Carrie’s Blog

Yesterday, I spent about three hours vacuuming, sweeping, and cleaning the house.  Unfortunately, the previous owner did not do much cleaning on his way out!  He left random junk scattered around, some of which is actually kind of nice to have (like a decent stationary exercise bike) but other stuff which is kind of annoying and now we have to get rid of (like some gross food in the fridge).  Nevertheless, it is exciting to get in the house, and I considered all the cleaning a labor of love. 

I was able to get some decent pictures of the inside of the house.   

The floor plan:

The living room – this is the room you first enter as you walk in the front door:

The kitchen – the oven and stove are on the other side of the fridge.  The sliding doors on the left lead outside to a nice deck with some benches in the backyard (I didn’t think to take a picture of that – oops!).  The curtains are closed for the sake of taking the picture, but when they are open, sunlight fills the room. 

Looking from the kitchen into the family room.  Again, there is so much sunlight in this room when the blinds are open!

Bedroom 1 – This is the smallest of the bedrooms.  Though you wouldn’t guess from the picture, it is actually nice and bright – the paint is not as dark as it looks in the picture, and it gets a lot of sunlight.  Might turn this into my office. 

Bedroom 2 – This room, though it looks rather bright and cheery, is actually much darker than it looks in the picture, and doesn’t get much sunlight.  I am a big fan of sunlight. 

The master bedroom – this picture makes the room look small, because I am standing in the closet taking the picture, but it goes further to the left and is the largest of the bedrooms.  I like the window – the kind you can sit in and curl up with a good book.  This room gets decent sunlight when the blinds are open. 

The main bathroom.  This has been remodeled and is pretty nice.  (I didn’t bother taking a picture of the other bathroom, because it is definitely in need of an upgrade.  It will be one of our remodeling projects in the future.)

What a wonderful early birthday present!  After being delayed from Friday, when we were supposed to close, Sid and I officially became homeowners today when we closed on our house.  We will spend any spare time we have this week moving what we can with my little car.  Saturday, with the help of a friend from Denver, we are renting a moving truck and moving the bigger stuff.  By Sunday, we should be completely moved in to our new home!  

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had anything significant to say about my running.  In the months before the wedding, Sid and I had been running off and on, depending on the weather and our time constraints as we vigourously looked for a house and finished last-minute wedding planning details.  When we did run, it was awfully slow, as we tried to get used to the sub-freezing temperatures, the biting winds, and the lack of oxygen in the air at our 7100+ foot altitude. 

We had hoped to get some nice runs in on our honeymoon, but that didn’t work out quite as we planned when I got bronchitis. 

Now that we are back, however, things have really been falling into place!  We have been running consistantly – probably 4 or 5 days every week since we’ve been back.  I am starting to feel like I have a little bit of speed again.  For me, the biggest downer on our runs before the wedding was the feeling that I was so out of shape and had absolutely no speed.  Every run felt like I was crawling, but I couldn’t go any faster.  It was not very exciting to get out the door and run when I felt like that every day! 

Since returning, though, we have incorporated some easy strides into our runs, which has helped me get back into form, and has reminded my legs what it feels like to go a little faster.  I also did a 3×800’s workout last week to try to get my body into the feel of running at tempo-run pace.  It went much better than I anticipated, and since then I have been using better form and have felt faster on all my runs.  I have been quite pleased at the progress I’ve made just in a few weeks. 

I know I am still far from being in the shape I want to be in, but I am more than happy to just be “feeling good” on my runs for now. 

The day we arrived in Punta Arenas, I was not feeling so well.  I had a headache, and attributed it to our vigourous bike ride the day before and getting too much sun. 

We were greeted at the airport by our tour guide, Robert, who took us straight to the Penguin Colony.  Although Sid and I were really pooped and part of us just wanted to crash at the hotel, we really enjoyed seeing the penguins up close and personal in their natural habitat. 

The younger penguins were just starting to lose their “fluff” in preparation for their introduction to the water, but some of them were still adorable little fluffballs.  We got to see the penguins fishing for food and waddling around on the beach. 

