People really love weddings...

...throughout the course of our engagement thus far, I have come to the conclusion that people, in general, really like weddings. Whenever people find out I am engaged, they naturally ask about the wedding and I have heard "congratulations" more times in the past 8 weeks than I ever have before in my life. Two examples in particular stand out:

1. Last weekend, my parents took me and Jason and my sister's family to Manitou Station, where we are having our reception. We decided to go and celebrate a late birthday for me and try out the food and show them the place. Once our server found out we were getting married there she was so excited for us and asked for lots of details and told us to take everyone upstairs to the banquet area and take a quick peek around, since my family hadn't seen it yet. Once upstairs, one of the catering staff welcomed us and invited us to look around to our heart's content, even though they were setting up for another event at the time.

2. This past Saturday, in my Women's Bible Study that I meet with biweekly, they were inspired by our upcoming wedding and the passage that we were studying - 2 Corinthians 13 - so they each brought a wedding picture of themselves from there weddings 10, 20, or 30+ years ago. We spent the first 15 minutes or so passing the pictures around the table and the other women reminisced about their weddings. I could tell on their faces that even after all these years, their weddings brought back a special memory for each one of them and that they all enjoyed remembering that day and having the opportunity to share it with all of us.

As many people have reminded me, slow down and try to enjoy this time, because it goes so fast and before you know it, it's over...case and point, we are nearly at the halfway point in our engagement and I can't believe that he proposed to me 2 months ago already!

Cake Tasting and other weekend wedding stuff...

Jason was in Minnesota this weekend so we tried to get a number of wedding-related things taken care of, in addition to celebrating birthdays with my college friends and my family and having my parents over to help with some house projects...it was a busy weekend to say the least!

However, we did get the tuxes taken care of for the groomsmen/ushers, proof our wedding invites and (the best part!) order our wedding cake. The wedding cake tasting experience was fun for both of us. We ordered from Grandma's bakery in White Bear Lake; their main bakery is located in an industrial-looking area that we drove right by the first time. However, once we walked inside, the huge kitchen and bakery smells were unmistakable! We were seated with their albums to look at for decor inspiration and given sample cake flavors - white, marble and chocolate. We were also given 2 types of frosting - traditional buttercream and a whipped frosting. Finally, we were given the choice of 3 fillings...we chose Bavarian Cream, Lemon Mousse and French Mocha (a selfish choice, since we knew it would probably not be a big hit with a number of people). We spent 15 minutes or so mixing and matching flavors and ended up ruling out the buttercream frosting, chocolate cake and french mocha filling almost immediately. So, our choices were left to marble/Bavarian cream/whipped frosting or white/lemon mousse/whipped frosting...Guesses on what we ended up with?

The first and second date: My perspective

I was never much of a dating guy. And apparently, I'm still not much of a dating guy; I mean, we're engaged right?

Before moving to Minnesota, I think I'd had two dates the entire three years I was in Pennsylvania, and as it relates to Virginia, I don't even want to go there with how sadly mopey (if that is a word) I was at times.

Typically, I'd be busy on weekends announcing wrestling tournaments, going to school and working during the week, and then when April rolled around, I'd be sitting there going, "Ok, I'm still single."

Well, as I'd mentioned in my previous entry, I'd talked to Abby twice on the phone before we actually went out. She'd recommended a place in White Bear Lake called Ingredients. Two of my roommates at the time (both chefs) had heard about it and were curious as to how the food was. I said I'd fill them in after the fact, that is, if I wasn't bringing home White Castle.

Being from out east, White Castle was only known to many of us through a cameo appearance in Wayne's World and of course, the movie "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle."

Two bad dates in Minnesota prior to meeting Abby sent me to White Castle for some sliders to (kind of) sulk a bit.

When the roommates (I had four at the time) saw White Castle, they knew it was a bad date.

March 25, 2009 ... there would be no White Castle.

After trying to find her place via GPS (for some reason WBL isn't listed for her address, just St. Paul), I drove to the back of her townhouse, parked and walked through the open garage door. I caught a glimpse of her through the kitchen window before following the drive behind her building. Yeah, I was nervous.

Now that some of you know me, I'm a bit goofy with some of my vocalizations when something doesn't go exactly as I wanted it. This could be as simple as dropping a pen or slipping on some ice (which is all too common in Minnesota).

Upon walking through the garage, I saw a "doorbell" ... well, that's not a doorbell, it closes the garage door. I press the button to "ring the bell" and heard the sound of the garage closing.

"AHHHH" in a rather not-so-high-pitched yelp, if you will.

I heard her laugh already through the door. Upon opening the door, I did this kind of handshake thing, which was met with a "look" and then a hug. Whew. That was awkward. Ironically, I'm wearing the same shirt as I write this that I wore on the first date. Perhaps that's what gave me the motivation to scribble this down today. Anyway ...

