Mike Hall: For Sale

Alright, alright. So I have been a major slackalacker as far as the blogging goes. But I’m now back. Yes back with a vengeance! Well sort of, I’m going to be as vengeful as I can. So take note! Oh and… this is going to be quite the blog post so I have to apologize in advance. It’s a long one!
Anyway, so Nikki and I… well… we’re married! I know hard to believe but it’s true! We’re married and couldn’t be happier or more in love. So for those of you that aren’t aware we got engaged on December 18th, 2008 and we were married on May 2nd, 2009. The day was absolutely magical. I really couldn’t have asked for a better, happier, greater day. We woke up around five and got all done up. Headed up to the Salt Lake LDS Temple. The ceremony was incredible. Thanks to my grandfather for marrying us. When it was all done we came outside into a quite literal torrential downpour. It was great. We ran around and snapped some pictures getting absolutely soaked. So that was fun.

After those heartwarming pictures were taken we had a little luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Luckily it wasn’t too far away. Once we got indoors we took some more pictures and headed to the top floor for the foood. It was delicious. Everyone took turns crying and telling stories about Nikki and I and our most embarrassing moments of all time. It was great. I have to admit though that Nikki got roasted a lot worse than I did. My poor wifey. Oh, and then my brother Matthew and my Aunt Yara sang a beautiful song for Nikki and I, thank you so much to them. I also have to say thank you to my parents especially my Mother for setting up the luncheon and making it such a great time for everyone especially Nikki and I. Anywho, that was the luncheon and here are some more pictures.

After that we drove home and sadly did nothing for a couple hours. We cleaned off Nikki’s soaked, mud covered wedding dress and headed to Sun River Gardens to get everything set up for the reception. We got barely got everything set up in time. We couldn’t have done it without Whitney and Ashton’s help. They pretty much managed all of the food for us. So thanks a million to them. Also I have to say thanks a million to Nikki’s Aunt Linda for all of the beautiful flowers for the entire day. You see, Nikki has always wanted black roses for her wedding and Linda pulled it off beautifully. They all turned out amazazing! So after we stood in line for a year and a half we finally had to take a break and cut the cake, do the dances as well as the bouquet and garter toss. All went well and very smooth. Thank you thank you to everyone that helped us in anyway, especially all of Nikki’s bridesmaids. Thanks a million billion. So after all of the formalities we talked to a few more people and called it a night. We left the reception in a pretty sweet Hummer limo. No I know that a bunch of people out there are saying what? A Hummer? I know, I know. It’s not the most classy ride in the world and I have to admit that I was kind of bummed out when I found out that that was what it was. You see… I special ordered a 2009 Lincoln stretch but for some reason the limousine company thought that I would be impressed with the Hummer and I mean it was nice but I still think the Lincoln would have been nicer. I don’t know why but it seems like every time I order a limo it gets changed at the last minute for something that isn’t as good (my fellow fellas know what I mean). But it’s okay. And that’s enough about the limo. Okay okay, so then Nikki and I left the reception in some major style, psh… and after changing headed up to the Grand America Hotel to spend out first night together… psh again! No details for you other than that it was magically magnificent and amazing. Oh and very romantic. Let’s just say rose petals and chocolates a plenty, who’s-its and what’s-its galore. I love my wife Nikki more than anything. So that pretty much covers the wedding day! Here are some more pictures, this time of the reception. I also have to give a little shout out to Sam and Aubrey at Every Little Moment Photography. Thank you so very much! We love the pictures. Here you go…

Now we’re onto the honeymoon. Now Nikki’s dream honeymoon has always been to go to Cancún, Benito Juárez, Q Roo, Mexico. I know! What a perfect destination! It really was. I love Cancún. It’s always been my favorite tropical destination. I’ve been there a few times but it was a blast and a whole new experience to go with Nikki. We created so many great memories that we talk about everyday. If you want a play-by-play of the honeymoon and everything that we did you can check out Nikki’s blog. She kept track of everything that we did everyday we were there.

Nikki’s Blog
Honeymoon:
Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five | Day Six | Day Seven | Day Eight | Day Nine

Thank you wife. I love you. For those of you that have already read Nikki’s posts or if you’re just looking for the quick version here you go…

Day One:
We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. After that we checked out and took Nikki’s first taxi ride to the aeropuerto. We got on the plane and headed directly to Cancún. We landed and everything was so beautiful not to mention so so humid! I love the feeling and it was so great. Mmm… I want to go back. We checked into our hotel the beautiful JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa. It was so gorgeous. We were pretty tired so we just walked around the resort, ordered some room service and went to bed…

Day Two:
We pretty much just kept relaxing at the resort. We liked just taking it easy after the chaos of planning the wedding and finishing finals. So we hung out some more at the hotel. Spent a few hours undoing knots in Nikki’s hair and Went swimming out at the beach. Later that night we went out to a great (super spicy) Thai restaurant called Sasi Thai. We ate outside and watched the sunset. After that we went back to our room and had a great surprise of rose petals everywhere in our room, wink wink. It was quite romantic.

