The Engagement
(written in first person because doing the bios in third person was difficult enough)

In the wee morning hours of New Year's Day January 2005, after finishing a marathon-like watching of the extended version of Return of the King, Mike turned to me and said that he had something for me. "It lights up!" Then he asked me if I would like to get married and I said yes. I immediately proceeded to flash the ring on and off, creating a ghosty white spot in my vision while commenting that it kinda hurt to do it. Mike laughed a lot when I said I should probably stop doing that, and continued to flash it on and off for several minutes. Both of our families & friends were pleased with the news.

A few weeks later, after some amount of feeling a bit of panic about making such a permanent type choice (having had no problem saying "yes" to the proposal), I managed to select an official engagement ring to my liking. While at the store, we discussed what it would look like with some sapphires for a bit of color; I grinned and said, "It's okay, I can fix it using a marker at home." The salesman looked slightly unsettled.

While the candy ring remains uneaten, I love both the ring and Mike even though I haven't colored either of them blue with my markers.

About Mike

Mike Daniels was born in Muncie, Indiana at the tender age of zero in 1974. He spent the next sixteen years enjoying the fruits of the public school systems in such wonderful states as Indiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and California, traveling around the country as his father’s promotions and job changes warranted. He settled back in Muncie for most of high school, picking up up a love of theatre that followed him to college at Indiana State University in 1992. By 1997, he had accumulated two degrees, a bachelor’s of arts in theatre, design emphasis, and a bachelor’s of science in communication studies, emphasis in debate/speech communication, as well as an honor’s diploma and a temporary case of mononucleosis. Graduation led to acceptance at the University of Maryland for graduate studies in lighting design. After a year of general disagreement between Mike and the faculty, Mike went off to freelance work as a lighting designer and master electrician for pretty much every theatre in Washington, DC. Notable past events have been a summer of opera in Aspen, Colorado, a short tour with a Japanese butoh dance troupe, and designing Waiting to be Invited at the Kennedy Center. Mike spends much time playing with corporate lighting companies that allow him to breathe on the Enterprise space shuttle, as well as working at the Folger Theatre, one of the best theatres in D.C. Mike also indulges in biking around the city, as well as cooking up tasty things to eat in the kitchen.

The photo to the right is during a tongue check after picking blueberries with friends in North Carolina when Mike was declared the picker with the bluest tongue.

About Olivia

Olivia Kwong was born to Peter & Christina in Tusla, Oklahoma 8 days before Mike in 1974. She has an older sister, Pauline, and a younger brother, Andrew. The Kwong family moved to St. Louis, Missouri when Olivia was two. She grew up fascinated with science, but especially enjoyed biology. During high school she discovered theatre when a friend wanted to get extra credit for a drama class by doing props. That friend lost interest after a while, but Olivia caught the backstage bug which followed her to college. After a year of being a plain biology major at Cornell University in the frozen hills of Ithaca, she added theatre as a second major to spice it up a bit. After graduating with a bachelor of arts, Olivia went off to Washington, DC to learn a combination of phylogenetic systematics, ecology and botany to earn a masters degree in biology at George Washington University. She now works for the Center for Plant Conservation on the Plant Conservation Alliance doing a variety of things including design & maintenance of their website. Olivia has far too many hobbies involving piles of things: quilting cloth, stainless steel chainmail links, guppies & fish supplies, stuffies (stuffed animals), orchids, art supplies, origami books & paper, kitchen appliances, scuba diving equipment, and books of all sorts.

The photo to the right is Olivia right after tasting one of Mike's "cooking" experiments involving a Hostess Cupcake-shaped lightbulb powered easy bake oven purchased at a Toys'R'Us outlet store. Despite this experience, she still said yes to the proposal.