I'll name it twice

I'm off to New York in two weeks!!!

Crazy 8s

However looks like they lost this one ...

What's even sadder is that after reading all the election news I found out about that on People.com!

Blue

Looks like he got it!

Weener

So a couple of weekends ago, I look out of my window to see our neighbours house being boarded up. I almost pee'd my pants. Just what we need 6 months in our new house, a foreclosure!

I then realised there were gravestones in the front garden.



And some more of the American Halloween craziness...

top o the ...

Luck O The Irish Christmas Tree. Nuff said?

god bless

Yes, that's Oreo and Chocolate stuff, on the salad bar along side regular, well, salad stuff.

sides

Ok, so I know I've been quiet, both here on the blog and on email.

I guess I'm finding the not working thing just about as difficult as I thought I would. But after a couple of weeks feeling horribly sorry for myself, I'm kinda back to myself.

So hopefully I'll be a little more around in the next little while.

If anyone is into twitter, I've signed up. You can see it on the right and I can tell you what I'm doing either online or from my cell mobile phone!

And now ... a little something of the last two months.

We redecorated our bathroom (pictures to come)
I started teaching a computer class at the Literacy Council
I have an orientation for volunteering at the Humane Society on Friday
We went to Brewfest
We started puppy class
We played obscene amounts of Rock Band 2
Damien and Laura came to visit
We went to Melting Pot
We went to Milwaukee for the weekend
I had my fingerprints taken for my visa

Weeding

So we did actually get married despite the lack of photographic proof!

For those of you too busy to read ...

Here's a short slide show of the ceremony, here's one of the reception, and for those not too busy but easily bored, here's the two short ones together.

For those of you who want all the photos, click here and select a set on the right side.


So I guess what I remember of the day is ...

Getting up early to have a yummy breakfast with Mam, Dad and Clare at A Bravo, a nice cafe, close to the house. Super yummy. Meanwhile Dave did manly breakfast things, like eat pancakes, I mean, bacon.

Got home, finished vows (cos yes, that's how organised we are!) and dropped the Pug to the sitter. Dave and Nick headed off to Titletown to deal with ... I dunno, wedding stuff, I guess.

Had the house to myself, and wasn't quite sure what to do! Turns out I didn't really need two hours to get ready! Hair didn't go quite to plan, but it wasn't a disaster. Make-up was the bomb, and then Brian, my brother came to visit. This in itself wasn't too bad. The letter he brought from Aisling, my sister-in-law, who couldn't make it .. well that was quite the make-up tester. At least I knew my mascara was indeed waterproof. In fact it was the only time I cried that day (excepting a few drunk, card-rejected tears the day-after). We Skyped Aisling, which was far from the same as having her here, but really great to talk to her all the same.

So finally put the dress thingy on, and Mam, Dad and Clare picked me up to bring me to Dave's parent's. Got there, gave Dave a big kiss and got on with organising weddingy stuff.

Did some of the portraits with Eric, Dave's friend, a photographer who did the wedding for us and was so mellow and relaxed and just what we needed.



Eric Extraordinaire




Me N' Clare




Brian, the groomsman, Dave, and Nick, the best-best man




The Thomsons




The Extended Thomsons




The Dolans




The Extended Dolans




The Ultimate Team


Got all the basics done just in time. Dad and I headed into the house for a quick moment to relax, and then off we went. Rumour has it, we went 1 minute early but I think they were still on Dublin time.




Down the aisle to Nizlopi's Sing Around it




Brian reading from a year with C.S. Lewis


From A Year With C.S. Lewis

"If the old fairy-tale ending "They lived happily ever after" is taken to mean "They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married," then it says what probably never was, nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were.

Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?

But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense-love as distinct from "being in love"—is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit;

They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself.

They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be "in love" with someone else. "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise.

It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it."




Brooke reading "Falling in love is like owning a dog"


"Falling in love is like owning a dog" by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.



And the vows ...


Jo: I fell in love with who you were 4 years ago, I love who you are now and I promise to love who you will become in the future.
Dave: Me Too.

Dave: I promise to listen when I want to talk, talk when I don't want to and give us space when we need it.
Jo: Me Too.

Jo: Whatever you dream, I promise to want it for you, help you achieve it and hold your hand through successes and failures.
Dave: Me Too.

Dave: I promise to see our life together as the adventure that it is, full of challenges and new experiences, good food and drink and great company.
Jo: Me Too.

Jo: I promise to always laugh with you, to laugh at you and to kiss you good night.
Dave: Me Too.

Dave: Take this ring as a reminder of all my promises and my love.
Jo: Take this ring as a reminder of all my promises and my love.




And the kiss ....

And then ...

Screech

So once we were signed and sealed, Nick, the best-best man brought us to Titletown (via a drive-through McDonalds, which in all honesty, saved me from falling asleep come 9pm).

The moment we walked into Titletown we were handed yummy beer and from that moment til the bill needed to be paid I didn't stop smiling.







To be honest I can't tell you exactly what happened, obviously because of the beer, but also because of the craziness. Every step I took, someone wonderful was there congratulating me, dancing with me, singing at me, hugging me.

I just remember fun before dinner - posing with my huge beer glass, hugging the Mater girls, photo's with the Carey's, being wowed at how cool Titletown looked, a quick call to Aisling, trying some of the beer samplers.

I remember the speech, not ours because those were rambling messes, but Nick's. The perfect best man's speech. I have a suspicion he downloaded it off the internet because it was so great.

And then there was the buffet. I heard it was good, I can't speak from experience because it turns out that brides, despite their best intentions, don't eat dinner. This is where that Happy Meal came in handy.

And oh, the karaoke.

