Since several people have been asking, I thought I would make a very "official" post updating you all on my plans for next year. As many of you know, I spent the months of September to January buried in PhD applications. Of course this coincided with finishing up my MA degree, trying to figure out a summer job, and starting to plan a wedding!! So, you may not have seen much of me during these months. Instead of boring you with the details of where I applied, I am skipping to the end result. I ended up accepting an offer for the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. So, Dave and I will be staying in the city of Toronto which we are really excited about!!! I will start my program in September and am looking forward to taking a "thinking break" over the summer before diving in to another 4-5 years of study.

There are just some friends that you meet that you know, come thick or thin, they would do anything and everything in their power for you and quite simply I know that Nick Dargus is one of those ultra-rare friends in my life and I'm honoured that he will be standing beside me on July 24th.

NICK DARGUS

Since I moved to Toronto in 1999, Nick Dargus has been with me (and I with him) every step along the way. Nick and I were rookies on the Varsity Blues swim team together, we moved into 'The Palace' together, we captained the Varsity Blues swim team together and to two Provincial Titles, we finished our swimming careers in the same year, we moved on with careers at the same time, we've played poker and pool on many an inebriated evening, and last year I was honoured to be the Best Man at his wedding.

Here are some quick hit memories I share with Nick Dargus... The Dougall Perpetual Challenge Trophy, a love of 24 (although if he ruins it for me I will ruin him), Duffs, The Palace, free pool at the Fox & Fiddle, Goldschlager (yikes), Franchises' boobs (you're welcome), and fond smile every time I hear the song 'Rasputin' by Boney M (yeah, by Boney M, will never forget that artist).



Nick and Nathalie are pretty tight as friends and have been so since well before Nathalie and I started to date. To be fair, Nick used to pick on Nathalie quite a bit, much like an older brother would pick on a sister. Although underneath that teasing was also a relationship that Nathalie was comfortable enough to confide to Nick her super crush she had on me... yeah, I'm that big a deal.

Since Nathalie and I have been together Nick continues to be a great friend. To Nathalie's delight she has proven to be an adept dog sitter for Cole while Nick and I enjoy our frequent trips to Duffs (sometimes we even bring along that deadbeat, The Dudar).

Of all the memories I've shared with Nick, I believe the fondest is the fantastic week we spent in Punta Cana last year shortly after his wedding. Nick and his beautiful wife Ashley were generous enough to take the wedding party to Punta Cana and it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip!

Nick has always been there for me and on July 24th he will be right in the thick of things again and I could not be more happy to share this day with one of the best friends I could ever imagine having in my life.

BTW... I don't know how many drinks I had in me at the time of this picture but be assured it was quite a few. A great day!

This is exciting, 103 days left to go until July 24th so it's time to unveil a proper wedding website where you'll find some of the more general information regarding the wedding...

The site is under construction but there are some preliminary details up... more to come.

The blog is definitely going to continue, please keep visiting. Hit up the Flickr. Join our Facebook group. Follow us on Twitter... You can do it all with this wedding, full access!

In all seriousness, lots going on and we love all the help and support our friends and families having been giving us lately!

Visit the official wedding website... http://www.ewedding.com/sites/july24th2010