Vegas to Fiji...The Time of Our Lives!

After saying good bye to most of our family and friends on Monday morning, we had about a day and a half to roam around Las Vegas by ourselves and just relax.  We did have one appointment with the photogarapher but that only lasted about an hour.  We got some lunch, did some shopping, took a nap, had dinner at Shanghi Lilly (part of our wedding package!) and did some gambling.  Mostly though we just spent some time together.

More Yummy Food!

On Tuesday we had breakfast in bed (also a perk of our wedding package), did some more last minute Vegas shopping and then headed off to the airport to catch our plane to LAX.  After spending some time at the airport we boarded our plane for the Fiji and took off around 11:00 PM on Tuesday night.  Ten hours later we arrived in Nadi, Fiji at about 5AM Thursday morning. Where did Wednesday go?

A one hour car ride and we were at our resort in paradise...Day one we relaxed and made some arrangements for later in our stay.  We capped off our first day with a wonderful dinner and champagne and night cap brought to our room by our butler EVERY night!

Just a day in Paradise!

Champagne anyone?

A Night Cap as Well!

Our first big adventure was on Friday when we headed across the street to the Eco Park to check out some of the local wild life.

Hey who's this guy

Randi found three of them

On Saturday we enjoyed a nice day at the Bebe Spa together.  Bebe means butterfly.  Then dinner and a show.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day of tappas for lunch, a dip in the pool, and dinner and a show again.

Mmmm Tappas for two!

Whoa

Monday we finally ventured off the Resort and went White Water Rafting.  A 2 hour bus trip there, Four hours on and in the water, and 2 hour bus trip back and we were wiped out.  We did manage to meet a nice couple from LA along the way.

What a view!

New Friends...Mark and Kristen

Tuesday back on a Bus for 90 minutes to a local village for some Kava, a traditional drink given as a gift of thanks that tastes a lot like dirty dish water.  After the village we were on to a cave where some cannibals once used to hang out.

Kava...doesn't taste good!

Cannibal oven!

Wednesday saw a day trip to Fiji's capital city and some shopping.

Thursday was checkout day, but with a late flight we were able to check out then hang around the Resort.  While still there we managed to get a cooking class in and on last dip in the pool.  An hour car ride to the airport and we were on our way home.  10 more hours and we were again at LAX at noon on Thursday...again.  One more quick flight to Hobby Airport and our whirlwind two weeks was over...

A Kiss in Fiji!

Now what ever should we do???

THE Big Day!

Sunday January 9, 2011

After Seven Months of planning, organizing, ordering, trying on, comparing, packing, and of course compromising the day we had waited for was finally here.

After bidding adios to my beautiful bride to be and sending her off to stay the night with Tricia I headed down to the casino floor to hang with my family and friends.  After giving $20 to a video poker machine and $30 to a slot machine, two beers and some fun chatter I finally headed up to bed around 1:30 AM…I think I eventually fell asleep some time after 3 though.   

I woke up around 6:00 AM got up, got dressed and headed out…to be totally honest the next 4 hours are a blur in my memory…I do recall sharing a muffin with my dad, having coffee with my mom and a mimosa with Jackie and Brody.  From 10 until 1 I was able to gain some mental relief albeit ultimately disappointing by watching the Chiefs play-off game.  I also had a brief but comforting conversation with my future father-in-law.

Nathan and Chuck

A little before 1:00 PM I headed up to my room to get dressed.  After a shower and shave the first bit of panic set in…not really over anything having to do with the wedding mind you, the room was a mess!  So at 35 years old I am NOT ashamed to admit I called my mommy and dad for help!  20 minutes later, some help with my cuff links, a couple of pictures and I was dressed and the room spotless. 

Thanks for helping Mommy!

I headed to THE Wedding Chapel with Jeff and Kelly but with out the Marriage License (thanks for going back KLo!).   A couple signatures and few more pics in the dressing room and it was Showtime!

The guest were all seated, the Rabbi was in place, I walked my parents to their seats, followed by Jeff and Tricia, then Jason and Julie, then the doors at the back of THE Chapel closed!  The 2^nd wave of emotions hit me.  I knew right then I was EXACTLY were I was supposed to be and I wasn’t going to make it through the next 30 seconds much less the whole ceremony with dry eyes!

The music changed, I could see everyone twist in their seat with anticipation…3 deep breaths and the door opened again…The first person I saw on the other side of the door was Nathan, but then it happened I saw Randi!  I don’t want to say that I was amazed, because that wouldn’t be true.  She looks beautiful every day.  Instead I would say that she looked perfect!  Perfect in the sense that she looked like…Randi!  She is and was beautiful, sexy, elegant, sophisticated, smart, and funny…She is PERFECT!

Isn't she PERFECT?

Our eyes met but only for a moment, I tried to smile but it was difficult through the tears of joy that were pouring down my face.  As she and her parents reached the end of the walkway I could feel myself shaking with anticipation and most likely sweating profusely, it was at that moment that the mood lightened and we both relaxed thanks to the Rabbi’s light hearted comment to Nathan, I took her hand in mine and I knew we were going to get through the day and finally be husband and wife.

It's a good thing the Rabbi had a sense of humor!

The next 30 minutes (it was supposed to 15) went by with three thoughts going through my head.  First, don’t lock your knees.  Second, don’t spill the wine on Randi.  Third, stop messing with the ring right now you can do that later.

