We Interrupt This Broadcast…

As our photographer is doing a proper job with our photos (not just doing a quick contrast change like I would…I suppose that’s why I’m not a professional), I didn’t get the disk yesterday. I gave it a day – it was worth a try – but it is time to move on and blog about the wedding, albeit without pictures.

*sigh*

But wait! Fortunately, I have been able to get a link to the wedding album, and though they aren’t polished up, some of the pictures will be good enough to use for a wedding post! I can go ahead as planned. Awesome, right?

But wait! Something more important than marriage and the wedding and true love has turned up! LOOK AT THIS PEOPLE!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Now Vanna’s gone to work and I have all morning with the TV! Hmm…what to do, what to do? Oh yeah…Xbox it is!

Sorry folks,  the story of our wedding will have to wait. TV! TV! TV!

Alex

(Normal service will resume tomorrow, folks…Probably)

(Also, I have run out of memory on this blog. I will have to create a new one for the next set of pictures. Oh joy. )

(Finally; thanks Lynn!)

 

The Wedding Day (A Preview!)

Good news: we’ve heard back from the photographer! Yesterday evening Alex (photographer Alex, not me) messaged Vanna asking her (well us) to choose our 20 favourite pictures, which she will then professionally edit. So they’re not quite ready yet…but almost there!

Now the next part of our honeymoon week, of course, is the wedding day.  But before I start talking about the wedding, I want to have the finished pictures from the photographer. That way I can use the photos to help capture the memories of our special day.  And I reckon that a combination of my words and the photos together will make for a much nicer blog than just my words.

So that’s my plan. Giving how impatient I am, I may just end up blogging sans photos (and then add them in later), but for now I’m going to wait until Alex gets back to us before I write about the Big Day. Just in case she’s super quick and we get them by tomorrow or Friday. Who knows?

However, this decision doesn’t mean this blog doesn’t contain a special treat; before we sent off our 20 favourites to the photographer, I managed to pinch a couple of the unedited pictures to share with you! Consider them a preview of whats to come.

Enjoy!

The Most Expensive Teddy I’ve Ever (Unintentionally) Bought

Our wedding week began the Friday before last, when we headed down to the cities in preparation for Saturday’s ceremony.

It was a long drive (sorry no pictures as I was driving) and I think both of us were feeling the nerves. My main concern was the ceremony; I wanted it to be exactly what Vanna wanted it…that was all that mattered to me. Would the weather be right? (forecast kept changing, and rarely looked good) Would everything come together in time? (everything was being brought to the park by different people) Would our officiant, Diane, get there okay? (she was flying in that day)

As for Vanna…who knows what she was thinking? Maybe she had the same concerns, or maybe she was looking at me as I complained about something incredibly banal for ten minutes (I repeat myself a lot) wondering if she’d made the right choice. I don’t know her thought process, but there wasn’t much talking going on. We were both a little tense. Excited, but nervous.

We arrived at Vanna’s grandparents early afternoon. While she and her grandmother went for a pedicure, I talked British TV shows with her grandpa and uncle back at the house. In some ways, it was nice to spend some time apart. It offered us a sense of normalcy before the big event.  At that point, we had less than 24 hours to go!

But hey, it was going to be a luxurious 24 hours; after dinner we went to the St Paul Hotel, and the suite we’d be calling home for the next two nights.

Now, I’ve been privileged to say in some nice places during the past 22 years, but I don’t think many come close to the St Paul Hotel (even the Hilton pales in comparison). It was beautiful. I wasn’t as giddy as Vanna was – she was like an excitable child – but you’d have to be a millionaire not to be impressed by the place.

How good was it? Well it was the best! Sadly we didn’t take any pictures of the fantastic entrance, the impressive lobby (you don’t act like a tourist with your camera when you’re staying in a 5 star hotel!) or the breakfast room we were in the next morning. But we did take some of the room!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Not too shabby, eh? I’m so glad we stayed there. It was definitely an amazing experience; thanks to Vanna’s bridesmaids and her grandmother for supporting it!

So…that more or less covers our Friday 15th August. Saturday, the day of the wedding, I will discuss tomorrow.

Alex

There Is Now A Ring On My Finger…

Hello all! We (Vanna and I…the newlyweds!) are back from our honeymoon week…sadly. The Bests (that’s us!) had a fantastic 7 days (a rather eventful time as you can imagine), but all good things have to end eventually, don’t they? Today, Vanna is working until evening while I stay at home, lie in bed and watch the football. We both have to put on a brave face. Tough times.

So yes, I had a lovely honeymoon week with the wifey (her new name). Lots for the blog to catch up with (loads and loads of pictures, plus all the stories!), but I’ll do my best to get you up to date this week.

To be honest, I don’t think it has registered with me yet; our wedding day (the Best and best day!), the weekend in the cities (the hotel!), our honeymoon trip up north (which was an adventure)…it’s been a whirlwind week!

And this is just the beginning! There is the future to sort out too. After all this time, we’re now in a position to finally start our new life together!

Well, sort of. There is so much paperwork to fix (Vanna has to change her name on everything), plus all the remaining hurdles that come with being on a visa. First I’ve got to prove to the government I should live here (the hardest part of the visa process). If they approve I can then work on getting a green card…then a work permit…then a job. Once that is all done…Vanna and I can begin to create our life.

So yeah, a lot to do. But I’m excited to start. Overwhelmed, but excited. Start of adulthood, responsibilities and all that. I can’t wait.

For now though, I’m just adjusting to being a husband. From the amount of times I stare at my wedding ring, you’d think I had a huge diamond on it. But what it looks like is largely irrelevant to me; my gold band is significant for what it symbolizes; I’m now bond to another person. Vanna is my wife, I’m a husband. It’s scary. Good, fantastic, amazing even…but scary as well.

