This is what happens when you leave Joni at home alone with the camera. I liked this picture, I'm guessing she was getting ready to run but was delaying it as much as possible. The best part about it is that she was all by herself when she took it.

We went to Churchill Downs again, but this time it was different. We were invited to sit in the GE luxury box on the 5th floor, we had to get there through the "VIP" elevator. Our box looked right over the finish line and we had an awesome view of the town and the horses as they came down the stretch.

We decided instead of Nashville we are going to Chicago for a couple days for the 4th. They are having the Taste of Chicago festival where over 65 of the best restaurants in town are in one place for us to sample at the park. You buy tickets like you do at the fair, then you use those tickets to sample food instead of going on rides. Its free admission and its supposed to be one of the best fairs Chicago has every year. There is supposed to be an awesome fireworks show, we are really excited to be going, especially Joni since this is her first time and it involves food sampling. I have a 4 day weekend so the time off will be nice.

Joni brought me a funny video of Dilly who I miss a lot, turns out from the looks of this video, she actually does remember me.

P.S. Hope I don't spoil it for anyone, but I hate to say I told you so on the Bachelorette. My final pick is Jason, but I can't help but cheer for Jesse too. If Jeremy would have gotten a rose I would have watched the finale while eating a big tub of ice cream.

What a relaxing weekend I am having, I have been lazy watching movies and laying out by the pool. I had planned on going to the driving range but my new clubs haven't come yet...I now, life sounds so hard. Work is going so much better, I am finally starting to see some results of all the planning and working, and I'll be rolling out a couple of the programs this week. I told my boss I wanted more responsibility and he gave me the task of researching and creating a presentation on where the new headquarters for Latin America should be, talk about a cool responsibility. I never thought I would be given so many opportunities as an intern to make a real impact on things, and it feels good to have the trust of my coworkers to do so many important things. Its especially big because this decision will directly affect where my boss and his family move in the next few months.

My recent workout and eating habits have trickled down to my boss...or should I say trickled up? I couldn't help but smile when he ended up following me to the gym after work this week, and now he is a regular too. I walked in on him eating a salad for lunch, I don't know if this was because of my influence, but it was fun to think I might have played a part in him wanting to change. Either way, its amazing to think that however small you may feel in the world, that someone is watching and you can have an impact on their life in the smallest little way. I still remember the most random things from people over the years that I have never forgotten, and I'm sure they would be surprised if I saw them again and told them how the smallest thing they did influenced me.

Joni is coming again next weekend and she'll be here for 10 days. We are planning on going to Nashville for the 4th of July. The week after that my mom is coming to visit, then the next weekend I'm going to Texas, then the next week I'll be in New York for work, then my last weekend in Louisville, then Joni and I are going to Chicago for a couple of days. I have a feeling the next 7 weeks will fly by. I got tickets to see the Cubs and Cardinals at Wrigley when we go to Chicago, I am so excited and I have always wanted to go back.

I don't always wear the same clothes, but since I don't have the camera I had to post a picture from Joni's visit last time.

I don't normally do these but I have been tagged to do one of those "about me" things, and I would hate to dissapoint. So here it is:

JOYS: Desserts...pretty much anything, the feeling you get AFTER working out, being outside, the time of night when the sun has just gone down during the summer, family (that includes my puppy), fresh corn on the cob, BBQ's (not just for the food but with people), laughing out loud, singing along to music in my car, making people smile because I'm singing to music in my car, uplifting movies, hugging Joni.

FEARS: When I slap my belly and it shakes for 3 seconds, not living life to the fullest, swimming in deep water, something bad happening to a loved one, being too serious, trying to be a good dad someday, hair growing in wierd places, having the freedom to do what I love taken away.

GOALS: Lose 5 pounds (my gut), get a good job after graduation, be a dad someday, buy a house in the next 5 years, pay off school debt, own or run a business/franchise on the side someday, always hold a temple recommend, be a better listener.

CURRENT OBSESSIONS: Working out/running, talking to Joni, finding new hobbies, listening to music, ebay, blogging, oreo blizzards...these things change all the time.

I don't know how many people I am supposed to tag but I tag EVERYONE who reads this...HAHA.

