Wining, Dining and Proposing: An Engagement Story

If you are reading this then I am sure you have already heard, Joe and I are engaged! Amid all of the texts and calls we experienced that day I noticed a few common themes throughout the day:

"It's about freakin' time!"

Yes, yes, we know. After dating for 3.5 years I knew those jokes would be inevitable. And to be honest, the timing was perfect. Our first dating anniversary we were both seniors in college, on our second I was student teaching in Buffalo and he was in pilot training, and for our third anniversary Joe was still in training while I was still searching for a teaching job. So it made sense that after he got home from deployment that the "big question" would come up. I had a feeling it was coming. I should be a ninja spy or something.

Anywho, I have also been asked many times to recant the story of how it happened so grab a chair, a fizzy drink and relax because here goes:

The day of August 26 was beautiful, sunny and well, kind of perfect. Weather-wise I mean. It was the gorgeous California weather I had expected to see when we moved her nearly a year ago. (For reference look to my last entry here to see how my California dream was totally wrong.)

It was a strange start to the day because it had not yet reached 100 degrees by lunchtime. Usually when I take Bjorn out for his morning jaunt it is stifling already. I believe the high that day was supposed to be about 78 degrees. Joe had told me earlier that he wanted to go to a winery to have lunch because, he said, why not? It was at that moment I wondered if something "special" was going to happen.

We made it to V. Sattui Winery in Napa at high noon. We had never been to that particular winery but our friends and Yelp came to our aid. The place came strongly recommended so who were we to question good food?

The winery sits atop a lush landscape complete with flowers and green grass. And as Northern Californians know, green grass is hard to come by in the summer. We entered the deli section and got basic sandwiches,  cheese, meat and crackers. We snuck in our own wine even though  we are not supposed to. Shh! Actually I don't think they really cared.

After paying for our goodies Joe and I scouted out a nice area to eat. We spotted an empty picnic table and benches in one of the side gardens. It was actually pretty secluded so it made for a peaceful lunch. Plus the sound of the leaking pipe to our left created a nice ambiance. And it also made me miss thunderstorms but such is the life of a weather nerd.

So there we were: eating our picnic lunch, drinking wine from our redneck wine glasses (courtesy of Joe's mom), chatting about random things and remarking on the oddities of the birds that were trying to get close to our food. Right before we were about to leave Joe says he wants to ask me something. "Well," I think, "this could be really good or really bad." This is the same introduction he used when he told me he loved me so I figured it was something pretty darn good.

Redneck wine glasses: great for storing wine!

He reached into his pocket, got down on one knee (which is hard to do when you are sitting next to someone on a bench and the table is very close to you) and asked me if I would do him the honor of spending the rest of my life with him. I smiled and said "Of course I will!"

Joe had originally intended to use this to propose but decided against it. But still it makes a nice keepsake!

So, about the wedding plans. Yes, I have already got those questions! It's crazy to think about because there is literally so much to process. I think I have already checked out 30-some-odd books just about wedding planning. Back to the plans: we are thinking of getting married sometime in August of next year. As for location we are not quite sure.

So here's where I turn to you, dear readers. We would prefer to get married in the Southeast somewhere because that's where most of our friends and families live. So what do you think? Vote in the poll down below and share your opinion!

Until next time! :)

--Amanda

Oh, the places we go!

Well hello there! Quite some time has passed since my last entry. Let me catch up: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Mardi Gras, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Easter!

Phew. What a run-on sentence.

Spring is here and NorCal is, well...cold. That doesn't sound right, does it? For most of March it rained..and rained and rained. And it was quite chilly. Where's the sunny side of California I signed up for? Or is that only southern California that gets perpetual sunshine? Much of the rain has cleared but it's still been nippy in the mornings. And that's all I will say about the weather lest my inner meteorologist come out and talk about geostrophic forces.

Doesn't this look cheery?

