Mrs. Raja, at last!

Hello, my darling friends. What a week it has been!

For several weeks before the wedding, I was incredibly busy getting everything done.  We had to buy suits, shirts, ties, belts, and shoes for Monkey and the MC, and a suit, shirt, and tie for Raja, as well. I had to get my dress altered, too. Then we had to dry clean the shirts and get the dress pressed.

I created favors for the wedding: wine glasses with little sayings on them, which held candles. These candles were lit and held by the guests during the ceremony. I also made lots of little paper flowers, which had candy inside them.

The week before the wedding, we went to get the marriage license. We went together to the Washington County Recording Office on Valentine's day, where we filled out the paperwork together.  I had to choose what my name would be after I get married, and due to Oregon Law, I only had a few choices. I wanted to keep all my names, but I couldn't put my first and middle names together, or put my middle name and original last name together. Since I didn't want to drop any of my names, I had to put together my last name with Raja's, which means that my new last name is going to be 20 letters long (including the hyphen)!

We took the paperwork up to the counter and paid $60.00.  On the way home, we looked at the Marriage certificate they gave us to keep, and freaked out a little bit, as it said on it "Minister licensed in Oregon."  The person marrying us is from Washington, and I thought, "Oh no! What if it's not legal?" We had less than a week to go! I called as soon as I got home, and found out that we'd be fine. Thank goodness!

I had to call my caterer with final numbers and choices for our linens.  I called the cake people to find out when they were going to deliver the cake. I pulled out my little Christmas lights to help decorate my mom's house. We went to mom's house to move furniture and decorate with lights, candles, and ribbons.

In the meantime, I got everything together that I might need for the wedding. I went to buy nuts, candy, soft drinks, wine, and champagne. I also bought mints, tape, q-tips, and bowls in which to put the snacks.

On Wednesday I had a million things to do. I uploaded a bunch of music to my iPod, printed out copies of the hairdo I wanted and a copy of the marriage rite (which I wrote) for our minister, and put a copy of the new marriage certificate I had created on a flash drive. I charged the batteries for all of our cameras, got the decorations out of storage, and then I went shopping. I went to buy the drinks, get our rings polished, and buy another dress to change into after the wedding. After all of this, I went to Mom's to get an idea about how we were going to set up the space. Home again,  I packed my weekend bag, all of my wedding stuff, and tried to get some sleep.

Thursday I actually had to work. That morning, we went to meet a Catholic priest who gave us a special blessing, even though we are both practicing Hindus. He is a friend of my parents', and was just very sweet and kind. It was also my mom's and the Monkey's birthday. Raja was off work, so after I went to work, we continued to help Mom get the house ready for a while, and then left to the kids' other parents' house to wish the Monkey a happy birthday. There were lots of awesome hugs, and then Raja and I went home.

Friday was a little crazy. I went to the chiropractor's that morning, and also got a nice massage from the therapist there. Her name is Heidi, and I think she is awesome. After my massage, I went to buy flowers. I bought a bunch of beautiful bouquets of flowers from Trader Joe's and Fred Meyer. I put them in a bucket, and took them to my mom's, where I put them in the garage to keep cool for the next day. We decorated the house, and I met with the caterer, who brought over the tables, chairs, and linens we rented. After we met with Eric the caterer, Mom and I went to get pedicures and manicures. We had a great time, because the ladies at Exp Salon do a great job, and they are really nice into the bargain. They also really like Raja, who gets his hair cut there.  After we were beautified, we returned home to Mom's and waited for Raja and the kids to arrive.

When the guys arrived, we went to eat dinner at Milo's, a very nice restaurant by Mom's house to celebrate Thursday's birthdays. Afterwards, we returned to the house for some ice cream cake and to rehearse the wedding music and decide where we would stand for the ceremony. Both boys were going to play piano for the ceremony and also be our best men. The MC would stand by me and hold his dad's ring, while Monkey would stand by Raja and hold my ring. By this time it was very late, so we went home and tried to get some sleep. Monkey got cold in the night, and came to sleep with us, which meant I ended up with his elbow in my head, and couldn't sleep all that well. Still, I was excited for the next day.

