ColdLanta

It's the day after Christmas, and all through the house, are gifts for the children, even a doll house. The kids are napping, the women are bridesmaid dress shopping, and the men are Wii'ing and enjoying the silence. It was a great few days with the Shershin clan celebrating Santa's arrival. The weather hasn't been the best, but a large group of people came over on Christmas Eve with incredible food, lots of Xmas spirit, and the perfect mix of white elephant gifts to create the most exciting swapping and stealing we've ever been a part of. After everyone left, we all went to bed, Santa did his thing, and we awoke to the kid's joy with their new gifts. After mass, we headed back to the house and finished opening the gifts, went on a walk, ate some leftovers, then went to see"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." I loved it while Tania nd Patrick were only marginally happy with it. Think a not-so-goofy Forrest Gump. I give it 4.5 stars, so take that for what it's worth. Ali and James are taking off tonight. Boooooo. At least we get to move from the air mattress to a real bed. :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday, and are able to relax a bit.

The save the dates went out!!!!

Yes, it finally happened...the save the dates were sent! After many hours of refining the invite list, the website, and our special little invitation layout, all of our guests can now start making plans for the wedding next year. Hopefully the website contains all necessary information to make their reservations, but if not, feel free to email Tania or me with questions.

Tomorrow we take off for Atlanta to spend Christmas with Tania's family at her sister Roxy's house (and Patrick, too). We're ready to bring all of our cold weather clothes since I hear it's far from Hotlanta this time of year. We're excited to relax with her family, play with Conor and Iowa, see some movies (Benjamin Button!!!!), and watch a little football. As of today, 5 games into the bowl season, Tania and her dad are in first place. I'm close behind in third, and my parents are cleaning the cellar. Should be fun to watch it all unfold.

Then on the 30th, we're headed down to Miami for new years. We're going to stop off and see my Grandma and good college friend Josh in West Palm Beach before hitting up Miami. We'll lay low on New Year's Eve with our friends Rebecca, Danny, and Tandican. ;)

We wish all the best for everyone over Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and new years.

Also, our prayers are with Sabrina as she heads into surgery today. You'll be fixed and back on the yoga mat very soon, Sab!

All our best.

GH

Okay, so Tania and I are spending Christmas with her family in Atlanta. Therefore, my family has been mailing gifts to put under our tree. Well, Tania and I couldn't stand to let them lie there, so we have opened them slowly over the last few days. Today Scott and Emily sent us Guitar Hero, which rules! T and I started a band tonight and jammed out together. We already had mics for SingStar, and they worked perfectly for GH. Luckily, we can sustain some sort of social life with this game now in our home. It'll be tough.

The reason I tell you this is because we were planning on sending the save the dates tonight, but because we got GH, it didn't happen. So, we'll try to get them out this weekend.

Save the dates

It's Friday afternoon and it's tough to keep my mind focussed on work. Instead, my head is drifting off to distant, more enhoyable lands. Right now, I'm getting excited to send out our save the dates soon. Our buddy Joey helped us design the save the date, and along the lines with each of our professions, we'll be saving a few trees and sending them out electronically (that means we'll be sending them via email). Hopefully this is easier for everyone, but if anyone doesn't have an email address, I guess we can do it the old fashion way and mail them to you. Either way, this is just another thing to get excited about on this road to Halloween.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

The Little Wedding Site

Okay, so I'm making the website now and it's really bad, especially considering that making websites is part of what I do for a living. So, sorry if it's not the best experience to visit our site, and hopefully it improves over time, but most importantly, hopefully it provides all the info you'll need to make your plans for PV.

What better to do...

...than start a blog while home sick? I've got cabin fever of the worst kind, and since I can't go to the gym or out to the beach to continue training for the half marathon, I'll start our wedding blog.

After many, many emails with planners (mostly by Tania, God bless her), one trip to PV to scout locations, and many conversations about details, we've nailed down a date and location for our wedding. It will be in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Halloween of 2009, which is a Saturday. No, we're not going to ask people to put on costumes. Actually, we're forbidding costumes at the ceremony and reception since we know our friends might have a little too much fun with it.

We're going to arrive in PV the Wednesday before and spend the day getting settled in. Thursday we'll most likely go with a group of people on some sort of excursion, maybe rope lining or hiking. Then that night we'll have a reception for everyone who's in town.

Friday, Tania will do whatever girls do, probably drink margaritas, get their nails done, and talk about their feelings. I, on the other hand, will take my groomsmen fishing or golfing, while we talk about politics and other worldly, sophisticated subjects. Then on Friday night my parents are hosting the rehearsal dinner at La Bodeguita, which is a Cuban restaurant in the heart of downtown PV. Should be a great time and a deserving nod to Tania's Mom's heritage.

Then, on Saturday, we have the big event. I won't be able to see Tania until late in the afternoon, which sucks, but I know the girls will be taking care of her. I also know that my brother and Dad will want to watch the Notre Dame game since they play Washington St. and is probably the only game they'll win next year. (kidding Uncle Mike)

The ceremony is either going to be at the Villa Mediterraneo where the reception will be, or at a chapel in town. That is the only detail still up in the air.

Then on Sunday we'll have a brunch downtown so we can see everybody again before they head back to the US.

I can't tell you how excited I am, and we are, to celebrate this day with all of you. It wouldn't be the same if we couldn't celebrate it with the people we love the most. So, have a great, safe holiday season and 2009, and be sure to check back here for updates over the next 10 months.

Talk soon,
Craig