1st Anniversary Party - what a hit!

So I am back after a while. Life has been busy India Trip posts are basically done, and now I have other things that I have to share.

You may ask what? Well, the big thing is: two months with the in-laws!!! Yes, Neeraj’s parents stayed with us for the past two months, and it was an enjoyable experience. Definitely we changed our normal way of life and adapted to their way of life, which was fine for us for two months. I can’t say that everything was smooth — it did take us a while to get adjusted, as well for them too, but I can say for sure it was a wonderful experience for all of us.

We tried to take them sight-seeing such as the Gateway of Arch, Meramec Caverns, and our big 12 hour car ride to the Niagara Falls was definitely the highlight. All in all they enjoyed the natural beauty of America the most. The weather was thankfully stayed nice and averagely warm, which made their stay enjoyable.

Thank you all those who remembered our anniversary — we appreciate the good wishes.

I will upload the photos of the past two months shortly, but before that enjoy the quick slideshow below which shares the photos of Neeraj and my first anniversary party held in Peoria on 26th May. Because we never had a chance to hold a reception after the wedding last year, the parents wanted to celebrate by doing a first anniversary party. Let me just say that it was a big hit.

One of the main reasons it was such a big hit was because of this dear sweet friend of ours who flew from NC to Chicago, who waited an hour @ O’hare before she was picked up by my bro Suraj and his friend Pratik, had to stand those two guys for 2 hours before she reached my house, and spent the next two days to enjoy every single moment that she spent with us. That person is our own dear Kaush. Thank you dear for being with us @ the time we needed you the most. You were the one that was by our side always making sure that everything was going our way. You are my superstar - and Neeraj and I really are very thankful for your friendship.

Friday night we stayed up late and played cards, getting stuff ready for the party, and then finally went to sleep in the middle of the night. Saturday morning we woke up early as we had to go and decorate the banquet hall. We spent the majority of the morning there, and then we came back, and I put Kaush to work. As I started to get ready, I needed Kaush’s help in order to create an English translation of the bits and pieces of the Hindi songs that I was using as part of our photo slideshow. I will be posting the translation that she had completed which was outstanding — high above my expectations, and 100 times better than I could have ever done. Thanks Kaush. Then she created the introduction CD for me, romantic songs that would play while people enjoyed their appetizers (starters). That intro CD was such a big hit that I had one of our guests come up to me and ask me for a copy of the CD!!! Thanks again Kaush dear — you are amazing.

Finally family began to rush in — and everybody began to get ready. There isn’t much that can be said for my family that lives here because really you couldn’t even tell that they were at the party. They stayed in their little corner, didn’t even come to dance, and in fact, I couldn’t even see smiles on their faces. It may have bothered my parents, but Neeraj and I didn’t let it bother us…..

Everybody finally left the house, and the last ones to leave was Kaush, Neeraj, and me. We made sure everything was locked up and headed to the hall which was about a half hour away. We reached early before our intro started so we spent some time at this dentist’s office parking lot and took photos.

Once the party got started, we had the intros and then my American friends who had gone to India with us got up and sang this beautiful song that they had created on the tune of Can You Feel the Love Tonight from the Lion King. I will post the lyrics to that as well. What a wonderful song - that basically summed up their experiences in India during the wedding. Very memorable for my family and I — just great!!!

Neeraj and I gave our little speeches, even Suraj gave a speech which was very nice. Then we had dinner, met everyone, and danced like it was our wedding all over again!! I will upload those photos, but definitely if Kaush and our friend Pratik was not there, it wouldn’t have been as big of a party as it was (dance wise). They were the heart of the dancing, including Neeraj and me, the four of us danced just about non-stop for two and half hours.

Overall a great party — enjoy the photos below.

NP's Anniversary Party

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.