Day Three:
Kept relaxing. Scheduled a trip to a water snorkeling park adventure place called Xel-ha for the next day. Finally got the rest of the knots out of Nikki’s hair. Walked around a bit a got the lay of the land. Went to dinner a little Italian place called La Dulce Vita. Not the same as La Dulce Vita in Provo, Utah but still very good. They even had a pet crocodile or ‘cocodrilo’ that Nikki tried to feed pasta. Don’t worry all you cocodrilo lovers out there, she got yelled at for it.

Day Four:
We woke up pretty early for a change and took a bus to Xel-ha. Nikki learned how to snorkel or ‘esnórquel’. She actually loved it! Here’s a sad story. We had a waterproof camera that we took. We had so many cool pictures of us on it. You all should have seen the ones of Nikki in all of the esnórquel gear. It was hilarious but awesome. And… we lost the camera! I know! How could we! Trust me, we searched and called all of Mexico looking for it but never found it. It was so sad. But then after we got back from Xel-ha (so so burned because we had to use their stupid eco-friendly or ‘ecológica’ sunscreen) we found Lost! Yes that’s right I was able to watch my season finale of Lost right there in Cancún, Benito Juárez, Q Roo, Mexico!

Day Five:
We slept in and ventured even further in the heart of Cancun or ‘Cancún’ to a little breakfast place called Vips. We made friends with the waitresses even though we don’t speak any Spanish or ‘Español’ and figured out the rest of the bus system. We went down to the market or ‘mercado’ and got Nikki bombarded or ‘bombardearon’ by all of the merchants. I told them all that she was the boss and had all the money. Hey! I figured it would be a good learning experience for her! She hated it, doesn’t like having a million hot (in a bad way), sweaty men follow her around. But she did manage to haggle a little and buy a nice hammock for us! Way to go babe! I’m so proud!

Day Six:
Now this was a fun day! We went to Chichen Itza! We took a long bus ride to the ruins and had a great tour guide that taught us a ton! We took a bunch of pictures then went to an authentic lunch that turned out to be really good. After that went to a sink hole where people could go swimming. It was pretty cool to see, I wish that we would have brought our swim suits but we forgot them… sadness was all around us. Oh and it was during the long bus rides that I found out that Mexico is the place to play ‘Slug Bug’ and Nikki is horrible at it when she is tired. Just so you all know.

Day Seven:
We woke up and decided to go do some shopping and see if Nikki’s movie ‘Wolverine’ might be playing. We went over to a nearby mall and walked around for a while. After that we found out that the world was closed because of the Swine Flu (H1N1 for you technicals). So we went to Planet Hollywood. Nikki loved seeing all the movie props and everything. They had some stuff from Empire Records (Nikki’s favorite movie) and she was so excited to see all of that. A couple things that I thought were pretty cool was that they had the Ferrari from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the sunglasses from Blues Brothers.

Day Eight:
Happy Mothers Day! We woke up way to early so that we could go out to the beach and look for shells. Nikki found some really cool ones and they are now proudly displayed in our bathroom. Come over whenever to take a look at the treasures! We called out mothers to wish them a happy day. We also got to talk to my sister Sharolee on her mission in Lithuania! So great to hear from her! Then we ate breakfast again at Vips downtown. I might have taken Nikki on a round about way downtown that would have been a shortcut if it had worked how I had planned it. But no, we got lost and it was all my fault. We were sweating like crazy and so so hot. Nikki was pretty mad at me but then I bought her a flower for Mother’s Day from an old elderly old woman on the street and she started to forgive me. Ha! Yea right! She was so mad for a good hour or two after that.

Day Nine:
We woke up even earlier on this day to go and look for shells. Yep, three in the morning! Nikki is hardcore when it comes to her shell searching. But we found a few more. Then we went back to bed and later on woke up to start packing. We went to Vips one last time and then came back to the resort. Nikki started to feel sick from the Indian food that we ate the night before. Don’t ever eat Mexican Indian food! It’ll getcha! But after that we went back to the airport and headed home!

Overall the wedding and honeymoon was so fantastic! This little (haha, yea right, huge) blog post really doesn’t do it justice. We had so much fun together and we’ll never forget it. We love being married and couldn’t be happier. Thanks again to all of you that celebrated with us and thank you all for your wonderful wedding wishes and gifts. We couldn’t have asked for everything to go better. We love you all. Stay tuned for vicious vengeful or ‘vicioso vengativo’ updates in the future. Thanks for reading if you did!

So for those of you that don’t know this. I have the most amazing and spectacular fiance in the world. She literally rocks my socks off. I love her so very much. So my birthday is on January 28th and this year I truly had a fantastic one. So I have needed a new phone for a while now and Nikki, being the phenominal woman that she is, knew that I not only needed a new phone but that I’m a kind of picky person. I just love to have all sorts of amazing gizmos and gadgets a plenty. So yes, Nikki gave me the killer G1 for my birthday! Talk about incredible, I know!

