How I knew

In honor of the dude's birthday today (even though I don't let him read this blog), I figured I'd share how I knew he was the forever dude for me.

I guess you can only really tell how you 'know' by telling a bit of your story. The dude and I met at work. Not in an office or anything like that, but during school we were both working at Target while studying our butts off (riiiight), and while the dude was also participating in the National Guard (yeah, he's THAT great).

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Seriously, there's nothing you can't find here!

We pretty much never spoke to each other, our paths rarely crossed. He was just one of the guys guarding the door, and I was simply one of the managers taking care of the front end of the store. Life went on.

I had been working there for about 8 months when one of the sensor alarms went off and I had to call someone over to check the customers items...the dude happened to be on duty. The customer was very stuffy and put off by the whole process, but policy is policy is policy. You never know who is going to walk out the door with stuff (trust me). After checking this customers cart, the dude turned to me and said "That was your mom". Say what? My quickest response was "You're dating my mom?!" That was it. We went back to our posts.

Maybe my lovely response made him giggle...who knows, but a month later the dude asked me if I was still a regular at the local 24 Hour Fitness.

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Uhm, yeah, I'm there pretty frequently. "Maybe we can work out sometime" he said. "Sure yeah fine, maybe I'll see you there" was my response. Somehow we ended up there at the same time and we each did our own thing. At the end I was starving and was craving waffles...I asked him if he was interested. For some reason he said yes. We left the gym close to midnight in search of a 24hour diner place that would satiate our desires for waffles...or at least MY desires and his craziness for going with me.

We drove around (I'm not joking) for about 2 hours...I wanted Ihop, but none of them were 24 hours. We finally landed at a Lyons in the middle of the city. The service was horrible and there were definitely some creepers in there, but it gave us so much material to keep us talking.

So we kept talking. We kept hanging out. We just got along.

We didn't tell people at work. We both knew the dude was going to have to quit soon in order to pursue his profession, so why rock the boat when there's only a month or so left?

The dude left Target and left school with one semester left after being recruited early into his current job (don't worry, he went back and finished school...he couldn't pass up the early recruitment...too many benefits went with it). I stayed in school and finished my last semester. We both came to a point where it was time to figure out where to live and amazingly we could both land in the same place!

So we moved to LA together...8 months into our relationship we decided to be adults and do something MAJOR! It was totally terrifying, but man we have some good memories.

A year after that, we bought our first little home, a condo in the valley. A year after that, the dude got the news that a transfer had gone through and he was needed back up north. He left six months after that call. I worked with my company on a transfer up to where the dude had gone, and I was there in about a year after finding out about the impending transfer. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly.

We found a new apartment and life moved on.

Then I got laid off from my job.

That was the worst. I never thought it would happen, I work so hard...but it happened. I'm not going to speculate here about the reasons, but just know I have my speculations about why this all occurred.

I was terrified. What if I couldn't find something else? We'd already gone through so much in our lives...we just wanted something to go smooth. Getting laid off was NOT smooth.

By the graces of all that is good, I found another job in about 2 weeks, and I love it. I'm managing people and inventory and logistics again...it's great!

2 weeks later we went to Japan, and that is when he was finally able to ask.

So when did I fall in love? Honestly...I have no idea. Was there a point where I was just like "OMG! this is it!!"....No. Maybe for me, it was meant to just be a comfortable transition into what is right and meant to be. I know I feel special, taken care of, important, smart, and beautiful around him, and he's never shown me another way to feel.

Maybe I knew from the beginning.

Happy Birthday tootie! (That's what we call each other)


Thanks for being a part of my craziness!

How to successfully ruin a proposal...4 times (part 2)

OK, so we can all agree that maybe I'm a stick in the mud...

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A bump on a log...

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A sour puss...

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But I had my reasons. I was nervous! Have I brought that up yet?

I knew I wanted to be with this guy forever...but the idea of everything had me terrified to my very core! Not in a "oooh, what if this doesn't last!" sort of way. I was nervous in a "OMG, someone wants to hang out with me forever?" sort of way.

