Our Honeymoon

For our honeymoon, we went on a 7-day cruise to the Southern Caribbean. We had many adventures, and always had a story to share with our dinner table friends. The craziest story was Phil loosing his wedding band in Antigua, while swimming with the Stingrays. We were with a group of people & were taken by boat to a shallow sandbar in the middle of the ocean. The area we were swimming in, was roped off and about ½ the size of a football field. We swam with the stingrays for a minute, but then felt kinda creeped out by them. We decided to snorkel around the premises a little bit & saw lots of fish, a conch & a starfish. As I was taking a picture of Phil holding the starfish, he realized his ring had slipped off. He brought it to my attention, and I immediately started backtracking to find the ring. No such luck! We told the guide what had happened & he told us to leave all our contact information with them. We knew we would never here from them again, but what could it hurt, right?.....I wasn’t about to let Phil leave the island without a ring on his finger, so we went ring shopping in the jewelry stores out in town. We found him a really nice ring, even fancier than his other one. It isn’t the ring we were married in, but it is special in it’s own way.

Anyways, later that evening we were back in our room getting ready for the night & the ship information desk called us. They asked if we were on the stingray trip this morning, and we said yes. They said, “did you loose something while snorkeling.” We said “yes”. They said, “well, the tour found your ring, and we are holding it for you at our desk.” Phil and I couldn’t believe it!!! Not only did the tour guide go back out and find the ring, who knows how, but then they got it back to our ship before the ship even took off for the next port. Phil said, “the Caribbean had to borrow our ring for a few hours so they could bless it. That makes his band even more special, and also makes for a great story. That night, our story got around the ship, and we had people we didn’t even know stopping us to ask if we were the couple who lost their ring and then had it found.

We had another crazy thing happen to us on our honeymoon. I hope I’m not boring you, but I figure you enjoy hearing stories. We decided to go scuba diving, and although we are both certified, neither one of us have been in a really long time. We just happened to go on the tour with a bunch of experienced divers, and we stuck out like a thorn. Because of our lack of experience, we were pared up with one of the dive captains. After getting a quick refresher, we back flipped off the boat. I was so nervous! Phil and I tried to stick together, and at the bottom of the ocean (60 feet down) Phil was frequently checking my oxygen gauge. Well, one of the times he turned around to check my oxygen gauge, he actually checked someone else’s gauge thinking it was me. That freaked the lady out, but not too bad. Then he started looking for me and couldn’t find me anywhere. He signaled to the dive capt that had been paired up with us, that he couldn’t find me, and the dive capt started looking for me too. After about 10 minutes of swimming to every person in the group to see if I was there, and not seeing me anywhere, Phil was freaked. He started imagining me being swept away by a shark or me getting distracted by something and being lost in the bottom of the ocean somewhere. He finally told the dive capt that he wanted to go up and see if I was on the surface, so him and the capt swam up. To their relief I was sitting on the boat.

So what happened is……I was swimming along with the group, enjoying the dive, when all of a sudden I felt something drop off of me. I was freaking out & didn’t know what I lost, but noticed I was heading towards the surface. I tried to get the attention of the group but no one saw me ascending. I was worried about getting the Benz from surfacing too fast, so I continued to blow out though my nose as I ascended. Still freaking out, when I got to the surface, I couldn’t remember how to air up my vest so I was treading as hard as I could to stay afloat. The boat was anchored a little ways away, and as I waved my hands and yelled for help, the capt of the boat unanchored and came to my rescue. I asked him if I was going to be ok, after ascending so fast, and he arrogantly said, “are you ok now, well ok then you will be fine.” I asked him if there was a way to communicate with the group diving that I was ok, and he said no. I knew that Phil was going to be worried about me, but what could I do. Phil was so relieved to see me, and he said he had never been so afraid that he had lost me as right then. Then we went down for a second dive ☺ and everything went smooth.

Other than that, we saw an active volcano, swam with sea turtles, drank a lot, I sang Karaoke on the huge pool deck, we sang dirty songs in the piano bar & ate tons of food. Cruises are a lot of fun, and we are already talking about planning our next one in May.

I have to work Christmas Eve, the whole weekend after Christmas, and I work New Years Eve & Day. I can’t even go and visit family this year, but at least I have my husband. ☺ Wow, that sound weird!! I am now Tanya Coppa “Cabana”☺ I love it!!

