100 Days of Marriage Bliss

Yes friends, it has been 100 days since Emilia and I tied the knot. She still does not trust me with a jar of peanut butter, but other than that, we have a wonderful marriage. ;-) The first 100 days of the U.S. Presidency is usually the benchmark that analysts use to judge the tenor of his next 4 2/3rds years. So, with this in mind, what is the first 100 days for Emilia and Jody?

After setting up our apartment in Tigard, Oregon for the first month of our Marriage, we decided that a large rent hike after October 15th was going to be detrimental to our financial state of being. We moved, and Emilia changed her last name to Ramey, and obtained a Washington State Drivers License. We live in Vancouver, Washington now. We signed a year-long lease that has a nice renewal option, so we are planted in Vancouver for the time being. Even though we dislike change, the fact that we were both non-drivers, and that moving is EXTREMELY stressful for us, we established that in light of impending financial doom, we will do what it takes to push through and find another alternative. We also established that the Northwest, specifically, Washington State, is our home for the time being.

During the First few weeks of our marriage we answered several calls for proposals to different disability and education related conferences. Two of them have already come through with invites, and the rest have still not answered with a yes or a no. One invite is to Australia, and one is to South Africa. This has set a tone for the two of us to grow as speakers, advocates, and educators, on a world-wide scale. While we were dating we were invited to a conference in England to speak about dating. Emilia and I are working on a contribution to a refereed Journal, and we started on a book project in which we have already gotten feedback on a couple of chapters.

Along with our great in-depth conversation, Emilia and I have experienced some trial and tribulation. We have not developed a source of income yet (NO JOB) nor have we experienced a lot of health (One-Month of illness for us). So, our wedding money has run out, and while we were coughing, snotting, puking, and everything else, we were also triggering some of our sensory hypersensitivities, making things more intense. Despite all of this, our Autistic logic kicked in and we attacked our issues as they came up, talked about them, read scriptures, and prayed, and we are not completely well, but we are feeling much better, and all the other financial and social issues are slowly but surely being worked upon. The prayer is indicative that spirituality is a focus in our lives, and will be for the future. Also, that when tribulation hits, we will work through the issues as a team, indicating that the blog for "Team Ramey" was aptly named. God is caring for us in our time of need, and for that we are thankful.

So, that about raps up the first 100 days of our marriage. Thank you to all of our good friends and family members that have been providing supports to us through the tough times, and I thank Emilia for being a wonderful partner for these 100 days. The experience has been AMAZING, and I am so blessed to have been a participant. I could write a lot more, but it is late, and I am tired.

Good Night,

Jody John Ramey