Mike's vows were Dr. Seuss-ical. I will admit - we didn't write them, but found them online. Mike had intended to write vows for us, but had some trouble! I did some research and found ones I liked (even though other people wrote them!) So we went with them since Mike had writer's block!
Mike's: (Rebecca read the officiant role for us!)
Officiant: Will you answer me right now These questions, as your wedding vow?
Groom: Yes, I will answer right now Your questions as my wedding vow.
Officiant: Will you take her as your wife? Will you love her all your life?
Groom: Yes, I take her as my wife, Yes, I'll love her all my life.
Officiant: Will you have, and also hold, Just as you have at this time told?
Groom: Yes, I will have, and I will hold, just as I have at this time told, Yes, I will love her all my life As I now take her as my wife.
Officiant: Will you love through good and bad? Whether you're happy or sad?
Groom: Yes, I'll love through good and bad, Whether we're happy or sad, Yes, I will have and I will hold, Just as I have already told, Yes, I will love her all my life,Yes, I will take her as my wife!
Officiant: Will you love her if you're rich? Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?
Groom: Yes, I'll love her if we're rich, And I will love her in a ditch, I'll love her through good times and bad, Whether we are happy or sad, Yes, I will have, and I will hold(I could have sworn this has been told!) I promise to love all my life This woman, as my lawful wife!
Officiant: Will you love her when you're fit,And also when you're feeling sick?
Groom: Yes, I'll love her when we're fit, And when we're hurt, and when we're sick, And I will love her when we're rich And I will love her in a ditch And I will love through good and bad, And I will love when glad or sad, And I will have, and I will hold Ten years from now a thousandfold, Yes, I will love for my whole life This lovely woman as my wife!
Officiant: Will you love with all your heart? Will you love till death you part?
Groom: Yes, I'll love with all my heart From now until death do us part, And I will love her when we're rich, And when we're broke and in a ditch, And when we're fit, and when we're sick, (Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?) And I will love through good and bad, And I will love when glad or sad, And I will have, and I will hold, And if I might now be so bold, I'll love her my entire life, Yes, I WILL take her as my wife!
Officiant: Then if you'll take her as your wife, And if you'll love her all your life, And if you'll have, and if you'll hold, From now until the stars grow cold, And if you'll love through good and bad, And whether you're happy or sad, And love in sickness, and in health, And when you're poor, and when in wealth, And if you'll love with all your heart, From now until death do you part, Yes, if you'll love her through and through, Please answer with these words:
Officiant and Groom: I DO!
Officiant: You're married now! So kiss the bride, But please, do keep it dignified.
My words were somewhat more simple to Mike. Heartfelt and true!
Because of you, I laugh, I smile, I dare to dream again. I look forward with great joy to spending the rest of my life with you, caring for you, nurturing you, being there for you in all life has for us, and I vow to be true and faithful for as long as we both shall live.
We also "jumped the broom". A very old tradition of "sweeping" away your single life and moving into your married life together. We asked each person to tie a ribbon to the broom as their blessing or intention for us. We'll find a place to hang this in our house with all the colored ribbons on it!
Well, my last news was exciting - Mike was eligible. (We were led to think that if he was eligible, he would get the job...) But this misleading information was untrue. Although he was eligible, he was not hired (nor even interviewed!) for the job. We were quite upset and sad on Thursday (I started writing this post on Friday, and never finished!) He got the news mid-morning. So... the job hunt continues. We're researching other options for getting ourselves moved out to Oregon. My bosses continue to be supportive of me! That helps immensely!
Well... enough of that bad news. Here's more about our trip!
On our second day at the coast, we didn't go too far mileage-wise. We found a beach called Agate Beach and we stayed there for a couple hours (or more) and walked the shoreline. The weather was still sunny and warm - the water was COLD! We had lunch and then decided we'd find a hotel on the coast since we were already tired for that day. Well, did we ever find an amazing place!! Near Yachats, OR there is a place called the Overleaf Lodge. I can say I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. It was truly five-star! We got a good rate (more than we'd normally spend, but worth every penny!) on a third story suite with a balcony overlooking the coast. And not just any coast - a very rocky and beautiful stretch of coast!! We could hear the waves crashing in our room! We had naps that afternoon to the sound of the ocean and slept that night so deeply with the sea air and sounds!
More pictures at flickr!
