Caught a great picture of the sunrise over the pacific this morning. Too tired to upload it. Maybe tomorrow.

Spending tonight (5 P.M. is night, right?) snuggling with my baby.

Annie

Waves finally picked up… a little anyway. Molly was the first to give it a go. I’m sure we’ll have a picture of her standing up by the end of the week.

I should have taken a better look at the surf report before renting a surfboard for this week. But two weeks at mom’s beach house has surfing written all over it. The house is even in the town of Surfside Beach. I was so excited to get out in the waves I didn’t hesistate for a second.

Even those of you who don’t surf can appreciate the zero star rating given to the not-so-aptly named Surfside Beach on this week’s surf report. Can 1/2 ft. waves even be called waves?

Just for kicks lets take a look at the report for Raglan, New Zealand. Really? 4 stars? Really? Overhead? Well, enjoy the surf Nelson.

I wouldn’t say that I’m a crazy bride-to-be, but I would say that I’m enthusiastic (read: potentially crazy) about the wedding. I’m now a member of The Wedding Bee website with my own bio and I actively see out pictures of eco, farm, rustic weddings as often as possible. Go ahead and send me a link of any you come across.

I feel a little bad though, thinking about wedding stuff and sharing ideas with everyone except Nelson. We talk 2-3 times a week, but there is so much to talk about besides wedding stuff and honestly, I don’t want to overwhelm him. Did I mention that the first thing Nelson said after he proposed was “Don’t turn all crazy please”? But, really what did he expect? Proposing to a girl right before she leaves for three months. So much time to think about flowers and dresses and food and… well, you get the idea.

So anyway, while I have lots of ideas, I don’t have many set decisions yet for the big day. But, one thing I am pretty much sold on are the colors. I haven’t consulted with the man yet, and I know the decision is half his, but here is what I am thinking right now: saffron/goldenrod yellow, chocolate, and gray. Summery, earthy, love it.

Now that I’m thinking those colors I see them everywhere. Check out this vintage sheet my sister had in her fabric collection (and the rediculously cute babies tucked into it).

And how about these potential bridesmaids dresses from Anthropologie?

And how about this gray and brown colored addition to the decor?
BRUCE!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was working full steam on my thesis, which I finished today (HOORAY!!).

I left New Zealand on June 15th, 6 weeks ago today. Which means that I am halfway through my time in the states. Some days I think “Halfway already? I’m going to miss everyone so much when I leave”. But for the past few days it’s been more like “Only half way?”. It’s actually quite unfair that my brain can be homesick for two different places depending on which one I’m actually i at the moment. A piece of advice for all you travelers out there: Don’t get engaged and then leave for three months. It’s no good. Here’s what’s waiting for me across the Pacific. Makes me want to run out and buy a plane ticket.

No paniers or bob trailer yet. We’re saving those for her third birthday.

We brought Annie and Tilda to the monuments yesterday. Annie approves of Washington.And then shows us what she thinks of Lincoln.
I wonder what this means for her future in politics.

I’ve joined a wedding website called WeddingBee and have been posting a bit over there. Since I have been a little delinquent about filling in the details of our engagement (!), I thought this story would be a good start:

Mr. Veggie Farmer Finds the Perfect Eco Ring

Mr. Veggie Farmer is good at many things. Ok, he’s so good at so many things that it can drive (Soon-to-be) Mrs. Veggie Farmer a bit mad. But the one thing that he lacks is good common sense about fashion. His style might be best described as “Functional Salvation Army” (but that’s why I love him, right?).

You might say that Mr. Veggie’s proposal was a bit of a surprise for both of us. So much of a surprise that the day he popped the question he hadn’t bought an engagement ring yet. Riding bikes back to our house (Soon-to-be) Mrs. Veggie found herself wearing a big smile and the ring from the key chain of our bike lock.

We are simple folks who like simple things, but even Mr. Veggie Farmer could see that we needed a slightly more suitable engagement ring. The only criteria we had was that we wanted something ethically and environmentally sound. I also wanted something that I could wear every day without worrying about getting bits of compost stuck in it, or snagging it on a chicken feather as I put the girls back in the coop.

He wanted to go out himself and find something special, but in my mind all I could think about was the aforementioned affliction that Mr. Veggie has when it comes to fashion. Is there a tactful way to say “That flourescent orange rock may be eco, but it doesn’t go with my eyes?”.

Luckily we live in a town full of artists with several jewelry boutiques. We decided ride down to town together, and then split up to see what we found. We went into stores that were right next to each other and five minutes later Mr. Veggie came to find me. He had found the perfect ring. I was skeptical, to say the least, but when I saw what he had found I knew it was perfect. Of course I still had to go to every other boutique in town to see what they had to offer, but he was right. He had found the perfect ring in five minutes (how did he do that?).

My ring is made by Ash Hilton from Nelson, NZ, which is about 300 miles from where we live in Raglan, New Zealand. He crafts the jewelry himself using ethical metal that he has either reclaimed and melted down or mined himself from the black sand beaches on the South Island. Nelson was drawn to a silver ring etched with a design of wind-blown grasses because it reminded him of the spot where he proposed(cute!). I loved the silver, but that particular ring was a bit too big for me. Because Ash is a somewhat local artist, we easily could have had him make us that ring in my size, but we were on a bit of a time crunch since I was travelling home to see my family in just three days and wanted to have the ring before I left. Also, I was more drawn to another ring that had trees etched into it. And so without further ado here is my ring:

Things we learned about buying a green ring:

– Finding a local artist not only reduces the carbon footprint of your ring, but can help remind you of a special place.

– Ethical metal does not have to be expensive.

– A diamond doesn’t make an engagement ring. Although we ended opting for no stone at all, we thought about having a greenstone ring (a locally-available and culturally significant stone in NZ).

– And finally, Mr. Veggie Farmer does have some fashion sense! He was just waiting until the right time to let it show.