Dressed up with Froyo

So, 15 minutes ago, Amanda and I were at Menchie's.  Amanda was wearing a dress one of my co-workers made and gave to her, and I was wearing khakis and a polo shirt.  This isn't our normal dress code for frozen yogurt.  We were supposed to be going to a play, but they didn't have any record of tickets being held for us.  We were a little bummed, but quickly rallied and headed out for frozen yogurt instead.

And before we headed out, we took the first kissing couple photo we've taken in quite a while!  I'm clearly out of practice -- this photo has way too much of me and not nearly enough of Amanda.

Writing

I've done a small amount of writing over the years.  I've come up with a number of picture books, worked on a novel, and have written on this blog (sporadically).  But I had never really done much with them.  One time I tried sending a few of my picture book manuscripts to a publisher, but nothing came of the attempts.

In September, I decided to try something different.  I had come up with an idea for a story about a goldfish who would like to try different things but is ultimately constrained by living in a bowl and being a goldfish.  I created some basic illustrations, put the thing together, and published it on Amazon as a Kindle ebook.  A Goldfish Wish wasn't perfect -- the illustrations were simple and the layout could have been adapted for ebook a better, but I finally had one of my books available to the public!

Once I finished my MLIS classes for the semester a few weeks ago, I took another look at other things I had written.  Two years ago, I wrote a branching story for a library program.  I used it for that program, then set the story aside.  Well, I recently talked to my boss and received permission to use my creations beyond the scope of the library, and published that ebook through Amazon as well.  Alien Abduction from the Library is a fun branching story that works very well as an ebook (though it works better in the Kindle app than on the eReaders themselves).

I don't know if I'll get anything else ready before my classes resume in January, but for now, two of my books are for sale, and it's very, very neat to be able to say that!

Cancun 2014

Amanda and I just returned from my brother's wedding in Cancun.  We had our doubts, but they were quickly washed away by the sun, sand, and salt water.

While we were there, we also took a couple of kissing couple photos.

The first one was taken on the beach next to our resort.

The second one was taken by my brother in front of El Castillo at Chichen Itza.

In short, it was an incredible trip, and a welcome break from work on my master's degree.  Amanda appreciated a week off from work, too!

Starting School Again...

So I started working on my master's degree last week.  For the past few years, when I've discussed it, I've said that I'll have to do the work, but that I didn't think anything on there would be particularly difficult.

I've found that's not entirely true.  The major difference is the amount of time I have.  When I worked on my library technician diploma, I was working at a mill, and my hours were offset from my family's somewhat.  I always had a few hours at home alone to work on things.  But things are different now.  Amanda's schedule and my schedule overlap almost perfectly, so any time I spent on schoolwork is time taken away from spending with her.

I'm sure we'll get into a smooth rhythm once I get used to being in school again, but for the moment, I feel kind of bad about it.  However, nomatter how busy I am with schoolwork, there will always be some time for Mario Kart with Amanda!  (Mario Kart 8 is awesome.)

One Year

Today marks one year since the happiest day of my life -- the day I married Amanda.  The whole wedding process was incredibly stressful, but when I saw her at the end of the aisle, the stress and worry melted away, and I just had to try not to cry.

I'm a very lucky man, and I couldn't have had anyone better to share my life with.

So after supper tonight, Amanda and I took a quick photo together. The wedding clothes aren't there, but the love certainly is.

Weddings, ho!

Amanda and I attended our second wedding in a row this weekend.  This time around, it was friends getting married.  The ceremony and reception were great, and Amanda and I even had her sister volunteer to take a photo of us together!

Amanda looked amazing in her black dress, and I didn't look entirely bad either. :-)

SLP

Amanda and I are finally watching Silver Linings Playbook.  She was interested in the movie back when it was playing in theatres, but we never made it out to see it.  So I placed a hold on the library's copy and we're finally watching it tonight.  Good movie, and my full review can be expressed in five words:

Scott Pilgrim meets American Beauty.

Am Too!

See, Mom? I do update this blog!

(Photo taken at my cousin's wedding reception)

Day Four

Today marked day four.  For the past few nights, Amanda and I have been getting out and about to go for a walk for 45 minutes to an hour after supper.  It doesn't sound like much, but we really fell out of the habit over the winter and have gained weight as a result.  So, four days is a good start, and hopefully tomorrow will be day 5, Sunday day 6, and so on!

New Glasses

Amanda and I recently had our eyes tested. Mine are still fine, and hers haven't changed. But Amanda's glasses were getting old and scratched up, so it was time to order a new pair.

Here is the first official Kissing Couple photo of Amanda in her new glasses: