Where I Have Been

Sorry I haven't written. I am digging myself out from underneath a pile of thank you notes, and when I get done writing those, I don't really feel like writing much else. The tricky thing about thank you notes is being able to truly express your thanks in different ways over and over again. I just hope that people don't compare notes!
We are back in St. Louis and back to reality. I still haven't changed my name...supposed to do that tomorrow. It is such an odd thing, changing your name. I really love both my middle and last name, but hopefully we can implement one of them into a baby name in the future :-)

So. We got married. Did I tell you our ceremony was supposed to start at 6 pm sharp? That is exactly when a huge thunderstorm hit. Talk about drama. Vases were flying off tables into cement walls. I was in a room with all windows and had to go hide somewhere else. Thank goodness 1) we had a tent and 2) I had 10 bridesmaids that all ran over to calm me down. One had her phone with her to show me that the storm was about to blow over. It actually did and the procession went on....until....I was supposed to walk down the aisle. Another thunderstorm came through! My dad and I waited while he showed me HIS blackberry assuring me that the storm would blow over. Thank goodness it did as well and the rest of the night went smoothly. The storm cooled down the weather so it was comfortable to dance outside and we had a blast!

The next morning our flight for Aruba left at 6:30 am. Yes, we were half asleep when the car came to pick us up, but we made it and had an awesome week. If you are looking for an incredible place to spend a vacation, I strongly suggest Aruba. We were able to lay out and hang by the ocean/pool, but there was also a mini night life and excursions during the day so we were never bored. I was so sad when we came back. I really wanted to accidentally miss the plane, but unfortunately we made it back.

EXCEPT. Michael and I almost spent then night in a customs cell in Aruba. What?! you may be asking. Well, here we go. Mike decided that it would be really cool to bring my father back some illegal Cuban cigars. He bought 2 from a street vendor and assured me it would not be a problem to SMUGGLE them back into the US. When I heard the word "smuggle," I am not going to lie. I got nervous. But of course, Mike assured me there would be no problems. So, as we are going through customs (and I am grumpy because we are leaving a beautiful island) we get pulled over for a "random" agricultural screening. The authority figure guy asked if we had any fruits, veggies, and point blank, cigars. Mike answered no to each of these questions. By this point, I have my arms crossed and am trying not to cry as I imagine us locked in a cell while we attempt to call home and explain this debacle. The customs man had us open all 6 pieces of luggage and he went through them very thoroughly. SURPRISE! He just happened to find 2 cigars not well hidden at all under some shorts.

The guy told us to wait there while he went to get the captain. Are you kidding me?? Now Mike was receiving non loving death glares from me while I paced back and forth. The Captain, came in and gave us a history lesson on the embargo on Cuban goods (not what we cared about) and then told Mike he could voluntarily give up the cigars with no consequence other than a signed form. (We are probably on the no fly list now.) The Captain proceeded to then tear up the cigars and the tins they were in in front of us. It was a lot of fun. People kept walking by thinking they needed to stop in that area. Nope, this is just for the criminals people, keep walking.

We finally left and Mike gave my dad the signed piece of paper for his souvenir. This better not be the beginning to the way our trips are going to go in the future! I will make the next post all pictures so you can get an idea of how much fun we had!

We're Married!!

I know it has been awhile since I wrote, but we literally got back from Aruba on Sunday. Since then, we were in Atlanta and Birmingham, celebrating just a little bit more with our families. When we got back to St. Louis last night, it was almost like the wedding had happened a year ago. Everyone tells you to cherish the day and remember as much as possible about every single minute because it will be such a blur. It was true - all I remember is how incredibly happy I was that the majority of people that we truly love were all together to celebrate this momentous occasion with us. I am actually exhausted and realize that I am going to have to do the wedding and the honeymoon in installments, but I wanted to leave you with this. Our videographer (Nick Weeks - he is awesome) showed this towards the end of the ceremony and I loved it. I am now Mrs. Jennifer Blackburn Cherbonneau - kinda weird, but so exciting!!!

www.snaplifestudios.com

(Right now we are the "featured clip" but you may have to search for us in the future.)