I Said Yes

Steve and I consider our engagement date to be July 11, 2003 because that is the day that he gave me an engagement ring. However, there are two other dates in 2003 which could reasonably be considered our engagement day: May 17 and June 27. 

Backing up a bit: Steve and I first started talking about getting married in January 2003. Over the next few months, we bought a cake topper, went ring shopping, and starting thinking about venues (in that order). On May 17, Steve joined my family for Great Strides, an annual benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, held at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek. It's a beautiful place year-round, but that day the weather was perfect and the flowers were in full bloom. Steve pulled me aside and asked, "Will you marry me here?" I said yes. We'd found the ideal place for us to get married. 

I Said Yes (affiliate link)

Technically, it was a proposal, but (oddly) we didn't consider ourselves engaged yet. That would come with the ring. I didn't know it at the time, but Steve had been shopping for just the right loose diamond and then was having it custom set, which took a lot more time than he'd expected.

We thought a lot about wedding dates before deciding that Sunday, June 27, 2004 would be the perfect day. As it turns out, Heather Farm is a really popular location for weddings. They required all brides who wanted a particular date to show up in person exactly one year ahead of time. If more than one bride showed up, they'd hold a drawing. So on Friday, June 27, 2003 I went to Walnut Creek. I was so excited to lock in our date. But it was not to be. Another bride showed up and she won the drawing. I was devastated. 

What to do? I asked if there were any weekend dates where no brides showed up. We could get married sooner if there was a date. Indeed, there was one: Sunday, May 30, 2004. It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. That would work well for family and friends who were traveling from out of state. It wasn't ideal in terms of my job; we'd picked late June so that I'd be on summer break. But we could get married, have a mini honeymoon, and then I could return to finish out the school year. We'd do a proper honeymoon later. So on June 27, with Steve's blessing, I signed a contract securing our wedding venue for May 30. Technically, we still weren't engaged!

I made this scrapbook layout for the NSD Shape challenge at A Cherry on Top. We had to include at least 10 of the same shape on the page and the shapes had to be different sizes. I own three heart punches, which worked well for my layout. 

The Story of Our Wedding Cake Topper

Thirteen years ago today, I became Cynthia Marie deRosier. It was a beautiful morning, with clear blue skies in a garden of roses. Steve and I had been planning our wedding for months, confident that everything would go just as we'd envisioned. Fortunately, the stuff that actually mattered went exactly as planned. Steve and I got married in a meaningful ceremony that included our closest friends and family. It was the most special day of our lives. I am thankful every day to have Steve as my husband.

Over the years, I've shared some of the layouts from our wedding album. I went through the album to find one that I hadn't shared on the blog and came across a page about our cake topper. On it, I share the story of one of the many little things at our wedding that didn't go quite as planned.

Here's the story:

This story is exactly why I love scrapbooking. In three paragraphs, I explained things that the pictures couldn't tell. I love that my stories are preserved in the albums and am especially grateful that I captured the memories from the best day of my life. 

Happy anniversary, Steve. I love you, forever and ever.

Firsts

The first time Steve and I spent time together, just the two of us, was in May of 2002. We got sandwiches and walked the length of the Arboretum at UC Davis. We had a fabulous time. We went out a few more times over the summer, but weren't really sure if we were officially dating or not until August. We took exactly zero photos of any of the places we went together, even after we were officially together. Steve had a digital camera and I had a film camera, but apparently neither of us took cameras along on any of our dates, including the epic Alcatraz at Night tour we did. Of course, this was well before smartphones, but still. Remember how much I regret not taking more photos of my time as a teacher? That pales to how much I regret not taking pictures of the beginning of my relationship with Steve.

In September 2002, Steve and I went together to a formal gala in San Francisco to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This is the first photo he ever took of me: 

And that's it. No photo of our table, or the ballroom, or anything. And no photo of the two of us together. I have no idea why. This was a really big deal. I was a scrapbooker! Why did I not take photos? 

Steve and I started spending every weekend together, plus a rare weeknight whenever we could. (We lived 50 miles apart and I commuted the opposite direction from him.) We went to all sorts of cool museums, concerts, parks, etc. Any photos? Nope. The first photo of the two of us together is this one, from a wedding in October 2002.

Funny story about that wedding. One of my ballroom dance partners (Alan), who I'd been close with for years, was marrying another dancer (Kelly). I knew her, of course, but we weren't close and I probably wouldn't have been on her guest list. My invitation was a plus-one; Steve and I were already getting serious. Seems like a no-brainer that I'd bring him, right? Well, the bride was Steve's ex-girlfriend. They'd broken up before I met her, but she was the reason Steve had ended up doing lighting design for our group in the first place, and thus how he and I met. She didn't know we were dating. I asked her permission to bring Steve and she was gracious enough to welcome him as my wedding date. 

