Well. Searching for a venue for an engagement party looks like it will be harder than I thought. There are so many. It is hard to know what to do. I will keep updating it as I go. Planning has been giong good though and will likely be taking a break for a minute while we help our parents move and celebrate holidays with the boys. Halloween should be fun, cant wait to take the boys trick-or-treating!

How is the planning you ask?

Mike is so cute and continues to want to be involved more than I ever guessed. Just the other day he was talking about the reception. He thinks it would be great to incorporate his Hispanic culture into it. Great! Things to look for? A pinata, skulls, and a mariachi band. Hmmmm. Not quite the look I thought we were going for but I think I will surprise everyone with my great idea!

Yesterday I surprised Michael with tickets to see Rascal Flatts. I am so excited, he is too. Hopefully they will play our favorite song tonight. Guess who opens? Yep, Hootie.

Dress Shopping and Bridesmaids...

Well...We have done so much this last week.

Dress shopping...Check.

Yep, I got my dress. I went with my sister Caroline and friend and bridesmaid Bridget. My mom was supposed to come too, but they are selling their house and it was going to be too hard for her to pack and get ready just to have a fun girls day. I was a little bummed, but totally understood. We decided to make it a whole day, and so Bridget, Caroline, B's sister (10 years old) and I headed up to Bellevue to look at dresses. Let me clairify that I had no intention in finding a dress that day!

So, after trying on 2 dresses, I knew the moment I tried the dress on! Was it just like the show? Say Yes to The Dress? Yep. But of course, I made sure that I tried a half a dozen more dresses before I even made Tawna ask me "Is this your dress?" It was fun. We all had a good laugh.

You know, it is what they say. You just know when you know. Kinda like picking a partner. You know when you know.

(The dress above is pretty close to what mine looks like. I love the 80s ruffle look)

And now...drum roll please...I would like to introduce my bridemaids!

Caroline, of course, my sister and best friend will be there by my side. She did after all introduce Michael and I.

Bridget. A close friend and BFF/CF (best friend forever couple friend). In the same 2nd/3rd split in Gig Harbor, grew up in the neighborhood next to us, went to the same private school, and high School. Wierd how people's paths cross, Im excited that we finally got to know eacchother what a journey!

Jennifer H. My dear friend who lives in Texas. Jennifer has been a great friend and has supported me both professionally and Spiritually. And has let me get my baby fix with her new little guy Landon. He is adorable, by the way!

Betty. A great person and friend who has been around since Mike and my second date! Betty and Shawn have been great supports for us through our relationship!

I am excited to be able to share this day with such great friends! It was important that we have people that have been supportive in our relationship to stand by us in our marriage. Thank you to my bridesmaids who have agreed to this comittment, I appreciate you all in my life! =)

Mike and I about to head out!

I had no idea what to expect, all I knew is that it included flying and water. Good thing Mike surprised me with Dramamine too!

The Full Story!

