Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter

Before I begin the wedding report, just asking for prayers for the Chase family as my Grandpa Chase passed away this last Wednesday. Even though we are miles apart, Mike and I want to send our love and support to my family and all who have been touched by Bill Chase's life! We love you and this is definitely a difficult time for all of us! Hugs!!

___________________________________________________________

WEDDING

It was definitely the best day of my life!(hopefully Mike agrees!? :)) There is nothing that went wrong, from my perspective...it was everything we hoped it would be. Every day since the wedding, I find myself daydreaming and always thinking back to the events of September 18, 2009. Here's a summary of events:
* Mike left for Ocean City on Wednesday to obtain our marriage license and spend time with some friends that were already in Ocean City.
* Mom and I left on Thursday morning, picked Emilie up from the airport, and got to OC around 4pm.
* We pretty much spent 2 hours in the hotel lobby greeting people as they arrived to Ocean City. We congregated in the hotel restaurant/bar for the majority of the evening as people continued to arrive. We both went to our rooms around 11pm Thursday night...Mike stayed in his own room and I stayed with Mom.
* I didn't really sleep a wink the entire night. I wasn't really nervous but I kept thinking of everything that had to get done the next day. Around 5:30am, I started not feeling well...as in dry-heaving and nauseous. Mom and I ordered some room service to get some food in my system. Beth popped some popcorn and I munched on that to get more food into my body. I make it sound like I wasn't eating and that's true but it wasn't intentional...Thursday was such a busy day so I didn't think to eat much. I jumped in the shower around 8:15am. We left the room around 9am as I was still extremely nauseous and needing to hurl. Robin(Mike's sister) gave me a pop tart and I think that's what healed me for the day.
* At 9am, we worked on decorating the reception hall -- Thanks to everyone who helped!! It turned out beautiful!
* At 10:30am, we had rehearsal on the beach and at 11:30 we had our bridal party/family lunch on the beach at Seacrets.
* We were done with the lunch by 1:15pm and we had to be ready by 3pm for pictures. The girls took over Mike and my suite and got busy getting ready. Emilie curled my hair and Beth did my makeup. We didn't have much time to get ready but we were ready to go by 3:15pm or so.
* Pictures started in the "Guy's Room" and then the photographer came to the "Girl's Room." Mike and I saw each other for the first time on the hotel beach. Then the bridal party jumped into vehicles and headed to the boardwalk and ocean side beach for more pictures.
* We got back to the hotel around 5:15pm and started family/formal pictures.
* We were done with pics by 6:15, then waited as all the guests arrived. The ceremony was at 6:45pm on the hotel's beach and then the reception was from 7-11pm. The reception was super duper fun and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.
* Mike and I left the reception around 11:15pm while many others kept the celebration going by heading to Seacrets for the remainder of their evening.

It was such an amazing day! It was very busy but it was a perfect day! Our families, bridesmaids, and groomsmen made the day fantastic...everyone was so helpful and I was so grateful that there were so many people willing to help! I know I sent many people on "wild goose chases" and they willingly took the task. It was a blessing to have our family, bridal party, and wedding guests there to celebrate such an amazing day.
Thank you also to those that weren't able to attend the celebration ~ thank you for keeping us in your thoughts, in your prayers, for your cards, gifts, and well-wishes!

I hope all newly-wed couples feel like we do when they get/got married...words really can't describe how amazing life is right now.

Finally, thank you to my fabulous husband! You are truly an amazing person and I'm so excited to continue our life together in marriage forever. I think we said on our honeymoon that are goal is 75 years of marriage, right??...that would make me 103 years old. :) Can't wait for our next honeymoon! Love you Mike!

Hope to post pics soon(if you're on Facebook, you can check some out that our family and friends have posted~when we get ours from the photographer, I'll get some posted)...I will soon provide a run-down of the honeymoon!

love is in the air...

We're off to get married...see some of you in the next few hours and I'll see some of you back here on the blog when all the events are over. I'll have a full report.
77 degrees, partly couldy, 20% chance of rain...I'll TAKE IT!!

5 years

While 9/11 for most across the world brings memories of New York and the acts of terrorism that occurred, it also brings a small celebration to the Hansmeyer/Carpenter household. Yesterday was Mike and my five year anniversary, not to mention 7 more days until we get a new date to celebrate our anniversary. Five years down, many many many more exciting years and adventures to come.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families who lost their loved one's in 9/11!

and the countdown continues...

Only 9 days until the wedding!! The projected temperature on the 18th is 80 degrees and partly cloudy with a 20% chance of rain. I would really like that weather on our wedding day ~ let's hope it doesn't change too much.

Happy Wednesday!

fish tank anyone?

I stole this picture from one of my girlfriends but it is too unbelievable not to show others. This is a picture of someone driving down the beltway at 60-65 mph with one of their back doors open and a fish tank hanging out. Each time I look at this picture, I cannot believe...who in their right mind would do this? Not to mention, certainly you would pass some sort of law enforcement on your drive...seriously someone you know has a truck or SUV that you could have borrowed.

In other news, Mike and about 50 guys(ok, that's an exageration...probably 15 guys) went to Atlantic City, NJ for his DC/MD Bachelor party. I'm sure he'll have many stories to tell tomorrow when he gets home.
But, the party starts for me on Saturday morning. I get a second bachelorette party with my DC/MD peeps in Baltimore. I don't have 15 but I have 3 exceptional ladies that I'll be spending the weekend with and I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm getting picked up at 11am on Saturday and brought home by 3pm on Sunday.
Wedding plans are come together nicely. As of tonight, I think everything is ready except some of the perishable items we will have to pick up closer to the wedding date. I'm darn ready to be married to Mike!! I'm also darn ready to not have to think about wedding stuff anymore. And I'm darn ready to see my family and friends!!! Not to mention the week long honeymoon we get to enjoy. I'm so excited for the all the events that will occur in a week and 8 days!! (doesn't that sound better than 2 weeks and 1 day?)