Natasha & Chris's Story...

Chris and I first met in Residence at Mount Royal College in August, 2005. Our first date is tricky to pin point since we had to wait 6 months before officially starting our relationship. It's common knowledge that dating in the work place is a faux pas, and dating your boss is simply not allowed, so we developed some patience. The day we were able to start our relationship we got on a plane with 6 students and took them to Brazil for a month of volunteer work – where again – we were not able to be "in a relationship". I'm not sure we ever had a first date...

Outside of our work life, we run a non-profit organization in Alberta called Global Youth Network. Global teams are comprised of university-age students who travel for the month of May to various developing nations. While there, teams participate in volunteer activities with locally based humanitarian organizations to help provide support at a grass-roots level. Global trains and develops students nationally to travel to over 25 developing countries, Chris and I focus more specifically in community development and education in East Africa. In 2007, we planned the first volunteer trip to Uganda. Uganda continues to struggle through a 22 year civil war, and is a country where education is sparse and poverty is prominent. While in Uganda we worked with children with HIV/AIDS, visited refugee camps, rafted the Nile and even bungeed over crocodiles. After returning in 2008, Uganda has become like a second home to us.

Our engagement took place while lying in a hammock, under a star-lit sky on the Kona coast in Hawaii; just over a month ago. Chris proposed on the back of an iPod touch, a Christmas present that he claimed "did not arrive in time" due to a "delay" caused by mass amounts of people trying to give engraved iPods as gifts this season. Tash can be painfully gullible...

So why us? Ultimately, we need help. Neither of us has been to a wedding since we were kids (like nine year old kids). We have no idea what we're doing! Problem one, we are the first of our friends to get married. Problem two, both sets of our parents and extended family live outside the province, so we're completely lost and alone. I am embarrassed to admit that I never once thought about the process of getting married. I've often dreamed about being married and even obsessed a little about getting engaged, and yet not once did I ever think about planning a wedding. How is that possible you ask? I have no idea, but it has thrown a stick in the spokes of our wedding planning wheel. So yes, this first month has been a little stressful and though we know that all wedding planning is stressful it grows exponentially without family nearby. Winning this wedding would mean that we could let it all go and truly focus on what is important...each other. Please help send us to Jamaica!

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