We Had a Second Reception!

Or was it an Open House? I forget! But this last weekend we had our Ohio Wedding Celebration and Mom and Dad drove out from Chicago for it. So here’s a whole post about the whole weekend that I whipped up while slowly getting my Hawaii post together.

Mom and Dad got to Columbus around 3:30 or so on Friday and I showed them how things are really progressing for Cornelius and me.

Then we went to see Liz sing at Los Hombres de Cool’s Gringo de Mayo show!

Between the Barnes, Woolleys, and Gardners, there was a really good turn out of Liz fans!

Then Mom and Dad took Liz and I to dinner at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus. Holy Schmidt, I loved it!

The next morning some of us were up real early for the coronation. And then that afternoon we all went to the Columbus Temple open house. Liz and I had vacuumed it a week or two before, but it was great to be there in the daylight with all the people.

And then it was time for the reception! Katie and Joel and Family and Friends did an amazing, mindblowing job of throwing this party. There was so much food and so much fun and it was such a great opportunity to put our wedding outfits on once more! Oh and there were custom aprons, custom sandwiches, custom drinks, a cake cutting and a bouquet toss! This party had everything but my sister Emily!

Even after all that partying we still weren’t done! After church on Sunday we took Mom and Dad to see the field of corn in Dublin. That afternoon Mom and I took Cornelius for a walk and then that evening we had everyone over for spaghetti and a game of Just One

And then, Monday morning, all the fun had to come to the end. Took some back porch photos and then watched Mom and Dad drive off to Chicago. See you in Utah! Surprisingly soon!

We Had a Wedding!

Here’s a bit of a post about the wedding that happened March 25th, but mainly this is a showcase of the excellent photos from Marlene Clayton Photography of the event. A favorite thing for me to see in the photos is the stuff I didn’t see that day, such as everyone lined up waiting for Liz and me to exit the temple:

And now here we are! Exiting the temple like so many happy couples before us! The snow as a flurrying that Saturday noon, but ultimately it just made the photos look cooler and the photo taking go quicker

Group photo time! First up, Everyone! “Serious” then cheering.

Next, Blood!

Grandma! Thank you for making the trip, Grandma! And for getting her there, Frank!

Barnes siblings! Keep an eye on the progression of Owen and Greg’s little moment

Woolley siblings! My in-laws!

Me and my folks, with and without Liz

Friends! Thank you for making the trip out, friends!

Then everyone was dismissed while Liz and I were photographed in the sunny snowy rain. Clothes and hair were starting to get pretty wet!

Then we all reconvened in Oak Park for the wedding luncheon!

The bride requested that we dine upon Johnnie’s Italian Beef … who were we to refuse a request like that?

And then we were honored and entertained to hear excellent tributes by Tawna, Cory and Joel (givers of the traditional Brother-in-Law Speeches)

Then into the dining room we went for the cutting of the cake. If only anyone had gotten a photo of the cake cutting!

After cake we went to the living room for a little AV presentation of our engagement photo outtakes as well as a video of Liz and my first Facetime.

We kept partying and partying but eventually it was time for Liz and me to go! We thrilled the crowd with our matching Hawaiian outfits and waited with everyone for our Uber to arrive. And then we had a rice-tossing send off BECAUSE it is not true that rice will kill pigeons and we are Classic People having a Classic Wedding.

And that was the wedding! What a day!

Next Up: A honeymoon post? Sure, why not!

A Big Post to Catch You Up on Little Liz

As you may know, Liz and I will be getting married later this week! So I thought it was an appropriate time to post about what we’ve been up to the last three years.

I “met” Liz at work March 2020, the week before the pandemic really kicked in. I mean, I met her while I was at work, but she wasn’t there.

Then we “met” again a week or so later after lockdown had totally kicked in. The pandemic was a great time to get to know someone over the internet.

And just 13 short months later Liz drove out to New York for a weekend and we met once more.

After I took my vaccination vacation, I went out to Columbus and met Cornelius for the first time. And went to Cedar Point!

