I'm married!!!

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
Aristotle

I got hitched on Friday. P and I are having our large bells & whistles ceremony in Spain on June 24, but we needed to get civilly married in the US (too much hassle to do it in Spain). My parents were here from Spain, P's mom was here from Sydney so this was the perfect time.

We scheduled an appointment at 3:00 at LAX Courthouse. I was not expecting much to happen at this airport adjacent locale. I half expected that a brusque and officious bureaucrat would call us up to the counter, check our IDs, ensure that we really did intend to get married, get us and our witness to sign the form and we would be out of there in 5 minutes.

Boy were we pleasantly surprised!!! LAX Courthouse had a chapel. It was very Vegas. You walked in and at the end of a short aisle flanked by 12 chairs in neat rows of two, there was an arch covered in faux flowers. A faux wedding cake was on the artfully decorated table at the entrance. A cute 70-90 year old Commissioner in her black judge's robe greeted us at the door. She was about 4 foot 5, wrinkled as a raisin, and cute as a button. Her large smile lit up her tan face and after she warmly greeted everyone who was at the wedding, she patted her large blonde-white bun and headed to the front. It was utterly delightful.

I grabbed my dad and asked if he wanted to walk me down the aisle. He readily agreed. "Hold on!!" yelled the commissioner. She pulled out a small boom box from behind the podium, pressed Play and the Wedding March started blaring. My dad took my arm in his and walked me down the aisle to my waiting groom. "Who brings this woman to take this man in holy matrimony?" "I do," said my dad and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

The commissioner then invited everyone to stand behind her for better pictures and everyone filed behind her. Only my brother and sister-in-law stayed seated. Everyone else went behind her. They smiled lovingly upon us and took many pictures or videotaped as the commissioner began her lovely sermon about love and commitment and the responsabilities of marriage. We exchanged vows. Then Teo, our ring bearer, delivered a ring. Finally she pronounced us husband and wife and we kissed. It was lovely.

Afterwards we took many pictures. The commissioner even took one for us -- carefully arranging us and making sure everyone appeared in the photo. The 5 minute ceremony I expected was actually a half an hour. It was absolutely lovely and the whole thing was a delight.

Afterwards the whole family went to Duke's in Malibu for some delicious ocean-front dining. I couldn't have planned a more perfect day.

Pictures coming soon.

Updates

So much has been happening that I haven't had time to blog. Melissa got married the weekend before last. I was a co-maid of honor. The wedding was seamless and went off without a hitch -- perfect weather, wonderful food, incredibly happy bride, and well-received speech. It couldn't have been better.

Last weekend was my bridal shower. It was fun. There was good food, silly games, fun gifts, and great friends, and the theme was Pink Princess so everyone was dressed in pink and I was treated like royalty. My type of party! Hehe. :) Afterwards I went to Sean and Jen's b-day bbq, where there was more good food, great friends (though no silly games or fun gifts (at least not for me). :) I'm getting used to my house not being home anymore, but it still feels a little strange.

Yesterday morning I ran to the gym and then came back in time to make brunch for Pam and Allen, P. and the kids. I made some yummy crepes (if I do say so myself). Then just about as soon as we were done eating, we had to go to my dad's cousin's house for a early dinner. I felt like I spent the whole day eating, but it was good times. Peter and I then came home and started to open wedding gifts that have begun to pour in. Gifts are fun!!! Peter was particularly excited about the new coffee maker (thanks Jason!) and went around the house whooping with joy (and this was even before he drank a cup).

Anyway, things are great. I have four more days to be officially single. Peter and I are going to city hall on Friday afternoon to do the deed (too complicated to get legally married in Spain). Mom and Dad are here and Peter's mom just arrived this morning. We'll have the immediate family at the ceremony and then are going out for a celebratory dinner. I've been so focused on Spain (and getting married on June 24) that it just hit me that I'm getting hitched on Friday. Holy smoke!!! Yowsa!

I haven't been taking pictures (I need a new digital camera), but other people have. I'll upload them soon.

Poetry Thursday

Except from SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD

"Listen! I will be honest with you;
I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes;
These are the days that must happen to you:

You shall not heap up what is call’d riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve,
You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d—you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction, before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart,
You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you;
What beckonings of love you receive, you shall only answer with passionate kisses of parting,
You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach’d hands toward you.

