Sorry Amanda...

I know this is so 5 months ago but Amanda was going to shoot me if I didn't do this soon...

So, here you go...

A few pics from our honeymoon and the link to a whole bunch more...

We Rocked!

Who watched and what did you think???

TLC Tonight 8:30pm

We're Rockin' the Reception tonight at 8:30 tonight on TLC...Don't be lame...Watch it....Love it...

For all you in the dirty dirty, we'll be at Wing Factory on Roswell in Buckhead to watch it on the big screen...There should be a few people there...And so should you!!!

Here's a taste of tonight>>>>>>

More Pics...

Check out this phenom slide show by our photog...

Dude is amazing...

HERE

Photos!!!!

Go here now!!!! Enjoy....Lots more to come....

Rockin' the Reception...Tuesday Night!!!!

The time has come for Amanda and I to have our 15 minutes of fame...

Many of you know, that we had the opportunity to be taped for a new show on TLC called "Rock the Reception". For those that didn't know, now you do...

About a month and a half before our wedding day, we recieved an email from our wedding coordinator concerning a new show and needing applicants. The show was about the couple having a first dance choreographed and surprising the wedding guests...Since Amanda and I were already planning on doing a choreographed dance, we figured what the heck, let's sign up. Truthfully, I didn't think it was going to happen since we were on the East Coast and wouldn't have a chance to do a face to face interview...Nonetheless, we filled out the paperwork and sent it in...

To my surprise we got a call back and they asked if we could do a taped over the phone interview...Right on!! So my buddy Eric hooked us up with his camera and we did an over the phone interview with the casting director...It went really well...One day I'll show the tape of us...

Even at this point, I didn't think there was a chance of this happening but lo' and behold a couple days later, they called back and said "You're In"...Holy crap, we're going to be on TV...

Because of this, we had to head to So Cal a few days earlier because we had to do taping throughout the week...Hardest part about this was we couldn't tell anyone...It had to be a total surprise...That was tough...

I have to say that it was quite an experience going through that process...The producers were super cool and made it real easy...We got to pick six people from the wedding party to do the dance with us which made it that much more fun...We included Amira, Shan, Melissa, Shags, Rob and Mac in the dance...They were totally stoked and all about it...They had to keep it hush hush as well...

The main choreographers are typically this husband and wife team (Napoleon and Tabitha) who are apparently pretty big in the dance world...His bro was getting married the same weekend so we got hooked up with this chick Chantelle...Totally cool...Kick arse dancer and sister of another sick choreographer Wade Robson...

The week was filled with rehearsals and tapings...They got all kinds of footage of us throughout the week...So who knows what they are going to show and what they won't...We shall see...

The dance turned out freakin' awesome and we brought down the house...I seriously cannot wait to see it...And when might you be able to see it????

This Tuesday night...July 22nd 8:30pm EST/7:30pm CST...on TLC...You West Coasters are going to have to check your local listings...It's on four times throughout next week so if you miss the one on Tuesday night, there will be more...

Amanda told me last night (as I'm in Texas right now) that they had a commercial for the show and it showed a few clips of us and our show...It's going to be off the chain...You need to watch...You need to leave a comment here after you watch and let us know what you think...

Amanda just had to do this...She's so rad...

Our crew at the studio...

Wedding Day...

I'll do my best to be brief with this post concerning that actual day of wedding and just show pics... I know it's biased but we had the best wedding ever...

Everything about the entire day was perfect. If you live in Southern California, Strawberry Farms is the shizzle for throwing a wedding. Amanda looked absolutely perfect coming down the aisle with her dad. I was an absolute mess...In a good way of course. The ceremony was filled with Christ and it was beautiful. Our pastor did a phenom job at delivering the ceremony with our letters we wrote to each other and just expressing our love for God and how He is our foundation...

The reception was off the chain...Of course the dance we did set the whole deal off (which I'll get into in another post)...From there, her dad gave a great opening speech...Lots of dancing, lots of fun...We could have gone for several more hours...

All in all, it was the most beautiful day I've ever been a part of... None of this does the day justice,,,had to be there I guess...Nonetheless, here's a few pics...

Here's Amanda opening up her Wedding gift from me...A little bling for her arm...

Here's me opening mine...Amanda got more creative than I did and made a book based on the "10 things she loves about me"...I was a mess and I even heard a few of my boys weeping a bit...

Our ridiculously cute Flower Girl and Ring Bearer...Ally and Mason...

