I would have been 100% satisfied with just knowing my family and friends thought our wedding was awesome... but I can't deny it feels pretty cool to know that the INTERNET is excited about it too. I'm glad I didn't listen when people said things like "Wait... red and AQUA? Ummm."
Check it:
http://canlasphotography.blogspot.com/2008/08/big-fat-feature-on-southern-weddings.html
More on the move/roadtrip/NYC adventure later.
Sometimes I make little notes in my planner when I think of something I want to blog about. Yesterday's note: Car, Move, Bacon, Photos, Duck Toupee
As you can clearly see, I have had a LOT GOING ON. Let's start at the top, shall we?
1. Car.
We sold my car. I'm pretty sure I left about 10 validation cards for the Gateway parking garage in the ashtray + a CaseLogic CD organizer under the front seat. I haven't called the buyer about this because... well, I'm trying to get rid of CDs anyway. I think he'll really like them... if he's into old David Gray bootlegs. Also, the buyer was a very young soldier who had just returned from Iraq and refused to call me by my first name. It was my first experience with "Mrs." and I actually didn't hate it. "Ma'am" on the other hand... feels like I ought to be deep frying macaroni and cheese.
2. Move.
It looks like this:
We'll be visiting Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Oh,and New York. Actually, we won't be visting New York, we'll be living there. Here's a photo of our apartment. 
As you can see, the previous owners are still there, but they should be out by the end of the week and then we can really get a feel for what kind of space we'll have.
3. Bacon.
I have a feeling you'll be able to visit Sarah's blog in a few days and find out more about this item, but I couldn't let the opportunity to mention it pass me by. At our final potluck on Sunday night, Sarah made... wait for it... CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON. Most people in attendance thought it sounded "Sick" or "Eew," but I thought it sounded like CHOCOLATE. And BACON. And it was both of those things. And those things confused my taste buds in the best way possible. Thank you Sarah, for more firmly cementing me into the position of "Person most likely to enjoy bacon-based confections." Which reminds me of this photo: 
4. Photos.
We have wedding photos! I can't post my favorites here because of the super-tight-lockdown on Canlas photography rights, but I can link you to his blog, where he has featured some of HIS favorites. Enjoy!
Jonathan Canlas
5. Duck Toupee.
Toupees are always funny, right? Well, imagine a toupee on a duck. Better yet, don't imagine it, check it OUT. This duck lives in the pond outside my (former) office. What a ridiculous animal. Does he honestly think that thing looks REAL? It doesn't even match the rest of his head. 
That is all for now. In about 72 hours I'm going to move to New York City. I am getting excited just thinking about what blog-worthy treasures I'll find there. Pigeon toupee? Stay tuned.
Did you know I'm moving to New York? Like... Manhattan New York? Like... in two weeks?
Oh, you didn't? Then maybe you also didn't know that I'm selling my car. Why? Because having a car in New York is like having a parka in Las Vegas. It's hot. I mean it's unnecessary.
What's that you ask? Why yes, it IS small and fuel-efficient and totally awesome. Low miles? Indeed. And priced well below Kelley Blue Book. Do I have pictures? Don't be silly!
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=&nid=443&tab=list/view&ad=762760
I promise I'll post something more interesting soon. Something better than a feeble attempt to get you (or your brother? cousin?) to buy my car. We should have wedding photos in a few days. Plus, exciting details about New York. And if you buy my car, I'll let you choose ANY topic and I'll write about it and dedicate the post to you.
Now, that's almost as good as a new car.
I don't even know how to blog about my wedding. This space is usually reserved for poking fun at things or testing out terrible puns. It just seems wrong to write a silly post about the awesomest day of my life to date. But I can't say NOTHING, right? It would be worse to just skip over this weekend and launch right into "Short Guys with Even Shorter Jeans: Why and (more importantly) How?"
So, if you'll indulge me... I might just be sincere for one second. I know, it's weird. It'll be over soon, I promise.
The Best Things About My Wedding:
1. My new husband. Everyone on the internet is talking about how awesome he is, so why can't I? He's uncommonly smart, unfailingly good, unbelievably funny and looks irresistable in a wedding band. FLD is now my Mister. Sigh.
2. New seesters and brothers! New parents-in-law! A new baby neice! I feel like I have finally been admitted to a very exclusive club... almost like a fraternity, but without having to drink beer from a shoe.
3. My old family, which I love even more now that two of my brothers have wives and the other one has a Brigham Young beard.
3. My friends, many of whom traveled from far away and hardly got to talk to me. And then cleaned our house and put flowers around and a cute "Just Married" sign on the door.
4. My post-wedding luncheon in the barn. The first time I visited Mister's parents' house for the weekend, I drifted off into a hazy daydream that involved a wedding in Manti followed by an adorable gathering in the barn. I can admit that now because I actually had that on Saturday.
5. A reception with all of my favorite things: adorable trappings, awesome music, beautiful food, an incredible view, a candy buffet... all enjoyed in the sweet sweet uncomfort of a flattering outfit. Can I get married every weekend? Just kidding, mom.
Photos coming soon (I hope).
Love always,
Reno
I turned thirty this month. I thought it was going to be traumatic, but it really wasn't. I had braced myself for the flood of emotions... but it just didn't happen. Maybe it's because I was consumed with other thoughts... or maybe because I was surrounded by my favorite people. Or MAYBE it's because I received a gift that transported me back to the age of TEN, and with the average, I felt like I was really only turning twenty.
FLD, a master of The Thoughtful Gift, really outdid himself this time. Imagine my astonishment when I peeled back the wrapping on an original copy of my favorite book from fourth grade, "Six Months to Live." I think I may have fallen out of my seat. The cover was exactly as I had remembered it... Dawn Rochelle, perched in her quilted robe and ballet slippers on the edge of a hospital bed. Fluffy bangs. One-eyed teddy bear. This was the book I checked out from the Bookmobile ONE MILLION times. I was a pretty sunny kid, but for some reason I LOVED sad books about teens with diseases. Turns out I'm not the only one. Check out these Amazon book reviews, submitted by tweens just like me:
A fast read which holds your attention the whole 136 pages.
I think that this book was a really good book. My favorite part was when Dawn and Sandy went the canp and ment the two boys there and fell in love. I thought it was a really sad book and also a really good book. It made me think of the peaople who say that their lifes are bad and then they do not look at the other people. At the end of the book it left you wear you wanted to go and read the next book I think that the sadest part was when Sandy died in the hospital. That is why I think that Six months to live is a really good book and why.
What i liked about this book is that the illness is cancer. I liked that they picked cancer because you loose your hair and it shows that not everyone can have as much as you do.
This was one of the saddest books I've ever read. I highly recommend it.
This book is also very sad. Ever sense her terrible disease, she has felt like a nobody. A nothing. A shadow in a damp and lonely corner.Determination makes this book like no other. When she almost died, it broke her families' hearts, literary.
Lurlene McDaniel is a wonderful writer! I suggest this book to anyone who loves to read or cry.
I guess that explains it: I loved to read AND cry. But beyond that, I think I must have longed for the sort of hand-to-brow drama that went on in Six Months to Live. Dawn's big brother was her best friend, by her side at the hospital, cheering her on in the battle against cancer. My older brother was my nemesis, putting his pet cornsnake in my face and calling me "Maneater." Also, I think it must have been around the fourth grade when my mom started encouraging me to eat fewer milkshakes and watch less television. Freaking Dawn, that's ALL SHE DID. With her perfect perm (my hair never took curl) and her ballet slippers and her champion spirit. It's tough to admit this depressing adolescent novel was "aspirational," but I can't explain it any other way.
This is why turning thirty was not traumatic and why.
It keeps happening. I attempt to research some aspect of the wedding process... and I stumble upon something(s) HORRIBLE. This time, my research into wedding hairstyles turned up results far more shocking than even the sexy motorcycle portraits. I want to assure you, dear reader, that every single one of these photos is SERIOUS. And while some of them may look more at home on the Broadway stage or atop a Drag Queen, they are all a result of a "Wedding Hairstyles" image search on Google.
I present to you, "Updos: A Tragedy."
1. This seems like a really lame hairstyle until you realize how educational it is. I haven't thought about mitochondria (or eukaryotic cells in general) since Biology 101. Thanks, Science Updo!
2. For the physical therapist bride, here we have Support and Compression Updo, a style that looks weird AND prevents swelling.
3. Dear Abby... On my wedding day, I'll be carrying around a buttload of paperclips. Can you recommend an updo that will store my office supplies? Why yes, it's Office Max Updo.
4. "Grandmother-thinks-Richard-will-make-a-splendid-husband-Updo"
5. I like to imagine that there was this beautiful unicorn, who wanted very badly to be a real girl... and she met a sorcerer in the forest who granted her wish... and when she emerged from the forest, all covered in newly human skin, eyes burning and tail missing... this is what her hair looked like. Viva la Floppy Horn Updo!
6. This is neither a woman, nor an updo, but it showed up in my image search. And I can't take my eyes off of it.
7. This style, while stunning, can be quite painful, as it requires the harvesting of skin from the lower back in order to fashion a lovely... umm, blossom? Skin Graft Updo.
8. Not a terrible updo, but... I think we can all agree that this "bride" is a twelve year-old boy.
9. Two words: Slugs Updo.
10. You can tell from the photo that this woman is straining to keep her head up under the weight of this "UpDung."
11. Storage Updo: I'm actually considering this one for MY wedding. I'm thinking I'll be able to stash a can of Diet Pepsi IN MY BANGS.
12. Poisonous Updo: C'mon, Bret Michaels. You're not fooling anyone. Take the corset off. 
Having your picture taken (a LOT) is an integral part of being engaged. It starts with the night you get engaged (see streetside snapshot in previous post) and culminates at the wedding reception. For someone who is a bit of a camera-hog (cough**me**cough), this is fun. I don't mind all the snapping and posing and whatnot. It also helps if you have a fantastic photographer.
Here's where it gets weird, though. I recently found out about something called "Boudoir" photography. You've probably already heard of it. This is basically where the bride gets to be a Playboy bunny for a day. She dons her sexiest lingerie (or cowboy boots or whatever) and strikes a seductive pose... and the result is an album full of alluring snapshots "for his eyes only." Aside from the fact that things intended for "_____'s eyes only" VERY rarely remain exclusive to "____'s" eyes, this concept seems like a really really bad idea. Even the most talented photographer can't turn Jill Schmo into a Maxim cover model. It's bound to be unsuccessful, right? And cheesey, right? And downright embarrassing too? Ummm, yes. That's exactly right.
I'm pretty sure that's a dude on the yellow motorcycle.
