Our Honeymoon...

Our Honeymoon was also fabulous. We spent just over two weeks in the Hawaiian Islands.

But first, we spent the day after our wedding at one of our favorite places ever...Disneyland! We walked all around with our "Just Married" buttons on our shirts to let everyone know. (I couldn't convince Jeremiah to wear the bride and groom hat with me so we nixed that idea :( ) It was a great day! We went on lots of rides and ate at the Blue Bayou for lunch - yummy!



The highlight of the day, however, was actually when we got back to our car in the parking lot. Our truck still had all the writing on it from the wedding the day before saying we were just married. When we got up to our truck, we noticed that there was a note on the windshield. Someone had written us a note congratulating us on getting married and they were so thrilled that we chose to come to Disneyland to celebrate - it was really special to get something like that from a complete stranger.

The next day we headed off to Hawaii! We flew in to Oahu and then hoped on a small plane to Maui. We spent a week there and that ended up being our favorite islands. There was enough touristy things to do but it felt very much like you were a local at the same time. We found a cute little 50s Diner and we ate there a few times (great strawberry shakes!).



We traveled all around the island and took the windy road to Hana. (I got pretty sick and will probably never take that road again, but it really was beautiful along the way.)

We also found some great places to snorkel. Jeremiah really enjoyed it and I'm still trying to get over my fear of the fish touching me so my enjoyment was a little limited.

Our big splurge was going to a fancy luau. It was so much fun and we really enjoyed it.



After our time there, we headed back on a plane to Kauai. This island is gorgeous with all its jungle-like beauty. We had a great time relaxing on many different beaches. That's one of the best parts about this island - there are plenty of beaches to go around so you could actually be the only ones on one as if it were a private beach.



After 3 days there, we got back on a plane and went back to Oahu for a few days. This was definitely our least favorite of the islands - it's just way too commercial. We did go to the famous bay (although I can't remember the name of it right now) where the best snorkeling is on the island. We saw some great fish and sea life there. My fear of the fish and being in confined areas near coral was suppressed a little bit as this bay felt more safe with lots of people around and not as many wide open ocean spaces so I was able to enjoy it a bit more. Jeremiah had a really good time, though.

After a few days on the island, it was time to go. Overall, we had a blast exploring so many different places and had another great adventure together.

We're Married!

We had the perfect wedding on January 6, 2007, in the beautiful Rancho Capistrano hillside in San Juan Capistrano. The wedding was outside overlooking a lake and the surroundings made it absolutely gorgeous. There was no need for any decorations other than the scenery already supplied.

The ceremony was during a beautiful, sunny late Saturday morning. The only weather "problem" we had was some heavy winds the day before that blew branches all over the venue. But other than that, no worries at all. God blessed us with he most perfect weather for a winter day and neither of us could have wanted anything more.

The day was so wonderful, in fact, that we didn't want it to end. We had so much fun celebrating, dancing, visiting, eating, and just being with each other and with so many people who love us that it was beyond anything we could have imagined or hoped for.

One of Jeremiah's favorite parts was the very end where we walked out to our truck and our guests were blowing bubbles everywhere. He thought that this must be what Heaven will be like: everyone you love in one place, smiling, and having fun.

The ceremony was beautiful and everything happened without a hitch. It was rather emotional for both of us. I thought I would memorize my vows beforehand (we wrote our own) and just use my notecards as a "just-in-case" but I ended up needing them the whole time as my memory was not there when I needed it!

Okay, I said the ceremony went off without a hitch, but I guess there really was one - but it was rather funny, even at the time it happened. When it was time for our mothers to light the candles that we would use to light the unity candle, they couldn't figure out how to use the lighter! We had bought one of those lighters with the long nose where you pull the trigger with your finger and a flame comes out the end. We thought this would be easier than matches - we were wrong. No one thought to test out the lighter before the ceremony as we have all used one of these before. But, I guess since the last time any of us had actually bought one was before they decided to put child safety locks on the lighters! So instead of just pulling the trigger, you have to first push a little lever with your thumb and then pull the trigger. It took a minute or so (with the pastor's help) to figure it out but they finally got it - and it really did put a smile on all our faces.

One thing that I really wanted at my wedding was a good wedding kiss. Well, I'm not one to kiss and tell, but I will say that Jeremiah definitely delivered (and I know he shocked everyone with it - including me!)

After we were pronounced "Husband and Wife" and proceeded up the aisle, we followed the walkway to the left and some tall bushes were now blocking our view from our guests. So we were for the first time alone and married. We both looked up into the sky a little and there was a beautiful butterfly dancing about right in front of us. It was so special and something we will never forget. It was like a little gift from God to us.

The reception was a wonderful party for us. We enjoyed the food, the dancing, and the company. We danced our first dance to "You Are the One" by Gary Rea (he's a Christian artist from South Africa - he performed at our church a while back and I bought his CD; when I heard that song, I knew that was what I wanted to dance to at my wedding).

Here's some of the other songs we had:

• My Girl by The Temptations
• Little Brown Jug
• Moonlight Serenade
• In the Mood
• Sugar, Sugar
• Beyond the Sea by The Royal Crown Revue
• Love
• Sunday In New York
• Rock Lobster
• The Way You Do The Things You Do
• Come On England
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
• Love Fool
• Pour Some Sugar On Me
• Sunny Came Home

Leading up to the wedding, one of the things we left until the last minute was the music. We spent the last few weeks finding and organizing all the music we wanted played before, during, and after the ceremony and reception. It too A LOT of work especially when you are down to the wire on time, but that was perfect as well. (I still listen to our wedding music at work and at the gym - it's just so much fun and reminds me of different parts of that day.)

It took a lot of planning and there were many times when we just couldn't believe what we got ourselves into. But in the end, it was perfection and it was one of the best days of our lives - and it was the first of our many adventures to come as a married couple!