Amy's Birthday

Amy's birthday was last week.  I didn't get her anything.

But I did manage to get the day off, which was nice.  I made her breakfast, took her on a picnic at a winery-- we had salami, cheeses, and wine in the vineyard-- then we took a nap and went out to a nice restaurant (Petite Syrah in Santa Rosa).

Did I mention that it was a particularly beautiful day?  Sunny and 75 degrees in early March.  Yeah, California sure is a great place.  But I wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much without the company of my lovely soon-to-be wife.

Happy birthday!

Two Months!

We're two months out, people.  Starting to get to crunch time!

Our apartment is currently crammed with boxes of the gifts we've gotten from Amy's bridal shower (the first one in the desert), and through the mail.  Thanks, everybody!

We've only got a couple of things left on our list before we hit the last-minute stuff, so it's starting to feel like this might actually happen!  Can't wait!

Holy Cow! An Update!

Sorry for the lack of excitement going on up here.  We've been busy.

Sure, that's no excuse, I know.  But really, we've been busy.  Amy has been working pretty much non-stop on the details for the big day.  I've been doing what I can, but I recently took on a pretty large business commitment, and I've been working a few 16-18 hour days to get things in order so I can maybe go on a honeymoon this April...

Everything is on track so far for the big day.  We've got invitations out and lots of returns, so far.  We got our first present from the registry (thanks!), which had Amy so excited that I thought she might actually catch on fire.  Tuxes are ordered, honeymoon plane tickets are purchased, vows are written, and bridal showers are planned.

We're waiting on news about our music situation and a few other minor details.  We're also currently trying to figure out how to best handle Valentine's Day....

The details....

Getting lost in the details....
I am definitely a details person. (This is Amy talking) It is not because I am high maintenance or high strung. It is because they finish everything off nicely. As an English teachers daughter I would say "details are like punctuation in your sentence".  Will people understand what you are trying to say without the punctuation? Sure, probably. However punctuation wraps your sentence in a nice little package so everyone will understand what you are trying to say and they will see you care about what you are writing.
SO going back to the details, in wedding planning there are about a million details. I have just spent about four hours of my time looking at vintage paper clips. I must admit it was fun and I got lost in all that is available. Like: did you know Tiffany & Co has or had 14K gold paper clips? Seriously, who needs a Tiffany's paper clip? Those are not the ones we are using by the way! Also there are lots of places online that sell 100 year old paper clips and there are websites that instruct you on how to make different shapes with a normal paper clip. While the saying is "Don't sweat the small stuff, it is all small stuff", I understand. I should not sweat the small things in life ( like paper clips). However it does not mean we should ignore the details around us as those show us all of the wonders that are out there.  A bouquet of roses are always pretty, but looking at the edge of each rose and the color differentiation on each petal makes it beautiful. That is a good segue way to brag that Nick bought me an amazing bouquet of roses yesterday!

Thanksgiving

Mmm!  Meat!

This year, Amy and I had Thanksgiving at her sister's house in Pacifica.  Lyssa and Lenny are always great hosts and made an excellent feast.

We would have been thankful just for such a great meal, but as it turned out, there was plenty of fun to be had, as well.  I always consider it a challenge to get a word in while the Holman girls are talking, and this year, I actually got into a great conversation-- a violent agreement, if you will-- with Lyssa about the rules of Scrabble.  Did you know that "za" is a word, according to the Scrabble dictionary?  No joke, it's "an abbreviation of pizza."  Of all the nonsense...  but I digress.

Amy also had fun with her cousin, Gabe, challenging the young'uns, to an arithmetic card game.  It was quite amusing, those kids are quick (but Amy was louder, so I think she won)!

Amy and I are very thankful for our family and friends.  Family gatherings can be kind of awkward for me because I've never had a very large family.  I'm very thankful that Amy's family has been so welcoming and warm to me.  I look forward to more family gatherings (like our wedding!).

My Birthday

Amy took me to Tahoe for my birthday weekend.  It was pretty sweet.  

We went went for a bike ride, went to a shooting range (yes, Amy actually used a handgun for the first time in her life.  We're still only on revolvers because automatics are "scary," but it's a step in the right direction), and ate some amazing Irish pub food (corned beef and cabbage!).  

We went on a short hike and took this picture.  Awww....

It was a lot of fun, thanks again, Amy!

Getting ready for Halloween!

I don't know how it came about but Halloween has been the holiday Nick and I put most of our energies into. It may be because it is close to Nick's Birthday so the majority of the years we have been together we have had a Nicks B-day party/Halloween party. It is my way of sneaking in a birthday party for Nick without it seeming like all of the attention is on him (for some reason he is not into being the center of attention). Last year was the first year we did not have a Halloween party, this was because Nick was in Police Academy and working multiple jobs so there was really no time! But this year it is on.... Everyone in our household is getting ready. Even our furry friends...

This is Chloe she really is a devilish cat!

This is Alfalfa he is not really a devil it is just hard to find a miniature halo!