Wedding Wednesday

So here it is everyone, some of my favorites from the wedding pictures! Enjoy and please feel free to pin any pictures!!

 

Everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends!

St Lucia- No Presha No Problem!

Clearly I am trying to get caught up with all the blogging I need to do since the wedding! Lets do a Flashback Friday to St. Lucia! D.J. and I headed down to the West Indies on October 22, 2013 and we were there for the entire week! Lets just go through it day by day!

Tuesday- We left The Brown's house around 3 a.m. to catch our flight to Miami before we headed to St. Lucia! We arrived in St. Lucia around 2 p.m. later that day.  Lucky for us there was not time difference! The airport there was a little different than Miami! We walked off our big plane onto the tarmac and got our bags inside the airport. There was no gates and we walked straight into customs.  They told us that about 3 planes fly in each day and that's its!  Shawn and Kori and the kids got us a helicopter ride from the airport to our hotel so we headed there next.  It cut out about a 1.5 hour drive from the airport to our hotel.  Instead we flew from the International Airport to the local airport on the other side of the island.  From there, we were taken in a private car to the resort! St. Lucia is 236 square miles and a map of the island is below. Our hotel was at Pigeon Island. 

After we got to the resort, we had our special check in area where they served us Rum Punch. We made our dinner reservations and then we ordered room service to the room since we were exhausted! The weather Tuesday was sort of crappy so we didn't make it to the pool that day.  For dinner that night, we went to Bayside for a quick bite to eat before we relaxed that night and watched The Voice!


Wednesday- Today we explored the resort, laid by the pool and did some games with the "playmakers".  These are the people that run all the resort games. They were all awesome and by the end of the week knew us by name!

Thursday- Thanks to SUNY Geneseo, today we went Zip Lining! It was pretty spectacular.  The drive there was about an hour.  We drove the the middle of the island in the rain forest.  The views on the way there were awesome.  We drove through Castries, the capital.  There was a lot going on down there since a cruise ship was in port.  Our tour guide for Zip Lining, George of the Jungle, told us that the port could hold up to 5 cruise ships at one time.  The roads are opposite from America and another strange thing we noticed was that cattle just graved the side of the street like it was no big deal! The ziplining adventure was beautiful.  We did 12 lines ranging from 100 feet to 800 feet and speeds from 15 mph-35mph.  We went through trees, over rivers, and hiked to the top of a mountain to do the longest zip of the course! We didn't see any wildlife on the zips but we did get to hold a boa constrictor when we got finished!

Here is a few from the drive to zip lining.  It was known as Lion's Head because the rock looks like the profile of a lion.  This is the Atlantic side of the island were there are not so many beaches, but lots of bluffs.

When we got back to the hotel after the zip lining, we grabbed some lunch and did a mini snorkeling adventure right off the beach by the resort! For dinner tonight we went to the Pub.  Their main specialty was fish and chips.  For appetizers we had crab dip with shrimp which was awesome! D.J. especially loved all dinners because it was unlimited and FREE already paid for!

Friday- Today we did another adventure thanks to The Campion Family.  We did Snuba! It is where you have the gear to scuba dive, but you don't have to hold the tank.  The tank floats on the top of the water in  a little raft.  You have breathing tubes attached to the tank and you can go down as far as 20 feet.  Where we were, that was perfect.  It was really awesome to get up close and personal with all the coral and the fish.  We saw lots of different fish on this adventure.  We saw some beautiful corals as well.  Unfortunately, we took pictures on a camera that we borrowed from D.J.'s sister and the battery died right when we got in the water.  We were able to get a few pictures, but we haven't gotten them from her yet since we gave the camera back when we got back to the States.  Hopefully we will have pictures to show you soon! When we got back from that, we went down to the pool for a little (obviously) and then we got ready for dinner.  By the way, I was reading the new Nicholas Sparks book The Best of Me and I could not put it down.  Everyday we always played a lot of games that the playmakers put on.  Later that night we went to dinner at the Italian restaurant and let me tell you-- it was delicious! I had Shrimp Alfredo and D.J. had to dinner meals!

