Wedding Wednesday - Our Engagement Story

A lot has happened in the past year that I've been away from this space. Most of you may already know this, especially if you follow me on social media. But last year there was one major, life-changing, moment in particular that led to an amazing year. The morning Andrew & I got engaged!!

I want to remember every moment of Saturday, January 31, 2015. The day Andrew got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It started as any other weekend. We went to dinner with friends on Thursday night & had a low key date night in on Friday. We needed to rest up for our early morning on Saturday.

We had planned to wake up about 4:30am and drive over to Mt. Tamalpias to watch the sunrise. Andrew always gets these adventurous ideas, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. Since we had an early morning, we packed our day packs the night before and set the alarm.

It was surprisingly easy to get up in the morning, which says a lot coming from this girl. We headed across the Golden Gate then up  Highway 1 to the crest of Mt. Tam. This is when the morning stopped going as planned. We hoped to drive almost to the top, watch the sunrise, then park at our usual spot by the Mountain Home Inn and hike from there. Unfortunately, we didn't do our research and the gate is closed until 7:00am, right about sunrise. We had to either sit and wait for an hour, and catch sunrise at the last second, or hike 4 miles in the dark and hopefully make it to the summit by sunrise. I wasn't excited about hiking in the dark (chicken) so I suggested waiting then catching the last part of sunrise. Meanwhile, Andrew was SO frustrated the morning wasn't going as planned. I remember saying, "the day isn't ruined, it's just a little different than we had planned." I thought he was being a little ridiculous for getting so frustrated, but still I had no idea what his REAL plan was.

We waited at the entrance and watched as the darkness began to fade. Andrew was not happy. "We're missing it!" At promptly 7:00am, the ranger came to open the gate and we were off to the parking area near the summit. Just in time to capture this beautiful picture of the sunrise. We hiked to the summit, only about a quarter mile to take in the scenery & watch the sunrise.

We had the summit to ourselves, and found a great spot with a perfect view of the bay that was protected from the wind. Andrew set up the tripod so we could take a picture before the golden light of sunrise had passed. I thought he was just in a hurry to race the sun. We took one picture and he said, "let's take another just in case it didn't turn out." At which point, I still had no idea. I set the timer, and when I got back next to him, he spun my shoulders so that I was facing towards him. As soon as he did this, I knew what was about to happen. Before I knew it he was down on one knee, asking to spend the rest of our lives together. It was so magical & perfect. He knew I had wanted to be totally surprised, and was I ever!

Of course I said yes!! We hugged, cried and spent a few minutes relishing our excitement! Then of course I had to call my Mom! It was so early, and she heard the tears in my voice and got worried. But worry quickly turned to excitement! My Dad was out of town on a backpacking trip, so I tried calling him but to no avail. Next, I called my sister to share the good news. She & my brother in law guessed right away (why else would I call so early on a Saturday morning)?!

After I called my Mom & sister, we sat on the summit talking and enjoying the view. I had so many questions. How did he pick the ring? When did he get it? Did he have help? Did he ask my Dad? When? I wanted all the details! It was so fun hearing him talk about the process. And the ring is truly AMAZING. I love that he picked it out on his own, so it was a complete surprise. It's an oval solitaire with small diamonds on the band. Timeless, classic, & so me. He knew I liked vintage styles with round stones, but he thought the classic & timeless style was more suited for me than the vintage look. And he loved the oval shape for the center stone. Turns out he knows my style better than I do, because it's perfect. After staring at my hand for an hour, talking & eating the breakfast he had packed, we decided to skip the hike & head to our favorite coffee shop, Equator at Proof Lab. He did bring our camping JetBoil and drip to make coffee on the summit, but in all the excitement we sort of forgot at first & decided to go out instead.

