With eager anticipation

We wait for the day and enjoy all the ones in between. On February 21st I asked Miss Laura Christine Riches to marry me and she said yes. It has been quite the road over the last few years, but the date has been set, there is a ring on her left hand and we are both very, very happy.
The process begins of planning a wedding, turns out I have never done it before, but I am enjoying it none the less. We have a superb community of people here who have volunteered their time and resources to help us. One of them being Garrett Grove, a close friend who offered to take some engagement photos of Laura and I here in Bellingham. As you can see in addition to being a good friend, he is an exceptional photographer.

Having to move on...without wheels

I would love to say that I gave her up after a long hard fight where I tried tirelessly for hours and hours and blood sweat and tears to revive her, but it wasn't the case.
During the freeze here in Bellingham I forgot, well thought the best of my truck, that I could leave it in sub-freezing temps for over a week with little to no anti-freeze, and it would be fine. Well no. I cracked the block. So for two bills I gave it to a county guy. It was sad to see her go, so sad. With the MBA alumni, American flag and Obama sticker on the back window. It was a running contradiction. So now I have only the bike and Laura's truck... oh wait, yep her head gasket needs to be changed. No car for a while!

A few months and such

It seems like it has been an eternity since I have updated. Things have been changing for good and scary and scarier. I am still in Bellingham, I have been working the same job as a property manager during the day and by night I am a saver of the Bellingham-outskirts population as a firefighter... well not really. I pulled my first shift the other day which was uneventful. I was nervous the whole time, but we never had a call. I like it a whole heap. I like the part where I get to work on a team, that I am a part of helping people and that I get to be always active. Even at the fire hall, when there were no calls, we did pull-ups and cleaned and just chatted.

On the side I am volunteering for the YMCA. I set routes for the climbing community who flock indoors to wade out the monsoon season here. It has been a challenge, especially the part where I was asked to put up a 5.12. A level that I have only climbed a few times in my life. So my m.o. for this route is if I can barely do the move then it is 5.12.

And then there is The Hub. Oh how I love the Hub. It is the bike shop I volunteer at here. I spent five hours there this past Saturday and it felt like an hour. I was taking apart an older bike to clean and then rebuild it for the shop. They in turn will sell it at a reduced price to someone who will love it. I am learning a whole bunch about bikes this way, and I feel like I am really investing in Bellingham which I like as well. Trouble is I have had this one bike of my own for a little while now that I have been hoping to build up into a fixie, but I take up all my time doing this other bike I don't get to it.

And lastly, and most important is that I have Laura Christine Riches back in my life. Yeah, it is pretty much the sweetest part of me right now. She doesn't complete me, she hasn't made me perfect, she isn't a southern bell, but she is what I want. She is funny, kind, thoughtful, and she is good for me. We're good for each other. There is still a lot we are working through, but I don't know a couple who don't have to. Things are smoother. Nashville was great together. My little nephew and the rest of the family was an absolute joy to be around. And hats off to my sister-in-laws who are the best ones in the entire universe. Thanks Erin and Pace.