Paige and I are Getting Married

So let me think... what's new? Been eating a lot of khatchapuri... uhm, attending supras... teaching the children... hmmm, oh yeah, and I got engaged to my girlfriend Paige Weldon. Pretty exciting, although it's hard to tell if Paige agrees with that sentiment from the picture.

We'd discussed getting married before, but it really gained steam after we met each others' parents over the past month when they visited Georgia. Both of us felt at ease with the other's family and really enjoyed them. A close family is only one the things that Paige and I have in common. As the months have passed, and our feelings have deepened, we've discovered more and more just how well we compliment one another.

I called Paige's parents before I proposed to ask for their blessings and they agreed--I was much relieved. I regret that I did it over the phone, as it would have been much better to do it in person, but Paige and I were eager to move ahead. Paige's father has assured me that even though he's given his blessings, when I get to Texas we're still going to have THE talk.

Since hardly any of you back home know Paige Weldon let me give you her vitals:

Born: September 19, 1981
Height: 5'4 3/4
Hometown: Longview, TX
Education: BA in Journalism and English from Texas A&M
Current Hobbies: Reading, baking chocolate chip cookies with cornflour, attempting to stay warm in winter, teaching children, talking about Mexican food, photographing large pigs in her village, spending time with her fiance (Me).
Fears: Spiders

Paige is also very kind, generous, caring, fun, and is good with small children and animals, including these abandoned puppies in Batumi.

We met in Peace Corps and have been dating since September of 2006. We've spent practically every weekend and all our vacation days together. She's awesome and I'm completely in love with her. Against all reason and common sense, Paige seems to feel the same for me, thus I did not need to bridenap her and stuff her in the back of a marshutka (see picture), as she happily agreed to get married.

At this point we don't have any specific wedding plans, but we're intent on it costing a fortune, be full of drama, and to be extremely stressful for not only us, but all our friends and family. We both agree that the best way to start a life together is by burning everyone you care about, going into debt, and exhausting every ounce of patience for one another. I hope you're already for 1001 Arabian Nights themed wedding in Cabo San Lucas!


The decision to get married was incredibly easy, not that we didn't give it a lot of thought. Certainly there was some peer-pressure from some of the other volunteers. And my mother did mention a couple hundred times how much she liked Paige and how I "better not screw this up."


I can't wait to bring Paige back to Seattle and introduce her to all of you. I think you'll all really like her. And if you don't then you're a complete jerk. And I can't wait to get down to Texas to meet the rest of Paige's family and friends and everyone there who cares about her like I do. Both Paige and I are really excited about returning to America and starting our lives together. We are really happy.