Fiance Friday - Open Letter to Martha Stewart

Hello Blog-o-sphere!



Well, I knowthat everyone has been sitting at the edge of their seats ALL DAY, knowing that it is time for another epic Fiance Friday post! Well, your wait is over. As promised, I have another open letter to Martha Stewart! In case you missed my first letter, you can find it here. Also, a special Fiance Friday shout-out to Josh and Ashley who are getting married this weekend in Fairbury, NE! I wish I could be there!

And now, on to the letter...


My Dearest Martha,



I hope you are doing well. Every day I walk to my mailbox and hope that you have responded to my first letter. After a long, hot, summer, I have come to the conclusion that you must not have received it. It's really the only plausible explanation. I'll be sure to re-send it to you with some extra postage, as well as delivery confirmation. The other explanation of why I haven't gotten your response is because my home address changed. I realize that sometimes things get lost while being re-routed. My cell phone, however, has not. I've always got time for your call.



Well, Martha, you may be wondering why I am writing for a second time. You see, I am a subscriber to XM Radio. One day, I was driving in my car, listening to my favorite station, and I heard a commercial that caught my attention. It seems, Martha, that not even radio listeners are safe from you now! You now have your OWN XM Radio station! I would link to it, but then that would just give you more publicity that you don't need.



You may be wondering, Martha, what my problem is with your radio station. To be completely honest, in the spirit of full disclosure, I've never been subjected to listening to your station. However, as you know by now, I am here as one of the very few voices on the Internet for past present, and future grooms! I can only imagine the number of grooms who now have to listen to your radio station discussing design and wedding decorations. Why must you torture us, Martha?? Are your TV station and magazines not enough for you?



Well, Martha, I didn't think it would come to this, but I feel I must present one last argument to you. Listen to me, Martha. I'm going to come at you from a practical point of view. Let me get this straight. You are talking about design on the RADIO???? How can I possibly know what colors you are talking about without seeing them? When you say "blue," do you mean midnight blue, or perriwinkle? How will your listeners ever know?!?!? I mean, Martha, you don't want to walk in to someone's home who has taken your advice from the radio, only to find midnight blue drapes paired with perriwinkle carpeting! You can save America from a fashion crisis, Martha! I plead and beg you! Shut down your radio station!



If you would like to chat about this more, you know how to find me. I'll be awaiting your reply.



Hugs, High-5's, and Color Swatches,



Kevin

Fiancé Friday - The Big Announcement

Hello Blog-o-sphere!

I have kept you all in waiting for quite some time, now, about this big announcement I'm going to make here, today. If any of you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you have seen the speculation about what exactly this announcement could be about. Recently, I have heard the rumor that St. Ignatius himself is coming back from the dead to witness our marriage. I've also heard that Pope Benedict XVI will be witnessing our marriage. Today, I even heard the rumor that Hollyanne and I are actually already married! A couple of other favorites come from friends I suffered through, I mean "went to", grad school with. Those guesses include an appearance on America's Got Talent and an NBA contract with the Miami Heat. While I'm no hand whistler or basketball player, I think they were about the closest guesses to what I am about to announce. You are probably now wondering, "Seriously, Kevin? Get on with this already!" Also, I contacted ESPN to see if they would do a prime-time special, allowing me to give my announcement on national television. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for Chris Berman to call me back. But, alas, I can't sit around and wait for ESPN all day, I've got blog readers that I need to let in on the announcement! So, folks, you heard it here first.....The announcement is....................MY SIDE OF THE WEDDING PARTY!!

Lt. My-Linh "Twink" Pham

Twink and I have been best friends since our high school days at Oak Park. We've been through thick and thin together. In fact, if you search through the Cleary Family Home Video Archives, and have a VHS player, you will come across some classic footage of the two of us lip syncing and dancing to Veggie Tales during the Mr. Oak Park competition. Currently, Twink is serving our country in Afghanistan, and will return in time for the wedding! Of course, I am thrilled to have Twink as my Best "Man" (Not really sure on the terminology if a best man is a female....).

