You know, that dude

Despite the addition of a fab-o ring on my finger, Mark is still my "boyfriend". Since I am neither french nor a dandy I will not be using the word "fiancé". It just seems so awkward and pretentious, like when people add random foreign words into their lexicon to seem cool.

Bonjour, chicas! Let's go to mi casa for some vino! And tor-tee-yas. Ciao!

¡Ay dios mio! It's too much!

The closest I've come so far is by referring to Mark as "My boyfriend, fiancé, whatever, you know, that dude". Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it? So he will remain my "boyfriend" until he officially becomes Mr. Mark Hing-Gibson.

I said WE?!?

I was trolling the internets for Kristen Wiig's "I said WE" skit but ran across this instead:

Hopefully our anniversaries will be this full of song...

Traditionally Nontraditional

BIG DAVE (aka my dad): "Well, you don't want a dress..."

DENISE: "Yes, Dad, I do. I'm not wearing a bathrobe down the aisle."

That's the problem I'm already running into with this whole wedding business. Expectations that I'm going to be a total wack-a-do.

Granted, years ago as a budding feminist, I had stronger "views" about marriage/weddings/getting engaged. I used to be dead set against engagement rings. I mean, it's the same as having a man put a big 'ole bought and paid for sign on you, right? Well, I loosened up on that view when I realized I'd be missing out on a really nice piece of jewelry. Some of my other views about wedding traditions have loosened as well-- I definitely think my family will be surprised by many of my choices:

ENGAGEMENT RING
For many reasons, I was still against a diamond engagement ring. My compromise instead was to 1) choose a sapphire as the center stone, the traditionally nontraditional way to go nowadays, and 2) give Mark an engagement gift in exchange. I got a ring and he got two tickets to Amsterdam-- now we're equally in debt!

WEDDING GOWN
The color will be....WHITE! I bet that surprised a few of you. But any objections to a white gown are completely overshadowed by the fact that I DO NOT want to look like I'm going to my prom. I've never seen a non-white dress that's worked at a wedding, so my fashion senses tell me to stick with tradition.

GIVING AWAY THE BRIDE
Wow, this one was a toughy. While I hate the idea of being "given away" (hellooo, I'm not a piece of property) at heart I'm a daddy's girl. Why hurt my father's feelings because I'm afraid people will read too much into my walk down the aisle? Plus, it was such a touching moment when my father walked my sister down the aisle that I can't imagine passing this up.

TAKING HIS LAST NAME
I have to admit, this is still up for discussion. I like my last name- I've become quite fond of it over the past 28 years! Of all the traditionally nontraditional possibilities- hyphenating, legally going by Hing but still publicly going by Gibson, having Mark change his name (!)- I think I still may go with the ultimate traditional-nontradition: not changing a damn thing. We'll see...

We're Getting Hitched

Yes, Mark and I are engaged! He proposed via blog (how appropriate) on December 23, 2008. It's been somewhat interesting telling people. I mean, Mark and I have known for quite awhile that we would be together forever. We've lived together for about 3 years and in a lot of ways we're already an old married couple. Case in point, The Spousal We:

DENISE: "We need to clean the dishes this weekend."
MARK: "Ok, I'll do them after I finish my stories."

So when people scream in reaction "OMG, OMG!" and jump up and down I'm somewhat surprised. Who knew a piece of jewelry would get everyone so excited?

If I'm only a few weeks into this process and already surprised and confused, wow, this is going to be quite a journey. Probably one worth recording.

I promise I'll keep the romantic drivel to a minimum. And hopefully my posts about the planning process won't seem like a transcript from My Super Sweet Sixteen. But definitely check back to see how the wedding is coming together! And if you want to see the blog that started it all, check out Mark's blog wolfgnards.com.