Happy Fourth of July!

We had to say good-bye to Rarotonga on Saturday and hello to Aitutaki! This island is known for their amazing lagoon.

If you ask us if we miss the fireworks and cooking on the grill...take a look at our view from our room! We simply open the doors to our villa and our bed looks out over the Pacific Ocean. It's magnificent! We are truly in paradise. We had a great day snorkeling and saw enormous oysters, a turtle, amazing tropical fish and traveled by boat on these small little islands...there was one even called "Honeymoon." So unreal.

We hope all of you had a great Fourth of July! We miss you guys!

Happy early birthday, Sayra!

XO,
The Newman's

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Newman

YAY! We are officially husband and wife. The day started off pouring down rain. We're talking monsoon weather. We were really worried that we were going to have to find an alternate location or have our wedding in our room. Neither place was ideal, so we took our chances and decided to wait it out. As luck would have it, it was absolutely perfect 15 minutes before the ceremony began. The owner of the villa said she thinks my grandmother had a little say in the perfect weather we received: no rain, no wind, sun and a handsome man waiting for me on the beach. I agree! We have met some of the people staying in the villas near us, so they sat along the rocks and watched the ceremony. It was beautiful. The celebrant was great and kept us laughing and smiling. And of course, I was moved by it all and shed a few happy and joyous tears. What can I say, I'm a lucky girl. We had yummy tropical cake and delicious New Zealand champagne. Our photographer took a lot of amazing photos, so we can't wait to share them with everyone. Afterwards, we went to an amazing dinner and enjoyed a great meal and great company.

Thanks to all of you thinking of us and sending your well wishes. We appreciate it very much. Callie & Larry, thank you for the beautiful basket, we are enjoying it all now.

So we will enjoy our last day here with a little more snorkeling, a little shopping and enjoying our beautiful villa as husband and wife.

We leave tomorrow morning for the Island of Aitutaki. We will honeymoon for the next week at the beautiful Etu Moana.

Kia Orana!

Kia Orana from the Cook Islands! We arrived safely at 6:30am on Monday morning. Boy was it a looooong flight. We were so lucky to have a layover in LA and have the company of one of my best friends on our way there, so it helped to break up the long flight.

All of the plans are complete. It took us about 2 hours to do it all. We applied for our marriage license, meet the celebrant and wedding planner. All done!

We have already enjoyed some sun, snorkeling and getting around on our scooter.

The hotel is absolutely stunning and we are able to go to sleep with the ocean waves right outside of our window.

Here are a few pictures we took. One as we got off the plane, one from the view of our room and last of course, one of the island dogs. They aren't Putter and Derby, but it helps having a few furry friends around. (If we can't get the pics to post, we'll try again later, sorry!)

We'll check in again! Off to enjoy the sunset soon.

Cheers!

Paradise Awaits Us

We head for the Cook Islands in 4 days! We are getting so excited as we are starting to take out the sunscreen, decide on which books to read and pack nothing but shorts and tank tops. We know it's almost here! I've spent the last couple of days sharing with people where we are staying for the first week: Meet Sea Change Rarotonga! It's absolutely paradise. There is also a video tour of the place, so check it out.

We will be getting married on their beach, barefoot in the sand. We have an awesome photographer to capture each moment, a wonderful officiant performing the ceremony island style and a beautiful backdrop to anchor each moment as we officially become the Newman's.

Some people ask us if we are sad we are missing the Fourth of July....ummmmmm........NO WAY!!! Look at this place. We will be more than happy to act as locals and relax into being husband and wife.

We'll post our destination in the next couple of days for week two. You think this place is great? Just wait, it's even BETTER!

Everyone Keeps Asking...

Yes, we have a registry! To have a Registry or not to have a registry....this was a constant topic during our engagement...I'm sure many of you have received a glass sculpture in the shape of a swan or a set of doilies that you didn't exactly need. This was what I had explained to Josh WILL happen if you don't specify. Although many of you are wonderful and thoughtful even without a list! =)

We both agreed that we really didn't need much, but if we did need a thing or two, this list is a good way for us to start. Afterall, we are trying to save towards buying a house with a big yard for the dogs, so we wanted to keep things simple and easy. We also wanted to find the best deals for everyone and we found them on one of Josh's favorite website, Amazon! My favorite part? The Universal Registry button! You can add anything from any other online site and link it to your Amazon registry. So gone are the days of having 3 different registries, it's all on one! You can shop direct or go through Amazon. Quite Clever!

You can click on the Amazon link above or copy and paste this url into a new browser: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wedding/3Q47TMXSQOWCK

We hope this is helpful!

Only 16 more days until me are married!

Bridal Shower Weekend

I had the best weekend ever! My girlfriends hosed a bridal shower on the Cape. It was the perfect setting to spend the weekend with some of my most favorite women in the whole world. Although we had some rain, the sun came out for the shower and a little shopping on Sunday. Who can argue with that?

So much thought and attention to the little details were very much appreciated. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we ate some more. Most of all, we relaxed, talked, laughed and enjoyed each other's company. It was the perfect way to celebrate Josh and I getting married. I am so lucky to not only have the best partner in life, but I also have the best of friends who always know how to make me feel special. I love you girls (even those of you who couldn't be there!)!!

I will post photos as soon as I have them to share.

Who Doesn't LOVE a "Little Blue Box?"

JOSH! We had picked out my wedding band awhile ago, so all that was left was to find his wedding band. Afterall, we are less than a month away! Like most men, the idea of wearing jewelry is a strange idea and something, yes something, they have to get used to! So, he had the freedom to choose to any ring he wanted. Afterall, my ring is the most beatiful ring ever, so why can't he have something he loves just as much? So we went to the store with the little blue boxes and found the perfect ring. He of course had a ring size which was a 1/2 size larger which meant it was priced higher. He couldn't believe that one 1/2 size could be so much more expensive. So of course he's on the search for a better deal. If you ask me, wearing that little blue box every day isn't such a bad deal at all! Hopefully, he sticks with it, but you know Josh, he has to at least challenge the idea!