Erin 'n Izzy's Wedding

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Erin’s take:

That Sunday morning I kept waking up, looking over at Izzy, and he was staring at me.     “There is something wrong with that man,” I kept thinking to myself.  We had planned (or at least I thought) to go for a bike ride along the Rio Grande. So, at around 9:30 I hopped out of bed to brew some coffee.  Izzy didn’t seem to want to get up.  I thought, “funny, he wasn’t sleeping all morning.  He was just staring at me.”  While Izzy took his sweet time in rousing himself, I plunked down with my laptop.  When Izzy finally got up, he told me that he had to go buy motor oil.  After he left to buy “motor oil,” I consulted with the dogs.  They agreed that he was certainly up to something.

At around 11 or so, I saw Izzy walk past the office window carrying motor oil disguised as a bouquet of flowers.  He poked his head around the corner and asked, “Erin, whatcha doin’?”  “What are you doing, Izzy?”  “Come out here,” he said.  So out I went.  He handed me a dozen roses and I immediately started bawling.  He  told me to close my eyes, slipped the ring on my finger, and said, “Erin, will you marry me?”  After thinking long and hard I accepted and bawled profusely.

Izzy’s take:

I will begin by telling the story of my ring acquisition. As everyone knows, Erin is the most patient girl in the world :-). She pestered me about her having a ring. She wanted me to buy her a really inexpensive one so she “had a ring on her finger.”  I did not want to get her a crappy ring (I like items that last and are of high quality).  I also wanted it to be a surprise.  Additionally, I don’t agree with diamonds being overpriced by a cartel and diamonds being mined through oppression.  So I began looking at alternatives.  I found some synthetic sapphires that were of high gemstone quality.  A mined sapphire of equal quality to the synthetic ones in Erin’s ring would cost on the order of $8-12,000, which I think is ridiculous when there is no real difference between the mined and synthetic (except exploitation of resources).  Anyway, I also wanted the setting to be of high quality so that it would last.  I tried to find stainless steel and titanium settings that looked “girlie” but alas, I could find none.  All of the stainless/titanium rings looked like they belonged on men’s fingers.  Platinum (and gold) had become very pricey due to its use as a hedge as the global economy slowed and also the fall of the dollar.  I found a metal that is used in electron pumps, and as a catalyst in general, that is only two elements away from platinum on the period table.  Palladium!  Palladium, to a jeweler, is basically the same metal as platinum.  It is actually rarer than platinum, and used more heavily in industry.  It is a teensy bit less durable than platinum, but still the most durable “soft” metal besides platinum used to make rings, which means I could potentially find that “girlie” setting in this metal.  It was difficult finding a jeweler that manufactured settings using Palladium, but I did find a few.  I then ordered four synthetic sapphires (blue) and picked the best one according to color and light dispersion.

Then something awful happened.  I severely herniated a disc on April 7, 2008.  As I could not work much, finances were tight, so I had to put the ring thing on hold.  During this time Erin asked me about the “cheap” ring a few more times.  I knew that I could be incapacitated for a long time, so I showed her the sapphire, so that she knew something special was coming eventually.  Eventually took some time to come, but ultimately it came.  I recovered enough to work and I continued planning the proposal.

So, I sent the sapphire that I chose to the jeweler who worked in Palladium to mount in a beautiful trellis setting, with white sapphires as sidestones.  You can see a picture of it in the gallery.  It arrived a few weeks later.

When the ring arrived, I had already been planning the the proposal a little, but I was also working around 70 hours a week.  Let me tell you guys, that ring just burnt a hole in my brain.  I wanted to give it to Erin immediately!  I was, however, able to control myself and make plans (which is a big deal for me, I am definitely not a planner).  I made dinner reservations at Scalo, and a couple’s massage appointment at the good spa here (Betty’s Day Spa).  My plan was to put the ring on Erin’s finger while we were asleep, and then she would wake up with it on and be extremely surprised!  (I found this idea by reading what others had done for proposals on their wedding sites).

So the night came to put the ring on, with all the appointments for celebration and fun being on the next day (Sunday, July 6, 2008).  I knew Erin was a light sleeper, but that night she totally would not cooperate with my plan!  I would move over with the ring, but the second I would jostle the bed she would wake up.  I guess she thought it was weird that I was staring at her so much…hehe.  I will confess that I was also very nervous, so sleep was difficult anyway.  By the morning I still had not been able to get the ring on her finger, and I had to improvise.  Erin got up, very chipper, thinking that we were going on a bike ride.  I didn’t want to blow my cover, so I said I needed to get motor oil for the car (which we did need and I planned on changing soon) and that we would go riding when I got back.  I went and picked up a dozen roses, in our wedding colors (we had already started planning the wedding) and came back (I also had the ring burning a hole in my pocket).  I tried to sneak by the window to our office, but that is a very large window!  I slowly opened the door to make sure Erin was not in our entry way, then I said “Errrrinnnn, what are you doin’?”  She said “What are you doooiiinnnn’?”  I then said, “Errrrinnnnn, come out here!”  I felt a little crazed and pushed her up against the wall, you know so she couldn’t escape, and gave her the roses.  I then told her to close her eyes.  “Erin” I said, my voice wavering with emotion, “will you marry me?”  She said “YES” before I finished saying “marry.”  I then took her hand and put the ring on her finger!  Then we kissed and kissed.  Erin cried, I cried, even the dogs cried.

