Thoughts from 30,000 Feet

(written from the plane)


Monday night, no idea what time it is exactly or over what state we're flying over, but I think we have about 2 hours left to go... which gives me time to recap the last two days, which were pretty mellow.

Day 6 - Sunday

I planned on spending the day alone and tending to my own adventures again. I even did my research and found an evening church service to check out that appealed to my Flood/Mosaic sensibilities. But per their wishes, I ended up joining the family for an AM service at a church that's (by my accounts) 50% larger than SD's The Rock (which is plenty huge as it is) - and I'm not a fan of mega-churches. Turns out they had a special service interviewing Blake Mycoskie - the founder of the shoe company TOMS.

I knew the gist of TOMS - that for every pair of shoes purchased, the company provides a new pair of shoes to a child in need in a third-world country. But it was interesting to hear Blake's story about what motivated him to do this, how it felt to personally place the shoes on a child's feet, and see how passionate he was about providing this basic need and the impact it would have on a child's life. If you're not familiar with them, you can read all about the company on their site: www.toms.com 

With the shoe aspect thriving (they've given out their 1 millionth pair), they had recently branched out to sunglasses, where the same One for One concept would apply. For every piece of eyewear purchased, they would give the gift of sight to someone in need (whether via glasses or a type of surgery). As we were exiting the sanctuary, my cheap pair of sunglasses we bought for the trip broke. And since TOMS products were available in the church lobby, my mom joked that maybe this was a sign from God, haha. And (to my delight) she offered to buy me a pair. 

Later on in the afternoon, we walked around the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is a nice free zoo but does not compare to the San Diego Zoo. (Point for SD.)

After the zoo, I convinced the group to stop by this well-reviewed cupcake place nearby, Molly's Cupcakes. I love the idea of this place. You have your standard specialty cupcakes on display, but you could also design your own (cake + frosting + toppings). The Yelpers were right, they were really good, much better than Sprinkles for sure. As I exited, I noticed this sign in their window and thought it was awesome.

Day 7 - Monday: The Return 

As for today, I ventured back downtown by myself one last time. I wanted to visit Wicker Park and sitting in a coffee shop with my book and laptop in tow, but that didn't happen. I did check out the Museum of Contemporary Photography, picked up some trinkets for a few people, and then ended up buying TOMS shoes for myself. So comfortable. 

And that's about it for this trip. It was great to experience the life of another city for a week. I've been a travel-phobe, so this was a nice step out of my comfort zone. It's definitely planted the questions of "do I want to stay in San Diego?" and "where else do I wanna check out?" I've got NYC in October, and who know what the next traveling adventures may be. London? The Philippines? Greece? Peru? To be continued...

Live.

Apparently this went around the interwebs awhile back, but it's new to me.

Chicago in Instagrams - Days 4 and 5

Day 4 
We got off to a late start, which allowed me to sleep in and catch up on True Blood... it's my vacation and I can do what I want! But after lunch, I finally got my wish granted and was allowed to take off on my own.

The family made their way to the planetarium (I still took a pic), and I split off and got on my very first city bus ride. First item on my list? Find authentic Chicago-style pizza! From my research and recommendation, I made my way to Geno's East, which was featured on "Man vs. Food", and ordered a few Jamison and Coke's to go with my Chicago-style pepperoni...

And I've decided: I'm not a Chicago-style / deep-dish pizza fan. It was good (thick and buttery), but I miss the thin NY / crispy crusts.

With that decided, I just took my time walking around downtown. I checked out the Chicago Water Tower, that survived the great Chicago fire...

I came across the Chicago Tribune building with it's statue of Nathan Hale...

On my wanderings, I came across my family again at the Marilyn Monroe statue. Apparently between days 4 and 5, this statue got vandalized... a tattoo on one of her legs. I wasn't able to go back to get an "after" shot though.

