Ok, it's really no surprise that I said yes, right? But that didn't mean that Mike wasn't going to invest the necessary time to make sure every detail was perfect.
From the hours invested in documenting their history together in a beautiful scrapbook... to the conversation with my dad - to tell him how much he loved her and how he wants to make her happy - and to ask for his blessing (not permission, for after all, I'm over 30 so permission seems silly)... to the accelerated timing to allow us to tell our families in person over the holidays...
On December 22, 2007, on an empty, beautiful winter beach on Long Island (Robert Moses State Park), Mike asked me to marry him. I, of course, said YES. After 9 years of friendship and 2 years of friendship and love, it was the obvious next step.
About Us...
Mike and Linda met in 1996 at Rensselaer, where Linda was half-way through her Bachelor's degree and Mike had just moved to pursue his PhD (after receiving his BS from Caltech). They both played ultimate frisbee on the college team, Trudge, which is how they first met.
Mike will tell you that he has been smitten with Linda since the winter of 1996. Linda probably wouldn't admit to the same, but her scrapbooks and college memorabilia suggest otherwise. It's probably a good thing that Mike was so shy though - both had many life lessons still to learn before they'd be ready to commit to another completely.
They drifted in and out of each other's lives, connecting each year at "frisbee thanksgiving". There was always a spark between them - in fact, the winter of 2002, they almost wound up together, but the timing still just wasn't quite right. In fact, Linda played the "f" card (let's just be friends), which quickly squelched their flirtatious email exchanges.
Linda got sick in 2005. At "frisbee thanksgiving" that year, Mike organized a fundraiser in Linda's honor, raising close to $1000 for Komen. Needless to say, Linda was incredibly touched. That night, the two stayed up talking into the wee hours of the morning - discussing our fears, disappointments, relationships and dreams. The conversation flowed so easily and honestly, neither one wanted it to end (though Linda, just finishing four months of chemo, was exhausted!) They left Troy that weekend with a newly revived connection (Mike was so distracted by his thoughts, he got on Rt 90 going the wrong direction -- adding 30 minutes to his 3 hour drive back to Ithaca!)
Once again, the two traded emails and eventually decided that Mike would visit Linda in NJ. Just before the visit, Linda once again got cold feet and tried to cancel. She knew she really liked this friendship with Vogel, but she also suspected that he was interested in more than just a friendship -- and she was unsure whether that was what she wanted. She decided to have Mike visit and they spent a friendly weekend playing disc golf, watching movies and talking about life. She drew a fairly obvious line that this was to be a platonic relationship and Mike didn't push the issue. On Sunday morning, Mike prepared to leave, but when he went to start his car, it wouldn't start! Being a Sunday, there was nobody available to fix it, so it looked like Mike would have to stay another night (convenient!). That night, deciding fate doesn't give you many second chances, Mike shared with Linda the feelings he had been keeping bottled up inside. Linda couldn't deny the connection they had, but also was unsure of whether she was in the right place to allow someone to love her (she had been hurt, plus, she was still trying to force herself to cry over her stupid illness... who knew what other kinds of emotional baggage she was storing up?). But Mike was patient. They left things undefined and Mike headed back to Ithaca.
Their email exchanges grew and they continued their conversations on the phone for hours on end. The holidays approached and Mike surprised himself by telling his mother about this wonderful woman he had met. The day before New Year's, Mike was back in Ithaca and Linda was in NJ. They were trading text messages at 8pm. Cornell was deserted and Mike wasn't really making much progress with his research (how could he when he was on the phone with Linda 24-7?). They decided that they were both being ridiculous. Mike got in his car and made the four hour drive to NJ. When he walked through the door at midnight, any lingering doubt in Linda's mind disappeared... and they never looked back.
