Wedding Photographs

Most of you have already seen our professional wedding photos by Katie Joyner Photography but, if you haven't, click here. Matthew and I can send you digital or printed copies of photos if you would like so just let us know. We can't burn DVDs at the moment (because they are packed away) but we promise to distribute the photos soon!

Update from Savannah

The last few weeks have been hectic for us as usual. We are still figuring out what is happening with the house we are hoping to buy but things don't look good. There is a problem with the title and, depending on who you ask, it is an easy fix or it cannot be fixed or it will take months. In the meantime, we are keeping our fingers crossed but have stopped packing our stuff away. I have also started my own aquarium cleaning business that Matthew and I named AquaAid. I only have one client right now but I plan on advertising a bit more after the house situation is settled.

We are still dancing whenever we get a chance and attended the Thanksgiving Ball last Saturday. It is always nice for an excuse to get dressed up! For Thanksgiving, we went to a friend of a friends' house for a lovely meal with lots of unique people. I made my family-recipe pumpkin rolls and there weren't any leftovers! We also did a Great Couch Shuffle last weekend where we moved 3 couches, 1 recliner chair, and 1 TV between 3 different houses using my horse trailer. Our arms were sore the next day! (especially since I do not back the trailer very well so we had to carry things quite a distance!)

Our baby bunnies are growing like weeds and seem to be bigger every day. They are already out of the nest box and running around. Our kitty, Zia, on the other hand is not doing as well. She has not been using the litter box all of the time and we aren't sure if it is a behavioral or medical issue. I took her to the vet for some tests but until we find out what is going on we are locking her in the shop (we call it "jail") so that she isn't using our carpet as her litter box. She is very pitiful and misses being inside with us. I have also decided to sell the horse that I bought this summer, Pandora. She needs more training than I thought, which I don't have time for, and she didn't end up being the type of horse I was looking for.

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks.

Zia likes to use my laptop case as a cat bed (this is before she had to go to jail).
















Matthew and I dressed up for the Ball.





















During the Great Couch Shuffle, we gave our couch to a friend and acquired a new couch that is much more comfortable. It also smells a bit like dog but I'm sure that will fade!

House Repairs

Matthew and I have been doing some repairs around the house to get it ready for renters. We spent two weekends painting all of the white parts on the outside of the house (including the peaks and soffits) as well as touching up the painting on the addition. The place has never looked so good! We also tore down my garden so that grass could start growing back (I was a little sad about this!). We have most of the repairs done but unfortunately our moving date has been delayed due to some title clearance problems with our new house. It looks like we may be in the new house for New Years but probably not by Christmas. We will keep you all posted.

Matthew painting from the roof.

Turning the garden back into yard.

More babies!

After almost a year and many setbacks, we have finally had another litter of bunnies! Both of the does seemed to be pregnant and built nests. Plum, however, was the only one to actually give birth to 3 babies. They are almost a week old now and are starting to grow some fur.

Here is a video of Peaches gathering hay for her nest (even though she didn't give birth).



Plum with a mouth full of hay.


















The three new additions. We have doubled our rabbit population!


















A close up of one of the brown babies (the paint on my hand will be explained in a later post).

Thanks for the gifts!

We have really been enjoying all of the wonderful wedding presents we have received over the last month. We went through all of our old dishes and appliances and were able to donate most of them to friends. We have made roasts in our new cast iron pot, spaghetti in our new stainless pasta pot, lots of waffles in our waffle maker, and pizzas on our new pizza stones (along with many more things I can't think of right now).

Here is a photo of the new place settings, we have new silverware, dishes, napkins, and placemats. Thank you!

Hair Cut

As most of you know, Matthew proposed to me a year ago right before I was going to donate my hair so that I could have long hair for our wedding. A week after the wedding I cut 11" off and donated it to Wigs for Kids. I like the new hairstyle but I'm sure I will be ready to grow it back out again soon. It can be annoying not being able to put it in a pony tail! This is the third time I have donated and it usually takes about 2 1/2 years to grow back, so I don't have to wait long.

