One Ring to Rule Them All....

OK....maybe not this ring.....

(Source: Wikipedia)

...but we have selected and put down a deposit for a wedding ring!  Finding a wedding ring has been an...interesting....process for us...and I can honestly say it is all Mr. Rocks fault :).  When Mr. Rocks decided to buy me an engagement ring, he wanted my ring to be unique.  So, he waited till that special time of year (I think it was in November) and went to Kay Jewelers to design a ring for me.  And, in all honestly, he designed the perfect ring.  Granted, I may be a bit biased, but the ring is perfect for me.  It is not too small to be bleh and not to big to get in the way when I am working with (a) fossils (b) crazy acids to digest said fossils (c) insanely intricate machines to analyze said fossils.  In case you have not seen it yet, check out my awesome ring!

Picture of my ring right after we got engaged.  Mr. Rocks is in the background opening up the Champagne. (Personal photo)

However, the problem with having a custom-designed ring is that *most* of the "typical" wedding bands would not fit properly around my ring.  The straight circle rings don't fit snugly around the band, and the rings that are curved usually have too small of a curve to fit properly around the band.  We had been perusing jewelry stores in Christiansburg and Chicago and had yet to find anything suitable.

So we decided to check out Brent L. Millers in Lancaster.  Momma and Pops Rocks have shopped at BLM's for as long as I can remember, so, if we were going to have to drop a good chunk of money on a ring, I would have preferred to do so at a business that has always "done right" by my parents.  Its the whole "reward the businesses with good customer service" thing.  So, the first time we went to BLM's, we could not find a band that fit me, and it was looking like we would need to get a ring designed around my e-ring.  But the jeweler (who would be designing my ring) was not in the store whenever we stopped by.  This ended up being a good thing!

When we stopped by the store last week, the sales girl remembered us from the last time we were in the store (months ago) - a big plus- aaaand the first thing she said was "Hey! I am so glad you guys stopped in!  We recently got a new batch of wedding rings, and I think there might be one that will fit your ring!"  So, Mr. Rocks and I sat down and started looking at rings.  And we found several that could fit the bill, but weren't all that super-awesome-great.  THEN, I tried this double-banded wedding ring that looked like it was made for my ring!  The style, shape...everything about it just meshed so nicely with my ring!  Here - take a look!

Sorry for the crap-tastic photo quality....this one is from Mr. Rock's cell phone!

Its a bit weird, since I never pictured myself with a double-banded wedding ring, but there it is!  And, for most of the ring-searching process, Mr. Rocks was kinda like "meh...whatever you want."  But we he saw The Ring, his comment was "I really like this one - it totally works with your ring.  I think this is the one."  Coming from someone so previously ambivalent, this means a lot!!

The one hitch...it is waaay over our ring budget!  (And this is after our sales lady gave us a really nice discount on the ring!!!  Thank god we aren't paying full price!) But, Mr. Rocks and I spent the weekend thinking about it, and discussing how we will be able to come up with the extra money, and at the end of the day, we decided it was worth it - we are kinda going on the idea that this is a once-in-a-lifetime-purchase, and it is OK to splurge a little.  Or splurge a lot!

Now we just need to find Mr. Rocks a ring.  Hmmmm....maybe I should go back to NZ and climb Mt. Doom (again) and look for a special ring :)

(Personal Photo)

Ok - before I get yelled at...we did not really climb Mt. Doom.  It was cold/rainy and we were lazy, so we only climbed part of the mountain.  Who knows, maybe if I climb the whole thing, there will be a yellow ring at the top?!