Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Memories and updates and such

Today - one year ago today - I left for the Appalachian Trail. Seems hard to believe that was a whole year ago. And seems even harder to fully recollect the intensity of what my life went through the next two months between the AT, the mind-stretching, breaking my foot, my Dad dying, getting engaged, and then moving to North Carolina. I still shake my head sometimes at the intensity of those few months and how it all turned out.

The wedding is at the forefront of all thoughts these days. The dress has been purchased, food planned, bridesmaid dresses decided, website up, and discussions of honeymoon destinations. It's a whirlwind sometimes but oh such a happy time.

My Mom and my sister and her family are coming down this week from Ohio to visit. That will be the third visit by people from Ohio in four weeks. While it's been fun to have visitors, every dang time we get a visit from Ohio folk, we get ugly weather. I swear they're bringing this garbage down with them.

I've been wrestling with a lot of stuff at work. I've written three or four posts on the topic but have refrained from putting them on ELEVEN for various reasons. For the first time in my career I'm not hitting my goals, I'm not confident in the company I work for, and I have this uneasy feeling every morning I walk into my bank. I'm way too stubborn to give up, which may end up being my downfall, but I'm still fighting hard to make this specific job work. Don't mistake this for my usual struggle I sometimes have with being a Banker, but a much more specific struggle.

Adrienne asked for a health/weight update...... Well, I feel like I've hit a plateau. I have hovered around sixty pounds total lost for three months now. I (we) have made healthy, organic eating a lifestyle, and the exercise we do is pretty standard, so it's not surprising to have hit a flat spot. Realizing that I'm still twenty pounds from where I want to be by the wedding, Alli and I are amping up our exercise time and routines so that we make the next hundred days as effective as we can. I'm still pretty happy that I'm as healthy as I am compared to three years ago, but I'm ready to make it even more impressive.

I'm off to get ready for work.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Wedding Website

We have one and it's up!

Complete with pictures and directions and information, oh my.

Enjoy: SamAndAlli.ourwedding.com

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Friends, Wearing O' the Green, and pics

I'm sitting here in my living room watching one of my favorite shows, CBS Sunday Morning. There was just an article about friends and friendship which got me thinking about the topic of friends that came up a couple months ago. I still don't know how to answer the request to write a, "general" post about friendship but I can tell you it's been on my mind very often. The article touched on the differences and similarities in strong friendships amongst women and amongst men, as well as the health benefits to having good friends in your life - even daily.

Alli and I are currently experiencing a brand new couple friendship with two people named Andrew & Megan. They are as genuinely happy to have us in their lives as we are to have them in ours', and there is this strange swelling of life that is breathed through that burgeoning relationship. It's hard to explain, and from a guy who over-over-over-analyzes everything around him, this feels so great I'm actually able to find myself just enjoying it in the moment. Sure, I spent hours dissecting it before it started and after our first, "date" and leading up to our second, "date', but that dissecting has given way to just enjoying it. Kind of a big deal for me. 

This afternoon, the four of us (and their two dogs, Sasquatch and Yeti) are going hiking. While we're out hiking, Megan is going to take some pictures of us to include on our wedding website. I still haven't rebuilt my wardrobe after getting rid of all my stuff last year, so it's been a joke what I'm going to wear, my old nasty worn-out jeans or my good jeans? Problem is they are one in the same. I still only own one pair. LOL!!! 

Finally I want to wish all of you a Happy St. Patrick's Day! By the power vested in me and my bloodline, I now pronounce every one of you Irish for the day. May God richly bless you and your family.