Thanksgiving (and more!)

What a busy week since the last post! Mike and I were both on "vacation" from work this week, but wow were we busy!!! Beginning last Monday, we started to look at prospective wedding sites in Champaign, while also beginning to pack up Mike's apartment in preparation for this week's move. Then we headed up to Chicago on Monday night to begin Thanksgiving festivities. By Wednesday, we were checking out more reception sites around Chicagoland, while getting ready for Thanksgiving the next day (which was a really great day- excellent cooking, as always, Mom!) We spent Friday at the circus with my cousin Emily and the Smykowski family (our flower girls and ring bearer were all together!), and Saturday brought a birthday party for Mike's niece.

Wedding update!!! Mike and I have decided to move forward with planning our wedding in Champaign. We love the idea of having our family and friends join us in the place we met, and the place where we are starting our lives together. More details to come as we ultimately choose our locations, but we are still planning on Labor Day Weekend 2008 (most likely Sunday August 31). As we continue to look at various sites this upcoming week, we will also be moving from each of our respective apartments into a new place! So if there's no post for a few days this week, you'll understand why! In the meantime, feel free to leave comments so we know you were here!

I hope that each of you reading this had a blessed and happy Thanksgiving! See you soon!

I-L-L...I-N-I!!!

We just got back from a great Illini game. It's so refreshing to see the football team WINNING, and not just one game, but several throughout this season! We've had a great start to the Thanksgiving break- last night Mike and I worked a family volunteer night that I put together at the Y. We had a great turnout, and Mike was a GREAT announcer! It was so good to see these young kids learning how to volunteer, and not just by themselves, but with their parents too! Then today Dad and one of his friends came down, and we met up with Andy and his roommate so we could go tailgating. Couldn't ask for a better day for a football game in November!!!

And now we can begin this busy week off. In the midst of all the wedding excitement, we have a very important move to carry out! On Dec 1, Mike and I are both going to vacate our current apartments and move into our first home together (which happens to be just around the lake from my current apartment). We're going to start with Mike's things first later tonight, and tomorrow, and then move on to packing my things. Just a few short days after we get back from Thanksgiving, we'll have our new keys and will be able to start moving!

On top of packing not one, but two apartments, we're going to start looking at prospective locations for wedding receptions. Since we're still deciding where we'll hold the wedding, we're going to spend Monday afternoon driving around Champaign to three unique venues- first, a historic ballroom, then a banquet facility that happens to be part of a fitness center, and finally a local hotel. Tuesday is travel day- pack up the cat, the dog and enough stuff to last us until the weekend. Wednesday brings more searching for a wedding site in the Chicago area, including one restaurant where I attended a wedding several years back, and remember as very nice, and another place that has beautiful scenery and can accommodate both a ceremony and reception (which I'm finding out many of these places can actually). I'll let you know what we find out on our tours!

When? Where? When? Where?

One week later... and it seems that the pressure's on to set a date (and a location too!) I've heard "when is the big day" and "where's it going to be" countless times in the last week. So I will share with you what our status is as of today, 7 short days after engagement.

We'd like "the big day" to be on Labor Day weekend 2008. This narrows it down to August 30 or 31. However, this all hinges on where we decide to get married and if it happens to be available. So this date is not set in stone, but that's the plan for now.

Now for where...
Ask us in about a week. We're still deciding what to do and hope that having the week off next week to look at places around Champaign, and then doing the same up in Chicago later that week will help us decide what we think is right for us. Trust me, I'll keep you posted!

My side of the story...

Ok, she got to tell her side of things, so now it's my turn. My turn to tell the truth.

So the story actually starts a few weeks before Tuesday. I knew I had met my match, err, I mean the love of my life, so I had to propose to this beautiful lady and make her my wife. So I went looking for a ring. I found some that I liked, but nothing really jumped out at me. Then I saw it. I found THE ring. It is called "Fire on Ice." Any ring that has a name has to be good, right?

So I purchased it right then and there. There is a rumor floating around that the guy at the store helped me pick it out. WRONG! I picked it out by myself. He just took the thing out of the counter.

