We arrived at the Athens airport at 1020 am. We found our tour guide with the Gate 1 sign and she gave us instructions about our next flight to Santorini. Our flight to Santorini wasn’t until 3 pm so we had a lot of time. It was so boring. I was also getting so cranky. I was tired of traveling and I wanted a shower. We got a sandwich and shared it and waited until we could go to the gate.
We finally went to our gate around 2 and our flight was delayed by a half hour. It was horrible. I was so tired. We were sleeping in the chairs. We used the internet. They had free internet for one hour in the airport. So not as good as Canada….but hey at least you got some free time. We finally got on the plane and we sat on the plane without moving for a long while. When we took off we both fell asleep. We arrived in Santorini around 445 pm.
We took a bus to our hotel and got our travel documents for Santorini. It had a map and a list of excursions we could do and other things we could do on our own. We decided one of the excursions we wanted to do was snorkeling. Once we got checked in we showered. The shower felt so good after all the traveling. Here’s some pictures of Hotel Hermes.
Then we left the hotel to find food. We saw a little field with 2 goats and an old woman just sitting there. The walk to the beach and main street from our hotel was about 5 minutes. The beach was black rock and pebbles instead of sand. I think because Santorini is a volcano.
We walked around trying to find a place to eat and there were so many choices. We decided on a place that had a bunch of cats hanging around at it. The cats were cute. Our first meal in Greece was a mixed grill for two that included potatoes, pork on a stick, meatballs, sausage, chicken and lamb.
It was soooo good. We walked around more after dinner to pick up some water since we can only drink bottled water. I found a Dr Pepper that I plan on having for breakfast tomorrow!!
On the walk back to the hotel we took a different way and ended up getting lost. We had to ask another hotel how to get to ours. Luckily we were not too far away and we made it back. I think the reason we made it was because of this church…it was our landmark.
Today I woke up and ate some more catering left overs. Then we left for Ohare around 9 am. We checked in and talked to the parents about how great the wedding was.
Our flight was on time to Montreal. The plane was so freaken small to Montreal that our carry ons wouldn’t fit above our seats! I made “friends” with an old couple from nearby Lake Geneva. They were going to Rome.
When we arrived in Montreal we had a snack and used their free wi-fi. Why does Canada have all this free stuff?! Our flight to Athens was also on time! It left around 3 pm and was an overnight flight. We noticed when they were boarding basically no one was getting up to get on the plane. The flight was freaken empty! It was awesome. We could lay down in the middle row and sleep.
We had a dinner, it wasn’t very good. So then I laid down and watched the movie that was on, Unknown. I fell asleep towards the end and woke up and the new Yogi Bear movie was on. I watched some of it but was so tired and fell asleep again and woke up to something about electronics on. This was boring and I fell asleep again and woke up and No Strings Attached was on but it was towards the end. So I fell asleep again and was woken up by a huge bump. I sat straight up and was kind of freaken out. It was bumpy and I started feeling queasy. The rest of the ride sucked and they fed us some breakfast but I couldn’t really eat. And it was bumpy. I was so happy to be on land in Athens. I was also surprised to see how desert-like Athens looked near the airport. Can’t wait to get our honeymoon started!!
Today was one week before the wedding. I was starting to feel a little nervous about the wedding, but more nervous about everyone from out of town getting here on time and safely. We were getting ready to pick up Don’s dad, Danny, from O’hare when I noticed a crazy rash on Don’s arm. He said it was really itchy. It looked horrible, but I didn’t think too much of it.
So we went out to the suburbs by O’hare to do some last minute shopping for the wedding and to buy Lina a new litter box. I was so excited to put Lina’s litterbox in the closet instead of in the bathroom….and she liked it too I think.
Then we went to O’hare and failed to check the status of his dad’s flight. So we spent a couple of hours waiting for him because it was delayed. We passed the time by talking about the 9/11 ten year anniversary, which was a little awkward being in an airport. As we were at the airport the rash on Don’s arm was getting worse.
Once we picked up Danny we drove him by Wrigley Field and then we just came back to the apartment to chill.
Sunday September 11 2011
Don’s dad slept in until about 10 am, I think he was jetlagged. Don and I watched some of the 9/11 memorial on tv. It was so sad. Once Danny woke up we walked to the lake to show him where the tennis courts were. The weather was so nice and he enjoyed seeing the lake.
