I've got too much...time on my hands

I've made a habit over the last couple of weeks of working ridiculously long hours (not by my choice of course), but now that its kind of over I don't really know what to do. I just spent about 2 weeks straight of waking up at 6:30, going to work, coming home between 9-10, then going straight to bed. If I had to do that for one more week I was about to start looking for another job, but thankfully now things are back to normal. I guess I shouldn't complain about it too much, I just don't ever want to be in a position where my job runs my life instead of the other way around. It's times like these that make me wish I was teaching instead, but I figure I'll give the career with a big company a shot for at least a few years and then have an early mid-life crisis and career change later on.

Do you remember those career tests you took back in high school? I totally want to take one of those just for fun again. I think the tests are subjective and results can change at different stages of life, but it would be fun to see how close (or totally far off) I am right now. Joni said her results told her to be a dancer or a cattle rancher, take your pick, they sound the same to me. Actually, I laughed really hard because after researching what a cattle rancher does it was clear that they are free spirits that don't enjoy being told what to do...maybe those career tests are pretty accurate after all. Is a job really just a job? How many people out there are truly doing what they WANT to do? I think the biggest and best excuse is that once you are far enough along in school, you don't want to have to start all over, so you settle on whatever pays the bills. Its a good excuse, but its also really sad if you think about it. Maybe that's why schools are in horrible shape right now around the country. There are some great teachers out there (my mom was one of them) but there could sure be more of 'em.

When I try to think about my dream job it involves making my own schedule, managing others, completing projects, having contact with people, and seeing physical results. Joni wants a job where she can be creative and focus her attention on her artistic side. I guess when it comes down to it, I just want to learn how to do everything. If money didn't matter, I think I would spend all my time learning how to fix cars, or play an instrument, or build something cool...is there such a job out there? I guess we can all dream, but that's what hobbies are for too. Maybe I'm that way because I haven't had a lot of stability as far as living in one place for a long time, or holding one job for a long time. Who knows? I've got some solid foundations in my life, one of them is my wife, another is my family, and another is my church. If all else fails on the career front, at least I have these things.

I just bought a book called "How Starbuck's Changed my Life". I haven't even read it yet but I'm already recommending it to you. When I read the description it really hit home, it was one of those things that just jumps out at you. I'll let you look it up, but don't tell me how it ends because I haven't read it yet, its a true story. I heard Tom Hanks is already working to make it a movie. Anyways, thats enough deep ramblings from me for one day. If any of you figure it out let me know.

Weekend in New York

One of the perks of living 2 hours from NYC is that you can go down there for a day or a weekend and its no big deal...or so we thought. We had a blast, but we did waaaaay too much for a weekend. We took Andrea down there for her first time to celebrate her birthday and get to know our neighbors in New York a little better. Next time I think we'll focus on just a couple things at a time. We took the train down to Grand Central Station in the heart of Manhattan, and hitched the subway to our hotel. Our room was just big enough for a queen bed, and a roll-a-bed and we shared a bathroom with some foreigners. It was totally worth the money we paid for it, and it actually wasn't so bad sharing a bathroom. The hotel was a couple blocks from Central Park and right next to a subway station, so it all worked out pretty well.
I couldn't stop thinking about how I didn't want to hold onto the metal bars on the subway, but when it was crowded we didn't have much of a choice. I am terrified of metal handrails ever since I was at the musuem of natural history and my hand slid across a gigantic squishy booger...that just gave me the chills just thinking about it.

We ate breakfast sandwiches on a rock in Central Park (you can tell which pictures were taken with our good camera and which ones were with the cheaper one, but a picture is a picture)
...And hung out in Belvedere's tower...we walked down Wall Street, through Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, and went inside some old churches. The pizza we had in Little Italy was awesome. I thought it was so crazy that walking just a couple blocks would take you into a completely different neighborhood where people dressed, looked, talked, and acted differently...so wierd. Joni had tons of fun with the camera, I really think she's got an eye for all things artistic...