Week 5:

That sounds like I'm celebrating being sober or something. I think after a little over a month of being "on my own" I'm starting to think there is a lot about my situation that is good that I am trying to take advantage of. The biggest thing is that I have time to do things I normally wouldn't make the time to do. I have been really steady on the working out front, I've actually lost a couple pounds (my pants are actually looser) and I'm running more than ever. There is a gym at my work, and I have become addicted to working out during lunch and then showering there. It is the best feeling ever to do that in the middle of a work day, and the best solution for me to get it done. The first couple of weeks here I spent a lot of time moping around and watching TV, and that really didn't help me to feel better. I have been eating really well (for me anyways), and doing everything I can to feel good about myself.

I live right next to a Barnes and Noble and so the other day while it was pouring rain I went over there and listened to music. I ended up buying a BB King and and Oscar Peterson CD and listened to them in my truck while it was pouring outside. I bought a cheap set of golf clubs on ebay and when they get here I am going to go to the driving range and try to teach myself how to golf. I'm playing the guitar again, I'm going to bed early, and reading about random stuff on the internet like I used to do as a kid looking through the World Book Encyclopedias we had at home. I guess the reason I'm mentioning all this is because habit is a powerful thing. You don't have to always do spectacular things in life to be happy, but whatever you choose to do, make sure that it makes you feel good. The best way to kick a bad habit is to fill its time slot with a good one.

Habits give your life direction, but only good habits lead you in the right direction. I have found that I enjoy being busy more than I enjoy being lazy and I guess thats a good thing. I've always beat myself up mentally when I waste my time being lazy and forming bad habits, but for the first time I'm realizing that it doesn't help to beat yourself up...just move on and do something different. Since doing that I have been laughing out loud a lot more, and my outlook has been more positive. The other night I was watching Mr. Bean and I was laughing so hard I was choking...and yes, I was by myself. So can there be some good in every situation? I definately think so.

So now that I feel like Doogie Howser, I'm going to go shave my head and watch the Bachelorette. And I don't even care what anyone thinks because that's what I want to do.

Here are some pictures for you pictured starved readers. Joni and I had a fun filled and all too short weekend. The picture above is 4th Street in Downtown Louisville. They have free concerts every week with some pretty big names and lots of fun places to eat. We were five feet away from Vertical Horizon- you'd recognize their music if you don't know them. Tracy Lawrence was there Wednesday. Louisville reminds me a lot of a mini-Chicago. The Ohio river wraps around downtown, and all of the buildings are very unique and filled with history.

The pic below is in front of the Louisville Slugger museum and factory, that thing behind Joni is a 120 ft tall baseball bat.

We went to Churchill Downs to see where the Kentucky Derby is run, there just so happened to be races that day. The atmosphere was very cool, and tons of people were there even for small races. Admission is only $3 because they excpect you to get liquored up and spend all your money on betting.

We decided to bet on a horse for fun, Joni picked the horse and we totally won. It was crazy and exciting. As you can see Joni fits in with all the heavy betters waiting in line.

We ate out a lot at some really cool places, one of them was this "upscale" bowling alley on 4th street. We watched the Belmont Stakes there while snacking on a yummy dessert. Speaking of yummy dessert, everyone has to try the new smores dessert at Mimi's Cafe. Thats already one of our favorite places, but that dessert was sooooooo good. You can't tell in any of the pics, but I totally shaved my head with a number 1 on the razor...never done that before but I really like how it feels.

I added a few pics for fun. The day I left Texas Dilly was really attached to me like she knew I was leaving. She loves to cuddle but it was really funny because right before I left, Joni and I said a prayer and Dilly decided to climb up on me to get as close to me as she could (2 pics below). We couldn't help but laugh a little. This one I was sleeping on the floor.

Joni went to Utah for a couple of days for her mom's wedding. Her and Andrea took some pictures while they acted like girls. They dressed up in spandex and took pictures of each other doing wierd poses on the trampoline.

Poor Dilly, she probably doesn't even remember me now anyways. I'm sad Joni is gone already but she is coming for a week during the 4th of July. Now its back to work, I'm 25% done with my internship already.

Enjoy a video of our experience at Churchill, its a little dark but you can hear Joni screaming at the end when she realized her horse won. It was pretty loud, the video doesn't do it justice.