August 14

First day of the honeymoon! We got up at 4:00 AM (GAH! SO early!) and got ourselves to Midway airport to catch a flight to Oakland. There, we picked up our kickin' Toyota Solara convertible and headed to San Fran.

My hottie husband, driving the hottie carIt was cold in San Fran. We had packed for 90-100 degree weather. Brrrrrr...... But very pretty. We drove downtown and found our hotel, then drove around a bit to find Chinatown and see some cool hills.

Big bow and arrow with a backdrop of the Bay bridge

Once we had had enough driving around we parked down at Fisherman's wharf to have lunch. We made the poorest choice we probably could have, ending up Fisherman's Grotto. Picking a restaurant when we are starving-hungry is always a disaster. The place had a pretty decent cheeseburger, even if it was a majorly expensive thicker version of the McD's hamburger. But my shrimp sandwich looked so awful - like a pile of white worms - that I had to cover it up with a napkin. The thing made me want to hurl. Once my belly was full of french fries and Mike was done with his cheeseburger (which I totally scammed some of), we went and checked into the hotel. After getting up at 4AM Chicago time (2 AM Cali time), I was ready for a nap. So I slept for four solid hours. Yikes. But it was a very good nap, well worth it.

After the marathon napping session, we got up and headed to Alioto's. My parents went to this restaurant for their 25th anniversary and had recommended it, so we made reservations on Opentable when we got to the hotel. It was really nice - great view, good food. I had the seafood risotto, and it was fantastic (I have a MajorLove for anything with scallops OR risotto, so this combo was perfect for me).

Once we finished dinner, we were going to go get some cocktails somewhere but didn't really want to go to the trouble of finding someplace - so we did the classiest thing possible and purchased ourselves a bottle of cheap champagne from the 7-11.

Our own little celebration, a little high-class Korbel. Yay, we're married!!!!

August 13

Today before we left Evansville, we had breakfast with my Dad and Grandpa and Grandma Stratton at the Main Street Annex. Then Dad took us to see his Caddy. This thing is impressive - it's trunk is about the size of my first apartment!

August 12

Today my parents had a brunch for friends and family that were still in town and the church members.

Jay and Kimmy!

Katie and her man, Drew
Yawn! Big night last night

August 11 - WEDDING DAY

The best day of my life. I had so much fun!! It was the best wedding I have ever been to (not like I'm biased or anything....)

Aydan and I pose before the big event!

Dade wouldn't get in the picture! I think he was scared of the big white dress!
A little bridesmaid dancing to lighten the mood
First dance

The cakes (Groom's cake shaped like a cheeseburger!)

AXiD girls

The guys sing to the gals

See http://www.flickr.com/photos/agstratt/sets/ for more pictures! I'll be posting our professional pictures there as well, once we get them.

Things I learned:

• It is very hot underneath a wedding dress. I was wilting majorly until Emily stuck a cup of cold water in my face and ordered me to drink as we were taking pictures. I think that cup of water alone saved me from dying.
• No one even noticed when they cut off the hard liquor. This is an excellent idea to do.... we did it when we hit a certain dollar amount, but I've seen it happen at a certain time also. That wedding, the hard liquor ended around 10, and that may have been a better idea than in our case.... because it lasted all the way up until 11. My mom came to me and said "Your money ran out. No more hard liquor." I think she expected me to whine a bit and pony up for a bit more. One look around told me that people had had enough and wouldn't even notice. My reply: "GOOD!"
• Pre-planning and preparedness saves your butt when planning a wedding. I kept all the wedding documents on a flash drive in my purse at all times, and kept my ipod with me in case we needed it to play songs that I really wanted played at the wedding . BOTH came in handy; the flash drive multiple times.

Seen and heard at the wedding:

• Chad, prior to the wedding, to Mike: "If I don't remember to tell you later, I had fun tonight"
• Peter: "Is there a doctor in the house? Because ours is broken!" After John lost his footing and pile-drived Dixon to the ground
• I looked over during the first dance and saw Jenn and Emily holding each other, bawling their eyes out. It was very touching to know that I have such good friends who love me so much. I love them very much too.
• Weile was stockpiling both Jack&Coke empties and sparklers (our favors). One errant spark would have sent him up in flames
• My friend's husband Tom Duff met his almost-name-twin Tom Duffy. Cool huh?
• We went to play craps at the casino after the wedding just to get a pic of me and Mike at the craps table in our wedding gear. Choater almost got thrown in the clink for taking the picture (note to Casino Aztar: security needn't be that tight. You make most of your money on slots) , but we got the picture nonetheless.
• When you (and by you, I mean Rogus) hand a drink to someone, make sure there is not a sheet of plexiglass between you and that person.

