Crane Crazy.

One of the first questions family and friends asked after we got engaged (besides when and where the wedding would be), was "is it going to be Asian themed?" What IS it with this? Who knew that simply living in Korea automatically meant a wedding full of bamboo, lanterns, Chinese characters and chopstick favors.

While everyone has the best intentions, we were a little irked at first, until we realized that Korea is a huge part of our lives, and that we should think about incorporating it into our special day. It took a few months, but we narrowed down a few key elements in our design that nod to our life in the "Land of the Morning Calm". The most dominant of which is the crane. More specifically, the origami crane.


Uh, Dani...

Yes?

The origami crane? Isn't that Japanese?

Why, yes. Thank you for noticing. It IS Japanese. That was one of the reasons why it took us 6 months or so to decide to use it as our symbol. You see, the crane is a very important part of Korean folklore and tradition, so it's not like it doesn't have any meaning. But technically the origami crane was first created in Japan. While we thought long and hard about using a more traditional crane (like the one shown below), we loved the modern feel of the origami crane. Besides, in all actuality, who really cares?

The crane in traditional Korean culture is a symbol of longevity and prosperity. There are tall-tales about cranes in Korean folklore, and there is a phrase in Korean that roughly translates to "May you live 1000 years like the crane". Apparently, cranes live to be 1000 years old. We liked this symbolism. It wasn't as obvious as something with a friendship or love meaning, but longevity spoke to us, considering our long history with each other.

So the crane it is! We already incorporated this design into our STDs and invitations, and will be using it in various other ways throughout the reception decor. One thing that is tricky about kind of symbol in your wedding is making sure that it's not super-saturated. In other words, I don't want an origami crane on every single detail of the wedding. To do this, Matt and I have written down a few ways in which we'll use the crane, and stop it there. Don't want to be going too crane crazy!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone who celebrates had a lovely Christmas weekend! This was Matt and my 4th (!!!) Christmas together, and it was probably my favorite thus far.

Despite having a small apartment with a tiny tree and living in a country that is just now catching on to the Christmas craze, my Christmas was extra special due to the people I spent it with. Isn't that what it's all about anyways? Although I really miss driving around on a cold Maine night admiring the lights and decorations around my neighborhood, it's somewhat refreshing living in a place that doesn't put a whole lot of Hallmark value on Christmas. Only 25% of Koreans consider themselves Christian. Most of those people are really devout and spend their entire Christmas in church. Instead of Christmas being a family holiday, it's more religious, and for those who aren't Christian, it's more of a couple holiday. If you see anyone celebrating, it's couples going out to a nice dinner. Families don't normally get together and make big meals like we do. And trees are not common.

Despite the lack of Christmas cheer in the neighborhood, we had plenty to go around on Christmas Eve in our apartment. I tried my hand at green bean casserole, and also made holiday potatoes, chicken (there are zero turkeys here), and some other fixings. It was great to share our holiday with the friends we care about most. Actually, Matt's best man lives in Korea and his family celebrated with us, along with a few others.

Living abroad makes you realize that no matter where you are in the world, you can make a holiday special in your small corner, despite what is going on around you.

Our stockings we made, my name is in Korean

Our Christmas corner

Happy Holidays! ^^

STD's: They're What I want.

Okay, so it's not the best wedding acronym out there. Anyways, because my wedding is in August and we are inviting a lot of people from afar, we knew our STDs had to be mailed out earlier than most weddings. After searching on the Googs, I read that they are usually mailed around the 6 month mark. Well, considering ours are almost done and ready to mail and we have 8 months to go, we're not going with the grain.

I will get into more detail about Korean weddings in another post, but I will say that save-the-dates are not used here. Invitations are usually simple, one sided cards that a local printing shop similar to Kinkos will print for you. Instead of individually labeling each one, Koreans simply give one invitation to each "group" of acquaintances. For example, when a teacher is getting married, they tack an invitation to the information board in the teachers room. Anyone can come and invite whoever they please. You're right, there's no formal guest list. More on that later!

