Well, I'm back. A little later than I wanted, but, I just got carried away with surfing. Actually, I did a little bit of work on my clients' websites today.

Anywho. Portland. I got here May 12th. I *can not* believe it's already June 5th. We've got all the utilities taken care of. My typical day is pretty much:

1. Wake up around 9 or 10am. I do set the alarm for 8:30 everyday, but, really, I don't know why I do that. I wake up and turn it off and go right back to bed. The clock is at the foot of the mattress, so I even have to get out of the covers and such, but, I still get back.

2. Look for jobs as much as I can, which, unfortunately just means opening up all the links I have in my browser favorites folder called "jobs" and looking through them. It's usually very slim pickings. I only average an application once every 1.5 days. There really just isn't much around here.

3. Eat lunch, consisting of PB&J sandwiches and/or cereal. Everyday is a combination of one of those two. Lately, I've been trying to get more "solids" into my system. This week was frozen burritos. Still, it's crazy how much money I see saving in not going out to eat. I have eaten fast food a few times while I've been in the house, but the majority has been what I mentioned above. It gets boring real quick.

4. Surfing/WoW/watching movies. The first couple of weeks, it was WoW. I leveled a new character to level 80 in 2 weeks...probably my fastest ever. I played way too much. I think I'm on "break" now. The last week or so, I've been helping this new client for a blog he wanted on his website. He's been in some notable TV shows and movies, as well.

5. Dinner. Mostly repeat lunch.

6. Back to step 4 until late and to sleep.

It's a real boring schedule. Frankly, I don't wish that I ever NOT have a job, but I can't do this for much longer. Laura and the dogs being here would be much better on the schedule and my outlook of boredom, however. Like I said, the house is completely empty and it saps any energy I have. Mowing the lawn has been an exercise. I always seems to be out of breath after I do it. I think this coming week, I'm going to actually raise the cutting level 1 notch, because right now, I think it's too short. That'll help with not filling up the trash too fast as well.

What else. Nothing, really, because I've been doing nothing!

I can't wait for the 25th. 20 days away. I've already been here that long and it seemed to go by quick, so, hopefully this will be the same. The move will be hard, though, I think. The drive was long and that was without any house stuff. But then again, this time there will be friends involved, so maybe it won't be as bad.

Anyway, I just registered for all our utilities and already the electric and gas are ready for payment. The electric was like $14, but the gas was $41! Hopefully I don't have to heat it during the summer. I dunno why, but I'm just cold in this house. Either the townhouse was kept warm because it was nestled in between two other houses that stayed warm, so it just felt like I didn't need to run the heat or the thermostat was off in the townhouse, because I have this place set at 72 and that's about right, for me at least. I think I can go to 71 or 70 maybe, but, we'll see. The difference between 71 and 72 on thermostat is big. Like 71 is too cold, but 72 is too hot. Oh well.

Well, it's almost been 3 weeks since my last post, so it's probably time to update this thing. I'll do it tomorrow, as it's almost midnight now. I know I'm not really going to be able to sleep anytime soon; I've been staying up rather late since I moved into this house and waking up later than I'd like. I'm not sure why. I'm not even tired most of the time. Perhaps I'm just trying to pass time by sleeping it away? I don't know. I know that I miss Laura A LOT right now. I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks since the time we were looking for houses, driving around Portland, and living out of the Homestead Suites. Time flew by, but, I'm not exactly sure how, if that makes sense. One thing's for sure that it's a lot of wasted time gone. I need to do more productive stuff during this time.

Anyway, I'll write again tomorrow.

I get internet tomorrow! No more stealing this slow, unsecured wifi...

I guess I'll make my first blog post from Oregon one from my last night here at the extended stay hotel. I've only stayed here for 7 days now and I'm "moving" into our rental home tomorrow. I put moving in quotes as I really don't have anything to move in...Clothes and some appliances is all. I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing there. I scheduled the internet to be installed, but that's this Thursday, so I'm going to have to visit Barnes and Noble or something in the meantime to keep my job search going.

It doesn't seem like it, but so much has happened in the last week. Being alone for a couple of days has re-confirmed my dependence for Laura as my wife and friend through tough times. After having a bit of a freak out on the first night here, things started to look up again after she arrived a day later. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next several weeks without her. It's going to be tough. I guess I miss my pups, too. :)

Just a recap, the drive here was terrible. Don't ever do 17 hours in a single day, let alone by yourself. I mean, I guess I do like driving, but man, this made me hate it. The first few hours of the morning sucked. I left at 1:20am. Cold and dark, it was actually snowing/blizzarding until it became light outside. I was dozing out really bad in the beginning (and frankly it was kind of getting dangerous) so I actually stopped about 4 hours into the trip and took at 40-minute nap out at a hotel parking lot. I didn't really sleep all that much, but it gave me enough energy to keep going until the sun came up and finally "wake up." The middle7-8 hours went fine. Nothing in terms of scenery, really. The last 4-5 hours SUCKED the worst. I don't know why. It just did. The sign for the "miles to Portland" pissed me off every time since the miles left didn't seem to change. It just kept going down by like 3 miles each time. Seriously, at least put it 15-20 miles apart. The scenery was awesome, however, for the last 2 hours. Driving along the river all the way in, seeing these boats, huge cliffs and crags, the sun setting, dams, etc. all made it nice. It just felt like a foreign area to me, since I was so used to the Wyoming scenery. I was just arriving in traffic, which I didn't realize at the time, so that just made the last 30 minutes that bad. And the fact that I didn't know crap about the area and how the roads were, like some exits being on the left, signage being horrible and worst of all, OREGON DRIVERS SUCKING. Honestly, I have not seen worse drivers in all the states I've been in. LA is even better. No one signals, brakes abruptly, speeds up for no reason when you try to pass and then slows down...it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I finally make it to the hotel and I pay for the first week. Hell, the stupid girl was nice, but charged me the wrong rate...whatever. So, yeah. That day was back. The next day, I really tried to be in a good mood since I was picking up Laura, but traffic, again. I was like 45 minutes late in picking up Laura because there was a crash that bogged down the route I was going to take. Trying to go another route (bad idea when you don't know what the "other route" is), I end up in downtown...furthermore, I ended up making wrong turns and ended up going TO the damn crash I was trying to avoid in the first place. Seriously.  And then I proceeded to sit in traffic (literally sit) for the next hour. I moved about 500 feet in about an hour. And then after the traffic cleared, I just had to turn back around and pass where I was. Sucks not knowing where you are. After picking Laura up, things started getting better. The airport is pretty easily laid out, even more so than DIA.

With Laura here, we set upon finding a place to stay. At first it was going crappy. Didn't find much, people not calling back, and so forth. We only ended up being shown 1 house and it was bad. Old, small, in a bad part of Portland from what we could see. The East side. The other houses we were expected to see we didn't even go since we drove by it and it was just bad. We saw another house where the people looking at it were freaking out because they wanted it. It wasn't bad, but the back yard wasn't fenced, so it was a no go for us. Laura found this cool house right near her work and we decided to get a showing. We saw it and we liked it a lot. No bath...kinda bad for me since I take so much, but I said with the luck we've been having, this house is too good to pass and I can manage. We ended up applying for the house and getting it. I just paid the first payments tonight, actually. I move in tomorrow! I can't wait, although, I can't really do anything.

6 weeks until Laura moves in. That's a long time. I need to find a job, though, but then again, I want to help move as well. I don't want them to do it all. We are sort of worried about money, as we should. The rent for the house was on the upper end of our affordability. Take that back, probably THE end of the higher end. Now setting up this cable is another $225 or something, but the $150 deposit we can get back after 6 months. I think it's because so we don't quit the service after the promo or something, but whatever.

So, tomorrow, we'll see what the future brings. I will be hanging out at the local Barnes and Noble, about 10 minutes or less away for the next 2 days, mooching off their internet. Laura and I had a lot of fun when she was here, though. We went to the Japanese Gardens, the downtown market (which was too crowded for me, really), seeing Voodoo Doughnut and its long line, and just driving around our house to see what kind of stuff there was. I tell you what, I know we've grown to like the mom and pop shops, no traffic, and the small town feel, but I must admit it was kind of nice to see the different kinds of shops just around our house. Convenience stores, BB&B, Home Depot, retail stores, etc. It was weird because it was almost as if it was the first time we've seen these places, you know? Hopefully we aren't spoiled again to the point where if we moved to a place like Laramie, we won't be complaining about not having amenities. I don't think that will happen, but we'll see. We were already trying to find non-ordinary places to shop, eat, and so forth. I don't think we can go back to chains if we tried.

Well, I better go to sleep and use the internet I have sparingly...

I miss you Laura! Can't wait to have you back here.

-J

So...another page in my life has turned. This time marking the end of a chapter. The chapter will be called "Laramie."

Today was my last day at work. It felt great and sort of sad at the same time. I've been here the longest of any work I've been at in my life. I learned a lot and saw a lot. I think it was a good experience for, but I'm ready for something new. For the first time I felt what it feels to be unrecognized for the work you did. I just couldn't do it anymore.

That aside, the day was mellow. The earlier part of the week wasn't so. It was pretty busy, I'd say. I've been telling people about today for a while, so it wasn't a big surprise. Still, people couldn't believe that I was leaving today. We had a BBQ at the office for my send off. That was fun. A badminton set was even brought and played for a little bit, but it was too windy and cold, so that didn't last.

After lunch, my boss had sent an e-mail out to everyone in the company, noting today was my last day. I was given some kind words and I replied to everyone with my little send off letter. I received lots of instant messages and e-mails after that and also through the day wishing me luck and such. I even took an hour or so from my day to call and talk to the people that I worked with a lot over the years. It felt comforting that so many people said they would miss me and my help after I had left. Even if they were saying it to be nice, it sort of backed up my thoughts that my company would have an irreplaceable whole as I left. Big ego? Yeah...but whatever!

