Three Years of Marriage

During our third year, Jonathan decided to switch careers and started a whole new batch of pre-requisites. His decision to pursue the field of Industrial Organizational Psychology was natural (he had, after all, introduced Nicole to the field back in 1999).

We took a few trips this year. Jonathan went to India for a few weeks (and, unfortunately, missed the best snow storm the DC region had seen in years), and we both spent time at Great Falls, Shenandoah National Park, and Assateague Island (the land of in-bred horses).

Off to Washington, DC

We left Missouri with high expectations for fabulous Washington, DC - despite Jonathan's first uttered words upon entering the Metro area, "I forgot how much I hate it here." We planned to complete our Masters degrees in DC and then settle somewhere out West. Nicole started her program in Human Performance Systems, sampled two different federal agencies before settling on a quasi-government workplace, and taught ballroom dance at a local studio. Jonathan started work as an accountant and began pre-requisites for an MBA program.

Four Months in Missouri

Our first year went by in a flash as we finished our undergrad and drove off to Missouri with nothing but what would fit in the car (and boy did we miss the couch). Dining on a card table with four plastic patio chairs, nobody seemed to mind that our gravy boat was a pyrex liquid measuring cup. Jonathan finished his training as an officer in the Army, and Nicole tried (in vain) to find a summer job to keep busy.

Hooray - Jonathan and Nicole Meet!

We've come a long way since that first meeting at the cantelope-eating party (say what you will, but when Nicole was at her grandparent's home and all the cantelope ripened at the same time, to do anything but host a cantelope-eating party would have been a terrible waste) or, depending on when you start counting, the other first meeting that Nicole can't remember... Through organizing weekly dances as friends (Jonathan called the girls, Nicole called the guys) and late-night telephone calls about relationships with other people, we finally realized that we were better off together (must have had something to do with Jonathan's ability to sing along with the "Chess" CD).