Places to stay in Hawaii

Greetings, Friends!

For those of you who are willing and able to make the trek to Hawaii to join us for the wedding and celebrations we wanted to give you some travel resources:

favorite flight finders:
www.kayak.com
www.hawaiianair.com (you could find a flight to the west coast and then find a flight from there to Oahu)

options for houses and apartments on Oahu:
www.homeaway.com
www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com
www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/hawaii

I think that my family will probably be staying closer to Waikiki (south side of island) until Thursday, June 25. And after then we'll stay in the Kaneohe or Kailua area (east side of island). Kaneohe is where the wedding will be at Haiku Gardens on Friday in the morning around 11am. For those of you coming early we're planning some fun Hawaii activities during the few days before the wedding. Right now, both Tyler and I are planning on getting to Hawaii by Saturday, June 20th. So, if you're thinking you might be able to come let us know, so we can keep you updated on plans and any travel arrangement tips.

Good night for now, we'll let you know more details and tips soon...

The Proposal

So, one of the first questions I get when I tell people that Ali and I are engaged is, “How did you do it?” I’m going to try and give you a quick run down on what happened.

I came up with the idea to propose via tattoo sometime in or before March of 2008. I was getting a big tattoo finished and ran the idea by my tattoo artist Buck. He liked the idea and told me to let him know when I was ready to do it.

One visit to Minnesota, one chat with Dale (Ali’s father) asking permission, a ring purchase, and a few tattoo sessions later, I tell Buck that we need to get that diamond on me. He does a wonderful job. This was on Monday, November 17. I was SO nervous getting this done. As the wonderful Sean-ski put it (while yelling through my cell phone), “THIS IS THE FIRST STEP TO IRREVERSIBILITY!” Buck, Sean, Miah, and the Captain helped me through the whole thing.

Anyway, I hang out with Ali the next day (November 18) because it was Tuesday and Tuesday always equals date night. We ended up running some errands that Ali had to get done and getting some dinner. I headed home after that and told her we should hang out the next day and do a more chill date night. She agrees and we meet up Wednesday, November 19.

I set up a video camera without Ali knowing, to film the event. I’m nervous, nauseous, and completely unsure that I can actually do this. I start the conversation with “I have a confession to make.” This has almost all her attention. I continue by saying “I need you to be as gracious as possible.” Her attention is all mine. She probably even muted the TV right around this point.
I proceed to tell her a story that I made up about needing to get photographed while being tattooed. I told her I did it to help Buck. I told her I picked just a random tattoo. She semi-freaks out and says “show me,” in a pretty upset voice. I ask her to be calm as I get up and finally reveal my new diamond tattoo just above my left knee. Ali is shocked. Some silence ensues after a few questions…finally she asks “why’d you get a diamond?”

I get down on one knee as I pull the ring from my pocket and say “so we can have matching ones.” Some squeals, lots of tears, and one giant "YES!", I have asked her to be my wife and she has foolishly accepted.

That is basically how it went. Now we are set to get married on Friday, June 26, 2009. WOO HOO!

Here we go!!!

Alrighty, the Alison and I decided to start a blog to keep folks informed about the going-ons of our wedding and celebrations.  It's coming up quick so we have been planning semi-frantically.  Just for your information the wedding will be on the island of Oahu on Friday, June 26, 2009.  Woo hoo!  There will be an additional reception in the Twin Cities on Saturday, July 25.  Woo hoo again!  This is just the starter post so stay tuned for more information, pictures, updates, and more than you could possibly want to know about the soon-to-be-Paus.