So, marriage..?  Yes!  We got hitched in Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park.  We had originally planned it as eloping, through and through.  I abhor big weddings and all of the trappings that go along w/ it.  As such, I had long said that if I get married, we'd leave for a pleasant two weeks vacation and come back w/ a lovely set of rings and the pics to match.  That was the thought...

What actually happened was we're both horrible at keeping secrets...at least the kind that are completely worth sharing!  First we spilled the beans to Susan B. & her better half and did a drunken clumsy job doing so.  Next, Lili wanted to tell her mom, with whom we are sharing an East Haven beach house.  And from there, you tell your mom so, I have to tell my mom and so on & so forth.  In hindsight, all together we had 9 best friends & family and don't regret having including them.  For those interested parties, pics and other such links can be found on my Flickr set here.

In other life altering news, we are leaving Connecticut.  We and SBA have been hatching a mass exodus to Portland, OR for the past 6 months+.  They drove cross-country, saw sights & a wedding and landed there on Monday.  Their housing results have been mixed but, they're both extremely happy!  Our timeline has us leaving for mid-September and arriving for the beginning of October.  We'll be able to visit Robin & Trey again in Iowa, pass through South Dakota Bandlands, dip south towards the Sierra Nevadas and finally drive up through wine country, the Bay area, stop off for some wild salmon fishing and cross the finish line.  The trip will technically be our honeymoon! 

Do we have jobs yet?  Or given notice or an apartment picked out?  No, no and no.  We're working on the three as I speak and should be resolved within the next 2-3 weeks.  Are we having going away celebrations and the what-not?  Yep!  Call or message me if you're interested in attending and I'll keep you in the loop.  Until then, imagine selling your car, shedding 9/10 of your possessions and going on the road trip of a lifetime w/ your best friend.  Yeah, I can't wait to start either.

Labels: Amandae, Iowa, Las Vegas, Lili, Nevada, Vacation, Valley of Fire

Yep, wouldn't you know it... Lots of talk in entering a new job & new job takes over. The good news is that I'm beginning to feel my bearings and wrapping my head around the big picture. The counseling work that I perform now has a definite life-cycle and I'm now finding a comfort in finding a positive part in it - Not just floundering at any given emergency. *glow*

The other enormous component to life right now is making plans for moving. Over the past couple of months, the Amandae, Lyle and myself have hatched a plan for moving to Portland. This Easter marked my 20th anniversary of the cross-country move to Connecticut. Since leaving to attend Berklee, now a decade ago, I've comfortable that home doesn't have to be where my immediate family is or, in New England. One of the other factors that I've neglectful in mentioning for a long time is the relationships I've been in. To no one's knowledge, I'll hatch some scheme to move back to Boston, live out of the older population dorms & scrape together the last of my BA. Soon there after, a fetching brunette or blonde will pass by and plans are out the window. *shrug*

Happily (and proudly), it's quite the opposite and her stirrings for something else were the genesis to the project. (Project Genesis = nerd chortle) The timeline to all of this have already been hashed out, beginning with my birthday in June. Friends, I've never known a biological clock but, time crawls when adventure is something you're waiting for.

Labels: Amandae, counseling, moving, Portland, work

Early drinks + movies + dinner w/ The Amandae = Happy Paul and dog!

Labels: Amandae, Eggy, Lili, Susan B

Bored and occupying deskspace. Stomach growling and looking for something to do. Happily, Radio Paradise has kept me company for the past few hours. Plans are gearing up towards New Year's Eve, Take Two. Since lovely Lili and myself were out by 11p on New Year's proper, we decided that we deserved another chance. The plan-at-hand is renting 200 Cigarettes, trying out my new tabletop fryer & make jalapeño poppers from scratch and blow our tops at midnight. If we were really smart, we would've DVR'd actual programming from that night. Yeah well, perhaps next year. Since Susan B. was absent for the second year in a row, she's equally down for the repeat play. Photos to be posted. For now though, here's my favorite un-proofread bumper sticker!

Labels: Amandae, Lili, New Year's, Susan B