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So, where did I leave off…

About 4:30 Saturday we headed over to the Tiki Bar to wait for the ceremony.  Chris, Todd, Scott, and I waited there chatting and directing people initially to where the ceremony would be, but the weather wasn’t really cooperating.  So, we started pointing people into the restaurant to wait inside.  Come 4:50 I sent them all down to their chairs and Todd and Chris got them all seated.  Several other people who were staying at Garland for other reasons realized a wedding was getting underway and started offering shots and drinks, and hanging out on the patio to watch.  About 5:00, planned start time, Louann came by and I asked “We all ready?” to which she applied “Not exactly, have you seen Pastor Toby?”  Hmm, of all the things that can go wrong at a wedding, the top three include crappy weather (check), missing bride or groom (good there), or missing minister (check).  So, we wait for him, until about 5:15 when I go and let everybody know whats going on, and ask them for 5 more minutes.  As I walk back up to the patio, I look behind and see not a single person in a seat.  Oh well, it was cold out.  So, just as we all get back into the restaurant, it starts to rain.  It had been a light sprinkle, but was getting heavier.  Then, we notice, it changed over to snow.  Louann continued to run between her office calling our minister, and me and Jenn giving updates.  She called her own pastor and asked him to come up as a replacement.  Around 5:45, Jenn called me and asked if we want to move it inside, and I agreed.  So, we moved everybody from the restaurant to the Great Room (where the reception was to be held) to take their seats there.

Standing outside the Great Room, a minister comes up to me and starts explaining he is the replacement.  Louann quickly comes over and escorts him away, explaining to me that he is our ministers replacement and that her replacement was also there.  We had already mentioned that should both arrive, we wanted to go with hers, as we weren’t really happy with Toby.  So, I spoke briefly with the DJ and new minister about how Jenn and I wanted things to go, and at about 6:00, an hour behind schedule, we got under way.

We were married in front of the fireplace, which was lit, in the Great Room.  Several people later remarked that it was beautiful, and we should have planned that from the beginning.  Jenn and I then took our leave for pictures and returned at 7:00 to begin dinner.  Following dinner was our dance, Jenn and her Dad’s dance, and the wedding party dance.  Rest of the night all went to plan, with everyone having a wonderful time.  Around 11:30 most people were gone so we sent the DJ home, helped with some of the cleanup, and Jenn and I went to our villa to open cards and relax.

Sunday, we met up with a couple people, packed, and then took Todd and Ashley to breakfast in Lewiston.  We saw some guys from Ferris there also so chatted with them for about an hour, then all went our separate ways.  Jenn and I headed over to Alpena to separate what was ours from her parents from what her sister wanted for her upcoming wedding in June.  We opened our gifts there also, then headed back across to Gaylord, where we stayed for the night.  Monday morning, it was back in the car and we headed home where we stayed for two whole nights before running off again.

So, honeymoon to come tomorrow.  Though, pictures of it are already on Facebook.

So, last Wednesday Jenn and I packed up and headed out on the road.  First stop was in Bay City to drop off a few items to make room in the car, as my Mom and Sue said they would bring them up for us.  Then, we headed south to Romulus and checked into our hotel right across from the airport.  It was kind of cool, because the planes heading to DTW flew rather close, and we got to see them closer than anybody normally would.  After checking in and resting for an hour or so, we headed over to Ann Arbor and ate some Joe’s Crab Shack (amazing place, I had never been there but Jenn had with her mom) and then to the Ann Arbor Mall for some bumming.  We also went to Moose Jaw and REI looking for my Julbo Sherpa’s, but I decided they were just a little too out there, even for me.  Whole Foods was next to REI, so we also walked around there.  Quite an interesting store, not like your ordinary super market.  Wish there was one closer to us, their selection would be nice to have.  After that, we drove through DTW to make sure Jenn could find the pickup area and headed back to the hotel.

Thursday morning Jenn picked up Gwen and her baby Gabe and brought them to the hotel to sleep for a bit.  Once we were all up (again for some) we packed up and were back on the road.  We made it up to Bay City and stopped at the mall to get my tux and Johnny’s vest and tie, then stopped at Target to pick up some Theraflu and Mucinex for me (had been coming down with a flu or something for few days, wanted to make sure it was gone by Saturday) then headed north again.  Finally, we made it up to Alpena, and stayed the night at Jenn’s parents.

Friday morning Jenn had errands to do, including her dress and Gwen’s.  I stayed with her Dad and we picked up some items for the centerpieces.  Come the afternoon we al headed for Lewiston to check in at Garland.  Garland had us in a single villa, which was beautiful.  Jenn’s parents had the double villa right behind the Great Room, which was nice for Jenn to change and have somewhere to run back to during the reception.  We got checked in and met up with Todd and Ashley ow were there a little before us, then had our rehearsal out back at the ceremony site.  Our reception dinner was then at Subway, as Lewiston has few options, and Subway is nice and cheap.  After dinner we went in the big hot tub for a while, then as they arrived I met up with my Mom and Sue, then my Dad, Grandma, and Uncles Craig’s family.

By this point in the night, my thumb was killing me.  To make our centerpieces, I had to bend 2 dozen wires, which I bent largely using my hands.  I had created a blister on the outer edge of my thumb and being sick, it was infected and filled with puss.  So, I lanced it myself after 3 days of soreness.  It looked rather like chinese mustard actually.

Finally, we were at Saturday morning, W-Day.  We woke up and headed to the Great Room to decorate for the reception, with Todd, Ashley, my Mom and Sue, and several others helping.  My mom and Sue took the chair covers to the laundromat to try and de-wrinkle them while Todd, Bill (Jenn’s sister’s fiance) and I working on center pieces, and Ashley doing place cards.  We also set out our pumpkin (Todd had brought it up for us, and was the only person to touch it until Jenn and I got it home) and the mini pumpkins, got the chair covers on, and the girls went in turns to go get their hair done.  As people got up to Garland through the day, they would stop in to say hi, including my Uncle Steve and family who got in around 6 AM and got what sleep they could right after arriving.

