Just to get everyone in the lovey, dovey mood...I came across a few of these and thought I should share:
From "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," in The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats:
But I, being poor have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
From The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran:
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
From "Somewhere I Have Never Traveled," by E. E. Cummings in Complete Poems: 1904-1962:
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose
From "Sonnet 116," in Love Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken
From "How Do I Love Thee?", by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in One Hundred and One Classic Love Poems:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach
From Beloved, by Toni Morrison:
Paul D sits down in the rocking chair and examines the quilt patched in carnival colors. His hands are limp between his knees. There are too many things to feel about this woman. His head hurts. Suddenly he remembers Sixo trying to describe what he felt about the Thirty-Mile Woman. "She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind."
From "A Poem of Friendship" in Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day by Nikki Giovanni:
I don't want to be near you
for the thoughts we share
but the words we never have
to speak.
From "The Book of Ruth," 1: 16-17 in The Bible
For whither thou goest, I will go;
And where thou lodgest, I will lodge;
Thy people shall be my people;
And thy God my God.
Happy and thrice happy are those who enjoy an uninterrupted union, and whose love, unbroken by any sour complaints, shall not dissolve until the last day of their existence.
~ Horace
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Guest Bloggers!
In addition to Paul's blog, we have one submitted by Jared Sams, the Best Man. I put it on the Hula Happenings blog since it's advice on how to pay for the trip to Hawaii. Jared's definitely a funny guy...THANK YOU for adding your thoughts to the mix, Jared.
If you want to see his article go to:
Jared's Blog on Hula Happenings
If you want to see his article go to:
Jared's Blog on Hula Happenings
Thursday, March 26, 2009
California Shower and Batchelorette Party
So I just talked to Kathy, Paul's sister, who is in charge of all of the California events leading up to the wedding such as the bridal shower and the batchelorette party. There will be a "family style" bridal shower in Hawaii on the Wednesday before the wedding to include all the out-of-town people, but we're going to hold one here to have one that's more intimate. I have to say that I cannot wait to see what Kathy and crew have planned. They are making things extremely mysterious, and with things like this, Paul's family is extremely good at keeping secrets. I have already experienced this with the engagement. Kathy and her mom even accompanied Paul to choose the right ring a few months before he officially asked, and I had no clue. I'll just go with the flow when the big days get here. I am just looking forward to spending time with the women I love and love to hang out with.
Paper time!
We made an order for our invitation papers/envelopes last night. It was quite a search for the right paper, and I hope that when it comes in, it'll all piece together nicely. I'm not sure what the final product is going to look like, but it should be enough for our guests to have all the information with a little bit of fun inside.
I did try really hard to find some other options for invitations, but it was so expensive and not in the right colors or right style. I'm not that picky really, but I didn't know red was such a difficult color. If you make it too red, it looks like bright red lipstick, and then it could go more orange or purple or pink. I really wanted the deep red, and it's kind of funny that red the paper we chose is named "Rose Deep." It even sounds romantic. We also bought some beige and silver papers for some accents...I can't give too much away.
The next step is to organize an invitation making party. It's going to take a lot of repetitive work, stamping and glue. I've never really been to one or had to organize one, but I think I will try to make it a little fun with some crazy music, and good food...lots of ventilation.
That's the update for now. By the way, I also wanted to add that I am really proud that Paul posted a blog. He's really shy about writing...he always thinks that he doesn't write well, but he doesn't give himself enough credit. I hope to see more of his work, and some others if I can convince them to contribute. It's always hard for me to read only my voice on this blog, and Paul put a little bit of life with his thoughts and feelings. Thank you! It wouldn't have been complete without you...
I did try really hard to find some other options for invitations, but it was so expensive and not in the right colors or right style. I'm not that picky really, but I didn't know red was such a difficult color. If you make it too red, it looks like bright red lipstick, and then it could go more orange or purple or pink. I really wanted the deep red, and it's kind of funny that red the paper we chose is named "Rose Deep." It even sounds romantic. We also bought some beige and silver papers for some accents...I can't give too much away.
The next step is to organize an invitation making party. It's going to take a lot of repetitive work, stamping and glue. I've never really been to one or had to organize one, but I think I will try to make it a little fun with some crazy music, and good food...lots of ventilation.
That's the update for now. By the way, I also wanted to add that I am really proud that Paul posted a blog. He's really shy about writing...he always thinks that he doesn't write well, but he doesn't give himself enough credit. I hope to see more of his work, and some others if I can convince them to contribute. It's always hard for me to read only my voice on this blog, and Paul put a little bit of life with his thoughts and feelings. Thank you! It wouldn't have been complete without you...
Friday, March 20, 2009
1 Year
So it's been 1 year since I got engaged, and this experience has been pretty incredible. I couldn't have dreamed of a better engagement year or a better future-husband-to-be. I should have known from day one that Paul would change my life so much and make it so very exciting. There's actually a lot of things that I owe credit to him. Most recently, without Paul I would have never been so deeply involved with curling and Team Bond Girls. All of a sudden, I have an excuse to get some exercise, meet some new wonderful people, and make an impact since curling is such a niche sport. I had a once in a lifetime experience with the Club National Competition, and I would have never that opportunity if Paul never sent that email contacting a Southern California curling club. Winkie and Nibbler wouldn't be in our lives. I have never lived with cats nor wanted one let alone two, but Paul has lived with cats practically all his life, and he won the pet battle. I was really adamant about just getting one, but we ended up getting two because they needed to give each other company. I think we would have had three if that orange one hadn't disappeared. I love Winkie and Nibbler, and they are the sweetest cats despite a few quirks, (Winkie likes to show her displeasure once in a while on our bed.) and I don't know what I would do without them. I am a Kings hockey fan, and I'm from Hawaii, but Paul really loves to introduce all the ice sports to me. We go to many of the games, and we sit in the last row yelling, screaming, standing and cheering. Also, I'd like to think that I've brought a few things into Paul's life...the Filipino/Hawaiian culture, "The Goonies," "Fraggle Rock," and a social connection to the world because sometimes he can be a little shy...until he gets to know you of course.