The Honeymoon - Grand Cayman

The day after the wedding we attended a wonderful brunch hosted by Matthew's Mom and Step Dad for the out of town guests here in Savannah. We spent the rest of the day putting the house straight, eating leftovers from the wedding, and packing for our honeymoon in Grand Cayman. At 5:00 Monday morning the best man, Ben, drove us to the Savannah airport for our flight to Charlotte and then on to Grand Cayman. We had a wonderful and relaxing time on our honeymoon and here are some photos from our adventures.

Outside the airport all ready to go.





















Matthew catching up on some sleep in the Charlotte airport.
















The Reef Resort in Grand Cayman where we spent our week. There were coral reefs right in front of our room!
















Matthew reading a book right outside our room, we loved the view!
















Our first day on the island Matthew stubbed his toe on a curb and he had to hobble around most of the week. Luckily, it did not bother him for swimming.
















Our first major activity was to visit a Botanic Park. We enjoyed all of the unique plants and were able to see a few very endangered Blue Iguanas. These lizards were down to about 12 alive in the wild but are now up to about 500 thanks to some great conservation efforts.

This tree fell down during hurricane Ivan in 2004. The trunk on the left grew up from the fallen tree after the storm and look at how big it is 7 years later!
















A blue iguana posed with us along one of the walking paths. This is a large male.















My most frequent activity during the honeymoon was snorkeling, of course! I bought a new digital underwater camera specifically for our trip. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and enjoying all of the really neat marine life. Here I am all ready for my first snorkel.





















A banded butterflyfish.















While on the island we were also able to enjoy a performance by the Barefoot Man.
















One morning we checked out bikes from the resort and went for a ride along the beach. We went to a small art store and to one of the restaurants we planned to eat at later in the week.
















We spent one day "downtown" in Georgetown. We went to a museum, visited a fort, ate at a local marketplace, and did some shopping. Here is a photo of Matthew at Fort George. We almost missed the fort because there wasn't much there!
















A close-up of a brain coral.





















This little crab was really trying to defend his anemone!
















Several huge lobsters were hanging out under a ledge.
















While I was snorkeling and taking hundreds of photos, Matthew grilled hamburgers for dinner.





















Matthew getting ready for a snorkel.
















A mantis shrimp.















A very large, beautiful fish I have been unable to identify, probably some type of snapper or grunt.















A great barracuda!















For our last trip, we took a boat out to Stingray City. First we went to a sandbar where huge stingrays come right up to you (looking for food) and let you touch and hold them. Then we went to a beautiful reef. The water was even clearer here than at our resort and there were a lot more fish. We really enjoyed it, even though a big rainstorm came through at the end of the trip and we had to stay out in the rain because we couldn't see to go back!
















Matthew getting a closer look at one of the rays.
















Me swimming with the rays.
















Matthew holding a ray.
















Me holding a ray.















Some blue tangs swimming through the reef.
















Matthew swimming with another stingray.





















Some more fish, mostly squirrelfish and grunts.

Our Wedding!

After all of the weeks (well, months really!) of preparation, our wedding was here and gone before we knew it. Everything went perfectly and I think that our guests enjoyed it - Matthew and I sure did! Here are a few of the photos our family members took. I should have the professional photographs later this week and will post a link to those as soon as I can. Thank you to everyone for making our wedding wonderful!

My Dad walking me down the aisle. We had to swing wide due to my long and poofy train!
















After the "I Do's". Matthew and I enjoyed reciting the vows we had written especially for each other.
















Our first dance. We danced a waltz to "When I Said I Do" by Clint Black. I was so nervous to dance in that dress in front of so many people! When looking at this photo, I can't help but think of how my nephew Anthony described my dress. "Your dress looks like whip cream!" he told me :-)
















Dancing with my Dad.
















My two best friends, Sam & Julie, and Julie's adorable daughter Kloey.
















Our BEAUTIFUL cake hand-made by Janice (she keeps my horse for me).
















Cutting our cake with the knife my parents used at their wedding.
















Feeding each other some delicious cake.
















Matthew & I with my family.
















Our exit, complete with hurling rice!
















Dancing with my aunt and cousin at the contra dance after the wedding.
















Zia was happy to have us back home and didn't seem to care that we were now Mr. and Mrs.!