Day 184: Happy New Year (Almost)!!!

It's almost 2011. I know I am slightly early, but please do let me say Happy New Year!!!

2010 was quite a year. That gorgeous day on the beach in the early July sunshine will live vividly in my memory for as long as I continue to take breaths. It was everything I wanted it to be, everything we wanted it to be.

But even more special than the day we said, "I do" have been the 184 days since. Sure, the day-to-day stuff (work, dishes, laundry, getting the oil changed) sometimes gets in the way of our remembering how special each and every day is. But even when the to-do list is a mile long, the thing that should top that list is simply to take a moment to remember to be grateful.

As this amazing year comes to an end, I am grateful for every one of the 184 days that I have woken up as Brandon's wife. It is because I am that each of those days and 2010 itself has been so incredibly special.

There won't be a wedding in 2011, but there will be a marriage. 365 days of marriage. And I will be grateful for every single one of them!

HAPPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Day 181: New Name

If you've been following me on my year of newlywedded bliss, you will probably remember that, immediately after arriving home from our honeymoon, I began my new job as a middle and high school science teacher. I absolutely love this job, but as a first-year teacher, I've had very little time to enjoy the rest of my life these past few months. I've also had very little time to take care of my long list of things to do. And at the top of that list for the past six months has been to change my name to Charlotte Eames.

I have finally done it! Last week, I went to the social security office to apply for my new card. It came in the mail pretty quickly, and as soon as it did, I took it to the DMV to get my new driver's license. I got up early yesterday morning, trying to arrive at the DMV before the line got too long. Unfortunately, since the last time I'd been at the DMV (about two years ago), it has changed locations. Realizing this and figuring out where to go instead put me behind by about an hour. The line was out the door and down the block by the time I got there.

Still, I only waited in it for about 40 minutes. I got up to the checkpoint, documents in-hand. "How can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked me. "I need to change my name," I stated. "Ok, did you get your new social security card already?" "Yes," I replied proudly, feeling so good that I was so on top of my stuff! "Great, and do you have your birth certificate and marriage license?" I handed both documents over. "Ok, and then I just need two things proving your address." WHAT???

First of all, why would the DMV need to prove my address, when it is already clearly-printed on my current license? But even more importantly, why did nobody tell me I needed this proof when I called last week to verify that I had everything required? I clearly remember being told that I needed my new social security card, my birth certificate, and my marriage license. I'd made the assumption that this person on the other end of the line knew what she was talking about. Oops, silly me!

But there was nothing to be done. I was forced to remain Charlotte Erickson for 24 more hours.

So, the next day, I got up early again, drove directly to the correct DMV location, and got back in line. I was earlier this time, so only 30 minutes later, I was at that first checkpoint again. This time I had everything I needed. I was given a number and told to wait till it was called - another hour or so. Once my number came up, the process was easy, if not quick. But I left the DMV with a new license and a new name.

Please welcome to the world Mrs. Charlotte Eames!

Day 178: My Own Christmas

Once again, merry Christmas!

Brandon and I slept in late and had just a little time to enjoy the real Christmas before he had to get ready for work. This is not the first time Brandon has worked on Christmas Day. In fact, only rarely has he not.

I don't really mind. I've begun my own Christmas tradition of taking myself to a movie with my mother-in-law's famous fudge. And I was looking forward to doing that this year, too; but I was tired and lazy!

After Brandon left, I cleaned up some of our Christmas Eve mess and then sat down to watch a movie here at home. A few hours later, there was still plenty of time to go out for my traditional Christmas movie, but there was absolutely no motivation. I simply didn't feel like leaving the house! So I just watched another movie here at home.

It was, perhaps, a little boring for Christmas, and I did have a moment or two of loneliness during my holiday at home. But all-in-all, it was a relaxing day and a relaxing night. And if I can't have Brandon, at least Netflix can always keep my company!

Day 177: Our First Christmas

Merry Christmas!!! Yes, it is only December 24, Christmas Eve, 2010. But Brandon has to work the holiday tomorrow; so we celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple today.

It started with a bottle of wine, continued with mountains of presents (and a few more bottles of wine), and ended with a huge spread of fixings for fondue! What a lovely day and one that I think we will remember fondly for years and years to come.

Brandon and I still act like little kids when it comes to Christmas. All new gifts get shaken just as soon as they get placed under the tree. We try constantly to trick each other into revealing the secrets contained in the pretty packages. And, when the big day finally comes, we rip into those gifts like our lives depended on it!

And, being that it was our first married Christmas, we really spoiled each other this year. My big gift was a nook. This is Barnes and Noble's version of the Kindle, an e-reader on which you can download thousands and thousands of books. I'd been thinking about getting one for a while, and I had a feeling Brandon would make my wish come true this Christmas. He did not disappoint; and so far, neither has my nook - what a cool toy!!! On top of that, I got a beautiful heart necklace, a new watch, a bottle of X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, and two boxes of Ferrero Rocher (one of my favorite treats, but one I really only get on very special occasions - like today!).

Brandon didn't have any really big wishes this year, but I was able to come up with several medium and a few small things that all added up to one huge smile on his face! He got Bears floormats for his truck, a new X-Box game, a fancy-shmancy thingy that lets him plug his iPod into his truck stereo and play it through a radio station. He also got a couple books about guitars, a DVD, a few gift cards, and some Andes mints (a Christmas classic for him).

We opened our gifts from each other slowly, savoring the moments and feeling grateful, with each new gift we unwrapped, that we have each other to spoil.

When we had opened all of the gifts and thrown away all of the paper, we got started on our fondue dinner. We had steak and chicken and lobster, which we cooked up in screaming-hot oil in the fondue pot we got for our wedding. On the side we had broccoli, green peppers, fried potatoes, and soft pretzel pieces that we dipped in a delicious cheese fondue. The food seemed endless, but we actually did a pretty good job on it. We washed it all down with yet one more bottle of wine. And then, exhausted, we went to bed.

In the past six months, we've shared so many special moments and made a million wonderful memories. And ach moment of today was yet one more. It was a perfect first Christmas for the Eames family!

Day 173: Baby Time!!!

Surprised? Don't be...

It's not ours! But it is our niece, who was born tonight at 7:40, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. We welcome with joy and excitement Eliana Leann Eames, who has made Brandon and me an uncle an aunt for the very first time. We are thrilled!

Those who know us well know that Brandon and I are not sure that we want kids of our own. Maybe after we've been married a few years and are more settled with our careers, we will change our minds. But at this point, neither of us has the urge to be a parent.

We are, however, thrilled to be an uncle and an aunt. Because, you know, we get all the perks of parenthood without all the fuss of it! We probaly won't see much of Eliana, being that she lives over 1500 miles away, but I think we'll be able to enjoy her even from a distance. After all, whether Brandon and I are ready to bring our own child into the world or not, it simply cannot be denied that, when a baby is born, so is an incredible amount of joy.

I haven't met my first niece, but I love her with all my heart. And I already have this sweet little fantasy of taking her to meet Mickey someday. See? Aunts are super cool!

Day 172: Church Members

This morning, Brandon and I officially joined the church we've been attending for the past year and a half. We were both raised going to church and, in fact, kind of met at church. Brandon's dad was the president of the committee that hired my dad at Immanuel Lutheran in Compton way back in 1993.

Lots has happened since then. My dad is at a new church now, and Brandon and I have grown up, gotten married, and moved out into the world on our own.

Since moving to Florida over four years ago, Brandon and I have tried only a couple different churches. Our schedules sometimes make it difficult to get there on Sunday mornings (yes, the typical excuse of the 20-something-year-olds who just want to sleep in on the weekends), but for a long time we've been looking for a place where we can belong.

Last spring, the pastor of this church helped us with our pre-marriage counseling, and during that time, we decided we should officially join the church. So today, we did. It doesn't really change anything, except that now we have offering envelopes with our names printed on them.

The reason it was a big deal for me, I think, is that we joined this church as a family. We are no longer Brandon Eames and Charlotte Erickson, members of two different families who happen to belong to the same church. Now we are Brandon and Charlotte Eames, the family, and we've joined a church as such.

I like that.

Day 171: Kids Again

Today was my first official day of winter break. And, after a gruelling four months, during which I experienced adulthood like never before, I wanted nothing more than to do something that would make me feel like a kid again!

So to Dave and Buster's we went! (It was Brandon's first time, which made it that much more exciting!)

If you've never been, please make it a point to go, and soon. It's a restaurant, bar, and arcade! The service leaves a bit to be desired, and the food is only pretty good; but there really is no place more fun!

You eat, you drink, and then you just play! We did skeeball and basketball, "Deal or No Deal" and "Wheel of Fortune." We spun a big wheel and landed on the jackpot - 400 tickets!!! We tried it again and only got four! We played more skeeball and went back to "Deal or No Deal" (Brandon was really good at that!). We tried the big wheel one more time and got 75 tickets! When the money ran out, we had over 800 tickets. We can't get anything good with them yet, but I have a feeling we'll be back soon.

Tickets or no tickets, though, the day was a huge success. I haven't played like that in a long, long time. It felt really good to just be a kid!

Day 170: World of Beer - Our Kind of Place!!!

Tonight Brandon and I discovered a wonderful little gem of a place called World of Beer. Yes. World. Of. Beer.

Now this is our kind of world!!!

The place has about 600 different beers to choose from; their menu (which consists of only beer) must have been 20 pages long! We could have sat there all night just looking through it. But we wanted to drink some of it too!

After getting some advice from the waitress, we put in an order. Then she asked us if we were interested in joining the World of Beer Loyalty Program. We looked at her like she was crazy! What was she asking us? Why was she asking? Of course we were interested in joining the World of Beer Loyalty Program!!!

We signed up on the spot, and now we have some "World of Beer goals" that we are working toward together. We have to try lots of different beers, and we get prizes when we reach certain benchmarks (50, 100, 250, 500). Obviously, it will take us quite some time to achieve the goals (even with them letting us work toward them together), but I absolutely love it that we have this new thing.

