Alivejournal?
Eh, I guess my intention to post more frequently was just that. But you were never too, too far from my thoughts, dear livejournal.
At my last posting, I had just married and was glad to start a new stage of my life. The past 6 months went by in a blur, filled with new and old obligations, including family, extended family, 'new' friends and 'old' friends alike. We visited Philly for our first trip as a married couple, appropo and completely incidental, for a friend's surprise bday. We returned 2 weeks later for our annual Woo Thanksgiving weekend. We had held it in NJ for several years, so it was good for a change of scenery. Different state, different games, same Wii addiction. ;)
December was busy as well, with a weekend trip to NY to meet up with friends, more of whom now live in Northern Jersey. I had a blast meeting up with VS and AS during the day and having a guys night out (lasting until after sunrise) with AP as SV stayed back with VS and AS. On the way back, we stopped off for DK's surprise bday party - great timing! Christmas was first having two couples over for lunch, which was a great culmination of our new cooking fascination, then a planetrip to Memphis for Christmas dinner with my grandmother and sister. It was great to visit with Sumi "officially" allowed to stay with me. The weather was actually unusually warm, so we visited the zoo (one of the best in the country, believe it or not) and had a great time. Since I had only been twice before, it was fairly new to me. A docent overheard us talking and proceeded to instruct us on how giraffes procreate. Yep, that's southern hospitality.
We returned to NY for New Year's even, joined by NK and DK. A few drinks too many for SV led to the night's excitement, but the rest of the weekend was low-key, thankfully. The next weekend was off to Indianapolis to visit SV's sister and brother-in-law. I was apprehensive about this trip, but everyone was on their best behavior. The worst thing that occurred was that I was sick the entire time. If that is the worst, then I'll take it.
Deciding to stay put for the next 6 weeks, SV and I were really busy with work. It's better to be busy at work than not, so we didn't complain. SV went to Orlando for her organization's annual conference and was able to see the space shuttle launch - very cool!
We just returned from making one lifelong dream come true - our honeymoon in Italy. I had wanted to visit Italy since I was a kid. I used to joke that I knew when I wanted to get married (in May), and where I wanted to go for my honeymoon - all I needed was someone to help out with the details. SV kindly stepped up, so we had an amazing trip to Venice, Rome, Naples and the Amalfi Coast (southwest part of the 'boot'). Pasta, pizza, postcard views, history everywhere and great company - that was nearly perfect. Nearly, because we were awakened 15 minutes prior to our 4 a.m. wakeup call while on the 13th floor of our hotel to a swaying building. I'd never been in an earthquake, and my years of duck and cover lessons from Memphis escaped me in the haze of sleep deprivation. We had just ascended the 'dormant' Mt. Vesuvius the day before and had asked our guide about what would happen during an earthquake. Very surreal, but we were fortunate to be far enough away from the epicenter to have a story to tell without being close enough to have a bad story.
Still, many people died and buildings were destroyed miles away. That is endemic to the region when many structures are hundreds and thousands of years old - they are not able to withstand even what some would consider to be a light quake. A scientist in the region was even jailed for inciting alarm by stating that recent minor tremors were a precursor to a major quake.
It was a sad ending to the trip, otherwise, it was the greatest week I've experienced (we won't mention getting on the wrong train and heading to the boonies of Italy). SV wants to move to Europe and I don't think she is completely kidding. She went through a lot and I hope that the experience was as rewarding for her as it was for me.
And now I am back Stateside, ready for Sprint to arrive already. We are supposed to run the GW Parkway 10 miler in two weeks if we can muster the motivation. Until then, I plan to procrastinate unpacking and find new Italian recipes to go with more Italian vino. :)
At my last posting, I had just married and was glad to start a new stage of my life. The past 6 months went by in a blur, filled with new and old obligations, including family, extended family, 'new' friends and 'old' friends alike. We visited Philly for our first trip as a married couple, appropo and completely incidental, for a friend's surprise bday. We returned 2 weeks later for our annual Woo Thanksgiving weekend. We had held it in NJ for several years, so it was good for a change of scenery. Different state, different games, same Wii addiction. ;)
December was busy as well, with a weekend trip to NY to meet up with friends, more of whom now live in Northern Jersey. I had a blast meeting up with VS and AS during the day and having a guys night out (lasting until after sunrise) with AP as SV stayed back with VS and AS. On the way back, we stopped off for DK's surprise bday party - great timing! Christmas was first having two couples over for lunch, which was a great culmination of our new cooking fascination, then a planetrip to Memphis for Christmas dinner with my grandmother and sister. It was great to visit with Sumi "officially" allowed to stay with me. The weather was actually unusually warm, so we visited the zoo (one of the best in the country, believe it or not) and had a great time. Since I had only been twice before, it was fairly new to me. A docent overheard us talking and proceeded to instruct us on how giraffes procreate. Yep, that's southern hospitality.
We returned to NY for New Year's even, joined by NK and DK. A few drinks too many for SV led to the night's excitement, but the rest of the weekend was low-key, thankfully. The next weekend was off to Indianapolis to visit SV's sister and brother-in-law. I was apprehensive about this trip, but everyone was on their best behavior. The worst thing that occurred was that I was sick the entire time. If that is the worst, then I'll take it.
Deciding to stay put for the next 6 weeks, SV and I were really busy with work. It's better to be busy at work than not, so we didn't complain. SV went to Orlando for her organization's annual conference and was able to see the space shuttle launch - very cool!
We just returned from making one lifelong dream come true - our honeymoon in Italy. I had wanted to visit Italy since I was a kid. I used to joke that I knew when I wanted to get married (in May), and where I wanted to go for my honeymoon - all I needed was someone to help out with the details. SV kindly stepped up, so we had an amazing trip to Venice, Rome, Naples and the Amalfi Coast (southwest part of the 'boot'). Pasta, pizza, postcard views, history everywhere and great company - that was nearly perfect. Nearly, because we were awakened 15 minutes prior to our 4 a.m. wakeup call while on the 13th floor of our hotel to a swaying building. I'd never been in an earthquake, and my years of duck and cover lessons from Memphis escaped me in the haze of sleep deprivation. We had just ascended the 'dormant' Mt. Vesuvius the day before and had asked our guide about what would happen during an earthquake. Very surreal, but we were fortunate to be far enough away from the epicenter to have a story to tell without being close enough to have a bad story.
Still, many people died and buildings were destroyed miles away. That is endemic to the region when many structures are hundreds and thousands of years old - they are not able to withstand even what some would consider to be a light quake. A scientist in the region was even jailed for inciting alarm by stating that recent minor tremors were a precursor to a major quake.
It was a sad ending to the trip, otherwise, it was the greatest week I've experienced (we won't mention getting on the wrong train and heading to the boonies of Italy). SV wants to move to Europe and I don't think she is completely kidding. She went through a lot and I hope that the experience was as rewarding for her as it was for me.
And now I am back Stateside, ready for Sprint to arrive already. We are supposed to run the GW Parkway 10 miler in two weeks if we can muster the motivation. Until then, I plan to procrastinate unpacking and find new Italian recipes to go with more Italian vino. :)