Monday, March 22, 2010

It's about a month to the wedding

And all we can seem to think of is food.

It started with our trip to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our 1 month to the wedding countdown. (We didn't even go to the place where I won a super sweet gift card currently worth about $250. Yep, it was that big of a deal.) Then, there was our appetizer buffet this weekend. Today, in addition to working on a few other wedding tasks, we got over our disappointment that Life is apparently only on Sunday nights, by making this:



Friends, that's macaroni and cheese where the noodles are penne cooked in lager, where the cheese sauce features stout beer, and where the cheese is not made by Kraft, but is instead Irish cheddar that's been aged 2 years. YUM! Not exactly healthy though, but it was ok because we did yoga together before a salad dinner yesterday, and we had these for dessert tonight:


YUM-O! You won't mistake them for Betty Crocker's, but they will definitely take care of a chocolate craving-- with NO fat or cholesterol. Kenneth even had 2, they were that good!

This was our first experience cooking together. In our Pre-Marriage class, one of our group discussion questions (tasks?) was to share some activity we do together with the group. Several couples mentioned cooking together. We shrugged and said we like to cook for each other, but never together. Tonight's dinner was the first we have cooked together-- both of us in the kitchen, darting between bubbling pots and measuring spoons. The kitchen was a total mess afterwards, but that's ok-- it gave us time to work together on clean up too.  So maybe we only crossed a couple of things off the wedding to-do list, but we made another small investment in "us." 

Friday, March 19, 2010

Honeymooning

Commonly asked question for the bride and groom #63652: So, where are you going on your honeymoon?

Because of Kenneth's work schedule, better weather, and also because Kenneth and I will be paying for our honeymoon ourselves, we've decided to put off the honeymoon until October.  Where is a great place to go in October?

Peru!


Through Kenneth's employer, REI, he gets 30% off all REI products, including REI Adventures, a discount Brianna will get to after the wedding. Going through REI Adventures, everything will be included, from guides, hotels, meals, and transportation once we arrive in Cusco, Peru. As a bonus, all REI adventures are carbon neutral. So why Peru when REI adventures offers biking through Tuscany, kayaking around Croatia, or safaris in Kenya? Since we went to Italy last year, we thought it would be fun to cross another continent off the list, so that excluded Europe. Africa was out of our price range, actually, all other options were except those in South America. We also wanted some place that would have some historical importance, but no museums per se because we wanted to relax a little more than we did in Italy. So, Peru it was.  

The one problem? As we hike those ancient trails to Machu Picchu, we'll be with our group of 4-15 people. Romantic, right? In the end, we decided that would be ok, because we'll have a mini-moon too.

For 4 days after the wedding, we're off to Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon. We wanted some place we could drive to, so our options were Leavenworth, Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, Salish Lodge, or Edgefield. We decided on Edgefield because we're familiar with the area (no extra pre-wedding research needed). We love their quirky atmosphere and their affordability. And while I'm sure we're unlikely to need much to do, if we did get bored, Edgefield has us covered with their multiple restaurants, soaking pool, spa, winery, distillery, pub, brewery, and movie theater-- all on-site.

Monday, March 8, 2010

It's official...

Two weeks ago, we took advantage of both of us having Friday afternoon off to go take care of some pretty important business: the marriage license. It was a bit less complicated than I thought it would be-- we didn't have to go to a courthouse, we didn't need to provide birth certificates or blood tests. Just $64 cash handed over at our closest King County Community in exchange for a few forms to fill out. After swearing we were indeed who we said we were, we left with you guessed it-- more paperwork. But now, according to the State of Washington, we can officially get married any day we choose between now and just before the end of April. Whoo hoo!