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Enjoyable Proposals – Elizabeth and Ed’s Story

Feb 8th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Your “aritsan. indie. eco.” jewelry loving Turtle Love Co. friends thrives off unique and cool engagement tales. After all, proposals are always so special and tailored (whether intentionally or accidentally!) specifically to the individuals getting engaged – and that’s what we’re all about!Celebrating our individuality!

If you would like to share your story too, email us!

 

Here is Elizabeth and Ed’s story . . .

“My husband and I fell in love on our first actual date. We lived in different cities and met on a chairlift at a ski mountain. On our second date, he asked me what my plans were for the summer (this was late April and he was a school teacher with summers off). I responded that I was headed to Tibet. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked in return. ‘If I have to go half way around the world to be with you,’ he answered, ‘then I guess that’s what I’m doing.’

Three months later he joined me on a two-week horse pack trip across the Eastern Tibetan plateau where he proposed to me on a mountaintop overlooking a monastery at around 14,000 feet. He had picked up a ring while we were en route through Hong Kong and kept it hidden in his saddle bag until the time was right, about half way through our trip. He was pretty nervous watching that saddle bag during one particularly deep river ford where the horses had to swim! The ring was too big so I did a ‘field dressing’ of duct tape around the inside so that I could wear it right away.

(This photo was taken in July, 1999, at about 12,000 feet on the eastern Tibetan plateau, to celebrate our engagement earlier that afternoon. Those are authentic Tibetan robes and finery – we were adorned by our Tibetan guide and his spouse in their own ornaments. On the hillside behind us is a sprawling Tibetan monastery and town.)”

What a glorious tale of true love! Elizabeth Yarnell is a cookbook author and natural health expert. She invented an earth-friendly, back-to-basics cooking method for one-pot meals (her technique layers whole foods into a Dutch oven and flash-cooks it all for a meal in 30-45 minutes). You can check out her website GloriousOnePotMeals.com!

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Cool Rings in Real Life: Melissa’s Emerald

Jan 29th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Your sterling silver artisan jewelry loving friends at Turtle Love Co. found out that we had a new friend also in the eco-friendly wedding business, we knew instantly that we wanted to feature her on our blog. Melissa Wagner, owner and senior event planner of Emerald Events & Weddings, had a wonderful emerald ring we thought fit in just great with “Cool Rings in Real Life.”

 

 

Turtle Love Committee: What’s your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Melissa: I think I was a mermaid in a previous life because I love the sea so much! My favorite places to go “be one” with the waves are Bermuda and Oregon’s coast. Both are absolutely beautiful but in very different ways.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
M: I wanted to be a world famous mystery writer.

TLC: Current ambition?
M: Making a decent living doing something I love and believe in with a flexible schedule that allows me to spend time with those I love. That’s the reason I started Emerald Events & Weddings, my very own eco-friendly event planning business. I help clients save the planet while they throw amazing parties and events, AND, I can still make it to my niece’s school play! That makes for a happy Melissa!

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
M: Half would go to charities I support like the Cystic Fibrosis foundation and Heifer International; with the other half I’d pay off all my family’s debts, buy everyone a new car, and maybe a second home near the beach for me!

TLC: Who is your partner?
M: Erich is the love of my life. I went through a LOT of frogs before finding my prince! He’s a techie with a wicked sense of humor, is one of the smartest men I know, and can cook gourmet meals like nobody’s business!

