Brian and Shea are Getting Hitched!

Well the weekend has past and I now have a few minutes to sit and compile my thoughts in regards to the recent events. My life between Friday afternoon and now is a complete and total blur.

Before I really delve into the events of the weekend, I want to give a heart-felt “Thank You” to everyone that was able to make it to our Big Day. Each one of you brought something unique to our day and that really made the day special for us. We are also very touched and humbled by all of your generosity. We truly appreciate the gifts, cards, and comments left by our friends and family.

With that being said, there are a few people who Shea and I need to give props to. Friends and family that really came through for us.

• Dianne Jones (Shea’s Mom). Dianne, I really don’t know where to start. Thank you Mom for all that you did to make our day happen. From all the work you put into the decorations and invitations to giving us what is being referred to as “The Best Reception EVER!” by all our friends. Thank you for allowing me into your family and for trusting both your daughter and your granddaughter into my care.
• Jim and Lavon Jones (Shea’s Dad and Stepmom). Our thanks to the two of you for traveling in and allowing us the use of your van so we could provide a shuttle to the park. I look forward to getting to know you both and am proud to have a second Dad in my life.
• Mike and Debbie Gyure (my Mom and Dad). Thanks for a great rehearsal dinner. You two threw one helluva dinner party and it was very generous of you to open it up to our friends as well. Also, a big thanks for helping us have the honeymoon of a lifetime. Shea and I are really looking forward to leaving! Most impotantly though, thank you both for all you have done for me throughout my life. I truly could not have wished for two better parents.
• Bruce Moolenaar (long time family friend). Bruce, thanks for having the patience and willingness to play chauffeur for all of our friends. I am still very happy that you, Terri and Jessica were able make the trip in from Oregon.
• Melissa Hernandez (friend to Shea and Dianne). Melissa, what an awesome job you did for us! Thanks to your organizational and people skills, you kept our day running smoothly and it went off without a hitch! I think that our wedding may have been the first one in history to have nothing go wrong. When David gets back from his tour in Afghanistan, Shea and I owe the two of you dinner.
• Katie Cowhey (FJ friend to the Bride and Groom). The girls all loved their flip-flops and all the custom bejeweling done by you.  I think the offer of another meal is in order. Plus, that gives Shea and I an excuse to hang out with you and Garrett.
• Gary Rea (Friend of Shea and Dianne). Great job on the music Gary. You sing and play beautifully. It definitely helped set our wedding apart from others. We received many compliments from our friends and family.
• Elaine Kelly (another friend of Dianne and Shea). We appreciate you doing the photography. I look forward to seeing the hundreds of images you captured and will cherish the memories they will bring back in the years to come.
• Ashley Lisath (Elisha’s half sister). Ashley, it was great meeting you this weekend! Shea and I appreciate you looking after the guest book and seeing to it that people were leaving their marks in the pages of our history. Anytime you want to come and visit Elisha, you will have a place to stay.
• The Ushers (Cole Davis, Brandon and Bryce Lam). Guys, thank you for looking after all our guests and seeing to their seating needs. We also really appreciate your patience after the wedding while all the pictures were being taken. Shea and I are very happy that the three of you chose to be a part of our Day.
• The Wedding Party (Elisha Lisath, Bri Klingenberg, Jayson Olson and Chris Guerrero). Guys the four of you truly are the best of our friends and family. Shea and I were both honored that you accepted our invitations and we want you to know that we love you all very much.
• And Finally, Mike Fanning. Mike, you did a fantastic job officiating. Your blend of Spirituality and levity was on the money and made for a beautiful ceremony. From what I am hearing, everyone really enjoyed it!

This ended up being a much longer list than I realized. I think I will hold off on the main update until tomorrow or the next day. It will also give me a chance to put together a nice collection of pictures to share. Speaking of which, thanks in advance to those of you who’s Facebook pics I end up stealing to add some visual content to our page.

This past Saturday was the only open day Shea and I had to get their stuff moved into their (soon to be) new home. The morning started out around 8:00 with Shea and Dianne (Shea’s Mom) picking up the truck from the Budget Rental in San Juan Capistrano and by 8:45, Tim and I knocked on the front door with smiles on our faces and a dozen donuts in hand.