Peter Kimani

Kimani is my wonderful brother-in-law that has the distinct pleasure of being related to me through my sister. I'm not sure he fully realized what he was getting himself in to when he came in to the family. :) We've had many-a-good times together and I couldn't be happier to have him as a Groomsman!

John Roselle III

John and I met at the Summer Preview dance the summer before we started our academic careers at Creighton. Now, if you know anything about me and dancing, you will know that we met on the outside of the dance floor, and not actually dancing ourselves. :) John and I share and affinity for St. Ignatius and the Jesuits. Of course, John's affinity is a little stronger, given that he's now a Jesuit, himself. :)

Craig Carlson

Craig came in to our family when he married my cousin Cindy. Together, they have two beautiful daughters and live in the Des Moines, IA area. A founding member of the MOD Squad, Craig and I have had many good times together on the MOD Annual Camping Trip! Though Craig is both a Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins fan, I don't hold it against him too much. :)

Dan Buck

Dan also has the pleasure of being related to me, as he is my oldest cousin! Dan lives in Omaha with his wife D'Lynn and their four beautiful children! Together, Dan and I are the co-creators of "Stars Friday." For those unfamiliar with this international holiday, it falls on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. Many people go out an shop on this day. Dan, Craig, and I, however, enjoy staying in and playing hours of an old PC turn-based space strategy game known as Stars!. Dan and I also share a love for Tecmo Super Bowl on the NES. I cannot even begin to count the number of times my QB was sacked by the NY Giants defense in my basement while growing up. :)

Joe Buck

Last, but certainly not least, is my cousin Joe. Having the opportunity to attend Creighton in Omaha, I had many opportunities hang out with Joe. Joe and I have been on many camping trips together, as well as a couple of Little Jays Weekends while I was at CU. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to live with him and the rest of the Omaha Bucks for a few weeks after I graduated from Creighton, while I finished my position at Nebraska AIDS Project. I recently served as Joe's Confirmation Sponsor, which took place this past Spring.

Well, folks, there you have it: The Groomspeople! Or, is it Groomsfolks? Does anyone have any suggestions??

Next week on Fiance Friday: Another Open Letter to Martha Stewart. Yes, Martha, the students are back and I'm going no holds barred! Be prepared!

napkin love note.

a very short post today, and no, i'm sorry, this is NOT the big announcement you all have been so patiently (or some not so patiently - ahem, mary & stefanie) for, but just thought i'd share the little love note napkin kevin left me in my lunch this morning :)

hope you all can find a little love in your own lives today, too :)

B-I-G Announcement

Okay, so maybe it's not that big.

If you've been following the blog, you'll have noticed that in last Friday's post Kevin announced that there would be a couple of big annoucements coming up. As much as I wish I could share Kevin's big annoucement, he'll have to handle that one on his own (but he should do it very soon...cough, cough, hint, hint). As for our big announcement, that one I can share...

drum roll please.

We're going to run a marathon!
For those of you who don't know, Kevin and I ran our first half-marathon this past January...with no training. No, we're not that badass. We were mostly, well, stupid. We couldn't move for several days afterwards and didn't run again for several weeks. But for some reason, we masochists are coming back for more. In an effort to see how we would do in a race we have actually trained for, as well as getting in shape for our upcoming wedding, we have decided to go all out and register for the Holualoa Tucson Marathon this December 12.
The training plan we're following is eighteen lonnggggg weeks, which makes this week numero uno. Luckily for us, the training plan started yesterday with our favorite day: rest day! (There are two rest days each week, as well as one cross-training day). So, today marks the real first day of training: 3 miles. We think we can handle that.
We'll be updating on the blog (probably weekly) about our training progress and whether or not we've died or quit yet. We're hoping to make the blog more about our relationship AND our wedding, rather than just our wedding, so this is just one of the many things you'll start to see included here.

from Kevin:

Hi all!