It's kind of silly, I suppose, but it's something for us to share, to work toward together, and to accomplish as a team. And seriously, how could we not be excited about a place called World of Beer?

Day 168: Really Good News

It is the last week of school before winter break begins. I will give my science midterms tomorrow morning, and then spend the rest of the day and night grading them. This, I am not looking forward to.

But in the midst of making hundreds of copies and leading a study session for some of my chemistry students this afternoon, I got some news that will surely keep me smiling through all of my upcoming trials.

Brandon is going to days!!!!!

That means no more waking up to the turn of the doorknob at 4:15 am, no more having to sneak around the house on Saturday mornings while he catches up on his sleep, and no more eating my dinner of microwave popcorn all alone on the couch (well, that one, I might actually miss).

Brandon has been on days twice before, and I have been truly missing it over the past few years. I've put up with his night shift schedule with few complaints, but his most recent shift (4 pm to 4 am) has been killing me ever so slowly and painfully for months. This change is very, very welcome!

Our routine will have to change quite a bit, and the adjustment might be difficult at first. But I think our lives will be greatly improved in many ways. If nothing else, it's enough to know I'll get to go to bed with my husband on a regular basis. What a novelty!!!

Day 163: Getting Into the Christmas Spirit

Sometimes in South Florida, perhaps because we don't have the usual clues like snow in our yards and ice on the roads, the Christmas season really sneaks up on me. Of course, if you walk into any retail store anytime after Halloween (and possibly, depending on which store you've walked into, before that), you'll see that the season is surely upon us. Outside, you'll see palm trees twinkling with lights and people outside putting decorations on their roofs (and wearing the typical December gear of long pants and sweatshirts).

We here in South Florida get ready for the holidays early, sometimes too early. But even with the nonstop Christmas music playing from the car stereo, I still find it difficult to get into the spirit. I don't want it to get cold, and I really don't want it to snow; but there is something about single-digit temperatures and that white, fluffy stuff that just makes it feel like it's Christmas.

I like the warm weather, though, and I really like to see the decorated palm trees as I drive the streets of South Florida; so I need to find a different way to get into the Christmas spirit. This year, Brandon suggested going to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert!

We saw them a few years ago in Chicago, and it was truly one of the best concerts either of us had ever been to. If you're not familiar with the group, Google them right away! They are technically an orchestra, but the music they play is more rock-style. They use electric guitars and electric violins. And they back it all up with the most thrilling special effects and various pyrotechnics! So their CDs are awesome; but their concerts are almost unbelievable!

I couldn't have thought of a better way to get into the holiday spirit than attending this amazing show. Brandon and I drove all the way to Miami (it's not that far, but it was in rush-hour traffic!), found a little Peruvian dive for an amazing dinner (and cheap), and then spent the next three hours gaping in amazement at the music, the singing, the stories, and, yes, the pyrotechnics.

There was a little bite in the air when we left the arena just after 10 pm. So I huddled a little closer to Brandon as we walked back to our car parked on the iceless streets of downtown Miami. And I said, simply, "I can't wait for Christmas!"

Day 152: Back to Work

After five full days of wonderful vacation, today I had to go back to work. And, although Brandon went back a few days ago and I really, truly love my job, I have just one thing to say after a long Monday at school:

I really, really, really missed my husband!!!

Day 150: Two Days After the Fridge Gave Out

Oh, what a couple days this has been.

After telling you about my absolutely lovely Thanksgiving, Brandon and I decided to go to bed. After all, we were planning on getting up mighty early to hit the Black Friday sales. Just before heading into the bedroom, Brandon stopped in the kitchen to grab some water and noticed that the floor was covered in it.

He investigated for a minute and concluded that the water was leaking out of the freezer. But we didn't know at that point if we'd accidentally left it open a crack or if it was truly broken.

So we just went to bed.

But the next morning we discovered that, indeed, it was the latter. It was, however, five o'clock, and there was nothing we were going to do about it at that time of the morning. So we went shopping. I mean, what else does a person do in a situation like this? We went through with our plans!

Since we'd gone out so early, we were done by about nine. After quickly dropping our purchases on the living room floor, we bolted right back out the door to get ice. We had no idea how long it was going to take for our fridge to get fixed, and we were determined to save as much of our food as we could. We got what we couuld on ice and then began to call around.

We took turns. I'd call a few places, get frustrated, and throw the phone to (definitely not at) Brandon. He'd call a few places, get frustrated, and calmly ask me to try a couple more. (I have a hotter temper than he does, but we already knew this!) We never did figure it out, and we eventually gave up hope. This morning we started the process all over again.

But we finally had some success. About two hours after we made this particular phone call, two guys showed up at our door. They looked at our fridge for about two minutes. But they figured it out, had the part, and fixed it within half an hour. And several hundred dollars later, we were back in business.

Brandon was running late to work after this two-day-old fiasco, but on his way out, he still stopped to give me a kiss goodbye. And aftaer he'd done so, he left me contemplating these very wise words: "Being a grown-up sucks!"

Day 148: Thanksgiving

Brandon and I have been together for 10 years and have therefore celebrated 10 Thanksgivings. We've now celebrated five of them under the same roof! But this year's Thanksgiving was different because, of course, it was our first Thanksgiving as a married couple.

In past years, since we don't have any family here in Florida, we've accepted invites to the homes of our friends so that we can celebrate the holiday in style. (I am working on becoming a Domestic goddess, but the fact of the matter is, I really don't cook!) This year, as in years past, we were not short of kind invitations.

But this year, we had no desire to do anything but wake up late in the morning, stay in our pajamas throughout the day, and drink beer late into the night. So that is exactly what we did. And we had an awesome "first Thanksgiving as a married couple."

We did sleep late, but not too late that we'd miss our chance to get a couple of the big papers with all the Black Friday ads in them from one of the local gas stations. Going through the ads together while we eat and drink is one of our new traditions.

Early in the afternoon, I began cooking. Yes, I said that I didn't cook, and I don't all that much. But I do have a specialty or two, and one of our favorites is beer and cheese soup. No, it's not turkey (in fact, it's meatless), but it's truly something we enjoy. And I have made it every time we've chosen to spend a holiday with just each other, at home. It's another one of our new traditions.

So I made the soup, cut up some crusty bread, and poured each of us a deep bowl full of the creamy, yellow goodness! We ate it in front of the TV - watching football and going through those ads.

When we were finally full, we both lay down on the couch, Brandon's head at one end and mine at the other. We took turns falling asleep, flipping channels, and playing games on our phones. We stayed in that position for about five hours, not feeling a need to talk all that much, but sharing a laugh every once in a while. And I don't know if there has been a time in my life when I have ever felt more comfortable or more relaxed. It was not an elegant day or even an exciting one. But it was just the one we wanted.

Day 142: The Big Game

Yesterday might have been the best day of my life. It was, for certain, the best day of my husband's.

Now, if you've been following along recently, you might be aware that yesterday was the day that Brandon and I went to our first-ever professional football game, between the Miami Dolphins (PUKE!) and the one and only Chicago Bears!

And you might be asking yourself how a newlywed could consider a silly football game to be the best day of her life when, not six months ago, she was marrying the love of her life on a beautiful beach in Key West. And yes, July 1, 2010, was a wonderful day. But I still think yesterday might have been better.

Here's why: 1) There was no car crash, 2) The planning of this event (complete with tailgating and everything) was a lot less complicated than the planning of our wedding, and 3) I've truly never, ever seen Brandon happier.

No, not even on our wedding day. And I'm one-hundred percent ok with that. Brandon has known and loved the Bears a lot longer than he has known and loved me. His loyalty to them has never waivered, and one of his life dreams has been to see them play and to see them win. He did both yesterday.

And, you know what married couples are supposed to say to each other: "If you're happy, I'm happy." The statement might not hold truy in every situation, but it definitely held true for me yesterday. And so, the day that we saw the Bears beat the Dolphins in Miami was probably the best day of my life, for the simple reason that it was definitely the best day of my husband's.

Day 139: House Visitors

Brandon and I have been looking forward to this day for many, many months. His cousin, Phil, along with Phil's girlfriend, Megan, arrived in South Florida from the blistery early winter of Chicagoland just this afternoon!

Their arrival is special for many reasons. For one thing, this is the first time we are hosting overnight guests in our home as a married couple. Sure, the random friend has crashed on the couch after a gathering has gone too late into the night, but this is truly the first time since we got married (and hosted, oh, 11 or so people here) that we'll be truly having company.

My last post was all about fall cleaning. Well, that was all for Phil and Megan!

But even more important that this silly little milestone is the reason surrounding Phil and Megan's visit: the Bears game on Thursday night in Miami.

Brandon and I have been waiting for this day to arrive since we moved here over four years ago. The Bears just don't come to Miami that often, and, while we'd have been willing to travel to see a game, the closest the Bears ever came to us was Atlanta - a good 10-hour drive. So when we learned that our team was finally going to be in our area, we knew we had to do it big!

So Phil and Megan flew all the way from Chicago to join us at what will be Brandon's and my first-ever professional football game.

Now, the question remains: What does this have to do with being a newlywed, and why am I writing about it on what is supposed to be my newlywed blog?

Well, let's go back about 10 years, when Brandon and I first began dating. I was 17, and I'd been raised by two people who themselves were born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Of course, these two parents of mine were Packers fans. Please don't judge them too harshly. They only know what they were brought up believing, and, while they are horribly misguided in their football preferences, they are absolutely wonderful people. So, obviously, they raised me to be a Packers fan too, and I was one when Brandon and I began our relationship.

Brandon, of course, was a Bears fan and always had been. And he'd grown up in a household of boys to whom football was incredibly important. I figured out almost right away that I would not be a welcome addition to that family if I brought my Packers baggage with me. So, I let Brandon teach me about the greatest football team to ever play; and, as I learned, I began to see the light ever more clearly.

I converted to a Bears fan soon after this began, and I now credit Brandon's willingness to teach and my own willingness to learn with saving our young relationship.

Of course, I exaggerate slightly. But only slightly.

Day 131: The Zales Christmas Ad

So, it's that time of year...the Christmas catalogues have begun to arrive! I always find this to be an exciting time - not so much because of the catalogues themselves but because of the hope and joy that accompanies them. This is a time of year when, despite our stress, we are generally happy!

I, however, am a little preoccupied with planning my chemistry lessons to be paying much attention to the Christmas ads. In fact, tonight, while I was creating a PowerPoint presentation to explain how scientists name covalent compounds, I got a text message from Brandon: "Did you see the Zales ad?"

Hmmm...yes, I was pretty sure I'd seen it, and I was also pretty sure I'd recycled it during my crazy "Why-do-we-get-so-much-mail!?!" fit (a daily occurrence).

After a moment (and before I'd responded), another text came in: "I saw a few things I thought you might like, so take a look and let me know."

After taking a moment to ask myself if this was the same guy that challenges me to eating contests and counts on me as his X-Box football partner, I went and got that ad right out of the recycling bin. And yes, there were a few things in there I liked! So I took a break from my chemistry lesson and circled them!

I don't know if I'll actually get any jewelry for Christmas (some of my choices were outside our agreed upon Christmas budget, after all). But I do love it that I have someone in my life who wants to get me some! So maybe this year I'll let Brandon have the last Christmas Morning cinnamon roll and hope that something even sweeter awaits me under the tree.

A girl can hope, right?

Day 129: Fall Cleaning

As you are probably aware from numerous previous posts, Brandon and I have been really busy lately. My school schedule has been hectic, and he has been picking up extra shifts simply for something to do. We relish the time we have together when we can do little to nothing.

But we haven't had much of that kind of time together lately. In fact, today was "Fall Cleaning Day!"

Our house has been turned completely upside down since before our wedding - 129 days ago! For the past four months, we have been aware of the crazy mess that is our home. But rather than cleaning it up, we have simply been moving the mess from here to there. Oh, we need the bedroom clean? Just throw everything in the spare room and we'll deal with it later. Oh, a guest is coming to stay in the spare room? Throw that mess in the closet, and we'll just hope no one tries to open it!

We knew our tactics wouldn't work forever, but we simply couldn't find the time to deal with the problem any other way - until now.

Fall Cleaning Day was supposed to be "Fall Cleaning Morning." We had a few errands to run and then a few rooms to clean up. We thought that, if we started early enough and then really set our minds and put our bodies into the tasks, we'd finish in time to have a nice lunch together and enjoy the rest of our afternoon doing little to nothing.

Boy, were we wrong! (Well, except for the lunch thing - we did have a nice lunch together, despite it all).

Brandon and I left our house at 10 a.m. this morning to go in search of two brown picture frames. We found them at the third store and were quite proud of ourselves for completing this part of the mission.

But we were also hungry (and one of us gets really cranky when (s)he is hungry), so we put the mission on hold and went out to lunch. Over our gigantic plates of ribs and fries, we talked about what else we had to do that afternoon. We still had some chores, but we had every intention of completing them with plenty of time to spare. After all, it was Saturday, and we wanted a little time to play!

But again, we were wrong.

We went home and began reorganizing the drum room closets. See, the spare room was a huge, huge mess (as it has been since we bought this house nearly two years ago), and the only way to clear out the mess in the spare room was to, well, make a mess of the drum room. We took everything out of those drum room closets, and proceeded to fill them with everything from the spare room. And once that was done, we had to go back to the drum room to clean up the mess we'd made in there!

But amazingly, we got everything into the closets, and we did it in an organized manner! Now, we know where things are (even if we can't quite reach them). The spare room is clear, and the drum room is back to normal.

And, although this project took until 10 p.m., at which point we were way too tired to go about having any fun with our Saturday off together, we both feel really good about having completed such a huge task. Our house is no longer upside down. Every single room has been turned right, and our lives in general feel like they have, too. I'm sleeping better (I might just be tired, but let's go with it), my stress level is down, and I'm really enjoying being able to go into the spare room without tripping over something.

Fall Cleaning Day is proof that a day in the life of a married woman is not always an incredible adventure. But even chores can be fun if you have the right guy helping you out with them.

And our house looks amazing!

Day 125: 4 Months!!!

It is the second day of November, and you probably know by now that Brandon and I celebrate our anniversary on the first of each month.

Can you believe that yesterday we forgot? It's only four months into our marriage! Granted, it might be a bit ambitious to try to celebrate every single month marker for our entire first year, but shouldn't we at least acknowledge the day?

I guess we have truly fallen into our routine as husband and wife. The fact that Brandon is now my husband rather than my fiance or boyfriend doesn't shock me the way it used to.

I remember having just gotten home from our wedding weekend in Key West and not being able to call Brandon anything but "Husband." I would say things like, "Hey Husband, could you run out and get the mail real quick?" or "Oh, Husband, did you need me to pick up the dry cleaning today?" No longer did my husband have a name, or even a pet name - baby, sweetheart, hon or something of the sort. And I think he feared the habit would stick.

It did eventually wear off, though. I don't remember exactly when. There at the beginning, the term was so new and strange to me. And I think I had to say it over and over to remind myself it was real. Four months in, though, I don't think about it that much anymore. In fact, it kind of feels like it's always been this way, like we've always been husband and wife.

So I guess I kicked the habit of calling Brandon "Husband" when I fell into the very happy habit of being his wife.

Day 115: From Haunted to Heaven

As long as we'd made the drive up to Orlando (about three hours for us), Brandon and I thought we should make the most of this weekend, especially after holing ourselves up in our house for so many weekends in a row.

Plus, I prefer to leave Orlando with visions of Mickey and Minnie (and not scary masked men running after me with chainsaws).

Turns out, Epcot was holding its annual International Food and Wine Festival, which sounded really exciting. If you've ever been to Epcot, you will know that the park is set up with rides and other attractions toward the front, and the World Showcase toward the back. The World Showcase normally consists of 11 countries - Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada.

These 11 countries are really neat. You get to see that culture's architecture, try some of their food and drink, and even hear some of their music. Walking through the World Showcase at Epcot is one of my absolute favorite things to do with a day.

And the International Food and Wine Festival is the World Showcase on steroids! This year, they included 14 countries, on top of the 11 that occupy space in Epcot year-round. Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, Sinagpore, South Africa, South Korea, and Spain were all represented. And every single one of them had a stand selling samples of its food and drink.

All you do all day is walk around tasting food from this country, sipping a drink from that one. And many of the booths are manned by natives of the countries represented. It is truly culture and culinary heaven.

25 countries and 25 snacks...yes, I could handle a heaven like that!

Day 114: Out of Our Cozy House and Into a Haunted One (or Five)

Well, Brandon and I finally got out of the house. Having been sick at the beginning of the week, I had the opportunity to get some real, high-quality rest. By Wednesday, I felt almost back to normal - not just healthy, but also refreshed! And, because next week is a short one at school, I was able to finish all of my planning for it.

It was the perfect moment to get away. So, on Friday afternoon, we left our cozy, comfortable house, to spend the night going into a bunch of haunted ones.

Yup, we went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando. Every year around Halloween, Universal Studios transforms itself into this sort of living nightmare. There put together several huge haunted houses, all with different themes ("The Orphanage," "The Psych Ward," "The Catacombs," etc.). There were eight of them this year, and they are haunted, of course, by real people (actors, I know, but it is really scary when they pop out from their dark corners!).

On top of the haunted houses, there are characters who simply run around the park chasing after you or wait near trees or around corners to pop out and scare you. This year, one of the big things was masked men running around with chainsaws. They were dispersed throughout the park, and they were just standing there in the middle of everything, daring you to walk by.

Fun? Now that I'm out of the haunted houses and back in my cozy, comfortable one (which is nothing like a psych ward!), absolutely. But at the time I was simply scared.

And this lasted from about 8:00 pm to 2:00 am - yup, that's six full hours of scared! At least for me. Brandon didn't seem to be scared at all. Not once the entire night did I see him jump or hear him scream. This, I found quite strange.

Then again, I didn't send a scary masked man with a chainsaw running after him and calling out his name.

Day 111: Boring, Married Life

It's been nearly two weeks since I've posted. Normally, I would blame this on being too busy, but this time I'm blaming it on being too boring. (You may have noticed this when you read my last post - about how our lives revolve around "The Office").

The truth is, I'm tired - old, married, and tired. I don't feel like much of a newlywed at all.

I don't have enough energy (or motivation) to do the dishes, fold the laundry, or water the flowers, let alone enjoy a night out with my husband. I get home from work, and all I want to do is sit in front of the TV. I couldn't care less about getting dinner on the table or going shopping for the groceries we'd need to make it (hey, it looks like there's popcorn in the pantry - "pop" it in the microwave!).

The last thing I want to do is chores, and I'm so tired some nights that doing something entertaining with my husband actually classifies as one!

This is not the newlywed life I ever planned (or want) to lead. It's ironic to say this, but fortunately for me, I came down with a little cold a few days ago. I felt awful, but because I did I gave myself permission to get the rest my body and mind both need - the rest I rarely get! In the past three days, I have slept more than I normally would in an entire week. And I feel great - still a little sniffly, but great!

It seems that the boring, old, married Charlotte just needed a couple good nights' rest. And now that I've gotten it, I'm welcomimg myself back to the life of an exciting, young newlywed!

Day 100: Home Office

A few months ago, Brandon and I became overly obsessed with the show "The Office." Neither of us had ever really watched it before, but the first five seasons were on Netflix Instant so we decided to give it a shot.

We fell in love with it immediately and spent the next several weeks doing pretty much nothing but catching ourselves up on the series.

But a problem arose when the new season (#7) was about to start and the last season (#6) was only just about to come out on DVD. And it wasn't a Netflix Instant option. I put it in my regular queue and hoped for the best. But weeks went by, and my number two movie choice kept getting sent to me, while "The Office, Season 6, Disc 1" remained in "very long wait" status.

