Guess where we're going on our honeymoon...

Appropriate reading materials

Somehow, in one of those rare instances when everything comes together just right, Joe and I managed to pull together a month-long honeymoon.  It is the perfect storm of ideal occurrences—my work responsibilities will slow down, Joe’s peregrines are all leaving the nest for the year, and we both have some savings lying around waiting to be spent. So why not go on a hefty trip? I realize that the countries we’re going to don’t necessarily hold the same appeal as many other places on this planet, but our agenda is based entirely on countries we've been wanting to experience for quite some time.

The rough layout will go something like this, 10 days in Romania, 10 days in Bulgaria, 5 days in Macedonia, 5 days in Albania, and 1 hectic day seeing everything we can in Athens, Greece before hopping on the plane for home.  

Things have been pretty busy up til recently, so we’ve only just begun planning the details of the trip. I’m getting more excited each day as I read more and more about these places.  The most I knew about Romania, outside of Joe’s experiences, was the heavy human trafficking industry they have going on there. Its proximity to Russia and Western Europe make it an ideal spot, evidently. Turns out there’s way more to that country and I’m loving every sentence I read. This morning we finished chapter 1 of ‘Teach Yourself Romanian’. It was not as easy as I had hoped, but still, it’s really fun to get the basics of another language.

For most of the trip we’ll stay in the mountains (Carpathians and Balkans), sleeping in mountain huts and carrying all our belongings in our very large backpacks. We’ll get around by train and bus when needed, and occasionally a bike rental will come into play. Overall, my impression is that this is going to be an amazing trip and I can’t wait to get out there. 

If you have any suggestions for places to see, or reading materials (movies count) please pass them on! 

Pigeons, and the like

Joe is out of town, but he’s coming back tonight. He’s been gone since late December for eagle work, though there is some flexibility in his schedule which allows him to stay home for a few days at a time. This will be his last outing for a while, so I’ve been trying to think of any last minute changes I can make that he would normally object to. So far nothing has come to mind, but in case you’re interested, Joe left me with a pet pigeon before his latest departure. I’d say I came out the loser in that exchange. The conversation went something like this: “Emily, can you feed the pigeon while I’m gone?” I had not been properly listening, as the latest episode of The Bachelor was on, so I gave a brief nod in his general direction which his misread as a definitive yes.

Our pet

[He’ll make me clear it up when he gets back, so I might as well confess right now that I wasn’t watching TV, largely because we don’t own one, and that when asked if I would feed the pigeon I simply said yes.] If curiosity has gotten the better of you because of all this pigeon talk and you’re wondering “why on earth…”, there’s nothing much that can be said to that. Joe brought home a few pigeons the other day. Then he put them on our patio. Then he took a few away, and left one here—the one that needs to be fed. I find profound agreement is often the path of least resistance.

Moving on to brighter topics, two things happened last week that are worth mentioning here. 1) Joe had a birthday and 2) we sent out our save the date cards.

Making the STD cards

For his 3*th birthday dinner Joe wanted a big salad. And that is precisely what he got. After several weeks of eating out, he just wanted a plate of fresh greens. He arrived back in Vegas the afternoon of his big day, which was the nicest part about it. I was really excited, and had to keep up a party atmosphere because Joe has consistently tried to convince me that birthdays are not a big deal.  (For two people who spend most of their time reading alone in the dark, it’s not hard to create a party atmosphere, it simply requires turning on an additional light.) I’d say this year was a success. He got a great big giant salad, with sides of mashed potatoes and stuffed mushrooms for dinner. He had a pile of presents to open, which were as follows: a pan (because he is hugely dissatisfied with our current options), a menu book (so when he asks for a list of dinner options I can hit him with his new book), and an apron that has a double arrow pointing to his arms and reads ‘GUN SHOW’. Then we watched a Brazilian movie and fell asleep. Not a bad day at all.

Cutie cute Joe, with all his cute presents

Shortly after his birthday extravaganza, we found ourselves at the post office to send off our save the date cards. For the entire process our conversation went like this:

E: Are you sure you want to do this?

J: Don’t throw them in the slot so hard, you’re missing the basket on the other side.

E: This means we’re really getting married.

J: See?! You did it again.

The face Joe makes when he's humoring me

What I've been up to

The date is not for real, but the people and location are. I slipped my name in there first, because during my second grueling hour of making this thing, I realized that there was no reason why not (shirking tradition). It's also alphabetically accurate, which I'm sure some people will appreciate.
This "very easy" wedding is turning out to be more work than I had initially thought, but we still are getting away with doing a lot less than if it were a bigger, more traditional affair.  At a certain point, all we'll have to do is simply sit around and wait for the big day to come, but the next month or so will be relatively hectic with booking hotel rooms, finalizing the dinner, and most likely dedicating a few trips out to the far end of Utah to choose an exact location. Oh, and the photographer... But there are things I'm really looking forward to as well-- my brother is going to make our invitations, and he has a particular passion for drawing birds of prey. My mom is making my dress, though I suspect she would have rather just bought me one. I expressed sentiment over convenience, but the only person it truly inconveniences is her-- I'm lucky to have such an awesome mom.
As for Joe, he's been away trapping eagles in California for the past few weeks. He chose the date, and is currently trying to decide on a ring for himself. He also has veto power for anything, though he has been wise not to abuse it. In fact, he's generally very agreeable to anything I suggest, though I'm still trying to convince him that it will be really sweet if he carries me down the aisle after the ceremony. He is correct in reminding me that there won't actually be an aisle, as we will most likely be standing in dirt right next to cliff. Such a clever guy, that's one of the reasons I'm marrying him.

Speechless

Only on very few occasions have I had trouble finding my words, but since Saturday (Christmas Eve) I have been rendered speechless and have yet to fully recover. At this point, other than walking around in stunned (and very happy) silence, I mostly find myself uttering things like “cool” and “awesome”.  And that’s giving it all I've got.

While I continue to run the situation over and over in my head, and take the time necessary to process it, this is what I can offer you:

On Saturday afternoon, on top of Turtlehead Peak in Red Rock NCA, Joe asked me to marry him.

I said yes. Easy question.

He caught me off guard, and I still haven’t quite accepted that this isn’t just a really super awesome dream that I will soon wake up from. The whole thing was so beautiful, and if I could have planned my own proposal it would have been exactly the way Joe executed it. We had a nice slow morning at home before heading out to Red Rock. There were a lot of people around, but not many going up Turtlehead. It was the perfect day for a hike, with great weather and clear views. Up at the top we were quickly joined by another couple, so Joe suggested that we go off to the side for more privacy. I had no problem with this because as a general rule I don’t like other people. Then, after several minutes of enjoying the spectacular views that Turtlehead Peak allows, Joe stood up and proposed. He said the most wonderful, kind things before asking if I would marry him, and after verifying that there was indeed a ring in the box and I hadn’t misheard, I gave him a hearty yes. We stayed on top of the mountain for a long time; it was perfect up there and I didn’t want to ever leave such a perfect moment. Also, I knew that I would have to take off the ring for the climb down and that didn’t interest me at all.

Two full days later, and I’m still not able to express all the feelings swirling around. There are a lot, to be sure, ranging from good to super awesomely great. As time goes by, my surprise and awe will give way and excitement will take over as primary emotion. From that point I’m sure it will be easier to make sense of all the goings-on inside me. But for now, I’m relishing in the raw-ness of the moment and trying my hardest not to forget a single detail of Saturday afternoon—the most perfect moment in an exceptionally good life.

Playing the piano together after getting
engaged.