Anywho, I got all the contacts I wanted to keep in touch with and so the new chapter is about to unfold. In just over 4 days, I leave for Portland, to meet up with Laura. It's going to be the longest day ever. 17 hours of driving in 1 day. Dang. Will my car make it? It's a lot of miles and mountainous terrain to cover. Hopefully I'll be okay. I'm starting to think I should break it into 2 days, but I really don't want to spend the money to get a hotel and break the "rhythm" if I'm in a zone driving. When I drove 9 hours to Iowa, it really felt fast. I didn't even have music on while driving. It was weird.

Laura is in Oklahoma for Mother's Day. I miss her a lot! The pillows on her side of the bed has been untouched, mostly because I don't want to make it (not like I make it now), but it looks better if only 1 side of the bed is used. They dogs have been good, as well. Callie hasn't eaten in like 2 days and I think the throw-up I cleaned earlier was from her. Not positive, but likely. Kip is eating, so. They always seem to do this when Laura leaves. I think they like her more.

Well, I gotta get up early to drop off the car tomorrow at the shop to get a new muffler installed. I'm going to (if she wakes up) eat breakfast with Naomi in Fort Collins. Afterward, I may go climbing with Chris at Horsetooth if, again, he decides to push fixing his sprinkler with his Dad to later in the afternoon. Then back to Laramie. Hopefully the muffler doesn't cost more than last time, which was around $125 or so.

I don't want to do emissions in Portland, either, and get a new license. Ugh.

Well, I should head to bed. I miss you and love you, Laura. I can't wait to start the next chapter in Portland together! It will be great, but I know you will miss Laramie.

So it's been a while. Lots of things going to happen in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, I'm still looking for a job, but, I am going to be moving to Portland on May 11th...crazy. I'll be driving out there and staying at a hotel for the month of May. Laura will be flying out and meeting me on the 12th and looking for a place to stay starting June 1st.

As far as work is concerned, my last day is May 7th. My notice is already in. Things haven't sunk in yet, in terms of money and all that, but, oh well.

I don't know when I'll be able to write next, but chances are, the next time I write, it'll be from Portland. Whether it would be from my hotel room or our house we're renting, I don't know.

Details and updates to come.

I was reading an article in my Wired magazine just tonight and read one snippet that made me think. I'll paraphrase what it stated, but I'll make it more into a "how to live by" sort of thing:

Define your life not by what you have done but by what you will be doing.

I'll pan more on that when I have time...

Laura got me a new laptop! It was a good deal via Walmart:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=13374563&sourceid=33308344211697658036

You might have some at your local Walmart!

The next week is going to be very interesting.

Work sucks. And so does on-call...

Okay...WoW until 1:45am...sheesh.

Among other news, Laura gets back tomorrow! Can't wait to see her.

Haven't played WoW until 12:30 in a while...

Back at home at last.

First day of 2010...nope, no projects this time around... :)

However, I do have a project in mind when we move out of Laramie and into [insert matched location here].

Here's to a good, fresh start to 2010.

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??!!?).

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.

6 days until Chris and Alicia are married...and I have to make my speech.

4 days until our mini vacation for the Summer. 4.5 days in St. Louis with Laura's grandparents and then 3.5 days in St. Charles with TJ and Ashley. Should be fun, to take a break from it all. I have some fun projects that I hope to accomplish while I'm there.

And yes, I'm still in climbing mode. I don't think I've put in the blog yet, but I did buy some gear for it...rope, rope bag, a carabiner, harness (for me and Laura), some slings/webbing, chalk bag...only thing I've left to get are shoes (been borrowing Trent's for now), ATC, and quickdraws...the latter being the most expensive at around $15-$16/piece and I suspect I would need around 10 or so to be able to do most sport routes, but not the super long, multi-pitch ones.

Oh well...my next BIG purchase is still a Nikon D90...mmmmm. I got a 50mm 1.8 lens for our 1st anniversary from Laura. I got her some pearl jewelry.

I can't believe it's been 1 year already (in 5 days)...I love you!!!!

Ugh. I fricken hate RAW!

Yo,

So, it's just about 1.5 weeks until our 3 day hiking trip. I think we've got everything we need to get as far as preparation goes. Laura and I have tested our packs with a few pounds of gear and I think we're in good shape. Got some Powerbars for the trip and such too.

Lately I've been in the rock climbing mode. I've been bugging Trent to go to this new area he found that has some climbs that we haven't seen (not like we've seen a lot). I think Chris has the bug too since he's been wanting to get our own set of climbing gear. It looks like it'll be about $200 or so to get a beginner's set completed, including ropes, harnesses, caribiners, etc.

Anyway. We also bought tickets for our St. Louis/Chicago trip for August, as well as the Amtrak train tickets from St. Louis to Chicago since we won't have a car for this trip.

That's about it for news. Same ol' working and stuff. I've been trying to take more intermediate vacations since I never seem to use them, but this year I will try to use them all since it'll be my last year here.

Well, I'll leave it at that for now.

Later.

Hello...

So I'm about to do more stuff on our wedding video that I finally started to do. Anyway, I miss Laura! She's been gone for only 2 days. I think she's having fun, but the baby's quite the work.

Nothing new. Callie seems to still be recovering. She's using it more, so that's good. She gets her sutures out on Thursday. Hopefully the wound doesn't open or something.

The other small thing I wanted to say was that I was looking at some photo galleries today, but not just any photo gallery. This was a collection of pictures that were taken by blind folks. Pretty interesting to see and it had a weird atmosphere to to all the pictures, if that makes sense, for obvious reasons. But anyway, to get to the point, one of the quotes from one of the photographers went something along the lines of:

"...I may be blind, but I haven't lost my vision."

I just thought that line was a pretty strong phrase...it invokes a lot of thoughts in my mind.

I was going to write about it a little, but I think I'm going to just work on the wedding video. I've been tired lately!

So, as I sit here, listening to some Sister Hazel via acoustic, I wanted to get down some thoughts I had.

A little bit ago I was out north of Laramie, thinking the sunset conditions were pretty good. It was and I got some pretty good shots - flickr.com/photos/jamyam

Anywho, the part I wanted to write down was when I was out there, there was a couple of moments where it was completely silent. The only thing I "heard" was the wind blowing into my ears. And then I thought...hm...when was the last time it was this quiet? The only recent time I could think of that was when I went snow shoeing with Laura and her family in the Snowy's. I remember standing there and it was totally quiet...or was it? Not completely 100%. Why? I heard cars off the distance...it's amazing how far away you can hear cars from.

[Ugh, let me go let Kip out, he's barking...]

Ok, back. So, back to what I was saying. Even when the cars were like a 1/2+ mile away, I could hear them. It was kinda...annoying. Standing out in the middle of nowhere (basically) and hearing noise is probably one of the worst things. But, when the cars didn't come by for like a few minutes, it was crazy silent. It's cliche, but it really was deafening silence. It was a nice moment of relaxation, I guess.

When you think about it - when does an "average" person ever experience total silence? I say almost never, unless you're the outdoor type, and even then it's hard to get unless you're in places where few ever are. Even when you think things are silent, I'm sure there is a lot of noise that you just don't register...ambient noise of the computer fan, cars in the distance making a slight hum, even a light bulb's noise.

I can't wait to go on our 2-day backpacking trip...yes, I'm dreading the few hour hike in, then out, but this should be a place where I shouldn't hear cars for miles. I won't have anything electronic with me. Things will be TOTALLY silent, aside from the animals, if any, that are scouring around. The wilderness is a cool place...thoughts and moments like this make me like choosing Natural Resources as a major.

I think it should be everyone's goal in life to experience silence some time in their life, whether it be to reflect, get away, whatever. Enjoy the outdoors while we have it.

Well, Laura's back...and we still need to do a lot to get ready for our Baltimore trip!

We're off tomorrow to head down to Colorado so we can fly out on Friday morning. A nasty Spring storm is coming and hitting Denver tomorrow afternoon...perfect time to screw with our flight out. Hopefully, it's either not as bad as they say and/or the road crew does a good job.

Anyway, I'm going to be a busy bee on Friday/Saturday. Meeting up with some people from World of Warcraft since they're in the Orange County area (I know, weird huh?) and I'm also meeting up with some [ex]co-workers and Jeanne Chinn as well. Should be fun.

Laura is going to be heading to Little Tokyo on Friday while I do all that and on Saturday I might take her to my elementary and childhood neighborhoods...and see how much worse it became. Ha!

Be back Sunday.

So, the last few days I've been sick. Thought it was food poisoning at first, but I think it's something else now that it's lasting longer than I thought. Laura had it first, then me, so it probably transferred to me...ugh.

I miss you!!!!!

Almost 4 months...that means we've been married almost 5! :)

So, what's been new. Some notable things. Its pretty much Winter now. Cold. Snowing. Windy. All that you'd expect from Laramie. Last I left off, I had recharged my A/C in the car.

I can't really remember what happened in September, but we had made some important decisions about Laura's schooling and whether or not to stay in Laramie for another year. We did decide on staying another year which would help out Laura more than if she went on internship this coming year. However, due to that, she defended her comps just a couple of weeks ago and she passed! So now the big part is done.

In mid-October, I finally went to see a doctor about my bug bites...yes, after 2 months they were still there. He gave a stronger medication ointment and most of them went away in a week or two, however, there are STILL a couple that are hanging around, mainly because it's SO hard to not to scrape or scratch the bump involuntarily. Once scratched, they fricken come back for another few days...it sucks. But it's almost gone now.

Similarly, the last month and half or so, I've been getting really dull pressure headaches every/every other day and I went to the doctor for that too. After a couple of appointments and, not from his help (mostly me), I think we've decided that they're tension headaches...and those are caused by stress, posture, etc., among different things. For a while there I thought I had a tumor...in the back of my head, I still think I do, but I'm not exhibiting symptoms, but...we'll see. They do get better when I'm not worried about work or something, when I'm hanging out with friends, so that's a good sign. We'll see how this Christmas break treats it.

