chapter 39: ALOHA

Honey honey honey honey MOOOON!

All last week, Benjamin and I had the time of our lives in paradise!

No worries about school, work, chores, callings, emails, cellphones, responsibility. It was bliss.

The beaches were beautiful, the sun was warm, the sky was clear and there was so much lush green ever where, it made perfect sense why it was known as the "Garden Island".

FAVORITE ONE:

We hiked down a woodsy trail to a tucked away waterfall. The pool below was relatively warm and deep. We swam under the falls and even climbed up on the rocks behind the falls and had a Nottingham moment.

FAVORITE TWO:

We wandered our way onto a beach (not a soul in sight) that had beautiful sandy beaches and pretty descent waves. We played in the waves as they crashed into us and built a hut on the shore with drift wood and palm leaves as the sun went down.

FAVORITE THREE:

For those thinking about a Hawaiian getaway, we highly recommend going to a Luau (that's Lou-owe as Benjamin would always correct me... not Loual. Oops). The food was incredible and the Imu inspired Ben to cook our Thanksgiving turkey a new way. The actual performance was presented as different dances from each culture that had come to Hawaii. Each was spectacular and I even attempted it myself after we got back to our hotel that night. They were better...

FAVORITE FOUR:

Snow Cone. 5 snow cones to be exact. I had never had such a yummy one before in my life. Something about how this one stand mixed its flavors kept calling us back. That, and the pineapple. Apparently, we've got it all wrong. The pineapples we get in the states are picked green so that they don't go bad by the time they reach our shelves but in Hawaii, they let them grow longer and pull them right when they are ripe and ready to eat which makes them grow longer and taste sweeter. The pineapple I've had my whole life has been tart with a kick (a delicious kick, but still...). I'm not sure what I ate there, but it was NOT pineapple. It was the most sweet, juicy, delicious piece of candy. Really, it was so sweet! You've got to get your hands on some.

As any trip, we ran into just a few snags that are noteworthy.

SNAG ONE:

We planned on renting scooters for two days to tour the island. We found out, however, that scooters there top out at 30 mph and are considered a "bicycle". This was a problem because they were quarantined to the shoulder (which oftentimes didn't exist) and there was basically one road on the whole island that took you to all the cities and beaches (which was, in fact, a highway filled with 60 mph cars). Advised by everyone not to make that day our last on this earth, we cancelled our reservations and rented a car.

ps. the "dealership" phone number was given to us by our cab driver and the "car" we rented was $20 bucks and we were given the advice of telling any "authorities" it was "Uncle Steve's car" and everything was dealt in cash, nothing signed. We looked like locals at least, so no one tried to break into our car and steal anything. So... that's something. Benjamin could tell by the look on my face, I was less than excited to be seen in this "vehicle". Ran great though.

**note the spray painted gold roof, the white front panel and white passenger door (not shown), the dents and scary wheels.**

SNAG TWO:

Our flight was cancelled and we got bumped back to a day later flight. This didn't turn out to bad as they ended up putting us up for the night at an extravagant hotel upgrade and gave us meal vouchers. The next night, we thought our flight lift at 10:00 PM when it really left at 9:00 PM, which we realized at 8:15 PM while in the pool. We sprinted to change, get to the front desk, order the airport shuttle, hurry to the check-in, pass everyone waiting in the HUGE line and got our boarding passes 2 minutes before we would have missed our flight. After that we had to run through security and the airport to catch our plane which barely held the door for us. Nightmare, but we got there and made all of our connections just fine. Husband was a champion of calm while I was a nut case.

Times wallet lost: two

(once as we were frantically trying to pack and get to the hotel front desk to call the airport shuttle)

Times car keys lost: two

(once in the sand at night)

Times credit card lost: one

(permanently, the last day)

Times locked out of our hotel room: one

BUT we never allowed these snags and bumps in the road to ruin our fabulous time and stop us from enjoying every minute of our week in paradise. Aloha!