So that was one of the first things that made my birthday great this year. Then… I also got a refresh on my hosting from my parents. They also gave me ‘Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’ for the Wii. Talk about exciting I know! Oh and my family always has a birthday dinner for each of us kids on our birthday. That’s when they gave all this jazz. So I had my Mom’s amazing lasagna and my favorite kind of cake… can you guess? Yup, German Choloclate. Yum. Then I also went to dinner with a bunch of my friends. We went to Red Lobster. Delicious as always. Thank you to all who came and to those who couldn’t make it I’m sorry. Maybe next year. But I just wanted to shout out to all my friends who made my birthday wonderful. And thank you for all the gifts. You all know who you are. I just had to tell the world that I have some of the greatest friends I could ever ask for.

So… that’s ma birthday this year. I can’t believe it but I am twenty three years old. Gawsh, I never thought it would come. For those of you that can appreciate the G1 stay tuned. I’ll be blogging shortly about some of my favorite features and apps. Thanks again to all you all. I love.

Yes, yes indeed. You heard correct. Yes that’s right. Yep, I’m engaged. I know I know, you thought it would never happen. You all said that I would never find someone that could handle the many mysterious ways of Mike but wait wait wait wait! I haver! Yes that’s right. I’m finally engaged to Nikki Parry. My best friend and true love. Now sit back, relax, but keep your eyes open and enjoy the story…

Think of Aladdin… “It begins on a dark night! Where a dark man waits… with a dark purpose…”
Okay okay so there isn’t a dark man or a dark purpose but there is a dark night. Nikki and I had been planning on going up to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake for a few weeks now (clever planning on my part, thank you mucho mucho). So I have her convinced that we will go up to Temple Square, enjoy the lights and celebrate the fact that school is over for the semester. So, sure enough we make our way up and everything is going well. I have talked to her father, went extremely well, I have the ring in my pocket, and I am with and in love with the girl of my dreams. We park and start walking. I soon realized that I couldn’t zip up my coat or the box the ring is in would bulge too much. Now, I’m okay with a little bulge here and there but it really was bulging too much. Trust me… too much, it was totally obvious. I’m lucky that she didn’t see it. Anyway, we walk into Temple Square and we slowing make our way around the temple. I offered to take a tour but Nikki said no, thank goodness, and we kept walking. Nikki was kind enough to give me her personal tour which turned out to be very informative. For those of you that didn’t know, the Salt Lake Temple was not built in 1853 but rather in 1803! I know crazy huh! Who would have known that the church could have been wrong about this fact for so many years. It’s a good thing I have Nikki to keep me on track. Love you babe!
Gawsh, I’m sorry, I’m really starting to ramble here. So… then we walked over in front of the reflection pond in front of the temple and walked away from the crowds a bit onto the snow covered opening in between the church office building and the Joseph Smith Memorial building. See Figure A.

We hugged for a minute or two trying to keep warm and I told her how much I love her. I told her that I didn’t think she really knew how much I loved her and, sure enough, got down on one knee and pulled the ring out of my coat pocket. Oh I wish that everyone in the world could have seen Nikki’s face. Oh me oh my, it was incredible. She was holding her breath and he eyes just got bigger and bigger, now I mean those beautiful green eyes were huge! And then it started getting wierd. She started crying, which I figured she would do, but then started laughing too! Yep, it was full on crying laughter. That and she still wasn’t breathing. But I finished my little spiel about how much I love her and how I want to spend eternity with her and boom. That was it. She said “I will” and then “yes” and everything was perfect. The cheering from the people around us on the walk ways and in front of the temple made it even more fun. It was so perfect. We hugged and kissed and she cried. It was so great. I have never been so happy in my life. I am so lucky to have not only found Nikki but to have her love me in return. I truly am the luckiest.

“I Will!” -  The greatest words I’ve ever heard.

We left Temple Square, called out parents, sent out some texts. Updated Twitter. Everything went so beautifully. I am so happy that I was able to keep it an entire surprise for her. Nikki had no clue what so ever. I usually can’t keep things from her. She usually finds out. But luckily this day was different. I finally got one over on her. It was phenominal. We went and talked to her parents, mine and my family, her friends, her brothers, everyone. Texted everyone in our phones. Overall it was such a great evening and I thank Nikki so much for saying yes. You can see some pictures from that night on Facebook. Here is a quick picture of her ring. See Figure B. It’s gorgeous like her.

And to Nikki:
I love you girl. You are my best friend and my soul mate. I am so lucky to have you in my life and soon to be my wife! Crazy! I cannot wait, we will have so much fun. Our lives will never be the same but they are only getting better. I love you more than anything babe.

Thanks for reading if you did, if you didn’t well thanks for skimming. Nikki hasn’t proof read this yet so I’m sure some things are either missing or incorrect. Check back soon for more updates and I’m sure… corrections.