It's Official

As of today Mr. Honda and I are proud homeowners! Our road to homeownership has been a long one and quite an interesting one at that. Luckily we had a great team of people backing us up each step of the way.

When we got back from the wedding we began entertaining the idea of moving from our current apartment. I wanted to stay near the city and move into a luxury apartment where we could have the amenities of a home (ie: in-unit washer/dryer and pets) without the responsibilities of owning a home (ie: home insurance and more utilities). On the other hand the hubs has been missing the amenities of suburban living (ie: 2 car garage and easy parking). After weighing the pros and cons I agreed to start looking at houses, though I admitted that it would have to be an amazing house for me to get fully on board with buying a house. Honestly, I think I really just couldn't fathom the idea that we could be buying a house less than 6 months after our wedding.

We went to a few open houses on our own here and there and nothing even came close to making me want to buy a house. Then on our first official day out with our real estate agent, who just happens to be the hubs' mom, we came across the PERFECT home. Within moments of walking into the home I turned to the hubs and said "I want to live here." And now, about a month and a half later, I am happy to say that we own that home.

Rome in a Week

As I mentioned in my previous post we went to Rome shortly after the wedding. Mr. Honda had to go to Rome on a business trip and there was no way I was letting him go without me. I begged and pleaded with my boss to let me take yet another week off of work so that I could join my hubs in Rome. Luckily my boss was kind enough to let me take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and we packed our bags for Italy.

3 course meal on the airplane

After a busy Friday at work we hurried off to SFO and hopped on a flight to Munich, Germany. Given that I get antsy and impatient on flights to and from Hawaii which is less than 6 hours this 11 hour hour flight was absolutely torturous. Although the food and service on the flight was top notch after a long day at work all I wanted to do was get comfortable and sleep which was absolutely impossible given the hard seats and extremely warm temperature. We had a short lay over in Munich before hopping on a short flight much more tolerable flight to Rome.

By the time we arrived at our hotel in Rome it was pretty late and we were famished. We wandered around aimlessly with no avail and ended up back in the hotel munching on goldfish and oreos that we bought at the airport. After such a long travel time we were so excited to just lie down on a bed and sleep it off. Boy were we disappointed when we fell into a rock hard bed with scratchy sheets. I thought I was just going to die.

1. Colosseum, 2. Hubs and I in front of  the Colosseum,
3. Pantheon,4. Spanish Steps

After the first night we met up with the hub's co-worker and wife to see some of the sights Rome had to offer. We had a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. It's simply amazing to see these structures that are 1000s of years old. We then ventured over to the Pantheon and saw Raphael's tomb before heading over to share some gelato as we people watched at Piazza Navona. Then we meandered through the streets of designer boutiques as we made our way over the the Spanish Steps.

1. Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiorie
2. Tartufo, 3. San Pietro in Vincoli
4. Chocolate crossant
5. Pope Benedict XVI, 6. YUM!

During the week while the hubs was away at work his co-worker's wife and I spent our days wandering the streets of Rome visiting churches, eating great food, and occasionally stopping to do a little shopping. The architecture and art in the churches are absolutely breath taking. And the food...especially the pastries and sweets were to die for. We even got to see the pope up close and in person as he blessed the crowd in St. Peter's Square. In the evenings we met up with the guys at the hotel and went out for dinner at places around the area we were staying in. Luckily for us we stayed in Trastevere which is an area well known for it's delicious eats.

1. Piazza Barberini, 2. Vatican
3. St. Peter's Basilica
4. Ferrari store

Finally once the work week was over the hubs got to join me in some of the sight seeing. We took in Roman sites like Piazza Barberini, Trevi Fountain, the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. A note to others planning a trip to Rome...visiting the Vatican during Easter weekend means that you will most likely not get to see St. Peter's Bascilica. We also spent quite some time strolling the streets drooling over all of the amazing designer boutiques.

Trevi Fountai

There are no words to describe how amazing it was to spend a week taking in everything Rome has to offer with my new hubs. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought we would celebrate our 1 month anniversary as husband and wife in one of the most romantic cities in the world.

The Past 3 Months

Today marks 3 months of married life and boy has it been one heck of a whirlwind. It feels like things have been going non-stop for the past 3 months.