Because they don't offer a lot of creative outlets for stationary, we immediately knew we'd have to go the DIY route. We spent months hashing out ideas on scraps of paper at coffee shops and whenever we had a free moment. Our final plan for the STD was actually Matt's idea (I know, right????) and major kudos to him because they came out GREAT.

While we were going to go entirely DIY, our good friend here in Korea happens to be a graphic designer and she was delighted to help make our idea a little more streamlined and professional.

While I can't share the finished product yet, here are some teaser photos of the process:

Cutting the white paper down to size for printing

origami cranes

One of the work stations, all ready to go

We decided that we wanted a scrapbooky feel to our STDs without skimping on professionalism. It was Matt's idea to incorporate some cool cut outs and we also decided to print out pictures and attach them instead of printing the picture directly onto the paper.

They'll be sent out soon, so once some people get them all the way from Korea I will post the final product, as well as a step by step for those who are interested in adding some crafty touches to their own STDs and/or invites.

To conclude, here are some tips about making your own STDs/invites from abroad:

1. Search high and low in every art store you can and write down all materials that are easily available.

2. If you can't find something you need (for us it was the blue card stock), order it from home and have a trusted family member ship it. Thank goodness for mommys!

3. If you don't have the necessary materials to DIY and print your own, then find someone that you can easily work with online to do the dirty work for you. When they're ready for printing, you can have one sent to you before you go ahead and send to everyone. We fortunately have our own printer so this wasn't neccessary.

4. I've said it before and I'll say it again: friends and family! Find someone who is either into the design field, good with computer programs or who is just downright crafty. Utilize whoever you can! Most people are more than happy to help and LOVE talking wedding :)


We just got our invitations designed as well and I'm SUPER excited to share those in a few months when they're ready to be made! I can't wait! :)

Global Events v. Wedding

As the whole world has most likely heard, the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, has died.

 Too soon? I won’t apologize. I find that one needs a little humor in these situations to keep a good balance.

 The news, for the most part, is good. We can now add Kim Jong Il’s name to the lengthy list of dictators/evil people that have died in 2011. Certainly not a good year for tyrants. But for me, and my life in Korea, things could get interesting. What does this mean for the North Korean people? What does this mean for South Korea? While I am in no imminent danger, there is a rather large chance that the death of Kim Jong Il will spark something. Whether that something comes peacefully or not, there is no doubt in my mind that change is “closer than it appears”. 

While I could go into an entire political rant about the numerous possibilities, this is a wedding blog about my wedding, so I will keep it personal. In no way am I dismissing the dire situation of the North Korean people, I just don’t feel like this is the appropriate soapbox on which to express those feelings.

So, in terms of ME, what is the worst case scenario? 

That North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, will want to show the world that he is as serious and demented as his father was, and will use guns to prove it. This happened TWICE last year, as you may recall. A torpedo from the North hit and sank a South Korean battleship in March. Again in November, North Koreans fired at a small South Korean island, killing a few people. Now if little (chubby) son wants to show force, he will do something worse. If that happens, it could potentially spark a full out war. China will back NOKO, the United States will back SOKO, and all will go to shit.

My wedding is in 8 months. 

Here are the (somewhat obvious) reasons why this will seriously blow for me:

1. If both Koreas go to war, I will have to be evacuated.

2. If I am evacuated before March, I will most likely lose my bonus money.

3. If I lose my bonus money, I can’t afford the wedding.

4. If I am evacuated, I go home, jobless, with little savings.

5. And, to just throw this in here: I will be insanely worried about all of the friends and people I’ve met here. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep knowing they weren’t safe.

