Bridal Shower Fun!

I'll admit it--the night before the first wedding shower, I couldn't sleep a wink! So exciting! Debbie Barber and Barbara Ball threw such an incredible tea party. It was so girly and perfect!! We had scones and punch and Dolores Fritzsche's chocolate dipped strawberries, and no party is complete without a "panty line!" Mom had videotaped Jason answering a bunch of questions, and it turns out I knew most of the answers! Jason came at the end of the shower to meet everyone, and help load up all the awesome gifts! We have such wonderful friends!

Kathy Dillon, Photographer Extraordinaire

In preparation for sending out the wedding invitations, we went on a special photo shoot with Mom. We wanted just the right shot to send out to our family and friends. The winner is first, but if you look at all these shots, you'll see why the guy at Walgreens wanted a release from our professional photographer!

Engagement Session, take two

Our awesome photographer Spencer Boerup took us out for a second session of engagement shots--since the excitement of getting engaged sort of overtook the previous session. We had a great time downtown and at Hi Corbett Field, and Spencer was wonderful!! Check out his stuff at spencerboerup.com.

...And He Proposed!

After the "year-ish" of dating, the next step became a topic of discussion, and the "M"-word loomed large. Certainly, there was a lot to figure out with each of us being of a different faith, but somehow we got there. ("Somehow" involved a lot of listening and counseling from parents, friends, siblings, church leaders, and anyone else who would listen. We owe you!)

Since we met on a flight from Tucson and spent hours getting to know each other in the airport, Jason thought it was the perfect place to pop the question. We went to the Tucson airport to take some "pre-engagement" pictures with photographer Spencer Boerup. Amanda wasn't sure it made a lot of sense to take pictures before she had a ring, or even a proposal, but Jason was persistent. After taking some fun shots throughout the airport, Spencer and Jason convinced Amanda to change clothes for some more pictures. When she came back after changing, they were gone. She headed down the escalator looking for them and saw Jason at the bottom holding a dozen roses and a sign that said "Mrs. Stremel?" When she made it to the bottom, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Since she had cried all down the escalator, the verbal answer wasn't that understandable, but there was some vigorous nodding. The Southwest Airlines staff and TSA workers at the airport clapped and cheered at what cannot possibly be a common occurence at the airport. Then they offered to get us through security to take pictures in the terminal, on the Tarmac, and even on a plane. It was amazing, and Spencer got awesome shots of the whole thing! Jason followed it all up with a surprise engagement party dinner with Amanda's family and a group of friends. It was such an incredible day!

One Thing Lead to Another....

We realize that it is ridiculous to condense over a year of dating into one post, but in the interest of time, we will try to do a little better than a "yada, yada, then he proposed." The first date was to PF Chang's for dinner, followed by a stroll through Christmas lights in Winterhaven. Date number two was dinner at North followed by a movie (National Treasure 2). Date number two was followed by a conversation Amanda loves to tease Jason about, where he indicated that he was only looking for friendship and did not plan on having a serious relationship. Clearly, this was a really effective plan ;) Amanda does love a challenge....

We won't take you date by date through the process, although Amanda probably could name what we were wearing on each of these evenings--and Jason probably remembers that we went somewhere and did something. The true start of “dating” is under dispute; one of us thinks this began when we started going on dates, and the other has a more nebulous idea where it followed “being friends” and “hanging out.” Regardless, it was an amazing year-ish which included trips to Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas for a wedding, Iowa, Texas, Albuquerque for the balloon festival, NASCAR, waterskiing on Canyon Lake, camping, surprise parties, halloween costumes, a half marathon, and more. We had a great time getting to know each other and building our relationship!

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Well, in any story, it's generally best to start at the beginning. If we're going to chronicle the stories of our little Stremel family, we should probably chronicle how we began. (And why we will always be loyal to Southwest Airlines!)

It was a dark and stormy night. Literally. Amanda was flying up to Utah to visit her friends Mark and Corinne Fugal, connecting through Las Vegas, and Jason was headed out to Vegas to spend the weekend with friends. It was a last minute trip for both, with tickets booked only the day before, and in an interesting set of coincidences, there was bad weather in ALL of the cities involved--Tucson, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City. As a result, the flight was delayed for hours.

After we boarded the plane late, Jason likes to say that he was trying to sleep and Amanda wouldn't stop talking to him, but we'll let you decide how likely that was. Let the record show that he was leaning around the poor man in the seat between them to talk to her. Sleeping, not so much. Then we were asked to deplane as the flight was further delayed. We spent hours chatting and sat together once the flight finally left Tucson. Jason asked for Amanda's number when he walked her to her connecting gate in Las Vegas; clearly the lack of sleep hadn't interfered with his skills. He followed up with texts that weekend, and a call a few days later. You've got to love a man who calls when he says he will....