October 3, 2oo9
The day started as a lot of our Saturdays start. I was awake waiting for Michael to get off of work, excited to see him and get ready for a special date. After running some errands, we went home and started to get ready. I wasn’t quite sure what to pack, so I packed 3 dresses, way more than I needed, but at the same time, I really didn’t know that at the time. All I knew was that we “might or might not” be going somewhere fancy for something… ‘if we could get in…’.
We started our drive up to Seattle, excited to find out where we were going and at the same time, not wanting to know so that it wouldn’t ruin any surprise. Michael kept up the façade that he wasn’t quite sure where or what we were going to be doing and I was fine with that, just excited to do something with him for our 3 year anniversary and my birthday. Mike plugged the address into the GPS, surprised that he actually had an address, I became suspicious of the ‘lack of plans’. Excited, we started for Seattle.
At about 2pm, and circling the block maneuvering the one ways, we arrived at the Olympus Fairmont Hotel in Downtown Seattle. It was beautiful. We pulled into the Valet parking. Michael instructed me that this is what he was looking for. I assumed that we were going to have dinner here, but realized that I was wrong when the Bellman opened up our trunk and started taking out our luggage. I was so excited. Michael was so cute and seemed nervous, looking back, but at the time, I thought it was sweet that he kept saying ‘no’ when the bellman asked to take his luggage up to the room for us.
We checked into our room and Michael was searching all over the room for something. AS I explored our large room and played with the CD player, Michael said that he had to run downstairs to figure ‘something out’. Again, I didn’t think anything of it, he ‘didn’t have plans’ and was most likely trying to get something together for that night.
He rushed into the room about 15 minutes later and said “Hurry up, we have a car waiting for us in 30 minutes!” WOW. 30 minutes to get ready?!? It was lucky that he let me have an extra 30 minutes to get ready before heading up to Seattle earlier that day!
We got ready and after only 2 wardrobe changes, we were ready to head out on our date.
As we walked down to the Valet to get our taxi, the hotel insisted that we use the Town Car for a ‘special occasion’. I went along with it! Why not! If it means that we get to ride in that car? Besides, we were celebrating our 3 year anniversary in a couple days and my birthday next month! Michael told the driver that I could not know where we were going and after finagling the directions in a ‘TOP SECRET’ like manner, we got into the soft leather seats and were on our way. I was so excited. A few minutes into our ride to the secret destination, the driver was asked where he was going by his supervisor on his CB. “I cannot tell you…” he said. “Seriously. Where are you?” His annoyed supervisor asked. At that point, I didn’t want him to be in trouble for helping Michael out, so I offered to plug my ears and hum, to block out the destination that was being so well guarded. We all laughed and we thanked him for keeping it a secret. I hate to ruin secrets!
AS we passed South Lake Union, we went by restaurant after restaurant. I started wondering where we were going when we started making our way into the industrial area. Then we turned into a parking lot with a big red sign saying ‘Scenic Seaplane Tours”. We got out of the car and thanked the driver. I was excited and nervous! Flying and Water! The first thing I thought was ‘no Dramamine’. At almost that exact second, I was handed a Dramamine by a smiling Michael.
We headed down the ramp to the dock and a cute little building where we met the pilot and checked in. “We can take you early if you want?” the pilot Greg said to us.
“Sure,’’ we answered. “Can I just get 10 minutes or so? I just took a Dramamine.”
“No problem,” the pilot answered, “it’s a little bumpy out there today…”
As we headed to the plane, we stopped for a photo op and boarded the plane.
The plane take off was great, a little bumpy, but not bad…The initial ascending was a bit bumpy and I started to get a little sick. It’s just a 45 minute flight, I can do it…I just have to focus, I thought. I did pretty good, focusing on things in the horizon that didn’t move. Michael kept trying to talk to me, pointing out things that were cool or neat to see. I tried to look and talk a bit, but every time I moved, I felt more sick. The flight was getting bumpier and I was starting to feel sick. “I might be a little quiet,” I said to Mike, feeling bad that I was ruining his flight. He had his arm around me and was rubbing my arm and being just generally sweet. By the end of the flight, I had the bag to my face, apologizing for ringing his sweet plan. By the time that we landed, the pilot opened the doors and the fresh air made me feel much better! We landed outside a beautiful resort called Alder Brook Inn/Resort. (I didn’t realize until later that night that Michael’s plan had been to find a moment during our flight to propose).
We pulled up to the dock and got out. Feeling better, Michael asked the pilot to take some pictures for us. We took a picture at the end of the dock, then by the plane and then Michael asked to have another picture with the resort in the background. “By yourself?” I asked. Laughing because he was already standing there at the end of the dock ready for his picture. “No, with us” He said. As he said that, he took my hand and I realized that I had my sunglasses in my hand and turned around to put them on my purse sitting on the ground a few steps away. Apparently, when I did that Michael gave the pilot a wink preparing him for what was to come next.
I walked back to Michael, and he took my hands. “You know I really love you,” he said. “Yes,” I said. Then he asked, “Do you feel better?” ”Yes, a lot better…I’m sorry…,” I replied. At that moment, he got on one knee and put up a ring in his hands and asked, “Good enough to spend forever with me?”
I didn’t even realize what was happening. I was speechless. With my hands up to my mouth, starting to cry, I said “Yes.” It was not instant, I think that I was so shocked and so happy that it took me a second, I am sure it was only a second or two, but Michael assured me that it felt like minutes! Once I said yes, he turned to the pilot and gave a big thumbs up. Nothing crossed my mind, all I could see was Mikes happy face, and feel the love that I had for him. I honestly can say that I don’t think that I have ever been so happy- and had never seen Mike this happy either. I couldn't stop looking at the ring, it was beautiful! We said our”I love you’s” (lots of them) and for some reason, I kept saying “Thank you”.

