Since I've known you all so long...

[Jon]

I just thought it was my duty to let everyone know that Heidi and I are officially engaged! I popped the question almost two weeks ago while we were on vacation. We don't have a date set in stone, but we're thinking sometime in the winter, such as December or January. We're not thinking anything too big, just the basic relatives and some of our closest friends.

We left for the Wisconsin Dells on the 14th and stayed one week, then drove through the upper peninsula of Michigan and stayed in Mackinaw City for a few nights. The weather was fabulous for the entire trip and it made for a lot of fun. We had some interesting adventures, such as me having a sore throat the whole time and temporarily losing my hearing as well, the car battery dying and having to get towed 15 miles away for a fix because it wouldn't jump, we had to get a cab to go retrieve the car since AAA wouldn't pay for the tow back, and probably some other fun stuff that I can't think of right now. Anyways, all-in-all it was a fun trip. We haven't gone anywhere for more than a long weekend, so 12 days was a fantastic getaway.

We got back late Tuesday evening and I had to be back to work Wednesday morning, but such is life. I also start my next grad class Tuesday, but it is online with a lecture option, so I'm not really dwelling it yet.


Here's the ring from the website, since I haven't bothered to resize any of the pictures we took yet, thus they're all still way too big to upload anywhere:

http://zales.imageg.net/graphics/produc ... 83t400.jpg


Glad to be back! I noticed it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything!

[Becca]

Congrats!

To be honest, I already thought you were engaged for some reason...and I was surprised when I saw it on facebook!

And gorgeous gorgeous ring!

[PinkMascara]

Congratulations! And that ring is GORGEOUS!

[B-Lyn]

Congratulations, Jon! You did a great job picking out a ring - beautiful!

[ancazur]

To be honest, I already thought you were engaged for some reason...

So did I

Every great engagement story needs some "interesting adventures." You need something to share with your kids, after all :P

Congrats!

[Marianne]

Congrats! And you lost your HEARING for a while??? Didn't that make you super-nervous?

[Jazz]

Congrats! You definitely chose a fabulous ring!

[Jon]

Thanks everyone!

You're all not alone... a decent number of people thought we already were. I guess that's what happens when you have a kid. The other majority aren't surprised it happened while we were vacationing.

Still no date, but I think we've narrowed it down to November or December. We know that's kind of quick, but that was sort of the goal. We'll see, though. There's somewhere we'd really like to get married with just a small family ceremony and a reception back at home, but it's kind of hard/impossible to get to in the winter, and it'd be really, really cold.

[B-Lyn]

Still no date, but I think we've narrowed it down to November or December. We know that's kind of quick, but that was sort of the goal.

My husband proposed in February, and we got married in June that year - nothing wrong with a short engagement. If you know you want to get married, why wait? Not to mention you waste a ton of money planning a wedding for a year.

You may remember, we got married in Hawaii 3 years ago with just 12 guests. The wedding was significantly cheaper than a traditional wedding is these days, plus we had beautiful scenery. Destination weddings can save you a TON of money if you do it right. We pretty much told people "Hey, we're getting married in Hawaii. We hope you can make it, but understand if you can't." It significantly reduces your guest list! LOL.

[Jon]

Thanks for the input :)

We've been weighing our wishes vs. pros vs. cons the past few days and we may have finally settled on something, but I'm not 100% sure, so I don't want to spoil it yet. We know there's nothing wrong with a short engagement. We kind of just want to get it done because the time is finally right, plus we also don't want a massive wedding anyways.

[Christopher]

I can't believe I haven't replied to this yet - how horrible of me.

Congratulations, Jon [and Heidi!] - I'm so thrilled for both [the three] of you. I must admit, I did also think, for some reason, that you were already engaged, but I don't think that really matters. What matters is that you now are engaged, and that's very exciting news!

[Jon]

Thank you, Christopher!

I can't believe it's been two months already!

Well, I stated in my previous post that we had some ideas, but we have officially decided on our plans and have already made some deposits and whatnot! It's getting exciting and we are very anxious now that some stuff is set in stone.

We are getting married... December 31, 2010 in Cocoa Beach, Florida!

We thought about the date and location a lot, and finally settled on both of them. We thought New Years Eve would be a lot of fun this year and in the future. We talked to both families about the date and location and everyone was fine with it and will be able to make the trip. We already sent out our save-the-date cards, and it sounds like a lot of our closest relatives want to make the journey down to Florida, because several of them go down for vacations in the winter anyways! Right now we have at least 15-20 guests, and many more that are fairly certain they will be able to go.

They honeymoon? A 7-night cruise from Port Canaveral into the Caribbean! We thought it would be fun to do something that neither of us have done before on a trip, so I know it will be a great adventure.

So far we've booked a hotel, placed a deposit on a cruise, and we're settling on a contact with a wedding planner. If all goes well, we'll be driving down on December 27th, getting married on the 31st, cruising from January 1st-8th, and returning a few days later. It should be a lot of fun, and now everyone knows why I sound so excited!

[B-Lyn]

It sounds amazing, Jon! Kudos to doing a destination wedding, you will NOT regret that decision, and you will probably save a ton of money that way.

So excited for you! I wish I was going to Florida for New Year's.

[ancazur]

Awesome! Florida's a good choice. Guests won't have to worry about passports or anything, and the trip isn't terribly far via plane (right? It's been a while). I don't know where exactly the ceremony/reception will take place, but I'll say that I was on the beach one year for new year's and it was awesome. Freaked me out a little, since I'm used to snow that time of year But it's really a lot of fun.

[Marianne]

Sounds great!
Can I come?

[Jazz]

My friend's brother got married in Florida and from the pictures it looked beautiful, so congrats!

As a side note, I can't believe Samantha is already almost a year old!!!

[Jon]

Marianne, anyone can come!!! Plus, it's going to be at a public park, so not like we could kick ya out!

We're staying and doing the ceremony in Cocoa Beach. It's a few miles down the road from the cruise ports, so we'll be able to just have a family member drive us up when we head out on the 1st, and there's a hotel shuttle we can pick up on the 8th.

I'm sure the plane ride is pretty short. We're getting mixed feedback from the family that is for sure going. Some are doing a plane and renting a car, others are driving. We're going to drive since we'll take Samantha down early with us and everything we'll be hauling. My parents are also driving so they can take Samantha back when we cruise, and it'll work out perfectly to drop my sister off on their way up too. My sister comes up from NC for Christmas, so she's going to fly one-way up here, drive down to FL with our folks, and they'll drop her off on the way back up. Plus, her house is a good distance for a stopping point one night since FL should be made into a two day drive from MI.

Very excited. We also heard from the hotel about their reception prices, and we got our contract from the wedding planner today. The planner is going to take care of everything for a great cost, so it is going to make life much easier and less expensive.

[Marianne]

sounds so exciting!