Four Year Recap

As I mentioned in the previous post, it's been a number of years since any serious entry into this blog. Four years and some change to be slightly more accurate so this next blog is going to be highlight reel of key events during the intervening time.

2010
June 14 - Start working at Wisconsin Department of Transportation. For some reason, I remember the exact date I began work at WisDOT. I don't know why really, but I suppose it is because it was my first professional type job of any sort and it was shortly after I finished grad school at La Follette. It was actually out of the blue that I got the offer because I had interviewed for the position several months earlier in March and did not get it. I was still in school at the time and was applying to various state agency positions. I had made it for a second interview but they chose another candidate for a temporary project position implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act transit capital grant. The other person didn't end up working and they went to me as the next choice. Four years later I'm still in the Transit Section at WisDOT and things are going well.

2011
May - Natalie graduates from the University of Northern Iowa. Natalie finished up her undergraduate schoolwork with a bachelor's degree in music from UNI. Despite being anxious beyond belief, Natalie successfully completed her senior piano recital that consisted of four separate pieces lasting more than 30 minutes. Natalie is a supremely talented musician but does not like to perform so the prospect of doing a recital in front of dozens of people was absolutely terrifying. There was a bit of a bobble in the first portion of the first piece but she recovered admirably and aced the remaining pieces. A truly impressive performance and I was so proud!

July - Natalie moves to Madison. Natalie made the move from Cedar Falls to Madison to live with me and two other roommates in a duplex on the west side of Madison. This was the first time either one of us had lived with a significant other so it was a pretty big step in our relationship. I don't mean to say that there was no stress or friction involved, but we both took to it really well and adjusted to the new living situation without too much fuss.

2012
May - Travel to the Great Britain. We had talked about taking a big trip for some time and decided that going to England and Scotland would be the way to go. One of my very good friends from Macalester - Toby Pforr - was living and going to school in Warwick, England at the time and it worked out well to see him. I had promised him long ago that I would come visit him in Europe at some point but it hadn't really materialized. Natalie had been to England before but was excited to go back and see more of the country. We flew into London and then worked our way up to Edinburgh and then back down through York, Manchester, Liverpool and then Warwick before flying back out of London. Highlights of our adventures include touring London, going through the Harry Potter studios, touring Edinburgh Castle, visiting the Chatsworth House estate and touring Liverpool Football Club's Anfield Stadium.

August - Start coaching with the Madison 56ers. I had been thinking about getting back into coaching youth soccer for a little while but a great opportunity pretty much just fell into my lap. I got an email from a soccer friend of mine asking if I'd be interesting in coaching a U13 boys team at a local club. She coaches there as well and indicated that the person who'd been assigned this team had accepted a job somewhere else and couldn't continue with the team. It was close to the start of the season and they were scrambling somewhat to find a replacement. The 56ers are great club and I've had a really good experience working with the players and getting to know the families and other coaches.

2013
February 28 - Move into our house. Natalie and I had been looking at buying a house through part of the year in 2012 but hadn't found the right fit. After seeing a number of houses and working with a really nice realtor friend, we decided to take a break in the fall and winter of 2012 with the idea of picking back up in the new year. Almost on a whim, we scheduled two showings in January without any real expectation of finding anything. The first house we saw was intriguing but we weren't totally convinced. The second house, however, is the one from which I'm writing this post. Many people have said that when home buying, you just 'know' when you've found the right one. I was a little skeptical about this idea but in fact, that's exactly how it turned out for us. Natalie and I walked in and both had a great reaction immediately. We ended up negotiating on the offer and getting the house, a quaint little ranch with and open basement - great bike workshop area - and space in the backyard for our new dog, Marty. As excited as we were to move in, we had some extra excitement in that my car died the day before were to close on the house (and my birthday) so we had to borrow a vehicle from Natalie's coworker and then buy a new car a week later. A bit more excitement than I was hoping for at that time but everything has worked out well to date.

September 9 - She says yes! On a little wooden deck overlooking a bubbling natural spring in Pheasant Branch Park in Middleton, Natalie said yes. I was quite sure that she would but that did not assuage my nervousness about the moment. I had worked with a jeweler in Ames to order an engagement ring and have it sent up to Madison. I was forced to have it mailed to a friend in Madison because I didn't want Natalie to be nosy and figure out that I had picked up the ring. Natalie is notoriously nosy with packages and gifts and she would undoubtedly be suspicious about a small package from Ames Silversmithing. I knew the ring was coming and earlier in the week I had suggested that we plan to go for a walk in the park that weekend. It is our favorite park and we go there often so I figured she wouldn't think anything about an innocuous stroll with the pooch. I hid the ring box in the pouch of my hooded sweatshirt and was freaking out that she would notice the funny shape in my stomach. I was very fidgety and kept my hands in the pocket to obscure it. She was totally surprised as I got down on a knee and asked the question - as I had hoped - and such is how we became engaged to be married.

2014
October 18 - Tie the knot. On a beautiful, sunny, clear autumn day in Ames, Iowa, Natalie and I exchanged vows and were thus married. The ceremony was in my parents backyard, which they had carefully cultivated and manicured all spring, summer and fall, in front of family and friends. After months of planning (mostly by Natalie) I was worried the day would be tainted by poor weather. An outdoor wedding in Iowa in October was always a risky endeavor and waking up that morning it was cold, windy, overcast and wet. I had been monitoring the forecast for days and everything had indicated a really nice day. I was somewhat disheartened that morning but two hours before the ceremony the clouds broke and it turned into a perfect afternoon.

Natalie was absolutely beautiful in her dress and everything went smoothly at the wedding and following reception at Snus Hill Winery. The most special moment for me was definitely when Natalie surprised me for our first dance. As a I mentioned earlier in the post, Natalie abhors performing publicly so I knew how incredible it was for her to secretly record herself sing and play the piano for our first dance song, 'All of Me' by John Legend. And what's more, this was a surprise change from what we had agreed for our first dance song and it was performed of 100 people in the reception hall! Ridiculously special and needless to say, I cried like a baby. It really is overwhelming to think about all the people and the time and energy that goes into your wedding. So many wonderful family and friends are there to celebrate and share in the experience with you. It makes you feel humble, grateful and happy all at once. And this says nothing about the joy and love Natalie and I felt for each other at becoming married.

New Year's Resolution

Well, I decided that for my resolution for the upcoming year was to resurrect the blog. For many years I didn't do anything in the way of a resolution at the turn of the calendar. I think this was mainly because people often set ambitious goals and then break them readily. I've always been a goal oriented person and I see setting an objective but not really working at it as quite a frivolous endeavor. I don't have any issue with people making commitments to improve this or do that differently, in fact I believe strongly in continual growth and personal betterment, but it just seemed that many resolutions are grandiose and therefore unattainable from the outset. 

Yet, for whatever reason, my stance on New Year's resolutions has softened a bit - perhaps its old age - and I've come up with some modest, attainable resolutions the last couple of years. For example, two years ago I decided that I should hold my fork in my left hand and use a knife in my right so that when I eat out at restaurants, I have better eating etiquette. There were many dropped food morsels along the way, but with continued effort I have become relatively adept at eating this way. 

So, for 2015 I resolve to regularly update my blog with the various ongoings of my life. Three of my siblings have blogs and its a useful way to keep tabs on whats going on in there life outside the more conventional means of email and phone calls. Moreover, I was chided by my parents recently for not having update my blog in a long time. (For the record, my last post was a mere 4.5 years ago.) I imagine it will be filled with the joys and frustrations of home projects, musings of my love hate relationship with soccer, as well as news and notes of Natalie and my adventures. I hope you will find it at least mildly entertaining.