I'm alive!
Wow, 17 weeks since an update? All I can say is "Whoops." I always mean to update, I just never actually get around to it. So here's a (relatively) short(ish) overview of what's been going on since my last update:
-I got married! Yeah yeah, I know you all know, but still. It's a bit sappy, but it actually was one of the happiest days of my life, depsite how cliched that is. I cried a bit, Gary cried a *lot* (he he), there was good food and good music and much alcohol consumed by all. I should (for my own memory as much as anything) do a post about that day, and hopefully I will, but not right now :-)
-I went on a honeymoon! We went to Estes Park in Colorado, and it was beautiful and wonderful and we had a wonderful time just being together and looking at the mountains. Oh! Fun story! We stayed at the Stanley Hotel for a few days, which is where Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining and is supposed to be one of the more haunted places in America. So anyway, I wore 2 blue ankle bracelets as my "somethings blue," one of which had a very small and very difficult to undo necklace type clasp on it. Because it was so hard to undo I just left the damned thing on for a few days, and when we went to sleep in the Stanely the first night was still wearing it. The next morning we wake up and Gary finds the anklet next to *his* sida of the bed--it has been broken, reclasped, and is now far too small to fit over my ankle. Creepy, no?
-We moved! And thank god for it. The old place was great in that the rent was only $420/ month (600 and some odd once Gary moved it), but in every other respect it was awful. The ceilings were 6 feet high. The very few windows were very, very small (it was garden level, so the windows were level with the ground) and let almost no light in. There was no air conditioning. We would have to choose between sitting in the dark at night and dealing with the heat from lights that were inches above our heads. And there were freaking MICE! Not at first, but towards the end (due in large part to the construction next door I suspect) there were mice. Lots of them. And it was awful.
But our new place is amazing! We live in a loft in the West Loop, a mere 10 minute walk from my office, so I can come home for lunch a couple of times a week. We have exposed brick (which I love), a bright red couch and an accent wall that we painted yellow! If you can read this, you should come stay with us! We're within (somewhat long) walking distance of downtown, and easy walking distance of buses and trains that will quickly (read 5 minutes or so) take you downtown. Plus, we have a nice air mattress, so you won't have to sleep on the couch :-)
The best part of the new place though is that it's *ours*. The old place was one I shared with roommates, and Gary never felt totally comfortable there. This is our home, and it's full of our things and set up the way we wanted it. It makes me very, very happy :-)
-My job got awesomer! We hired a new person to take on a big part of my job, so I have more time to do the things I like doing and spend less time doing the stuff I didn't mind doing, but didn't really enjoy either. I'm working on writing a case statement and an annual fund brochure right now, and I want to restructure the direct mail program. I really think I got lucky with this job, it has it's faults, but I'm getting to learn so much about development, and my boss is awesome about letting me learn to do new things instead of hiring someone else to do them.
Let's see, those are the big things. We're pretty broke, which sucks. Gary is still not allowed to work or to travel out of the country, but we're working on all of that. I don't actually make anywhere near enough money to support the two of us, but we planned for this and have enough in savings to tide us over for another couple of months (hopefully!) as long as we don't spend money we don't have to. In the mean time, he does the laundry and packs me lunch sometimes and has a cup of tea waiting for me when I get home, so it's not all bad. Plus, there are free movies in the park on Tuesdays, picnics are always free, and it's still so amazing to just get to spend time together in the same place that we're pretty content staying in and watching BBC America most of the time.
I guess that's it for now, I miss you all!
-I got married! Yeah yeah, I know you all know, but still. It's a bit sappy, but it actually was one of the happiest days of my life, depsite how cliched that is. I cried a bit, Gary cried a *lot* (he he), there was good food and good music and much alcohol consumed by all. I should (for my own memory as much as anything) do a post about that day, and hopefully I will, but not right now :-)
-I went on a honeymoon! We went to Estes Park in Colorado, and it was beautiful and wonderful and we had a wonderful time just being together and looking at the mountains. Oh! Fun story! We stayed at the Stanley Hotel for a few days, which is where Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining and is supposed to be one of the more haunted places in America. So anyway, I wore 2 blue ankle bracelets as my "somethings blue," one of which had a very small and very difficult to undo necklace type clasp on it. Because it was so hard to undo I just left the damned thing on for a few days, and when we went to sleep in the Stanely the first night was still wearing it. The next morning we wake up and Gary finds the anklet next to *his* sida of the bed--it has been broken, reclasped, and is now far too small to fit over my ankle. Creepy, no?
-We moved! And thank god for it. The old place was great in that the rent was only $420/ month (600 and some odd once Gary moved it), but in every other respect it was awful. The ceilings were 6 feet high. The very few windows were very, very small (it was garden level, so the windows were level with the ground) and let almost no light in. There was no air conditioning. We would have to choose between sitting in the dark at night and dealing with the heat from lights that were inches above our heads. And there were freaking MICE! Not at first, but towards the end (due in large part to the construction next door I suspect) there were mice. Lots of them. And it was awful.
But our new place is amazing! We live in a loft in the West Loop, a mere 10 minute walk from my office, so I can come home for lunch a couple of times a week. We have exposed brick (which I love), a bright red couch and an accent wall that we painted yellow! If you can read this, you should come stay with us! We're within (somewhat long) walking distance of downtown, and easy walking distance of buses and trains that will quickly (read 5 minutes or so) take you downtown. Plus, we have a nice air mattress, so you won't have to sleep on the couch :-)
The best part of the new place though is that it's *ours*. The old place was one I shared with roommates, and Gary never felt totally comfortable there. This is our home, and it's full of our things and set up the way we wanted it. It makes me very, very happy :-)
-My job got awesomer! We hired a new person to take on a big part of my job, so I have more time to do the things I like doing and spend less time doing the stuff I didn't mind doing, but didn't really enjoy either. I'm working on writing a case statement and an annual fund brochure right now, and I want to restructure the direct mail program. I really think I got lucky with this job, it has it's faults, but I'm getting to learn so much about development, and my boss is awesome about letting me learn to do new things instead of hiring someone else to do them.
Let's see, those are the big things. We're pretty broke, which sucks. Gary is still not allowed to work or to travel out of the country, but we're working on all of that. I don't actually make anywhere near enough money to support the two of us, but we planned for this and have enough in savings to tide us over for another couple of months (hopefully!) as long as we don't spend money we don't have to. In the mean time, he does the laundry and packs me lunch sometimes and has a cup of tea waiting for me when I get home, so it's not all bad. Plus, there are free movies in the park on Tuesdays, picnics are always free, and it's still so amazing to just get to spend time together in the same place that we're pretty content staying in and watching BBC America most of the time.
I guess that's it for now, I miss you all!