Oh. Em. Gee. by Andrea

It's been a whole month already! Time really has flown...but literally since the moment we said "I do" people have been going nuts over us. "Oh, em, gee, you're married! Oh, em, gee, I'm so happy for you! Oh, em, gee, let me see the ring! Oh, em, gee!!!" Even when we try to hold conversations, they all seem to have trouble talking about anything other than us being married. It's such a blessing to know that we have support, but it's a bit overwhelming...and since we've been consumed with our wedding stuff since July, we really would like to know what's new with everyone else, ya know?

We've also been getting tons of questions...usually the same 5, so not much variety. And people usually ask the questions while wearing the biggest cheesiest grins, smiling incessantly. 1.) So...how's married life? 2.) So...how was the honeymoon? 3.) So....when can we see pictures? 4.) So... where are you living now? 5.) So....when's the baby coming? I think #5 is the hilarious. A baby?? Really?? Can't we spend some time alone first? We're planning for a couple years from now, but my friend Denise gave me a great answer to the baby question. If anyone asks when the baby is coming, just answer "9 months after we get pregnant." Genius. Andrea

New Name by Andrea

It's official.... I have a new last name. I went to the social security office (which smelled like alcoholics and stale cigarette smoke) and applied for a new card, then went to the DMV to get a new drivers license. I reeeeeally hoped they wouldn't make me take a new picture...my old one was pretty cute. I begged and pleaded, but apparently when you change your name, they assume your face changes too. So I guess I look "married" now. My hair was horrible, but my lovely Mexican suntan made the picture much nicer than I expected. Then I went to the bank to change my name in the system, and I kept forgetting how to sign my new last name. The banker told me that after 20+ years of marriage, her maiden signature still pops up on occasion and makes her wonder where the heck that came from. It's just something that takes some getting used to, and my fingers will need to be re-trained.

Speaking of new names.... since Andre and I have pretty much the same first name, and we both have wedding couple photos as our profile pictures, I realize that our Facebook accounts were almost identical. So I tried adding my middle initial to help distinguish the two, but some folks still were confused. So now I have my full first, middle and last name posted on Facebook. Good thing I like my middle name...because if it was Bertha or something ugly like that (my sincerest apologies to anyone named Bertha who might be reading this), I would just have to let our Facebook friends guess which Dre they're leaving messages for. It makes social networking more challenging and interesting, I think.

El Sol de Mexico by Andrea

Picture: Wedding band tans
Hola Amigos y Familia! We are back from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, tanned and happy. I'm not going to go into detail about all the honeymoon activities (I'm making Dre write that blog since he's been noticeably absent from all the engagement blogs LOL). But we had an AWESOME time! We decided that honeymoons are not just a nice little vacation for the newlyweds....no, the honeymoon is a mandatory requirement in order for the bride and groom to recover their sanity and apologize to each other for any mean streaks or otherwise unloving behavior during the wedding planning process. We NEEDED this vacation. It was a chance for us to talk about the ceremony and the reception...our thoughts, our feelings, what we think went well, and what we think could have been done better.

The overall conclusion was that we really wish we could go back and attend our own wedding as guests. We've been hearing all the buzz about how much fun everyone had, and that they really enjoyed the day....so we're kinda jealous that we couldn't just sit back and watch the show :)

But thanks to everyone for posting so many pictures on Facebook!! We didn't have our camera the whole day, so the paparazzi really came in handy. We are so blessed to have such an incredible support network...we both really felt the love in the room :)Andrea

Other people's weddings by Kelly

A week from Friday Jake and I will be going to my friend's wedding. I am super excited for it. It will only be my 2nd friend wedding that I am going to. I don't have a clue what is going on with work, I hope I can get out early enough to go to the actual wedding. I hate hate hate when people just go to the reception. It seems like they just want free food and drinks. I mean obviously if you have a legit reason, it's OK to just go to one. But if you are perfectly capable of going to the wedding, go. Although honestly, I don't have a clue who was at my wedding and who wasn't. Not a clue. I like watching people get married. It's nice. I usually cry at other people's weddings. I definitely didn't cry at my own. Whoops.

I also can't wait to wedding dress shop. OK, I can't wait to buy a new dress to wear to the wedding. I already have a wedding dress that I don't know what to do with. I was thinking about making it a habit to just wear it out on Saturday nights. Then I can pretend it is my wedding day all over again.

Unfortunately I work most Saturdays so customers might think my boss is a jerk for making me work on my wedding day. And repeat customers will wonder why I have so many husbands. Kelly

Relaxed by Kelly

That was perfect. Just spent two days at my aunt Laurie's house in Iowa. I can't get over how relaxed I am there. I walked in the door and instantly felt great. We didn't do anything too crazy. Ate dinner and then hung out and talked. Me, my mom, and my cousin went to garage and estate sales on Friday. I found my dream couch. Unfortunately you can't fit two leather couches inside of our corvette (or minivan). So my dream couches remain in Iowa.

Now I am back home. Actually I am back at work. We are having a fashion show here today. Only a few hours until a model "accidentally" is injured and I have to take her place. I am every modeling agents dream....short, chubby, and refuse to wear shoes other than converse and nikes. Kelly