Julie, The Irish Italian.

I remember the phone call. It came into my dorm room phone early one weekend morning and it was my brother Ryan. He was sad. I answered and the first words he quietly uttered were "Julie and I broke up last night and I've been sitting on this curb all morning. I just don't know what to do...." And he went on. It was then as I cried with my sad brother that I knew how deeply he loved this woman. A few weeks later I got another call that Ryan and Julie were back together and they have been together ever since.

To know Julie is to love her. Julie is the perfect mix of passion and compassion. She is, hands down, the most competitive person I know and I make ever effort to be on her team when playing anything. Seriously, you want Julie in your corner! She is funny, stubborn, feisty, smart, stubborn, honest, loving, stubborn oh and she happens to be beautiful. The whole package!

The brother Julie married and I are only about 22 months apart and so we grew up being very close and with our own insiders humor. I have always been amazed and how much Julie has always known who she is. She is unfaltering in her commitments to herself, her marriage, her family and to her friends. She came into my brothers life and always left room it it for me. I am forever grateful for that! It takes a women of great courage, deep love and a steadfast heart to be so wise at such a young age.

I love Julie like my own sister. We are the same age, just about 6 months apart, and she has always been the one who I could ask my secret questions to and get an honest answer. You know, the top secret embarrassing questions you can only ask your closest girlfriends and since Julie has been married for 6 years and is a mother of 2 and 1/2 ( due in November) she has a lot more knowledge in certain areas...:) Julie is as boisterous and as loyal as you would ever expect an Irish Italian women to be. To know Julie is to love her.

Julie you are an impressive woman. You have the drive and ability to always be moving forward. The depth of your character and the strength of your love is palpable. To know you is to love you. And to be loved by you is a gift, a gift that I cherish. Having you in my family has brought such joy and so much fun! Thank with all of my heart for being a part of my wedding. You knew about as soon as I did that Daren was the one and that unspoken understanding is something that only happens between sisters.

I know you and I love you.

The telling of our engagement story in pictures

Thank you Christy for caputuring these memories in such a candid and beautiful way.

Hilarious. Thats how I decribe her...

Her name is Christy and she has been forced to be my sister via marriage to my oldest brother for a full decade. She is also the mother of my two oldest nephews who are now 10 and 8 1/2 respectively.

When asked to name off people I admire in this world, Christy always comes to mind. She is a person with a deep commitment to joy, to God, to laughter, to healing, to her marriage, to her children, to her sister Anna, to her dog Cougar ( not so much to their dog Luke), to truth, and to Shirley Temples.

To meet Christy you would never know the hardships that she has been through and the hand that life has dealt. Christy is a champion of a person, not ever succumbing to the victim mentality, and always choosing to heal, choosing to be happy, choosing to move forward in the direction of the life she dreams of. I adore her and am so thankful that she is a part of my family.

A day spent with Christy is a day spent laughing full of impassioned conversations about everything from faith and morality in today's world to Justin Timberlake to the benefits of organic foods and the merits of a steam cleaner.

Christy, you are a brave and honest woman. The way you face the world with laughter and a steadfast commitment to what is right is inspiring. I love you and am forever grateful that my brother took you line dancing. Thank you for standing up with me as a bridesmaid as I get married to the good Dr. D. You are an inspiration and a joy.

Shoes, Showers, Martinis. Oh my!

We are one month out from W Day. Things are moving very fast and are ridiculously exciting. I am so excited I can hardly stand myself which means there must be a few out there who actually can't stand me and my excitement these days! HA! If you know me, you know that I am an excitable person under regular circumstances and now that its my wedding and my marrying the man of my prayers and dreams its over the top. Luckily I have I wonderful group of friends and family who are standing by me as my Bridesmaids and have been very busy throwing and attending all of the showers and parties. Two down and two plus a bachlorette party to go!

My first shower was thrown by my bridesmaids and had a honeymoon theme. The whole place was decked out in Tahitian style decor complete with candles in sand, white linen curtains hung by rope swaying in the breeze and blue like the ocean cookies shaped like a B with sea shell decorations attached.