To follow our story: http://mikeandlindavogel.blogspot.com/
In Santa Barbara, we visited my good friend Jen (her husband, Jim, was in China at the time). We had a lovely dinner downtown and spent the night at their cute home just outside of town. In the morning, Mike went off to play disc golf and I ran to the track at the college Jen works out to do a stadium workout (quite possibly the most rewarding stadium workout ever - from the top of the stadium, I could see across the road to the harbor and ocean - gorgeous). We then headed over to visit my dear friend Sarah Jarvis (and finally meet her darling daughter Beatrice). What a lovely visit. We had lunch in town and walked around afterwards. Of all the places we saw in southern California, I do think Santa Barbara is the one where I could most picture myself living.
Tuesday evening, we drove back to Santa Monica. We took "the scenic route" and stopped for a short hike on Malibu Bluffs.
We met up with Heather and Jess and headed out to dinner in Santa Monica. First we stopped at a wine bar for cheese and wine tasting. Delicious (particularly the 1978 Cakebread Cabernet). We then went to Maxwell's Italian restaurant. Ok, it's not really called "Maxwell's" - I have no idea what it was called. Maxwell, a friend of Jess & Noah's (and now Heather's), runs the place and made the night an evening to remember, so in my mind, it's "Maxwell's". It's a bit unfortunate that I can't share the actual name with you all... because this was, quite possibly, the best meal I have ever eaten. It ranks right up there with Frank's Keys Cafe in Key Largo (lobster fra diavolo + exploding chocolate volcano). Amazing. It's also quite possible that the impression this meal left was enhanced by the wine tasting that preceeded it, but even without the wine, I'm quite sure this meal was the best we had during our vacation.
Wednesday morning, we left very early for our flight to Oahu. After a short flight to San Francisco and a 5 hour flight, we landed in Oahu around lunchtime. The flight approached Oahu from the Northeast and circled 3/4 of the island before landing in Honolulu. What a view from the plane!
We gathered our bags and headed to our home base in Ewa Beach. After weeks of debate between renting a studio apartment on the north shore at Chun's Reef and a beautiful home in Ewa Beach, we went with the home in Ewa Beach (
We spent 7 full days on Oahu. We bought snorkeling gear so that we could go whenever the notion hit us and managed to snorkel Shark's Cove, Makaha Beach and the lagoons at Ko-Olina (our favorite). We meant to hit Hanama Bay on our last day, but they are closed on Tuesdays. Bummer.
We hit all of the tourist spots - Waimea Bay, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, Diamond Head and the Polynesian Cultural Center. I even took a surf lesson (I couldn't stop smiling for hours afterwards... this was definitely a highlight of the trip!)
We also visited some lesser known places - a hike to the temple ruins above Waimea Bay, the shrimp trucks in Kohuku, a drive up the Waianae Coast, and a sunset hike up to Makapu'u lighthouse.
On Wed, Mike's Birthday, we packed up and caught an early flight over to Hawaii, "the big island". We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Hilo (
On Thursday morning, we got up early and headed out for our Helicoptor tour of the volcano. Currently, the volcano is errupting in a place that is only accessible by air (or a full day hike in each direction). Unfortunately, the lava is no longer entering the ocean, but the view we got from the helicoptor was pretty amazing. The photos don't really do it justice.
After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to check out. We stopped at one of the waterfalls to catch it in the sunlight. We packed up and then headed out to 
We arrived in San Diego and went to check into our hotel. Exhausted from several busy days and then a red-eye flight, we decided to hit the San Diego zoo instead of the Wild Animal Park (even though the zoo is much more depressing than the open, wild animal park). We spent the afternoon visiting with the pandas, zebras, gorillas, elephants and koalas (though many of the animals were taking their afternoon nap while we were there). Dinner was at Casa de Pico, a recommendation from Jack-a-lack. Delicious mexican + margaritas in Old Town San Diego.
Saturday was the wedding in La Jolla. The reception was at Torrey Pines and everything was lovely. It was fun to visit with old ZS friends: Heather, Jess, Bill, Abby, Naoko, and of course, "Pumpkin Head" Jim Adelizzi (the groom).
Sunday, we headed back out to La Jolla and spent the day walking around, checking out the bluffs, the caves, the cove and the seals. A beautiful sunset and a late dinner in La Jolla and then we were off to the airport to catch our flight home to Philadelphia.
Hawaii pics??? We want to see some!
