Pauls "Christmas" Letter

All,

So I haven't actually sent this to the people I want to e-mail it to yet, but hope to do it this weekend. Think of this as a sneak peak of the Paul Nichols Christmas Letter. A rare privilige that few recieve.

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Dear Friends,

The more astute of you will realize that this Christmas letter is reaching you in March. I would blame the post office, but as this letter has been e-mailed the excuse seems a bit weak. Think of it as an act of rebellion against repressive social norms on when these things should be sent out. If that does not suffice, consider that you are getting an extra two months of news, free.

The big things that have happened this year are, in chronological order, (1) graduation, (2) getting hit by a car, (3) getting engaged. First things first.

Graduation: As of June I graduated from my second round of school. I am now a proud owner of a business degree from The Ohio State University retaining all the privileges thereof. This mostly involves student loans and a one year complimentary membership to the alumni association. The magazine is nice.

On a related note I also started a job at The Scotts Miracle-Gro company, proud makers of lawn fertilizer, plant food, and just about everything else lawn and garden. Buy our products, lots of them. Give them as gifts. Nothing says “I care” like a large bag of fertilizer, they won’t know what to say.

Getting hit by a car: This was a surprise. I was in Iowa, riding with my parents to the airport when someone pulled out in front of us on the highway. We broadsided him in an event which might seem traumatic except I hit my head on the seat in front of me and promptly passed out. So I don’t remember much. The hospital and the neck brace were a pain, but I and everyone else involved are now fine, so that was a big blessing.

Getting engaged: A little over two years ago a met Jona Hilario, a graduate student at OSU at a graduate student organization. We began dating, and in mid-December I proposed. She said “yes”, so we are now in the process of planning a wedding.

This will be a destination wedding of sorts, with the ceremony next February in Manila, Philippines (where Jona is from) with a reception to follow in Marshalltown, Iowa (my town). You would think that the planning would make things really crazy, but it really hasn’t. One thing about having a wedding so far away is that other people (Our families) help a lot. I just hope I walk into the right ceremony. I would probably figure it out when the bride walked down the aisle, but with the veils and everything you never know.

One thing we have done is create a blog where people can learn more than they would ever want to know about the wedding. It is www.paulandjona.blogspot.com/. Visit. Post comments. Vote for me in the Hot or Not contest… okay, so there is no contest.

So that’s my year in brief, I hope yours went very well and that this current year is shaping up even better. Mine has gone pretty well so far, though I must resolve to be more timely.

Take care!

Yours,
Paul