Marriage: An Education

I am getting married in two weeks. 

Let's say that again...two weeks.

My room is a disaster of wedding stuff. And gifts. And shoes. 

But that is not why I am writing this post. 

My mom gave me a book written by one of her professors from BYU, Brent A. Barlow. The book is called What Husbands Expect of Wives and it offers all sorts of advice and answers to the tough question of how to make a marriage work (there is a companion book, What Wives Expect of Husbands that my mom gave to Richard to read. It has been enlightening apparently)

In reading it tonight, I came upon a quote from Jerome Chodorov. He said, "I'll tell you the real secret of how to stay married. Keep the cave clean. They (husbands) want the cave clean and spotless. Air- conditioned, if possible. Sharpen his spear, and stick it in in his hand when he goes out in the morning to spear the bear. And when the bear chases him, console him when he comes home at night. Tell him what a big brave man he is. And then hide the spear so he doesn't fall over it and stab himself."

Heck, if marriage is that easy, I would have gotten involved with it a long time ago!

Its a shame that my guy is more of Stars Wars fan...

He wishes...

So maybe I have to put the light saber into his hand? 

Goodbye DC...

I moved to DC in August 2007. Having just graduation from college, I was looking for an adventure,  a place to add to the fire of life. 

I certainly found it. 

I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly wonderful my time in DC has been. 

(I am just going to warn you right now, there are a lot of pictures coming up. But you might find yourself in one or two, so take a quick look...)

I started my DC adventure living in a house in Pentagon City with these fabulous women. We could not believe our luck in finding each other...it was truly an amazing house!

I was able to get a job on The Hill working for a Congressman from California. I felt on top of the world! 

My first Cherry Blossom parade experience!

 The first of many "Mary Sponsored Activities"...

...which lead to this magical weekend in Deep Creek Lake.

And my only trip to Harper's Ferry...

Our Emo Halloween...

...followed by a trip to King's Dominion.

I made some amazing friends along the way.

And all of a sudden it was 2009!

Which was the year the Gators won the National Championship. Again.

 That year was also the year Barack Obama became President of the United States and we were able to go to Inauguration and hang out with all the celebrities! 

I started my Master's the year before and quit my job in April 2009 so that I could complete my student teaching that fall. Laura and our moms were kind enough to come up and help me move for the summer...

I came back and was placed in an amazing school but still managed to have some fun

 And fun was had!

The DC Temple was always a great place to visit, especially at Christmas time...

Let's not forget Snow-magedon!

Another wonderful year started with the a bang!

 And a wedding, which allowed for a roommate reunion!

Deep Creek Lake that year had a Havana Nights theme...


 I got a job at my dream school!

And in the fall we went and picked apples

 There were quick trips to NYC

As well as a St. Patrick's Day parade in Harrisburg...

One more visit to Deep Creek Lake

And another wedding...

Suddenly, completely without warning, this man entered my life

But he lived in Canada...so we couldn't see each other that often.

And I kept chugging along

I moved into a new house with these fabulous ladies

Let's not forget the Halloween kinda-sort murder mystery dinner

 And the Super Bowl!

Then that Canadian asked me to marry him

And we will be married on July 28th, 2012 in the Orlando LDS Temple.

So now, as I pack my things and prepare to move to Canada, I am so grateful to all of you who made my DC experience as wonderful as it was. 

Thank you for all the wonderful memories...

A road trip

I'm not sure if you are aware, but I am moving to Canada. Though I never thought I would say those words, I am excited to see what Canada has to offer.

My mom likes to joke that she used to pray for me to find the right man to marry. Apparently the Lord answered her prayers entirely. She blames herself for not naming the location.

For Memorial Weekend, Rich and I had this great idea to pack a bunch of my stuff in my car and drive it up to his house. Nine and a half hours away. We figured if we could handle being in the car for that long together, we could handle anything that marriage throws our way.

See the smile? I believe this was hour two or three...

I am happy to report that we made it with no problems (beside the fact that we were stuck in a car for a million years. That gets old mighty quick). We sang songs, told stories, ate a lot of Muddy Buddies and Goldfish..and made it to his house a little after midnight.

In awesome news, we didn't even have trouble at the border. See, I am not supposed to look like I am moving to Canada. I managed to pack all my stuff in vacuum pack bags put in suitcases so you couldn't tell what I was bringing up. Magically, the border control guy didn't even get up as he was questioning us. Rich and I were both pleasantly surprised how easy it was to cross the border.

(Ask me about crossing back into the US. When the guard asked me where I was born, for some reason I said Miami, which is totally not true. He looked at my passport, looked at me like I was a crazy person and said "Your passport says Texas". I tried to explain while that was true, I grew up in Miami, blah blah blah...he just laughed at me and waved me through)

I drove back to DC on Monday and was making great time until hitting traffic about an hour and half outside the city. But I made it safe and sound and now I am in the process of selling my furniture and kitchen stuff and packing the rest of my stuff. 

And I leave for Miami on June 21st.

Some Updates

Randomness:

1. Heading to Phoenix on Thursday to see this lovely couple get married

My cousin Brian and his bride Meredith

2. 50 days until school is out for the summer (well, 47, but I have to come in for the last few to report grades and to take down my classroom). 36 days if you don't count weekends!

3. Laura finally gave birth to Noah! He was actually due the 14th, but was born yesterday (4/29) around 1 pm. Welcome to the world Noah!!

