Alaska Bound

hearts of oak

2011-07-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

just about 2 years later....

the obvious questions come up...how are things with the two of us? are they just as good? better?

all of these are just silly questions. things are just like they were before...

better than I could ever have dreamed.

more to come...

-b

2009-09-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Additional Information is here!

Zoo Entry:

We have mailed or hand delivered Zoo entry tickets and park maps to each of you. If for some reason you do NOT get your tickets prior to next Thursday, or prior to leaving your hometown for the reception (for our out of town guests), please call us ASAP and we will find a way to get them to you before Saturday. Unfortunately, we were not able to do Will Call with the Zoo ticket office as we had hoped.

The Gates center is just inside the main entry to the right as you enter the park. See the zoo map below.

The “After Party”:

If you have not had enough of us, food, or drinks at the reception, we welcome you to come down to the Irish Snug (click for link) with us after our zoo party ends. We reserved space near the downstairs bar beginning at 5:30pm. We checked this place out this past weekend, and we really liked it. The food was good and inexpensive, and the ambiance is great. There are darts and pool tables, too! It is located only 2 miles from the Zoo at 1201 E. Colfax between Marion & Lafayette. See map below.

All of the details on attire, food, drinks, etc. are posted below in the post from July 25th. See you in a little over a week, but if you have any questions, feel free to contact us!

Alaska Bound

2009-07-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Many of you know, some may not, but in about 4 hours, we will be on our way to Alaska to tie the knot. Everything is packed and now we are just trying to wrap up the loose ends. Needless to say, we are both super excited.

This evening we will fly into Seattle with Leah and Ben (Brenda's sister and brother-in-law). Daniel (Brant's brother) will meet us at the Seattle airport when he flies in from LA, and then we'll all take our connecting flight up to Fairbanks. Robert and Denice (Brant's cousins) have been gallivanting around AK for the last two weeks, and get to wrap up their trip with our ceremony. Saturday we meet with our outfitter and go through a gear check to make sure everyone is prepared.

Sunday morning, we fly to Bettles, AK and then take a float plane to Agiak Lake on the northern edge of the Gates of the Arctic National Park. For 5 days we will base camp and do a bit of backpacking. Sometime between Sunday and Thursday when the time and place is right, we will share our marriage vows with each other and become husband and wife.

This is a pic of the surrounding area around Agiak Lake.

The plan is to fly back to Fairbanks on Thursday afternoon (weather permitting, and assuming that we don't just decide to stay in the wild). We will continue our stay at the Bridgewater Inn and plan to have a celebratory dinner and drinks somewhere in Fairbanks that evening. Friday will be spent checking out what Fairbanks has to offer, nursing potential hangovers, and enjoying electricity after our days in the back country. Saturday, the group of us (minus Daniel) are heading out to Chena Hot Springs, an hour outside of Fairbanks. We'll spend the day there, and then take Robert, Denice, Leah & Ben to the airport to send them home.

Of course, our trip will just be getting going.... Our newly-wed asses will then take a road trip to the Southeast corner of the state, to Wrangell-St.Elias National Park. We'll travel off the paved road 60 miles into the tiny town of McCarthy, where we are staying one night at the McCarthy Lodge and then taking a bush plane from Wrangell Mountain Air into the back country for a four day, 18 mile backpack. Thursday afternoon, the plane will meet us at our destination and pick us up to return us to McCarthy. We'll then make the drive back north to Fairbanks, and make our way home on Saturday the 15th with our bodies a little lighter, our clothes quite a bit smellier, and our hearts a little fuller.

Click here to see where we'll be. Brant has labeled a Google map of all the places we're going, and a few others we aren't.

We hope everyone is well, and we will post with pictures and updates when we return.

-B&b

Marriage Celebration

2009-07-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to our Wedding-Marriage Blog! It's been a while since we've posted, but we wanted to use this forum to share some information for our upcoming reception with you. You'll find information below about the day of the reception and places to stay for our out of town guests. Please check back, as we plan on providing additional information about other activities we might be having and things to do in the area.

Celebration
Our celebration on Saturday, Sept. 19th begins at 1 PM at Norgren Hall inside the Denver Zoo. Upon arrival at the Zoo, go to the ticket window to pick up your entry tickets. You will have free entry to the Zoo for the day. the Zoo opens at 9am, so if you want to walk around and see everything prior to the start of the party, you are more than welcome to. You can also wander through the zoo during the reception if you are so inclined. The Zoo is located at 2300 Steele Street in Denver. Use Google Maps to get directions or feel free to contact us.

Food/Drink
Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. We will have an open bar throughout the celebration.

Attire
Attire for the afternoon is entirely up to you. Dress up, dress down, dress sideways! We want you to be happy and comfortable in whatever you should choose to wear. Bottom line, wear what makes you feel good! If it helps to know, we will NOT be in formal wedding garb.