Did some more walking inside the shops of the Magnificent Mile, ate dinner, and then went up to the Hancock Observatory. This is the building that is similar to the Sears/Willis Tower (tall, two antennas, has a sky deck). Their "museum"/deck isn't as cool as the Sears Tower's, but we got to take in the Chicago skyline at night this time. Here it is from the 94th floor...

Day 5
Today I got up to an early start, got dropped off at the subway station by my cousin's house, and made my way back downtown.

Since it was still early, I found myself in the Theatre District - which was beautiful! Here's a shot of the Chicago Theatre.

Makes me so excited to get to Broadway!

I spent a few hours walking inside the Art Institute of Chicago, with all it's paintings, sculptures and miscellaneous pieces that tend to go right over my head. There were beautiful paintings by the likes of Van Gogh, and then you had this:

A pile of candy where they tell you to take a piece and enjoy.

I was skittish at first, but then the audio tour guide explained it all quite well. The artist is depicting his partner by using 175 lbs of candy (his body weight). And the partner has AIDS. Just as the pile slowly gets smaller, so too does the partner's body weight decreases as the disease progresses. (The story is a lot more eloquent via the audiotape. Not so much coming from me, and at midnight.)

Anyways, here's a piece that's a mirror with the figure of an art student, so that the viewer can become part of the piece... as so...

Afterwards I made my way to the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls. I've never been a huge basketball fan, but I was watching back in the days of Michael Jordan, especially in the team's second three-peat. So getting a shot of his statue was high on my Chicago list.

Then I raced over to see the Blue Man Group, which was a really cool production in the vein of Stomp, but had more audience participation and was pretty funny. I had no pictures though, as I turned my phone off during this part of the day to save battery life. Though while walking around afterwards, I did walk by a pub that had this sign outside.

And to that, I say "CHEERS!"

Chicago in Instagrams - Day 3

The historic Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs! I'm not a Cubs fan (nor am I a hater), but it was cool to check out a game in an old school ballpark. Such a different feel than the modern era Petco Park.

Even the scoreboard is still old-school with people inside changing the tiles.

Then we went to the Sears Tower finally! We traveled up to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor in an elevator that shoots us up in about one minute. Now if only the Tower of Terror dropped us from such heights... anyway, here's a view of the skyline from way up, with Lake Michigan in the background. Such a HUGE lake it doesn't seem like a lake at all.

The Skydeck recently installed these glass decks that jut out four feet from the side of the building, so if you look down, you see 1000+ feet to the street below you. When I first approached the box, let's just say some... things jumped back inside of my body, as tends to happen when I even look down from a bridge because I hate heights! And then I manned up and stepped onto the glass... then sat down and smiled nervously for the picture to be taken.

Then we saw there was another deck (there were 4) where they took the picture for you, and I did what other families were doing... I jumped up! Though I jumped probably a tad too early, my feet definitely did leave the ground; I was probably just landing when this shot was taken. I tried to get my little 9 year old cousin (well, great-cousin?) to join me, but he was too scared to step on the deck, haha. 

We set out walking a bit and we came across the Art Institute of Chicago. Seriously, the museums here look AMAZING. Like what you imagine a museum should look like from the outside, complete with lions adorning both sides of the entrance. We didn't go inside, but I hope to before the trip is over. 

The famous Cloud Gate, aka "The Bean", in Millennium Park with reflections of the people and the buildings showing quite nicely.

Me and the parentals

The whole group's reflection as seen on the side of The Bean

And Buckingham Fountain at dusk... reminds me of the fountain from the Friends opening credits, but much larger and nicer. 

Chicago in Instagrams - Days 1 and 2

"She's a brick... HOUSE." First observation in Chicago? Lots of brick houses... maybe there was an angry wolf who went around huffing and puffing.

The Sears Tower... now called Willis Tower. But that's like how SD's Qualcomm Stadium is still Jack Murphy to a great deal of us locals. (Of course, there's no comparison to that dilapidated stadium to this wondrous architecture that we'll be going up on Day 3...

The Field Museum... right across from Soldier Field (football stadium)... looks so incredible from the outside and I could've spent more than an entire day inside... it is home to...

