The Honeymoon Part 1

Since it’s been nearly a month since we got back from our honeymoon (oh how time flies!) I figured I should stop procrastinating and post about it already.

The thing is? We didn’t love our honeymoon. We really wanted to love love love it there. And we just didn’t.

Phew. That was hard. Now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you the good and the bad.

We left Vancouver in the POURING rain.

And went from there to Houston, TX. There was a huge storm there too.

So I took pictures of our wedding bands

And ate very large burritos (no pictures. Too hungry.)

When we landed in San Jose, Costa Rica it was chaos! There were people and cars everywhere. Lots of people asking in spanish if we wanted a cab or a rental car. Many people outside the airport also spoke english which really helped out this english (and some french) speaking Canadian. One thing I noticed right away is that many cars don’t have licence plates. I asked a local about that a couple of days later and they said there is no need for licence plates. Who woulda thought.

This is my hastily snapped iPhone picture (T felt unsafe and didn’t want me waving around my iPhone).

We spent the night at a Holiday Inn near the airport. It was a really nice hotel with free breakfast and free international calling. Our mothers were both very happy that they got a phone call saying we had made it in one piece. We left early the next morning with a cab ride to the domestic airport, about half an hour away. Our cab driver was hilarious and was telling us all sorts of stories about living in Costa Rica. He was one of the last English speakers we met for the rest of our trip.

We got to the Domestic Airport and laughed hysterically as the staff told us our plane was full so our luggage may not make it to our destination today. We were instructed to put the belongings we needed for the first day into a purse to carry on with us. So what did I grab? A bathing suit, a pair of underwear, a book and my toothbrush. Priorities.

The really unfortunate part was that then, we had to be weighed. With everything we had just grabbed. The man, a native spanish speaker, was trying to joke with me by saying that if I weighed more than 150lbs I’d have to pay for an extra seat. The real weight for the extra seat cost was 300lbs, but this man seemed to think it was really hilarious when I weighed in (holding my belongings for the next few days) at 152lbs. He told me several times I’d have to buy another seat before breaking out into laughter and trying to explain he was joking. Don’t tell me how he doesn’t get that telling a girl she’s too heavy to be on the plane while she’s on her honeymoon is funny but whatever.

We loved the little plane we took.

We got to see Costa Rica from the air which was phenomenal. You could see the Pacific Coast, the smoking volcanoes and the rainforest. The trees looked like broccoli covering the mountains. So neat. Leaving San Jose, we also saw the very poor living conditions of many locals.

When we landed in Tamarindo (a town in the North West part of the country) we landed in a dirt strip. With these little friends:

We had hired a driver to pick us up and take us to our hotel. He spoke absolutely no english (and we speak essentially no spanish) so we kind of hung on for the ride. And hang on we needed to do. Seatbelts? Who needs those. The roads were dirt, with LARGE pot holes everywhere (and occasionally sink holes thanks to rainy season). We sort of felt like we were on a roller coaster. T and I hung onto each other and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into.

xox

b

Wedding recaps: The reception

Guys, my reception was fun. At least that’s what people kept telling me. Not that I didn’t have fun, I did. I was just really worried that I go talk to everyone. So I spent a lot of time wandering around to talk to people. Hug family. Smile for photos. I wish someone had taken pictures of the food because the appetizers were to die for. Mini sliders, mini pizzas, mini quiche, crab cakes, potato latkes….yum yum yum!

We had food, we played games. Then there was an open mic time where people said some very nice things (and I wasn’t even too embarrassed!) Then we ate dinner, and cake, and played board games. And spoons. Has everyone played spoons? If not, get thee to a place where you can play spoons with friends. You will die of laughter.

Ok. Pictures.

I had a hard time finding pictures that I didn’t have to edit everyone out of! But it was fun. I promise

Then the night was over! We cleaned up with some lovely helper friends and I got in the car to drive (since T had been drinking)

It was kind of hilarious to drive in a wedding dress. There was ruffles all over the place! When we got back to the hotel, some people (very drunk people) stopped us and said “did you just get married?!?” Me, ever the cynic thought to myself well I am wearing a wedding dress….They told us to HAVE A GOOD NIGHT WINK WINK WINK. Hilarious.

I had to get a friend help me out of my dress and it took 35 minutes to take all the bobby pins out of my hair. The end.

Tomorrow I’ll do a things that went wrong, things I would do differently etc post and then it’s on to the honeymoon. Holy crap, my wedding is OVER!

xox

b

Wedding Recaps: We get ready

We got up to the sun shining through the window. I took an iPhone picture of the sky.

I was SO excited at this point. Butterflies over the list that I was leaving in T’s capable hands but so ready for this day. To be married.

In fact? I was so excited, I really don’t remember much.

T and I went down to the lobby of the hotel and had breakfast with his mom and a few of our good friends. I kissed him goodbye.

It went a little something like this:

T: wait. This is like ‘goodbye?!’

B: yeah. Goodbye. For realz. Til I’m walking towards you in a big white dress.

T: Holy crap. Really? Can I have another kiss?