We walked up to the restaurant, happy and excited about what just happened. Mike had really planned ahead and I was surprised to find that our dinner was ordered and we were in the restaurant before anyone else! We had the best table in the house! Champagne and oysters was our first round. They were wonderful! Next was Seafood- mussels, clams in this amazing sauce, I am sure that I never had such fresh and tasty shellfish. Crab cakes and Salmon were amazing too. The crab cakes had big chunks of crab and were delicious. We skipped dessert and headed out to explore the resort. I wanted to tell everyone! I even told a woman in the bathroom! When I came back, Michael had told the waitress and two ladies across from our table!
We ended up at the firepit with another few couples. Michael was so cute, and announced to everyone that he had an important announcement and told everyone about the recent engagement, just earlier that night. They were all excited and we loved playing up on the fact that the airplane at the end of the dock was ours! How often can you say that!?! Our pilot called and we headed back to the plane for our ride home.

The flight home was great, the wind was behind us and it was a smooth flight. We had a beautiful sunset and an amazing view of the full moon. Because the weather was so great, and I was not sick, we were able to fly over downtown Seattle. We took pictures, saw Qwest field, the Mariners were playing and it seemed like we flew directly over the Space needle! It was really amazing. We landed and called our ride to come pick us up.

We went to a night club called Triple Door and had a few drinks to celebrate and walked back to our hotel. When we got to the room, Michael had already had ice and chocolate strawberries sent to the room, waiting for us. We drank champagne, talked about the exciting night and laughed about my getting turbulence sick in the plane, how hard he had worked to plan everything just right and to throw me off track. We were exhausted and so excited, even though we were so tired, we were so excited, feeling like little kids at Christmas.

Week One

This week has been great! It seems like it was just yesterday that Michael asked me to marry him. It has been very exciting to share the news with everyone and I hope that this blog is the perfect way to include the people that are close with us in just that!

It has been all such a whirlwind, after telling our family and friends, we realized that everyone kept asking us about the date! Gheesh! It just happened, gimme a minute! But once the 5th person asked, I realized that we really had to 'get on this' and I may or may not have started to panic a little bit!

I am so excited and glad that Mike has been excited and happy to find out and plan things too, because there are a ton of venues, dates, and well...everything to research! I am so glad we can work together. So, needless to say, I called Hector, our wedding coordinator (that has been on standby since my sister's wedding). He pointed us in the right direction- Step #1: Find a venue #2:Meet with Hector.

So we are currently looking for venues. Who knew that there are so many that are in the area, but at the same time, are nothing like what I have in my head.



Top 3 things that have happened since Saturday, Oct 3...

1- Telling the boys that "daddy and Teresa are getting married". Ryler (3) was especially excited as he had been keeping the secret about the SPARKLE STORE for nearly a week and a half!

2- Being able to call each other 'Fiance' whenever we could

3- Being on Cloud 9, and having fun planning

Michael and I compiled a step by step of our engagement story that is so sweet and even though it does not even come close to being there, we wanted to be able to share it with our friends and family to give them a sneak peek in on that special day. Unfortunately, my computer isn't cooperating with me- so stand by...