(T)arina and (A)tkins in Chicago » wedding

Upcoming honeymoon. . . sorta

Tarina — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:48:09 +0000

Hi there! I figured I should write a blog, seeing as it’s September now.

Atkins and I were just in Colorado for my brother’s wedding, which was awesome! It was so pretty and so sweet. I about lost it when Julie walked down the aisle, but that’s to be expected. :)

So, Chris and Julie are on their honeymoon right now, enjoying our nation’s capitol. It got me thinking about my honeymoon with Atkins. We had a little relaxing mini honeymoon, but haven’t actually gone anywhere exciting yet. We’ve decided that it’s time to really get planning on it, so we picked a time and a place. Now we just need to iron out the details. We wanted to go when the weather in Chicago is not the best, and definitely want to get somewhere warm. We also needed to space it out from the wedding far enough that we could get a good amount of time off without making our employers mad. ;)
And the winner is?

Belize in February!
I am so excited! I have started researching scuba classes to make sure we can go diving while we are down there. Atkins and I are so looking forward to it, in fact, that we are thinking about making scuba diving “our thing.” You know, every couple has their thing. Their activity that they enjoy together, that gives them an opportunity and a reason for travel. So, we’re thinking that if we like this, we might go all the way in certification and take diving trips! How cool would that be? I know, I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s just that scuba diving has been a dream of mine for so long. I can’t even remember a time that I didn’t want to go. And now I have an opportunity! Yay!

Anyway, that’s the plan. I have some e-mails out to local scuba instructors and we’ll see what kind of cost we’re looking at.
We would also accept any Belize tips or suggestions from people who have been there. I am not really sure where we should go or things we should see (or avoid) ;)
I can’t wait!

Tiny update

Tarina — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:30:28 +0000

Hi! So, I had my second pottery class, and it rocked! I was able to make five bowls, and they all look pretty decent. I’m so happy I decided to take this class. It makes me very happy. :)
Everything else is going well. I had an emergency surgery on Friday night that kept me at work 3.5 hours after close (no, not the entire time was in surgery). It was a great experience, though I admit, I was pretty much terrified to try it at first. One of the techs, Shannon, kept me nice and calm and helped me out. Mainly just by saying “You got this.” haha!

Our air conditioning unit flooded. The little pan that collects water overflowed. We don’t know how long it had been going on. I only discovered it because as I went to feed the cats Saturday morning, I stepped on a wet part of the carpet. Atkins investigated (since I had to go to work) and discovered the AC problem. Unfortunately, it looks like it had been going on for some time as the small bookcase (which is against a wall that is shared with the AC unit) was moldy on the bottom. We decided to get rid of it. The larger bookcase was also wet, so we took everything down and are letting it dry. I think I may just get rid of that one as well and get decent-looking, larger bookcases. Here’s a pic of what the living room looks like now. (Bonus–you can also see our new tv.) Here’s another pic if the link ever comes back up. For some reason, that link is a little dodgy right now.

So, that’s our business at the moment. We are trying to figure out what to do for book storage. Should we get a nice couple of bookshelves and recreate the setup? Or should we move our books into the office and do something new in the living room. I’m not sure what that would be…
Lots of choices!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the wedding photos!

Professional pictures for all!

Tarina — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:04:12 +0000

Hey, guys! So, I spoke with my photographer and she said that you should check out her website and check out the pics from the wedding. Once you’re there, you can look at all the pics (and there are a LOT of them) and order the ones that you like!
There are some very wonderful ones, and I hope you guys like them!

Let me know what you think!

Family Wedding Photos

Atkins — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:10:47 +0000

Hello everyone, Atkins here…

I posted about 250 photos from Paul and Larry and Claudia on flickr today. We still don’t have the digital copies of our professional photos. You can look at our current collection of wedding photos or see Paul’s pictures or Larry and Claudia’s pictures separately. Once I’ve collected most of the wedding shots, I’ll make a new flickr set that just contains the best of the best photos.

