ENGAGEMENT STORY

On January 1st, 2005, during a two month trip to Costa Rica, Laurie wrote this engagement announcement to her family:

"Andrew and I went on an all day horseback riding tour yesterday, riding out to a local family’s house in Corcovado Rainforest, then walking down to a series of waterfalls. We were swimming about and jumping into the pools. The surrounding forest was beautiful, super overgrown and lush. Some trees were over 300 years old and 260 feet high. Andrew said, "when I pictured Costa Rica, this is what I thought"

Andrew thought he was getting sun burnt so he got out of the water and left me sitting on a rock in the middle of the river.

He returned with the camera, treading water to take my picture. Then he came over to the rock and pulled a little box out of his camera bag and asked me to marry him. Actually I think it was more like "so I was wondering if you’d like to marry me" or something like that. Its hard to remember cause I think we were both very nervous.

It took me a minute to adjust to the situation so I think he actually had to ask me again for my response after I had put the ring on. Of course I said "You know I do".

Its a beautiful ring, exactly what I wanted. Very sparkly!

Then a couple that we'd become friends with was like "did you guys just get engaged? That’s so romantic!" and they took our picture. They are on their honeymoon.

Andrew definitely worked for it! We were left by our shuttle up in Flamingo (I guess they forgot us...). So we had to take a series of shuttles to arrive in San Jose late that night. Then we woke up at 3:45am to take a six hour bus ride through the mountains with standing room only (I sat from hour 3 on...Andrew stood the whole way. Two girls next to me puked.) Then taxi, boat, walk, horseback ride, hike, swim..... all to get to the idyllic proposal site.

It is rather idyllic here.

We had an amazing New Years Eve. We celebrated our engagement with our four new friends from the hotel (a couple celebrating their anniversary, and another on their honeymoon, so everyone was feeling very festive) at a giant bonfire-cookout that our hotel threw on the beach. Andrew had arranged for several bottles of champagne.

Anyhow, we are grateful that we had good people to celebrate with. Wish we could tell you in person and celebrate with you all as well.

Love, Laurie"

 

WEDDING PARTY BIOS

bride

Laura Wilson
After four years of creating interactive toys for LeapFrog, Laurie has recently accepted an online producer position at a hip interactive marketing agency called EVB. Laurie attended UC San Diego for her undergrad. She enjoys jewelry making, tropical vacation destinations, walking Joomi, and vegging out.

Laurie first spotted Andrew during a Martial Arts class at Body Tonic, a gym in San Francisco. After an awkward partner stretching exercise where the two were matched up, it took over a year for Laurie to ask Andrew out. Luckily, he said yes, and met up with her and her friends at a bar called Jade. They've been together ever since.

groom

Andrew Peterson
Andrew is a health and safety manager at Xilinx, a computer chip corporation in San Jose. He attended UC Santa Barbara for his undergrad, and UC Berkeley for grad school. He enjoys dragon boating, cardio kickboxing, cuddling with his dog Joomi, and hanging out with Laurie.

Andrew was very pleased when Laurie hit on him at the gym.

bride's mother
Elizabeth Wilson
Betty runs a southwestern art gallery in Albuquerque New Mexico. She lives with her poodle Arielle and her husband John. Betty enjoys skiing, hiking, church activities, and peeking in windows of fancy houses.
bride's father
John Wilson
John is a Professor of Hydrology at New Mexico Tech. He enjoys skiing, scuba-diving, and pulling all-nighters for work.
John claims he taught Laurie calculus during bathtime when she was 5 years old. Laurie’s college professors may disagree.
groom's mother

Patricia Peterson
Patricia is a math professor at a community college in Sacramento, California. She lives with her two Springer Spaniels, her cat, and her husband Robert. She enjoys caring for her three horses, doing endurance rides, making guacamole, and running marathons.

groom's father

Robert Peterson
Robert is an attorney, which worked in Andrew’s favor during his youth. He runs an OSHA law firm. He always provided excellent advice to steer Andrew through the rough seas of life, such as his wise words after his son’s minor run in with the law - “Life is full of difficult decisions. I hope you choose wisely.” Marrying Laurie, Andrew clearly took this advice to heart. In his spare time, Robert enjoys golfing, gardening, and tearing open gifts on Christmas morning.

