I love how my boyfriend calls sweatshirts "longsleavers". How cute is that? We'll be headed out the door to go on a hike or to go see a movie and he says, "Is it cold out? I'm going to grab a longsleaver".
I haven't gotten used to calling Bret "my fiance". He's been "my boyfriend" for so long.
Nannoo, my Grandmother doesn't like the term "boyfriend". She thinks it sounds silly to refer to a grown man as a "boyfriend". She prefers that once you are an adult you say, "Significant Other" when referring to, well, your significant other. However, she has also been known to use the term "manfriend", which is so cute. My friends and I have had some laughs referring to our others as "manfriend".
I will probably just be getting used to referring to Bret as my fiance by the time we get married and then I'll have to transition into "my HUSBAND". Maybe I should start a new trend and call him "my husband-to-be", that will make the transition easier.
Nannoo is my Grandmother. Actually we call her "Nanny", but her nickname is "Nannoo". Her real name is "Nena" and once she had a siamese cat named "Noonoo".
I called my Grandmother shortly after Bret proposed to tell her the good news. She does like Bret, although she would like him better if he didn't have long hair and "whiskers" as she calls them. Every time I talk to her she asks about Bret and then asks if he has shaved his whiskers yet. "Let him grow his beard when he is an old man to hide his face, he is young, he should be showing off his handsome young face" she says to me.
So, I told her of our engagement and she was happy, but a little confused. She said, "So, what have you been all these years then?" I said "Dating, now I officially get to start planning the wedding."
I can see how she might be confused. We have been dating for about 5 years and we did purchase a house together. Times have changed.
She met my Grandfather during the war. My Grandfather was in New Zealand on R&R when he was set up with my Grandmother's sister. Somehow my Grandmother ended up going out with him instead. They fell in love and got married in a very short time (I should gather the details of this story) and he went back to the war. My Grandmother then boarded a war ship (one of three women on board) and sailed to her new family in Texas.
I can't imagine what that must have been like for her. Marrying someone she hardly knew and then leaving her family and friends during the war to move to a foreign land. I always ask her why she didn't just wait in New Zealand for my Grandfather to return and she tells me, "That's just how things were in those days, dear."
The Big News - We're Engaged!
Originally uploaded by sweetdogk.
I just sent this message to my family and friends:
Hi dear friends and family,
I wanted to share the exciting news of our recent engagement with all of you. Bret and I are very happy and excited to be engaged. Below is our engagement story along with a link to some pictures from our Spring Break vacation. I hope this email finds all of you healthy and happy.
Professor Bret had his Spring Break from Cuesta College the last week in March and we had been planning on going on a vacation. Our last vacation was biking down the coast of Oregon. Although it was beautiful and fun, it wasnâ??t exactly relaxing and I was a little stressed out during parts of the planning for it. Because of this, we made a pact that Bret would plan our next vacation.
Bret took it one step further and turned it into a surprise vacation for me. He gave me these clues to help me pack: staying in California, bring biking and hiking gear, we arenâ??t camping, bring two nice outfits. I ended up bringing pretty much my whole closet.
Every day of the trip was a surprise to me. He enjoyed keeping the destinations from me and egging me on with hints and tricks. It was really fun to not know where we were going and to have so many surprises, but I think Bret had even more fun playing tricks on me. His new nickname is "Trixies".
He planned a perfect vacation. We drove north towards Napa and then cut over to the coast and stayed our first night in Bodega Bay. Then we made our way down the coast staying two days in San Francisco in the middle of the week. He even planned a visit with Wyeth and Trina and little baby Siena. We had a great time! You can see pictures of our vacation by clicking on this link:
The engagement partâ?¦
We were driving down the Big Sur coast on our second to last day of vacation. I was feeling car sick, so Bret suggested we go for a little walk.
We found a nice trail that went down to the ocean and it ended at this beautiful overlook, with a perfect view down the coastline. There was a nice little bench, but right in front of the bench was a sign and some other "human-like" things. Bret hiked around the corner and beckoned for me to follow him.
After passing the "Dangerous Cliffs" sign, we walked along the edge of a cliff and over some rocks. I was doing ok, but a little nervous. I have a small fear of heights, but mostly a fear of slipping and falling - I can be clumsy and to make matters worse I was wearing sandals. Not cliff-walking friendly shoes.
Bret turned around to check on me and asked if I was ok, and I totally started crying. I was terrified. What a baby I am! I made it a few more feet to a safe area where there were some nice rocks to sit on to enjoy the view without obstructions.
I calmed down from the cliff crossing experience and we were just hanging out when he popped the question. He totally surprised me and I started crying again and told him I would marry him if we made it safely back to the trail. Talk about a wide range of emotions in a short time span!
We did make it back to the trail and he surprised me by taking me to the fancy 5 star resort, Ventana. Iâ??ve always wanted to stay there, but never in my wildest dreams thought we would. It was so wonderful and romantic. I feel so happy and blessed to be engaged to such a wonderful man.
Lots of Love to you all,
Kristin and Bret