PS. For more pictures, find our face here.

chapter 33: A START OF TWENTYSEVENS

The 1st

june twenty seventh two thousand and ten

After going on a few dates together and falling madly in-like with one another,

Benjamin asked if we could be "official".

Boyfriend and Girlfriend were born.

The 2nd

july twenty seventh two thousand and ten

Benjamin and I strolled out onto the sandy beach in Oregon while on his Family Vacation.

We laid on a blanket and commandeered an abandoned beach fire pit.

We fell in love and told each other so.

The 3rd

august twenty seventh two thousand and ten

On the couch, in the middle of the night, in the apartment, in the blackout, in the storm...

Benjamin asked me to marry him and put a ring on my finger.

The 4th

novembr twenty seventh two thousand and ten

Dressed in white and in a dashing three piece suit, Benjamin and I commited to one another in a beautiful wedding ceremony. Surrounded by loved ones and tears in eyes, two became a happy one.

The 5th

december twenty seventh two thousand and ten

Announcing to the resturant and receiving a card; the Melting Pot congratulated us on our three months wed.

The 6th

january twenty seventh two thousand and eleven

We hoped in the car and drove to McCall to let all the ice sculptures celebrate our together anniversary with us. They were pleased we came and rewarded us with a cinnamon bun the size of our head.

The 7th

february twenty seventh two thousand and eleven

a cozy night in after full Olive Garden tummies.

The 8th

march twenty seventh two thousand and eleven

We will be taking to the skies on our way to Hawaii for a tropical honeymoon.

We will have lots of pictures to show and a seperate post for this magical twenty seven.

Aloha!

chapter 29: PHOTO FLASHBACK

In a little less than a month, Ben and I will be leaving for our honest-to-goodness HONEYMOON! And, lucky us, it will be {technically} our second.

Right after we got married, we flew {thank you Dustin and Adrienne} to Seattle for a weekend stay in a ritzy hotel {thank you Mom and Dad}.

Three months later {still blissfully and happily married} I finally plugged my camera in and took some of the pictures off. So for a not-so-long-ago trip down memory lane, here are a few pictures for our minimoon.

{True to my parent's fashion, we were hours early for our flight. Paved the way for a needed nap in the airport before our departure.}

{A glowing bride mere hours after the ceremony... and her sleepy new husband}

{Dustin and Adrienne's mini-cooper waiting for us in the airport parking lot with our vey own "Just Married" sign}

{loving our drive in the mini as we head to our hotel in Seattle}

{our very first "threshold"}

{the only picture you will see from our actual hotel stay...}

chapter 18: MEET AND GREETS

Saturday night, we finally finished the wedding festivities. The Swensen family did a phenominal job constructing a gorgeous reception out of their home with all our colors and flowers. The servingdishes were all porcelin tea-cups and plates and the food was delicious. We had wedding photos on the walls from the week before and they were stunning, thanks to our amazing photographer. These posts have been picture sparce, but they are on their way {promise}.

The wedding itself was much more fun for me. Relaxing-fun-hanging out with everyone-stress-free-not boring. The reception was lots of fun too, but was a lot of standing still and being the doting wife on the husband's arm while I met over 100 people I didn't really know.

"hello! Oh thank you for coming. vanessa. Yes, it's great to meet you too! We'll be in boise for another few years. Oh thank you! We appreciate you coming. Please make sure you get something to eat."

Benjamin and my code when we didn't know what else to say was just to offer them food, look at each other, smile and kiss. If they were still there when we came back from that, we started over... "SO! What's new with your family? How are things?"

