Love and Marriage...

I'm BAAAAAAAAACK! Yes, it's true - the wedding is over, and so is the honeymoon, and so here I find myself back in front of my computer. I shall now describe the events of the last week.

SATURDAY, Feb 12 - The wedding!!! What an awesome day - everything went smoothly as planned, not a single glitch or a bit of drama. All was PERFECT. It started out early (around 10ish) when myself and my groomsmen arrived at the hotel next to the Fox Hollow, where my bride and her bridesmaids were getting dressed. YES, we saw each other before the ceremony so that we could get all the stupid posed photos out of the way...that way we could enjoy the entire wedding and not have to miss cocktail hour!! Angela looked amazingly beautiful (of course), and her bridesmaids also looked stunning. We took the obligatory pictures with each other, bridal party and family, then we went to the bridal suite to await the ceremony.

The ceremony took place at 1pm - it was perfect - short, sweet, to the point, BING BANG BOOM, we were hitched. Surprisingly, I managed to control myself and not burst out in tears, probably because of the fact that I saw Angela beforehand. My dad and sister, however, had opened the floodgates.

Afterwards, everything has become a blur. The cocktail hour was amazing - what a spread! Tons of food, of which I ate a small fraction. Everyone told me I would be collared into talking with everyone the whole time...I didn't believe them, I insisted that I would take full advantage of the delightful food - Yeah, sure. I barely ate a thing the whole day.

Then, the meal. We sorta ate a bit, but we danced and partied, and did a Horah, and were thrown up on chairs (I swear I thought I was going to fall off and break my neck and die in a pool of blood...needless to say, i didn't). Everything went exceptionally well, and everyone had a brilliant time. Having all of my friends, family, etc there was just amazing, and I love everyone so much for making the effort.

The party ended at 6pm, I met up with all of my vet school friends who came from all over the world at around 8pm for a half hour or so. I was completely sapped of all energy and needed to sleep. Angela and I went back to the honeymoon suite at the hotel (which was GORGEOUS - they had champagne and chocolates for us, as well as rose petals all over the floor and bed!), and passed out....only to awake at 530am the next day to set off on our honeymoon!

SUNDAY, Feb 13th - Rise and Shine...hell, we were up before the friggin' roosters. We got up, got dressed, and headed out to JFK airport. Flew to Dallas then changed over to Phoenix, AZ. Picked up our car rental (A Jeep Grand Cherokee), and headed north on a 2 hour drive to Sedona. We got there, checked into the hotel, and went out for dinner. After that, the tiredness took over, and we passed out early (after a Jacuzzi bath!!).

MONDAY, Feb 14th - The weather was beautiful, so why not head out on a tour?! We took a Pink Jeep Tour up to the top of a rim in Sedona, what a beautiful landscape they have there! I shall post some pictures for all to see, but suffice it to say, it was gorgeous. We walked around town, examined the many shops, and bought a Navajo Clay Pot. Then, we went out for a lovely Valentine's Day meal at The Cowboy Club - we ate buffalo, rattlesnake, and fried cactus. Oh, and I drank a cactus juice margarita. YUM! On our way back to the car, we got accosted by some dodgy timeshare-selling fuckers. They are CRAWLING all over Sedona, I couldn't believe it, and I couldn't believe how DODGY they are - they pretend to be a tourist information office, give you a piece of shit map, and then try to sell you a timeshare. So, if anyone ever ventures to Sedona, AZ....watch out for these bastards.

TUESDAY, Feb 15th - Another gorgeous day, so we headed out to The Grand Canyon. We figured that rather than drive the 2.5 hours ourselves, we would again go on a tour. It was fantastic - we headed up, were told lots of informative stuff about the surrounding areas, saw a Grand Canyon IMAX film, got a nice lunch, then headed off to 4-5 sites around the canyon. It was indescribably beautiful - no video or phot would do it justice, it is just something that needs to be seen for your own eyes. Afterwards, we headed to a Navajo trading post (which was a bunch of bullshit), and off home again.

WEDNESDAY, Feb 16th - The day was OK, the weather forecast was predicting rain the rest of the time, so we did another Pink Jeep Tour, this time to go see some ancient indian ruins. Another incredible site, lots of drawings on the walls, etc. AWESOME stuff. Then, for dinner, we went to the Blazin' M Ranch for a "Chuckwagon Dinner and Wild West Show." It was corny as hell, but a good time and a good meal. We also bought a Navajo Rug there for our cats to lay on.

THURSDAY, Feb 17th - The rains started to come down, so we didn't have a whole lot to do. We went to a health spa and got wonderful hour-long massages. I had never had a massage before, and I would HIGHLY recommend it. Afterwards, we walked around Tlaquepaque, which is a replica of a Mexican artisan village - lots of artsy stuff in there, but nothing really practical to buy. In any case, a nice relaxing day.

FRIDAY, Feb 18th - Still raining. Hit the gym in the morning, then went to see "Hitch" at the local movie theatre, and it actually turned out to be a pretty good movie. We went to dinner at a restaurant in Tlaquepaque called the Oak Creek Brewing company on the way home, then off to bed.

SATURDAY, Feb 19th - Raining again, but not as bad. Went for a walk down by the Oak Creek River, found a little campsite, and wandered around for a while. Went out to eat dinner in Sedona at a place called BiCE - it was the best meal I had the whole time - I had a Mixed Seafood Grill with salmon, tuna and shrimp over roasted veggies. It was scrummy. Topped the healthy meal off with a Cold Stone Creamery delight. Naughty.

SUNDAY, Feb 20th - Of course, the weather clears up on the day we fly home! Ah well, at least we had no delays at the airport. Got home around 11pm, weary but happy to be back with our cats. Then we realized we would soon face our biggest challenge yet as a married couple.....we had to sort through all the gifts!!! Tough job, I know...but we'll handle it just fine.

In summary, it was a whirlwind these past 2 weeks, but they were absolutely the best 2 weeks I have ever had. Seeing everyone here on Long Island, just to see me get married was very touching, I can't begin to describe it here. Then being so lucky as to get married to my own personal Angel(a), I must have done something right....I will soon post some photos for all to see, and will write more tomorrow!!

Love you all,

-B