pretty pretty princess

so, now that the wedding is over, my wedding dress just lays there. i haven't even taken it to be cleaned or hung it up. it just lays on our extra bed in the guest room collecting dust. i'm sure my dog monster lays on it while i'm at work, too. every now and then i'll put it on and remember how i felt that day. it's funny considering it was kept a secret for so long and now it's laying out like an old lap blanket. whenever i feel like it, i'll wear it around the house. or dance in it, twirling around like a little girl in a tutu. or i'll just wear it while i'm sitting at the computer or dusting. i just love the way it makes me feel. kevin even caught me cooking in it. it's just too beautiful to never be worn again. i think eventually i'll donate it to brides with breast cancer. atleast someone else will be able to feel beautiful in it too!

happy anniversary

it's our one month anniversary today. ONE WHOLE MONTH. best month ever :)
i just can't believe the time has gone by so fast since the wedding. it was all a blur up until the wedding and now it's just passing by. kevin makes me so happy. best decision of my life.

so, happy 1 month anniversary to us!

a lazy saturday well spent

today, kevin and i ventured over to the portland saturday market. there was a vendor there selling all types of gag gifts just like the scissors head band in the photo below. quite interesting! the saturday market is always a fun place to go--you get to see different kinds of people doing weird things and fellow spectators that come to witness the chaos like i do. apart from the usual creative signs begging for donations, there was a homeless couple practically fornicating in the street...getting kinda kinky by pulling each other's hair and wrestling around on the ground. definitely was worth the show. ahhh, i love portland. we settled for a shared chicken skewer, rice and pork bun from a local vendor and just browsed our way through the market. it was a fun and rather uneventful day.

like i mentioned earlier, kevin hates when i use the kitchen scissors for anything other than meat. today, he got fed up :)

pictures from michelle's wedding 8/21/09

pictures from michelle's wedding 8/21/09

pictures from michelle's wedding 8/21/09

photos from michelle's wedding 8/21/09

learn something new every day

even though kevin and i have been dating for almost 6 years, we are still learning a lot about each other. daily. here are a few insights...

1. kevin thinks that i use too much toilet paper. yeah, i guess i do in his eyes considering i use it twice as much as he does. whatever.

2. it drives kevin crazy when i use the last of the toilet paper then don't replace the roll. yes, i can understand his frustration on that one.

3. one of my biggest pet peeves is when the toilet paper roll is put on the holder backwards. how hard is it to put it on so the hang-down part is coming out from the top of the roll instead of the bottom? i guess as hard as it is for me to replace the roll. point taken :)

4. kevin likes to put all his keys, wallet, name tag, etc in the same basket right when you walk in the front door. i put mine wherever i set them down. i'm learning to put it in the damn basket.

5. kevin likes to reuse towels. i like to use them once then wash them. we're still working on this one...

6. we both realized that we cherish our alone time. he'll play his games, i'll play on the internet or read a book. we spend time together but also time alone. it's nice to have those breaks.

7. i use the meat scissors to cut things other than meat. i have to sneak it or kevin yells at me. well, geez, to me...scissors are scissors. period. to kevin, meat scissors are just that--used for meat.

8. one thing i learned about kevin that i really appreciate is that when he leaves in the morning, he always locks the door so nobody can come in while i'm still home.

9. another thing about kevin that i really love is that he always leaves our assigned parking spot open for me, even if he has to park far away. i'm always on his mind.

10. i've enjoyed playing house and kevin knows it. he tells me that he appreciates my decorating sense and the way i've turned our apartment into a home.

11. kevin always takes out the garbage. whether i have to ask him or not, we both know it's the man's job to take out the stinky garbage. understood by both parties. loved by me :)

12. we both hate to do laundry. if we ever won the lottery, we'd have each piece of laundry sent out daily. it piles up so high, our room likes like a bomb went off at times. next purchase, a dual laundry basket. atleast it will help to hide the chaos.

13. i like clean dishes and cups. kevin likes to re-use cups over and over before he uses them. gross. i guess it doesn't affect me directly but it's still weird.

