Geeky Wedded Bliss

Well, it's done. The last of the intra-CS/Geek couples are married.

Over six years ago, a group of us in the Computer Science department as UCSB started getting together and hanging out socially, taking a break from the our hard work in the computer lab to have dinner, see movies, and go drinking. We aptly dubbed ourselves the "Geeks", and eventually, a group even rented a house together-- the Geekhouse. There was a surprisingly decent percentage of females among the group, and it wasn't long until romance began to blossom, and one by one, we tied the knot.

Allan and I were the first to wed in 2003. Ariane and Chris in 2007 (?). Then John and Golnaz this past May, and, finally, Sara and Jason this weekend.

Since the newest pair of newlyweds is well-known for their love of the outdoors, it wasn't surprising that the wedding itself took place at the Sequoia Retreat Center, nestled amongst the tall redwoods in the mountains north of Santa Cruz. (although one friend did comment that maybe having the ceremony at the computer lab might've been appropriate too ;-) )

Saturday morning we made the almost 5-hour-long trek up north and checked into the Quality Inn a couple miles down the road from the retreat center. Apparently, we were the only ones who booked a room there, everyone else who came in from out of town stayed in the cabins. We got a suite, which was basically a stand-alone cottage sitting to the side of the rest of the typical row of motel rooms. And it was grand! Larger than our own spacious apartment, it had a full kitchen, dining room, living room, and a huge bedroom with a king-sized bed and a chaise by a fireplace, plus a whirlpool tub in the bathroom! Were it not for the grade (the cottage sloped downward, one of the less sturdy drawers in the living room's TV cabinet kept rolling open and would not stay closed) and the wood floors, you could hardly tell we were in a small town in the mountains. I, unfortunately, left my digital camera at home, so we had to make do with snapping pictures of the suite with Allan's phone. Hopefully they'll turn out okay, and I can post them to Facebook soon :-)

We washed up and headed to the retreat center, where we drove up some windy, steep, narrow roads... only to make a short hike up to the ceremony site in a meadow, where the altar framed a giant redwood tree known as the "mother tree". After the ceremony, we had yet another hike ahead of us to the lodge for the reception. Yes, I brought my Vans and socks to wear as we trooped along the trail-- no way I was walking in even flip-flops, let alone heels! Allan was decked out in hiking boots, so his feet were fully prepared :-) I changed into my heels once we got to the reception.

After the girls crowded around the lodge's restroom sink to wipe down with wet paper towels in a makeshift sponge bath (hiking in the heat makes us sweaty!), we settled down for dinner and drinks, the highlight of which was bacon-wrapped pork (heaven on a platter!) and blue mashed potatoes. Ever have blue potatoes or blue chips from Trader Joe's before? Remember when I blogged about it on Myspace 2 years ago?

The evening was a LOT of fun, especially since we got to reunite and catch up with all the other Geeks who have since scattered to the four corners of the earth. We'll have to make it a point to hold reunions more often.

After the reception, Allan and I came to the adventurous part of our evening: making our way back to the car at the bottom of the hill, in the pitch black night. We stuck to the paved (if you can call it that) road and used the light on Allan's phone's camera to illuminate our path. It took us about half an hour, but we made it safe and sound-- although walking down a very steep slope is more difficult than it looks. Because of the darkness, I had to be extra careful not to walk too quickly, lest I stumble and fall down a ravine, but maintaining balance and control of my speed required the use of muscles I normally don't use when walking straight (or even uphill). Needless to say-- by the next day, my butt was sore. How often can you say were sore the day after a wedding, when you weren't up all night dancing or weren't the bride and/or groom? ;-)

We were glad to collapse into our comfy suite and retire early, have breakfast in our little dining room, and then relax in the hot tub to soothe our sore muscles. I didn't think I wanted to have a large tub in the master bathroom of our future house, but I may have changed my mind-- having that tub to relax in was sooooo nice!

After battling traffic to get out of the Santa Cruz area, stopping for lunch at Applebee's, and then dropping our friend off in downtown Santa Barbara, we were finally home, home sweet home, by 7:30pm. And yes, we're saving the laundry and vacuuming for tomorrow. Tonight is for resting... and letting my butt muscles recover :-)

All in all, we had a great weekend-- nice little getaway in a cozy cottage and a fun wedding with old friends. Sigh... we're all married now. Life does go on. Now the question is... when will the babies start arriving? ;-)