Wedding Day is coming!

The day of our wedding is close! Very close!
After that we are going to take some pictures and then have some food and fun with our family and a few friends. We will post pictures of the big day, as many of you have already requested.

The following day we are planning to file immigration papers. It's the way everyone should start their honeymoon! Then we will and leave for a short honeymoon at Donner Lake.

We are planning a bigger reception on Februrary 5th, 2011 at the Annex in Menlo Park so we will be able to have more people and hopefully less stress. That being said, save the date now and we will be sending announcements/invites out after the honeymoon.

For those that have been asking...we are registered. You can follow the link below to see our gift registry for William-Sonoma and Amazon. All the items have been moved to Amazon. Yes! Amazon sells a lot more than books!

You can shop online on Amazon.

Or if you are more inclined to go in a real shop, you can go to a William-Sonoma store close to you.

This link gives you links to all the places where we are registered.

In lieu of or in conjunction with a traditional gift we also appreciate Green Card Fund donations. You can do it by simply clicking the Donate button on the left. This is actually our largest wedding expense believe it or not.

Firenze

Chris Finally arrived in Italy 24 hours after me. Even though his parents had been very welcoming and we were communicating ok with what very little Italian I knew, it was a great relief to have him there. He soon took me up to a local spot close to where he grew up to see Firenze (Florence) at sunset. He told me that he thought I liked him even better in Italy. I mean come on! You are separated from your love and have to travel to his native country alone, where you barely speak any of the language, and then he arrives and takes you to a quaint spot that overlooks Florence! It was romantic and I do like him;-)Can you make out the duomo? It was pretty smoky so the picture aren't the clearest.
Bellisimo! Can you believe I was here? Sometimes my life sounds fake.


Overlooking Florence.

Outside the Uffizi where we had a personal tour from one of Chris' friends who works as a guide. We saw amazing works of art like Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and La Primevera, Michelangelo's The Holy Family, Parmigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck...and tons of others. It was unreal to see them in person. By the way, once again if you go in off season there are no lines.
Chris and I take a stroll over the Arno and to Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge not destroyed in World War II that spans the famous river in Florence.

I'm really here!

My first gellato in Italia. It was delish!

Firenze by night.

Roma

 A year ago today I was in Italy.  Mmmm good memories.  My first day in the country was an adventure to be sure.  I couldn't let Roma go unexplored just because I ended being there by myself!  No, it was my only opportunity to spend some real time in the city and I took advantage of it.  Here are just a few shots of a slice of the amazing sites I had an privilege to see that day.
This picture was actually not taken in Rome, but it is one of my favorites because it just makes us Americans say, "Are you kidding me?"  I mean, doesn't this look like a movie set?  It was just a little shop I passed as we strolled through a town.

 Il Colloseo.  This was the first site I stopped at and it was surreal to be there!

 When my sister Michelle saw this picture she exclaimed, "This looks so different from my picture taken in the summertime.  It is like Where's Waldo to find me in mine."  These are the advantages to going in off season.  To get this shot I actually spoke in Italian to a local family of three sisters and mom visiting the fountain.  I told them I had three sisters at home in America.
I must say the Trevi Fountain was a surprise favorite for me in Rome.  I exited the bus and walked down a quaint street following the sound of water.  Suddenly the narrow road opens up to this sight of sparkling, flowing water.  It was simply beautiful.  Pictures really don't do it justice and I was surprised how much I loved this little spot of Roma.

 San Pietro.  It was such a HUGE church.  This is a place I must go back and spend some time in.  There were absolutely no lines, which was awesome, but I was so pressed for time I didn't get to see the Sistine Chapel.  Next time.  I had to at least see the Pieta, which I did.  Michaelangelo was amazing.

So, this was the double decker tour bus I took around the city.  Yes, I was the only passenger on the bus.  The bottom floor was also empty but for the tour guides.  It had been raining when I arrived in the city, but the sun came out and I enjoyed a dry sightseeing trip.

Sola

This is the entry I wrote on my family blog the day after I arrived in Italy. It is dated December2, 2009.