Prior to my dude, I'd only had 4 boyfriends EVER...and none of them lasting longer than 10 months. Lets be honest...the 10-month boyfriend was in high school. Outside of that, I'd only wanted to hang out with someone for like...a month. No other dude knew that I would rather leave the roll of toilet paper on the floor than put it on the holder. No other dude knew that I had hair on my big toes (yeah...right?...gross, I'm sure). This dude was choosing to know this. Is he nuts? OMG! is he nuts?!!

So after putting the kibosh on attempts 1 & 2, the dude stopped trying (at least I think he stopped). I moved back to Northern California and life went on.

Finally, a year since kibosh #2, we are in Japan. And this is where the story of Amelia the proposal punisher continues...

#3
Tokyo tower. We nearly missed it. The day we had selected to go to Tokyo tower, it rained like crazy. There was a typhoon passing over Japan and no matter what we did to try and get there, hurdles kept popping up and preventing the venture. We were to board the bullet train to Kyoto the next morning, so the opportunity looked bleak. I woke up really early the next morning and thought "You know, we can still make it to the tower before our train." Sure, why not, get breakfast, trek across Tokyo (during rush hour)

Seriously, insane.

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But we went for it. We had three hours. We got to the tower 10 minutes before it was set to open and there was no one around. The dude was noticeably quiet (this is totally it...quick, find an out!).

The gates open and we go up to the first observation deck. I was so enthralled with the size of the city, I didn't want to go anywhere else. The dude kept asking to go all the way to the top of the tower (at least, as high as you can go), but I just couldn't stop taking photos.

I mean...where does it end?

(personal photo)

Slowly more and more people showed up on the first observation deck, so the dude asked one last time if I would please to go to the top. "Uhhhhh, ok...". Up we went. We were dead silent in the elevator. He knew what he was about to do (or so he thought) and I knew what was on his mind. Plus...they have elevator operators, and I don't know what they understand, I just stay quiet. DING! OMG, we're at the top. What.Do.I.Do??? We exit.

OH THANK GOD! It's tiny, and there's lots of people (like 5...but it's really small...). The dude is so incredibly private, I knew there is no way it would occur right here, right now, in this place.

We somehow made it back to our hotel, made a money exchange, grabbed a cab, found our bullet train platform and purchased snacks...all unscathed by a proposal!

#4
Kyoto
There were two attempts in Kyoto, but they were both on the same day, so we'll count it as one.

First one was at the Golden Pavilion.

(personal photo)

We had shown up so early to this shrine and were one of the first into the facility. So early, we went through twice from beginning to end. We went through the first time and I was ready to go. The dude, on the other hand had a sudden desire to re-see it all. hokayyyyyy. I didn't really think much about it at first but then he started showing a massive amount of interest in some stairs...

(personal photo)

At the top of these stairs, you had a view of everything within this shrine, it was incredibly beautiful. I was procrastinating by taking photos and when I finally joined him after all of his begging, he was surrounded by a crowd. The bummed out look on his face told me exactly what I'd done. Proposal punisher!

#4.5
The gardens behind the Heian Jingu shrine.

(personal photo - my favorite part of these gardens)

These gardens were simply magnificent. They were quiet, private, and near the dead center of the city. We were practically alone. I had a feeling it was going to happen and didn't see an out, so I just let my heart race like I was running a marathon (good prep for the race I was set to run a week after arriving back in the states). I was getting sweaty and couldn't stop the nervous laughter. Maybe THIS is what I was nervous about. Maybe I should learn to handle myself in situations I'm not meant to control. Maybe I have control issues.

Who am I kidding? We all know that already.

Anyway, the dude found a gorgeous bench overlooking the lake, and a foot bridge. Simply beautiful...and so private!