maid of honor

Anne-Olivia Shelton
Anne and Laurie seem to have similar tastes...or maybe they can't bear to be apart! They met in boarding school, then they attended UCSD together, and now they are neighbors in San Francisco. Over their thirteen year friendship, their bond has grown into sisterly love.
Anne attends grad school at the California School of Professional Psychology. She lives with her dog Ppo-Ppo.

best man

Anthony Charles Hernandez
A.C. and Andrew were roommates and party pals at UCSB. They were the first students to see their dormitory’s RA back in 1990…perhaps they shouldn’t have joked in the stairwell when they asked the passerby “Are you an RA?” just before beer-bonging. It was the first of many college capers for the next 5 years.
Since graduation they meet up regularly for "reunions" and are able to pick up right where they left off.
A.C. is an emergency room doctor and lives with his wife Mabel in Los Angeles. They are expecting their first child around the time of the wedding. Congratulations A.C. and Mabel!

bridesmaid
Margaret Wilson
Megan has always enjoyed being Laurie's big sister. If she ever forgets this, she need not look further than her childhood pictures that show her proudly holding baby Laurie in her arms.
Megan recently received her masters from Princeton, specializing in African development. She currently lives in Washington D.C. with her cat Adair, and is working for an international health organization called PSI.
bridesmaid

Lindy Boynton
Lindy met Laurie at boarding school. One thing always brought these two together: make-up. Laurie had some, and Lindy wanted it. She would visit Laurie's dorm room, have a chat, apply a little eyeliner, and then head to the bathroom to wash if off before any of her hippy friends saw. This bond strengthened when Laurie moved to Lindy's hometown of San Diego. Even as Lindy trotted around the country, she’d return to her home base to hang out with Laurie.

bridesmaid

Hilary Lasken
Hilary and Laurie were roomates in college for three years, and they were inseparable! They shared their house, their major (computer art), their undercover career (super girls), their friends, and even their job (web designers for Scripps Institute of Oceanography).
Hilary moved to New York following graduation, and pursued a career in interactive design. Much to Laurie's delight, she now lives in the Bay Area with her boyfriend Pete, who is attending HAAS School of Business at UCB. Hilary is a User Interface Designer at Kodak.

bridesmaid

Arezoo Jafroodi
Arezoo and Laurie met in college through a mutual friend. The first time they laid eyes on each other, a close bond didn't seem to be in the cards. Laurie was all raved out, and Arezoo had on proper designer clothes. However, it didn't take long to reveal the inner raver in Arezoo. Once their "tentacles attached" they spent all weekend every weekend hanging out together. Over the next few years, they grew out of the rave scene, but they didn’t grow apart. Their friendship strengthened when they both moved to San Francisco following graduation.

Arezoo is practicing law in Los Angeles. She lives in her new house with her husband Guitano. Arezoo and Guitano got engaged the same day as Laurie and Andrew – New Years Eve 2004! Laurie had the honor of being a bridesmaid in their wedding last summer.

groomsman
Nick Peterson
Nick is one of Andrew's younger brothers. He had the tough job of living up to his two older brother’s reputations. This could explain the aggressive music of Rivet Head, his first band.
Nick lives in San Francisco his wife Linda and sons Phineaus and Walker. Andrew and Laurie are glad to have family so close by. Nick is a computer programmer and musician.
groomsman
Justin Peterson
Justin is Andrew's older brother. Rumor has it he didn’t speak to his mom and dad for two weeks when Andrew was born, but things have generally improved since then.
Justin had the toughest job growing up – getting in trouble first. He also had to set a good example for his brothers, and Andrew was proud to live up to the Peterson reputation.
Justin lives with his wife Carla and daughter Hannah in Las Vegas and is a principle owner with O'Connor Construction.
groomsman
Austin Peterson
Austin, better known as Bud, is Andrew's youngest brother. As the youngest in the family, Bud was coddled to death.
He lives in Sacramento and works for an engineering firm. He just bought his first condo!
groomsman
Tom Limon
Tom and Andrew met during college. Since they both moved to the Bay Area, their friendship has grown. Tom introduced Andrew to the sport of Dragon Boat, and they've traveled to China and Vancouver together for competitions.
Tom is the 2005 beer Olympics triathlon gold medallist. When he is not training for the next beer event, you'll find him planning events for the community.

PHOTOS


On our first vacation to Puerto Vallarta.


Skip and Bunny on Halloween.


Our beloved Joomi. He's featured in National Geographic!
Click to check it out!

More photos to come. Please check back.