While I was, like many other people, worrying about vendors cancelling at the last minute or things going awry with reservations, now I am worried about the possibility of losing my job due to war. But for now I will do exactly what all of the other South Koreans are doing, keeping calm and carrying on :)

Pre-Honeymoon

So when it comes to the travel front, Matt and I are completely spoiled. Granted we had to make the decision to apply for jobs clear across the other side of the world in order to experience a lot of travel, which not everyone is willing to do. Sacrifices have been made. But man. Experiencing new places has become a pretty big part of what makes us, us. While we act as a team wherever we are, we find a lot of commonality and thoroughly enjoy all aspects of vacations, whether it's trip planning or figuring out how to get from point A to point B with nothing but a Lonely Planet guidebook.

As I mentioned before, in just a few short weeks we will be off to Southeast Asia for our 4th trip since coming to Korea. While my mom will be sharing the journey with us for the first 2 weeks, Matt and I are going off exploring for another 12 days after she leaves for home.

So we didn't plan on making this a pre-honeymoon, but our plans to go to Cambodia and Northern Thailand together have mysteriously made themselves somewhat romantic. Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia with a pool? Watching the sunset together at Angkor Wat, one of the largest temple complexes in the world? Enjoying a 4 hour "romance" package at a day spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand? Spending a day riding, washing and feeding elephants? Okay, so some of these things might not sound so luxurious. A hotel with a pool? C'mon, Dani, that's nothing to brag about. But seriously, people, when you are used to $10.00 a night places while carrying around a dirty, dusty backpack, a place with a pool damn near qualifies as heaven.

BOTTOM LINE: wherever you are, whenever you can, for however long, take trips together. Don't get the idea stuck in your head that you have to do a honeymoon "just right". Of course honeymoons are special, they're not some run-of-the-mill vacation, but if it's not in the stars for you right after the wedding, then find another time, another opportunity. Whenever you have the chance to get away with your boyfriend/fiance/husband is a blessing!

I will get into more detail about an actual honeymoon later, but I will say that because we only have a month off to go home for the wedding, we won't be going on an actual honeymoon right after the wedding. While we could have added in a stopover in Hawaii on the way back to Korea, we both thought it was more important to spend the entire time with family and friends. Besides, we have BIG plans for a BIG trip 6 months after the wedding. While not honeymoonish by any means, it will count for us.

More details to come soon!

Ceremony Deets

Like I've mentioned before, it didn't take Matt and me a long time to figure out where we wanted to have both the ceremony and the reception.

I spent my childhood attending Sacred Heart Parish inYarmouth, Maine, which is about ten minutes from my house. Yarmouth is where my maternal great-grandparents immigrated from Prince Edward Island back in the day. The church has special meaning for me and my family. My grandmother,who is 93, is the oldest living parishioner and still attends every Sunday.  Although I don't regularly attend church anymore, I appreciate the traditions and thankfully Matt does, too. He was also raised Catholic and we're happy to exchange our vows in such a beautiful place of worship:

My grandmother was married in the same church more than 70 years ago. There is a picture of her and my grandfather (who passed away 40 years ago) in front of the steps on their wedding day. We plan on getting the picture enlarged and holding it in the same spot where they once stood.

"Friendor" E-PIC Sessions!

There is one thing I am not ashamed to admit about my wedding planning thus far: I am not afraid to jump through hoops to save money on virtually ALL aspects of my wedding. Well, duh, you say. But no, really. I remember a month after being engaged Matt and I sat down and made a list of the different aspects of the wedding. I immediately began writing names of friends and family down next to each category. Photographer? My cousin is a  professional photographer, check. Flowers? I have many family members with big gardens and I know an organic farm that will do it for cheap, check. Cake? My best friend from Korea makes ridiculous cakes (for free!), check. Paper products? Another friend here in Korea is a graphic designer, check. There are so many aspects of this wedding that are coming together awesomely and CHEAPLY because of the wonderful people I hold close in my life. Score.