We started recording the new season, hoping we'd have enough space on the DVR to save them till we finally did get through season 6. In the meantime, every time Netflix sent me my number two movie choice, I simply turned right around and sent it back. I didn't want to waste my time watching any of the movies; I wanted to send them back for another chance at receiving "The Office, Season 6, Disc 1" next.

But I never did, and I was ready to give up hope...until tonight.

Wanting to spend a relaxing Friday evening at home together, Brandon and I decided to check out what we could get on Netflix Instant. (They really do have a lot of good choices.) We were coming toward the end of our Instant Queue, having not been able to decide on anything, when we noticed a new addition - "The Office, Season 6" all episodes!

You wouldn't believe how excited we got! There was hugging, and shrieking, and possibly even a tear or two. It seems silly to say, but I couldn't have asked for anything more at that moment. I guess it really is the little things - the staying at home on a Friday night in your favorite pajamas, watching your favorite show, with your favorite guy.

Day 98: Charlotte, Brandon, and...Gym

Brandon and I joined a gym last week. We'd been thinking about it for a while, after noticing that the honeymoon weight didn't just melt off as soon as we returned from paradise.

I was freaking out a little because I'd read an article a month or so before the wedding that said the average bride gains 20 pounds in her first year of marriage. I remember thinking at the time that this would never, ever be me. But there I was, barely three months in and 10 pounds heavier already.

So to the gym we went, figuring we could spend our money on trying to remain healthy or on buying new wardrobes every few months. Although now that I've put it that way, I wonder...

But the decision is made. We are now members of this gym, and today we went together for the first time. I've asked Brandon to train me on the weight machines because the trainer (we each got one free session) told me that I simply cannot do cardio all by itself without throwing some weight training in there. Yawn...I've never, ever liked lifting weights, but since the trainer said, I am going to try to stick with it.

And Brandon is not a bad teacher. We actually had fun, and we even got a good story out of it:

We had just begun the lat raise; I was the one doing the exercise, and Brandon was watching me and waiting for his turn. An elderly man approached us, sort of struck a pose, and then boldly asked, "How do I look?" I heard him say it but decided the best course of action was to ignore it, so I just kept doing the lat raise. Brandon said nothing, so the old man asked again, "Well, how do I look?" Apparantly at a loss for words, Brandon simply said, "You look fine, I guess," to which the creepy old man replied, "Well, you can't improve upon perfection, but I do try," as he walked away with his pants pulled up way too high over his saggy butt.

Brandon and I had a good little laugh about the creepy old man at the gym and continued our exercise. We were taking turns, and a couple moments later, when I was back on the machine, the creepy old man approached us again. We tried to ignore him, but he didn't take the hint. He walked right up in front of me and said, "I just wanted to come check your form. It's actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I give it a seven out of 10."

Ummm...thank you?

Day 94: Red Lobster

As our year of newly-wedded bliss continues, we have been making it a point to celebrate our marriage as often as we can. We had good reason yesterday, being that it was our three-month anniversary!

One of our yearly traditions is to go to Red Lobster's "endless shrimp." This is literally something Brandon waits for all year long. And as soon as he saw the commercials this year, he was making plans to get there.

So we went Friday night, to celebrate our anniversary and give ourselves a break from all of the household chores and busy work schedules. We were going to take some time to just be together, celebrating us and all we have accomplished in the short three months since we have been married.

Oh, but Red Lobster gets busy on Friday nights during endless shrimp season...

We walked in and were told that the wait was about 15 minutes. Well, we didn't mind that. We grabbed a drink at the bar and began to enjoy ourselves. 30 minutes later we still had not been seated. I wondered if we shouldn't ask the hostess if somehow we had missed our call. Our buzzer had never gone off, but maybe it was broken? But not wanting to be those people, we opted to wait just a little while longer before getting up in the hostess's face.

But about 15 minutes after that and 45 minutes total, we couldn't keep quiet any longer. Brandon went to ask the hostess if something might have gone wrong because we had been waiting three times longer than we were told we'd have to. She looked at us like we were the biggest idiots on the planet, not because we were wrong (our turn had come up 30 minutes ago, but our buzzer had not been working) but because we had waited so long to ask. Brandon kindly told her that we simply hadn't wanted to seem rude, and she shot back some remark about how "when we tell you 15 minutes, we mean 15 minutes." Obviously.

So after waiting (as I said) three times longer for our table than we should have, the rude hostess who had apparently missed the inservice oulining the details of the concept that the customer is always right (especially when he really is), sat us in the bar. Now, at this point, I should have spoken up; but, while Brandon had been trying to politely and pleasantly deal with the idiots running the establishment, I had reached my boiling point. I wasn't in a frame of mind to argue, although I remember thinking that we could have sat in the bar an entire 45 minutes ago, without having to wait at all. Why did we wait 45 minutes to be put there?

But we had already sat down and I'd already shoved two of those delicious cheesy biscuits into my mouth before I could formulate these thoughts into coherent sentences. And they weren't the stuff of pleasant conversations you should have on your three-month anniversary.

Brandon saw how upset I was and asked if I wanted to leave. And I definitely did want to leave, but not before I ate my shrimp. I didn't wait 45 minutes to be abused by the hostess and sat in the bar; at least I was going to get my shrimp before I went home to write a nasty letter to the general manager.

But having made that decision required that we also make a decision to get over what had transpired in the past 45 minutes and try to enjoy the rest of our evening together. It was hard. I was mad, and I wanted the hostess (who had a great view of our bar table from the hostess stand) to know it. But I also didn't want to further ruin our three-month anniversary celebration. So I put on my big girl panties and put in my first order of shrimp.

It was delicious, the waitress was nice, Brandon was sweet, and the night was eventually redeemed. It wasn't what we had envisioned, but I knew there was a lesson in it somewhere.

I haven't quite gotten it down, but maybe it will sink in after I write that nasty letter.

Day 90: Failing the Domesticity Challenge

Well, as you can probably gather from my lack of posts this month, it has been a busy one. The honeymoon had barely ended before school began. And I, the new Mrs. Do-It-All started out strong.

But six weeks into school and three months into my marriage, I am falling behind on everything except grading papers. At least I have that.

Every night of the week, when I get home from work (late), I have a choice between laundry or lesson-planning, bill-paying or quiz-making. I usually choose to plan those lessons and make those quizzes because, well, my husband is probably slightly more forgiving than 30 middle-schoolers. And thank God for that!

He has been extremely supportive and suprisingly (sorry, hon) helpful - doing little things like taking his dishes into the kitchen and even washing a few of them every now and then. The other day he even put down "Wash the shower" on his to-do list; I haven't seen it happen yet, but it's on the list!

I'm very thankful for him, but I can't help feeling just a little bit guilty. Now, don't get me wrong. I've never been someone who thinks jobs are done by men and houses are run by women; I expect Brandon to do his share of the domestic duties. But we have established a system for getting things done. Generally, I'm in charge of everything that happens inside (and doesn't require a tool). So I do dishes, laundry, bills, and general house clean-up. Brandon is in charge of everything that happens outside. He does pool maintenance, flower-watering, filling-in of frog holes. And I get on his case really fast when he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain.

Sure, I have a valid excuse. I'm working from 7 am to 7 pm five days a week, and even throwing another 12 hours in on Sundays for good measure. If I could find the time to get my chores done, I certainly wouldn't have the energy.

I know things will eventually settle down and I'll get into a routine that holds more balance. But for now, I can't help feeling like a big domestic failure and a tiny disappointment as a new wife.

Day 75: Trash Cans and Deck Boxes

Brandon and I are both working long hours lately. I stay at school late on the nights when he won't be home anyway, and he has taken on some overtime hours lately simply to give me a chance to do that more often. On the weekends, I usually have to plan my lessons for the following week; and if I am caught up on schoolwork, I'm certainly not on housework.

Lately, there is always something. And the two of us are often frustrated by that. To have a just few moments where we could sit on the couch with the remote and a few snacks without fretting that we're losing precious time on work- or home-related chores...oh, that would be heaven!

Heaven is not, however, spending our one day off together (the one we get every 14 days) shopping for trash cans and deck boxes. Or shopping for anything for that matter (I HATE shopping!).

But life on earth isn't supposed to be heaven - even when you are living in the bliss of domesticity! And, sure, I would have rather spent Saturday cuddled up on the couch with my hubby than running all over all the Targets in South Florida with him; but either way, I would have been with him. That's what really mattered. And I'm learning that this is what marriage really is at its core - making not-so-special moments special simply by sharing them.

Day 59: The Best Day Ever (Well, One of Them, Anyway!)

My new teaching job has required me to work extra long and extra hard lately, and I fear I may be neglecting my new husband. He's been supportive, though, and he honestly doesn't seem to mind quietly playing his X-Box games while I diligently plan my lessons.

Still, we've been missing chances to have some real, quality time together; and today, Brandon wasn't going to let an opportunity pass us by. (Plus, he has that new truck, so he really wanted to go somewhere!)

So we headed back to Miami.

Now, let me just say that, in the four years Brandon and I have lived here together, I can think of only three times that we've gone to Miami. And now, here we are, nearly doubling that in a matter of two days!

A while back, Brandon had been researching fun and interesting things to do around here, and he stumbled upon the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables. You can see more, if you're intersted, at http://www.coralgablesvenetianpool.com/; but basically, this is a pool that used to be a quarry and is now fed by natural springs. You may know that Brandon and I have a pool at our house, and that may cause you to wonder why we would drive an hour south of the town we live in to swim. Well, all I can say is 1) our pool is not fed by natural springs and is therefore often dirty and always too hot in the summer and 2) we wanted to drive our new truck!

So off to Miami we went (well, Coral Gables, actually - a swanky suburb of Miami). We found the Venetian Pool easily, and we spent about two hours there. It was truly refreshing - the water was cool (but not too cool!), and it was free of chemicals (but still clean!). We had a great time.

