Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for December 04, 2013

“All I See Is Life With You”or“Quick! Hit The Easy Button!”

Brad is showing leadership as well as calming Toni’s fears.

Brad steps up to the plate. Well done sir, well done. Yeah, life’s complicated…but it’s easier to tackle together then alone.

“Brought to you” by:The Beauty of Simplicity….

Brads letting Toni know all that stuff is secondary. The Important thing to him is how much he Loves Her and will do whatever to take care of her. From a caress of her cheek, a brush of his hand through her hair to catching her, saving her life when she falls from a ladder.

Ye CATS, Woman!!!

Toni, YOU have one of the Most DANGEROUS Jobs on the Planet and You’re WORRIED about “Chores” for Cripes Sake?!!?

COWGIRL UP!!!

Frankly Brad, I would be MORE Concerned that its been Six Days AFTER Thanksgiving and the DeGroot Clan isn’t Back from Aunt Vick’s Yet. What Did She Do? BURY Them in the Flower Garden or Something?

Oh, and there’s a HAIR in the Food (Panel One).

It’s part of being a committed couple, Toni.

How does one get on the invitation list? Would be nice to be there. I’ve known them for a long time.

Lord forbid they can’t figure out whose car insurance to keep.

Toni said they haven’t even set a date, yet. Unless they plan a very small wedding, it’ll take at least a year to plan.

Considering that Dirk is married with a baby, I wouldn’t think that a very good idea.

All who watch this strip, wish them both the ABSOLUTE, very best!!

“Not to me, I’ll just ask my mom what she thinks we should do!”

@Wesley_B, @Donny Wallace: I woudl suggest that, if you don’t like it, you go read something else.

Remember, Toni – a man is not a financial plan!

Nice words, Brad.

I love the sweetness and tenderness expressed in Greg’s characters.

Barf out! Gag me with a spoon! Fer sure!

Commenting that you are first, and that is your only comment… Getting old.

Maybe Toni has things backwards – they should resolve the “issues” first to see whether they even have any business thinking that this marriage will work, before they set the date and plan the wedding. The strip where they showed their very different visions of their married life together leads me to suspect that Brad had better stop over-simplifying things as he’s doing in the final panel. They need to talk things out – the big things, like what each of them considers their overall plans for the next decades.

Toni – Seriously… chill out! You’re wiggin’ out too much over this.

In SCUBA diving we say “STOP…BREATHE…THINK…ACT!” It works wonders in the fight against “panic.” Panic kills, both in SCUBA diving, and in nuptial decisions. Brad will help you along the way with all of this.

This, or if you’re still "just testing’ Brad, I think he passed!

So:- when may we expect an actual COMMENTON THE STRIP, pray tell? After all, that is thepoint….

SO, the cool calm and collected Toni Daytoni, is actually a bundle of nerves.

Toni, you don’t have to do it all by yourself anymore. You’ve got Brad, who is maturing rapidly. And once the process get’s started, Frank and Nancy will surely be supportive, and even Luann, too; maybe even some of the fire department guys…. Lots of people get married, all the time. You’ll be fine!

I like that a young couple are at least thinking and discussing these issues. Too many go in with a blind eye and end up divorced.

One thing to determine is if they want to have kids. You know Brad does, but does Toni? I doubt it.

They’ve been engaged since the first of April, and they haven’t set the date yet? That’s eight months. What have they been doing?

@Seismic-2: Couldn’t agree more. First, they need to work out the lifestyle issues, like chores, goals, kids, spending vs. saving, how to discuss problems, and so forth. Then they can move on to caterers, florists, invitations, photographers and all that.

I know of couples who spent so much money on their wedding that they had no money for anything besides basic necessities (and had to eat pretty boring food) for the first few years after the wedding. They had to pay bills in installments for the balloonist, the magician, the puppeteer, the dove release guy, etc. The marriage failed, to no one’s great surprise.

@Belinda Banana Ana: There’s a difference between having something to say and having to say something. I don’t begrudge you the title of “Most times at first”, but once you’ve won that title, you might want to think about how little you contribute to the conversation other than three characters at the top of each day. You present yourself as a lightweight, shallow and superficial. If that’s your purpose, go for it!

Oh, Brad, you know how to say the right things in the right way. Toni is a very lucky girl.

Booooorrrriing! Running out of ideas??

LOL, Way to go Brad. Be the Rock..

One day at a time, Toni, one day at a time.

Why do you encourage stupidity?

Either say something intelligent to the comic, or don’t post at all.

This is part of why living together first is much more common now. All of the non-wedding specific aspects of sharing your life with someone gets taken care of without the stress of the wedding, and come wedding time figuring out how to co-habitat is done. It makes for a smooth and enjoyable ride.

The date should be the aniversary of when they started dating April or early May

Silly rabbit

There will be two bank accounts in both their names, but Toni will use one, and Brad will use the other. Direct deposit of Toni’s paycheck will go into one and Brad’s paycheck will go into the other. Since they probably earn the same or close to the same amount, Brad pays fifty percent of the total cost of the household bills, and Toni pays the other half. Brad will write the checks for the full amount of the bills while Toni will transfer half the amount of the bills to the account Brad uses. It has worked that way for us for many years.

When a coworker comes to Toni and complains about her significant other, “He thinks I should pay half the bills,” Toni will look at her blankly and say, “And?”

Love how Greg uses black as the background in frame 2 to express her gloom.

