The Honeymoon.... oooh la la

Our honeymoon was... cheesecake, snorkeling, romance, volcanoes, bamboo forests, relaxing, waterfalls, sunsets, maui.

The Wedding Day (finally!)

I can not express how much I enjoyed my wedding. I liked it so much more than I expected and what I loved about it was so much bigger than any of the stuff we spent time and money planning. We were both just so happy and had so much fun. Aside from all the wonderful traditions we observed, we had a couple unique moments that I want to share:

All day long, I kept finding little notes Mike had stuck to everything I packed (with illustrations, of course). It was hard not to cry every single time.

My very favorite part was sitting in an empty sealing room joking around with Mike and practicing our official “kiss” for the ceremony. I hate hate hate fake tight lipped kisses so I told him we had to open our mouths enough and kiss long enough to make it seem like we meant it. So as we "practiced" Mike kept humming a beat to time the kiss. Each time this would make me laugh too hard to go on. It was so lovely to spend the moment before getting married enjoying a moment that epitomizes the reasons we had decided to get married.

After the ceremony, the sealer (also my great uncle) spoke with just Mike and our parents for a few minutes. He said some very nice things but the best thing was when he called us "Brother and Sister Brittany." Now that is a name change I can get behind.

After the temple we took family photos and everyone left to prepare for the reception. Then suddenly, for the first time in days, Mike and I found ourselves alone with some time on our hands. Not really wanting to get sucked back into the wedding whirlwind at my parent’s house, we went out to ice cream instead. Yes, people did look at us funny as we were still dressed up as bride and groom. But it was so nice to have a private simple little celebration with my new husband. And he was so sweet. He told me that he felt completely at peace. I think that is the perfect thing to feel after such a big step in life. I felt exactly the same.

Besides just how wonderful it was to marry Mike, I must thank a ton of people for their help. My dear friends were there all along the way consulting me on everything from hair to flowers. I am only going to have a chance to thank a few people specifically:

My old roommate Erin drove out from the mid-west to come and did a wonderful job helping me arrange my wedding bouquet. Just look how cute it is!

My sweet, talented friend Becky also drug her family out from the mid-west and as soon as she arrived she got right to work helping me make my cake. We were all so impressed watching her handle that fondant. She owned the fondant.

Stephanie took my engagement photos and also took tons of wonderful photos at both my receptions.

Nikki, Katie, and Stephanie were also my make up and hair team. It really made me wish they would always follow me around with fake eyelashes and hair spray.

Sarah, even though she couldn't even come, made me and my girl friends the most amazing spread of treats. She knows I love treats.

My parents were the best hosts to all our guests. The food at their house was spectacular.

Mike's parents, friends and family were also wonderful hosts at our Boise reception. I cannot believe how  great the food was and how smoothly that all went.

Shy was just there all along the way, how she always is.

Mike... his contribution was obvious.

Peru part UNO

I had not planned on blogging from peru but I am waiting in an airport and mike is asleep and the Internet works on mike's touch. we have been here for four hours because our flight to Cuzco was delayed. but this blessed airport puts three seats together without any armrests so we have been able to sleep in relative comfort. except it is a little cold so mike has every item of clothing we brought piled on him. pic coming.

so besides all the quality airport time, we have also hung out in San fran and at the cathedral of San fran in Lima. I like the symmetry. another symeteical thing about our visit to these cities, is that mike has attracked strange men who have sent us on wild goose chases for the best food in town. in San fran we never found the restaurant but we ended in one built in the room the Maltese falcon was filmed in. it made us giggle.

In lima two men approached us seperately in the plaza de armas and claimed to be musicians in the best restaurants. the second guy was more agressive and we found ourselves with him in an empty bar. all of this went down in Spanish so I really did not know what was going on and after a few minutes I just got up and started leaving. I guess he was trying to get mike to drink with him and mike was trying not to be rude. good thing I embrace my rudeness. otherwise the night was beautiful. we toured catacomes which is basically just looking at a bunch of piles of human bones. I can't explain this but I loved it in all it's gruesomeness. kind of reminded me of Indiana jones.

but the best was wandering the streets looking at the buildings and people and the food. I drooled over every pastry display. and for dinner we just ate street food including two churros each. if you think you know about churros but do not think you could eat two in a row then you have not been eating the right churros.

the final part of our evening was trying to get back to our hotel through unreal traffic. it was like NYC traffic in those movies where everyone is fleeing for their lives from the aliens or whatever. plus our cab driver had no idea where he was going and kept asking random people directions. and there was a car accident right in front of us and not even the cars involved stopped (I guess your bumper does not matter when the evil aliens are invading).

all together we are having a marvelous to
time. can't wait to see Cuzco.

