Weblog

Well, we’ve been back from the honeymoon for almost two weeks now, so it’s about time I sit down and write about recent events.

The first major event surrounding the wedding was a Vietnamese Buddhist ceremony that we had to pray for Nhu’s dad. We had it on the evening of Sunday, May 26, the day before the wedding. Unfortunately, prior events of the day (especially the rehearsal and lunch) took longer than expected, and Nhu and I were nearly late to the ceremony. We arrived only minutes before it was supposed to begin, and we were immediately whisked into our places to begin. As the ceremony was almost entirely in Vietnamese, I do not know exactly what was said, but the ceremony was to help put Nhu’s dad’s spirit at ease, and also to celebrate our upcoming marriage. I followed Nhu’s lead, bowing when needed! The two monks that were present did speak to me a bit in English, to congratulate us and wish us a happy life together.

The following day was our wedding day. Needless to say, it was extremely busy. Jim and Sarah came over to our house to take pictures of Nhu getting ready, while I was working on getting things together to take down to Arrowhead Golf Club, our wedding venue. Once Nhu had her hair and makeup done, we drove down to Arrowhead. Nhu and the girls had a bridal suite to finish getting ready, but the guys were relegated to the bathroom. After I put on my shirt and pants, though, I went out to the banquet hall so Jim could take at least some pictures of me getting ready. We then worked on putting flowers on everyone; I put my mom’s on her, and I attempted to put one on Nhu’s mom, but failed. I was then whisked away for more photos! Before I knew it, they were setting up our “first look,” where I saw Nhu in her dress for the first time. The moment was perfect, and it is something I will remember forever. We were then given golf carts, and we drove a ways down the course for more photos in a place that seemed to have been made just for the occasion. Finally, it was time to put on finishing touches and get ready for the ceremony.

I have to say, we chose our officiant very, very well. His name is Keith Horstman, and I cannot say enough good things about him and the ceremony he put together for us. It was exactly what we wanted: a blend of east and west, with just enough humor to keep everyone involved, and a touch of the story of our relationship. By the end, Nhu was not the only one holding back tears.

After the ceremony, there was time for more photos with the family while the rest of the guests enjoyed cocktail hour. Soon, though, it was time for us to be introduced at the reception. Thankfully, Nhu and I had ample time to enjoy appetizers and dinner before the speeches began. Nhu’s mom, my mom, Matthew and Jessica all spoke, and I closed. Everyone did a truly fantastic job on their speeches; they were all very powerful and reminded me how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life. From there, cake was cut, and dancing began. Nhu tossed her bouquet, which was caught by Tracy, a good friend of mine from college. I was then called over to remove the garter belt, but little did I know that a surprise was in store for me. I was blindfolded, and presented with a leg. I knew almost immediately that it was not Nhu’s leg though, as it was far too prickly. The jig was up, my blindfold was removed, and before me sat Jimmy, Nhu’s cousin, whom I had apparently been feeling up, with not a garter belt to be found. After the laughter subsided, I went to work and obtained the garter belt from the proper leg. My first toss failed miserably, but on the second attempt, my brother Taylor caught it. After that, there was much more dancing and celebrating. The evening eventually wound down, though we did not leave until nearly midnight, and did not get home until nearly one o’clock.

Our wedding was nothing short of spectacular.

Nhu and I recently returned from a cruise to Alaska on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Before the cruise, though, we spent a few days in the Seattle area, including two days at Mount Rainier. Afterward, we boarded the ship in downtown Seattle, and arrived in Juneau two days later where we spent the afternoon docked. My main goal in Juneau was to see the Mendenhall Glacier from Brotherhood Park, a spot that frequently appears on many postcards. Unfortunately, a fatal motorcycle accident occurred just as we were supposed to be boarding the city bus which was supposed to take us there. Because Juneau has only one main road to the Mendenhall Valley, not only was our bus very late, but it took us two and a half hours to go the ten miles. We did get to the spot eventually, but we were unable to go up to the glacier as planned. Instead, I took pictures quickly, and we got on the last express bus going back to town. We then had just a short time in downtown Juneau before we had to board the boat again.

Very early the next morning, we arrived in Skagway. This small blip on the map boasts less than a thousand permanent residents, and a stunning fifty two jewelry stores. Apparently the cruise ships have done wonders in shaping the local economy. Here we had an excursion scheduled: a Jeep tour up into the Yukon Territory. After thirty five people crammed into nine Jeeps, we were on our way. We drove up the beautiful, breathtaking Klondike highway, stopping three times for photos, plus a fourth for Canadian customs. I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't get to stop more often though, as the scenery was definitely picturesque. After an hour or so, we eventually reached the sleepy town of Carcross, much smaller even than Skagway with a population of fifty three. Here we had coffee and lunch, and then went up into the mountains for our brief off-road adventure. One of the Jeeps got a flat, but changing the tire took only a few minutes. After making our way back down the mountainside, we rushed back to Skagway, though I suspect the only rush was for the company to pick up a second load of tourists before the ships left that evening.