Most of the large items that needed to be moved were Elisha’s so while she was getting her stuff ready to load on the truck, Tim and I brought down the packed items from Shea’s room and put them in the “staging area” in their front yard. We also managed to bring down a fairly heavy, solid wood dresser with a tile / stone-worked top. Once that was done, we were able to get to work on E’s room and her five or six large (and heavy) pieces.

After getting all the big stuff loaded, Dianne offered to go to A’s Burgers and grab us some grub. She picked up an assortment of burgers (mine was a bacon cheeseburger, only mayo), an order of fried zucchini and an order of onion rings. If you’ve never been to A’s, you MUST give them a try when you get a chance. Great burgers and breakfast burritos and their sides (fries, zucchini and rings) are good too.

After lunch we quickly got the remaining boxes and odds and ends loaded up and tied down then off to my place we went.

It had been pretty warm down in Capo Beach, but it was down-right HOT at my house in Laguna Niguel. It is amazing what a difference ten miles can make in temperature. I bet it was close to twenty degrees warmer! All I wanted to do was get the truck unloaded and rest for a bit. Yeah, right!

Shea, Eesh and Tim disappeared inside for what seemed like forever while Dianne and I unloaded all the boxes and rubber totes, once again staging them in the front yard until we knew where everything was going. After that was done, we all had a meeting of the minds up in Elisha’s new room to decide what was going where and in what order we needed to bring up the big pieces. After about twenty minutes of discussion, we had the floor plan down and Tim and I headed out to the truck to get the hard part started. The first piece that went up was a large armoire. This just happened to be the largest, heaviest and most awkward piece and it took us the better part of forty five minutes to get from the truck, up the stairs and into E’s room. After that, the rest of the furniture was a snap and I think we finished up around 4:00 PM.

Now, I don’t know who’s idea it was to cook carne asada after such a long day, AND  invite friends over to boot (ok, maybe I was the brain surgeon behind that maneuver), but they had to be absolutely insane (or suffering from severe heat stroke!) Anyway, I spent the next two hours frying tortilla chips while Shea did her best to make the house look presentable. I had already warned the invitees (Jayson Olson and Steve Nguyen) that the house was going to be a disaster because of the move, but Shea worked her woman magic and made it look good.

Steve arrived about the time the last basket of chips was coming out of the fryer and let us know that Jay had to back out at the last minute due to something he had eaten earlier in the day giving him a little food poisoning issue. More carne for the rest of us!!

I don’t recall what time it was that the girls went back to Capo Beach, but Steve didn’t leave until around 11:30. I crashed immediately thereafter and slept soundly, despite the warmth of the night.

All in all, I’d say we got roughly seventy five percent of Shea and Elisha’s stuff moved. All that’s left now is small stuff and clothes which they kept at Dianne’s since they won’t actually live in our house until after the wedding.

Nine days, eighteen hours, fifty two minutes and counting…

With the magic day drawing near, Shea and I have been swamped with both wedding and non-wedding related activities. In fact, I think we’ve only seen each other maybe three times in the past week.

Elisha has recently started back to school (she’s in tenth grade this year) and made the JV Girl’s Volleyball team so most of the past weekends have been spent at local tournaments. I really enjoy going to watch her team play. They always do a great job and have finished in the top three of their brackets at every tournament I’ve attended. Shea and I are both very proud of her and I look forward to watching more of her games over the coming years.

In preparation of the two new members of the family moving in, Shea and I have been getting our home ready. The house has been painted and the upstairs has been re-carpeted. Although Shea and Elisha won’t actually move in until the wedding transpires, Shea rented a truck for this coming weekend and we intend on getting all the larger pieces of furniture and the lion’s share of her packed boxes moved so that we will have less to worry over between the wedding day and ten days later when we leave for our honeymoon.

What else is there to talk about?