Afterwards, Robert took us to our hotel in Punta Arenas.  The next day, we got a nice tour of the city, then we were off on our 3-hour drive to Puerto Natales, gateway to Torres del Paine National Park.  From there, we had a trip into the park scheduled for one day, and a boat trip to see some glaciers the next day. 

Our trip to Torres del Paine was amazing and breathtaking.  We saw mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, lakes, guanacos, foxes, flamingos, condors, and so much more.  Unfortunately, I was really feeling under the weather at this point.  What started as a headache the day before had evolved into some pretty awful coughing, a sore throat, and congestion.  My energy level was way down, so Sid and I had to take it slow.  But truly there is no better medicine than the beauty we saw there that day -  the kind of beauty and peacefulness that renews your soul. 

We later found out that we were extremely lucky with the weather we got for our trip to the park – it was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day when we went, but apparently all the other days had been cloudy and the fog and clouds had blocked many of the majestic peaks.  Lucky for us!

The next day, we boarded a boat for an all day excursion to see two of the grandest glaciers in the park, the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers.  It was much colder out on the water, and I was still feeling pretty sick – in fact, I had entirely lost my voice – so Sid and I stayed under the deck for most of the way out, and enjoyed the views from the windows down below. 

After a couple hours, we neared the Balmaceda glacier, and Sid and I braved the wind and the cold to head outside for a glimpse of the glacier.  It was huge, surrounded by gigantic mountains coming straight out of the water.  We learned that the glacier has been receding at a rather alarming rate in the last 20-30 years.  The foot of the glacier used to reach the water not so long ago. 

We continued on to the Serrano glacier, where we parked the boat and had a short hike.  We could see dozens of iceburgs that had broken off, floating in the water near its base. 

We enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back to the boat for our ride back. 

The next day, we headed back to Punta Arenas for a day of shopping.  The day after that, we took a tour to Fort Bulnes, which was the original site of the town of Punta Arenas, before it moved further north to better land. 

Fort Bulnes was perhaps one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip.  There, we stood at the southern most tip of the continent, and enjoyed learning some of the history of the area and exploring the old prison, church, stable, and other buildings.  It seemed to be a seldom-visited tourist site, and we were happy to have the entire area more or less to ourselves. 

Afterwards, we were back to Santiago, where we spent the night before catching our flight back to Maryland the next day, then back to Wyoming the day after. 

After three days in a row of being on a plane, we were happy to be back home in our beautiful state of Wyoming!

After a long day of flying, Sid and I arrived in Santiago late in the evening.  We were greeted at the airport by a driver who took us to our hotel.  It was already dark, so we didn’t spend too much time trying to check out the views.  We basically got to the hotel, ate dinner, and crashed, figuring we would set up our plans the next day.

As we awoke the next morning, we were greeted by amazingly beautiful views out our window.  We had no idea how close we were to the Andes and how huge they were!  They enveloped the city with majestic peaks all around.  We began to look at options for setting our itinerary for the next few days, knowing that we absolutely had to get on top of some of those mountains.  I also wanted to visit some nearby beach towns.  So, we set up a mountain tour for the next day, and a bike tour of some beautiful beach spots the day after. 

The mountain tour was great.  We drove up a ridiculous winding road that had over 60 hairpin switchbacks going up the mountain.  Luckily, neither of us are prone to getting carsick.  It took only minutes of driving to get into the mountains and out of the city, and afte a few more minutes, we could no longer even see the city because it was covered by a thick layer of smog.  The further we got into the mountains, the harder it was to believe that we were still so close to Santiago, one of the largest cities in the world! 

We had a blast taking in the views and seeing some of the wildlife. 

Once we got back into town, we explored the city some, visiting a nearby mall and walking around a beautiful park near our hotel. 

The next day, we were off on our bike ride!  Our tour guides were a father and son team and we had a great time riding with them.  Though the day started off rather foggy, which prevented us from seeing some of the sites on the way out, by the afternoon the sun was out and we were able to see the sites we missed on our ride back.  The beaches we saw were breathtaking, with steep cliffs meeting blue waters. 

