Our New Addition

Meet Dingo! Our mischief-prone Australian Cattle Dog/Shepherd mix puppy.  He's been keeping us quite busy lately.

Catching Up

Whew! Has it really been more than a month since our last update?  Time sure does fly when you're busy.  Since we last spoke, I've started a new job which, obviously, has been my primary focus for the last several weeks.  But that doesn't mean we haven't but taking care of wedding details in the meantime!

We have booked a venue for the wedding ceremony . . . yay! That's one major detail we can check off of our list. Now we just have to take care of finding a place for the reception. More on that later.

We also got copies of our first set of engagement pics back.

We're quite happy with the results.  You can see more of our favorites in the second part of this post.  And if any of you in the Austin area are in need of a photography session, you can also get a special deal from our photographer, Andrea Luyties. She is currently offering 1/2 price sessions to anyone who contacts her and mentions "friends of freebies".

Well, I guess that's all for now.  We do have an adorable addition to our little family which we'll be blogging about soon.  So check back in a few days to learn more about him! ~Warren

Third Time's the Charm

Well, it took three attempts, but D & I finally have our first set of engagement pics taken care of. Yes, I said first set. We will be having the majority of our engagement photos taken in & around downtown Austin and the UT campus by a former co-worker of mine who just so happens to be an amazing photographer. But we also wanted some pics out by the Pennybacker Bridge (aka 360 Bridge), so when I found an ad on Craigslist from a photographer offering a free photo session in exchange for the right to use said photos on her newly-redesigned website, we jumped at the opportunity. And today was finally the day we got to complete the photo session. Our first appointment was set for two Sundays ago, but the day proved to be overcast and gloomy . . . not the most ideal lighting for engagement photos. So we rescheduled for this past Saturday, only to get rained out after only a few photos were snapped. Which brings us to today, which found D & I driving back out to the bridge and hiking up the bluffs around Lake Austin to finish what we'd started. Our photographer, Andrea of High Note Photography, could not have been sweeter or more professional. And we had a great time taking the photos, a few of which we'll be sure to share on here once we get them! ~Warren

Daily Rant: The Hypocrisy Behind DOMA

So glad we're not the only ones who find the hypocrisy behind the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) so ironic.  The men (both Republican and Democrat) who helped push this law through fifteen years ago have a history of adultery and divorce . . . yet it's the gays who threaten the sanctity of marriage?  PUH-lease! When is some journalist going to have the balls to ask Newt Gingrich how he could have the audacity to champion this heinous legislature at the very same time he was having an extramarital affair with a congressional staffer??!!

While marriage ceremonies can indeed hold special religious meaning for many couples (including Derrick & I who plan to incorporate some religion into our own ceremony), it's completely insane for anyone to make an argument that marriage is still a "religious institution" in this country.  If that were the case, those who REALLY want to defend marriage would stop trying to outlaw the union of same sex couples who truly love each other, and instead focus on outlawing divorce and making adultery punishable by law. But, no, that would, of course, be too extreme.  Almost as absurd as allowing only "Christian" couples to wed . . . or making it mandatory that all wedded couples have children . . . you know, since our inability to naturally procreate with one another is another reason same sex couples are told we shouldn't be able to marry. Let's face it, marriage is now more a SOCIAL institution than a religious one . . . and the laws of our country need to recognize that.

The lifting of the ban on same sex marriage is inevitable . . . let's just hope it happens soon enough for loving couples such as ourselves to enjoy it!