Saturday-On Saturday, we really just hung out by the pool and played some pool volleyball.  We had to get ready early for dinner sine we were going to La Toc, one of the 2 other Sandals on the island.  They had the Japanese style restaurant at their hotel so we went over there.  I was really glad we decided to go with the Grande (our resort).  Lac Toc is the Sandals with a golf course so it is more spread out, more hills, and less beach.  It is also smaller than ours too. I really enjoy how our resort was in a little cove so the waves were not waves at all! Also, we were close to the National park, the Snuba, and the snorkeling! The other guest had to come to our resort to do any of the water sports!

Sunday- Sunday we started our day off with a hike to the top of the mountain in the Pigeon Peak National Park.  In pictures, it doesn't look like it would be a hard hike, but let me tell you, it was like rock climbing at some points.  But the views from the top were amazing.  Looking north you could see Martinique, the closest island to St. Lucia.  Looking south, we thought we could see the Piton's but we were wrong. Haha! 

Monday- On our last day we really just wanted to relax and take in as much sun as we could.  It was the nicest day we had so far and we stayed outside from about 10-6 p.m. For anyone that knows me, this was so great! We played corn hole, horseshoes, pool volleyball, beach Olympics, and just chatted with some friends we met! For dinner that night, they close down all the normal restaurants and have a street fair outside where all the local vendors come in and offer souvenirs for purchase! We got some magnets, a beautiful painting, and some post cards! There was also some awesome local dancers and fire blowers! D.J. and I both got up on the stage and did dancing with them before we had to limbo under the stick! For me, it was no problem but for D.J..... not so much. 

Cool pictures of our rings!

Pretty much my view every day! 

Tuesday- Unfortunately, we could not stay forever.  We had some breakfast, played morning trivia and then packed up our bags to head home.  We rode the van back to the airport and it was a rough ride.  D.J. almost got car sick and I had to hold on to the handle the entire time because of all the twists and turns! Anyways, we made it home safety and the in-laws picked us up from the airport around 12 a.m.  We are so thankful that they were willing to do this for us!! We got back to their house around 2 a.m. and slept in till 11 the next day! On Wednesday, it was back to Norfolk we went and back in the groove of work on Thursday!

Overall, the honeymoon was exactly what we wanted it to be! Beautiful island, delicious food, and great memories with each other! We cannot wait to go on our next vacation...whenever that may be!

Fall with the Browns!

Even though all the wedding excitement has settled down, we have still been super busy! The weekend before our honeymoon, we went up to Fredericksburg with the Brown's/Perry's/Williams to enjoy some family time together before the upcoming holiday season!

I had a long weekend at work with two big events going on Friday and Saturday and we got on the road mid-day Saturday.   On Sunday, the whole family went to the pumpkin patch.  Now when I say pumpkin patch, it was a LEGITIMATE pumpkin patch! I have never been to anything like this in my life... I almost forgot we went to pick out a pumpkin! On the way there, Jayden of course was having a blast with "WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY!" If you don't know what that is, take a second and look it up on youtube, its pretty entertaining.  Anyways, there was so much to do at the pumpkin patch.  We looked at horses, had chicken pluck at our feet, did a sunflower maze, had some delicious kettle corn and went on a hayride pulled by a tractor!!! Jayden was having a blast and Myla was enjoying it too...(even though shes only 4 months old!)

After we finished at the pumpkin patch, we headed back to the Brown's house for some yummy dinner and pumpkin carving!

Monday Mrs. Brown took off so we could enjoy some time with her and the little ones.  We went into town for a little bit and did some shopping for the honeymoon and then had dinner that night again with everyone at the Browns.  It is always a great time when we are all together up there! Gets a little crazy at times, but that's what makes it fun and memorable!! And the next morning, well... more like a few hours later, the in-laws were nice enough to drive us up to the airport as we left for St. Lucia!!! Next post will be about the honeymoon!!

