'll see how I'm able to hit a golf ball after not touching a club in over a year ;).

  It's been a fantastic two years, and I'm looking forward to many more.

-Lisa

Backyard Update: Plants are Planted!

We've been working hard on the backyard this weekend. After two trips to the nursery, two trips to Ace Hardware, one trip to Target and hours of work, the majority of our plants are planted! We didn't like the looks of the Chinese Pistache tree the nursery had (so we're holding off on that and haven't planted the flowers that will go around the base), they didn't have any Yucca Gloriosa in stock and we're waiting for the Red Bird of Paradise to come in, but other than that, we're set!

It's been amazing how many more living creatures we've seen this weekend than ever before in the backyard... Lizards have been running up and down the walls and butterflies are already visiting the flowers. We bought a shepherd's hook and a hummingbird feeder, so we'll hopefully have hummingbirds visiting soon (and often).

I went around taking some close-ups pictures of the plants - especially for my plant-loving family... If you can't see it clearly, click on the picture to make it bigger. This may only work if you're looking at the blog entry on the blog website - not on the emailed version.

Red Hibiscus & our Orange Tree (which is potentially still in shock) and Red Yucca:

Lady Banks Roses and Dwarf Bottle Brush:

The flowers on our Lime Tree and Orange Jubilee:

Gold Mount Lantana and our hummingbird feeder:

I give Patrick credit for doing most of the hard work with digging through the clay with a shovel & pick axe. He's still working outside, and I'm FULLY enjoying relaxing on the couch. I don't know where he gets all of his energy! ;)

There are a only a few things left to do on the backyard: order the tree (and have it planted), plant the 3 lantanas under the tree, put in the 2nd cornnole scoreboard/cupholder, hook up the lights, reseed the grass and put in the patio. That may sound like a lot, but holy cow it's nothing compared to what has been accomplished!  

-Lisa

New Pictures: Coming Soon!

One of the things I've been wanting to do was to get new engagement pictures taken. The original ones were fantastic, but since I've worked so hard to slim down, I wanted some pictures to reflect that... and the goal was to get one good one to use as a big entrance photo for the wedding. We had a fun photo shoot today with Banks, and before seeing the final versions, I can confidently say we were successful!

The site of our photo shoot was the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall Plaza. It has a LOVE sculpture that I've adored since the first time I saw it a few years ago. After looking into it, I found out that there are versions of this sculpture around the world (including New Orleans, Philadelphia, Lisbon, Vancouver, Tokyo, Jerusalem and Singapore); this one is red and blue, and there are other versions other color combinations including blue/green and red/white/blue.

The sculpture was incorporated into the majority of pictures we took tonight, and we were able to time it out to take most of the pictures during "magic hour" (which is apparently the hour-ish before the sun completely sets and created some gorgeous lighting for photography).

Banks already sent some of the pictures for us to look at (and I'm THRILLED with them), but I'm going to hold off on posting any of them until they're touched up and some effects are added. I'll leave you with a teaser shot of the sculpture and keep you wanting more... Isn't it the perfect touch for the pictures?!

- Lisa

Ceremony Ring Options: Who Knew!

One of the things that hadn't really crossed my mind was that there is an option of which ring(s) to use during the Exchange of Rings part of the ceremony. Because I had no clue, I hadn't even thought about what I'd prefer!

My bling... Yes, I still LOVE it!

From the research I've done tonight, I've learned a lot. The wedding band is apparently traditionally worn under the engagement ring which also means it's closer to the heart. Fortunately, that's where I've been planning on wearing my ring! As far as ways to use the ring(s) in the ceremony, there are five main options:

1. Transfer the ring to the right hand. Most of the time, the bride moves her engagement ring to the ring finger on her right hand. At some point before the end of the ceremony, she slips the engagement ring onto the left ring finger.
2. Groom puts both rings on the bride's hand. At some point - and I'm reading the option as either wearing the engagement ring as I walk down the aisle to Patrick or handing over the ring beforehand - I would give Patrick (or Sean?) my engagement ring, and Patrick would put both rings on my finger instead of just the wedding band.
3. Put the wedding band on top of the engagement ring. If I didn't want to have to take off the engagement ring AT ALL, I could keep it in place and have Patrick put the wedding band on the same finger. It would be in the wrong order, but that could be changed afterwards.
4. Wear only the wedding band during the ceremony. To have Patrick put a ring on my finger during the ceremony (without starting out wearing one), we could have someone hold the engagement ring or put it in a safe place during the ceremony. Afterwards, I'd be able to put it back on.
5. Solder the two rings together before the ceremony. Since the rings were made to fit together, they could permanently be attached. With this option, there would be no option rather than to use both rings during the ceremony

 Here are my thoughts for those options...

