Scavenger hunt and Shark's Cove

We woke up around 2:00am because we're still on Florida time so we took some time to update Facebook (very important of course) and check out what we were going to be doing for the week. We started with breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe (not the same as the one in 50 First Dates but they did have the movie poster hung up and Drew Barymore's autograph on a picture from the movie). We met another couple there from Salt Lake City that told us the food was really good and it was. Devin had the LocoMoco which was featrured in the 2009 Food Network magazine as best in Hawaii. Both of our breakfasts were very good. After breakfast we went to the grocery store to pick up PB&J supplies and some other food for the trip. We dropped the food off at our vacation house and then spent some time exploring the beach in front of where we are staying. There isn't a sandy beach but there are lots of rocks that form small tidal pools. We found sea glass and some shells among the rocks and tons of different animals in the water. There were camouflaged gobies, other small fish, a couple of types of crabs and hermit crabs, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and something with an eel-like tail that was hiding under a rock. I had lots of fun taking pictures of everything.

Then we headed out to the Turtle Bay Resort were my friends

from the Sea Scape, Deb and Jodi, set up a scavenger hunt for us. We found Pete, the valet, and told him "Blondi sent us", had him talk pigeon for us, took a picture with him, and he directed us over to the concierge desk. The concierge had a envelope for us with two candy leis and a gift

certificate for us. We then headed over to the helicopter tours to say hi to Deb's friend Josh and chatted with him and played with his super cute puppy.

Then it was off to the beach for some swimming at Shark's Cove at Pupukea Beach Park. The water was a little rough so we only went in the shallow area but we saw lots of fish including a 3 foot trumpet fish, wrasse, and the Hawaiian state fish, humuhumunukunukuapuaa. We also saw spiny sea urchins, coral, and crabs. We had PB&Js on the beach and then we headed to Walmart to pickup some things we forgot to bring. We went back to our vacation house and fell asleep before even having dinner.

Come to Hawaii with me

The morning after our wedding we left the Port D' Hiver for Hawaii. Unfortunately we left a little late and in our sleep deprived state we also forgot a bag at the hotel so we had to go back and get it resulting in us switching to a later flight. It was a loooooooooong day of travel. We had a two and a half hour flight to Dallas, TX with an hour long layover. We told the flight attendant on our first flight that we were on our honeymoon and she gave us free chocolate chip cookies. :) The upside to travelling through Texas is that Devin got to get some really good BBQ and I had some delicious macaroni and cheese. Our next flight was eight hours long. Both Devin and I slept through bits and pieces, only to wake up and find that we still had a really long way to go. The second in flight movie was Fantastic Mr. Fox, which despite having an all star cast was really, really bad. We spent part of the trip playing Uno. After a long day we finally started to fly over the Hawaiian islands and we landed in Honolulu. The airport there was really nice and had a beautiful outside garden. We headed to National car rental to pick up our car and they upgraded us to a Mustang convertible for our honeymoon (Devin is very excited about this). We drove an hour to get to our vacation house and stopped at the Crouching Lion to eat along the way. The food was very yummy but we were excited to see our place and get some sleep. We crashed as soon as we unloaded all of our stuff.

Somebody's getting married...

I didn't sleep well the night before the wedding. I got up and took a blanket and pillow outside at one point and tried to get some sleep in one of the beach chairs listening to the waves but I was just too wound up (for obvious reason). I also realized that I forgot to bring deodorant and a razor to the Sea Scape; two things I would really like to have on my wedding day. As soon as other people started getting up I had my mom run to the store and pick up the things I forgot. I got all showered, ate a tiny bit of breakfast, and then Melanie started on my hair. It was nice being in the oceanfront room with the door open because I could see family as they were wandering around and waiting for things to get started. The first super stressful even of the morning was that the photographer showed up late and so wasn't there for me to go over the pictures I wanted (NEVER use ThePros.com for your photography!) and to get the pictures of the guys getting ready. Luckily my grandma was there taking photos. After I got my dress on I hid in the bathroom and Devin came to visit me so I could talk to him before the wedding without him seeing me. My dad helped me put on my jewelry, Melanie finished my makeup and then we went outside and the photographer took some pictures. Then it was off to Paradise Beach for the wedding.

As soon as we started walking up to the pavilion I could see all of the lanterns hanging and all of the tables set up. It was so perfect

that I already was starting to tear up. My bridesmaids and I made a trip to the bathroom where we made some dress adjustments and then we headed back to the

pavilion to wait until it was time to start down the aisle. While we were waiting I sang "5 Little Ducks" to try to keep me from tearing up and so I could get through the ceremony without sobbing. Then it was time for everybody to walk down the aisle. I realized that when you're the bride you don't get to see everybody walking down the aisle and that's normally one of my favorite parts to watch. I walked down

the aisle with my daddy and mommy and we all made it down the beach. I gave a pinwheel (instead of a flower) to my

parents and Devin's parents.