I freakin' love this guy...Here comes the bride...B-E-A-utiful...Gorgeous...Perfect...My best friend...All smiles...I think we were just about to kiss...Rockin' Rod (new pops in law) brought it down with a great speech...Amanda and I made sure we still got a slow dance in together even though we brought down the house with our first dance...I can't wait to see our photogs pics from this because the lighting was absolutely insane...This was pretty fun for me...My boys were absolutely hilarious here...It was like the garter had anthrax on it...Check out Gronz in front pushing people away from that thing...This pretty much sums up the evening...That's my mom on the left...There were some sweaty messes that night... Here was our get-a-way ride...
Still waiting on photos from the photographer...Once I get those, I'll post all of the pics on to a public viewing area...

Be looking for some honeymoon pics and then the TLC "Rock the Reception" story...It's on...We have a date...Are you ready or what????

Rehearsal (Drama) and Dinner...

Throughout the entire week leading up to our wedding, it was fairly stress free...Busy but not crazy stupid tear your hair out stressful...Until Friday...

It started off with a somewhat hectic morning with more taping, picking up wedding gifts, dropping off rental cars and then off to dance rehearsal and taping...Once again,,,all gravy...

The gang ripped off several rehearsals and were looking tight...Right about lunch time as we sit down to grub, my sister is wincing...This doesn't appear to be good...Finally, we talked her into telling us what was wrong and apparently her bum knee had popped out of place and was not going back in...No bueno...Shan's supposed to be in the dance the next day and she has a leg dangling out of place. After a few phone calls, producers being all up in our face trying to catch the ensuing drama and me finally about to lose it, I say "I'm taking her to the hospital." So Shan and me hop in the car and head to the emergency room to get her leg fixed up. Mind you, we have our rehearsal in just a couple of hours and for any of those that have never been into an emergency room know it's not a quick process...Oh yeah, my sister is not only in the dance but is a bridesmaid as well...And, I'm the groom and kind of have to be at the rehearsal...

After a couple of hours at the hospital with the sis' my parents relieve me so I can go to the rehearsal. Rehearsal starts at 4 and I'm way late...I'm stressed needless to say...My parents aren't able to come to the rehearsal, my sis' is down with a bum leg, people are waiting on me and to top it off one of my groomsman calls me at 4:30 to ask "What time he needs to be there?" I'll be honest, a few four letter words were uttered at that point...

Once I finally arrived, everything ran pretty smooth. Our Pastor and wedding coordinator did a great job on keeping everyone on track...Truthfully, it was tough to keep my cool throughout the entire time because my dad, mom and sister weren't there...

After rehearsal, we headed off to Buco di Peppo for dinner...Great time...Something like 60 people...Shags and my dad put the whole thing together with a great menu and lots of great wine. My parents and my sis' finally showed up about an hour into dinner...

We had a great time telling stories to everyone about the members in our wedding party and had lots of awesome Italian food...

Needless to say, it was a somewhat stressful day that ended on a high note...We all headed back to the Hyatt where mostly everyone was staying and was able to see a bunch of friends that had gotten in for the ATL...I headed home with the folks that night to try and get some sleep while Amanda and the bridesmaids had a suite and stayed at the hotel...

More pics...

My bride and pops in law...
The ladies...
My boys...
Our ring bearer Mason and Flower Girl Ally...
My voice of reason while I was kind of wadded up...Pastor Isaac...If you live in So Cal, go see him at Rock Harbor in Costa Mesa...Great place...
Shags came up big by telling everyone the menu and wine selection for the evening...
Homeboy Dave from Vegas...
Mims and Pops...Freakin' love them...
Amanda, Amira and Sarah...
Just entirely too cute to not show...He's a cool little dude...

More stuff and pics to come...Playing catch up ball big time with this stuff...

I'm actually in Sarasota, FL right now missing the living crap out of my wife...Be home soon baby doll...

Part 1 – Week before the wedding festivities…

First of all, planning a wedding in Southern California while living 3000 miles away sounds like quite a feat, but it really wasn’t…It was a tad more expensive primarily due to flights but overall not that bad. Plus, I have a rock star wife that was stupid organized and have family (new and existing) that pulled so much together so we didn’t have to worry about it…

All being said, we went to So Cal a full week early, not for planning purposes, but to hang with the family/friends as well as do the taping for the show…

We originally bought our tickets for the Tuesday before but had to change those up to Sat. instead. I had called Delta a few weeks prior to see if we could change and the lady said that we could fly same day confirmed for only a $75 upcharge…SWEET!!! We got killer deals on our tickets so a few more bucks to get our there three days earlier sounded great…So after our manicures and pedicures (did I say that out loud) we had in Atlanta we started calling Delta to see if they had seats available…This is where the story gets somewhat lame…Apparently, when talking with the lady a few weeks prior, I didn’t catch that we could fly only same day as our ticket…Not a few days earlier…This deserve a big giant boo bears…So dumb Burns…Needless to say, we had to totally rebook our tickets…That certainly wasn’t cheap but it had to be done since we had a full day scheduled for Monday and Tuesday…Once again, boo bears…

