Routines are hard to establish and easily broken. I imagine that success establishing them depends
on some discipline, attention to time management, and lack of any major
distractions. Sometime after our last post I was seriously distracted by projects at work, including a couple of talks in Europe and at least one major life event. As a result, our life-balance/daily routine went out the window…. and sadly, our little blog suffered.
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| ...the blog is not the only thing neglected. |
First and foremost for those of you who do not already know: Ed and I got engaged!!!
Here’s the inside scoop: Yes, I knew that it might happen in the near future, and yes I suspected that it may happen on our trip to Europe. However, I had no idea when, or where, or how. Unlike most of my adventures in the past, this trip was heavily structured around work – It takes some of the romance out when you are running around: Ed between IBM conference calls and me tucked into a conference/talks. It really took losing my computer charger on the train from Paris to change the tone of our trip. It also helped to go to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera with the love of my life.
Here’s the inside scoop: Yes, I knew that it might happen in the near future, and yes I suspected that it may happen on our trip to Europe. However, I had no idea when, or where, or how. Unlike most of my adventures in the past, this trip was heavily structured around work – It takes some of the romance out when you are running around: Ed between IBM conference calls and me tucked into a conference/talks. It really took losing my computer charger on the train from Paris to change the tone of our trip. It also helped to go to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera with the love of my life.
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| Vernazza, Cinque Terre |
This is our picture from our little apartment balcony. No internet, just a cork screw, two wine glasses
and a beautiful view.
On our first night we watched the sunset and headed up to have dinner in a castle overlooking the ocean by candlelight.
You see, I had calculated that Vernazza might be the “where” for our engagement, and assumed that this very romantic dinner was “when”. I just sat there smiling, waiting…drumming my fingers on my lap… Every time the waiter showed up I would make small talk and then turn my attention back to Ed. Ed, on the other hand looked really relaxed. Too relaxed. At one point he asked me if I had brought the guide book from our room to look at hiking trails for tomorrow (during our engagement dinner!?) When he finally asked: “so when do you think we will leave Italy” I stopped drumming my fingers, poured myself another glass of wine and scratched that “where” and “when” right out of my head. Not tonight, and not Italy.
You see, I had calculated that Vernazza might be the “where” for our engagement, and assumed that this very romantic dinner was “when”. I just sat there smiling, waiting…drumming my fingers on my lap… Every time the waiter showed up I would make small talk and then turn my attention back to Ed. Ed, on the other hand looked really relaxed. Too relaxed. At one point he asked me if I had brought the guide book from our room to look at hiking trails for tomorrow (during our engagement dinner!?) When he finally asked: “so when do you think we will leave Italy” I stopped drumming my fingers, poured myself another glass of wine and scratched that “where” and “when” right out of my head. Not tonight, and not Italy.
The next morning we had planned to take a 6hr hike. We purchased the world's worst trail map and headed for higher ground:
We took the high road; past vineyards and breath-taking views of the coast, and snapped some photos along the way.
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| Seriously? |
We took the high road; past vineyards and breath-taking views of the coast, and snapped some photos along the way.
At the top of the trail we found the best vista point for our little town:
We decided to take our picture here -- however, this 'couple shot' was a bit of a challenge. The camera, for one, needed to be stable and elevated enough to capture both us and the town below us. Here's Ed rocking out our camera stand:
Secondly, that meant that one of us (Ed) needed to stand near the cliff at the bottom within camera shot and the other (yours truly) had to push the button and RUN down the hill to make it into the picture on time. Easy right? Well the first time I pushed the button and sprinted down the hill, barely missing the camera flash.
Small setback. I ran back up the hill and pressed the button again and sped back down managing to barely get in the picture when the camera went off:
I turned right around and ran up that stupid hill, pressed the button and headed down full-throttle. I got to the site and hugged up next to Ed and smiled just as the camera flashed.
Success.
I looked to Ed feeling triumphant and he said four surprising words….
“let’s do it again”.
What?!
Sure easy for him to say he wasn’t hightailing it up and down a mountain (I said to myself with an eyeroll). As I ran back up I couldn't help but wonder "why" we needed to do one more... and then it came to me. He wants to do a “fun” pose. Not a normal one where we stand next to each other – but one where I jump on his back and smile. I recognized that this may require even MORE time and I would have to get down there even faster than last time. I hit the camera and bolted down the hill. I came barreling down the hill ready to jump on Ed’s back, except he was down on one knee. No problem - in that split second I recalculated and decided that rather than jumping on his back, Ed had gotten down to lift me up in the air - like Baby in Dirty Dancing...and with that I jumped on him, the camera went off, and he did a terrible job of lifting me in the air...which is when I realized that he had a ring out, and our engagement moment was captured.
Classic.
We decided to take our picture here -- however, this 'couple shot' was a bit of a challenge. The camera, for one, needed to be stable and elevated enough to capture both us and the town below us. Here's Ed rocking out our camera stand:
Secondly, that meant that one of us (Ed) needed to stand near the cliff at the bottom within camera shot and the other (yours truly) had to push the button and RUN down the hill to make it into the picture on time. Easy right? Well the first time I pushed the button and sprinted down the hill, barely missing the camera flash.
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| Shot #1 |
Small setback. I ran back up the hill and pressed the button again and sped back down managing to barely get in the picture when the camera went off:
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| Shot #2 |
I turned right around and ran up that stupid hill, pressed the button and headed down full-throttle. I got to the site and hugged up next to Ed and smiled just as the camera flashed.
Success.
 |
| Shot #3 |
I looked to Ed feeling triumphant and he said four surprising words….
“let’s do it again”.
What?!
Sure easy for him to say he wasn’t hightailing it up and down a mountain (I said to myself with an eyeroll). As I ran back up I couldn't help but wonder "why" we needed to do one more... and then it came to me. He wants to do a “fun” pose. Not a normal one where we stand next to each other – but one where I jump on his back and smile. I recognized that this may require even MORE time and I would have to get down there even faster than last time. I hit the camera and bolted down the hill. I came barreling down the hill ready to jump on Ed’s back, except he was down on one knee. No problem - in that split second I recalculated and decided that rather than jumping on his back, Ed had gotten down to lift me up in the air - like Baby in Dirty Dancing...and with that I jumped on him, the camera went off, and he did a terrible job of lifting me in the air...which is when I realized that he had a ring out, and our engagement moment was captured.
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| Notice the thousand foot drop right behind Ed. |
Classic.
Before I knew it, we were both on our knees with
tears in our eyes. We couldn’t be more
in love or more happy about this next step in our life together.
Life has not fallen back into any kind of ‘normal’ routine. I doubt it ever will... but it is just crazy enough to where I have to force myself into more of a survival mode;) to keep all of the work, wedding, and migadventures going strong. Needless to say, I hope to keep this in my new routine so that you guys can all experience this excitement with us as we prepare for our wedding in California August 17th!
Life has not fallen back into any kind of ‘normal’ routine. I doubt it ever will... but it is just crazy enough to where I have to force myself into more of a survival mode;) to keep all of the work, wedding, and migadventures going strong. Needless to say, I hope to keep this in my new routine so that you guys can all experience this excitement with us as we prepare for our wedding in California August 17th!
These photos are beautiful!
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