Not knowing where I was going, Abby directed me through White Bear Lake and we got a table near the back of Ingredients. It was a quaint little place, I liked it immediately. I've never been much of a wine drinker, but Abby seems to take some pride in knowing good wine. She liked the tempranillo. I said "Ok."

Through the early conversation, we got the "eHarmony" stuff out of the way. I was nervous. She was cute, smart, (somewhat) funny and I was just a bit of a mess in terms of covering my mouth when I chewed, making sure no food was visible and constantly playing with my napkin. Fidgety hands!

About 30 minutes in, she couldn't take the fidgeting anymore, snagged the napkin away and grabbed my hand to keep it still. That was the first step in realizing something was there.

A great dinner (she had the peas and hay, I had meatloaf) and good conversation. It must have gone about two hours before we left. As I dropped her off, I asked if she had any movies to watch. Thankfully, I brought that up, because I don't know where this would have went had I just gone home.

Maybe White Castle? I thought it was a good date, but still seemed empty.

We went in, sat on the couch and she put in "Gone Baby Gone." ... That's about all I remember from the movie.

Talking on the couch, cuddling and talking ... this was going well. Let it be known I was a perfect gentleman, and she will attest to this as well. I mean, it's the first date, you're not supposed to do anything other than talk, hold hands and get comfortable.

I can't remember exactly what time it was, but I just "went for it" regarding a kiss.

There would be no White Castle this night.

Upon driving home, I had this floating feeling. This was going to be positive. I was set to drive to Virginia on Friday for 10 days to see the family and cover a wrestling tournament in Virginia Beach (shocker!).

We texted a few times the next day, a lot of gooey stuff I won't get to right now, but the gist of it was more about how good of a time it was and how we couldn't wait to see each other again when I got back.

Well, I couldn't wait. Since she was still working at Medtronic, which was a short distance from my hut in Arden Hills, I'd suggested breakfast before I started my drive. We met at Perkins on Lexington and had a good breakfast. She looked radiant. I know she says she likes her hair straight and I thought it looked great wavy. Her smile lit up the room.

She walked in and it was a quick "good morning" kiss ... after breakfast, I set off on a long drive back to Virginia. It takes about 24 hours of driving time (with the time change). There were texts, phone calls and "my face hurts" grins the entire trip.

I stayed with my friend Joe in Burlington, Ky., that night ... it's just outside of Cincinnati. I worked with Joe at the newspaper back in Virginia for a few years. I set out to drive and by the time I drove through West Virginia, we started the first of about five consecutive phone calls as I drove through the mountains.

We talked non-stop from the Virginia state line near Covington all the way to my dad's house in Poquoson (pronounced Po-Ko-Sun) ... a good four to four-and-a-half hours.

But I will always save this text she sent me as I was getting on the road. I don't think I'd hit the Wisconsin line when this came through.

"In case you are still wondering. There is something about you I like very much! I can't wait til you are back and we can hang out again."

When I got back ... well, that's a story for another day.

I think it's safe to say I'll never be eating White Castle again.

JB

The Dress

I got my dress! On Saturday, my friend, Casey, and I met my mom, my sister, Melisa and my niece, Ashley at a boutique in St. Cloud, which had come recommended by several people. We were in and out within an hour and I walked away (again) with an appreciation for the bridal consultants. The ones I have met really know their stuff and can envision what a bride would look good even if the bride herself isn't sure until she tries it on! I definitely experienced the sense of "knowing" when I tried on the right dress...it is beautiful!!! I could tell by the faces of everyone that was with me that they felt the same.

For some reason, buying the dress seems very symbolic, it makes it real, in a sense. Most of the things we have planned or paid for so far are intangible to us at this point, or are a deposit for future goods or services to come so to actually pay for a dress and take it home and have it hanging in my house makes it very real!

Just 3 months to go!

Hey, Jason here with some things

Since Abby decided to start a wedding blog, I figured I'd use my long-winded gift of the pen (or keyboard) to post a few things from the male perspective.

As Abby said, it's very tough to plan things being separated by nearly 1,000 miles ... it's just under that, check Google Maps if you don't believe me. But then again, you should believe me, because I'm awesome.

Anyway, many of you know I'm involved in wrestling, specifically at the high school, college and Olympic levels. I started doing things in wrestling back in high school, wrestled for two years, then moved on to college. I took all the things I did with wrestling and formulated them into a career, basically turning what was a hobby into something that paid the bills ... well, sort of.

This post isn't about me and wrestling, but I have to give some background to tell the story. I worked in Pennsylvania for the National Wrestling Coaches Association and ran their national media web site called InterMat. After two and a half years, I bought a house and figured this would be where I'd be for a while. I was living in Lancaster in a quaint row house next to a minor league baseball field and walking distance from all my night spots.

