KITTIES, KIDS, AND A WEDDING (2005-2008)
By early 2005, Tamara had still not found a job in Ohio. However, a day after getting back home from a June visit, she found out that she would be able to transfer to the Columbus USGS office, doing exactly what she was currently doing. It was a perfect situation, and though the move wouldn't happen until December, we were very happy about it.
In October, we started looking for a house to buy. I found a real estate agent and spent an evening looking around. The very first one I looked at proved to be the best. Tamara, being so far away, had to rely on pictures and descriptions, but trusted my judgement enough to allow me to sign all the final paperwork in her name. Thankfully, she was as happy with it as I was. We closed in November, and she moved a couple weeks later.
It was fun getting adjusted to each other, and we had plenty of time to get into routines. At the end of June, we took a trip with Kelli and Dan to Greece, which was the first time I had ever been out of the country. It was an amazing place to be, and we had a villa on top of a mountain overlooking the Agean Sea. Many people had expected that I would propose to T while we were there. Sure, it would ahve been romantic, but also a bit cliched. When we got back home, I don't know if she was at all disappointed, but either way, I had it covered.
The next morning, I ran an "errand". I forget what I told T I was doing, but it was a big lie. I actually purchased a 10 week-old Siamese kitten. In the car, on the way back, I tied an engagement ring to a ribbon around her neck. When i got home, the scared little kitty start meowing a bit, so that kind of spoiled the surprise of having Tamara not know what was going on before she had the kitty in her hands. But she was still ecstatic over it, and was very happy.
But that was just the kitty. The ring had gotten lodged where she couldn't see it, and as she sat on the couch petting her new precious, I was kneeling (in proper engagement position) for over two minutes, a frozen smile on my face, trying to strike a balance between savoring the moment and just wanting her to find the damn ring before I had a heart attack. In the end, I had to point it out to her, and thankfully, got as good a reaction as the kitty did. So, we were engaged.
It had been a whirlwind seven or so months, with buying a house, Tamara moving, the trip to Greece, a brand new kitty, and a new engagement. We had set a wedding date more than a year away, so it seemed we would just go back to what we had been doing for the first part of '06. However, a mere week later, certain events happened that made it necessary for us to take Katie and Nick full-time. It was as unplanned as anything possibly could be, but we welcomed it. We had to rush to get all sorts of legal stuff done in time for school, but it eventually happened.
With this latest transition to go through, we were ready for nothing to happen for a while. Thankfully, that's what we got. The next year would be relatively calm, at least until the wedding date of October 13, 2007 drew close. The wedding was a great day for everyone, and the honeymoon that followed was the best vacation I had ever been on.
Previous : "Successes & Failures" & "New Beginnings"
|
