I Am Now Married

I apologize for the radio silence over the last several months!  I have been working on a few projects that have been more time consuming than originally expected, but when they're ready I promise that it'll be worth the wait.

First, in May I moved to Chicago to be with Simiao, who matched to Northwestern for Emergency Medicine.  As I prepared to move, I realized that most of the stuff I owned was worn out, so I threw out nearly everything that I couldn't mail or fit in my car and left Seattle on the very path that I drove in on two and a half years earlier.  I also necessarily changed teams at Google because, naturally, I also had to change offices.

Moving into a new city and a new apartment with no stuff presents a new issue.  It took us nearly a month to assemble the trappings of a normal life.  A bed, a couch, a dinner table, a television.  These aren't things you think a lot about until you realize that you don't own one, and so when we could finally come home, relax, and actually feel like we were at home it felt like an achievement.  It was an achievement that we didn't have much time to savor because following the move we were now far behind schedule on planning our wedding.  Thinking about it now, it's actually kind of amazing (and a credit to Simiao's awesome family who helped us along the way) that it all came together as well as it did.

Our wedding on Saturday was wonderful.  It was small, personal, and the Morton Arboretum is a beautiful venue.  It meant a lot to us that we could have a place that felt private and natural, and that didn't give any acknowledgement to a religion which neither of us subscribe to.  It was everything that I ever wanted in a wedding and I can't wait to share the photos with you when they're ready.

For now, I have two treats for you.  First, our vows.  Simiao's were so sweet that I can still barely read them without tearing up.  In fact, it seemed like everyone present could barely hold it together.

Simiao:

I vow to pursue patience, compromise, and reciprocity every day.

I vow to take pride in who we are, individually and together.

I vow to support you in times of trouble.

I vow to honor and respect you for all that you are and will become.

Above all, I vow to give you my love freely and unconditionally, for all the days of our lives.

Myself:

I vow to treat you with honor, love and dignity.

I vow to use life's challenges to edify our relationship.

I vow to protect you with all of my strength.

I vow to inspire your trust.

Likewise, I vow to give you my love freely and unconditionally, for all the days of our lives.

Second, we got our engagement photos!  I've placed a few favorites here, and the rest of the watermarked ones can be found publicly in my Google drive here (feel free to share these on social media if you like).  If you'd like access to the printable ones to print a photo for your personal use (you may not share them on social media), please request access here.