Yachats itself is a tiny town, but we found an amazing restaurant there called the Drift Inn. Truly gourmet food, and a wonderful wine list! They even have live music most every night. We wound up eating there that first night and the next as well! It was so enjoyable (and yummy)!
We drove further south the next day to Coos Bay and North Bend and then Bandon. The towns themselves weren't all that impressive, pretty run down and depressed. We did quite a bit of driving around the towns seeing what was what! We came across another really great restaurant find in Coos Bay - a mediterranean place that had just amazing food! Yum! (I had a gyro, but I "regret" not trying something a little more unique. I was coveting Mike's schewerma! {sp?})
Our favorite place of our last trip was Coquille Point, near Bandon. It is beautiful, of course, but our previous find of the Overleaf and its coast made it less spectacular somehow. We didn't stay on the coast long because it was COLD!
We then drove inland to Eugene, Corvallis, and Salem (and Portland a little bit) We spent some time in each town driving around again and finding the houses we saw in the paper for rent. It was a great way to see the neighborhoods.
We like Eugene and Salem OK, but we really loved Corvallis! It's much smaller than either of the other towns, and it has kind of a "hippy" feel to it! That's the town we're hoping for now! (But many of the others will do as well!) Salem felt too big to me. It's not that much bigger than here, but it feels more like a big city! We'd "make it work" though! Portland is too big. Neither of us like it very well. I have never lived in a truly BIG city, and it's scary!
This trip was truly wonderful. We got a needed vacation, but we also did some needed research. We learned that we truly DO want to move out to Oregon! We both love the grey, rainy weather! We're ready, now all we have to do is get a job for Mike figured out! Anyone know a town that needs a reiki master?
I'm working on uploading photos! But, I took a ton, so it's slow going!!
We spent an hour or more just taking it all in! We got quite soaked from the spray from the falls! It was a very hot day (95 degrees+, very unusual I guess!) so the spray was welcome!
I'll continue with the story tomorrow - if you want to see more (MANY more) pictures - I'm uploading them to my flickr. There will be more, but I've got a good start at uploading them!
And in other news!! Mike is eligible for the job in Salem!!! WHOO HOO!! We're hoping he'll hear more news tomorrow. If he gets this, things are going to move at a whirlwind rate - like we'll be moved in six weeks! Yikes!! I'll keep you posted!
More stories and photos tomorrow!
I am slow on the uptake! I am finally just now getting my photos from my trip to visit sisters in AR uploaded!
2/13/08 - Lunch at Lucile's - Chicken Robicheaux - SO yummy!
2/14/08 - in the carwash
2/15/08 - My intention for the year - to be fearless
2/16/08 - Mike scraping the car windows (I'm in the car)
2/17/08 - My best friend Andrea wanted to go to the movies to celebrate herbirthday this year. We saw three in a row on Saturday afternoon! The first two were
great - I really loved them both. Sweeney Todd? I could have lived without seeing it -
especially in the theatre - too gory for me!
1/11/08
I have wanted to photograph this before, and I finally did it! I open the checks here at work, and my shiny letter opener sometimes pulls the paper into these pretty curls! Every time it happens, I smile! Silly, but fun!
1/10/08I am enamored with reusable shopping bags. Particularly my new ones from Whole Foods! I have 2 of these now, this one purchased last night so I could carry my groceries home in it! I want to keep them in my car so I can use them instead of plastic!
1/8/08
This morning... I got a cleaning bug at work. My desk is now the tidiest it has been in a LONG time! It is a nice feeling to be organized. I hope I can make this last a bit! I'm the queen of "piles". I bought a couple of organizing desk pieces to help me out!
1/9/08
1/7/08My Himalayan Salt Lamp - a gift from Mike's family Christmas exchange. His step-brother Gordon had my name. He chose well!
Friday night:
(Google the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" to find out more about the emblem Mike is installing on his car...)
Sunday - 1/6/08:
Beginning of my day:
Looking out our bedroom window - Mike took this shot of the sunrise. Look at the blue line on the horizon - clouds vs. clear sky.
End of my day (well, almost):
1/3/08
Coming home to my guy cooking dinner for us! He is making Chicken Curry - yummy! (He took the week off so he vacuumed yesterday, cleaned the kitchen today, and is cooking dinner as we speak! I could get used to this!)