One of the things I love about New York is that no one really cares or notices what you look like, how you dress, or if you are walking by yourself singing about "My Little Ponies". Craziness and uniqueness are just a way of life, and nobody pays much attention to anyone. If you park your car long enough in one spot, someone will even give you a unique new paint job.
While in Soho, which is kind of the modern artsy district, we went to this place called the Earth Room that our friends told us about. You had to push a buzzer for someone to let you in, then we walked up some creepy stairs and into a massive 2nd story room covered in 3 feet deep of dirt. How they got it up there I'll never know, but its been there since 1977 and they pay a guy to water it, rake it, and guard it every day. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. They didn't allow pictures, but thats okay because it wouldn't do the place justice.

One of my favorite places was FAO Schwartz. I forgot how cool toy stores can be, but these guys go all the way. In one area they have women dressed as nurses carrying life-like babies, and then if a little girl wants to "adopt" one they have to fill out the adoption papers like its all real. There's also a place where you can create your own muppet, kind of like with build-a-bear but with Muppets (the only place in the world you can do this). I'm totally doing it sometime, coolest idea ever.

We got back at about 10pm on Sunday night, and now we are feeling the effects of a long, event-filled weekend. We're going to take a couple weekends off before we go somewhere again, but we are definately going back to the city soon.

I am so excited for March Madness! Both of our Aggies are playing, and one of them is playing the evil Cougars. We have some friends coming over to watch that one, hopefully we can still be friends afterwards...haha. Good luck Aggies! I need something to cheer for given all the drama with my Broncos right now.

Finger Dancing

When Andrea comes for a visit, you just never know what kind of stuff her and Joni will come up with in the middle of the night with nothing else to do...

I am writing this blog on Microsoft Word in hopes that I can at least copy and paste it to blogger. I thought we were having a problem with our computer (which we still might since we haven’t had antivirus protection for like 5 years…I know, not smart). But for some reason our service, or our old house, makes it nearly impossible to be on the internet for more than 3 minutes without it freezing up and losing a connection. Have you ever had to copy every email that you write just in case it doesn’t go through so you don’t have to write it again? It’s not very fun. So maybe I’ll post this…maybe I won’t.

Our landlord called us today to tell us that our neighbor complained because we were parking in their “spot” that she has parked in for years. We always just parked wherever without thinking anything of it, but apparently this really upset her. Why can’t people just speak for themselves instead of passing it off to someone else? Its no big deal for us to walk an extra 5 feet, so we parked one space over…problem solved. This is the same neighbor that uses our washer and dryer without asking (which is fine, we’re happy to share) but its frustrating when we want to do laundry and can’t because a family of 5 is using it. So what did we do? I went outside and picked up every single toy they had strewn on the ground, swept their porch and cleaned their mats, fixed their bench and picked up their shoes that were on the ground. Funny thing is, it felt pretty good, and I was no longer mad about the whole thing afterwards.

I’m learning something about the east coast, we still think people are really nice…in person…but when it comes to driving they are the meanest ever. Everyone loves to blare their horns and yell which I’m sure helps, but it’s a bit of a double standard I think. Have you ever seen someone get REALLY mad at you while driving, but then you recognize them? Funny how we can put on a show when we think no one is watching. I’m learning that the older I get, the more pet peeves I get, and that bugs me a little. I’m making a personal rule that I will only be allowed 3 good pet peeves, its not worth it to dwell on things you can’t change.

So we did 3 monumental things this past week.

1) We paid off our car. I’m a little worried about this one because the last time we paid off a car it broke down and then someone broke all the windows out, stole the radio, and ripped off the dash. Then we had to salvage it for $150.

2) We started dance lessons. We are taking a course every Friday night with some other couples, this week we learned the Waltz, the Rumba, and a couple others. It was funny because I was talking to an older lady who was sitting by herself and asked what class she was taking, she said, “I’m learning the Mamba, but I’m just here for the dance party afterwards”

3) We bought plane tickets to Europe. In April we are going to Barcelona and other towns in Spain, then to London. Spain has been #2 behind Italy on our places-we-want-to-go list, so we are totally excited.

That’s been our lives the past couple of weeks. We are trying to get back into shape, and we’re having lots of fun with our new friends here. Hasta next time!