There ceremony went by way to quickly but my favorite part was looking at Devin during the ceremony and seeing him cry (which he never does). My other favorite part is when Tuba and Dustin played and sang "I Want to Grow Old with You". I've always been going to my friends concerts and gigs and it was awesome that I got to bring it into my wedding. I was very happy when I finally got to kiss Devin. After the ceremony was over we walked past our family and I was so happy to hug all of our wedding party while we waited to take pictures. We took pictures on the beach and then we went to the playground and took some more pictures. We got a picture of everyone eating shaved ice which was delicious.

After pictures we joined all of our family and friends at the reception. The food was good and I

especially liked the chocolate fountain. When it was time for cake we called everyone over and then realized that we didn't know where the cake cutter was (which was from my parent's wedding) and Ericka quickly tied some purple ribbon onto a plastic knife. Devin and I pretended to take big bites of the cake while we were waiting for a cutter. The cake was incredibly delicious and Heather did a wonderful job. After cake Devin and I had our first dance as husband and wife. I had wanted to choreograph it but just never had the time and so the night before the wedding I came up with some simple dance moves for Devin and I to do to the chorus so we weren't just

swaying back and forth the entire time.Then I got to dance with my daddy which made both of us cry, then I watched Devin and his mommy dance, and we had one couples dance but there wasn't really any dancing other than that. I realized afterwords that while I spent many, many hours planning the ceremony I never really

planned out the reception, like who was going to announce things and when were we doing everything. The bouquet/garter toss was a lot of fun. Julie caught my bouquet and Scott caught the garter.

We left in the convertible that Devin got for us and came back in our bathing suits. We spent some time down at the beach with everyone while my amazing Maid of Honor, Sarah, and family coordinated getting the pavilion cleaned up. We even went swimming for a little bit although it was cold when we got out of the water. Devin and I headed out pretty early to head to our hotel room because we had to head out early in the morning for Hawaii. When we got the the hotel there were fabric flower petals (leftover from the bouquets) scattered around the room as well as champagne and strawberries. Devin and I were exhausted so we got some pizza at Bizarros and then looked at the full moon.

Now Devin is officially my legally declared heterosexual life partner (aka husband).

My wedding dress arrived!

After all the drama with the first wedding dress being a disaster and a delivery date uncomfortable close to the wedding for the second dress I can finally relax because my dress arrived. It came into the House of Brides two days ago, my mom picked it up yesterday and overnighted it to me and Devin signed for it today. Julie came over to help me try it on and it fits great; I just need to have it hemmed and bustled. So happy to have my dress. So sparkley!

Sleuth's Mystery Dinner Theater

The Gymboree ladies (me, Julie, Jill, Michelle, Denise, and Debbra) all got together for a fun evening out and went to the Sleuth's Mystery Dinner Theater in Orlando. In addition to the show we also decided to dress up in tacky/wacky outfits to add to the fun. Although Julie and I had lots of fun going to thrift stores and trying on terrible dresses I decided to wear a purple sequined gown (which I wore to my high school freshman homecoming dance) and black gloves and top hat. We met at Michelle's house and all rode together in her SUV. When we got there we were assigned a group number and had some time to shop unique and handmade items and get drinks (including souvenir glasses) before the show. A lot of people asked us if we were part of the show because we were dressed up. We headed into the theater and were seated at a table pretty close to the stage. The beginning part of the show set up the characters and setting and ended with one of the characters being murdered with a fruit cake. During intermission we were served dinner which was delicious and we came up with a question to ask the suspects to help us figure out who done it. After dinner every table got to ask their questions and we voted on who we thought the murderer was. I guessed right! They finished out the rest of the show and then acknowledged special groups. They called out my name for my bachelorette and I got a magnifying glass souvenir. I also got a badge for guessing the killer correctly. After that we headed home; it was a fun night out with the girls.

Baby Goldman is here!

Today is a very special day indeed because baby Goldman was born today! His name is Benjamin Franklin Goldman and he was born at 10:51pm and weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 19 inches long. Sarah is an aunt now!

Apocalyptica concert rocked!

Devin and I had purchased tickets awhile ago to see Apocalyptica but the concert was delayed because one of the members was sick. The concert was rescheduled for March and so we finally got to see Apocalyptica in concert tonight. Before the concert we had dinner at the House of Blues. Dinner was pretty good and Devin and I both did blue skittle shots and got souvenir shot glasses. Then we walked around Downtown Disney for a little bit and checked out the pop art shop. Then we stood in line and finally got into the concert. The opening band was pretty awful. If you need to constantly egg on the audience to clap for you or make some noise then your probably not worth clapping for. At last we got to see Apocalyptica and they were amazing!!! There is seriously nothing like seeing three guys playing cello and totally rocking out. My favorites were Master of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters, Beautiful, and Hall of the Mountain King which was then stuck in my head. At the end they came back and did an amazing encore which included I Don't Care which was also one of my favorites. The guest singer they had was ok but wasn't one of the highlights of the show. At one point Devin almost caught a drumstick and a mosh pit almost broke out behind us a couple of times. All in all it was awesome and I love Apocalyptica.