A much-needed update

Almost a month since my last post? Yikes, I've been a bad, bad blogger, and I'm sorry. Greg and I have had a very busy June on the job, social, baseball and wedding planning fronts! I'll expand on those later as I get pictures uploaded and posts brainstormed.

 We are le tired.

(Photo by Greg's brother, Grant)

But I can't leave you hanging just like that, so I will say that regarding all things wedding: (1) We set a date for next June, (2) we put money down on a venue, and (3) we decided on a photographer!

A very big clue for No. 2 can be found here (video — clean version, of course) or here (if you prefer to read).

As for No. 3, we're heading out soon to hang out in San Diego, catch a Dodgers game in L.A. — and meet with our fab photographer. :) Squee!

Despite having three big details decided, there's much more in store for this wedding bonanza...

Sharon has a favorite baseball team

When Sharon was in high school, one of the moms gave her group of friends tickets behind the dugout to a Giants game. The girls, generally apathetic to baseball, spent the afternoon tanning and reading magazines.

Fast-forward to last night. We grabbed dinner at Fuddruckers in Chinatown. Sharon was shaking with anticipation, encouraging me to eat as quickly as possible.

"OMG! THERE'S GONNA BE PIEROGIES! AND TEDDY! AND CLIPPY! AND STRASSY! AND MATTY! (our friend)"

To which I wryly replied, "You don't have to pretend to like baseball for my sake."

You see, last night was Stephen Strasburg's major league debut. He's the most hyped pitcher I've ever seen. He struck out 14 batters, a Nationals record. The little scoreboard that tracks the K's ran out of room and just had a little button that said "plus 12 more." I've never been to a game where the whole crowd stands up every time there are two strikes, or where "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is completely drowned out by people chanting the pitcher's name.

These days, Sharon sometimes watches the Nats when I'm not home. Or pleads for us to go to the game on the weekend. Every time we go, she insists we take a picture with Teddy (there's even a picture on this blog of Little Teddy rockin' the ring). She runs up to the railing to cheer on the racing presidents in the middle of the fourth.

The other day, I said, "You know, Sharon, you actually have a favorite baseball team now." She thought about it for a moment, and then said I was right.

She's come a long way. It's nice to share an activity that we both genuinely enjoy (though I'm less in it for the mascots and hot relief pitchers).

Baseball has one final element in our lives. Often, Sharon will ask me to put on the radio broadcast of a West Coast baseball game when she heads to bed. She's always asleep within the inning.

Everyone's growing up!

My apologies for the blog delay; you know how life gets in the way sometimes? Being a grownup with all the work, appointments, apartment cleaning, phone dates and exercise is hard work!

Not to mention all the other big life changes going on. I've known people from my high school years who did the wedding thing and baby stuff way before me, but the social norm seems to be that the mid-20s to early 30s is when things all start happening fast.

One Weddingbee blogger's fridge — full of save-the-date magnets! (source)

I see wedding photos of college acquaintances getting posted on Facebook every couple of months. A few people from my old job in Arizona have gotten married with another recently engaged. Many of my journalism pals have shuffled around to new jobs, with one from Arizona just this week taking a job at The Boston Globe, where our friend from college is covering sports! (Zuri also recently blogged about the "how I got here and where I'm going" conundrum that Greg and I are facing.)

After being dorks and finishing college early, we were all about the "careers first" route, which took us through the ups and downs of journalism, him into the challenge of grad school, and me through the hecticness of unemployment, job searching and moving across the country.

Now with the end of grad school and his current job only months away, it gets us thinking about what should be next. Do we change the focus and move, perhaps closer to our families and old pals? Do we stick around in a city with tons of jobs, gaining more years of experience? Do we "take a break" and travel to Ghana? (That last one was a serious option in college!)

We have spent many late nights pondering our next steps in life, and the wedding is a definite consideration. We don't want the stress of moving/finding a job/settling in a new town in addition to finishing the planning and having deposits and expenses dent our bank accounts.

Personally, all I really know now is that if we want to shake things up, we might as well do it at this age before we become "makers of tiny humans"** or bogged down with a mortgage.

For those who have jumped over this life hurdle, do you have any advice? And is anyone else in the same boat?


** Brownie points if you know which recent TV show's finale that phrase is from! ;)