To Hell, then Iowa, and back

I suppose that to appreciate good health one must meet illness every once in a while. I have met illness, and we are agreeing to disagree at this point.

After being ill for three and one half weeks, I am very happy to report that I am whole again. Thank you to everyone who sent their positive intentions and prayers, thanks to those that provided the great treatment and medical care, and thanks most of all to Briana for putting up with me during my mucus marathon. My wife is a true saint. She never once complained or kicked me while I was whining. I am a blessed man.

On the day that I began to feel human again, we jumped in the car and headed out on a 15 hour trip to Davenport, IA for the wedding of our friends Michelle and Travis. It was a lovely time. We started out by driving through the entire state of Pennsylvania (which is very beautiful by the way, fall color was in full effect), then into Ohio, Indiana (we saw Amish people riding in buggys!), Illinois, and then finally we arrived, exhausted, in Iowa for a good night's sleep. It was nice to see Travis that night. It had been 4 months since we had shared one another's company, and I really enjoyed our traditional back and forth. We stayed up late just kidding around as if no time had separated us.

The next morning, was the 20th of October. The 5th anniversary of Briana and my wedding. We had originally planned on spending the day together doing a little bit of shopping, and catching a nice lunch on the riverfront, but unfortunately Briana was not feeling well at all, so we just rested the majority of the morning and then found a vegetarian friendly Vietnamese restaurant across the border in Illinois to have our anniversary lunch. The food was ok, but the company made up for what the food lacked. Even though Briana was not feeling 100% it was nice to have some alone time with her. We have had a great life together, and I look forward to celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary together in 2051. Of course since we dated 10 years before were were married it will actually be our 65th anniversary, but by then, who is counting right? Anyway, Briana, I love you, thank you for your friendship, love, and patience these past 15 years. I am blessed to have the woman that I need, and the woman that I want in the same person. I am not sure that most people can say that with sincerity.

The evening of our wedding anniversary was filled with a wedding rehearsal, and a rehearsal dinner / celebration honoring our friend and Travis's bride to be Michelle for graduating with honors as a Chiropractor! Congratulations Michelle, all of that hard work and dedication has paid off. It will be cool to see where this life of service will take you. For what it is worth, we are very proud of you, welcome to our crazy extended family.

So on October 21, 2006 there was a wedding, and it was very nice. We were very happy to have been apart of it. If anyone has photos of the wedding, please forward them to me so that I can post them.

The next day we all departed for home, but I needed to make one stop. Chicago for some deep dish! It was so yummy, after lunch Briana and I drove around Chicago so that she could get a feel for the city. I think that she liked it. It is a very nice place, but the traffic is out of control. It took us nearly 2 hours to leave the city, so we did not get nearly as far as we had hoped before we stopped for the night in some very small town in Indiana.

The next day was filled with about 11 hours of driving through some pretty good snow. Thankfully it was not freezing on the ground, so it was melting immediately. It will be interesting to see what driving in the snow will be like in the weeks to come. It has been snowing here on and off, but nothing has stuck yet. It is getting colder by the day, so soon there will be some photos of snow to post.

So now we are back, and getting caught back up on work. The international projects are all over the charts with their progress. Just like any thing new, getting the ball rolling is the hardest part. Once momentum sets in it gets easier and easier. I am happy to be involved in the beginnings of the project. It has a real feeling of discovery that I have never felt before. It feels like the future is without limits!