Here's our little tour of the inside of our house now that we have our furniture. I actually like watching Joni and Dilly more than the furniture...there's one part where Dilly is lying on one of the couches pretending to sleep, and then like a ninja she appears on the other side of the room on the other couch. Joni has also been having more fun on the camera, her friend was nice enough to play the "model" with her kid...enjoy.

Downtown Hartford...Joni saw a silk flower blown away from a little memorial. We found some cool places for pictures...she just needs some victims now...not it.

Super Bowl Party II

So last year's Super Bowl party was such a success we decided to do it again. We have been amazed at how nice people are here, so many people have gone out of their way to befriend us, I can't think of another place where you can move somewhere and within three weeks have a party. We have found some friends we seem to hit it off with really well, and we just absolutely love everything about Connecticut so far. Our landlord even brought us an edible arrangements boquet to welcome us here (but I hear not ALL landlords are so nice). Dilly likes it too, she was loving all the attention during the game. I couldn't help but laugh at this picture. All the girls formed a circle and they were so close to each other while all the guys were leaning back and watching the game. We had a potluck of sorts, and I guess being full makes girls chatty and guys lazy.

Playing a little Wii at halftime.................................

...The game got really good in the 4th quarter so everyone finally started watching

There was a 3D movie preview and someone was smart enough to bring 3D glasses

We had a great time and I'm thinking this could be a fun tradition. Work is going well, I have been a bit overwhelmed but I am really enjoying staying busy. Joni hasn't found work yet, but I'm loving coming home to a hot meal and two girls excited to see me. We finally got our new furniture today, I'll have to post a video of the inside next time. Have a great week! Love and miss you all!

P & J

We had a pretty productive Saturday...slept in, messed up some sourdough pancakes that turned out really gross, finished our taxes (Turbotax rules!), renewed my passport, and finally got rid of the last bit of our moving trash...all before 2pm. Days like this are great, now we can spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and doing whatever it is people in Connecticut do.


I found out this week that my company is sending me to London for a week in April, how cool is that?! I'm going to try and fly Joni out ahead of time so we can spend a few days over there exploring, anyone have any bright ideas of what we could do in 3-4 days? Everyone has been asking about my first week on the job and I don't really know what to say because its not that exciting. I have a big office (which surprised me) and I sit next to some pretty important people...which has its positives and negatives I guess. I spent most of the week reading up on stuff and giving myself a first-week orientation since my assignment leader has been gone all week. Its fun to "decorate" the office a little to make it my own by putting up pictures, but that only lasted a couple of minutes. I can't wait to get into the full swing of things and really know what I'm doing because all I can do right now is pretend. There is a really cool hot chocolate machine that I like to play with in the break room...well not really "play" with, but its yummy. Come to think of it, it doesn't sound like I did a whole lot this week, but I really did I promise.

We have met a lot of new people, and we really love it here so far. We can't wait until it gets warm enough to go to NYC and Boston because right now its just too cold to be outside for more than a few minutes. I'm going to try and post a video of our place from the outside, we'll do one of the inside another time if you are interested...if not, we'll do it anyways.

Joni has been experimenting a little with her new camera...here are some examples of some stuff I really liked. Thought you might appreciate it. The fun part about the Andrea pics is that I was marching around and acting stupid in the background trying to make her smile...but I think this first picture comes across as the "Paul's an idiot but I still love him pose". Happy Tuesday!

We finally made it! After our long trip across the deep south and east coast we are in our new home. Thanks to Melecia and fam for putting up with us for a couple of days, we had a blast. We saw a little bit of DC on Saturday including trips to a couple Smithsonian museums and we watched Marine One land at the White House with the President aboard. Turns out we just missed Obama at the Lincoln Memorial. We were planning to go see the memorial but we were freezing in the rain and we found out the next day that he had been to the memorial with his family just about the same time we would have been there. Because of the weather no one else was really there so that would have been pretty cool, oh well eh? Madison and Joni trying to act cool in front of the Washington Monument...its just harder for Joni because she has a grocery bag wrapped around her head and she has trouble forming her fingers into the peace sign (story for another day).Me and two of my cute nieces

