HOLY CRAPOLA! Pictures of our wedding from real film!

greg the mayor was awesome enough to do a bang up, throw down, blazing job with our wedding photography but our friend Luke who was in attendance was equally as awesome by shooting some randomness with get this, a camera containing FILM! YEA! can you believe that? he took pictures and didnt get to see what they looked like until he developed them! thats nutty!

check out some of lukes pics. youre not in them but its rad to see some friends and great lighting

if you're in the mood to go back to real photography and like what you see of Lukes work try his set up!
lomography fish eye with colorsplash flash
35mm color film

so simple. so amazing. we thank you Luke!

oh yea!

update: we are married and looking for a new place to move....preferably to a place with a big pile of money buried somewhere in the basement, but without the bodes next to it.

andrea and i are fine but things can always get better and better. we work a lot and our schedules dont line up so well so getting to hang out for a few hours is a pretty big deal. we cant really cook together that much but when we do it tastes even better. we have friends over from all over the world and yes, we both cry when they leave. im still catching up on Lost while she's just discovered Heros.... she wont watch Lost with me but likes Heros? oh marriage!

give us a call sometime.

interviews with government officials...

go well.
went well i should say.
andrea is now ALMOST formally allowed to stay here. hell, she can even travel and not worry about it!

thanks for all yalls help a few months back with letters, pictures, and good wishes. its mustve helped!

six months down

whew. so at least we beat some of our friends...

andrea has received work and travel authorization. that means she can work here and travel to and fro, for now. still no word if she can just be a hoosier and hang out. she mentioned that the information she received was dated soon after when she sent it; meaning, immigration can work quickly, but on its own watch, which needs a new battery.

we are planning for a springtime visit from Peter Freund, Andrea's father, and a trip to Germany come september of this year. with work being so kooky and the job market being total poo right now, our hopes are hopes with money set aside, but no true travel plans set. if you wanna help us see some friends we LITERALLY havent seen in years, let us know.

other than that we have chips in our wedding gift dishes (crate and barrel is the ikea of the rich - and i wish we would have really picked out a china set), we still drive to work drinking home made coffee, and our cats are so rad it hurts (seriously, Finn scratches, a lot).

blessed be the best friends that find their love in each other.

one month down

its been a month and some days and we already forget so much of what has happened... but we will always have this....





thanks again to all involved. this blog may change names in the future, but for now, its locked in that we are married, in case you didnt know.

now for the real work.

fyi to all:
if you were there, thanks.
if you werent, you missed out. it was really magical.

now we are married.
and have to clean up.

more updates later,
gotta go celebrate jerry and betsy traubs 40th anniversary.
good for them!

brb! k, thnks, bye!

and zack! it's magical!

All of a sudden THE weekend is here. And it got here with a boom...
So, where do I start? Maybe with last night when Shemika told me that I wouldn't have to come into work, because she was covering my Friday morning shift. Not having to get up at 6 is always magical, but today it was especially nice. The rest of the night was also fabulous considering that Project Runway is back with all its fierceness. One of the two shows (sharing its place with Top Chef) during which there is no unnecessary talking allowed in our house. For the last two years, Ben and I have been glued to the TV to follow the drama and what better advise is there when it comes to relationships than "MAKE it work!"?

However, in more personal and way more exciting news, Felix got here about a week ago and has been very understanding and especially supportive of us and all the stress that comes along with planning a wedding. He has been crafting his fingers bloody making pretty pretty paper flowers. He did get a day off, though, and went up to Chicago, which made me feel less guilty about being busy and tired.
Anyway, this morning we set up the reception space, which now looks really nice and makes it feel a little more real. We are actually getting married and all tomorrow.
There is not much left to do, other than finishing the programs, putting up some lights and figuring out where everybody is going to sit. I hope I didn't forget something big that is going to stress me out tomorrow.
So, quick recap: Felix here, not having to work, room set up.
Then the bigger part of the day started. We had our rehearsal and it still feels strange to me to be the center of attention. Especially in the way it is going to be like tomorrow. I will do my best not to laugh or cry hysterically walking down the aisle. I hope it will be okay and I won't mess up too much.
After the rehearsal we went to Betsy and Jerry's and had a great garden party BBQ. I enjoyed myself, having too many frozen strawberry daiquiris, and apparently missed a huge drama/nervousness/secret/whatchamacallit. Around 9, my mom came to me and said "I need your help" in a way too serious tone...I was worried that they got into an argument with someone or something to that degree...After going to a more quiet area she said "We had a huge surprise planned for you...Your brother was supposed to be here, but he is at least 2 hours late". And she said that with a look on her face as if his plane had just crashed. Which of course, it hadn't. But he was not where he was supposed to be. Apparently everybody knew about it and I was just oblivious to Ben stealing my phone looking for Peter's number, people calling the airline and who knows what else...everybody knew, but I was just drinking my frozen deliciousness. Since the drive from the airport is about half an hour and he was supposed to be there by 7 at the latest, 9 was somewhat worrisome.
I freaked out somewhat (overprotective and overbearing as I am) and went home to get his number, check email, yell at people, check flight plans and all the good stuff. Jerry had already found out that another plane from Cincinnati would get in around 10, so I called his phone until I finally reached him. About 30 minutes later everything was fine, his cab driver managed to find the house (well, at least the street) and I was too stunned to really grasp that he is here. I haven't seen him in something around 19 months, so it is a pretty damn great surprise, but needs some time to fully sink in. We will have breakfast tomorrow, I want to try to get him all to myself for at least an hour and then he is going to walk me down the aisle together with my mom and fly back home Sunday morning. I am ridiculously lucky to have a family like that, a brother who flies for 15 hours for one day in America, a mother and stepfather to help make it happen and friends and a soon-to-be husband who can keep a secret. And now I am adding on to this with Ben's family that has been beyond supportive and welcoming and loving. Lucky girl. Oh, yeah, let's mention Ben once more. He has been my best friend for the last five years, he has stuck with me through ups and downs, makes me laugh, and I get to wake up to him every day. Say it again: LUCKY GIRL!
What else is there to say about a once in a lifetime weekend.
Ben is out with the boys, bachelor party and stuff, and I am going to go to bed now and wake up and have breakfast with most of my family. I wish my dad and Marion could be here. I am looking forward to a phone call tomorrow.
Good times...