14. we both like to switch sides of the bed frequently. it's nice to have the option and know that once i get sick of "his side" i can have mine back...or we can meet in the middle. king size beds are FAB.U.LOUS!

15. kevin follows behind me picking up half-drank soda cans. i always get irritated because he drinks half of my soda but he says it's because if he doesn't, they'll only be half-gone.

all in all, we're happy. and we're learning more about each other every day. and we're learning to compromise. that's the fun part, right?

a new place to call home

married life for the past 24 days has been great! i can hardly believe the wedding was almost a whole month ago! kevin and i still have a lot left to do to organize our apartment. actually, we have a lot left to do in general. i'm sure people are wondering where their thank you cards are for wedding gifts. i'm still working on them! it takes a long time, especially when we are both trying to write thank you messages in each card. we are so grateful for every one that came to our wedding to celebrate with us. and we are even more lucky to have such great friends and family. people gave us the nicest things that we use every single day. i still remember who the items are from and think of that person each time i use it--like the dishes from my aunt kathy and gail, the pots from kevin's uncle steven and erika, the luggage we used on our honeymoon from the rude family and scott family, etc. it's been so fun because we didn't have too much stuff to begin with. it was either really used from our 5 years at college or something we bought really cheap at the goodwill. thank goodness we didn't have too many duplicates that needed to be returned...so that was nice. now we are left with tons of gift cards (which will definitely come in handy) and a bunch of great housewares that make our humble house a little more homey. yesterday we got to purchase a new bamboo dish rack, a wood salad bowl and a really cute vintage-inspired water pitcher at crate and barrel. it's fun using our giftcards :)

i'll send out thank you's as soon as their ready. please know that we are grateful beyond words for all the love and support we've been showered with lately. kevin and i couldn't be happier. as soon as our apartment is more organized, i'll post some photos of it as well. we are so happy to finally have a place to call home. here's our new address to jot down if you want:

Kevin & Katie Garvey
10337 SE Park Mountain Lane
Clackamas, OR 97015

Worth every penny

Our photos are available for viewing on our photographer's website: kacykizer.com They turned out more FABULOUS than we could have ever imagined. Kevin and I are so thankful for all the hard work our two photographer's put in to capture the most important day in our lives.

As soon as they are available for public viewing, I'll post a link. I'll add a few of my favorites asap!!

Same life, New name

So I added a couple more days about the honeymoon. I'm still working on the details of the remaining days so it'll be a while...

Everyone keeps asking me if I feel any different now that I'm married. Not really. Kevin and I have always had a really close connection and, from the beginning, we've both put 100% into this relationship. Commitment was never an issue. Trust has never been an issue. I don't feel that now because we are married, we have more of a commitment. I never questioned it in the first place. However, we are very excited about being married. Kevin calls me his wife any chance he gets. It's still weird to go from being a girlfriend to a fiance for a brief time to a wife. I don't think I'm old enough to be a wife or a Mrs. Now he calls me Wifey instead. I like it better :)

Now that the honeymoon is over and we're back to the day-to-day, life seems the same as it was before. I just go through the motions of work and play but with a different name. That has probably been the hardest part to get used to. My name plate at work now says Katie Garvey. I have a whole box of business cards that say Katie Boss. I still sign my name as Katie Boss, my email signature still says Katie Boss, everything says Katie Boss but I'm all the sudden a different name to the world. Sometimes Kevin gets bummed when I introduce myself as Katie Boss instead of Garvey. I explain that it's not intentional--it's just a 24 year old habit. Hard to get used to. Just think...I have to use so many more bubbles to fill out Garvey on a form than Boss. I'm now half-way down the alphabetical name list instead of at the beginning. My name is going to be misspelled forever! And, although I've been practicing, I can't seem to make Garvey look very pretty in cursive. It's those dang G's that get me every time. Honestly, it's almost like I've lost a bit of myself. For as long as I can remember I've been a Boss, now I have to learn how to be a Garvey. Don't get me a wrong, I am thrilled and honored to be Kevin Malone's wife...I just have to get used to the name. Guess it's too late to convince him to be Mr. Kevin Boss, right? I can already tell marriage is an adventure and I'm looking forward to the ride.