Hotels
We've set up group rates with two hotels for our out of town guests.

The Red Lion - Denver Central/Stapleton for $69/night. This hotel is located between the airport and the Zoo in an area called Stapleton. If you are renting a car, this hotel will be more parking friendly than downtown. They offer a complimentary airport shuttle as well. For reservations call 303-321-6666, ask for the in-house reservations, and ask for the "McAlice Wedding." To guarantee the discounted rate, please make your reservations by August 18th. After that time the rate will be given on a space available basis.

The Denver Marriott City Center in Downtown Denver for $99/night. This is a great location if you want to be in the city. If you rent a car, parking is $27 per day. This hotel does not offer an airport shuttle. It is about a $40 cab ride from the airport. For reservations, call the hotel at 800-266-9432 and make a reservation under "McAlice Wellman," or click here to make reservations online. To guarantee the discounted rate, please make reservations by August 28th. After that time the rate will be given on a space available basis.

Both hotels are within four miles of the Zoo which makes a cab ride to and from the reception a viable option.

There are a few cute B&Bs in our area, as well as other hotels and motels if you would like to stay somewhere else. If you have questions about where to stay, feel free to contact us.

Gifts
None, please. We have everything we need. As much as we appreciate the thought, what is most important to us is being able to spend time and celebrate with you.

Other
The Zoo closes at 5PM, and unfortunately, we will have to leave the Zoo at that time. We are in the process of finding a local bar/restaurant that we can move the celebration to after the reception for those who are interested.

We are also planning an activity for Sunday for those what wish to spend more time with us.

Information on the "after-party" and our Sunday activity will be posted here, so keep checking back.

We are looking forward to seeing and celebrating with you!

Please RSVP via our Evite no later than August 31st.

-B&b

Possibilities

2008-11-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Same as the Day Before

2008-11-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

been a year ago today and im still feeling the same. Bright Eyes sums it up well.

-b

Fortunate

2007-11-20T21:41:00.000-08:00

Looking at our pictures in chronological order like that made me realize how much fun and adventure we've already had together. There are so many experiences and trips (big and small) shown, and we've probably only captured on film about half of the adventures/trips we've actually taken. It is so cool to know that I am with someone who has a sense of adventure and a desire to travel, camp, backpack and just get the hell off the couch and be outside with me. And it's even cooler that we get along so well when we are out on our journeys. I have told my friends before that vacation time heals us. No matter how snappy we've gotten with each other or how sick of work and the general tedium of life we are, vacation time together has always served to heal us as a couple. A co-worker today was talking about an upcoming cruise and said that she and her hubby would have to schedule some time apart or they'd drive each other crazy being around each other every hour of the day. Don't get me wrong, we often drive each other crazy, but with Brant I relish those times when we are alone together for days and days. Most of the time we are out of contact with anyone else we know, and usually were even out of cell phone range. I love having time just for us- no interruptions from the computer, TV, cell phones, social life- just us. I am always a little sad when we get back into town and the cell phones go back on, we check the voice mails and make our calls to tell our parents we are home safe. It is not that my "real" life is a bummer- I love my family and friends and the life that I live day to day- I even tolerate my job. It's just always sad to come back to reality when I've just had such an enjoyable time with someone I love so much. I never want our trips to end. Good thing we're planning on winning the lottery tomorrow night so we can go on permanent vacation! :)

-B

This is us holding the check- just imagine our hands holding it and our names on it. We will.

The "How"

2007-11-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

to the amazement of some, and the joy of many, i finally did it. this last saturday evening i proposed to brenda.

to the amazement of none (at least i hope so), she said yes.

in a nutshell, we are happy.

for those interested in the 'how did it happen?' story, im going to save that for an actual conversation. lets just say it involved dj night, but as dorky as it may sound, it went perfectly . . .

for those itchin to know, "WHEN??!!" and "WHERE??!!!" i ask that you just hold onto your horses and enjoy this engagement period with us for a while. we want to celebrate this. hell, it only happens once, right? (actually, that doesnt pertain to either of us, but its only going to happen once for both of us together, so let us enjoy that, dammit!) we have some ideas that we have already tossed around a bit, and we will share those here once we make a couple of decisions.

anyway, go forth and be happy. we will be.

-b

Woohooo!

2007-11-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

if somehow you find yourself reading this and dont already know... i asked Brenda to marry me this last Saturday (November 10th), and she said yes!

we talked a little about how we could chronicle our thoughts and feelings with everyone as we enter this new place together, and i thought that keeping an engagement/wedding blog might be a fun idea. at some point we can update it with wedding plans and so on too....

anyway, this is just in its infancy right now, but we hope to update regularly with how things are going together. so come back!

-b