I've decided - I am going to take a photo every day this year. I will try to post it every day on my blog as well. I may not get to posting every single day, but I will try to have posted 365 photos from my every day life by the end of the year. (I'm sure there will be days when I have multiple photos to post as well, so probably more than this!)
Here is photo #1 - taken this morning.
1/1/08
I realized it's been a while since I posted. Mike and I have both been sick ... AGAIN! This cold/flu we got at Thanksgiving has just hung on!
Our 3 year anniversary was December 22 - Saturday. We met online, but met for the first time in person three years ago! We met for dinner at Rasta Pasta, and we planned to go have dinner there again. But, we were sick, so we didn't get to! Blah! (We didn't get to go last year either because we were snowed in!) But, we celebrated anyway by getting Chinese takeout. Mike bought me a really great necklace. I've never seen anything quite like it! Moon phases in beads! Perfect! I bought him a bottle of scotch - he's going to exchange it for a type he likes better. I so cannot remember all the intricacies of scotch!
We were supposed to go to his family Christmas get together on Sunday, the 23rd, but couldn't do that either. I was MAD! We missed Thanksgiving too - sheesh! Oh, well. Nothing we could do about it. We'll get together with his dad and step-mom maybe this weekend.
We opened our presents very early on Christmas day. I think we both liked what we got each other! Mike did great picking out some beautiful jewelry for me. Two pendants - very different from each other. I will get good pictures to post. The ones I took quick this morning didn't turn out well at all. He also got me season 3 of Project Runway on DVD! Yay! :) My stocking stuffers were all kinds of crazy gadgets that he found at ThinkGeek.com. We had fun playing with them. I got him a Jellyfish tank and the game Oblivion - which he proceeded to play all day! The cats liked the wrapping paper!
Luckily, I did my grocery shopping and Christmas shopping before getting really sick again. I had all my ingredients to make special foods for us for Christmas day. We had planned to just stay home that day! I'm glad we did - it snowed most of the day! We got about 2 inches total. It was really pretty, but I'm glad we didn't have to drive anywhere! I made the breakfast casserole for us that I did on Thanksgiving. Then for lunch (wound up being late in the afternoon!) I made Cuban food! Yummy!! The first step is making sofrito sauce - which is then the base in the Ropa Vieja. Here is the sofrito in process. (Look how Christmas-y it is!)
Sofrito Sauce recipe:
Sofrito recipe
courtesy of Sonia Martinez
Sofrito is the base of many typically Cuban recipes. My mom used to chop up all the ingredients (except bay leaf) in a blender and store in a jar with a drizzle of olive oil on top. Stored in refrigerator, it can last about a week. (I blend it and use about half for my ropa vieja - and freeze the rest.) She would spoon out amounts needed for each recipe, add the bay leaf and then sauté and simmer as directed. The secret to a good sofrito is to let it simmer a while so all the tastes meld.
21 cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
8 to 10 garlic cloves, chopped
1 or 2 bay leaves
touch of ground cumin
touch of dried oregano
3/4 cup Sherry, or to taste
4 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste (optional)
Sautee tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, bay leaves, cumin and oregano in oil slowly until all vegetables are limp. Add Sherry and let simmer. If you add the salt, taste beforehand as you might not need it at all. Blend it all together to make a sauce.
Ropa Vieja Recipe:
2 1/2 lbs flank steak, cut in strips
5 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic or 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
6 ounces sofrito sauce (I use about 3 times this much!)
Heat 3 tbsp. oil in skillet on medium, brown meat on all sides. Remove from skillet, add remaining oil to skillet, stir in garlic, onion and green pepper and cook until translucent. Stir in black pepper, browned meat, tomato sauce, water and sofrito. Simmer until meat is tender and shreds easily, about 1 hour (takes more than an hour for me). Serve on top of rice.
No, the two are not really related. But I have some photos to share! :) Last week, our cats Ben and Luna decided to help with laundry. Ben was buried in my clean laundry and didn't budge when I put hangers on him! Luna just had to get into the act as well. They were so cute, I couldn't be mad. What's a little cat hair?!
Last night, Mike and I went to Old Town, Fort Collins to do a little Christmas shopping and have dinner. We found a few things for Christmas, but still have more to get! Sheesh! He has his dad's name and I have his step-mom's. They aren't the easiest to buy for!
While we were walking in the plaza, we noticed the fountain! I don't remember seeing it actually running this time of year before - it was SO beautiful. Some of the water was frozen, and some was moving. It was just great!
