Pre-Wedding BBQ

Instead of the traditional rehearsal dinner, we invited our out-of-town guests and our friends from work to our house for a pre-wedding barbeque. We had it catered from our favorite barbeque restaurant: Sugarhouse Barbeque. I told Rod that I would take care of dessert and I surprised him with his groom's cake: a snow-covered mountain with trees and skiers. It was supposed to be red velvet (Rod's favorite), but it ended up being just really good chocolate with chocolate filling. We also had a carrot cake with buttercream frosting to celebrate Judge McHugh (our officiant) and my Grandma's birthday. The weather was great and we had a beautiful sunset.

Rehearsal

The Tea ran a little late. We got there a little late, but still managed to make it before the flower girls, who had gone on a ride with their dad and grandpa to Park City and ended up in Idaho. It was okay, though, their moms made great stand-ins.
(Sorry for the bad pictures. I was clear on the other side of the field with my dad).

If you are wondering why I look cold, wrapped in a shawl in the middle of July, I was trying my damndest not to get a sunburn or weird tan lines the day before my wedding.

When we were practicing walking the aisle, I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to do it for real. 1 day!




Melanie, our good friend and cellist, came to the rehearsal even though it was her birthday. Nicole, our good friend and wedding liason, made sure she got all the applause she needed :)

Afternoon Tea

We were so busy before the wedding that our families didn't really have a chance to get together and meet until right before the wedding. I really wanted the women in my family to have a chance to meet the women in Rod's family before we all got swept up in wedding stuff so I invited them all to Afternoon Tea at the Grand America. If you have never been to the Grand America, the building is beautiful. The tea room overlooks a beautiful patio and the tea itself is really luxorious. It is not just tea and biscuits. You get finger sandwiches, scones, tea (of course), and a choice of desserts. It is something that everyone should treat themselves to. For favors, I brought some packets of ginger thins and tea flowers. I wrapped them in cellophane and sealed with our logo stickers. Rod's grandma brought prailines from Louisiana. I think everyone really enjoyed getting to know each other and I was so excited that everyone had a chance to get to know each other.

Great timing . . . stupid punks!

Mom and Larry came for the whole week before the wedding, and it was so nice to have their help. I thought I was going to have a lot of time to visit, but . . . I ended up running errands and putting things together the entire week. In the middle of all this chaos, we got a very unpleasant interruption. Tuesday morning we had a full day planned. Instead, we spent the morning filing police reports and insurance claims. Rod's truck got broken into. It is a bit funny, though. Although there was a lot of valuable stuff in the truck (Rod's tux, nice sunglasses, and ipod), the theives only took Rod's old tool bag that had maybe $20 (resale value) worth of old gear and screwdrivers in it. Of course, it will cost us hundreds of dollars to replace it and we had a lot better things to do.

The real rub is that this was the last night that the truck would have been parked in the driveway. We had just finished our remodel and just needed to move things back into the basement to make room in the garage. It was also disconcerting because our neighborhood is a really great, generally safe neighborhood. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac. Kids leave their bikes out all the time. We have forgotten to close our garage before and have never had anything taken. What bad timing!

Quick Stopover in Denver

The morning after the wedding, we headed to Denver to see my mom and celebrate my stepbrother, Seth's, birthday. I spent most of the night taking pictures of my adorable niece, Zoe. With her big brown eyes and wild blonde hair, she is going to be such a heartbreaker! Seth better watch out!

Happy 4th and Wedding in Cheyenne

Rod and I carpooled with our good friends Joanna and Clem and their dogs Sasha and Illy to Erin and Sam's Fourth of July Wedding in Cheyenne. Sasha and I cuddled up in back while Clem listened to his bar review courses.


Although I was pretty stressed about our wedding at this point. I would not have missed Erin and Sam's wedding. Erin and I have been friends for nearly eight years now. We actually met in the locker rooms at the HPER after she had finished a swim and I had, had my first kayak rolling session with Rod. I recognized Erin as one of the new 1Ls. After that we hung out at bar review and started mountainbiking together. She is so much fun and an incredibly happy and nice person. That same year, I was a teaching assistant for a Legal Writing class and Sam was one of my students. He was so nice, but pretty quiet. It wasn't until he started dating Erin that I saw his wild side. :) Erin, Sam, and I care a common love of travel and sushi, so we get together (less frequently than we would like) to share our stories.

