Greg Baugues and Rachel Lazelle Got Married

We’ve probably told you the story about a rock climbing trip with Park Community Church.  And it’s true, the first time we met face-to-face was on a ferry headed into Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin.

But that was not our first encounter.  Our first encounter was in an email chain earlier that week.  Dan Hanson, the trip organizer, sent an email to the five of us who had volunteered to cook for the 40 people coming on the trip.

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Here’s Amazon’s wedding planning checklist.

How did this become the social norm?

So glad we’re not doing it this way.  So glad I found a woman who didn’t want one of these.

I am quite smitten.

Brian Tucker changed my life.  Back when he lived in the apartment above me (he’s now my roommate) I would see a new Amazon box on his stairs daily.  I thought “this dude buys a lot from Amazon.”

What I didn’t realize at the time is that Brian buys everything from Amazon.  Books, electronics, toiletries, clothing, bulk food items… if it’s in our house there’s a 80% chance it was purchased on Amazon.com.

The benefits to online shopping are huge.  Open 24 hours a day.  Easy price and product comparisons. No tax.  No parking.  No lines.  And with Amazon Prime, no shipping costs.

Needless to say, he converted me.

So when it came time to set up our wedding registry, my first stop was Amazon.  But Rachel, in her non-nerd wisdom, suggested that not all of our friends and family are tech-savvy and we should register with a couple brick-n-mortar stores as well.

Now, for all my disdain of real-life shopping, I was actually very excited.  This was our chance to be the couple armed with the barcode gun engaging in acts of unrestrained consumerism, hunting down coveted items with a blatant disregard for price.

I honestly envisioned it being something like this:

Sadly it turned out to be more like, well, shopping.  After an hour, my back hurt, my feet hurt, and I wanted to go home.  

Fortunately, even brick-n-mortars like Target have online registry management.  

I’ve known Scott Yost since fifth grade. Several years ago he moved out to Seattle to work for Microsoft. He emailed me last night after he saw the previous post about our honeymoon spot. Unbeknownst to me, he and his wife got married at Willows Lodge. He had nothing but good things to say about the place.

He also asked if we had inquired about a marriage license yet. Good call. That’s gonna be useful later on.

I called Island county, where Whidbey Island is located. I was informed that

• You must apply for a marriage certificate in person
• Marriage certificates are not valid until three days after issuance
• The Island County auditor’s office is closed on Fridays

So…. this issue was poised to throw a big ol’ wrench into our plans to arrive on Saturday and get married on Tuesday.

Fortunately, we are not required to get our certificate in Island county. And King county, where Seattle is, is cutting edge enough to embrace 19th century technology known as the US Postal Service and allow for applications by mail.

So, all we have to do is fill out this form in front of a notary, mail it in with a money order for $64 and we’ll be good to go.

I hope.