Allons! after the GREAT COMPANIONS! and to belong to them!
They too are on the road! they are the swift and majestic men; they are the greatest women.
Over that which hinder’d them—over that which retarded—passing impediments large or small,
Committers of crimes, committers of many beautiful virtues,
Enjoyers of calms of seas, and storms of seas,
Sailors of many a ship, walkers of many a mile of land,
Habitués of many distant countries, habitués of far-distant dwellings,
Trusters of men and women, observers of cities, solitary toilers,
Pausers and contemplators of tufts, blossoms, shells of the shore,
Dancers at wedding-dances, kissers of brides, tender helpers of children, bearers of children,
Soldiers of revolts, standers by gaping graves, lowerers down of coffins,
Journeyers over consecutive seasons, over the years—the curious years, each emerging from that which preceded it,
Journeyers as with companions, namely, their own diverse phases,
Forth-steppers from the latent unrealized baby-days,
Journeyers gayly with their own youth—Journeyers with their bearded and well-grain’d manhood,
Journeyers with their womanhood, ample, unsurpass’d, content,
Journeyers with their own sublime old age of manhood or womanhood,
Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe,
Old age, flowing free with the delicious near-by freedom of death.
by Walt Whitman

I just came back from a very productive wedding trip to Spain. My wedding planners gave me a list of wedding readings. Song of the Open Road was one of them, but someone evidently took various stanzas from the poem and put it together. What they created was very beautiful, but when I went to find it online for my Poetry Thursday submission I realized that the new creation was quite different from the original. Above I've put sections 11 & 12 from the original (unedited).

Anyway, aside from distributing misleading poetry, the wedding planners were lovely and I feel like I'm in such great hands. They had my parents and I running around Granada and in 48 hours I managed to visit the wedding site (absolutely gorgeous with dramatic views of the Alhambra), all six hotels we've reserved for our guests, two rehearsal dinner sites, day-after wedding brunch site, the florist, the photographer, the DJ, and the hair and make up person for my trials. We were incredibly productive. And then I went to my parent's town and took care of the wedding shoes, the wedding favors, the garter belt, and the wedding jewelry. Hurray! The wedding feels so done and it's going to be spectacularly gorgeous. I simply can't wait. :)

Quality Time

"No matter what you do, no matter how stupid, dumb or damaging you judge it to be, there is a lesson to be learned from it. No matter what happens to you, no matter how unfair, inequitable or wrong, there’s something you can take from the situation and use for your advancement."
Peter McWilliams

I've had some quality time with the siblings recently. The Sunday before Valentine's Day P and I invited our siblings + significant others (there were 10 of us total) to a dinner party. This sibling only dinner party was great for reconnecting. We luckily had the chance to do it again soon. The next week my aunt got in touch -- she was visiting from Boston and wanted to see her neices and nephews. I invited my siblings over for another dinner to see my aunt and my dad's cousins. I love my family and am so grateful that we all get along.

In wedding news -- we put the deposit down on our Greek honeymoon today, so that's finally *almost* settled. And in less than one week I'm heading to Spain to take care of many "on the ground" decisions. Yeah!!! I can't wait to go. :) Time is flying by, but everything will settle into place soon enough.

Latest

"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take - choose the bolder."
William Joseph Slim

It's been a while since I posted and lots has been going on. We've been plodding along with the wedding plans -- mostly we've been focusing on the honeymoon plans lately. We're honeymooning on the Greek isles and we've been comparing islands, hotels, and vacation packages for the past few weeks. P is funny and is much more discriminating than I am. I am happy to look at the pictures, say "sounds nice," and move onto the next things. P, on the other hand, likes to go online and really research all of our various options. He's pretty much addicted to trip advisor, and spends hours making sure we've got the *perfect* place. I appreciate his efforts and our honeymoon is shaping up very nicely.

In other news, the half-ironman is off. Two of the three of us who were going to be doing this race started to really feel the pressure. I have been focusing on my wedding planning and on my career changes, and couldn't really find the energy to adequately train. The bride-to-be can do a half-ironman in her sleep, but my co-maid of honor was also feeling the strain of training. She's also planning her own wedding and leaving her job. So, we decided that it was too stressful and not so fun. So, instead we're going to New Orleans. I've never been to New Orleans, so I'm very excited. And since this bachelorette party is much more typical -- the number of women who've decided to come has jumped up considerably. Now we've got a real party, and the half-ironman will have to wait for a later date.