4. I get married in 89 days. Sometimes it seems the days are flying by, sometimes they are crawling.

5. The Warrior Dash is in19 days! Here is the video I am using for inspiration

Inspiration -Powerful Beyond Measure - (User Gen.) - Click here for more home videos

Counting down

Guess what?

I am getting married in....

.........

....

Can you tell I am excited??



It is super easy to keep track because I get married the day after the Olympics open. So while the world may be counting down to the Olympics, I think they are all secretly counting down to my wedding and just a adding day. 

Or something like that :)

And to show that I am also excited for the Olympics, here is a preview:

A glimpse...

Last week was my Spring Break and I was able to spend the whole week in Canada with Richard. 

 We were able to take engagement pictures on Sunday. Don't let the pictures fool you, it was absolutely freezing.

And then it started to rain. 

But we had a lot of fun, running from car to field to building. We tried to take some pictures with an umbrella, but that proved to be a failed idea.

It was an amazing week and helped me get to know Canada a little better. I was able to have Easter dinner with Rich's family and got to them better as well.

All and all, I call the week a success.

A mismash of thoughts

Wedding Planning
Temple? Check.

Reception Site? Check.

Photographer? Check.

Wedding Dress? Check.

*************************

I had my first nervous breakdown last week. It was just after calling the 50th venue for the reception. And everything was booked. Everything. The next day, I found a reception site. A perfect one, one that will fit all of my guests, allow an outside caterer, and one that I don't have to do much to the space because it is an art museum. Prayers are answered!

*************************

I guess I haven't made it very clear what my plans are after Richard and I are married. 

I am moving to Canada.

Let me repeat that. 

I am moving to Canada. 

No, its true. 

And no, I am not giving up my US citizenship. I am becoming a permanent resident of Canada. And my children will have dual citizenship. And my mom will probably have a little studio apartment where she will live when it is not snowing in Canada, which is approximately 6 days out of the year (Richard is trying to convince me it gets warm in Canada. I don't believe him).

Do I have to learn the Canadian National Anthem?

"O Canada"

A treat!

With my first trip to Canada, I didn't know what to expect. Frozen tundra, polar bears walking the streets? 

I was going in December, and was told it was going to be cold. As in really cold. Canada cold. So my mom bought me a new coat (yes, we bought it in Miami!), which got the approval from my cousin-in-law, Ashley, who lived in Michigan and is my go-to adviser for cold weather. So far, that coat has saved me from temperatures that dipped down to 7F. Yuck.

I look like an Eskimo! Notice the bare feet...

But I am not here to talk about the cold weather of Canada (which I am sure will take up plenty of posts next winter). 

Back to my story. 

I didn't know what to expect when I got to Canada. Richard's mother, good woman that she is, gave us a dessert that has changed my life. Richard grew up on these and told me about them, but until I tried them, I had no clue.

Have you heard of Nanaimo Bars? 

If not, I am sorry. It is something that the Canadians are selfishly keeping to themselves. I mean, the French shared crème brûlée. The Italians shared cannolis. I'm just saying...

  Let me describe it to you. 

The bottom layer is a mixture of chocolate, crumbled graham cracker, chopped almonds, and shredded coconut.

The middle layer is a custard mixed sugar.

The top layer is chocolate ganache.

Heaven in your mouth.

These are pink in the middle because I made them for Valentine's Day. 

 I am looking forward to seeing what other culinary treats Canada has to offer...

Did that just happen?

The rumors are true.

I am engaged. 

Manfriend and I decided to get hitched. 

PS- sorry for not updating this blog in fifty million years. But know that good things are happening and that is why I haven't updated

Here is our story...

The first time Manfriend and I went to the Lincoln Memorial, we were still getting to know each other. I had taken him around to the back of the monument, where hardly anybody goes and although we had already kissed, for some reason we didn't kiss at the monument that day.  

Fast forward to Saturday.

We were hanging around my house, and the sun had just started going down. He very casually said, "Hey, why don't we head up to the Lincoln to watch the sunset and finally get in our kiss ?", to which I agreed. We drove in, found an awesome parking spot, and walked to the Lincoln. 

We took a few pictures of the Lincoln statue and then I suggested we walked around back (because that is what I always do). As we went back there, we found a section between pillars that was empty. We stood there for a little while, looking at the Potomac River and the Memorial Bridge. He asked me what I was thinking and I said, "I am wondering why you haven't kiss me"...and he replied, "Not yet".

I gave him a quizzical look and all of a sudden, he was down on one knee, pulling a blue box out of his pocket and there was a beautiful engagement ring inside. He said some wonderful things, asked me to be his wife and I am pretty sure I replied yes (I had to ask him about that, it is a little blurry). 

About 5 minutes after he proposed. I was still in shock.

 We starting calling family and friends (apparently his family had been texting him all day!) and we then went to dinner at the same restaurant where we had our first date.

This is from New Years. I just like the picture...

 Words cannot describe how excited I am to marry this man. Oh, and I suppose I can tell you his real name at this point. This is Richard.

An introduction...

Ok.

It is time to introduce him into the blog-o-sphere.

But not too many details...just enough to keep you informed. 

Walking around Old Town

Not his name

After our second date

I will tell you he lives in Canada

At Arlington Cemetery

And I will share pictures

Niagara Falls

Because I kinda like him

At the top of the CN Tower

And he makes me happy

We shall call him Manfriend (shout out to The Apron Stage)