Tuesday, December 29, 2009

As I sit here in the breakfast nook in Laura's parent's house, with the snow starting to fall down, I think it's time to do a quick look-back at 2009. A year of ups and downs, stupid health problems, and the 'calm before the storm' (Laura and I moving next year), friends getting married, etc.

Really a year like any other, if you think about it. The big news were Chris and Alicia getting married, I think Laura passed her comps earlier this year...maybe, that might have been November of last year. I can't remember that far.

Next year is going to be a big move out of Laramie and into the unknown. It's like starting over again, in a sense. It'll sort of be a mirror of us moving into Laramie, some 4.5 years ago. That's a long time. Laura will be sort of "starting" school at a new place again, I'll have to find a job again, making new friends (maybe I don't need to make any friends since it's potentially just for a year?!), moving our stuff to a new house, settling in, etc.

Of all the things to be thankful for, it always comes back to Laura and how much she helps me through the year and that I don't do enough reciprocity. I love you and thank you for all that you do for me each and every minute, hour, day, and year.

Next year, I'm sure, will be yet another quick one in the end, but slow to start. I think it'll also be a big step toward the future as well as Laura finishes up her Ph.D.!

Anyway, thanks to all the family and friends that made this year what it was.

See you 2009 and welcome the '10s (tens??!!?).

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Wow, I didn't realize that I went 3 months without posting. Hard to imagine that I didn't even think of this blog during that time. Quite a bit of stuff has happened during this time. The biggest being that Chris and Alicia are now married...and still married. They had a good time in Hawaii and seem to be back in the same ol' groove, working and such.

This year we decided to have Thanksgiving with my Mom and sister in Niwot. It was a good time. Nephew and nieces are certainly weird! After the Thanksgiving lunch/dinner, I took some family photos of their family. Turned out okay, I think. I still need to practice people photography.

Laura and I are slowly getting into the mode of moving...well, at least I am! She has gotten interviews at 10 different places. It really sucks that we don't know where we'll be going until late February. She has to fly all around in mid-January, which is going to cost a shit-ton of money. I wish they would at least pay for the travel expenses if they get into the respective place they're interviewing at. Anyway, I think our main choices so far are Portland, OR, Oklahoma City, OK and Augusta, MA. I will probably tag along with her on the Maine interview. We're still not quite sure where we'll put our choices in order. It's a tough decision as there are a lot of factors that affect the decision.

Kip and Callie are both doing well. Being dicks as always! In a couple days we're heading down to Fort Collins for Ellen's graduation on Saturday. I'll bring my camcorder to take some videos of it all.

Other than that I'm getting more and more excited to leave our hell hole. I have been spending some time at working researching homes for rent. The best seems to be Oklahoma City in terms of housing prices and what you get for it. It's pretty awesome. Denver, Portland, and Maine are on the more expensive side. We'll see what we end up with. I am never, ever doing neighbors again, at least sharing the same fricken wall. What a stupid concept townhouses, duplexes, etc. are.

Also, I'm typing this blog on my new keyboard as well. I noticed the super slim, wireless keyboard on Amazon that I saw at Best Buy a while back for only $25, so I said why not. I did use Laura's myriad of $25 Amazon gift certificates, so it was actually free. It took a few days to get used to the "laptop feel", but now it's great. I love the laptop keyboard feel.

Anyway, until next time. Maybe I'll try and do one last blog for this year and wrap it up while I'm in OK for Christmas. I'm taking nearly 2 weeks off, so that's cool.

See ya.