Big News!

Okay, this is way, way overdue.  There is actually a fair bit of news to share.  We'll go in chronological order.

I think it was about a month ago, when we had a rare weekend free, when we brought our boat back home.  Earendil has been up at Sale Creek Marina for, I think, about 6 months now.  We did some work on it, then they did some work on it.  Finally, they got the motor running, the weather cleared up, and we had our chance to bring our baby home.  It was one of those very uneventful trips, so I won't bore you with the details.  As we learned from our cruising days, uneventful = good!  The weather was gorgeous.  The current was with us.  And we made it home in less than 4 hours.  Pretty good!  Pulling into the marina was a little surreal.  It had been nearly a year and a half since we'd left Gold Point on a chilly November morning.  Jeff was awake to welcome us home with a wave (he was asleep when we'd left).  I managed to back the boat into our new slip on the first try.  Since it had been over 6 months since I'd driven the boat, I felt really good about it.  This captain's still got it!

It's great to have the boat home, a full-circle trip (some of it over ground, yes, but a hell of a trip nonetheless).  We've been too busy to take it out for a sail, but we're hoping to be able to take up fun sailing again now that things have calmed down a little.

In other wonderful news, Trevor has a new job!  He'll actually be starting in another week.  So exciting!  When we came back, he took the first job that came along in order to take some of the job-hunt pressure off of me.  Once I found a job, he started looking for a more permanent position, but the search took some time.  But finally something came through for him.  He'll be working for Chattanooga CARES, a non-profit HIV outreach organization, doing educational programs and community outreach stuff.  I'm not sure exactly what he does, but it's actually a benefit-the-world kind of job.  Go Trevor!

And the biggest news?  We're married!  Yep, it finally happened.  Six months of planning, uncountable headaches and stress-induced meltdowns, and it went off beautifully.  The weather was questionable last Saturday.  It rained in the morning (but it's good luck! they told me).  When I came out of the mall after getting my makeup done, it was sprinkling rain again.  Crap, I thought it was finished!  But by the time I made it to the venue, the sun was peeking through the clouds.  The wind picked up.  Oh my, it was a breezy wedding (in more ways than one).  But we started on time.  Dad managed to fight back the tears and walked me down the aisle.  And there was Trevor.  I have never seen so many teeth in his head!  His smile was so huge and adorable!

He's so cute!

Our ceremony was very short and sweet.  Our friend Sharyl did an excellent job and sped things right along.  The ceremony was over before we knew it!  

Mr. and Capt. Wilson!

And then it was party time!  Food, drinks, cake, the usual awesomeness.  We felt very loved and were happy so many people came.  We ate. We drank.  We danced.

Dad did eventually cry, as we all knew he would.  Though he lasted considerably longer than anyone expected.  When they played "We've Only Just Begun", he finally lost it; it was Mom and Dad's wedding song over 40 years ago.  So when they danced, he cried like the big ole softy that he is. (Don't worry, Dad, I'm not posting a picture of that.)

At the end of the night, we headed off to the Chattanooga Choo Choo.  I got a great deal on a room, but when we got there (still in our wedding finery), the upgraded us to a train car.  For free!  So we slept in a train car on our wedding night.  We had room service the next morning (I think it was our most expensive meal of the honeymoon, actually), then headed home to clean up and pack for the trip.  We stopped and grabbed some leftovers from the wedding food (couldn't let it go to waste!), and then we were off to Gatlinburg!  We got to our cute little cabin and settled in.  Hot tub time!  (No pictures of that either.)  We ate leftovers that night (so great!).

It was a most relaxing trip.  We saw a movie one day.  We went to the aquarium another.  And that was about it.  We enjoyed the hot tub.  And the jacuzzi.  We had a little charcoal grill outside, so we had steak one night and lobster the next.  We ate very well at our little cabin.  And we felt so refreshed when we came home on Thursday.

Now it's back to the real world.  The name change process has started (I'm taking his name, not the other way around).  I think it will take me forever to remember everywhere I have to change my name.  Bank accounts, credit cards, insurance, IRAs, car title.  (That last one just came to me.)  But we'll get through it.  Life has settled down a little bit.  At least it's less stressful.  No more wedding to plan!  No more job searching!  Now all we have to do is find a house.  (I know it's no small thing, but it's less daunting without everything else piled on top of it.)

Life is good.  We're happy.  The Wilsons. :)