I like making plans.  It gives me time to look at most options and determine what's the best fit for us as opposed to blindly selecting something that looks nice but has no practicality.  Unfortunately the world doesn't seem to want to work with us.

Karen and I got married last October by a local magistrate on a Sunday morning.  No frills, no fanfare, just us, our marriage certificate and sixty American dollars.  Since then we've moved to Florida permanently and wanted to put together something so that we can share this occasion with our families and friends (chances are if you are reading this, you already are very aware of this).  We've been working on the details for a while, we've got our plans for catering, cakes, photographers, clothes, everything except the venue.  The venue has been the biggest limiting factor of putting this together and those whom provide this service aren't making it much easier.

We have a simple need.  We want a quick easy casual ceremony on the beach followed by a low key casual reception.  No $20,000 chandeliers, no designer tablecloths, no 30 person choir, just a room and a place on the beach.  With the Gulf coast as beautiful and popular as it is, almost every possible venue offers only the giant "wedding package" that contains all the nonsense that everyone typically wants for a full out wedding.  Not to mention trying to get any information about pricing basically outputs a "call for further info" message where I'll undoubtedly be connected with some planner that will talk my ear off about how wonderful their facility is and what all they can provide that I don't need and certainly can't afford.

The other option we were looking at was a full blown rental property, perhaps for a weekend or so.  Again, most properties need you to rent it out at least a week (some do have 3 day weekend options) and anything that is actually beachfront is ridiculously priced, even for October.

It probably doesn't help that this is our first time ever booking any type of social gathering as well as being in an area we've only lived in for a few months.  I just didn't expect it to be this challenging.

Perhaps I need to go rent 'The Wedding Planner' at my local Redbox for some insight.  Silly me, that'll only teach me to be a terrible actor.

We're mostly moved in, just trying to get into our routines in a different locale and different roles. My thoughts on Florida so far:

The sun is almost always out. The weather basically is sunny and warm unless it happens to be raining, but even then it's sunny again real soon.

There are a lot of numbered streets, and a lot of them have names too. I haven't quite figured out if people call the streets by their name or number.

Any service we've gotten has pretty much been mediocre. This includes utilities, dining, store checkout, etc. 2 exceptions though, our apartment's management office and our local Publix have been very welcoming, helpful and nice.

I think the no state income tax thing will be good, just waiting on the first FL paycheck to see.

The Florida sun still causes sunburn, even if you are a resident of Florida.

It's best to make an appointment if you have to go to the DMV.

I think that's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more ramblings soon.

Dateline June 28 2009: The first reports of famed Pitchman Billy Mays' death started trickling in during the mid-morning.  Karen and I were actually in Lexington to tie up the loose ends from our move to NC a few months prior.  We had picked up following the new Discovery series entitled Pitchmen and as the season progressed we started to relate to the fine folks at Sullivan Productions as they were cataloged.  It was a shock to both of us that Billy had passed on, just as the series was starting to get momentum.  We mourned his loss that day and for the weeks to come, including the tearful tribute show that Discovery showed after the last episode of the season.  That's right, both of us were bawling.

Even though we didn't know them personally, didn't have any direct connection to the crew except through the show, it hit both of us in a way that's indescribable.  Maybe it was his personality, his genuine smile and kind words towards all the people in his life, but Billy was able to make us smile and impacted us greatly.  We met a lot of wonderful, caring, hard working, genuine people as we slowly entered the Pitchmen community and earned the respect of it's members.  Most of those people we're in direct contact with on a daily basis today.  A blessing that Billy Mays brought us.

Love him or hate him, almost everyone knew who Billy Mays was.  "The loud guy on the TV" or "the Oxi-clean guy" but they knew him.  Discovery put Billy into our homes and gave us the real behind the scenes of the long criticized direct response industry.  It's not just a bunch of guys shilling crappy gadgets, they want to help people in their every day lives.  The products Sullivan Productions puts out are ones they test, ones they believe in.  Sully and Billy didn't pitch things they didn't believe in.

So 1 year later, my thoughts and prayers go out to Billy's family, friends, co-workers, and everyone that has a Big City Slider Station or Awesome Auger in their kitchen or garage.  Everyone that uses Oxi-Clean to wash their clothes or Kaboom to clean their tub.  Everyone that uses Mighty Putty to fix a leak or a Zorbeez to soak up your spills.  Billy Mays touched a lot of people in his short time on this Earth and though he's gone, he's still my buddy.

R.I.P Billy, we miss you.