It was a brunch shower with quiche and mimosas. The whole morning was filled with class, excitement and a little embarrassment. As gifts I received some things that are on our registry that I was really hoping to get as well as a few fantastic pieces to where in public during the beachy honeymoon. And there were the gifts I opened that are for private viewing only! The embarrassing part is that one of the cutest "outfits" I was given was from my soon to be mother-in-law!!! I was very gracious and thankful but assured her I would not be telling her son which items of risque attire were from his mom. HA!

It was a great time had by all. Thank you Bridesmaids for such an amazing and unique shower. It was everything I had hoped for. I love you guys!

The second shower was a Martini and Lingerie Party....those pictures and public access stories coming soon. :)

I went for the Rice-A-Roni...

...and ended up with hot wings sauce in my eye. I don't have any idea where I was which is how I spent much of my time visiting San Francisco over the weekend. Luckily, Daren spent 7 years there in school and one of my college roommates, Beth, has lived down there most of her life so I was in good company.

Daren was asked by the Board of Podiatric Surgeons to come down to San Fran and assist in the testing process. Since his trip was paid for and I had never seen the city it made perfect sense to take a long weekend and experience the incredible city of San Francisco.

I met up with my friend, Beth, for a tour of the city complete with boutique shopping and martinis.

That evening Daren made reservations for us at a place called Julies Supper Club that he remembered as a really cool hot spot and wanted to show me. Note that it has been eight years since my dear Daren has lived in SF...When we showed up this place was a dead as a doorknob with no one in the whole building except for the bartender! After sufficiently laughing at Daren the three of us hailed a cab and made it so Cha, Cha,Cha's and literally gorged ourselves on the most delicious Cuban food and sangria ever! It was really really amazing food.

On Saturday Daren and I went on a beautiful 8 mile run around the city. We ran from Golden Gate Park through some cute neighborhoods and even up one "San Francisco hill" and came down into the beach by some old ruins of a bathhouse. It was so pretty and just perfect weather but I don't have any pictures because Daren successfully convinced me that it was in fact ridiculous to take my phone, inhaler, sunglasses, cash, ID, debit card, hotel key and camera on an eight mile run! But take my word for it that is was great. After the run we met up with Beth and her black lab at a coffee house called Java Beach. Great coffee, great food, great company and a black lab...perfect morning.

That night Daren and I went to a place that will forever be in our hearts and minds as one of the best dinners ever. The House of Prime Rib! Nothing on the menu but red meat, potatoes, and red wine. It was heaven.

Sunday we made the rounds of all things San Fran. Including the trolley, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirideli Square, In and Out Burger, a photo booth, and china town. It is a fantastic city with so much character and diversity. Plus I found my perfect wedding shoes.

I never did get my rice-a-roni, the San Francisco treat, but I did get coffee splashed in my face on the way to the airport. I call it a draw.

Addendum to previous post about My Bridesman

This is the piece of the story that I was refering to in the previous post about Stephan the Bridesman. Enjoy a taste of my hilarious sister-in-law and the mouse in her house.


Ryan says its mouse poop but I don't care. Rat, mouse? same thing to me. I hate the little buggars. seriously, heart rate speeds, palms sweat type hate. Yes, Beckie's post on a mouse killed in her house made me want to puke but he wasn't in my house so I could handle it. So here is how it went down...I'm cleaning out all my kitchen cupboards. I'm doing really well. Making great progress. Feeling like I'm accomplishing something until I come upon the rat poop under my kitchen sink. Mouse poop means that the mouse has been in my house. Right under where I wash dishes, right by my feet. Seriously, not okay. You may think I'm overreacting. Its just mouse poop. Its really not just mouse poop to me.It may have all started when my dad used to drown moles in our back yard or hit possums over the head with a shovel. Or was it when I found the mouse squished in between the washer and dryer with blood all over in my in-laws house in Idaho? or was it when I found a dead mouse next to the refrigerator when they lived in Pendleton and Steven Zaccharius had to put it in a shoe box for me because no one was home? Oh, how Steven has saved every Delamarter! ;)

My Bridesman

This is the first of 10 individual posts about my wedding attendants. ( Yes that's 10. We each have 10 attendants, 2 flower girls, and 8 ring bearers! Our head table will seat 44. HA! )

Stephan is the one and only Bridesman in my wedding. At first I called him a Groomsmaid but he asked for something a little more masculine since everyone was going to ask if he has to wear a dress anyway. :) And NO he won't be in a dress.