SUE! This is Sue. The most complete T-Rex anywhere in exhibit. My first time seeing a dinosaur fossil, I expected her to be bigger actually, but still amazing nonetheless.

This is one of the side entrances to the Shedd Aquarium... which blows SD's Birch Aquarium out of the water. It even has an indoor dolphin show, so it has shades of Sea World (though Sea World is better). Still a great place to check out. 

Outside of the Shedd Aquarium, we took pics with the Chicago Skyline... I needed to grab one with myself using the Instragam, but my cousin's husband with his nice Canon and accessories took a lot more. I'll post those somewhere if he can get those to us.

Love the Chicago skyline! SD's does not compare. That's the Sears Tower on the left. Seeing such a grand skyline has me excited for New York in two months! 

In the evening, we walked down Navy Pier, which was kinda Belmont Park-ish, but much nicer and with more to do. And we booked an architecture boat cruise, which took us down the Chicago River. The river goes through the city and the tour guide gave us all this cool info on the history of the city and the different buildings. 

Cool buildings!

Another cool building! Props to Chris for telling me this was a Trump creation... and MUCH better than that uninspired gold building in Vegas. 

Updates Written from 10,000 Feet

Triple Crown

I did it! I, along with my cousin Mendy and my friend Pete all completed the Triple Crown series of half marathons this year and got this cool little piece of neckwear, in addition to the individual medals for having completed each of the three races: Carlsbad (in January), La Jolla (in April), and America's Finest City (last Sunday). 

It was my worst run of the three, by far, and I ran it last year and did much better. But I also haven't run outside or done any distance greater than say 3 miles since I ran the La Jolla Half... so considering that, I'm glad I got it done. Favorite sign on the course was this little 5 year old kid with his "WORST PARADE EVER" sign. Cracked me up around mile 11. 

I'm on a Plane!

Currently we are two hours into the flight... I have no idea where we are. I haven't been on a plane since I was about 13, but the flight is going well. Sitting by the window, watching as we soar over the clouds... Can't wait to land in the Windy City and begin some adventuring! Which hopefully I can do. I've got Yelp, I've got recommendations from Ashley (the Music Soulmate - check it!), I have a few things in my mind already... at any rate, being out of town will be a nice escape. 

Really wishing I could catch up on my episodes of True Blood right now... I'm 8 episodes behind, and thought I could watch at least three during the flight... but of course, mom had to sit next to me. I started to watch a bit of episode 2, and then........ boobs. A girl transformed into a deer or something... shape shifters, that's what they're called! Anyways, HBO shows are not Ryan's-mom-friendly. Quickly closed *that* out and switched it to the comedy Happy Endings, even though I've seen them all.

Earnestly

It's 8:30 PM on a Saturday night, and I need to be up around 4:30 AM tomorrow so that I can get dressed, eat some peanut butter sandwiches and drive to Balboa Park so that I can be shuttled over to the AFC Half Marathon start line over at the Cabrillo Monument, where the gun will go off at 7 AM. For completing the 2011 Triple Crown Series of three half marathons, I'm excited... nervous, but a thirteen mile run is "old" news, and since I'm not an elite runner trying to win or set a personal record, I'm all good as long as I finish. 

But I'm looking forward to tomorrow's run just to run... in the sense of fleeing, I guess. I feel like I have this sense of restlessness growing within, that's just getting stronger, and all I want is to escape, and I think right now going on a nice long run will give me that rush. Better that than smoking again (like the one month stint I had two years ago).

The biggest part of this stems from the fact that I can't stand living at home, with my life in boxes and feeling like everything is on hold... and while thankful that I am able to live here rent-free, I desperately want/need my space (so at this point, I'm actively looking again at either buying as soon as possible or just finding a roommate situation, but either way - I need the heck outta dodge)... maybe because I'm trying to figure out the next steps regarding school and am uncertain what the right path for me is, both educationally and career-wise... and maybe because people around me are getting married and having kids, and while that may be great for them, please stop pushing me (subtly or otherwise) to be in that same place you are, or telling me to "get out there" or calling to offer me your advice when I didn't ask for it. Isn't everyone's timing different? The only one whose plan I should be seeking for my life is God's, right? 

