Back to School

Near the end of last year, I was thinking about the future, including my current job, where Leah and I live, and our desire for children. As I was contemplating where I want us to be as a family, I realized that my current job at my current salary would not be enough to meet our goals. Rather than look for a job at a new company, I felt prompted to look into graduate school. After talking with Leah about my plan -- of which she's very supportive -- I started making plans.

First, I spoke with my boss, Magda, about my decision to attend school. She was instantly very supportive and provided some important guidance: I told her that I planned to get an MBA since that's the degree that most managers have, and she recommend that I pursue something more relevant to my career. As she explained, if someone is qualified to be a manager, not having an MBA won't hold them back.

Second, I looked at what nearby universities had to offer in the field of communications. I decided that I wanted to choose a program that was entirely online so that my studies would be more flexible around my schedule, but I still wanted to have the option to walk when I graduated -- I never walked at OSU when I finished my Bachelor’s degree, but with something as significant as a master’s degree, I wanted to still have the option. Plus, I remember when my dad walked when he finished his master’s and I like the idea of doing the same for my future children.

After researching different schools and the degrees they offer, I decided to attend Loyola University Maryland (located in downtown Baltimore) and pursue an MA in Emerging Media. While the program description is somewhat vague, the basic gist is that the degree delves into different forms of so-called "new media" like social media with a strong emphasis in writing. With my career as a technical writer, the writing emphasis is a good fit, and since I'm working in marketing, a better understanding of new forms of media will be very beneficial.

After deciding on the degree program the weekend before Thanksgiving, I had to scramble to complete the necessary requirements for the application by the December 1 deadline. I wrote the essay (with help from academic advisor, my dad, and my coworker Chelsea), collected two letters of recommendation (from the head of PR at Danfoss and a professor I had at OSU who, after my father, is probably the biggest influence on my writing), and filled out multiple forms. A week later, I received an email notifying me that I was accepted into the program.

Class starts a week from today and I'm excited, but also nervous. I haven't attended school while working fulltime before, plus Leah and I are hoping to get pregnant soon, so with my already hectic life, I'm taking on even more. Even so, I'm confident that this is the right choice for me, for Leah, and for the rest of our family when they join us. Wish me luck!

Wedding Party

After being sealed together at the Washington, DC Temple, Leah and I headed back up to Harford County for the wedding reception. When we arrived, preparations were still being made, though the majority had been done on the days leading up. What was left was mostly related to food. We had a relatively simple meal of baked ham, baked potatoes, and green beans, helpfully prepared by people of Debbie's ward.

Leah's younger brother Ryan and his wife Dana preparing food in the kitchen

Look at that spread!

We also had lots and lots of sugar. We had a hot chocolate bar (which used a cocoa mix that I made myself) with oodles of toppings and a chocolate fountain with lots dipping choices. We got lots of compliments on both features, though the biggest compliments were from our young nieces and nephews who, towards the end, were running around with chocolate smeared on their faces, resembling hyperactive Dickensian orphans.

Sherlin provided all of the calligraphy work 

A dream come true

Since we knew we’d be hungry, we scheduled dinner first, which was served buffet style (we already recruited cooks, I can't imagine recruiting servers). After some time to eat and visit, speeches were given by the Matron of Honor, Rachel, and the Best Man, Isaac. Rachel, one of two of Leah's best friends, gave a sweet speech about how she sees how happy I make Leah. Isaac’s speech was about how salt is a seasoning that brings out the best flavors in a dish and how Leah is the salt in my life. Both Leah and I were touched by their heartfelt words.

Raise your mugs in a toast!

Rachel mentioned that I made her a pie for her birthday, which helped win her over

I admit to being a little confused at the beginning of Isaac's speech at first, but he really brought it all together at the end

Next, came our first dance. We had a little trouble picking a song, largely because Leah and I have different musical preferences, but we settled on "All of Me" by John Legend—I liked it because it has a traditional jazz feel and she liked it because the lyrics are sweetly romantic. As we danced, we talked and made each other smile and even laugh, which is kind of perfect for us.

Looks like we caught Leah mid-giggle

After our first dance, the floor was opened for everyone to dance. (I may post our song list later, but one song that’s proven to be Leah’s "get-up-and-go" song, was featured early on.) We didn’t get a chance to do any more dancing because we were pulled away for more pictures.

 We are full of sugar, so we must dance!

