Girls Gone Wild!

Ah, the scary things that can happen when you play "Vogue" with a bunch of drunken queens at a party! :-) Notice the ring-leader.

Another look back...

Hard to believe it is already a month ago that we got married at MCC-DC in Washington! And we keep enjoying the memories every day. Yesterday, we got a CD-ROM in the post from our dear friends Harvey & Ellen in Maryland with some more pictures we'd not yet seen. We especially loved this one, which shows us in our wedding finery with some custom boutonnieres with a Dutch wooden tulip from the floating flower market in Amsterdam and a U.S. mini-calla lily. 

Thanks to everyone who contributed photos so far: Josh (especially!), Tim, Michael, Jeff, Merrick (a budding photographer since she was 4!), Kahunya (habari, bibi!), and Jeroen (in NL).

Anyone else have any pictures to share? Let us know!

www.Starbucks.nl

Well, it might not seem like a big deal to you, but after more than 10 bloody years of waiting, there is FINALLY a fucking Starbucks in The Netherlands! The cruel irony is that it might as well be inside Fort Knox, because you can only go there if you are flying to a country that's part of the EU - it's at the airport behind security!

The other bad news is that my little test of it today showed that at least a few of the Dutch staff have not yet mastered the friendly American Starbucks style:

Me: "Is that my caramel frappaccino?"

Her: "Does that look like caramel to you?"

Me: "Well, yes, it does."

Her: Eyes roll. 

So there's still some major work to do there. Hope they open one outside of security somewhere soon... it's about time!

Big Mac Daddy

Sold some stock to pay off the final wedding bills and decided to spend some of the leftover proceeds on a MacBook Pro, my first serious step into the world of Apple. So far I'm loving it to death, and am even more excited about the upcoming Leopard operating system in October! More on my new Mac experiences soon!

Kind Words

Today I received a really lovely e-mail from a dear uncle that I didn't know that well growing up but that I've really admired and enjoyed spending a lot of time with in my adult life. He sort of floored me with what he had to say to me:

Dear Christopher,

In the afterglow of your and Wilbert's wedding, I have found myself thinking about the relationship you and I have formed as adults over the past fifteen years or so. Recently, I have been struck by how you have made your own life into what you needed by the most amazing series of choices and commitments. You have made decisions and done things for which ordinary folks would lack the courage. Your actions have been faithful to who you are and have had an enormous positive impact on those who love you. I admire you very much and wish nothing but the best for you in life.

It's true that I've taken some pretty big leaps/risks in life, and that's because somewhere I learned to trust my intuition, to not question myself too much, and to commit to something and trust the universe will rise to support me. I'm grateful for this feedback, and very grateful for the life I have and the wonderful people like Fritz I have in it.

Josh & Lorie in Holland

My brother Josh just got a new job and is about to move with his lovely wife Lorie to Missouri, so to celebrate this important transition in their lives, they popped over to Europe for a few weeks of rest and relaxation... and American-style speed sight seeing. :-) They stayed with us for five days and as usual were a pleasure to be with. We had dinner one night at Wilbert's parents' in Hoorn. Good luck with your new life, guys!

Holland USA!

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Originally uploaded by Christo's POV

One of the oddities of the area I grew up in is the small town of Pella, Iowa. Founded by a group of about 800 Dutch colonists seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity in the mid 1800's, it still very actively promotes its heritage today.

Wilbert and I drove over for the day and enjoyed this little bit of Holland in the USA during our honeymoon trip. It was fun and a bit strange all at the same time! :-)

Bye Bye USA & Thank you!

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Originally uploaded by Christo's POV

It was a wonderful trip and we got to see oodles of wonderful people! We were honored by your presence at our wedding and shower, and enjoyed seeing you elsewhere too! Thanks for your warmth, generosity and hospitality!

This photo was from our last morning in Des Moines where we had breakfast at Perkins with my parents and dear friend Stacey (who is a loyal blog reader, gorgeous and available!). :-)

The trip home was without incident. Actually half-way comfortable for economy seats in a 767. Made it back to work today and am doing OK despite a crap night's sleep. Good to see everyone back at work, they're nice people. :-)

iPhone

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Originally uploaded by Christo's POV

Leaving the AT&T store on the 29th of June with my brand new iPhone. Who cares that the phone doesn't work (for now) in Europe... everything else that does work is simply AMAZING. It does exactly what it promises to do in the ads, and sets a new standard for the consumer electronics industry. Let's hope they are up to the challenge like Apple is!

20th High School Reunion

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Originally uploaded by Christo's POV

It was fun! A really large group of down-to-earth, nice people. Had a great time and there were a few surprises. One "he" is now a "she", and the last person in the world I expected to be gay brought his boyfriend. Heartwarming moments. :-) Was lots of fun.