1. Transferring the engagement ring to my right hand isn't an option that will work for me. Right now, my engagement ring doesn't fit on the right ring finger, and I'm planning on getting it sized down another 1/4 of a size this week (it's gotten a little bit too big and turns so the diamond isn't on the top of my finger). There's no way it'll fit on my right hand when it's smaller. #1 = No.
2. I like this option because it incorporates the engagement ring - which I adore. I'm not sure yet how I feel about wearing the engagement ring down the aisle vs. not wearing it. I could see both sides of that argument, but the jury's not in for me yet. #2 = Possibility.
   
3. This continues the discussion about wearing the engagement ring into the ceremony, but I'm not a big fan of this thought. If I'm going to have both rings included in some way, I'd want them to be in the same order as I'd be wearing them in the future.  #3 = No.
   
4. The option of completely leaving the engagement ring out makes me sad. #4 = NO.
5. To solder the rings together would make it permanent, and that's not something I'm sure about. Before making that decision, I want to be able to wear both rings for some time and see if I prefer them to be separate or if it's better to have them solidly together. I'd probably like them together, but before making an uneducated decision, I'm holding out on that. #5 = I like the thought, but just not yet. 

Well, it looks like #2 is our winner! The only things to figure out are if I want to wear the engagement ring as I walk into the ceremony and at what point to hand over the ring. It would most likely seem to be the biggest statement if I walked in ring-less & out with a ring (or rings), but it's something to think about...


-Lisa

NOTE: If you received this blog post as an incomplete email first, I apologize; it was all thanks to the website's excitement to get this entry out to the universe. I tried to press "enter" to make it go to the next line, and the blog entry was inadvertently sent. Yes, blogger.com, that was frustrating, but thank you for your enthusiasm.

St. Louis Shower

I've known this for a while, but I'm so lucky to have such a great family! Yesterday was my wedding shower in St. Louis, and it was hosted at my cousin Lindsey's house.

They went above and beyond with the foods I grew up with at all the family get-togethers (chicken salad sandwiches, jello/pretzel salad, crab pizza, etc, etc, etc). My grandma made chocolate-covered strawberries, and there was a really cute cake in our wedding colors.

We played a bingo game - which was very appropriate for our family! - that included filling out the bingo board with the gifts you thought I'd receive. My grandma, the Shower Queen, was the winner of that game and the only person to get a bingo! Afterwards, we played a 'How well do you know Lisa?' trivia game. Olivia, my dad's cousin Karen's daughter, only missed one question to win.

Here are some of the questions; how well would you have done?

1. What college did Lisa attend?
2. What sport did Lisa get cut from in high school? (NOTE: I'm still bitter about this, haha)
3. What foreign country did Lisa study in?
4. What's Lisa's shoe size?
5. Where did Lisa and Patrick meet?

Answers: 1. Columbia College / 2. Volleyball (and the coach apologized my senior year) / 3. France / 4. Nine / 5. At the kickball field

Top & Bottom Left: Focused! Bottom Right: My gift helper, Logan

We got some great gifts from the registry and also some fun gifts that we hadn't expected. We're in Missouri until about 5:45 tonight, and then we're headed back to Phoenix. The trip has been great so far; we got into town and headed to Cecil Whittakers (my favorite St. Louis-style pizza place). We've been able to relax and just spend some time with the family - including Doodle, who drove the 2 hour trip after he got off work at 11:30pm on Friday night. 

With the RSVP's we've received this weekend, we're up to 50 'YES' responses! That brings us 1/3 of the way to the number we've been throwing around as our guest count guess (well, we're actually guessing somewhere around 150-160), and we actually got our first official international RSVP this morning - from Ireland!

-Lisa

Loving the RSVP Emails

My mom told me that one of her favorite parts of the time leading up to her wedding was getting the RSVP's in the mail. Since we're doing ours online, I get an email each time someone RSVP's, and I have to admit that I agree. It's so much fun to get the responses!

We knew that since we decided to have the wedding in Phoenix, it could be too much for people who live in other states to handle. There were a number of people on our list who we weren't necessarily expecting to make it - but definitely hoping they could. One of those RSVP's came today... and my friend Danita is coming to the wedding!

Showing off our 2007 WNBA Championship rings

This made me so happy! She and I worked together at the Mercury for a few years, and she's fantastic. She now lives in Tulsa and is  working for their WNBA team (the Shock). Especially since our wedding is happening the same time of year as the beginning of the season, the timing worked out perfectly: they have away games Memorial Day weekend. I unfortunately can't say the same for the Mercury: their home opener is May 26th at 7pm... the exact same time as the wedding reception. I'm hoping that people we've invited who have to work the game can show up and celebrate at the reception afterwards.

- Lisa