We then called his Mom to fill her in on the morning. She knew it was happening, but was so excited to hear the details and talk to us! She wanted to know all the details of course, and see a picture of the ring on my hand. We also tried giving my Dad a call again. He still wasn't answering his phone, and I didn't want to share the news with anyone until I talked to him. But I was dying to spread tell everyone because I was so excited! I left my Dad a message to call me and figured I'd just keep trying throughout the day.

I kept saying "Louis will be so excited!" which Andrew found very entertaining! So we decided to go back into the city so he could be a part of our day. It happened to be a gorgeous, sunny and warm day in the city. So we picked up Louis and went to Alta Plaza Park for a picnic in the sun. We bought some beer, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam cheese (of course), salami and a baguette, then posted up on a blanket for the afternoon. We were so excited and kept re-playing the morning and staring at my beautiful ring.

And, I finally was able to get a hold of my Dad. He told me that Andrew had asked him on Christmas when they went for a walk in the afternoon. I was so surprised, neither of them let on to their conversation when they came back. I love that Andrew knows me well enough to know how much it meant to me for him to talk to my Dad before proposing.

It truly was one of the best days of my life, and I'll never forget those special moments between Andrew and I. We spent the first few days soaking up engagement bliss. Then when we realized we wanted to get married in September, we dove head first into planning mode. More on that next week!

Are you married or engaged? If so, I'd love to hear your engagement story!

The Infamous 2nd Date

the only picture of us from that weekend

For most people, I think the second date is typically something like dinner and a movie. Something easy and low key, so that you can get to know the other person, and decide if a third date is in the cards.

Well, Andrew and I didn't go the traditional route. I gave some of our back story here, but we were friends in college and spent quite a bit of time together during our last two years at Sonoma State. So when we saw each other that December in 2010, there was already a foundation of friendship. I didn't realize that night that it would turn into anything, living 500 miles apart and all, I just thought of it as a fun night seeing an old friend. But a few weeks after our first night out together in Sacramento with college friends, Andrew asked if he could fly up to see me again.

He decided to come up for a long weekend, and we planned our first date for Friday afternoon. I took the day off and drove down to our friends in Danville where he was staying. We had the most perfect first date. He took me wine tasting during the day, then we met our friends later for dinner. I was heading back up to the foothills that night for a birthday party, but Andrew wasn't going back to San Diego until the following Tuesday.

Somehow, he convinced me our second date should be just a few days later. And I should join the boys on a trip to Tahoe for a day of snowboarding. After an amazing first date, I was powerless against his persuasion, and agreed to call in sick that Monday and join them at North Star.

Our second date started out as calm as any other. Even though it hadn't snowed in weeks, and the snow was more like ice, it was a beautiful day and we had a great morning on the mountain. I hadn't skied in nearly 5 years, so my legs were a little rusty. But I managed to keep up with the boys on their snowboards. We stopped for lunch on top of the mountain, then decided to head back down for another run.

Rich and Andrew had "tested out" the back of the mountain, and said I wouldn't have any trouble skiing down. So reluctantly, I followed behind them. Shortly after we started the run, there was a long, steep drop! I was SO mad at them, but there was nothing I could do about it. They went slowly down the run with me, and thankfully, I didn't have any trouble! The boys had stopped once the run leveled out a little. They wanted me to count them down, so they could race the rest of the way to the lift. But I was still nervous from the steep portion above, and didn't want to stop. That was my mistake.

Not a few feet later, my ski caught an icy edge and down I went. I'm sure my fall was far from graceful, I know I tumbled quite a few times. The trouble was, the skis I had rented were much too tight, and didn't come off during my fall. So when I finally came to a rest I landed in a kneeling position, but my legs were twisted up behind me with my skis still attached.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at all. Mostly just a bruised ego, I thought. By that time, Andrew and Rich had boarded down to me, after watching the whole thing. They took my skis off for me, and since I was feeling okay, just majorly embarrassed, I stood right up. I still felt fine, just a little shook up, so I decided to clip back into my skis and head down with them. However, when I tried to clip into my ski, my knee went out sideways. I was the grossest feeling I can't even describe it. But I knew at that point, something was wrong.

