In October of 2000, Mark was out with his roommate Aaron for a steak dinner and stopped by Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association's weekly swing dance. Jen was there with her friend Grace. She had decided to escape the loud party going on at her house. During the evening they met, and danced and chatted. Jen noticed Mark's contagious smile and easy laugh. Mark enjoyed dancing and chatting with her and asked her to dance several times. Unbeknownst to her, his rule was to dance only once per night with any given girl. But Jen seemd so nice, Mark made an exception, and was further encouraged by Aaron's comment that, "I think she likes you." At the end of that night he asked for Jen's number and a few days later called and invited her out for dinner. Soon they joined a six week ballroom dance class together. Every time they got together they liked each other more and more. A few weeks later they traveled together to Arizona at Thanksgiving. This gave ample time for get-to-know-you conversations. They both felt comfortable and at ease with each other and enjoyed talking for hours. By Christmas they were smitten and traveled to see both families. During February they started looking at engagement rings. In March Mark showed up at Jen's door with roses and chocolates and a beautiful 1920's vintage diamond ring. They celebrated their engagement by going to a romantic French restaurant in South Pasadena. Preperations went smoothly and on August 18th Mark and Jen were married and the rest is history...
We have enjoyed many cozy evenings at home reading books aloud together, eating (stir-fry, curry, home-made veggie burgers) and occasionally rolling up the rug and dancing to some big-band swing music. We especially enjoy reading children's books and young adult fiction such as C.S. Lewis's Narnia series and Treasure Island. Some of our new family Habits include a pot of tea with every breakfast, a Sunday afternoon nap after Church, and having Thursday as our night out.
Mark continues enjoying his job in the Software Test department at Critical Path, even more so now that we live only 3 miles away so no more hour-long commutes.
Jen has been tutoring middle school and high school students in the afternoons, and has been hired as a research assistant for Los Angeles Unified School District on a project to begin in January. She will be observing classrooms as well as interviewing parents and teachers. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of California's new English Immersion Program.
We're renting a 2-bedroom house with hardwood floors (hence the dancing) and a terraced back yard. After a month-long unpacking project, and another month to "settle in" things have been quite comfortable. We had a nice house-warming party in November (Mark's Mom helped host) and would like to have a house-blessing in January.
Mark enjoys doing improvements around the house, such as wiring DSL Internet service, replacing ceiling light fixtures, and installing outdoor low-voltage lighting for the back yard stairs going up the hill. Jen's parents visited in September, bringing succulents and other plants and helping with gardening and pruning. They also helped stain and finish a pair of bookcases which we got to organize our combined libraries.
Jen discovered a nice bike path nearby, and we got to explore it fully when Mark's dad brought his bicycle down and the three of us rode all the way to the ocean.
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