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so, we survived the peachtree (which this year resembled frogger more than a road race – we spent 80% of our time dodging people who were walking…..slow traffic to the right people!!). afterwards, drew’s mom nancy was nice enough to once again produce an absolutely FABULOUS brunch for us. we had about 30 friends over at drew and blake’s place (from here on out i will invert the names and refer to them only as BAD).

so, after the race (and all subsequent naps) lillis and i headed up to blue ridge with BAD. that evening, it was just the four of us. it was such a relaxing way to finish the 4th. we ate some bbq on the way in and then we went down to the blue ridge marina to catch the fireworks. here we are before the show started.

the blue ridge fireworks display was notable for two reasons…..number 1, we got there at 8:30 and 90% of everyone there had there shirts off – it was a sexy crowd : ). ok ,not exactly. number 2, we were lying on a blanket (that a nice couple provided us) looking directly overhead at fireworks being shot above us from only 75 ft away.

it was an amazing display and we all had a wonderful time before turning in for the night. lillis remarked that night that the 4th is one of her most favorite holidays and that she was so excited for what a special day and weekend we were having – SWEET!

the next morning we awoke to a beautiful dawn over the mountains,

after that we went back to the cabin and drew and i strategized. we would split the girls up with a cunning and elaborate story about me being too lazy to do the big hike. blake would never do the short hike, and it’s totally believable that i would be too lazy to exert much effort on a hike, so things went swimmingly….um, until we got to the waterfall. usually you will see someone there every half hour or so. there were like 20 people there when we got there. no problem, doug (who had gotten into blue ridge along with mc and the kids and dr and mrs allvine) had let me know there was a pool just past the falls. um, except, i thought he meant “just” as in “a little ways” and he actually meant “just” as in “10 feet”. so, unbeknownst to lillis, i was luring her out to possible death in the wilderness. so, we hiked for about 15 minutes back into the woods, during which time she stepped in mud, had to avoid a barbed wire fence and was attacked by insects. needless to say it was very romantic. we sat down next to one little pool that was quite cute, but then lillis got swarmed, leaving her flailing her arms in a manner reminiscent of king kong on top of the empire state building, or someone whose hallucinating and who thinks they’re covered in spiders. so, that didn’t really end up being a very good choice on my part. so we headed back down the creek a little bit, then i stopped her at a spot along the creek for us to get a picture. this time we were bug free, so i was almost home free. i set up the camera on a time delay and started the video, as i began to tell lillis what a blessing she had been in my life. she truly is my bijou. she remarked how wonderful the spot was and i said it was too bad we didn’t have something to read there (i had brought a book of poetry on the trip, but not the hike). she asked if i had anything memorized. i offered the jabberwocky, but she wasn’t into that. so instead i recited “how do i love the” by elizabeth barrett browning to her. at that point i told her again what a wonderful person she was and how much she means to me, and how wonderful the last year has been (our first kiss was july 3rd of last year). i then asked her to marry me. her first response was an understandable “are you serious?” hmmm, not exactly what i’d hoped for. but, i said something suave like, “um, yeah,” and proffered to her a ring that i had made of jessamine vine (an exposition: we were in the process of designing a ring and i knew she would know when it was done, so i had two options, surprise and no ring or ring and no surprise. i took the former). she started crying and her little leg started shaking. i gave her a minute or so, but then let her know that i was gonna need an answer before we booked a church or anything. she said yes and gave me a kiss and then cried on my shoulder as she repeated it a few more times.

we then did take a couple of pictures

oh, so maybe you’re thinking “wow, the engagment was videoed?” you might be thinking that in either a positive or negative way. well, regardless the answer is “not quite.” usually i’m pretty hyperaware, but my mind was other places and i didn’t notice the camera had rolled over on its back about 30 seconds before i asked her. we do have some video, however, and as soon as i get an imac so i can edit video in less than an hour, i will post it.

we then made our way back to meet BAD at the waterfall. poor lillis’ leg kept shaking all the way down, so it made for a rough hike.

at the waterfall, a kind lady said that a bride to be needed a boquet and gave lillis one. it’s been in the process of being pressed in wax paper since the 6th. i think lillis is trying to fossilize it.

