A Bittersweet Dinner

Last night we went out to dinner with Mark's parents, our friends Fei Fei and Silvio, and Fei Fei's parents. It was a bit bittersweet.

Sweet because Fei Fei and Silvio weren't able to make the wedding, so it was nice to catch up with them and show them pictures. We haven't been able to get together recently.

Bitter because it'll likely be our last get together for... a while. Fei Fei and her parents are moving to California tomorrow morning for her new job. Silvio already lives in Michigan, but without his wife living here anymore, I can't imagine he'll be dropping by anytime soon.

While Fei Fei had grown up here, her job had pulled her to other areas of the county. She only moved back a few years ago - I met her when I was recruited by Mark's Mom to help her unpack and set up her kitchen. It's been fun getting to know her and Silvio - they're such world travelers that they always have fun and interesting stories - it'll be a bit sad not having them around to share their adventures.

We already have a standing invitation to visit Silvio in Michican, Fei Fei's parents' home in China and Silvio's stomping grounds of Italy. It seems California is now added to the list!

MHR - He Challenges Me

I am, more often than I'd like to admit, a wuss. I'm a creature of habit - a homebody. Mark understands it, and it supportive - but doesn't let me pass up opportunities because of it. When there's something he knows I'll like, he'll encourage me to do it. There was a lot of this on the honeymoon.

On Maui, we went snorkling. I haven't been on a boat since fourth grade, so I was worried I'd get sick. I'd never been snorkling before, so I was nervous I wouldn't be able to do it. Mark was super supportive - he was super patient as I took three years to get my face into the water and even better when I was back on the boat and sick from the rocking. He stood at the side of the boat with me, having me sip a disgusting ginger drink until I was good enough to sit down again. The trip wasn't perfect, but we had a blast.

In Waikiki, we hiked Diamond Head. That was something I was sure I could do - until we were heading up the hill. Mark walked behind me the whole time, carrying the water bottle and not once complaining about my frequent breaks. One thing he wouldn't stand for, though, was turning around. He kept saying the view from the top would be worth it - it so was!

On the North Shore, we did an Ocean Kayak tour. As good of a swimmer as I am, the ocean makes me nervous. Mark really wanted to do the tour, so I agreed to go. Mark was great about making sure I was okay and making sure I got to see everything. Besides sea turtles, I also got to see a Humuhumunkanuakapua'a - Hawaii's state fish. It's not a tour I ever would have picked, but it ended up being my favorite of the trip!

Playing Catch-Up

Since Mark and I got home from Hawaii on Saturday, it's been a game of catch-up. That's the longest vacation I've ever taken, and I had no idea how fast things would pile up. We unpacked, did five loads of laundry, food shopping and bill paying on Sunday, which I thought was fantastic. I was like, we'll be caught up in no time! Clearly, I was mistaken.

There are still bags and boxes scattered throughout the apartment of wedding gifts and things left over from the reception. Work was an absolute nut house while I was gone and one of my co-workers had to fly out of the country for a family emergency last night, so it's looking like I'll be playing catch up and covering extra work for at least another week. And then there are plenty of things that I let fall forgotten right before the wedding - my messy desk, for one; my coupon envelope now full of mostly-expired coupons is another. I'm hopelessly behind on my blog reading. The list goes on...

Because of all this, I think it's going to take me longer than I expected to put up pictures and recaps of the wedding day and honeymoon... but they're coming! If you're reading this and there's some specific detail you want to know about or see a picture of, let me know and I'll bump that up on my priority list.

And, for the married girls reading this - did you save the top tier of your cake? Ours is sitting in my in-law's freezer but I'm seriously considering busting it out for the one month anniversary and just saving a slice or two for the one year mark. Any thoughts?

A Post-Wedding Aloha!

I had no plans to blog on the honeymoon, but we're still not completely adjusted to the time difference - so I'm wide awake and Mark is passed out cold. I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a few quick photos...

The Rehearsal Dinner

Walking Down the Aisle

Vows

Officially Mr. & Mrs.!

Enjoying the Reception (Note the beautiful cake behind us!)

Lei'd at the Airport in Maui

Snorkling at Molokini Crater yesterday

Sunset Dinner at Capische?

Everything Revolves Around the Wedding

So, for the last week I've had every intention to write a post on everything that's been going on. I've been planning on reflecting on just how much the wedding has dictated our lives for the past year, and how weird it will be to have it over. Lots of good intentions for a thoughtful post.

And then, yesterday morning, during our usual rush-around-getting-work routine, I noticed this:

That, blog readers, is his elementary school graduation shirt, cleverly turned into an undershirt for the day because all of his "good ones" are packed for the wedding/honeymoon. Why does that even still fit him?!

I think that sums things up nicely.

Pre-Wedding Stress

This weekend was whirlwind of wedding stuff - we picked up our marriage license, dropped off everything at the venue, finalized plans with the limo and florist, finished wrapping all of the gifts to be given out at the rehearsal dinner and dropped them off at my parents' house, sent out the wedding-day timeline to the bridal party and I got my dress for the rehearsal.

The remaining to-do list is light. The DJ is supposed to call tonight or tomorrow to go over all of our song choices and what-not. There was a small hiccup with one of the songs we picked for the ceremony, so I gave our organist free reign to choose a replacement - when she knows what that is I'll finalize the programs and print them. We also have to finalize everything with the photographer. I left her another message this afternoon, so with any luck she'll call back this evening and that will be done too.

For as smooth as things have gone, the last couple weeks have had a surprising number of bumps. At my final fitting, the top was too big and needed to be taken in. I'll now be picking up the dress the day before the wedding - and will be praying its okay because the seamstress will be on vacation so there's no one to fix it if it's not! The tuxes are also going to be ready later than we were originally told. They told my Dad Thursday this morning, but when Mark called a little while ago they told him Wednesday the latest. I guess we'll see what happens there.

And, our photo share cards. Mark and I sat down together one night a few months ago and made a flickr account so our guests could upload their digital photos to share. I was emailing my cousin who won't be able to make it to the wedding last night and was like, oh! let me send her the photo stream link! The flickr account was somehow gone. I can't explain it, and don't have the energy to find out why - but we were able to re-register for the same username. I have no idea how an account can just disappear like that! Unfortunately the re-register makes the photo stream link on the card wrong. At this point, I couldn't care less - people will figure it out, right?

And, to top it all off - my Dad is dealing with vertigo as of last weekend.

In my head, I'm not overly worried about anything. Most of it is beyond my control anyway, so why stress? My body is just short of freaking out, though. I've been trying every trick my stress management class taught me... I'm about ready to resort to a pint of Ben & Jerry's! As excited as I am about the wedding, I'll be glad when it's over and I can relax again.

Single Digits - Let the Weather Stalking Commence!

Today marks nine days until the wedding... and also the first day I can check the weather on Weather.com. I must admit, I've been checking AccuWeather.com for several days already since they do a fifteen day forecast.

It amuses me to no end how much it varies from day today. Every day I've gotten a completely different forecast. Although, I think today's is the best so far.

From Weather.com:

From AccuWeather.com:

I'm still secretly hoping for a nightime shower so we can take cool umbrella pictures outside. Considering how rainy it's been, though, I'd happily trade that for nice afternoon for pictures on Perona's grounds.