Engagement photo shoot

Ngoc and I spent the morning and early afternoon with our photographer. Here is a preview of the photos...

Less than 4 months and counting

It's hard to believe that our wedding is less than 4 months away. We have gone through so much change in the past few months. I moved up to Houston 6 weeks ago. Ngoc started work at a new cancer center this week. Chanel and Jasmin just finished their sophomore and freshman year respectively. We're repainting the house, remodeling the upstairs bathroom, buying mattresses tomorrow, buying furniture this summer, etc... Hey we're doing our part to contribute to the US economy. Life is good.

40

Coincidentally I'll be turning 40 during our honeymoon. I can't think of a better way to start the second half of my life.

Order your cake and eat it too

Ngoc and I visited a restaurant called The Colosseum Italian Restaurant and Bakery this evening. Ngoc heard about them after tasting their wedding cake at a friend's wedding a few years ago. So we drove down to Clear Lake to meet with the manager and pick out a cake design. Of course Ngoc already had a design picked out, so it didn't take long to work out the details and put a deposit down. They let us try a couple slices of cake, their Italian Cream and Chocolate Suicide (weird name for a wedding cake). They even offered us a free dinner but we had other plans.

After having dinner at Frenchie's restaurant, we visited the U of H Religion Center near downtown Houston. It's a beautiful building, perfect for a medium-size wedding ceremony. I would have snapped more pics, but there was a wedding rehearsal in session.

Tomorrow we will be getting ready for Sunday's house-warming party. It is likely that we'll have over 30 guests (friends and family). We're boiling crawfish and grilling ribs. Bring your appetites...

Wedding Map

Wedding plans are progressing nicely. It's hard to believe that we are less than 5 months from the big date.

I've created a Google map which shows the location of the ceremony and reception. While viewing the map, click on the links on the left side to get more information about each venue. If you look closely you will also find the honeymoon location...

My mother's sister-in-law

It turns out that she may not have multiple myeloma. I hope that's true.

Saturday

Ngoc and I spent the day together, and it's very clear why I love her so much.

Tonight, we had dinner at Dos Hermanos, (two brothers) a Mexican restaurant in Pearland that is very popular with the locals. Ngoc had tamales and I had the shrimp trio plate. Both very good. This was our second time here and Ngoc really likes the paper-thin tortillas.

Love

One more interesting item tonight.

If your a Beatles freak fan like me, you may enjoy this interview playing on NPR. Bob Boilen interviews Giles Martin, the son of the famous Beatles producer, George Martin. The subject is the music that he produced for the Las Vegas show aptly named "Love".

I'm looking forward to our next trip to Vegas.

Diamond bought

Just a few quick notes from today.

My mom called today to inform me that her sister-in-law was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. They are still running tests to determine the stage and extent of the disease. Not good news.

Ngoc came over this evening for dinner and had a chance to talk to my mom about the above news. Most of you know that Ngoc works as a radiation therapist at a cancer center. Thirty minutes later they were still talking as my stomach was grumbling with hunger. I had to cut them off eventually so we could go out to eat.

We drove into Houston and ate dinner at a casual Italian restaurant called Colina's. Ngoc had bought one of those "Metro" books that give you discounts at local businesses, so we had one entree for free. Saving up for the honeymoon...

Afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble and I bought the book "What Color is Your Parachute". More on this in the future...

When we returned home, we began going over the loose diamonds Ngoc had found on-line. After some comparisons and research, we decided on a stone and ordered it 'from BlueNile.com. I must admit it is strange and unsettling to buy a diamond on-line. Sort of like the first on-line purchase I made at Amazon.com back in the mid-90's.

Wedding date set

It's official! Ngoc and I have set our wedding date for September 22, 2007.

I've created this blog to make announcements and chronicle our preparations for our very special day. I'll send you a message when I make updates to this site. Ngoc has access to update this site as well, so you may see a few posts from her.

Needless to say, I'm ecstatic and am looking forward to our life together. Ngoc is the most beautiful lady that I've met in my 39 years on this planet. I've found a lot of people that know Ngoc that agree with me.

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