June 29th

Hey ya'll! Well, today has gone well so far. Last night, (and it went past midnight, so it counts as today) Bibi and I went to Superman Returns with a bunch of friends. That was cool....it was a good time, and a great movie. When we got back, Bibi and I played a card game for a while. (I've gotten her addicted to a game called Nertz, or "Vengence!!!!)

This morning my mom called to with me happy birthday pretty early. That was cool. Then, an hour later, my sister called to wish me happy birthday as well. That was also cool. And, when I got online, my other sister had left birthday wished at my myspace page. I got a cool present from my mom in the mail, and now I'm sipping coffee preparing for the day. Good so far, I'll say.

More later, I'm sure. (c;

Thanks for reading!

Tommy

...transitions...

So, I've got this theory. Kirksville, is a town in transition. As a college town, and one with a medical school to boot, Kirksville is a a very transitory experience. People coming and going like a busboy through the diner of one's life, and all that.

I've viewed this unique aspect of Americana for the past 9 years, with a range of emotions, although amused interest was the most prevalent.

However, it has become painfully obvious, in light of recent events, that my perspective has changed, entirely unbeknownst to me. Instead of seeing this transitory town from a transfixed position, I am now seeing it as one on the verge, the cusp, of leaving. And, I gotta be honest. It sucks.

There are aspects that are wonderful. I am SO blissfully loving married life. I'm really excited about our possibilities in the near future. However, somethings have become....different....they've changed. (Although, my beautiful--and wise--wife has pointed out that perhaps the "things" haven't changed, its' actually me that has changed....food for though to be sure....)

Karaoke.

I went tonight. As I always do. And, as Bibi and I sat there...at a table full of people...it dawned on me...that we didn't "fit". I realized that the people that we were sitting with...were not sitting with us. And, it slowly occurred to me that these people, who I've considered to be close friends, have become VERY distant recently. Just a few short years ago, karaoke was the one thing...the ONE thing that I missed most about Kirksville when I left town. Now? I'm looking forward to next week being out of town and the week after? Who knows what we'll be doing....but it won't be karaoke.

And, this sucks as well. Why? Not because I'm going to miss it all that much....but there are a few people that occassionally go that Bibi and I both really want to see. And, we're going to be going out of our way to set up time to see these people...but it's a new era in my life, and it's hard to enter into these times. Hmm.....prior to signing on and actually typing these words I had a rough idea of what I was going to be writing...and it included a great deal more cursing and more pointed discourse....but this is fine for now.

Huh.

Thanks for reading.

Tommy

The wedding day...

All right ya'll....here's the deal.

The day of the wedding...Bibi and I werent' allowed to see each other....(which WAS pretty cool) and I felt pretty good all day. There were no nerves....well, there were nerves, but never doubt. It was a very peaceful nervous....is that possible?

After the tuxedo mishegoss, (which will be detailed later)all my guys and I went to the site for pictures, which were really fun.

All of my guys and I went to a great little bar after pictures while Bibi and her girls had her pictures. When we left, it was raining...(we were supposed to have the ceremony outside)...and we got back to the site. It was still raining. We were all set up inside the barn, which was great...the congregation was positioned so that their view was of the rolling hills just outside the barn. It was beautiful. I greeted some guests, and found out that our CD player had been left outside...the CD that we had made was trapped in the now broken CD player. My friend, Brendan, who was there to play one song, thankfully agreed to play some music before the ceremony and while the wedding party came down the aisle. (Which was fantastic!)

As the wedding party started coming down the aisle, I realized that this was actually it....the moment I had been waiting for for almost a year....

I surveyed the guests and savored it all as I took it all in. It was so touching, having everyone there....it was beautiful.

Then, I lost it. Bibi and her father came out from the back hall...she looked....amazing....her hair, was perfect, the veil, her dress....she looked absolutely amazing....

She came towards me, slowly looking around at everyone, and then we locked eyes, and smiled. we clasped hands, and her eyes twinkled. Our officiant welcomed everyone (which was great, thanks to Bibi's mom) and the ceremony began.

We had our friends, Brad and Jeff, share a few thoughts on committment. Then our friend Jen, the minister's wife, spoke about marriage.

Our friend Brendan, (mentioned above) and Bibi's sister sang a beautiful song, entitled "Eternal Love" (no...not the Bengal's version). While the song was being played, Bibi and I gazed into each other's eyes, and sang the song to each other.

We shared our vows, (written by ourselves) and then exchanged rings. After, we were announced, for the first time, as "Mr. and Mrs. Estlund".

And, we kissed. (c;

That's enough for now. More later...
Thanks for reading...

tommy

Preliminary Update

Well, things are going here in the Kville. Bibi and I are enjoying married life, and setting up house.

