Quite a few things have happened in the past few weeks. That seems to be putting it mildly.

I. Wedding!

I am happy. Many brides and grooms don't feel that way after their wedding, but I do. Everything came together and worked. Things went wrong. They're destined to go wrong. But most things also went right. And those things that went wrong? They still worked.

The first thing that went wrong was that our priest called in sick. As he's a friend as well as a priest, we knew it had to be bad that he wouldn't show up for the wedding (he went into the hospital a day later and was there for three or four days). But praise be that I work at the church I was marrying at. The pastor was kind enough to step in and say a beautiful wedding, adding personal touches I didn't expect. It was great.

The flowers and the limo were late, but they were there in enough time to be ready to go at 4:00 PM. And both were gorgeous. My bouquet hasn't really died yet. I'm protecting it by putting it in the back bedroom so the cats don't eat it. I will most assuredly hang onto it until it cannot be saved.

The Mass was amazing. The choir was fabulous, my instrumentalists were flawless, and the service itself was beautiful. I smiled, I laughed, I cried, I was touched. I felt the most love there, between the family and friends that came to celebrate with us, and all those who simply came to share the Mass with us.

I am extremely excited to see our photographs. We took them in this garden/arbor area across from the hotel, and I think they're going to be amazing. We did not take as many family photographs as we probably should have, but we got enough.

The reception was a great deal of fun. Our nerdy music, played during the cocktail hour, was a little quieter than I wanted it to be, but we caught a few tracks that made our friends laugh. I think that was ultimately our goal with it, actually. Dinner was delicious. It was great to wander to each of the tables and chat with everyone, even if only for a few minutes. Our DJ was awesome, no doubt about it. I did a lot more dancing than I anticipated. Our friends amazed me, as they were on the dance floor practically the whole night. I got to do a kickline with my aunties, and managed to dance not a few songs with many of my lovely ladies. Kate, Sarah, Louise and I had fun with All for You by Sister Hazel. And amazingly enough, I was able to walk back to my hotel room in the same shoes Kate strapped on my feet around 3:00 PM that afternoon. Needless to say, my toes were numb for a few days afterwards.

I am still reliving parts of the wedding any chance I have. This is a good sign.

II. Hans

As I mentioned before leaving for Hawaii, Hans passed away the day after the wedding. According to an update posted by one of Hans' cousins on the website he made to share information, he fell into a coma on Sunday during the day, and died that evening. The wake was this past Wednesday and funeral the following day. Lowell and I missed it, since we were told by just about everyone to go to Hawaii and knew we would probably not have another opportunity to go. I heard many good things about how both events went, and I'm glad for all the people who were there to support the family. Because I was not there for the "finality" parts, I still am kind of in denial. I know it's happened, but it doesn't feel real yet. I don't know when it will.

III. Honeymoon

Hawaii is as gorgeous as I'd been told. It was odd to be somewhere green and flowering at the end of October, but not bad. We ate breakfast early every morning on a terrace, usually with birds as company. We spent a great deal of time in the car seeing the area, in the hotel room relaxing, and in malls (though not always shopping). I insisted we go to the beach one morning (before it got too hot), and actually got Lowell to go into the ocean, which he liked. I did not spend as much time by the pool as I would have liked, but that's something to remedy should we ever go back.

The most "adventurous" thing we did was to drive around the northern part of the side of the island we were on. We found out later that some rental car companies do not allow their renters to drive this road. We do not blame them. The road is a state highway up to a point, and then becomes a one lane paved road. Not one lane each way, but one lane period. We had to pull over to what little shoulder there was quite a few times to let other drivers by, and we had to back up once to let another driver by because there was no shoulder. When we did that, we backed into a signpost, but the rental car company didn't catch the slight damage (mwah ha ha). Not only was the road one lane for about 20 miles, it was also comprised mainly of almost hairpin turns. We took some great pictures for the first hour of this, and then gave up for the second hour. Yes, it took us two hours or more to go about twenty miles. That's how careful one had to be on that road. Never never never want to do that again. Thank God we got the pictures we did, because I will not go back to do it again. Glad we did it, I'll admit, but never again.

So glad we went, despite the feelings of almost betrayal I was feeling by not being there for the wake and funeral. I got in the relaxation I needed.

IV. This week

Obviously it has not happened yet. But many things will happen:

--Autumn cleaning (and cleaning out) of the house
--shopping (and clubbing/dinner another night?) with Maryam, who is in town until the end of the week
--starting thank you cards
--working on NaNo (started on the plane back from Hawaii)
--random WoW stuff

Then it's back to work on Monday the ninth. Whew.