In other news, I got soaked on my walk home from work today. Usually I really like wet weather but today I was not a fan. Once I was home, I noticed that our nice new grill cover has mysteriously vanished. I can only assume that it was blown up and off the grill and is either in Lake Michigan or stuck on someones fence.

Even more wedding photos

Tarina — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:41:50 +0000

I just received access to the website where all the professional photographer’s digital photos are kept. Let me tell ya, it was a little overwhelming to look through all 785 of them, but I did it!
There were some really great ones! And of course, the obligatory eyes half-closed blinking pictures.
It was really fun to look through all the pics and see what the day looked like. Don’t get me wrong, I was there. I made conscious efforts to remember details and people so I could look back on the day fondly, but as I think back on it, it seems blurry. Most of the stuff at the altar has completely left my brain. Maybe it’s because I was so nervous and happy and had too much adrenaline running through my system.
“I’m really married?” is something I frequently ask myself.
In any case, the photos look great! My only complaint is that some of the guests weren’t really featured. I suppose I should have made that a bit more of a priority to the photographer.
As soon as I talk to the photographer a little more, I’ll just link you guys to the page and you can order ones that you like! Atkins and I are planning on setting up a Flickr page with our favorites once we go through them all.
I’m sure we can narrow it down to about 500 or so. ;)

New Photos Galore

Atkins — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:56:51 +0000

I just added a bunch of new pictures to my flickr account. You can get to them by clicking on the photos in my column to the right or by going directly to my flickr page. I’m still waiting for our digital photos from our wedding photographer. As soon as I get those I will add them to flickr and send out a new direct link to that set. Some interesting things I added are pictures of the Camelot room which is the bed and breakfast we stayed at after our wedding. and photos of my work, skinnyCorp.

I’m also working on adding better titles and information for the photos in my flickr account but that’s time consuming and I wanted to make the pictures available to everyone first and then make them nice and organized.

My flickr page is updated pretty much every time I take a photo with my iPhone. As long as I have signal, my photos will go directly to flickr and everyone should be able to see them. I hope you enjoying seeing them.

Wedding Page

Tarina — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:50:13 +0000

Hey, I just made a wedding page. You can access it on the wee toolbar up there. It’s cleverly titled “Wedding.”
I know, I am just that imaginative. I am sure the format will change. I’m not sure I like how all the pictures are jammed in there right now. I’ll figure something better out.

Stay tuned!

Showing my gratitude

Tarina — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:17:00 +0000

So, it’s that time. Time to start the thank-you note process. This weekend is the first real time off I’ve had, so I’m going to take a half-day or so and get them all made and written.
That’s right, much like the invitations, I’m making all the thank-yous myself. Nothing elaborate, just something cute that I think everyone will like. Plus, I need to use up the left-over paper I have, and there’s no better way!
Funny enough, I’m actually looking forward to writing the thank-you notes. I had such a wonderful time at the wedding, and it wouldn’t have been the same without all my friends and family in attendance.
Hopefully I’ll get them all done and in the mail by Tuesday.
I love these little mini-projects. :)

New start, new blog

Tarina — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Hiya there, everyone. I thought I would try a different blogging site. I know, I know, I should just pick a site and stick with it, and actually update it once in a while.
I’m just trying to find a site that I actually like, and that is taking a bit of doing.
We’ll see how it goes.

Married life is going very well so far. I am catching myself referring to Atkins as my “boyfriend” still, though I am pretty good at correcting myself so far. It’s still odd to wear the ring (esp. one that important!) In fact, I forgot it at home today. I felt bad, but I was running late and couldn’t go back up to get it.
Other than the rings and the new epithets, not much has changed. Oh, except that our living room is completely filled with boxes. Haha. I think the cats are enjoying it, though. It’s like a little cardboard jungle. Very exciting.

Well, that’s about it for now. Further bulletins as events warrant. ;)