After we were all wrinkly and refreshed, we decided to just drive around. We went into downtown Miami and through some of its other well-known neighborhoods. In the end, we found ourselves back in Little Havana. I don't know whether the truck was being pulled toward its dealership or we were being pulled toward our favorite kind of food, but we did get a good dinner out of it!

We got home around 8 pm, and Brandon immediately fell asleep on the couch. Now, there he is, snoring away, while I wait for the sheets to dry so I can put them back on the bed and get in it.

Sure, it's early for a Saturday. But I don't need to take anymore from it. This has been the perfect day with the perfect husband.

Day 58: New Truck

Brandon and I bought a new truck last night. I was hoping we could put this purchase off at least until I officially change my name, but the old van's air conditioning went out last week; and, well, it was just time.

I got home from school as quickly as I could, and we headed straight to Miami. Brandon had been researching used Honda Ridgelines on the internet for months, and he'd finally stumbled upon what he thought might be the one. But, as I mentioned, it was in Miami.

We figured we could get a good meal out of it, though; and, as luck would have it, our dealership was located in Little Havana. Cuban food is my favorite, so I was all for this trip, whether we were going to leave Miami in a new truck or not!

We got down there and ate our Cuban food (it was essential that I eat before car shopping!), and then we headed down the street to the dealership. We found the car on the lot that Brandon had found online, and we liked it!

Four hours later, we were back home. We didn't officially have our truck (it needed a few things done), but we did own it! How exciting - our fist big purchase as a married couple!

Of course, Brandon and I have made big purchases together before (a house, for one, and another vehicle). I laugh when I look back about four years, to the day when we bought an 800 dollar mattress. At that point in our lives, neither of us had ever spent that kind of money; and we certainly hadn't done it as a couple. It was daunting at the time; but now, after the purchase of two vehicles, a home, and all the stuff that goes in it, that 800 dollars seems so insignificant.

But it wasn't at the time; it was our first big purchase as a couple. And this truck is our first big purchase as a married couple. I can't express how good it felt when the salesman came out to introduce himself, and I hear Brandon say, "Hi, I'm Brandon, and this if my wife, Charlotte."

I just felt so darn special! And it didn't have anything to do with the new truck.

Day 54: A New Reality

It was difficult to leave Punta Cana...over a week ago now. What a lovely time it was, and also the perfect ending to our hectic summer of wedding festivities.

Reality hit hard when we got back home on Saturday night. We were able to spend much of Sunday resting (I guess we were tired from all that relaxation!), but Monday came all too soon and it was back to work! And, for me, although I began my new job over the summer, Monday was a whole new ball game - teaching!

The students didn't actually come until Wednesday, but I had an awful lot to do before that. I did manage to get much of it done, although I was at school until 7 pm on most days. I loved every minute of it, though - planning, preparing, putting up posters in my classroom! And when the kids finally came later in the week, well, that was exciting too!

A lot has changed in the past 54 days, and it's been overwhelming. I'm still thrilled every single day with the thought that I recently married the man of my dreams and my very best friend. But that poor guy hasn't gotten much of my attention lately!

He is taking it in stride, though, and I guess it's all part of the balance we must find between enjoying our life as a family and providing for each other. So we go to work, and sometimes we have to stay later than we want to. But at the end of each day, we still come home to each other. And I love it!

Day 44: Day 7 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Today was our last full day here at Moon Palace, and we managed to stay in bed till noon! We probably should have forced ourselves to get up and really take in our last moments, but we couldn't think of anything we'd rather do than sleep! I actually woke up around 10 and got a good couple hours of reading in before Brandon finally woke up.

Since it was already lunch time, we immediately ordered room service. Boy, am I going to miss room service!

After that, we went to Sun Bar, mainly because we wanted to see Alfonsa. I didn't mention this yesterday, but she's just so darn cute. And when she sees us, she gets really happy. We've truly made a friend. I don't know how easy it will be to stay in touch, but we have made a friend.

So we were at Sun Bar until she left at four, and then we went out to the pool for a while. We haven't really spent as much time at the pools here as I had envisioned when looking forward to this vacation; but I guess, since we have a pool at home but not a pool table, it makese sense for us to spend so much time in Sun Bar. Still, we don't have a swim-up bar in Florida. So we got as much out of that as we could this afternoon.

I haven't said much about the weather yet, but now I will say that it has been perfect. Punta Cana is at the east edge of the Eastern time zone, so it gets brighter and hotter here earlier than it does in Florida. By 11 or noon, it is usually as hot as it is going to get (although we think it's a tiny bit cooler than it was at home when we left, which is nice). By mid- to late-afternoon, we usually get a good amount of cloud cover, which makes it a pretty perfect time to lie by the pool. It's warm enough still, but there's not as much of a worry about sunburns and such. By six, when the pool bars are closing, the air is cooling off enough that it's as good a time as any to get out and go to dinner, although the pools themselves stay open till 11.

So that's pretty much what we did today - enjoyed the pool from about four to six, then got out to head to first dinner. We had not yet eaten at the Brazilian restaurant, Samba, so we tried that tonight. It was typical Brazilian style, where the waiters bring meat around on a stick and slice you off a piece. The meat was very, very good, although I have to admit I was disappointed in the salad bar. Still, there was enough good food that I left stuffed, as usual!

So the perfect thing to do after that was go sit in the jacuzzi for a while. We got a bottle of champagne from the bar in Samba and enjoyed that while sitting in the warm watter. I finished my latest vampire book (I'm on Sookie Stackhouse now), and Brandon watched a hunting show. I found this a very strange thing for him to be doing in Punta Cana, but he said he thought it was strange that I read so much about vampires. Fair enough - we were both doing what we wanted, and I have to say that I truly don't know how I'll ever be able to go back to a life where doing just what I want to do isn't always an option. Sigh...

I don't know how long we sat in the water, but soon enough, it was getting late; and, as it was our last night, we couldn't even consider skipping second dinner. So we went back out and back to the pizza place for a relatively light meal. We'd seen something on the menu the night before that we really wanted to try, and we were even more delighted than the first time we ate at the pizza place.

When we were done there, we weren't really sure what to do. We were tired, but we really didn't want to go to bed; we weren't looking forward to leaving the next day, so we were trying to take in every last moment. We ended up walking around again, and we finally found the disco! It was quite a disappointment, and we didn't even stay inside for 30 seconds. But right when we got outside, there was one of the trolleys that runs around the resort picking people up here and dropping them off there. We decided to take a ride.

We rode around the whole resort, which didn't take all that long, now that we were in a motorized vehicle! And when we got back to our starting point, well, guess what we did - we went to Sun Bar!

We didn't play long, though; we were too tired. We finally gave in to the fatigue and came back to the room, to spend our last night here at Moon Palace, Punta Cana. It hasn't been a perfect trip, but it's been everything I could have hoped for in a honeymoon.

Day 43: Day 6 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

We had another fairly relaxing day. Actually, that makes it sound like we've had days here that were something other than relaxing, and that's certainly not true.

We slept in, till maybe 10, and when we finally woke up, we actually considered staying in bed all day. We have enough books and magazines, and room service is just a call away, after all. But I didn't want room service right then. I wanted a ham and cheese croissant from Must. And would you believe that my wonderful husband - the same one who spent all of yesterday (his birthday!) taking cafe of me after my little incident in the restaurant on Tuesday night - actually got up, got dressed, and went and got me a ham and cheese croissant from Must? He brought it back, just like room service! And I ate my breakfast in bed.

But after that, we did decide to go out and explore some more. In fact, we were looking for the disco. Obviously, it wasn't going to be open this morning, but we hadn't even figured out where it was yet. We never did find it, but our mission did lead us on a nice little walk around the resort. And when we were all hot and sweaty from that, we made our way to Sun Bar. It was probably noon at the time, and we stayed there all day.

We switched between the pool tables and the bar shuffleboard. We ordered Jim Beam and Coke (only because they were out of Jack Daniel's!). We took turns going across the hall to a little deli called Lime, where we got sushi to bring back into Sun Bar with us. We saw a lot of people come and go, and we just stayed there, watching people come and go, challenging each other to this game and that game, listening to their play list, which we realized after a couple hours, was made up mainly of Phil Collins/Genesis, Sting/The Police, and Elton John. We heard the same songs over and over; fortunately, we like that music quite a bit!

We also became friends with Alfonsa today. She was our waitress for the early part of the afternoon (she goes home at four), and we got to talking to her. Now, we don't speak very much Spanish, and Alfonsa speaks even less English; but, working with the words we do know and some hand motions here and there, we were able to carry on quite a conversation with her. And she even taught us a bit of Spanish.

Well, like I said, she left at four, and we left at five for first dinner. We decided to try out the pizza place, which was just down the hall. We ordered one with shrimp and pesto, and it was absolutely delicious.

Having nothing better to do after dinner, back into Sun Bar we went. And we were there until just before 10, when we decided to go to Prime Steak House for second dinner. Prime is one of the restaurants out toward the pools and beach, and it was quite a hike over there - this resort is huge! But it was so worth it!

This was a very nice restaurant (although still casual-dress), and it was decorated in a very modern style - very different from the other two restaurants (Samba and Marina) that are also by the beach. It is also inside. Thank you, A/C! We did not have to worry about fainting in this place!

Right after we sat down, they brought us a sort of sampler platter, complete with stuffed mussels, fried cheese, spicy shrimp, and little chicken wraps. We loved some of it so much, we ordred more appetizers! They were out of the mussels, but we got the spicy shrimp and the chicken wraps; and we must have looked a lot hungrier than we were because both Brandon and I got a plate of both of these items to ourselves. And then we still had to eat dinner!

Brandon ordered a steak, and I ordered lamb chops. Both meals were delicious (as usual!), and they were served on these really cool skillet-type things. We were so, so, so full, but we just kept right on eating. Such gluttons, we are!

