The begining of something special...

Instead of writing at length about this big event in my life, I will just let the photos do all of the talking.



On May 21, 2011, Emily and I celebrated our Marriage at St. Catherines of Sienna in Mendon.
(This coincidentally was also the date of "The Rapture"... which made for plenty of good jokes.)

My beautiful bride.

Us on the altar.

The wedding party at Honeoye Falls.

What a stunning dress!

A kiss shared at the falls.

An adoring look into each others eyes.

Behave now!

At the covered walkway at Nazareth College.

Time to PARTY!

The wedding reception held at The Burgundy Basin had wine themed favors and decorations. After all, we did get engaged while traveling around Keuka Lake on a wine tasting weekend trip.

Stemless wine glasses as favors.

The COOLEST nerdiest cake in the world incorporating our love of both mathematics and chemistry.

Look familiar? ;-)

Reason # 2371 Why I Love My Fiance.

Yesterday morning, a group of my friends (Brad, Chris and Kiel) met up at our apartment for our weekly long run. Normally when you return from a long run you feel rather famished and lethargic to the point where it may be tough to be motivated enough to put together a decent breakfast.

Upon our return though, we were greeted with a nice spread of bagels, orange juice, cereal, oatmeal, cantaloupe and bananas thanks to Emily who took a trip to Wegman's for us while we were out. We were more than happy to devour everything until we were replenished.

And that's one of the many reasons why I love my fiance. :-)

The First Chapter of a Long and Happy Story…

Once again I have neglected this blog for an unacceptable amount of time. Before I resume my posts, I must update the readers on a very important story.

It all started on one Friday the 13^th back in March. Two young twenty-somethings who had been dating each other for quite some time were getting ready to go on a trip. In this story, the young man's name is Glen (me), the cute young woman's name is Emily. We were going on a trip to a bed-and-breakfast at Keuka Lake to spend a weekend tasting wines from the local wineries

After settling in at the fancy bed-and-breakfast, we got some dinner and relaxed for the evening. Emily was a little disappointed though. To her, it did not feel like our vacation had started yet. I had an idea though. I looked into her eyes, and began to tell her some of the things I loved about her. How she is intelligent, funny, supportive and somehow understands me. I told her she is like one of the puzzle pieces that is falling into place to make up the picture of my life.

She thought I was just giving her a compliment, but I had something else in store. It was at that point, I pulled out a small box and went down on one knee and asked Emily to marry me.

She said yes. And thus begins the first chapter of what I hope to be a long and happy story.

:-)

We're on a road to nowhere.

Greetings!

I am traveling on a road to nowhere for this weekend because for once I am not traveling somewhere. During the past three weekends in July I have traveled to Buffalo for my cousin's wedding (see the picture from the previous post) and traveled to the Thousand Islands for a weekend getaway at a cottage my parents rented. Most recently, my travels have culminated with Emily and I circumnavigating Canandagua Lake, tasting wines along the way and staying at a Bed and Breakfast on the way. Is it any wonder I am content with doing NOTHING this weekend!?

So let's start with the wedding of my cousin Matt and his now wife, Emily.

The wedding went very well. It was on the fifth of July which meant hot weather. It was fine that it was hot because the reception was held outside.
I can't remember the place where they had the wedding but I do remember that Emily and I thought it was very nice and had great food. Not like we were taking notes on wedding ideas or anything. ;-) It was also nice to see my brother and his girlfriend that weekend, (and my parents and family too).
As it turns out, Emily and I would be seeing my brother and his girlfriend and my parents at the cottage in the Thousand Islands again the following weekend. You would think I would have gotten sick of them, but we managed to avoid getting on each other's nerves (for the most part). It's hard to get on people's nerves when you are in such a relaxing and beautiful area of New York. I would love to share pictures, but unfortunately my camera seems to be undergoing some malfunctions preventing me from removing pictures. (GRRRR!)

The only thing that marred that trip was a little rain on Sunday and the fact that following a 13 mile run I did up there I ended up getting sick with some vomiting and a mild depletion of my electrolytes. To much protest from my family and Emily I have since went back to a doctor to figure out what is wrong with my stomach. I have a history of acid reflux problems for some reason. Right now it is continuing to make it difficult to run. I'll fill you in on that more later.
Last week, Emily and I went on a trip in which we circumnavigated Canandagua Lake. We stopped at wineries along the way for tastings and pictures. Above is the mansion at Sonenberg gardens.

The gardens were nice even though there was not too much in bloom. It was very HOT! Within the gardens were a few statues that oddly looked like they were peeing into fountains. There was also a fair amount of unclothed statues.Ain't she a stinker! ;-)

Here is a beautiful but hazy view from the southern end of Canandagua Lake. Even though I was reluctant to spend a night at a Bed and Breakfast I enjoyed it a great deal. It was very relaxing and an interesting experience to socialize with the other couples (most of whom were older and getting away from their children). I wouldn't mind doing it again actually.