Everything has gone pretty smoothly except that our couch won't fit through our door, and we only have one spot in the house where the cable and internet can be hooked up so we have really long cords lying across the floor right now. Now our couch is leaning against the wall in the downstairs foyer and we have a long, beautiful front room with no place to really sit. I think we will have to sell the couch now and invest in some new furniture. Our front room is huge and has 7 large windows, so we will have to get stuff to fill it up as we can afford it, but it will be a fun project. We have a huge empty attic above us, a mother/daughter/grandaughter/sister combo that lives below us, and a creepy stone walled basement for our laundry. Our apartment has been totally remodeled and we have an awesome landlord as well as our own contractor who have helped out a lot.

We are trying to get used to the lack of closet space and sharing one tiny little bathroom, but I think this place will grow on us someday soon and it will probably be hard to leave. I can't wait for those of you planning to visit, and to visit the surrounding areas with you, just let us know ahead of time when you want to come. We are excited to only be 6 hours from Melecia's now.

Here is our front room pre-move in, mint green walls but I guess its better than white, its pretty long (not sure if the picture does it any justice)And our kitchen that we absolutley love, its really big and everything looks nice and new

I start work on Tuesday and Joni will be job searching next week, we can only hope she finds a good job, but we feel pretty lucky to be where we are. I will post a video sometime of the outside and the neighborhood, its really pretty here.

I am writing this blog on Andrea's roomate's computer in Salt Lake before our plane leaves, I figured if I didn't blog now it would be a really long time because next time I have a couple minutes by a computer we will be settled in Connecticut. Not that I'm crazy about writing blogs, but we've been so many places and seen so many people in the last couple of weeks that I will never catch up if I don't do it now. We flew into Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago, and we have been "hitchiking" and living out of our suitcases ever since. Our travels have taken us up to Ashton to see my family, then to Pleasant Grove to see Joni's dad, then to Vernal, then to Evanston, Wyoming, and a bunch of random SLC visits in between. We fly to Denver tonight, then we have a 7 hour overnight layover in the airport. We fly to Dallas tomorrow and finally arrive in College Station by early afternoon.

Once there we have to meet the movers, pick up Dilly, paint our front room, clean the apartment, ship our other car, take my truck into the shop for maintenance, and then leave for our 30 hour drive to Connecticut on Wednesday. We plan to stop in Virginia to see Melecia and fam, and then hopefully our stuff will arrive by the time we get to our final destination so that we have something to sleep on. So thats our life in the next week or so, we feel bad that we didn't get to see everyone on our big trip out west, but we really didn't have a way to see anyone else even if we wanted to. Thanks to everyone who accomodated us, we hope we didn't overstay our welcome anywhere. We felt we really got the most out of our trip and had a lot of fun with everyone we did see. Here are some pictures of our travels:

Sushi at Ichiban in Salt Lake, I either looked like "the man" or the "gay guy" with a bunch of cute girls, either way, I had fun.

Poor Bess, Joni couldn't resist the old boot on head picture. Hasta next time everybody!

Another move

It seems like every time we go apartment hunting (which has been a lot the last few years) we always find the right place at the very last minute. This time was a little like the first time going to Dallas in that we were under a tight time crunch to catch our plane, so we got a little nervous in the end, but found just the right place. We had about 5 realtors working with us and we saw a lot of cool and crazy places. We were really experiencing culture shock the first day because we have never lived back East and it is definately different than anything we have ever experienced.
This is not our house...just the capitol. We totally forgot our camera but we will take pictures as soon as we move to share them with you.

This is West Hartford Center, about 4-5 blocks from our new place, its a really fun place with plently of shops and bistros. If we want to fit in we are going to have to buy some fancy trench coats and scarves...I'm sure that can be arranged.