On the walk home we ate at the Grove Restaurant on Diversey. Then we got in the car and drove to Men’s Wearhouse to make sure all Don’s and Danny’s measurements were correct. After that we went and saw the movie Contagion.
Monday September 12 2011
Today I woke up and had to go to work. On the way to work I stopped by Panera and sat outside to eat a bagel. While we were both at work Danny walked around the neighborhood and shopped. Don found out he has poison ivy on his arm. We are not sure how he got it exactly. Maybe it was on his jacket from his bachelor party.
Tuesday September 13 2011
Today was our last day of work before the wedding and honeymoon. I finished packing everything up for the wedding weekend. Don made a good dinner of chicken. We are excited.
Wednesday September 14 2011
Today we woke up and went to pick up Miguel at O’hare. We stopped by a party store to get some last minute things for the reception. Then we ate at a diner. Then we came back to the apartment to pick up Don’s dad. We went to Men’s Wearhouse again to pick up Miguel’s tux.
After that we found an indoor tennis court for Miguel and Danny to play at. Don’s dad loves tennis and was very excited to play with Miguel because he’s a tennis instructor in Long Island. While we watched them play tennis I felt nervous and upset about the weather. The weather had turned so cold and rainy and gross.
Later in the evening, Don, Miguel and I went to Dukes of Perth for some drinks and we played some Zombie Flux and a game called Fingers. Afterwards we came home and watched Deadliest Warrior: Zombies vs. Vampires. It was disappointing but entertaining enough. We were all pretty tired.
Thursday September 15 2011
This morning I woke up eary, got Lina packed up and headed to Paxton. It was absolutely freezing out for September….my worries about the wedding weather have increased. Don stayed behind in Chicago to pick up more of his groomsmen.
I arrived in Paxton about 9:30 am. My mom and I worked on packing things up for the reception and organizing as much as we could. Around 1130 my dad came home and we all went up to the pool hall for lunch. The special was chicken fried steak so I was happy.
After lunch my mom and I went to Wal-mart to pick up some last minute things. Then I spent the afternoon sending emails and replying to wedding vendors.
Around 5 pm we went back to the pool hall to have dinner with Doug Tucker. The special was wings and 50 cent drafts. We ended up going through 2 pitchers of bud light. Then we came home to do some more drinking. My mom wanted to do my nails so I let her. Then Marty and Diane came over to look over the stuff we needed to bring for the wedding. Kathryn also came over and we all just had fun talking.
Friday September 16 2011
Last night I slept horribly. Couldn’t get to sleep and woke up a lot. Then my parents woke up at 6 am! I tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t really and got up around 730. We went to breakfast at Country Gardens and talked to our favorite waitress Lisa about the wedding.
After breakfast we went out to Timber Creek Bed and Breakfast to see the people who were already there. We saw Judy and Steve and Don’s mom Estelle and her two friends Agnes and Connie. My mom was kind of upset because the reception tent was not being set up yet. So we went back home to start packing up stuff in the cars.
I brought all of my stuff to Timber Creek and checked into our room. Then I helped my mom put bows on all the light posts on the drive way. Then my parents left to go get more stuff and Steve and I sat on the patio and hung out with the 3 little kittens that live at the b&b. Judy and Sam had went to Bloomington to pick up Michael and Teresa.
The tent was finally set up around noon or 1 and Marty, Kathryn, my dad and mom started putting up decorations. Don arrived in a huge rental car with Lorina, Khris, Miguel, and Ethan. They all got checked into their rooms.
I was starving and needed to make some phone calls so Lorina and I went to town and stopped by Hardee’s. Later around 3 Mary and I went to IGA to pick up Don’s grooms cake and 3 gallons of orange juice for the reception (for mixed drinks).
We got back to the b&b and got ready for the rehearsal. Jamie, Kat, and Kelsey arrived shortly. The rehearsal was at 430. My mom seemed like a nervous wreck. It was all starting to set in. The weather was very chilly and cloudy and I was so nervous it wasn’t going to be better by tomorrow.
