What Am I Doing Here?

No, I’m not blogging this from Germany … nor am I asking an existential question about the meaning of one’s life.

I am simply explaining to you why it is that, now that the wedding is over, I am sitting here typing on a computer in my living room and not posting photos of giant pretzels and oversized beers on facebook from 5,000 miles away. And the explanation is pretty simple – we haven’t left yet.

While I realize that many couples go straight from their reception to the airport (with maybe a slight break for some sleeping in between) we chose to take a different approach and wait a week (or so). Technically we’re waiting 11 days, but you get my point – we didn’t start jet setting immediately.

Okay, yes, there are some cons. These past few days back in the office have been a little rough. And people seem shocked to see you sitting in meetings and filling out expense reports. Also, if I’m being honest, I do think this immediate return back to my normal routine has somehow allowed for the knowledge that I am now married to avoid sinking fully into my skull (which could also be partially due to the fact that I’ve had barely any “alone time” with my hubby since the big day … and now that I do have some of that coveted private time I’m spending it blogging … but I digress).

But, that said, the pros far outweigh any negatives I see.

1. Frankly our livers need time to recover (before we totally demolish them at Oktoberfest). I didn’t drink too much at the wedding itself, but our wedding was really more of a 3-day party and, added all together, those 3 days did a whole lot of damage. But it wasn’t just our livers …

2. WE need time to recover. We can still party like it’s 1999, but our bodies don’t spring back quite as quickly as they did back then. We spent most of Monday in a semi-vegetative state and have spent the days since slowly nursing our tired, beaten down bodies back into shape. One nice, long, rest-filled weekend will do us a lot of good.

3. Packing, planning, last-minute shopping … We did none of these things before the wedding. And, really, not having to worry about planning for the wedding and the honeymoon all at once was a big relief. Now we have plenty of time to play catch-up and gear up for Bavaria before heading out next week (and make a quick run to IKEA to purchase a project or two for Dad to work on while he’s house/dog sitting for us during the honeymoon).

4. Money. We recently spent a lot of it. And we’re about to spend more. While taking a brief break between expenditures might not make too much of a difference it’s good to check our pocketbooks and see where we stand at this point in the game.

5. Football!! We’ve been waiting for it all year and now it’s finally here. Thankfully we enjoyed a bit of it during our celebrations throughout the wedding weekend, but both GAR and I are very much looking forward to enjoying a weekend full of sweet pigskin action before we disappear and miss a few more weeks of it. The waiting is over!

6. Food, food and more food. Now that we can actually eat again (not that we ever really stopped) we want to devour and enjoy everything we can. Yes, we will be doing that plenty in Germany, but we have leftover wedding sweets (cake, cupcakes, candy – you get the picture) that we want to enjoy while it’s still nice and fresh. Expect to see us drooling over some red velvet cake Homer Simpson style. Mmmmmm…

7. Recaps – I’ve been hearing them from everyone who attended the wedding and right now it’s so fresh in everyone’s minds that we get to savor all those brand-new, not yet forgotten nuggets of memories and relive it all ourselves. Heck, we even got some video back, not to mention whatever photos people have been able to upload onto Facebook. We’re loving it and it’s great to enjoy it all now – by the time we get back from overseas so much else will have happened and people’s minds will have shifted to other things. I feel like we’re able to capture more this way.

And, of course, (time permitting) it also means I should be able to share some recaps with all of you too … and I know that’s what you’re really looking for. Don’t worry – it’s coming. Until then please enjoy some of these (non-professional) photos I’ve seen from our wedding.

View of Dad and I from someone (who shall remain unnamed) who was late to the ceremony. 

Pre-wedding shots were taken at a sports bar. 

 Ceremony & 1st kiss action.

1st dance & cake! 

 Menus were on a record on each place setting.

 DJ MJ rocked the tunes and our friends rocked the dance floor.

 Our sneakers were also rockin'

Can't wait for even more photos (hint hint - post 'em if you've got 'em!)