Like other cities on the East coast, Hartford is very unique and old. Most of the homes and buildings were built pre-1920, and since most of the land has been "spoken for" in the cities you won't find many big box stores or fast food franchises unless you drive outside the city limits. There are little markets and "mom and pop" shops and restaurants everywhere, and lots of colorful big houses and red brick buildings. We will live in a very safe and fun area in West Hartford on the 2nd floor of a HUGE house. Part of our apartment includes an unfinsihed 3rd floor attic that is the size of the entire 2nd floor. I am crossing my fingers the movers can get everything up our little stairs because its a tight squeeze. One of the big shocks for Joni was the lack of closet space in the places we looked at, and it is nearly impossible to find a two bedroom apartment with more than one bathroom. We found one of the few apartments in Hartford with carpet, we loved the wood floors everywhere but we preferred the place we found that has been totally renovated.

So we are off again to a place that couldn't be more different than Texas, it kind of makes us wonder where life will take us next after our short stint in Hartford (we'll be there for a little over a year). We're excited to see more of the country as we take the 30 hour trek to get to Connecticut, and we are hoping to see Melecia and family on the way in Virginia...as long as Joni and I haven't killed each other by then. For now we are just excited to be going to Utah and Idaho for Christmas. As always, we love playing host, so let us know if you ever want to stay at our place for a visit back East, we are two hours from New York and Boston but we just know you would only be coming to see us...right?

Congrats to Joni for finishing up her job, today was her last day!

Congratulations PAUL!

Here are a few pictures from Paul's graduation this weekend. I'm proud to be married to a two-time Aggie! Above is a picture of Paul and his study pals - they were nick named "the marrieds" among the students in the H.R. program. Its going to be hard to leave all the friends we have made here in Bryan/College station, but are also excited to move on to a new chapter in our lives.

Congratulations Paul, you did it!!!

JONI

Two miracles happened last night.

1) It snowed in College Station, Texas

2) The world didn't end, and nothing in the town shut down because of the snow

This picture is not Texas snow but since its the only real snow we've been around the last three years then it'll have to do for now.

I would have taken pictures but it would be kind of embarrassing. There was enough, however, to be able to make a good quick snowball. Dilly's first "experience" in the snow involved a tail between the legs (more like a little "nub" facing downwards) and intense sniffing inspections, as she bounced over the stuff like it was hot coal. Once inside she bolted into the bedroom and hid under the sheets where Joni was still sleeping, I can't wait to see what she does in Connecticut.

So, I am done with school. My week has been filled with finishing one book, starting another, playing basketball, playing video games, and talking on the phone with about ten different people to try and set up appointments to see apartments and houses. Friday morning we will go see President Bush speak (there have been secret agents all over town checking things out) and Friday night I get my diploma...wierd. I'm realizing how much I look "down the road" in the life. I'll think about how I can't wait to go back to school, then how I can't wait to graduate, then how I can't wait to start a job, when I should really be focusing more on making myself happy right now. I know a lot of people would die to be in my position right now doing what I'm doing with my free time, I just need to soak it all in and enjoy it while it lasts. I feel very blessed to have a job lined up, and stressed for friends who don't.

So with the soaking it all in comes soaking in the Christmas season. I remember some of the best Christmas' I have ever had were the best because of what I did BEFORE Christmas. I'm not just talking about watching Christmas movies (which is the best) or decorating the house, but getting out to provide service. I'm glad I have parents and friends who have taught me the importance of service, especially during this time of year. Sometimes I wait to hear in church what service is needed, other times you can find it on your own. Some of the most memorable experiences in my life were helping at the soup kitchen, singing at nursing homes, going caroling, or picking a family to help out on Christmas. Its hard to get out there at first because it can be outside our "comfort zone", but it quickly becomes worth it. Everything becomes less exhausting when we remember what and who we are doing it for. How did this turn into a sermon?

I want to hear your best Christmas story. Lets inspire some people with our blogs to make this Christmas the best one yet. Maybe we can inspire someone who normally wouldn't get out there and volunteer, to do so. The more Christmas spirit out there the better, it will help us understand the true meaning of it all instead of arguing about whether or not to use the word "Christmas". God bless us everyone...not bahhh humbug! (it only seemed fitting to say that...with an English accent of course).

