MikeR & SuzyB's Courtship, Planning Journal, Wedding, and Disneymoon

[MikeR]

The Holidays are always a busy time for everyone, but a few months back Mike's Mom had an idea to help make things a little less busy in the coming months. Her family lives in Eastern Oregon and she no longer feels comfortable driving over the cascade mountains in winter time so she wanted to get together with her family in mid-October for the best Holiday of the Year: Hallowthanksmas!

Now, Hallowthanksmas is a proud holiday who's traditions date back as far as eight weeks ago. As it's name implies it's a combination of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Mike's Mom, Waynette, would rent a cabin in the beach, and the family would get together and celebrate all the holidays over one weekend. Suzy's father, Alex, and her brother, Mikey, came into town that weekend as it was a good opportunity for him to meet Mike's family.

First Suzy's Dad and Brother got a chance to meet Mike's Dad and Step-Mom

And then Mike, Suzy, Alex, and Mikey set off to meet Mike's Mom's side of the clan in a big lodge on the way to the coast.

The lodge was huge and built in the style of an inanely large log cabin. Suzy's father and her brother, named Mikey, came into town that weekend as it was a good opportunity for him to meet Mike's family.

The next day Mike took his Cousin's kids and Mikey out to ride the various rides at the beach as well as taking them to a aquarium to feed the sea lions.

It was a complete coincidence that this coincided with the main cooking prep-time and Mike ended up not doing much work on this vacation.

A complete coincidence.

Really.

Suzy spent a fair amount of time talking wedding stuff with Mike's cousin's wife and daughter (Mike is never sure what the proper term is for one's cousin's wife):

The family carved pumpkins

Wore pumpkins on their hands as boxing gloves

And proudly displayed the mangled remains of these once proud plants that were now screaming their pumpkin heads off over being cut up and filled with red hot fire

Then it was time for a nice Christmas dinner:

Mike's mother gave everyone money and they had to buy gifts for themselves, had to wrap those gifts, had to bring them to the beach, and most importantly had to act surprised when they were opened.

Mike's niece with her new favorite Christmas toy;

And one of the favorite parts of the holiday, the white elephant exchange. It is believed that this exquisite gift was traded six or seven times:

And because Hallowthanksmas bends space and time, the festivities were ended with making a ginger-bread scary house:

It was agreed that Mike and Mikey's house was the best one, namely because it was the only one that was still standing at the end of the night.

Suzy and Ryan do not necessarily agree with that decision:

All in all it was a great time to spend with the family, and Mike is really glad that Suzy's father and brother got to meet all of Mike's family before the wedding. It also freed up quite a few days this holiday season that Mike and Suzy are going to be using to finish up the plans for their wedding instead of driving all over the place seeing everybody. Mike and Suzy hope that Hallowthanksmas becomes an annual tradition.

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

And proudly displayed the mangled remains of these once proud plants that were now screaming their pumpkin heads off over being cut up and filled with red hot fire.

Mike's niece with her new favorite Christmas toy;

Awwww, so cute!

Great installment. More please.

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i was so happy when i looked on the disboards and saw that "MikeR & SuzyB's Courtship, Planning Journal, Wedding and Disneymoon" was updated! I love the pumpkin boxing gloves!!!

 

[hope1826]

Hiya,

Your PJ is so much fun to read!! It's hilarious and touching all at the same time. If you haven't or aren't in the process of writing a book, you should start. I would definitely read it!! And you two are such a cute couple!

 

[MikeR]

Mike's Bachelor party began the way all good Bachelor parties begin, with the groom-to-be being blindfolded, put in a jump-suit and hand-cuffed.

His buddies thew him in the car and drove him around for a while

Before stopping at a gas-station, taking him out, and having him stand in place for a while, not knowing what was going on while they took pictures of it, as all good friends would

Finally they arrived at their destination:

It was a long way down:

As the Bachelor-Boy, it was Mike's privilege to decide who was going to go first. Being the heedless reckless guy man-without-fear that he is, he chose himself and Mike quickly suited up:

Checked off "Closed Casket/ Organ Donor / No Cremation" on his waiver form:

Got his harness on:

And jumped off to meet his destiny:

Mike had gone sky-diving before, but bungee-jumping was a different matter. It's a very different experience. You fall for a lot less time, but the ground is a lot closer as well.

The jerk up from the bungee is not too bad, and when you come flying up you really feel like you are flying. It seemed like Mike was going to slam back into the bridge, but of course that didn't happen.

The jump-masters were also really cool and weren't above trying to raise the fear level of the jumpers with comments like, "Too bad the regular guys are all sick today and all we have our us interns" or "NO! WAIT! STOP!" just as a guy jumped.

