Monday, July 30, 2007

Ode to Letterman... Top Ten Best Things About Our Wedding Week...

10. Finding out Jet Puff makes chocolate & coconut flavored marshmallows (we did s'mores in lieu of wedding cake at the reception).

9. Alisha putting my veil on correctly even though she had a perfect opportunity at revenging the fact that I did not notice that she had put hers on backwards at her wedding - consequently you could not see her face in any of the pictures in which she is wearing her veil (In my defense... it was my fist time being a maid of honor and it was almost ten years ago... I thought she'd forgiven me but she kept bringing it up all week so I guess I have yet to be absolved of that particular sin).

8. Something old (Peggy's mother's locket), something new (The wedding dress my mom made for me), something borrowed (my grandmother's pearls lent by my sister), something blue (the earrings Michael bought me for Christmas).

7. Meeting Michael's family and knowing that they had driven all the way from California to be there with us at our simple but beautiful mountain wedding under the shadows of the Sawtooth Mountains.

6. Almost flying over the handle bars of my mountain bike as I tried to catch up to Scott and Alisha on an old logging road at Petit Lake. It was a beautiful ride, and I know that I will never forget the way the sunset was reflecting off the clear ice blue lake on our way back to camp.

5. Joe playing the guitar around the campfire as all of us (Wendy, Alisha, Dawn, my brother, sister, Michael and I) sang 80's hair ballads -think Every Rose Has It's Thorn. Can't wait to see the video of that... hopefully with my solos edited out.

4. Watching my sister do the robot on the dance floor at the reception as my mom, dad, mother-in-law, friends, the woman that babysat Michael as a child (and coincidently graduated from Boise High in the same class as my dad) danced around her. Priceless.

3. Seeing my grandparents back at Terrace Lakes - a place that holds so many wonderful childhood memories for me of them. It reminded me yet again how lucky I am to have had such an engaged and fun-loving Grandmother and Grandfather so close growing up.

2. Standing in the middle of Petit Lake with a bottle of champagne watching a meteor shower against the backdrop of an ebony sky filled with an infinite number of stars (you could actually see the Milky Way and understand exactly how it got its name) that if I didn't know any better I would swear some higher power decided to create just for us. Incredible.

1. Marrying my best friend... I don't care how cheesy and overused that phrase is, in this case it is most definitely true.

We did it our way, which was most certainly not the traditional route. I can't imagine a better officiant than Ross who has been Michael's best friend since preschool. I can't imagine having anyone but my brother-in-law Joe playing the song that I walked down the aisle with my dad to. I can't imagine having had anyone but our sisters and my brother stand up with us as we said our vows. I can't imagine doing such an intimate thing in front of people that would not have understood why we were doing it the way that we did.
Our vows were amazing, sincere, and profound. It may not have been the typical wedding, but it was ours and it felt right. My only regret is for the people that could not be there that really wanted to. Rest assured all of the people that care about us and had a part in creating and supporting the two of us were there in spirit and in love.

Monday, July 23, 2007

A Thank You Note...

*Sigh.*
It's over.
What an absolutely perfect week we had.

Thank you to all that came to celebrate with us- all of you that came in body and those of you that were there in spirit. Your good thoughts, your generosity, and your happy happy wishes made the week what it was.

Perfect.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Bachelorette/ Bachelor Parties Last Weekend

This will probably be my last post before the wedding. I can't believe that it's already here! Kathy gets in today and Scott either Friday or Saturday. Peggy will arrive in Nampa Saturday. I am taking the next week off of work. Crazy, crazy crazy!

Last weekend MJ and the guys from the shop went on a mountain bike/ fishing trip that just so happened to get written about in the Statesman this week. You can check it out here:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/104863.html

The article starts out: "Getting into the Boulder/Whiteclouds on a mountain bike requires a full gruntal assault. High elevation, relentless climbs, heat, rocky trails and mosquitoes all conspire against you as if they are gatekeepers of the mountains.
But the payoff is worth it — Idaho's backcountry is full of rewards."

By all accounts they had a great time, saw some amazing scenery, took advantage of the downhill on the way out and enjoyed some nice steaks afterwards in Sun Valley.

Meanwhile... I left in a big silver bird on Friday afternoon and headed down south to Reno. In the airport we found a billboard of the band that brought us there and had a snapshot taken in front of it.

We headed over to the hotel and had dinner and called it an early night in anticipation of the next day. To preface this story a bit my friends and I have a long history of doing our best to completely humiliate the bride to be during their bachelorette party. Some past dress up themes have included 80's prom night, hick cowgirls also from the 80's, and punk rock girls. That night as we went to bed I had a fleeting thought that since everyone was pregnant that I was going to get off easy.

As we got ready for the pool the next morning after breakfast my friends surprised me with a beach outfit they were determined I wear. I got a lovely sign letting everyone know I was soon to be wed. A blow-up dolphin we promptly named Flipper. And a headband, lei and arm bands to make sure that no one missed the sign.

The fun didn't stop there. After a long day laying by the pool, sipping on cocktails (well Susan and I were sipping... everyone else was pregnant and drinking "mocktails") we met up with a friend that lives in Reno and prepared for the concert that night. I had a lot of interesting gifts given to me that culminated into our theme for the evening... wigged out.

I hope to have a picture of everyone after we donned wigs... but for now I'll leave you with a truly frightening picture of the result of my friends work on me that night... false eyelashes, wig, hippie dress and all, in all it's glory... don't I make a pretty bride??? As I said ever time I caught sight of myself in the mirror that night... I now know that blond does not look good on me! The Indigo Girls show was awesome though, and we were able to go right up to the stage. I think Amy & Emily were appreciative of the humor all six of us caused with our outfits.

