Honeymoon!!!

Wow! I am realizing a lot of changes to the way Typepad has the enter-a-new-post thingy set up and it looks different... very.. um... Wordpressy.  Which, may be a good thing?! We'll see.. well, hopefully you get this post!

Michael and I had a WONDERFUL Honeymoon!  Oh my goodness, I get all drooly thinking about it.  We spent 4 days on Anna Maria Island in Florida.  Had I ever heard of said honeymoon location before said honeymoon actually took place?  No.  Would I go back?  Let's just say, I will so metro directly to Reagan Airport right now if that was possible! Maybe SOMEDAY...

Anna Maria was so kind to us.  We had the chance to just RELAX.  We caught up with a lot of Mike's high school/church peeps for another wedding reception the first night we were there, and that was a blast.  It was such an honor to meet all of these people I've heard so much about and I know meant so much to him in such a difficult time in his life, and still mean so much to him - I felt like I already knew and loved these people before I met them! Does that make any sense? Or am I like a ridiculous 1999 Savage Garden song?

Anyway... if I get some pics of that night, I'll share.  Otherwise, you have to settle for the mushy ones we pretty much took of ourselves and our surroundings once we made it to the resort. 

We had so much fun! Lounging by the pool, swimming together in the Gulf of Mexico (with the fish! I'm not even kidding you, they were literally jumping out of the water and over Michael's chest when he was on the float!), we ate at a great little townie pub on the pier, ate at a 5 star restaurant, watched a storm roll in beachside in the dark, and well... I guess that's all I'm at liberty to write about :)

Trust me... it was awesome!

See?

 

Michael likes to joke that this picture is my priorities: Coffee, God, then my husband. I would like to also draw your attention to the napkin and the glade candle - I also consider cleaning and having a good-smelling environment top priorites as well!

Look at that happy husband! This was post-sunscreen and pre-sun! 

 It's hard to beat that feeling of sand in your toes!!

Well y'all... I have more to share, but my boss pretty much said nothing is going on and I can take off if I want to, so PEACE OUT! :)

Have a great weekend, and I'll be blogging more next week! Don't give up on me!
 
 
 
 

My Life is a Chick Flick

I mean seriously.  How many other people do you know who met someone through a chance e-mail.. kept in touch for 8 years, took a chance and got on a plane... dated long distance, then ended up getting married.  On the beach.  On a gorgeous day, Labor Day weekend, surrounded by their friends and family.  Staring at the ocean and into her man's beautiful ocean blue eyes as she said her vows.  My life is totally, utterly (yes I said that) and ridiculously blessed.  I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was the Lord who brought Michael and me together.  I couldn't possibly be more grateful and I can't possibly adequately put how I feel about this whole deal into words. 

Confession:  Blogging about this totally intimidates me!  You really had to be there.  You did.  The love was just oozing all over the place.  There are 900 pictures from our awesome photographer that you can look at here.

But what you really should do is look at the video that my friend Greg shot/edited/produced. (right click on it and click "save as target.") It will be up for a couple more weeks.  If you can't download it, email me.  It is worth the leg work.  Even if you are a random person who I don't even know who reads this blog.  It's my life, yes, but I have watched this video like 100 times and I still can't believe all of this is for real.

Some best of pics from our big day. (Courtesy of Amy)  One month ago today!! Happy Monthiversary, Babe!  There are a million more on Facebook that I still need to save to my computer!

 

 

 
  
  

 
 
  
  

 

Ugh!! There are more pics, but it won't let me post any more :(

Guess I'm at my blog limit for the day anyway!

I have so much more to say about the wedding.. you're going to be totally sick of hearing about it if you aren't already!
 
 
 
 
 

Our Rehearsal Dinner

We had our rehearsal dinner at this Sound access in the town of Nags Head that was just perfect!  It was right at sunset, so it was really beautiful!  Photos by Jess:

  We ate some really good Pigman's BBQ and unfortunately I did not get any of Aunt Tonja's Butterfinger cake but I hear it was to die for... I do know that she is a pretty faithful blog reader, so hopefully we will have more at some point down the road! :) (wink, wink).

After dinner, Michael and I gave out our little gifts.  It was so special for our very best friends to come all the way down/up to the Outer Banks to be a part of our wedding.  It's such a sweet time!

