2006 was an exceptional year for us, not least because we managed to send our holiday greetings and new year's wishes if not on time, at least before Valentine's Day. We hope that this major achievement becomes a habit. We intend never to repeat the other happy milestones around which our year revolved: our wedding and the end of Elizabeth's PhD.

Elizabeth's viva (or thesis defense) took place in April at Trinity College Dublin. Her thesis on consciousness and cognition in Samuel Beckett's later prose was extremely well received by her examiners, and, having assigned herself many more revisions than they did, she submitted her final version in June. With all our other activities in 2006, we had to postpone her graduation until February 2007, when we and her dad will return to Ireland for the ceremony.

Elizabeth inspects the facilities during a wedding recon mission.

After our engagement in December 2005, wedding planning became the major project for 2006. We chose the venue, Knappogue Castle in Co. Clare, and the date, 1 September 2006, within a day of our engagement. Our many trips to Ireland in the meantime had us driving around Clare, talking with innkeepers, marking locations on maps, measuring split times for bus runs, and researching activities in the area to ensure that our guests would have all the information they needed. We attended a banquet at Knappogue Castle so that we could make sure the entertainment would be up to snuff, and got the chef excited about creating a totally gluten-free wedding banquet. We found accommodation for ourselves also, a fantastic set of cottages with a lake, a large lawn, several barbecues, and a trampoline.

Killian at Niagara Falls, January 2006.

Many of our non-Irish excursions were wedding-related as well. The first such expedition was a road trip to Toronto to visit Killian's brother Luke for inspiration and guidance with wedding invitations. Our long-suffering car got us there and back with no problems, along with a stop at the Niagara Falls along the way. Luke helped us with the design of our invitations and took us to the Paper Place, where Elizabeth finally got to live out her stationery store fantasies. We also travelled to Atlanta to visit Elizabeth's brother Bob, his wife Mercedes, and our Maid of Honour, Susannah Scott. The main order of business was for Elizabeth to try on Mercedes' wedding dress. Elizabeth had fallen for the dress at Bob and Mercedes' wedding in Spain, and Mercedes kindly offered to loan it to Elizabeth for our wedding. Killian and Bob were sent on a fool's errand to the DIY store while Susannah and Mercedes made their assessment that the dress would do the trick. Elizabeth also went to Chicago several times to visit Mary, Pete, Sam, and Emma. Mary's help was key to making the wedding a success. Among many other contributions, she made a dancing-friendly skirt for Elizabeth to wear at the wedding reception.

In June, Killian's brother Nick married Vicki Parks in Galesburg, Illinois. (Midwestern wives are all the rage in the Murphy family!) Their wedding was a truly impressive production and a daunting act to follow. We had enormous fun with the guests as well as the locals, who dealt admirably with the Irish invasion of their usually calm and orderly city.

Killian shoots a rapids in Wisconsin.

We went to Wisconsin for the 4th of July holiday. We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday at the Smith Family Reunion near Oxford, Wisconsin. It was great to meet so many of Elizabeth's relatives, as she had not seen them in many years. We then drove to Shawano to visit Bob and his friends in their fabulous lake house. We spent the weekend boating among bars and restaurants along the shore. Killian got to kayak for the first time in over a decade, and we tried a Sea-Doo, which allowed Elizabeth to show off her usually latent affinity for speed.

Later in July, a natural disater struck our loft apartment in Brooklyn. During a violent afternoon thunderstorm, the drains on the flat roof of our apartment building were blocked by debris. The roof flooded, and the water cascaded down the stairs and then moved in between the floor and ceiling on each level below. The result in our case was a waterfall pouring down from the ceiling. Elizabeth discovered it in time to rescue the wedding dress, and then made an emergency call to Killian at work. When the drains had been unplugged and we could take stock, we found that we had a three-inch-deep puddle covering about a quarter of our apartment; our bookshelves had been drenched; some of our computer gear (including Elizabeth's laptop) was destroyed; and the fly population was already starting to grow. It took us the rest of the weekend to clean up. We got Elizabeth a new laptop and rescued her data from the old one, threw out some of the furniture and technology, and started a war on the flies. It was a couple of months (and a wedding and honeymoon) later before things were entirely back to normal.