[breathe]

Maybe that's why I've been gravitating to this song so much. I know that for me it's not like an on/off switch when it comes to just turning it all over to Him and finding contentment... that's always been a struggle. But in my current restlessness and dissatisfaction, the song reminds me again that those negative feelings won't just disappear because I get a new apartment/condo/whatever, or because I manage to keep myself busy with school, or by finding myself in a relationship. The only real thing that can fill me up is Him... I've just gotta keep myself reminded of that and roll with the bumps and inconveniences along the way.

Earnestly I seek You, my soul thirsts for You
In a dry and weary land, I long for You
'Cause Your love is better than life
You are the only One who can satisfy me, this longing heart

My thirst is met by streams of love that run deep into my soul

I'm a well

Come fill me up
Patiently I wait, oh my soul waits for You
Like a lover looking at her door, I long for You
'Cause Your love is better than life


ETA - Yep, Blog #9... an emo-y blog was bound to show up sooner or later, haha...

Mazel Tov

So I just came across some of the professional shots taken at my cousin Johnny's wedding from last month, and they came out really well! Not that I had anything to do with or that it was my day obviously, but... I like the whole "dressing up for special events" thing* and having nice pictures to reflect fondly upon later, so I'm anxiously awaiting for the whole set of pics to be released for family and the wedding party to save. 

* - Yes, I like being part of weddings (and can't wait to be in Brit and Trent's in October) and I also like graduations. Call me crazy.

Anyways - I won't post the shots here, rather if you're curious, you can check out Acres of Hope Photography's blog about the event where a whole grip of pictures are located, and you can see how beautiful the wedding was. And how hot the wedding party is. :P But the photographers (who apparently all graduated from my high school and know some of my close friends too) did a great job, and I was really surprised with how nice the shots are since I thought the lighting at the time was looking bad. Of course, I'm no photographer, so what do I know...

http://www.acresofhopephotography.com/blog/katrine-johnny-wedding-pala-mesa-resort-fallbrook-ca/

Well... I'll include the money shot of the first kiss, which includes me ending the ceremony by saying "mazel tov!"(Katrine is Ukrainian and Jewish, so this was a special request, and not part of my repertoire as a wedding officiant, haha.)   

P.S. - As you can see, I'm wearing the fedora style of hat that seems to be a "thing" among hipster-ish twenty-something males at the moment. I would never have bought that kind of hat before... but per the couple's request, I had to wear one for the wedding, as a way to make me "stand-out" from the rest of the groomsmen (since I technically still was one, and that what I was first asked to do)... anyways, now I kinda like that style of hat. And I own two. Dangit, cuz!

P.P.S. - You see all those flowers in the aisle? Well, it's not on grass, they were on rocks... and I totally almost ate it walking down the aisle at the very top of the ceremony. Luckily I got myself, but some of my cousins on the side got a chuckle from it... phew!

StrengthsFinder 2.0

"Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?" -Benjamin Franklin


I saw this quote on Gallup's StrengthsFinder site and really liked it. So much so that it was a status of mine earlier this week, haha. 


Back in 2005, as part of my church's leadership conference that I attended, I took Gallup's StrengthsFinder assessment. There was this book called "Now, Discover Your Strengths" which discussed how we as individuals are stronger in some traits than in others (they have a list of 40), and they emphasize the importance in knowing and understanding how you operate so that you can find better enjoyment from and be better contributors in your different environments. 


Anyways, so 21-year old me took the assessment and these were my top 5 strengths (in order) -- 

• deliberative
• harmony
• consistency
• restorative
• connectedness

They definitely fit this introverted thinker who dislikes conflict, prefers to go with the flow and tries to get along with everyone.

Anyhow, last week a college buddy of mine posted that he'd retaken it and he'd changed in a few aspects. Which is expected when you're in your twenties and in that season of change post-college. So it prompted me to re-take it again as well. So here is present-day 27-year old me...

