Happy Holidays!!

We wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We are disappointed that we won't get to see everyone this Christmas -- splitting time between two families is really hard -- but we're working out a "rotation" to try and make it somewhat fair going forward. And... we're hoping once we have a bigger house (and possibly have some kids), maybe we can get both families to come to us, but it looks like that might be at least 2 years off, so for now, we'll have to make the best of the situation. We know that it's not perfect, but we appreciate our families' flexibility.

On a different note, I've been traveling quite a bit for work and was able to take a few pictures and thought I'd share them. The picture above was taken in NYC. I was there for a few days last week and also had a chance to spend some time with 2 of my favorite people (other than Ryan, of course) - Becky & Jordan. They took me to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and it was amazing!!

The week before that, I spent 2 days in Colorado and then a day in sunny California. The day I arrived in Colorado, it started snowing and didn't stop until the next day, and it was absolutely gorgeous but absolutely FREEZING! When we left for work, it was 9 degrees! I have included a few of the pictures from Colorado below. The first is the view from the office we were sitting in and the second is a picture that was taken outside the office when we got back from lunch.

From Colorado, I headed to sunny California for a day, where it was about 65 degrees and beautiful! I have included a picture below that I took while sitting in my rental car on my way to work in the morning. The roadsign in the middle of the picture is Huntington Blvd which is Historic Route 66. Although it was tiring, all in all, it was a nice trip, but I was happy to be home when it was over!

Meeting with the Deacon

Last weekend, we had a meeting with Deacon Bauerschmidt from Corpus Christi. We attended mass first so we can start becoming more familiar with the church. The mass was nice and spending some time in the church helped us to start thinking about our ceremony. I really wish I could have taken some pictures of the inside of the church so I could share how beautiful it is, but unfortunately, I think that would have been inappropriate to do during mass. After mass, we met with the deacon to get to know him (since we actually met with the priest the first time). During this meeting we found out that unless someone books a last-minute wedding, we might end up being the first wedding ceremony that he has performed, and we have every reason to believe that we'll have a perfect ceremony! After our short introductions, Ryan and I were split up so he could ask us the required questions to determine if we were both eligible for marriage. This was a little nerve-wracking for me because I had no idea what to expect, but we passed with flying colors and it looks like they are going to let us get married! The deacon also gave us a book that will help us plan the ceremony so we can discuss it at the next meeting which is scheduled for early August.

A Year of Being Engaged...

It was this day last year that Ryan was down on one knee asking me to marry him, and I was saying "Shut Up! Really? Are you sure??" I can hardly believe that we've been engaged for a year. The time has already gone by so fast and before we know it, we'll be walking down the aisle! What a great year it has been - it's so much fun to be engaged and wear a sparkling diamond! Our official wedding countdown clock tells me that we have 286 days to go! Pretty crazy!!

There really hasn't been too much wedding activity lately. We're meeting with the Deacon next Saturday to plan the ceremony. We have also sent in our registration for our Pre-Cana Marriage preparation classes that will take place in February. I have been getting a few questions about the hotel options so I thought I'd re-post the info for the hotels where we have a block of rooms.

Pier 5 Hotel http://www.harbormagic.com/Pier5/pier5_default.asp

Admiral Fell Inn http://www.harbormagic.com/AdmiralFell/admiral_fell_default.asp Brookshire Suites http://www.harbormagic.com/Brookshire/brookshire_default.asp

Rates are as follows:

Pier 5: 2 night minimum, $239/night;

Admiral Fell Inn: no minimum, $199/night;

Brookshire Suites: no minimum, $189/night, Breakfast is included
There is a free shuttle that runs between all 3 of these hotels. To make reservations, call 1-866-583-4162 and ask for the group rate for the Chick/LeNoir wedding.

Courtyard Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor, no minimum stay required, $199/night (see the link below to make reservations) - within walking distance (about 3-4 blocks from Pier 5)

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bwidt-courtyard-baltimore-downtown-inner-harbor/?groupCode=CLWCLWA&app=resvlink

The following hotels are others in the area that are within walking distance of Pier 5, but we do not have a block of rooms (or a discounted rate):

Baltimore Marriott Waterfront: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bwiwf-baltimore-marriott-waterfront/

Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor: http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=GWJLLN0HYTSWQCSGBI12VCQ?ctyhocn=BWIIHGI

Homewood Suites by Hilton Baltimore: http://homewoodsuites1.hilton.com/en_US/hw/hotel/BALHWHW-Homewood-Suites-by-Hilton-Baltimore-Maryland/index.do?brand_id=HI&brand_directory=/en/hi/&xch=107758763,GWJLLN0HYTSWQCSGBI12VCQ

First Wedding Dance

Along with trying to convince Ryan to change his last name to Chick, I am also trying to convince him to do this for our first dance...

http://glumbert.com/media/weddingfirstdance
(Turn on your sound to get the full effect.)