Our next adventure was the wedding itself. Given the effort all of our guests made to get to Clare, and how rarely we see many of them, we put together a weekend of activities. The festivities commenced the night before the wedding with a barbecue for the immediate families organised by Nick and Luke.

Bellylaughs at the wedding reception.

On the day itself, we bused everyone to Knappogue Castle from their hotels and B&Bs. The ceremony, set in the Great Hall at the top of the castle, was conducted eloquently by Anne Greer and included readings from family and friends and musical accompaniment by an uilleann piper. After the ceremony, the Knappogue hospitality kicked into high gear with a mead reception and a banquet featuring entertainment from the butler and the ladies of the castle. Before dinner, both Dads offered lovely toasts, and our attendants, Susannah Scott and Antony Courtney, gave marvellous speeches. Elizabeth and Killian also collaborated on a he-said-she-said account of their first meeting. Luke offered a rollicking limerick to escape the perils of the castle dungeon, and Bob also toasted us in verse. The requisite dining and dancing ensued, and a trad session finished out the evening. Killian and Elizabeth waved farewell to buses full of guests departing into a damp Irish night.

Our walk in the Burren.

On Saturday, we passed the ‘afternoon after the night before’ engaged in strenuous sitting around, sipping beers, and enjoying the lake.

We gathered on Sunday morning at Cassidy's Pub in Carran for a guided walk in the Burren with our dear friend and famed Corkonian geologist Brian MacSharry. After the hike, we repaired to the pub for food, drink, poetry writing and the All-Ireland hurling match on telly. Once Kilkenny vanquished Cork in the hurling, Killian and Elizabeth returned to the lodgings to pack for the honeymoon.

The whole shebang went largely according to plan, thanks to a dedicated army of helpers. We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, not least because it brought so many of our favourite people together. A million thanks to everyone who made the trip, thought about making the trip, lent a hand, or wished us well.

On the dhow in Chole Bay, Mafia, Tanzania.

On Monday, 4 September, we got up early in Clare, drove to Dublin, and flew Dublin - Amsterdam - Nairobi - Dar Es Salaam - Mafia Island. After the requisite delays and missed connections, we were dropped off on Mafia Island just before sunset Tuesday by a Cessna pilot on his way down the coast to Kilwa. We were well ready to be pampered, and Kinasi Lodge was only too happy to oblige. There we relaxed, swam, tried SCUBA diving, explored the overgrown ruins on nearby Chole Island, and borrowed bikes to ride to Kilindoni, the island's capital. After four days of fabulous food and excellent company, we were ready for anything, so we headed off on Safari to the Selous Game Reserve.

Table for two in the bush.

In the Selous, we surprised ourselves by seizing almost every opportunity to go on game drives. Elizabeth proved herself adept at spotting the animals, especially the giraffes. For two of our nights in the Selous, we went 'camping' with a skeleton crew of five to look after us and make sure we ate well and didn't get eaten. While the number seemed excessive to us at first, we were soon very glad to have so many hands on deck, as on our first night a bush fire got too close to the camp for comfort. Killian took up a palm frond to help build a firebreak until we were summoned to dinner. As we sat at the candlelit table for two in the middle of the bush trying to gauge the absurdity of the situation (five people battling bush fires to provide us two tourists the experience of sleeping under the stars and listening to lions roar), our uniformed waiter Mbasho appeared out of nowhere with peppered steak. We tucked in while the tent boy, armed with a flashlight, converted our wildlife viewing platform into a bedroom with mosquito netting for walls. There was nothing to do but shut up and enjoy ourselves. The next morning, we went on walking safari with our guide Hasani and the ranger Mary carrying a gun over her shoulder. After our camping trip, we went on a boat safari, which involved riding in a small, low, lightweight boat around a lake infested with crocodiles and hippos. A huge variety of wildlife, a veritable crocodile smorgasbord, was drawn to the lake for water and food. We saw a few crocodiles try to nab some waterbuck for lunch, but the snapping jaws came up empty to Killian's admitted disappointment.

