Pat's Unofficial Wedding Blog

Well, it is official. Kim and I are officially and legally hitched! Our wedding was simply awesome, to say the least!

It was such an amazing feeling to see so many of our wonderful family and friends as I walked out of the back door. It was an even more amazing feeling when the doors opened and Kim walked down the aisle with her father. I was warned by multiple people to make sure my knees were not locked as I stood up there. I did my best not to lock my knees, but I had to think about that during the ceremony. Unbelievably, seven little children serving as our ring bearers and flower girls made it down the aisle without any tears or tantrums. They were adorable and it was so special to have all of them involved. Only one jelly bean was sacrificed during the children's walk in. Naturally, I had to speak slightly early and provide premature vows, but that is just how sure I am about our marriage! The harp and viola were absolutely awesome and the beautiful music and wonderful people surrounding me made it quite difficult to keep my emotions inside.

Once we arrived at the reception, my nerves had calmed significantly, and a cold beer was waiting for me at the entrance of the country club. The ball room where the reception took place, was not quite ready for us, so we sat with our wonderful coordinators in the front lobby and soaked in the moment. Once people sat down, our grand entrance was also quite memorable. The band that performed at the reception was top notch and we have seen them on multiple occasions. They learned our first dance for us and it was awesome! I spoke with them after the reception and told them how impressed everyone was. The best part about that band is how incredibly nice everyone really is. We did have a chance to eat a few bites of our food, but both of us were anxious to meet and greet all of our guests. I did not even have time to absorb the beauty of the flowers, cakes, and other decorations. I believe we were able to talk to almost everyone at the reception, but I have a feeling we missed a few. Although I did not personally witness the attack, rumor spread quickly that my 3 year old nephew, Sean, stuck his hand down one of our bridesmaid's dresses. Following this violation, it has been photo documented that Sean was on the stage with the band as one of the horn players held him in the air.

Our friends from church danced crazily as always, among many other family members and friends. I even was in the middle of a tambourine dance off with one of my buddies, but as of now, no documentation has been provided. During the course of the reception, I probably took 5 drinks out of 4 different beers that were brought to me. The cake cutting was a lot of fun and I was strictly warned prior to the reception that I was not to place any frosting on Kim's face. Naturally, I was scared and kept this advice in mind as she put frosting on my nose. After that, we danced a few more times and then like a flash, it was time to leave the reception.

So many members of our family and friends lined up on the stairs at the Austin Country Club holding sparklers. The scene was magical, as we stepped into the white Bentley that was reserved for us. The driver was very nice and drove us to Amy's Ice Cream, where we enjoyed a milk shake while still wearing our wedding attire. We drove around downtown a bit and looked at Christmas lights and then proceeded to our downtown honeymoon suite at the Driskell Hotel. Our suite was amazing! It had high vaulted ceilings and contained a balcony that overlooked the famous 6th Street in Austin. A hot tub and shower that could potentially fit 6 people was in the bathroom.

The pre-wedding festivities, wedding ceremony, reception, and honeymoon suite were absolutely overwhelming in such a good way. I would not change anything if I could and I am sad that this experience is behind us, but the memory will remain strong forever.

Patrick

Thanksgiving night & Black Friday by Kim

Ever notice how exhausted you are after Thanksgiving? This year was no different, but this time even our dog Brinkley was pretty pathetic. We decided that it would be a good social experience to take her on Austin's 5 mile Turkey Trot. After seeing how beat she was after the Turkey Trot, I realized how out of shape our poor little black and white dog is. Here's a snap shot of her during the Texas A&M/t.u. game Thanksgiving night, and as you can see she was not a party animal that evening.

On Thanksgiving Day Patrick & I decided to check out all the Black Friday ads, and plotted our course for Friday morning. Neither of us had really gotten out on Black Friday, but we decided that the prices were worth the trouble of the crowded stores and drivers that don't pay attention. We also decided that we would not be starting at 5AM, but if it was in the cards everything would still be there at 8AM.