As Amy says... TOODLES!

Cayte

9/28/13 WE DID IT!

Cayte and D.J. 9/28/13

Its official everyone, me and D.J. are married! The wedding was great! The day started off with us getting ready at my parents house with all the bridesmaids, flower girls, and mothers of the bride and groom.  We were intently watching Game Day because if you know my family, we don't miss a Georgia football game.... unless it's your sisters wedding! My cousin Kori ended up doing my hair and make up.  

The bridesmaids had their hair done by someone that came to the house and she was fabulous! After everyone was ready, we drove over to Gina and Buzz's house to get dressed and take pictures! I haven't seen any of these yet, but i know they are going to turn out beautiful! 

The ceremony was totally us.  Even though it was in a church, me and D.J. still managed to make it personal.  For example- D.J. forgot to repeat after the priest when he put the ring on my finger! Then, I asked the priest "are we supposed to kiss or something?!" Everyone got a kick out of that!

After the ceremony and pictures were done, D.J. and I drove away in my uncle's 1999 white corvette! Pictures outside the reception site are going to be awesome! It was a littttleee windy, but I think they are going to turn out great!

The reception was AWESOME! Food was good, the DJ was a great party host and the people were having fun! Here are some pictures! 

 

 

I will be sure to post more picture when we get the professional ones back! 

As for now, we are happily in our new home with Stryker and just trying to get settled in before we head to St. Lucia!! 

Love,
The Browns!

WEDDING SHENANIGANS!

The countdown is getting low everyone! Only 10 more days till I become Mrs. Cayte Merryman Brown! The past month has literally flown by and became so hectic I had no time to blog.  So many different things are going on in our life so I will give you updates one at time.. Here we go!

1. The Wedding
Planning is going well.  A few hiccups with the hair and make up, but I think we have that all figured out now! Everything for the reception is ready to go and all the vendors have been contacted and are confirmed! The dress fittings went PERFECTLY! I cannot wait till you all see this beautiful gown.  It is stunning! Rehearsal Dinner is going to be beautiful! Yummy food is going to be delicious! Hopefully everything is going to be lovely and I cannot wait to celebrate the big day.  As long as D.J. is there to say "I do", then it will be perfect. :)

Besides MY wedding, we also got to spend the weekend of Sept 7th celebrating the start of a new life for Ansley and Chris Curtis!!! We spent the weekend up in Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore.  It was a perfect weekend.  Beautiful wedding, weather, and delicious drinks and dancing!

2. The House

YES- The house!! D.J. and I bought a house! So much has been done since we first bought it.  Since it was a foreclosure, the AC was stolen along with the copper pipes for the plumbing.  Thank goodness I know a pretty good plumber. :)  We also had my uncle resand and restain the hardwood floors.  We put on a new roof and new paint! A new garage door was put in outside and a new fence aroudn the back yard! D.J. was home for a week so he was able to see the house before they started to paint.  He also accomplished a huge task of re-screening the screened in porch! So much has been going on over there.  My grandmother has been LOVING it! She goes over almost daily to clean the floors or bathroom or anything else she sees on her "to-do" list that she needs to accomplish.  At least it is giving her something to do and gets her out of her house! After the wedding we will move everything over there.  I have started to move some stuff, but its a work in progress! Oh- and we got an early wedding presents from The Browns-- A grill!!

      

3. The Off Season

... oh wait, there is barely an off season. #MiLBlifestlye.  D.J. was home from Sept 4th till Sept 15th.  He got asked to go out to Arizona for Instructs but is only going to be ale to stay for 10 days because of the wedding.  Even though its a good thing to get called out there, I really could have used him at home this week! The wedding is getting so close and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with my baseball star! Hopefully one day we will be blogging from Cleveland!!

OVER AND OUT!