As far as the E-Pics go, Matt has a good buddy here in Korea that takes Tae-kwon-do with him that is an amateur photographer and happily agreed to take our engagement pictures. Not only did he agree, and we didn't have one engagement pic session, we had TWO. This kid is awesome.And did I mention we paid him the cost for dinner for two and gas? That's it :)

The first session we decided would be a bit more formal. We went to one of our favorite temples in Korea, just 35 minutes away from Daejeon: Gapsa:

NOTE: these pictures are not the originals, so the quality isn't the best.

Gapsa Temple

 And the next day, we dressed more casual and headed to Hanbat Botanical Gardens, which is just a 10 minute walk from our apartment:

I love you in English and Korean

Especially for engagement pics I highly recommend either getting a free shoot from your wedding photographer or asking a friend or family member! We loved how ours came out :)

Reception Venue Details

One of the easiest decisions Matt and I have made thus far is where to have the reception after our church ceremony.

Because we didn't have much of a choice for the time of year (re:August), we knew right off that we wanted to be outside. After toying with just a few other ideas, Bradbury Mountain clicked for both of us. It's where Matt proposed to me, and after realizing that the field at the entrance to the park was plenty big enough for a tent, we did a happy dance and emailed the park rangers for more info.

We were a little worried at first that being a state park they wouldn't allow the reception we wanted, but not only did the head park ranger agree, he is super excited to host! Apparently there hasn't been a  wedding reception at the park for quite some time, possibly decades. It's cool thinking that our venue is unique, even though everyone within a 30 mile radius of the mountain knows it quite well.

The best part of this whole thing is that it's FREE. Well, not entirely free. They're not charging us anything to use the space, but of course we DO have to pay for the tent rental, as well as the tables and chairs etc. Besides that, everyone that uses the park has to pay a small fee ($3.00) and so we will pay for everyone beforehand. It ends up being MUCH cheaper than anything else in the area, which is AWESOME. Considering we are paying for the wedding ourselves, having a free (gorgeous) space to use was crucial in the budget planning.

If I have any advice for brides, it's to check out state parks! Or any kind of public park for that matter. If you don't care too much about other people using the space, it can be worth it, especially if you're on a tight budget but don't have a big enough backyard. The ONLY problem (which I don't consider a real problem) is that there is no alcohol allowed in most parks. This might be a huge issue for some people, but Matt and I were actually relieved. I'll talk more later about the partying aspect of the reception.

On to the photos. The great thing about having a 19 month engagement is that we got to celebrate a "preversary" on our wedding date this past August. My mom, being the rock star that she is, went to the mountain and took a bunch of photos for us:

the path leading to the field

The field. In the far background you can make out a net which we'll use for badminton

This is most likely where the tent will go

Entering the field

The park is bordered by old stone walls

part of the trail

The Skinny

After repeating this mantra day in and day out for the past 6 months, one day I decided to post it in big letters above my desk as a reminder:

I'm going to be a beautiful bride.

And SO ARE YOU! Seriously, people. Diet, or don't. Exercise, or don't. Center goals around buff arms and rock hard abs, or don't.  As my friends and I always like to say "peeps do what peeps do" (peeps=people for those of you who haven't had your coffee yet!). When you get engaged and become a bride-to-be, it's crucial not to compare yourself to others or judge other people for their decisions. Regardless, you are going to be beautiful, no questions asked.



As for me, this long engagement has proven difficult on my exercise and diet scheme. I am really good for a few months, then I go on vacation and return to a busy schedule and slip out of routine. Then I get back into it only to have something else come up. Heck, wouldn't it be nice to be engaged for like, 5 months so you could just bust out some awesomeness before having a chance to slack?


While I am in no way complaining, I do find it a bit difficult to diet here in Korea. At home there are many opportunities to eat poorly, but there are also a plethora of healthy foods at your fingertips. Not only are there a variety of whole grain products and produce, there are also low fat and fat free versions of foods. In Korea there are ZERO low-fat/no-fat products. ZIP. Okay, there is skim milk, I lied. But I don't drink milk, soooooo crap.

