mark your calendars!

So, it's official, David and I have decided to get married next year...in HAWAII!!! February 7th, 2009. That gives you one year to plan, save, and for some people who shall remain nameless, lose 20 pounds.

So I've already had at least 3 people today ask when David proposed. The truth is (hi honey! you can stop reading now because I'm about to embarrass you) David asked me to marry him a week after we met. Well, we'd "met" on-line a week prior. We'd spent a total of something like 36 hours in each other's presence before he asked me to marry him. It was very sweet. I made him put in in writing (in cement) so that he couldn't pretend it hadn't happened. But really, at that point my attitude was "Why ruin a perfectly good thing by getting married? All marriage does is make you take each other for granted." (It was easy to blame the failure of my first marriage on marriage itself, but the truth is, I MADE Eric marry me. I believe my exact words to Eric, after 3 years of living together, were "It's time to shit or get off the pot." Isn't that romantic??) Anyway, back to David and I. Now that we have over a year together, I realize that this relationship is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's real, it's honest, it's based on love and respect and communication, and it's mutual.

We want our wedding to be a REAL celebration, one that involves our dear family and friends, all of us relaxed and enjoying each other and our surroundings. No stress about flowers, catering or napkins with our initials. This is going to be a celebration of love.

PS. For those of you to whom I'd mentioned it, the Kailua Maui Gardens is no more. It's now a "private estate", probably owned by Oprah or something. No matter, we'll find someplace equally as beautiful that can accommodate all of us.

Tropical beach, here we come!!