Well I have started to write 4 different postings and never
got around to finishing a single one…… so instead I’m going to combine them all
here because some of them are so old now it just seems inappropriate to post
them on their own.
At the beginning of May I took a trip to the Boundary Waters
in northern MN with my brothers, father, my uncle +Mark and a friend of my dad’s from
WSU. What an amazing trip! It was so refreshing to fly out of Chicago
and then within a matter of hours from landing I was in the middle of
wilderness. Although it was still chilly
up there and some of the lakes still frozen it was a great time to go to the BW
because there were no bugs! Although we
were only up there for a few days, it was adversely strange to fly back into
Chicago after leaving such vast emptiness.
It’s funny how we often conceptualize camping as rugged, unclean, or
maybe even barbaric. But after coming
back to Chicago, I started wondering if the modern populated city life was any
different.
Anyway, the trip was SO much fun and I am already planning
on going back next year. There were many
stories and highlights from the whole trip but I’ll share my potential favorite
three. One of them was taking a nap in
my dad’s new Hennessy Hammock! This
thing is a hanging tent and one of the cooler things I’ve seen in a long
time. If you’re into camping, listen to
me, never buy a tent again! Those things
suck! The hammock on the other hand is
#1! I'll add a picture below.Also, here is a video about it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqg4x443RmM&feature=kp
Another highlight deals with fishing. I’m not much of a fisherman, but to be honest, I was really hoping to turn that around on this trip. So I bought a fishing license and did a good deal of fishing. But if I wanted to catch a fish, +Thomas was like 300% more determined to! He spent most of his time fishing. Now +Josh on the other hand didn’t even buy a fishing license, the only one of us not to. And one night he decided that he better at least cast a line from shore just to say he did while camping. And after one mediocre cast he decided to do one more……….. and caught a darn fish……… Thomas’ and my expressions were palpably angered. Classic!
The last highlight was just plain silly. One night we had asparagus for dinner and after we ate we were cleaning up and decided to throw the butts of the asparagus into the lake for the fishies. But what it ended up turning into was a left-handed throwing contest between all the Dégalliers! I thought is was super fun….. plus I won.
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| Here is an example of my dad's hammock tent! |
Another blog posting I began but regrettably never finished
was celebrating +Hannah and my first year of marriage!!!! YEEEAH!
We did it! Only like 5 more to go
before she leaves me for someone way less awesome.
Our anniversary was on the 25th of May and it was
super fun! We really had more of an
anniversary weekend which was great! We
did so much! We went out to luscious
dinner provided from a wedding gift that we had stored away to use on such a
night, we spent a day at the beach, we went shopping (“we” as in I was at least
there), went on a water taxi ride, etc.
It was a really great weekend and I had so much fun just hanging out
with Hannah.
To everyone who has asked or is wondering how the first year
of marriage was here is an easy word for me to sum it up: HARD. Now in case you take that the wrong way, it
has also been SO incredible! I love
being married to Hannah and we have grown a ton together since tying the knot,
but that honestly doesn’t make the whole thing one big walk in the park! I know there have been a lot of external
relational reasons to express strain on our marriage, such as times without a
job, living in foreign territory, school, etc., but we have had things between
us that have been strenuous as well.
I think the thing that has been the most difficult to adjust
to is the constant decision making together.
What are WE going to have for dinner, what are WE going to do this
weekend, how are WE going to spend money, what TV show are WE going to
watch? While dating these things
obviously came about so we had practice in a way. But now that we live together and we share
everything, it seems at times like I hardly ever make decisions for just myself
anymore. It’s an interesting change of
pace. Lord knows, I can’t even imagine
what it’s like having a kid! Which is
why I am formally deciding to never have any.
Not really…… maybe…..
But back to the point.
This last year in marriage has been fantastic. It’ll be exciting to see what we’re able to
do over this next year. LUM YA HANNAH! 
Oh! Another sharing
point is that while Hannah is currently gone from Chicago, leaving me to
whither alone in grief and despair, she got her second rotation switched back
to Chicago! So I only have to be alone
for one month instead of two!
But as for right now, I’m living in Chi-town all by my
lonesome! It’s really strange to be
honest. After I dropped Hannah off at
her friend’s house to get a ride back to MN I went grocery shopping for
myself. It was really weird. I didn’t have Hannah there to tell me I didn’t
need something, or at least, I didn’t have her there to make me think for
myself that I shouldn’t buy something to avoid her judgment! And over the last few days it has been so odd
to come home from work and just spend the night alone. I never lived by myself before so this month
is quite the new experience for me. It
hasn’t fully hit me yet that I won’t be seeing Hannah much at all this whole
month. It’s still too soon for me. But give it this weekend when I don’t have
work and I’m just hanging out the whole day alone, I’m sure the distance will
take full effect.
Alright, well I believe that is enough for me to write right now! Hopefully I'll have more to share soon, but until then, thanks for reading!