Sugar highs lead to sugar crashes

Leah's oldest brother, Rob, had to leave the temple early and wasn't there when we exited, thus he missed the family pictures. Since he was at the reception, we decided to try again and gathered in the Relief Society room. Being in a heated building made pictures much easier than the chilly winds outside the temple, so everyone loosened up and had fun.

The newest member of the Grabowski family 

It's nice to have the support of my wife's family

After pictures and a little crowd work, we cut our wedding cake that Sherlin had very kindly prepared for us. Leah had warned me ahead of time not to smash the cake in my face, which I wasn't planning on anyway: smashing the cake in the bride or groom's face is only funny if it's unexpected, but people have been doing it for a long time, so it's no longer unexpected and thus not funny. The tiers that were sliced up were lemon-raspberry and funfetti with sprinkles of our colors of purple and silver, but the way they melted made the cake look like it was blueberry-flavored. Regardless, it was quite tasty.

The youngest guest, Emma, with the eldest guest, Grandma Bonnie

We even found a way to include Pinto!

Cut…

… and serve

Two flavor options

The time flew by and before we realized, it was time to leave. Instead of throwing rice or blowing bubbles, we had our guests hold up sparklers. (Our photographer told us later that she's seen sparkler send offs before, but ours was the best looking she’d ever seen.)

Sparks were really flying that night

Once we got to my car, we discovered that it had been "decorated." At some point during the reception, Margot came and got my keys from me, not saying why she needed them, so I assumed that the car was being prepared for our departure, though I wasn't prepared for what was actually done. The car had been plastic-wrapped to a nearby light pole, though that was easy enough to remove. What was particularly annoying was that the car was filled from floor to ceiling with balloons. I pulled out enough balloons from the passenger side so that Leah could get in, but when I started doing the same on the driver's side, someone took pity on me and passed me an unlit sparkler, of which I was able to use the handle to pop the remaining balloons. With the balloons gone, I got into the car and drove home with my new bride.

 That's not too bad

Leah thought it was funnier than I did

A man unamused

I'm really happy with how the wedding reception turned out. A lot of work was done by not a lot of people in a short period of time and I'm so happy with the result. The reception was a way for us to celebrate our new marriage with our friends and family, which I think we accomplished in spades.

Mere symbols of our covenants, but ones that match

Mother's Day 2017

For Mother’s Day this year, I spent a good portion of the day with Leah’s mom, Debbie. The day began with Leah and me attending Debbie’s ward, which also meant that Debbie showed me off like I was a prized Pomeranian at the Westminster Dog Show. Plenty of people were quite friendly, saying “hi” to me and asking a few questions to get to know me; oddly, nobody introduced themselves, so when Debbie asked if I met anyone, all I could say was, “Yes, but no one told me their name.”

After church, we went back to the Grabowski family home for me to make dinner. As our Mother’s Day gift to Debbie, Leah had offered my skills in the kitchen. A couple of weeks earlier, we had discussed different dinner options and Debbie requested garlic shrimp pasta. Leah was my sous-chef and handled cooking the pasta and providing me with ingredients and dishes, while I cooked the shrimp and made the butter sauce. We doubled the recipe, which meant that I encountered some surprises when I tried to fit everything into a skillet that wasn’t big enough, but I was able to figure out a workaround.

When dinner was served, there wasn’t a lot of talk, just a lot of eating. Debbie liked dinner so much that she made herself a lunch box while there were still leftovers. Good thing, too, because everyone went back for a second helping.

I may not have been able to spend time with my own mother for Mother’s Day, but I still honored an important mother in my life.

Healthy Again

I exercised! Not only that, I did it for two days in a row!

Starting on Depakote while I was still taking Trileptal at full strength was rough and left me feeling weak. Plus, the Trileptal had made it hard for me to exercise with any consistency without getting sick. So it was just another normal day when I went to sleep on Thursday night still feeling kind of sick. But imagine my surprise when I woke up on Friday feeling better than I have in months. I went to the gym that evening after work and walked on a treadmill for an hour.

What happened? Thursday was the first day that I started tapering off of Trileptal, so I guess my body responded positively to the change. With my newfound vigor, I went with Leah to the gym this morning and did a full-body workout. I generally avoid those kinds of workouts, seeing better results from focusing on specific muscle groups, but I wanted to make all of my muscles sore so that I can get over that quickly and back to my normal lifting routine next week. (Plus, it was nice to be able to show off for my bride-to-be.)

