So I have been on vacation for the past week and a halfish. Last Saturday, we left for Oahu. The occasion, to get married. Yup, that is correct, I am a married man. On that Tuesday, we got married on a beach. Then the next day we went to Kauai and spent five nights there for our honeymoon. I will post pictures soon, just uploaded them all to my computer, need to pick out the ones worth posting (spoiler, nothing will be from the wedding, just scenery and such from the trip, didn’t bring my camera to the wedding, had enough going on).
I had wanted to have a beach wedding for a long time (read: before I had met Kim). She grew to like the idea, so when time came, we started planning it. I liked the idea of a small wedding, one where only a handful of people were there, less meet and greet and more fun. Sadly, it also meant having to tell many people I would have liked there that they were not invited (including my aunt and uncle). I also liked the destination idea because it meant the location didn’t favor either side of our families (hers being based in Malaysia and mine primarily in the eastern to midwestern U.S.). I also liked the idea of not doing every wedding in existence (granted beach weddings are pretty common). I have been to enough “classical” weddings to not be able to differentiate where one ends and the next begins. This was my wedding. It lasted under half an hour, everyone was barefoot on the sand. Sunny, waves crashing behind, no music, lots of smiling (and Christy cried :D). We all posed for pictures afterwards and enjoyed the view (it was pretty amazing, again, pictures of the location soon). It was pretty much my dream wedding (only thing really missing was doing shots at a bar).
I had wanted to see Kauai, so we planned for our honeymoon half to be there. That is an amazing island. Every picture taken looks amazing, even the bad ones. Every place you like is picturesque, I could just stand and watch the scenery for days. Truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. One day we drove up the western side of the Waimea Canyon and I took tons of pictures, another day we traveled up to the north coast and had drinks with my parents and sister (and Joe), on another, we spent the day in Poipu, sitting on the beach and then having extended happy hour right next to the water, and then on another, we took a helicopter tour of the island (probably my favorite part). I will try and caption all of the photos too. I got to see a beautiful sunrise and sunset, tasted some rum made on Kauai, fly through the area used for Jurassic Park, and spend some relaxing time with my new wife.
Now it is all over. Tomorrow, I return to work. It is tough getting used to that. Tough coming to terms with the idea that I probably won’t be back there for a few years. Waking up and making that train tomorrow is going to be tough, but each day after will be a bit easier. It is nice seeing that life can be that beautiful, but sad to see that it cannot always be that beautiful. We are already discussing our next vacation, that is what will keep me going. So, until then, life becomes just a bit less beautiful and a bit more tough (but hey, that is where character comes from, right?).