I loved being by the side of my man and having loved ones all around including my fabulous parents who flew down just for the occasion. Rock stars. We opened presents afterwards which was very exciting, but even more so, was last night, trying to figure out where everything can fit in our little apartment. Time for an upgrade?

chapter 17: A HONEY OF A MINI MOON

We landed safely and quickly in Seattle after hugging and kissing our loved ones adieu. Following Adrienne's instructions, we easily found the adorable mini cooper waiting for us in the parking garage. Adorned on the back windshield was this:

Benjamin and Vanessa Swensen

Just Married

November 27, 2010

We were so excited! We hopped in, and found our luxury hotel room, provided by:
"thanks mom and dad!"

Dictionary: luxury |ˈlək sh (ə)rē; ˈləg zh (ə)-|noun ( pl. -ries)

A hotel in which there is a living room upstairs in our separate building, compete with all-you-can-eat-free-snacks (Hagen Daaz ice cream, string cheese, every candy you can imagine, water bottles and salty snacks). Also, a window in your room that takes up one whole wall and then has a black screen that lowers so that, if it was noon and bright outside, you'd have no idea. A fancy shmancy breakfast buffet, cozy "his & hers" bathrobes, giant bathtub - complete with bath mineral salts, and complimentary champagne glasses and sparkling cider. Also, parent provided, we got room service!

We left the hotel room once to play in downtown Seattle - visiting Pike's Place, a few shops, and the most delicious sushi restaurant I've ever experienced, "Japonessa" referred to by my amazing big brother.

We were sad to go, and had an amazing time for those two days. Unfortunately, reality hits as Tuesday comes and we are back to school and back to work. Boring...


Now we have our real honeymoon to look forward to:
March 2011 - IRELAND, BABY!

chapter 16: AMORE

After a few more family shots with shivering babies, we drove to Carmine’s for our luncheon. A quaint little family owned Italian restaurant, with recent and ancient family wedding photos covering the walls. The romantic singing of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin filled the cozy walls and provided the perfect ambiance for Husband and My’s first dance. Daddies were dancing with babies, warm italian homemade dishes were passed around the close-knit tables {family style serving} while everyone laughed, visited and loved. My wonderful Daddy made many stellar toasts, as well as my sister Rachel, “May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future together” "The more you invest in a marriage the more valuable it becomes." "In every marriage there is grounds for divorce; the trick is to find grounds for marriage." "May she share everything with her husband, including the housework." "When children find true love, parents find true joy." “You have sacrificed a lot and I hope you continue to sacrifice and give to one another”.

And best of all, this scene commenced:

{sitting at the table, while my dad stood raising his glass}

In case any of you weren’t aware, we are Italian. True to Italian tradition, each man will cut a piece of the groom's tie as a memento of this special occasion.

One by one, each man in the room snipped a piece of Benjamin's tie off until it was just a stub hanging below his chin. As each man approached, he paid the bride for the portion of the tie. A wad of cash was secretly slid into my palm, which I hid away in my dress.

We had such a wonderful time and the whole weekend was pretty stress-free!

As soon as the festivities ended, we changed into our boring regular clothes and hit the road, bound for the airport and our honeymoon. When we arrived at the terminal, a family came up to us and said, "did you just get married?!" I was so happy thinking we just gave off this aura of love and newlywed-ness, but apparently, they were just in the temple when we were and saw us. Less exciting, but I still felt like a celebrity.

SCHOOOOOOOO... take off. Honeymoon bound

chapter 15: HITCHED

5:30 AM - {ERR ERR ERR ERR} the alarm shouted to me “you’re a bride today!

Get up and get beautiful!}

A 40 minute shower later {wanted to be a squeaky clean wife for Benjamin} and crossed over to my new Sister’s {Callie} hotel room to finish the becoming-beautiful. Benjamin snuck over around 6:00 to get handsome and feed me yummy bites of waffel while my sister Rachel did my nails, Callie did my hair, and I did my make-up. The bites were oh-so-careful and oh-so-dainty as to not smudge my lipstick.

