Can’t believe six months has gone by. Time files when you’re having fun. Looking forward to the next six, and the next, and the next….

Liam, Carolyn, Martha, and I just got back from the Death Cab for Cutie show at the Santa Barbara Bowl. It was a fun show, but Martha and I were both struck by how little the state of the art has progressed from what the Beach Boys were doing, oh, 40 years ago. Just a thought.

We just arrived home from the windy city after celebrating my cousin’s wedding. Just a fun shot of us at the rehearsal dinner.

Martha’s in Boston. I’m in Pasadena. I had dinner with the monkey tonight.

I knew there was a reason I moved to Santa Barbara.

How could you go to Salt Lake City and pass on Brewvies? Get some beer, watch a movie. Martha and I saw Semi-Pro, which was exactly what you’d expect from a Will Ferrell movie about 1970s semi professional basketball.

Here’s one of Martha beneath the Brewvies sign. I had to tweak the image to get her to (barely) show up.

We were both thankful that this weekend we got to stay put!

Friday night Heather and Tim drove up our way to see the Natalie Cole show at the Granada so we tagged along for the dinner and dessert portions of their evening.

We had your basic Saturday yesterday. I had my traditional breakfast with Susan, ran a few errands, did a little fun shopping, I even got to take a nap! Zach spent the better part of the morning preparing our dinner for the slow-cooker. It was tasty - Cuban Chicken. It was done around 8pm and afterwards we retired to our little tv room and watched My Left Foot. Yes, My Left Foot, the film from 1989.

Today we decided to take a little drive north and are presently sitting in a cute coffee shop in San Luis Obispo. The drive up the coast was spectacular with lots of wildflowers along the 101. Soon we will go get some lunch and check out SLO a little more before heading back home for church. I’ll be sure to take some pictures of our little day trip today and post this week.

Saturday night the Becchios came over for some pizza. We had a fun time with them, reading Curious George, hearing about the Santa Barbara Junior High 75th anniversary carnival, and getting the boys in their jammies for the night. The quote of the evening: Me: D, are you excited to be at Cha-cha’s house? D: ZACH’S house. Well, I beg your pardon!

Paul McLean rescued my data from my dead computer. (Thanks, Paul!) Here’s an old photo I rediscovered. Zach made me post it.

The weather was so beautiful on Sunday that Zach and I packed a picnic lunch and headed down to Butterfly Beach to soak up some sun. Our friend Carolyn met us down there, too.

Zach and I were in South Pasadena this weekend for Esmée’s first birthday. It was a fun day at the park, despite the rain! Here we are with the birthday monkey.

I’m testing ecto 3. It’s pretty slick. It lets you upload images directly from iPhoto. Here’s one of Martha at the Halekulani, with Diamond Head in the background

So who are the Oceanic 6? Above is Martha at the LOST beach on the north shore of Oahu.

And, yes, having a DVR rules.

Josh Rice sent this Flickr set of the reception. Good times!

If you have photos of the events before the wedding, the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the reception or anything I’ve left off this list, please email them to Zach. Martha and I want them for our personal enjoyment, but please also indicate whether it’s OK to post them to this web site. Thank you.

After going to the fourth wedding since we were engaged, Martha and I set up her (soon-to-be our) apartment in a much more husband-friendly arrangement. The picture above was snapped in the middle of the shuffle.

We’re getting down to the last few weeks before the wedding! Martha and I decided it would be fun to take a break and go to Disneyland. Here’s a gallery with some of our pictures.

Martha and I finally got a new camera. While it’s handy to have the option of fixing one’s camera with duct tape, we decided we’d go up-town and get one of the new duct-tape-free models. Here’s a gallery with the first few shots I took.

Turns out that Wednesday was the perfect day for engagement photos. We did a short session at the Mission, and an even shorter one at Franceschi Park. However, Tuesday’s wind blew away all the crud one normally looks through in Southern California. We saw islands in the channel I didn’t know one could see from the mainland. The picture below was taken with my iPhone—just wait for the photos taken with a real camera!

You’ll note a new link to the left, below the reception link—it’s the long-awaited lodging information! We will be adding more as time goes on, but it should give you a basic idea of the lower-priced options in Santa Barbara.

As an aside, I’ve posted new pictures to the O.C. Engagement Party gallery. The new ones start on page 2.

Engagement party number two was a lovely evening at my parents’ house. Little did Martha and I know that her parents had decided yesterday on the spur of the moment to fly down and attend the party. What a treat!

It was exciting to see people from different eras of my life interacting and having a good time together. It’s a pity we don’t do that more often.

Here are some pictures. If you have any to add to the mix, please send them our way! Thanks to everybody who was there and especially those who made it happen.

The first engagement party was a major success! Thanks to everybody who helped out. We had a really fun time, and the only thing that would have made it better was for the people who couldn’t make it to have been there.

Here’s a gallery of photos. Enjoy!

The Holts and Eatons went to Santa Barbara this weekend. Here’s a gallery with the photos I’ve collected so far (thanks, Mike!)

Tonight Marlene gave me this cute engagement gift in honor of my new last name. 

We were treated to a tasty Italian dinner last night. Here are some pictures.