2010

It still looks like the future. To be fair, at this point it still is.

I'm not going to miss 2009 at all. With a few exceptions - Dian being the major one - 2009 was quite a letdown. It began in the middle of a nightmarish immigration process, and ended with not being able to enjoy the Holidays like I wanted to. But I'm letting go of that already...

As I mentioned, the best thing about this last year was being able to spend it with Dian - my one love in this world. We're finally through the immigration process. And after $5000+ in legal and government fees, and a mountain range of frustration, we're finally able to concentrate on our goals and look ahead to our life together. As difficult as the process has been, it was all worth it. I love my wife more than anything in this fucked up world.

Looking ahead to 2010:

It's only New Year's Day, but already the year is starting off on a positive note. I ordered my first laptop a couple days ago, which should arrive within a week. I've been so frustrated with my desktop PC lately due to performance issues. It's becoming increasingly difficult to do even the most pedestrian of tasks, like listen to music without the file skipping. I have so many projects I'm still working on or planning: organizing and adding to our mp3 library, scanning all our physical pictures to digital form, organizing and backing up all files to our external hard drive, viewing/listening to every "special feature" of every DVD we have in our collection, weeding out and donating things we don't need anymore, even backlogging everything in my own memory to this blog. These are all in process, and more...

Dian and I also hope to buy our first house this year. We have decided to move back to my hometown of Moscow, Idaho, on the second of April. It just makes sense for many reasons, and it's the most logical thing for us to do. Houses are much cheaper in Moscow than they are here in King County. Dian will have an easier time finding a job she enjoys, and it's a better place to teach her how to drive as well. We will get to see more of our friends and family. And we'll still be able to visit most of the places we frequent here, like Qdoba (Dian's current favorite), WinCo, Dollar Tree, and Safeway. We hope to find ourselves a nice Moscow house by the end of the year, but we're going to take our time making sure it's the right one. In the meantime, we'll probably find a cozy apartment to live in. Besides, we both need to find steady, enjoyable work first so we can start saving up for the Moscow house.

A few months ago, we finally got a [Nintendo] Wii. I had been wanting to get one for the couple years it had been out, and I'm happy that we finally did. It has been great fun for me to play gamer catch-up lately. I can't get over how awesome the Wii is! We have some great games now, and there's a few more on our list. I love playing it with Di. It's also interesting to see the video game world through the eyes of someone who didn't grow up playing them like I did. I feel like I've reclaimed something I've been missing these last few years. Having Dian with me for good now, and having a Wii... I'm that much more complete.

In a couple of weeks, Dian and I will be flying off to Spokane to meet Mom and Dad. We are going to see Fab Four, an excellent Beatles tribute band that night (Dad and I have seen them before). The next morning, the four of us are going to see Avatar in 3D at the IMAX there. Dian and I have already seen it twice - first in 2D, then in 3D (at IMAX) - and we can't wait to go again. Mom and Dad have never seen any 3D film, as Dian and I hadn't either, so it'll be a great experience for all of us. That night, Mom and Dad are taking us to a new casino in the area. Then we fly back to Seattle the next day. It's sure to be a great weekend! More about that later...

In late March, Dian and I will be seeing John Mayer in Seattle... his first gig at Key Arena actually. This will be Dian's first time seeing John (my seventh), and we can't wait for that either. We're both huge JM fans, so it'll be another great experience in '10.

Aside from all of that, I'm 30 now.

I try not to think about it much. I just keep reminding myself that youth is a state of mind. You're only as old as you feel. And while I can't change the number of years I've been on this planet, I still feel like a kid. So things are looking up...