How the madness all started...

Well since I can't be 4 for 4 today, I figured it would be just as good to tell the story of how Scott and I met.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Ok, not really stormy, but it was dark and rather late on a winter's evening when Scott and I were finally introduced to one another. A co-worker and good friend of mine, Kim, suggested that we go to Scott's apartment after our resident and employee Christmas party to watch Survivor. I agreed to go along since I was sort of a reality t.v. junkie and who really wants to resist watching people wander around some deserted part of the earth and eat bugs? I had also previously been told by Kim that she thought Scott and I would make a cute couple and that it was time we met each other. Kim and Scott are old high school pals and Scott had recently moved back to Chico from the San Luis Obispo area where he went to college and worked for a year after graduating. So back to the story...

The three of us watched Survivor that night, and apparently something began to simmer under the surface between Scott and myself. Later that week at work, I was trying to convince Kim to come out and have a drink with me at a bar downtown, (classy right?), she refused and refused, but told me that Scott was also going out this weekend and he had been asking her to go out with him. With a stroke of pure genuis Kim decreed that we should meet up together downtown, and thus she wouldn't have to go at all! Going ahead with her ingenuis plan, Kim gave Scott my phone number, and after we played a little phone tag and I snagged a wing-man, we met up downtown at a fun little bar.

After having some fun and drinking some beer ( I only had 2 glasses Mom, I swear! ;]) we decided to cap the night off with some late night snacks at a local downtown diner. Now, Scott HATES it when I tell this part of the story, but I have to confess that it's my favorite. While at the diner, I made the sensible decision to order chicken strips and fries, while Scott made the not so smart decision of ordering biscuits and gravy. When our food finally arrived, Scott's meal was a mound of gravy over some little tiny biscuits, with the weirdest and most awkwardly shaped piece of "sausage" laying delicately on top of the mountain of gravy. Even in my slightly inebriated state I could see the folly in his decision. I think he only took a few bites and I graciously offered him a chicken strip, but it made for a very interesting end to our evening.

Don't worry, this is definitely not considered our first date. Scott took me out about a week later to a wonderful dinner and we had a lovely romantic evening. I just think this story is much more funny!

The Wedding

Just so I can be 3 for 3 today, I'll share a little bit about the site that Scott and I chose for our impending nuputials. As many of you may know, we officially set the date for June 5, 2009. This date comes fairly soon after my intended graduation from Graduate School next Spring. Needless to say the beginning of 2009 will be a rather busy time of year for both Scott and myself.

Originally, Scott and I were considering getting married at the Wawona Resort in Yosemite because we had so many good memories of that area and had shared some special milestones there early in our relationship. However, after much discussion with family members and with each other, we decided that a location closer to home, but with all the destination and natural charm we were looking for would be the better option. That's how we stumbled upon The Bidwell House in Chester, CA http://www.bidwellhouse.com/.

This beautiful Bed & Breakfast/Inn was originally the historical summer home of John and Annie Bidwell, the founders of Chico. While the home was moved from its original location to its present spot at the end of Main Street in Chester, it still has all that wonderful rustic and classic charm found in historic homes. The Bed & Breakfast has 14 fabulous rooms, a wonderful patio area and a charming and romantic gazebo where the ceremony will be taking place. The outdoors are so beautiful in the springtime and summer that we knew instantly that this was the place for our most special day. It reflects our mutual love of nature and being in the outdoors and its also about 10-15 degrees cooler than Chico at that time of year, so it fits for our comfort level as well.

Scott and I are reserving rooms at the Best Western Rose Quartz Inn in Chester as well as at the Oxford Suites in Chico. There are several other hotel/motel locations, including the B&B, so we know that our family and friends won't have trouble finding overnight accomodations. Chester is only about an hour and 30 minute drive from Chico, so total driving time from the Sacramento International Airport to Chester would be about three hours.