When I am on a fitness kick, this is how I am successful (sans health bars, whole grain pita bread, low fat dressings etc):


1.Turbo Fire. This program is freakin' INTENSE. When I stick to the schedule I burn inches like you wouldn't believe. Seriously. Try it.

This program will rock your socks.

2. Chicken and veggies: One thing Korea does well is fresh produce. While there is not the variety, it's sold everywhere (most conveniently on the street corners for cheap). Chicken, while not that affordable, can be purchased in large quantities at Costco (God bless you, Costco). So, pair the two together and that's what I eat.

If you think they sell brown rice anywhere in this country, think again.

3. Walking: There is a river 5 minutes from my house with a paved walk and that's what I do, I walk it.

the Gapcheon River

4.Kimchi: Koreans say that rice is power and kimchi is health. I'm not quite sure how powerful eating white rice is for your diet, but kimchi is packed with fiber and it's everywhere, so why not.

MM MM good.

What are you doing (or not doing) to get ready for the big day?

Sisterhood of the Traveling Dress

Let’s get this over with straight up: I am buying  a wedding dress without ever trying it on. Actually, as I mentioned in a previous post, I have only tried on ONE dress since being engaged.

Well, Dani, don’t Koreans get married? Yes, of course they do. Can’t you try on dresses in Korea? The answer is simply, no. Have you ever seen a Korean woman? 99.9% of them are the size of one of my thighs, no joke! I have a hard enough time trying to find shirts large enough for my chest, let alone pants that fit my hips, let alone a wedding dress! Korea is one of the slimmest countries in the world, with just over 3% of the population obese. This is changing (with the spread of western fast food chains and Pizza Huts), but still. You are lucky if you can find a pant size in this country above an 8, most stores don’t carry anything larger than a 6. 

This leaves me (a size 12-14) in quite a predicament. Do I leave one of the most important decisions of my wedding day to the three weeks before the wedding? Heck no. 

Enter my solution: Vietnam.

After scouring the internet for weeks, I finally found a small wedding boutique in Ho Chi Minh City that is making my dress. The co-owner, Quyen, is FANTASTIC and spends half of her time living in Rhode Island and the other half in Vietnam. Her sister runs the operation when she’s not there. We’ve been talking for the past 6 months about the dress, and I am happy to say that I JUST put the order in to have it made last week!

Dani, are you friggin’ nuts? Have you gone bat-poop crazy? No, I haven’t. I actually feel REALLY good about my decision. Like I said, I am a tomboy and as such I was never swayed one way or the other when it came to dresses. I knew an A-line dress would look the best on my figure, and so I spent some time researching fabrics and styles. Quyen came up with some sketches and BAM! Dress decided. 

The best part of this whole situation is that my mother will be flying to Vietnam to meet me in January! The two of us are going to spend a week getting adjustments made and enjoying southern Vietnam. After that, we’ll head to Thailand to meet up with Matt and continue our vacation chillin’ on the beaches in southern Thailand. Am I super excited? YES. Almost 4  weeks to go before I try on my wedding dress!

My mom will take the dress back with her to the States and unfortunately I won’t see it again (only through Skype) until the end of July. Oh well, you can’t have it all! Flexibility is key when planning a wedding like the one we’re having. I am just so blessed to have found Quyen in Vietnam and for my mother to make the big trip (by herself, on three different flights!) to be with me and support me. 

When Quyen sends me a picture of the dress I’ll be sure to post! :)

One Ring to Rule Them All!

Just joshin' with you. I apologize for all of the Lord of the Rings references, but I can't promise that I'll stop anytime soon, so you'll just have to deal :)

So one of the hardest jobs a guy will ever do (on his own) is pick out a ring for his fiance. Some girls are lucky and end up helping with the process, which must be a really awesome experience. Althought I did not help Matt choose the ring (I had no idea that he was going to propose), I did make it rather easy for him.

Bottom line, I am a tomboy at heart. My favorite articles of clothing are sweatshirts and yoga pants, and I will find any excuse to wear them. I value feeling comfortable over fashionable, and while I really envy and admire those who spend hours a day primping, I have tried numerous times and have miserably failed.

