DIY Life

Recently, it was my tenth anniversary. Ten years -- and ten pounds -- later, my diamond engagement ring needed to be resized.

Now, I am the first to admit that I completely abuse my ring: I rarely clean it, and I never take it off. So, it experiences soap scum, hair conditioner, dirty dishes, gardening, you name it. I describe my diamond as the frosted glass my husband gave me when he asked me to marry him.

When my husband picked my ring up from the jeweler's and opened the classy velvet pouch, he burst out laughing, asking the jeweler if he was sure that they gave him my ring. Well, it seems as though they cleaned it as well as sizing it. Honestly, I had forgotten what a beautiful ring I wore every day for the last ten years.

In my earnestness to keep my ring sparkly, I'll share with you the cleaning tips I gleaned from the Internet.

From June 23rd to August 2nd of this year, I was in a frenzy of planning. So was my fiancé, as we both tried to carry on with our daily lives while planning a full-blown wedding by ourselves at the very same time.

You see, I asked my now-wife to marry me on the eve of our one-year date anniversary, and from there, the happiness and subsequent semi-madness ensued.

You see, with my then-fiancé, being an elementary schoolteacher, there was little time to actually get married, go on an extended honeymoon and then have a little decompression time after all the festivities were over.

We both did not want to wait an entire year (until next summer, during her break), nor did we want to squeeze in a fall wedding at the end of November when a few days out from school would have been possible. My schedule was pretty flexible, but hers? Not so much.

Our solution? Throw our collective sanities in the trash can and plan a full wedding and reception in only five weeks. We were exceedingly lucky to find our dream wedding location available on such short notice, and once we booked that, we were on a roll that would not stop for five straight weeks