So today I'm flying out at 12:45pm from DIA to Oklahoma City and Kelly and Ryan are supposed to pick me up. Laura was safely at Ellen's this morning and they have their long drive ahead, which I'll be making in a week.

Other than that, I think that's really all. I can't believe years pass by this quick. Already doing my end of the year report and such.

Next year will be another big year as well. I need to find a project to work on. I just bought a camcorder last night at Walmart...don't ask me why, but so far I like it. It's the Canon FS100, the one I've been eyeing since BEFORE it came out...call it fate? I don't like the low light performance as I was testing it last night, but testing in daylight today seemed good. The BEST part is that I don't have to record in real-time since there are no tapes involved...hallelujah. In retrospect, TJ had bought an HD camcorder too, although HDV (tapes). Quality is better, but I don't think I can ever go back to tapes, even though I haven't even used mine yet...the drag and drop is awesome. The only thing is that I have to find a good workflow for the files since it records into a weird format. Shouldn't be a problem though.

In the same subject, we did get our raw photos and footage from our wedding. The photos were good. The tapes I don't know yet since our MiniDV camcorder is being a d-bag in trying to capture it from tape. So either I have to try getting a new firewire card for my desktop or capturing the tapes at work. Not sure which I'll do, but I want to my make my video soon - probably be done early next year.

Well it's quarter 'til 9. We're leaving at 10am, getting to DIA around 10:45 probably and I'll have 2 hours to kill. I hate to get there THAT early, but oh well.

So, that's really it. Again this year has been great, marrying Laura and her passing comps. I love you a lot! Work has been the same old, although the sales reps are pissing the bejesus out of me with their stupidity and idiotic requests...perhaps the cause of my 'headaches'.

But it's time for another year and another set of memories, hopefully some of which I can capture easily with video...perhaps "A Video a Day" project is in order?

Stay tuned and merry Christmas everyone.

So, I finally got my A/C recharged in my car...cold air never felt so good! They did a leak test too and there were no leaks all this time.

This goes to show that those DIY A/C rechargers at auto stores DO NOT WORK. I probably spent close to $50 trying to fill it myself...do yourself a favor if your A/C runs out - go get it done by the shop. It cost me $80 and a couple of hours.

...just in time for Laramie's cold weather, eh?

Wow, we're finally back. I've got a lot to document now.

Let's start with the wedding.

It was great. Really, it went smooth (I thought) and even if there were little things that didn't go as planned, I didn't even notice it. Thanks to everyone who made it happen, especially Laura and her Mom. I know they worked on it pretty much everyday for the last few months.

Pictures are up at the photographer's website. We went down to pick photos for our album, and he did a great job with the pictures as well. Lots of great ones, candid, people having fun, etc. Now I just need those photos on disc. :)

I want to see the videographer's stuff too. As much as I like photos, it can't quite tell the story like video can.

I know that was a short explanation for everything and I know I left out everything, pretty much, but overall it was a great time and I will remember it until I die. I'm happy to be married to Laura and I know she feels the same.

The honeymoon, leaving 2 days after the wedding, was also fun. We had the best room, great service, and apart from a couple of dozen sandfly bites (more later) that I took home and a little fight we had on our kayaking adventure, it was great. I've posted pictures on my Flickr. Wasn't crowded at all, either. Maybe 50-60 people max at the entire resort and at any given time, we didn't see more than 20 people probably walking around, eating, etc.

Sandflies...man...my arms are tore up still from these silent strikers. It's sooo itchy and it's nothing compared to a mosquito bites that itches a little, then goes away in a day or two. It's been a week, and it's finally starting to show some kind of healing effect, but man, I'm glad we don't have those here in Wyoming. I did read there are some around the states, though.

What else...school is starting, which means it's about time for me to start bitching at the neighbors when they start to get loud...hopefully it's our last year here...I have faith in Laura's passing of the comps. Work is good. We're all supposed to get raises going effective the first paycheck of September, but we'll see about that.

Hm...I have more to say, but I'll end it here. My blog isn't dead yet!!!!

-James

I'm off to Longmont/Denver, but not before dropping the dogs off at the kennel. I hope I've got all the stuff that I need packed.

Most importantly:

Dog food, toys, essentials...check!
Passport...check!
Rings...check!
Clothes...check!
Projector/laptop for rehearsal dinner...check!
Wallet with ID, money...check!

I think that's the bare minimum that I need to get by, and I have much more than that in my car, so that's a good start.

See y'all.

Well...last day in Laramie for the next week and a half. I'm almost done packing and doing laundry stuff. I hope I didn't forget anything!

Tomorrow morning I'm dropping the dogs off for the week and a half at a kennel.

But...I better get going.

Be back with some pictures in a couple of weeks!!

9 days!!

I'm still alive. Not much to write, except that things have been steadily busy and stuff, both work and outside of work.

Laura and I + the dogs went on an EARLY morning (basically sunrise) walk/hike around the Snowy Mountains yesterday. It was a fun time, despite getting up at 4 o'clock, but it was worth it. I got a lot of nice photos from the sunset and I'm actually thinking about framing one of the panoramas that I did (FINALLY tried the new way of taking photos which will be stitched together, and it worked beautifully). I'll try to make the frame and all, too. We'll see how it turns out.

Here's a few of the latest shots on Flickr.

See ya soon.

P.S> A month and a half left! :)

May 14th...wow.

Suppose I better do an update.

The big thing, of course, is TJ's marriage to Ashley. I hope they live together a long time. I was given the honor of taping their wedding, from rehearsal to reception. I learned a lot, and that my taping was pretty shaky, but I think I did an ok job considering I didn't know what to expect. I'm in the process of clipping the footage and making a video for them. Hopefully they'll like it.

This weekend is Laura's wedding shower. It's going to be at Chris' house, so I'm going down to keep him company while it's going on. I think we're going to hit the driving range and doing some other things.

I also got my economic stimulus direct deposit last week. I was psyched for that. It's all going in PayPal so I can pay off my wisdom teeth come August.

Other than that, I've just been working. Playing A LOT less WoW these days. I'm actually bored of it and the content is stupid. I've been playing here and there the last few days, because I've been bored, but whatever.

I'm along for the next couple of days. Laura's down in Denver with her family doing stuff, so.

I've been fiddling with my new found fun, bit torrent via ThePirateBay.org...lots of cool stuff and it's quite fast once you figure it all out. :)

Tomorrow is the reception for the photo contest for this year. I actually won the category for winter activities! Thanks to my coworker's son whom I photographed this past winter when we went ice fishing. I'm going to attend with a couple of coworkers for a little bit to see the other pictures and winners, but dunno how long I'll stay. I don't want to stay long, but I would want to get my prize if we get them this year.

We'll I'm about to watch bits and pieces of Cloverfield when it finishes downloading, lol, and then I'm off to bed.

Laters.

P.S. Love you and miss you already, Laura!

Just a quick update. I know I haven't kept up at all on my blog, but yeah, just wanted to say I thank and love Laura for taking care of me while I recovered from my wisdom teeth extraction. It went a lot better than I had expected - hearing people say "Oh, you're going to puff up so much." - "Man, it's going to hurt afterwards!" blah, blah.

It didn't hurt at all. Right now it's just sore from the recovery, if that makes sense. I think my teeth are finally "resettling" back into my gums. I do have 12 tablets of Vicodin if anyone needs. I didn't opt for the nitrous gas either: A) I didn't think I needed it B) It would have been an extra $150.

But yeah, apart from the dick ass neighbors (whom we called the cops on, but probably won't learn anyway) last night, it's going good.

TJ finished his race, so congrats to him. Ashley is doing well. Chris is as well (Ashley's). Chris B. is of course, doing fine. His silver platter is still shining bright and strong. :)

Well, time to go. I will, however, promise that I will have another of my "projects" soon. I miss doing it.

Okay, it's been too long and there hasn't been much of a "good" post lately. This is an attempt to make up for it. And also stay tuned for the yearly review post. :)

25 things to do before I die, in no particular order:

1. Visit every continent
2. Visit all 7 wonders of the ancient world
3. Be a good husband
4. Be a good father
5. Be a good son
6. Be a good friend
   
7. Buy or build a house with no help
8. Never fall behind on technology
9. Own a home theater
10. Own a 600+ hp Supra
11. Laura and I to 'travel the world' via cruise package
12. Skydive
13. Never lose touch with those you care about
14. To die knowing you lived your life fully
15. Win an award
16. Win a contest
17. Make 1 famous (...fairly) website
18. Never stop blogging
19. Speak to an audience of 500 or more people
20. Have a glass-blowing workshop at home
21. Make Cranes for a Wish be something
22. Never stop thinking outside the box
23. Be embarrassed in public
24. Take that one, awesome photograph
25. Be remembered for something cool

Okay, so I just finished up the continuation of this list...it was originally 50 things, but I couldn't (or rather, had a hard time trying) get 50 all that easy, so...it's 25 for now.

AND...since I probably won't be blogging over the holidays, I'll make this my yearly review as well.

Man, 6 years blogging and a lot has gone by. Cataloging these many years semi-consistently is kinda cool in that you can go back and read it all again. The most notable thing in recent times is TJ getting engaged and getting married this coming Spring. That was unexpected! But congratulations to them. Everyone else seems to be doing well in their own lives. Making decisions, having fun, having crises, etc. All part of life.

This year has gone by quick. Lots of wedding planning, getting Callie spontaneously, moving to the sales fulfillment position at work, Laura getting her masters, and much more little things made this another year to remember.

