Saturday I'm running wild, and all the lights are changing red to green

*Disclaimer: I know this is a boring and long post, that's what happens when you have jam packed weeks without time to blog*

***While meagerly proofreading this blog, I realized how truly boring (sad, but I'm not about to rewrite it) it is. Feel free to skim through just for pictures***

Ok, I'm gonna start with the wedding. This is mostly for my memory sake (cause i know i won't write it all out in my journal).

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010 (WEDDING DAY)

I, of course had every intention of waking up getting ready, making sure the last of my crap was moved out of my apartment, packing for the honeymoon and heading off to the festivities... but what do you expect when you leave that much to do? Of course, I didn't get it done. So feeling a little frazzled, I asked Cary to come and give me a priesthood blessing. Yeah, yeah, you're not supposed to see the bride, who cares. It was a great experience for both of us, and I'd recommend it to anyone on your wedding day. It's extremely calming to be reassured of your choices hours before permanently changing your life.

Anyhow, I then realized I had no hot water, so I had to scramble to take a shower at my old apartment, took a little too long on my make up and made it to the park kind of late. Both families stepped in and started setting up the park for the reception and I just let them do their thing. Cary's mom ordered Kneaders for a brunch before the wedding, but I had to go get myself beautified (because I lack skills to do it myself)... so no breakfast for Carla... sad :(

While I was getting my hair done, Cary went shopping for his last minute items (read: belt, etc). Hair also took a little longer than expected... but I got to the temple on time! It started to rain, right as we walked in, and then proceeeded to downpour while we were in the temple.



While you are in the temple waiting for the guests to file in, they leave the couple alone for about 10-15 minutes (perhaps for one last chance to bail?) Anyhow, it was fun to just sit and talk to Cary and tease him one last time about the consequences if he backed out on me. We watched the rain come down in buckets and I was tempted to sing Alanis Morrisette extremely loudly (I think Heavenly Father has a sense of humor). I didn't sing though (too many old people standing around judging you). We then went into the sealing room, and the sealer proceeded to give a 45 min schpeel (it may have been shorter but I'm pretty sure it was about that long.) Cary started to get really nervous (read: sweaty palms), but I was totally fine. The sealer talked about going to the temple, going to church, not putting off children, he quizzed us on temple stuff (which bugged Cary-but I answered and even corrected him when he was wrong).

When it finally came time to be sealed I looked at Cary and started crying.... how pathetic. And I don't mean cute little glistening tears in the corner of your eyes, I mean sobbing. I had to reassure everyone that they were happy tears.

Well, we said yes and then we were married.



The rain cleared up just as we were walking out and the weather turned out perfectly for pictures. It was cool enough for Cary to wear his suit in the middle of August, so I was pretty stoked. I was also extremely happy with how the wedding attire turned out! Families were in khaki and white with blue accents and the bridesmaids outfits turned out really cute. My flowers were pretty, minus no one told me hydragenas die remarkably fast (Note to self: For future events requiring flowers... DON'T PICK BLUE!)


The sisters


Art was being helpful, from cooking to videotaping

I haven't seen the professional photos yet, but hopefully they turned out well. I didn't get every shot I wanted, but the families (especially nephews) got really impatient, so I let it go.






Hugs with Jo


We discovered taking pictures is hard for boys, and natural for girls.


I inherited a niece and a lot of nephews!


The in-laws.

Then Cary and I stopped by Walmart for a couple items for the reception, before heading to Sammy's for a cupcake shake (I was ravenous at this point. Try I was hungry when I got to the temple-3 hours later and I'm really hungry). So we walk in, dress and suit, and proceed to wait 10 minutes to be acknowledged! At which point I don't really have another ten minutes to wait to be served. I still had to pack for the honeymoon (ha, didn't happen) and pick up serving dishes at Macaroni Grill.

The beginning of the reception was a bit frustrating. Probably because I didn't have everything planned as well as I should have. I had hoped to be more organized, but between the moving and family coming in, some things didn't get done. I also tried to put Emily in charge, and she did a great job, but coming into the picture 2 days before the wedding makes it hard to direct everyone.