Nonetheless, we arrived into LA safely…As usual, the weather was perfect and seeing the parentals, Shan and the dogs is always awesome…We pretty much just chilled through the weekend…We did however eat Del Taco and In N Out a few times…Please move to the ATL guys…Amanda and I alone with the help of Mac will keep you in business…I promise…

Monday began the taping, which I get more into later as well as the arrival of Mac and wee little rye rye…

Tuesday was a lot of taping for the show and the beginning of our rehearsals…This was also the time that we told some of our wedding party that they were going to be in the dance…Long day…Ended at Sushi where my dad must have dropped a his 401 (k) buying everyone in the place some raw fish and Sake…Great night…

Wednesday was more taping and then it was on…Brownman arrived from his first ever leave the Eastern time zone flight from the ATL. The boys, consisting of wee little rye rye, Robby, Shags, Mac, Brownman and myself headed downtown HB…We then hooked up with my buddy Mike and his wife who has just arrived from Southern Louisiana. Rob introduced my buddies to “Rainbows” at Aloha Grill where we proceeded to drink more than one. In fact, Brownman and Mac had several. My bro Dave showed up from Vegas and met us there and then Amanda, her mom, Amanda’s sis and Schumann showed up…The party was getting expensive so we made the decision this show need to be taken back to the Burnsarosa…

This is why I love home…Within an hour, we had over 30 people at the house having a great time BBQing out…No plans, it just happened…

During the deal, Rob and my mom pulled out the 1998 High School Grad video of Rob, Shags, Blainer and I doing Madonna’s Vogue…Wow is all I have to say…Everyone was on the floor laughing at this debacle…Great stuff though…

Thursday brought some actual wedding stuff. Amanda and I went down to the court house to make things almost more official and got our wedding license. For 61 bucks, we were in...From there, a few of the boys headed to Mens Warehouse to get our tuxes. After that, my small group homies (Jeremy, Jim and Charlie) showed up and we were off again. A huge mob of us headed to downtown HB and rented beach cruisers. From there it was off to Newport. This turned out to be one of the funnest parts of the week. We ended up at Sharkeez in Newport and met a few more peeps there and had a blast. When Amanda and I got engaged, this was one of the first things we planned. A lot of our friends were somewhat skeptical of the whole deal because they thought that it was going to be Tour de So Cal…We didn’t let them down…

After a few hours in Newport, we headed back to HB and met another huge mob of folks at Freds. We must have had 80 people in our group there…Another buddy of mine from the ATL was in town for the wedding and he was having his B-Day celebration there as well. Great freakin’ time is all I have to say…It was such a diverse group of people that was have an awesome time. We took it deep that night…A few romances were started that night which I won’t get into…

So, that’s five cent tour of the week prior to the wedding…Here’s several pics to enjoy…

Next post…Friday’s Rehearsal Drama (kind of) and Dinner

Sushi-san!

Slurricanes with the homeboys...Lil' Mike with his Bride and his Gene Simmons tongue

Burnsarosa Backyard BBQing...
Everybody in the living room watching Jeremy, Rob, Shags and I making fools of ourselves from Grad Night 98'...
61 bucks for a piece of paper saying we can be married in the great state of California...
Sharkeez - Newport Beach...
The Ladies at Freds after the bike ride...

I'll get all the pics up soon to a public gallery...

My blogging sabbatical…

I know, I know...”Where’s the photos? Where’s the stories? How bout’ the honeymoon? When’s the show on?”

I seriously didn’t know I had such a strong blog following…Because I’ve been getting absolutely hammered with all these questions…

Well, I’ve officially come off the three week blog sabbatical to get back into the swing…It’s been a extremely lazy past few weeks that have been great for Amanda and me…We’ve strayed pretty much away from all things…I wouldn’t consider it lazy, just trying to incorporate the island living that we became so accustomed to in St. Lucia...

First and foremost, I love being married to Amanda. There is no one else in this universe that I would rather spend the rest of my life with…Just wanted to throw that out there before I begin this deal…

So,,,in the last month, a whole bunch has happened. And opposed to writing a ridiculously long post trying to summarize everything that has gone down, I’ll break this up into five parts…

1) The week before the wedding festivities…
2) Rehearsal Drama (kind of) and Dinner
3) Wedding Day
4) Honeymoon
5) TLC Show Rock the Reception…

I won’t give too much info on number five until I have more details of when the show is going to be on…Plus, when I signed my life away on that contract, I think it said to not promote it until the show was on…Better go back and check that out…

So that’s that…Now read the post that shall appear right above this…

i love hb...

