Two Halves of a Whole: November 2011

April 30th 2011

This is the day that will be immortalized in the hearts and minds of Katie and I, as well as our families. A day of tears, and joy, of laughter and joining together in body and mind. It also happens to be the last day I can remember having my sanity. For whatever reasons (and there are many) Katie and I have not been able to keep up with the blog even though we have sat down together many times to discuss what we want to make public to the interwebs. The following is a game of catch-up, which I play all too often, but one that might help close the gates of what happened to that crazy kooky couple since April, our many adventures, and what we have planned. It is also a written commitment to each other, and more importantly to myself to continuely keep an open journal of what is happening with our lives... aren't you all lucky that you get to read my diary?

The following segment will be laid out with each topic of importance over these past six months set in a bold font over each important event... enjoy.

Going to the Chapel

Beasts.

The Morning of the Wedding was a breath of fresh air for both of us, it was a morning we had planned out well in advance and on this particular morning I was surrounded by my closest friends and groomsmen. Scott Hebert, Britt Johnson, and my Best-Man Mike Brown woke up early enough with me as we began the adventure of the day by having breakfast at IHOP. The beautiful irony of the whole situation occurs when walking through the doors to be seated Katie's bridesmaids and few family are walking out. I had missed seeing my bride early by 5 minutes, at an undisclosed IHOP, two separate plans activated an hour apart. Great minds think alike.

After our breakfast and quick cleaning up we proceeded to the Church to prepare, dress in our tuxes, and take pictures before the ceremony. Walking up the stairs to find my fiance (at the time) adorned in her beautiful dress, hair done wonderfully by our good friend Rebecca, and her beautiful dress was quite a shock. Not to sound repetative of many other grooms who find their wives to be knockouts but she was stunning. The ceremony was to take place after we took pictures so for me it was really a fantastic sneak peek.

Mom, if you cry, then all the boys are gonna cry
Hold it together.

It didn't help when she walked down the aisle though. Somehow being surrounded by friends and family and yet seeing your fiance walk down the aisle in all her glory with the docile tones of the organ blaring up your spine, call me sentimental but the tears began peeking.

Thank goodness for friends, Mike managed to record the whole ceremony which is good, because I don't remember a single word that was uttered by anyone but my wife, and the few good choice words of our Pastor Doug. I can remember counting my steps, trying very hard to not trip my bride, recalling the words I was to speak over and over in my head, and of course our surprise calla lilies delivery to our mothers.

The remainder of the ceremony went as planned. The license signed and shipped off to the Government because nothing gets past Big Brother. After a few more laughs Katie and I got into the Stratus, and took off a cool 20 minutes after everyone else had left for the reception hall.

We took a few more photos outside and then we were greeted with herald applause. The ceremony and niceties over. The party was just beginning.

The festivities were in full motion by the time we arrived which meant many "Thank You's" "Good to See You's" "Glad You Could Come". I don't say that to be rude, as if we just spouted off the phrases at random to anyone who glanced at us, it was such a chaotic feeling. Here we were, newlyweds, at our own reception. The only one you get (or should have leastways) and I'm getting pulled around for a hug here, or a handshake there, while Katie is being whisked off and fawned over by her college friends. It is disorienting to say the least. We were so happy to see so many people there, and to talk to so many people, but like a long week without sleep sometimes all you can remember is the grogginess.

That is not to say we don't remember everything. Our Bridal Party was beautiful at each delivering heartfelt and wonderful speeches in our honor. Each had a different theme that seemed to cover everything about our friendships and more importantly about Katie's Personality. Scott and Britt even pitched in to buy me my own wagon in remembrance, which I'm sorry to say is still in the box behind our couch.

Pinky still in the grip of promises... broken promises...