The wedding was so beautiful. It was at Erin's parent's house in Cheyenne. Erin looked absolutely stunning! And you could see from the looks on their faces how in love they are. The ceremony was both emotional and entertaining. The Judge performing the ceremony was quick-witted and couldn't resist sharing the story of how Erin and Sam had forgotten to get their marriage license until their rehearsal at 4:30 the day before the ceremony, when the office issuing licenses closed at 4:45 that day. They had bolted from the rehearsal and made it to the office at 4:43.

They also managed to work the Declaration of Independence into their vows. The ceremony was followed by a delicious BBQ, loads of beer, music, dancing, and, at the end of the night, fireworks in the distance.







Since, Joanna, Clem, Rod, and I were camped out in the backyard (within stumbling distance), we were recruited to help put together all the last minute details. It was really reassuring to me to see how the complete chaos in the morning turned into such a beautiful wedding in the evening. It gave me hope that I may just be able to pull it off myself. :)

For their honeymoon, Erin and Sam are taking an 18-month biking trip through Asia and Eastern Europe. I am so excited for them and can't wait to read about all their adventures.

It's Official

Thursday, before leaving for our friends´wedding in Cheyenne, we made a quick trip to get our marriage license. After confirming that we were not married to someone else (despite popular belief, we frown on polygamy in Utah)and that we were not cousins, it was official.

Ten Years

Wow . . . my head is spinning with the events of the last week. I cannot believe we are married! We are on our honeymoon now. While I wait to see all the pictures (and of course post them for you), I thought I would try to catch up on all the things that happened that I was too busy to write about because of all the wedding planning. I left off with my ten year reunion . . .

I can't believe it has been ten years since I graduated from high school! Before heading to the reunion, Carley and I (and our significant others) met Courtney and her boyfriend Noah in their room. We were having so much fun catching up with each other that we almost forgot to go to the reunion. We were one of the last people to arrive (but the first to hit the bar according to the bartender). After dinner, we sent the boys to have some male-bonding time while we caught up with our classmates.

It was nice to hear what everyone had been doing. As for me, it is hard to believe that ten years has passed, but I feel like I have crammed a lot into them. I have visited 23 countries, lived and studied in two of them, have two post graduate degrees (JD/MBA), have worked for a United States Senator in D.C., a Utah Supreme Court Justice, and am working for one of the best firms in SLC. And now I have met (and married) the man of my dreams. I can´t wait to see what the next ten bring.

After the reunion, we headed back to Court´s room to flip through all the pictures she brought, reminisce about the last ten years, and to enjoy the beautiful view of the greenbelt . . . that is until we got the sprinklers turned on, on us at about 1 a.m. Just like old times!

I'm a rising star

Click here

A Family Shower

The last weekend in June was my ten-year reunion. During my trip home, my mom and sister threw me a shower for the Tomchak-Reeder side of the family and my friends still living in Idaho. Most of the people at the shower I had not seen in years. My Aunt Julie came all the way from New Hampshire. Her youngest, Melanie, and my cousin's oldest, Kaylee, were instant friends.

Sheralin-lin Hamberlin (now Summers) also came even though she had three kids waiting at home. I haven't seen her for over five years!






It meant so much to me that all of you took time out of your lives. It was so fun to see everyone.

Girls Poker Night

Kimmie is the hostess with the mostess. I have never been to her house where she has not had every detail planned to perfection. Last week, she invited a bunch of us girls over for poker night. Much to my surprise, she whipped out the mojitos and peni (sp?) as soon as I arrived.

It was a theme that ran throughout our evening. :) It was such a fun way to spend a Monday night.


DeeAnna Hafen* and Kim Strand enjoying their drinks.



Kara carefully examining her cards.

*Names have been changed to protect identity.