And, you know me... I'm not just going to post pictures with short captions. So I'm probably going to talk a lot, too. You've been warned.
When I was younger, my family used to vacation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire almost every summer. When it came time for our annual family summer vacation in 1997, my parents did something unprecedented--they invited Tony to join us. Up until then, family vacations had been strictly family-only. But Tony and I had been officially dating for almost 2 years at that point, and I think my parents could see where this was going.
Because we couldn't all fit in one car, Tony and I drove a separate car, where we had a long talk about our future together. And he also told me he was planning to ask my parents' permission to marry me. I was excited, but not overly, because according to everything we'd discussed, he didn't even have a ring yet, so a proposal was not going to happen. (Turns out he was a big, fat liar, but we'll get to that.)
Quick tangent... this is a picture from that vacation--taken at the base of Mt. Washington. It's me and all my siblings and Tony, almost 12 years ago. (Ha ha, hope you guys don't mind me posting this.) It really has nothing to do with my story, but it cracked me up. Man, my siblings look young. So do I, I guess, but I don't think I've changed all that much. But my youngest sibling, Pete (the one in the striped shirt right behind me)... he was only 7 when this picture was taken, and now, he's in college.
The night Tony had "The Talk" with my parents, I knew what was going on, but went to bed like a good little girl... again, still thinking there was no way he was going to propose. The next day (July 10, 1997), my mom decided that Tony and I should have some time alone, so they arranged to drop us off at Loon Mountain. There was a gondola you could ride to the summit, and up there were some scenic walkways and lookout towers, some "glacial caves," a restaurant, and other things to do. We were going to spend the morning up there and then join them at the base later.
When we got to the top, Tony insisted on finding a lake that my parents had told him about. We had trouble figuring out where it was, and I couldn't understand why he wanted to see it so badly. (I found out later my mom had told him she thought there was a walkway around the lake, so he thought it might be a good spot to propose.) When we finally did find the lake, it turned out to be a reservoir for the city, which meant it was blocked off.
We headed back the way we came, and found a scenic walkway... it was a boardwalk that went through some trees and then opened up onto a platform. We stood enjoying the view for a few minutes... both of us facing out, him behind me with his arms around me. We talked quietly for a few minutes and at one point, he asked, "Are you ready to spend the rest of your life with me?" I simply replied, "Yes," thinking he was just being mushy, but the next thing I knew, he turned me around and got down on one knee. I wish I could remember what he said then, but knowing what he was doing, I couldn't focus at all. He asked The Question, I said yes, and he slipped the ring on. We hugged and kissed and then went back to the way we had been standing before. It was probably a full 5 minutes later when I suddenly yelped, "Oh, I didn't even look at the ring yet!"
This is The Spot. (And look what a gorgeous day it was, too!) Why we didn't think to get a picture of ourselves in The Spot, I'll never know. I guess we were both just too giddy to think straight.
But when we revisited the spot, about 8 years later (in 2005) on our own little vacation, we remembered to get a picture.
Now for the wedding (August 1, 1998) pics. These 2 pictures I'm about to show you are the only 2 pictures we have on display. (I know... how lame are we?) Anyway, this one was taken by a friend--I don't remember who, but it's one of my favorite pictures.
This is another favorite too... a candid one taken by our photographer. (I included part of the frame, too, because I love what it says.) This was in the receiving line after the ceremony... there was a lull in the line and Tony grabbed my hand to look at my rings, then gently kissed my hand. We thought no one was watching, but apparently, the photographer was. That's what I like so much about this photo--it was just a quick, intimate moment that we thought was private, but it got captured on film.
Here's a picture from our honeymoon (in the Poconos, if you're curious). The photographer would come around at dinner every night and take everyone's picture, and then they'd put them in a "cool" setting like this and try to sell it to you. Well, we gave in and bought one (obviously).
I know I've talked about it here before, but we have vacationed on Prince Edward Island with my family a few times since we got married. Each time, we got cottages right on the beach. We would usually go and do whatever tourist-y stuff during the day, but we always made sure we were back around dinnertime for low tide. The tides on PEI (at least, the side of the island we were on) are very dramatic. (In fact, the highest high tide in the world is in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, not too far from PEI.) When it's low tide, the water goes way out, and you can walk forever on the gorgeous red sand. So that was our evening routine, and one of my favorite parts of every trip.
This picture is from the first time we went, in 2000. We had just gotten Sasha, so she was only a few months old. We had no idea how she'd react to the sand and water, but she loved it. This picture was taken facing the shore, but it's a good illustration of the tides. See the "cliff" in the background? At high tide, the water would be right up to that level. But at low tide, it all clears out, leaving lots of sand for walking and random little pools for wading and splashing.
And here's another picture of low tide. This was taken from the "front yard" of our cottage, so you can see how close we were to the ocean. And if you look way in the background, you can see how far out the "real" ocean is. I'm not sure what time I took this picture, but it probably was not at the peak of low tide, because those pools are still so big.
PEI is one of the most beautiful places in the world--if you ever get a chance to go there, you should. And now that I'm looking at these pictures, I want to go back.
(And also... now I feel old. Meh.)
And that's it for now. Maybe some other time I'll dig up some more pictures. Or maybe I won't. You just never know...
3 comments:
Uh, I look like such a dork in that picture! What was I doin? Josh is gonna laugh when he sees it :)
Yeah, the night before his proposal, you "went to bed," but you did not sleep. I should know, cause I shared a bed with you. My side of the story goes like this...you were trying to hear what Tony and Mom and Dad were talking about :)
Ooh, PEI, I need to make Josh take me there someday. Hey, I got him to do Disney, didn't I? ;)
Aww, I like the candid wedding shot. And I love the frame you have for it too--fits perfectly.
If I'm not mistaken I think Mina & Madjid took that 1st picture of your wedding. It was wonderful reminiscing (sp.?) about our vacations of the past. We always had so much fun, didn't we? I miss the White Mountains & Prince Edward Island! I can't believe it was that long ago since we went to NH...Pete was just 7 years old?! I guess after that we started going to PEI, huh? Thanks for the memories. It was fun!
Love all the pics! I've looked through Steve's vacation pics and the ones from PEI are my favorite. I've been asking to go their on vacation ever since we've been married. 5 years later and this year we're going to Disney in the fall. lol Maybe that means we might get to go to PEI next year?! I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I think it would be totally cool to get everyone together and go on a group vacation. I have a friend who does that every other year with her family and they always have a blast.
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