I wish I could say new and exciting things have been happening but I'm afraid Joe and I are quite boring. So far we have been to:

Napa-This place has some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten! And I'm a gal who loves food! We took our first trip to wine country around the end of November. The vineyards were not as pretty as I imagined them. But then again most of the foliage in our area was an earthy brown so it wasn't too much of a change. We ate a place called Ristorante Allegria. The cool thing about this place is that it used to be a bank. You can even eat inside the vault if you're feeling unsafe. (Pun intended) I think that privilege costs a little bit of money so we just ate in the lobby area. The food was delicious; we had calamari and mushroom ravioli and salsiccia pasta.

The next time we went was for my birthday and of course we went back to Allegria. The food was still awesome and we even bought a jar of their dipping sauce. Yes we have a little jar of Allegria in our pantry.

And finally, we went back to Napa when Joe's dad was visiting. We still have no idea where much of anything was so we enlisted the help of Yelp (!) and blindly searched for cheap dinner and wine tastings. We ended up stumbling upon a tasting room that houses two wineries, Trahan and Olabisi. We were the only ones there so we got bonus round tasting. I'm not sure if that's why we got extra glasses of wine or it was because of our good looks and charm. Either way the wine was delicious. Side note, not a good idea to go wine tasting on an empty tummy. You get dizzy pretty fast. After getting pleasantly buzzed (actually only me, I'm a lightweight) we rounded the corner for dinner at a tapas place called Zuzu's. About halfway through the meal our waitress comes over with a glass of port wine and tells us the gentleman at the table next to us sent it over because he heard Joe talking about how he's in the military. I was stunned at the nice gesture. Sad to say nice gestures are a rarity these days but I'm happy that there are still nice people in the world. He was also nice enough to pay for our corkage fee. Thank you, sir!




San Francisco-Joe and I have only been to Frisco a few times but we love it every time we go! Side note, I didn't know that San Francisco has a nickname. My step-mom asked me if we had gone to Frisco and I replied I didn't know where that was. Frisco sounds like Fresco which sounds like Fresca which is delicious but can also sound like Fresno which is another city in California. But that's neither here nor there. The first time we traveled to the city who gives out Rice-a-Roni as a treat, we went straight to Pier 39. Seagulls, seafood, sunshine; what more could a coastie want? After our walk around the area we went to visit Joe's cousin and her family.

View from Ghiradelli Square

Sacramento-Sacramento is a neat town seeing as it is the capital of the Golden State. The only times we go to Sacramento is a) for me to take a teacher exam or b) to visit with Joe's dad when he is in town. We mostly meet up in the downtown area. Downtown Sacramento is surprisingly clean and has a safe feeling to it. I don't feel nervous walking down the street at night nor do I have the fear of gum or other unmentionable things sticking to my shoe.



Dog News! Bjorn is doing great. We like to take him hiking at a nearby park. He loves running up and down the hills and smelling all the outdoors have to offer. A few weeks ago his instincts got the better of him. Let me set the stage: We are on top of a hill overlooking some cows. At the bottom of this hill are two cows and two calves. Bjorn stares out majestically at the land and the wind blows his ears back. I call him Mufasa when he does this ("Everything the light touches is our kingdom.").




Suddenly, as if his tail is on fire, he speeds down the hill full force at the cows. I yell for him to come back but either the urge to herd cows is too great or he just thinks I'm a nag and ignores me. Joe chases after him and I am rooted to the top of the hill. Bjorn looks to be having the time of his life. He begins to chase the cows and nip at the backs of their legs. The cows begrudgingly get up and give him an annoyed "moo". Bjorn continues to herd the cows about 500 feet to the right. I'm not sure why he wanted to place them there; dogs are mysterious creatures. As soon as he's moved them to his liking he happily bounces back to Joe and up the hill to me. At this point I am crying. Yes, I know, crying. I thought he was going to get squished or the mama cows would get upset and kick him. I hugged Bjorn and then scolded him for scaring me. He's just like a kid. Except with a tail...

Cows are everywhere.

How can you get mad at this face?

I think I've got you guys mostly up to speed now. As the weather continues to get warmer I will probably stay inside with the air conditioning and update more. We shall see. Until next time, friends! Have a great day!