At around 530 we drove to Gibson City for dinner at Bayern Stube. When we got there all the trees were tp’d around the restaurant. That was kinda cool. I had some German beer and a fantastic meal of schnitzel. I then tried a little bit of other people’s deserts. We had a lot of laughs and fun. It was so awesome to have all of our close friends and family here for the rehearsal. It really meant a lot.
After the rehearsal dinner we thought it would be a good idea to hang out somewhere for awhile since it was only like 830. We hung out at my parent’s garage. A lot of people came. I picked up some budlight…there was a ton of beer there. Everyone was just talking and chilling. Even my mom was out there. She said she couldn’t do anymore decorating til the morning. It was a nice time.
I drove back to the b&b with Mary and Kat. Then my sister showed up. We decided we wanted to use the Jacuzzi. So we got down to our bras and undies and got in. It felt good. Somehow we all four managed to get in. at once. Mary and Kat later went to Mary’s room and my sister and I started to get to sleep. We stayed up talking for a long while though so I didn’t sleep good again. It was good though because it really meant a lot to be able to spend tonight with my sister and our friends. When we will ever all be here again together?
Saturday September 17 2011
I just want to start off by saying our wedding day was completely perfect. I woke up around 8 with a bit of a headache. I went downstairs with Mary, Kat, and Kelsey for breakfast. Connie from Timber Creek had made delicious breakfast enchiladas. I tried to drink coffee. I’ve never made coffee for myself I just order it…and even that is not often. So I just drank it black, it was okay. Then I took some aleve. Most everyone was there eating with us even the guys.
My hair stylist, Heather, showed up at 9 am and we got work on the hair right away. Kat first, then Mary, Kelsey, and last me. Kat did most everyone’s makeup, including mine. She did a fantastic job.
Then the photographers showed up around 1130 so they could look around for the places to take shots. Dad ordered a ton of cheeseburgers and fries from Just Hamburgers. I think most people liked it.
Around noon I started getting my hair done and then my makeup to follow. Around 130ish mom started helping me get into my dress. And at 2 pm we started pictures with everyone. I wanted to do most pictures before the ceremony. Pictures seemed to take forever…and I can’t wait to see them. Hopefully they all turned out good. Since we won’t have access to the photographer’s pictures for a couple of weeks all of the photos in this blog are shots from our awesome friends and family. They got some really good pictures, thanks guys!
People were already starting to arrive when we were finishing up pictures. We all hung out in the tent where people couldn’t see us to wait to start walking for the ceremony. I didn’t feel really nervous but I just wanted it to be over already. A lot of our closer family and friends walked into the tent and saw me before the ceremony. Then we all lined up and started the ceremony. Our faces crack me up in this picture!
Notice the Dr Pepper on the table!
The bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down to a piano version of Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional. I started to get a bit more nervous there standing with my dad. He started talking about the weather, which by the way was perfect. It was completely perfect, it had not been nice the days before but today was around 70s and completely sunny. When I walked down the aisle I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I thought I would be. I walked down to the song Only Hope by Switchfoot.
The ceremony seemed pretty short. It went so good. Mr Jones did drop Don’s ring on the ground but that was funny. Before we knew it we were walking back down the aisle married!
Then we released each row to say hello to people. When we walked out everyone showered us with bubbles. Then we did a few more pictures with family members. The ceremony was beautiful and perfect, everything I imagined and hoped for.
We did our grand entrance to a Beastie Boys song, I don’t think it was the one we requested but it was fine. I think it was the one about a party…can’t remember the name.
I absolutely love my mom’s face in this photo. It is hard to see without zooming but she looks so excited.
Then we started dinner and signed our marriage license. While we were signing a vase broke but Steve took care of it. Our usher Steve was the absolute best, anything we needed he was on it. I received several compliments about the wedding music and the dinner music. That was nice because I picked all of the music.
Then we listened to the amazing toasts from everyone on Don’s half. Kelsey was the only who did a toast out of my girls, and she started bawling. The speeches were so good.
After the toasts we had our first dance. It was Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Steve later told us that right before our first dance he was just standing there looking around and happened to see Rusty, the DJ, looking a little panicked. They happened to lock eyes and Steve could tell something was wrong so he went over there. Rusty couldn’t find our first dance song anywhere, and Steve asked what it was and Rusty told him. Steve said “Hold on, be right back, I got it.” Steve came back with a cd that had Iris on it and our first dance was played from this cd. We had no idea. Steve is the best! We also already have some really great shots of our first dance!