Saturday I woke up pretty early, and took a shower. After all, everyone wants to be clean and shiny for their wedding! I then went over to Mom's to put together the flowers. I made three boutenniers (the flowers men wear on their jacket lapels), my bouquet, and four flower arrangements to place around the house.  I also cleaned my bunny's cage and helped get him out into the garage for the night. My brothers had begun to show up. One flew all the way from St. Louis, and one drove from Seattle. One of my brothers lives in Guam, so he couldn't make it, but another brother was flying in from Spokane a bit later, and my final (and only local) brother would come later with his family.

At 2:30, I left to get my hair done. I was pretty stressed out at that time, and hoping that Raja hadn't followed through on his (joking) threat to run away to Venezuela. I was happy that my hairstylist was so nice, and offered me water and some calming tea. After about 45 minutes, my hair looked very nice, and I returned home to get ready for my wedding.

By the time I arrived home my cake was there, and so was my friend (and our minister), Liz. Liz has been my friend for years, and she is very organized (or, as some would say, "bossy.") I knew that she would make sure everything happened at the right time. We quickly went over a plan for the evening.

My number one priority was to do the one thing I had not been able to get done: write my vows! (That's sort of important, dont you think?) Liz brought me food and drink, and helped me relax. Raja's sister Anni showed up (she had flown all the way from London that day!) and she helped me dress and encouraged me. Downstairs, I heard my groom and the boys arrive. I was happy and relaxed. I watched the sun set in gorgeous pinks, oranges and reds outside the window, as my dearest friends and family arrived to witness the vows I had written, and the ceremony that would tie me to the man I love most in the world, my Raja.

To be continued...

Until then, be good!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Flat Stanley has returned from his happy visit to beautiful British Columbia (Canada) and Spokane, Washington.  Raja was a little uncomfortable walking around with him in public, as he didn't want his co-workers to think he liked to play with paper dolls. LOL. Here, however, is Stan luxuriating in a nice hotel room.

He is also obviously comfortable with both Macs and PCs, as here he is next to Raja's computer. I'm sure he was just surfing the internet.

Today is Valentine's Day. Flat Stanley and I wanted to say "hi" and wish you all love and happiness. Today Raja and I are going to get our marriage license. I'll let you know how that goes. Until then...

Be good!

Flat Stanley visits Portland

If you're a kid (or you know one) perhaps you know Flat Stanley. He's a kid who was squished flat. The upside is that he can now fold himself up and be mailed all over the world.

Flat Stanley came to visit me several weeks ago. Since then, we've had a good time visiting and shopping together.

Flat Stanley and I are just chilling at home.

Hi, everyone!

Flat Stanley checks his e-mail on my MacBook

Flat Stanley went with me to meet my mom, and got to hang out with Nyx, too.

Flat Stanley gets his zen on at a local New Age bookstore.

Of course, no shopping outing is complete without a stop at Starbucks!

Flat Stanley and I had a great time in Portland. Right now, he's on a business trip with Raja. When he returns, I'll post pictures of his travels.  We enjoy having Stanley as a travel companion. He certainly is a conversation starter!

See you soon, and until then, be good!

Finally, a Photo Post: Part One: Travel

Since I finally got the camera situation figured out, I know I owe you some photos.
I haven't been traveling much lately, as I've been moving and setting up my home. (I'm almost done with that. When I finish, I'll post some photos of that, too.) However, I did take a few trips, which I mentioned earlier, so here are the photos.

In November 2010,  I went to Orange County in Southern California to visit my friend Sabrina. Sabrina and I have been friends since the eighth grade: almost 30 years ago. Now we are both grown up. I love Sabrina like a sister. She is beautiful, smart, funny, and a great mom. She is one of my favorite people in the world, can't you tell? It was so fun to visit, and even nicer was the fact that, while it was cold and rainy at home, it was sunny and 80 degrees where she lived.