So it's time to get working on the kitchen. We got more than a few kitchen things at the wedding, and I want to make sure we have room for it all. After the kitchen, it's tackling the "master" bedroom (it's the same size as the other, so it's weird to call it the master bedroom proper), then the bathroom, and we'll see where we go from there. Lowell is getting a new phone today come hell or high water, and I want to get a few things done before I shove him out the door to do that.

I am pushing myself today. I got everything done at work that needed to get done. I got out of the house on time and caught the early train. I got in to work early enough to get payroll done on time. I will get anything on the list of stuff to do for the house done tonight. I will get the feedback on a friend's band to him as promised.

Work went by fast, but was frustrating. Ricardo was on some sort of bad mood/panic mode the entire time I was there, and I wish I knew why. It kind of puts a damper on things.

Lowell treated me to breakfast in bed (including cereal and sour patch kids!) and flowers on Valentine's Day. I am quite lucky. :)

I am in an Auron-tastic mood, so methinks something FFXish will have to be done tonight in place of the (now) standard World of Warcraft.

Driven though I am, my brain is kind of broken. So off with me.

Happy five years, Lowell. <3

Lowell proposed last night! I said yes! We are engaged to be married!

Whee!

I am exceptionally happy. Yay for Lowell!

<3

Wistfulness has changed to more than moderate content. Thank goodness.

Lowell is playing the new Phoenix Wright game. It's very cute to listen to him figure the first case out.

A bath and a coffee would make this perfect. Will have to fix that.

Many thanks indeed for the calls, texts, wall posts, and other good things regarding my birthday. Huge thanks to everyone who went out for dinner last night, and for the gifts I got as well. I'm going to be the most caffeine-filled, best smelling girl around this place. XD Thank you so much again; it all really meant a lot.

I am 25, and it kind of feels weird. Even five years ago, I anticipated that things would be a lot different than they actually are. I know things are the way they are 'cause of decisions I made about my life, so I'm not regretting or being forlorn. It's just, well, different.

I'm going to try and make this quarter-centenniel one of the best ones. I'm the only one who can make it so, after all.

I will start by getting myself a Diet Coke. Then I will enjoy Day One of No Organist Week. XD

Between two obnoxious days at the store and next to no sleep for two nights, I was in a distinctly foul mood come Saturday night. I indulged Lowell by driving up to the North and Clybourn area to accompany him shopping at Best Buy. However, when I arrived after fighting a great deal of traffic, he was settled in to play Rock Band, and I got irritated. I left and holed up at Starbucks until he was done with that, bad girlfriend that I am. I returned while he made some purchases, and then we went to search out a random place for dinner, as we were both starving.

What we found was J. Alexander's on Clybourn and Willow (sort of...I don't remember the cross-street, so this will have to suffice), and I was pleasantly surprised. It's basically your standard Lincoln Park trendy spot, with dim lighting, a well-stocked bar, and everything shaped with angles. The prices were decent, though (sans the alcohol), the wait not too long, even for after 7 PM on a Saturday, and the food good overall. The martinis, however...out of this world. I had a Mandarin Blossom martini, and just about swooned with delight. The one martini is 12 USD, but they give you enough for two, making it actually cheaper than most martinis in that area. Amazing. I'd go back there just for the martinis.

That alone got rid of the foul mood, and triggered a few other ones, all of which were preferable. The cold of the apartment was a damper, but since the heat's back on Tuesday, I can cope. Plus, when you have a Lowell to help keep you warm, well...no complaints here.

For the past week or so, whenever something goes right in my life, three other things go wrong. I can't take much more of the latter.

Thank you to all who have helped with the former. It makes getting through the latter that much easier.

Happy 4 year anniversary, Lowell. <3

Tonight included the following:

--A dinner at Maggiano's that had nothing to do with Lowell's wedding parties
--way too much chicken
--a rum and coke and a surprisingly good cabernet
--discussion on character types and quirks in Final Fantasies VI - XII (sans XI and VIII)
--critiques on society, religion, and imperialism in Final Fantasy
--the discovery of one white hair on my head. ;;
--Lowell's discovery of two more white hairs on my head. ;;
--another viewing of Meet the Robinsons
--more T-Rex madness (I swear, like "So...", that will never get old)
--realisations that the last viewing of said movie was not as filled with hormones as I had thought; I am just truly that sappy
--an almost final decision regarding my wedding (no I am not engaged...I just have the whole thing pretty much planned out, as I am lamer)
--a question that got taken seriously but not
--an iPod that was at first thought broken, but actually not. Whee!

Finally,

--this wonderful, deliciously warm feeling that I hope lasts the next two weeks.

Thank Goodness.