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
M: It was a surprise to both of us actually. We were sitting on our couch one night and I was upset that I’d been so busy I hadn’t been able to spend much time with him that week. He told me that was okay, “because we had the rest of our lives to be together.” He then took a deep breath and said “Will you marry me?” I asked him “Are you sure?!” about forty times before saying yes! It turned out that he’d actually planned to propose to me after the New Year when things calmed down, but his proposal ended up being completely spur of the moment and I loved the fact that it was so spontaneous.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
M: I have a white gold ring with a lab created emerald-cut emerald with several small diamonds on each side. The front and back of the ring have lacework which allows light to shine through the emerald at all times.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
M: love it because it’s not cookie cutter in any sense of the word and it’s definitely a “me” ring. Since the diamonds and emerald are lab-created, I didn’t add to the destruction and suffering caused by mining those gems in the wild, which was important to both Erich and myself.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
M: My passions include time with my family and friends, traveling to exotic destinations, writing my how-to-books for greening events and gardening in our backyard. We raise hops (Erich homebrews beer) as well as vegetables, herbs, and heirloom flowers.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
M: Diana Mott Davidson’s “Fatally Flaky.” Her heroine, Gold,y is a caterer who, like me, is spunky, from Colorado and just a bit fluffy. She writes well and also includes several wonderful recipes in each murder mystery which I love to try out!

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
M: Port and dark chocolate with my honey in front of a roaring fire.

TLC: What is your favorite physical feature?
M: I love my smile and it’s a good thing because I do that a lot!

 

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

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Enjoyable Proposals – Lori and Duane’s Story

Jan 26th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Your artisan, recycled, sterling silver jewelry loving Turtle Love Co. friends thrives off unique and cool engagement tales. After all, proposals are always so special and tailored (whether intentionally or accidentally!) specifically to the individuals getting engaged – and that’s what we’re all about!Celebrating our individuality!

If you would like to share your story too, email us!

 

Here is Lori and Duane’s story . . .

“My (now) husband and I volunteer on stage crew at the Calgary Folk Festival.  One year an artist, Ndidi Onukwulu, performed many times on our stage and we just loved her music and her personality – she was very kind and fun with the volunteers (not all performers are).

In late 2006 we saw she was going to be touring so we bought tickets for her show for us and my two sons from a past marriage.

My then-boyfriend emailed her reps and her booking agents to see if she would help him propose to me at the concert.  Some of her people were adamant that it wasn’t going to happen, but others were willing to work something out.

So there we were, in the Jack Singer Concert Hall with 2,000 people at this amazing sold out show and Ndidi suddenly says, “This next song is for my friend, Lori” and she sang a beautiful song.  My boyfriend tried to get me to stand up to dance, but I wasn’t willing to do that – it wasn’t a dancing crowd and we would have blocked someone’s view.  He kept saying, ‘She’s waiting for us to dance’ and I still really wasn’t getting it, thinking that the Lori she referred to was someone she actually knew.  Finally he pulled out the ring and proposed to me.  I finally understood that the words to the song were meant for me (and the reason for his wanting to dance).

It was quite funny and totally magical!”

 

 We just love Lori and Duane’s story – it really sounds like their engagement proposal truly embodied the things they loved.  Minus dancing!

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Cool Rings in Real Life: Conor’s Sapphire

Jan 22nd, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

When your sterling silver artisan jewelry loving friends at Turtle Love Co. heard that our new friend Conor loved dinosaurs as much as we do, we couldn’t help but be thrilled when she agreed to being in our “Cool Rings for Cool People” blog!  And she definitely has a very cool ring (with a very cool story about it to match!)

TLC: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Conor: Anywhere where my backpack’s behind me and my son in front of me.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
C: To dig up dinosaurs and put them back together again.

TLC: Current ambition?
C: Not let today slip away, bake a five layer cake with homemade frosting, perfect my Spanish, get on airplane without knowing where it’s going. 

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
C: Hand out twenty dollar bills like parking tickets and get on an airplane without knowing where it’s going.

TLC: Who is your partner?
C: An occasionally shy, always humorous British boy with a killer crooked smile and a way with building furniture.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
C: We stopped thinking and dove in.  Literally- he proposed next to a swimming pool (because we wanted the ring to evoke the moment we took the literal and figurative plunge) and then he threw me in!

