Here we go again...

You may recall from previous reading that Hugh and I have had to deal with several instances of identity theft. We’ve had credit cards missing from his wallet, my checking account number stolen, and even better: we’ve had our credit card numbers stolen while we still had the cards in our possession.

Hugh and I made big changes from all of this. We make all of our purchases every month on a credit card. All of them. We don’t write checks, and if we get some sort of bill in the mail that wants a check? Well, we call and pay it by credit card instead. We don’t use our debit cards and we protect our banking information as if we were the KGB.

Hugh’s brother, John got married back in December. Hugh and I were both members of the wedding party. After the meal at the reception, Hugh accompanied me upstairs to the room where the bridal party had gotten ready. I had brought along a spare dress to wear because the one that I had to wear for the ceremony was tight (baby bump!) and not flattering at all. As we walked into the room the assistant wedding coordinator approached me and asked me if I would check through my belongings and make sure that I wasn’t missing anything. She stated that she had walked in on a wedding guest exiting the room earlier (the room was supposed to be off limits). I walked over to my purse and noticed that it was unzipped, when I recalled making a point of zipping it up prior to the ceremony. I pulled out my wallet and discovered that my 3 credit cards were gone as was some cash. Hugh asked the girl if she would point out the person that she’d seen in the room, so they left.

I finished dressing and headed downstairs. I was so pissed. I honestly don’t think I can accurately describe the anger I was feeling. I found the assistant downstairs and asked where I could locate my husband. She told me that he and the head wedding coordinator (W.C.) were outside speaking to the woman that had “supposedly” taken the stuff. I walked outside and located Hugh and the W.C. speaking to a woman that was half inside her car. I actually heard Hugh say, “If you’ll just give us back what you took, we won’t call the police. I’m giving you 10 seconds to hand it over or I’m calling.”

The only thing she was willing to give up was an empty purse that she’d stolen from one of the other bridesmaid’s and obviously used to stash all of the cards she’d taken.

I’m going to take this moment to let you know that I’m omitting the part of the story where I might have possibly screamed obscenities at the woman and then been forcibly removed from the area by my husband picking me up and carrying me back over to the reception venue.

My parents came outside from the reception to see what was going on. My Dad went out and took his car and moved it to block the woman from being able to leave the property. Hugh called the police and the W.C. called the owner’s of the venue. The police show up and conduct a complete search of the car. The discovered several credit cards that didn’t belong to her and cash. They handcuffed her and her husband-who, by the way, hadn’t even realized hi s wife was missing for an hour from the dinner. Seriously??? Innocent my ass. They decided to arrest her and allow him to go since he claimed that he had no knowledge of what she was doing. The officer came in and instructed me to fill out a witness statement, and I know that another bridesmaid had to do the same. I believe that only one other credit card was taken and more cash. The officer informed us that we would have to cancel all of the credit cards (even though they were recovered) because they had been in her possession for a while. He also gave us the case number and a phone number to call to see what we would need to do to get our cash back.

What sucked, more than anything was the officer told the W.C. that an announcement had to be made to all of the guests at the reception informing them of the theft and asking them to check their belongings to see if they were missing anything. I really hated that for the bride and groom. Nobody deserves to have something like this happen at their wedding.

So, to end the story: Hugh and I got up early the morning after the wedding and sat in the hotel lobby for breakfast where he called the credit card companies and cancelled the cards. Hugh and I have the same credit card numbers on our Visa and Discover cards, so he had to cancel his as well. The woman has two previous felony convictions and was released on $68,000 bail. It only took about a week for us to get our cards replaced, but the big hassle is trying to remember every single account that we need to update with the new numbers. In fact, we forgot about our Ez-Tag account and it got suspended. Oh, and when it gets suspended you have to CALL. Ugh. Yuck. Just this past week we were having conversations trying to recall if we’d gotten everything updated. It’s been a big hassle.

A few days after Christmas I called the number that the deputy gave me to see about what hoops I’d have to go through to get our cash back. Well, I was informed that we won’t get it back until after the trial ends and then he went on to inform me that I will be subpoenaed to court for the trial. Inset sarcastic YAY!!!! I don’t consider taking off work and driving to Austin for a trial and good time. However, I feel like this woman needs to be held responsible for her actions. I don’t care if it’s a fine or jail time but I do think she needs to pay her debt to society. She’s obviously been convicted of crimes before and doesn’t seem to be learning right from wrong.

I’ll keep you updated on the situation, and if I do have to go to court I’ll definitely do an entry on that. Right now, Hugh and I feel like we’ve got targets on our back when it comes to our money and people trying to steal it.

Keep your hands off my money!

Happy Anniversary!.....Belated, that is.

I realize that it’s almost two months late, but I wasn’t exactly in a location where I could blog on the actual date. So…..here’s to “Better late than never.”

