I have been to the wilds of Wisconsin

So I spent 5 days in Wisconsin with my Fiancee... It's still strange to me to say that, but I'm so happy to be getting to say it :)

I had an awesome time down there, spent some time at the camp Jessica works at and got to see what that was all about. It's good to have a better appreciation for what she does, and how busy her time is.

We spent some time in Stevens Point, a bigger town near where she works, went shopping and ate out there. Spent a night in Madison, the capitol of Wisconsin, and did some shopping and went out for supper and a couple bars. It was her friend Erin's birthday on Saturday and we celebrated that with her.

The big thing we did in Madison was get a tattoo... we both got a small celtic trinity knot on the back of our lower right calf. It's small and tasteful, and was a good bonding experience.

On the drive back to the camp on Sunday, we encountered a crazy thunderstorm... the rain and hail was so bad that nearly everyone on the 6 lane interstate pulled off the highway.

I think everything is going to be great, I'm feeling much more at peace and relaxed than I was before I went.

I'm looking forward to the rest of my summer, even though I'm going to be really busy with my masters research.

Jessica will be home in 36 days, that doesn't seem so far away now. I'm going to be housesitting for her parents for the first 2 weeks of July, so that should be great, and I'll be having a few BBQ parties for sure.

Later days.


Jon

Life update

So, Jessica has been in Wisconsin for the past couple weeks, and it has been rough. I've been feeling quite down, missing her a lot, not really enjoying school, being under the weather and generally lonely because I'm now alone in my own apartment.

But I decided I had to do something to change this. My feelings have been a real drag on our relationship, and I was afraid I was going to irreparably damage what we have. She means the world to me, and I don't want a mere two months to interfere with a lifetime of happiness.

So I'm going to Wisconsin. The monetary cost of going will be a drop in the bucket in light of cost of not going. I don't think for a minute we would have ever considered breaking up, we are perfect for eachother, but I wouldn't want any sort of a bad experience to taint our feelings from here on out.

I'm trying my best to keep my spirits high, and counting down 9 days rather than 53 is definently bouying my spirits. We do talk a fair bit, but it's scattered and impossible to schedule, so it was hard to look forward too. this milestone in 215hours is very easy to look forward too.

So I'm flying out of St. John's at 5:20am on the 21st, and I will be in Milwaukee by 9:20am local time. I'm renting a car and driving the couple hours up to Almond, Wisconsin where the camp Jessica is working at is located. So I'm anxiously counting down to lunchtime (central time) on June 21. I will be there for 3 nights, then a night in Madison and then one last night at the camp before I fly out of Milwaukee at 6:30pm on June 26th.

In exchange for permission to visit the camp, and staying there I'll be volunteering some time doing maintenance work, etc. Hopefully I'll get to spend a fair bit of time with Jessica those first few days while she is still working, if not it's going to drive me nuts :)

Anyway, wish me luck and good times in Wisconsin.

The other big news in my life is that we have decided on August, 2007 for a wedding date. So far not too many details have been ironed out, but we're looking at an outdoor garden wedding and reception at Jessicas parents house. My uncle Garry will officiate the ceremony, he's a Pentecostal minister, and my cousin Erin will be doing a solo, so it will be a very family oriented wedding.

Life moves on, and things I never thought would happen in my life keep coming fast. I'm constantly amazed I found someone like Jessica, and now that we are getting married, I'm so gratefull for all the things that brought us together.

Love life and live each day to the fullest,

Jonathan

I got Engaged!

***This is a repost from my MSN spaces account***

My life is such a juxtaposition of High and Low right now, High because I asked my girlfriend Jessica to be my wife on Friday, and low because my new Fiance had to leave this morning for 8 weeks.

So the story of the engagement... It all began just 4 months ago, I met this wonderful woman a few years my junior. We met in a roundabout way thanks to the wonders of the Internet, and began chatting on MSN a while before we met. We had so much in common, including discovering that our circle of friends and aquaintences over lapped at a fairly high rate. So we had our first date on January 27th, at the Casbah and then O'Reilly's Pub.

Barely a week later I knew I wanted to start a serious relationship with Jessica, and we began what became a whirlwind romance that took us to May 26th, seeing eachother nearly every day, and never for a moment getting sick of one another. That afternoon I came home for lunch and we were chatting and what not, the topic of marriage had come up before and we both really knew that we were perfect for eachother and would eventually want to become husband and wife. So that afternoon Jessica brought up the topic once more, and said she would like to get engaged before she went away. Not really being serious about it, so I said to her that I didn't see it happening this soon. I said I never had the ring, and said she should meet my parents first (they are living away on the mainland), etc. etc. So I said no, I didn't think it would really happen this soon.

Lies... I went back to "work" and instead went to the mall, purchased the ring I had had on lay away, and then made my way over to her parents house. After we chatted for a while, had a cup of tea, etc. I told them the reason for my visit. I was planning to ask their daughter for her hand in marriage, and wanted to ask their blessing for me to do this. They of course said yes, and after some hugs hand shakes, shed tears, and a shared drink we parted ways with plans in motion.

We had previously made plans to go out for supper with her parents that night, as she was leaving in a few days and wanted to spend time with both myself and them. So at 5:30 I pick up the ring from the jeweller, and make my way to pick her up, then pick up her parents. We are at the Bally Hailey golf club at around 7pm, have a fine meal and a nice glass of red wine. Afterwards, while we are enjoying our tea and coffee I say to her father, "Bruce could you take a photo of myself and Jessica before the evening moves on?". As he gets the camera out, and Jessica moves closer to me to pose for the photo, I take out the ring box and get down on one knee. Before I can even start what I was planning to say Jessica teared up and kept asking "Are you really?" "Are you really?" "Is he really?", you get the picture.

I start into what I wanted to say, pausing for Jessicas tears (of Joy). "Jessica, we've only known eachother a short 4 months, but in this time I've come to know you better than any other person in my life. You are my best friend, and my soulmate. Would you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?" There were lots of tears (by all four of us) and happy laughter from her parents. We were causing quite a scene in the restaurant and after she said yes and I was slipping the ring on her finger, we got a standing ovation and a round of everyone tapping their glasses. The Golf club gave us a complimentary bottle of chanpagne, and the rest of the evening was made up of celebrating and calling friends and relatives.

Afterwards we went down to O'Reillys, the site of the second half of our first date. We listened to some irish music, got a congratulations announcement from the performer (Dermot O'Reilly) and danced a couple dances. met up with friends, and had a great evening.

Thats the story of how I went from a lonely 26year old to an engaged 26 year old who's happier than he's ever been, in just 4 short months.

However Jessica had commited to work for the summer in Wisconsin at a camp for underpriviledged children. So even though she never really wanted to go and no one, especially not me, wanted to see her go she left this morning at around 5am for 8 weeks of summer in the sun and being a camp nurse. I'm sure she'll have a great summer and I will concentrate on my work and fill up my time wisely.

Thanks for reading, I know it was long winded, but I am sure some will appreciate the details.

Jonathan