To love is to live

Liken cat is to sleep

Along nature’s path

We find one to keep

Last November, two days before Thanksgiving, I was proposed to and- wait, let me start at the beginning, all the way at the beginning.

We met against a divide. He was devouring sausage links and crispy bacon: I was nibbling fluffy eggs and buttered toast, edges removed.  After his offering, a small piece of greasy meat, I politely declined. “No thanks, I’m a vegetarian.” Silence. So what happens when a carnivore meets his possible future wife, yet she may never share a bit of his beloved filet mignon? He gets over it and finds that she too enjoys ice cream sundaes.

I met my now fiancée over five years ago. We started out as friends for almost one entire week before realizing we much rather be dating that to pretend we were not crazy about each other. After our first encounter over breakfast, just two newbie Hood students all alone in Coblentz Hall, we made excuses to play video games and watch Saturday Night Live during the daytime, rerun after rerun. Our mutual decision to see more and more of each other was easy- the other thing standing in our way was lack of dating experience and nerves.

After many nights of movies, bargain hunting for videos games and clothes alike, indulgences in sweets and then the forced trips to burn off our high calorie sins in a tiny cramped gym, we found ourselves living together in a fourth story apartment at the Manor. Quaint and functional, the view of air conditioning units and lovely natural sounds of Route 40 made the place a perfect after college apartment. My fiancée, having graduated two years before me, had the place completely ready for my move-in. Big screen TV, fridge full of frozen meals and pre-sliced lunch meats, two walls full of games and movies and a very barren bathroom counter top (the later would soon be taken over by two cosmetic bags, large brush, contact solution bottles and extra toothpaste containers).

Not long after living at the Manor, and after much talk about future plans, we decided to find a house and I decided we also needed a cat to help occupy such house. More than a year later, we have both, but best of all, we also have wedding plans.

Last November, two days before Thanksgiving, I was proposed to under the bell tower in Baker Park, the moon hiding behind scattered clouds and a misty fog nipping my bare ankles. I had picked out my ring many weeks prior, yet there is always that doubt in your mind that maybe, just maybe, a different ring would be in that box, maybe one made of sugar or from a quarter machine. But alas, my ring was there, three stone in a yellow gold band, shining, beckoning me to slip it in to my rather short ring finger. A near perfect fit, and now, over three months later, we begin our journey in planning a Frederick wedding. Our date, 10: 10: 10, because he was a mathematic and computer science major and I, English, so naturally both symmetry and patterns run deep in our cores. Our site, well, almost there, after we balance a few more budget issues. Our one hundred other things on the do list? To come. Join us, Matt and Liz, as we journey into marriage, in planning a beautiful Frederick wedding on a budget.