Just Maui'ed, Hawaii recap, more

As all things do, my life as a single (in the government's eyes, anyways) man has come to an end. On July 24th, 2010, I had the great honor of marrying my best friend, favorite person, and soul mate as we exchanged vows in Kaui, HI, in a beautiful beachside ceremony. It was a breathtaking setting made even better by the presence of 19 of our friends and family.  I'll never forget the first glimpse I caught of my bride coming over the hill to meet me. Fellas, if that moment doesn't take your breath away, you might need to call the whole thing off. Here are a few pictures of our ceremony:

Mom with the groom and groomsmen

Rev. James Panui and the Hawaiian duet

The bride and her father walk the aisle. Stunning.

Tiffany places the traditional groom's lei over my shoulders. 

We exchange rings. Mine didn't fit at first...wrong hand!

Best kiss of my life!

Mr. and Mrs. Summitt are presented!

We held the reception at Duke's Kauai, located in the ornate and Greek temple-like Kauai Marriott resort. After a wedding night in Kauai, we took a short flight to the island of Maui for our honeymoon. There, we experienced everything from luaus to mountain climbs to scenic oceanside drives.  Snorkeling was fantastic - the fish were incredibly colorful and vivid.  And the food....well, a guy can just forget about counting calories when in Hawaii. I had melt-in-your-mouth ahi tuna rolls, chowed down on a juicy teriyaki burger (topped with pineapple), and discovered the sugary miracle known as coconut syrup. Hawaii is a foodie's dream come true.  I feel very lucky to have been able to spend 11 days in paradise with my wife. What a way to start a lifetime together!  Needless to say, if you've never been....go!  It's worth the money, I promise. Skip Christmas or something. I posted about 300 pictures of our adventures on my Flickr page, with more to come.   

As all good things do, our honeymoon eventually ended and we had to come back to Reality, Arkansas, USA.  I found that reality hits particularly hard when one feels the first blast of humid 100-degree Arkansas heat after basking in tropical climes for a week and a half. Ouch. Such is life, I suppose. We now begin the arduous process of combining our things and figuring out where to squeeze everything in. I feel a garage sale coming on.  

For those of you wondering about Exit Strategy, we're alive and kicking! My bandmates kindly endured a bit of a layoff during the last few months so their guitar player could go get married, but things will be shifting into high gear soon. Follow us on Facebook for show updates and news. 

Political insanity continued in my absence. Mr. Obama seems to be getting more and more desparate as the days go by. Apparently our president stopped in for a chat with the *ahem* ladies of The View. Can he be serious?  Is this an attempt to reach the common American or something? I suppose at the least he added some much needed estrogen to the broadcast that day. 

That's all for today.  I'll come back later this week with some more thoughts and maybe a food tip or two.  Aloha!