So, as you all now know, we are running a marathon. Now, I know that none of you have doubts when it comes to my beautiful fiance finishing this race. I mean, really, there is no way that she's not going to finish. Many of you know I nearly collapsed (Ok, not really collapsed, but couldn't walk for several days afterwards) after doing a half-marathon back in January. I have a plan this time, though (besides Hal Higdon's 18-week plan). The beauty of this marathon is that it's all DOWNHILL! In fact, from the starting line to the finishing line, you LOSE 1800 feet in elevation! So, here's the plan. If I get tired during the race, I'm going to stop, lie on the ground, and just ROLL the rest of the way! Whoever came up with this marathon course was a GENIUS! There is NO WAY that I can't finish!! In all seriousness, though, I am excited about the challenge of running this marathon. Who knows if I'm going to finish, but, as many of you know, I'm just crazy enough to try! :)

 

kevin & i at the p.f. chang's half-marathon - january 2010. somehow standing.

Fiancé Friday

Hello blog-o-sphere!

I hope everyone has had a fantastic Fiance Friday! I know that I sure did! For those who are unaware, I have begun a new job at The University of Arizona! You know you've really hit it big when you have your very own retirement plan! :) It must mean I'm a grown-up!

Today's post is more of an advertisement. It's not the kind of advertisement that you change the channel for (I'm looking at you Meghan). Maybe it's less like an advertisement, and more like a preview. However, it's not like the kind of preview you skip because you get to the movie late. This is the kind of preview that has been hyped up on that thing we refer to as the "internet." It's the kind of preview that you wait anxiously for, refreshing your web browser at work every 30 seconds to see if it has posted on the Apple website (that shoutout is for you, Dad), only to quickly minimize it as your boss walks by. This is the kind of preview you see, then send out the link to all of your followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook.

Yes, this is a HUGE preview. I would say that it's even huge-er than when the Deathly Hallows preview first came online. Yes, folks, we are talking J.K. Rowling kind of big! This preview for what is about to come from "Two Become One" is EPIC.

"What on Earth could this preview be for?" You ask. Well, we've got some big announcements on the horizon. Hold on to your cheesy poofs, folks, because people will be talking about what is to come for CENTURIES ahead. I've got you curious now, don't I? What if I ended this post here, without ever giving you the preview of what is to come? Then, I suppose this would be more of a preview for the preview. Perhaps this post could just end, as The Sopranos series finale did several years ago, and just go to a black screen, leaving you guessing.

Well, I suppose that would just be mean of me to leave you all hanging (not to mention, I am on my way out the door for Salsa dancing lessons!). So, here are a few HUGE things to come from us here at Two Become One.

1. A BIG announcement from me!

2. A BIG announcement from the both of us!

3. Another open letter to Ms. Martha Stewart. Yes, I'm giving her a bit more time to respond to my first letter, but another letter is definitely in order! Watch out Martha, I'm coming after you!

Have a great week everyone!

Peace, Love, and Previews,

Kevin

giant cupcakes.

Happy Tuesday!
We've been thinking a lot lately about what we want to do for our wedding cake - flavor, style, all of that fun stuff. Recently we've been considering doing cupcakes instead; yes, they're trendy, but more than that, they're cute and fun and not as wasteful AND Kevin and I do share a l-o-v-e for cupcakes! We were thinking we'd do mostly cupcakes (on a tower), with a small round cake at the top....and then I saw this picture.

............

Oh. My. Gosh. GIANT CUPCAKE. Yes. Please.

And just like that, cupcakes it is.

Omaha Engagement Photos!

Hello everyone! First of all, I missed all of our loyal blog readers during my time away, but am happy to be back in the country and back to blogging! Today, I am excited to post several of our lovely engagement photos taken in Omaha back in April. (courtesy of Lani at Allure Photographic). We got them back awhile ago, but I told Kevin he couldn't do anything with them until I'd seen them :) Alas, here they are! Enjoy and stay tuned for more wedding planning updates!