Next Don did his dance with his mom to Mama by Boyz II Men. Everyone was impressed with their dance moves. My dad and I had our father daughter dance also. We danced to It’s A Wonderful World.
While all these dances were going on Marty and Vicki had been working on the raffle to dance with the bride. Uncle Donnie won…so I danced with him and we got a few extra bucks without doing the dollar dance.
The reception was awesome, people were constantly dancing. There were a few songs that stuck in my mind. During the Kesha song Blow, Khris had arranged to have confetti shot everywhere. It was so cool. He was proud of himself. During Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, it became like a mini mosh pit. I fell down twice and Khris tried to do some crazy flip off Don’s back. In the process Don got a busted lip and a huge scratch on his arm. My dad got down on the dance floor during Bad To The Bone. He was pretty drunk at this point. It was funny. The best song though was “Soco Amaretto Lime” by Brand New. Most of our friends know this song and they formed a circle around us and everyone was signing it. I was basically screaming it. It was such a cool moment. It was amazing. Everyone was there in that moment. “You’re just jealous cause we’re young and in love!”
Mary and I had to do a shot with my dad since that has become kind of a tradition. I didn’t really feel like doing a shot so we just had a beer and found someone to take our picture. My dad saw our beers were full and his was almost empty so he finished it. We thought he was going up to the bar to get a new one but he just turned around to his table and picked up a new one. He had a small cluster of beers for himself hahaha.
I was talking to the DJ at one point and Andy Bennett came up and said “hey play some Eminem, I like 10 mile”. I thought this was hilarious. Sure enough some Eminem was played.
At some point in the night my dad was really drunk. He just had his head on the table and my mom was also drunk leaning against him. My dad started puking outside the tent. He told someone “I’m gonna be ditch driving”, we all knew though he would not be driving. During this time there was a dinner roll fight. Rolls were flying.
Doug Tucker, Diane, Vicki and Marty then decided they should get my parent’s home. They put my dad in the front of my parent’s suv with a trash bag tied to his shirt. Diane put my mom in the back and when she was trying to put the seatbelt on her she said “that feels good”. My dad puked on the way home and by the time they were home he had puke all over his shirt. Marty helped my mom get her dress off and they got them put to bed. Crazy night, best wedding ever. We can’t be more thankful for everything everyone did for us to make this the best day. Here are some pictures from the reception.
Cutting the cake!Dad not feeling too well haha!Groom excited about his Starcraft cake!
Looking good mom! Great dancing shot!
We are married!Playing with our new camera…thanks Jonathon!
Sunday September 18 2011
Woke up and went to breakfast around 8. Then we packed our stuff and said bye to Khris and Ethan. It was sad seeing everyone go. I didn’t want the wedding weekend to be over!
My mom, Doug and her friends were in the tent cleaning and packing things up. I went over to my parent’s house and saw my dad, he was looking really rough. He had been puking all night. I asked him if he remembered telling Doug that they can watch the game together today and drink beer. He said “yeah I remember that but that’s not happening.”
Then my mom, Doug, Marty, Doug E., Vicki, Diane, and Jeff came over and we all ate some leftover food from the reception. It was so good! Doug asked if I could take him back to Bloomington on the way home. I said sure I could just take 55 up. The ride over to Bloomington with Doug was good. We talked a lot about the wedding. Then a lot more about all the stuff going on with my family. It was crazy, but good to talk to someone about it.
After I dropped Doug off I took 55 up to Chicago and it was the worst traffic! It felt like it took 6 hours to get home. I was so tired; I had to keep opening the windows even though it was rainy and crappy. When I got home Don was almost back and he was going to drop off the rental car. Then we made sure we were all packed for our honeymoon! And we opened the few gifts that we had. Most of the gifts we left at my parent’s house. We will get them when we return from Greece. I feel so blessed to have had such a great wedding day. We have wonderful family and friends and it feels great to be married to my best friend!