August 10

Today was the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner. I had so much fun, it was so good to see everyone and visit! After the dinner, we all went to my parents' house for some swimming, which was an awesome good time.

Pretty bridesmaids

Ring Bearers Lucas and Alex gettin' rowdy

Emily discovers a VBS prop in the choir room

August 9

I think I was so excited that Jenn, Katie, Emily, and my Aunt Val got here today that I forgot to take pictures. Wedding fun officially begins!!

When the gals got here, we proceeded to just hang out and chill in the pool. Then my Mom popped open some wine (Conundrum, white table wine - completely GREAT) that my Dad got earlier in the week as we were getting ready for dinner.

Dinner was at the House of Como, which is this really great steak place on south Kentucky in Eville. The place looks really old and is decorated with Christmas decorations all year long, but they have great food.

August 8

Today Jay, Kim (his wicked awesome girlfriend), and I hit up Zesto's for some ice cream.

Random pics of the skyline

My friends got my this FREAKING AWESOME macro lens for the shower. Holy crap, awesome gift. Check out the shots I got the other day (it was kind of foggy, and by foggy I mean pollution-y). These pics were taken from my rooftop deck (about 4 miles away from downtown).

St. Alphonsus

August 7

The two sets of programs I have ruined so far. Another set on it's way from the kinko's!!!! Thank GOD for Tucker, the Kinko's guy. He is my sanity today!!!

August 6

Hoping to spend some time in my parents' back yard today...

August 5

Tonight I got home and my Dad had been given a new bags set from a couple he married a few weeks ago. They called him "Pastor Cornhole"!! Awesome, huh?!?

August 4

For some reason, I thought this ponytail was WAY cool. Upon further inspection of the photographic evidence, I would so say NOTSOMUCH.

August 3

Today was the most magical day of the year - Promotion party day! It's a fun day where we all go hang out together and are all Big-Four-Accountants all day long. It is SO MUCH FUN. And Mike got promoted!!!

Manager Mike

Me and Diesel - Team Paper

Intern Matt, Kelly, and I

I have to say, at the end of the day, I HEART my coworkers. They are some pretty cool people.

August 2

We ordered a new bed. Holy cow, the luxury! Here is Mike, cutting off the mattress tag. I told him he would totally go to jail, but he says he can do it legally because he is "the consumer".... whatevs....

August 1

Tonight my friend Dora got tickets to this DJ contest at the House of Blues. Kanye West was a judge, and he got up and did a few numbers at the end of the contest. It was SO HYPE. If you hadn't picked up I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Kanye fan, and the contest was totally awesome. This is a pic I took of the House of Blues and the corncob buildings as we were waiting in line. Awesome, right?

July 31

Tonight, Mike and I met my Dad for dinner at Millenium Park. When we got there Mike was all fired up and testy because he really needed to be fed. Here is a pic of Mike... look how sad he looks about how he didn't get to eat earlier.

And a pic of the Bean from the outside terrace by the Park Grill.

July 30

Our messy apartment. We are ready to move, ladies, this place is a mess! Well, not so much a mess as "WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF." Note to self to really try and get rid of some stuff via the move!

July 29

So tonight I took a pic on my phone of Mike, right after he won a game of bags. It was so funny, he had the most triumphant look on his face. Too bad my phone didn't quite save it properly!

July 28

Gifts that keep on giving.... not only are people sending us stuff for the wedding, but they are sending them in PERFECT moving boxes. We started saving boxes already for the move, since we dropped a pretty little penny on boxes at the U-Haul store the last time we moved. However, the last time we had to pack everything up in a U-Haul and let it sit overnight, so literally everything we had needed to be in a box. It was such a pain!

July 27

Today I finished reading the last Harry Potter book. I have to say, it was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!