• deliberative
• harmony
• consistency
• adaptability
• maximizer

Still the super introvert who thinks a lot, appreciates peace and is relatively steady and fair... but the rankings for three and four changed and I'll be reading more about them. The new book (StrengthsFiner 2.0) is about what these strengths are and how you can enhance them and utilize them in your daily life, so I'll be delving into studying all five again soon (I bought the book on my iPhone's Kindle app, haha)... so I guess maybe my plan is to have a separate blog post on each strength as I learn more about it. (Of course, I also was supposed to blog about how it was to perform in the musical, and I didn't really follow up on that, so we'll see what happens here.)

On a song note - just got back from Flood where I met up with Andy and it was so good to experience fellowship and worship with a close friend, since on the off-chance I do make it to church these days, I'm always alone. But our worship band (who is amazing) led us in Chris Tomlin's "Our God". Definitely a current fave of mine, so wanted to share that here. 

ETA - Just noticed I've blogged seven times this month... and it's only half-way through the month. Not sure why I'm all word-y, even if it is all random babbling... but it's cool with me. :) I'm sure I'll be phone blogging even more when in Chicago next week! Woohoo!

The One With the Invisalign

So today after a few months of waiting and years of not taking care of my teeth, I finally got braces at the ripe ol' age of 27. I think some people assumed that since my upper row of teeth look fine that so were my lowers... but they've always been crooked and made me self-conscious such that I don't smile a full smile...

Well soon that will be no longer! It'll take 27 trays (I.e one years worth of trays) but I will soon have straight teeth and a Crest kid smile!

I'd post the "before" shot but I'm still self-conscious, haha. But my dentist showed me the week-by-week progress via the computer program, so it'll be faster than traditional braces.

At the moment, I sit inside Mosaic's Artisan Lounge event, waiting for the live performances to begin, but I'm also feeling pretty tired. Figured I'd do a quick blog to keep me entertained (since I already played all my Words with Friends games)...

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

[gets mind out of the gutter]


Ahem. So today I decided to escape the office for lunch and recruited my coworker Cecile to join me as we hunted down the MIHO Gastrotruck. Weird name, but great food! Apparently there's this new trend of gourmet food trucks. I'd seen them up in Venice Beach when I visited a friend last year, and at the time I didn't quite understand why people would eat from a food truck...

Fast-forward a few months later, when upon leaving the Ould Sod at 2am, there was a Mexican food truck and my friends and I were slightly drunk and hungry. And their street tacos were both cheap and fantastical. But I still didn't think much of these whole food trucks.

Then I started noticing that they're on TV (both sitcom and on The Food Network), and in magazines, and I started doing my research. And there was one called the MIHO Gastrotruck that used locally grown produce and had a menu that changed regularly.

Here was todays...

Needless to say, when I saw there was a burger with both peaches (which I love) and bacon (which I lust after), I had to go for it.

And the second I bit into it, my heart melted inside... the patty was just right, the bacon was thick and crisp and flavorful, and all the pieces of it blended so wonderfully in my mouth, and it's watering again just thinking about it...

Anyways. Best thing I ever ate. At least until I go to another food truck and try something else. There's one called Devilicious that currently has a PB&J with Cream Cheese and Bacon (intrigued) and a Lobster Grilled Cheese sandwich... anyone wanna join me on these food truck hunts?

Reference: www.mihogastrotruck.com

So I Wish I Could Dance

If only I could dance like these fine folk... love these routines! The choreography, musicality, athleticism...

(Though it probably also helps that I love all these songs too.)

Dancers: Talia and BJ (from the Canada edition, I guess)

Song: TI and Justin Timberlake - Dead and Gone

Dancers: Katie and Joshua

Song: Adele - Hometown Glory

Sidenote: I had a crush on Katie during her season... while Chris had a crush on Twitch, heh. This was also my first intro to the awesomeness of Adele. 