This coming year will be another big one in my life, most notably being Laura and I getting married. 9 more months! And then our honeymoon to Belize. That's going to be fun I think. It still hasn't hit yet that it's going to be on August 9th...but in due time. We can finally "start" our life. Seems like I've been bringing up the topic of our kids names more, for some reason. Haha.

Enough small talk to fill up my blog.

I guess I'll just end this blog, and probably my last blog for this year, by saying that it's been a great year once again and memories have been made. I hope that all my friends and family stay well through to the next year and beyond. I already have some new "projects" in mind for next year since my A Picture a Day officially finished on December 1st of this year. It was fun, and I'm surprised that I was able to complete it.

Well, I'm going to clean up a little bit in the study and head to bed. I leave on Friday for Oklahoma and I gotta do some cleaning before I leave...dunno why, but I don't want to leave the home a mess. All my Christmas presents are done and waiting to go to their respective persons. I'm looking forward to having almost 2 weeks off from work.

Happy holidays everyone and good-bye to 2007 in 12 days!

-James

Well, it's been a while and frankly I can't even remember where I left off. So, just an update of recent stuff.

The neighbors are stupid, music-listeners...they have no consideration and I want to move. It's going to be at least 2 more years but when that's over, I am not renting an apartment, townhouse, duplex, ANYTHING that requires sharing a wall anymore. I've had enough.

Work is good. Some days are super busy, some aren't. most are somewhere in between. Softball is finally done and while we sucked, I did leave with a nice scar mark from where I tripped on my FACE. Oh well.

The wedding stuff is going well too (I think!). We've registered for more stuff and I just have to get our registries updated on our website: http://www.james-laura.com

Not much else going on. Been doing some websites for clients and finishing them up lately. With Callie being new, though, things have been super hectic. Lately, though, Kip's been a dick about hopping up on the bed at like 4am in the morning. No idea, but tonight I think we're going to switch sides to see what he does.

So yeah, been a while since I wrote, but I don't think much is new. I got some hepatitus shots and a tetanus shot that had my arm sore for a while. The shots aren't done yet, but they cost a lot...I'm almost caught up on bills and debts though, so that's good.

We are *thinking* about heading camping on Saturday, but it's going to be so cold, I don't even want to think about it and not go. The majority is agreeing not to go, since there's a chance it's going to snow. I am looking at buying a propane heater. I figure it might come in useful other times than camping. Who knows.

TJ bought a new laptop and I've been wanting to get a new desktop for Laura, but that'll wait for a couple of months I think. I think Ashley's been while too. Something about wanting to sell banana bread on Craigslist was the latest thing I heard. Chris is same ol', living with Alicia in his huge ass house he's paying diddly squat for. Someday...he'll learn.

Laura's at her alcohol awareness thing tonight. She'll be back around 10pm I guess.

Well, until then, I'll probably surf...maybe take a bath.

Hello world!

I'm not dead.

Thought I'd update saying happy b-day to T.J.

So our vacation was fun! I'll write about it soon, but um, yeah, we got a new puppy/dog!!!!

Just a quick blog to say things are the same old. Ashley stayed a few days and that was fun. Here's a chorus snippet of one my of favorite songs this year:

" We live on front porches and swing life away
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand"

Wasting away life with friends is just fine by me!

The first day of Summer is coming to an end and it seemed like Summer. It was hot and all that jazz. It's cooled down now and the wind is kicking up.

I'll start off with a couple things that pissed me off today. Our next door neighbor is working on their siding the last few days. Today as I came home for lunch I saw that they were listening to the radio working on the front siding WITH THE CORD PLUGGED INTO OUR OUTLET...I mean wtf. I'm not here to pay for the damn electric bill. The last few days there's been window siding and panes leaned up against our garage in the back area between the fence door and trash cans...again, wtf. It's not like we use the area there, but that's not the point. Next week I'm trying to get Chris up here to power wash and paint the garage, so it better be gone by then or we're going to move it.
People are so inconsiderate sometimes I just can't believe it. Who the fuck raised them?

Anyway, tomorrow is a half day for me and I'll be putting Kip at the kennel and driving up to Sheridan. Should be fun with the Buffalo Bill show we're going to. I'll be taking my camera to take some pictures.

Summer is half gone or at least it seems like it. I know, Summer just started, but you know what I mean.

There was a little snafu with our mini vacation since Brian is going to be doing a wedding and he needed to take the same days we were going to take, but I think we've come up with a situation and gonna take Saturday > Tuesday off. Should work better this way and might be even cheaper in some ways.

But yeah, that's about it going on. Same ol' working and stuff.

Talk to you later.

I think it's time for a long one, but of course, it starts at 11pm. :P

Anyway, I'm driving up to Casper tomorrow to meet up with Laura and I'm excited! Yeah, driving up 3 hours to spend $60 and gas to stay at a Motel 6 just overnight might sound ridiculous, but I think it's not bad. At first did think that it might be a waste to drive almost as much as the time at the destination, but I miss Laura!

I'm listening to music again to help me fuel my boredom and I, again, can't emphasize enough how music gets into people's lives.

I mean, everyone can probably think of a time in their life and pick a song that perfectly illustrates that time, or vice versa. So, inspired by this thought, I was going to list some songs that ALWAYS reminds me of certain times. It's strange that these same moments always come up. I guess they're intertwined in my brain?


These are not in any certain order:

Sum 41 - Fat Lip: Man, this always reminds me of Fall 2001. Living at Chris' house, going to college (although not very well :) ), working at Steele's Drake store and heading over to Derek/Ashley's house almost nightly to, you know, visit the "shack". It was a time of no worries really, for some reason. I had debts, I had things to do, but for some reason each day went by and push things back and stuff. I can't explain it. I guess we were all immature back then.

Counting Crows - Hangin' Around: Always reminds me of when Chris, Amanda, her friend Ashley and I drove to Park Meadows (dunno why) to hang out. I remember the drive there and back.

Carbon Leaf - Any song from their latest album: Me driving to and from Cathedral Home and the first apartment that Laura and I lived in Laramie. This was the only time I had to listen to music really while not working or at home. I listened to these guys A LOT. Brings back the bad memories of working there, but hey, it's another part of my life.

Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack: I happen to see this in the Napster list, but man, brings back freshman memories from CSU, hangin' out with Ben and Chris. Listening to music, playing StarCraft (man we played a lot) and eating in the cafeteria.

There are probably many more and I know there is, but I can't think of any right now that stand out.

The latest song that I like a lot is Rob Thomas' Little Wonders (I think that's the name). One line in that song: "Our lives are made, in these small hours, these little wonders, ..."

It just reiterates my thought that it is the little things that count in life.

I think Kip's been pretty lonely too since I have to work the majority of the day and Laura's gone. I come home for like 30-40 minutes and I go get lunch so. I could probably do better in hanging out with him more but you know.

Laura and I have been talking about getting a new dog so Kip has a playmate and isn't so lonely, but we can't come to a decision on when or what we want.

Well I should probably get to sleeping since I have a semi-long drive tomorrow and it's late.

Laters until next time...oh it's the 1st of the month!

Good luck on your 1st day at work Laura!

I'm sitting here, listening to some Eve 6 via Napster.com, it's pretty empty in this house. Not material wise, but without Laura being here, it's boring and I ended playing WoW for the majority of the day.

Anyway, I was going to make this one a long one, but I don't think tonight's going to be the one.

In other news, my camera is still going well and will HOPEFULLY be getting a zoom lens soon. :)

Other than our stupid neighbors setting up criss/crossing lights and tiki torches up in their backyard for a stupid tropical party (or so it seemed, I was able to leave before they started), I've confirmed they're gay...what else do you call 2 guys putting sunscreen on each other...

I want to move into a house with no neighbors sharing the same wall! Today was like house-working day or something. The neighbor next to the idiots were also doing house work and our other neighbor (whom left recently), I saw a couple of guys, father and son, doing work in the kitchen. I saw them take out the old kitchen cabinets and stuff.......ahhh, I can't wait for total isolation when we move into a house together.

Wow, so I'm not going to check out my other post to see what I've written, but I'll write some stuff about the last month.

The biggest thing would be that Laura has graduated with her Masters...that was last Friday. I'm really proud of her and we're nearly halfway to getting out of Laramie. (Although, it's not as bad as one might think, only sometimes). She's currently in Oklahoma for Mother's day. I don't think I'll be going down or anything. Well, maybe. I might go down Saturday night to Chris' to help move some stuff and possibly head down to Denver to meet up with Laura, but that's a lot of driving for a poor man with gas prices rising.

What other news...I guess Ashley has moved in with her parents for the time being during the transition to Colorado and waiting for Chris to come back. I think she's doing good, though.

Chris, well, he's still with Alicia and are going to be living together soon. He finally got a job in Boulder and will be moving closer to where his parents get him a house...yeah, yeah.

It's FINALLY Summer weather. Today was actually hot, and I didn't like it. It's never right in the middle where you like it.

The other big news and which took a big chunk out of my wallet was my new camera purchase. Yep, finally upgraded to a digital SLR. Here's my camera. I've been super into taking pictures lately, partly due to a friend of mine at work who also does pictures and into it. I haven't really gone at it with the new camera, but I hope to try it out this weekend. Here are some stuff that I've done with my old camera, which is still in play. I think I might buy a memory card and give it to Laura.

My Flickr gallery

Yeah, hopefully I could take some cool pictures when we go on our honeymoon. I don't think I've written that yet, but I think we've decided on Hamanasi, which is a tropical area in Belize. Looks fun and relaxing. Things to do like cave tubing, snorkeling/SCUBA, hiking, etc. It's over a year and a little bit, but I can't wait.

So with the wedding, we've got a lot taken care of, just now need to find the videographer, which I'm not too into and the DJ, which Laura has someone in mind. The food is ready and all, the reception, the rehearsal dinner, ceremony, etc.