When the meal had been cleared, they brought us dessert - they didn't even ask; they just brought it right out! It was a little tray with five little shot glasses, each full of a different flavor of custard - apple, creme brulee, meringue, and two chocolates. Yum!

When dinner was over, we went out to the beach. The waiter had told us to take our bottle of wine and our glasses with us, and we thought it would be nice to drink it out there under the stars. We found some lounge chairs, and we just rested there. The night was clear, and there were so many stars. The ocean was loud, but it was peaceful. I could have slept there.

But instead, as the fatigue crept up on us, we began to make our way back to our room. We're tired, but we don't want to go to bed. Tomorrow is our last full day, and I don't think we're quite ready for that to be here.

Day 42: Day 5 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

After all of yesterday's excitement, we took it easy today. I was tired this morning, even after sleeping soundly last night, and Brandon was concerned about me overdoing it. I was trying to be a sport because it is, after all, his birthday. But neither of us wanted me fainting again, birthday or otherwise, so we figured our best bet would be to keep things low-key.

We tried a new place for breakfast. It's a little coffee/pastry shop that we walk by every time we go between our room and the main lobby, but we have never stopped there before. We'd thought they only had little cakes and things, but it turns out they have ham and cheese croissants and other goodies of that nature. It seemed like the perfect way to start the day.

From there, we found our way to one of our favorite spots, Sun Bar. This is such a cool little place. It's a bar on one side, a sitting area in the middle, and pool tables and other bar games on the other side. We love how it's decorated, and we love the music they play in there; but mostly we just love how easy it is to kill time in there. So that's what we did in Sun Bar, until we decided it was time to go out into the real sun.

We chose a different pool today - a quieter one. None of them really get too rowdy, but this one was ultra peaceful. We just relaxed in the water for probably three hours, and there was hardly anyone else around. We ordered snacks and water from one of the adorable waitresses. As the afternoon went on, we did give in to the call of the bar a time or two; but we continued to keep things low-key. And we continued to order water, alongside our drinks (see? I learned my lesson!).

At 6 we had a dinner reservation at Tao. Tao is the only restaurant at this resort that requires a reservation. It is hibachi-style, where they cook the food on a big grill in front of you, and it was amazing! The chef was so skilled - not just at making the food, but at making us laugh throughout the meal. He kept trying to tell us he was Japanese, even though he was very clearly Dominican, and he called the shrimp baby lobster. We loved him!

By dinner time, I was feeling quite a bit better; I continued to take things easy, but I was able to really enjoy myself for the first time since about 10 pm yesterday. I ate a lot, which I needed to do - chicken, beef, "baby lobster," and calamari, as well as fried rice and veggies. It was probably the best meal we've had yet - and we have had some good meals!

Now dinner is over, and Brandon is spending his birthday money at the casino. We both called home and talked to our moms a while ago. I mean, how could we not when the international calls are part of our all-inclusive package? And now I'm just winding down, hoping to get another really good night's rest, so tomorrow I can begin to enjoy my last two days here.

Only two more days...sigh...

Day 41: Day 4 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

It's Tuesday, and we are nearing the halfway point of our week here at Moon Palace. We are still having an amazing time, and, in fact, we had quite a bit of excitement today. I'll start at the beginning.

We woke up around 9 and headed to Lucca for their breakfast buffet. There were lots of things to try - eggs, potatoes, yogurt, fruit, and chicken fingers. Oh yes, chicken fingers for breakfast...yum!

We spent the next hour or so just hanging out, and around noon, we started our "Moon Rocker" tour. This was really, really neat. We got into a vehicle that was similar in many ways to a four-wheeler. It differed in that Brandon and I sat side-by-side, rather than one behind the other, in it, it was covered, and it had a small bed behind the bench seat. But, like a four-wheeler, it was made for off-roading! And to simplify things, I'm just going to call it a four-wheeler from now on.

For about two hours, we followed a guide in a caravan of about 10 of these vehicles, traveling through a palm tree jungle. We were within a mile or two of the resort, but the world around us was wild and uncivilized. And it was beautiful. Brandon navigated bumps, ruts, muddy puddles, and fallen coconuts with ease. I hung on for dear life with one hand and snapped picture after picture with the other. Several times I thought our four-wheeler was going to flip over or that I was simply going to fall out of it. But we made it through the jungle in one piece.

Well, I guess we would be two pieces, as there are two of us...but you get it!

At one point along our course, the guide stopped and began collecting ripe coconuts. Then he whipped out a machete (from where?) and began hacking off the tops of them so we could all have a drink of coconut water. If you have never drunk directly from a coconut, please make it a point to do so sometime in your life. I learned in India that the water inside a coconut is the purest water on the planet. And it's delicious too; it's a little sweet, and it feels good on your tongue on a hot day, even if it isn't ice cold!

When we had all taken turns taking pictures of each other drinking from coconuts, we hopped back into our four-wheelers and took off. We ended up on the beach, where we rode around in circles for a while, putting on quite a show for the people who had previously been trying to relax.

When we finally got back inside, we were hot, dirty, and starving! I had barely remembered what hunger felt like, but I felt it then. We quickly cleaned up, put on our bathing suits, and found ourselves at the nearest pool, where we ordered a simple lunch of sandwiches and French fries from one of those cute waitresses. We hung out in the pool till the swim-up bar closed at 6, then headed to our room to continue our afternoon of relaxation.

A while later, we began to get ready for our romantic dinner on the beach. Now this is where things start to get REALLY exciting - and there's more to it than good food and lots of drinks this time. Keep reading...

With those credits that I talked about a few posts ago, we had booked this "romantic dinner." Now, this was different than the "romantic dinner" we'd gotten in our honeymoon package - this one was supposed to be steak, lobster, and real Champagne; and it was supposed to be out on the beach. However, when we got to our meeting place, which was one of the other restaurants, we were told that we'd have to eat inside, as there was some potential weather that was making our host nervous.

Well, so much for a romantic dinner on the beach. But we did still get the steak, lobster, and Champagne!

But it was hot in that restaurant. And it was way too much food. And I'd spent all day drinking (pretty much anything but water) out in the hot Dominican sun. So, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me when, as dessert came out, I began to feel quite ill. In fact, I thought I was going to throw up. And I certainly didn't want to do that in the middle of this restaurant.

So I quietly but firmly told Brandon that I needed to leave right now. We were finished anyway, so he got up and began to walk me out. I remember feeling even worse after I stood up, but I just thought I was getting closer and closer to puking up all that delicious food I'd just eaten. I was practically running toward the restaurant's entrance, and as I approached it I saw one of the waiters standing near an employee entrance.

"Bathroom!" I screamed, more of a demand than a request, and when he pointed to the other side of the restaurant, I knew for a fact I wasn't going to make it. So I just kept heading for the door.

This is the part where I tell you that I did not make it to that door.

But I also didn't puke right there in the middle of the restaurant.

Oh no...

Instead, I fainted. Right there in the middle of the restaurant.

Now, please don't be too alarmed. Let me take this moment to say that this is not the first time this has happened to me, and I have discovered, over the past few years, that I am simply prone to this type of reaction when I am overheated or underhydrated. I was at an extreme of both tonight, and my body simply succumbed to it. Not that it's not a big deal, but it's not that big of a deal.

The bigger deal for me, once I came to, was that I had just fainted in the middle of this very nice restaurant at this very nice resort. Brandon told me later that I had gotten several steps ahead of him (because I was trying to rush out of the restaurant to puke) and that, when I first started to go down, he thought I was just bending over to do that! He realized there was more to it when I hit the first in a row of four chairs that had been set against a wall and sent the rest of them flying. But I was too far ahead of him, and he couldn't reach me in time to catch me. I ended up on my back on the floor, and about 20 seconds later, I opened my eyes and said, "What happened?" very calmly and curiously.

Before long I realized where I was and what, exactly, had happened; and I was very, very upset. Not only was I more embarrassed than I had ever been in my life, but I was also in a lot of pain and I was worried that I had just ruined our honeymoon! Of course, the latter was not true at all. But as for the pain, well, that was real. That is real.

I have a pretty nasty bruise on the bottom of my chin (which I believe I got from the arm or a chair that I fell onto), a huge red scrape across my right elbow (that I cannot see because I don't bend that way, but sure can feel), and a scuffed-up right knee (that may prevent me from wearing sundresses for the rest of the week).

The good news is that I am fine, that Brandon has been taking great care of me, and that our honeymoon isn't even close to ruined...even if I can't show my face in that particular restaurant again.

Fortunately, there are eight more!

Day 40: Day 3 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

I'm not sure how we slept in till almost 9 this morning, after having gone to bed so early last night. Something about this place makes me very tired. Or maybe I'm just ultra relaxed, and so it's easy to sleep.

Anyway, we had to get up at 9, so that we could have our special honeymooners' breakfast in bed. This was actually breakfast served on the little table in our room, which we found amusing, but it was truly delicious. I realize I keep saying this about the meals we are having; I do hate to be so redundant, but it's simply the truth!

They had given us a few menu options, and we had chosen eggs benedict and apple waffles. We were both served one plate of each of these things, but, since Brandon doesn't eat eggs (don't ask), I ended up with four eggs benedict and he ended up with two plates of apple waffles. There was also a fruit plate, a pastry basket, orange juice, and papaya mimosas. This was quite a breakfast!

Had we known we were going to be so ridiculously full (how we didn't know this, I'm not sure, as we always seem to be ridiculously full at this place), we might have allowed ourselves more time to get ready for the spa. But, as it was, we had an appointment for a couple's massage at 10.

Now let me just pause the story for a moment to say that, if I didn't think I was classy enough for this resort before, I have absolutly confirmed it by having gone to their ultra-classy spa. It was immaculate and serene and beautiful and just...amazing. And, like so much that goes on at this resort, there were numerous men and women standing around just waiting to serve us. And every time I tried to thank someone, she said "It is our pleasure to serve you, miss." This kind of royal treatment is just not something I'm used to, and I have to admit that it makes me feel a little bit awkward. It doesn't mean I don't love it, though!