After everyone in the party who wanted to bungee jump had, Mike was once again blindfolded and taken to another destination. This time they took him to a cool out-door paintball field where his brother-in-law Robert met up with them. The group played paintball for about an hour and a half or so, and Mike got some got hits a couple of times as well as got hit good a couple more times.

After that, as it would not be a complete bachelor party unless their were copious amounts of alcohol, food, and women wearing an absence of clothes involved, the remaining group when to an old Portland "dance" club. [Hint, hint. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. Know-what-I-mean, know-what-I-mean.]

Where believe it or not, the most memorable event of the night was Mike having the BIGGEST burger he has ever seen in his life.

He didn't manage to eat more than 1/4th or at maximum 1/3rd of it, but it was actually a very good (5 pound) burger. He will think of the night fondly because of it. Because hey, he watched ladies dancing while getting drunk and eating enough red meat to give a cow a heart-attack, and how can you go wrong with that?

All in all, it was a fantastic bachelor party, and he is really thankful for all the work his best-man Glen put into it. He will remember it for a long time to come.

 

[caryndisneydiva]

Checked off "Closed Casket/ Organ Donor / No Cremation" on his waiver form:

that's just not right...

 

[mla1977]

Wow! They really make you put that down? I guess they just want to make sure that they get all the pieces.

 

[MikeR]

Yesterday, on December 29th, 2007, Mike and Suzy were married in a lovely ceremony in their home town. They had put a lot of work into the wedding, but it was all worth it. Everything went great and it was fantastic to see all their friends, family, and loved ones all together to share their joyous day.

They are leaving for their Honeymoon at Disney World in 12 hours, so while they don't currently have time to write a novella about their wonderful wedding, words, sentences, and even paragraphs will appear about it after they get back.

Best wishes everyone,

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

Congratulations!!!!

Can't wait for you to get back and we can read all about it. Have a great Disneymoon!!!!

 

[caryndisneydiva]

congratulations! self wedding pics are the best! have a great honeymoon!

 

[Bostonbride6292008]

Congrats!

 

[keenercam]

Just awesome!! Congratulations! Enjoy your honeymoon!

 

[lov2b@disney]

Congratulations and Cant wait to here about it and the Honeymoon!!

 

[MikeR]

On December 29th, 2007 Mike and Suzy’s had a wonderful wedding. They had a fantastic time, were very pleased at all their friends and family who came down, and most important of all they got married! Because any wedding in which that happens is, ultimately, a success.

As of today, they have yet to receive the wedding photos or videos, so they are going to jump chronologically from the wedding to the Honeymoon. Screw you Space-Time Continuum!

Now when it comes to photos, Mike has the eagle-eyes of the two. Suzy doesn’t so much have an eagle eye for photos as perhaps a pigeon’s eye, or a sparrow’s eye, or better yet a bee hummingbird (the smallest bird in the world weighing in at just .06 oz) eye for it. So as a result the pictures that you will be seeing are from Mike’s Camera vs. Suzy’s camera at a ratio of 833 to 1. That is not a joke. If it were a joke, you would be laughing now.

The Bride and Groom recovered from their wedding shindig for most of the 30th, and they needed it. By the time noon rolled around they rolled out of bed with it. They took care of a few last minute minor details - like packing for a two week trip. It’s not as if that’s a lot of stuff, right?

Mike’s Mom was nice enough to drive them to the airport

They boarded the plane without too much hassle, and sat back to sleep six straight hours with no interruptions and no waking up on their red-eye flight

Yea . . . sometimes that happens and sometimes that doesn’t. This was the latter and both of them stumbled off the plane like drunk, sleep-deprived zombies.

The stretch limo that Mike had arranged to pick them up was a nice treat.

It was pretty comfortable, but it was a little disappointing that the bar and most of the gadgets on the side were just for looks and they couldn’t actually get a drink in it, but still it was big and roomy and they didn’t have to wait for the bus, so that was relaxing after an uncomfortable plane-ride.

The arrived at the Polynesian Hotel and it was gorgeous.

The scenery and décor just brought a very tropical feeling to the place that was soothing, relaxing, and even a bit exotic. They are also very glad that they checked into the Honeymoon Suit, because if they didn’t get the Honeymoon Suit now, then when could they?

However, the previous occupants hadn’t checked out of it yet. Mike had called before hand and they said the room was not checked out on the 30th, so when they arrived very early on he 31st they should have been able to check in early. But such was not the case. So, Mike and Suzy stumbled to the concierge lounge and got their first treat of the day, their Groom and Bride ears:

Suzy liked her ears. Like, a lot. Like, a _whole bunch_. Like, to an unhealthy degree where Mike was wondering if she was going to start showering in her ears and they would dissolve around her leaving nothing but a pile of white goop on her head that she would still refuse to take off. She never reached that level, but they did end up wearing their ears for the first half of the vacation, so get used to seeing pictures of them wearing wedding attire with giant rodent ears on it.