I've found a new favorite band, although who haven't released anything new, I like their old stuff. Blue James Band is the name. And no, not because it has my name. I like "Come Away", "Remember Me", "Same Person", and "Falling Down". I found it through Pandora.com. I've been listening to more music at work too. Work is going good.

So, I'm debating whether to write a lot this blog or not. I don't have any deep thoughts I want to write down at the moment.

It's getting pretty late and tired, so I think I'll stop for now. But, I should get back to blogging soon. I miss it. I'm no "everyday" write anymore, but yeah.

I hope everyone's doing well in their own place in the world.

No, I'm not dead!!! Be back later.

Laura's coming home today!

Also, man oh man, found some ooolllddd pictures...should be interesting.

Just wanted to mark today as the day Chris and Alicia tried to go home from Laramie via the "back way" and ended up going to Walden, Granby, Winter Park, Denver, and then finally home...he called me at 8:30pm, they left Laramie at 3pm...lol

Ah, so here I am...late night edition again.

Laura is gone for the next few days and it's boring here. I don't know why, but when she's gone, the day goes by REALLY slow. I don't know what the explanation would be but yeah, today went by really slow. The only thing I've been doing pretty much is playing WoW when she's gone. Kip is probably mad at me. I took him to Taco Bell today, though. Couldn't really go on a walk if I wanted to because it was sleet/rain/snow today. Wasn't really cold, but just annoying. Says tomorrow is super sunny...51 degrees! It's like summer.

I guess tomorrow is daylight saving time. Finally, more light. It's been better, but I miss leaving work when it's still light out.

Our house is a mess right now too. I might clean up before Laura gets home. It's just a lot of trash and junk it seems like.

Among other news, we've found a place for our wedding ceremony. Holy Ghost in Denver, which happens to be RIGHT next to (well, 1 street over) the Regency, which is where we got engaged! We can see it from the room we stayed at too. Coincidence?

Also, we've finally finished most of the Church stuff involved, taking the test, sessions, meeting with a couple. The only things left are the natural family planning thing and the last general session which is the "praying together" one...anyway...

My hands are freaking tired now for some reason, so I'm going to stop writing. I might work on our wedding website more tomorrow, but yeah, I'll update the daily pics when Laura gets back with the camera.

Otherwise, have a great day.

I miss you already Laura!

Happy early birthday Laura. I love you.

Hm...so, to start off, fuck the neighbors...they're loud. Well, they stopped their music around 9:20pm, but I'm sure they'll come home and start it again. I have a surprise for them when we leave for good, if they're still here that is. Hopefully they'll get the hell outta here when they're finished with school...if they ever...

Anyway, played the expansion for the World of Warcraft for the first time today. Got some cool items and stuff, but yeah, I wasn't as excited as I thought I'd be like 6 months ago. It IS getting boring. Now since the level cap is 70, I have to grind up to 70, although I did play for a couple of hours and did quests only and got halfway to 61...still.

This weekend we're going to head to Denver to check out some prospective wedding sites. It looks like a good chance now, so. I think as long as there is nothing hideous about it, I'm sure we'll get it.

What else is new? Um, oh yeah! I got a raise at work. I was surprised at that. They said I got one of the highest raise percentage wise in the office and they said I was doing a good job, so that's good to know. Who knows where I'll end up, maybe in the Tokyo branch, lol.

Kip is here sleeping, but probably pissed at me. Laura went to girls night and he whined for like 20 minutes straight, no joke. He'll have some fun tomorrow/this weekend though, hopefully.

Another thing was that I e-mailed Ben a while back and got an e-mail back, saying he's in Denver now working at his new job and stuff. I think I'm going to go visit him perhaps next weekend. Yeah, I'll be in Denver this weekend, but it's now allowed. :P

Otherwise, nothing is new. My daily pictures-a-day website is going well. I haven't really "missed" a day yet. It's actually quite hard to keep up. The solution that I decided upon was that since my phone puts the date of the picture taken into the data of the photo, I just upload a few days at a time when I need to rather than day by day, which is hard.

Well, I'm going to go enjoy the quiet.

First post of '07, on the 1st of the day even! Anyway, tomorrow I'll be going back to work.

I do have a cool little project that I want to try, hopefully by sometime during this month. I'll unveil it soon.

Hello,

So I did have time to write this blog. Laura just got just reading some book and turned off the lights. I put on some "ambient" music to get me into the mood...I'll probably be writing for a bit.

Anyway, so where I left off. The 28th. I'm not going to look back at what I wrote then, but skipping on to the 1st of December, it was Laura and I's 5th year anniversay. Man, that's a long time. We decided to take a mini vacation and head down to Denver. I got us a hotel room at the Grand Hyatt...wait, now that I mention that, I think I did write about the reservations already. Anyway, so we stayed there and went to the Cheesecake Factory, watched the coincidental Parade of Lights or Christmas Parade (whatever it was) and we went to the hotel room to exchange cards and this slideshow I made for Laura. Afterwards, we got into the bed after getting ready to go to sleep and I, nervously, popped the question...yup, THE question to Laura and she said yes. :) We were full of emotion for the next couple of minutes, but we were super excited. What a long way we've come. The important people have already talked to Laura about the details and how I was nervous and all that, so no need to write it here, although, I haven't told my blog yet, so...but anyway.

So with that said, that opens up a whole new conversation...that of planning the wedding, who to invite, etc. We've talked a lot already about that, but there's the actual plan of executing it, which I think we're still waiting on. We're finding a place to have it right now and everything else seems to come after that, so. Laura already has a big pile of wedding stuff...planners, receptionists, her sister's notebooks, etc. I think next year is when we'll really start to do it. We're just enjoying the moment right now I think.

So and we're here in Oklahoma where we are staying with our parents right now. The trip here has been nothing short of inconvenient. The plan was the leave Wednesday afternoon, get about 1/3 of the way, spend the night and finish the rest the next day...but no...luck has it the worst blizzard of the last couple of years/this year hits the Wyoming/Colorado area on the DAY BEFORE we leave. Planes are cancelled, roads (including I-25 and I-70 are closed). WTH! So we had to wait until the next day and even then, we were only able to head down to Fort Collins. We had to wait another night until we can leave for Denver to pick Ellen up, since her plane got cancelled. We then drove to Tulsa. Fort Collins > Denver took 2-3 hours! Another 2-3 hours to the Kansas border and the rest of the way we made great time.

Overall it's been fun here, albeit a bit hectic, not much to do for me, etc. Laura has been catching up and hanging out with family. I wonder how my family is doing? Today/tomorrow are the days that my Mom said she'll be going to Blackhawk. I think she decided that because my sister's family is out of town until tomorrow I think in Hawaii. Hope the roads aren't bad.

Anyway, fast forward to today. Wow, what a Christmas day. Spend half the day OPENING presents as there were so many. Everyone looked like they were getting tired of opening presents, as difficult as that may sound. I got a lot of cool gifts, though. I gave everyone theirs too, except Ellen's as the package didn't arrive in time. Hopefully it arrives soon so I can give it to her.

Some of things I got (that I can remember right now) are:

1. New camera memory card
2. Alien book
3. Car power inverter!!
4. Wii Zelda: Twilight Princess (what a torture, not having the Wii)
5. Lots of little things like tool organizers, candy, cookies, chocolate, etc.

Lots more, but I really can't remember much right now.

Tomorrow is another day of hanging out with some of Laura's friends and family and I'm not sure what Wednesday is. Relaxation day? Thursday we'll be driving home, about 12 hours, stopping by Fort Collins on the way up. Friday, it's back to work and then another 3-day weeked for New Year's...cool.

Work related news. We just hired a new admin assistant that'll be taking over my position, I'm not sure when, but I'll be moving over to a "sales fulfillment" position. Sounds cool and I can't wait to get started, but the details are still unsure and I'm just waited for something to happen. I'm just training the new admin assistant (who's a female addition to the office and pretty cute), but I'm starting to run out of things to train her on...since I didn't really do much. Well I did, but it's things that are hard to teach, if you know what I mean. Dealing with suppliers, getting a good relationship with them, etc. Hopefully I move soon so I can let that responsibility go of training her. Since this last week I was the only guidance I had for her, since our boss or anyone else really trains her. Hopefully I'll get some sort of pay raise for the move for the next year. Keep you posted.

So, now onto my year-in-review, now running in it's 3rd or 4th year. Times flies man. Recapping the important events of this year, which was another year of big leaps and bounds (in semi-chronological order):

1. Started the year off still working for Cathedral Home for Children
2. Ashley moves back to Missouri
3. Ashley's Chris goes overseas on a mission (or something to that effect)
4. I find a new job at Thought Equity, informally "quitting" Cathedral Home, but still on ER list, I think.
5. Laura works over Summer with a student
6a. We move to our new town home!
6b. We get Kip!!!!
7. TJ and Ashley visit us
8. Chris quits market, works for a little bit at a construction site administering computers, and quits (still unemployed, lazy bastard)
9. Laura proposes thesis
10. TJ and Ashley move to Chicago
11. Laura goes to Chicago for conference, does poster board and visits TJ
12. TJ gets a new job at the museum
13. Ashley is still sad in Missouri and new pastry job.
14. I propose to Laura. :)
15. Christmas time with the Scharfs

That about sums it up. Time flies, like I said, and it's hard to keep up with the little things, which I always try to stress to myself that they're the important things in life. In this case, big things are of course important (hello, engagement!!), but the little things, like moving to a new town home, friends and family visiting us, Laura and I doing home improvements, getting Kip and becoming a little "family", Laura and I (mostly Laura) doing Christmas decorations, etc. were all important this year in getting through the tough times.

When I went to mass with Laura yesterday, I was thinking about how weird it is that humans do what they do, in this case go to church and mass and pray and sing and all that. I was just looking at all the people going up to the people or whatever to do the bread/water thing and all the different walks of life and races of humans that were doing it. They were all there for a united reason and nice to each other. Now, were they just tolerating it or whatever, I don't know, but it's just weird to see (anywhere, anytime) huge groups of people doing something they like or believe it. Going to church, watching a movie, etc. I was think humans are weird in that way. And it's even weirder them doing it on this day especially. I thought, I wonder if most of them won't see each other ever again or not until Easter or something.