While the views were well worth it, the bike ride was actually extremely challenging.  Though we certainly hadn’t been training consistantly, Sid and I considered ourselves in pretty good shape, but this ride really humbled us!  Not only were there ridiculous long, steep hills, but we later found out one of our tour guides, the father, was previously a pro racer in Canada, and at one point was ranked third in the country.  His son has now started racing professionally in Chile.  No wonder we were struggling on the ride! 

The next day, Sid and I were off to the second portion of our honeymoon – southern Chile.  Details of our adventures in Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales in the next recap!

Arriving back at the Murthy’s house to prepare, it was lovely to have some time alone, with only a few friends and family members there.  I jumped in the shower to get the rice out of my hair and remove the remaining bangles (which ended up being quite a difficult task – at least half of them broke coming off, and I had several cuts on my hands by the time I was done!).

Ali and Gabby got to work on my hair and make-up, while Sid enjoyed some time to rest.  As soon as we were ready, we headed to the mansion house to finished getting dressed and ready there.  I put on my dress, and Gabby helped my with my tiara.

Soon it was time for the ceremony to begin.  After a disorganized rehearsal the night before, the beginning of the ceremony started off a little disorganized as well.  I didn’t have anyone assigned to cue the string quartet, I forgot they were rolling a red carpet out for me and started walking too early, and then the red carpet didn’t stay anyway – it started rolling back up.  But, once Daddy and I finally got ourselves down the aisle, everything went smoothly!

The ceremony went quite fast, especially compared to the morning ceremony.  I came close to crying as Jenni sang “You Raise Me Up” but somehow managed to contain myself for the rest of the ceremony.  Linda did an excellent job officiating.  It was all just how I wanted it to be.   We had written our our ceremony, so I was thrilled that it came together so nicely. 

After the ceremony and another quick photo session, we enjoyed a cocktail hour – with a penguin! 

We soon moved around to the reception side as the wedding party was introduced and Sid and I had our first dance together.  We received very touching (and funny!) toasts from Papa Murthy, Daddy, Chris, and Sowmya.  Sid and I enjoyed some food and downtime before making our rounds to say hello to our guests. 

My dad and I shared a father-daughter dance together, then we really got the party started by getting everyone else out to the dance floor.  For the rest of the night, we danced danced danced.  I had so much fun!!!

We did the cake cutting and bouquet toss (Jenni caught it!) and then went back to more dancing.  I was happy that before the night was over, I got a swing dance in with Chris. 

As we danced our last dance, said goodbye to everyone, and began getting our things together, I couldn’t help but think that the day was everything I wanted it to be.  But more importantly, I knew that my new husband was everything I wanted – and more.

I woke up bright and early to take a quick shower before heading over to the Murthy’s house to get ready for the Indian ceremony. Ali, Furman, and Gabby graciously woke up early too, and chauffeured me to the Murthy’s house.

Mama Murthy started with my hair, adding in the extensions so I would have a beautiful long braid, then added the flowers on top of that.

Then, on went the sari and lots of jewelry. Meanwhile, Sid was getting ready elsewhere in the house, but we were not allowed to see each other.

Once I was dressed and ready to go, Sowmya and I headed to Kahler Hall with Ali, Furman, and Gabby close behind. We arrived to find more of my friends there already, getting help with their saris. They looked great!!

I also saw the decorations for the first time – wow! I was so happy with how everything had turned out. Kudos to my awesome decorator!

The gold elephants lining the aisle were pretty sweet.

For the next hour or more, I waited patiently inside a room while Sid arrived and the ceremony began. I would’ve liked to be able to watch it all, but I still was not supposed to see Sid. It seemed like forever before it was finally time for me to enter. The anticipation was really building!! I couldn’t wait to see my husband.