Ben was escorted out of the room while I got my wedding dress on, followed by a “ta-da!” presentation of the finished product. Bride and Groom, ready and beaming, we headed to the Temple for a few wedding shots before entering. The funnest part was when Benjamin got a hold of the camera and I posed for him in fun flirty ways - easy to do for my adorable husband-to-be. We stood in show and caught on our noses and tongues, flakes, falling from the sky.

The Wedding Ceremony was just what I’ve always imagined. Looking into my love’s moistened eyes through my own tears. Smiles and our faces too big to know what to do with. Loving eyes around the room of dear-to-our-hearts family and loved ones. Our hearts were full and we both confessed “yes” to wanting to, forever be, HUSBAND AND WIFE.

Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and longer and ever.........

chapter 14: SETTING SAIL AS SINGLES

Benjamin and I have begun our first steps, on our way to matrimony. We’re off to Olympia Washington to be with the family for Thanksgiving. Arrived Tuesday night and ambushed by little lovely ones {adorable nieces and nephews from Benjamin’s new sisters}. We just relaxed that night, and all day wednesday. As a special treat, Wednesday morning we hit the city and enjoyed delicious luxury doughnuts and chocolate stores.

FOOD glorious FOOD

The best I’ve ever had: Turkey

The creamiest with perfect chunks: Potatoes

Flaky and moist: Pies

Rollie Pollie: Peas and Corn

and all the fixin’s you could imagine.

My very most favorite though, the cream of the crop, the famous INDIAN PUDDING. Benjamin tried it for the first time this year and the Park-family newbie. I am pleased to report that he LOVED it. With a little whipped cream on top - magnificent.

Friday was the big day. We all loaded up in 3 cars and began the journey to the east. There were numerous storm warnings, but we persevered. We were heartbroken to hear that a number of our dearest friends and family weren’t able to make the journey, but it turned out that the roads were relatively clear and weather kept clear for us for the most part. We had no problems and make it safely and quickly to the Tri-cities. Benjamin sweetly took me out on our last date as two before our lives of dates as one began. We snuck away from the hotel and went to the Olive Garden, of which we ate two bites of our ordered food and loaded up on the complimentary breadsticks and salad. Delicious. {mmmmm}

Early to bed

{after the disappointing BSU football game... poor Benjamin}.

Early to rise and the Bride and Groom to be!

chapter 9: BACHELOR AND BACHELORETTE

HOME 1

We first stopped and stayed the night with our dear and darling friends: Liz and Josh. They fed us delicious homemade burgers and fries.

(which we took vigorous notes about to use with our new fryer I got for my bridal shower)

They set us up for the night and were phenomenal hosts. We adore them.

HOME 2

The next morning we headed south a few miles to my brother's house. It was so wonderful to just relax and chat while Ben and I partnered up to save the human race from vicious aliens in the latest Halo.

(Halo 3... 4... 5... I forget which it is now. Like the Land Before Time - impossible to remember how many there are)

Secrets! After we hung out for a few hours, Dustin took Ben away for a secret meet up with Jason. The boys headed off for Laser Tag for a surprise bachelor party hosted by the future brothers-of-Ben. They had a blast, taking top 5 each round. My man - THE SHARP SHOOTER.

Adrienne stole me away to meet up with Rachel where they snuck me off to a trapeze gym! We did a warm up, and then attended a beginners class for circus-performers-to-be. We were taught tricks on silks, the trapeze, ropes and hoops. It was a total bast and nothing I had ever done before. I was proud of myself for being able to do everything the instructor showed us - if with, perhaps, a bit less grace.

My sisters: GENIUS.

We then met up with the boys for a fancy dinner. I was excited to be reunited with Ben again, even though it had just been a few hours, and that night, we dug into ritzy burgers and sushi. Perfect.

Thank you to our brothers and sisters for their incredible thoughtfulness and brilliant ideas.

{pictures to come}

chapter 8: A LICENSE TO WED

Last Thursday, early morning, Ben and I hit the road for our future marriage site:

Kennewick Washington.

After driving in circles and back and forth a bit, we finally found the RIGHT county office where we could get our

marriage license!