Our last couple of days in Tanzania were spent in Dar Es Salaam, where we visited craft markets and the national museum and tried (unsuccessfully) to make ugali, East African cornmeal porridge, in our hotel kitchen. We miss Africa and intend to return to sample more ugali in its many forms.

Since our return to New York, life has been relatively quiet. Killian continues to work with the R & D team in Credit Suisse's IT division. In December, he was promoted to Director in the bank and took on the role of Head of Development in his group. Elizabeth is embarking on some web development projects and the daunting task of shopping her PhD thesis to academic publishers. We spent Christmas at Mary's in Chicago with all the Drews and all the Tiemeyers, and had a happy new year celebration in Tribeca with Hugh and Tanya and her folks.

As we take stock of the last year in our lives, our thoughts turn to our friends and family and the many milestones in their lives: new babies, new jobs, weddings, engagements, and dear ones who have died. We wish them all happiness, fulfilment, and peace in 2007.

Well, the Gods decided our life wasn't complicated enough on Friday evening. There have been frequent thunderstorms here over the last week or two, sometimes several a day. On Friday evening, during an exceptionally violent downpour, the drains on the roof blocked up. The corner of the roof filled up with water, until it spilled over the sill and flowed down the stairs. Once it reached the floors below it spread out, moving into the ceiling of the fourth floor, and then the third, our floor.

This happened at 5pm on Friday. Elizabeth was at home, so called me at work to tell me that there was a waterfall gushing into our living room. She started filling large kitchen garbage cans with water, but within a few minutes they were full of water and too heavy to move. By the time I got home, there were 2-3 inches of water on the floor covering about a quarter of the apartment and water gushing from the ceiling in several areas. I had called Hugh to join me at the apartment, so we moved the heavy furtniture out of the way and emptied the bins. I then ran to find the cause of the problem, running through a river upstairs. The roof was under several inches of water. One of my other neighbours was up there, we were able to find the blocked drain and unblock it. A wire mesh used to prevent debris going down the drain had gotten blocked up. Once we pulled it out the roof started to drain properly and the water coming into our apartment gradually slowed. By 10pm on Friday night most of the drips had stopped.

Our couch and chairs got wet, also the electric piano, a couple of bookshelves (the books seem OK, the papers on top less so), speakers, electrical bits and pieces and Elizabeth's laptop. We've spent all weekend since Friday night cleaning up. We stayed in a hotel on Friday night, laundered all the clothing, sheets, towels etc. that got wet yesterday, also washed floors, threw out unrecoverable things, cleaned the bathroom, generally got the apartment livable again.

Our landlord is Jewish, and the sabbath started on Friday at sundown, so we haven't seen him yet. I would guess they'll need to rebuild the ceiling and walls, but who knows. My renter's insurance, as is typical here, appears to exclude flood damage. I won't know for sure until Monday morning.

We stayed in the apartment on Saturday night, it's fine to live in now. We're just hoping to stay ahead of the mould. The corridor outside is nasty, and smells of mould already.

Fingers crossed we can resurrect Elizabeth's laptop, or if not, the data on it.

On Monday 30 January, we collected the engagement ring from Rudolf Heltzel's shop in Kilkenny. The Heltzels lived next door to the Murphys when Killian was just a lad. We had ordered the ring together before Christmas. Elizabeth chose the stone, an oval sapphire, a little lighter and a little purpler than standard sapphire blue, and Rudolf designed and made this striking and unusual engagement ring. Killian since learned that his mother's engagement ring also featured a sapphire, so it turns out our choice follows Murphy family tradition.

Despite Elizabeth's meddling in this process, Killian still managed to catch her off guard by having the wedding band made in advance so he could propose with it. Immediately after ordering the engagement ring in Rudolf's shop, we headed to County Clare to scout wedding venues. The next morning, 23 December, we took our requisite walk in the windy mist where the Burren meets the sea in Doolin, and Killian knelt down on a dry patch of limestone and presented Elizabeth with the wedding band. E accepted it, and his proposal.