After the speeches, or before, who knows when... Anyway, we cut the cake. I tell you this despite the obvious conclusion but Katie and I cut a piece of cake. Apparently we cut it into thirds. We each took a piece, twirled pinkies and promised we would play nice. My understanding of the agreement was to play nice for the entirety of the cake, not just two-thirds. Katie knew what she was doing and suddenly as if the inertia of being stared at wasn't enough for my face to be smeared in a constant blanket of blush and sweat my vision was blurred suddenly by white. She got me good.

The rest of the night is a blur. So many people came and congratulated us. Then almost as if all at once everyone was gone. The cleaning crew was coming to slowly pack things away and we were whisked off for one more round of pictures and then left to our own devices. April 30th 2011. The day I married my best friend, who also happens to be a pinky promise breaker. I love you babe.

The Only Friends We Made Are Old

We had to wait until June before we could take our honeymoon. Katie was in a teaching contract at the time and school wasn't out until May 31st. In fact our wedding took place over a weekend, so that on Monday Katie was back to work and our new life together was beginning. We had the honeymoon planned before we even had all the details of the wedding punched out. Both of us love to travel although Katie's Travel Log is much more extensive then my own. We both decided upon a cruise, but unlike any other pair of Twenty-Somethings, our cruise did not take us into the tropical lush lands of the Bahamas, or into the icy cool natural beauty of Alaska. No... we took a cruise up the North Eastern Coast of the US, and Canada... and it was a blast.

We arrived in Baltimore and were picked up by Katie's cousin Chris. The Witsil's were very nice, picking us up from Baltimore and taking us to their home in Delaware to spend the night and offering to get us back to the port the next day when our boat would depart. We had planned on just getting a hotel and walking around Baltimore a day early but they insisted. It was nice to get to know some more of Katie's family that couldn't make it to the wedding and to get my fix of those crazy East Coastians.

Katie is very proud of this picture for two
reasons; first she took it using a timer, second
the camera is standing on half an inch
of surface.

The Cruise was typical of any other cruise I'm sure. Fancy Dinners where you are fed ginormous amounts of food to the point of explosion. We had to very nice dinner mates we were assigned, and two others that we saw for dinner maybe twice on our nine nights. Our room was surprisingly spacious as well, and the motion of the ocean was hardly felt at all. Our ports included Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine; St. Johns, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and a final stop on the way home to Boston.

The pools were nice, and hardly ever crowded, but most importantly it was beautiful everywhere we went. On the days just before we would port the storm that was supposedly in town would blow out that morning. It was really a beautiful thing.

The Entertainment wasn't shabby either. Only a few times did I cringe at some of the performers but for the most part it was a spectacular show... and at one point we were even in a show.

You see... Katie likes to volunteer for things. Not that she doesn't volunteer to be in front of a firing squad or anything like that but if it involves embarrassment, torture, or being put in the spotlight my wife enjoys the heck out of making me sweat. One particular night we went to an impromptu show called "Love and Marriage". They asked the audience for three volunteer couples. A Newlywed Couple, a Middle-Aged Couple, and Old Sweethearts. After going through a small audition we were chosen. I will not relive the audition... it is too painful... suffice it to say I was imitating King Kong, and Katie was Fay Wray. The show itself was not too disastrous (thank you techies for your big powerful bright lights that blind the audience from sight) until the second act. During this act I was invited off stage with the other men and the women were to answer questions about us. When I arrived back on stage everyone was laughing at me. I don't mean that in such the harsh way it sounds, what I mean is everyone was laughing at something my wife said about me. I sat down slightly perturbed that I was such a comic relief and not knowing why. I felt slightly like Andy Kaufman being bombarded with requests to do his famous Taxi Character, instead of telling or doing his own jokes. I didn't want to be laughed at, I didn't understand why people just laughed when they saw me... and then the question was asked:

"Too late for an annulment?"

