Subtitle: The totally G-rated version of the best 10 days ever. (Warning: it may not be explicit, but it is a long post)
So, you mostly already know that I got married twelve months ago
and how awesome that was. Now I've decided that I want to document the awesomeness of our honeymoon for posterity, even if it is after the fact. Because I am going to be a better blogger, for serious this time.
We left our unbelievably awesome reception around 9:00pm and drove up to Park City, where my awesome husband had booked us two nights in a suite at the incredibly incredible Waldorf Astoria. Wow! If you've never been to a five-star hotel.... Just Wow!!!
You can't even imagine all the little touches they add to make it a luxurious experience. It would be impossible to describe the experience, so I will just say that my favorite thing was that when you call the front desk they would answer, "Hello Mrs. Harker. How can I help you?" Here is a video Matt took showcasing our room (notice that I am wearing the fancy Waldorf Astoria robe):
The next morning we had breakfast at their fancy restaurant, and I can't remember the details, but I'm sure it was very delicious and very fancy. Then we got ready to go to Matt's mom's surprise birthday party.
First, let me explain that as soon as I started to realize that Matt was actually going to succeed in his goal of convincing me to marry him, I started eyeing Friday June 24th as the perfect day for the wedding. When I brought that up to Matt, he told me that his sister Kari had reserved that weekend several months ago for a huge, blow-out, surprise birthday party for their mom. Before we were even engaged, he called Kari for permission to add another event to the big weekend and got her blessings. It turns out perfectly because the out-of-state relatives only had to make one trip. So on Saturday afternoon, we took 'er on down for the big party. It was pretty much THE event of the year. From what I could tell, everyone who had ever met Pat was there. It was a PAR-TY. Pat was very, very surprised-- especially to see us there! Plus, it was awesome because I got to meet the mother-in-law of mother/daughter-in-law duo who originally set up me and Matt. I hadn't realized before that she was involved, so I was very glad to get the full story.
It also worked out because we got to stop at my house and Matt's house to pick up a few things we had forgotten. And we went to his parents' house to get some of the leftovers from the reception. Yum!!! We hadn't gotten both flavors of the wedding cake the day before (except I had eaten some crumbs with my fingers while waiting to leave which just left me wanting more). We got some hot dogs, etc and brought them back with us. (The cake was SOOOOO delicious, and we enjoyed eating it the next few days.)
Then we went back to The Waldorf Astoria (I just love saying it!) and enjoyed the awesomeness of our suite (including, but not limited to, the personal jacuzzi) and of the whole place (including, but not limited to, the swimming pool with the marble bathhouse).
The next morning was Sunday. We had a relaxing breakfast on the beautiful balcony of our room,
then packed up and headed out on our cross-country adventure. We stopped and attended sacrament meeting in Wyoming, which was cool, and then just kept driving.
I have made the cross-country drive more times than I could count, and it has always followed the pattern of three to four hour shifts of driving, then switching. After about three failed attempts of asking my sweet husband if it was my turn to drive, he finally said, "In my family, I never saw my mom drive if my dad was around. He didn't want her to have to worry about it. I'd like to continue that tradition." I'll tell you, I was surprised by how loved and cared-for that made me feel. It was a 22 hour drive to our first stop, and I only drove three hours (so Matt could sleep). If I'd known he was going to insist on doing all the driving himself, I would have scheduled a hotel stop, but since he is accustomed to being sleep-deprived, it didn't turn out to be a big deal. And it was awesome for me to chill and not have to drive. We had such a good time just being together and talking and we listened to the
relationship CD I got from his mom at sisters at my shower. (As a side note, let me say that CD was awesome!! We highly recommend it to everyone, and it is what we give for every wedding we go to.) We both love road trips.
Now you KNOW I'm a mid-west girl through and through, but after a few years in Utah, I just get so surprised and excited to see how green everything in that part of the country is. I took lots of pictures trying to capture the green, lush, wonderfulness of it all, but of course the photos don't do it the least bit of justice. But this one did the least bad job:
We arrived in Gurnee Illinois, home of Six Flags, around noon and they let us check in early. We had a nap, then got some Chicago style pizza and explored the town a little. We went to bed early to get ready for our action-packed day at Six Flags. We both love roller coasters, so we decide to schedule that in to our honeymoon. We walked to the park from our hotel, stopping for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts (Yum!! Matt had never been! Love their hot chocolate!!) and spent the day having so much fun riding their way-better-than-Lagoon roller coasters. I noticed right away that in all the lines for the awesome rides, there weren't any other people our age-- just teenagers and middle-aged people. I guess it is because most of the people our age were on kiddie rights with their offspring. I thought that was interesting.
In addition to the awesome thrill rides, Matt won me an awesome hat. I'd seen people wearing them all day and I really wanted one. I intended to include a picture here, but I can't find one, so just imagine an awesome orange octopus that you wear on your head, and you'll generally have the idea.
After being at Six Flags from opening to closing, we were pretty tired, but we mustered our energy so we could go to Steak and Shake (again, Matt had never been. Why, oh why, don't they have Steak and Shakes in the west?). I love Steak and Shake so that was a big treat for me. We even went there again for breakfast the next morning.
We left the next morning and drove to Michigan City, Indiana. I wanted to spend a day on a beach of Lake Michigan (which, in case you didn't know, is GORGEOUS). My Aunt Sue recommended this city, plus I was glad to honor my roots by spending some time in Indiana. The beach was BEAUTIFUL!!
Everybody who's anybody has a photo of themselves on their honeymoon at a beach, am I right?
Apparently, Matt enjoys burying himself in the sand.
We stayed at a hotel overlooking a river and could see the fish swimming in the river from our room. I thought that was pretty cool. (You can even see them in the photo if you look for them.)
We went to Red Lobster, which seemed a fitting end for a beach day
Love the cheesy bread!!! (it's was Matt's first time)
They also had a nice outlet mall, so we did some shopping, and I learned that it is great to have a husband around to carry your bags! Much more effective than doing it yourself. I love being married!!!
And what is a honeymoon without a chocolate fountain? Our hotel had a buffet restaurant, and the chocolate fountain totally sucked me in. Now, I did not know this about my husband before I married him (and PROBABLY it wouldn't have affected my decision), but he apparently does not care for buffets at all. (Crazy, right?) But he took me to the buffet because he is a good man and he loves me. Here is the proof we were there:
After our two relaxing and beautiful days on Lake Michigan, we headed to our last stop--my parents' home in Saginaw, Michigan where my Aunt Sue and Uncle Dave hosted an incredible reception for us. I lived with my parents in Saginaw for two years after my mission, so even though I didn't grow up there, it feels like home.
The reception was in their backyard and it was one classy event, let me tell you.
(can you even believe the awesome fountain in the pool?)
My cousins and various friends from the ward brought different kinds of yummy salads
A lady I used to visit teach carved a swan out of a watermelon and filled it with fruit salad. Classy, classy!
And we had more wedding cake!
And so many of my Michigan friends and family came. It was so much fun! And so beautiful!! Thank you Aunt Sue and Uncle David!!!
And my husband looked so handsome that day, I had to capture it with a photo
Honestly, I could just pass out and die from his hotness.
After the reception, we got to spend some time with my folks:
And then right after church Sunday we started on the 24-hour drive back to Utah because we wanted to be back in time to enjoy the fireworks on the 4th of July. So, we took off driving. Again, we really enjoyed being together in a confined space for such a long period of time. I slept a lot. Matt listened to the relationship CDs again. We discovered some new ways that our minds work the same way. We just had such a good time together.
We got home by about 3pm on the 4th. We called Matt's parents to have them save us a place at the fireworks and then took a nap. Unfortunately, we were awoken to the sound of fireworks going off in our own neighborhood, so we missed the family gathering that we had been looking forward to. But, that's okay. We were excited to be together in our house and to start the "serious" part of our life together. Matt went back to work the next day. I took the day off to get settled in after the trip.
The honeymoon was busy, but we got to do so many fun things and see so many of the people that we love. Matt got to experience a little more of the Heartland. We loved being in the car so much together. It was really just perfect!! And a year later, our honeymoon is still going strong. I am so so lucky I married Matt!
