Ireland Couple Pictures

Here's a few fun pictures of Matt and I from our Ireland Trip!  Enjoy!

 

He asked... I said...

YES!!!

Welll... Matt and I are engaged.  Quite exciting!  It happened on July 18th in Ireland.  Here's the story...

On Sunday, Matt and I went on a walk on the beach.  After a bit it started raining so we made our way back to the cottage where his family is staying.  When we walked up, all the cars were gone but I just seemed to miss that fact.  We walked in and the front room was set up with music and candles and everything.  Matt then continued to say some beautiful things I'm sure but I can't seem to remember anything... I guess I was a bit excited or something.  Then after his beautiful things, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  The ring is beautiful.  It has 5 small diamonds on each side of the main one which is a full carat princess cut diamond.  BEAUTIFUL!!!  After the ring was in place, he proceeded to wash my feet to show his desire to serve me for the rest of his life.  It was so beautiful and he did a great job.  

The walk before

On the beach

I may have been excited!

That's my future husband!

THE RING!!!  He did a wonderful job picking it out!

Mussoorie Days!

THURSDAY, JULY 8th-

• We got back from Amritsar this day and were just lazy all day long!  It was wonderful!

FRIDAY, JULY 9th- 

• We went into town today and picked up all the last minute things that we had ordered to be made.  Chris got two suits that were made, Nicole and I got our coats... they're BEAUTIFUL!..., picked up a suit that we had made for Matthew, and also picked up some shoes.  

• That night, the girls from the trek along with one of Nicole's old camp friends who used to work here came over for MEXICAN NIGHT!  We made homemade chicken fajitas, salsa, and fruit salad.  It was so much fun.  
• Nicole also taught me and the other girl from America how to tie our sarees.  FUN FUN!

SATURDAY, JULY 10th-

• Today we packed, took down curtains, organized, and all that jazz.
• Then that night, we went to one of Nicole's coworker's house to see his new twin boys.  Oh my they were so cute and TINY!!!  We were able to give them a bunch of stuff as well from the house and it was so beautiful to see their faces light up from gratitude.

SUNDAY, JULY 11th-

• We did a lot more packing today and got the whole house basically packed up.  Chris worked on figuring out how to transport all of the stuff and found out that we can do unaccompanied luggage all the way to the US for only a bit more money than lugging it around with us!!!  
• That night we had our SAREE NIGHT!!!  We went out to eat with three other girls to a nice restaurant all dressed up in our sarees.  It was so much fun to tie and 'situate' the saree with Nicole before we went out.  I guess that each morning all the sisters and mothers here help each other into their sarees, so it was fun to kind of see what that was like.

• Afterwards, Nicole and I found some silliness within us and took these pictures... hehehehe! 

MONDAY, JULY 12th-

• This day we did last minute packing, worked on school stuff for Nicole, and laid around!  Quite the life.  We also happened to watch some movies along the way too... why is life so stressful sometimes?!?  :)

TUESDAY, JULY 13th- 

• And what did we do this day?  Pack!  We also delivered the final things to people who had bought them around town.
• Then at 7:00 the taxi picked us up, we got all the luggage packed up, and we left for the train station.
• We got the train station fine and got onto our train no problem. 

 AGRA HERE WE COME!!!

Sisters in Amritsar!

TUESDAY, JULY 6th-

• Nicole and I got to Amritsar at 4:30 in the morning due to our travel complications, so we slept in.

• We tried to change our train tickets from Tuesday night to Wednesday, but after going to three different lines, getting strange looks from people around us, and waiting for a few hours, we decided just to leave it. 

• So that afternoon we walked around town a bit, went to Cafe Coffee Day, and then went to the Pakistan-Indian Border Crossing Ceremony. This was hilarious. It was almost like a sporting event where these big army men do high kicks and shake their heads at the other side of the border. It was so funny.

Cafe Coffee Day

All of those girls with the hat... yeah they basically attacked us like we were celebrities.

A Sweet Sikh Man.

The intense dance party that we got pulled into.  AHHH!

So... a few girls came up into the stands and led us down to a giant dance party but as soon as we got there girls started running up to us asking to have their picture taken with us.  WOAH!

Being led around from group to group.

Nicole with the girls

Even moms wanted their pictures taken with us.

And the ceremony began.  There was a trumpet player and then one of these guys would just sing a pitch for like 30 seconds, wait 10 and then start again.  The Pakistan side would sing too.  It was like a competition for the longest-winded singer or something! 

The Pakistan Side.

WOAH... INTENSE!

The gate between the two sides.

• That night we went to the Golden Temple which was so cool. In Sikhism, you are supposed to carry a sword with you at all times and wear certain clothing. There were some men who took this SOO seriously and carried huge swords, and wore GIANT turbans on their heads. 

The view from our hotel roof.  It was beautiful! (That's the Golden Temple if you didn't know)

 

The Golden Temple at night.

People would get into the water and pray towards the temple.  

One of the SWEET men with the sword and GIANT turban!

We met some very friendly girls at the Golden Temple.  

 

• Then we were supposed to leave on the train, so we packed up and went to the station, but it got cancelled due to flooding. GRRR... we should have changed it I guess. So we went back to our hotel, ordered pizza, watched Hindi TV, and fell asleep.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 7th-

• We slept in this morning as well and then went back to Cafe Coffee Day. You don't think we like our coffee or anything do you?!? It was fun to people watch, read, and just hang out with each other.

• Then we went shopping, checked our email, and hung out at the hotel some more.

• Finally it was time to leave for the train station again. This time our train was on time and running. BUT... Nicole and I got their early and decided just to wait in our 'bedroom' on the train after Nicole had gotten pooped on by a bird. But the electricity was off so we sat there, in the dark, with all of our luggage, freaking out whenever someone would walk by. How fun?!?

Our train room!!!

Why don't these fans work any better?!?

The Bird Poop...

THURSDAY, JULY 8th-

• After a long, sticky night on the train, we finally got to Dehra Dun and took our taxi up to Mussoorie.

• Monsoon has set in, therefore it was very foggy and rainy. But we made it back safely!

Yea for a WONDERFUL and EVENTFUL Amritsar Trip!