I know that my neurologist was skeptical that the Trileptal was having any negative effect on me, but I'm glad I convinced her to make the change, especially now.

PS
The QSG is now online and can be viewed here. It's boring, but I'm really proud of it.

QSG

At work this year, I was tasked with updating the main catalog used in North America, the Quick Select Guide or QSG. Since I was in the role of project manager for this document, I decided to not just simply update the code numbers and add a few new products, but to overhaul its entire design. I wanted to make the catalog easier to use while also making it look more like the catalogs the corporate office in Denmark makes for Europe. That meant that we had to start from scratch and rebuild it from the ground up. And it was most definitely "we" because my skills in InDesign, the program the catalog was created in, are lacking. So I enlisted the help of a freelancer, Holly, whom my department uses on a regular basis.

I had been emailing Holly and collecting all of the necessary data and files when, in the second week of February, I was provided with the last pieces we needed so that we could begin. I was then told that we needed the new catalog to be printed in March. That may not seem like a big deal, but for a sixty page document, this was basically no time. I worked through the last preparations I had and sent everything off to Holly. For two weeks, we worked at a feverish pace. I regularly stayed about ninety minutes late and often worked through my lunch break. At the end of two weeks, we were done! I almost couldn't believe it, but we finished with enough time so that two segment managers could have a week to review it before the end of the month. My boss, Magda, told me that she noticed my hard work and how much she appreciated my efforts. I sent off the QSG for review, walked out the office door, and started laughing just from the relief of having finished a stressful project.

Or so I thought.

I came back in the following Monday to see emails that the reviewers weren't going to even attempt to get to the QSG for at least a week. Wonderful... I did eventually get the feedback I needed from one of the two segment managers, but the other one was not giving the QSG priority. I suspect that he was annoyed that I was making so many changes to it since he had been the one to originally design it. To be fair, his catalog had worked for several years, but again, being fair, he's not a technical writer and he doesn't have a background in document design. Just because it had worked, doesn't mean we couldn't do it better.

After some meetings, several edits, and lots of cajoling from me, we finally placed our print order last Friday. Only two months after we originally planned.

One thing that I think is cool is that my initials are on the catalog. In Danfoss, whenever a new document is released, it has a literature number, a publication date, and the initials of the main author (mostly so we know who to blame if an error is found). As a technical writer, I've gotten used to being invisible and letting my writing stand for itself, but I still like the fact that I'm getting credit for this document.

Even though the catalog has been approved, there's been a delay in posting it on the Danfoss website. Once it's up, I'll share a link to it. It's not a fun read, but as far as catalogs go, it's a pretty one.

Blessed

On Sunday, Leah asked me to give her a blessing to help her get over a cold she’s been fighting for a little over a week. I was happy to oblige. When I sealed the anointing, the words the Spirit gave me to say felt like they were meant as much for me as they were for her.

I said that when the two of us met, it was no accident: we met as soon as we were ready -- and God had been preparing us for each other for quite some time. I also said that our upcoming marriage was divinely appointed and that, while it would not always be easy, we would be happy. I choked up at this glimpse into the future, feeling the Spirit confirm the words as I said them.

When I got to the part about her cold, I basically said, “You’ll get over it when you get over it.” The words were much kinder than that, of course, but I was surprised that I wasn’t prompted to bless her in any way regarding her health. But maybe I shouldn’t have been: we receive the blessing we need, not the one we want.

It was a beautiful experience and it only strengthened my love of this wonderful daughter of God.

Successful Transition

I've been taking my medication at the increased dosage for about a week now and I've had some trouble adjusting. At first, I was exhausted all the time. Well, it felt that way at least. I was constantly dragged down by the kind of fatigue that made me feel like I had low blood-sugar and needed to take a nap -- while eating would lessen the feeling for maybe an hour, I wasn't able to fall asleep during the day and I often had trouble sleeping through the night. Even stranger, I had what I described as a "floating feeling," wherein the top of my head felt like it was floating above me (not detached from the rest of me, just that the floating sensation didn't extend down to the rest of me). However, all of these weird feelings lessened on Saturday and on Sunday, I felt completely normal.

I'm grateful that my medication is working properly again and I can live my life without having to worry about my epilepsy. Hopefully the current dosage will be a longterm solution and I won't have to keep increasing the dosage every year.