Finally, it was time for me to enter. Dave escorted me in, followed by an entourage of friends and sisters. As I entered, a sheet was held in front of Sid so we still could not see each other. This was perhaps the most emotional part of the entire day, because there was so much anticipation. We were standing only inches away, yet still couldn’t see each other! The sheet was held between us for a good five minutes (which, of course, felt much longer), before it was finally removed and we saw each other for the first time on our wedding day. Sid looked so great! And what a feeling it was to look into his eyes and know that soon this would be my husband.

The rest of the ceremony was wonderful. For what seemed like a long time, Sid and I held a coconut together while we received blessings from other married couples, who came up and poured milk on the coconut.

We took our seven steps together, symbolizing our vows to each other, and before we knew it, we were married!

The ceremony ended, we took our photographs, ate some lunch and mingled. Then, before we knew it, we were off to prepare for ceremony number two!

Sid and I arrived back in Maryland (well, VA actually, since we flew into Dulles) around 5am on Saturday, February 16th – one week before the wedding. Brian and Melanie graciously picked us up at the airport and let us crash at their place before we went to brunch to meet up with Sowmya, who then chauffeured us around to run some important pre-wedding errands.

We ended up at the Murthy’s house briefly to see Mr. Murthy and a good family friend hard at work putting up a lovely entrance arch to their house, in preparation for the Homa (Sunday) and the Puja (Friday). Mrs. Murthy, Sowmya, Sid and I were then off to my parents for a wedding shower. It was great! I had no idea so many people were going to be there, and it was so wonderful seeing all those people I love in one place.

Afterwards, Sid and I headed back to the Murthy’s to prepare for the Homa the next morning. The Homa was a very cool experience. I loved getting all dressed up in such a beautiful sari and wearing all the jewelry and hair decorations.

Once the Homa was over, Sid was shuttled back to the airport so he could get back to Wyoming for a week of work before the wedding. I headed to the Lancaster’s house to celebrate Braden’s 3rd birthday. I can’t believe he is already 3 years old!! The party was a lot of fun and I had way too much junk food.

Afterwards, I went back with my parents and got ready for the week of work ahead. I worked in the office Monday through Thursday, squeezing in lots of wedding errands in as well. We did our final walkthrough at the zoo on Tuesday morning, and Tuesday evening I was able to meet with the decorator to pick out some final pieces, like the backdrops for the wedding ceremonies. I also saw the elephants and the mandap for the first time, and I began to get reaaaally excited!

My mom and I ran lots of wedding errands in the evenings, looking for a tiara and cake topper and sand for the sand ceremony. We made a good team, and somehow managed to get all the random odds and ends we needed.

Thursday night, I stayed with the Murthy’s to prepare for the Puja. Friday morning – the day before the wedding!- Sid got back into town around 5am, after another all-night flight. Sowmya picked him up and he got to the house just as I was waking up. We traded places – he got in bed to get some much-needed rest, and I began getting ready for the puja. The puja was very nice – it was intimate and warm.

Afterwards, Sowmya whisked us away to the spa for pedicures and manicures for herself and me and a massage for Sid. It was a very nice, calming couple hours in a whirlwind day! As soon as we left the spa, it was back to the madness as we headed to my parents house for the rehearsal. Ali and Furman were aleady there, safely arrived after a long drive from South Carolina. I scurried to get everything together – peoples printed-out lines for the readings and the programs to fold. The dinner was yummy and satisfying thanks to my mom’s efforts. The rehearsal was rather unorganized, but it would have to do! People headed home – Sid, Sowmya, and their parents back to their house, and I stayed with my parents. I had a great time catching up with Gabby, who had flown in from Louisiana, as well as Ali and Furman. Finally, I retreated to take a relaxing bath and took some time to collect myself. It wasn’t until 2:00am I finally got to sleep, totally exhausted but full of excitement too. I was about to get married in the morning.

More to come with the wedding recap!

What a busy last few weeks!  I plan on doing a series of updates in the next week or so… hopefully a recap of the wedding, honeymoon, update on the new house, and even a running update (wow, it’s been a while since I’ve had anything to say about running!).  And, some pictures to follow.  Stay tuned!