Ohio Wedding Celebration

Charlie and his Ohio boys!

Another wedding cake...another messy face.

After Christmas in Colorado, we packed our bags and flew to Ohio for quality time with Charlie's family and another wedding celebration. The best way to get married is to go international and then you have the excuse of having more parties at home. We decided to have not one, but two wedding celebrations to make travel easier for all of our friends and family. The Ohio wedding celebration was held in a wooden barn turned into a cozy party venue at Benham's Grove. The Christmas tree was still sparkling and an amazing spread of food (thanks Bonnie & Bill) took center stage. Highlights of the intimate evening included meeting all of Charlie's relatives, eating the delicious food (and not feeling like I was going to toss my cookies), and seeing Charlie so happy and at peace in "his" element.

A Brazilian Comes to Christmas Dinner

The incredible thing about friendship is that it extends borders, cultures, religion, age, and ...(the list goes on). My dear friend, Ali from Brazil, made the long trip from São Paulo to witness our union and participate in a Weimer Christmas extravaganza. I met Ali in 2006 when I first moved to Europe for my masters degree and immediately connected with her and we quickly became international sisters with different mothers. Since then we have been roommates, travel partners, cheerleaders, therapists and editors for each other. It was an honor to have her in Colorado to celebrate such wonderful life events: our marriage, our bun in the oven, and the completion of my dissertation (of which she contributed to as one of my editors). 

Special Guests in Colorado

Charlie's parents traveled all the way from Ohio to Colorado by train (through a blizzard) to attend our Colorado wedding celebration. It meant the world to us that they were able to join in the Colorado shenanigans, as they were unable to attend the ceremony and sauna party in Finland. So, now both of our parents have seen us tie the knot the twice...I guess that means we have officially sealed the deal! Woohoo.

We Have News: Prego!

Roughly 8 weeks ago, super-hubby rode his bike to the Yliopiston Apteekki (pharmacy) and asked one of the pharmacists for a pregnancy test for his wifey. The woman recommended the 2-pack digital Clearblue Plus test for 14 euro and before you knew it he was handing me the box with a nervous smile on his baby-soft face. This was at 12:30 p.m. and we had a lunch date with our Greek friends at 1:30 p.m., so I began downing water and even heated some hot water for tea to let my bladder know it was, "time to perform!" When 1:25 p.m. came Charlie messaged our friends to let them know we were going to be a little late. Lunch must wait...I need to pee on a stick! We started reading the directions on-line (as the directions in the box were in Finnish) and it said, "You should avoid drinking excessive amounts of fluids before testing." Dang...we must wait, to lunch we go!

After an amazing homemade Greek meal with stuffed peppers, feta cheese, green salad, and red wine (that I slyly passed to super-hubby), we walked home, both anxiously awaiting my bladder to kick in. After a Skype conference call, the bladder was ready for some relief and I ran to the bathroom with the door slightly shut. Charlie stood by the door like a little kid waiting for the candy shop to open. I handed him the stick and we waited, waited, and waited for 2 minutes until the blue line starting forming. 

But, wait...what the hell does the blue line mean? We fumbled to get the directions out of the box and attempted to make sense of the Finnish text and photos. Finally, we realized that the big BLUE + = pregnant! Woohoo. Holy shit. Laughter. Anxiety. Smiles. Happiness. All the emotions settled in at once, we're preggers!!! Charlie ran around the house excitedly proclaiming to the world, "My boys can swim!"

We made the news public at our Colorado wedding celebration and will continue to share the news with all. 

A Colorado Wedding Celebration

The mock ceremony!

Guestbook and photos.

Yes, we already tied the knot in Finland, but we wanted to share our union with all of our "favorites " back home. Our Colorado celebration was nothing less than a dream wedding (okay, to be more concise MY dream wedding). It was intimate, located at the base of some of the most beautiful Colorado mountains, and almost all of my favorite people were in attendance. Oh, and the dance party with funny hats was the topping on the cake. Of course, one of the highlights was the mock ceremony that our friend, Brent, officiated. Together, we wrote the ceremony and then Brent interviewed us both to get the "inside scoop" on our relationship. Brent did a phenomenal job pulling it all together in a memorable, humorous, and touching ceremony. It was an amazing way to celebrate our union through words and stories that orchestrated our love, commitment, and our zest for life and adventures. Charlie and I were extremely touched by the entire evening...our friends, family, and the incredible network of love and support.

The wedding details included:

The venue: Chautauqua.

Getting groovy!

-flowers by my big sister: magenta orchids and greens (beautiful!)
-each table was named after a city of significance: Paris, London, Athens (Greece), Berlin,
-the guestbook was a picture book of Colorado
-music by my little kid bro (including Electric Slide, Humpty-Dance, Chicken Dance,

The Colorado ladies serenading Charlie and I.

-bar featured Colorado micro-brew beers (Avery, Breckenridge Brewery, New Belgium, Lefthand, etc.)
-Charlie wore his French suit (bought in Finland) and I wore my pink dress (designed in Finland)
-we hired a friend as the photographer--amazing pics!
-each place setting had a nameplate with written name and an ivory paper box with Fazer chocolates (from Finland)

The wild & wacky Weimer/Neiderworder clan.

-my dad walked me down the "aisle" to the sounds of "Build me up Buttercup"
-there was both vegan and gluten-free food items
-we shared a slideshow of our life abroad with photos from Finland, Belgium, Greece, London, and Italy 
-"save the date" postcard was sent from Finland (Finnish postcards with stickers of the love-birds)
-official (on-line) invitation on mywedding.com
-wedding registry for honeymoon to Istanbul via honeyfund.com

***Special thanks to all of those near and dear who traveled to Colorado to celebrate with us (Ali from Brazil, Charlie's parents from Ohio, Bobby from North Carolina, and Aunt Marie from South Dakota).

The BIG Day: Send & Receive!

Today, I clicked the SEND button and my final dissertation draft (all 200 pages of it) flew through the internet galaxy to land gently in the inbox of four professors. Next stop in this process: my defense January 7, 2013 in Athens, Georgia. Woohoo!

Today, I also picked up my superhusband from the airport and I was filled with emotions when I melted into his arms. We were in different countries for 27 days--way too long! Ah, relief...all around.

It has been a tough two months!

The Final Push!

Dissertation inspiration: Colorado sunset!

I arrived in Colorado November 21...just in time for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner on November 22 with my family (sans my super-hubby and my little kid brother, Bobby). Other than Thanksgiving, a beautiful ski day with my dear friend, Melanie, and a cookie decorating extravaganza with my cousin, Schanell, my days could be described as a dissertation-palooza! (I am trying to make this "final push" sound very fun, because it has been anything but...fun!) For me, the final push has been the hardest of the dissertation roller-coaster. December 17 marks "D" day, when I turn in the final document to my committee and all fate rests in their hands. The good news is that my major adviser said I was ready for the defense, with just a few more additions and revisions (this is never-ending). 

 
The silver lining in all of this: I am in Colorado and the weather has been fantastic and SUNNY (very different from the dark and gray days in Finland--they call November the death month)! So, my mom and I have been going on walks about every other day...it is great to get off my computer butt and feel my body move under the warm sunshine. Ahhhh...more later!