Thursday, July 12, 2007

Photos!

The official photos are ready. All 627 of them (so says Anne H.)!!

When prompted for a password, enter 9124.

It takes a long time to look at them all, but feel free to take a glance.

Or play scavenger hunt and look for:

1. The dancing flower girl
2. My dad's toast
3. The bridesmaids hiding me from the limo the groom was riding in that drove by 45 minutes earlier than the guys were supposed to be there.
4. A CiN staffer signing the guest book.
5. A closeup of my something blue.
6. Three moms dancing with their babies during the Mother-son dance.

GO!

Recap: Friday, June 29

So I won't recap every day specifically, but I will do a few posts for key topics to get some more pictures up!

The day before the wedding, I was running around like a crazy person. We had nail appointments scheduled at 12:15 p.m. and my sister called around 11 to ask if she should bring me some pop, and then innocently asked "What are you doing?" To which I answered frantically "Cleaning the bathroom. I made John take a shower first, and now I'm cleaning the bathroom, because all the bridesmaids are coming tomorrow, and it's dirty." I still had to take a shower myself and get to the salon, but all morning I'd been trying to do the last minute house pickup/cleaning. By no means was it up to my normal standards, but I needed to get clutter moved so people had a place to sit during the bridesmaids luncheon on Saturday, and I had to clean the bathroom (it was icky) before the nail salon because I didn't want to ruin my manicure!!

So, post-clean bathroom, I high-tailed it to the salon, only a minute or two late, and tried to relax while I got my pedicure followed by a manicure. Sarah had brought light lunch for the girls, so I snacked on some yummy food (and pop). Raegan, who was coming in from Illinois, had been in a car all morning and arrived just a few minutes late for her 1:30 pedicure. John's sisters, Mary and Anne, got their manicures while I got my pedi, and then Sarah and I got our manicures together. It was nice, and everyone's nails looked fabulous.

My first pedicure. Ever. Really!

Raegan - who'd been dropped off at the salon by her parents, who also came for the wedding - headed home with me. I'd enlisted her to stay with me the night before the wedding to keep me from staying up all night or panicking or stressing or anything. But first we had to stop at a few stores because I still had to buy gifts for wedding party people, ink cartridges and a few things I needed for the honeymoon.

We made it back to my house with not a whole lot of time to spare before we had to get ready for the rehearsal (at 5 p.m.)

John, who was going to spend the night at his parents' house, was trying to pack. I was rushing around, ironing my dress and getting the gifts all wrapped and together. Raegan was trying to find a spot in the house that was not overrun with wedding preparation. Peggy and Jim stopped by and were enlisted to print (with the new cartridges) and fold the last set of programs.

We were ready to rush out the door about 4:40 when the phone rings: My family, and who knew who else, was stuck in horrible I-71 traffic. So they were trying to find an alternate route from their hotel in Blue Ash to Evanston, and wanted us to let the priest know that despite their best efforts, they'd be late. (The priest had told us everyone HAD to be on time because there was another rehearsal at 6 p.m.)

We were the first to arrive at church. Those not coming from anywhere near Kenwood arrived soon after, and the readers practiced. And, thankfully not too late, my sister, her husband, and my parents arrived, so we could start practicing the processing.

The rehearsal went fine, with promises from those there to explain to people who couldn't come what they had to do (communion distributors and gift bearers).

Raegan and me at the rehearsal dinner.

Brandon had a long journey in from California for his first flight, first trip out-of-state, and first time to meet Great Uncle Don (my dad).

We headed to a lovely dinner of turkey, steak (I think; I don't eat red meat), mashed potatoes, green beans, cake and more. I got to chat with relatives and friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in years, so it was great! John's sister, Anne, made a fabulous music-backed slide show with pictures of John and me growing up. It was very fun, and she worked hard on it - with some big obstacles along the way, including a crashing computer or something!

You know those scoreboards above basketball courts? Well, instead of basketball replays, our picture was up throughout the dinner! The banquet room overlooked the court, where high school players during a basketball camp were playing a game, probably wondering who the two people on the scoreboard were (they couldn't see us). Even funnier, bridesmaid Peggy looked down and said "That's my alma mater and that's my second cousin coaching!" Random!

After dinner, John ran back to our house to get his stuff and head over to his parents, while I pretty much began packing for the honeymoon at about 9 p.m. Nothing like the last minute! Raegan, good maid of honor that she was, kept reminding me "Katie, um, it's about 11, maybe you should think about wrapping things up and going to bed."