Despite, a little bit of a rough start... it all came together. I loved the park. The decorations turned out well. It was a bit windy, so I couldn't open all the doors. The food came together. We had lots of friends and family come and stay for a while. It was a lot of fun. It was a very non-traditional wedding. Cary and I mostly just walked around and mingled (no line), we didn't get much time to eat (which probably didn't help my mood, sorry to those I snapped at) and that was all. We didn't end up having a cake or cutting the chocolate dipped key lime pie, or really any other wedding traditions, which made me a little bit sad because it would have helped give the party a little bit more structure, but overall for being the bride and wedding planner I'm happy with how it turned out (read: I'm really just happy it's over).


People kept giving us a hardtime for our innocent kisses, so I went for a good one ;)

The honeymoon was a blast! We ate, and ate, and ate some more. We left for Vegas friday morning (after going to our apartment so I could pack :). Now, let me quickly explain why we decided to drive to vegas:


Me, after eating lots

a) I hate flying (I'm not afraid of flying, I just find the restrictions, cramped quarters, and waiting extremely tedious)(interesting tidbit: mark wahlberg hates flying as well... he only flies if it will be more than a day long road trip)

2) Driving allows one to come and go as they please, stop where they want, have conversations without being overheard, eat food at non-exorbitant prices, adjust temperature and music, etc. etc.

Finally, I've always wanted to see a show in Vegas. When I told Cary this, mocking and teasing commenced, but I'm not talking about an infamous "vegas" show... I'm talking about Cirque du Soleil. I've never been and have always wanted to see Cirque du Soleil. So Cary planned the honeymoon and booked a show but wouldn't tell me which show.

As we are driving into Vegas, he asks if I want to know which show we are going to.... not being a patient person (particularly when it comes to wanting to know a secret) I say yes, and he tells me we are going to X-travaganza!

Ha ha ha, obviously I know this is a fake show, but it would have been pretty fun had it been a real show and Cary didn't know and I could have been embarassed for him. Anyhow, we ended up seeing "O" by Cirque du Soleil. It's a water show, and the stage is a pool that continually moves making the stage anywhere from flat to just a wading pool to 20 feet deep. The show was visually stunning. There was so much to watch, it was hard to pick what you focused on. It was seriously one of the funniest shows I've ever seen. I was blown away by the theatrics, acrobatics, and general athleticism. Seeing the show totally made the drive worth it and I highly recommend it! Reward yourself with a Cirque du Soleil and I swear you won't regret it.



In Vegas, we also watched a couple of the fountain shows in front of the Bellagio, ate some great food, and of course played some of the slot machines. We won 50 cent, but got so bored we decided to call it quits. I'm glad I don't have to worry about Cary gambling away our future one day!

We continued on to sunny San Diego saturday. We stayed at the Bristol hotel. It was awesome. They upgraded us to a Suite (very nice of them), and it was a perfect location (right on 1st and C street, between the trolley and buses and 3 blocks from all the downtown happenings).

We ate at Asti, a cute little Italian restaurant where we sat on the patio enjoying our mango mahi mahi and rigatoni with filet mignon (I don't remember the exact name). Both were mouth-wateringly delicious.

Sunday, we decided to tackle the zoo. We actually ran into another couple from Utah on their honeymoon. They told us how they tried to get to church and were headed to see the mormon sites in San Diego (Cary and I didn't even know there are mormon sites in S.D.), anyhow, they were cool I suppose, but I decided I probably wouldn't be friends with them and I'm extremely judgemental.

Anyhow, we grabbed breakfast at Cafe 222. It was on Food Network's "Best thing I ever ate." So of course I got the best thing, which was Banana and Peanut Butter stuffed French toast, and let me tell you it was pretty close to one of the best things I've ever eaten. (Chicago's Bongo Room still stands supreme) But this breakfast definitely satisfied the taste buds. Just walking into the restaurant was a joyride for the senses. Cary got the mexican omelet, which was also worthy of a second visit. Anyhow, enough about food (for now).

