semi-official

D and i picked out the place we want to get married at! we are now officially, semi-officially engaged. we both agree it will be a "real" engagement when we go get rings. don't worry, we're not going to wed any time soon; the plan is october of next year. we wanted to pick a place early, because after that the planning is much easier. we've been talking about weddings and getting married, but picking a place makes it that much more real. we sort of stumbled into picking the venue; neither one of us was in a huge rush to nail it down, but we did want a lot of time to look. we also have a few weddings to go to this month and it got us talking and taking notes, and doing the whole, "yeah, we're not doing that, " or "ooh, that's a good idea..."

we knew that to plan a wedding the first thing we should do was to pick a venue, so we could set a date and start working on stuff (and saving money for it) and while on-line i came across the quarry. it looked interesting, not like your usual church or lodge or hotel wedding. i sent the link over to D and that afternoon we drove out to see where it was. you can't see it without a reservation, but we liked the area and what we could see of it was really pretty. i sent the owner an email the next day explaining that we'd like to come out and take a look, and he had an opening that night. after i got off work yesterday we headed back out and to be honest, we knew pretty much right away. part of me thinks this is just way too easy, but part of me is just stoked we found a place so perfect, within our price range, and so totally unique right off the bat. at the risk of sounding hokey, finding such a great place the first time we went out seems kind of like a sign. in any case, the location is great, there's all this art everywhere, the grounds are gorgeous, there's a ridiculously beautiful B&B right there, and even if no one else likes it but us, no one will lack for things to talk about!

we went home and talked to the kids about it, and they seem pleased. we told M first, because she wanted to know where we were going and what we were doing and why she couldn't come with, and so we explained that we had been talking about getting married next year and wanted to start looking at places to get some ideas. she immediately got giggly and smiley and so D made sure she knew that it would be a while before we actually did it, which she did. we told C when we got home, and when i asked him what he thought he said, "well, you like octopods, i like octopods; you like zombie comics, i like zombie comics; i think we'll be fine." i gave him a little poke in the ribs and he gave me a smile and went back to work starting the fire for dinner. his friend O came over later and i heard them talking about it and C sounded more than okay with it. knowing that both are okay with it, that so far there hasn't been any fallout or fussiness (knock on wood) is a great feeling. we talked about some ideas we had, and of course C wants to wear a sword to it, and M wants a fancy dress that isn't "too poofy," and when we told them we just want it to the be the four of us in the wedding they were delighted.

it's so exciting. i never thought i'd be all ga-ga about being a bride, but i am downright giddy. it's not just being a bride, of course, it's marrying D specifically and getting two lovely step-kids at the same time. i'm happy, i'm excited, and we keep going back to the website and looking at things and talking about what sort of food we want, what D wants to wear, what color my dress should be...we are all very into the celebration aspect of it. we are excited about being a family, corny as it sounds. i know i've said it before, and i'll say it again, i'm a happy, lucky girl in love. gross, right?