I told them I needed it by Nov. 4 as I was going to take it to the Leon's house in Chicago so I could look Amy's dad in the eye and ask him for permission to marry his daughter. Monday 3:30pm rolls around and I'm knocking on the Leon door. And knocking. And knocking. NO ONE WAS HOME! My plan was foiled.

So I drove back to Amy's. I had to find a way to get Amy's Dad's phone number without her knowing. So I had to steal her phone. Anyone who knows Amy knows how hard that was! So I got the phone and called and left a message.

The following day we played phone tag all morning until we eventually hooked up on the phone. His response was classic, "Well yeah! Congratulations!" Sweet.

So the plan was set for that night. Amy wasn't going to be home until 8pm so I had plenty of time to get everything done. That was until she calls a little after 4pm to tell me the 'good news' that she would be home at 6pm. Sheesh, thanks for the heads up!

So I ran out of work early and went to the florist to get the rose petals. On the way there, I had one of my coworkers email me the phone number to Dos Reales so I could order Amy's favorite meal while I was running around getting everything. So I grab the rose petals and make a beeline over to Dos, get the dinner and head north to Target. Candles would be supplied by Target, so I ran in, grabbed 100 of them and moved over to Meijer's. I'm a high roller so I figured I'd get the bottle of wine from them. Little Penguin wine!!! Only the finest...

Now to the apartment. Take Chesney out and cage her up, then throw the fat cat in the bedroom. Clean up some of the house and then strategically place 100 candles ALL OVER the house. Spread the petals all over the house, light the candles and then.....wait.

I sat on the bed (with the fat cat) and looked out the window waiting for her. The rest of the story you know already as she did a pretty good job of describing the rest.

When it was all said and done it was more than worth it. I never thought I'd find such a beautiful, intelligent, Christian young woman to spend the rest of my life with. I love her and her family and am looking forward to the next few months of busy busy busy.

mc

The proposal

How did the proposal happen, you ask? (It seems to be everybody's first question when I tell them I just got engaged!) I was at an all-day training for work that was scheduled to go until 8 PM on a Tuesday night, November 6. Mike and I had said we would just plan on eating dinner separately that night since I would be working so late. However, once I got to training, the trainer announced that she wanted to let us out at 6 PM instead, since 8 was just too late. During our 4 PM break, I gave Mike a quick call at work to let him know I would be home to eat dinner after all. There was an awkward pause on the other end of the phone and I said, "unless you had other plans, that is". And he hurriedly said, "no, no, just give me a call when you're on the way home." To which I replied, "I just told you I'm getting out at 6, I'll be there at 6:15. See you later!" If only I knew what I had just set in motion.

At 6:00, training ended and I hopped in the car to make the 20 minute drive home. That night I called Mom on my way home and we talked the whole way. When I pulled up to the apartment and opened the door, my stairway was lined with tealight candles on every step, on both sides, and rose petals covered the stairway. I could see the apartment at the top of the stairs was candlelit as well. I asked Mike what all this was for, and he replied, "we're celebrating." I immediately thought he got a promotion, or maybe something else exciting had happened that day. Everybody asks me at this point if I was suspicious and I honestly was NOT. I had no idea what was about to happen.

I got to the top of the stairs and hear Chesney barking in the background (she was crated in her cage). I noticed the entire apartment was covered in tealight candles and rose petals were all over the floor. Mike came walking around the corner and said, "I just can't wait any longer, I have to know. Will you marry me?" as he dropped to his knee and held out a ring. I then threw all my things on the ground (thankfully NOT on one of many candles!) and started hugging him. I was so excited and shocked, I couldn't believe what had just happened! After a minute or so, he took the ring out of the box and put it on my finger. I could not (and still cannot) stop looking at it- its so beautiful!

In addition to the tealights, candles and beautiful engagement ring, Mike picked up my favorite food for dinner (Mexican food), as well a a bottle of wine. He even changed the screen savers on both our laptops to say, "I love you, Amy!!!" That night was filled with LOTS of phone calls to family and friends, and just lots of excitement. It was absolute perfection. :-)