The zoo was sweet. It's HUGE. Cary was so excited about every animal exhibit. I, on the other hand, hate most animals (read: I can skip right over fish and birds for sure) and mostly enjoy the lions, tigers, and bears, or pretty much if it comes out of Africa it's cool.


Cary breaking the rules and eating on the sky tram.


This is how he measures up to a polar bear.


Cool masks, eh?


Watch out for the lions! Sick.


He made me try on a hat.

Well we got hungry so we headed back to the hotel and then to Pizzeria Luigi (a place Cary found on Diners, Drive In's and Dives). It was a dive, but the pizza was a perfect blend of flavors and the crust was thin, but satisfying and just the perfect cross between crisp and soft.

It was sunday, (bus only comes every half hour), so we walked back, and got some sweet views of the city.

Monday: I figured SeaWorld would be less crowded, so we headed there. We got on the wrong bus, and had to cross a california highway, and forgot our towels, and other mishaps, but DON'T WORRY... we made it. For all of you who have never made it to SeaWorld... I'm sorry for you. It's a lot of fun, and yes Shamu is as cool as every 4 year old makes him out to be. Although, the shows have gotten a lot cheesier and everything is a little more geared towards children (I'm told this was because of the animals attacking trainers a year or two back). Cary's favorite part was riding the roller coaster with me. I, admittedly, am a total wimp when it comes to roller coasters. I'll ride them, but I get too scared to lift my hands in the air, and I have a look of sheer terror followed by closed eyes and panic at the top of every major drop.


Still having fun :)


Shamu!


Dolphins!

We decided to go for a burger monday, and headed to Crazee Burger, where we ate ostrich and kangaroo burgers. Mmmm they were melt in your mouth delicious. The meats were so tender and juicy. The ostrich was more fall apart tender, the kangaroo was slightly more game-y but had a rich flavor that was more distinct. So good.


Mmmmm.

Tuesday we headed off to Wild Animal Park (or San Diego Safari Park). I'm glad we saved this for tuesday, because apparently they feed the lions a whole leg on tuesdays! This park was freakin' awesome! If it hadn't been 110 degrees, it would have been one of my favorite destinations. The lion ate the leg right in front of me (which terrified me at first, but was actually pretty cool), the giraffes mingled with the buffalo, the baby rhino was adorable, oh and the elephants were really cool! You ride a tram around the park so you can see the animals up close and it felt like jurassic park... minus the raptors.


On the wild animal carousel.


Right before the lion lunged for the leg of meat.


I forget her name, but she just had a baby


I think I'll be a turtle in the next life.

If you're headed to S.D. in the next year, you should definitely hit up the Wild Animal Park-they're going to start racing the cheetahs in a year!


The elephants were a lot of fun to watch.


One view from the safari ride.

It was so blazing hot after two or three hours we headed to the beach. Coronado Island was raved about, so that's where we went. It was pretty nice for a California beach (I'm an NC snob, our beaches are hard to beat). Cary was hilarious. He's such a beach newbie. He was so excited to get in (even though it was still bitterly cold) and then he would have stayed all night building sandcastles and animal sculptures, but I promised we'd rent a beach house next summer in NC and he'd get the full experience.


Cary playing in the sand.


Cary giving me dirty looks for taking pictures of him in his swimsuit.

Anyhow, we headed home on Wednesday, flew out to Colorado on Thursday, had our open house on Friday (it turned out beautifully... much less stressful than the reception), and hung out with family all weekend. Monday we wrapped up the trip with a Ray LaMontagne and David Gray concert (two of Cary's favorites).


Posing for Mama T.


I made sure to get one of the little eclairs at the open house... still chewing.

Now, it's back to the grind. Cary's in school. I miss hanging out with him all day, but I'm getting organized and hopefully I will land a job soon!