With everything seeming to be set up, I headed back to our villa to shower, but realized I had some time and invited some Jon and Greg from Ferris to the hot tub first.  I went back to the villa and changed, then to the Hot Tub to soak a bit with the two of them plus Dane and Andy that they had found on their way (also from Ferris).  Then , back to the villa which I couldn’t get into.  I run back up to the main lodge (which is not a short stroll by any means) and they inform me I was checked out, and in a different villa that night, wtf?  So, I straighten that out and head back to change, passing the photographer on the way and letting him know I won’t be ready for pictures at 3, about 10 min away.  Get up there, shower, change, back to Main Lodge to find Todd and hopefully my brother, the best man, who still wasn’t there yet that I knew of.  So, I found them all, go pictures of us taken, find out flowers are there and get our buttoners and deliver corsages to my Mom and Grandma, then meet whoever I find and wait for 5:00.

And that, is enough for now.  The exciting part next time, followed by the honeymoon (well, parts of it) following that.  Yes folks, a 3-part series.

As of yesterday at about 1:00, I am done with school.  I presented the big evil project Wednesday morning at 9:00, turned in my lean project and exam at 1:00 Thursday, and am now done.  And, by 2:00 tomorrow, I will officially be a college graduate.  Woohoo!

So you heard the story of last weekend, except I left out about half an hour…

While we were ay the mall, I disappeared on Jenn for about 20 minutes.  When she found me, she was rather pissed that I didn’t tell her where I went and all that.  Well, she really kicked herslef for that this weekend.

We will jump forward to this weekend.  We left for Bay City around 5, met her parents for dinner in Mt Pleasant, and then continued on.  Once in Bay City, I led her to Carrol Park, to go down the roller slide for ld times sake.  After we parked, as we were walking to the slide, she saw something in my pocket, and asked what it was.  I played it off.  I went down the slide, then her, then I again.  Unfortunately, it was quite busy, and I was getting more nervous and embarrassed.  We went over to a bench, and she sat down.  I stood behind her, and pulled out what was in my pocket, and gave her the ring.  She started giggling and laughing and was rather obviously ecstatic.

When we were first dating, we actually went to a different park that had a roller slide, on 3rd near her old apartment.  They ended up renovating the park and pulled out the slide, so we would go to Carrol Park sometimes, though far less.  So, I thought it was something special from our past.  I wanted to be at the bottom of the slide when she came down, but became far too self conscious with the 20+ people in the park that evening.

The rest of the weekend was seeing people and calling to tell everyone.  We stayed in Bay City until Saturday evening, and relaxed today.

Our first calls, just 20 minutes after I asked her, people started asking if we had a date.  NO, it’s been 20 minutes, give us a little bit!  We are kind of thinking next Fall, October of November of 2009.  That is rather tentative though, and we don’t know where yet.  Kind of thinking toward Alpena, since my family is split MI and PA and travel for them is less of a big deal.

So, that is that.

Off to bed, last week of work.

nick

EDIT:

Apparently, some people feel it may not be as obvious as I had thought, so… I asked Jenn to marry me, and though it took her 10 minutes to calm down enough to remember to respond, she said yes.

So, last week was working, and that’s about it.  But, the weekend, that was better.

Saturday, Jenn and I wanted some adventure, and we found it.  We began with breakfast at Ala Mode cafe, our newfound little pleasure.  They have great breakfasts including a quiche served with biscuits and gravy and hashbrowns.  Following that, we went to Meijer and got not much, then returned home.

Not content with sitting, we packed a bag with general stuff and set out west.  Our fun stared quickly, just past Paris, when we passed a farm.  This particular farm has 4 horses and a donkey, so I always look for the donkey.  Today the donkey happened to be rolling over.  I have never seen a donkey roll over, and I have to say it is quite enjoyable.  It reminds me a it of watching Molly, as the legs are too long and body too large, so any chance of grace is right out.  Next we stopped for snacks in Reed City including a bag of T.G.I. Fridays quesadilla chips which were really good.

Up next stop was at the Amber Elk Ranch near Ludington, where we took the 1 hour tour.  If you are ever in that area, we highly recommend it.

Once in Ludington, we went to the dock to look at the ferry, then to the Jamesport Brewery for dinner.  Very good food and drinks.  It was my second time, after visiting during our SME trip.  the dinners are better than the sandwiches, though the rueben looked pretty good.

Following dinner, we went to the city beach to maybe do a little swimming.  Because of the heavy rains and flooding, there are rather strong rip currents and some sewage overflow, so the beach was unfortunately closed.  We decided that we will need to return later in the summer.  Still, we walked the sand and watched a thunderstorm coming in before heading on.  We drove around and found it is a hard thing to do around Ludington right now.  Twice we had to turn around because of a washed out road.  On our way back to US 10 we saw a lot of flooded yards and forest turned to marshland.

We got on 31 despite the signs advising us it was closed, and headed north as far as we could, finally being forced down a detour as it too was washed out.  Finally, we ended up in Manistee and spent some time in Little River Casino.  We $24, then Jenn joined the players club and got a free $15 credit, won $3 with it, and we left just $6 down, which isn’t bad.  We considered staying in Manistee for the night as it was about 10 PM, but decided to just head home.

Sunday, we cleaned up the house some.  Not clean yet, but cleaned up.

Monday I returned to work, and that will be about it for this week.  Jenn’s birthday is Thursday so maybe something else fun this weekend.  We will see.

Pictures of Saturday are now available on Picassa.

nick