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
C: It is a sapphire with two small diamonds on opposite sides made by Tom McCaffery in Chicago.  We later commissioned Tom to make a pair of earrings when Declan was born to expand the orbit to include all three of us.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
C: I get lost in it and wander to all of the places we still have to get lost in together.

TLC: Pets?
C: Our 2 year old son.

TLC: What do you do for work?
C: Bookkeeper for artists and nonprofits, while studying for CPA exam.

TLC: What are you passionate about? 
C: Taking people places they never thought they’d go.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
C:”The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science” by Natalie Angier

TLC: Favorite beverage?
C: Sapphire and tonic with lime, light on the ice.

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
C: Concerts that start after midnight.

TLC: What is your favorite physical feature?
C: The Jersey Shore.

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

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Enjoyable Proposals – Holly’s Story

Jan 19th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Your artisan, recycled, sterling silver jewelry loving Turtle Love Co. friends thrives off unique and cool engagement tales. After all, proposals are always so special and tailored (whether intentionally or accidentally!) specifically to the individuals getting engaged – and that’s what we’re all about!Celebrating our individuality!

If you would like to share your story too, email us! 

Here is Holly’s story . . .

“Joseph and I had been dating a year or so when he finished grad school and moved eight hours away for a job.  We had casually discussed marriage and Joseph would always playfully say ‘I’m waiting for you to ask me!’  So I would jokingly pop the question. One weekend when he was back for a visit, after I had fallen asleep, Joseph slipped the engagement ring on my finger and waited anxiously for me to wake up.  When I finally did wake up the next morning (I’m a late riser!) I felt something odd pinching my finger and gazed sleepily over at my hand.  An excited shriek alerted Joseph (and the neighbors, I think!) that I was finally awake.

Best morning ever.

And he never even had to ask!”

What an amazing proposal story!  Too go to bed a single woman and wake up an engaged one sounds like something right out of a Jane Austen story!

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Cool Rings in Real Life: Sarah-Jane’s Pearl

Jan 15th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

A while back, your recycled sterling silver artisan loving friends at Turtle Love Committee posted an ad asking people about their unique engagement rings.  We got some wonderful responses back, including one from our new friend Sarah-Jane who wrote, “My boyfriend and I are currently ring shopping and we’re looking for unique pearl ring settings for our engagement ring. Pearls are one of my favorite gems. I love the organic, natural feel they have . . . You wouldn’t believe the backlash I’ve gotten from my friends and family though! None of them think it’s a good idea to have a pearl engagement ring. I think culture and the mega marketing of jewelry stores have brain-washed everyone into thinking that diamonds are the only kind of engagement rings.”

We hear you, Sarah-Jane!  And we’re super glad you ended up finding a pearl engagement ring that suits you perfectly . . .

 

Turtle Love Committee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Sarah-Jane: My family home, which is in the country in Central Texas.  It’s got quite a large acreage, giant oak trees, and a lake.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
SJ: Which one? It ran the gamut from lawyer and librarian to geophysicist and actress!

TLC: Current ambition?
SJ: To start my life with the man of my dreams and serve God as best I can with all that is within me.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
SJ: Buy a kayak, a few mountain bikes, and truck to haul them. After that, I’d donate the rest.

TLC: Who is your partner?
SJ: Matt Menefee! A truly wonderful, caring man who loves the Lord, and me. He’s an elementary science teacher with a background in outdoor education.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
SJ: I knew from the day we started dating (again) that I wanted to marry him.  It took us the next ten months to figure out all the other details. 

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
SJ: It’s a pearl and white sapphire ring set in 14k white gold.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
SJ: I love it! It is beautiful and exactly what I wanted.  I understand pearls are fragile – much like a newly wed couple starting out. Things of great beauty and personal value often require lots of care.  I see it as a good reminder that though diamonds are hard and require little attention; a marriage is not like that.  Like a pearl, a relationship develops over time with lots of work from both sides. And it requires great care to keep its luster.

