They're not even drunk!

I forget how this conversation started, but I do remember this:
Jake: Yeah, you should add me to your insurance. I'm already paying for it out of pocket.
Cel: Yeah, we should do that. Let's go to the courthouse and get it done. Then you can save money.
Jake: OK. Let's find a lawyer to draw up the pre-nup.
Mike: They're not even drunk!

3 days later:
Cel: How much are you paying for Cobra?
Jake: $X
*Celia does some math*
Cel: OK that cuts your payments in half if I add you onto my plan.
Jake: See, save money.
Cel: Yeah, save money! OK your job is to get the lawyer.
*conversation continues about legalities*
Cel: Wait, how much are we going to get screwed by taxes?
Jake: Oh we're going to be !@#.
Cel: Uh, doesn't that just negate any savings on the insurance.
Jake: Oh, yeah.
Cel: I don't want to get screwed. Why do I want to give the IRS my hard earned money? Do we have to get married? It's just a title right?

Roses are Red. Violets are Blue.

If you've ever been to Pike's Market in Seattle, than you know about the fabulous fresh cut flowers for bargain prices. I've always loved fresh cut flowers, who doesn't? But they can get pretty pricey. After our trip to Seattle, I was on a mission, fresh flowers in our apartment at a decent rate.

I succeeded on my first try. The bouquet of flowers from Russo's consisted of roses, lilies, and a whole slew of other flowers and fillers that I can't even begin to name. The price, $15.00. And the best part? They lasted 2 weeks!!

I'm an avid follower of Groupon. Groupon is a coupon deal offered by a local vendor. In order for the coupon to actually be available, enough people have to buy it. Once the preset threshold is met, than the "deal is on." A while back, I scored what I thought was an awesome deal. For $85, I receive 3 flower arrangements delivered to my home (full value $258) from Twig, a high end floral shop in Boston. I cashed in my coupon and had my first delivery this month. The remaining two deliveries are scheduled a month apart. Let me just say, I wasn't in awe when I saw my arrangement. My delivery consisted of pink roses, pink/purple calla lilies, purple dendrobium orchids, and a filler. And it was all displayed in a square, black vase. The flowers were delivered on Tuesday, today is Friday. The flowers started wilting yesterday! I'm a bit dissappointed that the flowers aren't even going to make it to a week. I understand that Twig is probably using bottom of the barrel flowers for people that cash in on this deal, but you'd think they'd want to use flowers that aren't so close to expiration in order to draw customers in.

I'll keep you posted on how the next two deliveries go. Perhaps this was just a fluke.

ESL(English as a second language) vs ESF (English as a first language)

Jake: Phone, phone? [while looking for his phone]
Celia: Why do you need your phone?
Jake: So Phil can call me.
Celia: Oh.
Jake: Phil yut ding yew bay ngo [Chinese translation - Phil must give me]
Celia: Huh? What does Phil need to give you?
Jake: No, Phil needs to call me.
Celia: Oh, Phil yew da bay lay. [Phil needs to call you]
Jake: Yea, Phil yew bay ngo. [Phil needs to give me]
Celia: Give you?
Jake: Bay ngo [Give me]
Celia: Give you?
Jake: I know how to say give me! How do I say he needs to call me?!
Celia: Oh. Phil yew call ngo. [Phil needs to call me] Phil yew da din wah bay lay or yew da bay lay. [Phil needs to give you a telephone call]
Jake: OK, that's what I was asking.
Celia: No you weren't, you just kept saying give me.
Jake: No, you were asking me how to say give me. I know how to say give me.

We should have our own sitcom.

Playing house

We moved into a spacious 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment in Waltham a month ago and have finally managed to unpack almost everything (there's a bunch of boxes shoved into closets that we may or may not get to someday). There's still a few things that are works in progress, such as hanging pictures up.

 Entry

Kitchen

The bar

Living room

Dining area (left). My awesome floral arrangement (right).

Master bedroom

Celia's closet and bathroom (left). Functional art: hinged scrapbook frame displaying jewelry (right).

Hallway

Jake's bathroom

Jake's office and walk-in closet.

Guest room

Platinum Wedding Venues

If only my savings account was the same size as the Sultan of Brunei's ($22B). Apparently I have expensive taste buds. I love both of these venues, but alas, they are well out of our budget. I think both places have been featured on the show Platinum Weddings.

Belle Mer     Newport, RI

This place is by the same people that do The State Room in Boston. A bride from 2008 quoted the place was going for $40k.

Oheka Castle     Huntington, NY

This place has fabulous gardens, almost like the Palace of Versaille. This place is also hella expensive ~$50k

*SIGH* Perhaps I should stick with my request to not talk about wedding stuff for the first 3 months...

The Ring

Please excuse my wrinkly hands. I need to drink more water. 

The Proposal

We had an amazing day at the Oregon Coast. I took Jake to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and introduced him to squeaky cheese (fresh cheese curds). We then spent the afternoon on the beach flying a kite (a Beavers kit mind you) and building a big sand castle.

That evening, we're watching the sun set. Our whole purpose of going to the coast was to watch a West Coast sunset over the Pacific Ocean. I'm completely absorbed in taking tons of pictures of the sun setting. Jake keeps trying to get my attention. I remember saying "just a sec, taking pictures." The camera battery dies, and he's thinking "THANK GOD!" Now that he's got my undivided attention, he asked me if I wanted him to "jau hoi" (Cantonese for "go away", it's what l'll tell Jake when he's bothering me). I told him no, and that's when he proceeded to say "good since I don't want to 'jau hoi' ever". That's when he got down on one knee and told me that he want to grow old with me and asked if I would marry him.

This is the part where I totally froze up. I was in complete shock since I didn't think he'd be proposing for at least another year. I remember staring at him and then the ring, back at him, and then the ring. I was like "what just happened?" After about a minute of shell shock, I did manage to say "yes."

We're Engaged!

Yeup, you heard right, we are engaged! Guess it's never too late to join the bandwagon ;)

When: August 31, 2009 7:52pm (PST)

Where: Balcony of our hotel room at the StarFish Manor Hotel, #11 in Lincoln City, OR

How: See "The Proposal" entry.

I bet your next question is "When's the wedding?" We don't know yet. As of right now, we're waiting till either 2011 or 2012. 2010 will be a crazy year for weddings, we will be attending 7 weddings that are scattered across the country!

Stayed tuned for crazy stories as we learn to live with one another, laugh at one another (I think we have this one down pretty good), and survive through the trials and tribulations of wedding planning and life in general.