We Met Online...

In the past few days, Sean and I have been reflecting on our relationship over the past 14-ish months with a bit of giddy disbelief. At this time last year, we didn't even know each other.
In fact, we had both just gotten out of relationships and were only starting to think about dating again.

Enter Match.com. (This isn't an advertisment for that site in particular- it worked for us then, but it's also changed a lot since then too.)
He *winked* at me. I took a look at this profile. He was handy... a carpenter by choice. He had a dog... had liberal politics... was pretty cute in his picture. All big pluses in my book. So I wrote him a short email. And he wrote back a longer one. He liked some of the same restaurants in my neighborhood... he had just been to the apple-orchard I was going to... we both loved the same home-made ice cream places in the Cities. He did agility with his dog!
We talked on the phone. Three nites in a row.
We set up a time to meet, but then I got stuck at work and couldn't make it.
We talked a LOT on the phone. Hours.
We finally came up with a time to meet- for dinner (normally against my blind-dating rules... but we seemed to connect so well that I made the exception.)
Mexican food.
I wore red. (I always wear red on first dates.)
He remembers the necklace I wore.
It wasn't one of those dates that lasted hours and hours into the nite like in Hollywood-land... I had to go back to work to screen a film for a student group and he had planned on just dinner also.
But it was a good date. A really good date. At work the next day, a friend asked how it went, and apparently I "glowed."
I told her (in my typical understated way)- "It went alright. I'll probably see him again."
That was 14 months ago.
Now, together, we have a house- a home- a family, of us and our dogs- thinking about a family that gets even larger- looking at our names side-by-side on contracts and deeds, thinking
wow... this is real.
this is perhaps the most real thing i've ever been a part of.
and certainly the best thing i've ever been part of.
14 months ago is so far away.

So, why the sunflower?

This is a cross-post from the Houseblog that talks a little more about why I'm so obsessed with sunflowers...

Since we are taking a break from the work this week and still happily dancing to the plumbing gods, I thought I'd post about something completely different. You might notice that my "icon" as a houseblogger is a sunflower- the same one in the heading of the blog. Choosing an icon was quite a challenge... I mean, how do you "brand" yourself?
I wanted something that held meaning for me, represented my personality, made sense for what I was writing about - all the looked pretty and fit recognizably in a small pixilated square. Piece of cake, right?
It seemed so, since so many other folks have these awesome icons.
After spending several hours just browsing through icons and photos, I landed on the idea of the sunflower.

Sunflowers were my grandfather's favorite flower... the national flower of the Ukraine. My grandfather- probably the most amazing person I'll ever know- built his own house... the house my grandmother still lives in... a few years after he came to this country from the Ukraine.

In Flint, Michigan, he built the foundation and the basement, where the family lived while he finished the rest, framing and hanging drywall after he came home from work at his shift in the factory. For the skills he didn't have, he hired someone, but he stood by to learn how they did the job, and then he finished it himself. He had a family- 3 small children and a wife- and not much money, so he saved wherever he could. But he never charged a neighbor when they needed help fixing a furnace or fixing a leaky pipe. He had an inspiring spirit of determination... of giving...of standing up for what he believed in.
Hmmm... so a sunflower. Represents my history, my family, the things I believe in and hope to acheive...

Yes.
My icon is the sunflower.

Ceremony Reading: Blessings

We are thinking about having each one of our attendants say a part of this....

First Blessing
May you be blessed with love. May understanding bring a deep and abiding peace into your lives, fostering a love that is not only passionate but serene. May this love between you be strong and enduring.

Second Blessing
May you be blessed with wisdom. May you continually learn from one another and from the world. Together, may you grow, deepening your knowledge and understanding of each other and of your journey through life.

Third Blessing
May you be blessed with community. May you always be blessed with the awareness that you are an essential part of a circle of family and friends. May there always be within this group a sense of mutual love, trust, support and respect.

Fourth Blessing
May you be blessed with art and beauty. May your creative aspirations and experiences find expression and bring you joy and fulfillment. May your sense of humor and playful spirit continue to enliven your relationship.

Fifth Blessing
May you be blessed with health. May life bestow upon you wholeness of mind, body and spirit. May you live long that you may share many happy years together.

Sixth Blessing
May you be blessed with the experience of nature. May nature in her magnificence continue to inspire you and bring you a sense of transcendence. May the elements of earth, air, fire and water sustain you and heal you.

Seventh Blessing
May you be best friends, better together than either of you are apart. May you work together to build a relationship of substance and quality. May you respect each other’s individual personality and philosophy and give each other room to grow and fulfill each other’s dreams.

Sunflower Boutonniere

Only one of these is an actual sunflower, but they are similar enough for us to have ideas for the boutonneires.

Cake and a Ring Pillow Ideas

I like the cake designs. The ring pillow is adorable. I bet we can make that!

Sunflower Bouquet Ideas

Today I learned that I can't spell "bouquet"- the search engines have been correcting me like crazy! Here are some nice pics... I also learned that, in some cultures, the sunflower is considered a sign of devotion. :)

i carry your heart with me, e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
not fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)