We Won't Be Homeless

Well we've had a chance to spread the word a little amongst our family and friends, but, we've got more big news!  We decided many months ago that we would try and look for a condo in the city this summer so we could try and close in August.  Well, at the end of June, we started looking.  After what seemed like 3 VERY long weeks, we found a place that had just about everything we wanted in a condo!  We made an offer that went back and forth a few times, but eventually we came to an agreement with the seller.  We had a really good home inspection and appraisal.  We're waiting for the final approval on our mortgage, and if all goes well, we'll be closing on August 28th.  We're both REALLY excited about this for so many reasons.  If you want to help us pack and move, you know how to reach us!

Website Photos

Due to popular request (sort of), I started adding more photos based on some of our blog entries.  Previously, there were only links to additional photo pages in the blog entry itself.  Now you can just go to the Photos section of our site, and there are links to the additional photo pages.

South Dakota Road Trip

It's been over a week since we've posted, so for all the avid readers, our apologies!  The good news is that we have LOTS to write about.  We'll try and space it out over a few days.

Last weekend, Mary and I drove (yes, drove) out to South Dakota.  One of my best friends from college was getting married in Spearfish Canyon.  The drive one-way is just under 1000 miles.  Fortunately for me, Mary and I did a pretty good job of splitting up the driving duties.  We left on Thursday morning and drove through Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota all the way to Mitchell, SD (about 630 miles).  On Friday morning, we went to the world's only Corn Palace before hitting the road again.  The first really cool scenic view was crossing the Missouri River.  Shortly after that we drove through the Badlands and stopped several times to take pictures.  At the end of the loop through the Bandlands, we stopped at the famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD to pick up a wedding card, then we headed into the home stretch for the last 115 miles.

Surprisingly, the drive out went by pretty quickly, although that could have had something to do with the fact that whenever Mary drove, I slept!  Good thing she had her iPod for company (she's such a good sport!).  We arrived at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge just in time for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  It was great to finally meet my friend's fiance, as they had previously lived in Montana together.  We also got to catch up with some other good friends of mine from college, who will be at our wedding next month!

The wedding ceremony was perhaps the shortest in history at just under 10 minutes.  It probably would have taken about 20 minutes, but being an outdoor wedding and due to the storm that rolled in just before the bride was to walk down the aisle, it had to be cut short.  Fortunately, she was very calm and easy-going, so she seemed to have not been phased by the turn of events at all.  We finished the ceremony indoors with a hymn and a sand ceremony before having cocktails and moving to the reception across the street.  It was another great opportunity to relax and enjoy a fun wedding and get even more excited for our big day!

Sunday morning, we went up to see Bridal Veil Falls, went to mass, then stopped in Deadwood to have lunch with friends.  Afterwards, we hit as many sites as we could!  First we stopped at Pactola Lake for some pictures on the way to Mt. Rushmore.  Mt. Rushmore is just amazing.  Mary commented that it just didn't look real.  It's hard to imagine anyone being able to create such a realistic representation of four of our great presidents on the side of a mountain.  We had a quick bite to eat there before driving further south to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  This mountain carving is not nearly as complete as Mt. Rushmore, but the story behind it is equally impressive.  The last part of our scenic tour was through Custer State Park.  The park was really amazing, and while we didn't see any bison, we did see several Pronghorn Antelopes, which didn't seem to be bothered by our presence.

After our tour of southwestern South Dakota, it was back to Rapid City to drop off the tuxedos.  By the time we were ready to hit the road again, it was already 5:30pm and we still had 400 miles to go!  We finally arrived in Worthington, MN around 1:30am.  Since we were on the road so late, we didn't get started on Monday until around 10:30am.  After another 500 miles, we made it into the city just in time to pick up Bentley at the kennel at 7:00pm.  Phew! 

Although we were really looking forward to this trip and had a great time, we were both very relieved that it's now in the past.  All the big items for our wedding are done.  We have no more vacations or out-of-town trips planned (except for a work trip next week for me).  We should just be able to take care of the little things and enjoy our time before our own wedding is upon us!

Due to the large number of pictures we took on this trip, I posted several on our South Dakota Road Trip page.

Washington Recharge

Mary and I spent this past weekend in Spokane, Washington for the highly anticipated wedding of Linda (Mary's cousin) to Pedro.  We'd been looking forward to the trip for months for many reasons.  It gave us a chance for a nice break from all the hectic activities that are wedding planning.  It also gave us a chance to spend some time with Mary's parents and extended family.  There are too many great pictures from this trip to include in my already-long post, so I created a separate page just for them here.

We flew from Chicago to Seattle last Thursday night, a four hour flight.  We then drove a rental car from Seattle to Spokane, a four and half hour drive.  Needless to say, it took a little while to get there!  We also had the pleasure of sharing the weekend with several thousand basketball players and fans.  Considering their numbers, though, it was only a minor inconvenience on our weekend.

On Friday, we met Mary's parents for a late breakfast at their hotel, which was very nice by the way and where the reception was to occur.  First on the agenda was a winery tour and tasting at Arbor Crest, just 15 minutes from downtown Spokane.  The grounds were really amazing.  I think we spent more time looking around and taking pictures than we did during the actual tasting!

After buying a few bottles of wine, we headed back downtown.  We drove around looking for good views of the Spokane Falls and ended up at Anthony's restaurant for dinner with a spectacular view of the falls!  Although we took several pictures, here we spent more time inside than out.

After dinner, Mary and I went back to our hotel to relax.  All the eating and drinking wore us out!  Later that night, we met up with some of the bridal party for post-rehearsal-dinner drinks for more catch-up time.  It was at this point that Mary discovered the Huckleberry Riesling.  More on that in a bit.

Saturday was the wedding.  The ceremony was really nice at the church right on Gonzaga's campus.  To kill some time after the ceremony, we went with Mary's parents to one of the restaurants at their hotel.  This is when I discovered the Huckleberry Riesling!  This wine was really good.  We kept saying that we had to find out where to get it.  A couple of glasses later it was time for the reception.  I'll let Mary talk more about the wedding ceremony and the reception, but I can say that it was a really good time.

Sunday morning, we met up with some of Mary's family for breakfast at the hotel.  Afterwards, Mary and I walked around town for a bit, stopping occassionally to watch a basketball game.  We eventually found ourselves on the Riverfront Park Skyride going right over Spokane Falls.  As you can see from the pictures, this could have been the best $7/each we spent in a long time!

After walking around for a bit, we went back to the hotel to meet up with Mary's parents.  Mary was able to find out that the Huckleberry Riesling was from a winery called Latah Creek, which was only 10 miles away from downtown Spokane!  With that new discovery, the four of us were off again.  The scenery wasn't nearly as impressive as Arbor Crest, but the wine was great.  So great, in fact, that Mary and I bought a whole case of wine :)

We closed out Sunday evening with one last dinner at the hotel, went to Sunday evening mass, then had a last drink and dessert with some of the family.  Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and began the four and half hour drive back to Seattle, not without stopping at Snoqualmie Falls, though.  Another four hour flight from Seattle and a short cab ride, and we made it back to the city around 10:30pm last night.

It was one of the best trips I've had in a long time.  The scenery was amazing, the time with Mary's family was great, and wine was awesome!