Okay, with just under 12 months until the wedding (assuming we have it on the 4th as we currently plan) there is just SOOOOO much to do. How can we plan it all in 12 months? Okay, so that is said with a little tongue in cheek, but in all honesty there are a lot of decisions to make and so many of them have to be made in the next month or so. Seems crazy to have so much decided so early on, but in the "Event" planning business I guess there is just no getting around it.
We are still working on choosing the wedding location. It is down to two locals, both offering different atmosphere's and slightly different weddings. Basically we are looking at the Belo Mansion in downtown Dallas and San Martino Winery in Rockwall; the winery where I proposed. Each is distinctive, with the Winery probably being the more romantic of the two; but also offering more logistical issues to work out. I think we are happy with either, but don't have full proposals from both yet. So stay tuned, you'll hear about it HERE first!

Other plans in the works include photography, videography, "Date to Remember" cards, invitations and programs. Much of this we plan on doing in some part ourselves. That will be in part to save some money and in part because we both enjoy the creative side of life. For example Tracy is going to design the invitations and "Date to Remember" cards. I am planning on editing the wedding video. That isn't to say we will do each of these 100%. For example on the video I will have to hire someone to take a majority of the video, at least for the wedding and reception. I have some ideas on the other events, probably making use of friends and family to help capture the moments. For invitations and the like, we may look at designing then having them printed or using some pre-printed materials and then completing them ourselves.

So there is quite a lot to plan. The video for me is going to be big, really big. The last time I did a wedding a caught only 1 hour of video. This time around I am looking at catching several more just of the wedding, plus the video that will be captures at the rehearsal and other events leading up to the wedding.

For the photography I think we have found someone very talented to do that work. Still have to work out those details, but as soon as I have it set in stone we will let you know.

The updates will keep coming. Stay Tuned!

This site seems to continue evolve and change. For example, tonight Tracy came into the media room and said that the guest book system on the website just wasn't working very well. I knew she was right, I hadn't been happy with the code since day one, but it did seem to work and didn't require too much special customization or configuration. I looked over it tonight though and it was painfully clear that it just wasn't up to the task and wasn't very well written code.

So I did a quick search and luckily, in little time at all, find some code that I thought would work. There was very minor configuration to make, actually less than what I had to do with the previous system and once I got the code working and accepting entries, some customization to make it look as though it truly fits the site.

So tonight I unveil the latest change to the site, the New and Improved Guest Book tool. I did go through and manually capture those old comments that I could understand and re-entered them into the new system so they wouldn't be lost to time.

For those that haven't signed the guest book, please do. For those that did sign the guest book, then you might want to check that it stayed and that when I transcribed the entry I did so correctly.

It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise, but Tracy said yes when I proposed earlier today. As planned I proposed at the winery in Rockwall. We arrived there around 1:00 this afternoon after dropping off Courtney and a few of her friends off at the new mall in Garland. Tracy had no idea of my plans, although the owners of the winery did know I was planning on proposing soon and were extremely happy to hear that I was about to propose there.
We ordered ourselves each a glass of wine, the chardonnay Reserve for myself and their brand new Merlot for Tracy. We sat down for a few minutes and then I suggested that we go for a walk. I had already asked the owners if it was okay for us to take a stroll on the property and they had given me resounding approval. Tracy and I ventured on to the beautiful property that was covered with some kind of Pine tree to see what the winery's landscape had to offer. After walking for a short while we came to a hill top, and in the distance you could see Lake Ray Hubbard. It was a gorgeous open stop, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Finally we came across a patch of fully grown trees and I knew I had find the right location. Tracy and I talked for a short while then I asked her to hold my wine glass for a moment. At that point, I fell to one knee spoke an old Irish prayer and presented her with the engagement ring. The moment I dropped to my knee she knew what I was doing, but I could tell that I had completely caught her off guard. She had no idea that today was the day.

With tears in her eyes and a huge smile on her face I placed the ring on her finger and she told me that she would indeed be my wife.
Shortly I will be adding Tracy as an editor to this website and she will be able to tell you in her own words what she was thinking and feeling. Both of us, in the coming months, will continue to do the same. Plus we have our own individual websites as well to talk about the daily comings and goings of our lives. Tray's site is Coffee Talk and mine is simply KellysWorld Times. Not to be out done Courtney has her own website called Girl Talk. Please check out these sites as well, and be sure to stay tuned to this website over the next 12 months as Tracy and I prepare for the event of our lives.

Okay, the site is making more and more strides. I was able to locate a small script that provides me with a simple guest book feature for the site. This way when the site goes live our family and friends can sign the guest book and tell us what they are thinking, or just wish us good luck. It took me a while to configure it to look good on my site and lay it on another page, but it the finished product isn't bad. It blends right into the site.

I also added photos today. The photos I added are select photos from the past year of Tracy and I dating. They range from the first photo of us together taken at Champps Americana to a picture taken of us just recently at Jessica's birthday party. The albums work quite well and that is another program I downloaded free.

In addition to those two new items, I have also beefed up the text on most of the pages and tried to get more symmetry between pages so that jumping from one to the next doesn't make people sea-sick.

That leaves me with the possibility of using the flash programs I have to create a few fun intros for the site, plus I want to make changes to the KellysWorld Times site. Those changes would both be in style, but I also want to change that site to better match the reality that "KellysWorld" has become, with Tracy and Courtney added to the world. Right now you wouldn't know that I am a "family man" now. I want to try and change that before Thanksgiving.

Today was an incredibly special day. The day was special for the simple reason that I picked up the ring that I will give to Tracy when I propose. The ring that Jim and Sharon gave to me. The ring that had been my grandmother's ring and her mother's ring before her. When the jeweler showed it to me I was stunned. I had no idea how pretty it would look when completed. The ring was already wonderful and now with the extra diamonds and a brand new sine the ring looks brand new. (Photo to be added soon)

Tracy and I had looked at faux antique rings, but this is a real antique with real family value, as well as commercial value. While I can't say without a shadow of a doubt that Tracy won't be overjoyed with the ring itself, I am still secure she will be. Of course she is just wanting me to pop the question and even though I have the ring, I am not quite ready to do so. Not because I don't want to ask, in fact I really want to; but the time isn't right yet. I want to finish designing the web site, decide how I will propose and possibly arrange a get-together with some friends and family.

While I may not be ready to propose, I do want to make sure I have everything prepared. I have the ring of course, but the next step for me was asking Paul (Tracy's step-dad since she was a child) for Tracy's hand in marriage. I don't know if it is still a "live" tradition, but I felt it important to do so and called Paul and Gay this morning to arrange to meet with them. I didn't tell them why, but just said I needed to stop by and show them something.

After I picked up the ring I immediately headed over to their house in The Colony. Of course they had a very good idea why I was coming over and didn't waste anytime getting to the point. In fact I had a hard time asking Paul what I wanted to ask him, he just kept saying "show me the ring!, Show me the Ring!" He eventually calmed down long enough for me to get out "May I have your daughter's..." "YES! NOW SHOW ME THE RING!" Apparently lack of patience is a family trait. So I showed Paul and Gay the ring, and they were quite surprised. Especially surprised when I told them how old the ring was, they said they never would have guessed; but after looking at it again they realized how different the ring really is to what you see today.

So, I have the ring. CHECK! I have asked for her hand in marriage. CHECK! I just need to finish this site (nearly complete), plan the proposal and probably plan a small get-together. After that, I will hand over the reigns of power for our wedding to Tracy and do as instructed.