Dancers: Sabra and Neil

Song: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams

And one more Katee dance... because it's kinda hot. IMO.

Dancers: Katee and Joshua

Song: Angela Via - Baila Baila

A Decade of Concerts

So tonight I joined my cousin Mendy, her boyfriend Alex, and some of their friends at the Del Mar racetrack to celebrate his birthday by betting on a few races and (once the last race was finished) watching the... wait for it... WEEZER CONCERT!!!

Weezer is fun, catchy, and they are great live performers, and as we stood there in front of the stage waiting for the show to begin, it dawned on me... they were my very first concert, back in 2001... ten years ago! Which of course got my mind going on this whole "decade of song" tangent and how I would have to write about it when I got home. 

[insert that hazy music you hear on a sitcom when a character goes into "flashback" mode]

It was November 2001... I was a young freshman at UCSD who was just starting to diversify his music tastes beyond pop radio stations, and getting into the whole mp3 thing / downloading thing too, and in doing so discovered a band called Jimmy Eat World. This was before they hit it big, as I got into their (at the time) newest CD called "Bleed American" prior to the events of 9/11, which prompted a name change to the disc. Anyways, I *loved* them, so when I found out they were touring as one of the opening bands for Weezer (who I had also just recently heard and started to enjoy as well), I *had* to go. 

So I went with my dad (as I had no concert-loving friends), who had no idea who these bands were, but went to keep me company... though thinking on it now, I think it was mainly because my parents didn't want their 17-year-old alone at a concert. But it was a great time over at Cox Arena - I remember the excitement, the singing along to all my favorite songs, the rocking out with my head and shoulders, taking in all the lights and staging, and the big light-up =w= logo for Weezer. It was a blast, and it started my whole concert fanaticism. I still have the ticket somewhere, boxed-up as a keepsake, along with almost all the concert tickets I've acquired over the last ten years. 

There's over 100, of this I am sure. 

But I'm glad I got my first taste of live music back in the day, and that it moved me to keep going. When I first started, I would just go by myself, and I'm glad that I did as I would've missed out on some killer shows if I'd been too dependent on having someone with me to do these things. And not just the big artist/band shows too, but the smaller coffeehouse / local music scene artists as well. 

One of my friends posted a picture of a crowd from a concert she recently attended, and her caption was something like "How can we be strangers when we're all here singing the same words?" And I loved that. It's very true and it's pretty rad to experience those moments where everyone is united in music and lyrics and enjoying every second of the song. 

Weezer had plenty of those moments tonight, especially with the crowd singing the chorus to "Undone (The Sweater Song)", or the "woot woot" sounds in "Buddy Holly", or screaming out "Say It Ain't Soooooooo-oh-whoa-whoaaaaa" for "Say It Ain't So"... 

So here's to the last ten years of concerts! Let's see what the next ten years bring... (*cough*Adeleplease*cough*)

Random Updates

Something I Currently Love: the band Foster the People

Listening to this CD as I type this out... definitely my current favorite band! I was lucky enough to attend their sold-out show at the House of Blues with two work friends in July, and they put on an amazing show. Great energy, sound, fun, dance-y in a way, and apparently they're cute (so says Suzy, who was at the concert and was all about the bass player, haha)... speaking of - if I'm ever in a rock band, I call the bass. They're always just chillin, rocking out, doing their thing, and I already play that in the video game Rock Band. :P

And it's funny at work to hear Suzy's mom start to sing the chorus... "all the other kids with the pumped up kicks..."



Things to Not Say to a Lady: Never tell a lady that she smells like sushi. Either you know why or you don't... needless to say, I didn't know why at the time. So in my naiveté I told Suzy's mom that she smelled like sushi, and she was all "no, no I do not!" To which I made it worse and said "yeah you do", and other people who were overhearing this were trying not to crack up while I was oblivious as to what was going on... sigh. When the story was retold at work today (and this happened yesterday), it made for a good laugh (she does a good job at telling the story, embellishing it just enough and making me blush)... we'll see how long the teasing goes, haha.

