Just a Better Way to Live

So it's all official. Murray and I are back and we're figuring out the married life groove, and now we're all ready to say really insensitive things to single people like, "You should get married. It's just a better way to live." What are some insensitive things you've heard over the years? Murray and I need a few ideas.

Thanks again to Nemesis and Daltongirl for blogging about my special day. I'll take my turn at the reception, but first I wanted to post a few pictures that I thought people might like as well as our slide show that Murray kindly uploaded to YouTube for all of us. Anyway, I have to get this wedding stuff over as soon as possible lest people complain that I've turned into an I'm-obsessed-with-my-own-wedding blog. But really, with a day so perfect as our wedding day, I must admit that I am obsessed with my own wedding right now.

Without further ado, the video and some pictures!



(You'll forgive that the music cuts out at the end. We wanted to cut out our "real names" that appeared in the last slide.

All of the wedding party who loved us enough to stick around for photos after the ceremony.

I just wanted to share this picture because it looks like my grandpa is blind, which made me laugh.

Me and Murray and the best man (brother Steve) and maid of honor (Switchback)

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Showing that we know how to have fun always.

Evidence that we got married in a 70s church movie.

A better way to live.

LDS Singles Sucka Tour, DC-Style

So I'm back from my vacation with Switchback, AKA Julia. (She started a blog, people!) My mother told us to change the name of the [vacation] so we changed it to "LDS Singles Sucka Tour, DC-Style." And lots of LDS Single Suckas participated with us, so that was an appropriate name. I'd like to present you with the highlights and lowlights of the vacation. Since every highlight has an accompanying lowlight, you might assume that the the end result of the vacation was neutral, but the greatness of the highlights far exceeded the lowness of the lowlights.


1. HIGHLIGHT: When we picked Julia up from the airport, a policeman pulled us over as we were driving away. He took his time coming to the car, and Julia told my mom not to worry---that they'd gotten a ticket at the beginning of her recent Costa Rica vacation and it turned out to be her best vacation ever, so a ticket would only be a good sign. The policeman came to the window and told my mom that she had a burned out headlight that needed to be fixed. He gave us a fix-it ticket. On our way back home, we were pulled over once more, pretty much guaranteeing that this WOULD be the best vacation ever.

LOWLIGHT: We never got pulled over again, even though Julia was all ready with her camera to capture the moment on film. Alas, we have no photographic record of us dealing with the police on this vacation.

2. HIGHLIGHT: Staying with my family. My family is just so cool and so much fun. I love spending time with them.

LOWLIGHT: My mother doesn't actually love me. My cousin arrived a few days before me and my mom took a day off work to spend time with her. (NOTE: My mom works for my dad.) My mom's boss did not allow her to take any days off while I was in town. (That's partly a lie---she was able to take a half a day on Monday.) When my mom found out that I was leaving early Tuesday morning and Julia was leaving Tuesday evening, she said, "Ooo! I can take the day off and we can go and do something together!" That was before she took the half day off for me. I think the half-day was my consolation prize.

3. HIGHLIGHT: Spending time with Julia. We don't get to see each other that often, so getting together was a lot of fun.

4. HIGHLIGHT: Seeing all the sites. We packed a ton of stuff in during this trip. We saw the National Art Galleries, the White House (from a distance), five monuments, the National Archives, the Natural History Museum, Kabab Palace, the National Zoo, my friend's wedding reception, Columbia church services, Annapolis, Mount Vernon, and the mall.

LOWLIGHT: Trying to make my legs keep walking when really I just wanted to curl up on the sidewalk and cry.

5. HIGHLIGHT: We used tons of calories.

LOWLIGHT: We consumed two tons of calories.

6. HIGHLIGHT: Kabab Palace. On Friday night, we met up with Rice and she took us to her favorite restaurant, run by Afganis, "Kabab Palace." The food was great. It also came with little to-go boxes that had American flags on top and said, "Pride in America." This translates into "We're not terrorists."

LOWLIGHT: The food terrorized my innards the next day. The next day was zoo day (the only day I specifically requested) and I had to buy a map just so that I could know the location of the bathrooms at all times. Later that night, the food terrorized Julia and Rice's sister as well.

7. HIGHLIGHT: All the food. We ate at some really good restaurants, including Old Ebbitt Grill and Potbelly's and Mai Thai.

LOWLIGHT: All the calories. All the calories!

8. HIGHLIGHT: Julia brought her own pointer on vacation (she warned me that during museum tours, she would be taking notes---she's that kind of tourist). We whipped out the pointer on many occasions, and as soon as we started tapping things with the pointer and talking, people started to pay attention to us.

