(no subject)
Since I last posted, I got married and went on my honeymoon! It's been a busy few weeks! I feel a little overwhelmed about posting after all of that, but it has to happen sometime, and since I'm feeling kind of braindead, just waiting for it to be time for me to go and pick up J from work, I figure I might as well.
The wedding went well! We had less people than we expected, which was good because we ended up having just enough space for everyone. It didn't rain during the ceremony, which was another plus. Our officiant was kind of bitchy, but neither of us really cared. J got very emotional during the ceremony, so during his vows he did a bit of swearing and humor in order to keep himself from crying more, and she didn't really appreciate it. As I expected, his vows were much more touching and emotional than mine, and much longer, but I don't really mind. That's just reflective of our personalities. We ended up running around a lot after the ceremony, talking to people and socializing, which was unavoidable. Everyone went home pretty early, though, given that it was a Sunday afternoon. We were pretty exhausted, so that was fine. We had asked for no presents as we don't have a ton of space, but we got some regardless. That's OK, though. I'll try to post a picture, but no guarantees as to whether it will work - it's on Facebook because I'm too lazy to put it anywhere else right now.
The honeymoon also went very well. We went down to Orlando and visited Disney and Universal Studios. I had a lot of fun at both. Disney was just so well-done! The rides weren't really thrilling, but they were so rich in setting and experience that you couldn't help but be awed. My favorite ride at Disney was probably Mission: Space, which lets you simulate a mission to Mars. I also really enjoyed Epcot. We ate at Morocco one night and Japan the other, and the Moroccan restaurant was such a neat experience! The food was crazy expensive, but we were splurging on the honeymoon. ;) I only bought a few things, but they're all things I like a lot - a stuffed Eeyore that is adorable, a Moroccan pillowcase, a Star Wars bestiary, a wand, and some owl earrings. J was excited to buy some traditional geta and tabi at the Japanese department store.
Animal Kingdom was also surprisingly fun. We went on the safari, which was a long wait, but we got a really good guide and saw pretty much all of the animals, which was pretty awesome. We also went on a couple rides. On the Kali River Rapids, we got completely soaked, and I really thought I might have killed my phone. We also did the Mount Everest ride, which was probably the most intense ride we went on. J's not much for rollercoasters, so he didn't want to do much more than that. We only spent a little while there, which turned out to be perfect. The day was shortened because we had lunch with a friend who had moved to Florida a few years ago. It was really good to talk to her and get caught up. It's been a long time.
Universal Studios was fun, but packed with people. It was also much more ride-based than I had thought. I would have liked to go on all the rides, but as I mentioned, J doesn't really like them. We managed the Escape from Gringott's ride and the Flight of the Hippogriff before he decided that he was done. Oh, and the Hogwarts Express. Escape from Gringott's and the Hogwarts Express both incorporated a bit of storytelling as well, which was really neat. After that, we got some food at the Three Broomsticks and then just wandered the park and saw what there was that wasn't ride related.
Saturday, we had intended to visit J's family that lives in Florida, but they advised that the traffic can be really unpredictable on weekends, so we ended up giving up on that. We went a selling session by our resort in the morning - they tried really hard to sell us a timeshare with a 17% interest rate, and we had a really hard time convincing them that we weren't interested. It was a pretty vexing experience. Our salesperson was the only one who didn't let us get breakfast before he started talking, and pretty much everything that he said was insulting to someone of our lower class backgrounds. But we got a $50 gift card and a free 2 night stay at another resort, so we figured it worked out OK. Then we went to a nearby mall. We went to watch a movie and ended up at a bookstore as well. I bought Red Country by Joe Abercrombie, Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach, and The Twelve by Justin Cronin for about $23 - all in hardcover and trade paperback. I was pretty happy about that. Then we saw Suicide Squad. I felt like Harley Quinn and Deadshot really stole the show, and that the rest of it was pretty mediocre. Good B-rated action, basically.
And now we're both back at work! We both downloaded No Man's Sky on Sunday and have been playing that. I haven't even left my first planet. XD I like the exploration aspect a lot. I think I'll get my money's worth out of it.
While on vacation, I read a couple things too. I finally finished off the Alanna books by Tamora Pierce. They still feel kind of low-quality as compared to some of her later books, to be honest. I'm glad I read them for the completeness of the universe, but they'll never be my favorites. Protector of the Small is still much better in my book.
Right now, I've just barely started The Price of Valor by Django Wexler. I'm super-excited for it, and may just devote the rest of tonight to it, if I can muster the brainpower. I'm working on another cost report at work, and I gave myself a good case of braindrain today with it. I've been paying a bit of attention lately to the list I made at the beginning of the year of books that I wanted to read and realizing just how impossible it is. I've made some OK progress, but I will not come close to finishing it. I think that once I finish my two current work books, I may just start picking books off that list for work as well. I'd really like to make more progress than I have, but I'm running low on physical copies of the books on there, and reading my physical books is a higher priority goal, so...