My Wedding Part I: Planning Highlights

So it appears that I cannot be engaged and blog at the same time. But no worries, I will update all on my summer of wedding planning in chronological order.

Engagement Photos:

My darling friend Stephanie took our photos for us and did an AMAZING job. So amazing, in fact, that when we went to get them printed, the printer demanded a photographer’s release because she could tell they were professional.

Invitations:

Mike drew a fantastic illustration of us flying a kite (in honor of the kite flying the night of our engagement) and I designed an invitation around it.

 

Caterer:

Possibly our very favorite part of the planning was getting tastings from the caterers. The best was at Hamilton’s Steak House in Logan. They treated us like royalty and fed us tons of wonderful food. It was hard to pick our favorites for the wedding dinner.

 

Dress:

I was lucky enough to find Elizabeth Scoggin who was able to make my dream dress for a really reasonable price. I had a blast going to her house for frequent fittings and brainstorming the details of the dress. One of my favorite parts of this was when Shyla and I went and picked out the lace. I am quite confident that we picked the best lace available in the world.

speaking of rings

I just thought this was pretty. I have never seen one like it.

on the market

I decided to put my house on the market to see what I could get. It is bittersweet but I am pretty pleased to have the staging mostly done.

the ring

Mike gave me my beautiful ring this weekend. It is exactly exactly exactly what I wanted.

I used to think that I would be nervous to show people my engagement ring because they might not like it. But as it turns out, I love my ring so much that anytime someone compliments it, I just unquestioningly think to myself "I had know idea you had such great taste."

I also need to plug the jeweler, Winfield's, because he did a great job for so much less than anyone else could quote us. I think it must be because he doesn't have the overhead of a showroom and all that.

Finally, I need to plug Mike. He is swell. I love him.

Oh and I forgot to credit my friend Steph for taking those awesome photos.

the big run

A couple weeks ago, Mike and I went to Newport, Oregon for Mike's 4th marathon. Mike got his best time ever at a 3:28 and he looked wonderful the whole time---not a single bloody nipple or anything. He even claims to have done an oyster shooter along the way but I would never take his word on that. 

Besides the marathon we had a great weekend exploring beaches and way to many bakeries.

Here are some pictures from the trip:



Mike's friend Brian also ran the race and I got to play with his family during the marathon.

a bit dramatic

Martha Stewart Weddings has this gem of wisdom:

"A wedding without flowers is as sad

as a marriage without love."

most beautiful wedding venue

I was perusing wedding blogs, as I do far too often these days, and I came across one that selected the blogger’s favorite wedding venues. Her number one venue was this really pretty castle.

Then this weekend Mike and I went to Logan. When we drove into the valley and passed the temple, he commented on how lovely it all was. It got me thinking how thrilled I am to be getting married in the Logan Temple. It is as picturesque and charming as any place I could imagine. I believe if it were open to the public, people would pay thousands of dollars and be on waiting lists for years for the privilege of having their wedding ceremony there.

Plus, for me, it is much more special because it has so much symbolic, sentimental and spiritual meaning. It is quite literally the exact place I dreamed of getting married at since I was a child. It really does not get better than that.

the darndest things

Yesterday, as part of Mike's family's monthly FHE, his Mom threw us an engagement bbq. It was dedicated to trying to explain to all the little nieces and nephews what it means that Mike and I are getting married. This led to loads of funny little kid-isms.

For starters, Ellie Kate asked her Mom "When Mike marries Brittany, will he get to sleep in the bounce room?"

The bounce room is my empty bedroom that only has an air mattress in it. It is the only room in my house that makes any sense to kids.

Ellie Kate's brother quickly corrected her that Mike and Brittany would share a room. SHOCK!

Also Mike's brother Aaron's kids made us tiny miniature congratulations cards and a picture of the sand dunes where we got engaged (pictured above).

Then the best part was when Mike's Mom used us as an object lesson for a lesson about temple marriage. As part of that she asked the following questions:

• There is a very special lady here today, who is it? The kids proceeded to name everyone else there until their parents got them to say Brittany.
• When Brittany and Mike get married, what will that make Brittany? Teacher, mother, lady, grown-up.

I was thinking the right answer was wife, but it turns out the correct answer was aunt.