My Celebrity Doppelgänger: Awhile ago, it was a thing on Facebook to temporarily change your profile pic to that of a celeb. I really don't think I have one, so I didn't participate in the shenanigans. But I was walking downtown this evening, and some guy (not sure if he was homeless or not) asked me for change. I was in a rush and had no change, so I curtly replied "sorry" and kept walking. But then he called out again and said "hey man, you know you look like Tiger Woods?" I didn't turn back around, but I did laugh to myself... this was the second time in 6 years that I was told I resemble the golfer, with the first time being when my buddy Pete pulled me up on stage at Lestat's to beat up a piñata. Good times. :)

Confessions of a Reverend

Two weekends ago, I had the honor of officiating at my cousin John's wedding to his longtime girlfriend Katrine. Here are five thoughts. (Confessions just sounded cooler in the title. What.) 

1. I still can't believe it. My little cousin is now married, and they already have a beautiful little daughter... and she is suuuuuuuch a cutie-pie. It's very rad seeing my cousin start his family. He was always like my little brother growing up. He gave me the name "Rara" (because he couldn't say my actual name), and I gave him the name "Sas-See" (say it like "sassy"). I have no clue why, considering I was older and could read/speak well enough. But luckily for him, as we got older, the nickname went away. I'm still Ra, of course. "Rev Ra", as they call me, as it was very cool that they asked me to perform the ceremony. 

2. I sooooooo wanted to drink before the ceremony. Seriously! This is the second straight wedding when all I wanted to do was a have a few drinks before the ceremony with all the other guys, but couldn't out of fear that I'd be sloppy in my speeches. But I wanted to be good and I took my officiant duties seriously, to give it the gravitas that it deserved. (But as soon as I no longer had to speechify? It. Was. On.)

3. I'm staunchly against doing the "first look" now. I didn't have much of an opinion beforehand, and knew very little about it. But J and K didn't want to do that... he spent the night at one of his groomsman's apartment, and she didn't even want any of the guys to see her at all until she marched down the aisle. But it was so.... I'll say "cute" to see him all nervous and jittery beforehand - not in the "cold feet" way, but in the "can't believe this is happening and can't wait to see her" way. And then... to see him as finally saw her in her dress as she walked down with her parents... to see the tears of joy and love in both their eyes as her parents brought them together... it was just surreal and so cool to witness. I had to make sure I kept my composure too, since I had to run the ceremony, but I was getting all verklempt. The ceremony went off without a hitch. But thinking about it as the evening went on, I decided that I want that moment too. 

4. How do you *not* get up to dance or at the very least start to shimmy when the opening drum beats to MJ's "Billie Jean" starts playing? That was the very first song the DJ played to get the dancing started. I stayed in my chair, sad to say, as I saw only couples getting up on the dance floor. But I did groove to it with my head and shoulders, until later on, Katrine's sister grabbed me from my chair and dragged me to the floor. It was a great time! I haven't been to many weddings, but the DJ and the music had everyone dancing - even my parents got up for a bit too! "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes..."

5. Everyone's having babies. Well, maybe not everyone... but John and Katrine have little Saylor, and Cody and Emily have Everett... other friends are looking at adopting (which I've always wanted to do), and another couple just told me they're expecting, so it's a rad time. In the case of Saylor, I can just be the cool "uncle", and you betcha I will spoil her. I'll have no legit nieces and nephews of my own, since I'm an only child, so my cousin's kids will be getting lots of love. In talking with my cuz, I was tripping out about how when Saylor turns 13, I'll be 40. To quote Joey from Blossom, "WHOA!" Haha... Johnny did ask when I'd be giving Saylor a little cousin to play with, but that's a long time coming. Although, I did get the idea to name my first son "Cameron Joseph"... the reasons being threefold. First, I like the name "Cameron". Second, "Joseph" works in honor of my mom (Josephine). Third (and why I *really* like the combo), it gives my kid options in that it's a normal middle name (which I personally do not have) AND he can go by his initials (CJ). Haha.