Our Wedding

Our wedding day was perfect. Although a lot of work, the planning wasn’t so bad because I had a lot of help from his family & mine. Phil’s parents found the location for us, and met with some of the vendors for us. Phil was also a big help. I had prearranged for us to meet with all the vendors when we flew into Florida, and Phil was so great about helping with the planning & meeting everyone with me. He took control of the music for the reception, and became good friends with the DJ.

The wedding day couldn’t have gone smoother. I woke up the morning of my wedding & Phil had a dozen roses delivered to my room. The card said, “relax, I love you, and will be waiting for you on destiny’s alter.” My maid of honor stayed the night with me, and we had the best waffles that morning. As far as the day, our wedding planner made sure we had every detail pre-thought-out, everyone was where they needed to be at the right time. The girls and I spent the day getting primped and ready as we drank mimosas & Champaign. Most of my family members and close friends flew in for the wedding, and even a few friends I hadn’t seen in about 5 years showed up. I had three different groups of friends, from different times in my life. My best friends from the Navy, from Nursing School, and from back home. Actually, of my friends back home, only Shana could make it, but the distance wasn’t an easy travel for right before Christmas.


My close friend Aries, flew in from Vegas, to be my Videographer. He said he has about 12 hours of movie to go through. Hopefully I will one day get to see the video, and when I do I will share it with you. Phil and I took a horse and carriage ride right after we married, and that was one of the most memorable moments. Everyone in the town were waving and congratulating us as we rode in the carriage that read “Just Married” on the back, and we drank Champaign. Then, at the reception, Phil dedicated “Ring of Fire” to my dad & as the DJ put the song on, my dad came up and stole the mic and sang the whole song. Phil’s dad, kidding around, said to some of the guest, “Chet’s cd will be available in the lobby after the reception ends.”☺ Also Phil dedicated “Duke of Earl” to his dad & Phil’s family all got up and danced with their dad. I couldn’t have asked for better memories.

Engagement Day

WELL, IT FINALLY HAPPENED FOR PHIL AND I!! WE ARE OFFICIALLY ENGAGED!!! He proposed to me on Tuesday night at this cute little French Restaurant in Bethesda. Here's how it happened.

It was our 3 1/2 year anniversary, but I didn't expect we would be doing anything for it in way of celebrating. I mean, who celebrates the 1/2 years any ways right; or so I've gotten teased about.

I woke in the morning & knew Phil was already at work. As I walked into the living room, half asleep, I was shocked to see tons of flowers laying across the kitchen table.

My first thought, in a 1/2 sleeping state, was did a vase fall over. I woke up a little more and realized, no a vase didn't fall over, these were strategically placed here.

In front of the cut flowers was a stuffed flower with a card in it. When I opened the card these words were read:

"Tanya, you are cordially invited for a rendezvous at Le Vieux Logis in Bethesda. Please arrive at 5:15 PM, and do not call ahead. XOXO.

At this point I started thinking, could this be it? I called my mom, my aunt, my sisters & even friends, telling them about what Phil did. No one acted like they knew a thing, and I knew Phil

was traditional enough to ask my dad for permission. So, I started doubting it was going to be tonight. Then I started worrying about the fact that he had planned something for our 3 1/2

year anniversary and I hadn't done anything. :)

As I arrived at the cute little french restaurant, phil was waiting for me at a corner table. The owner of the restaurant was also waiting for me to arrive & she was happy to greet me when I

entered. As I sat down at the table, Phil looked into my eyes & told me how much he loved me. He told me that after 3 1/2 years he still looked forward to coming home from work

everyday to see me & that in itself meant a lot to him. He told me what a caring & good hearted person I was & that he couldn't think of a more perfect person to be the mother of his

children. He then asked me to raise up my napkin, and as I did I found a box all nicely wrapped. I tried to fumble with unwrapping it, until he told me I could just raise up the package.

There under the package was a ring box, and as my heart was beating a million miles a minute, Phil said, "Now open the box......Tanya Chappell, will you be my wife?" I was so excited I

leaned over to give him the biggest kiss & told him thank you. He said, "is that a yes?" I said, "yes".  Then the owner walked by, as we were kissing, and she said, "I guess the answer

was yes". What a great memory & such a beautiful ring. 2 1/2 carats total, with an almost flawless 1 1/4 carat center diamond & 5 princess cut diamonds on each side of the diamond,

totaling 1 more carat. The food was great, the restaurant was very cute & cozy, and the setting was perfect. We had a champaign toast  & shared a big desert at the end & then I started

calling everyone to share the great news. Come to find out, my parents really played it off good. He had asked them for permission in December, and they didn't let on a thing.