Our Honeymoon: The New York Chapter

We’re home from our honeymoon!!!  Well, we’ve actually been home for a week and a half now, but we’ve been so busy catching up on things at our business and at home (laundry anyone?) that I have unfortunately been neglecting my blog and my dear readers!  Plus, I had to edit all our honeymoon photos! Do you know how long that takes!?  Fear not!  I am back, and ready to get blogging again!

I’m happy to report that our kitty, Lacey, is back to her old self!  Phillip and Jenni did a wonderful job taking care of her while we were gone, and Steve and I are so grateful!

As most of you know, Steve and I got married last month….actually a month ago, today!  July 16, 2011.  It was the wedding I’ve always dreamed of, and I promise I will share pictures as soon as my sister in law (and photographer) Stacey gives them to me.  In the mean time, you can run over to her blog (just click on her name in the previous sentence) to see a sneak peek of our wedding photos.  It’s a big sneak peak….over 100 photos worth!  She is too good to me!

For our honeymoon, we went on a Caribbean cruise through Princess Cruise Lines.  It was wonderful!  I did get a little queezy the second night on the ship, but after that (and some Dramamine), I was completely fine.  Our cruise left out of Brooklyn, NY, and Steve and I made the LONG drive from Tennessee a couple days before so we could explore a little bit of New York City.

We had our first New York lunch at Smith & Wollensky’s Grill, and shared a $38.50 Filet Mignon (not including sides).  We went with a hashbrown type of potato side ($11.00) and bottled water (who knows how much that was) because when he asked if we wanted tap water I wasn’t sure of the quality of NYC tap water, so I went with the safest option.

Here’s our yummy lunch.  Those potatoes were to die for!

I told them it was our honeymoon, and they gave us each a free glass of wine.  How nice! (That was our only freebie on the entire trip from throwing the “honeymoon” word out there)

This is where we stayed in NYC (thanks Mom and Dad!), although getting here was an ordeal!  Our navigation took us to 3rd Ave. in Brooklyn instead of 3rd Ave. in New York City even though we CLEARLY told it that we wanted the 3rd Ave. in New York City!  That was an hour detour with New York traffic, and getting lost about 3 times.

Our cab ride to Times Square.  Pretty sure we could have walked faster, but we’re not used to all the walking.  Whenever we asked someone how far something was, they always gave us time in walking minutes.  Oh, Central Park is about a 20 minute walk, Times Square is a 15 minute walk.  Distance people!  I want to know distance!

After our $12 cab ride, we ended up here, in Times Square.  Which is a lot narrower than I imagined from seeing it on TV.  I was thinking it was a big square (hence the name Times Square), but it’s really a skinny rectangle, that feels a lot skinnier when there are tall buildings closing in on you from every side.

What did we do in Times Square, you ask?  Well, take a double decker bus tour, of course!  It’s the touristy thing to do, and we were tourists.

Holy cow there are a lot of pedestrians in NY!  And everyone is so fit!  I wonder why?  Could it be the fact that they all walk several miles a day?  Hmmm….I may be onto something here.

Oh look, there’s the Empire State Building.  Sleepless In Seattle, An Affair To Remember, where Kendra and Hank got engaged……ok forget that last one. 🙂

Here’s a lovely black and white for you, from the bottom looking up.

I’ve always loved this building whenever I see it in movies.  The main one that comes to mind is You’ve Got Mail.

Here’s the new Freedom Tower being built where the World Trade Center used to stand.  It’s going to be 1,776 feet high, standing for the year in which America won it’s freedom, 1776.

Whenever I see the Waldorf Astoria, I always think of the movie Serendipity.  So I just had to take a photo.  It was fairly close to the hotel where we stayed.

Rockefeller Center, home of 30 Rock.  I wanted desperately to go to the top, but it was like $28 a person, plus it was an hour wait.  We decided not to do it, but if we ever come back to NYC, that’s definitely going to be on my list of things to do!

Isn’t he cute standing in front of Rockefeller Center?

Here’s our hotel room at the Courtyard Marriott in NYC.  A lot smaller (and more expensive) than the one in Hagerstown, MD where we stayed the day before we arrived in NY.  But I guess you pay for the location rather than the room size in NYC.

This was our hotel room in Hagerstown at the Springfield Suites Marriott.  Don’t let this picture fool you…..

This whole living room area….

and whirlpool tub were also in the room.  As compared to the NY room, which was only what you saw in the picture, plus a small bathroom. 🙂  You know what they say….location, location, location!

Here was our view from our hotel room on the 19th floor of the Courtyard Marriott.

Did I mention the driving in New York?  CRAZY!!!!  We were almost side swiped by a bus 2 minutes after we came through the Holland Tunnel!  Seriously!  We were sitting at a stop light in our own lane, when a bus pulls beside us.  When the light turns green the bus pulled right into our lane while we were sitting there!!  Steve was wondering if he was going to need to use his horn while driving in NY, and let me tell you……he used it!  Any closer and the bus would have hit us.  It was literally right on top of us!  I honestly don’t know how we got out of there without several dents and scratches on our Jeep.  Lets just say you have to be a very defensive driver in NY.

Saw this sign on the way to the boat dock and thought it was funny.  The other side of the building had a sign, as well, that said: “If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay married.”  What does that have to do with storage?

New York was a very beautiful city, but I think the only reason I would ever come back would be to go shopping.  Otherwise, it’s just too stressful!  And I definitely wouldn’t come back with my own car!  Walking or taxis for me!  I don’t want to chance my car getting scratch, dented, bumped, or smashed.  I think I had white knuckles the entire time Steve was trying to squeeze his way through all the traffic and chaos.

The next post will be all about our cruise ship, the Caribbean Princess.  So yay!  You have that to look forward to!

 

Franklin Wedding: The Reception

So I’ve done posts on getting ready, pre-ceremony photos, the ceremony, and now I’m going to conclude this 4 post series with the RECEPTION PHOTOS!!!!!

Here’s Rustin, waiting for the marriage license to be signed.  You can see the minister signing it in the background.

For some reason, I didn’t have to sign the marriage license as a witness.  Only Eli, the best man signed it.  That was a little disappointing. 🙁

Elizabeth, Steve, and I are looking at the guest book.  They had cute pictures in there from throughout their relationship.  They even had a screen shot of Rustin’s text message, asking Elizabeth to marry him.  That’s right…….a text message!

Yay!  They’re officially married!!!

Ok, is this not the funniest cake topper you’ve ever seen??  Hilarious!

Beautiful bridesmaids…..if I do say so myself.  🙂

Krista and Steve (one of the many).  Such a cute couple!

Here are some attempts at our jumping picture.

Traditional wedding photo.

The groomsmen with the bride.  Look at my little cutie there in the front!

Bridesmaids with the groom.

Steve and me with our best friends, Elizabeth and Rustin!  Just you wait, in a few years we’re going to have another picture together with the addition of a bunch of little kids.  🙂

Capturing a private moment.

Love this photo!

My pretty gerbera daisy bouquet.  My favorite flowers!  Oh, and my pink sandals that Elizabeth gave to all the bridesmaids to wear at the reception.

Time for the first dance as husband and wife.

Time to cut the cake!

That cake topper was really stuck on there!

Well, in case you can’t tell….and because my “camera man” didn’t get a picture quick enough….instead of feeding each other the cake, Rustin and Elizabeth so graciously decided to smash the cake in mine and the best man’s faces.  Sooooooooo thoughtful!!!  And look, they think they’re SO funny!  Well just you wait little missy.  You’re in my wedding in less than a month!

But I was a good sport about it.  Even though Rustin completely chucked the cake at me like he was throwing a fast ball!

We’re still friends! 🙂

Thanks for the help, guys!

I had some trouble getting it out of my eyelashes, so Jen helped me.

All better!

Bouquet time!!  I only had a month and a half left where I can participate in this!

She had to do it twice because both times, she threw it WAY to far!  Sarah (in the purple) ended up catching it.

Garter time!  Oh Elizabeth, so naughty!

Rob, Sarah’s boyfriend ended up catching the garter.  How perfect!

Here’s a close up of my hairdo.  🙂

And, all of a sudden it’s dark!  There was about a 2 hour span where I didn’t have my camera with me for some reason.  Oh I know, it was because I was dancing!!  And the ring bearer wouldn’t let me stop dancing, or dance with anyone but him.  I was his prisoner!!

Somehow, all the guys ended up in the pool at the end of the night…..in their tuxes!!!

Even the ring bearer jumped in!

Here is my Steve’s graceful entrance into the pool!

Yah!  We’re so cool!!

Oh honey, you’re still a little kid at heart!  The girls ended up jumping in a little later….but not in our dresses, of course.  Wendie (Rustin’s mom) provided us with some bathing suits. 🙂  It was a very fun night!  A night that I hope we will never forget!

 

Franklin Wedding: Pre-Ceremony Photos

Elizabeth and Rustin did not see each other before the wedding ceremony as is tradition, but the girls and guys did take pictures separately before the ceremony.  Here are a few of those pictures.

The wind kept blowing a tree branch in Elizabeth’s face, so Jen helped pull it away.

Showing off her hot pink heels!

Elizabeth and me…..bride and maid of honor!

Hand on the hip makes your arm look thinner! 🙂

We had our own personal paparazzi.

Well hello there!

The ring bearer was Rustin’s little brother, Ryan.  And he would not let me dance with anyone but him!  Such a ladies man!

Ryan making his move!

The flower girl, Rustin’s little sister, Sam.  Such a cutie!

Jr. Bridesmaid, Rustin’s other little sister, Rachel.  Yes, all his siblings are quite a bit younger than him!

There he goes again!  Trying to steal the bride!!!

The nice thing about living in Tennessee….lots of greenery to use as a backdrop!

This one’s my favorite.

Me and my love!

Close up!

The wait begins….30 minutes until ceremony time!

Rustin and his future father in law.

The boys striking a pose.

Oh geez.  Boys…. it must be next to impossible for them to take a serious photo.  Next post….The Wedding Ceremony!!!