The honeymoon

I realized that I forgot to talk about our honeymoon in my last posting. Sometime this spring, we had decided to take a vacation that got us away from the house and as much else as possible. Amanda didn't or wouldn't give me any ideals as to what she would have liked to do, so I checked the reds schedule and thought a vacation in pittsburgh when the reds were playing the pirates would be a good vacation. I wasn't sure that such a destination was what she had in mind, but she agreed and we settled on that. After the proposal (good idea for another post) we blended the vacation into a honeymoon, more at my urging than hers. That was one of the reasons the engagment was such a short period, her time away from work and my leisurely mid to late july's worked out just right for 7-17-11.

We arranged for my youngest sister to come in and lord over the cats a couple of times, walterdog went to my parents for the week, and the rest of the dogs were sent to her parents for some of their own vacation. Monday morning we loaded up and took off. I thought she would like to go to bob evans down in Rio Grande and see some of the sights there, so after we unloaded at her parenst, us and the gift card headed down 35 and took in the sights. I had never realized that bob evans meats had such a prescence in homes as it did, the restauranteering never took off until the 70's after a unreliable pig market.

After the delicous dine and tour, we made our way to Pittsburgh, arriving just in time for a storm front to move in and delay the start of the game. We hadn't figured out the driving in Pittsburgh and were relying on taxis and hotel shuttles to move us around. This got us to the game just as the first rain delay was over, and in time for the first inning to start and then get delayed again for rain. Luckily we had ordered seats way in the back, under the overhang, so we stayed dry the whole time. Unfortunately, before the 7th inning stretch, it was after 11 and we were both bed ready. Tuesday we slept in, hung out at the hotel pool and caught the second reds loss of our trip. Wednesday I gambled and decided that driving and parking would be an okay thing. Parking and breakfast went good, we had an excellent breakfast at a place called pamelas. Then we attempted to get parked for the game and that was a nightmare. My gps doesn't know which bridges are closed, I wanted to get close to the stadium, and I can't pay enough attention in bumper to bumper traffic. Finally we made it to the stadium, saw the reds win, and got back to the hotel and ordered in pizza. Thursday we had to ourselves to do more touristy things. The bird sanctuary we saw was really cool, but a bit smaller than I had imagined. It might have been better if we were able to see the shows that had been cancelled for the day. We then went to a jerome bettis sponsored/themed restaurant, Amanda had the best meal she has had in a long while, some type of flat bread with marghereta toppings. Afterwards we did some shopping, and then seen what was probably the second best part of the trip, a distant second to being newlyweds, the andy warhol museum. Admittedly, I was more interested in the history of the person than the art, and I was glad we took the time and did a 2 and a half hour walking tour. We stopped at the store on the way out and picked out what the clerk thought were the best two books. This escalated into an evening at a very fine dining seafood place, a scary ride on an incline, and then going back to the hotel.

I had considered taking a detour to canton for the football hall of fame, but when the time came I was more interested in getting home. The trip home went fine, all the critters were glad to be back in our company and we had the majority of the weekend to continue on a lay around lazy time. It was great.

times typed "oftern"-0

Married

I am now part of the married community, thanks to the efforts of the now named vet assistant, Amanda. I bought the ring back in the middle of may, proposed on memorial day, and was married on 7-17-11. Amanda made a huge effort to plan nearly everything in that six week span, and it turned out really great. We found a convenient venue, a pastor for a civil ceremony, decorations and food in all that time. Amanda looked great in her dress, and she even said "I do" when the big moment came, even though she had some tears during the ceremony. I sure did get nervous when she was teared up, I couldn't tell what was going on with the glare from the sun.

We settled on a civil ceremony after talking to Father Mike one friday morning. He assured us that being civilly married was fine, as was all other aspects of a civil marriage, in the eyes of the catholic church. Once we get the paperwork done for anulling Amandas previous marriage, we can go ahead and have a religous ceremony and be married in the eyes of the church and God. Now that we have surpassed the crunch of that shortened schedule we will be able to get that done.

We agreed on such a short engagement time for a couple of reasons. The main reason being that being engaged for a long amount of time seems kind of silly to me at least. I had already decided that marriage was what I wanted, and I didn't see the reasoning behind waiting several months.

Amanda is really looking forward to having childeren also. I think her greatest ambition in life is to be a great mother. While I do look forward to having kids, I would like to be more financially secure. I think a child would be a great blessing, and I am fairly confident that some families have children with less that what we have. Farming keeps the bills paid for me and one other person, but getting up to three and four people is going to be very tight. With that being said, I have been much more aggressive in job hunting. I applied for a Kentucky teaching license, looked at jobs elsewhere, and am keeping on the ball with other states also. A full time teaching job most likely means a move at this point. I am not opposed to moving, but I haven't decided what that would mean for farming ambitions. If I moved could I keep my stake in what we do? Would my two brothers take over and become more involved? How permenant would a job be? Would I move back if a more desirable teaching position became available after a couple of years? Are we going to expand our acreage or keep the status quo? Does my dad still think doing things the hard way is the way to maintain a healthy physique?  Would I be willing to come back if some ideas aren't implemented? The post office job is great, but I spent five grand on a car and have only made about 25 hundred thus far. They also have to make cuts and aren't hiring full time help for the past several years.

I also want to get some thoughts out about some conditions Amanda implemented. The first condition I am fine with, but the alcohol thing is getting to me. I thought I did a reasonable job of moderation, but Amanda was discontent with my moderation so I am now a sober personality. The more I think about it, I realize that I shouldn't be to upset. I have a happy wife who goes to church with me. I don't spend any money on booze. I can take up other money making interests when/if I get away from farming, such as officiating whatever else I might think of. I have a reason to be like I was pre-21, staying home and not being social. The best reason that I had to tolerate some social events was that I could drink and enjoy myself, but that is gone now, so I can be a hermit with a wife. 

I am also now an uncle. My pharmacist sister and her husband had a baby girl on 7/14, named Alyssa. When Amanda and me first started planning the wedding, the due date was the 3rd, and as time went along the baby never came. Due to the proximity of the dates, they weren't able to make the wedding, but the care of a newborn is more important than attending an event.

times typed "oftern"-0