Photoshoot

A couple of weekends ago, Leah and I met with our wedding photographer Courtney to take our engagement photos. We decided to take our photos at Jerusalem Mills, a so called "living history destination" with lots of different buildings and landscapes for varied backgrounds. We were originally planning to do the photoshoot two weeks earlier, but had to push it back due to rain, though I'm glad for the delay -- the extra two weeks allowed for more plants to come out of hibernation and made everything look more like spring.

We had scoped out the site ahead of time to plan where exactly we wanted to take pictures. Plus, Leah looked to Pinterest for inspiration on poses. When we met with Courtney, we were full of ideas. We ended up staying there for over three hours and took well over 600 pictures (while that is a lot, many of them are duplicates as we worked to get each pose just right). So far, only five pictures have been edited, but I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

This is my least favorite -- I'm clearly in the middle of talking and it makes my mouth look weird 

Getting this silhouette image was my idea (and supposedly that covered bridge is haunted, but I didn't notice anything) 

Gotta show off that rock! 

I like how you can see the short, green grass in the foreground and the tall, brown grass in the background 

This is my favorite one so far. Getting the pose just right took a lot of adjusting, but I'm really happy with how it turned out

I'm really happy that we went with Courtney for our photographer, though Leah did the legwork to find her. And according to Courtney, we were really good clients: she said that the fact that we were up for anything made her job easier and a lot more fun.

With how good these are, I'm excited to see how the rest of the pictures turned out.

The Proposal

Yesterday, on Christmas, I asked for Leah's eternal hand in marriage. She said "Yes!"

The story of our proposal begins last Thursday.  I had recently prayed if Leah was the woman I was supposed to marry, but the answer I received was "Go to the temple and ask there."  So, on Thursday night I went to the Washington, DC Temple and participated in an endowment session.  Once in the Celestial Room, I prayed again, this time receiving a resounding "Yes."  I knew that I wanted to propose, but I didn't know how or when.

Leah works part-time at Victoria's Secret and I visited her on Christmas Eve so we could hang out during her break.  She took the opportunity to show me off to her coworkers, one of whom even said "He's cute" while I was standing right there.  We enjoy the thirty minutes we had together before she had to return to work.

With Leah safely inside the boutique de brasserie, I walked down to one of the jewelry stores in the mall.  Soon after meeting me, Leah had picked out a few engagement rings and put them in the store's "Wish Book."  When we started talking about the possibility of marriage while we were dating, she told me about the store and told me to choose one of the options there—in order to ensure that she liked the ring I picked out.  With this in mind, I went to the jewelry store to see what the options were, intending to not buy anything that day.  When I saw what the options were—and heard that the entire store's inventory was half off until Christmas—I picked the one I liked and bought it on the spot.  I planned to wait until the holidays were over, in order to really surprise Leah.

With the ring hidden on my person, I went to Leah's parents' home to bake cookies.  Leah's mom, Debbie, is very warm and invited me to come and bake cookies with her some time before Christmas and Christmas Eve just happened to be the best time for me to visit.  Also there were Leah's younger brother, Ryan, and his wife Dana, her younger sisters, Megan and Allison, and Leah's niece, Rebecca, the daughter of Leah's older brother, Rob, who's currently stationed in the Philippines.  At one point, everyone went outside to fire model rockets (a Grabowski Christmas tradition), so I went in to talk to Leah's father, Ulf.  I told him that I loved his daughter and intended to ask her to marry me, though not until the holidays were over.  He told me that he was a good judge of character and that he liked me and would be happy to give me his blessing on the proposal.  Having gained his permission (and his promise to keep our conversation a secret), I went back outside to join with the rocket launches before my absence was noticed.  After a few hours, Leah joined us and I continued to bake cookies (only four kinds surprisingly, but we did have rockets to launch).  Before it got too late, I excused myself for the night, with the promise to return on Christmas day.

On Christmas morning, I went to church at the YSA ward, though only Sacrament meeting was held (which I think was the standard throughout the Church).  After church, Leah met me at my apartment where we opened our gifts.  I got her some leggings (which required me to join a Facebook group in order to buy them), a charm for her charm bracelet, and a pair of crocheted slipper socks.  She got a nice pea coat, a deep fryer (which she admitted was partially for her so I can deep fry her food more easily), a ceramic coated skillet, a spoon rest for the stove, a butter dish (which I've mentioned that I needed), and a Superman-themed apron.  (I also got a set of silicon baking mats from my parents—have you noticed a theme?)  Having exchanging gifts (and hugs and kisses), we prepared to leave for her parents' for an early dinner.