I was a little disappointed that more people weren't congratulating us in the office on our clearly giddy-in-love-because-we-are-getting-married-ness. It seemed to them like we were filling out a form to register for a water bill. It was my job to fill out all the paperwork online and I was very proud to say that I answered all the questions without needing to look anything up. Well, all except Ben's social security number... I needed help with that. But, boy! Do I know stuff about my fiance or what!

We then headed to Seattle where we bashed around for about an hour until we met up with friends and family. We wandered downtown and came across an open square where there was a tent, small crowd of people and a climbing wall. We stopped to take a look, of course. Who wouldn't.

Toblerone! They were announcing a limited-time-new-chololate and hosting a fair-type event. A man asked me if my "boyfriend" and I wanted to play a game of shuffleboard for a chocolate bar. After resisting the temptation to correct him, and excitedly announce to the square that he was my FIANCE not just my piddly boyfriend, and after Ben resisted the urge to punch him in the face for not realizing that we were way more in love than that, we played a rousing game of shuffleboard. Ben slid the puck to the top of the chocolate mountain and won us our first full size chocolate bar. I got to small samples for trying. And failing.

Then we headed over to the Chocolate Mountain, which we proceeded to climb, own, and conquer. For which, we received two more chocolate bars. Rad day for Seattle.

ps. so in love with him.

chapter 6: YOU ARE INVITED

Item 173: MAIL WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENTS

check. 

We did it! It's done! We have officially carved our future wedding date in stone and mailed out announcements. You can expect them in the mail in the next week or so (hopefully... if we attached enough postage). It was surprisingly really really fun putting together the announcements. It was just Ben and I, sitting up late, in our pajamas...

open. stuff. write. seal. stamp. stack.

We got them done relatively fast and still had time to play and relax. It was actually the first real "wedding planning prep" thing we had done so far just together. It felt like we were really getting married! We dropped about a million of them in the post office box early this morning and felt a heavy "to do" weight lifted off our shoulders. 

We loved how our announcements turned out {thank you Angela} and adore our engagement pictures {thank you Callie and Eric} and appreciate that we got to have what we dreamed to be perfect {thanks Mom and Dad}.

Check your mail boxes, friends! We are still hunting for a few addresses, so if yours doesn't come right away... know that we are working on that. We love you, our dearest friends and family. 

chapter 2: DEEP IN PLANS

We are planning the event! Benjamin and I decided early on that we would both be planning our wedding together. Each decision we would agree upon and we would both have a say in all the decisions. After all, this wedding is for both of us and our only one. Every decision between the two of us has been smoother than one could hope for. We are always on the same artistic page; each having the same vision of what we would like and easily make compromising decisions. It is a good practice range for our future married daily decision making.

My dress: a simple chiffon.
His suit: a three piece knock-out.
Our colors: apple-green, gray and white.
The flowers: exotic orchids.

Everything has been sliding together; a perfect fit. Our families have been extraordinarily helpful, appeasing, contributing, encouraging, and supportive. We could not have asked for better circumstances under which to start our new life together.

A toast! To the greatest beginning the world has ever seen! And to you, Babe.

chapter 1: IN LOVE

My whole life, I never dreamed I would be this lucky. Benjamin is everything I have ever wanted, plus some. He is my very own hero and guide. I love that I now have a partner in life: someone to make decisions with, someone to make plans with, someone to fulfill dreams with. I love him more than I thought I could love - he has caused an unlimited increase in my capacity to love. I love you, darling.

Vanessa Park just happens to be the women I love. And contained in that one little phrase " women i love" is so much more. She is: a potential mother, a worried wife, a bike fanatic, a clumsy diver, spiritually energetic, good cook, spontaneous adventurer, skinny dipper, musically intelligent, perfectly made for me. I have never been this happy and just continue to feel more joy with her everyday. Babe I love you, thank you for loving me.