Wedding Photos III

My Mother's siblings.....
... my mom and I cutting a rug to some Jimmy Buffett

.... thanks Aunt Annie & Mom.

IKEA Injury Report

So we got a new couch... chair... ottoman... coffee tables... broken toe.... and end tables @ IKEA today. I will share one photo today.... the broken toe... the rest will come when we get the living room arranged the way we want.




*Yeah, I droped a coffee table on my foot.... friggin ouch man...

Wedding Cash..... poof!.... gone!....

I am sadly going to ask that this count as my post for the day.... first day back at my home store and I am about beat. Today Amanda spent some wedding money and bought the Duvet cover... Choqua (brown and aqua) stripes with natural accents.... very nice with the brown sheets we already own. She also got me Flight of the Navigator on DVD... that movie kicks ass!

Tomorrow I have rented a van and we will be heading to IKEA to buy a couch and end tables, pick up lamps from Target. We will then be having the cable and internet installed, welcome to last decade Jon! Then we have a UNCC alumni & friends dinner in downtown... getting all dressed up and riding the train in will be fun for the wife and I.

My friend Chuck sent me this picture of W riding a bomb... I liken Dick to be more like Dr. Strangelove but the affect is amazing.

Wedding Photos II

L to R : Chad, Ashley, Dhara, Yours Truely, Amanda the Wifey!!!

Here is one submitted by Ray Henderson (also took the one in the previous post). Thank you, remember, if you got them, send them please!!!

Promenade @ the Prom

Completely off season and off subject... but my cousin just posted a great (and somewhat sad (but I take pride in your courage)) story about her prom experiences from high school. I have had some very unique experiences in my storied prom career.

I was very luckly to have had a warm up every year since my freshman year at the JROTC Military Ball around Valentine's Day. The only one I missed was so I could go with my mom to the Jimmy Buffett concert that I bought her tickets for the previous Christmas. We got to wear our uniforms, buy corsages, and practice picking up the tab for dinner. I took Dhara my freshman year, I took Kelli my Sophomore year, Jimmy Buffett my Junior year, and Ashley my Senior year. It is funny that these three women are still in my life, still great friends.

Here is a picture of Ashley, Dhara, and Emily (mentioned later in the story) at my wedding... we're all grown up now.



My junior year I went to my prom with Kelli. She and I had dated the year prior and I had somewhat struggled to accept the fact that she had moved to Florida and was not my girlfriend. So I saved up money, bought her a plane ticket, I may have even helped her buy her dress. Unlike most teens, I didn't blow ALL of my money on material things, I spent my money on friends as well. This prom was absolutely amazing. We all had so much fun, we slept over at my house and had snacks, watched movies, and I dropped Kelli off at the airport in a blaze of tears as I had realized she was no longer my girl. Despite that bit of heartache, this was one of the best moments in Jon's life.*

Two weeks later I went to Butler's prom with three dates.... they paid for dinner. Uh yeah, I got game.

My senior year could not have been worse. I must premise this tale by acknowledging that my horrible time was completely my fault. So I was going to go to the prom with Ashley. We had been on and off "in like" with each other for about two years. In a fit of raging insecurity I began to date a freshman girl who adored me and gave me all the attention I could have ever wanted. I hurt Ashley really badly. I can't even tell you why. She was the first (non-puppy) love of my life and I was afraid of her... so I ran. (Coward!). So needless to say Ashley informed me she would not be going to the prom with me and who could really blame her. I could not bring my new girl, it just wouldn't be right. At the time I didn't think that we would be together that long (three and a half years later she broke my heart). I was a third wheel to my generous and other best high school friend Emily and her boyfriend Ryan. I drove alone, I sat alone a lot, I dance alone. On the upside I did finish 2nd or 3rd in the prom king court voting and Emily escorted me on the stage to save me some horror. I wore a zoot suit with black and white Dr. Martens and wallet chain (late nineties, that was bad ass then). I got to dance with Ashley during the song "Angel of Mine" and we didn't speak much for over a year after. After the pain heeled and Ashley found a lot of forgiveness, we became friends again. Despite some bright moments, that prom was one of the worst days of my life.

I shared this story with my wife before I posted to ensure that I would in no way hurt her feelings. We discussed how both of our junior proms rocked and the senior proms sucked. We came to the conclusion that it has to do with all the pressure to make the night so unforgetable.

Lesson to all high schoolers should be: Loosen up, it really doesn't matter in the long run!!!

I don't really mean that though, because if it didn't matter in the long run, then one of the worst days of my life wouldn't have happend around prom and one of my top ten days in life wouldn't have happend around prom.*

*my wedding day is #1

Its begining to look a lot like....

