Our Very Own "Punkin' Festival"

I really just can't get enough of fall, so this post could be looooong.  But here are the highlights.  

On a blustery, but beautiful day in Columbia, Matt and I stopped at the park for some photos on our way to the MU game.  Around this time of year I have a constant craving for sweatshirts, time spent outside, piping hot apple cider and lots of chili.  By now, we've successfully checked those off the list.

And finally, I'm posting the pictures from our Halloween events.  Of course the holiday was welcomed by my mom's annual decorations.  They were soon joined by my dad's carved squash of varying varieties.  My favorite is the green one who looks a little like Yoda :-)  

For us Columbia folk, our festivities started with a with a trip to Saint Peters which included a bonfire, chili, S'mores and a private hayride.  These are things I used to think were normal, but now I know not every kid is lucky enough to have a pumpkin patch in their backyard.  

Anyone growing up on or near the Chipley farm knows that Halloween is important and something to be celebrated with the utmost reverence.  We learned this from my mother, who holds this spooky day way up there with (I think, anyway) the birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries.  Personally, I like Christmas because it is more of a season.  Halloween seems to sneak up on me every year and before I know it, I don't have a costume because I refuse to scramble something together if it isn't clever.  But who has time to think of something clever?  My mother.  And here she is in all her tree costume glory.  

Happy Halloween!

Honeymoon in NOLA

Our road trip to New Orleans was one hot (as in heat index) and delicious (as in food) adventure!  We found just the cutest, and very quaint, hotel online in about February.  The Frenchman Hotel was having an online special  - 50% off of their already low-for-New-Orleans rates.  We booked it the morning we found it.  What more could we want?  Adorable, French Quarter style, free breakfast, no penalty for cancellation (only in case of a hurricane of course!), a courtyard with a wading pool and OFF STREET parking??  Well, when we got there, we found it to be on just about the best street ever.  Decatur, the main drag of the French Quarter ran right into our hotel which was technically on Frenchman Street.  The Frenchman was the end point of the Quarter and our destination every night, just guiding us home. We were 16 blocks from down town, which we did walk one morning for a well-deserved breakfast at Mother's.  But on every other morning, we walked one block in the opposite direction of the French Quarter to what felt like our very own street car stop!  For $5 a day, we were able to ride all over the city and by week's end we were pros at navigating the River Line, Canal Line and the Saint Charles Line.  

It was hot as holy hamsters, but we explored the city as much as we could in the time allotted.  While we regret not being bold enough to walk into a couple of local bars to check out the music, we realize that Frenchman Street is the premier spot for jazz in the Quarter.  Also, we now realize there is a pretty cool spot for some soul food on the same street.  We shall return to the Frenchman, to explore more of Frenchman Street as soon as possible.  

We DID a lot of walking.  And a LOT of eating.  We pride ourselves on being able to scope out the best food in any area and NOLA was no exception.  We ate our weight in jambalaya, red beans and rice, calamari, oysters, beignets, muffaletta sandwiches, pecan pie and pralines.  I could go on and on and ON about when, where and how we procured each meal, but I fear that would bore most people.  But these few things must be known:  Coop's has the BEST jambalaya (ask for the Supreme) and duck quesadillas with bacon sauce.  Cafe Du Monde IS actually all it is hyped up to be.  Pandora's has the best version of a snowball (a fancy snow cone) I've experienced.  The chargrilled oysters at Acme Oyster House are delicious, but the beans and rice aren't worth it.  And pralines are delicious, but are so rich they should always be shared by two people :-)  

Our activities ranged from wandering through an above ground Lafayette Cemetary, to photographing the houses in the Garden District, to wandering the Quarter until we found a place for dinner.  Most of these were on the budget or free side since we were nearly wiped out from actual wedding expenses, but we don't feel deprived of the New Orleans experience.  The free sculpture park next to the city museum was wonderful.  The campuses of Loyola and Tulane were beautiful enough to spend an afternoon wandering.  An evening stroll through the riverwalk was a fun (and romantic) way to burn off some of our beignet bedtime snack.  

What we would do with more money is go on a haunted tour of the city and take an airboat tour through the New Orleans swamps.  We would not change our food adventures or our hotel choice.  We would LOVE to go back with friends.  

We took over 600 pictures, but here is the abridged album of our photos :-)  

With an army, you can do anything!

It's official!  We're married.  By now, the Boone County Recorder has the marriage license and we are on record as tying the knot :-)  Before I add a post related to the fun part of the wedding or the honeymoon,  I want to send a shout out to all of the people who helped along the way.   Thank you to every last person who helped brainstorm, prepare, enact and clean up the best party we've ever thrown.  We love you all very much.  

• Thank you to all our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and friends who helped us plan, gave advice or thought of us on one of the happiest days of our lives.
• Thank you mom and bridesmaids for helping me find just the right dress and for wearing bridesmaid dresses with pride.  
  
• Thank you aunts, cousins, family and friends who threw us parties in celebration - the showers, bachelorette and bachelor parties were wonderful. 
  
• Thank you Jayme for your style advice and for helping me group our green flea market glass into just the right settings.
  
• Thank you mom and sisters for  helping with our birdseed sendoff.
  
• Thank you Laura F. for making the delicious pulled pork for our rehearsal dinner.
  
• Thank you Laura G. and Rachael for helping with various last minute projects and saving the day a few times.   
  
• Thank you family, Jamie, Cassandra and Katie for helping us set up our reception site.
  
• Thank you Shelly for making the most beautiful pew decorations I've ever seen.
  
• Thank you KB, Jayme and Brooke for reading so beautifully at our ceremony. 
• Thank you Grace for playing our unity candle song.
• Thank you Pat for creating some beautiful handkerchiefs for the special day.
  
• Thank you, Mom for helping me sew tables squares, making the candy table, helping me shop, making lists with me and keeping me sane in the months of preparation.  
  
• Thank you dad, for hanging globes, setting up tents, coming up with ideas for lighting, picking up equipment from the rental company, and planting my garden :-) 
  
• Thank you Jac for advice throughout and for the beautiful sterling roses. 
• Thank you bridal party for your speeches and support and starting the dance party and for looking just so darn good :-) 
  
• Thank you Will, Beth, Spencer and Evan for videotaping throughout the day.  
• Thank you Andrew for being our DJ, keeping us on our timeline and helping us "adjust" the lighting on the dance floor :-)  
• Thank you Cathy for helping coordinate our day. 
• Thank you friends and family for coming to our wedding and for staying until the end to clean up.  
  
• Thank you friends and family for traveling long distances to see our special day.  It means so much to us. 
  

There are so many other people to thank and for now, my mind is just drawing a blank.  But let it be known, that even now, our hearts are swelling with the love we felt from all who were even slightly involve in our wedding process.  

It's 12:01.  July 17th, 2010.  We're getting married today!  And I can't sleep.....  

So excited, so excited, so excited.  I have wonderful family and friends who helped me prepare, enjoy and clean up my homegrown rehearsal dinner, but now I can't sleep.  

Okay, bedtime for a long day coming up.....if my mind stops racing :-)   

Pre-Wedding Countdown

I shouldn't have done it, but I knew I wouldn't be able to control myself.   It was only going to torture me and now I'm my own worst enemy.  Today is no exception, but I just can't stop.  

Here's the story to clarify.  A few months ago, I found a feature on my cell phone called "D-Day Countdown."  I had never used it before, but thought it would be fun to put in the wedding day so I always knew how many days away it was - helpful when it was 64, 63, 62, 61 days away, etc. NOT so helpful when it's only THREE mornings away and I'm in "get-all-the-last-minute-details-done" mode.  I know the wedding is Saturday.  I'm perfectly aware that it's two days away from the rehearsal dinner at my house and the house is a train wreck, the lawn needs mowing, the rehearsal dinner food needs to be purchased and the wedding decorations need to be packed up.  I know all of these things yet I continue to check my phone for the D-Day countdown. 

 Today, it simply says in the left-hand corner of my phone's screen, "D-3."  It's absolute torture, really.  It just sends a wave of 'AHHH!" right through me every time.  And you may ask, why I torture myself this way.  

I do this because I'm  EXCITED to be Matt's wife.  And even though as the number on the countdown gets smaller, I get a little more stressed, I also get that much more excited.   I check it to savor this time and the fact that yes, in just three short mornings, I will get to walk down that aisle to him. And at the end of the day, no matter what goes wrong or right, we will be husband and wife and it won't matter if the weed-eating was finished or if the rehearsal dinner dessert was perfect. 

I. CAN'T. WAIT.