How beautiful is this sunset?

This is Sabrina's daughter. I call her "The Little Dutch Girl"

My footprints. I'm sort of obsessed with feet. :)

I wanted to stay for much, much longer!

In December, I moved to Oregon to be with Raja so we could plan our wedding and establish our home.  I was sad to leave my students and friends, but I have really missed my home state. We live in the suburbs, so when our planned trip to New York was cancelled due to a huge snowstorm,  we decided to stick close to home and spend a long weekend in Portland, which is, in my opinion, one of the loveliest cities to visit.

Pioneer Courthouse Square, where I spent my misspent youth.

The gorgeous Christmas tree

The courthouse across the square.

This bear fountain is the cutest!

Another view of the bears.

Portland has these awesome water fountains all over downtown.
They are almost always on, and the water is delicious!

The outside of Powell's City of Books, the best bookstore in the city,
and one of the best in the world! A whole city block, four floors,
new and used books. Luckily, they provide free maps inside!

Book shopping goes hand in hand with espresso and pastries.

Inside a fancy downtown mall. Pretty, don't you think?
I love anything sparkly, except vampires. 

This is Mother's restaurant, where we had a fine, homestyle meal.

Not sure this is an official motto, but I agree with the sentiment. 

This is a very famous donut shop in Portland.

This is the line *after* we'd already been standing there for  15 or 20 minutes.
It was cold outside! Luckily, it wasn't raining.

Cold, but cuddly, Raja and I huddle for warmth.

These boxes are cool, but what's inside is better!

We bought tons of doughnuts, including a devil doughnut.
Yes, that maple bar has bacon on it, and the purple one is grape flavored.

Sinuous Snake Woman

Two hip young guys.

The poster for the show. It was an awesome time!

Hope you enjoyed the photos. There should be more coming up soon, especially since Raja and I are getting married in 10 days!

See you soon, until then, be good!

Sigh

It's not exactly "tomorrow," is it? Oh well, I find that even though I am not working full time, a lot of things seem to eat up my hours. For example, the hour and a half I spent at the Post Office last Thursday, mailing things I had put off for at least six months, if not longer.

Also, living with other people means that you want to spend time with them and do things together. Raja often plays badminton after work, so when he gets home at 8:30 or 9 p.m., we usually just eat and go to bed. On the weekends, we shop or play with the kids or hang out. Last night he took me out to dinner. It was very nice. We had seafood and then a brownie sundae for dessert. We always share dessert because then we don't feel guilty for eating the whole thing. That's one of the sad things about being an adult. Children rarely feel guilty about dessert.

Yesterday afternoon I watched some episodes of "House" on DVD and then fell asleep. When I woke up, I realized I had forgotten some soup on the stove. The reason I remembered was that my whole apartment smelled like burning metal, which really, really stinks! I opened all the windows and the patio door, and burned a lot of incense. After keeping the windows open all night (we closed the door, though) the apartment doesn't smell quite so bad. I'm thinking more incense and a batch of brownies should do the trick.

I did find a cricket and a ladybug in the apartment, though. Ladybugs, at least, are good luck.

This week Raja is in California for work. He'll be back for the weekend, then he'll be heading to Canada and Spokane, Washington. Oh no! I just remembered that I was going to send Flat Stanley with him. Darn it. Well, I'll still be able to send him to Canada, if I remember. This week I plan to finish decorating the apartment, clean up some more, work some more, do some arts and crafts, hang out with my mom, and maybe see some of my friends. I haven't really seen any of them since I moved here, and it's been over a month. A friend of mine is a dancer, and she's dancing Wednesday night. I think I just might go see her.

Anyway, I received my new camera cord in the mail today, so you know what that means...
MASSIVE PHOTO POST IS ON ITS WAY!

I'll get it up soon.

until then,

be good!

Is it Thursday, yet?