CHRISTMAS. Everywhere you go. Amanda (and to a minor extent yours truely) have been confused by the weather. With highs in the mid-50's and leaves on the ground, it is already 10 degrees cooler than your average Charlotte Christmas day. The lite radio station has started their broadcasts of Christmas music. Furthermore, on the way down to Charlotte last week (the 24th) we heard a station in Indianapolis that was cranking out 93 days of Christmas Classics!!! I am anxious to see if working in the mall and listening to the musak in the store will drive Amanda nuts. We shall see.

Kicker... flurries in the forcast for Tuesday night!!!!

Nesting

After our nuptuals, Amanda and I are starting to settle in for our first winter in Chicago together. We are hooking up the apartment with Cable and Internet (finally!, I know) and we will be getting a sofa at Ikea on Wednesday.

If I remember I will try to take before and after pictures. Our living room serves as an office as well. Late today, I am going to try to make two rooms out of it so that you don't see our horrific desk from the living room. I think it will be nice. I am going to employ either a free standing chinese curtain or an actual curtain to divide the room up. I have watched way too much HGTV while at David and Allison's place and have been inspired. We are most excited about the couch because we will have a bed for friends and family to stay on when and if they come to visit. I want to seperate the office from the living room to provide a little privacy as well. We will see how it turns out.

(I pre dated a couple posts so I would have one for every day this month. I know it is cheating but starting on Thursday we will have in house internet access so I will not have an excuse to cheat!)

Wifi in WV

So we went to what may be the nicest Mc Donald's in the world. West Virginia gets a bad reputation for the the education of their population and some non-forking family tree issues. That having been said... they can rock out a McDonald's like no state in this great union. We used to stop at the one on 19 in Summerville to have a bite to eat. They always had the menu items you expect, but unlike most, they also had the McRib, even when retired, and all the promotional items were on the menu 24/7/365.

This McD's was off the beaten path somewhere. I remember WVUP was near by... don't remember the P. They had a big sign that said Wifi and I have not seen many McDonalds so equipped so Amanda and I had to stop. It was very disappointing, you have to pay. I know it is an income generating thing but I hate that Starbucks and McDonalds do not offer free Wifi. I think it is bad business. The Brother's K coffee shop in Evanston has three people in their shop for every one I see walking into starbucks. Their competitive advantage: FREE WIFI. People stay in, they drink, buy a refill or maybe a pastry to go with. Meanwhile, the Starbucks that sits on the corner next has places to seat 31 people (big Starbucks, yes I counted) and there is one person there without a laptop reading the paper. I know that Starbucks needn't worry about losing market share here, but I just think it is a basic thing that you should offer, like a public restroom.

Family Also

* My cousin Allison has challenged me to post every day this month. As you can tell, we are off to a hell of a good start.

Today's topic is family. Much like Allison (Maggie's Red Thread) I have been blessed by many families. I have my diverse and non-sensical family that I belong to. I have ex-aunt-in-laws that are more like my Dad and I have called 4 women grandma but I am pretty sure that a family tree only has room for two. They all proved this weekend how much they care about me, a majority showed up to support me at my wedding.

I have a family from high school. Dhara, Ashley and Emily have all known me since 7th & 10th grades respectively. Emily was a bridesmaid and super helpful to Amanda. Dhara and Ashley, both recently married, were very supportive of my endeavors. One of the neatest things my mother told me about was Dhara's mother approaching her and telling her that she was honored to be there and how much they love me. My mom replied that she adored Dhara as well and missed her when we all went to college. This is the part of family I forget.

You always hear that "friends are family that you choose." Very true, but your family also chooses to embrace them as well. My family knows a lot about my friends, they ask about their well-being, about school / work. My family over time is actually invested in my friends. How cool? Dhara even played a role in my cousin Erin's wedding. The best thing about my family is often we blur the lines between family and friends.

My last night in Charlotte I am spending with Sara and Tim. They are not just our "couple friends" that we do "couple things" with. They are my family as well. I am invested in how they are doing, the Smiths return in kind.

This has been a fun week and a half. I thought I would grow "sick of home" but I really just got homesick. I am not sure when we will come back, if we will come back, but I need my kids to know the rest of my family. So I don't want to tell people we are coming back.... but we won't stay gone too long.

Wedding Photos

Thank you Erin for submitting photos.

Below you will see my gorgeous wife coming into the church with her dad.


The two cutest flower girls in Wedding History came down right before Amanda. At ages 4 11/12ths and 25 months they were so well behaved. Elizabeth was a good leader for Maggie.