Then... Jarred had me put Michael's "business socks" on him for a special little presentation.  Jarred and Jimmy sang this "It's Business Time" song and it was HILARIOUS.  The funniest thing was Jarred apologizing to his mom every verse.  I thought he made it up, but apparently it's from Flight of the Conchords, which until then, I had never heard of.  I need to find video of this event, because I know it exsists, and you have to see it.  It totally made the night, thank you so much Jarred!!!

Lyrics:

Ahh yeah, that’s right baby
Girl, tonight we're gonna make love
You know how I know baby?
Cuz its Wednesday, and Wednesday night is the night that we make love.
Tuesday night is the night that we go and visit your mother, but
Wednesday night is the night that we make love.
Cuz everything is just right, conditions are perfect.
There's nothing good on TV, conditions are perfect.
You lean in close and say something sexy like " I might go to bed I've
got work in the morning." I know what you're trying to say baby.
You're tryin to say "Ooh yeah, it's business time, it's business time."

Chorus (Both)

It’s business, it's business time!
That’s what your trying to say, your trying to say lets get down to business
its business time.
Its business its business time

Thats what you're tryin to say, you're tryin to say lets get down to
business it's business time! 

Ooh, Next thing you know were in the bathroom brushing our teeth.
That's all part of it. That's foreplay.
Then you go sort out the recycling, that's not part of it but it's still
very important.
Then we're in the bedroom. You're wearing that ugly old baggy
t-shirt from that team building exercise you did for your old work,
and it's never looked better on you.
Mmmhh, team building exercise not tonight. Oh you don't know
what you're doing to me. I remove my jeans but trip over them
cuz i've still got my shoes on, but then I turn it into a sexy dance.
Next thing you know I'm down to just my socks and you know
when I'm down to just my socks what time it is. It's time for
business. It's business time.

Chorus
Its buisness, its business time
You know when I’m down to just my socks its time for business,
that’s why they call them business socks


You know when I'm down to just my socks it's time for business
that's why they call it business socks

Chorus

Ooh, makin love, makin love for two, makin love for two minutes.
When its with me you only need two minutes, cuz I’m so intense
Two minutes in heaven is better then one minute in heaven
You say sumthing like “Is that it?”
I know what your trying to say, your trying to say “Ahh ya that’s it”
Then you tell me you want some more
Well im not surprised, But im quite sleepy.

Chorus 
Its business, its business time
Business hours are over, baby
Its business, its business time.

 
 
 

Pre-Wedding Fun

After my last day at Hearst extravaganza, I immediately hit the road and trekked down 95/64/168 to the OBX, baby!

Once I was there, I unloaded a plethora of wedding stuff into my stepdad's "man cave" and turned it into my wedding workshop!  I thought I had a picture of that, I don't... but trust me, it looked like my wedding threw up all over the place.  There were blue and brown out of town guest bags and all kinds of starfish and sandollars all over the place!

The Friday before the wedding (so last minute, I know, I know) Michael came down and we went to Manteo to get the MARRIAGE LICENSE (cue the choir of angels!).  The trip was quite stressful because apparently Dare County, NC built an entire new court complex and forgot to tell my GPS... but we got it done.  See?

Yay, we're here for our marriage license!  Hand us those forms, we'll happily fill them out!

Seriously!!!

Like the Tom Petty song... "the wai-aiting is the hardest part."

I am looking large and in charge here.  Whoa.

 Yay!!! We are all official.  And yes, we are the couple who convinces the poor woman who works at the Regiser of Deeds' office to pose for a pic with us.

This is actually pretty fitting that I post this today, because I just received the copies of our license in the mail the other day and this week I plan to complete my name change.  I will officially be Dana Brown Ritter soon, that's crazy, right?

While we were getting our marriage license, my stepdad's mom. a.k.a Mrs. Floyd, was drowning in our flowers.  We ordered blue hydrangeas and white roses and that green stuff (can't remember what it's called anymore) from samsclub.com and they were so beautiful!!! We saved a ton of money, yay!

 My mom's good friends Martha and Debbie (they're actually both Debbies but we won't go there) put together all of our bouquets and the centerpieces and as you'll see.. they were so gorgeous!  I made a million trips up and down the steps that night putting the flowers in the fridge.  That was the best use of me because these flower-arranging ladies were out of my league!