Today I saw a bumper sticker on a truck that said "Is it Thursday, yet?" and it was. Technically it's Friday now, but it's still "today" to me because I haven't slept yet.

I woke up late, blogged, puttered, and didn't leave home until almost 3. I was at the Post Office for an hour and a half, mailing stuff. Then I went to my mom's. We had a nice visit, and I got to see Nyx. When I came home I made turkey burgers for dinner. They were really good. Raja and I watched TV, and he went to sleep. It was a nice day.

I'll write more tomorrow.

Be good!

New Journeys

Hello, there!

It has been way too long since I last wrote (what's new?) but here I am again typing away. To tell you the truth, it has taken me this long to have the time or the space to write.

For New Year's, since we didn't get to go to New York (darned blizzard!) we stayed in a beautiful hotel in downtown Portland instead. During the days we slept in, traipsed around town, ate at food stands, went shopping, and had a great time. We walked all over downtown, past St. Mary's Academy, my old high school, and up to Powell's, the most awesome bookstore in the world. (I am biased, but any bookstore so large you need a map...plus it sells both new and used books!) One morning we walked down to Voodoo Donuts. It's a really popular place, which has many strange kinds of yummy donuts. I would not let Raja buy the two pound donut. As it was, we bought more than a half dozen. Even over two days, we couldn't eat them all.

On New Year's Eve, we had an awesome time. We went to a very nice dinner at the hotel, and then we took a cab across the river to a club called "The Woods." There we enjoyed some fantastic Bhangra and Bollywood music mixed up by the husband and wife DJ  team Anjali and the Incredible Kid. I had a great time dancing, while Raja and our friend Regina sat and enjoyed the view. The place was very small, but by the stroke of midnight, there were over 500 people there. It was very crowded. There were a lot of interesting people there. First thing when I arrived, I noticed an old Uncle (in India, you call older  people "Uncle" or "Aunty" as a sign of affection and respect) dancing on the floor. He was wearing a suit. He was in his 60's, it looked like, but he was happily dancing wih all the younger women. There was also "Sinuous Snake Woman." She was dressed all in black and purple, with gold jewelry and gold shoes with high heels. She also wore a gold belt with a snake on it. She had a slithery dance, slow and side to side, and she didn't really vary her tempo much. No matter what was playing, she just continued to dance the same way. I think she danced to her own, internal DJ.  I noticed a bunch of cute young guys who spent a lot of time filming the crowd on their cellphones. I was laughing because it seemed like such a geeky thing to do, get all dressed up, come to a dance, then just film others dancing. However, as Gloria Estefan says, "the rhythm is gonna get you." ( A prize to anyone who can tell me from what movie I stole that last sentence.) They guys eventually gave up filming and started dancing.  At some point, I had to go to the restroom. There was only one, and there was a pretty long line. There I became best friends forever with a girl named Amy. She was pretty funny, but then the energy was flowing wild that night  and  a lot of people were acting a little funny. I even got Raja to dance with me a time or two. He says he won't even dance with me at our wedding. Maybe I should have asked DJ Anjali to spin some tracks at the reception! In the end, I just danced with this other fun girl (not Amy.) I could tell she was a belly dancer by her moves. I danced with her and her friends, and had a great time! At midnight I gave Raja a big hug and kiss. Afterwards, we left and went back to the hotel. The next day we checked out, and went back to our home and our crazy lives.

Since then, I have been extremely busy unpacking and putting things in their place in my new home. If  a thing doesn't have a place, it doesn't belong here. I have been pretty ruthless. The donation pick-up van has already been here twice,  and I already have more stuff ready for pickup next month. I am going to be going through my storage, too, because I already know I have too much stuff in there!

I have been working on developing routines, as my schedule is very different here. Usually I get up between 7 and 8 a.m., get some breakfast ready for Raja, get him off to work, make the bed, load the washing machine and empty the dishwasher, take a shower, get dressed, pray or meditate for a while, plan my day, check the calendar, make a to-do list, make tea or coffee, eat breakfast, check my e-mail, clean a little bit, do some chores or errands, putter around, do some stuff, eat lunch, check Facebook, go to work, check the mail, make dinner, fold and put away the laundry, putter around, eat dinner, load the dishwasher, make Raja's lunch, watch TV with Raja or read or write.  On Thursdays I visit my mom and Nyx (my bunny, who lives with her right now) and clean his cage.

