Philip and I spent Labor Day weekend in Detroit, where Philip was born and spent many summers visiting his grandparents. His good friend Mike, whose grandma is close friends with Philip’s grandma, grew up there and is living at home again to help revitalize the family business. Philip’s friend Ben also just moved there to finish up his schooling for psychology, so we went to visit the two of them and to meet Mike’s girlfriend, Jill. Jill is an amazing, friendly, fun girl with whom I instantly connected.
After arriving on Friday night, the four of us went out to an Irish pub and enjoyed dinner and a live Irish folk band. Philip was in his element as we ate; the baseball game was playing on the big screen, and every other person in the place had a Tigers cap on.
On Saturday we went to a University of Michigan football game in the gorgeous, partly cloudy, 70-something-degree weather, no humidity. The game was a blast – I’ve never seen so much school spirit in my life. The announcer came over the loudspeaker to let the giant assembly know that we were the biggest crowd gathered to watch football anywhere in the country that day.
The most incredible moment of the day came when the student section in the stands initiated The Wave. Never has The Wave been carried out with such enthusiasm and precision. I don’t think there was a single person in the stadium who didn’t participate. First a standard Wave was executed; then a slow-motion one, followed by a super-fast one. To top it all off, a double Wave rose in both directions, colliding in the middle and continuing on to collide once more at its origin. It was basically awesome. After the game, Mike’s parents took us out to a delicious Italian meal.
On Sunday we went to church, then picked up some Jimmy John’s subs (yum) to take to the park for a picnic, followed by my first-ever game of disc golf. Ben is pretty much a pro, and the rest of us did our best to not throw our discs straight into trees. It was another beautiful day; we played all 18 holes. We finished out the evening talking and eating by a backyard bonfire at the house of one of Mike’s friends.
Labor Day morning found us out to a tasty breakfast. Then we went on a sort of a treasure hunt for the gravesite of Philip’s grandpa, who passed away a year ago, a mere 12 days before our wedding. After some searching, we located his headstone, and Philip and I spent some quiet moments reflecting on what a compassionate man Grandpa Don was.
From there, all of us headed out to Belle Isle to explore a once-thriving weekend destination that could now use some substantial rehabilitation. Philip’s grandpa had taken him there many weekends; the elaborate Scott Fountain there is still jaw-dropping – like something straight out of downtown London.
Our stay ended with Mike’s parents preparing a tasty barbeque for us out in the backyard – what hospitality. We were treated like family, our bellies stuffed beyond capacity as we headed to the airport, not quite ready to head back home.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
NEW JOB, NEW YEAR OF MARRIAGE
Hi friends. It’s been a while. I haven’t felt terribly inspired lately, though a few pieces of news are long overdue.
Firstly, I started a new job. I’ve left the freelance world to once again join the ranks of full-time office employment. My new employer is World Publications, which publishes 20 or so magazines primarily out of Winter Park. My title is “copy editor,” which is a fairly one-dimensional position. My assignment is simply to copy edit files (check for grammar, style, accuracy, etc.) that come across my desk. Once I’ve copy edited all the files that have been sent to me, my work is complete, and I just have to sit and wait for the next thing to come.
Copy editing is what I’ve been doing from home for the last year and a half, and it was also a big part of my job while I was working at Relevant, so I’ve gotten pretty stinkin’ good at it. I’m pretty content to do it, too, though sometimes I long for a more multifaceted job that would utilize more of my skills, such as organization, communication, brainstorming ideas, and writing.
This place is very laid-back; I’m not micromanaged; and I’m not overloaded with a stressful and unrealistic amount of work. Pretty much all of my cubicle neighbors are sport fishermen; two of the magazines I work on are Sport Fishing and Marlin. I also copy edit Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and Florida Travel & Life.
I do miss the freedom of freelancing, but you really can’t beat a steady paycheck, and it’s nice to be back in the professional world. I guess I feel more legit, even though I had a pretty decent business going at home. I enjoy being around people again, too.
Shortly after starting at World Pub, Philip and I celebrated one year of marriage. We spent a week in Clearwater Beach, and the pictures are up on our Flickr page. We had a great time exploring state park beaches, reading, snorkeling with our new gear (yay!), and finding as many wild creatures as possible. I really can’t think of anything I enjoy more than traveling, especially with my husband … adventure and relaxation and escape from daily drama and responsibility – it’s the absolute best.
Tonight we leave for Detroit to visit Philip’s friends Mike and Ben. Philip told me this is what he wanted for his birthday. I’m really excited to leave the state for a few days and bask in the love and hospitality of good friends. Dianna comes to visit us in a couple weeks; I’m so glad – she’s one of my favorite people in the world.
Other than that, it’s basically just daily life. We do a lot of stuff with our church; we listen to NPR in the morning; we share meals with friends; we watch movies that come in the mail through Netflix (the greatest service ever invented). We navigate family issues and insecurities and tiredness. We think about the future. I try to find time to scrapbook; Philip gets online to check on his Fantasy Football team. We go to weddings and birthday get-togethers and going-away parties; we grocery shop and do laundry and drink dollar margaritas at Amigo’s. And in my mind I’m always analyzing all of it, feeling very much content and longing for so much more at the same time.
