| | Okay, so I've been a bit remiss here... my blogging community has been very poorly informed about the most exciting months of my entire life! While I suppose I like the idea of having a blog at some level, when given the choice between spending time with the love of my life or sitting in front of a flashing cursor and uploading my thoughts into cyberspace.... I'm gonna choose the former every time :)
As many of you already know, the month of January has been a big one for me and my beloved! After Katie's parents arrived in the last days of December, I decided to start off the new year with a bang by asking them for their blessing to marry their daughter. That was New Year's Day.... the dillemma was then how to formalize this engagement. Wheels were in motion for a diamond engagement ring back in the States, but it looked to be a while before it was set to make its journey across the Pacific and onto the naked finger of my love.
 After what proved to be a somewhat challenging search for a ring that would suit the sentiment of my love and my desire to spend the rest of my life with Katie, I finally settled on a simple white gold band with a few phrases engraved onto the surface in Chinese characters ("Beloved" on one side, and "Psalm 37:4-5" on the other). I'll spare you all the details, but let's just say the engagement ring styles over here leave lots to be desired! Providence was on my side, though, and the engraving which normally requires 3 weeks+ to complete (they have to ship it outta town) was done in approximately 24 hours. I hatched a plan to propose to her along a special little stretch of a dirty but quaint canal near where we live (we had our first long, romantically involved, talk there).
Saturday, January 6th marked the day that I became the fiancee of the greatest beauty I have ever beheld (trust me, it goes way more than skin deep... this is one beautifully whole person!). Over the next few weeks we said goodbye to her parents (and her most excellent brother Dave), started planning a wedding, welcomed my own mom and brother to China, finished one semester of teaching (at the university) and started a new one (at the international school), saw my family off... you get the picture, it's been busy!
Just a few days ago the diamond ring finally arrived via a friend who was traveling back from the States.. not every girl gets engaged twice.. or gets to marry her husband twice for that matter (we'll be having one wedding in the Chicago area and another one back here in Tianjin). So, we're doubly excited!
Now, we're just 12 weeks away from the big day! April 21st in Wheaton, Illinois... if you haven't heard the news already and would like an invite, let me know. For those of you here in China, May 13th looks to be the most likely day to celebrate the second go-round!
95 days of dating... 84 more days of engagement! Wow!
|
| | Posted 1/27/2007 5:20 PM - 49 Views - 12 eProps - 7 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
