5, 6, 7, 8! We just set a weddin’ date!

Cheesy rhymes aside: We are getting married at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, 2008. Don’t know where yet, but if the building’s address was 910, that would be too creepy.

Now, the saving of money begins. Not only do we have wedding expenses, but Paula’s car needs to be replaced, so that will take a chunk out of things (as she wrote a few days ago). However, with a date in mind, we can start picking out things such as flowers, tuxes, dresses (well, a dress — Paula will elaborate later) and favors.

We’ve already thought of a few killer favors. Our best idea: Mix tapes. On CD-ROM, of course. We’ll probably burn a bunch of CDs with all of our favorite love songs.

Accidentally In Love

Paula writes:

As Joe said, I was in a wreck this week. I was absolutely terrified when it happened. There was a split second just before the impact when I truly thought I would never see my kids or Joe again. To be able to walk away from this accident seems pretty miraculous. I am a lucky woman.

Currently I am almost feeling almost more beat up from dealing with insurance companies and towing companies that from the actual collision, although I hurt plenty from that. The past few days have been a bit nightmarish. But there has been one bright spot in this. Joe. He has been amazing. I don’t think there is any situation that he can’t handle. I have never felt more loved and cared for. Again, I am a lucky woman.

The accident could put a damper on the financial part of planning the wedding for a while, depending on how things pan out with the truck driver’s insurance company. But I know that Joe and I will work through all this together and get the wedding preparations back on track.

Close call

Joe writes:

Close call today. Paula was in a wreck.

She was coming home from work on I-44, and a semi pulled into her lane while she was right beside it. She ended up bouncing off the truck’s trailer, fishtailing and winding up in the median. She called me in tears, and I about went nuts.

I left from work to get her. Before I got to I-44, I calmed down a bit, realizing that if she was able to call me, she was probably OK. But when I saw her car in the median, my heart hurt all over again. Fortunately, she’s just fine. She’s sore from the seatbelt, but it could have been a lot worse.

Her car doesn’t look so hot. Don’t know what we’ll do about that yet. But I’m just thankful she’s OK. She’s my world, now. I don’t know what I’d do without her.

The Proposal

Here is a copy of the fake newspaper Joe made to use in his proposal to Paula.

Paula Writes:

Despite my best efforts at sabotage (unintentional of course) Joe managed to surprise me with a very romantic proposal.

Under the pretense of hosting a poker party, Joe invited over some friends and coworkers. Joe told me about the party at the last minute, which seemed kind of odd. Because I had already made plans with my kids, I pressed Joe about what was actually going on. In the process I nearly spoiled his surprise.

I worried that I had ruined everything by being too nosy, but I shouldn’t have. I should have known Joe would have some other tricks up his sleeve.

The night of the party came and Joe grilled up some of his famous burgers. We were sitting down to eat when I saw my best friend Ann and her husband Steve coming up the walk. I jumped up to let them in, and when I opened the door Ann handed me a newspaper, saying “I think this is for you.” At first I didn’t look at it, thinking we had started getting the paper again. (Joe is supposed to get a subscription though his work, but we only receive papers sporadically.) But then I caught a glimpse of the headline and I think I probably started crying immediately. I just kept hugging my friend Ann and crying until she finally said “I think she thinks I am the one proposing.” So we all had a good laugh over that until Joe got down on one knee and the tears started all over again.

Joe made the whole night special by the creativity of his proposal and by involving my best friend. He even impressed my imperturbable teenage son. (He also had my seven year old keeping secrets from me, but that’s another story altogether.)

I could never find a better man to spend the rest of my life with.

She said yes!

We are Joe Hadsall and Paula High, and we are engaged. We are thrilled about the prospect of spending the rest of our lives together.

The wedding thing, though? We’re excited. And petrified. It’s fun to daydream and plan out our dream ceremony, but there are a lot of things to do. Right now, we don’t even have a firm date set.

So, this is our wedding notebook. Only we’re opening it up to the public. We’d love to read your ideas and feedback. Or, if our experiences can help you out, then lurk and read to your heart’s content.

To start out with, betcha you’d like to know more about us, eh? This should explain our relationship quite accurately: