Mark and Heather's Chore List

1. Make a chore list
2. Clean something

Family matters

There are times when transplants wish they never left home in the first place. My heart is with my family and if I could be near them, I would.

EXPRESSions

I finally fulfilled one of my goals. I am now the proud owner of a pair of Editor pants from Express. I know I’m not an editor anymore, but that couldn’t stop me. Call me a child of marketing, but I’ve wanted a pair of these pants ever since I’d wanted to be an editor. Come on, what’s an editor without a pair of Editor pants? In an effort to extend their life, I’m refraining from hemming the pants myself (with an iron-on hem) and taking them to a professional instead. Next goal: learn how to sew a real hem…

Honeymooners

We went to Belize for our honeymoon, and stayed in Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker. A tropical depression was moving through the day we arrived, so we were treated to the bumpiest boat ride EVER on our way from the mainland to the island...

Here's the view from our room on Ambergris Caye:


We could check out free bikes at our resort and ride through the city. Mark liked taking pictures over his shoulder:

Paradise, paradise:

Don't procrastinate

The only thing that went wrong on the day of the wedding was our own fault. The problem was also solved by the time the wedding rolled around, so I can't complain too much. We waited until the day of the wedding to burn the reception music onto CDs for Owen, our DJ. Of course, Mark's disc burner broke halfway through. My already-broken burner was no help. Luckily, Owen brought his own music (lifesaver) and I think Mark's computer ended up getting plugged into the system or something... I was never quite clear on what actually ended up happening, probably because no one wanted to worry me... but anyways, we were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL day, which was incredible for the middle of October in Seattle. Incredible.

Some pictures from my camera

I didn't end up with many pictures on my own camera from the wedding day, but here are a couple of us getting ready.

Wedding day eve

The day before the wedding was far more stressful than the wedding day itself. The rehearsal would have been utter chaos if not for a certain Sarah who did a GREAT job of directing people down the aisle and marking their standing positions, among other things. I probably would have gone crazy if not for her! We had the rehearsal dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse in Southcenter, a good 15-20 minutes away from the church. Several people got lost on the way, but the mishaps don’t end there. When I left the church with my mom and aunt, I grabbed Mark’s jacket because I thought he had already left. Unbeknownst to me, he had NOT left, and his parents’ keys were in the jacket. I was already on the freeway before we figured out that we had stranded Mark, his parents, and the best man (also Mark) at the church. About 15 minutes later, we left the church AGAIN, now very much late to the dinner. En route, Mark calls and lets me know that his car is pulling over because Megan, George and Sarah are on the side of the road with a flat tire! My car arrived at BJ’s about 45 minutes late, and Mark’s car was about an hour late. Late for our own rehearsal dinner! I was grateful that everyone eventually got there, even though a few cars had some difficulties (some got lost). I think everyone was glad to finally get the beer flowing.

Have you ever gotten really stressed but held your composure, only to have the littlest thing set you off into tears? That happened at the rehearsal. I had done a relatively good job through the day (except when I turned the wrong way to the church and then burst into tears) until we got to the rehearsal and I realized we had forgotten my ribbon bouquet. A lot of love and work went into this bouquet: it bore the ribbons from three bridal showers in three states, and Beryl and Jessica had done a great job putting it together. I was really looking forward to toting it down the aisle at the rehearsal and was disappointed that we had accidentally left it behind. I don’t think that justifies my tearful outburst… but of course it wasn’t really about the bouquet. The bouquet was just the final straw, I guess. Props to Jessica, who whipped out my bachelorette tiara and veil in an attempt to cheer me up, and to my Aunt Connie, who fashioned a last-minute bouquet out of Kleenexes! I didn’t want to be high-maintenance, but I guess that’s how it turned out… thank you everyone for your support! I promise that next time I forget something completely unnecessary, I won’t fall to pieces.