Over the next few days I will be posting pictures from the trip and some different thoughts on dying towns and what happens when pretentious ideas overcome an area.

Merry Christmas From the Segraveses, originally uploaded by Stephan Segraves.

It’s Christmas Eve and since everyone will probably be off of their computers for most of Christmas day (if not all), I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas from our family!

So, I’m sure everyone wants the scoop, how it happened, when we’re getting married, and how little sleep I’ve achieved. To start, I’ll explain how the engagement went.

Jess and I have always enjoyed heading to Coupland Dancehall to dance and enjoy good music. I contacted Kyle Park, an old friend of Jess’s who happens to be a country musician, asking when he would be at Coupland and whether or not he would be willing to play his ‘Yours and Mine’ song. Of course, Kyle, being the nice guy that he is, happily agreed. Having a date that Kyle was going to play, I was able to organize Jess’s and my parents to surprise her at the dancehall.

Of course, loving to dance, Jess agreed to go to Coupland and we headed to Austin on Friday, February 22^nd. The ring was hidden away in the depths of my suitcase the whole time, my biggest worry was dropping the ring or flat out losing it. The evening of the dance rolled around and Jess and I made the thirty minute drive. To our surprise, the dancehall was packed (Kyle is getting popular!) and walking in we realized there were very few spots to sit.

We danced a few times during Kyle’s first set and were having a great evening. Kyle came back out for his second set and I became anxious, knowing that the song would be played in the next few minutes. Kyle had informed me before the show that he would play a George Strait composition before he played our song and when it came on I text messaged my mother and told her to get everyone ready.

Jess and I started dancing to ‘Yours and Mine’ and I eventually leaned in and asked her to marry me. She stepped back, looked at me confusedly, and then I showed her the ring, she just about lost it. At first I’m not sure she thought the whole thing was real and for both of us the next few minutes were a blur. I pointed out our families standing to the side and they gave us all hugs.

As far as when we are getting married, we do not know the exact date just yet but have been exploring options in late July and mid to early August. Neither of us have really slept thanks to excitement and adrenaline.

Thank you all for the congratulations and well wishing! We’ll be sure and let everyone know the plans and dates as we get them. You can keep up with photos by visiting this link: http://www.flickr.com/gp/23982214@N00/szzn27

Yes, I am alive and well and back in Houston after a long break for Christmas and the ringing-in of 2008.

My recent trip to Chicago and small town Indiana was capped on both ends with upgrades to first class on Continental Airlines, and I would like to point out a few things.

For one, Continental’s upgrade methods are probably some of the easiest in the industry to acquire, especially after you understand the way it works. As an elite OnePass member, you receive complimentary upgrades whenever there is space available on the aircraft. First to be upgraded are Platinums, then Golds, and finally Silvers. There is also a fourth group of fliers who can be upgraded, the Y class ticket-holders. Y class tickets are full fare economy tickets. After all of the OnePass members have been upgraded, Y class ticket holders are upgraded in order of check-in time (as long as there is space available).

For my trip, the system worked flawlessly. I was set to leave on December, 26th and upon checking-in noticed that my seat was changed to 1B. A pleasant surprise. On the return, I was put in 2A and was going to give the upgrade to my girlfriend Jess but after talking to the gate agent, was actually able to get her in the front cabin with me. I have pondered how the gate agent was able to give me the seat and after watching the gate area I think I figured it out.

For one, this was a packed flight. Since it was the 31st of December, there were not a lot of business travelers (elites) and I’m assuming there were not any Y class ticket holders. I simply walked up to the gate and asked if there was any room in the front cabin. The agent looked at me and surprisingly said “yes”. A few minutes later and Jess had a seat next to me, making the trip home even more enjoyable.

The time in Indiana was well spent with family and it was a real treat to be able to spend more quality time with my grandmother who has not been well over the last year. I will post pictures from the trip as soon as I get them organized and uploaded.

This blog will be seeing some changes and a potential move over the next few weeks so stay tuned.