By now, some time had passed and a ski patrol came by. He was an EMT and after describing what had happened, he decided to tow me down the mountain to check it out a little further. I was mortified! I couldn't even look at Andrew. Only our second date, and here I am about to be towed down the mountain at North Star. I told them to continue boarding, and just meet up with me at the lodge. I didn't want anyone to witness my humiliating ride down the mountain.

After a long, and awkward trip down to the lodge with the ski patrol, he assured me that it was most likely just a sprain. Just to ice it, and get it checked out by a doctor the following day. Little did I know, Andrew had followed us down the entire way (making the whole thing even more embarrassing). Once the EMT left, we went down to the seating area near the ice skating rink, while the rest of our group continued to snowboard for a few hours. I got a bag of ice, and I remember just sitting there crying. I think by that time I knew it wasn't just a sprain.

Surprisingly, I still didn't have too much pain. It was just throbbing, and I could tell it was starting to swell. We still had a few hours drive back home before I would be able to look at it more closely, so I just continued to ice it and hope for the best.

Rich dropped me off at home that evening (Andrew had a flight to catch so he couldn't stay), so I called my sister immediately. My knee was pretty swollen at this point and I needed some moral support. My sister says when she answered the phone, my first words were, "Don't tell Mom and Dad, but..." since I had called in sick, I was so scared for their reaction.

Later that night, my best friends came over to lend some support and keep me company. When I stopped icing my knee to show them the swelling, I knew it wasn't good...

Since the bruising was already so bad, I made a doctor appointment for the next morning. My friend came with me since I was in no condition to drive, and I was so happy to have a little support. Little did I know how that doctor appointment would change the course of the next year.


Stay tuned for part 2....

Our Love Story: Part III

In the past few weeks, I've shared Part I and Part II of our love story. And now, the chapter on our love distance love...

The majority of our relationship has been spent with 500 miles between us. It absolutely had its challenges, but there were also so many sweet moments during our weekend visits to one another. 

For the first two years of our relationship, we typically saw each other about once a month. We'd take turns flying between San Diego and Sacramento (San Francisco after I moved). And tried to cram as much into those short visits as possible. 

I always loved going to San Diego. It felt like vacation every time. We'd go to the beach and sit on the cliffs watching the waves, go hiking, watch movies and even went to a few Padres games. One of our favorite things became cooking together, we'd make homemade pizza, burgers, pasta, fancy egg recipes for brunch, and Andrew showed me how to make the famous Magliozzi eggplant. Some of my favorite memories are cooking with Andrew early on in our relationship. Even though it was only a night or two we had together, we always manged to have fun and try something new. But it was always bittersweet when it was time to drive to the airport. 

One of the hardest parts of long distance was having this amazing person that you love, who was completely separate from every other aspect of your life. Because we weren't able to see each other that often, we usually spent all of our time just the two of us. There wasn't that much time to meet friends, go on weekend trips, or get to know each others family, because our time together was so precious. I think it was hard for friends and family to take our relationship seriously because they never really saw us together. But as time went on, and our relationship got more serious, we made time to get to know each others family. When I was in San Diego, we would always see his Mom and spend time with his sister if she was home as well. Andrew also came with my family to Yosemite and Walker River last year, and we spent time with both of our families around Christmas. 

Even though weeks went by without seeing each other, I still felt that spark when we spoke on the phone, and had butterflies every time I saw him. Andrew has always been able to make me laugh more than anyone. We have a very playful relationship, and are completely at ease with each other. I think a lot of that is because, for the majority of our relationship, it was just the two of us. I can be totally myself with him, and he loves me and all my nerdy, awkward, dorkiness. 

