Friday, October 12, 2012

WEDDING! HONEYMOON!


What more can I say?

Yep, it's true.  Owen and I got MARRIED!  It was truly the most fantastic day of my life!  How can I put into words the feeling of joining 2 lives into 1 with the love of my life!  it was a great party with family that came as far as New Jersey and friends that came from a wide variety of places in the US.  


My dad and I, a very special moment
Vows and ring exchange
I now pronounce you husband and wife!
Only 2 minutes of being a married couple, still smiling!
CAKE!
First dance!
Just a few photos of the parts of the ceremony and reception.  It was so much fun.  Everyone says you don't remember the actual day or the ceremony/reception.  I tried my hardest to just stay in the present and take everything in.  I feel I remember most of it! 

We got married on a Sunday and on Monday we hang up with out of town family and friends.  Later, we packed and got ready for our honeymoon, in Kauai!  Neither of us have been to Kauai before and we were excited about checking it out!  We arrived on a Tuesday and found our place to be more than what we had expected.  
This was the view from our condo.  Drinking coffee here every morning was fantastic!

See what I mean???  Fantastic!





O and A!?!?!!?  How did they know we were coming?
Our first full day was spend snorkeling on the north shore by Ke'e Beach and Tunnels.  One of the first things we saw was this O+A engraved in the rock on the beach.  Pretty cool.  We saw some colorful fish and were able to dive through the "tunnels" to check out the reefs and where some of the fish like to hang out.  We saw a Monk seal on the beach before I had done any reading about what you might expect on the beach and thought maybe it was injured.  I spent a bit of time wondering what to do, who to call and worrying about it.  Owen kept telling me that the seal was resting.  I couldn't let it go.  Then I saw some people putting some signs out surrounding the seal warning people not to touch or fed it b/c it is endangered and just taking a rest.  It would soon go back in the ocean.  Well, Owen was right, I was wrong and relieved that this cute seal was just sunning himself as we were.


The following day we decided to head out to Waimea Canyon.  We had read about a hike/run you could do to to get to the bottom of the canyon so we ventured out to try to find it.  We drove along a windy road for many miles that made us both car sick but eventually we found were we were headed.  There aren't a lot of signs in Kauai, most directions go by milepost markers.

Start of our first run as a MARRIED COUPLE!
Little Grand Canyon

Bottom of the canyon, mosquito-ville
Headed back up the canyon
We ran down to the bottom and on our way we saw a pack of small wild goat that moved with with such ease through the very technical terrain.  I was surprised how small they were, like the size of a small dog.  Honestly, when we got down the the canyon floor, it was a bit creepy and a lot like Deliverance, the movie.  We originally set out for a 12 mile out and back but we found we could not go on any longer, it was as if the trail disappeared and that was that.  So with that and the creepy factor, we called it good and headed back.  Once we got back to the car and headed down the windy road, we stopped at Jo-Jo's, the infamous Jo-Jo's for shaved ice.  This place is apparently the best place to get shaved ice on Kauai.  It was a shake with no windows inside and also reminded me of Deliverance, but the shaved ice was indeed delicious so we ate it and then hit the beach to cool off and take an afternoon nap on the warm sun.
The next we thought we'd do some boogie boarding.  There was a storm rolling in and the waves were getting bigger.  We decided that we would rather have a fun day boogie boarding that a really hard day **trying** to surf.  So we rented some boards and fins and off the beach we went.

It's all you need for fun in the waves
Coming in for a rest

We were out there for a while and then we took a rest.  It was about 4 PM and the waves were really ripping.  We decided to head out one more time.  I started going out and went to duck dive and WHAM-O, I don't know what happened, but I wound up in a world of hurt.  I thought for sure I broke something or tore my rotator cuff.  I got to the shore and grabbed my arm while thoughts swirled in my head future tripping that I broke or tore something and the honeymoon was over,,,,blah blah blah...
Owen brought me home and gave me some ice and Aleve.
Good pouty face
We wound up going to the Urgent Care and met a really funny Dr who shared the same birthday as me.  He told me sprained this and strained that and to wear a sling for a few weeks and then I would feel better.  
Nice Dr. who is the medical director for the Kauai marathon

The next day and the days remaining were still just as great as the ones before I hurt my shoulder.  I was on my honeymoon for crying out loud, so of course I'm going to have fun!
We saw see turtles the next day with Eric and Michelle Barnes who were also in Kauai, went to a fancy  restaurant, hiked/ran the Na Pali Coast trail and hung out on various beaches.  So, a bum shoulder didn't really impact the honeymoon, turns out.
Sea Turtle Beach, must have seen 10!  


Na Pali Coast trail waterfall

Na Pali Coast trail
More Na Pali Coast trail 

Beware, lots of people die on this trail!

The week in Kauai was amazing!  I would go back in a heart beat.  If anyone is thinking of going, we used this sign hawaiiforless.com and it was true to it's word.  I totally recommend it. 
As for running?  Well, we ran here and there and since we've been back, we've been running here and there.  I just had surgery on Tuesday and I am healing up.  Should be back to some easy jogging next week.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the surgery works and I can run pain-free again.  The Dr said that if it didn't work, then the next step is to cut part of the nerve leaving my upper quad permanently numb.  I really hope that doesn't happen.  So I'll give it a while next week.  Also next week, I am start the 30 day elimination diet and I'll be documenting that.  



2 comments:

Olga said...

Allison!!! You looked absolutely stunning in your wedding dress, and the honeymoon make me want to visit HI one day. Congratulations again! Heal the shoulder!

Darius Cartmell said...

Cool! I guess you really prepared and saved for your honeymoon to make the most of that loving time. Not even a shoulder sprain was able to stop you. I bet you’ve been to every place nature-loving people would want to go to. That’s awesome! Anyway, it’s been a year. How are you both? -Darius Cartmell