He was making nervous conversation and I was looking at my shoes, eyes darting every which way. Suddenly we hear some talking, look up, and there's a group of school aged kids looking at us like we're Mickey Mouse. A group of about 5 school aged kids (7...8?) on a trip to Kyoto from Gifu were on a mission to introduce themselves and find out where people were from and they were determined to do it all in English. Apparently we look like we speak the language they desired. They nervously introduced themselves to us and told us about them; where they were from, their names and ages, and their favorite sport (baseball! baseball! baseball! soccer! (what?)). They wanted to know where we were from and we pointed it out on a map. It may as well have been Christmas because as soon as we pointed to America they started repeating it over and over again and clapping. They had us sign the map and they took a picture with us (soooo cute!). Then they gave us gifts that they had hand made:

(Personal Photo)


(Personal Photo)

While this was an absolutely AMAZING part of our trip that makes me smile at the thought...I'm pretty sure this sufficiently ruined attempt number 4.5 for the dude.

If I hadn't ruined all of these other attempts I wouldn't have had the amazing proposal I had...but man, I feel bad for my dude sometimes! At least, after all this time, I can be confident that he knows full well what he's getting himself into.

By the way, when it finally did happen, it felt right and I'm happy as a clam!

How to successfully ruin a proposal...4 times

OK, I'm not going to say I ruined the potential proposals on purpose...but indirectly, I totally did.

You see, my dude is a perfectionist. I think a lot of it has to do with being part of the military, so much is expected of you that you begin to expect nothing less in your daily life. For something as life changing as a proposal, the stars would have to align and then you would get the go-ahead.

#1
The first spoiled attempt came 6 months AFTER the expected purchase date of said ring. I had taken a week off of work and decided to go visit the dude up north. The day before I left I got a phone call from the dude letting me know he needed the suit bag underneath the bed. Uh...ok. So I lugged it out. At this point that bag had been exclusively used to haul my business to and from the corporate office of the company I was working for. I hadn't been to corporate for about 6 months and it was fairly dusty at this point. I lugged it out and I could tell there was stuff in it. I figured I'd clean it out for him, so I opened up one side and pulled out all kinds of papers and what not. Flipped the bag over, unzipped the outside...and BLAMO, there was the bag that contained the ring. HOLY CRAPOLA! I'm getting engaged this weekend.

I close the bag, I did NOT look at the ring (seriously, I didn't...I was just freaking out)...and I put it in the car with the rest of my stuff. I made the trip and acted like the bag was nothing. I never even mentioned the bag while we were there. The dude kept wanting to go on 'hikes' to really pretty places. I mean...look at the country side in which he grew up!

(photo by me)

There are so many magical places for an amazing proposal to occur. But alas, I kept shutting him down. "Nah, let's go hang out with friends." "Nah, let's stay in and walk the dog or something." So we did. We had a really fun time on this trip. I left a couple days later, sans suit bag in my trunk.

#2
The second attempt I spoiled was on one of our last little trips while living in Southern California. The dude had gotten a couple days off from work and came down to visit for more than the usual two day stint. He decided he was going to plan everything that weekend and take me somewhere special. Naturally, I assumed this would be it. We would be getting engaged on this trip. Yippee (sorta...seriously, I was still nervous at this idea). So he chose to take a weekend trip to San Diego so we could hang out at the beach and spend a day at Sea World. Awesome! I love Shamu.

So we went. We stayed at an AMAZING hotel right on the water. We ate breakfast burritos. We had a blast at Sea World. We were pretty exhausted from so much work, that we spent most of the rest of the time hanging out in the hotel room, just relaxing. The dude kept begging and begging to go for a walk on the beach. "Ummmm, no...I'm tired...and the Sharks are playing." Never one to push me too hard, he gave in and we drank root beer in the room and ate cookies while the Sharks won their game and the ring stayed snug as a bug in a rug in his suit case.

The dude and I waiting for the Shamu show to start


Shamu and I

I know I sound horrible...I really did/do want to marry this guy. I don't know why I kept getting in the way.

Next time we'll talk about proposal foil #3 and 4.