Because of my history of digging in to any project at hand (whether it's mucking stalls at the organic farm I worked at in Maine or wiping the school chalkboards off with my bare hands) Matt knew I needed a ring that reflected my rough personality. That, and I have ridiculously small chubby hands. Seriously, throughout middle and high school I was commonly referred to as "carnie hands" (Austin Powers line) and "panda paws" (never understood that one...I have first hand experience feeding pandas and their paws are anything but small).

Considering all factors, he decided on a simple white gold solitaire ring that wasn't extremely big and flashy and that wouldn't get caught on anything. I could not have been more pleased with his decision. For me, my ring is absolutely PERFECT. It doesn't look gaudy on my chubby finger, it's small but incredibly sparkly, and in simple terms, it looks like it just belongs.

Forever and Always. This is how we signed our love letters to each other in 7th grade!

Choosing THE Date.

The days after Matt proposed to me were a blur. Our families threw us an impromptu engagement party, I was given numerous bridal magazines (more than I could take back on the plane with me to Korea!) and I even tried on the one and only wedding dress I will try on until my actual one (more on that later). Along with being bombarded of all things marriage from family and friends, Matt and I found ourselves talking secretly behind closed doors about the wedding. 

Figuring out when to have the wedding proved a bit difficult, at least at first. The biggest reason why we chose to hash out the details in private is because the two of us had already talked a lot about signing on for a third year in Korea, and we had yet to tell our parents. It was hard enough explaining our reasoning to stay a second year, and we hadn’t even begun our second year yet, let alone a third! Our families automatically assumed that we’d be home the following February and would have the wedding sometime shortly after. Not wanting to disappoint, we came up with a plan.

Our plan involves staying a third year in Korea, planning the wedding from afar, and going home to get married during our summer vacation. Crazy? Yes. Doable? Definitely. We knew we weren’t the only ones on the planet that planned their weddings from abroad, we knew we could handle it. When it came down to it, choosing to have a long engagement (19 months) has allowed us to save for the wedding without worrying or going into debt, and gives us a lot of time to make it a true reflection of us. 

Sure, it’s going to be pretty stressful stepping off the plane exactly 3 weeks before “I do”, only having to get right back on a flight one week after the wedding. A month at home to do one of the most important things in our lives seems a little cheap. But we’re staying positive, telling ourselves that it will be more meaningful when time is of the essence. 

One good thing about only having a month to pull off a wedding is that we didn’t have to think too much about the date. We literally had two weekends to choose from. We ended up choosing the 18^th because we were engaged on January 18^th, eight eighteen has a nice ring to it (a nice sparkly one!), and my Jewish friends say that 18 is a really lucky number. Actually, 18 in Hebrew is Chai, which translates to “life”. Perfect.

Color Inspiration Board

Because of our 19 month long engagement, we’ve been able to take a lot of time to plan the feel and look of our wedding before having to commit to anything. One of our favorite things to do is to escape our cave of an apartment (first floor, barely any natural light), and spend hours pouring over wedding websites and planning various trips at a local coffee shop. We go so often to two different shops that the waitresses practically have our order in the computer by the time we walk up to the counter! One time when we went early one Sunday morning I had my hair down (which I RARELY ever do) and one of our favorite baristas in broken English told me she didn’t recognize me and thought Matt had come with another woman! Too funny. 

Anyways, it’s been more than 10 months since the proposal and we’ve finally decided on a color scheme for our big day, but it wasn’t easy.

Our first attempt at a color scheme:

Green and white

We loved the thought of keeping it simple and having green and white to blend in with the forest surrounding our reception sight.  But the more and more we thought about it, we wanted to incorporate more color.

Our second attempt:

Green and Yellow

We loved the way sunflowers looked against greens and white flowers. After a while though, I found myself thinking more and more about blue. I loved the way it looked in almost every picture I found online, and blue has always been my favorite color. Anyone who knows me knows that I naturally cling to blue, whether its clothing, home decorating or accessories. 