TLC: Pets?
SJ: Matt has Mr. Skittles the Wonder Dog (a Beagle/Pomeranian mix) and I have Nutmeg the Cat (a Snowshoe Siamese).

TLC: What do you do for work?
SJ: I’m a higher education communicator specialized in writing, research, photography, graphic design and social media. I work at a college in the Marketing & Communications office.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
SJ: People. 

TLC: What is the last book you read?
SJ: “Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances.”

TLC: Favorite beverage?
SJ: Coffee! No, hot tea! No, coffee! (No, both!)

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

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Enjoyable Proposals – Giacomo’s Story

Jan 11th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Your artisan, recycled, sterling silver jewelry loving Turtle Love Co. friends thrives off unique and cool engagement tales. After all, proposals are always so special and tailored (whether intentionally or accidentally!) specifically to the individuals getting engaged – and that’s what we’re all about!Celebrating our individuality!

If you would like to share your story too, email us! 

 

Here’s Giacomo’s Story . . .

“Looking for an unconventional way of expressing my commitment I found your company the perfect fit. I purchased two styles of engagement rings. And then couldn’t decide which one to give my soon-to-be wife, so I gave her both! I asked her to marry me with our children present where she and I had our first date (this is the second marriage for both of us).

Everyone was in agreement, especially her!

We got married on November 6, 2009, at the Paterson Museum in New Jersey. Actually, that’s where I met her. She was bringing her class on a visit to the museum and I happen to be the museum’s director (and that was three years ago!).

We are very happy together. Some things get better each day. She wears both rings I proposed to her with: one on her hand and the aother around her neck on a chain.”

 

Aww, Giacomo – thanks for sharing your story with us! We’re super glad that Turtle Love Committee gets to be a part of your awesome relationship!

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Cool Rings in Real Life: Genevia’s Peridot from TLC

Jan 8th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Nothing excites your recycled sterling silver artisan loving friends at Turtle Love Co. more than seeing our rings on happy faces. We signed into Facebook.com the other day and saw that someone had posted “Fan Pictures” – we hadn’t been that excited in a while! We contacted our new friend, Genevia, who had posted them and asked her if we could write about her Cool Ring in Real Life – especially since it was one of our very own Bryant ring in peridot!

Turtle Love Commitee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Genevia: By far, it’s the North Carolina Mountains. I spent so much time there as a kid with my family, so there’s a lot of great memories. It’s so beautiful and serene there.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
G: My childhood ambition was to be a brain surgeon, mainly because my cousin wanted to be one as well.

TLC: Current ambition?
G: To be the best mother and wife I can be.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
G: Tithe 10% of it to our church, pay off our debt, do updates on our house, give money to charity, and do some upgrades on my Jeep!

TLC: Who is your partner?
G: Kenny is a wonderful man of God.  He’s slightly cocky, very funny, and an amazing dad to our two kids, Gabriel (4) & Addison (almost 2). I never imagined that I would meet my husband online.  Let alone a website called hotornot.com!  But I did, and we’ve been together for a total of almost 7 years.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
G: My husband and I got married after dating for 2 years. We had talked about getting married, but we weren’t engaged yet. Well, I got pregnant on Valentine’s Day 2005, and a few months later, we decided to get married.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
G: I have the Raymond wedding band from TLC, which is a simple sterling silver band with squared edges.  My engagement ring is the Bryant ring – a minimalist sterling silver ring, with a baguette cut peridot in a bezel setting.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
G: I LOVE my rings! I get compliments on them every day. I thought I wanted a traditional engagement and wedding band, but I am so glad I chose something simpler. Not as high maintenance and much easier to wear daily with two small children.

TLC: What’s your favorite color?
G: I guess if I had to pick one it would be either pink or green. I love all pink colors just because it’s so girly; and, I like green because it goes well with my skin tone, hair, and eyes.

TLC: Pets?
G: We have 2 dogs and both are rescues. Freckles is an 80lb pit bull and pointer mix, and Nestle is a 50lb chocolate lab and Irish setter mix.

