Back to Reality

I would like to say “hello” as I am back from what ended up being a few week long celebration for my wedding. I was married here on Feb 12th in the City of Rochester at Chapel Hill on Prince Street with a reception at the Convention Center. Both locations I would recommend to anyone looking to keep their festivities local which was a goal of my wife and me. Actually, we hoped for and were able to have a wonderful wedding all within the city limits!

My wife and I along with my Father, Mother and Stepfather left Feb 15th for Thailand to celebrate in a traditional ceremony on Feb 20th. Completely different but equally amazing was the celebration there. I was excited and proud to have taken part in the traditional Thai ceremony and was thankful to my new father and mother in law for walking me through what I needed to do. In true Thai fashion the “rehearsal” took place moments before the event began.
Thailand is full of amazing food, culture, people, food, animals, food, weather, and did I mention food. It blows me away how much I ate and gained not a pound! Yay for that! We took in much of what Bangkok has to offer in the lines of shopping, temples, dining, and more shopping. My wife and I also took a three night trip to Chiang Mai in the Northern part of Thailand. Chiang Mai is a much smaller city than Bangkok but equally as exciting. We visited temples, watched a snake show, monkey show, cuddled with tigers, explored the highest point in Thailand, and visited with the Karen Tribe in the mountains and drank some of the home grown coffee. We also took and elephant ride, river raft journey, ate more food and stopped by one of the King’s projects turning what was once a large opium growing district into now fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The King has over 3,000 projects that he has helped to create all of which are making Thailand a better place than when he took the throne decades ago.

We then returned to Bangkok to spend some more quality time with her family which never lasts long enough before returning to Rochester this past Sunday.

Needless to say we could almost stand for taking a few days off after all of this. I was bummed to return to reality but happy to get back home. Any and every time I leave the country I am always surprised what it feels like to return. There is part of me that wants to stay where it is warm and sunny all day, exotic flowers are growing all year, shorts and flip flops are ok anywhere you go, you get the drift.

But here I am, a married man, new job, fresh off of some wonderful time spent cultivating relationships with my new family members, and excited about what this year has to offer. I am happy to be back!