I am still cursing myself for not bringing my camera this week to Joni's colonoscopy...okay that sounds wierd, not for the actual procedure, but for the part when she's on drugs and still coming out of it (She's okay by the way, all systems are a go...no pun intended).

Joni always had the upperhand on me because I am such a lightweight with drugs, they make me really crazy and really sick...little did she know she is the same way. When we have kids I feel for them if they have to go through any type of procedure under any type of drug, cause there's officially no hope now. So picture this, imagine Joni trying really hard to keep her eyes open and frowning constantly in confusion because every time she talks her speech is slurred. For some reason she thinks that licking her lips will help her talk faster but it doesn't. So I figured I'd give away our Christmas presents a little early this year and explain to you some of the things Joni said and did while on drugs, here we go in no particular order:

To the nurse (this was a first for her): (Joni pointing to the curtain next to her bed) "which one of those colors is your favorite? Mine is somewhere between the yellow and the green" (She asked this question 3 times).

"I've got a great idea for a movie...it involves a man...and he goes to work...(she dozes off)"

(After I kissed her on the cheek) "Woah...I thought you were a grizzly bear coming out of hibernation to eat a reindeer"

(As I am looking for her bag of clothes) "Wierd...I thought we were at the grocery store and you couldn't find the carrots"

For the first time ever Joni was afraid to pass gas which is exactly what you are supposed to do after a colonoscopy, so the doctor comes in and as he is talking to us Joni lets out a ten second long squeaker and just uses the little barf pail to fan away the smell while she's still passing gas.

Later on the lights are a little bright for her, so she puts the barf pail over her face to shield her eyes from the light.

I got out my phone to take a short video of her and she acts really confused and won't stop asking what I am doing until I hold up the phone to take a picture...she gives me a half smile and says "howdy", then looks confused again.

I think for me the best part was just watching her different facial expressions as she was coming in and out of consciousness trying to talk. I placed a cold cloth on her head and over her eyes so she didn't have to use the barf pail anymore, but then she forgot it was there and was desperately trying to see what was going on in the room without removing the cloth from her eyes.

I guess in the end we're pretty thankful that everything is okay so we can look back on the whole experience and have a good laugh. I'd love to hear some "coming out of surgery stories", so consider yourselves all "tagged" to tell your best one. I'm looking forward to it.

On the way home I told her everything she said and she was laughing pretty hard, but then she didn't remember any of it an hour later. So now its on record, kids, don't do drugs.

Thanksgiving '08

For the first time in a long time we went to Colorado to see family there and enjoy a little Thanksgiving madness, its been 4-5 years since we visited Longmont. We played some football and managed not to have anyone end up seriously injured or dead...which is good. We did a lot of "hanging out" and had a lot of fun just laughing, playing games, talking, and eating leftovers. I wish my dad could have been in the picture with his goofy tall hat but I guess someone had to take the picture. A lot of people were getting over some bad colds so it was a bit of a sick-fest, but nothing like the puke-fest we had a couple years ago in Ashton.

Ryan's wife Ali has a fun little program on her computer that distorts your face and makes you look really creepy, we had a lot of fun playing with it, but apparently its just as fun to watch how people react to the different faces.

We all went around the table to mention what we were thankful for before stuffing our faces, and we managed to smile after feeling uncomfortably full.
And how would a trip to see family be complete without playing a few video games?

It was so refreshing for us to be with loved ones and it made us a little sad that we are moving even further away from family soon. We really enjoyed being with everyone and it was a little strange being with so many people during the holidays without a single kid or baby in sight. Sometimes all the attention is given to little kids (and rightfully so cause they're cute) but it was nice to focus on each other and get to know each other better. Having said that, we are really excited to see our beautiful neices and nephews soon. Great, I probably just got myself in trouble with that one. I love little kids...I also love "adult time".

This is pretty much my last week to crack down on school to try and salvage my current GPA. It has gone by so fast and its still hard to believe its all coming to an end...and that I'll actually be a Master of something. I'm trying to do that, having started 2 different John Grisham books that I don't want to put down. Its great to be back home and with our little Dilly, she went berzerk (spelling?) when we picked her up. We are happy to have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we are looking forward to Christmas soon.