Thursday, January 27, 2011

Stuff to do, stuff to do...

Now that I live with Hailey I have a whole new house to subject to my home-improving ways. Of course we're working on paying for a wedding too, so the funds are maybe not what they could be, but there's always stuff to do.

Saturday I need to fix the drywall in the office. My dog, in his persistent gigantitude, kind of fell through the wall when trying to bolt out the door to explore a noise in the kitchen on Christmas. Oops. He's really just trying to help me learn a new skill, I'm sure of it. (Another new skill learned due to Obi's direction...how to apologize to my fiance for a nipped finger due to over-exuberant treat-taking...)

After that I get to build shelves in the guest bedroom, then...we'll see. Hardwood floors are somewhere in the future, but then so's a honeymoon. Hmmm...

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The engagement story

Hailey has gotten to tell this story many times, so I thought I'd share my version for posterity.

We've been talking about marriage for awhile. We'd been looking at rings together and then Hailey had the audacity to guess, to my face, the date on which I was going to propose. I had a choice at that point: I could just suck it up and acknowledge that she tends to be right about most things (which would also make the whole proposal entirely predictable) or I could move the date. Pushing it back just seemed cruel (to both of us), so I had to move it forward.

The plan all along was pretty normal: dinner at the sushi restaurant where we had our 1st date, with a proposal half a block away under a tree where we chatted for an hour on that same date. Then a friend of a friend had a spectacular idea; why not do all that and then *NOT* propose! Do the date, go through the whole thing...but then don't do it until breakfast the next morning to retain the surprise factor.

This seemed like a brilliant idea the more I thought about it. Not only because I might achieve some element of surprise, but because breakfast is completely Hailey's thing. Since dating she has introduced me to all of the most delicious brunch places in Denver and I've eaten more breakfasts in the last 7 months than in the prior 5 years combined, thanks to her influence. We'd already discussed having brunch food for our wedding reception, so asking her to marry me over breakfast seemed like the perfect thing.

So last Friday the plan was set in motion. I watched Katie until 5:15 as usual, then stopped to get a dozen roses on the way back to Hailey's. I got back to her place with the roses (and a snowman cookie jar that was a post-Xmas gift), we went out to Sushi Hai in Highlands, walked by the tree where I was going to ask, and came home. We watched some Netflixed Dexter and then went to bed.

This is where I had not thought my plan through. It turns out that building up expectation and then not following through provokes some anxiety. Also, oddly enough, planning on proposing 1st thing in the morning when you wake up does not make for a restful slumber. As a result Hailey and I got almost no sleep Friday night. By 5:30 AM Hailey was ready to give up on sleep and I was ready to get up and get breakfast made so that I could finally give her the ring I'd purchased the weekend before.

And that's what happened. We got up, I made breakfast, and once she was through eating I asked her to marry me. She said yes, there were tears...and then the phone calls started. First her mom, then East Coast friends (it was early!), then everyone else. I think Hailey spent 75% of Saturday on the phone, and about 80% of the day staring at her ring. I guess that means I did good :-)

Wedding planning has now started officially...the contract for the reception location was signed today and I think we've found a location for the ceremony as well. It's still a long way off, but it's nice to be this excited and hopeful about the future.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Engaged!

What to say here...I'm happy. Hailey is awesome and I asked her to marry me on Saturday. She said yes, which wasn't too suspenseful since we'd been ring shopping and such.

Logistically...I'm moving in and we're going to actually tie the knot on 3/17/12. It's St. Patrick's Day, which makes for a fun anniversary, and it's coincidentally the birthday of one William Patrick Corgan who keeps showing up at significant points in my life.

Between now and the big day there's a lot of planning to be done, a lot of living to do, a lot of happiness ahead. I'm doing this one right...I've managed to land a great girl, we're going to do this right and start our life together the old fashioned way (aside from the whole "yeah, we're living together now" thing...)

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

H.E.Y.

This is an idea that's been kicking around in my head for awhile.

Every religion has a version of "The Golden Rule." There's a nice compilation of passages illustrating this here. For further advice on how to behave, some turn to the WWJD sort of idea. Spinoffs include Batman, Chuck Norris, Pacman...and many more. There's this underlying idea that we need to ask ourselves what someone else would do in a similar situation.

What if we flipped it? Instead of playing the hypothetical "what if that person was in my situation," why not "what if everyone else in the world were in my situation?" What if everyone on the planet behaved *just like me*? It seems this would be a quick shortcut to a better planet. What if everyone lived within their means? What if everyone spent too much? What if everyone was dedicated to being a good spouse and parent? What if everyone was a backstabbing bastard? What if everyone dropped out of high school, pursued an education, failed to pick up after their dog, or treated the waitress with respect? How would the world look if you extrapolated your actions?

The planet should try this. I should write a self-help book. I'd call it "HEY! (Hold on...Extrapolate Yourself)" Or maybe this should be an Ignite topic. Hmmmm...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

It's.....Alive!! (?)

Hi blog. I'm sorry I've neglected you.

Obi has officially moved in with Hailey. Being indoors with my dad's allergies doesn't work as well when the house is closed up for the winter, and Obi seems to enjoy the company of Roxy and the cats, so he has moved. My computer has also wandered to Hailey's...her brother needed a computer, so she loaned him her laptop and I filled the gap with my computer (leaving only 5 computers at my parent's house).

My (our) new hobby is brewing our own beer. Turns out it's pretty simple and quite fun. We've had 4 excellent batches so far, with a 5th currently sitting the carboy working on the secondary fermentation. So far we've done a chocolate honey porter (K1ng St Porter), a hefeweizen (Home Front Hefeweizen- brewed while Hailey was in Germany), and 2 batches of a spiced Christmasy beer (Liquid Cheer). The new batch is a Java Stout we're calling Daydrinker. It will be ready to bottle in a week, and we'll put some in the new Tap-A-Draft system I got for Xmas :-D

What else...still gainfully employed, still love what I do, looking forward to a year full of happinesses yet to be discovered. 2010 taught me a lot about myself, and a fair amount about other people. 2011 is going to be that much better because of where I've been and what I'm moving towards.