November 4, 2024
Where do I begin? This year has been incredible. One of the best of my life by far. So many adventures and things to share and I’ve been not documenting on my blog here for whatever reason. I started a daily 8am journal on my iPad that I write for about 5 minutes but that’s more personal stuff and not really things to share.
In February, on leap day, I got married to the love of my life. We have been together for about 10 years and I wish we had just gotten married sooner. After that, we flew from Florida all the way over to Tanzania.
We didn’t have a normal wedding. Want to know the easiest reason why?
“As of 2024, the average cost of a wedding in the United States is approximately $33,000, reflecting a slight increase from $29,000 in 2023. This figure encompasses expenses such as the venue, catering, attire, and entertainment.
However, wedding costs can vary significantly based on location. For instance, in New Jersey, the average wedding expenditure is around $55,000, while in Utah, it’s approximately $17,000.”
that’s a little section from a chatgpt search and explanation. An average cost of $33,000 for a one-day event seems insane to us. It doesn’t even take into account all of the money that friends and family have to spend to travel to a place for a wedding. Flights, hotels, food at the new place, dresses, gifts, etc.
In my opinion it’s gotten a bit crazy with the costs of it all. So, we ended up using what would have been our wedding money and did something we’ve always wanted to do…
An African Safari Honeymoon
We left Florida to go on one of the things that has been on Sam’s bucket list the whole time I’ve known her… a safari! So off to Tanzania we went.
We ended up flying into ‘the bush’ on a small little plane shown below. It was crazy, we’re just flying along and then we land in a flat field where we then were picked up by our driver. It was our honeymoon, so we ended up having our own private driver for the experience. It was awesome.
I’m Now a Father!
On September 27, 2024 my life got better by a factor of who knows how much. As i’m writing this here in the office of our house, my daughter is asleep in her bassinet next to me. She makes these cute noises when she sleeps (I think all parents get to experience the fun of these) and I end up stopping everything to peak over at her and see that she’s still just sleeping… with an occasional eye open, smile then back to sleep.
The first few weeks have not been easy. Our daughter was born during Hurricane Helene and then a week or two later, Hurricane Milton hit our area. We had evacuated with Sam’s mom and dad (who had been visiting and helping out a ton) to Orlando and came back to a house without power and all the food in the freezer and refrigerator gone bad.
So that means I’ll need to do a bit more research on backup generators and pull the trigger on getting one for the house. I’d rather not have to worry about the loss of power in the future and being based in Florida (where hurricanes hit) we’ll need it no matter where we end up moving.
I have so much more respect for all the parents out there who have gone through this. Huge shoutout to my wife. I have no idea how she’s been doing it. I’ve been able to get sleep, not my normal amount, but way more than she has. She still functions and is doing an incredible job with our baby girl.