Time elapsed since Ming and Iain's wedding, at 5:00PM, Saturday, September 25, 2004:
| LAST
ENTRY...(updated September 18, 2004). This will be the last
update entry before the wedding, which is now less than a week
away. I have completed my Step II exam and now can concentrate
100% on the minor detail of getting married. Things are hectic in
Richmond as the wedding team work feverishly to get programs, place
cards, and other decorations and details finalized and worked out, and
the folks in Radford are busy packing for the move, sorting things to
take to Richmond and the move to Connecticut shortly following the
wedding, Elsa is getting very anxious.... |
| HOME AT LAST...(updated September 1, 2004). I'm home in Radford at last after two months of intense rotations and this past weekend of attending a wedding in Staunton with Iain, which served as a preview of what's to come in just four week's time. I'm preparing for the Boards and signing off any direct input into wedding planning. Boards and residency applications take precedence over wedding right now... |
| THE FINAL
STRETCH...(updated
August 4, 2004). so it's finally dawning on me that i have about
fifty
some days until the wedding. the realization is especially acute
during
the debauchery that was the bachelorette weekend in Charlottesville,
made
possible by the lovely maid of honor Ms Sharon H. Billington, soon to
be
J.D. from Columbia Law and the rest of the wedding party and close girl
friends.
i'm in the process of censoring the pictures from the
bachelorette
party weekend...special thanks to Dr. Ed O. Senu-Oke for all his help
and
influence in getting the lion dancers:) |
| TWO MONTHS AND COUNTING
DOWN...(updated July 27, 2004). i think it's time to panic, why?
just
because...oh, everything is fine and the preparations are coming along
nicely,
thanks to the wonderful and indispensible wedding team of Bob Almond,
Lolita
Hall, mother of the groom and Iain. but i just feel like with two
months to go, it's time for me to panic without any reason, just
because it's a very
bride thing to do at this time. in the meantime, in
Norfolk, i'm
enjoying my trauma rotation, though it's very busy, and i'm also
preparing my residency application and studying for Boards; in
Connecticut, Iain is working on his dissertation research and in the
process of moving into our new apartment in Manchester. |
| THE FINAL
MONTHS...(updated June 27, 2004). I just finished my third year
of medical school and my parents met iain and i in Richmond for some bridal luncheon
and couple's shower, hosted by Irene's friends in Richmond.
then this week, i'm in radford working on printing and assembling
the invitations,
which is a huge job. and from this point on, iain is taking over
much of the wedding planning since i have two very important and busy
rotations in July and August, and i'm using September before the
wedding for study and
take the Boards, step 2 (see Ming's Schedule). |
| MOTHER OF THE BRIDE - CHINA
HOMECOMING...(updated May 29, 2004). So my mother went to China
from end of April to end of
May and just recently returned to the United States. She did a
lot of
shopping for the wedding, including all the decorations, special
dresses and
outfits, invitations, party flavors, and gifts (see wedding
preparation and China 2004). |
| STILL
WEDDINGS...(updated April 5, 2004). Iain and I met in Richmond
the weekend of April 2 with Bob Almond our wedding coordinator.
He showed us the Sheraton
Park South on Midlothina Turnpike, in Midlothian VA and we decided
that we'll have the wedding there, ceremony and receptions and
everything. My parents had seen the place three weeks ago when
they met with Irene and
the "wedding planning committee" to discuss details. Everyone
seems
happy with the decision, which is FINAL. Bob has negotiated
wonderful
deals with the hotel manager and we've paid the deposit to secure the
place
and the date. SO THERE IS NO TURNING BACK NOW!!!! After visiting a David's Bridal store in person and seeing the color choices (not
obscured by computer monitor settings), I have notified the bridal
party of the final color selection for the brides maid's dresses: PERI.
|
| WEDDING
PLANNING...(updated March 9, 2004). I went up to Connecticut
during my spring break from 2/27 to 3/7. Iain and I tasted
wedding cakes that Irene sent to us and picked a flavor called "creme
banquet." We also started apartment hunting the town between
Storrs, CT where the main campus of UConn is and Farmington, CT where
the medical center is. We found some nice options in a town
called Manchester. I also arranged my fourth year away rotation with
the UConn School of Medicine... |
| MORE WEDDING
STUFF...(updated February 16, 2004). So the place is set for Riverside School in Richmond
and the date is September 25, 2004. The wedding coordinator will
be Mr Bob Almond. The Caterer will be Mrs Leslie Stack.