Were you nervous as heck about getting engaged or were you totally ready?

I was one of those girls...

I'm not going to lie...I was one of those girls.

I was one of those girls who inappropriately brought up how much I thought it was time that we get engaged.

I was one of those girls who, when annoyed brought up the fact that "hey, we're not engaged yet!"

I was one of those girls that thought every single situation, every single holiday, every single dinner, every single hockey game was going to be 'it'.

None of them were, and I think my annoying-ness is what made the dude wait as long as he did.

In March of 2009...the dude and I went and looked at rings (his idea...I think). I had been dropping hints that "oooh, I like this." "oooh, I NEED this." Finally, one day, while at the grocery store in LA he said "What do you want to do tomorrow" "I dunno" came my response...as always. He said "Want to go to look at rings?" "Uh, sure..."

NOW it was making me nervous? I honestly didn't even care if we went through with it...it was making me nervous and I wanted to run away.

We did some research to find out what was open on a Sunday and every place we wanted to check out was closed. Oh darn, what a shame...we couldn't go. Too bad. No seriously, I didn't care.

But he pressed, 'where else can we go?'

Uhhhh, the outlets. Yeah, I won't like anything there, let's go there "The outlets in Camarillo". He said "let's go!"

So we went, straight to the two diamond stores at the Outlets and their selection stunk it up! Hip hip Hooray! I might get out of this and back to my complaining before I know it!!!

That is tough for me to say...these are my favorite outlets on the PLANET and I didn't go in a single store. I just wanted OUT!

On our way home the dude was SO deflated. I remembered a recently married friend of mine said that she had gotten her ring at Robbins Brothers, there are locations all over southern California. "Um, I know of this one other place on the way home..." the dude emphatically responded "GOOGLE IT! we're going". "Fine."

So we went.

Some of the ring styles I had so desired before entering this engagement ring mecca looked like the following:

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Halo rings...I was OBSESSED with halo rings.


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Rose gold...OMG rose gold.


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And watch yourself if it wasn't a princess cut diamond.

Robbins Brothers had them all. No joke. I got to look at, touch, feel, try on, anything and everything I wanted. Know what? I didn't love any of it.

Pretty? Absolutely. Did they make my heart flutter? No way jose.

I really thought I was going to get out of this awkward situation and on with my life...then I saw it.

The perfect, vintage-esque, most beautiful ring (to me) in the room.

I tried it on. The skies opened, angels sang. I loved it.

Let me tell you...the minute you love something at Robbins Brothers, hold on to your dude because he WILL disappear and no one will talk to you until he returns.

So I fell in love. What did they do in that back room? High pressured sales I'm sure. All I know is a couple days later (in March 2009...you need to remember that) a large chunk of money went missing from our bank account (we'll talk finances later).

I knew it had been purchased. From that day forward...I shut up. I knew I didn't need to complain...I just needed to wait. The dude is a perfectionist and I spoiled no less than 4 attempts to propose. We'll talk about that next time.

Did you pick out your ring or was it a complete surprise? I'm really glad I did...my taste in pictures was WAAAAAY off.

The DIY bug

If you know me at all...you know I'm not crafty. I can't draw, I can't paint, I can't write imaginative twisting stories. I like to think in the here and now. I like to cut to the chase. My mind is typically in 'go go go' mode without much room for fantasy and whimsy. If you can't tell, I'm pretty type-A and would rather get stuff done quickly, even if it tends to cost me a bit more, than wait and try and do it myself.

When I decided that I wanted to make my guestbook...I kind of shocked myself. I blame Martha. Most, if not all, my blaming for this wedding will be her fault. My guestbook, is Martha's fault...and the idea didn't even *really* come from her.

I've gone through so many ideas for a guestbook. What about a photo booth?

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Totally fabulous. Totally out of my budget...a little over $1000.

What about a faux-to booth?

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This faux-to booth thing could EASILY get out of hand (price wise)

What about the standard photo in a frame and everyone signs the mat?