That was a rambling of nonesense as I just read it, but it made sense to me. TJ STILL hasn't updated his blog, even though he sent me a "test blog" a while back and he could have just copied and pasted that.

Are we all were we want to be in life? I think so. 100%. All the mistakes and achievements I've made have brought be here. I'm so happy to be with Laura whom I care about and who cares about me. That's why I can't wait to marry her (albeit in 2008!). Getting Kip and forming a mini "family" was cool too. I like the times and days where we are just lounging on our bed, the 3 of us, passing time away. I know we can't do a lot of the things that we used to do because of Kip, like going somewhere for a few hours or a night or two, but it's a lot better in terms of a "richer" life, so to speak.

When we were opening presents today with everyone in Laura's family there, I was just thinking about what it'd be like in 10 years, when our kids are opening presents and we're exchanging gifts. And then in the blink of an eye, 20 years pass and they're graduating H.S., hopefully going to college and starting their own lifes. I wonder if they'll be geeky enough to keep their own blog and write about their thoughts. I think it's a good thing. Reflection is a big part of life I think. I find myself reflecting back a lot, particularly to my junior high days.

Going on a tangent, I always have a few thoughts that strike as important to me when I'm bored and thinking about my life. I rememer when I used to go to my Mom's work. I remember a big building that was mostly empty and I'd just hang around until my Mom got off work. I remember visiting family and I was leaning back on their chair, falling over and breaking it. I remember going with my Mom to Little Tokyo in L.A. to this japanese grocery store, library and book store. We always had a routine. We'd go there after my Japanese class and each lunch at this ramen place. We'd then head to the grocery store and do some shopping. On the way back we might, and usually did, stop at a japanese video rental store. My Mom would get some videos to watch over the coming week (they were 1-week rentals). I would get some game show videos and stuff too. I never really watched TV during that time. We got this Japanese channel and watched that a lot (I did that with my friend a lot). Was I deprived because I didn't really watch TV until I was in H.S.? I don't think so. I think it was better that way. Then we'd repeat the week over again next week.

I had fun in Japanese school too, even though it was once a week, 3 hours on Saturday. I looked forward to it a lot. Did it suck having 1/2 my Saturday shot? Hell no. I had fun. We did festivals (that was my favorite) and plays and I had some good friends. We talked video games, etc. On the way back once, I remember stopping by the rental store and I saw a video game that I REALLY wanted. Yup, I forgot about video games. I played that a lot, mostly RPGs. I told my Mom I wanted it and she finally got it for me. Looking back, I probably could have done without it. My Mom was working by herself and I never could figure out how she gave me allowance, paid the Japanese school tuition (not much per month, but still) and all other important things that went with living there. I don't think she really had time for herself, other than watching videos and stuff. We did hang out with work friends and such, thought. Maybe that's why I want to do as much as I can for her these days, although I'm doing a crappy job at it. I always think about how if I win the lottery, the bulk of that is going to her. I don't need it. She deserves it. Ken is doing a lot for her too, flying her to Vegas, LA, etc.

Seems like though, I've been the biggest burden so far (look strictly at my life), though I know everyone has probably caused some inconvenience at some point (mostly Yoshi, lol). By the time I was around Junior High, even Elementary school, my siblings were on there own. I wonder what would be the case if I wasn't born? I know I caused a lot of trouble, mostly financially when I was in Juinor High, High School, ESPECIALLY in the first year of college, at which point I realized that I need to get back on track, stopping messing around and GROW UP. I didn't have the luxury to play around and all that jazz. Spring of 2001, I think is when it hit me. To stop burdening my Mom. From then on, I've been trying my best to do this. I think I'm doing pretty good. I've come a long way to be completely dependent, to being completely independent.

I guess that's why it annoys me when like Chris is doing what he's doing. Sure, his parents probably don't mind helping him out, but come on...it has to hit him sometime, hopefully sooner than later.

Well that was a long tangent! Anyway, 2006 was a big year in terms of progression. Everyone is continuing further and further with their lives. Is this growing up? :) The days of H.S., not really having to do homework, hanging out and playing ping-pong or video games with friends seem just yesterday, but long gone. Maybe everyone goes through this feeling around this time, maybe they don't. But one thing is true, I'm thinking about the future a lot more than I was when I was in H.S., that's for sure. I can't wait to have a life with Laura and with our kids and the fact that in a blink of an eye, I'll be the one in my Mom's shoe 15 years ago (well, Laura too), deciding whether or not they can go spend the night at a friend's, explaining to them why grades are important, worrying about where they are at night when they're late for their curfew...lol.

2006 was a year of learning and getting on with life and taking the next steps toward that. I hope that 2007 is better in every aspect than this year. I know lots of stuff is going to happen next year and although I can't be prepared for everything, I hope that I am wise enough to make the right decisions. We ain't kids anymore, my boy! :)

So, with all that said. I want to wish everyone a great new year. There'll be highs and lows, but just remember that in the big picture every little thing is a welcome and positive experience in your life, but only if you let it be that. Find a way to make it was positive experience. I know I'll be trying to do that.

Have a safe 2007 and I'll probably be/hoping to be writing again before that.

My new "picture a day" site is going well too. :) Still a long ways to go, only finished with 25 days...ugh.

P.S. TJ you really should write in your blog! Since I don't talk to you often on the phone, reading your blog kept me caught up with your life and what you were thinking at the moment. It's fun reading your blogs. Just a request. :) I know you're busy with other stuff in your life, though, so don't strain yourself to write, but it'd be nice.

Merry Christmas...and yes, I'll get to my blog tomorrow. What a hectic day. Got a lot of cool presents though. :)

Almost a month again...I didn't want to let it get that long. Anyway, I will be posting my year-in-review, I promise, within a couple of days. A LOT has happened since the 28th of Nov., so.
Hope everyone is safe and where they want to be this holiday season.

Hi all,

So yeah, we were just finding a place to stay for the 1st and 2nd for our 5th anniversary vacation and I finally bit and tried Priceline again. After a first few failed attempts about a month ago to get a 4-star in the $60-$70 range, I decided to do it again for $75 and guess what? Yes, we got an accepted offer! The thing is , my bid of $75 was accepted by a crappy 3-star in the ghetto of downtown Denver...WTF!!!!!

...okay, so I was kidding on that last part. The offer was accepted at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver and that was actually one of the places that I saw in our choices of places to stay. It was $149 on their website and that's the cheapest I could find, so yeah, it's a great fricken deal. I love Priceline now (but only when you KNOW what hotels are in your bid area). In this case, I knew that the only 4-star hotels in the downtown area were the Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, and the uber expensive places like Hotel Teatro, Brown Palace, etc.

But yeah, if you ever want to stay a great place and you know the choice of hotels in the area, you should give Priceline a shot.

And yes, soon I'll be revealing a new website of mine that I've been working on...actually it only took like a night, but you know. Stay tuned!

Other than that, this week is going by quite fast, faster than usual at least. I'll be back sometime soon!

T.J. > Write a fricken blog!!!!! The one you sent me will do. Although I've read it already, I'm sure others will like to read it as well. You have less than one month to do this, or else...

So I saw this website a couple of weeks ago, maybe a month ago, whatever. It's where this guy took a picture every day for a year and he kept it up. And so I got to thinking (back then) and then I started to think about it again.

I'm wondering if I could actually do it. I mean, taking a picture a day isn't hard, but to make each picture meaningful is hard. I don't know. I'm thinking about it. Maybe I'll start on the 1st of January and take a picture a day, but maybe I'll start the 1st of December...

I think it would be a really cool experience if I can actually pull it off. No excuses like blogging, that's for sure! Now wouldn't it be cool if I could take one for the rest of my life, lol.

Anyway, I'll keep you guys updated on whether or not I do this and how I would keep it organized if I do, because I'm sure in a year, a lot of things will change so I have to find a place that won't...maybe Google's online picture thing...we'll see.

Yup, officially over a month, dammit! Anyway, what's been up man? A lot, well, not too much, has been happening in the city of Laramie. My job is going ok. Just been busy and lots of things going on. I got hired as an administrative assistant, but I'm doing so much more, it's crazy. They seem to be giving me more stuff to do too, I don't know why. Maybe I'll switch positions soon or something. Oh well.

Finally got this song/instrumental that I wanted for the last week or so. I've been stream-ripping the radio station for like 5 days straight and it finally ripped. I'm charging my iPod so I can listen to it as I go to sleep here in a little bit.

Laura left today for Chicago, so it's a bit lonely/empty in the house. Played a little WoW and surfed a bit, nothing too big. I might go down to Fort Collins this weekend to escape the boredom. We'll see.

So yeah, our 5th year anniversary is coming up in about 2 weeks! We've got a weekend planned actually and I think it's going to be fun. We're going to be staying in Denver on Friday and Saturday. We still need to find a place to stay both nights, but, yeah. I've actually been trying Priceline to get a good deal on some 3 and 4 star hotels, but none so far. We were trying to get the Adam's Mark hotel, but we might be just going with the straight hotel price somewhere cheaper. I'll keep you updated. But yeah, I can't believe it's been 5 years already. That's a fricken long time.

In a few days the Nintendo Wii is going to be launching and with it the new Zelda game. Woot!! Hopefully I'll get it soon. Some of my work friends are also getting excited about it, it's kinda funny to talk about the Wii at work. Comforting to know that there are similar people like me though.

My Cranes organization is on stall right now until I find time to get my employer id number. Once I do that I can open a bank account and get my shit going. There's actually a lot of stuff to do and it's time consuming, but hopefully in the end, it'll feel good to do something like this for a change.