Despite all my  unpacking and putting away efforts, I still can't find my camera cord, so I ordered a new one. However, I also bought a new camera. It's so fancy that I think I need to take lessons to learn how to use it! My former students sent me a "Flat Stanley" to photograph on my travels, so I'd better practice. ("Flat Stanley" is a character from a book. He's squished flat, the upside of which is that he can easily be folded flat and mailed around the world. ) I'll take some photos of him and post them here. (I know, I already owe you!)

Raja and I get married in 23 days. I can't believe it! I can't wait to be Mrs. Raja. I have a lot to share about the preparations for the wedding, but that will have to be another post. It's already 9 a.m. and I have to get up and do some housework now.  I'll write more soon, but until then...

Be good!

Finally! It's Back to the Blog

How I have missed having the chance to write! I can't believe that the New Year is practically upon us.
So many things have happened since I last wrote.

In November, as I mentioned in my last post, I visited my BFF Sabrina, who has been my friend since we were in the eighth grade. I rarely see her, but when we are together, it's as if we never left each other's side.  It's hard to believe that we are now women in our forties, with husbands and children and whatnot, but we are both happy and contented in our lives, and that is a good thing.

I did take pictures, but my camera cord has temporarily gone missing (explanation below) and as soon as I find it, I will post LOTS of pictures.

I only spent a weekend in California, but it was so nice to have warm, sunny weather, as it was beginning to be rainy and cold in the Pacific Northwest (after all, it was November!) and I was missing the sun. We went to the beach, and the water was so sparkling and beautiful, and I enjoyed playing with Sabrina and her daughter, Little E., who fell in love with me as much as I did with her. She already knew my name by the time we got there, and we played together quite a bit. Apparently, she remembered me after I left, too. Since she's only just over a year old, that's pretty cool. Sabrina's husband is awesome too, a really kind and intelligent person, and the perfect match for my friend.

When I got back, everything became busy. Lots of work, the beginning of the holiday season, and traveling down to Oregon on the weekends to see Raja and the kids. I no longer seemed to have time to write, do art, or do anything! However, that was soon to change.

At the end of November I gave my notice at my job. I told them that December 31 would be my last day, but that I was planning to move to Oregon to be with Raja the weekend of December 18.  On the 1st of December, I told my students. It was a very sad day for me, and all of them were sad, too. We all cried a little. The good thing, though, was that we spent a lot of time together those last two weeks, and I will never forget those times...or them!

The next weeks after my resignation were crazy. I had to pack up and sort all of my stuff! I was only living in a couple of rooms in a house I shared with my landlady (who is also now a friend), but I also had lots of stuff stored away in a storage unit. I knew I was moving into Raja's one-bedroom apartment, and had to get rid of some of that stuff, and quick!  Blending two households is never easy, especially when there is limited room. We can't move right now for a couple of reasons. For one, I just gave up 80% of my income (I have a little job in Oregon, working with a little girl with special needs), and two, we may move again sometime in 2011, so why not keep it simple? We renewed the lease, and got a storage unit at our apartment complex.

Alittle over a week ago, I moved. A couple of friends came by to help me pack up, and on the other end, I roped my brother into helping us unload. He is the best brother in the world.  This last week I drove back up to Washington, cleaned out my old place, had dinner with friends, took tons of stuff to Goodwill, gave away other stuff, visited my old work, drove back to Oregon, unpacked a lot of stuff and started organizing the apartment. I decorated a little bit for Christmas, worked a few days at my new job, said "Bon Voyage" to Monkey and the Man Cub who are off to Australia with their other parents for the holidays, drove back to Washington to pick up my car (which took longer than expected), went Christmas shopping, drove back to Oregon and did more Christmas shopping, wrapped gifts, went to my mom's for Christmas brunch, hung out with my cool cousins, took care of a sick Raja (he has an ear infection), and went to see Narnia 3 (which was a big disappointment to me; Raja was entertained, but then, he hadn't read the book.)

