43 days

It's been ages since my last post. Here's (some of) what we've been working on...

- Getting shoes for the Tan and Pono to wear in the wedding
- Finding a ring bearer (which we may have locked in today!)
- Finding an emcee for the reception (ditto on the potential locking down)
- Working with bruddah Kris on songs to play during the ceremony
- Wrapping up pre-marital counseling (WOO HOO for the Moulders!)
- Getting favors ordered (they look AWESOME! Thanks, Buck!)
- Looking into renting a photo booth (Thoughts, anyone? Yay or nay?)
- Finding me a shirt to wear to the wedding
- Making those AMAZING invites (this was all Ali and company...I just did some taping and the mailing)

- Having 2 bridal showers in MN (Ali had such a great time and brought back some awesome stories of her visit. Thanks for taking care of her, ladies.)

- Looking for wedding bands

- Making a play list for music at the reception (any requests?)

- Getting another Ali-related tattoo (pictures will be here soon. Thanks again, Buck!)

Alright, that last one doesn't really relate to the wedding but it is still cool. I think, anyway. In any case, all this stuff is happening (or needing to happen) on top of Ali and I getting crazy busy with work as the academic year wraps up. There's SO much wedding stuff to do still. That list is not at all complete. WOW. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. It is all going to be great, I am sure of that. We will get there.

Thanks for all of your help, support, prayers, positive thoughts, well wishes, and care thus far. Ali and I are blessed to have great friends and family surrounding us right now.

That's it for now. Stay tuned. More information as the countdown continues...

Only 70 more days!

Tpau and I have been busy trying to balance a busy life in the world of college students with planning and making wedding arrangements. We have finally purchased our tickets for Hawaii, after most everyone else. We've also decided to go on a cruise for our honeymoon, out of Los Angeles.

I had a great gift of going home to MN the end of March. My best girls, Karena, Leslie and Rachael threw me a fabulous shower with some great ladies on Saturday. We had such a good time, and Tyler and I were blessed with so many wonderful gifts that we will put to use right away. On Sunday, Marge, Becky and Susie were sweet enough to have another shower for family. They did a great job playing games, one included a quiz on this very blog. We again, were gifted be so many things that we'll be able to use in our new home at Whitworth University, which is where we will be living next year. Thank you to all of you who have been so supportive of this adventure that Tyler and I are jumping into.

Lastly, I want to make sure I give my mom a special thanks. The planning of these two events is something that Tyler and I could not do without her. She has given us so much help with the arrangements and planning of both the wedding and MN reception. We can't say thank you, enough, Mom, we love you!

Alright, so things are going great and we're just so excited about this upcoming wedding and celebration. Until next time...

Ali

Finalizing wedding stuff

The Alison and I have recently returned from an awesome trip to Hawaii. It was great to spend time with my (our) family and friends. There were a lot of babies runnin' around which was great. There's something really life-giving about spending time with babies. Kind of renews your faith in people. ANYWAY, I digress. While we were there, we met with some important people that will have their hands in our wedding.

First was Tina. She is our wedding site coordinator at Haiku Gardens. Tina is really great and seems terrifically organized, which has been/is going to be very helpful in the upcoming months. She walked us around the site and let us take a ton of pictures that will help folks understand how cool this place is.

Second was Cricket. It's not her real name but it is what she goes by. Cricket is a baker and runs Cakes by Cricket. After some solid collaboration, we came up with some really unique ideas for our wedding goodies. You will have to wait and taste this one. So good.

Third was the lovely couple behind Leslie Mansberger Photography. Eric and Wendy are a cute couple from San Jose who have recently moved to Hawaii to continue their photography business. They talk about their style as very photo journalistic; wanting to capture the emotion and intricacies of mood that sometimes are missed with staged photos. Plus they want to steal us away and get to a beach for some photos as well. Stellar. I am looking forward to working with them.

Things are definitely coming together. We even spent time over at my parents place looking at embarassing baby/kid photos including (but not limited to) one wear I was "drinking" a beer and wearing diapers, one where I had a solid mullet haircut, and of course the dreaded naked baby picture. Ali and my parents had an awesome time making fun of me.

