This End Down

Yah.

Holy crap.

It’ll be in March. I’m assuming most Michiganders won’t come but will send their best, so if you are one, no worries about not being able to afford a plane ticket and hotel stay and stuff. We understand. However, I will be sending out invitations to some Michiganders just in case some of them are crazy enough to come down.

So, we’ll be getting married some time in March… probably the 21st, but we’re not 100% sure. More information soon.

If you have any tips, tricks, connections on how to get married in Gainesville without spending a million dollars… especially if it’s still with a classy wedding and a bojillion people… I’d love your help.

Also, I plan to take full advantage of every offer for help, so don’t make it unless you mean it.

Finally, the engagement story (because you know you were going to ask):

A few years ago, when we were dating the first time, I created a meal for her (Chicken and Broccoli with a cream sauce over spaghetti) that she absolutely loved, and has been asking for since. So, I cooked that meal for her and served it along with some de-alcoholized wine (didn’t want our senses to be at all impaired for this special moment). She showed up to my house and the food was set out and a mix tape I made her a few years ago for Valentine’s Day was playing.

After the meal, I told her I was taking her somewhere for dessert, so we got in the car and drove over to a park/playground behind her old dorm (Beaty). I had her sit down at a picnic table and close her eyse, and I told her I was setting out dessert. I did set out dessert, but the dessert bag also had the ring box in it. I kneeled down and opened the box, and then told her to look at me. She said, “Wait, where are you? My eyes are closed!” She found me eventually, and I told her to open her eyes. After she took a second to take in the scene, I asked her to marry me.

There was lots of crying and “I love you”’s, but I think at some point she said “yes,” and I know that eventually she let me actually put the ring on her finger. Then we called people until both of our phones died; I freaked out because we hadn’t called everyone, and then we just gave up and put it on Facebook and prayed no one would get too upset.

That’s it! I’ll keep you updated here.

Wednesday night I was taken to dinner by Drew & Lawton, and then Tereva and Karima gave me cupcakes with a 2 and a 4 candle in them when the clock struck 12. I got a few (awesome) little presents, including a Superman Safety Light and a rocking mix CD.

By the time the next day itself (Thursday) was over, I had 107 emails in my inbox of people writing on my Facebook wall wishing me a happy birthday. Tereva cooked me dinner, and Karima photographed while I opened my present of a my new little friend named Jafar. You can ask about Jafar if you’d like.

Then, InterVarsity was a Community Night… and what I didn’t know is that a part of that was celebrating my birthday. Cake, a pie, cards, everyone singing to me… whoo boy, it was awesome.

My whole family called me individually, and my grandparents called and sang to me (a huge family tradition that is one of the things we look forward to most on birthdays). I was loved on, lavished with attention, and generally treated like a king.

This is the way to do a birthday. I felt bad once or twice for being so self-centered, but I had to push that down, because I wasn’t asking people to focus on me, and some times I just need to enjoy it when other people are being good to me.

And we discovered the real significance of turning 24: There are 24 candles in a pack of candles from the store. WOW!

Does turning 24 mean anything? I’m not asking this in a depressed way… just wondering. You know–18 vote, 21 drink, 25 lower car insurance. Any thoughts on 24?

I might make a list of the songs that mention being 24. I definitely have Switchfoot’s 24…

The Twitter and Tumblr folks picked up on this already, but I will not be playing Urbana this year–the worship leader already had a bassist, but she was waiting to hear back from him before she told me whether or not she wanted me to come audition. I sort of wish she would’ve told me that up front so I’d feel less silly, but this means I don’t have to worry about making a difficult decision about free time and responsibility versus the desire to play for Urbana.

Thanks for your suggestions, help, and encouragement.

Just so you know, I’ve seldom found much time to post here or over on Stauffer on Staff… rather, I’ve found my time posting online more limited to my Tumblr (and my Twitter, but you can read all of my Twitter posts through Tumblr.) It’s on the right side of this page for normal people, but if you’re reading through Xanga, you won’t see it.

Just thought I’d let you know. I do plan to write at some point, but I just don’t really have the time to write as much as I’d like. This week and the next are our New Student Outreach, and that means full-time staff work for this time. Exciting, and fulfilling, but very time-occupying.

I have to figure out whether or not to audition for the Urbana ‘09 worship team. Here’s what I have so far:

Pros:

• Playing bass in front of 22,000 people
• Playing and worshiping with an amazing set of musicians, writing new music, playing all sorts of different styles
• Not being frustrated if someone ends up playing who I think I could play as well as/better than

Cons:

• $300 plane ticket to audition
• Crazy nerves for audition
• Huge time commitment if I make it–the worship team will play 6-10 gigs together between September 08 and December 09
• Personal struggles with whether or not I really consider myself a performance bassist or whether I just serve where needed–how much of my desire to do this is to serve a need, and how much is because I’m prideful about my abilities? Also, how comfortable will I feel playing in front of that many people? Whoo boy.

Any feelings, ideas, contributions?