Stephan is my most loyal friend. We have been friends for a very long time. The story goes that he decided to befriend me because he had a crush on my best friend and wanted to get to know her better. Well that never happened but he and I have ended up as life long friends.

Stephan has been there for my entire family time after time after time. He has dog sat, moved furniture, listened to me, talked to me, landscaped, house watched, supported my family...the list can go on and on. When I was living in LA I decided to move back up to the NW and needed to do it within two weeks. It was Stephan who got into my parents pick-up truck and drove from their home down to mine in Sherman Oaks, CA. I was still working and tying up all sorts of loose ends and Stephan did all of the cleaning in my apartment and got me back my entire deposit! ( Which was a near miracle with the pet I had at that time). And it was Stephan who helped me load up my stuff after my shift in the evening and drove straight through from southern California to my parents house in Washington. Straight through! We made one stop at Dutch Brothers in northern California and were still wired when we got to my parents house around 9:00 the next morning. Neither of us ended up falling asleep that day until 2:00 in the afternoon.
Check out my sister in law, Julie's blog, for another example of Stephan's loyalty to this family.

Daren and Stephan get along great. Stephan has three sisters so he learned to speak and understand girl at a very early age. Sometimes, when Daren and Stephan and I are together I will say something and without even saying a word, Daren will turn at look at Stephan for "girl speak" clarification. One time Daren and I were have a discussion and were completely misunderstanding each other and it was suggested that we call Stephan and put him on speaker phone so that he could translate "boy speak" and "girl speak"!!

Stephan is positive when I need a friend to be happy for me, sad when I need to cry with someone, tells me how it is when I need to be put in my place, agrees with me that 'it must be the dyer' when my jeans get too tight, and likes me just for being me.

Stephan is a true friend of a lifetime and I am thankful and honored to have him stand up with me as I get married.

Gain a fella....lose a feline

Harley Davidson rocks! Yeah...motorcycles too but I'm talking about Harley Davidson the cat. He got his name because he has such a big motor in a custom made package- because he doesn't have a tail. I have had him for two years and I love him. Alas, I love Daren more. You know, its like Dr Laura says "Do you want to be a cat lady or a married lady?"

Even Burl loves Harley, but no amount of love can keep the allergies at bay. And for some reason Daren is opposed to being allergic to his own home :) Harley Davidson needs a new home. Anybody have one?

Building a life. Building a home.

The countdown is really running now with less than two months until we become Mr. and Mrs. We have spent our engagement making a concerted effort to learn as much as we can about being married and sharing a marriage through books, conversations with people with know and respect, and our pre-martial counseling with Pastor Bruce who will be performing the ceremony. We are both smart enough to know that you don't really know what marriage is until you are in it. :) But we are also both smart enough to know that learning to fight fair, to show love in ways your partner understand, to agree on a budget and spending patterns, to set patterns of good and healthy communication now is like putting money in our marriage emotional bank account. We have worked hard and its been so very worth it. We are building a life.

This weekend we got to start building our home! We got the keys to our loft on Sunday and dove right in. Saturday we made the trip to Miller Paint and purchased everything the guy behind the counter with the Miller Paint Hat on told us too. And Sunday morning at 8:20 we walked into our home! We painted from 8:30 am until 9:30 at night...and we almost finished. It was one of those really exciting, exhilarating moments when the final brush stroke was completed and we were ready to stand back and bask in the glow of our hard work. Then we peeled back the tape in the bathroom...and the whole darn this needs to be re- edged. HA! Tonight we will once again walk into our what will be our first home and dive into the paint. But we are doing it together and I, for one, am loving it!