It’s been quite a while since my last post–more than a year, in fact. I surmise that I have probably lost even those people who check back every two to three month. However, this semester I don’t have a writing class/class that focuses on writing, so I am itching to unleash my inner writer.
In the past year my entire life has changed. The biggest change of all, and the best change of all, is that I am now married to the most amazing girl I have ever met. Her name is Claire Child, and we were married on 22 December 2009 in the San Diego Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the best day of my life (to that point), and every day since has just gotten better. (She is the same girl that I went to meet in Chicago in January 2009.) I don’t think I noticed how independent and almost introverted I was before getting married, but after getting married and actually forming a solid emotional attachment has been rockin’ awesome. I wish I would have known how sweet it is to rely on someone for support, encouragement, advise, spiritual strength, lunch (I had a tendency to just ignore that part of gastronomical life), and everything else. Learning to lean on her for support has taught me so much about leaning on the Saviour for support. I thought I understood it, but not like I do now. Being married to Claire is an adventure every day, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.
The only thing I think I would change about my life is the fact that I live about 40 minutes away from my school. Based on the fact that Claire was out in Boston at MGH and I was in Provo at BYU, dating was a little tricky. For the duration of the 2008-09 school year we talked nightly on the phone and saw each other monthly, when we could fly to meet each other for a long weekend or break. Then, miraculously, I was able to get a job in a lab at MGH studying the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. I wasn’t initially too excited, but now I am absolutely fascinated. I now eat up any journal articles published on the topic (figuratively, to be sure–if it were literally it would be a thoroughly unpleasant meal, because of both taste and because one copy of a scientific journal usually costs around 70 dollars). I spent the summer working, the in the fall transferred to Boston University. I very much love BU, despite my frequent, vocal outbursts concerning how frustrating the whole transfer process is. I am in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program, and will (hopefully) graduate in May of 2011.
Anyways, the apartment Claire and I found is amazing. It is inexpensive (this is the biggest plus), large, newly-renovated, has air conditioning, hardwood floors, bay windows, off-street parking, a basement, and laundry rooms. It is also right across the street from the most incredible taco shop I’ve ever eaten at in the US. Claire, who is from San Diego, claims that it is about as close to authentic as it can get. The only downside is that it takes me about 40 minutes on the subway to get to school every day. This isn’t too terrible, considering the fact that this time has allowed me to read books or study, but 8:00 am classes can be a challenge on some days. I like being up early, but it is often pretty difficult transitioning from sleep to being active. I am learning that it is a lot easier to get up in the morning when the temperature outside is warm and the weather is nice.
Spring this year in Boston is phenomenal. I have heard from many good sources that this year is an anomaly for Boston weather. It makes sense too me, because last summer didn’t actually get warm until July (we had rain for a month and a half), and then this winter we had lots and lots of rain. I think it snowed twice, which coincidentally happened to be the exact same days my sister in law was supposed to be flying out. This was also unfortunate for the nearby nordic centers, but it made for a pretty bearable winter. I can only remember a few times when I was really cold, though I could be biased because I have a wonderful down jacket that I put to very good use. After coming back from my mission in Thailand my cold tolerance (of which I used to be very proud) has suddenly become nearly nonexistent, so I have learned how to bundle up effectively. I am very, very happy that spring is finally here.
Yesterday Claire and I went to the Boston Public Garden. If anyone is ever in Boston, and it’s not frigid outside, I highly recommend finding a good book, a bottle of Orangina, some sort of baked good, and a beach towel/rice mat and spend some time in the park. Especially now, many of the trees are in full bloom. The public garden is an incredible slice of peace in a busy city.
I intend to put up more posts more often. I know that this is how most of my thirteen journal entries from my teenage years start, but I am also now twenty-three, and have hopefully grown out of that phase. Furthermore, I am so sick of typing up lab reports this semester that I can almost feel my creativity on the brink of bursting out of the empirical ditch I’ve been in for the last three months. As usual, I still have what I consider the most excellent habit of trying to deduce meaning from simple observations, and intend to continue to write it and display it for anyone who happens to stumble across this web log (I know that that term is a little archaic, but I feel the more common term lacks a certain aesthetic quality when it’s written).
Also, in a side note, the 13-15 of April is Song Kran (aka สงกรานต์)! This is a most excellent holiday to celebrate the Thai New Year, during which everybody in the entire country participates in a big water fight for three days. Unfortunately that tradition has not passed on to Boston, or any other area of the world for that matter, so to celebrate I will be cooking Thai food every day. I highly recommend this website for succulent Thai dishes: www.realthairecipes.com.