when we got back to the cabin we took a few engagement pictures (thanks drew) and then sat down for a great big meal of steaks and salmon with all the allvines – where we announced our engagement. BTW, you can click on any picture to enlarge it, particularly if you want to gaze at the fine craftsmanship on lillis’ ring.

we finished off the evening with taboo (which incidentally lillis and i played the night we met at a “Fusion” event that i was leading for buckhead church. i told her later that as a leader, you get first dibs on the cutest girls in your group. i was lucky she was impressed by a man in charge – of a small disorganized social gathering). now, for lillis, ANY day where she gets to play in the woods, take a nap, have a big dinner and win at taboo is a big day, so getting a vine ring that comes with a lifetime guarantee was just the icing on her proverbial cake.

we called all the parents and siblings and stuff. my mom actually didn’t believe me when i said we were engaged, so lillis had to confirm. you see, my brother (three years younger) had gotten engaged that same morning (no joint planning involved, and i didn’t know until i got the call from him that morning). so, when lillis told her i think she almost stroked out, and they still haven’t figured out why i gave her a vine ring.

anyway, lillis was a very happy girl as she laid down to sleep that night.

so, we would like to thank all of you who were part of our relationship. from our first meeting over taboo, to concerts and trips and dinners. it has been an amazing year. i never imagined that i could meet someone who was so FUN, and who had such an incredible zeal for life. she is so energetic and considerate and involved and informed and yet still so full of wonder. she makes every day an adventure and i can’t wait for her to be my wife. i’m potentially even more excited to see her as a mother, given the heart of a child that beats within her.

someone told me once that they weren’t able to love me in the way i deserved. i actually kind of rejected that (cuz i’m not always super smart) saying that they loved me perfectly well. it wasn’t until lillis loved me that i knew how right that other girl had been. i never knew it was possible for someone to love someone else the way that lillis does me. she is patient, and kind and gentle and supportive. her love is a challenge for me to #1 be as lovable as she loves, and #2 treasure my bijou every day of her life, even when i’m not feeling loving or she (rarely) isn’t being so lovable. thank you lillis for all you have brought to my life, and all you will continue to bring.

oh, and as to the other ring, i’m typing this (not “with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence” like robert frost, but just 3 weeks almost to the hour after our engagement) directly in front of the the ring which lillis will be seeing as soon as she finishes reading this next sentence.

i love you lillis.

and so begins a lifetime of daily taking steps towards each other and choosing every morning to love each other more than we did the day before. we welcome you along for the ride.

here is a link to all the photos from the weekend.

sooo, lillis and i made our way back down to costa rica for the second time in the last 12 months. as you may or may not recall, she has a family friend in jaco (pacific coast) who has a couple of condos. they are just about to head into the rainy season (and from what i understand it was very ugly weather in san jose the whole time we were there) but it was beautiful once again in jaco. we got in late on a thursday night (this time with me doing a white knuckle drive through 2 hours of mountain passes) and got a bit of a late start on friday. the first thing we did was head to an outdoor market where we bought cheese and bread and a few other things to eat during our stay.

jimmy and brenda are growing orchids on the back porch and i snapped a shot of one.

soon after, bad times hit. lillis had her bag stolen when we had pulled off at an overlook. it was a manuever executed with miltary precision. the car pulled up right behind us, one girl was a little distracting and another swiped lillis’ bag from the vehicle. the bad thing is i knew something was fishy (IMPORTANT NOTE: general rule of thumb, if you’re in a foreign land, and somebody who is local starts asking you questions, assume they may be stealing something from you) but i didn’t realize lillis’ bag was on the seat, so i thought we were cool. we tried to speed off after them, but too late. that led to an afternoon of me watching the rain fall (the only rain we encountered on the trip) while lillis called multiple credit card companies. poooor lillis.

the next day was beautiful and sunny and we got up (1 bag lighter) and headed out to the beach to swim at esterilloes oeste (btw, worth noting that esterillos este is EXTREMELY dangerous to swim at, oeste is where we go to – it’s safer and it has a mermaid). anyway, we stopped to snap a photo or two here. funny thing; right when we pulled over a car comes screaching around the corner way too fast. i see it start to spin sideways and at one point, i think he’s gonna end up doing a high speed 180. but, apparently the toyota yaris isn’t made for such manuevers and the car ends up flipping over into a ditch. i’ve never seen a car take flight before (and certainly not with me standing 60 feet away from it) but the funny thing is that my first instinct was to make sure that that couldn’t possibly be some setup to steal something else from lillis. ultimately the plan of “roll my car into a ditch at high speed, pretend to act disoriented, then steal lillis’ sunblock and beach towel” seemed unlikely, so i went over to make sure the guy was ok – he was.

