Moving to Seattle

Not surprisingly, the last several weeks have been very busy. Melissa went to a conference in Sweden (which went really well and was very motivating), and I (Luc) moved to Seattle on November 1st. It took a few days, but I did find a wonderful apartment just north of Capitol Hill, quite close to the University. Unfortunately, there is some delays in the paperwork for my job, but overall the move was pretty painless and I love Seattle. It's a great city and I'm sure Melissa and I will be very happy here.

Parallel to all of that, we are of course still thinking about and trying to work out the wedding details. Don't worry, we will send details about travel arrangements as soon as we can. I am actually going to Georgia tomorrow, and we will spend a week (and Thanksgiving!) together. We are both very much looking forward to that!

Also, today, it has been exactly one year since Melissa moved to Georgia. Wow, our lives have been pretty hectic!

Engagement party pictures

Here are a few pictures from the party in Quebec City. We had a fabulous time, and everyone seems to have really enjoyed it.

Thank you for a fabulous party!

We had a great engagement party. It was exactly what we hoped for- lots of family and friends, good food and wine, and even beautiful weather. My parents were thrilled to meet Luc's family and were so touched by the warm and loving welcome to the family, as am I. I couldn't be happier than to be part of such a wonderful group of people. I look forward to our many celebrations in the future.

After the party, we drove 3500 miles back to Georgia. It was a long road but we managed to have some fun along the way too- stopping at Niagra Falls and a bourbon distillery (Kentucky!) on the way home. Since we returned to GA I have had a nasty cold that has delayed our postings till now. Hopefully we will have a picture album from the party soon. So if you happen to read this and have some pictures- please send them our way.

Thank you! Merci beaucoup!

Moving Day! Surprise...

In an unexpected turn of events, Melissa just moved to a new place. Sadly not in Seattle- still in Athens!! But what a world of difference. I made the decision on Sunday to move, found a place on Monday, moved in on Tuesday. Some may say I am impulsive, but this was actually somewhat overdue. I no longer live in a cave where even my plants couldn't survive. The new place is bright with light and now I can sleep at night- which makes a huge difference in my life!

Luc returns from the Arctic on Friday. His travelog was really fun to follow. Not too much about Luc's science, but still cool to see what kind of research is going on in the Arctic.

Just 26 days until our Engagement party. I am excited that our parents will be able to get to meet and know each other better. Plus Quebec is beautiful in the Fall. I hope that some of the trees are starting to change colors by then!

Luc is off to the Arctic!

We spent a wonderful day in Atlanta on Tuesday- celebrating my birthday and soaking every minute up in preparation for the LONG month of August. Not only the HOTest month in Georgia but also the Loneliest month. Sigh.

Anyone that wants to follow Luc's Arctic journey can check here for daily blogs.
http://www.whoi.edu/beaufortgyre/dispatch2007/index2007.html

We tried our best to get a date picked for our wedding before he left- so that we can send out Save the Date cards- but that didn't quite happen. We did find out that the woman that runs one of the hotels (10 rooms) has been on vacation. So maybe she isn't giving us the cold shoulder? But pretty soon, we might just have to make our decision without considering them. We have a date availbale in April at one of the BIG hotels (20 rooms). We were just hoping for January. How fun would it be for our friends and family packed in the snow to have a sunny, beautiful week on the beach in January??

Anyhow, I doubt we will know until September. So I guess I will have to try to relax until then!

Get Ready, Get Set

Isla Holbox has us rather excited. Although we have been having some trouble getting our communication underway with the island. We have one firm response from a 20-bungalow hotel on the beach with a pool. It should be a great spot. The only REAL hitch is that we would like to get married earlier than April! But that might have to be it for us since we are having trouble getting firm dates and quotes from anyone else. So now we are wondering if we should just book the whole resort for 4 days? But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

We really wanted to have this problem solved by the time Luc left for the Arctic- so we could let people know the date. But I am not sure that will happen. We also wanted to visit before making our final decision, but the last minute tickets we looked at for July were pretty pricy and our next chance will be October! Not out of the question....

At least the engagement party is coming along. We only have one item on our list left to do before Luc leaves. And it isn't that urgent. It could be resolved in September. We are looking forward to celebrating with everyone then. It should be lots of fun to share Quebec with my family (my sister is coming too!!) and meet Luc's extended family.

Wow! Did we find it?

On our quest to find a good balance between adventure and comfort, we stumbled upon this really cool spot- Isla Holbox. It is about the same distance from Cancun as Playa del Carmen with one major exception- there is not a huge highway to get there. So if you choose to take the more adventurous path to get there it takes ~3.5 hours by bus (don't worry it has A/C) through lots of small towns followed by a ferry ride. Or you can charter a small plane from Cancun to the island for $500 (up to 4 people). The island itself is beautiful, remote, and somewhat rustic. Most of the accommodations have ecological ideals to limit their impact. There are no large resorts. It seems perfect. All of the places have packages to include all meals or just breakfast- so you can choose.