Matrimonio, Pura Vida style

Emily wants to go barefoot
Shirley was looking at DSW with no luck
Kia is too cool to care
I don’t know if Kit has thought about this

But what are they going to wear with their white, cotton dresses and sashes?

Terry and I found some CHEAP footwear over the weekend. Five dolla cheap! So here are three options. The first has a black sole, natural color footbed, and natural color shaped leaf wrapping over the toe.

The second is white on white. The white strap over the toes has some supa-dupa white sparkly, sprinkle things that go as bling as a five dolla sandal can.

The third is a white strap on a light tan foot bed. The strap is narrower than the second one and it has no pizzazz.

Does anyone have a preference? We need your sizes ASAP!

We went with LEAF <3

My Matron of Honor came out for a visit this past weekend from Los Angeles. We didn’t really have any plans of what to do so opted for what most people visiting Florida for the first time want to do… Disneyworld.

She flew into Orlando on Friday and Terry and I went up the night before. We went to Downtown Disney on Friday. The Magic Kingdom on Saturday (from open to close). Sunday was driving down to Miami then dinner at a sweet little Cuban restaurant, Las Culebrinas. She flew out on Monday morning after we went to brunch and to look at our at-home-reception venue.

Here are some pictures to highlight our trip.

Here is the scenario… the holidays are over. It is January. You are cold wherever you are. Kids from school may be sick and almost everyone has contact with these germ factories or their parents. Then you have to spend the day in an airport AND confined in a flying tube to get down to Costa Rica.

There is a lot of potential to get sick and I don’t want you to be sick at the wedding and I don’t want Terry and I to be sick.

So take care of yourself now. Did you get a flu shot this season? It is not too late and even supermarkets have flu shot days. You have no excuse. Besides that, get rest, healthy food, and moderate exercise. Keep on top of your vitamins.

Would you care to share your remedies for when you feel that twinge in your throat. Here are my two besides rest, tea, etc.

They are both holistic and work for me. A lot of yummy vitamin C. Even though it exceeds RDA guidelines, it works for me. The silver is great at fighting bacteria. I swish some in my mouth when I feel a little sick. I have used it on a kitten’s eye for an infection. And I sometimes put a little on cuts. Think of that whole “born with a silver spoon in the mouth” saying. Babies used to be given silver rattles or spoons to keep them healthy from disease. You were wealthy if you could afford it, but it has healing properties.

On the return to San Jose for the night of the 21st we have booked rooms at the Adventure Inn Hotel instead of Hotel Aranjuez.

There is a price difference between the two hotels. It is about $30 more per room but the rooms are more luxurious. The hotel is in a contained complex with restaurants, a pool, complimentary admission to a waterpark, closer to the airport, and with an airport shuttle.

Terry and I will no longer be with you on this leg of your journey and we want you to be in the easiest situation to navigate back to the airport as possible at the end of your trip.

Since reservations have been made you only need to bring cash to cover your room. They prefer cash just like Hotel Aranjuez and your Caribbean lodging.

The website owner also has some good travel articles and a blog you may want to read to further familiarize yourself with the country.

At the time of this writing, there are 96 days remaining until the wedding, and even fewer to everyone’s flight down. All along we’ve been telling everyone DO NOT PANIC!

Well, that’s all out the window now. It’s time to go into panic overdrive!

Ok, I’m kidding. Things are still really chill on the planning front, and we’ve got over 3 months til the big day. Lodging is taken care of for most of you, and the rest of you are working it out (right?) We’re still waiting for details on the volunteer project, but there’s no rush there either.

In fact, we’re looking forward to things remaining very chill all the way up to, through, and beyond the wedding itself. This Monday (yesterday) we finished our first dance class. It maybe started off a little rough (with the instructor), but it ended up on such a great note that we’re very much looking forward to starting the intermediate class in a couple weeks. Mother of the Groom and Father of the Bride, prepare to dazzle the small crowd on the dance floor with your fabulously coordinated offspring! Perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but we’re coming along well enough in the class.

