Honeymoon

The honeymoon got off to a rough start. It began with my continued flu that struck me the day before. Allison spent the duration of our lay over in Honolulu running back and forth from the restroom getting cold and wet paper towels to apply to forehead to bring down my spiking fever. She was determined to keep me together enough to get me to the condo, which she was able to do.

We landed in Maui and our woes continued. Our bags were delayed for three flights, we had some trouble sorting out our rental car but the worst of it was discovering Travelocity never confirmed our resort reservations without telling us nor telling us we had to confirm our arrangements. We weren't able to get anywhere after an hour and forty five minutes on the phone with Travelocity. Thankfully, we were able to secure a few nights at the resort we originally hoped to book.

We stayed at the Noelani Condominium Resort and enjoyed it there and I would recommend it as a place to stay. The staff is friendly and helpful. If you can afford it, get a deluxe place over the standard condominium because there's a difference in amenities that can make your stay even nicer. But the standard isn't bad either.

The next day, Allison began to come down with the flu I had that past weekend and simultaneously, I began to get well. We visited the local Kaiser clinic, got some meds and proceeded to stay in the condo for the next three days. This may sound sad but it's exactly what we needed. We didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything and we didn't feel like we needed to do anything or go anywhere. We just vegged and it was great! We started leaving our place on Thursday to hit the beach and go snorkeling.

Overall, it was good trip. I feel like our honeymoon was typical of other honeymoons I've heard about where things just go wrong. It's almost a given something will go wrong. In a sense, I feel like I've been initiated into the ranks of the married who experienced logistically messed up honeymoons. In the end, Allison and I were together, alone, resting, and enjoying each other; that's all we really needed.



Sunset dinner at Pacifico's Restaurant

Wedding Day

Today, I married Allison Fujikawa. Here's how the day went.

Usually, when I go to sleep I don't use very many covers, but because it had started to get cold that week I started piling them on me. I mean, I had a comforter, three blankets of various sizes, densities, lengths, and shapes, and the sheet all over me. I was toasty! When I awoke, I felt hot. But it wasn't just temperature hot from the covers, I wasn't feeling very well inside. I decided I needed to take my temperature to see if I was really getting ill or not. I took my temperature and I discovered I had a temperature of 100 degrees! Wonderful, I'm sick on the day of my wedding and there was no way this day was going to be rescheduled at all, nor was I going to spend it in bed. No matter what, I was going to push myself through this day. I took some Ibuprofen and realized I needed more help. I needed prayer. I needed some serious healing prayer.

Jennifer, my younger sister was staying with us and I knew if there was anyone who was going to help deliver healing it was going to be her. I told her I was sick and asked if she had any healing prayer on her for me and she replied with a 'yes'. She promptly laid her hands on me and prayed that healing would come right then and there. After she prayed I carried on with getting ready for our big day. By the time I left the house that morning my temperature had come back down to normal. Praise the Lord!

Around noon time, the wedding party finally joined up for pictures at Neighborhood Church in Rancho Palos Verdes. This church is gorgeous! It has beautiful architecture and gardens and sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. As nice as it was it didn't come close to how beautiful my bride looked! We spent a little time there and then we were off to the church.

Prior to the ceremony, me, Allison and the wedding party shared in communion together. Allison and I were able to serve some of our closest friends and family the Lord's Supper and to thank God for them. Finally, it was show time.

The ceremony went really well. We took a lot of it from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship and we sang "Holy is the Lord" by Chris Tomlin and the hymn "Holy Holy Holy". It was amusing to go from a contemporary worship song to a hymn. The ceremony was only about 45 minutes long and at the end of it, we were married! Yay!

After the ceremony, we took pictures and my flu began to make itself known to me again. We concluded the pictures and everyone left us except for my brother and the photographer; it was then, I proceeded to deflate: my fever began to rise, I got the chills and the shakes. I just wasn't doing well at all. On top of that, it was one of the coldest nights this winter. In the car on the way restaurant, which is only three blocks from the church, I begged my bro to crank up the heat and the fan and to point it straight at me. It felt so good! Being on a roll, I begged again, hoping we could drive around the block some more so I could spend more time heating up, but they said we had to go to the restaurant and heating me up further would do more harm than good. After taking some more meds, I felt like I could go inside.

Once inside and seated, we got started eating, which really helped me out. I started to feel much better and from there I was running on adrenaline. We went around and toasted all of the tables, took more pictures, chatted with our guests, and enjoyed the entertainment. The highlight of the entertainment for me was my Chan cousins singing a song and dancing to an edited version of "YMCA" just for us. They really took their game to the next level that night.

After a wonderful evening of celebration, me and Allison went home. We decided we didn't want to bother with a hotel room so we kicked her mom and our friend, housemate, and wedding coordinator, Michael, out of the house. It was a great idea because we came home to familiar territory and could spend that evening packing. When we got home my flu fully caught up with me and I passed out. I laid down on the bed and I was gone. The next thing I knew it was 1:30 am and Allison was beside me asking if I wanted to shower, change my clothes and/or pack right then for our 8:45 am flight to Maui or if we should sleep and wake up early. Barely coherent, I recommended sleeping now and waking up later to pack. We woke up only a few hours later, packed and were off the airport. We made the flight and we were off.

It was an incredible day. I felt so touched to be surrounded by so many loved ones on such an important day. Each one there was a witness to me and Allison's union as a couple and our vow to be with each other until death do us part. I am so happy to be married to Allison and I know I am so blessed to be with her. I thank the Lord for bringing this wonderful woman into my life.