6 Years Ago

Our ceremony was short and sweet. Dana & Eric were our maid of honor and best man. Our dad's walked us down the aisle and gave us away. Here are some pictures that my sister took during the ceremony and just after.

Walking down the aisle with our dads

Giving us to each other ........During the ceremony

Trying not to cry ...................Our "first kiss"

Walking out of the chapel

With my sister .....................With my best man

In the limo .......................The classic wedding photo

At the reception:

Our cake ................Our toasting glasses

The best Caesar salad ever! ....With Shell's dad

The "first dance" ................Singing our song to each other

Dancing with our dads ............Dancing & crying with Eric

Shell and her brother ..........Shell's mom(r) & aunt(l)

Cutting the cake. We never discussed what would happen next...

It was more fun than I could have imagined.

Cake ended up between my boobs. Just lovely.

Cleaning up after ...........Caught off guard

Me & my dad ..................Shell & Dana dancing

With one of my oldest friends. ....Shell's sis-in-law and niece


Shell with her niece & cousin ...With Dana. I'd had a bit much to drink by now.

Dancing with my wife

It was the best time shared with people we loved who loved us. I can't wait to do it again - legally.

Another Anniversary!

6 Years ago today we had our commitment ceremony in Las Vegas. I'm still amazed that it went so well. Everything was planned either by phone or internet. It felt crazy to do it that way, and I think that our families were a little worried about how it would turn out. But it was perfect.

We had discussed having a ceremony quite a few times in the years leading up to it, but I was not keen on the idea of spending a bunch of money to have a ceremony that wasn't legal and wouldn't "change" anything. We were obviously committed to each other, so why have a meaningless ceremony? Why not wait until it was legal, if that day would ever come. Shell really wanted to do it, and in the Fall of 2002 I finally gave in. We decided to go to Vegas, that way it would be easier for our families in California to make it. Plus there were many wedding chapels that would perform the ceremony for a price that wouldn't break the bank. We chose the chapel, chose the hotel for the reception, chose a DJ for the reception and planned the food & alcohol for the reception all over the internet. My sister and mom went with me to look for a wedding dress the week after Christmas, and were shocked to find one that we loved. It just needed a little altering, so I paid for it and sent it to the tailor. My sister offered to make my veil, all the flower arrangements and the invitations. My niece chose my tiara.

I had been at my current job for less than a year at this point, and since I didn't officially have vacation time to take we didn't leave until the day before the ceremony so I would only miss one day of work. We got to Vegas in the afternoon on Friday and got checked in to our hotel, then split up. My sister, brother-in-law, and dad were there already so they came to get me. Her family was there by then as well as her best friend (her maid of honor). I was a nervous wreck all night because my best friend (my best man) couldn't leave work early and would be driving overnight to get there by the next morning. Plus I had to drop off the favors and the table place cards with the hotel where the reception would be.

Early the next morning, the day of our ceremony, my sister picked me up from our hotel and we went to breakfast. Eric met us as we were dropping off the reception goodies and then we headed back to my sister's hotel room to start getting ready. Eric and my sister did my hair, helped me with my makeup, and basically got me ready. It was very calming to have them there and know that they were supporting me on my very special day. I felt very loved. Here's what it looked like at Bride Prep Central:

Then we were ready to go. The limo picked us up from the hotel and we were off to the chapel.

Eric, sis & bro-in-law.........Me and my dad

Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel

Waiting in the limo .............All checked in

Next up, the ceremony and reception....

My Black Belt

My boy passed his test last weekend and is now a Certified 1st Degree Black Belt. I can't believe we made it. It's been a long hard road, but we did it. His test was from 6-11pm on Friday and then from 8am-6pm on Saturday. He did so great and I'm so very proud of him. Here are a few pictures from the test.

During warm up the first day of test

Being the supportive sister

Sparring test. He's on the right.

Ready for Bo Staff form

Getting his Black Belt

With my boy, the Black Belt!

My boy & his instructor

We usually go out to dinner after his big tests, so we let him decide where to go. He picked T.G.I. Friday's. When I called my mom to let her know that he passed his testing, she suggested going out to breakfast Sunday morning. So we went to a buffet place that my boy LOVES with my parents the next morning. Then back to their house to check out their new patio roof and chill out after the big breakfast. We finally went home around 11ish, and just before noon Shell's best friend called to see if we wanted to go out to dinner with them. Another reason not to cook? Sure! So we went to dinner with them and then back to their house so the kids could play and the adults could visit. We don't spend nearly enough time with them, so we're hoping that maybe we can try to get together for dinner at each other's houses once a month. I hope we can.

So it was a busy weekend, and we weren't home for most of it. Have lots of laundry to catch up on. We're taking this week off from karate, so hopefully we'll be able to recover.

As far as the computer and TV go, I haven't called my cousin yet to come take a look at the TV, mostly because we haven't been home. But also because I'm kind of enjoying it not being on. The kids are filling their time with reading, playing their DS games and playing outside. It's really nice. But I need to get it taken care of sooner rather than later because they only have 4 weeks of school left and if Shell has any hope of getting sleep once summer starts, we need to get it fixed. And the computer.... well when I brought it into work that day it came right on and worked great. We used a different power cord, so figured that maybe the one I had was bad. I took the extra one from work home with me and the computer worked. We were so relieved. Then last Friday it died again, and refuses to be resuscitated. We are now discussing buying a new computer and will probably do so next week sometime. At least the karate test is out of the way now...