Off to Europe

It's our one week anniversary!  We're off on our honeymoon tomorrow, heading to Italy, Greece, and Turkey.  On a cruise boat.  Without huge backpacks.  No hostels.  That's right - we're adults now.  We are going to eat so much tasty food!

We are excited to see friends and family at our reception in September.  We get back into town on August 27th and will spend a week in Minnesota.  We're also planning to hit the state fair and the rennaisance festival while home, if anyone is interested in joining.  See you in a few.

We did it!

We got married!  Our immediate families and grandparents who could make it came into town late last week, and we all rolled out of bed early on Saturday morning to drive up Flagstaff Mountain to Sunrise Amphitheater.  

We crafted our own self-officiated ceremony using various things we found online and adding a bit of personal touch.  The festivities began at 8:00am and we were wed shortly thereafter.  Our photographer was kind enough to offer a sneak peak at the photos from the event, so we've posted them here for everyone to enjoy.

We picked up some sunflowers at the grocery store and I tied blue raffia ribbon around them to make my own bouquet.  We didn't plan this, but they almost perfectly matched Matt's shirt.

We asked our siblings to read a few passages that we felt were representative of our take on love and relationships.

Extract from Les Miserables (Amanda)

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. And great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.

A conversation between Piglet & Pooh Bear (Eric and Tiff)

“Pooh” whispered Piglet.
“Yes, Piglet” replied Pooh.
“Nothing,” answered Piglet,
“I just wanted to be sure of you.”
“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.”
“It’s so much more friendly with two.”
“Pooh, promise me you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I am a hundred.”
Pooh thought for a little.
“How old shall I be then?”
“Ninety-nine.”
Pooh nodded. “I promise,” he said.
“Some people care too much, I think it’s called love.”


Excerpt from The Bridge Across Forever Richard Bach (Nathan)
A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we're safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we're two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we've found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.

It's so much more friendly with two!

Tomorrow's the day

We're getting married tomorrow! The 10 wedding guests have made it safely to Boulder.  Some of us had a fun day in Estes Park with ice cream for lunch :)

See you on the other side.  Hooray!

Chapter 4: Colorado

I took a year off between undergrad and grad school to study in Beijing, travel Nepal and India, and do a lab visit in Zurich.  Before I left, Matt and I had decided to move to Boulder, CO together in the summer of 2009.  So we jammed all our stuff in a 12 ft. trailer and drove our life out to Colorado.  Matt had started work a few weeks earlier in Longmont.  We already had a good friend living in Boulder, with whom we had family dinner every week until he moved away.  

Things are pretty good here.  Restaurants are great.  People are fun and outdoorsy.  Boulder is small but big enough.  We try to get outside exploring with relative frequency.  We ran our first marathon together in fall 2009.  I got hooked on road cycling, which is a perfect sport for Boulder.  So many hills to climb.  Both of us started tele-skiing full time for more of a challenge, and we discovered the joys of Vail on a powder day.  

Matt went full-time 7 months ago in a small mobile software development company he helped found and now works from our 700 sq-ft apartment.  Grad school has its ups and downs, but is generally good.  

 Yay Colorado!

Wedding Photos

I've asked one of my friends and teammates, Jesse (Rufio) to do the photography at our wedding.  This will be his first wedding, but he a really talented artist and an awesome guy.  Here's his website:  http://www.jesseryankuroiwa.com  He's also half-asian, but I'm not excited about asian people or halfsies.

Chapter 3: College Years

I started college at the University of Minnesota a year after Matt.  We both lived in Middlebrook Hall on the west campus.  My random roommate, Jamie, ended up being super awesome, and we lived with her years 3 and 4 too.  During those years, Ali started playing frisbee and got excited about microbiology and technical maps, Matt learned about business and engaged in tech projects, and both of us explored, grew, and learned.  Four years later, I left with a bachelors and Matt with a masters.

Twice-a-year ski trips to Colorado with friends and family were a highlight.

In the summer of 2006, Matt, Jamie, and I spent a month travelling around Europe.

In my senior year, I applied to graduate schools in Boulder, Seattle, and the Bay Area (all places with job prospects for Matt and skiing nearby).  I settled on CU in Boulder, and we decided to move out together.  But first, I deferred admission for a year and went to China.

Guestbook Quilt

Quilting seems really awesome to me.  Not that I know how to use a sewing machine, or have any experience with textiles.  But I really like patterned fabrics and the thought of arranging them in a mathematically-organized manner.  So I think that instead of a guestbook at the reception, we'll do a wedding quilt.  I really like this one from Cute and Delicious.  (And she had her wedding in a natural history museum!)