phew, we've been engaged only a few days, and already the pressure is starting to build! his family and my family and my co-workers are all asking if we've a date set (no, not yet) and where we plan to get married (still working on that, too). i shouldn't be so easily frazzled, but with the temperature being sosobloodyHOTºF, i tend to become quite irritable. i'm inside with the a/c running now, though, so i'm feeling better. heh. i really don't mind being asked questions, to be honest; however, when the temperature rises, i seem to turn into this succubus or something. i don't even feel like myself when this happens, but whatevah. being in wisconsin, it fortunately doesn't come up too often. anyhow. the huzzy-to-be and i are, for those of you currently unaware, working on moving to europe. we were initially aiming for march or april of 2008; now that we've a wedding to plan, the date may move a month or two later; still, we're both quite excited about this. this is a great age to do it, and we're both ready and willing. our initial idea was to get married IN europe at (or near) a castle. while still a very appealing option, we're not sure of the costs or terms & conditions, and we're thinking it might be better to be hitched -before- relocating. additionally, we can always renew our vows when we get there, which would be just as nice. (and getting to wear my wedding dress more than once? awesome.) mum rang this morn to tell me she booked a chapel at a historical site here, so we may do that on 2 may and go to europe afterward. soooo. some of you (meaning SARAH ;]) have expressed interest in the details. keep in mind that we tend to be 'quirky' people, heh. without further ado, here it is. i apologise in advance for it being a long read. thursday night, after work, i went to visit with amanda, an awesome friend of mine. i rang michael to ask if he wanted to join, and he seemed a bit preoccupied and kind of disappointed. after discussing things a bit, i agreed to be out for only an hour. (he isn't much of a planner, so i was definitely curious.) he made it clear that i should come home on an empty stomach, too. i told amanda about this, and she said, 'ooh, he's gonna give you a ring!' i quickly brushed it off, but she was right after all, heh. i'd mentioned in the past (quite some time ago) that i thought it would be fun to go on a 'date' again, ie. pick me up at home and take me out to dinner or wherever else. he must have a great memory, cos when i got home, he wasn't there; after a few minutes, i heard a knock at the door, opened it, and he was standing there. i was like, 'uh . . you can come in, you know.' [with a giggle] 'i'm here for our date.' (awww) so i let him in; he walked round a bit and said, 'i like your cat. what's his name?" (how cute is THAT?) then we left, and he took me to the seabird restaurant (very upscale, so i was a bit curious). we had an excellent meal of things we could barely pronounce, and it had been storming over the lake, so it looked really awesome outside. however, we finished our meal, and . . . no ring. of course it wasn't going to happen; i knew i shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. i asked if he'd had anything else in mind, and he suggested going for a walk along the lake. despite having rained just before we got there, it was really nice out and everything was lit up. we started talking about all sorts of things, including possible marriage in the future (i was under the impression of it not happening for awhile) and it was very enjoyable. anyhow, we got to the end of the walking path, and we stopped on the pier for a bit. regarding a question he'd asked, i'd made a comment about engagement being a symbol of the strong committment and love two people have for one another, so he took it upon himself to use that as a cue to pull out the ring. (= it was a really beautiful thing - the ring was (is) gorgeous, there was lightning over the lake, and the air still smelled like rain. and the look on mike's face was the best part of it all; i could tell he was completely ready for the moment. of course, i said yes and gave him a gi-normous hug and lots of kissies and grinned like an idiot for the rest of the night. it was wonderful. we told our parents on saturday and made it public afterward. my parents seem very happy about this, and i think his parents feel pretty good about it, too. (= anyhow. now that i've given you practically a novella, i think it's time to go for the night. hope everyone is doing well, and thank you, awesome friends, for being in our lives - we appreciate all of you!!! (=