So you now see why I have been silent through the month of July.

You know what... a girlfriend abroad *is* worth 16 [monogamous] weekend benders... or in my case, 7!

I recently read this article and wow... it hit the nail right on the head! I refuse to be mired in feelings of missing Emily's presence for the next 2 months. (*DISCLAIMER... remember, I do miss Emily, but I am trying not to let those feelings and thoughts overtake my day to day thoughts. I AM NOT AS TERRIBLE OF A BOYFRIEND AS YOU MAY THINK! HA HA HA.)

So anyway, this article discusses how to deal with significant others who are abroad for a summer. I am in that situation at the moment and am stuck here feeling jealous and nervous. How can that be dealt with? By one-up-ing everything it is that they are doing with your own experiences at home! How does this work? This quote from the article may put it into perspective:

"But the truth of the matter is, no matter how excruciating [his or her absence] is for you, no one will ever ask you 'so, tell me about your summer of celibacy'… Unless, and this is a big unless, you have what it takes to blow that stupid summer abroad out of the water."

So yesterday afternoon over lunch, Jon and I put together this list. I know I am already on the right track because we did this even before I read this article. Jon is fully on board because he's just that kind of crazy adventurous good friend who will do stuff like this! I can't ask for more!

1. Published my first scientific paper. The day before Emily left, I (with the help of my adviser) wrote, revised and submitted my first scientific paper for publication. I am damn proud of that! Other things in my posts recently have kind of overshadowed that. As soon as it is accepted, I will be happy to post the actual paper here.
2. I'm going to New York City! I've never been there. Andy, one of my college roommates lives there. He has a guest room. He's welcoming me. I'll be there for about 4 nights or so in the beginning of December. We're going to rip it up.
3. Hit up the driving range. Jon and I are working on our golf skills. We need to improve them a bit if we're actually take up this sport.
4. Crazy random Band of Brothers/Movie drinking day. Buy some beer and booze. Pop in some movies, mini-series, video games or something. Commence watching and drinking. Get rowdy and see where things go.
5. Wine tour. Get some friends and take some time appreciating the flavors, textures and colors of the finger lakes wines. (And maybe get sloshed too.)
6. Crazy drunken limo bus. Get some friends together. Pool our money for a limo bus and alcohol. Have a night out in the city.
7. Get something published in the Library of Congress. That would just be some awesome and random bragging rights!
8. Test drive a Porsche. Need I really explain that one!
9. RIT hockey game. I hear they are pretty crazy.
10. Play some tennis. In the interest of our wanna-be rich preppie-country club snub nosed inner child, we'll take up this activity too.
11. Find a place to learn and play some curling. 'Cause 'dem Canadians have one crazy sport, eh.
12. Make a short mocumentary film. We're accepting ideas right now for the script. We already know that this scene must be included!
13. Get my passport! When I was a teenager I equated having a car with freedom to travel. Now I equate having a passport with freedom to travel. With this document, Jon and my other friends can continue our randomness on an international scale. And when the opportunity arises for me to blow everything off here and travel abroad... I can do so without hesitation!
    

*SiGh* I am not suposed to feel happy right now... but you never feel unhappy when a nasty storm passes.

I simply do not know how people in relationships survive together. No joke here! I just can not comprehend it. How do two people who have strong opinions and feelings of their own stay together for 25 years, 50 years or longer without physically killing one another! If anyone out there would like to comment on this and tell me how it's done I would love to know. On the grand scale of relationships, I am a rookie. I need all the coaching I can get.

It's bizarre really. You can tell from the countdown timer on the right that Emily will be abroad in Wales, UK for the next 2 months. What's bizarre about this is that I don't necessarily feel like I miss her. Given the stress that we experienced in the time leading up to her departure (a bit too personal to discuss in further detail in this blog), it is amazing that one of us did not kill the other or just call the relationship quits. That is why I am so perplexed why relationships find a way to survive. Now that she is gone, the stress has dissipated and left a feeling of relief, a calm, a peacefulness. I hope the reader does not consider me a terrible boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, I do miss her a little, and that feeling will likely grow as time progresses. Right now however, this is how I feel.

I can't help but think that this must be what Meursault must have felt at the beginning of Albert Camus' novel "The Stranger". The novel starts with the death of his mother. Meursault never cries at the funeral ceremonies. He acted rather ambivalent towards the whole situation. People around him who saw this perceived it as the signature of a cold hearted emotionless man because he did not react in the way that society expected him to react. As a result, Meursault became a victim of his emotions and feelings. Internally, he was free to feel any way he wanted, free to cry or not to cry. Despite this freedom, he was judged based upon those feelings and actions.

I guess I am judging my self a little bit right now.