That night I went out for a semi-last night of singleness with my mom's girlfriends.

We had so much fun.  Paris was a hoot!  Too bad I left my little glass on the table :(  I had a little "bride to be" pin that lit up and everything.  I was like a little ambulance.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bye, Bye Old Job

September 2nd, I said goodbye to my good friends at Hearst Television.  I enjoyed working there over the last two years, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm already thoroughly enjoying sleeping when it's dark!

I seriously had the best send-off, ever.  People in various time zones and states had cupcakes in my honor! Proof:

 

 
That's not even all!  It was amazing!  I felt sooooo incredibly loved.  I worked with an awesome group of people, in DC and across the country, and the fact that cupcakes were being consumed in my honor across the United States brought me great joy!

The celebrations in DC were pretty "sweet" too.  (Nikole will love that cheesy play on words!)

Joe made me a cake of Lemony Awesomeness.  It was grand.

Lavina made Bye Dana BrownIES.  (turn your head upside down and look closely)

And... the greatest love of all....

 My very own SNUGGIE!!! I have dreamed of owning one of these since Inauguration Day when I froze my booooty off.  Nikole and Lavina hooked me up.  Zebra style, no less!

'twas snuggariffic! 

I wore it for the rest of the day.  Not even kidding you.  Control room snuggie:

 

And to the morning meeting.  You see how I bring massive amounts of laughter to morning editorial meetings?  I will be missed.  What a great group of people.  I was so blessed to work with them.  It was fun covering all kinds of big stories like the election, the Pope coming to town, the economy tanking... It was remarkable.  Times I'll never forget.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Shhh.. I'm back.

I have been DYING to jump back into this blog, people.  Believe it or not, I do actually love to blog.  I just don't have time.  Well... I do, really.  Now.  I do know of a time that will be good for blogging, but first, I feel like I have to catch up a little.

I can't believe it's been like a month and a half.  I know I will leave tons of stuff off but here are some highlights of the past few weeks..

I finished my old job.  Started a new one.  Got married, went on a honeymoon, moved and did a pretty major home improvement project.  I think that's pretty good for the basics. 

Deets & pics to follow, in chronological order, and then hopefully I can blog with a clear conscience!

Little Brother!

This past weekend, I road tripped it down to Virginia Beach for a super quick visit with my little brother, Chris.

He's back from Iraq! And now he's in Ranger school.

He has so impressed me with how much he's grown up in the last year!

Chris is 28 today (which is totally crazy).

Please keep him in your prayers.  We're so proud of him!!

Family pic.  Yay.  We are hot, no?

The Bachelorette!

I'm not really one for wearing a veil and a tank top with life savers on it and going clubbing... so thankfully I have awesome girlfriends who really know me and know what I really like is to get some pampering and some food!

Shout out to Gretchen, Courtney and Becky for the best. spa. day. ever!  And Kim & Shaunequia for being the blasts from the past that they are.

Highlights:

The Pearl spa in Baltimore was AWESOME.

massage.

facial.

food.

friends.

BLISS.

My beautiful blonde friends.

These girls were so much fun to catch up with!  They are BFFs from way back.

Lady in red.  One hot mama, right??

Riding in the way back on the way home after a super fabulous ladies' night!!

More Wedding Shtuff...

I spent most of my time outside of work and work and traveling and traveling... getting my craft groove on, preparing for the wedding.

Here are some of the fruits of my labor:

Hand tied programs.

Thank you for your help Jason, Gretchen & Michael.

And Microsoft... for my free trial of Publisher..

150 little boxes of salt water taffy, for favors.

My little hands have been so busy for the past 3 months.. they should look 85 years old.

Chinese take-out boxes for left over cupcakes.

Ain't these cute?

Champagne toasting flutes.. hand painted.

Yes, I used the word hand again..

Out of town bags to welcome our guests to the OBX!

Kinda blurry... but here are examples of the table numbers and place cards.

It's getting so close, yay!  And everything is falling into place.  Let me just tell you that my mother is amazing.  The tropics better cooperate.

And I need to spend every moment from now until the wedding that I'm not working/painting/moving/driving/crafting working on our slideshow/video.

Major countdown mode!