Kip is on our bed right now just chillin', probably waiting for me to get to bed. He's been doing good lately about staying off the bed until we let him on it in the morning. ALTHOUGH, today when I was playing WoW for a little bit, he was all quiet downstairs, so I when down there and I knew he was doing something bad. He was all sad looking because he knew too. He had drank the rest of my aux jous that I had for lunch. I scolded him good. Oh well, I don't think he's sick or anything. We'll see tonight. :P

But yeah, I should get going. I'm tired since I haven't been sleeping so well the last couple of nights. I wonder why. Well, I'll talk to you later! I love you Laura and miss ya already.

Whenever Laura leaves out of town, I get really bored, hence staying up until 1:30am like right now. I don't know why. I just can't sleep or something. Most of today I played World of Warcraft. Kip is pretty bored I'm sure, but I did play with him a little. He's a lot better today than the last couple of days since he got into the trash bag and ate food in there. He was sick, man. You could tell. And then at like 2:30 yestesday, he started walking around in the room, so I was like, wtf?? I told him to get on the bed and go to sleep. He still was walking around and up and after a couple of minutes, he got off the bed and pooped ont he floor. He stopped when I said no and took him outside, but most of the damage had been done. Haha. He must have really had to go, but thank god he hopped off. Lately he would just stand there when we feed him his food, not sure why. I think it's because Laura's been giving him yogurt in the mornings (bad idea!) and now he won't eat it until it's there, although he still does anyway. I wonder what that sounds like? Oh, Laura's parents dogs who won't eat without cheese...wtf?!?! However, I know they eat without cheese, because they have before. Spoiled. I hope Kip doesn't get like that. He's spoiled too.

Anyway, that's all. My eyes are pretty tired, so I'm going to hop to bed. Laura will be back tomorrow night, hopefully.

Laters.

TJ, if you go 1 year without writing in your blog, I will personally fly out to Chicago and break your computer.

Wow, this cold/cough thing has been haunting me for almost a week now. WTF?

The Wii is coming out November 19th...

http://www.ebgames.com/gs/wii/wii_signup.asp

Can't preorder it yet. Hopefully soon.

Among other news, World of Warcraft's expansion is coming out as well:

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646436

Not sure if I'll be playing it when that comes out (probably), but we'll see. I haven't played it in a month, so that's damn good from being hooked on it. Chris is hooked on it still, probably because he's still jobless.

This was just a short one. Lates!

Gay-ass mofos playing the drums again...

Well, despite not liking to paint, our room looks quite good. I like it this deep, red color. I still have to touch up a few places, but the big job is done.

Not much news lately. Been watching Takeshi's Castle (MXC in the US) pretty much every night for the last week or two. That show is damn funny. Laura and I have some laughs at the eliminations.

Kip seems to be doing well in listening the last couple of weeks, but we've been having trouble with things like digging, whining/barking in the morning and mischievious things like that.

TJ seems to be doing well with his new job. We've been sort of talkin on Gmail since we both have it up sometimes during work.

Ashley e-mailed me a couple of days ago. She seems to be doing well. I'm supposed to take some pictures, make a video, etc. and send it to her. I'll get to that soon I hope.

Otherwise, work has been good, actually, the last couple of days, since moving to the new office. I've been busy through the day and the work day is passing by quick.

Laura seems to be doing good with school as well.

Chris? Well, I haven't talked to him in like a week and a half. I'm sure he's just lounging around not finding a job like always. He's set on the FBI thing. Just hope he doesn't wait until he gets it.

The neighbors haven't been too bad the last couple days. Last Friday, however, they got ridiculously loud and it was like midnight. I got so fucking pissed. I called the non-emergency number and reported a noise complaint. The cops came about 40 minutes later, but that didn't matter since they were still playing music. The cop finally stopped them at around 1am. Motherfuckers. I will kick them out of their house if I have to.

We arranged our study after we painted it and I like it. I like change, so anything probably would have looked good for me. I think there's a lot more room since the desks are worked around the dog bed. Speaking of which, we need to buy a port-a-crate soon. I am tired of lugging the heavy cage around, plus we need it when we stay at Chris'.

Anyway, things are well. Life is progressing, yada, yada.

Until next time.

I am tired of painting!!!

Okie dokie.

I'm do for a blog here and I'm going to update about what's been going on.

First things first, Laura is gone for this coming week and then some. She's coming back next Monday, which is quite a long time. She's out in OK to help her sister move. I already miss her! Kip misses her too I'm sure. He's actually in our bedroom right now just hanging out. A few times today he just went into the room and stared out the window for some reason.

I've been into World of Warcraft again. Good or bad? I think more on the bad side of things because I'm on the computer way too much. I did cancel my CC subscription this month, which means I have until the 19th to play. I'm not sure if I want to stop playing for a little bit or what.

Work has been good. Did some cool video ingesting the last couple of days of this week since the main dude was gone. Time really goes by faster when I don't have anything to do. Hopefully they'll get me doing more stuff soon.

TJ and Ashley's visit here and where they went (camp, FoCo, etc.) was good. We camped the second night they were here and we had a good time. We climbed to the peak (Laura and I) the next morning and took some nice pictures. I should start an online album or something. But yeah, we just hung out, had some fun, we even went to The Melting Pot the first night and splurged on the Big Night Out. Wow, expensive but there was so much food that we couldn't finish it. Otherwise, it was nice to see them again and catch up. They're, if I'm not mistaken, in Chicago now, probably settling in to their new place. It seems everyone (well, except Chris) is moving on with their lives and stuff. Incredible stuff if you ask me. We're what, 23-25 and starting our lives. It's just weird to think of it like that.

I'll sneak this one in here, but the biggest news for this week was probably my present to me and Laura...a 32" LCD TV!!

Check out the details here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824022006

I think it's a great price for the unit and I've heard some good recommendations about it. It'll be here next Wednesday and I actually ordered a cheapo (but good reviews) new DVD player to go along with it to make full use of it since our current DVD is old as fuck! It's my first (and only) DVD player purchase from, crap, 1997? '98? I don't even remember. Anyway, we're excited as we're going to put it in our bedroom so we can watch movies on it on our bed as we sleep. The best thing about it is that we can finally start making use of the widescreen format. Good thing I've been purchasing WS editions of the DVDs since we started. I knew it'll come in handy some day.

We're what, already halfway through Summer? It's going by so fast. But yeah, I'll leave this one ending here. I'll be back soon. I promise!

TJ will be visiting this week! Woot.

Yeah, I'm too lazy to update still.

Holy shit, it's finallly happened...it's been over a month since my last report! I need to get going on this puppy.

Which reminds me, I don't think I've ever written about our good ol' Kip that we got!

I'm tired, so I'll have to push this blog again to next time...I really will write most things up to now.

TJ, you need to put something up on your blog, even if it's just one word...

Not going to make it almost a month without writing! Well, this one's going to be really short. We're off to go camping within the next couple of hours...and it's raining...great.

Well it's a Saturday night and I'm sitting here on my bed listening to some music. Some things to talk about.

Earlier this week Laura and I sent a flower delivery via FTD to Ashley and she said that she liked it. They were blue tulips.

Last night was my last day as full-time at CHC. It was a struggle as always since one kid wanted to act up. Still, at the end of the night, I talked with a couple of kids since I was leaving to become ER. Had a good talk with them. We'll see if I come back. :)

A couple of hours ago we finished watching The Da Vinci Code with Laura and Laura's parents (they came up to help work on the house and hang out). It was good. I didn't really compare it to the book since that's something I don't do, but it did seem to follow it right. Still debating whether Silas is pronounced "See-las" or "Sigh-less", but oh well. They said it both ways in the movie.

Monday I start my new job as the administrative assistant at Thought Equity. Hopefully that pans out well and I get hired on as salary at the end of 30 days.

But that's about it to report for now since Laura is laying here pretending not to read it while I write this.

Hope all's well with everyone.

Just writing a quick little update from our new office! We got our desks on Friday, but we finally put it together today because the desks were so damn heavy and I couldn't carry upstairs by myself.

TJ, I'll take pictures and stuff from our new place soon and send them to you via CD or something because on your dial-up it'll take forever!

Hope all is well for those that read this.

Finally done with my work week. Damn I'm glad. I have no more 9-9 Saturday shifts...I can't wait for that. Hopefully I can get started on that computer business soon because I'll need the income!

Otherwise, all is well, but I'm tired as fuck, so I'm heading to bed.

Just a quick little update. Although it's almost been a full two weeks. A lot has been happening. Firstly, we've completely moved into our townhome. We're almost done with settling in. The last thing is the study, which we can be done by early next week because the desks that we ordered are finally getting here tomorrow. To e honest, it does seem like Laura and I have been fighting a lot about the home, just because of things like what to buy, where to put things, etc. It'll pass though. It always happens when we move...I hate moving! Second, my last day as full-time staff at work is going to be next Friday. After that, I had better find another job!!! But yeah, those are the two biggest updates so far.

I've been having the itch to start the computer building business. I e-mailed my brother to see if we could do it as a subdivision of Motogolf but he said he'll get back to me. If he doesn't seem to want to try it, I think I might give it a shot myself. I think I can do it. I have most of the logistics down. I just need to try one out to see how well it works.

What else...oh yeah, our new dog...that we don't have yet. We've moved a little forward in the application process. The volunteers came and saw our place. Now we're just waiting whether or not the lady who runs the rescue thinks that we can handle a border collie. The weird thing is, I have been waiting for this dog a long time, but the other day Laura mentioned that she wanted to go to Manitou Springs again to head to that bed and breakfast we went to a few years ago and ever since then, I've been wanting to go. But she thinks that if we reserve the room now, we'll be having to get the dog the same week or the week before we'll be going on the couple-day trip...I don't know. It seems that we haven't done anything like this in a long time, so I want to hang out with here. I think it'd be fun and I really liked that bed and breakfast we went to, so.

