Melissa and Jon are engaged!!

Last Friday night, at our final regular PEF meeting of the year, Alex Hwang '10 stood up during our normal sharing and prayer time. He started out by saying that he wanted to give thanks for two people that he really respected, and who had shaped his Princeton experience thus far. And then he launched into a really sweet tribute to his older brother, Jon, a graduating senior this year. Which totally brought tears to my eyes. And the second person Alex wanted to give thanks for was Melissa Plapp, also a graduating senior, and Jon's girlfriend. Which made me even more teary-eyed -- how much must Alex love his brother, to want to include his girlfriend in his end-of-year tribute to Jon?

Alex started wrapping things up, by saying what a blessing it had been to know Jon and Melissa as brother and sister in Christ. But that soon, he'll be able to call them brother and sister. Because as of that afternoon, they were engaged!

And the room literally exploded. I squealed in a register I don't think I'd ever quite hit -- and I wasn't the only one!

And, of course, we all rushed them at the end of the meeting, to congratulate them, and get the whole engagement story... And by "we all," I mean all the women in the room. :)

Side note: Anna, I know I promised I'd get all the details, but... there's social reporting, and then there's stealing someone else's thunder. So you're just going to have to ask Jon and Melissa for the proposal story!

Jon and Melissa are both such stalwart, strong believers, and a wonderful couple. We're so excited for them!

They asked me to take some engagement photos of them around campus this afternoon -- and since Jon has now debuted the photos in his own Facebook album, I've been given the green light to post a few here. :)

[Click to enlarge thumbnails.]

Congratulations again, Jon and Melissa! We love you!

Leave comments for the happy lovebirds on their Facebook album! :)

Twitter: A Modern-Day "Who's on First"

Several months ago, David created a Twitter account for himself, in a flurry of wanting to claim the "djkeddie" handle on all social networking sites. And then he promptly forgot about it.

Yesterday, he decided to revisit this whole Twitter thing, to see what he could make of it. He posted (tweeted? twitted?) his first tweet (twit?), saying something to the effect of "Trying to figure out the appeal of this whole Twitter thing," and then we sat back and watched as other people started following him.

Today, while we were out for a late lunch, he pulled out his phone to check his email, and the following very confusing conversation ensued:

DAVID: Hey, Steph W. just started following me on Twitter!
ME: Cool, how did you find out about that?
DAVID: I just got an email saying that she commented on my update. She said she's trying to answer the same query.
Me: Oh, that's funny!
    *pause*
Me: Wait, so did she send you a private message on Twitter to tell you that?
DAVID: Huh? No, she commented on my update.
Me: Oh, so it's on her Twitter feed? Like, with an "@djkeddie" in front of it?
DAVID: No... It just says, "trying to answer the same query," and then she gave me her Twitter handle.
Me: Wait, I don't understand.
DAVID: I got an email from Twitter saying that she started following me, and then a second email with her comment to me.
Me: Ohhh.... Because her comment to you was directed at you? Is that how Twitter works?
DAVID: No, no, the comment was on my Facebook status update.

Yeah, I'd missed that. David had also posted a very similar status update on his Facebook profile, about his quest to try to understand Twitter. I think he thought that since I'm the Facebook maven in the family, I would have known everything he did on his profile...

I don't know, maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" moments, but by the end of this twisty and turny conversation, we were both collapsing with laughter. Having too many means of internet-based social networking can be really confusing.

And the jury's still out on whether Twitter is worthwhile...

Ed and Elaine Cong!

This past Sunday, my college roommate Elaine got married! Elaine and Ed had been dating for eight years -- they were both Princeton '03, and started dating our sophomore year. And they're perfect for each other! Their wedding was beautiful, elegant, and full of friends -- just like they are. :)

The wedding was held at the lovely Brooklyn Botanical Gardens -- it was a bit chilly and overcast for a May evening, so they moved the ceremony indoors. But the indoor location was still very elegant and garden-y -- a profusion of cherry blossoms at the front, and lush greenery visible through the glass walls.

Some of my favorite shots of the ceremony:


Ed, upon first seeing his bride walking down the aisle
(one of my favorite parts of all wedding ceremonies!).


Seriously, Elaine is so elegant!


Elaine and her girls -- love the color scheme!


The new Mr. and Mrs. Cong!

The cocktail hour and reception -- it was great catching up with so many old friends!