See you next week! Love to all, -M








From an email from Peggy (the mother-in-law to be)...

Although Saturday weddings are de rigeur nowadays, it was once considered an inauspicious day to get married. According to a well-known old rhyme:

Monday for wealth,
Tuesday for health,
Wednesday the best day of all.
Thursday for losses,
Friday for crosses,
Saturday for no luck at all.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

An email to future me from past me...

A cool website to check out if you get time... www.futureme.org. I got this email today...

(The following is an e-mail from the past, composed on Monday, January 22, 2007, and sent via FutureMe.org)

Dear FutureMe,

I want to tell you to give yourself a break, allow time to heal, take Michael on a date to the zoo, walk barefoot through the grass, forgive yourself for your failings, dance in the rain, tell your sister and brother how much you love them, take a road trip alone, drink champagne with your friends, stop being so afraid of failure, thank your parents for giving you life, breathe in deeply, treat yourself to gourmet chocolate from the quaint little shop you walk by so often, skip a night at the gym for a night in the foothills with your amazing dogs and husband, smile more, bring dinner over to your grandparents, show up late for work and leave early, plan a trip to Bali, spend an entire day in your pajamas, paint a picture, have a child, climb a mountain, forgive, live, thrive. I want to tell you all of this, and I expect you to do it. TEB taught you that you only get one chance at life. She died a year ago today. Celebrate her life. Take your chance. Suck every last drop of it until finally it is your time to leave as well. No regrets.

Love, Past Me

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

More Bridal Shower Pics...


Dawn, our sassy hostess with the mostest


Celinda trying to cool off her beautiful pregnant belly


My amazing Mom & fabulous Grandma


beautiful girls... Cori & Braden


Celinda & Cori


The resemblance is in those baby blues! Teddy & Wendy


My "moms" and future sister-in-law


Ms. Whitney with a great smile!


My mom... I love this one!


Fantastic!


Wendy thought she shot her eye out trying to open a bottle of champagne... fortunately she was wrong about that and no injuries were sustained!


Ariel shot courtesy of Trey


Our waiter for the morning


Skol!


My friends... sigh... and yes, I do know how lucky I am!

Friday, July 06, 2007

Breaking News...

Front page news on CNN this morning? The heat in the west.

"BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- When the mercury hit 104, Rick Overton took his colleagues tubing on the Boise River, thinking it couldn't get much hotter. A day later, parts of the West were in for a little relief, but not everywhere -- Boise was expected to hit 107 degrees Friday."

And later in the story after a bunch of stuff about California...

"Even Stanley, Idaho, which at more than 6,000 feet elevation is routinely the coldest place in the lower 48 states, was seeing record highs, the National Weather Service said. The remote town in the Sawtooth Mountains reached 92 degrees Thursday, and was expected to hit 93 degrees Friday."

This must be one of the first times ever that Stanley has made CNN (unless it is for being the coldest place in the country). Hopefully it cools down in a couple of weeks... this doesn't bode well for the forest fires we were hoping to avoid and snow capped mountains we were hoping to showcase- although Michael is convinced a fire would make for great wedding pictures.

Fourth of July we had an impromptu barbecue at our house with some friends. We served cold mint avocado and cucumber soup and Michael's famous grilled chicken. We had a perfect view of the fireworks that were set off at a park just a few blocks from our house, but it was an early night. The heat just drained everyone all day I think.

So today I set off for my bachelorette party weekend. Since it is so hot here we are headed to... ummm... Nevada...
Who knows? It's possible it could be cooler down there... I doubt it will be warmer!

Lots of love to you all... hope to see you in a couple (YIKES!) weeks in Stanley! -M

Monday, July 02, 2007

Bridal Shower








So... lesson learned... don't ask that no one brings gifts to a bridal shower because you will end up with much more than you would have had you not asked! I have the most amazing women that surround me in my life and Saturday a lot of them came together to drink champagne and eat delicious food, laugh, and celebrate a beautiful Boise morning.
In Dawn's back yard they set up tables with tablecloths and flowers and a huge buffet of stuffed french toast, quiche, cream cheese and smoked salmon, and lots of other delicious things to eat. Trey (Dawn's son) served us mimosas - he even wore a tie. They had a drink theme and people brought bottles of wine and champagne and some brought theme baskets with recipes for new drinks to try - with some old favorites mixed in to revisit.
My "second mom" Cheryl brought some beautiful tall goblets with strawberry kiwi mix and vanilla vodka. Yum! Dawn didn't feel like she had done enough throwing the party so she got me a basket of mojitos complete with a muddler (there is a funny story there for another day). I got a tequilla colada basket from Wendy reminding us of our trip to Cancun several years ago and convincing us that we need to go back. A couple of my girlfriends put together a "skip and go naked" drink set that consists of a pitcher and the fixings for a very interesting new summer sipper to try. I got a very touching gift from my grandmother with the recipe to a good marriage and an engagement photo along with a wine saver gift set and huge bottle of merlot. My mom among many other things made stem labels for wine glasses out of my wedding dress fabric in the colors of our wedding. Susan gave me a beautiful basket we will use for cards at the wedding and everything needed to make passion fruit pomegranate martinis. Celinda gave me a hilarious book that I have been wanting to buy by Amy Sedaris. But most of all... they all gave me a day that I will never forget. These women and others that couldn't be there (but were definitely there in spirit) form the foundation of who I am and I struggled to get through the day without tears. More pics to come when I get them from others at the party...
Love to all, -M