here is the view at esterillos, where we were able to find a nice girl who was working the bar at the beach who agreed to keep our stuff behind the counter with her while we swam. : )

and her is a little fishing boat in front of the mermaid statue that sits out on the end of a long promontory.

lillis was trying to do some yoga move on the beach (the same one that led her to kick me in the face earlier in the week) but eventually gave up do to the unsuitable conditions of the beach sand, and her physical exhaustion.

and then we did a little swimming and body surfing.

after we had had our fill of swimming (and fed lillis plenty of fish tacos at bubba’s – she LOVES bubba’s fish tacos) we met up with jimmy who took us out on one of his boats. we caught up witht he trash line (run off from the rains) about 8 miles out, and within 15 minutes i had caught this mahi mahi (dolphin).

here lillis enjoys the boat ride. earlier she was sitting in the bow of the boat and leaning out into the wind, kind of like i would expect a yellow lab to do : )

sooo, lillis and i made our way back down to costa rica for the second time in the last 12 months. as you may or may not recall, she has a family friend in jaco (pacific coast) who has a couple of condos. they are just about to head into the rainy season (and from what i understand it was very ugly weather in san jose the whole time we were there) but it was beautiful once again in jaco. we got in late on a thursday night (this time with me doing a white knuckle drive through 2 hours of mountain passes) and got a bit of a late start on friday. the first thing we did was head to an outdoor market where we bought cheese and bread and a few other things to eat during our stay.

jimmy and brenda are growing orchids on the back porch and i snapped a shot of one.

soon after, bad times hit. lillis had her bag stolen when we had pulled off at an overlook. it was a manuever executed with miltary precision. the car pulled up right behind us, one girl was a little distracting and another swiped lillis’ bag from the vehicle. the bad thing is i knew something was fishy (IMPORTANT NOTE: general rule of thumb, if you’re in a foreign land, and somebody who is local starts asking you questions, assume they may be stealing something from you) but i didn’t realize lillis’ bag was on the seat, so i thought we were cool. we tried to speed off after them, but too late. that led to an afternoon of me watching the rain fall (the only rain we encountered on the trip) while lillis called multiple credit card companies. poooor lillis.

the next day was beautiful and sunny and we got up (1 bag lighter) and headed out to the beach to swim at esterilloes oeste (btw, worth noting that esterillos este is EXTREMELY dangerous to swim at, oeste is where we go to – it’s safer and it has a mermaid). anyway, we stopped to snap a photo or two here. funny thing; right when we pulled over a car comes screaching around the corner way too fast. i see it start to spin sideways and at one point, i think he’s gonna end up doing a high speed 180. but, apparently the toyota yaris isn’t made for such manuevers and the car ends up flipping over into a ditch. i’ve never seen a car take flight before (and certainly not with me standing 60 feet away from it) but the funny thing is that my first instinct was to make sure that that couldn’t possibly be some setup to steal something else from lillis. ultimately the plan of “roll my car into a ditch at high speed, pretend to act disoriented, then steal lillis’ sunblock and beach towel” seemed unlikely, so i went over to make sure the guy was ok – he was.

here is the view at esterillos, where we were able to find a nice girl who was working the bar at the beach who agreed to keep our stuff behind the counter with her while we swam. : )

and her is a little fishing boat in front of the mermaid statue that sits out on the end of a long promontory.

lillis was trying to do some yoga move on the beach (the same one that led her to kick me in the face earlier in the week) but eventually gave up do to the unsuitable conditions of the beach sand, and her physical exhaustion.

and then we did a little swimming and body surfing.

after we had had our fill of swimming (and fed lillis plenty of fish tacos at bubba’s – she LOVES bubba’s fish tacos) we met up with jimmy who took us out on one of his boats. we caught up witht he trash line (run off from the rains) about 8 miles out, and within 15 minutes i had caught this mahi mahi (dolphin).

here lillis enjoys the boat ride. earlier she was sitting in the bow of the boat and leaning out into the wind, kind of like i would expect a yellow lab to do : )