Roommates! Shauna, Diana and me, in our wedding finery.


Jon and Shauna, demonstrating our handmade favors -- olive oil bottles!


The entrance of the bride and groom!


And wow, can they dance...
(Incidentally, check out the number of cameras... totally an Asian wedding!)


Cheers to the happy couple! We love you!

More posts coming soon!

Oops, I just noticed that it's been over a week since we've posted anything on this here blog... I know that all of you, our loyal readers, have been devastated by our silence. :)

What can I say, it's been a really busy several days... But rest assured, we'll be blogging about everything that's been going on! Here's a sampling of what's to come:

PEF End-of-Year Events
Like the talent show...


...and the spring picnic.



Ed and Elaine's Wedding
Such a beautiful celebration! And it definitely deserve a post of its own!



So stay tuned for blog posts this weekend -- it's Memorial Day weekend, I have Monday off, and we have NOTHING PLANNED. Craziness!

Three Years Married!

13 May 2006.

Three years ago yesterday.

I had my girls surrounding me...

...and David was spending his last single moments with his guys...

...with at least one sweet moment between him and his brothers. :)

Then it was time for my dad to walk me down the aisle...

...and for us to exchange eternal vows in front of our family and friends...

...and for David to kiss his bride.

It was thrilling to share our first walk as man and wife...

...and our first dance!

And we were ushered off into our happily ever after by our loving family and friends.

Our three-year anniversary. Here's to many more! :)

A Sea of Carolina Blue

My baby brother graduated from college last weekend!

OK, so he's not much of a "baby" anymore... Doesn't he look so distinguished?

David and I flew down to NC for the weekend to go to the graduation and celebrate with my family. We're so glad we could both be there!


Yeah, we got there pretty early... But that meant we got good seats!


Here come the graduating seniors!


Most of whom were on their cell phones, looking for family...


Hey! I know that guy!


Look, he found us!


Eric's always taking pictures of himself like this. I'm thrilled to have caught him on camera!


Where's Waldo?


There he is! :)


Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the keynote speaker.


Eric standing with the rest of the business school graduates.


Me and David with the proud graduate!


A family photo in front of the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

We're so proud of you, Eric! Many blessings on this next chapter of your life. We love you!

For more pictures of Eric's graduation, check out our Smugmug gallery.

The big 3-0!

David's birthday party last night was a rip-roaring success -- thank you to all of our wonderful friends for coming to celebrate with us!

I had so much fun decorating our apartment with the Star-Wars-as-30th-birthday-party theme:

"30" streamers courtesy of the Beesons;
Millennium Falcon and TIE fighter printed out from the interwebs

Super cheesy Star Wars plastic tablecovers

Framed pictures of David as a little boy;
plastic lightsabers borrowed from the Dorini boys

The little kids loved playing with the lightsabers:

Jeremy, age 4, and Lydia, age 6

And so did the big kids:

Dan, age 23, and John, age 27

And the pièce de résistance: the Death Star cake!

We put the candles in the Death Star part of the cake, to represent its explosion. And we put one in the laser itself, just because it looked cool. :)

See -- all cake inside!

David's brother Iain came down for the party, all the way from Poughkeepsie!

Busting out breakdancing moves, in honor of his kid brother's birthday

And he brought his lovely girlfriend Erin, who we got to meet for the first time.

We had so many people show up -- from our small groups, from YAC, from PEF staff... It was a nice melding of our many little worlds here in Princeton.

Michelle holding little Laura, with Iain and Damara in the background

Steven and Hilary came dressed up!!

And we also had some surprise guests -- old friends we haven't seen in ages!

Pearson, up from Duke for a conference -- we hadn't seen him in a year and a half!

And Saunders came down from the city with Pearson -- so good to see him, too!

Erik brought his pop-up Star Wars book as a contribution to the decorations -- it was a huge hit!

And Jason and Damara gave David a Star Wars lego kit!

The birthday boy reveling in his loot

Steven and Hilary promptly opened the kit and constructed it for us

Demonstrating the warning in the instructions...

The kit was complete with a mini Darth Vader!

People stayed at our apartment into the wee hours -- until almost midnight!! Which, frankly, is crazy late for old fogies like us...

Lucy taking advantage of Damara's falling asleep for a photo op

What a wonderful way to celebrate David's birthday! Thanks again, everyone -- we love you all!