The many things you can get from Amazon Warehouse deals. Also shown are the two remaining bags of honey wheat pretzel sticks from the last warehouse order 
Choosing a Wedding Date
There are auspicious wedding dates that some people tend to observe. These days are considered to be “lucky” for marriage and what not and are commonly listed in Chinese calendars. Calendars are available annually at Chinese grocers, usually as a gift. Fortunately, there are several websites that have the dates, including this one: Auspicious Chinese Wedding Dates in 2013.
Of if you’re old school you can always pick up the almanac.
Annette: “I pick 10/19″
Ray: “Oki doki”
Annette: “If 10/19 doesn’t work out, my second pick is 9/14. Good?”
Ray: “Yup”
Annette: “Actually… 10/19, 9/7, 9/14. In that order”
Wedding Dress Shopping
Made a trip to David’s Bridal for some wedding gown shopping fun! Initially I set my mind for only trying on two dresses. Two! However, that is not the case. I migrated from simple gowns to some pretty elaborate Vera Wang’s. I blame this entirely on my maid of honor. Yep.
I felt like a Barbie doll playing dress up. Sales ladies suggesting various accessories to put on me. As one lady said “You know what’s great with that Vera Wang dress? A Vera Wang veil!”. Oh yes, I ended up propping a $250 cathedral veil on my head. Pretty as it is, I am not buying Wang veil nor her dress. My heart is still set on one of my original two. Nosy sales ladies aside, dress shopping was fun!
Wedding Dress Conversation
Why is Ray reading up on wedding dresses? It started with something like this:
Annette: “I bought a wedding dress”
Ray: “Huh?”
Annette: “Yea, they had a 20% off coupon at David’s Bridal” (Coupon.. yes! I love that girl)
Ray: “How much was the dress?”
Annette: “It had beads and sequins that I really like”
Ray: “How much was the dress?”
Annette: “Originally for $700, but I got for $560″
Ray: “$560 for a dress!? I’d rather get you two Marc Jacobs or Coach bags. At least you can use those more than once”
Annette: “I know, but be glad I didn’t go for a designer wedding dress. Plus most dresses start around this price point anyways.” (Good points)
Ray: “Well… ok” (Making a mental note to verify this claim)
So off I go, investigating wedding dresses.
Registering this Domain Name
Actually it was pretty easy. Find a domain name registrar and:
- Tell them the desired domain name (annetteandray)
- Tell them the desired top level domain (.com)
- They’ll check to see if it’s available and offer alternatives (annetteandray.net, annetteandray.us, etc)
- Sign up and give them money
- Receive the name for a year.
Some web hosts offer a free domain name if you sign up for a hosting package. However, as a personal preference, I keep the domain name registrar and web host separate. This allows me to more easily change web hosts if necessary for better pricing/service issues. You can read more about it: Easy Site Guide.
I chose NameCheap for its good reputation amongst people who develop/manage websites or flip domain names for a living. GoDaddy has them beat with really good specials (costing ~$3), but I’ve heard enough mixed opinions about GoDaddy that I simply dropped them from consideration. I didn’t want any issues since I was also registering FeedForwardFeed.com as a birthday present for a friend. It costs about $13/year per domain after fees.
For those interested in registering a domain name, I found thesitewizard.com to be a good resource outlining the process.
Website Beginnings
Long term thinking. That’s how I approach almost everything in life, be it investments or relationships. Back in March 2011, I thought it would be a good idea to grab AnnetteAndRay.com when I was registering FeedForwardFeed.com for my best friend. I didn’t want to be scrambling for it in the future, due to the high sentimental value. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t taken! Amusingly, RayAndAnnette.com was taken at the time by a couple in Singapore, but has since expired. I would’ve grabbed that too, but Annette absolutely insisted that girls go first.
I then pointed the domain to a hosting account at FatCow while I experimented with web hosting and WordPress. They were running a special for ~$36 for a year of hosting. For those unfamiliar with the role that web hosts and domain names play on the internet, this little comic should make it clearer: How the Internet Works in Simple English.
Now experimentation is over. I intend to keep this website running for the long term. Thus I needed a web host for the long term, with the three criteria:
- Inexpensive – this is a personal site, one that generates no revenue
- Stable – uptime is always a good thing
- Fast – the site on FatCow was noticeably slow, taking about an awkward second for the page to load.
After much research, I waited (long term thinking + patience!) for StableHost’s Black Friday special on hosting plans. They offered 65% off yearly plans for life. I went with Namecheap for the domain name. It works out to $26/year for the domain name and hosting.