"Kenny, what do you think your wife said to the most annoying pet peeve you have?"... My mind went blank. I'm no perfectionist but I couldn't come up with a single pet peeve that would cause the audience (who has now doubled over with laughter) to stare and taunt in single fashion. I muttered: "I play too many video games?" Which of course is a stupid answer, there is no such thing as too many video games. The host of the show, Carly was her name-o, looked at me as if to say You really don't know do you? then she let the secret out of the bag... the big funny joke that I wasn't a part of. Katie had told everyone that I was a crop duster. Confused? So was everyone else in the room... Katie had to explain it to them as well. A crop duster is a nickname for someone who farts a lot and walks away from the stink... much like a crop dusting plane might hover low and squirt out a little over the crops, I would hover low in the hallways, let off a little chemical imbalance of my own, and then fly off to the horizon leaving the stench behind me and the world wondering how such a foul stench could be in such a nice ship. I no longer could use the elevator the entire trip. I had to let people pass me when we went walking through town. Every action from that game-show on was an action I took to clear up my good name. I was no crop duster... but no thanks to the "Love and Marriage" game show (and its several repeats throughout the ship's days) or my wife I was forever labeled as such. Thanks Honey...

The Cruise all in all was a blast. As you can tell by the pictures we visited a lot of places. Thanks to a generous wedding check we received we were able to take a tour in every city. This made the adventure much more enjoyable as we were meandering from one pointless tourist shop to another but we received a fair amount of history for each of our locations.

I know this looks like it belongs in a magazine
but she took it.

In Portland we saw much of the town, and ventured out learning the history about many of it's famous writers. Bar Harbor was an interesting location, but was mostly beautiful for the Acadia National Park. Canada was an interesting bag of tricks. For the same price we paid for Bar Harbor and Portland we were able to see so much of both Halifax and Saint Johns; Canada loves it's tourists and it's tours.

The most lasting affect of the trip however was greeted to us right after the world knew my deep dark crop-dusting secret. Four of the sweetest people on the face of the earth met us at the bottom of the stairs. If they hadn't told me I would never have even remembered it, but we ate breakfast with them the first day of the cruise. Becky and Bob; Steve and Martha were the sweetest set of couples we could ever have met. After that day we were almost inseparable, often times joining them for dinner after all was said and done at our own table. We joined them on several occasions for what most people would assume a boring event of trivia at sea, but we made lots of conversations, connected at many different levels and exchange emails to this day. They live outside Atlanta, Georgia for a spell and might come up in a later blog, but you'll have to wait for that.

L to R: Me, Katie, Steve, Martha, Becky, Bob

We made it back to Baltimore with our minds full of the culture of Maine, Boston, and the East Coast of Canada. Other then our friends, and the locations Katie and I aren't quite sold on the cruise factor. We didn't really find that much enjoyment from sailing on end. The ports were a blast and easily the best part of the whole trip, so why spend time on a boat sailing around when you can just go to the port and spend the time there. We haven't given up on them however, we do want to plan a cruise in Europe with our favorite pals, Disney.

The Honeymoon isn't over there however. We were able to get a layover in Atlanta for a day and went to visit Andy, Sarah, and the girls. It was a blast even if we were slightly jet lagged over the whole affair. It was a short visit, and one that was painful because of the girls. When Dad doesn't get beat up because he is making dinner for everyone guess who gets that instead... oh yea... Uncle Pooken.

Andy, Sarah and all the girls the morning we left.

The Summer of Fun Had Just Begun

Shortly after our Honeymoon we took a trip up to Breckenridge with our friends Scott, Stephanie, and Micah Hosie. Micah is the baby. We were invited by them to come climb Mount Quandary with them and we also brought Kim Butler along too. It was a beautiful day and apparently a very popular trail we had a good 100 people hiking with us. All of them made it to the top in one way shape or form somehow but the real impressive part was that Micah made it all the way up there. Scott and Stephanie are big advocates of outdoor activities. After Stephanie delivered Micah one of the first questions she asked the doctor was how early could they take a child so young up a mountain. Apparently One-and-a-half is not too young. You go Micah.

Rather then bore you with descriptions I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.

Part Two of our Summer coming soon... to a Blog near you!