We then went out for crepes, where we had champagne.  We went to look at chains for Erin to put the ring on, but did not really find any we liked.  She ended up not really needing the chain anyway.  I then told her we were going somewhere special (which she thought was dinner at first).  I started driving down the street towards the day spa, and she said “What the heck is over here?”  I said, “Hmmm, what is down here?”  The understanding lit up her eyes and she became very excited.  If we had not been driving she would have jumped up and down.  We had the massage and then went to dinner at Scalo,  along with a nice bottle of wine.

–The End

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We realize that not everyone in our families has had the chance to meet each other’s soon to be spouse. To help the “gettin’ to know the in-laws” process, we’ve put together short and sweet personal bios for each of us.

Erin

Nov. 25th 1981 - Kurt and Liz welcomed a beautiful (if I may say so myself) bald little girl into their New Jersey home.

1980’s - Kurt and Liz popped out two more bald little beans, Geoff followed by Becky.

After a few changes in venue, the family finds their way to a gorgeous 12-acre farm in Hope, NJ. Erin named the many barn cats, Geoff rode pigs, Becky went through a lot of diapers.

1992 - On a whim, the family moves to Magdalena, New Mexico. Kurt went to New Mexico Tech to study Math, Liz taught at the local elementary school, Erin named the many horny toads, Geoff ran away from school and was later found in an alley, Becky sat on a nest of fire ants [ouch].

Erin also vaguely remembers talking to some quiet skinny boy at a friend’s house.

1994 - After a bit too much sun, the family moves back to New Jersey.

Aug. 20th 2004 - Erin decided she missed the sun, packed everything in her Mitsubishi and headed out back to New Mexico.

Israel

May 27th 1979 - Beneath a Ponderosa pine tree in Myers California, Stephen and Leslie welcomed their bouncing little boy into the world

1980s - Israel’s family grew with the addition of Hannah, David, then Barnabas, while they lived in Hop Canyon, New Mexico (right outside Magdalena). With no electricity they used kerosene lamps for light and a propane stove for cooking. The four little Vaughn’s would catch lizards on a rock they named “Thunder Mountain.

Early 1990s - Israel and his siblings moved to Albuquerque. Israel was shy and nerdy and did not socialize much. Stephen still lived in Hop canyon so Israel would spend summers there.

Israel also vaguely remembers talking to some blond girl at a friend’s house. The freight train of speech disoriented Israel (seriously the talking never stopped)!

Israel learned that most other kids his age considered him to be a big dork!

Late 1990s - Israel began to have a keen interest in explosives, cars, and science. Fortunately for him, his favorite High School teacher, Mrs. Meharg, convinced him to go to college. At New Mexico Tech he was not such a dork anymore!

1998 - 2002 - Israel completes a BS in mathematics. College was one of the best times of Israel’s life (meeting Erin was the best time however). He recommends the experience.

Erin and Israel

Oct. 4th 2004 - THE FIRST ENCOUNTER - Erin’s new roommate invites Israel and a friend over. Upon discovering that they both had lived in Magdalena NM (of all places), much conversation ensued

Oct. 5th 2004 - Erin asked her new roommate to make that cute boy come over again. Israel accepted the invitation and promptly scurried over to the apartment.

August 2005 - Erin went back to school and began to study Biology at the local community college (hey, its cheap!)

Spring 2006 - Erin transferred to the University of New Mexico where Israel had already begun studying for his Master’s degree.

Erin rented a room near the university and Israel sorta kinda moved in (hey, his computer was there, that’s a nerd moving in).

Summer 2006 - Israel, never one to be “all mushy and stuff” lets the word “girlfriend” slip out in reference to Erin.

Israel gets a great job working in optics.

Erin lands a sweet work-study position at UNM’s Cancer Research Center.

Spring 2007 - Tired of dealing with roommates (sorry Brooke!) Israel and Erin rented a teensy little house for themselves.

Erin insisted there be a backyard for puppies.

Israel insisted there be a room for his computer(s).

Summer 2007 - Erin and Israel welcomed their first furry friend Cauchy to their little house in the ghetto. Cauchy was named after Augustin Louis Cauchy, a French Mathematician (the Father of Complex Analysis).

December 2007 - Cauchy, feeling lonely, asked Erin and Israel for a brother. After adopting Aldo (aka the Gremlin), the family decided that two dogs was plenty. Aldo was named after Aldo Leopold (ecologist, forester, naturalist, author, visionary, Father of Wildlife Management). Stephen approved of the name choice.

April 7th 2008 - Messing with the cat, Israel herniated a disk in his lower back. Erin had never seen anyone in so much pain. Because the situation was financially uncertain, Israel immediately cut all spending to two major projects that he was working on. The first project was a nice mountain bike which Israel intended to begin racing with. The second project was Erin’s engagement ring.

Late April 2008 - After first consulting with her invalid, ever so patient Erin started planning for a wedding (without yet having an “official” engagement).

May 29th 2008 - Erin went wedding dress shopping.  To her dismay, she discovered that she looked like a cake in most dresses at David’s Bridal.

Early June 2008 - Izzy’s back finally starts to feel good enough such that he can return to work.  Both Izzy and Erin are extremely relieved that the possible need for surgery is lessening by the day.