Although we had so many wonderful times during the first two years of our relationship, the distance was really, really hard at times. Texting and Skype dates are no replacement for spending time together, and it could be really frustrating. In all honesty, some days were hard, really hard. And it seemed impossible, like there was no end in sight for the distance. But, in my gut I knew that I would do whatever it took to make our relationship work. I knew that Andrew was worth the effort that's required to maintain a long distance relationship, and thankfully, he wanted to put forth the effort as well. 

watching "our birds" along the coast

Our college friends' wedding

another wedding of a college friend

Giants win the World Series // toasting the wine purchased on our first date // Disneyland at Christmas

Christmas in Union Square // ugly sweater party with college friends

Last January, Andrew called me at work. Which he never does. He had interviewed with a company in San Francisco a couple weeks prior, and I knew exactly why he was calling. It was such an exciting thing to hear, "I got the job" because I knew that meant we were finally DONE with long distance. 

The next couple weeks were a whirlwind  Packing and planning. Thankfully, my lease was ending. Initially we planned to find a new place together, but my roommate at the time decided to move, and we were able to stay in my apartment. 

I'm sure people thought we were nuts, going from long distance to living together. Heck, I was even pretty nervous. But I knew that it was the right timing for us. 

Moving Day!!! So long, long distance love! 

This year has been the best so far. There was definitely an adjustment period, learning how to live together. Andrew was adjusting to a new city and a new job, but it was a surprisingly easy transition. My favorite nights are the ones we spend at home watching marathons of Breaking Bad, cooking dinner, and goofing off. We can finally go on weekend trips together, and have our first official vacation planned next month! 

Because of the time we spent long distance, I know we can make it through anything. We learned how to communicate with each other and what our needs are in the relationship. Now, we're stronger than ever. 

I can't imagine where we'll be years from now, but I have truly never been happier. I am so thankful that I followed my heart, and didn't give up on us. Those years of long distance were worth it, 110%


xoxo,


Theresa

Our Love Story: Part II

Last week I shared the first part of Andrew and my love story. So today, I thought we'd get to the good stuff! So get comfy, it's a long one folks...

Following graduation from Sonoma, I moved back home and started looking for a "real" job. Meanwhile, Andrew moved to Danville to live with our good friend Rich since he had bought a house there after graduation. And their third roommate would be Laura (remember, MY roommate for three years in college?). As time went on, I kept in touch with my close friends from college. Including Laura and Rich, so I would hear updates here and there about Andrew, but that was the extent of it. 

After a couple years, Andrew ended up moving back home to San Diego where he grew up. Even though he moved back down south, he and Rich also remained very close.

Rich would often travel to Sacramento for work, and since I worked downtown, we would often get lunch together. During one of our lunches, he mentioned that Andrew would be flying up soon, for a snowboarding trip. One of Andrew's childhood friends lived in Sacramento as well, so they were planning on staying Thursday night at his place, then driving to Tahoe early Friday morning. So we decided that we should all get together and go out downtown Thursday night.

At this point, Rich was clearly already in matchmaker mode. Which brought up that old attraction that I felt at Sonoma. One day, Andrew sent me a message on Facebook, saying he was looking forward to seeing me. Which began the conversation.  

The weeks leading up to our night out in Sacramento, Andrew and I had a few conversations on Facebook, but nothing really. Even though it was supposed to be just a "casual night out with friends," I was super nervous to see him. So I enlisted my best friends Emilee and Jen to come along.  Plus, Rich and I were really close and our other friend Danny would be there, so having a group setting settled my nerves, slightly.

When the night finally arrived, Andrew's flight was delayed (little did we know this would become a theme in our relationship). We met in Midtown, and ended up having a great night. The conversation was really easy between us, and I definitely felt a spark. Surprisingly, I felt really comfortable around him and not my usual, awkward ball of nerves. It was so fun being back together with our old group of friends, reminiscing on college days.

When we finally left the bar, the boys walked us back to my friend's apartment. Since they had to be up early for Tahoe, they were eager to get back to where they were staying. So we said goodbye, but not before a goodnight kiss.