Even though I planned to wait until after the holidays were over, I was too excited to wait any longer: I had decided the night before to propose on Christmas Day.  I said I needed go to the bedroom to grab my wallet and keys, so Leah went with me to help me along.  I made a comment about how there were other things I needed and she gave me a weird look and went back to the living room.  I put the ring box in my back pocket and joined Leah.  I grabbed her in a hug and said (not verbatim), "Leah, I love you.  I'm so happy that I met you.  My life has gotten so much better since I met you."  I got down on one knee.  "You've made me a better man and I know that as long as you're a part of my life, my life will only get better."  I pulled the box out of my pocket and opened it.  "Leah, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, now and for all eternity?"  She enthusiastically said, "Yes!"  I slipped the ring on her finger (and had a mini freakout when I thought it didn't fit, though it was the perfect size) and we embraced and kissed.

On our way to Leah's parents', we called and told a few members of my family (not everyone was available, what with the time differences).  Once at the Grabowski's, Leah didn't say anything, she just took off her jacket and gave her mom a hug.  During their hug, Debbie felt the ring, pulled Leah's hand into view, and screamed with joy.  With the cat out of the bag, she showed off the ring to her family and we both got hugs from everyone present.

I am so happy to be getting married to Leah.  She's such a kind, caring person who works to make others feel better about themselves.  We've only been together for four months, but we make a great team: I love her, she loves me, and we build each other up.  I can't wait to be sealed to her for time and all eternity.

Number Three

I have a long history of getting hand-me-down furniture.  My desk and office chair were saved from being thrown away at work, my dresser and couch were given to me from a family that was moving out of Ellicott City, my loveseat was given to me by Ian (who had gotten it secondhand), my TV cabinet was included with a TV which I no longer own, and I picked up my living room end table next to a dumpster.  Only my bed and kitchen set are brand new.

At least they were.

That, dear reader, is my brand new TV cabinet.  I picked it out months ago on Amazon, but never completed the order.  Getting a new cabinet wasn't a priory since I already had one, plus I wanted some time to recover from my big purchase of a new TV.  Well, I decided to finally order it and it came last Friday.  I spent the evening assembling it, which was pretty straightforward if time-consuming.  Now, I have a sharp -looking cabinet and my third piece of brand new furniture.

Beck: Live in Concert

Last night, I saw my favorite musician, Beck, perform live in Charlottesville, Virginia.  And it was amazing.

Leah came with me, despite not being familiar with Beck's music beyond his biggest hit, "Loser."  I took advantage of the long drive down to the venue to introduce her to some of his discography -- it probably would have been better if I had played just some of my favorites, but I just set my iPod to shuffle through my Beck collection, though I pointed out when a particular song really spoke to me.

Once we got down to Charlottesville, we checked into our hotel so we could just go straight to sleep after the show.  When it was time to head over to the amphitheater, I suddenly felt the bottom of my stomach drop away: I had forgotten the tickets.  I immediately started having a panic attack and even started crying, but Leah came to my rescue and told me to look up the confirmation email so I could show my proof of purchase to get replacement tickets.  I searched for said email, but nothing came up.  I called Ticketmaster and worked my way through the phone tree (and multiple disconnections) while Leah called the concert venue, Sprint Pavilion.  I never got through to anyone, but Leah did and found out that as long as I have my ID and the credit card I used, the staff at the venue would be able issue me new tickets.  I felt a lot better, but I didn't completely calm down until I had the replacement tickets in hand.

A picture to remember where we parked becomes a fun memory with the addition of a cute pose.

(I know that I spent years in a relationship with an emotionally abusive partner, so my perspective is warped, but I was truly touched when Leah wouldn't let me give up after my blunder.  She helped me find a solution and didn't abandon me when my anxiety got the best of me.  I cannot thank her enough for what she did for me.)

Despite getting in line right when the doors opened, we were able to quickly make it to the front of the audience.  The way the amphitheater is set up, there were no seats at the front, just an open area in which to stand and we were third or fourth from the very front.  For the most part people were well behaved and didn't try force their way to the front (the exception being two rather short teenaged girls near the beginning and a drunk guy near the end of the show).

A selfie while the opening act tuned their instruments.

