Without ever meeting, we have both been actively participating in Renaissance Faires in Southern California for 20+ years. Then one day, as Kimberly was setting up the coffee booth she managed, in walks Dan. Instant friends we became. Dan visited Kimberly at the coffee booth every day of the faire. After some time passed, Dan asked Kimberly to a Winter Feast with his guild, the Archers of Ravenwood. And from there, we are here. :-)

When we met, Dan and his sons were active in the Boy Scouts of America. I had heard of them, my brothers had participated in the program when we were younger, but I never thought we would together put so much time and heart into volunteering. Even after both Dan's sons became Eagle Scouts, we knew it was our time to work with other youth in our community. We have been blessed by many friends within this program.

Everyone knows the saying: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue; however, not everyone knows the meaning of the rhyme or where it comes from. The traditional rhyme, which actually ends with and a sixpence in your shoe, started in the Victorian era in the country of Lancashire. The rhyme describes five items that claim to bring brides luck or ward off evil spirits on their wedding day. Blue items were said to protect against a curse called the evil eye, while borrowed items were said to confuse the evil eye into thinking that the bride was someone else, and so on and so forth. Nowadays, the items have taken on different meanings, such as optimism, purity, and borrowed happiness.