The Great Plains

~1800 miles + 10 States + 3 days = 1 long a$$ road trip!
Having your beau with you the whole time and in Dallas for an extended period? = Priceless! Joyous! Happiness! Woohoo!


What a weekend! We pretty much spent the entire weekend in a car. The map above sums it up!

My ever so thoughtful and loving FI decided to move down to Dallas for 6-8 weeks to be with me; but, before he moved, we had to make a bit of detour. Unfortunately, my place in Dallas does not allow dogs...so...we had to take the ladies to his sister's place in Fargo. I flew up to Chicago on Wednesday night, we headed to Fargo on Thursday morning (bright and early), got a bit of time to spend with FSIL and FBIL, left Fargo on Friday afternoon, stopped at Topeka, KS, for a night, then made the rest of the trip to Dallas on Saturday.

  

FSIL w/ the ladies
  

FSIL, FBIL, their new pup Boggs, and CD
[Good old Molly was beside me]
  

CD and I are very excited about our time together and looking forward to our adventure in Dallas; however, it was incredibly difficult to leave our girls behind...(I think we will have a real hard time in the future if we ever need to send our kids away to camp, to grandparents', or college!) Well, at the least, they won't be bored with Boggs chasing them around and Molly will keep them in line! And, most fortunately, my FSIL is one heck of a 'dog whisperer' - total, complete, utmost trust in her that they will be great in her care. We are so grateful that she (and her hubby) have taken them in. :)

Oh, yeah...I AM Canadian!

I've spent almost 50% of my life in the US. I am fully aware that I am not an American...but since I've been going across CAD-US borders wish such ease for two decades, I forgot that with the wedding will come the need to change of my visa status. (I didn't really forget, I was just not fully cognizant...)

To make a very long and complicated story short, mostly having to do with employment and health insurance, we decided that we should be fully prepared for all the paperwork that will be necessary for my immigration to US. And, WTH! There's a ton of paperwork! AND costly! :(

Just gathering all the information and understanding the steps took me two weeks of research...(and I'm still not entirely clear on some forms)...now I'm hoping that the hard part is done and the paperwork isn't going to be too difficult...but I hear otherwise...

Meanwhile, I met with a US visa specialist today who turned out to be a "future teller" (her own words). She said CD and I will be fine and be settled in CA by the end of the year. She even went as far as predicting that CD's company will do very well and named my future PI.

Well, I have a feeling I will sleep well tonight! [Said with a little tiny bit of skepticism and lots of hope.]

On a very serious note, please remember us in your prayers that the immigration process is smooth and goes well. I have all the faith that it will, but it never hurts to remind God of his own Grace. Thank you in advance! :)

...wedding is not about you, but the marriage is...

When we announced our engagement, a [wise] married friend wrote me: "Remember, wedding is not about you, but the marriage is." My dad also expressed that the wedding is a formality, but what is most important in marriage is how ready are our hearts and mind.

I was reading some threads on wedding forums this morning and ... geesh, there are so many things that can go wrong when it comes to planning a wedding! Having had my first melt-down(?) already yesterday, I just needed to re-affirm to myself these words - wedding is not about us, the marriage is; and, of course, remember how blessed I am that I have the most important element in this whole wedding equation = the man who will stand beside me on the wedding day and every day thereafter (and that man is CD)!

Uncomfortable day

So, I've been debating how much of wedding planning details to put on this blog. If you know me, you know that I'm very open. I love to share. However, this is our wedding we are talking about! Shouldn't there be some surprises for the guests? ... Well, so I've been holding back. Not that anything's been planned yet. But there are little details here and there I so wanted to share and discuss and get feedback and vent...etc...

I guess today made my decision easy. This morning, I got an email from CD regarding safety concerns in Mexico. ... Wait, let me step back a little. I'll get back to the email shortly.

First, after much thought, we decided we want a DW (Destination Wedding). I've been absolutely overwhelmed researching all over N. America, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc. for a perfect place (stress inducer #1). Eventually, I decided that most certainly, I want the ceremony to take place at a chapel. This helped to narrow down resorts significantly, since not many have an on-site chapel. This was great at first since I could cross out places and come up with a short list. Then, it became not so great since it also meant we now have very limited options (stress inducer #2).