"So I arrived in Italy yesterday. Due to Delta's lameness I travelled sola. That is right, I flew across the Atlantic on a 15 hour flight to a country where I have never been and don't speak the language to visit people I have never met who only speak Italian...alone. Luckily I insist on being to the airport 2 hours early, so we had just enough time to figure out there was no way they would let Cristiano on board, but he did have time to give me his phone that would work in Italy and his small laptop. Then off I went. I arrived in Fumicino which is near Rome at 7:30am and by the time I tried to use Chris' phone unsuccessfully (it's commands are all in Italian and it just functions differently anyway) and couldn't connect to the internet (the homepage was also in Italian and there was no access where I was), I was literally about to cry. Luckily on the plane from San Francisco to Atlanta they had had free wifi so Chris and I had done some quick research and been able to talk and strategize. He was able to contact me by phone as well a couple of times once I had landed, which was great. Then we were on no contact because he had to sleep at some point.
So I went to Rome by train and learned very quickly to ask everyone, "Parla inglese?" Which many people do in Rome. People helped me with my luggage and to validate my ticket etc and I arrived in one piece. Of course I wanted to see the city but that meant I had to store my bags, get some Euro, buy a ticket for Florence, find the tourist bus (which incidently had been moved down the street just this week due to construction), get on said bus and navigate the city to see the sites I wanted to see. Plus apparently I had to avoid gypsies as well. Yes, gypsies. This is not a joke, but true. Rome has quite a few who have been causing trouble, especially with tourists.
This could be daunting. However, I got off the train and literally about 1 minute later an elderly man walked up to me and asked me in English if I needed help. He insisted on walking me all around the train station and helped me do everything I needed. He even walked me partway down the street to the tourist bus. He knew everything about the station and city. He is out of work, but old enough that he has had trouble finding work so he spends a lot of time around the train station. He wouldn't accept any food or money from me but he did take my copy of the Book of Mormon that I had travelled with. At one point he joked that he was my guardian angel. His name was Cristiano. I'm not kidding. It is not a very common a name. Even in Italy.
So I got on the bus and toured the city until the afternoon. It is beautiful and I will post pictures later. It was a quick trip, but I am so glad I got to see things like the Trevi Fountain, the Colloseum, and the Vatican.
Upon arriving back at the station I was supposed to text Chris' dad the info about when and where I was arriving, there is more then one train station in Florence, so he could come and get me. Of course I also had to do this in Italian and Chris had sent me the info via email on how to do this, but I couldn't access the internet no matter what I tried. A really nice guy at the visitors info station tried to send the text but it wouldn't work so he called Chris' dad and spoke with him in Italian giving him the info. I retreived my bags and went to board the train. I had already scoped out the platform it was supposed to arrive at, but was told about 90% of the time it changes at the last minute. I kid you not; I was walking toward the platform, and mind you there are tons of platforms and each train stops at many locations so it is not like it was obvious at all; and a young man walked up to me and asked in English if I was travelling to Florence. What the heck? I said yes and he helped me validate my ticket and walk to the platform. Then he left but reappeared as the train arrived and reassured me in English that it was the correct platform. I got onboard and found my seat, which was assigned on the ticket. I happened to sit next to a very nice young man who was coming back from visiting his girl friend in Naples and was getting off at the stop just after mine. He only spoke less English then I speak Italian, so we practiced Italian for nearly the entire 3 hour trip. He helped me write down a bunch of sentences I could say to Chris' parents and showed me a castle in my guide book in Naples, which he agrees is probably the one grandpa was born by. The guy sitting across from us was from that part of Naples. So funny! Then he helped me with my luggage and made sure I got off at the correct stop.
Chris' dad and I easily found eachother and we went to Empoli. Chris' parents and I had a lovely evening and I am off in a few minutes to get Chris.
I feel like a blogger now.
I know a lot of you were praying that I would be safe and I was definately watched over. Now you can see why my status on Facebook is, 'La gente d'Italia sono simpatici'. The really have been."

Going to Italy

"So, when I go to Italy to renew my visa do you want to go with me?"

"Are you serious?" I asked a little astonished. After all, we had only been dating for less the two weeks.

"Yes," he told me.

Well, I thought, if a good looking Italian guy asks you to go to Italy with him you say yes. I have always wanted to go.

I guess you could say we were on the fast track in our relationship. Italy here I come!

Numbers

I'm not sure, but I don't think it is a good idea to give a guy you are interested the wrong number and then also drop and break your phone the same day. Yes, I did just that the day after I met Chris. However, I did think, "Ok, if he is really interested in me then he will find a way to get a hold of me." By that night he had. Being the (as he would say) computer geeky kind of a guy that he is, he didn't even know that I had problem with my phone because he found me on Facebook. He asked me to be his friend and sent me a message asking me out.

After I returned his message in the affirmative I looked at the little grey button at the bottom of the screen. I always kept my chat off. Should I turn it on and see if he was online? Hmm. I precariously clicked over to the available green button. Right away he started sending me messages. He was cute and a little flirtatious. By the end of our interchange we also had a date set for Monday. We would walk around downtown Palo Alto or Stanford campus. He told me that sometimes he just likes walking and talking. I told him that I liked walking and talking too. I thought this was very European to just stroll through the city and chat.