Due to some recent issues on the home front, I thought it necessary to make a change to my portion of the wedding party. My eldest son Keith will no longer be one of my Groom’s Men. I’ve asked my other “Best Man” front-runner, Chris Guerrero, to take his place. Even with the short notice, Chris enthusiastically accepted and I must say that I am glad he will be standing up there with me too.

Speaking of Groom’s Men, about four weeks ago, I finally broke down and went into Men’s Wearhouse and selected the tuxedos for the big day. Apparently the three ushers, both Groom’s Men and the Groom have all gotten in and taken care of the fitting process. All that’s left to do is going back in about a week for the final fitting and then pick up the duds a day or two before The Event. Come to think of it, I still need to order gifts for the Groom’s Men as well. Better get on that stat!

Shea mentioned to me that her boss and close friend Tracee is planning on throwing her a bridal shower the evening of October first and I just received an e-vite to my “Un-bachelor party” on October second. I have made it very clear to my Best Man and Groom’s Man that I want this to be a low-key event where we get together at one of my favorite watering holes for a couple cocktails then migrate back to Jay’s place for a barbecue.  Not unlike most of our get togethers.

I would also like to take a minute to field the questions regarding where we are registered and direct you to our “Registered?” page. Here you will find answers to most of your questions regarding our Registry.

Over the next few days, I will work on putting together a Bio page for the members of the wedding party as well as a “Thank You” page for a few people who have really made our wedding what it will be.

See y’all soon!

Shea had spent the day at Elisha’s volleyball tournament and arrived home a little later than planned. She was coming from the Corona area and had a couple errands to run before dropping Eesh off in Capo Beach. I told her not to worry and there was no hurry. Fortunately, where we were headed for dinner didn’t require reservations so there was no reason for her to rush.

I had been out looking for starter plants to go in my garden while Shea was at E’s tournament and when Shea called to let me know she was heading home, Keith and I were at Armstrong Garden Center where I was trying to decide what I wanted to plant next. I ended up going with a couple Japanese eggplants and bought a pack of carrot seeds. The afternoon had been fairly warm so I didn’t mind that she was running late. It allowed me to wait that much longer to put the new additions into the soil and by doing so, I didn’t have to plant them in the heat of the day, reducing the shock experienced when transplanting.

Once she arrived home (actually she was dog sitting for a friend who lives close to my place) we both still had to get ready. A quick shower and shave later and I was heading up to her friend’s house to get her.

When she came to the door, I was mildly amused. She was wearing black, me in white. Her long, flowing hair was down, mine..  Well, I have no hair, at least not enough to mention. And of course, we were both wearing our usual foot attire, flip flops. After a few minutes of playing with Max (the golden retriever Shea was sitting) we were on our way out to Ladera Ranch.

Roma d’Italia was our dinner destination for the evening. It has been my go-to Italian restaurant since I was a kid (actually, it was the Tustin location, but the one in Ladera is good too) and it also just happens to be the place where Shea and I went to dinner for our first face to face meeting after reconnecting on Facebook.

The place seemed a little slow for a Saturday night, but then again, we were having dinner at close to eight o’clock. I couldn’t decide between my three favorites (gnocci cantanzaro, eggplant sorentino, or the fettuccine alfredo) and Shea, having read my prediction about her ordering the chicken parm again this time, really didn’t know what she wanted either. We took our time deciding, filling the moments with riveting discussion about what we wanted to eat and what we were going to do after we were done with our meal. In the end, I went with the gnocci cantanzaro (a small potato based pasta “dumpling” covered in a spicy creamy tomato sauce) and as predicted, Shea had the chicken parm.

Gnocci Cantanzaro

Chicken Parm

After dinner, we decided to head back to Mission Viejo and stop by the Kaleidoscope. They have a fairly new piano bar there called “The Derby”. Shea and I had wanted to give it a try since it opened and it was seemed the perfect time to give it a shot. Or so we thought. By the time we got there, the place was packed. There wasn’t even standing room in the bar area. On top of that, the dueling piano music was so loud, we couldn’t hear ourselves talk. After standing around in the lobby for close to fifteen minutes, we decided to bail. We walked past the movie theater, looking for something to do, but no titles jumped out at us. Yogurtland was a short trip down the escalator away, but alas, they were even busier than The Derby. We ended up leaving and driving to our normal Yogurtland located off Alicia and Paseo de Valencia. As always, the frozen yogurt was yummy and it hit the spot.