Anyway, I'm still settling back into the mundanity of life after all the excitement. I'm still kind of tired, both mentally and physically, but at least the week is flying by! Hope you're all doing well!
The wedding went well! We had less people than we expected, which was good because we ended up having just enough space for everyone. It didn't rain during the ceremony, which was another plus. Our officiant was kind of bitchy, but neither of us really cared. J got very emotional during the ceremony, so during his vows he did a bit of swearing and humor in order to keep himself from crying more, and she didn't really appreciate it. As I expected, his vows were much more touching and emotional than mine, and much longer, but I don't really mind. That's just reflective of our personalities. We ended up running around a lot after the ceremony, talking to people and socializing, which was unavoidable. Everyone went home pretty early, though, given that it was a Sunday afternoon. We were pretty exhausted, so that was fine. We had asked for no presents as we don't have a ton of space, but we got some regardless. That's OK, though. I'll try to post a picture, but no guarantees as to whether it will work - it's on Facebook because I'm too lazy to put it anywhere else right now.
The honeymoon also went very well. We went down to Orlando and visited Disney and Universal Studios. I had a lot of fun at both. Disney was just so well-done! The rides weren't really thrilling, but they were so rich in setting and experience that you couldn't help but be awed. My favorite ride at Disney was probably Mission: Space, which lets you simulate a mission to Mars. I also really enjoyed Epcot. We ate at Morocco one night and Japan the other, and the Moroccan restaurant was such a neat experience! The food was crazy expensive, but we were splurging on the honeymoon. ;) I only bought a few things, but they're all things I like a lot - a stuffed Eeyore that is adorable, a Moroccan pillowcase, a Star Wars bestiary, a wand, and some owl earrings. J was excited to buy some traditional geta and tabi at the Japanese department store.
Animal Kingdom was also surprisingly fun. We went on the safari, which was a long wait, but we got a really good guide and saw pretty much all of the animals, which was pretty awesome. We also went on a couple rides. On the Kali River Rapids, we got completely soaked, and I really thought I might have killed my phone. We also did the Mount Everest ride, which was probably the most intense ride we went on. J's not much for rollercoasters, so he didn't want to do much more than that. We only spent a little while there, which turned out to be perfect. The day was shortened because we had lunch with a friend who had moved to Florida a few years ago. It was really good to talk to her and get caught up. It's been a long time.
Universal Studios was fun, but packed with people. It was also much more ride-based than I had thought. I would have liked to go on all the rides, but as I mentioned, J doesn't really like them. We managed the Escape from Gringott's ride and the Flight of the Hippogriff before he decided that he was done. Oh, and the Hogwarts Express. Escape from Gringott's and the Hogwarts Express both incorporated a bit of storytelling as well, which was really neat. After that, we got some food at the Three Broomsticks and then just wandered the park and saw what there was that wasn't ride related.
Saturday, we had intended to visit J's family that lives in Florida, but they advised that the traffic can be really unpredictable on weekends, so we ended up giving up on that. We went a selling session by our resort in the morning - they tried really hard to sell us a timeshare with a 17% interest rate, and we had a really hard time convincing them that we weren't interested. It was a pretty vexing experience. Our salesperson was the only one who didn't let us get breakfast before he started talking, and pretty much everything that he said was insulting to someone of our lower class backgrounds. But we got a $50 gift card and a free 2 night stay at another resort, so we figured it worked out OK. Then we went to a nearby mall. We went to watch a movie and ended up at a bookstore as well. I bought Red Country by Joe Abercrombie, Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach, and The Twelve by Justin Cronin for about $23 - all in hardcover and trade paperback. I was pretty happy about that. Then we saw Suicide Squad. I felt like Harley Quinn and Deadshot really stole the show, and that the rest of it was pretty mediocre. Good B-rated action, basically.
And now we're both back at work! We both downloaded No Man's Sky on Sunday and have been playing that. I haven't even left my first planet. XD I like the exploration aspect a lot. I think I'll get my money's worth out of it.
While on vacation, I read a couple things too. I finally finished off the Alanna books by Tamora Pierce. They still feel kind of low-quality as compared to some of her later books, to be honest. I'm glad I read them for the completeness of the universe, but they'll never be my favorites. Protector of the Small is still much better in my book.
Right now, I've just barely started The Price of Valor by Django Wexler. I'm super-excited for it, and may just devote the rest of tonight to it, if I can muster the brainpower. I'm working on another cost report at work, and I gave myself a good case of braindrain today with it. I've been paying a bit of attention lately to the list I made at the beginning of the year of books that I wanted to read and realizing just how impossible it is. I've made some OK progress, but I will not come close to finishing it. I think that once I finish my two current work books, I may just start picking books off that list for work as well. I'd really like to make more progress than I have, but I'm running low on physical copies of the books on there, and reading my physical books is a higher priority goal, so...
Anyway, I'm still settling back into the mundanity of life after all the excitement. I'm still kind of tired, both mentally and physically, but at least the week is flying by! Hope you're all doing well!