The opening act was a band from Sweden called Peter Bjorn and John, which was confusing for me because they left out a much needed comma from their band's name (the three founding members of the band are Peter, Bjorn, and John, for which the band is named).  They were a great band to get the crowd in the mood.  The lead guitarist and singer was very energetic and jumped around a lot while he played: there was even one song where he only sang and he walked through the audience, with lots of people giving him high fives (the high fives didn't start until after he passed us, so I never got one).  I enjoyed the music they played and was especially surprised when I heard a song I recognized, "Young Folks."  They only played for about thirty minutes, but I'm glad I got to see them.

My view for the evening.

It took about thirty-five minutes for the road crew to clear Peter Bjorn and John's set from the stage and for Beck's band to start playing.  The man of the hour came out after the music had already started, allowing the crowd to really get amped up.  The band started with the classic song, "Devi's Haircut," but with extra solos.  And no Beck performance would be complete without a rendition of the song that made him famous, "Loser," which was the second song of the night.  His crowd work was great, pointing the mic to the audience for every chorus.  I looked over at Leah and even though she only kind of knew the song, she was really into it.

I liked that Beck sang some songs and picked up his guitar and played while singing for others.  Even though he let his backup band carry the majority of the songs, make no mistake: this guy can play.

After one particularly moving song, "Paper Tiger," Beck asked a girl in the audience if she was okay, because she had been moved to tears.  She apparently said that she was because he kept going, but you could tell that he was touched that she had felt something so powerful through his music.

And like every good show, there was even a costume change:

Maybe not a particularly exciting costume change, but I appreciated the effort.

About halfway into the show, Beck introduced the members of his band, though I didn't catch any of their names.  Still, here's what they look like:

During the bassist's introduction, he started playing Micheal Jackson's "Billie Jean" and the rest of the band joined in. Beck pointed the mic at the audience for the chorus and later commented that we were "surprisingly in key." 

As the band worked their way through many of Beck's bigger hits, I kept track in my head if there were any major ones that had been left out.  Just as I was worried that one of his biggest hits (and one of my personal favorites) would be excluded, "E-pro" was played as the closing song.  The band quickly vacated the stage, but the audience stayed and cheered for a solid minute, so Beck (unaccompanied) came back out for an encore!  He sang and played his harmonica, which resulted in even more cheers.  After this final song, the roadies came and started breaking down the set, a clear sign that the show was over.

There were a lot of ups and downs leading up to this show, but in the end I had a great time.  I loved the music, I loved the company, and I'm glad I took a ridiculous number of pictures.  I'm exhausted, but it was worth it for the experience.

The City of Brotherly Love

On Saturday, I went to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Temple open house with my ward.  The trip down was a bit longer than expected due to heavy traffic, but the wait was worth it.

The Philadelphia Temple was designed with a neoclassical aesthetic and most of the people I talked to said that it reminded them buildings in the National Mall, like the White House.  The outer walls are covered in granite, while the interior had lots of intricate wood work on wall moldings.  Unique to the Philadelphia temple is a painting in the waiting room depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence, an event that was ordained of God and happened in the same city.

While I was mostly marveling at the architecture and design work, others were impressed with the spirit of the temple, which could be felt even before being dedicated.  Brian, who was baptized that morning before we left Baltimore, felt especially moved while we were in the Celestial room, saying how he can't wait until he's been a member long enough to be worthy for a recommend.  Alex, who's struggled with his activity in the Church, asked the Bishop "What would it take for me to get a temple recommend?"  It's amazing how people are touched, simply by seeing a temple.

The DC Temple has a permanent replica of the Christus, so I've seen it several times very recently.

Even so, it doesn't get old.

Most of the group from my ward in front of the Christus.

After the tour was over, we met up at large indoor food court for lunch, though a late one.  Being in Philly, I had to get a Philly cheesesteak.  The one I got was from a food stand called By George.  It was a really good cheesesteak. It was also huge -- I still have half of it waiting for me in the fridge.

The picture may by posed, but that facial expression is genuine.

While Leah didn't come to the open house with the ward (she's going with her mom later this week), I went to see her after I got back.  I met most of her family at a get-together at her mom's house and they were all very nice, if uproarious, people.

And, unrelated to my visit with her family, Leah and I have decided to exclusively date each other.  That's right: we're going steady.

Leah and me outside of our church building.

This weekend was jam-packed with activities and people, but I enjoyed it all and I'm happy with the results.