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.