braces

so i got braces on friday.

i can't recall who all i have and have not told about this possibility, but i have them now. lindsay has worked for the orthodontists for over two years now so i was able to get theme for free. my teeth don't hurt that much unless i actually, you know, touch them. eating is sometimes a challenge (fork and knife for everything) and sometimes it's not worth the hassle. but really, overall, it's a good thing and i'll only be in them 15-18 months. which means when i get them off i'll be almost 30 (and probably about to get that minivan or camry ... ).

cruise

so yeah, we took a cruise last week...

and it was a great time! it was nice to get away from it all, to just be with lindsay, to venture out and explore new worlds, and especially to relax. on that note, about halfway through i realized that you have to be very intentional about getting rest on a cruise. they feed you four meals a day and have activities planned late into the evening and you want to get up early to explore the new destination.

in nassau on tuesday and key west on thursday, we took a tour of the island to get a feel of the history, culture, people, and sights to see. on wednesday we had a wonderful day relaxing in the sun (L) and shade (scott) at the private island of coco cay. every night was a really nice dinner and a very entertaining show and there were game shows, pictures, shops, and things to do on the boat all the time.

also, on the sunday before boarding we spent an extra day in miami and ate at hard rock, took a pirate boat tour to see some famous homes, went to the miami heat (they're not very good with out dwyane wade) - charlotte bobcats (they're young and have some pretty good players at each position now) game, ate dinner at gloria estefan's cuban restaurant (bongos), and made a quick visit to south beach.

all in all a great trip! it was great to get back and see jacob - he seemed to get a month older in a week!

catchup

before we left for the cruise, i had a note to myself to write about these happenings ...

on the way home from work on october 24th, i was rear ended. it turned out to not be a big deal and i had the car back from the body shop in less than a week and the other person's insurance had already taken care of all the bills.

on october 25th, the small group that i lead served dinner for 120 at step by step ministries in lexington. all the food turned out delicious and it was a blessing to serve.

the two weeks before we left for vacation, i had to hunker down and write something like 20 pages for around 5 writing assignments. that's all in the past now and i'm just a few small writings away to only having a ~6 page paper left for each class. hopefully, i'll have all the other little stuff out of the way by thanksgiving. it's been a very smooth sailing semester!