And I’m not used to wearing a ring. So it’s unusual in that way too.

Alex

Oh, before I go, I have a few pictures to share with you! (in fact, I have hundreds of pictures from this past week, but I need to figure out how to upload them first; I may need to create a new blog…oh man) They are unofficial photos (we won’t get the official ones from the photographer for another few weeks)) from the ceremony, taken by Vanna’s uncle Ben. The quality isn’t great – they were photos from a film camera scanned onto computer – but they do give you a brief glimpse into our wonderful day, which is the best I can do at the moment. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Crosby Bike Trail (With Pictures!)

Yesterday Vanna had an eyelash appointment in Crosby. Because I didn’t want to stay at home, I went with her. And because I didn’t want to watch a stranger put hot glue on my fiancee’s eyes, I brought my bike with me. So, while Vanna sat in a chair with her eyes taped open, I took a ride along the Crosby bike trail.

Unfortunately I can’t make this map any bigger, so you may need a magnifying glass to read it.

The trail, at least in my eyes, has two stages to it. There is Crosby to Ironton (B to C on the map) and then Ironton to Riverton (C to D). When I lived in Crosby, I usually just rode the Crosby-Ironton section; only near the end of my summer, did I cycle the second stage to Riverton.

Now my main problem with the trail back in 2012 was that it was too short; doing a circuit from Vanna’s house to the trail and back (H, C, B, H) was a mere five miles. But I’d never tried doing the full thing before, so perhaps a loop from Crosby to Riverton (as shown on the map) would be a more challenging route.

As I didn’t have any communication while on the trail, I thought it would be wise to be prepared. I packed a bag with food (tuna, crackers and an orange), drink (big bottle of juice) and my camera, because hey, why not take some pictures while I’m out there? The scenery on the trail is beautiful, and I’ve always wanted to share my experiences there with you, my blog followers. Why not do it then?

However, I was only able to take so many photos. Three reasons for this;

• Bike Efficiency: every time I stopped for a picture, I lost momentum. And isn’t exercise only truly beneficial when it is continuous?
• Time: Vanna was expecting me back in two hours, and though that may seem like plenty of time, I had no idea how long the route was (I made that map afterwards). I also wanted to eat, so I couldn’t spend too long with my camera.
• Heat: I started riding at 1.30pm. It was hot. Understandably I didn’t want to stop too much.

Still, I was impressed with the pictures that I did get. I might not have covered everything (the sumac looked good but I missed it, and there were certain views of the pits/lakes I skipped) but I think I got the trail’s highlights (plus action shots of me on the highway!). Here’s the slideshow. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Vanna finished early, but she was just getting into the car when I arrived, so I think my timing was pretty damn impeccable. Excluding breaks, I finished the 13 miles in 1 hour 20. Not too shabby, huh?

Alex

Deerwood Summer Fest (Pictures…)

Yesterday afternoon, after a trip to Crosby, we went to the Deerwood Summer Fest. It was a happening place…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

…Yeah, not a lot there, to be honest. But we did see some cool crafts (like the fire wood thing before), and we might buy something from the pen guy him in the future, so it was worth going for that at least

Anyway, not much happening today. It’s raining and we have chores to do. How exciting, huh?

Alex

So Vanna Saved A Turtle…

When we were out driving, Vanna saw a turtle in the road and made me pull over. She then brought it home to put in the pond. Why? I don’t know. But I documented this…historic…occasion with my camera so you could revel in the moment as well. Enjoy.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

Crow Wing County Fair 2014 (Food And Goats)

Yesterday we went to the Crow Wing County Fair. I brought my camera and took pictures of, well, food mostly. Oh, and farm animals. You know, the usual. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A Few Phalen Park Pictures…

Yesterday Vanna and I went to Phalen Park to scope out wedding locations (we also got shoes, but I’ll talk about that later). It was a successful trip, but I’m under strict instructions not to share the wedding spot on the blog. I am, however, allowed to upload some of the other pictures I took while we were walking around. So that’s something, right?

I’d say more about the weekend (we met with the photographer, the wedding spot, the aforementioned shoes etc), but it will have to wait as we’re leaving shortly to head home. We’ve enjoyed our time in the cities, but we had to get on the road north eventually. I’m not sure what our plans are, but it is possible that the next time we’re down here, it’s for the wedding. Less than 3 weeks!

Anyway, I best go. I’ll fill you in on the details later. Enjoy the pictures!

Alex

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Haircut (and Garden) Pictures

So it still isn’t Wednesday. And I still haven’t heard back from the bike shop, but given how humid it is, I can’t say that I’m eager to start cycling again. Today is supposed to be nicer (it hit 98F yesterday, which was….fun) but I’ll reserve judgement for now. We had a bad storm last night (heavy wind, rain, thunder, lightening; all the good stuff) so the humidity hopefully should have broken. We’ll see.

Anyway, as I referred to yesterday, my plan to deal with the hot weather was to get a haircut. Long hair + scraggy beard was not the best of combinations when out and about in aforementioned 98F temperatures. So while we were in town Monday afternoon, we went to a hair salon and I got it all chopped off.

Well, not all of it…but nearly all of it. I’m pretty pleased with the results (best haircut experience I’ve had; doesn’t say much but I feel it’s worth mentioning) and I believe Vanna likes it as well. I feel more comfortable now, which is a definite plus. And I look good. Or at least I think I look good. Same thing, right?

Either way, I have pictures for you. When we got home Vanna took some of my face and then, to make it a decent slideshow for you, the garden as well. She’s thoughtful like that. Enjoy!

Alex

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

P.S. Wondering what I’m talking about, followers of morephotographyonthecitadel? You need to visit here.