So many people have been supportive and encouraging about our marriage that I thought it would be most appropriate to share some of the observations I’ve made since I’ve been married 4 months now. I doubt any of it is new to seasoned married couples, but even for them, there might be some chuckles and “Yeah, I’ve been there…”
Dreading needing to yet fill up the tank to my car again at an insane price, I got the idea to search the internet for cheap gas prices and lo and behold, someone thought of the idea. Isn’t the internet great =P Portland Gas Prices is a site that people submit gas prices they find and post them on the web site. Anyone can then find the cheapest gas in their area without driving around. I know this will save me time and I’ll know that I got the best deal on gas in the area.
It’s nice that the data is community driven. People helping each other out to save money. Sites like this make me feel warm and snuggly inside.
Last weekend, David and I went camping at Battle Ground Lake State Park. It seems funny to go there since my parents’ house is only a couple miles from there, but hey, it’s still out in boonies as anyone who’s driven to my house would say. The highlights of the trip were seeing my aunt with her sisters and a few uncles, a bunch of cousins, their spouses and kids, my cousins’ cousins, my parents and grandparents and my youngest brother, Rex. Well, lets just say there were lots of people, and some dogs, too.
Ah… Diablo 2, a fond game from my past in which I spent nearly two years playing. It’s chilling that I played it so long and now, after 3 years of being sober from it, I’m installing it again.
After playing some video games a few weeks ago at Jenni’s brother Rex’s apartment, I’ve got that gaming itch again. I guess some old hobbies won’t go away. I got into a gaming rut for a while and just didn’t have the same interest anymore. Nor did I have the right computer hardware to run all the new shiny games. I guess the combination of Jenni and I playing Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth together and the recently released patch 1.11 for Diablo 2 has gotten me hooked again.
My hopes this time around are to hook Jenni into the game. It’s not too grotesque and it has the Blizzard addictiveness to it so I hope it’ll be something we enjoy together. That and all the other million of things we ought to be doing- like practicing for BridgeTown Swing 2005 =)
At Beaverton Foursquare’s “Neighborhood Nights” picnic, the biggest entertainment on a hot summer’s evening was naturally a water fight. It was entertaining to see some church leaders play around, soaking each other with water guns and water balloons. The kids there loved it. As I watched the kids fill up water balloons, I couldn’t help but be attracted to the vivid colors.
My brother, Travis, is now in Groningen, Holland, rooming with his friend from the States. They both hope to sign on with FC Groningen, a division 1 soccer team there. Best wishes to them both!
Today is one day short of a milestone 100 days of us being married. I’m sure as time goes on, the number of days will not be as exciting after the number gets too big, but we’ll enjoy the “newness” of it for a while longer. The picture was actually taken on January 13, 2005 when it was 99 days until we got married, so it’s nice to reflect from the other side of the wedding day.
Jenni told me on a drive home from the park tonight that she loves that she gets to share life with me. More than just talk about experiences, dreams, and hopes, but striving, experiencing, and celebrating life together. I couldn’t agree more. We bought our first car last Saturday together and we’re pretty happy with it. Just like life, it has a few bugs, but with some debugging, we’ll get it operating well.
Also we’re launching a new look for our web site. I’ve been wanting to develop a web site using several of the new ideas from redesigning my work web site. The primary enhancements are more for my own learning, but it also provides a channel for Jenni to communicate on our web site too. I’m looking forward to reading what Jenni writes.
For those geeky in nature or interested in web technologies, here’s a quick rundown:
So here’s to 99 days and many more days to come. Happy reading everybody!
My heart and prayers go out to my brother, Travis, right now as he is in Europe, trying out for a professional football (soccer) team. He arrived in London the morning of the bombings. Mom and Dad called a number they saw on t.v. so that if he arrived at a hospital, they would call us. We waited anxiously for quite a while, but then received an email from him saying he was alright. He and a friend had waited in line for bus tickets when they found they had been waiting for a long time in the wrong line. They got in the correct line but, by then, a bus had been bombed and transportation was shut down all over the city. Thank God, he’s ok!
Currently he’s in Belgium, but may be headed to Holland if things don’t work out with getting to play on a team that can give contracts. Go Travis! We’re dang proud of you!
I smile when I see Jenni wear her red tennis shoes. Not only is red my favorite color, but they’re vivid and eye-catching. When I’m doing photography, it always seems that the red shoes are photogenic.
The top picture was taken in her brother Rex’s apartment after we finished taking our “Save the Day” pictures for our wedding.
Next, in her wedding dress at our reception, she had the red shoes on because they were more comfortable to walk in, but no one knew because her dress flowed over them. Regardless, she wasn’t ashamed to show them to the wedding photographer.
At the Portland zoo for my company picnic, I asked her to get into the photo booth so I could get a picture of her shoes. I think throughout this blog I’ll have a random post about her red shoes from time to time.
The bottom picture was at Long Beach when we visited Oysterville. I liked the story of the picture, it’s like watching a close one leaving you behind and moving on.
Stay tuned… the red shoes will be back!
So for Stupid Movie Night™, we ate tater tots (What else? Gosh!) and watched “Napoleon Dynamite” with my brothers Cory and Rex, Clark and Mary, and Jess and Nate at their house. Then we watched stupid movie #2, “Encino Man.” I had to show David some of the interesting vocabulary such as “wheezin’ the ju-uice” and also why Clark and I say “Awwww Dave!” What a great time of just hanging out, playing with the Rommel’s kittens and kids, getting new ring tones for Mary, and catching up on life in general.