The Lambs

Sometimes I have a hard time letting people be who they are. Let's take my wife for example. I have known from the day I met Joy that she does NOT like scary movies. The first movie we ever saw with a group of friends was Signs, and she barely made it through. Over the time I've known her, I've tried to get her to watch some movies here and there (she still won't see any Lord of the Rings movies), and sometimes she does after I don't take her protesting seriously. So this weekend Joy and I were hosting some guests (yeah Ginna, Emma, Eric, and Andrew!) and we wanted to watch Silence of the Lambs. Now, I love this movie. It's freaky and smart and all sorts of things that make it good. And yes, at the end, I get tensed up every time. Well, needless to say, Joy absolutely did not want to watch the movie. But eventually I convinced her and we all sat down to watch. She was doing really well for the first half of the film, and then she just didn't want to see any more, so she went to the bedroom. As I was thinking about it later, I realized that I knew in advance that Joy wouldn't like this movie, that she didn't want to watch it, yet it was because of my constant persisting that she eventually gave in. I wonder if I'll ever learn and just be content in letting her not like scary movies and not try to get her to watch them or tease her because she doesn't like the same kind of movies as I do. It may seem like a small thing, but I have a feeling a lot of this marriage thing will come down to learning what it means for me to let her be herself and not what I want her to be in all these small areas of life. Either way, it's still a really great movie. And no, the lambs haven't stopped screaming yet.

Wedding and Back

Well, I’m back to my blog. And this time, when I come back, I’m a married man. I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you probably already know that I got married on December 17. Let’s just say it was an AWESOME day. It really is an incredible thing to look out over the people gathered together and see how many people have been a part of your life. And goodness, I have been ridiculously blessed by the people in my life. I remember standing in the back hallway with my best men and then remember watching my other groomsmen walk down the aisle with the bridesmaids, and I was just blown away by these men and how much I love each one of them. Then there are my ushers, the family, the other friends and supporters. Wow. That’s a lot of love.

On the day after the wedding, Joy and I had a brunch with her family and then did Christmas with my family while my brother, Nate, was in town from the Philippines. On Monday morning Joy and I flew to Mexico, where we spent 11 AWESOME days! Honestly, it was about the most perfect honeymoon ever and when we left, we were pretty sure we wouldn’t change much of anything. We did some snorkeling at a reef, kayaking, went snorkeling in some cenotes (underground, filled with water caves), went on ATV’s, and of course, sat on the beach a lot and slept even more. The weather was perfect, the water amazing, and I even got caught up on some pleasure reading. Christmas on the beach was a little different, but I could probably get used to it if I had to.

When Joy and I got back to Chicago, we both got sick. Me first, and then she followed. The day after we got back we drove to Iowa for the glorious Ben Harrison/Laura Metzger wedding and then had another wedding in Chicago on New Years Eve. Then we had our first post-wedding overnight guest come to Apt. C (yeah LaBianca!) before Joy jumped into teaching for another semester. I had more time off than she, so spent some time making returns and exchanges, running errands, writing thank you’s, and of course, getting our apartment ready for living.

Now I’m in my second week of classes and as of today, Joy and I have been married for one full month. We don’t have the internet at our apartment, so I’m a little nervous regarding my blog updating, but I’ll do my best. Thanks for reading. I promise I'll be back soon.