Nelson's Happy place

Thursday, May 13, 2010

MAYhem- The month of many firsts

Hello! Yeah, this is me. I have returned to this post to post another episode of my doings...

May, especially the first half, has been quite busy for me this year! Used to the more quiet life, more laid-back style, I have been finding myself doing things I've never done before in my life! I've been stretching and growing in my life, which is a good thing, but it can be almost painful at times, if you know what I mean.


To kick things off, on May 1st, I caught my first ever plane to Jacksonville, Florida, to catch my first ever boat for a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas! WOW! I think someone may be putting me up to this, cuz I've never done anything like this before! :-) She's awesome, I know! She's shown this Amish boy so many things it's not even funny! She dares to be different and different is good. It keeps things from being the same old same old. Sometimes I feel like an inflatable doll and she's the air I breathe.


The plane ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, to be honest, though there were a few moments I wasn't too crazy about. We did get there, which I was proud of, and we were immediately shuttled, by bus, to the boat. That was awesome too! We were on the Carnival Fascination for 5 days, getting off at Half Moon Cay and it's nice blue waters, then again in Nassau, going across the bridge to The Lost City of Atlantis. What an experience! I know that I may never ever in my life go there again, but to be able to say that I have is just so incredible! The pictures I've posted on Facebook don't do it ANY justice at all. You might as well not even look at them. I look at some of them now and wonder why I even took the picture. It's that far removed from what it really looks and feels like in person. But I AM proud to be able to say that those pictures that look like postcards were taken with MY camera! The best parts of the whole thing will always be in my memory, shared only with the one that I love!

I tried for the most part to stay out of my own way and just let myself enjoy the moment, the experience, and I did have a really good time. I think that if or when we go again, we'll know what to expect and may be able to get more out of it. But I still miss E17. The best part of the whole experience is that we made a lot of memories together. Not just regular, ordinary memories, but we shared something special, someplace far away. We have inside references, or jokes if you will, that we can bring up and we know what we're talking about, but nobody else has a clue! Like "Shake it!" or "Clint Estwood".


But all good things must come to an end- otherwise you'd have too much too much of a good thing- and we had to get off the boat. By the time our floor was called to disembark, there was cargo being loaded up, getting ready for the next load of people to hit the open seas again! That boat doesn't get any rest at all!

The second flight I ever took I got through as well, obviously, as I am here to write about it now, but it didn't help any to get me warmed up toward a third. The guy next to me said that that was the smoothest ride you can ask for- one of the best he's been on. I wouldn't have wanted it a bit rougher than it was!!! I was SO relieved when we finally touched down in Philly! ( the only touchdown I care for Philly to ever have, actually)

After that came our wedding. We had one day in between to get rested up, get ready and do whatever else we had to do. Good thing for us, we had some wonderful people here to get the place ready for the occasion while we were still on the water. I don't want to think about where we'd be without those awesome people in our lives.

The wedding was GREAT! We wanted a small wedding, which it was. We could have done without the wind. I thank everyone that was there for coming, and I apologize if I didn't invite you. Realize, it was MAYhem. At the wedding, my girlfriend ran off with her boyfriend, so I walked my wife back to the reception and we took our seat at the head table. I don't do crowds very well at all, but I surprised myself at how good I handled the ceremony. It helped that it was only her and I up there, alone in our own little world. I repeated those vows, and I meant them. I didn't rush into marriage because its not something to be taken lightly. I've seen so many people say they will and then later decide they won't. Thats not me. There HAS to be something left in this world worth saving, sacred enough to hang onto, and this should be it. I will never be alone again- neither will she. I will always have someone to talk to, to cry to, to laugh with and love with all my heart. And I will be right here for her to have the same things. She deserves all of these things and so much more, and I have the honor of being the one that is able to try and bring it to her. I will do my best to do just that.

I didn't know exactly what I was supposed to be doing, so it just kinda happened, you know.After the ceremony I just found myself talking to different people and doing different things- I guess there really is no wrong way? The people started leaving after a while, and then the party ended up indoors. We had a good time. I remember doing my part in helping to empty the keg- there were 6 gallons left in that thing the next morning! Some people spent the night because they were just having too much fun for them to leave!

The last of the MAYhem events was the very next weekend when my new wife took me to the races for my birthday! I am now 36 years OLD! It had been a long time since I'd gone to one, and she'd never been to one, so it was exciting, for me anyway. She isn't a real diehard fan to begin with, and I wasn't sure if the live experience would make it or break it for her. The friday night before the race we even went to Trackside Live and saw my favorite driver up close and personal! It was great! It was an awesome birthday present, even though my driver had trouble and had a pretty bad finish.

After the race, not only did I have THAT sunburn to deal with, I still had the Bahama Burn to take care of!



That was the first half the month- MAYhem. The rest of the month we needed to slow things back down and get back to normal. That included things at work that had gotten away from us while we were gone, and the normal newly married stuff that had to be done. I am glad that May is over with, despite all the grand old times we had. We're boring people, we say, and it is time to let the dust settle and let us get on with our lives!!



Hopefully in the month to come I can get back to my blog and get something regular going with my poems and such. Who knows, maybe we're not that boring a people after all and there'll be stuff to tell you about as well!



Until then, thats all for now!

See ya later, folks!