TLC: What do you do for work?
G: I am a stay at home mom and home maker.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
G: I’m extremely passionate about childbirth and breastfeeding. After having two traumatic birth experiences and little support with breastfeeding my first child, I want to try to empower other women to do their research and discover what they think is the best option for them and their family!  And not to just do everything their OBGYN and pediatricians tell them to do.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
G: I’m currently reading “Created to be His Help Meet” by Debi Pearl. A wonderful book for wives and wives-to-be on how to be a great wife and have a glorious marriage in the eyes of your spouse and God.

TLC: Favorite beverage?
G: Oh, there’s a few: sweet tea, Sundrop, and Cheerwine are all in a tie. It’s very hard to find Sundrop and Cheerwine here in Tennessee, so when I do, I thoroughly enjoy it!

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
G: Plain and simple: chocolate chip cookies . . .  I could eat them every day if I knew I wouldn’t gain a ton of weight!

 

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

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Enjoyable Proposals – Bill’s Story

Jan 4th, 2010 by Turtle Love Committee

Your recycling-loving Turtle Love Co. friends thrives off unique and cool engagement tales. After all, they’re always so special and tailored (whether intentionally or accidentally!) specifically to the individuals getting engaged – and that’s what we’re all about! Celebrating our individuality!

Thanks to everyone who has submitted their stories!

If you would like to share your story too, email us!

 

Here is Bill’s Engagement Story:

“I am a rather traditional guy and live out in the country. Family values and old time traditions mean a lot to me. Christmas and Easter is not only the time of year when many colleges go on break, but where I live it’s maple syrup making time on the farm as well. It’s also the time of year I knew I would someday want to propose in. Given the wonderful family memories and times I had at the sugar shack, I knew that should be the place to start my own someday family.

Twenty years ago I was in a long distance relationship; my girlfriend and I were living on opposite sides of the state. As luck would have it, she would be home for spring break, and I knew it was time to propose to her. I spent weeks cleaning the sugar shack, trying to make it nice and cozy.

She came home, and it happened to be nasty spring weather. While she wasn’t keen on the idea of walking out in the rain and wind, I coaxed her into sitting with me outside in the sugar shack where a rich fire was roaring while the sap boiled itself into syrup.

Once inside we sat on a bench, and with a bit of a corny opener I asked her to be my wife. She started crying and I immediately started to think something was wrong. I asked her if she was alright and she responded, “I wasn’t expecting you to ask and never pictured being proposed to in a place like this.” I was nervous – maybe this was a dumb idea! But, she added, “This is so much like you. Of course I’ll marry you!.”

She later explained that she was actually impressed and was just a bit overcome with happiness and wondered what I was worried about. Sometimes it’s just better not to say something when you’re already ahead of the game – my first lesson for my new married life!

Included are two photos: one from when we got married and one nearly twenty years later. And we are still in love (if not more!) and making maple syrup in the spring remembering that story night.”

1989:

2009:

 

Thanks, Bill – who doesn’t love romance and maple syrup?!

Check out Bill’s website Groom Wedding Speech, which gives tips on writing and giving that perfect wedding speech!

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Enjoyable Proposals – Jessica and Matt’s Story

Dec 7th, 2009 by Turtle Love Committee

Here at TLC we’re suckers for good proposal stories! When we hear tales that are unique or inspiring, hopelessly romantic or just wicked cool, we want to share them with you!

If you’d like to share your proposal with us, we’d love to hear it!, so please email us!

 

Here is Jessica’s Engagement Story:

“My partner, Matt, and I are in a long-distance relationship, and reading through your website together, albeit it three states away!, was a nightly activity for us over the last few months. Your quick, helpful responses to our gem-history questions were a huge relief – wonderful service, wonderful mission, wonderful product!

 Jessica and Matt

 

Jessica and Matts Rings

 

Thanks again!

Jessica”

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