So much has changed, so much is still the same!

So, after weeks (months actually) of reading and researching and waiting and planning, we finally got our aquarium started!
Yesterday, we added the live rock and live sand to the aquarium, and clouded up the whole works for a day. This morning, Mary took a shot at ‘aquascaping’, and we now have a pretty good looking layout of rocks, with lots of little crevices and caves for the fishes and creatures to live in. Now that the rocks and sand are in, the tank has begun it’s ‘cycle’, which will last from 2-4 weeks. At that point, we can add fish and coral, one at a time. We’re hoping to start getting cool stuff around late Dec / early January time frame.
Here’s a few pictures, from ‘Just put the tank on the stand’ to ‘15 minutes ago we found a starfish that hitched a ride’!

I’m not sure exactly what happened, but Mary somehow talked me into getting a fish tank. As with anything else we do, however, I’m not content to just get a little average fish tank with like a goldfish or something in it. This fish tank is a salt-water tank, and will end up full of coral and some exotic crustaceans and fish, so it’s at least interesting to look at. Here’s day 1:

The rest of pictures are over on flickr, here.

We’ll be sure to post updates as we add things, like water and sand and rock to it

We threw a labor day party at my condo on Monday, and had a bunch of friends over. Having two grills and a whole bunch of tables is way more fun than the last party we threw, in which 20 some people had to stand because I don’t have that many chairs inside
Ethan brought the Segway, and we had a blast playing with that.
Good times, great food! Next up, Christmas Tree Decorating party!

The rest of the pictures are here.

Well, I finished my first semester at Weslyan!  I think I got 2 A’s.  Although the semester was very boring, I still think I will finish my degree.  I’m not sure, however, what my degree will be in.  Business/Econ seemed the best choice for the money, but the more I get into things, the more it appears to not necessarily be what I want.  International relations or foreign/public policy is what my adviser recommended I look into, after talking to her for a few hours about my interests and things.

Luckily I have a while to make that decision.  For the time being, I’m going to sign up for ‘Buddhist Philosophy’ and ‘Gender and Judaism’ for the next semester - both 300 level classes.  Hopefully this will be a bit more stimulating and less horrifically boring.

Our weekend in North Carolina is over, and we’re getting ready to go back to work. We had a blast, despite Mary getting sick after eating too much turkey I did manage to accomplish most of my genealogy task, and got over 136 people on my mother’s side of the family all entered. Once I get some more people on Dad’s side, I’ll throw up the first set of websites, as well as ask for more information, such as dates of birth/death, etc. My extended family is GIGANTIC!

I’ve uploaded the pictures I took here:

Flickr Set for Turkey Day!

It’s been almost 4 months since we got married, and things are FINALLY starting to settle down. We’ve finished paying off all wedding related expenses, started collecting both paychecks regularly, and begun building our savings and investments back up to where we were before getting married.

Mary has been teaching since late August, and now that the initial bulk of starting school work is finished, seems to really be enjoying herself.

I’ve become flooded with work, as a few people working for me left for better jobs (at the same time…) in the past few weeks, and we haven’t hired anyone to replace them yet.

Everyone keeps asking if we like being married…and the answer is definitely

Given that this is our first holiday being married, we have decided to take it easy, and just spend the time together.  The last few years have been filled with running around, flying around, and going nuts trying to keep 2 families happy.  Now we are officially (finally!) a family of our own, we’re only going to focus on keeping US happy this year.  I’m sure next year we’ll visit around and stuff, but for now, we’re going to stay home and celebrate the holidays as a couple.

We will be visiting the Meadley’s in North Carolina for Turkey Day, however

Well, I guess everybody thought it was bound to happen eventually - I enrolled in college.

I’ll be taking classes at Virginia Wesleyan College. My first two classes, ENG105 (College Writing) and SOC100 (Introduction to Sociology) start this week - tomorrow as a matter of fact. I’m a little nervous, but also excited about going to school again - hopefully, as an Adult Studies Student, things will be a little more interesting than in a regular class. Classes are every Tuesday, and every other Friday. With my AP scores, previous college experience, and (hopefully) CLEP exam scores, I’ll be a junior next fall, and finished within 2.5 to 3 years (depending on scheduling). I’ll be working at NPS full time for the duration, although I doubt I’ll stay after I graduate.

I’m also going to begin working on my a CCIE certification (the ‘PhD’ of networking). Everything points to it being incredibly difficult (90%+ fail rate), so I’m going to approach it over the course of the next 2 years - picking up the subordinate ‘professional’ certifications Cisco offers, to verify to myself that my knowledge is where I think it is. I hope to knock out those 4 exams, 1 per month, before the New Year. Graduating with a BS in Business Management and a CCIE should hopefully write my meal ticket, and give me the career flexibility I’m looking for (I want to travel!)

Well, I think I’m finally done tweaking this setup so that it looks nice, and has all the stuff that I want.

Soon, we’ll be adding a few entries!