First post of a new year…

Well, it’s 2009. What’s new? Well, I’m stuffed with delicious holiday food (which has not bee good for my waistline), have a few pairs of new socks, and a fianc?e.
I find it strange to be asked to help plan a wedding (as I don’t know the first thing about wedding planning), but find it intensely surreal to be asked to help plan my own wedding. Very odd indeed.
Anyway, as no doubt people want pictures, here’s a picture of me and my lovely bride-to-be:

Yes, I’m extremely white. The fact that it’s winter and I got let out of the laboratory only long enough to visit family and friends (this was taken outside my parents house) doesn’t do much for my complexion.
As some people are no doubt interested in pictures of the ring, here’s a close-up:

It’s 18k white gold with a 0.437ct G color, ideal-cut, SI1 clarity, AGS-graded center stone with two 0.25ct side stones with the same grade color, cut, and clarity. It is extremely shiny, and looks fantastic on her finger.
We’re looking at getting married in 2010. I’ll no doubt keep you posted.
In other news, I’m on track to finally get my bachelors degree in physics this year (December, I hope). After eight years of on-and-off-again college (interrupted by a few years in the US Army and some periods of slacking at community college) I’m almost done. Next up, almost certainly grad school: in order to do anything really interesting in the field of physics, one needs a doctoral degree. Hopefully I’ll be done by 2016. At this rate, Sarah and I will probably have a kid or two, so I’ll need to make sure I can balance grad school, finances, and family. Any advice?
Some resolutions I made:

• Take more new shooters to the range.
• Go shooting by myself (or with a spotter) more often, so as to build my own skills.
• Shoot at longer ranges than 100 yards.
• Shoot more than just paper. (Sarah bought me this for Christmas, so that should help.)
• Pay off all my debts, including my low-interest vehicle loan, and start socking money away in savings. Not only is this a good idea in general, but I’d like to have some cash put away for living expenses and whatnot whilst in grad school.
• Study more. In retrospect, I spent far too much time last year slacking when I could have been studying. This will be rectified.
• Eat better. I eat far too much unhealthy food. This needs to be changed.
• Get in shape. I’ve been in shape (thanks to Uncle Sam) before, and I rather liked it. A few hours a week at the gym won’t kill me.

This winter break consisted of very little shooting, as I didn’t bring my guns to California when I visited family and friends. I did go shooting with my friend Diego and his cousin (new shooter report coming soon), which was nice, but I’d like to shoot more.
More as I get it.