I remember dancing the first dance. We had decided not to have a first dance, because we couldn't pick a song and we couldn't dance. But the first song sung, was my actual-not-pretend favourite song, Brown Eyed Girl by Niamh Christopher. And forever, that will be our song!



I remember the shots. Kinda.

I remember us making a decision not to start karaoke until 10. I remember that being a mistake. I remember seeing the piles of requests the DJ had. I remember the bribes (usually drinks) that people paid me to get them to the top of the queue. I remember Brian Shanley and me rocking it out. I remember the Ultimate guys raining men. I remember the Dolans and random never-heard Irish song. I remember Luann and her bell-bottomed jeans. I remember so much but so little.







We were so lucky to have Jake, another of Dave's multi-talented friends, videographing. We got to re-live tons of stuff, but what we really needed was a constant tape of the joy and embarrassment!

At the end, there was a small issue of my card being rejected for the bill despite sufficient funds, that did lead to a couple of drunk-tears and drunk-gallantry of people offering credit cards! But all was sorted out at 11am the next morning when the bar opened (just in case anyone was worried that you could no longer go to Titletown!)

The night was amazing, full of singing, laughing, dancing, drinking, eating, crying, hugging, phoning long-distance and oh the kissing.

And that, as they say, was that.

To see all the photos, click here and see the sets on the right side. If anybody want high-quality print, let me know!

Cuticle

Pucker

So it was going to happen sooner or later, so I chose sooner

The week after the wedding, I experienced my first Packer game. Tail gating, stadium, drunken after party, brats, hot dogs, expensive beers. The whole hog!



Started tailgating at about 3pm near the stadium which involved sitting in a parking lot with a group of Dave's friends drinking beer and eating brats. So far so good.



The game started at 6pm, so at about 5.30, beer in hand, we followed the masses to the stadium. The game was as expected. Long, complicated with lots of stopping. However, with more beer, some hotdogs, and great company, I managed to get through the game with only minimal actual watching. Oh and we left a half an hour early!



Well had to get ready for the post-game, rock-band party at our house.



Overall it was a fun night, with far too much beer and lots of laughing, although I still have no clue about American football.


brat (abb)bratwurst. german sausage
parking lot (UK) carpark
tailgate (noun) the board or gate at the back of a wagon, truck, station wagon, etc., which can be removed or let down for convenience in loading or unloading. (adjective) pertaining to or set up on a tailgate: a tailgate picnic before the football game.

Famished

So one of the best things about the wedding was that I got to show off our house, and a bit of our life to my family.

A couple of times I catered for them by accident, I really didn't intend to make a habit of cooking for massive amounts of people the week before the wedding but it was so great to see people hanging out in our house.

shower of ...

So a little behind the times, but had a few things going on.

But, a couple of weeks before the wedding, I had a wonderful shower thrown by my wonderful mother in law.

for the irish among ye :-

shower - a party given for a bestowal of presents of a specific kind, esp. such a party for a prospective bride or prospective mother.



We had it at a local pizza/italian restaurant, with lots of Dave's relatives, Luann's friends and a couple of Dave's friends. All female!

Mel, Dave's friend, was very sweet and invited me for a (midday) glass of liquid courage before hand. And Melanie, Dave's sister and Brooke, his sister-in-law, were definitely some familiar faces for me to rely on.

It was fun. I loved talking to people, chatting about the wedding and the move. Luann did some fun Irish themed games that went down really well, and I had a beer in my hand so it was definitely a good afternoon. I could have done without opening the MASSIVE pile of gifts in front of everyone, although, obviously I appreciated the gifts themselves.

And when I got home from the Shower, I had a new Shower! In the bathroom! How's that for timing.

Eggs

Because we don't have enough on our plate, what with a new house, a wedding, an influx of irish, a move to a new country and starting college, I decided to make it a bit more interesting.

On Monday, Pete, Luann and I drove down to Illinois, about 3 hours south to pick up Hammond, a pug puppy, as a wedding present for Dave.



He's been a real star, very outgoing but chilled out when its just us. He's been sleeping through the night and is mostly house trained.

And don't tell Dave, but he is kinda cute!

Can we build it? Yes, we can!

So we finally decided to face the big Ikea build. Well, one of them.

The good news is that we're still engaged. The other good news is that we managed to build a beautiful entertainment centre without quite killing each other!

Gerflunk

So this weekend was the big trip to Ikea!

It was about a four hour drive in Dave's dad's tank (aka suburban). Got to Brian and Brooke's house at about 10, just in time for dinner, a movie, couple of beers and a not-too-late night.

Saturday morning we all went out for breakfast before Brooke, Dave and I headed out to Ikea. I have to say I had my doubts about whether Brooke would ever talk to us again after it!

So I was an Ikea virgin, and spent the first, um three hours, walking around with my mouth open saying 'i want that, ooh and that! and that!' The place is evil.

We spent Saturday mostly doing reconnaissance. We went throught the whole store trying to decide what we liked and what we wanted to do this trip. Then we went back to Brian & Brooke's and made sure that the stuff we wanted would actually fit in our house.

Sunday we were furniture buying machines! We went through Ikea solely to buy our bedroom furniture.Bed, bed-side lockers, a chest of drawers and a massive mirror. We did really want their wardrobe but our house is vertically challenged so we had to pass, although there was a long conversation about the height of the carpet!




When we were through, we spent an hour packing the car up much to the amusement of everyone else around. But in the end, that suburban was solid, nothing was moving!

But it just wasn't enough of a challenge so we were ready for round 2! Back through again for some bookcases, an entertainment centre and lots of little stuff for the kitchen.

After the second round it only took us another hour to completely repack the car and then we were off home to leave all the ikea boxes in our spare room until we can face the marriage-endangering Ikea build.