I've Left The Nest!

Ten days ago was arguably the best day of my life.  I married my best friend.  My lovely wife, whom I proposed to last August was escorted down the aisle and the Rite of Marriage began.  I'm unable to recall the last time I was more absorbed by the moment.  At the moment my wife Jessica and I spoke our vows to each other we became married.

From the Catholic perspective, the Rite of Marriage is performed by the couple being married.  The Priest acts as the legal witness in the name of the Church and our Maid of Honor and Best Man act as the legal witness to the state.  Both certify in no uncertain terms that, yes, these two are married and have chosen to do so freely and with full knowledge of the responsibility they are undertaking.

A couple moments that will always remain in my memory are the moment during which I made my vows to my wife.  The second moment which will always be cherished will be my first dance as a husband.  Such moments you can't just put into words.

A big thank you to the Priest who gave us Marriage Instruction, our wedding planner who helped us navigate and plan the big day, and our parents for supporting us.  A big thank you as well to our wedding party as you all have been with us through everything and live up to what it means to be true friends.

Of course, I'd like to thank also our guests.  Those friends and family who've known us through the years at various stages of our lives who eagerly came together on our wedding day to show us love and support.

To everyone, a huge thank you!

New Hobbies & New Happenings In Life

Okay, so yes, it's been a while.  Sometimes the distractions of life come and go and I forget to blog.  But what're you going to do right?  This would be a case where perhaps the hashtag "lifeproblems" would probably fit, but alas I haven't sunk that low yet.  I'm still maintaining my stance on keeping hashtags where they belong: on Twitter.  But I digress.

The last year of my life has been a busy one.  I moved to central Illinois to get a fresh start on life.  Leaving the northern Illinois area - which had been my home for some time - was bittersweet, because of the many fond memories I have both on and off campus and the many good friends I had the privilege of meeting, and still keep in contact with.  However, the move to central Illinois proved an important role in shaping my near future.  I quickly became in a position to grow a wonderful friendship with a woman who I will be marrying this summer, and have had a lot of time to think critically on what I need to do to take some steps in my life toward being the man I want to be.

Along the way my regular reading of the Art of Manliness and listening to their podcasts have filled me with inspiration to begin taking inventory of my hobbies and interests, something I recommend everyone to do periodically.  I highly recommend both the AoM website and the podcasts (they also have an app!).  Keeping up with the Art of Manliness has brought attention to the fact that I'd like to look at and possibly pursue a hobby - thanks to their article The Ultimate List of Hobbies for Men: 75+ Ideas For Your Free Time.  Very good stuff in the article!

So that was long-winded, many apologies!  But really, I very highly recommend checking out the Art of Manliness.

I've decided that in the near future - after I've taken care of a few things in the coming months - to take up computer programming as a hobby.  Ever since my first programming course in C++ I've acquired a taste for programming, or rather a reawakening.  My first brush with programming came in seventh or eighth grade teaching myself HTML, and since then programming has always sort of been a side thing I turn to once in a while.

Another hobby I've recently been more involved in is being a Google Local Guide.

As I've progressed through the levels of the Local Guide, I've found a taste for rating and reviewing places I've been.  And there are rewards along the way.

Ultimately my contributions give me an outlet for helping people know where to go for things like that perfect sandwich or cup of coffee, or even reviewing places like book stores and other businesses.

Well, that's sort of a digest of things and latest happenings.  I'm looking forward to what the rest of 2017 has in store, and hope that so far everyone is enjoying the start of the year.  As always feel free to follow me on Twitter @noherp2012.