Ok - deep breath, for I, too, am long-winded.....

Greetings!
Although I am a writer by nature, I will try to stick with relevant facts so my introduction does not bore anyone.

First, I'd like to thank Marcie for "bringing" me on board this board. Ha! I've been stalking CC and CM boards for months now, posting infrequently, and not really feeling any comraderie with my fellow cruisers (except Marc :) ). This forum, however, is a joy to discover, as are the people who contribute. I can think of no group I'd rather meet and get to know better than you all! I feel very comfortable sharing my questions here, because I know I will receive answers from many experienced people.

So, who am I?
Well, my name is Ashlyn and I'm 35. A veteran teacher of middle school for 11 years, I also have the honor of being a consultant for the Core Knowledge Foundation (a curriculum) and for the American Board of Certified Teachers of Excellence. My husband (of 5 weeks!) is Keith. He's 37 and a scientist with DuPont (field: plant pathology), as well as the goalkeeping coach for the University of Delaware men's soccer team, and a Ph.D. candidate.

Our story has been called the most romantic one anyone's heard "in real life", so I love to have opportunities to share it.

We met late August of 1990 at graduate school - the University of GA. We dated for a while, feeling a connection neither had felt before, but Keith got a job with DuPont in Delaware (biologist) and moved. I stayed in GA and we continued our relationship long distance with the intention of me relocating in December. We wrote each other every day for 3 months (oh - the years before email) With Christmas came Keith to retrieve me, but my parents were none to happy with our plans. If we were to marry they would be happy, but that wasn't what we had in mind. My father stated that living together went against the values I'd been taught and put his foot down. Given our ages and the bonds with my parents which would be irrevocably broken if I left with Keith, we chose to end our relationship amicably and never spoke again. What could we do, right?

Fast forward 12 years. I was 2 years out of an incompatable marriage, content with my life at the time, and then my beloved grandmother died. We were very close. From her belongings, an old photo of Keith fell out. A couple of days later, the box full of my correspondance with Keith fell from a closet shelf onto my head and I re-read every letter. The letters awakened a burning need in me to find him and see how his life had turned out. No other intention but to reconnect on a friendly basis. So - 48 hours later, after a wild internet session, I had located his email and contacted him. This would be May of 2002. He was still in Delaware and delighted to hear from me & we once again began our daily notes. I went to visit from Georgia that July and we re-discovered our old feelings were made deeper by our maturity. I visited at least once a month until 29 May when Keith again returned to GA and this time, retrieved me. My parents have mellowed and were extremely pleased with him and us. They still weren't too jazzed about the living arrangement, but what could they do? Take my car away? Ha

Finally together, the bond between Keith and me grew and strengthened in ways I never dreamed possible with another human. We are soulmates.

In October of 2003, we decided to use my Spring Break as an opportunity to go on a cruise. Neither of us have traveled this way before, so I researched the heck out of everything until we found Radisson and knew that was the one. Little did I know he had other plans for this vacation.

Christmas Eve, 2003, Keith got down on his knees and proposed. He's never been married and didn't think he ever would. I was shocked and said yes through my happy tears.

So - - now our vacation is our honeymoon! We will be sailing on the Mariner to the Caribbean 9 April of this year. Our anticipation is HUGE! And the help we receive from all of you, invaluable.

I do apologize for the length of this post (I have a more detailed version which I've spared you Ha!) and any mistakes I didn't catch in editing, but we really hope to meet as many of you as the travel money will allow & this meeting can only be enhanced by knowing about us.

Cheers!
Ash <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />