Island One: Moorea

Our first stop was Moorea, which means yellow lizard, as we were told maybe 500 times by various tourism folks. It was lovely, and we had a wonderful bure here all to ourselves. Here we went on a snorkeling picnic tour, and swam with sharks and stingrays (that's David getting up close and personal with one). It was a good way to see the island, and it was interesting to try all the new foods like poisson cru (citrus-cooked fish). We also rented a moped, and had great fun puttering around the island in 'style'(aka Q-tip Head)- even though I thought we were going to die a few times, because they don't have street lights over there. One evening we drove up to the interior of the island, saw some ruins, and then drove to the lookout where we shared the view with, of course, chickens. They actually kept knocking over the camera. All in all, it was a great relaxing island, with the exception of the attempted outrigger canoe trip, that you can see in the last picture, which caused our First Fight. Ah, memories. That canoe still makes us laugh.

The Honeymoon

Tahiti! I strongly urge anyone who can to go - we had a wonderful time. We went for two weeks and visited four of the islands: Moorea, Huahine, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa. Personally, Moorea was my favorite, due to the abundance of things to do without the crowds of tourists, good restaurants, and accessibility. There are so many things to comment on, it is impossible. There are the funny quirks, such as the morning ritual of running out of our bure, blind, to throw rocks at the closest rooster, attempting (and failing) to row tandem in a outrigger canoe (It ended with me getting out and David rowing it back to shore), rocketing around the island cheating death on a moped…..
The people were friendly, it was very laid back, and absolutely picturesque. The scuba diving was amazing. Really, it is a place that speaks best through pictures, so I will do my best to be quiet. Enjoy!

Relaxing in the Country - Right?

Prior to our honeymoon, David and I went to Dad's property out in Winnesboro, TX to hang out while we waited for our flight out. We had a good time, doing basically nothing. We fished a little, set off some firecrackers, and just were thankful the wedding was over.

That fish in the picture did set off our one adventure - it was the night before we headed back to Dallas to catch our flight to Tahiti, and we decided to go fishing at a neighbors'. After a long stretch of nothing happening (as it always does with fishing) I managed to catch a catfish. However, due to their tough mouths, we couldn't get the hook off. Bored, I went home to start dinner, and David put the catfish, still on the hook, back in the water to go get some pliers. A while later I am cooking on the grill, and here comes David, sans the truck. Turns out he managed to back the truck into a huge ditch. I went down the road, and there is was, resting on it's axle, while the tire hung off into space. By now it is pitch black, and we're in the middle of nowhere. So, we start walking down the road, in an attempt to get help. I decide to head over to the one neighbor I have met. As we started getting closer to their house, suddenly a pair of eyes is shining out of the darkness, attached to a shaggy dog-body. As they silently studied us, I instantly convinced myself that we weren't going to get out of this alive, imagining newspaper headlines like: "Tragedy: Newlyweds Devoured by Wolves." Thus, we made our first joint decision, and decided to get the heck out of there. After a harrowing walk home, we got on the phone ("Daddy!") and finally found someone to pull us out of the ditch. Grateful we had a way to get back to Dallas to catch our plane, we went back to the property and had a nice, uneventful rest of the evening.

The Wedding

Hello Everyone! I thought I would pick up where we saw you all last - at the wedding. I, of course, had a lovely time - but then again, it was my wedding. We got married May 22, 2005 at Royal Lane Baptist in Dallas. Afterwards, the reception was held at Adam's Mark downtown, in the Chapparal Room. Like all weddings, it definitely had its problems, such as poor Mom's candle and wallet incident, which kept them from the reception so long my wonderful step-dad, Lew, didn't get to read his prayer. View it here. Also, I couldn't find the music for our first dance! We ended up randomly picking something in the elevator on the way up. Oh well - but the original song is really beautiful- please listen to it here.

Other than that, it was a wonderful night of time with friends and family and they celebrated with David and I. It was such a joy to see so many come from so far just for us. We are truly blessed by all of you - thanks to my family, Grandmother Millie, Krysten Ivy, the Kings, and everyone else for making the trip! It really is the people, not the material things, of the wedding that make it special. There are many things that stand out - I don't think I'll ever forget turning around to see my grandmom in the middle of the dance floor, tearing it up. Thanks to my Mom, the orchestrated of the whole shebang, who nearly drove herself insane making sure it was a wonderful day for us - and she did a great job. Thanks Mom!

Well, I'm not sure what else to tell you - it was a wedding; there was cake, flowers, garters, the white dress, etc. I hope all of you who came had a great time.

Now get ready for a bunch of pictures - although I narrowed it down to 15 from 896, so that's not too bad.