The stories? Well, I lost my ring in the Aruban ocean. We were swimming in about 5 and a half feet of water, and my ring just slipped off. I started hyperventilating, freaking out, and totally spazzing....(listen, I've owned exactly ONE ring in my life, and it's my damn wedding ring, and I DON"T want to lose it!! So, I feel it's PERFECTLY acceptable for me to freak out and scream like a little child....oh, wait...I didn't scream like a little child....well, not much anyway....)...when Bibi--VERY calmly says to me, "Hon, go get some goggles, I'll stay right here." So, I found this guy who had some snorkeling gear, he loaned me the goggles, and Bibi dove down to look for it. And...um, found it. (First look, too!)

As for the ceremony and reception? Well, it's hard to describe perfection....it was absolutely amazing. Bibi and I talked about it alot afterward, and we came to the realization that it was TOTALLY different than we thought it would be...but it couldn't have gone better! Go look at the pictures....man.

Oh, and the parasailing was fun....Bibi enjoyed it, and I thought it was cool, although one of the carabeaners (sp?) wasn't entirely closed...so, you know that scared me a bit.

All right. That's all for now...oh, I'm reading an interesting book called "The Science of Superheros". It sounds cheesy, and I want everyone to know that I didn't read comic books, but the book is pretty good.

Oh, and I love my new iPod. It's cool....mkay?

Bibi and I are going to Kansas City next weekend for my birthday and possibly a baseball game. Good times...good times.

Thanks for reading...
Tommy

Sometimes kids say the wisest things...

Hey everyone! I've got more to post, much...MUCH more to post, but I'm going to do it in pieces...so, here's one of 'em.

My 7-almost-8 year old sister-in-law wrote a very special book as a wedding present to Bibi and I, and I'm going to transcribe it here for your reading pleasure...

Here it is,
"Marriage Is..." by Ami.

"Marriage is being together...
Loving one another...
Standing up for one another...
Discipline...
Taking care of one another...
Jobs...
Money...
Fun...
Sadness...
Joy...
Anger...
Work...
Generosity...
Celebrations...
Talking...
Plans...
Going new places...
and most of all Love."

We just think that is the coolest thing...and, we really wanted to share that with all of you. (c; So, hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, and our wedding pictures are now up on the web, for anyone who would like to go see them...

www.collages.net

Username: 061006
Password: 10799

(They look GOOD!)

All right...I"ll give you all the juicy details about the wedding, the ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon...losing my ring (in the ocean)...parasailing, plane rides, the MASS NUMBER OF HONEYMOONERS we met...and more....later. (c;

Thanks for reading...

Tommy

I'm Back.

(c;


More later....

break from posting...

Hey everyone...um...well, I won't be able to blog for the next week and a half or so. Why, you ask? Well....um...I'm getting married tomorrow. So, that's why. (c;

books...hmm...what are those?

Well, I realized that the roots of this blog--the books that I'm reading--has largely been ignored lately, and this post is an attempt to rectify that glaring transgression. (It's also an excuse to use big words.)

I finished a new book by Steven King a couple of days ago, entitled "Cell". It's about a frequency transmitted by cell phones that creates a new national terror: Zombie-like creatures. (Anyone who has stood in line at a grocery store lately knows that this isn't too far a cry from what cell phones actually do!)

The book was interesting...I found that it recalled King's greatest work (in my opinion) The Stand. A small group of survivors attempt to place some level of normalcy into their lives after some horrible tragedy (The Stand: A plague; Cell: Zombies) knocks out seeminly all of the much relied on infrastructure of our country. There is also a "bad" guy (Stand: The Trashcan Man; Cell: The Raggedy Man--also called The President of Harvard--I prefer the second name.) The similarities between the two books were striking, and I thought a little distracting. It was, in all honesty, a bit disappointing. I used to love King's work, and this just seemed to lack originality. All in all, I would suggest reading the Stand, and skipping Cell.

(One note, King did make use of the post 9/11 terrorist fear that has America in it's grip, and that was interesting.)

I just finished another book today, one entitled Amish Confidential, by Chris Burkholder. I found that my expectations for this book FAR out weighed the actual quality of the book. It was VERY poorly written, again, in my opinion. I was really interested in finding out about the Amish culture, especially from someone who has experienced it first hand, and found that it was very boring. The writing was very immature...it felt like it was being written by a fifth grader. He was redundant, and the book lacked any semblence of organizational structure. It was confusing and the lack of a logical flow made what should have been shocking revelations (beastiality, incest, sex, drugs, abuse) dull and lackluster.

Wow...I don't think I've ever written such negative reviews of books before, have I? Hey, Hadler, apparently I don't love EVERYTHING I read, do I? (c;

Just started another book, entitled "Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About" by Mil Millington. Only about 10 pages into it, but already I've laughed out loud enough times to frighten Buddy the dog. (Poor Buddy...he doesn't understand good literature.)

All right...that's all.

Thanks for reading...
Tommy