Honeymoon Day 3 - Tuesday

Today we woke up at 2 in the morning to get ready for our trip to Halekala. It is a crater at an elevation of around 10,000 feet. It was formed as the island of Maui was being formed. Since then it has eroded and gotten smaller, but it is still known for some of the best sunrises in the world. Our tour bus picked us up right in front of our hotel at around 2:45. Katie was practically a zombie at that time, but we managed to get a spot in the front row of the bus before passing out. After about a 40 minute drive, we got to a gas station where the bus driver provided us some coffee and some breakfast rolls. Then we headed up the 37 mile road to the top of Halekala. It is one of the steepest ascents in the world, and even though some of the passengers probably didn’t appreciate the bus driver talking on his microphone the entire way up, he did point out the burning sugar canes fields below us, as well as some of the visible planets and satellites in the sky. Eventually we made our way up to the visitor center at around 9,000 feet. Even though it was a full moon, we could still see just about ever star in the sky. But it was also freezing. They say the temperature drops 3 degrees every 1,000 feet. At 4 in the morning, at 9,000 feet up, and with heavy gusts of the trade winds on top of the crater, it was literally freezing. Luckily, I brought two heavy sweaters and we both packed pants. We also stole some blankets from our flight, which we used as make shift scarves. And the struggle with the cold was worth it. We were above the clouds and got to see the sun’s reflection form the belt of Venus. Before 6am, it was all over. We watched the glowing sun rise up over the clouds and give light to a new day. It was definitely the most beautiful sunrise that I have seen. After that, we headed up another 1,000 feet to the summit. We got our picture taken in front of the elevation sign and walked around a bit. There’s a huge science center up there with super computers and gigantic telescopes and cameras. You can also see some of the mountains on the big island, about 80 miles away. We lucked out with such a clear day and great visibility. We got back to the hotel before 11am and took another nap.

Later in the day we decided to go snorkeling. The day before, I swam all the way to the other side of the black rock and saw some large schools of fish and wanted to show Katie. I didn’t think that she would be up for it since you have to swim across a deep stretch of open ocean to get there, but she agreed to. We rounded the black rock, quickly swam on the outer edge of the cove, and then out into the open water. The tide was much stronger in the afternoon, the water was really choppy, no one else was in site, and the visibility wasn’t as good, but we could still see a good 50 feet and were able to see the large schools out there. But instead of continuing on, we decided to seek some shelter in the coral cove. When we got there, we spent a good 15 minutes swimming around before another turtle came out of nowhere. Katie and I were the only people around, and the sea turtle was feeding on some plant matter attached to the black rock. We just floated around with him for a good 30 minutes. We also saw a million different kinds of tropical fish, some crabs, a couple sea cucumbers, and even a puffer fish. But the turtle stole the show. We were able to get very close to him without threatening him or scaring him off. He kept an eye on us, but was very content with us being in his presence. A couple of times he even swam towards us. Katie and I were both so excited to have that moment. It may be cheesy but it’s kind of deep, witnessing such a beautiful creature in nature without disturbing it.

Tonight we are going to Teppan Yaki Dan’s at the Sheraton. The hotel has a program where if you decide to not have your room cleaned on any given day, and then agree to eat dinner at 5.30 or 9pm, you can get a 40 dollar credit towards dinner. Today was the perfect day to participate since our schedule is all messed up anyway from our early morning trip. The restaurant was like Benihana’s in the sense that they cook your food at your table in front of you. We shared the table with 3 other couples: honeymooners from Bellingham, WA, anniversary couple from Portland, OR and vacationers from Boston, MA. We had good conversation and were happy to be seated with such fun people! Kevin chose the Filet Mignon and Pacific Lobster and I had the Filet Mignon and Teriyaki Chicken. Thank god I got the combination—the Filet Mignon was the best steak I’ve ever eaten. It was melt-in-your-mouth good. I even told Kevin that it was “the first steak I’ve ever eaten where I didn’t want or need ketchup.” Kevin’s lobster was delicious as well. He cooked it just right; it wasn’t overdone or chewy. We’ll definitely eat there again when we return to Maui.