The following day was spent cruising around the breathtaking Glacier Bay National Park. The ship got fairly close to a few of the glaciers there, and we did see some (very) distant orcas and humpbacks. Later that night though, during a beautiful sunset, an entire pod of humpbacks got much closer to the ship. Nhu was ecstatic, as she had never seen whales before, and wanted the chance to spot them on the trip.

The morning after that, we arrived in Ketchikan. Unfortunately, the entire area was covered in a very, very thick layer of fog, which meant that our scheduled seaplane ride over the Misty Fjords was canceled. Luckily, there were a few spots left on the local boat-based tour, and we jumped on that instead. At first it looked like the fog would not clear at all, but our guide assured us that it would, and indeed it finally did clear up, just in time to see New Eddystone Rock, the iconic rock formation of the park. A few hours later, we were back in Ketchikan, but with even less time than we had in downtown Juneau. We rushed down the streets in an attempt to see as much as we could; we even had time to buy some very tasty smoked salmon before heading back to the boat.

The following evening, we arrived in Victoria, our final port, only to find that our whale watching excursion was also canceled, though I could not say why. It was cloudy, but certainly not foggy; I would have thought it the perfect weather to spot Orcas. Anyway, instead of whale watching, we visited downtown Victoria. We considered going up to Butchart Gardens, but we arrived in Victoria fairly late and I did not think we would have enough time for the trek to be worth it. After some brief exploration, we went back to the boat and headed for Seattle.

The ship itself, the Norwegian Pearl, is really a beautiful boat. It is large enough that we felt no movement at all except for the brief period that we were on open ocean. The staff was very friendly, and the food ranged from excellent to barely passable. The free (or rather, included) buffet was generally decent, and had a very good breakfast. The other included restaurants onboard were also quite good. Interestingly, most of the premium (i.e., cover charge) restaurants we tried, such as Brazilian and Shabu Shabu, were not as good. The exception to this was the French restaurant, which was truly spectacular; I wish we would have eaten there twice.

Overall, the cruise was fun, and I am very glad that I did it, but I don't think I'll be going on another one any time soon. I like planning my own vacations, and I'd rather not be stuck with a ship schedule. The port we spent the most time in, Skagway, was also the least interesting; I would have loved to spend more time in Ketchikan and Juneau. Still, the cruise was probably the cheapest way to see everything that we did, even if I didn't get to see as much as I wanted.

So much has changed since I last posted, I don't even know where to begin. First and foremost, I am now engaged! At the end of May, the 26th to be exact, I asked Nhu Nguyen to marry me. We were in Tucson for the week, as she signed up for a biology field study class there. While she was exploring Saguaro National Park with her classmates, I worked from the hotel. I spent most of my time inside the room, as it was a very warm 105 degrees for most of the week. Thankfully, it cooled down considerably for the weekend, reaching only the low 90s. On Saturday, we drove up to Phoenix to visit friends and relatives. We first met up with Tracy, a friend of mine from college who has lived in Phoenix since graduation. After some good Thai food, I introduced Tracy to the delectable Frost Gelato, a chain in Tucson and Phoenix which serves the best gelato I have ever had outside of Italy. After saying goodbye to Tracy, Nhu and I went to visit Nhu's aunt and cousins, who also live in the Phoenix area. I told them that we had to leave at five o'clock, though, because I had somewhere in Tucson to take Nhu for sunset. They told us to check out out Hole-in-the-Rock instead so we could stay longer, but ultimately we decided too much hiking would be involved. So, Nhu and I left for Grant's Pass soon thereafter. Of course, once we got there, we found out that the sun was far enough north that we did have to hike just a bit to be able to see the sun go down, so I helped Nhu along the trail, since she was in sandles. A few minutes later, we found a good spot to sit, and I began, of course, to take some pictures. While doing this, though, I dug the engagement ring out of my camera bag, and gave it to Nhu. The look on her face was priceless. I asked her, "so, is that a yes?" to which she responded, "yes to what?" I then said, "will you marry me?" And the answer was yes!

Another recent change in my life has been my departure from IBM. My last day there was the 30th of May. I am now working at a much smaller consulting company called Neudesic, a small tehnical consulting firm that focuses on software development using Microsoft technologies. This change should see me near home much more often, which has its pluses and minuses. I still have a passion for visiting (and photographing) new places, but I do like the idea of going where I want to go. Most importantly, though, I will be able to spend more time with my fiancée! So far the new job is enjoyable. My first project is using the latest and greatest from Microsoft: ASP.NET MVC 3, with Razor views. Unfortunately, my first project is all the way down in Centennial, which means I have a rather colossal drive. I was told that it is the exception to the rule, though, as most projects allow much more remote work, so we'll see. I do have high hopes for my role at Neudesic!