Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Things are Moving Along...

Hey everyone! You've probably been saying to yourselves, "Boy, I wish Bruce and Anna would post some new information on their Blog so I can get an update about how the wedding planning is coming along... It's been nearly a month!!"

Well, your dreams are about to come true, because we have some info. to share below...

1. We got the DJ signed up and ready to go. Over the next few months, we'll be picking the majority of our songs, but a sampling of what you'll hear is below:

Stayin' Alive
Three Times a Lady (yes Seinfeld fans, this song will be played, except I will not be driving a mail truck like Newman was when he ran over a sewing machine and it burst into flames...)
Jesse's Girl
Pennsylvania Polka (unfortunately not the Polka Boy version...)

2. The florist is booked, and Anna has had a couple meetings with him to talk about what we want... I have stayed out of those discussions, as I fear me saying "those look nice" will only lead to me being ridiculed later on because they don't go with the colors or something...

3. Anna has decided on the bridesmaid dresses, and her wedding dress has come in to the bridal shop. This is very exciting. She keeps asking if I want to see it, but I have done a good job of deflecting the conversation because I am not allowed to see it prior to the wedding. (See, I do know a little bit about this stuff...)

4. We have purchased our honeymoon flights and have reserved our rooms. We are going to St. Martin, French West Indies, located about 190 miles southeast of Puerto Rico... It's going to be great! Now, all we need are our passports!

Next Steps:

We are working on getting our marriage license, our passports, our wedding rings, figuring out where we'll register, the invitations, as well as some other small things like the limo, the cake, what time the wedding and reception will take place, etc.

Everything is coming along, and Anna has been doing a great job! I pitch in when I can, but to be honest, she is running the ship, and I am like a little Cabin Boy on the yacht that she is the captain of...

Anyway, hope to talk to you all soon!

- Bruce

Monday, September 10, 2007

UPDATE: Honeymoon Hotel Booked

Our honeymoon hotel is booked. We are staying at the Hotel L'Esplanade in St. Martin from May 19-25, 2008. Our room will be a deluxe loft, which has a second level bedroom with an amazing terrace which should allow us to see the Caribbean Sea. It's going to be great!

On another note, we have also been working to finalize the DJ for the reception. (Did you like how I used "On another note" in that sentence? A pun...) We've talked to a few people and received an info pack today from the one we would like. We'll see what happens...

For those of you who are girly girls and want to know about the wedding dress/bridesmaid dresses, Anna has made her decision on bridesmaid dresses, and is having her girls send in their sizes to the company so they can be made. They are very nice - I have seen a photo. I have not seen, nor have I wanted to ask about the wedding dress... Apparently that is bad karma...

Finally, in other news, we're heading to a Indians/White Sox game tomorrow night, so we're very excited about it (me a little more than her.) Oh, and Anna started her post doc today. We'll see how she likes it when she comes home!

Until next time,
Bruce

Monday, August 27, 2007

Move Successful

Look out Chicago!! Anna and Bruce are in your neighborhood!!!!

We got moved in yesterday, and are now all set up and unpacked in our new apartment in Aurora, IL... Bruce arrived with the cats on Saturday at around 4:00 pm Central time, and got into the apartment. Anna and her parents arrived yesterday morning at 9 am with the truckload of stuff, and our movers here in the Chicago area came out and unpacked it and brought it into the apartment...

As a side note, if you're moving and don't want to break your back, you should check out Craig's List and see if there are people who are willing to come out and load/unload your stuff for you... That's what we did this time, and it worked great, and was MUCH cheaper than last year when we moved to Michigan and had professional movers pick up/deliver our stuff.

Anyway, we made it, and already have our cable/internet set up, and are getting a home phone set up hopefully tomorrow through Vonage.

Hope you're well!

-Bruce and Anna

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

T-Minus 3 Days Until the Move

We are already packed up for the most part for our move to Aurora, IL. On Saturday morning, we will be loading the truck, and departing Novi for the last time...

Anna and her parents will be taking the truckload of stuff to their house, and spending Saturday night there, while I take the cats and head to Aurora to get us all set up with keys, etc. for the new apt. It's going to be a fun trip!

More updates on the wedding soon!

-Bruce

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Florist Booked - More Honeymoon Information...

Hey everyone!

Quick update - the florist is booked! Anna did it this past weekend while she was at a family picnic near the wedding site. Very excited that just one more part of the wedding has been taken care of.

Also, Anna came home with some travel magazines that one of her bosses gave her about St. Maarten, which is an island in the French West Indies. It looks from the map as though it is about 200 miles (maybe) east of Puerto Rico... It is only 27 square miles, but has a lot to do. There are two sides to the island - the French side and the Dutch side, and there are a LOT of beaches. Both sides are apparently very nice.

Check out the web sites of two of the hotels we're looking at...

Click Here for Hotel L'Esplanade, which is ranked the #1 hotel on the island by Tripadvisor.com. It has only 24 rooms, and overlooks the Caribbean from atop a hill on the French side of the island. While you have to walk down the hill to the beach, it is within walking distance of a number of great restaurants and a beautiful beach.

Click Here for Le Petit Hotel, a 10 room hotel right on the beach. These two hotels are owned by the same company, and both look awesome! It is ranked #2 on that same web site on the island of St. Maarten, and is also on the French side of the island, in an area known as Grand Case.

Anyway, we have pretty much decided that we are going to do one of these hotels, and definitely St. Maarten for the honeymoon, and we can save Hawaii for another time - perhaps our 1 or 5 year anniversary!

Down to 9 months and 2 days until the wedding! Thanks for reading!

-Bruce

Friday, August 10, 2007

New Honeymoon Idea

Aruba... If we go there, we will stay here. Looks like a pretty darn nice place, and it would be all paid for by my travels throughout tha last 4-5 years... Thanks ONU and Delta Sig!

Anyway, we're looking at it as an option as well, and we'll see what happens. We have done some research, and it looks like there is a lot to do, and it would be a nice place to go.

Anyway, heading to Ohio tomorrow for a bachelor party of a friend of mine, so I'll look forward to reading any thoughts on this on Monday...

- Bruce

BTW, we're only 9 months and 7 days away from the BIG DAY!!! It is coming quickly, and we are getting extremely excited!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Take Part in our Honeymoon Poll

So we are are talking about two different options for our Honeymoon, and we need your help. Please vote for the option that you think is best:

Lihue, Hawaii (Island of Kauai) - Can stay in a Marriott hotel for free with all of my points from my travels. However, we would only essentially be able to be there for about 5 and a half days, because we wouldn't be able to get there until Monday, and our question - is that really long enough for a trip to Hawaii? Will we be too tired for our entire trip?

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands - Again, we can probably get a Marriott hotel for free, and since it is in the Eastern time zone, we should be able to get there on Sunday night. In addition, we will be used to the time alerady. The flight will be cheaper, so if we wanted to, we would even be able to stay at the Ritz Carlton for our trip, which would be nice. Only problem - is there as much to do in the Virgin Islands as there is in Hawaii? I don't know...

Please vote, and your votes will comprise about 3% of our decision. You have more say in this than you do by voting for American Idol... So, instead of calling an 800 number 50 times to vote for the next Clay Aiken, why not vote for our honeymoon location?

-Bruce