That being said, for now doesn’t Suzy in her ears look like the cutest most beautiful bride in the whole world that there has ever been ever ever ever ever?

After taking the obligatory picture in front of the Epcot Ball

The Honeymooners went to The Living Seas. It was very early so they just walked right in because sane people were asleep in their beds. But not Mike and Suzy. They were still in Drunk, Sleep-Deprived Zombie mode and chugged along. The ride had changed to be incorporate Nemo elements into it [The writer originally wrote “Emo Elements” before correcting it, and the writer giggled when the writer pictured dark-haired fish with eyeliner make-up on. That is all.].

Mike and Suzy especially liked Turtle Talk With Crush. It was amazing how they did such good animation in real time. Mike only wishes that he would have thought of his question to ask Crush, “We just got married! Do turtles ‘marry’ for life?” before he left the building but that’s just because he’s a big ham who wants to star in every act he sees

The aquarium part of the exhibit was pretty interesting;

and of course, it was cool to watch the Nemo fish which were smaller than expected.

It was getting close to lunch time by now so Mike took Suzy over to the Land mainly because he wanted to see how busy their food area was

and to show Suzy how smart he was for making reservations. Suzy patted Mike on the head and said, “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?” And off they went to eat lunch at the Coral Reef Restaurant.

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

On December 29th, 2007 Mike and Suzy’s had a wonderful wedding. They had a fantastic time, were very pleased at all their friends and family who came down, and most important of all they got married! Because any wedding in which that happens is, ultimately, a success.

As of today, they have yet to receive the wedding photos or videos, so they are going to jump chronologically from the wedding to the Honeymoon. Screw you Space-Time Continuum!

That being said, for now doesn’t Suzy in her ears look like the cutest most beautiful bride in the whole world that there has ever been ever ever ever ever?

The ride had changed to be incorporate Nemo elements into it [The writer originally wrote “Emo Elements” before correcting it, and the writer giggled when the writer pictured dark-haired fish with eyeliner make-up on. That is all.].

Mike! You're back! Loooove your writing. Love reading your writing! Wish I had the entertainer gift you've been blessed with!

I would like to to reiterate the first part about a wedding being a success if the people end up married. Maybe, this should have it's own thread. I think it's a fabulous mantra and that many of us (especially me) need to make it into a catchy little chant that we can repeat over and over like the crazy bridezillas that we are (again, talking about myself here!)

I love when people say "Space-Time Continuum." But it might be b/c I'm the biggest Back to the Future Geek in the World!!!! So, I laughed out loud at that. I looked like this ---> in the computer lab, at school.

Your pictures look amazing. And Suzy is ADORABLE! You guys look sooooo happy. I can't wait to read more, more, MORE!

And lastly the Emo joke!

Thanks for updating!!!!!

 

[hope1826]

YAY!! I hope you two had a great trip.
You are such a cute couple. I can't wait to see more pics and read more of your TR! You are hilarious!!!!!

 

[kramer222]

Welcome back! Can't wait to read the report!

Nate

 

[mommy_2_two]

great TR. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[MikeR]

What are the odds that the Coral Reef Restaurant would be packed on New Year’s Eve?

Oh . . . about a 1 in 1 chance.

As Mike and Suzy were walking up to the restaurants they noticed a guy out front who seemed to be there solely to tell people that they didn’t have any available seats for the entire day. Luckily Mike had made reservations (“Good boy! Good boy!”).

Besides the obvious fact that it was New Year’s Eve at fricken Disney World, why was it so busy? Well, you just can’t beat that view:

Mike and Suzy were given a buzzer and were seated rather quickly on the bottom floor close to the water tank. They followed their servers recommendations and split an appetizer of crab cakes;

It was an enjoyable dish, with a rich creamy sauce, but nothing to write about. Only the author just did that, so please ignore the paradox in the previous sentence.

For their main course they got the Blackened Catfish;

which had a lovely spice and zest to it. Of the two dishes the catfish was definitely the superior one.

Being Honeymooners Mike and Suzy were given a free desert of crème brûlée which would be the first of many free deserts that would help insure tighter pants before the end of the vacation;

It was a very nice meal to start of Mike and Suzy’s Honeymoon. It had the best view of any restaurant they have ever been in and the food was quite a lot better than the raw green beans the author is currently eating for lunch (not a joke – Mmm raw green beans).

 

[MikeR]

> I would like to to reiterate the first part about a wedding being a success if the people end up married. . . .I think it's a fabulous mantra<

Trust me on this, all that planning and what not? Come the day, it'll will all be fine and it will rush by faster than you will believe is possible and you'll look back and go, "Wow, that day was easy and great!"

> Your pictures look amazing.

Thanks! I took some photography classes back in High School, aka When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth.

> And Suzy is ADORABLE! You guys look sooooo happy.

She is and we are!

Cheers,
Mike