Destination Wedding: Hennepin County - Amanda

Bali.        Italy.       Jamaica.      The Bahamas.        Mexico.

These are places you may think of when you hear destination wedding. 

I bet Hennepin County in Minnesota is not on your shortlist of destination wedding locales.

For us, it was.

If you have been keeping up with our latest blogs you already know that we adventured back to the states to get vaccinated. 

We also got married.

Amidst the chaos of searching for flights and packing Genie proposed. It was about 2 am and we had been attempting to contact my mom to inform her that we were planning to come home. She went digging for something on her side of the bed and returned to me, weirdly sitting on our yoga mat as I tend to do. She aptly began with, "So...I'm awkward..." 

Guys. 

I seriously love this woman.

She handed me a homemade hankie wrapped box and told me to open it. Of course, that's when my computer started making noise that my mom was calling me back...great timing. I ignored it (sorry mom) and proceeded to open the box. Inside was, you guessed it, a ring. Tears immediately began, hence the need for the hankie. 

Of course, I said yes.

We were going home to get vaccinated and get married. 

Prior to this we hadn't talked a whole lot about weddings. We both agreed that we wanted it to be a small affair and that we wanted pie at the reception.

I'll admit, my mind started racing with how I could plan a small, backyard, BBQ wedding in under a month. Stage manager mode had kicked in. 

Reality then set in...this would need to be quick and simple. The best option was a courthouse wedding.

I learned that the 5 metro countries in Minnesota are the only counties that still do courthouse weddings. After several unanswered phone calls, Judge Sullivan's assistant, Logan, answered and we had our judge and court date...I mean wedding date.

Due to Covid restrictions still in place, we could only bring our two witnesses with us. We had a hard decision to make. We couldn't bring both sets of parents. Instead we opted to ask relatives who literally live 5 blocks away from the courthouse. Cue Genie's aunt Jan and uncle Jon. 

 Side bar: they also happen to be the in-laws of my high school marching band instructor...I think it's funny that I'm now related, via marriage, to Mr. Krueger. 

Friday, June 18, 2021 

Our day began early, we made a pit stop by Genie's paternal grandparents. It was a lovely visit, full of great questions about our time abroad.

Around noon, we headed to Jan and Jon's for a brief rest and to change into our wedding garb. 

We knew this was not going to be a wedding gown affair, which I was slightly disappointed with but understood that it would be impossible to do. I am that girl who dreamed about wearing a fancy, white dress on her wedding day. I have been promised a reception in the future when I will be able to wear one.

Our ceremony was to take place at 4:30 and Logan had instructed us to get there a half hour early to go though security. Once finished we asked one of the guards where Judge Sullivan's chambers were and he had no clue, we were the first people besides staff he'd seen in the building. Helpful.

We headed towards the elevator and luckily there was signage. Logan happened to be waiting outside the elevator, baffled that we were there already. "We always tell people to arrive 30 mins early so they won't be late, most people still are." Well if you have ever met Genie or myself you know that we are chronically early arrivers. Anxiety yo.

Now I have never been in a courtroom before but it was nothing like what you see on TV. There were no windows, no large oak tables, and NO Mariska Hargitay. 

 

We had a bit of time to kill before Judge Sullivan would be finished with her working day so we used the opportunity to take some photos.

The best way to describe Judge Sullivan is the official version of Maya Rudolph. She was lovely. At one point she told us that we were both beautiful and was confused as to why we opted for a courthouse ceremony instead of getting all gussied up. Cue to us explaining where we lived and Genie showing off the adorable photos of her 4 year-old students.

After some court interruptions, we finally began the ceremony around 4:45. 

It was short, to the point, and not smultzy. I cried when it got to my "I do." Genie kept all of her glorious snarky comments to herself...she wasn't sure how the Judge would feel about the sass. If I could rewind, I would have encouraged her to insert her comments.

We were now married and I'll admit I had the biggest, dopiest smile on my face. 

Our dinner reservations were still an hour out so we headed over to Loring Park to take some photos. 

To the brave squirrel who fought his dog injuries for 3 months. RIP <3

Jan, her iphone, and Genie's editing delivered.

Shout out to Jon who followed around carrying our bags. 

Our dinner was at Lucrat and it was fantastic. Jan had requested their nicest table and it definitely was. We could see the park and watch the open kitchen. Gordon Ramsey would have applauded the teamwork.