June 11, 2010

Hugh and I got married in Rincon, Puerto Rico. We’d vacationed there a few years prior and fell in love with the place. Rincon is considered to be the lazy side of the island. It’s full of hippie-type locals and wealthy Americans that no longer want to pay U.S. taxes. Hugh and I stayed at a wonderful B&B called Tres Sirenas. It’s a gorgeous two story white stone house that seems to have been taken right out of the fictional Pottery Barn: Caribbean Edition. It’s literally right on the beach, has a great pool and best hosts that anyone could hope for. We talked often about how we’d love to get married there someday.

Fast forward to the night Hugh proposes. We’d been eating an incredible dinner (prepared by us) of grilled filet and homemade mashed potatoes when Hugh jumps up from the candlelit table and says, “I’ll be right back.” He then took off upstairs bypassing the downstairs restroom. I recall thinking to myself, “Really?? Why do men need to poop so often?” A few moments later, he comes downstairs where he proceeds to get down on one knee and asks me to be his wife. We celebrated by opening an expensive bottle of wine that we’d been saving and in our excitement, we drank the whole thing. To this day, that was the best wine I’ve ever had. As we were sitting on the floor in the living room that evening we talked about how all both of us really wanted was to get married at Tres Sirenas. We knew that it was unconventional and that people might think we were crazy, but it was how we wanted to get married.

Hugh and I knew that we wanted a small, informal wedding. We were ecstatic to be joined by our immediate families, two of Hugh’s aunts and uncles, and his Grandpa John. We asked Hugh’s Aunt Anna if she would be willing to become ordained and officiate the ceremony. She not only agreed, but she did the best job that either of us could ever imagine. We found a photographer online, and were referred to a private chef, Chef Pedro the “Organic Surfer Chef” by the owners of the B&B. Hugh and I met with the chef two days before the ceremony and hammered out a final menu. We rented tables and chairs on our own, brought our iPod with a great playlist, purchased alcohol at Sam’s in P.R., and located a woman to do hair for me and my sister, Chelsey. Hugh and I did all of the planning. We bought three dozen roses at Sam’s and my mother wrapped the stems for us to use as bouquets. My mom and I took a trip down to Harwin and bought tablecloths and chair covers. We cut Michael’s coupons for weeks so we could buy vases and such to use as centerpieces on the tables. My sister got her dress at Dillard’s and I paid just under $400 for mine. I guess what I’m trying to get at is this: We did all the planning on our own and it worked! We didn’t need to have a so-called “Platinum Wedding”. This was what would make us happy. Even when Mother Nature decided to play….

Now, where was I? The day of the wedding dawns and preparations start being made. At breakfast, the proprietor of the B&B approaches my mother to let her know that there’s been a death in their family and that they are going to have to leave the property. It was a sad situation, and the poor woman was worried that I would be upset. (Seriously? Who am I? Bridezilla?)  Around noon, the power goes off. With Puerto Rico being an island, they tend to get random power outages. Typically, they last no more than 10 minutes. Well, I was supposed to get my hair done at 2:00, but at 1:45 the lady calls me and says that she doesn’t have power at her place so she can’t do my hair. She tells me not to panic (I’m not panicking, I promise!) that we can wait until 4:00 and she can still have my hair done. Then, it starts to storm. NO BIG DEAL. It’s the tropics in summer. This is a common occurrence. Usually it rains for about 30 minutes and then it’s nice a cool afterwards. Um….this time….not so much. At 3:00 the stylist calls me back and says that she found a place with a generator so she can do mine and Chelsey’s hair. We leave and go get prettied up. In the rain. The pouring rain.

Chelsey and I arrive back around 4:30. Note: The wedding was supposed to take place between 5:00 and 6:00. We were aiming for around sunset. The rain is coming down and the power is still off. The chef has arrived and is confident that the power will come back on. However, he had brought a large wok that connects to a propane tank as a back-up plan. He tells me to relax. I’m relaxed and not worried at all. I simply walk on by and upstairs to the room where my mom, sister and I were going to get ready. My sister did my make-up for me, and she did it in the breakfast nook with only sunlight. Oh, did I mention that it was over 90*?? And that Chelsey was 7 months pregnant? The photographer was there taking pictures non-stop and suddenly, it stops raining! The sun was peeking out from the clouds and I can hear Hugh and everyone else running around like crazy downstairs on the pool deck setting up chairs and tables. My Dad was all dressed up and squeegging off the patio. Hugh might have been yelling a little. Not really at anyone in particular, but I recall hearing him say “THIS IS GOING TO BE PERFECT DAMNIT!!”