Florist and the wedding party and everything else remain the
same. Now back to catching babies at the Navy Hospital -- since
the first battle group returned from Iraq about 9 months ago, we've
been VERY busy... |
| WE'RE CHANGING THE
WEDDING DATE AND THE SITE!!!!! (updated February 1, 2004). So it
doesn't look like Plan A (see entry below I HATE AMERICAN FOOTBALL) is
going
to work out as Virginia Tech finally published its football
schedule and there are 4 home football games in a row from middle
of
September to beginning of October, and that would create exorbitant
hotel
expense for our out-of-town guests and travel inconviences for a
Saturday
or Sunday wedding. Good thing we have a backup Plan B. So
now,
the wedding will be on Saturday, September 25,
2004
(note the change in the above countdown clock) in Richmond, Virginia
(where
the local colleges don't have big ACC football teams and there are over
200 hotels in the greater Richmond area to choose from). More
details
to come.... |
| I HATE AMERICAN FOOTBALL!!!! (updated January
1, 2004). I hate American football, and I don't really care
much for baseball either, but at the risk of being called un-American
or
even worse, un-patriotic, I do like apple pies, so there. Over
the
Christmas/New Years holiday, the family met in ground zero, aka Radford
to discuss the details and logistics of this international
Chinese-Scottish wedding. Then we realized that if we set the
date to be October 2,
in Radford, then we really need to consider Virginia
Tech's and Radford University's
schedules. RU defers schedules after VT's football schedule is
published, so that there is only one major event going on at a
particular school on a particular weekend during the fall semester,
aka, Homecoming, Family Weekend, home football games which takes up
every single hotel room from Wytheville to Roanoke, VA in the 50 mile
radius around Blacksburg. And when we checked the online
schedules of these two schools, RU's Family Weekend in 2003 was the
first weekend of October and VT's 2004 football season schedule is not
available yet. PANIC!!!! So we quickly formulated
alternative plans as follows and began working on them simultaneously
(this is Ming as the Systems Engineer at work here): Plan A: 10/2/04 in Radford at Nesselrod as planned, stay in tuned about VT's and RU's final schedules which should come out by end of January/early February, and in the mean time, line up all the other preparations as planned. Plan B: 10/2/04 in Richmond at the lovely home of Mr & Mrs Craig McGhee who had already offered as a bridal/engagement party and also the use of their estate for the wedding if we needed to - we're in the process of getting preliminary preparations underway for this option. Plan C: another date in the summer of 2004 in Radford....maybe Plan D: we'll get married in the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator, afterall, Britney Spears did it, and since she's such an icon and role model for young people...but our marriage will last longer than the 7 hours that hers did before it was anulled.... |
| WE HAVE A DRESS!!!!!
(updated December 1, 2003). Thanks to Mum and her friends
Barry and Paige, Ming has one of Oleg
Cassini's originial wedding dress (he's the designer for Jackie
Kennedy Onasis and Marilyn Monroe). Now I just need to find a
cathedral veil to go with it...going to the chapel and going to get
married.... p.s. David's Bridal has other Oleg Cassini dresses, even though the website does not have my unique dress, but you can get an idea of the style... p.p.s. the dress is a combination of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind and Maria van Trapp from Sound of Music with a touch of Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady. |
| THE WEDDING PARTY!!!!
(updated November 1, 2003). Actually these lovely ladies
and gents know of their roles for several months now, i'm just now
getting their names officially published here. From the bride's
side will be Ms Sharon Helen Billington, Ms Laura Suzanne Fisher, Ms
Kimberly Elaine Kimbleton, and Ms Pingping Feng. From the groom's
side will be
Mr. Adam Jon Knoff, Mr. Fedor A. Oboukhov, Dr. Seth Rosing DeLong, Mr.
Brandon Powell, and depending on travel and work schedules Mr Christoph Neuberg, Mr. Muneeb Muhammad Idrees. |
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENT! The webmaster would
like to thank UVA B.S. Computer Scientist M. Brandon Sutler for finding
the above countdown applet (whose author is actually found here) |
| MORE DETAILS!!! -
<since i'm so good with procrastination> (updated October 2,
2003). Time to panic since it's only 366 days until the wedding (2004
is leap year) and by this time next year, Iain and I will be
married!!!!! 1. Flower girl will be Ms Theresa Tian-Yi Nowalk. Maybe we'll clone her between now and 10/2/04 so that I have have a pair of cute little girls dressed up with wings. 2. Ring bearer will be Mr Jeff Feng, unless I can train Elsa to strut the walk by rehearsal dinner next year. 3. The flowers will be done by the Midlothian VA based Fleurise Inc. 4. Catering will be provided by Canton Restaurant in Radford, VA, curtsey of owner and my martial arts instructor Mr Simon Kwang. 5. Pianist will be Grace Ahn (University of Virginia BS Music 2001, MCV MD Class of 2006), and we'll find a swing/jazz quintet to accompany her. 6. And our master of ceremony, aka, minister to make this whole thing legally recognized in all 48 continental United States-including Alaska and Hawaii, the ZenBuddhistDaoistJewishBaptistAgnosticStoryteller, is Dr. Russell Gregory, PhD, Professor of Religion at Radford University. ok, so that means all i have left to do is find a dress, decide on the color for my girls to wear, get the guestlist and invitations, find a band, finalize the videotographer (one is pending), go through the logisitics of signing my life away to Nesselrod on the New, ace my rotations third year, do well on the Shelf exams, pass the Boards step 2, and try to keep my sanity and get some rest. Ok. i think i can do all that in 265 days and 22 hours and 11 minutes... |
| WE HAVE SET THE DATE
AND PLACE FOR THE WEDDING!!!! (updated September 20, 2003). Ok,
so i've been a slacker and very busy with rotations (even
though it's only been Family Medicine and Psychiatry), but Iain is back
from London and we've sat down and planned out the rest of our lives
(well, not exactly, just the next couple of years to start with...)