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I love the idea of everyone signing something like this...I just don't like how common the practice of this is these days.

I thought the idea of a Polaroid instant camera and some sharpies would be great. Have someone take a photo of the guests and then have them put said Polaroid in a book and have the guests sign. Could be so cute and nostalgic! I love the way Polaroids look!

So cute! Problem: Someone would have to be in charge of this...BORING! Another problem: I'd have to buy the camera...and the film...and then do you really think people are going to take only one picture? I think not.

Then I found it...the perfect compromise

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Imagine a collection of Polaroid photos of you and your sweetie in the shape of a heart on a mat to match your wedding colors! Bliss!

Oh yeah, I had mentioned that I don't have a Polaroid camera. Well, I'm sure I can just take photos I have an make them 3x3...that would look close enough. Granted it wouldn't have the effect I want...but whatever. I'd live.

So the search began, I'm sure it will take me 4.8 seconds to find someone to print me 3x3 photos.

Holy cow...no one offers that print size. Hokay...

"Dear facebook friends, how do you all have photos that look like you're using a Polaroid camera?"

"Dear Amelia, do you live under a rock? Go to Poladroid.net and make them for free all day long!"

Seriously people. If you have an affinity to the nostalgic look of a Polaroid, you NEED this. It's so fun! Did you read the free part?

So I did a test run, I sent ten of my photos through the "Polaroid" program and got amazing results like these:

Original Photo


Poladroided


OMG!!!!!!!!

One more...
Original


Poladroided

That's it! I'm sold. They look fantastic!

Now...how to get them on to photo paper...

I popped over to Mpix.com (Thanks Cristina!) and decided to make a few 4x5 prints. I figured the worst that could happen is I'd be out $5 for the prints. Cheap price to pay for peace of mind (especially if it worked out). I ended up purchasing all 10 photos that I had dragged through the program. I requested the photos on metallic paper, figuring that would give the final product a little more edge.

I placed the order and in less than a week, the photos were in my mail box. Perfection! They turned out AMAZINGLY! This project is well on its way.

Can't wait to get back some engagement photos to drag through the program!

Needless to say, this is one DIY project I'm happy I decided to take on. This will definitely put a personal stamp on the wedding.

What DIY projects did you attempt?

Japan - Where it all began

I know I mentioned briefly when I started this lil ol' blog here that the dude and I were engaged in Japan. Due to recent events, I feel it's time to take a little look back down memory lane and tell our story that closes one chapter and opens a new one in Japan. Let's just tell this story in pictures.

Couple moves to LA (here we are at one of his Christmas Parties)


Couple buys condo in LA...but spends every vacation coming back north


The dude gets transferred back north and visits EVERY SINGLE WEEK!
Eventually dude gets in accident and truck ends up looking like this


Finally, I get my transfer about 6 months later. We sell said condo.
The transfer was sudden so we spend about 1 month with the dudes parents. Views like this every day!


We find our own place and put ourselves on a one-year track to owning our second home.
With our nose to the grindstone we realize...we've never once done anything amazing for ourselves!
It was time...for an adventure. We incorporated that adventure into our plan.
Japan was the plan.

Sight #1 - none other then Air Force One


Tokyo - Days 1 through 4

(Imperial Palace)


Sushi breakfast (Tsukiji fish market)


Asakusa


Akihabara


Harajuku


Tokyo Tower (where I believe the engagement was originally going to take place)


Bullet trains all over the place! (This one from Tokyo to Kyoto)

Kyoto Days 5-8


Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji)




Overlooking Kyoto (outside of Kiyomizu-dera shrine)


Kiyomizu-dera

Day 9 - Osaka


Just seconds after he popped the question

Atop the HEP5 in Osaka...

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We celebrated...





(best sparkling apple cider ever...and if you know where I can get it...let me know)

Then...we went home.

We were engaged and it was time to start spreading the news! Japan will always be a special country to us. We can't wait to go back.

One last shot of the bling for good merit, I'll tell you how it came to be...next time.