So let me tell you about our spa treatment because it was truly something.

For the first hour, we enjoyed a couple's massage in this little hut right outside the spa. This was wonderful in so many ways. First of all, it was the best massage I've ever had. Secondly, we were outside in this sweet little hut, and I found it so peaceful to be that close to nature while this was going on. Also, did I mention that this was the best massage I've ever had? Because it was.

But the massage was not all. When that hour was over, we went back to our respective locker rooms for hydrotherapy. Now, before I describe this treatment to you, I have to admit that I didn't enjoy all of it. It was incredibly interesting and I don't regret for even half a second having spent the time to do it; but I did spend at least half of the time in misery. I think you will see why...

The therapy started with 10 minutes in a steam room. This was nice for about 30 seconds. But after that, the cold cloth they'd given me was warm, and all I could do for the next nine and a half minutes was sit there and wish the girl would come back for me. It wasn't as much the heat and humidity, though, as it was the fact that I could hardly breathe. Not only was the steam in the room so thick that I couldn't see the other side of it, but there was a very strong smell that my nose couldn't quite take. Don't get me wrong - it was a good smell. But there was just too much of it. I tried to enjoy the 10 minutes as best I could, but I was really, really relieved when I was told my 10 minutes were up.

From there, I went to the shower. Now this was cool. The girl said to me, "Now you will shower slowly," and then she left. I stood there for a moment not understanding what I was supposed to do, but then the shower started on its own. At my feet! Water shot out from the walls onto my feet and lower legs from five or six different directions. It was cool, then warm, then cool again. I loved it, and it only got better as the water hit my thighs, my stomach, and, finally, my head and face. Cool, warm, cool, warm, cool. This felt very, very good. Of course, it didn't last 10 minutes, but maybe about three.

And then it was time for the sauna. This was not quite as unbearable to me as the steam room had been, but I still didn't love my 10 minutes in there. It was totally worth it, though, because the next room was the ice room. As I approached it, I worried that I was going from one extreme to the other; and if there is one thing I hate more than being hot and sweaty, it's being cold. But it turns out, the ice room iss kept at a comfortable 75 degrees. It felt wonderful. But even better? The girl gave me a small bowl of ice and told me to just sit there and rub it on my body. It felt so good, and she came back to get me way too fast.

The last room was the clay room. This was another hot place and probably the strangest of all the rooms. The girl gave me a small bowl of liquid clay and told me to rub it all over my body, except my face. I did, and then I just sat there while the clay dripped to the floor with my sweat. When the girl came back a few minutes later, she seemed surprised that I hadn't showered. I must not have looked as awkward as I felt, if she assumed I knew what I was doing. So I showered the clay off my body and then went to sit in the whipper pools. Yes, that's right - whipper pools!

In the locker room itself, there were four different pools, all different temperatures. I tried each one for a few minutes and then found my way to the large pool in the main section of the spa. They would have let me sit in there all day long, and I could have; but eventually I wondered what had happened to Brandon. I found him in the lobby of the spa, and by this point we'd been there for nearly three hours. It was time for lunch!

The rest of the day went like this: buffet lunch, pool, buffet dinner, sleep. You've heard all this before, so I won't go into great detail. I will say that our buffet dinner was a Dominican theme, and that was really, really neat. They have so much food here, but it's all Mexican or Italian or American or French. None of it is Dominican! So we had to take advantage of the themed dinner while we had the chance. And we loved it!

This was supposed to be first dinner. But it ended up being only dinner because we slept right through the second one. (In case you were wondering, they don't actually call them first and second dinner - those are our terms for the dinner we eat around 6 or 7 and the one we eat around 9 or 10!)

But as I said, we missed second dinner tonight (not that we can't go without it!) because we slept from about 7 to 10. I woke up to write this blog, but now that it's going on midnight, I think I'll find my way back to bed.

It's been a really wonderful third day. The only thing I'm truly disappointed about is that the ants got to our special honeymooners' cake before we did. Still, there's more champagne in the fridge, so I think we'll be ok!

Day 39: Day 2 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Today I woke up early, around 7:00. Brandon stayed out late at the casino last night, so I let him sleep while I drank coffee on the patio and soaked in that huge jacuzzi in the middle of our room.

When he woke up a couple hours later, we went to breakfast at El Cafetto, a small restaurant that they describe as American a la carte. Brandon had pancakes and sausage, and I had an omelette with asparagus and shrimp - yum!

When breakfast was over, we went to the honeymoon office - oh yes, there is an entire office here devoted to serving those on their honeymoon. As honeymooners, we get a few special thing while we're here: a romantic dinner, breakfast in bed, a special cake and champagne sent to the room, and, of course, t-shirts! We booked our romantic dinner for this evening and our breakfast in bed for tomorrow morning.

From there, we had to go to what they call "PVP" or "Palace Vacation Planners." This is where we can set up appointments for the spa, sign up for tours, and, well, plan out our whole Palace vacation! When we arrived here, they gave us $1500 credits that we can use in various ways. For instance, we can get $100 dollars in match play at the casino, use $300 toward the spa, and book various tours, until we've reached $1500. The problem was, all of the "PVP" representatives were really busy! So, we went into one of our favorite places - Sun Bar - to play games and get a couple beers.

After I lost two games of some sort of bar-style table shuffleboard, I had had enough. And luckily, there was a "PVP" rep ready for us. We sat with him for a while and booked a spa appointment for tomorrow morning, a tour for Tuesday afternoon, and a second romantic dinner (lobster and champagne on the beach) for Tuesday evening. All of this will cost us nine dollars out of our own pockets! Obviously, we left happy.

And hot! We were ready for some pool time. Can you believe we were at this resort for nearly 24 hours before we went into the pools? I guess we're spending too much time eating; and, in fact, we did stop for a buffet lunch at Marina Grill before we finally got out in the sunshine! But once we did, we spent the entire rest of the day out there. There are at least 10 pools here (I think I mentioned that yesterday). Three of them have swim-up bars, several of them have snack bars, and all of them have waitresses walking around and asking you if they can get you anything (you know, in case you can't get off your lounge chair to order something for yourself from the bar!).

Yes, we spent the entire rest of the day out there, and it was lovely. I could seriously do this every day.

Around 7, we figured it was time for first dinner, and we were intrigued by the French theme at Lucca, one of the buffets. This particular restaurant features a different themed dinner buffet every night of the week, and the French theme was really good. I can't tell you everything we had (not so much because I don't remember, but because there was simply too much of it!). I can tell you that we were awfully full, and that does seem like the trend around here.

But we had a "romantic dinner" to attend at 9. So, as full as we were, two hours later, we found ourselves at Los Gallos. This is the same restaurant we ate at last night, but the romantic dinner is special. We did not order off the menu but were served shrimp and steak, along with some veggies and potatoes. It was so delicious, I didn't care that my dress no longer fit! For dessert, they brought us a little heart-shaped mousse. Adorable.

It is now going on 11, and I am exhausted. I just asked Brandon if it would be lame for me to go to bed at such an early hour and he reminded me of the one rule we have this week: we can do absolutely whatever we want. So it's bedtime for me! There are more adventures to be had tomorrow...

Day 38: Day 1 of Our Honeymoon at Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

We arrived in Punta Cana this afternoon, and we have been having the time of our lives ever since! This honeymoon is unbelievable. (And the only reason I have time to write about it for you is that Brandon has found his way to the casino!)

But let's begin at the beginning - 5:00 this morning, when the alarm clock rang!!!

Yesterday was a long day. We had to unpack from our trip to Illinois and then repack for our trip to Punta Cana. We also had to pick up our car from the body shop (yup, that's finally done), pick up some books and magazines from Borders (beach reading), and make sure all of our bills are paid (it's hard to keep track of these things when you are away for so long!).

But as exhausting as this all was, we didn't make it to bed until it was quite late; and, after only about three hour of sleep, the alarm clock's shrill ring was not a welcome sound. Honeymoon, or no honeymoon, I just wanted to sleep.

But there was a plane to catch. My friend Lauren picked us up at our house at 5:45 and took us to the Miami airport, where we caught a 10:00 flight. We arrived in Punta Cana about two hours later, and, from the moment we set eyes on this place, we were in awe.

The resort is amazing, but before I get into that, I have to talk about the airport! Yes, the airport was fantastic - it was all open air, with no walls, just a lovely grass roof. It was beautiful! It was chaotic too. There were no distinct lines, and the signage was lacking. As we moved with the mass of people, I was a bit stressed out by the immense disorganization. But it turns out there is a method to Punta Cana's madness, because we made it through all of the lines and checkpoints with no trouble at all; and it didn't even take that long.

We found our shuttle to Moon Palace, and 30 minutes later, we had entered what I can only describe as my own personal version of heaven.

It is so beautiful and luxurious here that I often don't feel that I belong; but then a nice young Dominican concierge will come along, smiling and practicing his most recent English lesson, and I will feel right at home. The people here are so friendly. It truly seems that their number one goal in life is to ensure that I have a great week. And, with or without them, I'm sure I would!

Did I mention this place is like heaven? Where to even begin...

Our room: It's huge. It has steps. And it has a bathroom bigger than the first apartment Brandon and I shared - with two sinks and two shower heads. The king bed is the most comfortable one I've ever had the pleasure of lying on. And, not three steps from it, is a jacuzzi - IN. OUR. ROOM.

A jacuzzi...IN. OUR. ROOM!!!!!

We also have a patio that rivals the bathroom in size, and it comes with an incredible view of the rest of the resort. Oh, but there's so much to do back inside that I can't stay out there long. We have a mini bar with liquor dispensers, right next to the bed. There's Smirnoff, Bacardi, and Jose Cuervo in there, and then there are sodas and juices in the fridge! There is 24-hour room service, you know, just in case you didn't get enough to eat at the nine restaurants on the property.

There is a bottle of wine on the table next to the jacuzzi.

This place is nuts!