The next day at work was beyond brutal, but I couldn't help but smile. I had zero expectations. I mean, Andrew lived in San Diego, so I chalked it up to a really fun night with old friends. Later that afternoon I was driving to San Francisco for a friend's birthday party, when I received a text message from Andrew. I was very surprised, since I hadn't given him my number, matchmaker Rich took care of that one. Andrew told me how much fun he had, and that he hoped to see me again the next time he was in town.

Still, I didn't have any expectations and assumed I wouldn't see or talk to him again for quite some time. But, little did I know that was just the beginning.

As weeks passed, Andrew would text me regularly and also called, which I loved. This was all taking place just before I was leaving for my sister's wedding in Hawaii. I'll always remember a cute message he left me about waiting until the last minute to start packing (which he still gives me a hard time for). While in Hawaii we exchanged text messages constantly. My family teased me to no end about this new guy that I was always talking about. It was really fun.

Upon returning from Hawaii, Andrew send me a message that he would like to see me again. He wanted to plan another snowboarding trip with Rich, and hoped I could come, and also wanted to plan an official date while he was in town. At this point, I started to feel like this could actually turn into something. I knew he eventually wanted to be back in Northern California, so I figured why not.

I took a Friday off, and drove down to meet him at Rich's house. I think it was the first time I ever really had that feeling of butterflies in my stomach before seeing someone. Both nervous and excited, in the best way possible.

Our first date was a beautiful day in January, we went wine tasting in the East Bay. The first stop was Concannon Winery in Livermore.  It was such a fun day, I felt completely comfortable with him, like I'd know him forever. I am perpetually nervous, and surprisingly, I didn't feel that way around him. He made me smile and laugh more than anyone had in a long time. Next we headed for a different winery that had bocce ball, and played a couple games. I was terrible, but it was still such a fun day. I'd say a perfect first date, possibly the best date I'd ever been on. 

That night, I headed home for a friends birthday party. I remember feeling so excited about the possibilities ahead, I knew I definitely liked Andrew. A lot.

The boys were heading up to Tahoe to snowboard that Monday. All weekend I would get texts from Andrew and Rich trying to convince me to call in sick Monday, and join them. Of course, I couldn't say no to them. They picked me up on Sunday evening on their way to Reno, then we would go to North Star at Tahoe on Monday.

Reno was so fun. We ended up going bowling, gambled a little, it was a great night. The next morning we were up early to go to the snow. I was actually really nervous because I hadn't been skiing in at least four years, and obviously, wanted to make a good impression. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned...

We were having a great day, and I was doing surprisingly well for how long it had been since a pair of skis were on my feet. Then after lunch, Rich convinced me to go down the back side of the mountain. I went against my gut, and followed along. As we started down the mountain, I noticed a black diamond sign. WHAT?! I was not pleased, I tried to make them stop but there was really no way around it. They promised to go slow with me, and that I had done harder routes earlier in the day. Okay fine, I thought, but I was still mad and slightly terrified. Thankfully, I made it down the steepest part no problem. With my confidence renewed, I started down the small slope towards the ski lift. And that's when I caught an edge. I went tumbling down the mountain, and came to a stop sitting up with my legs twisted behind me. I knew immediately it wasn't good.

Andrew and Rich came rushing over. I was mortified. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. I figured it was just my ego that was bruised, and tried to click back into my skis. That's when I felt it. My knee was messed UP. I'll save the gory details for another post, but it ended with a ride down the mountain with a paramedic towing me in a sled. Not my finest moment. Andrew followed me down the mountain, and sat with me while I iced my knee and the other guys got a few more runs in. I remember feeling awful, not only did I embarrass myself beyond belief, but I ruined his afternoon of snowboarding. I thought for sure that would be the end of any possibility that something might happen between us.

