We're married!!! Here's the story of the past week:

Emily and I flew up to DC on Tuesday. Got in, hung out with the family members who were there, and waited for others. Wednesday we started to prepare for the wedding. We couldn't move the furniture yet, because there were still more people coming and we had to leave most of it for Thanksgiving dinner, so we went shopping for decorations and set up the two stereo systems. By Thursday things had really begun to pick up. Most of the day was spent with the family and preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Emily and I ate at her mom's house, then drove to Baltimore to see my family. In Baltimore, someone stumbled across a couple drawers of photos that no one had seen in a while. We had fun looking at the old pictures and laughing at my dad's poor report cards.

Friday was spent moving furniture into the garage, decorating and doing lots of preparations for the big event. Emily had a "girls only" party, while the parents and the guys went out for dinner. I spent the night at Lindsey's house, so I wouldn't see Emily on the day of our wedding.

Saturday I woke up late, went out to breakfast with Lindsey and spent some time at the National Archives looking at the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Very interesting!

Lindsey and I arrived back at Emily's mom's house around 4:00. We did some last minute preparation, and the photographer arrived early. He took candid shots of Emily's sisters and I, before the guests started to arrive. By 6:30, the caterers had set up, the string quartet began playing and the house started to fill up.

The actual ceremony started a little after 7:00. Everyone made room for the procession through Emily's living room. I escorted my grandmothers and my mother. When everyone was in place, the quartet began to play the song to which Emily had chosen to walk down the isle. When I heard the song was the first time I became nervous. Emily came down the stairs and was escorted to the front by her Dad and Step-Dad.

The ceremony itself went well. Lindsey was standing right where I was looking and she spent the entire time giggling and making faces. Emily and I glanced at each other throughout the ceremony and tried not to crack up. It was over before we knew it.

The party went well. Everyone seemed to get along, enjoy the food and have a good time.

Thank you Rebecca for planning a fabulous event. We couldn't have done it without you! Thank you Eileen and Tom for hosting the event and helping us pay for it. Thank you Wally and Cathy for supporting us, and helping to pay for it. Thank you Jen, Sara, Kat, John, Todd, and Rob for giving your time, support and energy to helping make the wedding great! I can't say enough about all of the love and support I have received from Emily's family. You have made me feel very welcomed and I appreciate everything you have done for us.

My company sent me to Kansas City this weekend to attend the USACi world finals. It's basically the world's loudest car stereo contest. I met up with a couple of Jensen salesmen, one from New Jersey, one from Ohio.

Friday was the show setup. We headed over to the convention center and found the show car and a stack of 2005 literature. Obviously that wasn't going to work, but we did eventually secure some up to date brochures from someone who was coming in later that night.

We spent two hours walking around downtown and The Village looking for bars and restaurants, before finally settling on a place which had both. The food wasn't that good, but I don't think my coworkers had any idea; they each downed about a dozen drinks before and during dinner. The restaurant had a club downstairs, so after eating we checked it out. Again, not very good, so we spent the rest of the evening at the place next door.

Saturday was the start of the show. The convention center was filled with show cars owned by manufacturers (like us), retail stores, instillation companies, and car enthusiasts. Some of the cars were very well styled and meticulously built, others were just boxes of speakers on wheels (with the entire interior stripped out). The top competitors had to push their cars into the judging area, because they was nowhere to sit inside the "vehicle". The funny part about the judging was that the top cars were often the quietest. They were sealed up so well that the owners had to screw the doors shut with a pneumatic drill. A large truck sponsored by Pioneer broke the world record, but from the outside it sounded like a cellphone vibrating on the table (only a bit louder).

Besides the stereo competition, there were some horrible bands playing, UFC style fights, ugly girls in bikinis.

Today I got woken up early by one of the salesmen from my company. He was still dressed in the clothes he was wearing yesterday and he reeked of booze. He gave me the passes to get into the show and said that he and everyone else were catching early flights home. I ended up having to sit at the booth all day by myself.

And WE are suppose to be the ones spreading peace and democracy? Maybe we're not exactly cut out for the role...

Best food ever created? Kat, you gotta bring me a slice when you come to the wedding...

So the Democrats have won it all... I'm happy about it, not because I like the Democrats, but because the Republicans are bent on driving this country into the ground with their over-spending, war-craving, fascist-loving ways. Also, a gridlock in government generally means that they won't get anything done (good for us and good for the economy). And I'm sooooo glad that Rumsfeld is gone.

Not to boast, but I told you so! How could the rest of the country not have seen that this war was a bad idea from the beginning? I was in DC protesting the war before it even started.

When are we going to learn to mind our own business? We need to bring our military home and keep them here. How can they protect Americans if they aren't even here?

While doing my research for tomorrow's election, (who are my choices, what do they stand for, etc) I noticed something very peculiar. Ever since Bush took office, the Republicans and the Democrats seem to have switched on some very important issues. Specifically,the Democrats seem to have taken over as the more fiscally responsible party! I'm sure it's just in reaction to Bush's reckless disregard for our national budget, but it's good to see that the Democrats have picked up where the Republicans left off.

Another interesting observation I have made about the party platforms is that the Republicans have taken over as the "look to government to solve all of your problems" party. Just listen to their rhetoric about terrorism, illegal immigrants, family values, natural disasters, emergency preparedness, weapons of mass destruction, homosexuals, disease pandemics, etc, etc. No wonder anxiety and depression have become national epidemics!

That being said, I plan to vote Democrat for House and Senate seats tomorrow and a mixture of Republican, Democrat and Libertarian (where my heart truly lies) for the other positions. He seems like a bit of a nut job and might be a serial killer, but my favorite candidate is John Wayne Smith.