so we are getting married in less than a week. i have a lot on my mind. one of those things being the game dead island. i was looking forward to this game!! i was thinking this could be fun like resident evil 5! then i learned it’s only 1 player…of course…you can only play people online! so yeah i can play my friends….but what if i want to play my friends sitting next to me in the same room!! why are they not making games like this anymore! the last racing game i bought was like this also….seriously how can you not make a racing game so you can play your friend sitting right next to you…not my friend sitting at their house on their computer all alone playing me. everything is becoming so anti-social! it is so freaken lame! there are barely any games anymore at least ps3 that are 2 player, not online. i remember growing up playing video games with friends…getting food and pop and spending hours in front of the tv playing racing games, road rash, and sonic….now it’s just one player games killing things with your online friends. stupid!!! now not all we did was play games…and even now playing video games is a rare occasion, but when i want to there’s nothing to play anymore. just lame games. i swear if the next resident evil gets rid of it’s 2 player mode….that’s it no more ps3 for me. because me and don had so much fun playing that game!but i guess that’s just how things are anyway….kids don’t want to play with other kids they just want their phones and computers. people don’t need friends anymore. just electronics and games where you can only play other people you can’t even physically see.
so needless to say we have not purchased dead island yet. i don’t think we will be getting it for the ps3…maybe for the pc. from what i’ve seen the game doesn’t look that great. i still want to try playing it.
For the past 2 years Don has made it a tradition that he takes me on surprise birthday getaways (Montauk, galena)…and this year he carried on the tradition.
Friday after work he picked me up and we started on our way. We got on 94 and started driving. About an hour into the drive we pulled into an Arby’s for dinner and got some gas. He told me we only had about 30-40 minutes left. I drove since he needed to navigate. We arrived at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin around 9:45 pm Friday June 24.
He had booked us a room at Maria’s Bed and Breakfast. It was a nice place and we were tired so we went to bed. The next morning Maria made us breakfast (stuffed French toast). Then we set out to take a look at the lake. It was a nice day. We saw many places you could rent boats like motorboats and wave runners. Don wanted to rent a speedboat so bad. I was a little bit nervous…Don: “Honey, I’ve driven boats hundreds of times..” Me: “Not in real life! Grand Theft Auto doesn’t count!” We saw a cute family of ducks!
After walking around more and discussing what we should do, we decided to rent the speedboat. We rented it for 2 hours…neither one of us has ever driven a boat. We got about a 10 minute lesson then they turned us loose. It was great!! So much fun. Don loved driving. I was a little scared to drive. The speed limit was 35 mph. We could barely get it up to 30…it just seemed so fast and when you hit waves the front of the boat would fly up.
After the boat ride we went to get lunch at a restaurant that overlooked the lake called Popeye’s (not the chicken place). It was pretty good. Then we walked around and looked at the shops. At 3 pm we had a 2 hour boat tour of the lake. It went around the perimeter of the lake and told about all the houses and the properties and a little bit of the history. It was interesting but we were both so tired.
After the boat tour we went back to the b&b and used the Jacuzzi. Then we went putt putt golfing. We ended the night by going to a small diner downtown.
The next morning we woke up and Maria had prepared a vegetarian omelet for us. Then we set out on the road. We wanted to go to a cheese festival we had read about but Don wanted to make one stop on the way there and of course it was a surprise. We arrived at a place to pick our own strawberries. We got a lot of them. Don fell in a hole when walking and I thought he broke his ankle! I got rashes on my hands and ankles from the weeds so all in all a successful trip. The strawberries were amazing. We even got to taste some wine that they make from all fruit except grapes. It was a little too sweet for my liking.
Then we got back on the road to head to the cheese festival. When we got there it was just a grocery store that had a few of the award winning cheeses for people to try. Not really a festival in our eyes. We saw an old fashioned train at the store and decided to see what that was about. The train went from the elegant farmer store to East Troy Wisconsin. When we got to East Troy we arrived at the original building for the train depot. Then we went to an old fashioned ice cream parlor and then back to the grocery store.
Then we headed on the road again towards home. We made a stop at the Cheese Castle to pick up some Wisconsin cheese. And we stopped at the fantastic Big Ed’s Barbecue. So good. It’s funny because at the beginning of the trip I said to him “Remember that time we went to that restaurant and we were the only white people…well except you’re not white.” That was Big Ed’s and we ended the trip by going there.