Then in April of 2008, I got a call from two wrestling Hall of Famers who were starting a "SportsCenter" type of show for college wrestling called Wrestling 411. Long story short, I bucked the stability I thought I had with the NWCA, packed up eight months after buying a house and moved to Minnesota.

Things with Wrestling 411, the name of the show (which I always detested to start with) started going sour from the start. Things weren't how they were described and then I started to worry about making the right decision. I wondered what the heck was going on most of the time and come January 2009, had moved the radio show from Augsburg's campus radio station into my basement. Think Wayne's World, but with better looking hosts. (Eat it Mike Myers!).

Many of you know Abby and I connected through eHarmony, something we were hesitant to kind of explain to people, but we're so happy together, there's no point in trying to hide it.

I was on eHarmony for about 18 months. I was getting fed up. If any of you have tried the site or any other online dating services, they can be defeating. I was done, that was it. My job was rocky, it was bitter cold in Minnesota (mind you, I grew up 30 minutes from Virginia Beach) and I was single and lonely.

Kyle (my coworker) and I decided to set out on a month-long journey to cover four wrestling national tournaments in four weekends. We started in Rochester for the Junior College nationals, then down to Cedar Rapids for the Division III championships, then down to Houston (yes, Houston) for Division II before setting back in St. Louis for the Division I championships, the finale of the college wrestling season. It was during that month things were set in motion with Abby and I.

I had canceled my account with eHarmony, but had March left to go. The day before Kyle and I were to set out -- by the way, we DROVE -- I got a "match requests communication" from "Abby in St. Paul."

I'd gotten a few, even went on three dates out of eHarmony, but being cold, single and lonely will do a number on you. So I figured I'd respond and go through the process to see how far it would go. I fully expected things to probably end up with "Match Closed: Reason- Other."

Well, during the trip where Kyle and I were doing interviews and broadcasting the championships for the NCAA, Abby and I traded some of their basic communication steps. I asked things about movies, travel, etc. I remember asking her about the most random place she'd been -- and she said Ohio!? This is a woman who'd studied abroad in London and been to China for work. Seriously, Ohio!?

I'd mentioned Azerbaijan ... (Ironically, I was in Baku and this story was circulated around the office today.)

We got to the Open Communication stage (where you can send comments without structure back and forth) and traded e-mails and started communicating that way. I think she gave me her number first and we'd actually "talk" when I got back from St. Louis around March 23. We started the communication process on March 1.

I went through my wrestling life that month, curious about where this was going. Was I going to get a date out of this? By that time, my account was gone. I first called her somewhere around Hannibal, Mo., on the way back to Minnesota. She was getting off work, so we then talked the Monday ... set a date for Wednesday and the rest was history.

Now, there's still more to the story. I mentioned above about wondering if I'd made the right move when the job in Minnesota started to get rocky. I'm still owed a month's pay, didn't get tax information last year and generally left the situation disgruntled. Being out of work with no way to get paid (without filing legal action) has not left me bitter, because it was the chance I took in moving to Minnesota that brought such a gorgeous, intelligent, smart and (somewhat) funny woman into my life.

My living situation in Colorado is with two friends I've known through wrestling, one of which I work with, and his wife, I've known through wrestling as well. I was talking about the Wrestling 411 debacle today and mentioned that I was pretty much "screwed" in that deal.

"Well, you wouldn't have met Abby," he said.

And that's why the Lord works in mysterious ways. The trials and pains I went through with a risky job proposition let to a proposition of another type ... Asking Abby Kathryn Los to be my wife on Dec. 23, 2009.

That's the SHORT version. I've got a lot of good stories to tell, and have no shortage of words.

That's all for now.

JB

"Friendors"

I was reading a bridal magazine recently when I came across the term "friendor," meaning a friend that you use as a vendor for your wedding. I thought that was a very clever name for it and I know that we appreciate our "friendors" very much! There is something very comforting about knowing that a vendor we have chosen will be in contact with us for the rest of our lives and that we can celebrate and appreciate their unique, God-given talents on our special day. While we don't have all of the details nailed down, here are a couple of the "friendors" that will be helping us out with our wedding:

- Officiant (Pastor): Kevin Osell, Business Administrator, Grace Point Church

Kevin is married to my good friend, Casey, and has become a friend to both Jason and I. We are honored to have such a wise and gentle man like Kevin perform our wedding ceremony (his first!)

- Photography: Shawn & Tabitha Wilson, Rock Star photography (http://www.rockstarphoto.net/)

Tabitha is a friend of Jason's who he stays connected with through the world of wrestling. We are excited to have such unique and creative talent come to shoot our wedding pictures.

- Stationary/Invites: Tara Peterson, Stupendous Designs (http://www.stupendousdesign.com/)

Tara is a great friend and former college roommate of mine. I have admired her work for years and we are really looking forward to having her put her own creative flair on our invitations and programs.