We never thought that marriage would be in our future when we met just after the 4th of July, 2006. We met on an internet dating site where we both professed that all we wanted was someone to go to the movies with, someone to spend time with. Although we had both been separated from our respective spouses for about 2 years, neither of us had felt it necessary to go through the formalities of a divorce. Since we were "technically" married to other people, the option of a serious relationship seemed to remain safely at bay. But the more time we spent together, the more we both realized that we were perfect for each other. We eventually divorced our spouses and we free to really explore the possibilities that were before us. We were very much in love and new that we wanted to spend our lives together, but were quite gun shy, since we had been burned before. Christmas 2007 was fast approaching before we knew it, and we were having lunch together one afternoon when Randy asked, "If I could give you anything at all for Christmas, what would it be? Tell me the first thing that came to your mind." Without hesitation, I answered an egagement ring, so which he replied, again without hesitation, "OK!" So began the ring shopping. Fortunately, we found just the perfect ring pretty quickly. Once Randy purchased it (bigger than the one we had picked out actually), we walked to the car together where he tossed the bag that had the ring and box in it into the back seat of the car. I gasped and said, "you can't just throw it around like that!" He laughed at me, took the box out of the bag and asked me to marry him, right there in the car in the parking lot in front of the jewelry store...it doesn't get more romantic than that!

We have spent many weeks talking about what kind of wedding we want, where we should have it, how big it should be, budget, etc. All the normal planning type stuff. What came out of all that discussion was that what we really wanted was a tropical wedding in the carribean with just the two of us. We thought because of the timing (before the hot summer months and hunting season in the fall), our families may not have enough time to plan and save for such a trip. We thought Las Vegas would be an easy place for everyone to get to, but truly only 5 or so people would be able to make that trip anyway. So we decided to have our wedding the way we want it; small, intimate, just the two of us in Jamaica. We will still have a christian ceremony with flowers, music (albeit a steele drum), and a unity candle, as well as an intimate reception with Champagne and a wedding cake. I believe that the ceremony can also be broadcast via webcam (this is still to be confirmed) so our families can witness the blessed event without the expense of a jamaican vacation. We are using a wedding planner to make this as perfect as we have imagined it, since we can't be there in person to make the appropriate arrangements. This will be a completely stress-free wedding!

Although we know that some of you are disappointed that you won't be able to attend the wedding itself, we are planning to have a reception sometime in September for all of our family and friends. We look forward to celebrating our marriage with all of you then. In the meantime, we are VERY excited about this tropical destination wedding. We'll keep you posted on all the details! We love you all! Thank you so much for all of your support! Randy and Lynne