I think by the time we had finished our yogurts, neither of us was in the mood to continue our search for evening activities so back to my place we went. Being the old farts that we are, we grabbed our usual seats on the sofa and on came the TV. We watched a couple shows that had been recorded earlier in the week, and at some point, I think we both fell asleep. It was a little before midnight when I woke up. Shea needed to go back to Max’s so he could be let out.

About fifteen minutes later Date Night drew to an end with a kiss at her front door and me driving away into the darkness. All in all, a very nice night.

Shea had some time to kill so she put together a list of hotels in the area. There are others around as well, but this is a good place to start.

Dana Point Marina Inn

24800 Dana Point Harbor Drive

Dana Point, CA 92629

800 255-6843

$89.00 per night

www.danapointmarinainn.com

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Double Tree Dana Point

34402 pacific Coast Hwy

Capistrano Beach, CA 92624

949 661-1100

$189.00

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Hotel Laguna

425 South Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, CA, 92651

866-539-0036

www.hotellaguna.com

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Holiday Inn Express

34280 Pacific Coast Hwy

Dana Point, CA 92629

949 248-1000

www.HolidayInnExpress.com

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Holiday Inn Express

696 South Coast Hwy

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

949 494-1001

www.HolidayInnExpress.com

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Best Western Dana Point Inn

34744 Pacific Coast Highway

Dana Point, California, 92624

949 240-0150

www.BestWestern.com

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Blue Lantern Inn (B & B)

34343 Street of the Blue Lantern

Dana Point, CA 92629

800 950-1236

www.bluelanterninn.com

Well, tonight Shea and I are doing something we don’t get a chance to do often. We are having a date night. I thought it would be nice to take a short trip out to Ladera Ranch and go to dinner at the restaurant where we had our first meal together almost a year and a half ago, Roma d’Italia.

After dinner, Shea mentioned going to a movie, but I am thinking something more along the lines of The Derby, a piano bar located at the Kaleidoscope in Mission Viejo. Who knows, maybe we will end up doing both..

An interesting Brian and Shea fact.. As far as she and I can remember, this will be our first official solo dinner date. We have gone out with friends on numerous occasions, but neither of us can recall having dinner with just the two of us since a year ago February.

I am excited about our date and looking forward to having a great italian meal. Will it be eggplant sorentino? Veal parmesan? Or will I go with the classic fettuccine alfredo? Only time will tell. I’m willing to bet that Shea goes with the chicken parm. That’s what she had the first time we ate at Roma’s I’ll wager she will go that route again.

Tune in tomorrow for a recap of Brian and Shea’s Date Night.

Wow, it has been a loooong time between updates and for that, I apologize.

Ever since I proposed to Shea, I’ve had a major internal struggle going on and it all revolved around who I was going to ask to be my best man. I have a few close friends that were in the running; my FJ buddy Steve, one of my best friends over the past 8 years Chris and my life long friend Jayson. I have literally spent months agonizing over the decision, dreading having to actually make it. Shea constantly “encouraging” me to make my choice really didn’t help matters any. lol

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Shea and I had dinner with Jayson and his wife Monica. At the start of the evening, I still had no idea who it would be, but as I saw Jay and Mon walk up, I knew what I needed to do. Shortly after their arrival, I hit Jay up to be my Best Man. I could see the surprise on his face as I asked the question. He honestly thought I would ask one of my other friends.

Jay and Mon at the Elephant Bar.

Without hesitation, but still a little surprised Jay agreed to be my Best Man. When it comes down to it, Jay has been my friend since third grade. We didn’t necessarily run with the same crowd in high school and we went our separate ways when he went up to Humbolt for college and I went back to Alabama to give living there a try. When we did get back in touch, it was as if we hadn’t skipped a beat. The friendship picked up right where it left off and once I moved back to Cali, our friendship really came into its own.