Then 4th of July weekend Liz came back to New York. We watched the fireworks in my neighborhood! And went to Montauk and also Roll n Roaster.

And then, after a little covid bump in the road, I went out to Columbus in September and we went to the air force museum!

In October Liz flew to New York for the first time and we got a tlayuda and spent that Sunday making meatballs and cavetelli for Ned and Garrett.

Thanksgiving in Columbus! Met all the Columbus Woolleys, took a drive to Indianapolis, and had dinner with the Rasmussens at the Golden Lamb.

Then Liz dashed out to New York for a few days the weekend before Christmas and met Patricia and we ate Sweetgreen after watching Spider-Man.

Then, Christmas evening, Liz drove to Oak Park and met Mom, Dad and Emily. I got really really sick while she was there. But we still took a trip up to her old Wisconsin stomping grounds. Not pictured: any of the stomping grounds. Pictured: How cold it was in Wisconisn.

Then, in February, we were going to have this big amazing weekend in Los Angeles that turned into an amazing almost 2 days because of some horrible flight experiences Liz had. Perhaps you saw the post about our trip to Disneyland that weekend? Well we also ate dumplings.

Then I took a March trip to Columbus where Liz took me to see the world’s biggest picnic basket AND on a trip to Other Worlds. Other World? Something like that.

Then, later in March, Liz came back to New York and we had dinner at Cosme in preparation for our upcoming Mexico City trip.

Then we celebrated my birthday with Mom and Dad at the Indianapolis Speedway.

And THEN we took our big trip to Mexico City with Kristen and Cory. Here’s the big post about it.

As an encore to that, Liz came out to NY for Memorial Day weekend.

Different trip, same outfits? I went to Columbus for Juneteenth weekend. Liz showed me a Finnegans Wake pub and took me to for my first Cracker Barrel meal. We also had pancake balls.

Then, ooh boy, Liz was going to drive out to New York this one Friday in July except, well, her dad died that morning. So I got out to Ohio ASAP and tried to be supportive and provide appropriate distractions.

Then in August Liz came out to be a big helper when I got my knee tune up surgery.

Then we met up in Chicago in September for a fun Chicago time where I was a lot more healthy than the last time we were there together and I was a lot more mobile than the last time we had seen each other.

Then, also in September, I was back to Columbus and we took a fancy trip to the Spaghetti Factory.

Then Liz came to New York Halloween weekend and we walked the whole dang length of Manhattan. And we also took a legendary photo at Cafe Sabarsky.

My second Thanksgiving in Columbus! Spent some time at the mall and had a momentous viewing of Star Wars. And we went to the Ark Encounter experience! (This is also the trip where we got engaged)

Then there was an extremely quick little trip to Utah (Liz was on the same plane as my folks!) for the family Christmas party. And for Liz to meet Andrew.

Then, a few weeks later, Liz took her last trip as a single woman to New York. We took our engagement photos that weekend. As a reward for scrolling down so far, I’m now posting 2 of the outtakes from the session.

Then we spent a nice long Christmas and New Years in California together, bouncing back and forth between San Marino and Santa Clarita. And between Homestate and other restaurants. And we took a great trip to the top of Mt Wilson with Grandma. We also watched the Rose Parade!

In February I went to Columbus for Liz’s birthday weekend. We had some nice meals and also we worked on invitations!

And then just a few weeks ago we met up in Utah for Liz’s bridal shower festivities. I got to come the end of the party and participate in some classic bridal shower fun and games. But you know what? It turns out I don’t really have any pictures from the shower I can post here. So. I guess this is the end of the catch up?

And, well, after knowing each other for slightly more than three years Liz and I will be getting married this upcoming weekend. Holy Smokes! I don’t think I’ll be taking many pictures that day but maybe I’ll get my hands on enough of them to blog my own wedding. Holy smokes!

Here’s one more selfie of me and Yung Liz. And here’s to no more airport drop-offs. Or at least to far fewer airport drop-offs