This year has passed by so quickly with so many major life events. I almost wish it would never end, but then we'd never get married. So with only about 98 days left to enjoy the engagement limelight, we're going to have to get things cracking. If this is only the beginning, I am looking forward to the rest of our lives together.
This year has passed by so quickly with so many major life events. I almost wish it would never end, but then we'd never get married. So with only about 98 days left to enjoy the engagement limelight, we're going to have to get things cracking. If this is only the beginning, I am looking forward to the rest of our lives together.
Paul's Blog Entry...Finally!
First off, I want to wish Donna a happy birthday! For those that don’t know, today is her birthday and is also exactly one year from the day we got engaged. So today I’d like to share one of her favorite stories from the planning process that went into surprising her with an engagement ring in Hawaii!
After finding the perfect engagement ring at Robins Brothers (little promo there!), I wanted to get permission from Donna’s father before proceeding with my plans. Unfortunately, flying to Hawaii wasn’t really an option, so I had to do this over the phone. My first hurdle was getting his cell phone number so I could talk to him while Donna was still at work. After getting the number from my future brother-in-law (Elliot), I decided it was time to make the call.
I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous. As the phone began to ring, I tried to go through what I would say in my head. He answered the phone around the third ring. I started by introducing myself (though we had meet several times before), but I knew he didn’t have my cell phone number saved in his phone and he wasn’t expecting my call.
“Hello Mr. Umali, this is Paul, Donna’s boyfriend.”
He responded by saying hello, though I got the feeling he wasn’t quite sure who I was yet. I was probably talking fairly fast, as I often do when I get a little nervous. But I decided to continue on anyway.
“Mr. Umali, I’m calling to ask for your permission to propose to your daughter.”
There were a few seconds of silence that seemed like an eternity before he responded with:
“What’s your proposal?”
I figured that he didn’t know who I was, so I tried to start over again.
“This is Paul, Donna’s boyfriend, and I’d like to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”
“Which one?” He responded.
Now, I was a bit flustered. I was pretty nervous going into the call, and it was not going anywhere close to how I had played it out in my head. When you stop to think about the question he asked, then you’ll realize how it threw me off. Joyce (one of Donna’s younger sister’s) had gotten married the previous summer and Arleen (the only other sister Donna has) was 14 years old at the time...
But after taking a moment to collect myself, I told him that it was Donna that I wanted to marry. And after telling him one more time who I was, it finally clicked. In the end, he of course gave me permission and later told us that he originally thought it was a co-worker playing a prank on him. I’m sure the whole thing would have gone much smoother had I been able to do it in person, but then we wouldn’t have this fun little story to share with all of you.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the wedding in June!
-Paul
After finding the perfect engagement ring at Robins Brothers (little promo there!), I wanted to get permission from Donna’s father before proceeding with my plans. Unfortunately, flying to Hawaii wasn’t really an option, so I had to do this over the phone. My first hurdle was getting his cell phone number so I could talk to him while Donna was still at work. After getting the number from my future brother-in-law (Elliot), I decided it was time to make the call.
I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous. As the phone began to ring, I tried to go through what I would say in my head. He answered the phone around the third ring. I started by introducing myself (though we had meet several times before), but I knew he didn’t have my cell phone number saved in his phone and he wasn’t expecting my call.
“Hello Mr. Umali, this is Paul, Donna’s boyfriend.”
He responded by saying hello, though I got the feeling he wasn’t quite sure who I was yet. I was probably talking fairly fast, as I often do when I get a little nervous. But I decided to continue on anyway.
“Mr. Umali, I’m calling to ask for your permission to propose to your daughter.”
There were a few seconds of silence that seemed like an eternity before he responded with:
“What’s your proposal?”
I figured that he didn’t know who I was, so I tried to start over again.
“This is Paul, Donna’s boyfriend, and I’d like to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”
“Which one?” He responded.
Now, I was a bit flustered. I was pretty nervous going into the call, and it was not going anywhere close to how I had played it out in my head. When you stop to think about the question he asked, then you’ll realize how it threw me off. Joyce (one of Donna’s younger sister’s) had gotten married the previous summer and Arleen (the only other sister Donna has) was 14 years old at the time...
But after taking a moment to collect myself, I told him that it was Donna that I wanted to marry. And after telling him one more time who I was, it finally clicked. In the end, he of course gave me permission and later told us that he originally thought it was a co-worker playing a prank on him. I’m sure the whole thing would have gone much smoother had I been able to do it in person, but then we wouldn’t have this fun little story to share with all of you.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the wedding in June!
-Paul
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Mendoza Monogram
Here's the final monogram that Jared, the best man, designed for us. I think it looks really lovely.
This took many drafts, and it is pretty amazing what the final product turned out to be. I was kind of afraid because our initials didn't really piece together very well at first, and all of a sudden here it is.
I feel like "DMP" is some sort of Power Facility like: BWP - Burbank Water and Power. I've been trying to figure out some cool combinations in which DMP could stand for. Anyone want to try it?
This took many drafts, and it is pretty amazing what the final product turned out to be. I was kind of afraid because our initials didn't really piece together very well at first, and all of a sudden here it is.
I feel like "DMP" is some sort of Power Facility like: BWP - Burbank Water and Power. I've been trying to figure out some cool combinations in which DMP could stand for. Anyone want to try it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