Other news -- the reiki class was really great. It felt so wonderful to teach it and I'm very excited that P is now a certified reiki practitioner. It's nice to be able to share it with one another.

Lastly, I've gotten a new contract for legal work. I'm working for a small firm on the westside doing patent litigation. It's actually been fun learning this new kind of law. I've been quite busy though and am struggling a little to find time to market my mediation practice. It's going to come together. It's nice to be working though. I spent pretty much all of January without an income.

Progress

"Progress is what happens when impossibility yields to necessity."
-Arnold J Glasow

There are exciting things happening with the NPI project. The designer I was using before didn't work out for a variety of reasons. That was sad, but I was put in touch with this AMAZING new designer -- Karen Soto-White. She's done design for Cedars-Sinai among lots of other big commercial projects. This project is right up her alley and she's so on the ball. We went to visit the space again on Thursday. She was fired up, I was fired up, Katie Rogers, our feng shui specialist, was fired up. I feel like it's done. YEAH! We could still very much use donations, but I feel like in Karen and Katie's capable hands, the design work is done.

I'm progressing with the reiki as well. I'm teaching my first Reiki I class on February 3 with the aforementioned Katie Rogers. That's also very exciting.

Lastly, the wedding plans are progressing. I booked my flight to Spain for the end of February to check out the space, food, flowers, etc. That will be a fun little trip. The wedding planners are ready to take me around. Yeah! That will be fun. Since my last e-mail we also found the bridesmaids dresses, decided on a photographer, decided on the groom and groomsmen's suits, started planning the rehearsal dinner and the day-after brunch... we're getting there and I'm thrilled. :)

Update

"We are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of this banquet..."
Rebecca Harding Davis, 1831-1910
American Author and Journalist

I decided to share some updates about my life with you guys.

Work: I've officially started my own mediation practice. You can check out my mediation website. I LOVE the practice so much. It feels very good to be making money doing something you love so much you'd do it for free. Oh yeah!

And for my other business -- if you'd like some beautiful Hip Girlz pieces to give as Christmas gifts, check them out at my jewelry website. You can also go to a lovely little boutique called Pinky Rose , on Pico (just east of Fairfax). They're stocking some of my goods and they also have beautiful (and affordable!) pieces. The customer service is also divine.

Lastly (gosh I wear many hats!) I've recently become a reiki master. Friends, please contact me if you're interested in some reiki or in being able to do reiki yourself. Phew! That's enough for my plugs. In other news...

Wedding: It's happening. We've picked our officiant, we've picked our country, and we've picked our attendants. Our major goal right now is to book the venue. More to come. I'll just say that it's definitely shaping up to be my dream ... and it looks like I'm going to be getting married in a palace!

Triathlon: I'm back on the path of the Half-Ironman goal. This time my sights are set on the Lone Star Half on April 1. Why this particular one? One of my best friends set this as her bachelorette party. Now talk about hard core!

Life is good, but life is busy. I'm just trying to feast on this banquet of life and am enjoying every moment. Happy Holidays!

Keeping Level-Headed

"We think, sometimes, there's not a dragon left. Not one brave knight, not a single princess gliding through secret forests... What a pleasure to be wrong. Princesses, knights, enchantments and dragons, mystery and adventure... not only are they here-and-now, they're all that ever lived on earth!"

Richard Bach, American Author
From 'A Bridge Across Forever'

Last night, my mom threw a little family engagement dinner for me and P. All my siblings were there and P's sister. It was fun, but... I saw it. I saw the pre-wedding stress. At times I was on edge, my mom was on edge, P was on edge and it related to the wedding. Yikes! This is supposed to be fun, right? My brother Marc let out evil little giggles throughout the night and kept saying "now it's your turn." No, I don't like that. There has to be a different way. I'm setting an intention for this process -- I want the whole engagement to be fun and chill and harmonious for all. If or when it stops being fun and chill and harmonious, I'm going to grab P and take the next flight to Vegas. Anyway, I've always wanted to be married by an Elvis priest.

Big news!!!

Yesterday, the darling P asked my parents for permission to marry me (which they happily granted). Earlier he'd asked his children (they also happily agreed). They not only agreed, they were a big part of the proposal. His kids came up with the plan to ask me over for a candle light dinner. They helped him prepare dinner, lit candles all over the place, coached him on how to ask, got dressed up, and filmed and photographed as he got down on one knee, took my hand in his, and asked me to be his wife. I of course said YES!!!