We received a champagne toast courtesy of the restaurant. 

The cheese tray appetizer might have been my favorite item we ordered...there are no pictures of it so it might have been everyone's favorite.

Dinners were lovely and the company was fantastic. 

In lieu of a wedding cake or our desired pie we had the house speciality...mini donuts.

We snuck a few more photos in before thanking Jan and Jon for the wonderful company. 

We headed to Winona, MN where we spent our wedding night on a blow-up mattress snuggling a pit bull. 

PS from Genie: "I still haven't gotten my pie."

Alternative State Quarantine Lockdown (The Process and Hotel) -G

We came - we saw - we got vaccinated - and now we're back. 

What did we come back to? Well, to be honest, a bit of a shite show. For instance, today alone there were over 8,000 new cases of Covid-19 that were found via tests. I can only imagine what the actual number is. 

The norm for over a year now has been that arrivals into Thailand must quarantine for 2 weeks. You can either go to a government center (Thais only) or to an alternative quarantine (Thais and Foreigners).

Is it expensive? Yes.

Was it mandatory to get back to our jobs? Yes.

So for the next two weeks, Amanda and I are sequestered in a hotel room in downtown Bangkok. 

Honestly, it's as far from "slumming it" as possible. We decided, for once, to shell out and treat ourselves. 

**

But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

To get back into Thailand to begin with, we needed a slew of paperwork. Anyone who spent any time with us back home knew that I was in a near constant state of doing some weird form to submit to the Thai government. 

We needed a negative Covid-19 test, verified flights, all our visas verified, our quarantine needed to be booked and paid, a T.8 form filled out, and honestly a slew more information I don't even remember at this point. 

And then we needed to print it in triplicate. 

Thankfully both Amanda and I are ridiculously organized. We bought a folder and used the living daylights out of it throughout our trip back. 

Luckily for us, our papers were perfectly in order and this made the process of getting back into the country super easy! We were asked slews of questions at every airport we touched (MSP/O'Hare/NRT Japan/BKK) but we had all the answers we needed in our handy folder.

So by the time we were getting off our last flight in Bangkok to be escorted away by Thais in hazmat suits, the last step was easy. 

We were taken from the airport to our hotel quarantine in a party van that had been converted into a Covid taxi. Re: a lot of plexiglass.

From there, we were checked in, had our temps taken one last time, and were delivered to our room around 1am (our flight landed around 10).

**

The room is twice the size of our apartment and as of day 2, we're loving it. 

There's space to work out.

There's space to work for each of us without having to hear the other person in our headsets.

There's TWO bathrooms!

I can't tell if my standards are really this low or if I'm just blown away by the fact that we've got a bathtub where we can fit our whole bodies underwater!

We will have Covid-19 tests on Day 2 (already completed), Day 6, and Day 12 of our 14 day quarantine. They're our only chance to go outside, albeit briefly, but I'm kind of looking forward to someone shoving a q-tip into my brain ... 

**

It looked cleaner when we moved in, but we were so exhausted that we hit the pillows and passed out. 

There And Gone And Back Again! Culture Shock Edition! -G

For those of you who are unaware of the past two months, Amanda and I have just pulled off the greatest heist in our history. 

Think Jake and Amy pulling off the most epic Halloween Heist in Brooklyn 99. (Amanda made me spell out this whole TV show like you wouldn't understand B99 from the context of Jake and Amy.) Except this one involved multiple plane trips, immigration, quarantine, and working sneaky overnights.

**

It all started one evening when my school sent a message in early June saying that we would be online until the beginning of August due to Covid-19. Our first thought was: "this would be the perfect time to go home and get vaccinated. Could we make it happen?"

We started frantically researching and packing. Schools in Thailand do not like when people make decisions for themselves, so we knew we would have to be incredibly sneaky. 

48 hours later, we had negative Covid-19 tests, fit-to-fly certificates, plane tickets, bags packed, and after our classes got out on Friday afternoon we grabbed a taxi to the airport and set off back to America for the first time in over 2 years.

The flights were uneventful - but flying Japanese air does mean you get hot miso soup with every meal!

We arrived back in Minneapolis and were greeted by our mothers early Sunday morning (about 1am).

And so the charade began.