LOWLIGHT: We're both incredible geeks and will never ever get married.



Okay, well, I think that's enough for now. I'm sure in the next few days I'll post a few more vacation stories. Also coming up on my blog: How I've become a fashion designer, and Why Redras is still my number one all-time roommate.

This and That

I haven't updated in so long and I've had a lot to say, so I'll see how I can do at giving you a life update as concisely as possible.

1. I booked a gaycation with Switchback. Of course, neither of us is gay, but it just turned into what we called our gaycation. She called me one night with news that I could get a round-trip ticket to San Diego for $60. Since Switchback is always worth at least $60, I went online to book my trip, only to discover that the fare was non-existent. One thing led to another and before we knew it, we were both purchasing tickets to Maryland for the end of March while she's on Spring Break. We plan on staying with my parents and doing DC and Baltimore. When I didn't blog about this, she wrote me the following email:

so I couldn't help but notice that you havent put up our plans for a gaycation on the blog. Are you afraid to admit to everyone who you are and what our relationship is really? Because if you can't, I serious think we should reconsider me meeting your parents.

2. This leads me into my next story. I was google chatting with Saule Cogneur the other day. My google chat tagline at the time read, "I'm going on gaycation." He asked me how I was doing and pointed out that I seemed busy lately. I mentioned that I've been busy at work and that I've recently started dating someone. Several minutes later, I realized that my tagline read, "I'm going on gaycation" and I told him that I had recently started dating someone, so I felt a strong need to clarify to him that I am dating a MAN.

3. This leads me into my next story. I'm dating a MAN. No seriously. He's ten years older than me. He's suggested we round it down to nine, but I pointed out that it's almost exactly nine and three-quarters years, so it really makes more sense to round up to ten. Since you're all dying to know everything there is to know about him, I'll give you only the most relevant details:

• He has only missed flossing three times in the last decade (like, since when he was my age). He was traveling all three times.
• He thinks that Banana Republic is "low-end" and "cheap."
• His Republicanism has already made me angry enough to have caused me to excuse myself from dinner and go to the bathroom to sing repeatedly the first line of Mary Cox and the Pop Rocks' song "All I Care about Is You," which goes, "I don't care if you're Republican; I don't care 'cause that's not quite the worst sin..." I tried unsuccessfully to convince myself that it was true.
  
• One of his hobbies is photography, and I haven't admitted to him yet that I kindof want to make him go to Antelope Island with me to show me how to take good pictures of birds, because I'm afraid that he'll think I'm cooky. I admit it. It's cooky, which is a word I never use but is entirely applicable in this case. (Luckily, since I am grounded in reality, I'm sure that he'll tell me that he doesn't have the right lens for taking pictures of birds on Antelope Island.)

4. Which doesn't lead me into my next point, which is that Rice had the most amazing encounter with a squirrel in her house recently. You'll remember that Rice and I went turtle fishing years ago with a stick, string, and a hot dog and didn't catch anything, so we changed our plans immediately to squirrel fishing and hilarity ensued. Allow me to present you with this exclusive google chat interview with Rice:

CICADA: Oh! Wait! Oh my gosh!

RICE: What!

CICADA: I almost forgot!

RICE: OMG! [That’s her making fun of me.] WHAT!

CICADA: El Senor told me the story about the SQUIRREL in your HOUSE and you were SCREAMING and you didn't know what to do!!! Rogers Rice! Of ALL people, I thought you would know BEST what to do with a squirrel. Didn't you have hot dogs and a pole and a string???!

RICE: Oh Cicada. That was Hilarious. And squirrels in homes are much scarier than those in the wild. It started charging me while I was talking to El Senor. No hot dog was going to quell his want of my blood. I fear that I've made an enemy. He now sits on my porch and watches me.

CICADA: How did you get him out?

RICE: It was so awesome. We set up an elaborate obstacle course for him, so he had to charge at me. But I was waiting, holding a broom, at which point I was able to hockey puck out the open door, and he ran up a tree in front of my house. And now he stalks me.

CICADA: Wait... so he really was after YOU the whole time??

RICE: That's what I'm saying. He even peed on my bed

CICADA: I bet it's squirrel revenge. Oh, Rice!

RICE: We made some powerful enemies, Cicada. The hot dog on the stick... Biggest mistake of my life

CICADA: I'm going to have to watch my back from now on. And my bed.

RICE: Word. They'll get you

Which doesn't lead me to any more points. I'll try to be better at updating, promise.