Let’s do a Shindig!

Ty and I have been friends for a very long time. We met when I was 15 and he was just back from his second tour in Iraq. I already knew his mom, his eldest and youngest brothers. Tylor and I remained friends through the years. We made any excuse for us to hang out together. After Tylor had moved to Seattle, we tried to remain in contact from time to time to catch up and see how life was going. But after moving to the Bay Area to start my job with Facebook, I lost contact with a lot of folks, to my determinent I might add. During the beginning of the pandemic, Tylor was living in Seattle and I reached out to his brother, Paul, to ensure the contact information I had for him was still accurate. Since the pandemic had hit Seattle so badly, I reached out to make sure he and his Seattle Family were okay. He was! Hooray! But like most of us during the pandemic, the need for a friendly face was gladly welcomed.

We live together, we have all that we need in our small home with each other, our dog, and two cats. We are not in need of presents, however... if you are so inclined, please donate to the Oak Fire Fund! If you aren't aware, the Oak Fire devastated the Mariposa County Community. It burnt nearly 20,000 acres, destroyed more than 100 homes, and displaced dozens and dozens of families local to the Mariposa Community. Below, are links to the Mariposa Community Foundation and how to donate, be sure to take a look at "Info on donations" as well to donate to other services within the community like the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation ( paypal.me/AICM ), Mariposa Safe Families ( https://amzn.to/3A37db2 ), and the Central California Animal Disaster Team ( https://ccadt.org/donate/ ) Info on donations: https://www.mariposacounty.org/2646/Donations Paypal link for Mariposa Community Foundation: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VA2CCZ8677JSG&fbclid=IwAR1xQQaPobaXkplgs16QsH0wTmd5HpvAYO6S5xey2reE303v8O_571R__gw We may do a money tree at the reception, but please turn to donations first.

For some stupid reason, still completely unbeknownest to me - I got this great idea to jump on a plane and fly to Seattle from the Bay Area… from on Pandemic Hot Spot to another - like a dumbass. Somehow, praise whatever gods you believe in, neither of us got sick! Our friendship had reconvenned with a mighty force. Suddenly I was flying up to meet him in Seattle for a drive down the West Coast to California. Tylor and I moved in together officially in Decemeber, though my roommates at the time were kind enough to let him live under their roof for awhile - Shout out to the Riley’s! April 17th of 2021 we said, hey, fuck it. Lets just do the damn thing, ans signed some basic domestic partnership paperwork. Oddly enough, it also happens to be my Grandparents Anniversary, and while they may were not around for us to share the joyous news, I think it’s a pretty epic sign of their approval. On October 15th of 2021, Tylor propsed ‘officially’ ring and all. He told me he had a gift for me, but he wasn’t sure when he wanted to give it to me… so I bet him that if i could beat him at chess, I’d get the gift. Welllll - I did not beat him, but he couldn’t really help himself, so I won anyway. Sooo, next year, we’re gonna have a big shindig about it.

So, we’ve technically been married for awhile now. But… look around ya, the world has kind of been in fire, and its been way too stressful to figure out how to do a wedding of sorts during the pandemic with all of the state and federal restrictions. I am absolutely grateful for the resctrictions, but it does throw a wrench in the whole plan there that way. But, we’re going to have a Hand Fasting Ceremony - a celtic traditional ceremony which has been done for centuries, in leiu of a traditional wedding ceremony. After the ceremony will be a big ole rager! BYOB, Potluck, camp out, redneck type deal. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on, get ready to mingle with folks, play horse shoes, corn hole, board games, dance sing, eat way too much, and just have a good time. Is it a traditional wedding? Nope! And that’s just fine. What should you wear? Whatever the hell ya want. As long as you are comfortable, then you go for it! Come in your favorite ren fair garb, your best dress, your hiking attire, a burlap sack… just do you, be comfortable, and wear layers! Mariposa fall time is.. fickle. Are there colors? Neither of us really have a preference. The colors will be whatever the outside looks like. So, Autum, I guess? A theme? Sure, it’s “Yay!!! Some people got married and we all get to party about” - theme. So, do what you will with that. We’re doing our wedding our way, and you should be as you as you’d like.