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.