Hello all! Welcome to the crazy and never dull world of Cherie and Darrell! I have been toying around with the idea of creating a blog of all our exciting travels, experiences, and life events since Cherie and I started dating.
For everyone that does not know us personally, Cherie and I have been together since our Vegas encounter July 2005 when our good friends Woody and Lauren decided to get a group together for a summer trip to Vegas. Who knew that our luck in Vegas would pay out in a life long partnership!
When we met, I was living in Idaho, and she was living in Dallas, so we did the long distance relationship for about 6 months before I decided to test my luck even more, when I quit my job of 6 years, moved to Dallas to be closer to Cherie, and go back to school full time. It was great being closer to Cherie, however, the Dallas experience was short lived (2-3 months) when I was offered a job in Southern California. Since being a full time student and working at a restaurant part time did not pay as well as I had hoped, I took the job and move to Newport Beach, CA.
We were back to doing the long distance relationship until I convinced Cherie that she should move out to CA to be closer to me. It did not take that much convincing from me, it is SoCal and where every women would love to be at some point in their life. She was able to transfer her job at the Dallas Crowne Plaza Suites to the Crowne Plaza in Irvine. We were both finally in good jobs, the same area, and enjoying our new lives together. It was great going to all the trendy spots, hitting the beach, and meeting great new friends. It always felt like we were on an endless vacation. (Below is a picture of us at the St. Paddys Day festivities in San Diego)
After about 8 months of working at a job that I thought had the potential of going somewhere, didn't, I started to get an unsettled feeling. At this point, I knew that Cherie was the women I wanted to marry. But without a good, stable, day shift job (I forgot to mention I was on night shift), I knew that was not going to be a reality. When a man start thinking about marriage, he start to wonder how he is going to provide for his future family. As I though about a life in spendy Southern California, I realized that we wouldn't be able to afford to live a comfortable life that I imagined, along with spending quality time together (due to working night shift).Well to make a long story short about looking for a new job, I finally found one in Hillsboro, Oregon just outside Portland. I was to start work January 4, 2007. It took a bit more convincing to get Cherie to move out of warm, sunny, SoCal to the colder, wetter, Pacific Northwest than it did to get her to move out of Dallas. I almost didn't think she was going to move with me. She did get to stay down in SoCal for another summer while planning our San Clemente wedding! Before I moved, and to think of it, before I had a job I asked Cherie to marry me in front of a beach bonfire. Okay so it was a more like a small fire pit, but it did the trick!! I still can not believe that she said yes. Looking back I was not in the most desirable position. Jobless, pretty close to broke, moving to a place we both had never visited, and not to mention that since we meet, I had not stayed in one town long enough to live out an apartment lease. It is amazing she said yes, but I am thankful she did!!
Right before getting married on September 2, 2007, Cherie quit her job, that she loved, and moved up to Oregon with me. We got her moved into our apartment a couple weeks before the wedding, and then she flew back down to SoCal to finish up the wedding details. The wedding was amazing, with all of our friends and family flying in to share in the wonderful and most important moment in our life together. The wedding was at an old Spanish Mission overlooking the Pacific Ocean and San Clemente Pier. Here are a couple shot of our wedding day.
Thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate and support us with the start of our new lives. It would not have been the same without everyone there to celebrate with.
After the wedding we spent a week in Hillsboro before flying off to Tahiti for our honeymoon. To get prepared for the honeymoon, we both took Scuba Diving lessons to get certified. We did not complete all the dives to get fully certified before going, but enough to be able to do some diving in the one of the best diving spots in the world. If you have not been to Tahiti, and are thinking about going for a honeymoon, or just a vacation, DO IT!!! It is a one of the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We did a tour of the Polynesian Islands on board the Paul Gauguin one of Regents Seven Seas Cruise fleet. It was the best way to see the French Polynesian Islands. The food was great, the liquor was endless, and the staff was amazing. We recommend anyone that is looking to take a cruise, to consider going on this one!
Since getting married, we have been settling into our new lives in the Pacific Northwest. We made it through our first winter here, which everyone says is the worst, and are looking forward to the warmer weather.
Cherie found a job working for Washington County Visitors Association as their Director of Sales for Sports and Group events. The new job fits her personality perfectly, and allows her to meet and mingle with lots of new people. Needless to say she is loving the new job!She is currently packing for a week long trip to Dallas for TWO weddings. Morgan and Natalie, our good friends, are getting married, and she is going to help celebrate the start of their new lives. Since I have to work and am not able to take off that long, she gets to go alone! Congratulations to Morgan, Jeff, Natalie, and Micah on their upcoming nuptials.
Make sure to check back, I will make sure to post on her trip to Dallas.
