matt

It's election day here and of course everything is focused around the election. Last night we got our photo proof book from the photographer finally so we can go about picking out photos from the wedding. The photos came back very nicely and seeing them all reminded me of what a great day that was and how much fun we all had there. It's not easy having such a great time at a family function where everyone has a good time but I really think we did.

Any who, we need to pick photos for the album and I think the best method is for Marissa to narrow the photos down and I can give my opinion on which photos between a few look the best. There are quite a number of great photos and we have to go from the 700 or so that we have down to 100. We also get 25 photos for large prints and I have no idea which those will be or what we'll use them for.

Video of the day

As promised, I wanted to quickly talk about our honeymoon. The cruise was quite nice and we had a great time. I had a fear that Marissa might get sea sick on our cruise and because it was her first cruise, I didn't want to take a chance so we got her Bonine to take. The problem was it made her kind of sleepy so after 2 days, she stopped taking it and lo and behold....she didn't yak! Our stops along the cruise were a lot fun generally. Labadee was nice, albeit sort of rainy (and we love labadoozees); Jamaica was beautiful at our Sandals beach break excursion; Grand Cayman was too expensive; I think we both want to move to Cozumel because that's how much we loved it here.

We had a very relaxing and fun time on the cruise and had some fun moments. In Jamaica we were in the ocean and I lost my wedding ring. It fell off but luckily for us, we stopped moving, looked down and saw the ring on the ocean floor and were able to get it back. We were very, very lucky. There was also sushi on the cruise so every evening at 6:30 we descended upon the Windjammer Cafe to eat that every day and it's little things like that that made the trip. Marissa has set up a photo sharing account but as Crystal has already pointed out, I've done the husbandly thing and forgotten how to login so once I figure out how to link to our photos, I'll post a link here to see them.

Luckily for me it's already Thursday! I'm looking forward to the weekend already to completely catch up on sleep and some friends are coming into town this weekend so all the more reason that this should be a fun time this weekend. Besides, who really doesn't look forward to the weekend regardless of how many days one actually worked that week?

Weird things I've found since returning home from wedding/honeymoon:
Used socks from the bowling alley that we payed $2.50 per pair for from my bachelor party
Photos from my bachelor party that I don't remember taking

Song of the Day: Goo Goo Dolls - Without you here

I'm back! Back from getting married, going on my cruise honeymoon and going to Disney World for a few days. I wont attempt to write about the entire nearly 2 week escapade but will touch upon the highlights. I don't know where to start, so perhaps it might be best to try at the beginning. First, the bachelor party. We started out bowling and had a great time there with me, John, Ben and Brian. Brian was the designated driver and the rest of us drank a lot of beer. I bowled perhaps the worst bowling of my life (and I wasn't really drunk) but we had a great time eating and bowling. After bowling, we drove back and after almost stopping at a strip club, we went to a bar near my apartment. At this bar, we got absolutely descheveled. Basically there was a lot of drinking and I somehow drunkily walked home and then blacked out.

The day before the wedding we had our rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and special fireworks event. It all went very nicely I thought and we all had a great time. The rehearsal dinner was at Trails End at Fort Wilderness and despite our group of about 40 being overly loud, and taking up a lot of space, things went well and I think everyone enjoyed their time there. The food was good and it was great seeing a lot of my family there. It's often said to guests "it's great you could come" and I honeslty felt that way about everyone who was there because it means a lot to see family members fly down and celebrate with us.

The actual wedding day was the easiest day for some reason. After waking up and going to have breakfast with my parents, I had very little to do until the actual wedding ceremony. I went home and played games and watched TV for most of the day until I had to get ready for the wedding and it put my nerves at ease. People would ask me if I was nervous and I was without a doubt not nervous at all. I think those who get nervous haven't really thought out the entire getting married idea but I was ready for it. The wedding ceremony was set to go perfectly until....it rained. It rained before the ceremony and delayed the start but then we were thinking we'd be fine. Well, about 5 minutes into the ceremony it rained....and rained....and rained. We managed to finish the ceremony and "get out of dodge" and it was fine. Everyone told me all these reasons why a rainy wedding is a good thing but I really didn't care. The ceremony was done with and we were married and that's all that mattered. It went by so fast and was so easy for me that I was really surprised. I was paranoid I'd start crying or get really nervous right before the ceremony but I was perfectly content.

The party was a lot of fun and everyone really had a good time. Even my sisters danced, which I've never seen happen at any family function (kind of scary, really). The whole thing flew by and I couldn't believe it was over when it was over.

Blah, I'm tired of writing about this stuff for now so more later (maybe). In the meantime, I'm back and my updates should resume on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and getting my life back in order from 2 weeks of vacationing. I miss my friends and plain old lounging around.

Song of the Day: Kelly Clarkson - Maybe

Today is my last day of work until October 1st, thanks to this little thing I call a honeymoon (and yea, wedding too). Way back when we were planning our days off to take, I insisted on working on Wednesday in some misplaced noble notion about being responsible. I really wish I had listened to Marissa and taken today off. With my folks in town and others starting to filter in today, I wish I was back home to enjoy. I thought about calling in sick or emailing my boss to tell him I was taking today off or any other means of leaving here early but what's done is done and I'll stick with my decision, even if I'm lamenting it right now.

Tonight we have dinner plans at Jiko, which is evidently my family's favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World. There is such good food there and I really enjoy eating there and personally I'm glad that there is somewhere on Disney property that still makes the rest of my family want to actually go.

Speaking of Disney, John & Carrie (and their kids and parents) are flying in today and I'll be meeting them after work today to spend some time with in the parks. I believe they are going to Epcot so I'll hang out with them for a bit until they have to go to dinner and then get across property to meet my family for dinner. I wish I had more time to spend with the Heaths in the parks but they know the deal with the wedding and certainly whatever time I can get in with them, I'll take.

Last night we went out to Bucca di beppo with Marissa's parents and we shared a rather large (very) thin crust pizza. I was surprised by how good it was (that or I'm getting used to bad Florida pizza) and we did a little shopping in the mall as well. Afterwards, Marissa and I met my parents for dinner at Key W. Kools and had the mahi-mahi, which wasn't bad either (yes, I did have two dinners last night). With the way this week has started off in terms of dining, I fully expect to weigh 350 lbs by the time I return from my cruise.

Song of the Day: Boys Like Girls - The Great Escape

Today marks the beginning of the wedding week I think. Both of our parents are coming into town along with some other family members and as we move forward beyond today, we'll dive deeper and deeper into our wedding plans. I'm still very excited, although we have a lot of little things to tend to. Nothing is a major show stopping problem; rather, we simply need to address a few minor issues and I know it can be daunting to deal with but it will be good to have some help here. Plus, it's going to be nice to have some family around in general.

After work today I have to run my own set of errands that are somehow related to the wedding in one way or another. Nothing overly exciting, but I do need to finish up things that I did not get done for one reason or another yesterday. What bothers me more was I didn't go to the gym yesterday and I fear I won't be able to go to the gym until the cruise, and that's assuming I actually find the motivation to go work out on the cruise. I fear I will return home after our honeymoon much fatter and out of shape than I am now.

I swear I did not make this but I sure do want one!

Song of the Day: Kenny Rogers - I can't unlove you