What Earthquake?

Apparently there was an 5.6 earthquake last night 9 miles norteast of San Jose. If Tim's sister hadn't called to ask us if we were okay last night, we wouldn't have even known about the quake until today's morning news.

Hopefully this isn't the start of something since we don't have an emergency kit yet. We have a flashlight, some leftover granola bars from Tim's friend Rahul from a visit a couple of months ago and an emergency radio that was a housewarming gift from my friend Andrew. Yeah, pretty sad.

Well, we might have more granola bars that are so nasty that Tim hasn't gone for them in the middle of the night and thank goodness for our Brita war, we'll have some water. Since we have two Brita pitchers we'll have the water from the two, but Tim never fills his up so we would only have water from my Brita...

I'm a little...extremely...exceedingly...highly perturbed abut Tim never filling up the Brita so if I can bring it up in any conversation it somehow is therapeutic for me. But I digress, this is just another reminder that we really need to get a "real" emergency kit and that Tim needs to fill up his Brita otherwise the filter DRIES UP AND THEN WHAT'S THE POINT. I'll stop now.

Long and short of it - we're fine. I'm going to fill up my Brita now.

Somebody's getting married.....

This special sunday evening blog post is to inform all of our friends and family (officially) that Wendy and I are getting hitched. Here are the details....

The story.....

For those of you that are not familiar with the story, Wendy and I first met at a new year's eve party nearly 3 years ago (1/1/2005). The setting was the "Heaven and Hell Ball", an edgy new years eve party divided into two themes - "Heaven" and "Hell" . It was a slim chance that we met, considering that neither of us had actually planned to attend this event. Sometime around 1:30 AM my "entourage" had decided we had thoroughly celebrated the New Year, and it was time to go get some pancakes. As we proceeded through “Heaven” toward the exit, I spotted a hottie dancing in her own funky (inebriated) way all by her lonesome self. I adjusted my heading so as to stroll(stagger) pass her. As I neared, I reached out and we began to dance. It’s at this point fate kicked in a little. By chance, Wendy’s ring came off of her finger and into my hand. Taking advantage of this, I pretended it was a “move” of mine, and I held the ring as ransom for her email address (in case you’re wondering, dating happens over email and sms now, not the telephone). Over the coming months, I began to (slowly) court Wendy, and eventually we started dating.

Over the past year, Wendy and I have gone through a lot together. She has shown herself to be someone who is very loving, caring, and dependable, and also has become my best friend. This past spring, I was faced with a career decision that could have made it difficult for us to continue our relationship. I was presented with two opportunities – one in Hong Kong with Expedia (my former employer) and one in San Francisco. Both of these opportunities required a big move and change in life. I am very grateful at how supportive Wendy was during this time, and ultimately, we made the move to San Francisco together.

Since we have arrived in San Francisco, Wendy and I have moved in together and started a life together. If you were to ask both of us, neither would say that we initially thought we were a perfect match when we first met. As we have we have grown closer, we have both come to realize that in fact, we make excellent life partners for each other, and thus I have asked Wendy to marry me, and she has accepted. (She is now off the market).

FAQ's

1. What’s the ring like?
It’s a one of a kind trillion cut sapphire with an “antique” engraved platinum band. Wendy wanted something unique, and due to the movie “Blood Diamond”, she was dead set against a diamond. I think its lovely, check out the pics. Also, a funny side story: somehow (You can ask wendy how), the day I gave the ring to Wendy, it sort of ended up in our heating ducts beneath our floor boards. We ended up having to call the heating repair man in order to rescue it.

2. When did you get engaged?
Officially, last Saturday, September 29th, Wendy’s Birthday. However, my sister had some great news of her own (Baby 1.0), so we delayed our announcement a little as to not steal the spot light from her ;)

3. How did you propose? (This is the question the ladies keep asking)
I kind of blew it from a “romance” point of view - there wasn’t a single “Hollywood proposal” sort of moment - (sorry Wendy). I asked her as soon as I felt the time was right, and I thought it was more important to get my intentions out there then to hold it up trying to put together the theatrics.

4. When is the big date?
This is where the complications of life set in. Our closest family and friends are literally scattered around the world. Wendy’s family lives in Oahu, my family is scattered around the west coast, mid-west, and east coast. Our closest friends are in Seattle, Canada, Asia, New York, the dominican republic, and elsewhere. We would love to have a wedding where we could get all of our loved ones together, but we have come to realize that the first reasonable chance to do this would probably be next summer - which is much longer than we want to wait. So we have decided that we will tie the knot sometime before the end of the year, most likely just the two of us, in some intimate setting.

5. Really…. You’re eloping?
Yes.

6. Can’t we figure out a way to have a wedding celebration?
Yes. Wendy and I surely will plan one or more celebration events in either Oahu or Ohio, or maybe both, and we will all eat, drink, and be merry (is that how it goes?). We will figure out the details later.

Thanks everyone for reading all of this. I speak for both Wendy and I in saying that we are very happy and look forward to building our life together.

Take care,

T