Two years from that first sandwich date, Steve and I got married. Here are some of the 'first' photos from our wedding, 12 years ago today, starting with the first photo of us together on our wedding day:

First photo after we were declared husband and wife:

First photo of our first dance:

First photo of cutting our cake:

You'd think we'd learned our lesson about photos and would take a ton together on our honeymoon, right? Nope. This it the first and ONLY honeymoon photo of the the two of us together.

I've been through so many firsts with Steve over the years. Photos of us together on our first vacation? Nope. Photos of the first day of us in our house? Nope. I'm so sad not to have these. Since I obviously can't do anything about it, I'm focusing on the photos I do have.

This is the first photo of us together on our first anniversary.

This is the first photo of us together when I was pregnant.

And here's the first photo taken of our family of three.

Happy 12th anniversary to the guy who has made the last fourteen years of my life more wonderful than I could ever have hoped. I love you, Steve. I'm looking forward to many more firsts with you as we spend the rest of our lives together. Let's just do a better job of photographing it all, ok? 

Ten Amazing Years

Ten years ago today, this happened.

It was, without question, the best day of my life.  (Obviously, Trevor's birth was a great day, but a day that starts with abdominal surgery probably doesn't qualify as "best day" no matter how well things turn out.)

Our wedding was absolutely perfect.  I never wanted the day to end.  We lingered at the reception and then headed out on a 3-day mini honeymoon to Santa Cruz.  It was perfect too.

Now, ten years later, we're back in Santa Cruz (technically Capitola, but close enough) to celebrate our anniversary and to attend the wedding of Steve's college roommate.  A lot has changed in the past ten years, but one thing that hasn't changed is how happy I am that Steve and I are married.

 The third of the mosaic cards I made during our Mystery Crafting.

Happy anniversary, Steve!  I can't wait to see where the next 10 years take us.  I love you!

9 Wonderful Years

Happy anniversary to Steve, the most wonderful husband a woman ever had!

 

Cindy and Steve, 8th anniversary, 5/30/12

Here we are, nine years ago today, exchanging rings.  I love looking back on the layouts in the wedding album, even if I do occasionally cringe at how I was scrapping circa 2004....

This one is particularly special to me since Steve and I each wrote out what we said when we exchanged rings.  Writing by hand is difficult and often physically painful for Steve, so it is particularly special that he slowly and carefully printed out his words to preserve in the scrapbook.  It means so much to me.

Happy anniversary Steve!  Thank you for making the past 9 years the best years of my life.  I love you.

8 Happy Years

Happy anniversary to my wonderful husband Steve.  He is kind, smart, supportive, generous, romantic and everything else you could ask for in a spouse.  

Cindy and Steve, 7th anniversary, 5/30/11

Here we are, eight years ago today. It's always fun to look back at older layouts. I have no idea why I used all that green since our wedding colors were tangerine, hot pink and purple (aka Tangerine Tango, Cabaret, and Bellflower). Oh well. Despite the green, I love this layout because I included each of our vows, written out in our own handwriting. Steve has terrible handwriting and absolutely hates writing, so it shows how much he loves me that he was willing to sit down and painstakingly write out his vows to be preserved forever in the scrapbook. 

 

Here is the anniversary card I made for Steve.  I hope he likes it.  :)

Happy anniversary Steve!  Thank you for eight wonderful years.  

Cindy deRosier: Trendsetter

Pantone has released the Color Report for Spring 2012.

The Color of the Year for 2012 is Tangerine Tango, a gorgeous warm orange with a hint of red. Beautiful! I really like Cabaret too- a beautiful hot pink. As I was reading through the report, I came to this sentence: 

"For an ultra-bold vibrant look this spring, try mixing Bellflower with Tangerine Tango and Cabaret."

Now where have I seen that color combination before? Oh yeah... my wedding!

Steve and I got married in May 2004. Apparently I was eight years ahead of my time.  

Here's a close-up of my bouquet. I thought my wedding colors were tangerine, hot pink, and purple, but it turns out they were Tangerine Tango, Cabaret and Bellflower! If you look closely, you'll see tiny hints of Margarita in there too. 

I still love this color combination as much as the day I chose it. I feel vindicated, as I didn't get a lot of positive feedback about these colors as I was planning the wedding. I knew it would look spectacular (and my florist agreed), but others weren't so sure. Fortunately, I did end up with lots of compliments on the colors once everyone saw how they worked together.

Cindy deRosier: Trendsetter!

7 Years

Happy anniversary to the man who works so hard to provide for our family and is 100% supportive of everything I do.

Steve and Cindy, 6th anniversary, 5-30-10

Here we are, 7 years ago today:

Steve, thank you for seven wonderful years of marriage.  I can't wait to spend the next seven years of my life with you.  And the next seven, and the next seven after that.  I love you!