All the girls headed to the hair salon with me where we got our hair done. Mine looked like this:

It was completely not what I wanted, but I didn’t care. I thought it looked pretty. T had texted me frantically several times telling me that all my carefully placed table settings had blown off the tables during the night. I had to text him the directions to refold the pinwheel napkins. They stacked the cookie favours on top of the napkins so they wouldn’t blow off. Kinda like this:

It was funny because I really didn’t care that things had blown all over the lawn. All the stress of the day before really didn’t matter. I was excited to get married and if there were no napkins, it didn’t matter. So not like me.

After my hair was done, I talked about my bouquet a bit and decided that we were going to just stop by the grocery store to see what they had. We picked up two large bouquets and went back to the hotel.

It looked like this after a while (T had taken the scissors to the venue so we were using a pair of side cutters from the dollar store!)

In progress:

And the finished product:

I put my make up on (the last picture is a little deceiving since it was taken after the make up!) and stressed a bit that I was wearing too much. With some reassurance, I took a photo and put my jewelry on.

After munching on a salad and some fries that were brought up by a few friends, we were ready to go!

We gathered all our things and piled into the car to drive to the venue!

xox

b

Wedding Recaps: The set up

(Me wearing a friends very oversized jacket to keep warm)

I am super type A. I love lists (remember?). I hate to delegate because it won’t be done like I would do it (or at least that’s what I tell myself).

Because of those lovely facts, setting up was HARD. REALLY hard.

We got there and there was 20 or so people (friends and family) who all wanted to know what to do. I had a list (go figure) but it didn’t make it very far. Apparently people don’t like lists as much as I do. The thing is in order to do things like set the tables, we had to do other things like iron the linens. Except with 20 people asking and only one task to do, it made me go crazy.

A friend was informing me that I couldn’t put the tables anywhere because my family would be mad if they weren’t sitting next to me. Someone else told me that they couldn’t iron the fold marks out of the linens. I hadn’t eaten in hours. I had been dealing with my family whining and complaining for hours.

I almost cried. Over linens. Seriously.

At that point, T told me I better leave and take a break. I had a hissy fit then (woohoo more proud moments!) and told him I couldn’t leave since no one could do anything without me. I think I may have even stomped my foot, like a good little toddler having a tantrum.

It was then I realized I needed to eat. And breathe. And get over it. So I took my mini burrito (we had mexican food for the set up) and I hid in the kitchen. I ate alone. I took big breaths. I got over it.

When I emerged from the kitchen, I decided setting up ribbon on the chairs would be a better use of my time since I would be far far away from my family. The boys set up the lights on the tent. As my family started to leave, my stress level went way down and the rest of the evening was actually a great time.

(photo by my iPhone – the tables right before we left for the night)

(photo taken by a friend. The ribbons looked so pretty fluttering in the wind)

After setting up, we went to a restaurant/lounge and everyone had drinks and appetizers before T and I finally went to bed.

That night I woke up at 3am and 5am to make lists of the things T and the boys still needed to set up on the day of the wedding. What can I say? Lists make me feel better.

xox

b

Wedding Recap: The days before

Hey Guys!!

I seriously missed everyone. When I came back, my google reader was over 500 so I read, but didn’t comment on many posts. I think I’m mostly caught up now. My alarm was set for the first time today and I’m feeling mighty exhausted that I’m going back to work. I debated recapping wedding first or honeymoon and I figured I better do it all in order.

So without further ado:

—-

It was a stressful day. Wednesday, I had my manicure breakdown. This is what my hands looked like when they were finished (the 2nd time). So much better.

Thursday, I got my hair done and then came home to T’s family who had just arrived.

(don’t I look smashing with hair dye all over?)

They left for lunch and I stayed home and made some cakes to thank people for all the packing of cars they were about to use. (In case you were wondering, this is my go to summer cake. People rave about how wonderful it is every time I make it.)

When they came back T and I made dinner, we ate, my family came over, we ate cake, and then we started packing cars. Everyone left around 10 and T and I frantically tried to put together the stuff we needed for the weekend before going to bed. It was strange to have the house so empty. It took 4 cars (including a jeep and a van) to get everything to the venue.

On Friday, we woke up bright and early. We picked my brother up at my mom’s house (he  had been dropped off so I didn’t have to go to the airport) and headed out to pick up my flowers. There was a lot of “Tomorrow we’ll be doing this!” and “You’re going to be my husband/wife tomorrow!!” We got to the florists about 20 minutes late and I was starting to stress out. I hate being late. We had our rehearsal in the morning, so we really needed to be on time! When I picked up the flowers, I was slightly horrified to see my bouquet. I was running late and I didn’t want to offend the florist (what is with that? I paid, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings by saying I didn’t like it!) and I figured there wasn’t much she could do about it at that very moment, so I faked it. I told her I loved it when I didn’t like much about it at all. We got in the car and drove away and I told T that I hate my bouquet. He said it was fine and it wouldn’t matter.

I decided to convince myself it was fine and it didn’t matter. We put it in the fridge at the venue and I stopped thinking about it. (again, no picture. I had asked for wildflower looking, bright flowers, not a preformed ball and I got 2 big yellow dahlias with brown berries surrounding it. Ugh.)