We fiddled with the idea of trying to do all THREE colors (blue, green and yellow), but it just ended up being too much. How would we coordinate it all so that the colors didn’t clash? How could we ensure the right shades of three different colors in every aspect of the wedding? It seemed too difficult. Besides, I didn’t like the look of it. 

So after much conversation, we decided on shades of blue and white:

 It's been blue for a while now, possibly more than half of our engagement. Once you choose a color scheme it feels like a huge weight off your shoulders! It was one of the hardest things to decide. Since choosing blue, we have dove head first into incorporating royal blue, light blue and white into all of our decoration ideas. 

Fantasy Wedding

Ok, so if I really had my way, my wedding would look something like this:

Feather and antlers, anyone?

Because in my little fantasy world, I am an elf princess and Matt is a mortal Numenor king and despite all obstacles (like the future demise of the planet), we marry amongst all good souls of the world:

I cry every time.

I spy with my little eye, a hobbit

But because I live in someplace called the "real world", I must quell my inner fantasies and pull off a "normal" wedding.

Of course, there is no such thing, and there shouldn't be! What IS normal? I have never been a big fan of that word, especially now after living in a country where people eat rotten, spicy cabbage as a side dish FOR EVERY SINGLE MEAL OF THE DAY. No joke, people. And if you think I am being close-minded, I am a huge fan of kimchi, so no culture bashing is taking place (and it never will, I love this country). Eating fermented vegetables for breakfast is just a tad bit different than our run of the mill cornflakes and bagels.

So what will our wedding be like?

After much discussion, we've decided on a shortened Catholic ceremony at my childhood parish (because both of us grew up Catholic), and an outdoor reception at Bradbury State Park, where we were engaged. We like the idea of a traditional ceremony followed by a laid back, pull on the hiking boots, whack a few badminton birdies around, eat our weight in pulled pork kind of reception. And yes, we really plan on changing into boots and hiking the short trail to the top of the mountain (weather permitting).

I am envisioning some crazy wedding party jumping shots on the rocks. Yes??

It's not quite the sheer drop off that you think it is.

Engagment

After two years of dating, Matt proposed to me during a blizzard on one of our favorite mountains in Maine: Bradbury.

We had just finished our first year teaching in Korea, and were thrilled to be home on a three week vacation. Matt had planned out the entire proposal from Korea, and had his sister keep the ring safe until we were home.

On January 18th, while the rest of Maine closed their doors, stoked their wood stoves and settled in to the snowstorm, we took a drive to the state park to do some winter hiking. While most people would find it odd, I didn’t seem to notice anything askew. We’ve done a lot of winter hiking together, and blizzard hiking was no different.

With my golden retriever, Samantha, running around and barking at our feet, Matt got down on one knee and proposed in 3 feet of snow at a log bench halfway up the trail. With not another soul in sight (we had to park outside of the entrance and sneak in past the locked gate), We were engaged in snowy bliss.

While there are no photos to show of the event (I actually prefer it that way!), here are a few shots of us enjoying our time at home in Maine after the big proposal:

engaged!

ridiculous.

Skiing for the birthday!

The Story of Us.

While some couples have the awesome ability of calling each other “high school sweethearts”, I get to call my fiancé the even cooler, much less common “middle school sweetheart”. Truthfully, this phrase is inaccurate because it assumes that we’ve been together for the past 13 years. This is not the case (and thankfully so). While I would have loved to spend high school and college with my favorite person ever, gaining valuable lessons and life experiences from other relationships and experiences has been beneficial for both of us in so many ways.

Call it fate, call it whatever you like, but Matt just so happened to move to my town in the beginning of the 7^th grade, and just so happened to find his niche with my large group of friends. I’d like to think I would have friended him eventually, but because we shared friends, we ended up clicking during the first month of school.

