Monday, May 25, 2015

The honeymoon begins:)

Zach and I are married!!! It is so fun to introduce him as my husband. I only messed up the first time and called him my boyfriend, randomly! Its been fiance for a year, so I'm not sure what my brain was thinking:) We made our vows 5/9/15 at 1:27pm (My uncle noted the time for us). It was a great celebration with our close friends and family. We tried to keep it small and enjoyed getting to hang out with the people who were able to come. My parents let us use their hanger/home as our venue and a friend of my dad's, Greg, allowed us to park his classic Stearman Bi-Plane in the back corner. It was a beautiful backdrop for our wedding.
My college roomate and great friend, Erin McGonigle, performed our wedding ceremony for us! She was fantastic and it was so perfect having her up there with us!!

My beautiful sister, Megan, was a bridesmaid and it was so fun:) I wore my Grandmother's wedding dress, but had a few modifications done to it. It was so much fun to share that with her!! Thank you, Grammy:)

Zach and I didn't end up doing a first dance on the dance floor, so we decided to swing step down the isle after we were pronounced! It was fun and our friend Erin Eilert snapped this great picture!

My little flower girls, Kaylee and Olivia Schwarz:) They were so cute and Kaylee did an amazing job pedaling the little pedal airplane down the isle during the ceremony!!

The day went perfectly, despite the call for severe weather, hail, and tornadoes! The ceremony started at 1:00pm and that was the only time throughout the day we saw the sun! The big hanger door was open and it felt more like an outdoor wedding, without all the worry about weather:)
My college roommate and dear friend, Eron, officiated our ceremony and it was fabulous! She did so great and it was so natural to be standing up there with her:) I loved getting to have her there!! Zach was our DJ and ran the music from his phone:) It was pretty sweet that he got to DJ his own wedding! At lunch, their was a beautiful rain that cooled everything down a little and was a pleasant backdrop to eat. It then cleared up for the afternoon and we even got some outdoor pictures! My sister had organized a hotel room for us to stay in downtown Wichita. We headed there about 8:00pm and took a few of our out of town friends who were staying the night out on the town! Really, we only went to Mort's which is a martini and cigar bar. They had live music and we all had a blast celebrating together! All we had to do was walk across the street to get “home” for the night, so that was amazing:)
Zach and I wanted to stick around my parents' house for another week or so to help get things put back together and write our thank you notes. Friends and family, you were so generous and kind to give us so much! We can't thank you all enough for the wonderful gift cards, thoughtful gifts, and extra money for our travels! THANK YOU:) Part of our gift money went to purchase a GoPro Camera for us to take video and pictures with! We are excited to add in another way to share and document our journey:)
My sister, Samantha, and her family were staying for another week as well, so it was a blast getting to spend time with Kaylee, Olivia, Henry, Samantha, and John! Kaylee has learned to drive my Dad's golf cart and was constaly giving rides to those willing. We went on a few nature adventures involving dead animals found on the road side. It was a lot of fun and we loved getting to spend so much time with them!!
Zach gave me an amazing wedding present of a fashion consultant up in Kansas City! I got to spend two days going through my own wardrobe as well as shopping with them for new clothes to find my own style! I learned so many fun and easy things about what I like to wear and what works for me. It was a blast and something I will remember and use my entire life! Thank you, Molly and Rachel, from LadyBird styling. You guys are amazing:)
It was great getting to spend a month and a half at home with my family. We enjoyed seeing friends more than just once and going to family events. My uncle Barry put on a movie showing of “Inspired to Ride” about a bike race across the USA. It was such a great film and so fun to go to with my family:) My sister, Megan, also went to coffee with us, played frisbee golf, invited us to coffee house concerts and rode bikes. It was great to spend such quality time together. I had an amazing bachelorette party in Kansas City put on by my friend, Jamie. We enjoyed dinner out and then fun and games back at Jamie's house. I love getting to spend time with my friends:)
We rode bikes from Derby to Belle Plane, KS with my aunt, Nancy, and uncle, Barry. There were concerts going on at the arboretum down there celebrating the Tulip Festival:) We had a great time!

Megan, Michelle, and I rode bikes one day to Botanica in Wichita. It was a fun day:)

We were living at my parents' house and got to enjoy lots of fun together. My mom is an expert at Wii Golf, so we had many nights trying to catch her. Family meals were awesome and it reminded me of growing up and all getting to eat together. I loved getting to be home and share all of that with my husband, Zach! He fits in so well:) I will say, that planning a wedding is WAY more stressful then living in a van together! I'm really glad we did it and we kept it as simple as possible, but it still provided enough stress that I do not plan on doing that again:)

We are now back on the road! It is rainy season across the USA apparently, so we found a dry spot near Winslow, AZ called Jack's Canyon. There were sport climbing routes and free camping, plus a bathroom! Simply paradise:) We tried to stay in New Mexico and climb near Sante Fe, but it rained on us driving all day, then started raining again the next morning. The forecast wasn't looking promising for climbing, but the desert plants were loving it! It was a beautiful drive through all the green landscape. It didn't quite feel like New Mexico, but we soaked it up:) We did do the driving tour of the Petrified National Forest and that was really cool! The petroglyphs were amazing and so well preserved! We kept to our rule and made it to the camping before dark, then settled in for some fun “Top Gear” episodes and relaxing at home:) 
Back on the road again!!!

On the streets of Sante Fe:) We made lunch and enjoyed a walk around the downtown area.

Quick stop in Petrified National Forest to stretch our legs!
Zach and I both knew we were not in the best climbing shape after our time in Kansas, but we actually felt pretty good on the climbs in Jack's! We were certainly not climbing our hardest, but we enjoyed the climbing we did and pushed ourselves. I was able to climb "Bats in the Belfry," and 11a climb I struggled on 2 years ago when we stopped by Jack's. Zach pushed hard as well and we both feel like we are building our climbing endurance back up! 
Our campsite near Jack's Canyon! It was pretty, free, and had a bathroom! Plus, we just walked 5 mins to the climbing:)
We are currently taking the day off in Flagstaff, AZ and relaxing inside because it is a very rainy day. We found national forest land to camp on for free just outside of town. Hopefully, it dries up enough for us to climb tomorrow. But for now, we are happy to rest our tired muscles and catch up with phone calls, emails and blog posts:) We also went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch which was a fun rainy day activity. Zach is working on editing our GoPro footage from the past few days. Hopefully, its a fun way to share our trip. Until next time!


My amazing friend, Jessica Powers, took both our engagement and wedding photos! She did such a wonderful job:) Here are some of the engagement photos. We had a lot of fun in the Kansas City area hanging out with Jessica and Ryan, while taking a few fun pictures along the way! Thank you to Ciara and Megan for helping me pick out my outfit!!!



















No comments:

Post a Comment