Top 4 places I've narrowed down to are in Hawaii (main island) and in Mexico (Riviera Maya and Los Cabos). Hawaii, to me, seems a bit too far and the airfare seems it will be quite more than it will be to Mexico. To CD, Mexico's recent uprising of violence (mostly due to the drug infighting) is a major concern. So then, Caribbean and/or within US or Canada would work out better. BUT...the cost of DW within US/Canada would require more help in planning (unlike a resort where one place would take care of everything) and if they did provide the service (or if we hire a planner), the cost is outrageous! We might as well have the wedding at our beloved city - Chicago. Problem with the Caribbean is that I have not found a single resort with a chapel! Sigh~ :(

I have gotten suggestions as to rent a few villas in the Caribbean (and perhaps find a local church, if there is one) - but who do we go to in order to plan the wedding part? It seems to me I have to talk to multiple people to arrange this; but the beauty of DW and one of the main reasons we decided on DW was to simplify things. Having to negotiate with multiple vendors/venues does not seem simple to me...

Anyway, back to the email. Why did I have an uncomfortable day today? Well, CD forwarded me an email from a friend who is an expert in International Security...and his outlook on Mexico was not all that positive. I momentarily got very upset (the two Mexico resorts were my favorites and I've seen so many pictures and videos that I was sort of leaning towards them...a lot...), and instead of taking a moment, I broke the cardinal rule of email ettiquette. I fired off a nasty, b!^chy email back to CD going off on how if he doesn't want to do a chapel wedding or go to Mexico, he should speak up now; and, I think I also said I'm not compromising... Well, it was totally uncalled for.

I was even more upset all day (my mind and heart were just so "uncomfortable" for the lack of better words) because I knew I not only ruined my own day, but CD's as well. Of course, I'm also too stubborn to apologize right away, so waited all day to call him. (OK, I did try to weasel out by sending little texts, but I don't think they worked since his replies were a bit terse.)

Well, so there. This blog will now contain ups and downs and the details of our wedding planning. Hopefully, in short time, you'll read about some progress!

BTW, we are thinking anywhere between late January - May, 2010, wedding. We haven't completely ruled out Chicago; and at the very least, we are keeping an open mind to holding small receptions in both Chicago and Toronto (Toronto to appease my parents' friends and to do Paebaek* ceremony, which may not be feasible to do at DW).

!!! I JUST WANT A DATE AND A PLACE, ALREADY !!!

*Paebaek is a traditional Korean wedding ceremony. This website has a good description. Click on the top banner for more detailed description.

Inner Freedom

Not to use a cliche, but truly, "love sets you free". We hit a milestone past weekend as I finally got Chuck to pose silly for a picture. :)

  

This is not something he does. This is something he used to abhor! But for the first time, he didn't even question me when I said, "do this" - as I made a pose mimicking the Captain on the Helm sculpture. I was ecstatic! Some may wonder why I'm making such a big deal out of this, but this picture tells me that we have reached a point where both of us are completely free with each other and can express our [what I like to call] 'inner freedom' even in the public eye.

  

  

Oh, how I LO~ve this picture!
Of course, I love the normal ones, like the one below, too.

  

  

These pictures were taken on the day after Independence Day. We had a wonderful weekend dining with friends on Friday and Saturday; and on Sunday, had a Chicago date day for just the two of us - we walked Navy Pier, went and saw a movie (Proposal - a fact that the movie describes a Canadian-American nuptial was not lost on us), walked Michigan Avenue, and had dinner around Rush Street. It was a fun day! It was a perfect weekend!

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Ko!

On June 27, 2009, my brother DK got married! So much to share, but for now, these links would have to do. It was an overwhelming weekend...lots and lots of love, good old and new friends, relatives I haven't seen in years, and we got to take a brief moment to celebrate CD's and my birthdays as well!

Password: pics2share

Picnic in the backyard when we celebrated CD's and my birthdays:
http://photobucket.com/carri38707_6-26-09_Picnic


Rehearsal, Rehearsal dinner:
http://photobucket.com/carri38707_Ko-Lee_Wedding_Rehearsal



Wedding day:
http://photobucket.com/carri38707_6-27-09


Receptions (we had a lunch and a dinner reception) and Paebaek (Traditional Korean Ceremony):
http://photobucket.com/carri38707_6-27-09_Receptions




After Party:
http://photobucket.com/carri38707_6-27-09_Ewha


Lunch reception was more casual and for everyone who wanted to attend (no RSVP; there were almost 300 people!); and dinner reception was just for family and close friends who traveled from afar (~50 people).

Most importantly, it was first time CD got exposed to my [crazy] relatives! Thankfully, they loved him and he loved them! He also got along great with DK's friends...they forewarned us that they will be crashing our wedding...I think our guest number just went up and up! :)