A Hurricane?

Just a quick note, since I’m on my honeymoon: There’s a hurricane on its way through Florida. That’s not something we expected to deal with during our time here, but I think we’re in a reasonably safe spot. It messes with a few of our plans, but we’ll certainly be together for whatever happens.

Thoughts From the Aftermath

Erin and I got married on Saturday, September 17. It’s been a few days, and we haven’t yet gotten used to calling each other husband and wife. They still sound like overly adult terms.

It’s a funny feeling. There’s so much building up to just a few moments in a day when you move from engaged to married. Then everything is over, you enjoy a party with friends and family, then that is over too. You’re left with a scattershot of memories from a whirlwind of an evening, and a lifelong partner. It’s a lot to take in.

We’re thrilled with how everything went, with how the weather cooperated, the people we got to celebrate with. We’ve cleaned up the area, and are preparing for our honeymoon. Maybe by the time that is over we’ll feel more comfortable with our new titles for each other.

Back to The MN State Fair

I haven’t been to the Minnesota State Fair since 2017, just prior to my senior year of college. Since then, my travels home haven’t aligned with the event, so I’ve missed out on the fun and festivities I was lucky enough to enjoy for so many years.

Finally, with Erin and I being back for our wedding, we were able to return. We only spent about 4.5 hours there, but we enjoyed an abbreviated version of the fair trips we looked forward to each year of college. It was genuinely exciting to go back, to have the familiarity of the sights and sounds and smells, and spent quality time together in the unique atmosphere the fair provides.

And for the record, I ate:

  • A strawberry nutella crepe
  • Most of a cone of Sweet Martha’s cookies
  • An elk burger with a side of fries
  • A Pronto Pup
  • A pork chop on a stick

Buncha Crunch Revival

In sixth grade my mom took me to our local Hollywood Video so I could rent Fellowship of the Rings. I had started reading the trilogy, and wanted to watch each movie as I finished the corresponding book. Shockingly, my mom acquiesced — I’m guessing she wasn’t wholly familiar with its contents.

More importantly, I saw a box of Buncha Crunch on the shelf.

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SEL

The tutoring organization I work with, Step Up, has focused heavily on the social and emotional learning (SEL) of the students in their program. To some extent, this is an expectation of any tutor who is also meant to be a role model. Just as with Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the goal is to improve the student’s outcomes in as many ways as we can; unsurprisingly, helping the student feel better about themselves and their place in the world can be a huge factor in their future success.

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