Our first stop was Home Depot, for my parents Christmas present, and we were surprised and energized that Home Depot was not crowded at all. So we headed to our second stop Sears, which was a different story. Sears was crowded with people just like us, looking for just two specific items and doing what it took to make that purchase at a 50% discount ( aggressive shopping at its finest). We made it out alive, but not without having to unpack our Christmas present to ourselves in the loading area in order to fit in Patrick's Fusion. We made a couple of other stops, that will remain nameless to protect the privacy of family's Christmas presents, but our final stop was Target. When we arrived people were acting like wolves at the $5 DVD display, but that was one thing on our list. So Patrick started looking for the DVD's that he wanted, and I did the same. The only issue was that we couldn't find Happy Feet, but just as Patrick yelled across the 12ft long display, a Target employee came we a basket full of DVD's. As instinct would have it all the women swarmed around this poor lady, including me. Sure enough there was one Happy Feet DVD in her basket, and I was able to grab it before everyone else. After everything was purchase, Patrick and I started to talk about how much money we had dropped in less than 3 hours and decided that it was time to head home. We had a car full, even after dropping one load at the house earlier that morning. I will have to say Black Friday shopping is a lot of fun, but I still don't think it's worth waking up at 4 AM for those "door buster" sales.

Kim's thoughts on Pre-Christmas festivities

Because the big day is just around the corner, we had to prepare a little earlier than usual for the Christmas holiday. In my family we have always cut down a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving (usually right before the Texas A&M game). This year was a little different, since the wedding is the weekend after Thanksgiving, we had to start decorating before Thanksgiving.

Patrick knew how important having a live Christmas tree was to me, so he called the Christmas tree farm to see if they would let us come out a week before they open on Thanksgiving weekend. They family that owns the farm was nice enough to open their business a week earlier than usual so that we could all get our Christmas trees. So last weekend, Patrick, my dad, and our friend Lucas all went to the Christmas tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree and my parents' tree, while we had a wedding shower at the house.

After both sets of parents left on Sunday, it was time to venture into the attic to get the boxes for the Thanksgiving decorations down and the Christmas decorations down. After about the eighth Rubbermaid tub, I could tell that Patrick was slightly frustrated, since he asked how many Christmas decorations did we need in our little 1300 square foot house. Thank goodness there was just one more!

We pulled all the bins into the house, and Patrick and I agreed that we could only decorate the tree before Thanksgiving, and all other decorations around the house needed to wait until after Thanksgiving. So I went about decorating the Christmas tree, and I heard Patrick rustling through the storage bins. When I turned around I saw that Patrick had pulled out Christmas decorations for the house, and arranged them as he saw fit. This was Patrick's way of decorating (note that this is a set of three letters that should spell J-O-Y, but Patrick thought this fit better). Everyone always said that there is an adjustment period when you move in together, but this just made me laugh. Patrick took the "Yo" down, and is still trying to find a place for the J-O-Y around the house.

Patrick's Thoughts on Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is such an exciting time of year and is likely my favorite holiday time. Overall, nothing quite compares to Christmas, but Thanksgiving is such a wonderful start to the actual holiday season. The holiday season so very special and I have so many things to be thankful for. First off, I am getting married next weekend to the absolute perfect girl. Secondly, I have been blessed with so many wonderful people in my life, including my immediate family, and enormous extended family. I could not ask for better friends and so many of these wonderful friendships continue to grow stronger. I live in a great little house with a crazy black and white dog and friendly snake. I attend a church that has really guided me closer to God and has emphasized the importance of living my life in a way that Jesus would approve. Obviously, I, like everyone else, have a lot to work on in that sense, but I think I am getting better. I am healthy, although I really should work-out a little more, but I am blessed with a healthy life. I work for a great company, that is creatively finding successful strategies during this difficult economic time. I have had the opportunities to visit many states in our great country and to witness a majority of our great state of Texas. So many great people, events, and opportunities have already been part of my short stay on Earth, and I am simply the most blessed person that I know, and I thank God for that! I am excited to find out what God has in store for me next!!

Our First Post

Hello all,



This blog will hopefully be something that Kim and I will both write in at least on a semi-regular basis following our wedding in just a few weeks. Wow, 2008 has been an amazingly busy and rewarding year. Our lives have been dominated by Patrick's crazy work travel schedule, Kim's over-loaded work responsibilities, many fun personal weekend trips, and of course, planning the most perfect wedding.



Planning our wedding has been a primarily positive experience. We believe that we are excellent planners, so that has provided us a more smooth course to follow in planning this joyous occasion. The guest list was likely the most difficult task during this planning session simply because we could not invite everyone we know and their friends as well. Right now we are only two weeks away from our big day and we should be right on course for completing everything we planned and wanted. Multiple people have stepped up and assisted in our efforts and we could not be more thankful!



We are both so blessed with wonderful family and friends and it is going to be so special to see all of them so soon. After a quick weekend with all of our loved ones, we will be departing on Monday for Cancun!! We will be staying at an all-inclusive resort and plan to swim with the dolphins, observe some ancient ruins, snorkle a bit, and enjoy included beverages.

We really hope that we will get better at posting on here, so please bug us if we do not. Have a great day!

Patrick and Kim