I ended up getting dressed in the semi-dark, my poor mom lacing up my dress while her hair is still wet from her shower. My brother Brandon comes upstairs asking where we’d hidden the scotch because all the people downstairs have decided that Hugh needs to relax a bit. You see: Normally, I’m the high anxiety person in our relationship. I freak out about everything. Yet, on our wedding day when all of this crazy stuff is happening I’m the relaxed one and poor Hugh’s attempting to have a stroke. He was so worried that I was going to be upset, and he wanted to make sure that I had my “perfect wedding day”. That makes me smile as I write this. You see; to me none of the trappings make the wedding day. It’s simply the part where you stand up and pledge your love to each other. That’s all that matters. The rest is simply icing.

All at once it’s time to go. I walk down the stairs and wait with my Dad as everyone else runs down to the beach. I’m perfectly calm and ready. My dad has a tear in his eye, but he’s smiling and telling me that I’m beautiful. We step out onto the beach (and around the corded off nest where the sea turtle decided to lay some eggs) and begin the walk down aisle. The rain made everything look bright and beautiful and the sun was peeking out through the clouds. Hugh was BEAMING at me. I felt so beautiful and loved at that moment. I cried during the ceremony and Hugh got a little teary eyed. Aunt Anna pronounced us married and we were both so happy.

After we took pictures we had some appetizers and drinks. The chef made a four-course meal for 19 people on a WOK attached to a PROPANE TANK. Can we say amazing chef?? The lights stayed out and we actually ate in the dark. Ok, it was pretty dark but we did have some candles and we played pass the flashlight. The food was delicious, and right about the time dessert was being passed out the lights came back on! Everyone cheered and then immediately took off running for the rooms to turn on the a/c’s.

Hugh and I have a great wedding story. The best part happens to be the part I left out. Our vows. We wrote them ourselves and I know that I was touched beyond words. We live out our vows to each other every day. This doesn’t mean that we don’t fight, but we do love each other dearly and we are genuinely friends. I feel like this makes our relationship very strong, and I know in my heart that Hugh is the one for me. 

I do want to say that there would have been no wedding at all if everyone hadn't pitched in an helped. Hugh and I are so grateful to have such wonderful family. Everyone worked on some aspect of the wedding. Decorating, Cleaning, organizing, etc. It was wonderful because we had such great people helping us.

                Aunt Anna and Uncle Paul gave us a wedding scrapbook that they prepared for us before they came. She had typed out the ceremony on beautiful stationary and she’d even included the cute reading that my brother Jordan read and the poem that my brother Brandon read. Everyone at the wedding wrote a small card to us and she included the small papers that we’d written our vows on. It’s the most precious gift and I’ll cherish it always.

 Makeup by sunlight!

 Too may laces, too much heat! Thanks Mom!

 I loved my hair. The orchids were from a plant hanging by the door of the B&B.

My dad and I starting to walk down the aisle. Notice the turtle warning sign. :)

 Wedding kiss! So romantic. 

 My parents, crying.

 Walking back down the aisle as husband and wife!

 Group photo!

Grandpa John. He's 93!

Hugh- I love you.

Love,

Newlyweds!!

“Oh…I forget, you’re newlyweds. That’ll stop soon.”

“Just wait until you’ve been in a relationship as long as we have and then things will be different.”

“Real life will set in one day, and then you won’t do that kind of stuff together.”

AAAGGHHH!!!! I can’t stand this type of negativity. It’s almost like people can’t stand to see happiness and feel the need to try and squish it like a bug. Why is that? Sometimes it feels like there’s some big contest and the people that have been in relationships the longest “win” by telling other people how crappy life gets to be. What’s the deal? Is there some sort of prize for doing your best at trying to bring other people down?

I realize that there are many things to learn from experience. I know that relationships change and things that once were new and exciting can become old and routine. BUT, I don’t think that relationships have to get boring. They take work and care, but they CAN be awesome!

Alright, I’ll get off my soapbox. On to something that I’d like to share!

Yesterday afternoon I was on my way home from the gym when I had a sudden random thought. I called Hugh to ask him about it. Here was our conversation:

Hugh: “Hey, what’s up?”

Jenn: “So….at what point in my life do you think I’ll stop wanting to eat french fries? I mean, I realize they’re bad for me but they’re just so dang good.”

Hugh: “Oh. I don’t think that’s something you’ll ever stop wanting. You know, since they’re so delicious.”

Jenn: *sigh* “That’s what I thought. Love you, bye!”

Notice that he didn't even ask why I was calling simply to ask about french fries! This is one of the reasons why I love him so much. He gets me. I got home and proceeded to make our favorite tomato almond pesto for dinner. I’m working and suddenly, Hugh walks in with a bag of fries from McDonald’s and a smile. They were amazing. I can’t even recall the last time that I’ve actually had fries, but these were the best ever. I love that he does stuff like this for me. It makes my heart happy!

I guess my point about all of this is that it shouldn’t matter if you’ve been married 5 days or 50 years. It’s all about being thoughtful and caring about your spouse. I love my husband, he’s my best friend. AND…if you want to try and rain on my parade please understand that I’m not above violence, retribution, or just petty revenge. (insert evil laugh)