Our apartment is still filled with boxes, suitcases, and stuff that is being reorganized or re-homed; hence, I have no idea where many of the things I "need" are (like my camera cord!) I also had to mail a package to my old roommate: I accidentally packed her T.V. remote control!

On Sunday, Raja and I were supposed to leave for New York City, where we planned to spend New Year's Eve. However, a blizzard shut down all the East Coast airports, so we stayed home. I was disappointed, but not too badly, because I'm just so happy to be with Raja. We thought about going somewhere else, but in the end we decided to just go to Portland (Oregon.) We are going to stay in a very fancy hotel for three nights, tour around Portland, go someplace nice for dinner on New Year's Eve, and then go to a club to see a pair of Bhangra/Bollywood DJs and dance, dance, dance! (At least, I plan to.)

It may not seem as if I am "traveling the world" just to go to my own hometown, but then, I haven't been an Oregonian for 22 years now. I am happy to be back, and see my old home with new eyes. I will be taking lots of pictures, and posting them here. In fact, I have decided that every day is a new adventure, no matter where I do or don't go, so I will be using this as my regular blog. I hope to keep in touch with friends old and new, and to document all my adventures: rediscovering my home town, decorating my apartment, planning my upcoming wedding, any possible moves, our Spring Break trip (we're thinking San Diego, but I want the kids to help decide) and my Hindu wedding this summer in India.

I'll write again soon. Until then, be good!

Updates and Travel News

Hello, dear readers, if there are any still out there! I have been very remiss in updating, although I haven't done much "traveling the world" in the past two months. Last year at this time, I was preparing to head to Louisville to visit my friend Ruth. Here we are enjoying some mead. (That is wine made with honey.)

This year, I am going to southern California to see my friend Sabrina. She has been one of my best friends since we met in the eighth grade. I still have the first note she ever wrote to me.

I have been on several "mini-trips" since I last spoke, mostly to and from Portland to visit Raja. The most significant of these mini-trips was the one Raja and I made to Seattle a couple of weeks ago.

On Friday night, Raja picked me up at home, and we drove North to Seattle. We checked in to the Silvercloud Hotel right across from Safeco Field where the Seattle Mariners play baseball.

We met with my friend Nikki, hung out, and went out for dinner.On our way, Nikki got pulled over for having a headlight out. It was kind of funny, especially since Nikki is funny, and was able to make light of it (not to the officer's face, of course.) Dinner was awesome. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and spent some time together before we went to sleep.

The next day, we got up and went to the Wallingford neighborhood to visit my favorite novelty store, Archie McPhee. We met my former boss and his family there. Adam has always been one of my favorite people, and so it was great to see him. I remember when his daughter was born, and now she looks like this:

Oh, wait.  That's not her *real* head.

After the McPhee experience (and about $40 later for each of us, ) Raja and I toodled off to West Seattle to have lunch with our friends Bryan and Jennifer. Once again, we had a lovely meal, and afterwards we went to their house for a little while to talk. I could have stayed longer, because they were so delightful. but Raja and I wanted to go to Pike Place Market. 

Parking was terrible (it is always horrible in Seattle, which is why I hate driving there, and wouldn't want to live there) but the market was nice. Raja bought a t-shirt, and I couldn't help but ogle all the flowers all in these gorgeous colors. I just wanted to take them all home.

I know this one's blurry, but I love that green cabbagey thing!

 We did some shopping, and we were going to get our palms read, but the palmist must have known we were coming, so she took the day off. We went to a restaurant that sells crepes, which are like thin pancakes (very much like dosas) filled with good things. We had one filled with strawberries and Nutella, which is a chocolate hazelnut spread, and topped with whipped cream. It was so delicious, I told Raja I wanted to marry it! Too bad I couldn't because we had already eaten it.