And for the first few hours we were here, we just walked around, claiming how nuts it was! We saw all nine restaurants, as well as a coffee shop, an ice cream parlor, and a pool bar (not like a bar next to a pool, but a bar where you can play pool!!!). But speaking of pools, we saw them too - all 10 of them! And then we saw the lazy river. Did you hear me? I said that there is a lazy river at my resort! A LAZY RIVER!!!!!

And I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but this place is all-inclusive. So, from the snacks by the pools to the nine restaurants to the room service to the liquor dispensers and the wine on our table, we don't have to give anyone a dime!

And so, with that in mind, we plan to eat way more than three times a day. We arrived here shortly after lunch time today, and we have already eaten four times. First, we ordered room service (cheese quesadilla for me and combo steak and chicken fajitas for Brandon - very, very good!). Then, we got some chips, chili, and cheese by one of the pools. After that, we went to the ice cream parlor. And finally, about five hours after this whole charade started, we went out for dinner at Los Gallos - the Mexican restaurant (I guess we had a bit of a Mexican theme today, but tomorrow anything goes!).

Needless to say, I am stuffed. I am also tired (it's really hard work to eat this much, and I didn't even mention what I've had to drink!). But I'm incredibly happy.

I'm sure there will be much, much, much more to tell (like, Brandon's been in the casino for over an hour, so that must mean he's winning!!!). For now, suffice it to say that I'm having a lovely time in heaven.

And now I'm going to go see about that husband of mine!

Day 36: Home from Home

We are now back in our home in Florida after a wonderful week at home in Illinois. As you can see, I still have trouble deciding where, exactly, my home is; but I'm happy enough for it to be both places.

We left Mendota just after six yesterday evening, and we arrived back here just after nine this evening. Accounting for the loss of one hour, it took us 26 hours to make the trip. This did include a couple stops - first in Champaign, Illinois, for what my mother-in-law claims (correctly, I have determined) is the best pizza on the planet; then in Metropolis, Illinois, for another run at the casino (Brandon came out even, but I won 25 dollars in a slot machine) and to see Superman lit up in the night; and finally in Valdosta, Georgia, for what Uncle Daryl (wow, he's sure making a lot of appearances here lately) believes is the best BBQ on the planet (and yes, he too, believes correctly).

It was a long trip, with little sleep and lots of miles to drive without cruise control. But we made it! We had a wonderful time, but, as is so normal for us lately, we are absolutely beat. So the blog is short tonight, but do stay tuned...I'll be back in a few days with stories from our honeymoon!

That's right - there's still one wedding event left!

Day 32: Gift Opening or Too Many Tea Kettles or Silly Uncle, the Joke is on You!

Today was our gift opening. It was not all that eventful because most people, probably considering the fact that we had to take everything back to Florida with us, simply gave us cards with cash in them, and we opened those late last night. Still, there were a fair amount of bags and boxes to rip into.

I can't mention everything here, but we got our fondue pot, our last set of wine glasses, and lots of red things for our kitchen.

Now, speaking of red things for our kitchen...

Way back when, we had registered for a red tea kettle. There has been a running joke in our family now since late April, when, between my two bridal showers, I received four - yes, four - red tea kettles! Of course, I was able to take all of the extras back to Target, and ever since, my kitchen has contained only one red tea kettle. But the joke remains.

And Uncle Daryl (yes, the same one that so kindly served as head chef at our reception only the day before) thought it would be just hilarious if the joke continued.

And so, at our gift opening, we ripped into bag after bag after bag, only to find tea kettle after tea kettle after tea kettle, until we reached the magic number of 10! Yes, 10 more tea kettles! And, as these are garage sale finds, this time I can't take any of them back to Target. But I'm also not taking all of them back to Florida. (I'll take a few of them - for instance, the blue Le Creuset can probably be sold on Ebay for a decent profit, and there is one that actually turned out to be an electric French coffee press! HA! Joke's on you, Uncle Daryl!!!)

But what to do with the rest? Hmmm...I guess we have Christmas gifts for this year!

Day 31: The Main Event

Well, after 31 days of marriage, Brandon and I finally had our big reception, or what we have been calling our "main event." Today, at a beautiful park in Dixon, Illinois, we celebrated our marriage (yes, again) with about 130 family members and friends.

I wish I had a more eloquent way of saying this, but it was simply a wonderful time!I hardly know where to begin describing this huge success of a party...

The spread of food was just unbelievable. Brandon's uncle, Daryl, served as head chef; he had a team of about 10 people who put together huge plates of grilled chicken and pork chops, potato salad and apple sauce, and corn on the cob. There was a ridiculous amount of food, but from what I witnessed, most of the guests ate every last bite; and it was the to-die-for type of delicous!

When all that was over, we served the cake. The one thing I wanted to do traditionally was my wedding cake. It was simple, but it was beautiful; and it was exactly what I wanted.


But even more impressive than the cake was the sweet table that accompanied it. My new mother-in-law had been slaving away in her kitchen for months to put this together. I never officially counted, but she must have had 10 or 15 different things on the table. And every single one of them was a huge hit! I know she's reading, so let me just say...

THANKS, MOM!!!!!

Oh, but the party was so much more than the food. We had fun and games (volleyball, horseshoes, bags) for the adventurous souls who wanted to brave the heat and humidity. For those who chose to stay indoors, we had the pleasure of just sitting and talking. There were so many people there that I hadn't seen in years - college dorm-mates, high school best friends, and even the parents of the kids that babysat me when I was still single digits (oh, so long ago!). And, of course, every single family member I could think of (and some I didn't even know existed!!!!!).

After five hours of food, fun, family, and friends (oh, and a little bit of clean-up, too!), I am exhausted! But I'm also totally high on wedding!

This has been one long month of celebrations, and a part of me is relieved that the "main event" has come and gone (and without a hitch!); but the excitement is intoxicating, and it's hard to come down from the high.

Still, the whole point is that I am married!!! And we've got 11 more months to be newlyweds.

So keep reading...

Day 29: The Road Trip Continues

We went to bed at 10 last night, and we slept till nine this morning. We really, really needed it. We had about 600 miles and, perhaps, nine hours to go today; but we were in no rush. In fact, we had some plans in place...

Manchester, TN, where we stopped last night, is about 45 minutes from Lynchburg, the home of the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Being that it's pretty much on the way home, Brandon and I figured we might as well stop there and see what goes on there!

The tour took about an hour, and, although it seems kind of silly to say, we had a whole new appreciation for our favorite whiskey when the tour was over. Here's a fun fact for you: The Jack Daniel's distillery is in a dry county. You cannot buy alcohol there. However, several years ago, the distillery got a special law passed that allows it to sell souvenir bottles of their liquor. You still cannot, however, get a sample.

But, on the square in Lynchburg, you can sample fudge, ice cream, and any number of other items made from Jack Daniel's! (And that ice cream really does taste like whiskey!)

We enjoyed our snacks, but we truly did not need them, as we were on our way to Mrs. Mary BoBo's Boarding House Restaurant, another famous Lynchburg landmark. There, we enjoyed a family-style Southern meal of friend chicken, pork and gravy, corn muffins, macaroni and cheese, creamed corn, lima beans, fried okra, and fried apples. It was delicious, and it was filling! How we ever made it through the next few hours of our drive without falling into a food-induced sleep, I will never know.

But, about four hours later, we made it into Illinois. Our crossing-over point was Metropolis. Yes, THE Metropolis! As in home of Superman! There is a giant statue of the hero in the town square, and we absolutely had to stop and see it. There is also a Harrah's on the Ohio River there, and, well, we had to stop and see that too.

This little detour set us back about two hours, but we left Metropolis 100 dollars richer; so I suppose it was well worth it!

Brandon drove all day and into the night. He let me sleep almost all the way from Metropolis to Mendota - about five hours. Amazingly, when we pulled into his parents' drive-way, he was still wide awake. By then, it was 2:45 on Friday morning and technically Day 30 of our marriage.

It feels like we've made it an awfully long way this first month!

Day 28: The Road Trip Begins

Early this morning, Brandon and I began our first road trip as a married couple! We are making our way from Boca Raton to Mendota - from one home to another! It's 1369 miles from Point A to Point B, and our only hope is that we are still in love when all those miles are finally behind us! After all, we're heading to Illinois for the "Main Event" of our wedding festivities.

We did over half of our drive today. Brandon worked last night, and he woke me up when he got home just after four this morning. We made some coffee, packed the car, and hit the road. Twelve hours, 800 miles, and several adventures later, we arrived here in Manchester, Tennessee.

We're still in love at this point and about to go grab a beer and a bite. But first, I must tell you the adventures of the first day...

Everything went really well at first. Brandon drove the first leg and got us almost all the way out of Florida. That is one long state! I took over just before we hit Georgia, and Brandon took a little nap. He woke up about two hours later; we grabbed some snacks and drinks from our cooler, and we continued on our way - making good time and even enjoying the drive.

After a while, it started to rain; we were getting closer and closer to Atlanta, and traffic was getting heavier all the time. But we barely noticed; we were singing and laughing and playing the "What-Would-You-Do-With-20-Million-Dollars?" game, when, out of nowhere, we heard a CRACK! I just kept my eyes on the road, but I heard Brandon say, "That was a rock." I looked over at him, and he looked up at the windshield. In disbelief, I said, "Is that real?" "Yup," Brandon said, "and it's growing." The six-inch crack in the windshield was growing before our eyes. And I continued to say, "Is that real? Did that really just happen?"

Two hours, several stressful phone calls, and a stop at the Atlanta Airport Enterprise later, we had a new rental. (You will remember, of course, that our own car was damaged in the crash on our wedding day, so we have been driving a rental for several weeks.) We continued on our way, having to fight Atlanta's rush-hour traffic, due to our delay.

But we made it to our day one destination: Manchester, Tennessee! And, despite the lack of sleep, the crack in our windshield, and the high-stress conversation about whether we'd ever get a break with our vehicles, we are still in love!

So I'd say, overall, today was successful. We'll see how tomorrow goes!