Making all these plans is getting us so excited. We can't wait to share it with you.

PEACE

(PS- Respect to Mathyus, Emma, and Koltrane for being awesome babies. Big ups to Pono and Dawn for being great hosts. Holler to Tan and Felicity for kicking it so much. Shouts to Roxanne, Ari, and Cameron for a breakfast to remember. Pounds to BJ, Somer, Bryson, Braxton and Brianne for a warm send off. HUGE mahalos to Mom and Dad for taking a walk down memory lane with us and for helping us figure out wedding stuff. Y'all are missed and loved.)

Hau'oli la hanau!

A number of years ago, my beloved Alison was brought into the world.

I thought "There's no way I'm getting up early enough to beat any Minnesotans to being the first to say happy birthday." So I cheated and did it before I went to bed at about midnight. She was half asleep and I think smiling. I left some flowers and peanut butter M&Ms for her to wake up to.

After work, we met up and went to PF Changs for dinner. Lettuce wraps and Changs spicy chicken...good enough? Nope, we boldly (read: foolishly) took on the Great Wall of chocolate. We maaaaaaybe got through a third of it...thus the leftovers bag she is holding.

It was a good night to be together. Celebrating life and being excited about sharing our lives. Ali and I are going to Hawaii on Thursday where I am sure we will celebrate more.

SO excited!

While Ali makes sure that the useful stuff is taken care of (suggesting places to stay or airlines to use, etc.), I felt like I should provide some useless information and share things I am excited about.

In no particular order, here goes.

I, the pre-husband, am excited about:

-Marrying an amazing woman, spending the rest of my life with her, having children with her, growing old with her, etc. Okay maybe this one is in order as first because this one is super duper, mega, ultra type exciting.

-Our pre marital counseling. Kurt and Rochelle are an awesome couple and have been such a blessing. We’ve only known them a short time but can already see how good they and their counseling will be for us.

-Buck my tattooist helping us with design stuff that we will incorporate into invitations and possibly favors. He is a good friend and has been such a good presence for me in Spokane.

-Tim Hooten coming to Hawaii to marry us. He means a ton to Ali and me and is a great mentor and friend. It is very special to us that he is officiating our ceremony.

-Going to visit Hawaii in less than a week. It will be great to see the fam, to meet with wedding site folks, taste different cupcakes for the wedding, and even get some beach time in. Plus, getting out of Spokane for a tick sounds so good. Oh, I don’t want to leave out Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck and Kuru Kuru sushi.

and last but not least...

-The Oster citrus juicer I registered for at Target. I am a simple man, a simple man who desires fresh orange juice that will have as much or as little pulp as I choose. Perfect.

Hawaiian Airlines

If you are checking out flights I have some information about Hawaiian Airlines. They have given up a special code for wedding guests to use and it'll give you a little discount. Here are the directions:

Go to: https://apps.hawaiianair.com/weddings/wedlogin.aspx.

The star file # is WED424

Bride's last name: Ninmann

Groom's last name: Pau

The just click Make A Reservation.

Let me know if you have any problems with it. Good luck!

Ali

Places to stay in Hawaii

Greetings, Friends!

For those of you who are willing and able to make the trek to Hawaii to join us for the wedding and celebrations we wanted to give you some travel resources:

favorite flight finders:
www.kayak.com
www.hawaiianair.com (you could find a flight to the west coast and then find a flight from there to Oahu)

options for houses and apartments on Oahu:
www.homeaway.com
www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com
www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/hawaii

I think that my family will probably be staying closer to Waikiki (south side of island) until Thursday, June 25. And after then we'll stay in the Kaneohe or Kailua area (east side of island). Kaneohe is where the wedding will be at Haiku Gardens on Friday in the morning around 11am. For those of you coming early we're planning some fun Hawaii activities during the few days before the wedding. Right now, both Tyler and I are planning on getting to Hawaii by Saturday, June 20th. So, if you're thinking you might be able to come let us know, so we can keep you updated on plans and any travel arrangement tips.

Good night for now, we'll let you know more details and tips soon...