On our way out of the market, I saw these beautiful strings of garlic and peppers. I had to take pictures.

Beautiful.

That night we drove North East, across the I-90 bridge, to Bellevue. We stayed at the Red Lion Hotel.

It was nicer on the inside than it looked on the outside. We went out for dinner and had some Pho, which is a Vietnamese noodle soup. It's sort of like Ramen noodles, but a million times better, with chicken in it. After we came back to the hotel, we read letters we had written to one another, and gave each other some presents. It was Durga Pooja, a special holiday honoring the goddess Durga, who is very special to me.

The next day, we got up kind of early, as we were going to go to temple in Redmond ( a few minutes away.) I made Raja go downstairs, as I wanted to get ready for the temple alone. I had a special outfit that Anni had bought me when she was in India. I hadn't worn it yet, so I wanted it to be a surprise. As I was trying to put it on, Anni texted me. She knew I was going to wear it today. She said, "Are you ready yet?" I called her..."Help! I said, I forgot how to tie a sari!" She walked me through it, but luckily I remembered as I went along. I took some pictures.

 I texted Raja that I was ready, quickly drank some juice and ate a roll, then we left for the temple.
The temple was very simple, and it was inside a business park in a community center set up in wht might otherwise have been an office space. Raja was a little disappointed, but I thought it was lovely, with all of the statues  and flowers, etc. They had had a large community gathering for Durga Pooja the night before, so everyone was tired, and the priest was running a little late. Raja talked to him, though, and he agreed to do a special rite for us, after the regular Darshana (going before the statue of the god or goddess, and seeing them.) First we went before the statue of Vishnu and asked his blessings, and Ganesha, as well. Raja placed some kumkum on my forehead and in my hair. Then we went before the statue of Durga. The priest did the Aarti (passed the lit lamp around the goddess) and then we passed the flame (or smoke from the flame) over our heads three times. He spooned some Holy Basil tea into our hands. We drank some and put the rest on our heads. We prayed before the goddess.

Then the priest had us sit. It was time for our special rite. He did some prayers before Durga, asking her for special blessings for us. He put some boxes that Raja had brought on the altar before Durga, asking her to bless them. He held them up in front of her hands so she could bless them. He blessed us by putting a silver hat-thing over our heads. I think its called a satagopam, but I can't find any information on it so far. (I'll keep looking.)

After the ritual. Raja and I went to the back of the temple space, where he took one of the boxes and opened it. he took out a ring and said, "Will you marry me and do me the honor of being my wife?" In return I said, "Naan unnai kalyanam pannikeren" Which means "I will marry you" in Tamil. He seemed pleased, and put the ring on my hand. It looks like this:

 Then I took the other box, in which there was a gold ring. Hindus exchange rings at engagement, so he wears a ring, as well. I asked him, "Raja, will you marry me" an he said "For this and many other lifetimes." I put the ring on his hand. Thus, we became officially engaged to be married.

Afterwards, we left the temple. We asked a guy in the parking lot to take our picture, and I took a few, and Raja took one of me in my sari. You can see the marks on my head from the kumkum. I think Rajas is ash. There are several powders put on the body during poojas: ash (grey), sandalwood (light brown), kum kum (red), turmeric (bright orange/yellow)...depending on the situation.

Okay, take the picture

The happy couple

Smile

In my sari. It's all shiny to go with my ring!

Our hands. Engaged!

We will get married in February. Until then there is tons of work to do! I get to work, but also look for new jobs in Oregon. I get to sort, clean, pack, and move. On top of that, I get to plan a wedding! Not only that, but in August we will be going back to India, to get married in a Hindu ceremony there. Now that will be one for the blog! Between now and then there will be trips to California and New York...and who knows where else! Stay tuned...and you can always sign up for blog notifications if you wish, that way, you'll never have to miss an entry!

Until next time....Be Good