Thankfully, I was wrong. Because of my knee injury, Andrew drove up to stay with me the following weekend. Even though I was barely mobile, we had an amazing time. There was never a shortage of conversation and things felt completely natural between us. Even with my messed up knee, I hadn't been this happy in a long, long time.

flowers Andrew sent

ignore how awful I look in this photo

After that weekend, I think we both knew we wanted to see where this could go. We continued phone and skype dates, as well as texting throughout the day. The more I got to know him, the more I cared for him. So I decided to book a flight to San Diego so I could see him again a few weeks later. It was on that trip, that we both decided this was something we wanted to continue. And our long distance love officially began...

xoxo,

Theresa

Our Love Story - Part I

To tell our complete love story, you'll have to go back, way back to 2005 when we were attending Sonoma State University. Andrew and I didn't have any classes together, he was a Business major, and I was Political Science, so it wasn't exactly our education that brought us together. If you told me then, that in eight years we'd be living together in San Francisco, I wouldn't have believed you.

I suppose in a way we owe our romance to the SSU Campus Rec Center. In college, both of my roommates worked at the rec center on campus. My first memory of Andrew, isn't exactly of Andrew. But rather, a story about him that my roommate told me when she got home from work one day.

She told me of this " hot guy" coming into the gym for an interview. Our other roommate, Shannon, was conducting the interview. So, after Andrew headed upstairs, Laura radioed to Shan that the next candidate was arriving, but she added a comment about his good looks. Little did Laura know, Andrew was already in the office, and heard her! (If you ask Andrew, he has no memory of this, but I find it quite amusing)!

Needless to say, he got the job at the Campus Rec, and after hearing this story, I was intrigued. But, being the quiet and shy girl that I am, I'm sure I avoided eye contact any time I saw him at the front desk. For me, Andrew was just the cute, out of my league, guy that Laura and Shan worked with. 

Campus Rec softball team (I took this picture)

As the months went on, we spent more and more of our time with Laura and Shannon's co-workers from the Rec Center, we became a little family. Going to the bars on weekends, watching our shows and making dinner during the week, and of course the annual camping trips to Pismo Beach were the highlight of our year.

Group shot - our Pismo Beach Adventure 

I had to include my favorite picture of the trip even though Andrew isn't in it! Just for fun! 

This picture makes me laugh, so much going on! 

Standard Andrew....I remember when I first saw this picture I was mortified!

It's funny thinking back, trying to remember interactions with Andrew specifically, and it still gives me butterflies. He was so outgoing and always making people laugh. I would love to hear his impression or memory of me in college, I was always so nervous around him. I guess I should have know there was something more there!

Although we spent a lot of time together in college,  it never became anything more than that. Just two people with the same group of friends. It wasn't until five years after graduation that we would see each other again, and that's all it took....

All of us after graduation...Charlie and Audra (far left) are now married with an adorable daughter, and Chris (back row 2nd from right) and Laura (purple dress far right) are married too!
The best part is, we're all still great friends and see each other as often as we can! 

I love that we have these shared memories. I think it makes our relationship so much stronger. It's especially fun when we have memories that we don't even realize are connected. A few weeks ago, we were talking about scary movies (after we saw a preview on TV). Andrew was saying that he hadn't seen one since college when The Omen came out (on 6/6/2006). Our friend Staci loved scary movies and got a big group of us to go the night it came out. It was so funny to realize that we had gone to the movie together! Or when he tells me stories of his snowboarding adventures in college. My roommate Shannon always went with him, so I've heard her version of all of them before.  It makes me feel even more connected to him, that we have a shared history and college experience.  

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned next week when our love story continues!

I'm a sucker for any love story. It's always one of the first pages I visit when I find a new blog. I can't help it, I'm a hopeful romantic and just love, love! If you've posted your love story please share, even though I've probably already read it :)

**P.S. what's with our sunglasses!? So happy that style has changed...

xoxo,

Theresa