Amanda and I got into So. Cal on Saturday evening and things are coming together...I'm so stoked to be getting married on Sat. Yeah, Saturday of this week...5 days...I'm marrying my best friend...

Great day of golf with rob, shags and pops yesterday. You seriously cannot beat this weather with a stick...

Already have had Sugar Shack, Del Taco and In N Out while I've been here...Gaining weight before the wedding probably isn't the best thing to do but I seriously love this grub here...

Mac and wee Little Rye Rye get here in a few hours...And Amanda have a huge surprise for all of you that you'll get to see on Saturday...Off the chain awesome is all I have to say...

My Boyz Part Sixer...

About three years ago, I met Jim. I didn't meet him at work...I didn't meet him through mutual friends...I didn't meet him on mySpace...I met Jim at an event call GroupLink...An event which brought seven strangers together to meet once a week for fellowship, bible study and prayer...We've been doing that one Wednesday nights for the last three years...Some changes to the group but Jimbo's been there the entire time...

Jim has seriously been a huge part of my life over the last few years. He's a great listener and has a huge heart for people. When Amanda and I had our brief sabbatical, Jim was there. I was bummed and he was by far my best bro during those times when I just wanted to revert to making bad choices, he held me accountable... Thanks so much Jim...

I'm actually chillin' in his house right now writing this because he's been gracious enough to let me crash on his couch the past few weeks as Amanda lives in our place...

And I'm super stoked for the guy because he just got engaged to a totally awesome chick...Just like two weeks ago...Way to go Jimbo-Dini...He's marrying way out of his league...Don't worry dude, I totally know the feeling...

The rest of the gang...

My Boyz Part Cinc...

Coming in at #5 of 9 for my groomsman is homeboy Todd...T. Gizzle fo' Shizzle...

The Gronz started working at Yamaha about a week after I did and we've been bros pretty much from the beginning...Super good dude that is down for anything...Loves toys and challenges...That's his deal...Whether it's buying something or taking on a new business challenge, he's all about...He's also about one of the most creative dudes I've ever met...

He's a lover of dogs, especially his slightly kind of retarded dog Rainey...Just kidding bro...

Seriously, I'm stoked that this dude is my friend and I'm stoked that he's cruising out to So. Cal next week...

My Boyz Part Quad...

Next in my list of nine of my closest friends is one Jeremy Blain...

Jeremy and I go way back into the days of middle school. We battled things out on the volleyball court...Marine View vs. Vista View...I'm pretty sure I dominated the entire time. That's just how it goes...

We became big time bros in high school and wrecked some havoc. Of course...Also had several fun parties at his mom's place...Where's Bence with that saw???!!!!

Jeremy is by far one of the most ambitious dudes I know. Works retarded hard...

He also had lots of cool stuff and if I lived in California, I would help him use a lot of those cool things. Blainer also really manned up at the Bachelor party and smoked the Red fish...He was sweatin' catching anything and I think he caught more than anyone...

Great dude that I'm stoked is one of my groomsdudes...

See you next week holmes...

My Boyz Part Tres...

For my on going series of My Boys/Groomsman,,,I'm bringing it down with a west coaster...

I truthfully don't know how I met Jensen...aka The Bence, Benny, Benson...I think we was Blainer's friend but I really don't know.

Regardless, Bence has been a great friend since we've met...He's manned up a couple of times and cruised to Texas...He caught his legendary "lunks" on one trip. It's about the only fish he's caught in several years.

A few years back he also bro'd down and cruised to Atlanta where things got dirty...

Overall, great dude, good golfer, horrible fisherman...

Bence, You shred!

Jensen didn't actually catch this fish. Ben Jarrett caught this fish...Rumor has it, he didn't boat a fish an entire trip...We still like the guy though...

My Boyz Part Deuce...

Back in the days of Texas, I met Austin Brooks. Austin is a cool cat that I'm stoked to be friends with. Him and I worked at Skeeter together for a few years but have continued to stay bros after I moved. We had a brief stint of being roomies as well. I love giving the dude crap because of his metrosexuality and assortment of lotions...I will admit though, he is a handsome man...

Him and his wife (Tamara) are cruising from "Deep in the Heart of Texas" for the wedding...So Cal is going to wrap this dude up and most likely they won't be leaving...

Austin, you shred!!!