After the wedding we jetted off to spend a few rainy days in Kauai for our honeymoon. Luckily even though the weather wasn't so great we got a few hours of sunshine to sail around the island and do some zip-lining right before we had to head back to Oahu.

About a month after we got back to reality and our real lives Mr. Honda needed to go jet off to Rome for a business trip. There was no way I was letting him go to Rome without me, so I begged and pleaded for some extra time off so that I could join him. We spent a week enjoying the sites, food, and shopping that Rome had to offer.

And today, on our 3 month anniversary we signed the counter-offer for an amazing house. A house that feels like it was made for us. If everything goes accordingly we will be moving into our very first home in about a month and a half.

I remember not long ago wistfully dreaming of the day that I would done with school and finally be Mrs. Honda; I couldn't wait to get married and start the rest of my life. And now, 3 months into married life it has far exceeded my wildest dreams.

New Name - New Blog

As most of you know as of March 3, 2012 I am officially the new Mrs. Honda. I still have lots to write regarding the whole wedding planning process as well as the wedding itself, but I will also use this blog to chronicle our first year of married life together. We should be having lots of new changes coming our way in the following year and hopefully it won't be as hard as some people make it out to be.

More blogs about the wedding to come as soon as the Mr. and I get re-settled into our life back at home.

A Change in Perspective

A little over a year ago I started this blog to recount the all of our wedding planning adventures. And in that year my perspective on all things wedding has truly changed. When I watched wedding shows a year ago I hung onto every single little detail...the bouquets, the chairs, the bridesmaids dresses, the centerpieces, etc. But now that we're less than a month away from the wedding my perspective has completely shifted. What I pay most attention to is the joy in the bride and groom's eyes, the loving way that the bride and groom look at each other, and the vows that they choose to say to each other.

I'm not sure if this shift in my perspective is because most of our planning is done and set in stone or if it's because now that the wedding is so close I am seeing what is really important about the wedding. In a few short weeks I am marrying the man of my dreams, the man who makes me smile and laugh everyday, and the man I want to spend the rest of my life with; and I am so excited to share our love with our friends and family. I don't care what people think of the flowers or the food any more. Instead, I want people to walk away from my wedding saying "Man, I want a love like theirs."

The Hand-off

This past month our wedding coordination with Seasons of Life Entertainment finally kicked in and we had a detailed 2 hour skype meeting with our coordinator to hand off all of our information to our planner. The meeting was pretty exhausting with trying to remember all of the important details as well as ask all of our questions, but in the end it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Since getting engaged (and even before) I have been a religious reader of several wedding blogs around the internet. At some point in time every single wedding blogger has touted the wonders of having a wedding coordinator, even if they are just a day-of coordinator. I toyed with the idea in my head for a while, and even considered choosing a coordinator to help us through the entire planning process. In the end, after considering  finances and my own control issues we decided to go with a day-of coordination that starts 2 months before the wedding. 

I know that typically in Hawaii families love to get their hands in the wedding planning pot and help with set-up and such, but I just wanted my guests to be able to come to the wedding and enjoy. And it really is a great feeling when you have a question and your coordinator says, "Don't worry, I can take care of that." 

Although the wedding is still a little over a month away and I haven't seen the final product of having a wedding coordinator on board I would definitely recommend getting some sort of coordination for those planning a wedding. It just gives you piece of mind that things will be taken care of...not to mention if you have a disagreement with a family member on how things should be for the wedding you can just say "Well, that's what the coordinator recommended," and no one will know the wiser. ;)

That Bride

I think I may have become that bride. You know, the bride that vendors probably see on their caller ID and dread picking up the phone.

Last month, 3 months before the wedding, I sent an email to our florist with new pictures of an arch decor for the ceremony and a completely different idea for our centerpieces. Once she sent me the updated quote I rescinded my desire for my the new centerpieces, but wanted to keep the new arch decor which required her to put together yet another quote for us.

Recently I have been trying to choose a vendor to do the chair covers at our reception. I have had this poor vendor go out to my venue and take pictures to see if their ivory chair covers match the ivory table linens at my venue (which they didn't). And now they are trying to set up different cost-saving tablescape ideas to make our white centerpieces stand out on a white table linen and photograph them for me. Did I mention that we still haven't signed a contract with this vendor, so for all they know all this hard work could be for nothing?

Sheesh...I wouldn't even answer the phone if I knew it was me.