Firstly, I started a new job. I’ve left the freelance world to once again join the ranks of full-time office employment. My new employer is World Publications, which publishes 20 or so magazines primarily out of Winter Park. My title is “copy editor,” which is a fairly one-dimensional position. My assignment is simply to copy edit files (check for grammar, style, accuracy, etc.) that come across my desk. Once I’ve copy edited all the files that have been sent to me, my work is complete, and I just have to sit and wait for the next thing to come.
Copy editing is what I’ve been doing from home for the last year and a half, and it was also a big part of my job while I was working at Relevant, so I’ve gotten pretty stinkin’ good at it. I’m pretty content to do it, too, though sometimes I long for a more multifaceted job that would utilize more of my skills, such as organization, communication, brainstorming ideas, and writing.
This place is very laid-back; I’m not micromanaged; and I’m not overloaded with a stressful and unrealistic amount of work. Pretty much all of my cubicle neighbors are sport fishermen; two of the magazines I work on are Sport Fishing and Marlin. I also copy edit Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and Florida Travel & Life.
I do miss the freedom of freelancing, but you really can’t beat a steady paycheck, and it’s nice to be back in the professional world. I guess I feel more legit, even though I had a pretty decent business going at home. I enjoy being around people again, too.
Shortly after starting at World Pub, Philip and I celebrated one year of marriage. We spent a week in Clearwater Beach, and the pictures are up on our Flickr page. We had a great time exploring state park beaches, reading, snorkeling with our new gear (yay!), and finding as many wild creatures as possible. I really can’t think of anything I enjoy more than traveling, especially with my husband … adventure and relaxation and escape from daily drama and responsibility – it’s the absolute best.
Tonight we leave for Detroit to visit Philip’s friends Mike and Ben. Philip told me this is what he wanted for his birthday. I’m really excited to leave the state for a few days and bask in the love and hospitality of good friends. Dianna comes to visit us in a couple weeks; I’m so glad – she’s one of my favorite people in the world.
Other than that, it’s basically just daily life. We do a lot of stuff with our church; we listen to NPR in the morning; we share meals with friends; we watch movies that come in the mail through Netflix (the greatest service ever invented). We navigate family issues and insecurities and tiredness. We think about the future. I try to find time to scrapbook; Philip gets online to check on his Fantasy Football team. We go to weddings and birthday get-togethers and going-away parties; we grocery shop and do laundry and drink dollar margaritas at Amigo’s. And in my mind I’m always analyzing all of it, feeling very much content and longing for so much more at the same time.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
NEW PICS UP
After almost a year, I've finally posted our wedding pictures online. Going through them today has made me very nostalgic about our wedding day; it was so indescribably beautiful and fun.
I also posted some pics from some other recent events (my sister's high school graduation, Robert and Kari Vargas' wedding, etc.).
Enjoy!
I also posted some pics from some other recent events (my sister's high school graduation, Robert and Kari Vargas' wedding, etc.).
Enjoy!
Friday, May 19, 2006
BUSH ON BUSH
As most of you know, I'm not fan of 'ol G.W. His actions and arrogance, in my opinion, has put the US in some really bad situations. Recently when he speaks, I tune him out due to past experiences (the last six years).
A friend of mine had recommended that I watch Steven Colbert's roast of Bush at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Colbert's direct and crass rant was hyped all over the internet, so I finally decided to give it a watch. You can see it here. It's fairly long (~24 minutes).
What was NOT hyped by my friend or the internet was Bush's self-deprecating, self-impersonation bit that he did with a Bush look-a-like (what a plight for that guy!) at the dinner. I've watched Bush's State of the Union speeches almost every year. During his campaigns, I've leant him my ear to see what he had to say. When there is a major national push (ex: medicare campaign), I've tuned in. I don't like the guy, but he is our president and I want to see what path he's taking us on. Regardless of the past speeches, THE DINNER SPEECH WAS AMAZING. It was great to see him have fun with his faults and stereotypes. In some round about way, it was almost as if he was admitting to faults and as we all know, he doesn't do that (one of my HUGE problems with the guy). So, if you are in the same camp as me, go and watch this ~11 minutes clip and appreciate our president for once.
A friend of mine had recommended that I watch Steven Colbert's roast of Bush at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Colbert's direct and crass rant was hyped all over the internet, so I finally decided to give it a watch. You can see it here. It's fairly long (~24 minutes).
What was NOT hyped by my friend or the internet was Bush's self-deprecating, self-impersonation bit that he did with a Bush look-a-like (what a plight for that guy!) at the dinner. I've watched Bush's State of the Union speeches almost every year. During his campaigns, I've leant him my ear to see what he had to say. When there is a major national push (ex: medicare campaign), I've tuned in. I don't like the guy, but he is our president and I want to see what path he's taking us on. Regardless of the past speeches, THE DINNER SPEECH WAS AMAZING. It was great to see him have fun with his faults and stereotypes. In some round about way, it was almost as if he was admitting to faults and as we all know, he doesn't do that (one of my HUGE problems with the guy). So, if you are in the same camp as me, go and watch this ~11 minutes clip and appreciate our president for once.
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