But yeah, it's getting sort of late and I have a long next two days, so. See ya later.

Hope everyone who reads this is doing well.

Very quick update...about 75% moved in...got a bunch of misc junk and food back at the old place. Hopefully we'll be done mid week.

Yippee!

And no word from the BC rescue yet. I want a dog so bad.

Phew, finally a chance to sit here and write a bit. I'm listening to some tunes from Sky.fm right now, going to work in about 20 minutes. So, back to the vague statement from last time. I finally decided to give this job a rest, at least for the summer, possibly (probably) longer. My last day full-time is going to be May 19th, but might be shorter depending on some other plans.

Today I had an interview with the recreation department for the city...I'm thinking that this is just a volunteer position, but that's ok. I have an interview tomorrow at the UPS Store, so hopefully that goes well and I get hired because if not, I'm going to be searching for a job quick! The thing is, I told my boss that I already had a job lined up and that I'll be working at this business in FoCo. I just don't want to have to get a job in town where I might have a chance of running into my staff. Oh well. I'll still be an ER, so I'll probably work here and there to cover shifts and stuff, but yeah, if all goes well, I'll be able to get the UPS Store job and start part-time or something if they let me and then move into full-time after May 19th.

The CRAPPY thing is that we start our new schedule this coming weekend I guess. Which means that I work Thurs-Sunday...wtf. Ha, oh well. If the hours weren't so crappy, I wouldn't mind, but it's 5-10 Thurs, 3-12 Fri, 9-9 Sat and 12-10 Sun. How much worse can it get? The thing that's going to keep me going is that I'm stopping on the 19th...but hopefully that Monday the 15th. I'll see if I can get out of it.

I would apply this this desk clerk job for the Best Western but it's like being built still and I'm not sure where to apply. It just says apply in person, but I don't know. I'll try to get an app or something tomorrow maybe.

But yeah, I'm in like that transition phase so it'll be a little weird for a few weeks.

On to the good news. We're officially going to have keys for the townhome on Friday! Sucks that I'll probably be working Sat and Sun pretty much all day, but fuck, such is life.

No word from the dog people yet. Hopefully soon. I think Laura was going to e-mail to make sure that our application was received or something. Other than that, the new house thing is going well. We're starting to pack everything (well, Laura has done much of it) and we've got utilities ready and stuff.

Last weekend we were in Fort Collins and I spent quite a bit of money getting stuff for the house. Namely tools like a circular saw, jigsaw, drill, etc. I spent about $160 for that set. I'm all pumped up to build stuff for the new house now. I also bought some new clothes and, holy hell, new shoes too. I haven't worn it yet, but I'm going to be breaking them in here pretty soon. I hate starting to wear new shoes. They are just so bright.

But anyway, I have 15 or so minutes left to get ready for work and stuff, so I'll catch you later!

P.S. I guess the other bigs news is that I'm finally debt free...from loans, from credit card debt, etc. It's a nice feeling. I'm going to try pretty hard to keep my credit card from being used. It's evil for sure.

Today's going to be a quite a day if I'm gonna do what I've been talking about!!! More later.

I'm typing this from my new (old) laptop. I'll write up a more detailed explanation of why I have this laptop, but yeah, it's nice. Laura's mom is using my old laptop, so I couldn't go without one for long.

I'm still finishing up tweaking everything to how I want it, so I'll catch you later.

I'm being late again with my posts. Anyway, the biggest news since the last time is that my loans are FINALLY done. The cool thing about that it that it's paid off and I still haven't used my tax return money yet. That'll probably go towards house stuff, like tools, desks, chair, etc.

We're moving in roughly 2.5 weeks! Not that moving is fun. It's never fun, but hopefully we'll be staying here for at least a couple years...it's crazy that we've moved every year since I went to college. That's a lot of moving.

Working is going ok. Things seem to be on a "smooth" cycle again, if you know what I mean. Other than work, hanging out, I've been playing WoW still. I finally hit level 60 on my mage character a few days ago. It wasn't that big a deal as I was waiting for it to be. I'm starting to go down in interest though since I hit 60. I started a priest character, but I HATE having to level up AGAIN.

Nothing else really. TJ STILL hasn't put up a blog yet nor sent me his brother's home address so we can send him a thank you letter for the living history farms experience.

The weather is finally changing to spring and it's been getting warmer and warmer. It's raining even. I like the rain although it makes my car dirty. Tomorrow is supposed to be a hot one. I don't like summer just for the fact that it gets so hot sometimes. I'd rather be cold than hot.

Right now I'm trying to see if there's a way to get my old laptop back from my Mom while I get her a cheap desktop computer from Best Buy or CompUSA or something. I saw some cheap eMachines for like $380.

A few more weeks until we get a dog! I hope we get the ones that we are looking at on the border collie rescue website. We're going to send in the application sometime this week. Exciting.

Laura is done with her homework now, so I'm going to go and head to sleep. I'm tired as hell.

Laters.

A new week and almost April. I can't believe it's been 4 months into 2006. Come to think of it, I've been at this job for almost 6 months now, despite all the complaining. Hehe.

Anyway, hopefully this week will be a good one! I'll write more later. Oh yeah...and time to file my taxes!!

I am about to head to sleep so I can be rested up for the long 12-hour shift at work tomorrow...I don't want to work!!! It's just a damn long day. Hopefully the next 2 Saturdays one of the other staff that owes me hours will take my 2nd half of my shift, so that'll be something to look forward to.

I'm FINALLY done with my taxes. I'll hopefully be triple checking everything and then filing it over the weekend. If I have any luck, I won't have to pay back some money like I did last year and I will get around $1100 back. That's a nice chunk of change that I can use to pay off my loans finally and then spend it towards stuff for the new townhouse.

We'll definitely be moving in last week/first week of May, but hopefully we'll all be done in a couple of days. Thank god that it's not that far away from where we are now. About 30 seconds away by car. Haha.

We're getting close to putting in our application for our dog. Hopefully we get the one we like or something similar. I think the criteria is a bit too strict for the rescue, but oh well.

Laura is doing good overall. She's been busy this past week and the next week because of tests and essays and stuff. I'm still waiting for TJ to send me the address for his brother so we can send him a thank you card and all that...he must be busy. Haha.

It's weird to say, but I think I'm finally starting to lower in my addiction for World of Warcraft...well, that is probably until I start my next character...haha. It's neverending. But yeah, I'm getting tired of it because I'm running out of things to do (even though there really isn't). It's getting sort of repetitive, but you'll have to be playing the game to understand what I mean. But it's still fun though. Chris is more into than me. He's spent quite a bit of money in real life to buy golf for the game. Lol.

But anyway, I'm going to watch Laura play Harvest Moon for a little bit and then head to bed...gonna be a long day...

P.S. Write in your blog TJ!!!

So after a good break, I'm back to work in a couple of hours. Well, I guess I already worked this past Saturday, but anyway.

I've been looking around for other jobs and that's not going so well. There's a couple that I'm going to apply for here after this post that's at the university. I don't think I'm qualified, but oh well. Why is the job market so hard/bad here?

Maybe I'll swing by Howard Johnson/Comfort Inn and pick up and app there too for a desk clerk job.

Other than that, we're just chuggin along I guess!

Holy crap...Feb 13th is my last post!!! Almost a full month...tells you how busy (lazy?) I've been the last month. However, I have actually been quite busy, mostly with work though.

Anyway, what's been up (the big stuff) in the last month? Well, here's a list:

1. We got a townhouse with the help of Laura's parents and we'll be paying the mortgage. We'll be moving in April 28th! Cool huh?

2. We just got back from visiting TJ in Iowa for a few days. We had fun and met his new gf.

3. We're looking through a bunch of stuff to buy for the house, e.g. tools for garage, dog, furniture, etc.

That's about all. I still need to do my fricken taxes and get that turned in. We're still waiting for one more thing to come in the mail so we can put it in our tax programs.

Other than that, things have been good. Nothing major, so you're not missing anything . :) I'll try and try more and longer in the coming weeks!

About to head to work, but I thought I'd write in here since it's been a week. Laura's b-day was good. It sucked that I had to work 9-9 on Saturday, but yeah, she went to Altitude with a few folks and had fun. I came back and hung out with Chris/Ashley for a little bit before they went home. Man this working sucks, really. It feels like I'm ALWAYS working. I applied for some word processing jobs so hopefully I get it.

Started my taxes and just waiting for my brother to send me some tips and info about incorporating the Motogolf thing into everything. I'll probably get around 800 or so back this year...better than nothing huh. I'm almost done with paying off my loans. I fucking late loans. It just sucks to pay them back now. Oh well.

Laura's family came up yesterday to give presents to Laura for her birthday. It was fun. We played Scene It, the DVD movie game and that was fun too. I got Angels and Demons from them which I'll try and read sometime soon. Got the first two seasons of Roswell too! Now, the only problem is finding time to watch and read these things.

Things have been stressful lately. Pretty much 100% of that is credited toward work. If I didn't have that Saturday shift, it wouldn't be bad...just that it would take a little longer to pay off loans and stuff, but I guess that 12 hours help a lot...

I'm feeling guilty that I haven't called TJ back. I always keep it in mind and I just forget. Sorry man. Laura and I haven't been spending much time together either, mostly because she's at school when I'm home and I'm at work when she's home. Arg.

Other stresses include loans, bills, and stuff like that. I just sometimes, well, all the time, wish that I can win the lottery (although I never buy tickets). 2-3 million is all I'm asking for...lol. I would be set.

But yeah, enough bitching. Ellen recommended me to listen to Matisyahu, so I listened to some and I liked it, so I used my iTunes to buy his latest album. I like it. It's this weird Jewish reggae guy. Strange combo!

But I gotta get going. See you soon (probably not!).