The story goes:

Once Upon a Time
There was a Charming young lady at a renaissance faire
who caught the eye of a roving ren-photographer-wanna-be.
As you can tell from her photos, she is as pleasant of looks as she is kind of heart
Well... the photographer-wanna-be was smitten
And much to his surprise (and delight), the lovely young lady was quite taken with him as well!

This was the beginning of a wonderful, unique relationship
Both love photography
Both love music
Both love things that give life zest
In fact, both love very nearly the same pursuits

As this relationship grew.. first one season, then many,
the bonds grew ever stronger
until the two were inseparable.

Yet, surprisingly, over the course of time only 3 dates came about
The first was Valentines day... with gifts given in rememberance of a lost feline friend
The second was the result of a lifelong desire to travel to Ireland, and culminated in engagement
The third is yet to come... promises of permanence in matrimony
..
   There are worthy stories behind each date

.................

The first was Valentines Day, in another state:
Camping in the Superstition mountains at the end of a lovely day
what could be better than a romantic walk?
Hand in hand, crisp clear evening, stars blazing above
A gift was given for a valentine, but only of importance to her
A few weeks earlier, she had lost her cat, companion of 18 years, and her only pet
whom she had raised from a kitten that was not expected to live
It was only appropriate that her friend should be remembered with reverence by others
A deed was presented, a star named in honor of 'Smoky'
and, of course, there happened to be a telescope close at hand.

.................

The second was her 30th birthday
The relationship had gone beyond the need for dates
yet a thirtieth birthday needed to be memorable in her eyes
What a perfect opportunity for a date...
...and more...
Her lifelong dream was to visit Ireland
Birthplace of her ancestors, and center of all she holds dear in culture
She had said once if she visited Ireland, she could not leave without seeing New Grange
New Grange... the Irish Stone Henge
But much older, with more history and Celtic soul, if you will
The birthday was planned in secret... she only knew that there was a trip involved
Her passport was up to date, her dancing shoes packed, and she was never aware
that her rings had been borrowed for sizing.

Then came the day for travel
She was told to pack for all weather between 30 and 85 degrees
Snow, rain, beach... she had no clue
Finally, on the way to the airport, her first present was given...

Serendipity came into play with this choice of gift
While looking for a Beanie Baby (and having NO luck, I might add)
this particular bear was sitting at the register, just waiting for his perfect moment
Interesting, of all the Beanie Bears to be left alone in that store,
this one was named... Dublin
Could it be any better?
Her first birthday gift was given as she was about to explode from excitement...
in a tupperware bowl, wrapped in green paper, was Dublin
Her first response (after squealing) was "Dublin, Ohio, right?"
She was beginning to find out how well the ruse was planned.

Many flight hours later, she hadn't calmed down
To call her a ball of nervous energy does not do her justice
She had no idea I was FAR more nervous than she, having overcome the first hurdle
And the second... airport security!
The ring had gone undetected in my pocket through the scanners,
and fortunately no one had asked me to empty my pockets.

We arrived early in the a.m. at Dublin
Since only a few days could be afforded for a 'birthday' trip, I chose Dublin...
close to the Book of Kells...
the legendary Guinness Store House...
and, of course, New Grange
Castles, museums and culture districts surrounded where we stayed
Going on blind information and intuition, I had chosen a small
hotel near the end of Temple Bar, with a charming overlook.
It could not have been planned this well if I had tried for months.
 

Needless to say, days of frantically trying to see all the wonders of Dublin ensued
Too much to possibly do in one trip!
All done with the most important part of the trip in the back of my mind, mind you
I was carrying the ring in my pocket around the clock, it COULD NOT be lost at this point
Talk about nervous, we walked sidestreets after dark all over Temple Bar, down to Guinness,
and to all the local attractions too numerous to mention.

Having done most of our sightseeing by her birthday proper,
seen the Book of Kells, Guinness Brewery, St. Patricks cathedral, Christ Church cathedral, Dublin Castle,
and walked dozens of miles in the local town
all that was left was to visit New Grange and present her final birthday present.

Here is the interesting part of the trip...
There weren't ANY tickets to be had online for tours to New Grange prior to the trip
I had come over on blind faith that I could improvise this part of the plans
Having looked for the tourist Bureau and finding it to be closed at every attempt,
out of desperation we walked there one last time early on the day of her birthday (Monday, as it happenned)
Fortunately, the bureau was open!
Unfortunately, there were no scheduled tours on Monday
Hmmm... serendipity again
The person behind the counter knew of a private tour that might be running that day
She called... ... ... we waited... ... ... ...
We procured the last two seats on  the ONLY tour running to New Grange from Dublin on that day
My heart started beating again.

The trip to New Grange was quite pleasant, though uneventful
We saw Tara, the mound of kings, and had a beautiful trip through the rolling green hills of Ireland
Upon arriving at New Grange, the tour guide informed us there would be limited time at the mound proper
great... more pressure
Try as I might, I could not manage a few moments alone in the chamber at the heart of New Grange
Fortunately, rushed as we were, there was a terrific opportunity in front of the main entry stone.
Having concluded the tour in the inner chambers, and returning to the outside world,
I seized the opportunity
In my camera backpack was her last birthday gift, ensconced in another plastic bowl
I asked her to turn around for a moment for me to retrieve her gift from my bag... NO PEEKING!
When she turned back, I had my friend the Groom Beanie Bear with me,
with his knee bent and holding the ring in his own little treasure chest
.
.
Eyes big as saucers
.
.
I informed her that my friend had something to ask her, but under the circumstances
I thought I had better take over... he was nervous
.
.
I dropped to one knee just to the side of the head stone, and asked
"Prithee M'Lady, wilst thou marry me?"
.
.
She said the world went white and closed in on us, as looking down a tunnel
all that she saw was my face
no New Grange, no bear, no ring... just me
.
.
and said YES

The rest of the trip could not compare...
 
(But here are the trip pics anyway ;-)

.................

The third date is yet to come... matrimony
We have plans for ceremonies near the end of May
This is when the real journey begins...

...UPDATE...
    .
We finally did it!!
We had our THIRD DATE on May 30 (and 31^st), 2004
Wed at Castle Douglas and Handfasted at Scarborough Faire the next day
(we always were backwards ;-)
The Story and Pics are here .

    .
      .