Honeymoon Day 2 - Monday

We decided to just do whatever we wanted on our first full day in Maui. It was so easy to wake up early there because you know the sun is shining and the pool/beach/cocktails were waiting. So, Monday was a beach day. We spent time between laying out on our something-blue 2-person “Mr. and Mrs.” Embroidered beach towel and the lounge chairs poolside. When we weren’t snorkeling or slurping up a fruity concoction from the bar, we were bodysurfing in the waves or trying to catch some rays. That night we watched the infamous Cliff Diving Ceremony off of Black Rock then walked down to Whaler’s Village to find a half-way inexpensive restaurant. Little did we know we’d find the restaurant love of our life in the Hula Grill. Kevin ordered the short ribs, I ordered the crab wontons complete with the heavenly chili water (of which we bought 3 bottles to take home with us) and we shared a delightful salad with orange vinaigrette. We quickly made friends with the bartender who kept the cocktails coming  After dinner, we stumbled our way back to our hotel and ended the night with a soak in the hot tub. To us, it was the perfect day. How could we ever top our first full day on beautiful Kaanapali beach?

Honeymoon Day 1 - Sunday

After 4 hours of sleep, Karen and Tim picked us up to leave for the airport at 6am! I’m not a morning person, but I was doing my best to stay chipper considering we were leaving for Maui, Hawaii! After a 50 minute flight from Portland to Seattle, we had a 2 hour layover in Seattle then boarded our 5+ hour Hawaiian airlines flight to Maui. The flight was nice. They played the Soloist but Kevin and I just watched Wedding Crashers on his laptop. It was the best airplane food I have ever had—I was very impressed. Once we landed, there was a lady standing at the entrance of baggage claim with a sign reading “Kevin Garkey.” That was the first of many times the Garvey name would be incorrectly written or said. This lady was as cute as could be, in her mid-70’s and smiling, trying to push our luggage around on a rolling cart while she whispered a conversation that we could barely understand. I felt bad and tried to carry my own purse but she wouldn’t allow it. She led us straight to our private charter bus. It was literally a 60-passenger tour bus only for us. We instantly knew we’d love Maui 
Once the bus dropped us off at the Sheraton, we checked in at the lobby. They welcomed us and congratulated us on our honeymoon. Then, tried to upsell us to a more expensive room for only $50 extra per night! What the hell? In all the movies they offer you free upgrades and champagne in your room. Needless to say, once we got to our room and realized there was no champagne, no card, no lei necklace, no rose petals, I was very disappointed. I didn’t wear my Mrs. Garvey t-shirt all day for nothing, people! Then, I quickly got over it once we saw the gorgeous view of black rock and the ocean off our private balcony. We immediately put on our beach gear, grabbed our camera and snorkels and headed to the beach. I took tons of pictures on the way; we grabbed a couple tropical drinks and took it all in. We were finally in Maui!
Our hotel was built into Black Rock on Kaanapali Beach. We strapped into our walmart snorkels and snorkeled around Black Rock on all 3 sides, looking at beautiful tropical fish varieties and SEA TURTLES! The first time one swam by me, I got so excited that I touched the turtle. Little did I know, that is a BIG no-no. So, I popped above the water, yelling at Kevin that I touched the turtle. Then everyone else yelled at me that you’re not supposed to touch them. Oops. My bad. Can’t a girl get excited?
After a long day at the beach, pool and bar, we explored past our hotel to Whaler’s Village for dinner. Hula Grill is where we ended up for our first meal. While we waited for our table in the dining room, we ordered a couple tropical drinks (complete with pineapple garnish and umbrellas) and the coconut calamari appetizer. It was the best calamari we’d ever had! We loved the environment—live band, nice chatty bartenders, warm weather and fun people. At dinner, Kevin bought me a beautiful flower lei. I ordered the Macadami nut crusted Mahi and Kevin ordered the Tandoori style Ono. It was so weird to be in a city where the fish of the day isn’t always salmon! We shared a great first meal and many drinks at the Hula grill then stumbled our way back to our room. We were pleasantly surprised to see our own complimentary bottle of champagne and note wishing us a happy marriage and thanking us for honeymooning at the Sheraton Maui. It was a very nice touch!