Throughout middle school we, for lack of a better term, “dated”. I spent many a weekend night at Matt’s grandmother’s house playing MarioKart on Nintendo 64 and sneaking pecks on the cheek from him. Matt spent many a summer evening swimming in my parent’s above ground pool. Our fondest memories of middle school were with each other. Whether we were catching a Friday night movie and a pepperoni pizza at our local pizza joint with Matt’s Dad, or kissing at the stroke of midnight on the year 2000 in my living room, our friendship that bloomed during our middle school days has continued for more than 12 years.

And just as fate so happened to bring us together in 7th grade, it happened to bring us back together right after graduating college. After almost 10 years of distant friendship, we reconnected again as if we had never left one another. Yes, sappy, I know! But honestly, we find ourselves finishing each other’s sentences constantly. One word for our relationship has always been “natural”.

While we have different hobbies and interests, you'll often find us either doing these things together or talking about these things:

Hiking. The summer after getting back together Matt hiked more than 1000 miles and 3 months on the Appalachian Trail. I was able to join him for 3 weeks. It was the most amazing experience with changing scenery every day, sleeping in shelters every night and getting away from the world for a while. Since then, we've taken it upon ourselves to hike as much as possible, whether it's in Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia or Maine.

In our spare time we are always hiking.

 Traveling. While I have always been known as a big dreamer with big travel plans, Matt was a newbie. But like most addictions, it only takes one or two experiences to get hooked. His first time actually leaving the USA (besides Canada, because, c'mon, that doesn't count) was to move to Korea! Since our big move we have enjoyed traveling to China, Mongolia and Malaysia. In just 2 months we'll be off again to Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia!

Because every Great Wall deserves a dance.

Besides hiking and traveling, you'll find us often curled up in a corner of a coffee shop filling notebooks with wedding plans, travel plans, lesson plans, all kinds of plans.

Hello, World!

Anh-Young-Ha-Say-Yo!안녕하세요!

Hello!

I’m Dani. To sum me up:

My ideal place to retire is Lothlorien in Tolkien’s Middle Earth (sans orcs).

chillin' with the elves

I have a dream to learn how to play the Buk drum in a traditional Samulnori band.

obsessed with percussion

My “travel itch” has turned into a pretty fierce case of "travel eczema"; I just can’t stop scratching.

taking it all in on the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

 I have almost 1200 kids, and can truly understand maybe 5% of them.

CUTENESS.

When I am with my muddy 10 year old golden retriever atop a windswept mountain, I am at my happiest.

that's my girl.

In the 8^th grade, I kissed my now fiancé, Matt, on the lips when the clock struck 12:00 on the year 2000, despite being mortified of my mother catching me.

Matt in Middle School

I am getting married next August, (August 18^th, 2012 to be exact), exactly 19 months after getting engaged.

My ring amid the 'mums

Oh, and I currently live in Daejeon, South Korea!!!

I am a born and bred Mainer, but I was dying to get out and see the world. Fortunately for me, my fiancé thought it was a pretty good idea, too. We packed our bags in February 2010 and flew halfway across the world on Valentine’s Day to a new job and new life abroad. 

We are both public middle school English teachers. While I am a certified secondary history teacher, I’ve found a niche teaching Korean kids English. The job comes with a lot of, shall we say, “dynamic” experiences, but it has all been such an amazing journey.

We have just over 8 months to go until the big day, and won’t be back in Maine until 3 weeks before the wedding. Planning a wedding from 8,000 miles away adds a lot of a stress to an already stressful situation, but thankfully I have a kick-butt fiancé with TONS of ideas and a strong work ethic. Without him (and various friends and family back home!), I’d be on my way to throwing in the towel and sending out “we’re married!” postcards from Tahiti. 

Here are a few more pics to get you started:

Relaxing in a pagoda after a hike

Enjoying the spring blossoms

Mongolian sunset heart

Winter on the Outer Banks, NC

Exhausted but happy after a 14 hour hike

Stay tuned for more!