Our Engagement: Following in McDreamy's Footsteps

Many of you have been clamoring for a blog update. I admit I have been negligent in keeping you apprised on the latest happenings, but it has been for good reason.

Last time we were in contact Lori and I had just gotten engaged. However, the wedding planning was going far too smoothly. We experienced no drama whatsoever in getting the church and reception hall that we wanted (June 18th 2011. Consider this your pre-save the date notification). If romantic comedies and reality television shows have taught us anything (and I’m quite confident they’ve taught me quite a bit), it’s that planning a wedding is supposed to be really stressful, filled with over-bearing in-laws, meddling protagonists who just realized they are actually in love with their best-friend the bride, and a last minute plea to stop the ceremony. Therefore, we were obviously a bit concerned when the stress failed to come to fruition in the days following the engagement. Were we going about this the wrong way? What were we doing wrong? Rom-Coms teach us that it doesn’t bode well for the long-term happiness of our marriage if there isn't a whole lot of drama leading up to the exciting final scene. After all, Patrick Dempsey, in Made of Honor, had to go through all sorts of stress, including wearing a mini-skirt kilt and planning a highly inappropriate wedding shower that included an erotic gift saleswoman, before he could convince the girl from Gone Baby Gone to ditch the hulking Scottish guy (who inexplicably didn’t know you were allowed to dunk a basketball during a pickup game! I realize that b-ball isn’t huge in the UK, but surely this Highland haggis-eater must have seen some form of professional basketball at some point in his life! After all I’ve never played rugby but I’m fairly attuned to the principles of the game. This movie would have you believe the Scots are as isolated as the Kumbai tribe!) and live with him happily ever after.

So if the wedding planning wasn’t going to bring about the required stress, we figured we should try to manufacture some. That is why in the middle of our wedding planning we have also decided to purchase a house. For the past six or seven weeks we have been dealing with all the hassles that come along with negotiations, inspections, and convincing banks that they won’t have to foreclose on the house 6 months from now (For some reason the banks are a bit gun-shy these days when it comes to giving loans worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to 29 year old full-time grad students).

However, despite all stress inherent in this process, we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we should be closing on the house on March 30th. This means that all of you who have neglected to visit us thus far no longer have any excuses as there are plenty of bedrooms that can be converted into guest rooms in the absence of children (our own children that is. Feel free to bring yours). And a special invitation is also extended to any of you with home remodeling experience. Feel free to make your summer vacation a “staycation,” as in stay with us and help fix up the place.

I also wanted to give you some updates on the wedding front. In addition to setting the date, church, and reception hall, we’ve also registered at Williams Sonoma (the store made specifically for classy, up-scale alcoholics), Dick’s Sporting Goods, and the National Mustard Museum in Madison, Wisconsin. Lori caused quite a stir at the museum when she announced that her last name meant "mustard seed." The women at the counter doling out samples rushed off to find the "curator." After the entire staff fawned over her for 20 minutes (which simultaneously prevented anyone from serving me a brat and made us late to a brewery tour. I was obviously far from pleased), the creepy curator insisted posing in a picture with Lori. This photo-op is now featured in their latest newsletter (unfortunately I couldn't get the link).

Finally, I want to enlist your help. We are starting to look at caterers for the reception. Lori and I are at odds over what kind of food to get. I want Connie’s Pizza, but she wants anything but Connie’s Pizza. So please feel free to use the comments section to give us any advice concerning appetizers, dinner, desert, and most importantly booze.