We also chose a Friday so we could be a little unconventional, but also so we could leave for our fabulous honeymoon on Saturday. We're flying to Tampa, FL to take a 7 day cruise through the Western Carribean. We're still working out the details for a brunch or luncheon with family and friends that may have stayed overnight, on Saturday the 6th, so we'll be sure to keep everyone posted, but most likely we'll do something in Chester/Chico before we leave for the airport and it will be very informal and just a good way for us to send everyone off as we go off to celebrate our newly wedded bliss.

The House and The Mutt

So far I'm 2 for 2 in posting of my blogs and I thought I would fill this one in with all the details about our wonderful new house and our wonderful pup, Apollo.

This spring, pre-engagement, Scott was lucky enough to have the opportunity to buy a house in Chico. The market was ideal and we really lucked into a fabulous 3 bed 2 bath home, pretty close to my work and in the best little family neighborhood. It has a great backyard, which can be hard to find in California, and other than an obnoxious next door neighbor, we are completely in love with our house.

Our backyard inspired us to get a dog, and while we had originally planned on waiting until the summer time to adopt a puppy from some friends of ours, my good friend Katie sent me a message about a litter of black lab pups that had been rescued by our local shelter. Naturally, I immediately contacted Scott so we could plan our next move. Before we knew it, two weeks had flown by and I was bringing home an adorable little black lab puppy whom we named Apollo. Little did we know what was to come....

At our last visit to the vet, for Apollo's last series of shots, the vet assistant looked at me and asked what breed Apollo was again. I told her how we had adopted him from the Humane Society and how he was a black lab, but they couldn't be sure he was a pure-bred and so on and so forth. She looked and me, and looked at him and said, he looks more like a Great Dane to me. At this point, my eyes almost fell out of my head and my mouth surely dropped open, as she began to describe his Dane-like characteristics. Scott and I are eagerly anticipating how he is going to turn out. Needless to say, you'll probably hear about it if he does turn into a Great Dane.

The last few months have been rather exciting for us and we are both looking forward to Christmastime and Weddingtime so we can celebrate everything that's been happening in our lives recently. If anyone wants to know more about something we have going, drop Scott or me a line and maybe it'll turn into a blog!

I am no longer a blogging virgin...

Well well well...

I knew this day would eventually arrive, so it's no surprise that it's here already. In a brief discussion with Scott and and off-hand comment to Kim, I (we) decided to start a blog, mostly to keep family and friends updated on our happenings, since we weren't very pleased with either of the wedding websites we tried, we figured this would be the best option. I guess I'd better start with a little backstory...

Scott and I met in December of 2006 through our friend Kim also known as the best match-maker ever! While we bonded over beers and Survivor, casual dating eventually turned into going steady.

During the Summer of 2007 we took our first big vacation together when we travelled to Yosemite National Park. It was the first time for both Scott and I at the breath-takingly beautiful National Park. We had a blast camping and spending time together, especially when we got the chance to go over to the coast and see Scott's sister in Santa Barbara.

The first year flew by fast and before I knew it Scott proposed to me in April. Before he knew it wedding plans were underway. We chose the amazingly beautiful bed and breakfast and historical home in Chester, CA, The Bidwell House. The venue has a gorgeous gazebo and beautiful grounds that we knew would be a perfect fit for our mutual love of nature.

Things have calmed down a little this summer, school is out and even though I'm looking forward to finishing up next year, YAY!, its nice to have the time to relax and take things easy. Scott has been busy at work, but we managed to take a few weekend vacations, one to Antelope Lake in early June, one to the beautiful Redwood Coast near Arcata and he took the pup on a mini vacation with Sean and Julie to a fire lookout. I am getting the chance to go visit my big sister in Missouri and spend some time with my 3 adorable nephews!

Apollo continues to keep us on our toes and he's growing like a weed. We're still waiting to see whether or not he keeps leaning towards his Great Dane traits or if he starts leaning towards the black lab traits he was "supposed" to have.

Well, the weather is warm and the sky has finally cleared of smoke. Keep checking back for wedding and various updates!