We socialized by afternoon, taught from 8pm-4am, and did our best to sleep during the day. By that, I mean we were incredibly sleep deprived and generally pretty cranky. So thank you for those of you who received slightly more sass than what was strictly necessary.

It was a horrific and bizarre schedule, but we were lucky. Nobody caught on.

On our second full day back, we got our first vaccinations. For the people living in the first world, this may not seem like a huge deal. You've had them readily available long enough for there to be lotteries and gift cards. But we're in the mindset of people who used to sit at a computer for hours hitting refresh in the hopes we could get INTO the vaccine lottery available in the 3rd world.

From there, we did our best to adapt back into the US. It was weird. 

1. First of all, there is no street food. 

Enough said. You cannot get liver on a stick at 8pm from a nice lady with a cart. What's even the point?

2. Secondly, everything is fried. 

Straight up, I gained over 15# in the amount of time we were home. And it wasn't for a lack of exercise. I actually got more physical activity there than I would normally in Thailand because we can't just go for walks here.

Portion sizes were also WILD. Most times when we went out to eat, Amanda and I would split something and we hardly ever finished it. And it wasn't because it wasn't delicious. There was also an overabundance of foods we aren't accustomed to: breads being the biggest oddity.

3. Third, driving was so different!

For the past two years, I've been driving a motorbike on the left side of the road - mostly. Traffic rules are very flexible ideas meant to keep traffic moving efficiently. 

Well tell that to the traffic on i90 when I almost pulled into the wrong lane instinctually. 

Also, Amanda can legally drive in the US!

Also, there was no zipping between traffic. You're 18th at a red light? Yep. You sure are and you're going to stay there. I definitely missed the thrill of whizzing past cars and carefully maneuvering my bike between trucks to get to the front of the line at every stoplight!

And to top it all off, I had to fill my own gas for the first time in over 2 years. You heard it here first, folks. I completely forgot how to fill up my own gas. 

4. We definitely have adapted to living in the tropics. 

Regardless of the fact we returned to Minnesota during what they called 'scorching hot weather', Amanda and I were still consistently cold and dry. 

My nose was constantly cracking from the lack of humidity while everyone we saw was complaining about how wet it was.

I don't think Amanda ever left the house without a sweater despite it being consistently in the 90s while we were home. 

There were several times we tried to go for walks during our "lunch" from school (midnight-1am) but it was FAR TOO COLD for either of us to stay out for long. 

The coldest we saw was 55 and we didn't even bother going out that night. We stayed inside, made hot cocoa, and curled up under a heated blanket. 

I'm. Not. Even. Kidding.

Then when it was nice and we went outside in the sunshine, I received several comments about the fact I was consistently in long, black pants and a long sleeved sweater.

Duah. Do you think I want this beautiful white skin to touch the sun? Do you think I can handle a cool breeze anymore? 

Absolutely not.

5. Why are y'all still shaking hands?

On no less than MANY occasions, I had people shake my hand - either as an introduction or an "I missed you". 

It was weird.

Did Covid-19 teach you nothing? Well, we taught many of you how to 'wai' (ceremonial Thai bow) because ... bleh ... TOUCHING people? No thank you!

6. People weren't wearing masks.

It felt odd to be the lone person wearing a mask and to not have them mandatory. We've been sporting them since Christmas 2019 because we had a bad pollution spike and then we went straight into Covid-19 masking. 

It was incredibly weird to not have to wear a mask everywhere - although for the most part we did anyway. It was also strange to see children without them. My entire last school year I only saw my children's faces during milk break and lunch. 

I think I saw more children's faces on our quick trip back than I did the entirety of last school year.

7. Eavesdropping made me absolutely exhausted. 

In Thailand, the language is not only foreign, but also rather sing-song. It makes it very easy to zone it out and loud crowds and traffic disappear into the background.

When you understand the language being spoken after 2 years of its absence, you notice every word. Your brain perks up every time you hear something in your native language. And because of that, my brain was being pinged constantly. 

Going to Target was absolutely exhausting.

**

Don't get us wrong, we had a blast seeing the people we love. We got to spend quality time with our families, friends, and most importantly: our friend's dogs. 

We feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to come back for vaccines as many of our friends and coworkers were unable. 

So please, if you haven't yet, go get vaccinated. 

Hyvee LITERALLY GIVES YOU A GIFT CARD.