That night I was so keyed up I couldn't sleep. I had never been so nervous for a date before. This was not like me. I did not get nervous before dates. When I finally saw him Monday night, my fears melted away. We walked through the beautiful Stanford campus and he told me about his life. He was worried about talking too much. If you know me, I know you are laughing out loud at this point because I am quite a talker myself. He did indeed talk me under the table that night, but I found him fascinating and endearing. I felt his depth of feeling for the things he spoke of and I saw the charming, funny, energetic, spiritual man that he was. I no longer felt scared of who he might be but happy with who I was seeing that he was.

By the end of this date I think both of our heads were spinning. Something special was going on. Now, you will recall that we already had a date lined up for Friday with each other. When I said that Friday seemed far away now, he chuckled and told me he had some time available the next night. So the first week after we had met one another we went out three times. I will tell you that after this first date, however, something truly miraculous happened. As I drove home I felt, "I am going to marry him". It just seemed to echo with truth and I could see our future unfold before me. I laughed and I cried, but it just felt true. The next day the reverberations of this truth could still be felt. I just knew that I had found the man I was going to marry. Of course, I couldn't tell him this and scare him off so I wrote it all out in letters to him that he would read sometime later:-)

I don't think I slept very much that first week. Luckily, my sister lived in Ohio and I could call her very early in the morning California time. And I had friends in LA that stayed up late. It was a crazy time and it shocked me, but the rest is history!

Us at Stanford on our third date.

We went to an outdoor concert and had a great time.

Day Two: The Ferris Wheel

When I think of this day of our relationship I always think of the Ferris wheel, how beautiful my man is, and ice cream.
Let me explain.
Cristiano and I met at the first day of a church singles conference in Santa Cruz in September of 2009. As I said in an earlier post, the first meeting was interesting but we hadn't been struck by love yet. That was day two. Ha ha ha. Just kidding, but it is not far from the truth. The second day of the conference took place at the (in)famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. After much internal struggle on what would be the best strategic decision, I am all a about strategy and the numbers game of dating, I just couldn't figure out what the most advantageous activity would be! This really annoyed me but I finally relegated myself to just going on the rides with friends. Eventually everyone went on a ride I couldn't go on as I have vertigo.
Enter Fredric again.
He told me to come and join his group and after some hesitation I finally did. Low and behold, there was Chris. We talked and I got on a ride with many of the group. Chris wasn't going on the ride and as soon as we were away from him Fredric said, "Wow, you guys totally have this whole Italian vibe going on."
"I don't know," I replied very skeptically, "maybe it is just his Italian way of talking to women." You know the stereotype.
Frederic simply said, "Lora, there are other women here and he is not acting the same way with them. He got your information didn't he?"
"Well, we exchanged business cards"
Disclaimer: I live in Silicon Valley. Exchanging business cards is just how it is sometimes done here. If you don't end up on a date why not make it a business venture or vice versa:-P
"Right<" Fredric said, "he's interested." So, ok. Eventually we got off the ride and after a hilarious conversation with the two guys about the apparent phenomenon of chocolate dipped cones (Do they put the chocolate on and then squirt the ice cream in?) and Ferris wheels (When do you get on and how long do you ride? When is the ride over? How do they know whose turn it is to get off? How many times does it go around before they stop it? and the like) I discovered that Chris probably was really interested in me. "Pray tell, how" you ask? He offered me his ice cream and then touched it to my nose when I tried to get a lick. Those of you that know him will not be shocked by this behavior. I guess he didn't like that I was talking to my friend Alena and telling her where to find us on the boardwalk. He is a tease! This is actually the picture he took of me right before the ice cream on the nose incident.

I actually have quite a few memories about this day that I will not bore you with (yes, I did write about it in my journal). But I will say this: I did find Cristiano to be enchanting, passionate, expressive, beautiful, and...frightening. Yes, he scared me to death! Fredric and I ruminated on this after Chris had left and we were riding on the Ferris wheel. "Why are does he scare you? I think he is a good guy," he told me.
"I don't know," I said. I later decided it was because I was interested in Chris, heaven forbid. I know, shocking.
Then came the line Fredric and I still kid about when we think of this day, "What's the big deal? You make a little pasta, you add a little sauce." Alright. And so I took the plunge.



















Chris, Me, and Fredric (who, incidentally, I had met speed dating a year and a half before). I know. Even with, or maybe because of, the crazy hat I still fell for him.