Got Home and Got Out!

Two days after we came home from San Diego, Mitch brought me along on one of his "Get Outs" for work. We took a short drive out of town to see Portage Glacier. I had been on the small cruise before...but never with a local celebrity. Needless to say, I was very excited (and snapped a few paparazzi shots).



Soon I worked up some courage and asked him if I could take his picture...then he offered to take mine! : )


The cruise was fun. Captain Bubbles even came out, and true to form, started blowing bubbles. I couldn't resist popping some. In order to appear less excited than the kids on board, I simply judged where the wind would blow and casually positioned myself in that vicinity. And sure enough...POP! to my hearts delight :)

On the opposite end of the life span, many of the passengers were...well, old. I have observed (particularly from my 4 years working at a tourist trap) that most visitors to Alaska are rather elderly. Apparently I am not the only person to have made this observation:


This little plaque was on each of the four benches they had on deck. I loved it so much I had to take a picture. Why call it a center? Too funny!

Portage Glacier

After the cruise, as a special treat to the media, we were taken out on a small ice-breaker boat.

Getting closer...

Our skipper--sorry, not Captain Bubbles. I didn't snap any pictures of him. Forgive me, please?

We got right up close to the glacier, and Mitch and his photographer were allowed to get out of the boat and climb up on the rocks. No one gets to do that, so we were all very excited. It was amazing how huge it is--which is much easier to tell when you get up that close and can have more of a frame of reference (person: small; glacier: enormous). Luckily no calving occurred when Mitch was out on the rocks, otherwise he may not have come home in one piece! I was a bit nervous for him...but glad that he was able to get that once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Look closely!

What more fitting way to return to my home state of Alaska?

Adventures in San Diego

We were very lucky to be able to go to San Diego on our honeymoon. It was a beautiful city, the weather was lovely (although low 70's with a cool ocean breeze was a bit chilly for me...obviously I'm looking forward to this upcoming winter with a bit of hesitation :), and our little hotel was just perfect, complete with dishwasher and stove (thanks Mary and Rich!). But enough talk, I'll let the pictures tell the rest...

After too many trips to the airport to drop each other off, we finally got to fly together! Here we are after the quick flight on our cute little balcony.

We were going to explore downtown San Diego, but Mitchell got excited when we saw this in the distance. Needless to say, we had a change of plans and went exploring!

Isn't he cute?

Imperial Beach

This beach had a long boardwalk of sorts, which was not so much for viewing the ocean, as it was for hard-core fishing. These guys accidentally caught a baby shark!
At the end of the walk was a little fish and chips place, "The Tin Fish." We enjoyed imitating our meal in its previous life.


And of course, no trip to San Diego is complete without a visit to see.....

SHAMU!!!!

The Shamu show ("Believe") was quite impressive--they really work the heart-strings! And the adrenaline. We sat in the....

SOAK ZONE!!!
(not the "splash zone" mind you....)

Luckily my jacket shielded us, and we walked away relatively unscathed.

Sea World was a blast! It was nice and hot that day (which I soaked in, but Mitch found ways to avoid).


"Duude. Ain't no thang..."


Mitch made some new friends...

And got a neat little lunchbox. How exciting!!!

We also made a few trips up the coast to La Jolla. The first night we just did some sight-seeing.

Model-esque? I think so.

And went to the most charming Italian restaurant with food to die for!

On our next jaunt up to La Jolla, we went snorkeling. Neither of us had ever gone before so it was quite the exciting experience. I was surprised how difficult it was for me to not only get enough air to breathe through the snorkel but to keep the waves from overtaking me. Several times I just hung on to Mitch while gulping in deep breaths of air :) We saw leopard sharks and rays. It was so neat, you could just reach down and touch them. Sometimes we were in whole groups of sharks--maybe 10-14 of them at once. It was awesome!


All suited up!

Good lookin' is what I say!

And before we knew it, the week had come to an end. Fortunately, we were looking forward to heading home and settling into real life. But what better way to start our lives together, than a fun vacation to San Diego!

June 26, 2009

Hi, it's Natalie! I'm a little nervous here, as this is my first blog post ever, but I have a feeling that people might be getting bored of reading about what a nice spring we've been having...

So we'll talk summer instead! It is definitely in full swing (I'll leave it up to Mitch to give the full details on high temps, averages, and more) and, in fact, almost winding down here in Anchorage. But we've managed to make the most of it, doing fun things like blueberry picking, kayaking, getting married, taking a day cruise out to Portage Glacier, and dip netting on the Kenai. And while I don't have the pictures yet to post of most of these adventures, hopefully some pictures from the day we got married will satisfy you for now :-)

We were married on June 26 at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

Although it was raining that morning when we went into the temple, the sun was shining and not a single cloud was in sight when we stepped out.

It was a beautiful ceremony and so wonderful to have all our immediate family there (minus 2 brother-in-laws) and many close friends and relatives.



My new family! I'm very happy to be the newest addition to the Sego clan (and the new "baby" of the family. Sorry Mitchell, for taking over the honors! :)



And my "old" family--love them!



After the temple, we had a wonderful luncheon at the White Willow in Provo.



Mitch's mom put a lot of work into making sure everything was lovely and even brought in specialized favors and desserts...


...which the kids loved...


...and so did I!



Mitch's best friend from college, Jason, and his wife Calista (along with their adorable baby) were able to be there as well--it was great to meet friends that I'd heard so much about. What a treat!


And I was so lucky to have my "best cousin" Katie at the wedding, and wonderful roommates Sarah and Lani!



And just in case you haven't had your fill of wedding pictures yet, here are a few more to tide you over :)




I feel very blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. Mitch is an incredible husband and is so sweet to me. And best of all, after 10 long months of being 3,000 miles apart--no more talking on that phone!