"Nonsense!" I said debating how many shirts to pack. "I rarely go to bed before midnight, and I don't even have to get up that early!"

I think it was a bit after 12 when I went to bed, setting the alarm for 8. I was mostly packed. Sort of.

Next: The Big Day!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Back home

We got back around 3 p.m. Monday. I'm sorting through clothes, pictures, spoiled food and hundreds of emails at work.

I promise more later, but here's a sampling.

Rehearsal dinner with Sarah and Mom.


Hair salon with the bridesmaids (that's Peggy, back right, who posted the fabulous guest blog with the photos!)


Cake eating! I loved the cake and thought it was beautiful!


Luau in Maui!

Oh, just an FYI: My church doesn't allow photos to be taken during the wedding (other than the official photographer) so I don't have any photos from that. Besides, these are from my camera and I was a little busy. (Thanks to my sister, who took charge of the camera wedding day, for some of the shots!)

Sunday, July 8, 2007

John and Katie's wedding day was picture perfect! All their hard work and preparations were evident in all the unique touches throughout the day. The mass was my favorite part; it was so personal and full of love. The reception was very fun and it was here that the couple really celebrated. Who knew John could breakdance? It was an honor to be a member of the wedding party and celebrate the marriage to two fabulous people. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of the big day. Congratulations to Katie and John!
Here comes the bride!

Just minutes before walking down the aisle.

Cheers to the newlyweds!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Kaua'i

Aloha from Kaua'i. We flew here yesterday morning from Maui. I wish I could say things have been fabulous on this island too, but so far all I've done is spend 18 hours in bed... And before anyone starts shouting TMI, I'll add to that ... because of a nasty stomach virus! I'm starting to perk back up and getting on the computer in the rental office of the vacation condos is my test to see if I can handle being out and about before we hit the road to try snorkeling or some other adventure. It is amazingly beautiful here. We aren't quite beachfront but on a gorgeous property where I feel like I'm in a jungle when looking out the window.

A few blocks down is a beach that stretches for awhile with parts for snorkeling, surfing and wave boarding (boogie boarding ... do people still say that?)

But, anyway, back to the good parts ...

On Maui we had a lot of fun after our adventurous day on the bike ride down Haleakala. John learned to surf and loved it so much that he rented a board and surfed again here yesterday evening while I was stuck in bed.

We went to a luau and ate a ton and watched fire dancers and hula dancers. The good part was it was right next door to where we stayed, so we could walk there and back. Bonus!

We attempted to snorkel and wave board, but didn't have a lot of success. I got slammed by a big wave and ended up with sand EVERYWHERE. We decided a different beach would be a better bet, and I hope to try the snorkeling again here in Kaua'i.

I wish I could post some pictures but I'll have to wait til we're home. We have shot lots of video and taken lots of pictures, but as I'm using borrowed computers I can't really upload them here. I've decided my first video editing project is going to be "John surfs." I got some great video but it's coupled with a lot of shaky camera and me zooming in to try to see John.

Well, I think I'm starting to pick up energy, so maybe we'll venture out and see if we can find something more exciting to do than sit around here.

Aloha til Monday!

Monday, July 2, 2007

ALOHA!

Aloha from Maui!

We're paying for this connection, so very quickly ...

Mahala to Gina for the mobile blogging! The photos are very fun! Hopefully someone will do a more wordy update, but if not, you'll have to wait til I return!

The wedding and reception did go fabulous, if you couldn't tell from the pictures. We certainly had a wonderful time! And we got several comments from people who enjoyed the day as well.

And we are definitely enjoying our time in Hawaii. Unfortunately one of my bags still hasn't made it here. I called to find out what happened this morning and it was still in LA. We got in late last night and got about two hours of sleep before our bicycle journey down Haleakala. Our exhaustion was apparent as we made a wrong turn and had to pay $20 to have the tour operators come retrieve us at a gas station. It was that or attempt to ride back up a mountain several miles. No thanks! After an afternoon nap we're feeling much more awake and ready to experience the rest of Maui!

We have taken many photos already, some beautiful ones of the sunrise this morning from the top of Haleakala, and will post some when we return.

Time to hit the beach!

Saturday, June 30, 2007



That's all folks! The newlyweds are off to Hawaii.