Better make sure the Fire Dept doesn’t forbid married couples on staff

Toni, YOU have one of the Most DANGEROUS Jobs on the Planet and You’re WORRIED about “Chores” for Cripes Sake?!!?COWGIRL UP!!!According to my friend whose husband is a firefighter, it is not surprising to see Toni worrying about the details, nor being a neat freak. I’m guessing that Brad is more like that at the Station, but relaxes at home.

This time, the background was intentionally focused… tranistion from bright to “moody” (using black) with a focus on Toni’s despair, back to bright, with a bit of hopeful encouragement….

You forgot another possibility… the “soap opera-ish” not to me, as in a “show-stopping” twist of bad timing, at which point we’ll be viewing the “arrangements for Brad’s funeral”, next week…

Here is a poem, for you and all others who concentrate on details and forget ‘big pictures’: -She was cute, but not ‘best of day’,-Styled her hair in an old-style way,-Meals weren’t delicious,she forgot the dishes,-So I told her I couldn’t stay.

-

She was pretty, but not petite,-Too tall and had two left feet,-Wouldn’t wear flat shoes, gave me the blues,-So I told her we’d no longer meet.

-

She burned my shirts with her iron,-Left junk all over my environs,-Forgot to pay bills, wouldn’t take water pills,-So I said I was outward bound.

-

Now I rock on my porch in a chair,-In my eyes, a thousand mile stare.-Home is neat as a pin,’cause no one is in,-

And nobody but me to care.

Too many women turn into Bridezilla before their weddings. After all, it is THEIR special day – the one they’ve been dreaming about and planning since they were small girls with their first Barbies, so everything has to be letter perfect. All the groom has to do is show up, not be drunk, and say “I do.” EVERYTHING else is planned by the bride and her friends, which in this case is Toni. She’s probably already got a bunch of pre-pre-pre planning done, and has been practicing her ‘Mrs. Toni DeGroot’ signature.

All Brad is thinking about is getting that legal Certificate of Marriage. HOW he gets it, by religious ceremony, justice of the peace, carrying Toni down a ladder (hey, they’re firefighters!) or Las Vegas, is really pretty secondary to him. Everything else is details…

Go Brad!

The three words “not to me” mean a lot to me . I am 75 and my eight year old grandson ask why I had lines around my eyes, I said I’m old and he said “not to me”.

Mr. Smooth..

Aaaaaaawwwwwww! So cute.

It seems like yesterday that Brad was spewing food while he ate with his mouth open. I still find it hard to believe that Brad would ever have a chance to land a total hot babe like Toni Daytona! Just doesn’t add up.

They should discus these things before they get married, not after. Brad is naïve if he thinks everything will work itself out. He is too eager to get Toni tied down before she comes to her senses. Toni seems to have a realistic idea of the huge commitment she is making.

stop looking for excuses toni. its only as complicated as you make it. brad has been patient.

It was meant as a cautionary tale, not a depressant. I’ll try for a jolly poem about details, but, as a ‘big picture’ person, might not have much luck….

Or the older version, in the Book of Ruth: “Whither thou goest, I go. Thy people shall be my people…”

duly noted and thanks Dave53. another totally hot babe once amazed the world by choosing me.

Now, see, this is an interesting contrast in how people perceive words. I always figured that if the ‘best part of waking up’ was your morning coffee, that meant either the rest of the day was downhill, or the company at breakfast was not so great….

Yes on the 3rd panel.

I agree with the slight variant!

well said Brad :)

I know this is a comic strip bu you do realize that Toni is supposed to be in control, think that Brad is another loser who can’t have her and still be with Dirk…^^Donnie, Dirk is now gone from the strip, hopefully permanently, let it go.

I’m 60ish and going through the same thing with my long time fiance. But he’s the one worrying, not me. I love this strip for so many reasons!

I think the biggest problem with young couples today is they think you have to “have it all” from the first day; they want a new house, new cars, all new applicances, giant TVs, etc. When my parents got married, they bought the old family home from Grampa, and filled it with second hand furniture, it wasn’t the best quality, but, it did the job and they were able to make due, until they could save a little money and ,slowly improve their lot in life. Like the whole registering the China pattern thing; ludicrous! Buy Corelle Living ware, it works just as well to hold food in, and you practically have to hit it with a hammer to break it

Funny. Whatever happened to Don King?

Well, maybe after hours in a makeup chair, though…

U B him

You should look it up in the urban dictionary (Cowgirl Up)

Be your own woman, make your own path, and take responsibility for who you are and what you do

I think @Steam Vapor is more concerned with that third definition…. But, technically, it may not apply, since it’s spelled differently (i.e. one word “Cowgirlup…” ;-PPP

Exactly.

Is Brad going gray already?

Thank you!

Brad is a total sweetie. He has come such a long way in such a short time… and just gets better with every panel.

That’s why I throw in a ha ha ha or a laughing face like this: (XD)

Thats right.

if there ever was a text book case to be made for living together before marriage, these two are it

Toni has had a lot of experience in observing the complications of marriage. She watched the catastrophe of her brother Jonah with her sister-in-law. They couldn’t resolve their issues. Wifey left – and abandoned her only child, a daughter – no less, with a husband she couldn’t stand to live with. Seems awfully scary to me. I’m still surprised Toni stayed with Dirk so long. Not surprised that she’s still wary of marriage when she hasn’t yet figured out what went so wrong!

> Nahhh, I’ll save my hammer for more sensible uses…LOL…>Knocking holes in the wall when a child wanders off?