Married!!!

This is just a record of the best day of my life! (Because, I obviously didn't have time to post this around the wedding).

Loving life.

Birthday with my fiance!

The picture says it all.

Here in Austin (the Capitol of Texas). With my fiance. On SEGWAYS!!!! What more could I ask for? 2012 is shaping up to be one of the best years of my life.

For those of you that know me, ever since I saw the TV series "Beyond 2000" which depicted people on a Segway, I've always wanted to ride one. Then, I came to Austin and companies do tours where weird touristy people ride around downtown and look at buildings or places where historical things happened on Segways. Well, my fiance finally took me on one of these tours! It was good times.

Apart from a few other gifts (she's just the best), today was an awesome birthday. I'm so lucky to be marrying one of the most thoughtful girls around.

Figuring it out.

AUSTIN, Texas - After the news of our engagement broke, one of our friends in the ward said, "I'm just so happy when there's a success story--when two people finally figure it out."

Ha. So, what does figuring it out mean? Well, I think that really depends on who you ask.

When Katie and I met, I just knew. I knew that she was special. I knew that I wanted to (at the very least) take her on the best date of her life. I wanted to woo her. Ha. I also felt like she maybe felt a little bit of the same way (although, she might tell you otherwise...but that's her story to tell). I'd like to think that maybe that's what 'love at first sight' means to some people. In our case, that's what it meant to me.

Am I getting too soppy? I don't really care. At this point, I feel like I finally figured it out and I'm excited for all the good times (and some not-so-good times) that lay ahead.

The part in-between meeting Katie and getting engaged--when we 'figured it out'--has been great. I can't point to a moment when I haven't felt very blessed and then amazed at how much of a 'match' we are. How easily our relationship has progressed. How wonderful Katie is. How she smiles. How she makes me feel. And, how fun it is to talk so freely about...stuff. It's really awesome.

Don't get me wrong, we have some differences. For instance, Katie doesn't like seafood; and I grew up being told off for eating too much seafood or eating seafood at inappropriate times. I'm also not a huge fan of country music; Katie could probably listen to country music hits all day and not want to barf at the end of it. Differences are good. They give us something to laugh about. Maybe a little bit of competition for who'll be able to influence our family the most. I'm going to trick my kids into loving seafood. (e.g. "Oh, you don't want to eat this fish, son. Only cool people eat fish." Or something like that. :)

Moral of the story: Yes, we figured it out. Now we get to stand under arches in random public gardens to get our picture taken. (See photo above - Courtesy of Jon Johnson 2012).

This is real life.

AUSTIN, Texas - The past few weeks have been surreal (a bit of a blur, really); because, I can finally feel my life coming into focus a little. I'm in love. And, if you take one look at another social networking website (which shall remain unnamed), you'll know why this picture is significant.

That's right. This is Katie and she is now my fiance. Cute (I know). Awesome (I know). Finally (Tell me about it!). To save some of the questions later on and to make sure I have some sort of coherent record to point folks to, here is the summary of how we met from my point of view:

Katie moved to Austin, TX a few months ago from Boston, MA. She had visited Austin previously and, although she felt like she should be here, Katie wasn't too excited to start anew in the Lone Star State. She had a bunch of friends in Boston that she was leaving behind and no immediate job to begin once she arrived. However in true Katie style, she followed the promptings she received, packed up her stuff, and road tripped down to Texas with a good friend. 

While attending church on that first Sunday in Austin, Katie and her friend overheard me giving some sort of announcement from the pulpit. Katie was almost hooked. Ha! Although, it wasn't until the next day that we actually met.  

As luck would have it, Katie and I also attend the same gym here in Austin. She spotted me working out in the morning (That's right) and then introduced herself to me at a church function that Monday evening. That's when I was hooked. Ha ha. How could I not be? She said that she noticed me at the gym (man translation: "I liked what I saw at the gym this morning"), she wanted to say Hi or something (man translation: "I could be interested in going on a date with you"), and, she is beautiful (man thought: "get her number immediately, you fool"). 

Pretty great, right? And that's just the beginning of the story, my friends. It's getting late, so, I should probably save the rest of the story for another post.

Summer times.

JACKSON, Wyoming - Sometimes pictures speak a thousand words. I think that these do a pretty good job. Fourth of July this year was awesome. Thanks for having me, Thornton Family.

River rafting along the Snake River

Probably the best picture of the trip (I wish they captured shots just after this)

The case of the missing blogger

AUSTIN - Periodically, I look back at my blog and sigh. I really should be a lot better. I can list off all the reasons why I've been absent from this page, but I think you all understand that 'sometimes life gets in the way.' That's ok, I guess.

Last night, I wrote in my journal after a long time too. As I recounted the experiences I've had over the last 2 and 1/2 months, I realized that I've an awesome few months. The highlights included heading out to a company leadership conference in Albuquerque, GOING ON A CRUISE (Royal Carribean to Mexico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands), saw my first Broadway play in Austin (Wicked) and traveled to a few other awesome places.

Coming up, I'm heading to Costa Rica, back to Shanghai, out to Philadelphia and Boston. I'm excited for all my little trips--some work, some fun. Look on Facebook for photo updates.

Road-tripping

CORPUS CHRISTI - As I type, I'm sitting in a condo with some friends after road-tripping down from Austin. It was a nice little trip filled with laughs, food, and driving skill mockery. Ha ha. I was driving. It's fine.

Anyway, I'm excited to be chilling for the next couple of days. We'll be partying on the beach, kayaking, playing games and just having the time of our lives.

Life is good.

P.S. Happy New Year to you all!

Facebook Timeline

AUSTIN - So, I've decided to make the switch over to Facebook Timeline (it's where your profile appears as a timeline of events instead of the current format) and it has been fascinating. I literally cannot help but watch old videos and look at old pictures from years gone by.

A few notes:

• I've done heaps of things in America.
• The things that I've done have made me pretty happy.
• I can tell by the pictures and videos.
• In 2011, I had the most birthday wishes on Facebook of any prior year.
• I can't complain about the life I've lived.
• Also, I've got some great friends!

Ok, love you bye.

The Home Office

AUSTIN - A document was signed a few months ago that dramatically changed my work environment for the immediate future. What was it? Well, it was a contract that gifted my office to a customer here in Austin after they agreed to work closer with my company. This means I now work from home.

Working from home is not all that bad. I don't have the hour to hour-and-a-half commute everyday. I also don't have to get dressed up everyday.

That's the beginning of the end right there.

I used to get up religiously and go to the gym at 6.30a.m. Now, I roll out of bed and start answering emails or frantically setting up for meetings (read as "conference calls")--the gym happens around lunchtime.

I used to shave pretty much everyday. Now, you're lucky if that happens once or twice a week.

I used to shower everyday. Now, I still shower everyday--just later than usual.

Here's what I'm going to commit to do in the New Year:

Get into a schedule and stick to it.

I think that will help solve my Home Office woes. If you can really call them that.