We’re really looking forward to seeing you all in about 3 months, and sharing this significant life-event with you.

What’s on your mind? We love feedback, so feel free to leave us a comment!

It is my birthday and I have a birthday wish…

I want all of you that received your newsletters last month to fill out the survey! Seriously people, we have no idea how prepared you are unless you tell us. We can’t help you if we don’t know if you need help.

All I am is saying is that come January Terry and I will be partying it up in Costa Rica with our without you. While we would prefer that you are there, that is out of our control.

Oh yeah, thank you future in-laws. You all are too sweet. I didn’t even think you knew.

translated: HOW IS YOUR SPANISH?

Let’s test it

Let us know if you need any help with anything. I hope you enjoyed these silly videos

We hope you are being proactive in preparing for the trip. What kinds of things did you enjoy on previous vacations? Costa Rica really is geared for handling tourists from the United States of America. As a note, when you go there and people ask where you are from, don’t answer “America.” It is a bit offensive and egotistical considering there are two continents that are technically “America.” It will be much more considerate to say you are from the U. S.

I think the best book for you to look at to prepare for the trip is the Lonely Planet Guide to Costa Rica (2006 is the latest edition).

It is a thick little book so I suggest huddling up with it and a cup of tea at your large bookstore and leafing through it. There is good background on the country in the front. Then a guide to San Jose that includes Hotel Aranjuez and Nuestra Tierra. Further into the book (near the back) is the southern Caribbean coast and Casa Viva.

I am including a link to a Puerto Viejo information site via their weather page. I am sure you have all asked yourself what the weather is going to be like at our wedding site. Well it varies and even though January is considered a dry time for a lot of the country we are going in the second wettest month for the area. It will be pleasant though, especially for those of you traveling from snowy areas. Keep in mind that it can get really hot in tropical regions so it may not be comfortable if we scheduled the wedding for September or October.

FYI: 29 degrees celsius is 84.2 degrees fahrenheit and 430 mm is about 16.9 inches (those are the averages for January)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Terry and I are so grateful that people are booking their flights and getting their passports. It seems like people are as excited as we are.

Here are a few things to remember as you make your plans…
1. You don’t have to follow our itinerary, but let us know if you need help with planning your time in Costa Rica so that you at least make it to our wedding.
2. If you are following our itinerary make sure you arrive in San Jose by the 16th and arrange your flight out of the country by the 22nd at the earliest
3. Don’t assume we have lodging for you. We have lodging reserved for immediate family only but other guests will need to contact Cabinas Punta Uva, the lodging we listed, or any other Puerto Viejo/Punta Uva/Cocles lodging. Let us know if you need help or to check to see if you are on our lodging list. We do have reservations for everyone in San Jose for the 16th and the 21st.
4. Let us know your plans, especially if you are following our itinerary. We are tracking everyone’s arrival times. We know some of you are catching red eyes to make it down. We will be in the country for a couple of days already. The hotel rooms will not be ready until mid-day but our room will be. The hotel can hold your bags, but you are welcome to catch some sleep in our place. Terry and I have reserved a triple and plan to shuttle people between the airport and the hotel if you don’t catch your own transport (we know some of you may be intimidated by the new country and language).
5. If you want to do some research for the country check out the Lonely Planet’s Costa Rica Guide. Head to your big bookstore, grab a cup of tea, and sit down with the book for an introduction to an awesome country.

We have secured our photographer for the event. Dan Scheerer, and his wife Kori are:

We met them recently at my sister’s wedding, and got along very well. He’s a great photographer with a really good grasp on composition and lighting. His packages were all ridiculously reasonable. He was completely non-obtrusive during my sister’s ceremony and all. He and Kori were absolutely great with kids, adults, everyone.

So yes, we hired a photographer from Fort Wayne, IN for our Costa Rica destination wedding. It seems silly at first, but when you think about it, you have to pay for your photographer’s transportation and lodging no matter what. So who cares where they’re coming from?

To any knotties or anyone else planning their own wedding, I can’t recommend this guy enough. We can hardly WAIT to see our own photos.