Join us to celebrate our marriage!

Welcome! Please arrive by 5 p.m. Address: 14803 N 184th Drive, Surprise. Sierra Montana is between Greenway & Waddel, just west of the 303. We are a few houses down from the White Tank Mountain Preserve. There will be a valet for parking, but there should be ample parking along Banff or 184th Drive. Trust your GPS to get you here! Please sign the Guest Book at you arrive in the courtyard, and proceed into the main entry of our house. The festivities will be outside under the ramada and in the back yard itself. We are planning a Repeat of Vows at 5:45, then music and food beginning at 6 p.m., concluding about 9:30 p.m. Attire: Business Casual or Casual. Please be comfortable!

We met at a restaurant in Scottsdale called "Bourbon and Bones" after texting and talking for a number of weeks. He had been unavailable to meet, then I had a trip to LA to a book conference, meaning our first face to face was long anticipated. Our first phone calls were wonderful, and I loved his Romanian accent, so I couldn't wait to meet him. "So...do you like to travel?" was one of his first questions, to which I said, yes, but I hadn't had the chance much given my teaching schedule, I explained. Plus I had dogs, and he confessed that he had always wanted a German Shepherd. At the time, I had three! We were off to a good start. "The reason I asked," he said, "is my church is organizing a cruise to Greece and Turkey to visit all the ancient churches listed in the Book of Revelation." My eyes must have lit up. I always have wanted to go to Greece, for many reasons, but it was on my wish list. "A Revelation cruise? How wonderful!" I responded. "When are you going?" and he said it was in May. "So..." he paused, "do you want to go with me?" I paused. Was he asking me on a cruise on our first date? "Will I go with you on a cruise in May? No. I mean, you don't really know me yet. We just met..." I began, and he interrupted me. "It's not this May, it's next May. In 2026," he said, and then continued. "The group had only 50 spots, and they filled quickly, so they decided to ask the tour guide to open up more seats. Today they added fifty more. So if you even think you want to go with me, I need to reserve a spot for you and put down the deposit." My head was spinning: Hi, nice to meet you, do you want to go on a cruise next year? I was flattered, but also wanted to be logical. I didn't want to say no, but I had to say yes with some stipulations. "Well, how much is the deposit? And what if you decide I am not for you or vice versa? Again, you don't really know me yet..." He smiled. "I know you. And don't worry about it. I will pay for it. Besides, the deposit is only $200." Now I smiled as I reached into my purse. I rarely carry a lot of cash around, but I had just picked up my dog from the training kennel and handed her six one-hundred dollar bills. When she said, "It was only $400," she handed me two crisp one-hundred dollar bills back. So there they sat in my wallet, almost like a sign from above, waiting for me to book a cruise. To Greece. In 2026. With him.... "Here you go," I said. "Here is my deposit. But if you decide you really don't want me to come along, or I decide I don't want to go along, I will cancel. Is that a deal?" He objected at first, but I insisted. "I pay my own way, or I don't go. At least the deposit," I said, laughing a little. He took the money and nodded. "Okay, I'll take your deposit, but you are going with me to Greece next year, okay? Now we have a plan." I shook my head in disbelief. My dream of a cruise to Greece....how could he have known this was one of my heart's fondest wishes? "Who knows," he added. "Maybe we can get married on the ship and make this our honeymoon...." I chuckled a little thinking he was joking, but in the back of my head I wondered if he wasn't. It wasn't just a good first date, first meeting. It was great.

We knew. It's not like we're twenty-something, right? Somewhere around September, we just knew. And the proposal? On my birthday. The ring? My mother's ring, actually. My dad had called me in 1997 saying he wanted to get my mother something special for her aniversary, and I had helped Dad choose that ring. And there it sat, in my jewelry box. Michael agreed he would replace the stone in her ring with a diamond from him, and so that's what we did. The ring was done, now when was the wedding? Everyone kept asking us our date, and we always said the same thing. We don't know. We didn't have a plan or a date or a goal. We just figured...it would come to us. And around Thanksgiving, we both kept saying, "What are we waiting for?" He had his house and I had my house, but we spent so much time together, it felt like we had already settled into a married-life pattern (other than overnights! LOL). Finally, one night as we sat in a movie theatre waiting for the show to begin, he asked me. "So, how about it? You want to marry me?" he asked "I already said yes," I replied. "Yes. I said yes. I will marry you." "Tonight?" he asked, and we both started laughing. But it got us thinking. Why not? The semester was coming to an end and my teaching responsibilities were over until January. After he had teased me several times saying we should just go to the justice of the peace, I finally said, "No, that's not what I have in mind," but we did have to do the legal stuff. I investigated the marriage license details and on Christmas Eve, I said, "Okay, how about we run to the courthouse for a license? Merry Christmas!" We both laughed as we sneaked off to the courthouse in Surprise, paid the fee, and walked out with that part done. Now, what to do about a wedding? I asked him, "How about at home, in my living room?" and he agreed. I called my friends, the Joneses, with whom I had taught for many years. As a reverend, he had offered many times, "Whenever you guys are ready, I can do your wedding!" They were available Monday night. I called my daughter, who had said "Whatever you do, Mom, I want to be there!" and she and her husband were available on Monday night. So Monday night, December 29th, it was. My wedding ring, chosen to go with my mother's ring (my engagement ring) arrived at 6:15 and we got married at 6:30 p.m. Right after a brief ceremony, we all sat down to dinner and cake. It was a fun and very impromptu "wedding," always with the plan that we would hold a reception sometime in the spring. So, we hope you can join us April 25 when we welcome our family and friends into our home to celebrate this new chapter in our lives. We are looking forward to seeing everyone. Dress comfortably and be ready for a casual, fun-filled evening of food and music.