Thanks for accepting Jay.

Sorry for the delay everyone. I’ve had some personal issues arise this week and they set me a couple days behind schedule.

With no further delay, please  let me present our engagement photos..  A huge thanks goes out to Dan and Haylee Shalaby for making these possible.

Shea and I were able to move up the engagement photo shoot and I received the DVD with the raw images this afternoon. I spent a few hours this evening trying to get the necessary software installed. Once that was done, Shea and I went through the images and selected the ones we liked. Between the two of us, we came up with just under 30 images that we want to share with all of you.

Now that I have the images, I will spend the next few days editing and resizing the shots and will do my best to have them up before the weekend. I will also try to link the shots here to Dan’s website where, should you want copies, you will be able to order prints. His pricing is fair and since he gave Shea and I a great deal on his services, I want to make sure he doesn’t miss out on the potential sales.

Ok, here’s a teaser shot to wet your whistle…

Originally we had scheduled our engagement photo shoot for April 3rd, but I got a call from Dan last week letting me know that his plans for March 27th had canceled so Shea and I told him to book us.

We had decided to do the shots on the shore below the Montage in Laguna Beach. Having never been there before, I asked Shea if she’d like to go scout out the location. She was up for the trip so last Friday evening we headed to Laguna. As it turns out, it was a good thing we did. Shea thought the hotel was located on PCH north of Broadway, a short distance from Las Brisas. She was only off by about 12 miles (actually, only 2.6). lol…  The location is just north of Aliso State Beach.

It was already getting dark when we arrived Friday night, but we were still able to scope out the area and pick a few picture points. I’ve gotta say, the Montage has a very nice, winding trail that skirts the cliff over looking the ocean. They have benches placed along the path as well as an occasional table. It is also nicely landscaped. I was pretty impressed. I am sure Shea and I will end up back there again to watch the sunset and maybe share some cheese and a bottle of wine.

Our scouting expedition lasted an hour or so before we decided that we needed to be heading back. We had just started back when I inadvertently stepped off the path and managed to roll my right ankle. Oi, I am such a klutz! It was a fun walk back to the FJ, going up all those pretty stairs with a freshly sprained ankle. I have a feeling that all the little bunny rabbits playing in the grass were pointing at me and laughing.  Evil, evil rabbits!

Saturday morning came far too quickly. We bought tickets to see “Alice In Wonderland” at the El Capitan Theater so we had to be in LA by 9:00 AM. Shea and Elisha got to the house between 7:45 and 8:00 and we headed on our way. The whole experience was pretty cool. The El Capitan Theater was a trip. I wish more movie theaters were like this one. It actually has a balcony which is where we sat. The movie was so-so. I was hoping for more and quite frankly, Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter  got on my nerves. Then again, maybe it was just my mood.

After the movie, Shea wanted to take the kids to the Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank so to BBB, B we went. The wait wasn’t too bad, under thirty minutes if memory serves. The food was better than I had remembered and Keith had one of the BEST patty melts that I’ve ever tried. I had wanted to go to Orochon Ramen House to attempt to eat their #2 spicy noodle challenge (as seen on Man vs Food), but time was not on my side.

On the way home, traffic absolutely sucked. What took just under an hour at 8:00, took twice as long at 2:00 PM. I was contemplating calling Dan and telling him we weren’t going to make it in time for the shoot. Fortunately we got home just in time to change and get to Laguna by 5:00.

With the exception of having to work around some other beach-goers, the shoot went smoothly. I am really excited to see how they look. The sneak-peeks we got on the camera’s screen looked great. Hopefully the enlarged versions will be equally impressive.

After the shoot, we met Dan (the photographer) and Haylee at Lucille’s for a nice dinner. Shea and I arrived a little early so we headed to the bar to listen to some live music and have a couple drinks while we waited. Dan and Haylee arrived a little while later and soon thereafter we were called to our table. Other than the fact that the table was near the bar and the loud band, the meal was good.

It’s always such a pleasure to share good food, good conversation and lots of laughs with friends.