Drum roll please....the International wedding will be held on
October 2,
2004 at the enchanting Nesselrod
on the New in Radford, Virginia, United States of America. Mark
Your calendars!!! Since it's only taken me nine months to set the
date, it'll take me another 12 months to plan this historical
Chinese-Scottish wedding while being a busy third year med student.
Wish me luck. But i think we've got the florist, the
caterer, the master of ceremonies all lined up already....me thinks.... |
| I survived the BOARDS!!
(updated June 18, 2003). Took step 1 of the United States Medical
Licensing Exam 6/17/03. Now go home for a week to
completely relax and do absulotely nothing, then return to Norfolk for
start third year clerkships!!! |
| I'm still ALIVE!!! (updated April 17, 2003).
Ok, so I've been busy with school since spring break,
but just letting everyone know that we're doing well, making plans ever
so slowly, but what's the rush?! I've been browsing all
sorts of bridal magazines - that's always fun. And at least we
have our bridemaids and groomsmen all lined up (we think they know as
well:) and yes, the wedding will be in Radford, Virginia. |
| REAL ESTATE
REVISITED!!! (updated March 7, 2003) |
| REAL ESTATE!!!!!
(updated March 4, 2003) Iain and I are buying a house. |
| PROPER ADDRESSEES!!!!!
(updated March 2, 2003) It's official now, after
months of Mrs. Bolton asking me not to call her Mrs. Bolton anymore,
and consulting with my parents and toyed with the idea of addressing
her as "po-po", which is Chinese for Mother-in-law, and also getting
Iain's imput, I am now addressing Lady Irene Walker-Bolton as "Mum",
just as Iain calls her. Not the American "Mom", but the very
proper
and British "Mum." And of course, Iain addresses my parents as
"bo-fu" and "bo-mu", until we change that to "Babba" and "Mamma." |
| WEDDING PLANS!!!!!
(updated February 28, 2003) OK, so I feel that I need
to make wedding plans, even though it's still two years away, and that
urgency of the issue just about kept my mom up all night worrying (in
a good way). I called the reservation office at UVa about
reserving
the chapel for wedding, and it's a pain in the ass. Hypothetically if
we were interested in Memorial Day weekend in 2005 (May 28, 2005), I
would call the reservations office during the last week of April in
2004
and put in my bid for May 2005. And then the first week of May,
the
office draws names out of a lottery and calls the person and reserves
the
dates on the spot. The chapel spots are booked back-to-back with
two-hour
time slots. So they'd book like 4 weddings in a day and you'd
have
to have everything set up, perform the ceremony, and clear out your
guests
within two hours - unless you want to get in the lottery for additional
2-hour time slots, which will cost you about $200 per 2-hour slot.
SO FORGET THAT!!! Right now, the mothers are researching
different venues
in picturesque Radford and historic Richmond. |
| NEW DEVELOPMENT!!!!!
(updated February 25, 2003) Iain has confirmed his
apartment in Storrs, CT and will be returning to the University of Connecticut in the fall
of 2003 to fiinish the Masters of Arts degree there that he's already
started. He will receive his Masters of Science degree from the London School of Economics and Political
Science in August of 2003, which precluded him from submitted a
strong application to prestigious PhD programs for the fall of 2003.
So technically, I will "beat" him in getting my doctorate first
in two years. But the wedding will still take place in two years,
mark your calenders for spring of 2005!!! We're working on
location and exact dates right now. Don't worry, when I apply for
residency programs in the fall of 2004 to coincide with his PhD
studies, we'll settle down somewhere together definitely. In the
meantime, Connecticut is immensely closer than London and he has a
great offer from U of Conn for
his return that he'll be doing "research" in Norfolk most of the time
anyways,
and I'll be busy with my rotations third year. |