Careful that will stain!

The next 4+ hours went by with me walking on clouds, the pictures, the glances, the kisses, the food, the family it was all exactly as we had wanted and hoped it would be.

Randi's Aunts and Uncles

Our Cake ROCKED!

There really are 4 Betts' girls now!

Good Times!

After the dinner many of the party-goers at least made an appearance in our room to have a drink and continue the merriment that had begun with the open bar at dinner.

I'm not sure why we had the suitcase out?

Practicing her new signature

The day had so many emotions and so many chances to take a wrong turn, but it didn’t.  The day turned out exactly how we planned and was the perfect start to the rest of our lives together.

A Huge Thank you to all who attended with us! But an EXTRA BIG Thanks to Nathan and Joan, what you did will always be remembered, I will honor your wish to pay it forward (I don’t know how yet but I will figure it out, that I promise!)

The beginning of our Lives Together!

Next Stop Fiji!

We are SOOO sorry for the delay on these updates...

Here are the two days before the BIG Day...These were actually written while we were on our honeymoon....

Friday January 7, 2011

As we loaded up Tricia’s (soon to forever be known as the Dish) VW we were met with our first obstacle.  We couldn’t get the trunk closed!  After a few minutes this early crisis was solved and we were on our way!

Shortly after arriving and The Mandalay Bay Hotel we put our luggage in Randi’s parents room (We couldn’t check until after 11) and were off, we were whisked away by limo to the Marriage License Bureau to get our License.

Aren't we so cute?

After the License was taken care of we returned to the hotel and finally checked in, then it was off to check on some details for the big day.

Once the details were ironed out, it was time to relax a bit before all the chaos could ensue.  We were joined by Tricia and off we went to have some dinner at the Russian restaurant Red Square, where we started the meal with some uniquely flavored Vodka Martinis (shaken not stirred).  The drinks were followed by some divine entrees, Flat Iron Steak for Tricia, Salmon for Randi, and Lobster and black Truffle linguini for me.  The meal was capped off by decadent dessert.

Yummy Martinis!

Saturday January 8, 2011

While Randi and her mom enjoyed a relaxing morning at the Spa with pedicures and visit in the eucalyptus steam room, Chuck enjoyed breakfast with mom, Jackie, and little Brody before burning off some pent up adrenaline at the cardio center.   A meeting was arranged for all at the minus 5 bar for Noon, where our friends joined us in a toast.  Oh did we mention, in a room minus 5 degrees made of nothing but ice, including our glasses. Jeff, was the ice tasty?  Thankfully the seats were lined with fur and parka jackets and gloves were given to wear.  Funny, Kelly, the only fully raised Iowa girl was the first to bail!  

Thankfully a quick comfortable meeting with the Rabbi (was slightly worried – but as long as he was a Rabbi with legal signing power and showed up – was most important), before meeting everyone at the buffer for dinner.   That would be EVERYONE…all 33 of us for the first time enjoying a meal together before the majority of the group headed to The Mirage, for Cirque d’Soleil  Love, the Beatles music show.  A show full of great music and wild colors, fantastic acrobatics, from a group of legends!  A late night stroll past the Bellagio fountains to the tune of Star Spangled Banner before heading back to the Mandalay Bay to kiss goodnight and say goodbye until we meet again to be married.

Until we meet tomorrow!

Next Up the Big Day!!!

HAPPY 2011!!!!

Last night we drove over the the SW part of Houston to do our first "run" of 2011.  At the stroke of midnight we took off on a 5K course that weaved through a neighborhood along with 473 other crazies and began our 2011 doing something together that we both enjoy.  It was a blast and we look forward to doing it again in 2012.  I apologize for the way this looks visually I am still learning all the tricks to blogging!

Before the Race!

After the Race!

Some Obligatory Resolutions...

Chuck: I resolve to: become more assertive; connect with my family more; be the best husband I can be for 357 days (we don't get married until 1.9.11)

Randi: I resolve to: be less grumpy in the morning (Chuck wrote this)

Together: We resolve to: run at least one race a month (sorry Rae we stole yours from 2010, but we loved the idea); not to eat any deep fried foods, gonna be tough! No falafel at our favorite Mediterranean place, No crab rangoon when we do Chinese, and No Fries from Chik-fil-a (good thing we ate there yesterday)

We wish everyone a Happy New Year! Stay tuned some BIG news later in the week!

Welcome to a life lived in Texas!

Well here it goes...Welcome to OUR blog...That would be Randi's and mine, something tells me I will be doing most of the writing but that is OK by me...This came about at the request of my sisters, it was something I was thinking about anyway so after some serious thought and deliberation I decided to go ahead with it...What is this gonna be about you might ask...Well I'll tell ya...My sisters' blogs all had a beginning theme and purpose, so I felt as though I wanted to have a general direction as well...The general idea is going to be to give updates and share life experiences of a Jersey girl and Iowa boy living in Texas during their first year of marriage (1.9.11)...If you are going to be a frequent flier with us some other things you can look forward to this year...Baseball, Football, 1/2 Marathons, Grad School (MEd. and PhD.) Nephews (no Nieces yet), Traveling and some other things that will come up along the way...so sit back and  I hope you enjoy...