And then there was free internet.....

So I was sitting on my couch this evening and I wanted to show Eric a picture of my sisters bridesmaids dresses, when all of the sudden we realized that one of our neighbors just got wireless internet service! Now, is it ethically questionable to use this signal? I do just have to walk down the street to get a signal from my church. Any feed back from this dilemma would be nice.

Back to reality...

Ahh... the countdown is complete! The wedding has occured! Now I have been married for 13 days (but this is the only time I will mention this....) What a wonderful life God has blessed me with!!!!! I live in Portland with my amazing husband, just a half a block from the Wagners' and my church. Yes it's true that Eric only has a part time job right now and I, well I have no job at the moment, but everything wil be o.k.

So we went to Florida for a week. It was very hot (in the mid nineties, with a lot of humidity!) But we found bliss in the airconditioned lines at Epcot center, a romantic dinner at Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom, and sitting in the "splash zone" at Sea World.

I do have a lot of pictures to share, but I have a question for anyone who knows a lot about posting pictures on blogs. You see, I have the picture uploader called "Flickr" and recently I have run out of space avaliable and I can't upload any pictures. So I deleted a whole bunch, but then they didn't show up on my blog and that made me very sad. Especially because after that I tried to upload just one picture and it said the same thing. Does any one know the solution to my problem?

Yesterday I went to a training with my friend Linda and I had to wear a name tag. It was fun because I got to say, "Hello. My name is Niki Arnette." I know it's only three letters less than my maiden name, but believe me, it's easier to write (and pronounce.)

21 hours and 38 minutes!!!!!!

and counting... always counting... and decorating the church like a mad man! rehearsal is in an hour and a half.... i haven't lost my mind! what a wonderful experience this has been!

3 days, 15 hours, and 22 minutes

and counting... today my friends Shauna and Sherrie took me to get my make up and hair done so I don't stress out the day of the wedding because I don't know what to do with my hair and I don't put make up on myself. It was such a great afternoon! This wedding will be wonderful! I tried on my dress all made up and for the first time I felt like a bride. On sunday my aunt, grandma, and another aunt and uncle arrived in Portland to start making all the food for the reception. I am blessed with such an amazing family and friends! Thursday is the day that most of our family members start arriving. Did I mention my dress is perfect? I have this awesome friend Coleen who made my dress AND the bridesmaids dresses. It's weird to think that in a few days this will all be over. I don't even know if I have any good advice for future brides. I'm wearing tennis shoes in the wedding. They are grey Nike's with a pink swoosh on them. They are so comfortable! I will try to post some pictures of all this last minute preparations. Right now I'm pretty tired....

6 days, 20 hours, and 29 minutes

Originally uploaded by Niki_Manzanares.

AND COUNTING! I had a rather uneventful saturday and some of my family members are on their way to Oregon to help me with the wedding, so that's all I've been thinking about today. So here's Eric's favorite picture of when he proposed to me. If you look closely you can see that my feet are not even touching the ground! Yes, that's because all I knew is that Eric and I were planning to go on a hike that day. He asked a random person to take our picture by the waterfall and instead of standing by me, he got down on his knee! I was speechless for a good minute (or two...) It was the biggest surprise of my life... the timing... not the idea that Eric and I were going to get married! And now it's only 6 days away. Any past brides or grooms want to share in some good last week advice? I am fairly calm at this point. I'm a bit dissapointed that it's supposed to rain next weekend and the reception is outside! But I keep telling myself, "everything will be o.k...."

Excuse me, will you take our picture?

Niki and Eric
Originally uploaded by Niki_Manzanares.

This is us at the Rose Garden. If you haven't been there (and you live in Portland) you should! It's really cool. In the summer time they have orcherstras that perform whole operas in the ampitheater. It's a great place to pic nic (on a date or with friends.) And the big day is 7 days, 21 hours, and 24 minutes away (and counting...)

Proud Leopard

Proud Leopard
Originally uploaded by Niki_Manzanares.

Today Eric and I went on an African Safari (aka the zoo.) We left around 9:30 am and when we got there we discovered that every school in Portland was also going to the zoo that day! We heard in line that there was going to be 5,000 students. It was very crazy and loud! Every where you walked you heard kids sceaming, "I WANT TO SEE THE PENGUINS!" "I'M HUNGRY!" "I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" Eric and I just held hands tightly and sqeezed past the mobs. We did get some some cool pics though. I took this one of this leopard that was pacing around his small area of "territory." The funny part was that a few minutes later some kids were crowded around him and it looked like he was about to sit down and I thought I whispered only to Eric, "I think he's going to poo!" Turns out one of the young ones heard my comment and said it.... but louder! Everyone started a laughing, but the leopard really did have to poo, so every ran away shortly after that in discust. But really, these animals are stuck in cages all day with humans just staring at them. Poking, laughing, and making a big fuss.

We like the zoo, but we also like the Rose Garden in Washington Park (which is where we went next.) As we were taking photographs I really wanted a picture of us, and not just one where Eric is holding the camera and extending his arm out to take a shot of us both trying to fit inside the frame. But it's sometimes difficult to decide what stranger should take your picture. Our camera has a lot of buttons and you have to hold the button down half way to auto focus... some people are afraid of this responsibility. So we chose a man who was carefully putting away his camera that obviously cost a pretty penny. He was delighted and the picture turned out really nice.

Hercules

Hercules
Originally uploaded by Niki_Manzanares.

Here's a bit of history for you. Yesterday Eric and I went to the McMinnville Air Museum to see Howard Hughe's flying boat (aka the Spruce Goose.) We had recently watched the movie The Aviator and Eric remembered this remarkable plane (with the wingspan of 320 ft) was on display just an hour away. It was very difficult to get a picture of the entire plane, especially from the front because the building doesn't really allow it, but I hope you can imagine it's size (and take a look at all the other planes underneath it.) It was a very fun field trip. Yesterday I learned that when the plane was being moved from Long Beach to McMinnville there were some of the original designers helping with the process. I don't know how to link things yet, but check out www.aero.com/museums/evergreen/evergrn.htm for more information. Another thing I found interesting was that this plane is so large that it could fit two 30 ton Sherman tanks or 750 troops inside. If you like Aviation then check out the museum. Oh and the big day is 9 days, 3 hours, and 46 minutes away (and counting...)

10 days, 6 hours, and 9 minutes

and counting...