We had our rehearsal, which went really well.

(T doesn’t want his face on the internet, so I’ve blurred everyone out of the photos but me! Also, this is my ‘laugh and squat’ pose. I’m not sure.)

Then we had lunch.

After lunch, my family and T’s family all argued loudly discussed where to go for the 3 hours we had between lunch and set up. I gave up trying to placate, and headed to the beach with T’s best man and his wife and my little sister. It was lovely. Til my sister got sick while driving to pick up dinner and started puking out the side of my car. She was very considerate and missed the carpet of my car entirely. I couldn’t thank her enough (also, handing her baby wipes and holding back her hair. Poor thing.)

When we finally got back to the venue to set up, I was feeling ready. I was feeling confident.

Let me tell you. Set up? It needs it’s own post.

xox

b

Meltdown!

Yesterday, I had a meltdown over my nails. It wasn’t very pretty. After spending a fortune (and 2 hours) at a spa where I had a gift certificate to, I left with a crappy french polish – which I promptly chipped when I walked in my front door.

After complaining to T that I was unhappy with it and trying to convince myself that I was fine with it, I went to a local nail place to have it redone. I’m so glad I did because it looks 100 times better.

We’re both exhausted with a big long list of things to do (it’s all those last minute things that get ya!) so today shall be interesting I’m sure. All family members (except my brother) are arriving today. I’m on my way to the airport now to pick up my sister!

Keep your fingers crossed for no more meltdowns!

xox

b

Bullet list

• I’ve had numerous patients at work as me if I’m coming back after I get married. Uh, yes? Just because I am getting married does not mean I need to be a stay at home wife.
• Several patients have patted my belly and informed me that the next time they see me (in 3 months) I’ll be expecting. HA. Um. No. I know how babies are made and I’m not having one right now thanks.
• Today is my last day of work. It’s going to be an insane day full of oh so fun patients, but IT’S MY LAST DAY until mid September! Woohoo!
• Tomorrow, I get a manicure/pedicure. Thursday I get my hair coloured, highlighted and trimmed. I’m so looking forward to that pampering time.
• Currently the weather forecast for Saturday says ‘isolated showers’ *sigh*

xox

b

Gift guilt?

I sort of have an irrational guilt about receiving wedding gifts. I know, we’re spending money on dinner for everyone and to make a nice big party. Maybe I just have a hard time accepting things from people, but I feel seriously guilty every time I receive a wedding gift.

We don’t really need a lot of things and I guess the  word got around that we’d rather have honeymoon money and so people are giving us very large monetary gifts towards our honeymoon. I’m floored. I never thought we’d receive any gifts (I kid you not, my family tends to be flaky in the money department) and here we are getting all sorts of things. I feel horribly guilty! Of course, overwhelmingly grateful as well, but a lot of guilt.

Anyone else in this boat? Or am I the only one where receiving gifts is hard!

xox

b

10 things

10 – The number of things on my to-do list today

9 – The number of days until I become a Mrs.

8 – The number of days until my rehearsal

7 – The number of weird wedding dreams I’ve had in a week

6 – The time I should have gotten up this morning to get everything done

5 – The number of days left until I’m on holidays

4 – The number of things I still have left to sew

3 - The number of days left of work.

2 - Vaccinations I have to get for Costa Rica

1 – More weekend until we get married!

I’m getting SO excited. Anyone else have a list today? (T has informed me to stop making lists and start getting things done. I can’t help it! I need lists!)

xox

b

The one about my family

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the family members who were intentionally not invited to my wedding. My dad and his whole side of the family have excluded me since my parents divorce, so I didn’t feel the need to have them there. But they feel like they should be, and they are passive aggressive and talk about me in front of my siblings (who are still part of the inner circle) knowing that they’d tell me what they’ve been saying.

It’s hard for me to feel anything about the whole situation.

And maybe that’s why I’ve been thinking about it lately. I realize I should probably be sad or hurt that my father will not be at my wedding. Except, that I really don’t care. I don’t feel as though I’m missing out because my aunt, who’s treated me horribly over the years isn’t coming.

I sort of feel that it’s their loss, not mine. If they had wanted to be a part of my wedding, they should have tried to be a part of my life first. Being a part of my life involves caring and listening and not condemning. The only conversations we’ve had in nearly 9 years have been how my choices involving my father are wrong.

As a younger person, those emails and letters really upset me. They were damaging to my self worth and my self esteem. They made me cry for hours on end, alone in my dorm room at University, trying to reconcile the horrible things they were saying I was with the way I felt I was.

And now, I laugh. I think it’s sad that they still need to pick apart my decisions as a 16 year old girl, or even now, the decisions I continue to make. It’s sad for them that they won’t watch their daughter/niece/granddaughter/cousin walk down the aisle to marry the man she loves. Heck, they haven’t even met him.

Now I realize, I’m a good person despite the horrible garbage they try to make me believe. And I’m not one bit sad that they won’t be picking apart my choices in front of me as I get married.

Anyone else deal with interesting family dynamics?

xox

b