While a little embarrassing, it was also hilarious. And I learned some stuff since I had not even thought about how I would get the privilege of suddenly being an aunt to a bunch of goofy, darling kids.

And I got to talk over wedding ideas with his family and they are all being very supportive of all my ideas. It is making wedding planning way less stressful.

wedding horror

I have already made an unsettling discovery: the wedding industry is driven by fear.

I expect, and even understand that from other industries. Obviously, home security, life insurance, mace manufacturers, and politicians, could not survive without constantly reminding us of how much danger we are constantly in. But I really did not see this coming from the lacey, sparkly, elegant, and oh so romantic, wedding industry. However, now that I think about it, it all makes sense. Since getting married really only requires a marriage certificate and a judge (so maybe a couple hundred dollar investment), this industry, in order to exist, had to find a way of convincing us all to spend a fortune instead. And they do that by saying things like:

“This is the most important day of your life.”

and

“You’re the bride, you should have exactly what you want.”

Plus somebody along the way made up a bunch of incomprehensible rules and traditions designed to make it extremely difficult and expensive get to married. My current favorite is the sound financial advice they give that the ring should cost the guy three months of his salary. Or what? You will be dumped and ostercized?

The only really big example I have experienced so far was from a jeweler I talked to about getting a ring. She called me today to ask if I had decided and I told her we found someone who could make it cheaper. She proceeded to describe to me how the ring was going to be ugly from the jewels to the setting and I would have to wear it forever and ever and I would hate it and be miserable and accordingly my marriage would be a failure and my children would hate me. She gave me this speech in a really sweet voice, and for just a minute it worked and I was scared. But luckily I snapped out of it and realized that I was just talking to an aggressive woman who was willing to be totally obnoxious and mean to try and make money.

It was probably good preparation for ignoring people throughout this process.

popped

This weekend Mike asked me to marry him and I said yes!

I was totally surprised and we are both really happy. We have been talking about it for a few weeks or months or years but I did not see this coming because I had told him I wanted to pick my own ring. So on Friday, we went to the Bruneau sand dunes and had a picnic and flew kites and then hiked the dune. On the way up the dune we talked about whether we were going to jump down or slide or whatever. So when we got to the top and Mike got on the ground, I just thought he was getting in position for a somersault or something. Even when he held out a ring (a dark brown band... at the time), I still thought he might just be messing with me because Mike has a habit of finding jewelery on the ground and giving it me. Anyhow, then he asked me to marry him and I said both, "are you serious?" and "yes" but I am not sure in which order. It turns out the ring was a mood ring we had looked at a week earlier when we went camping. On top of everything else, it is really nice to know exactly what mood I was in when I got engaged---brown. But seriously, it was the perfect setting being at the top of a sand dune with the sunset and all that. It will always be a special memory.

And this is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life...

As for the rest of the details, we only know that we are planning on August in Logan. I will keep everyone posted on the rest of the details as they come up.

pasarlo bien

Mexico was wonderful. It was warm, colorful, exciting, interesting, relaxing, new and yummy. Everything I could every ask for. The picture above was taken at Chichen Iza, a Mayan ruin. That lady wanted to sell me a bag, I just gave her money for the photo instead. I think she gets that a lot---she was all moody like professional models always are.

Since we had scuba diving gear we had so much luggage. That picture does not do it justice. I hated our luggage.

Chichen Itza

I am all attitude in this shot. I taught Dev how to use my camera and he did a great job (my camera is confusing).

This is easily the best hotel I have ever stayed in. It was charming and comfortable and so Mexico. Plus the bottom of the pool was natural with rock formations and tunnesl and stuff. I have never seen anything like it. I took pictures with my underwater camera of us swimming through the tunnels. I will post those later.

Across the street from the best hotel ever was a cenote (cave) with deep fresh water and fish. We had it to ourselves. RAD.

Beautiful, random town on the way to Chichen Itza.

Telum, very photogenic Mayan ruins on the coast.

Sometimes I just took pictures of stuff.

The white guy is my dad helping these guys push their boat onto the shore.

I made Dev model for me a lot. I wish I could take a picture of everyone I know on this pier.

Can you believe he is single?

This dude did paintings with spray paint.

This photo was way hard to get. We are presently getting rushed out of a restaurant next to this pier. But I really wanted a photo here. Stupid Americans!

Remember my favorite hotel? It also had a bunch of hammocks. Hammocks are the ultimate way to relax. That is how my feet look when they are happy.

Believe it or not, I have tons more photos from my underwater cameras. We did lots of underwater stuff. I will post later.