Something new, something blue

When it comes to luck and us over the past twelve months—a job loss two months in, after having relocated to a new country; a forced rushed marriage for a visa and the abandonment of our early plans for a big wedding in the summer of 2018; an arduous and bank-breaking job hunt; an eviction—let's say our track record isn't great. And this week we can add one more tick to that tally: a lost engagement ring. On Monday afternoon while packing down a microscope at work, I looked down at my finger only to realize to my horror that all that remained on my finger was this empty shell of a ring:

No matter how many boxes I turned over, the stone was not to be found. (At least I felt vindicated in my beliefs that no one should wear something that expensive on a finger! While emotional, this didn't amount to a massive financial loss.)

The best course of action was to find a replacement, but every road I electronically wandered down led to head-aches and even worse wallet-aches. Luckily, if there's one thing I learned over the course of my (two) wedding(s) this year, it's the wonders of ebay for discounted online shopping. No sooner had I opened my app than I'd discovered a world of broken marriages ending in diamond rings posted for auction at a fraction of their original price. Still, I held firm on my stance against the mass marketing ploy that is the diamond engagement ring. But ebay doesn't restrict itself to the "forever" stone: I dove in for an Ernest Jones blue topaz, sapphire, and white gold replacement, with Nicolas's nod of approval.

My precious, version 2.0

While I can't pretend to be thrilled about the loss of such a special ring, the replacement hasn't left me too disappointed.

We're engaged!

To be fair, the news is a little bit old, but life has been a total whirlwind lately. So let me try to catch you up to speed. Where to begin?

Nicolas and I have known that a marriage was in the works. One doesn't just hop in a car and move from country to country as a couple without having a few good conversations along the way. Last fall, we quickly fell in love with Brighton, so when I saw a poster advertising for weddings in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton's most iconic building, it felt like fate.

We would be wed in our adopted hometown. It would be an opportunity to finally rope all our friends and family into paying us the visit to Brighton that they'd all been promising, and a chance for us to really highlight the best of our town to everyone all at once. We had visions of a multi-day affair: A day enjoying the rides on the pier, an afternoon high tea in one of Brighton's classic old hotels, a picnic in our private gardens with the tunnel to the beach that served as the inspiration for Lewis Carrol's rabbit hole. There was so much potential! I could hardly wait. July 2018 sounded like about the right time. Everything was falling neatly into place. We just had to build up a few more months' savings before we could pick the date.

Then, as my job disappeared from beneath me, we watched our dreams evaporate along with it. The only thing I knew as we prepared to go into yet another period of uncertainty was that it was time to pick up the physical symbol of the commitment we were continually making to one another: no matter what came next, we'd ride it out together. So we went to the Lanes, that narrow, winding, pedestrian maze in the heart of Brighton, to buy me a ring right before the Christmas holidays.

My antique engagement ring. Because diamonds are just so typical.

I didn't yet know what it meant in terms of a marriage timeline. I wasn't yet ready to shout it from the mountains, not in the midst of all the stress from yet another job hunt so suddenly thrust upon me. But, in quiet moments, knowing that we'd made it official made me smile.

So that's it! We're engaged! And just wait until you hear our wedding plans.