but I REALLY love my wife and feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world because of her.
That is all.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Had a good weekend. A little sore though
So, as for my plans that I was excited for, this is what it was.
My best friend Roman was graduating from college at UC Davis. He at one time mentioned when he graduated and I mentioned that my (then) future brother in-law might be getting married around that time, but I wasn't positive. I soon found out he wasn't getting married until September, so I'd be able to make it out to his graduation.
However, Roman's wife called me (which isn't normal) and asked if it was a money issue as to why I couldn't make it out. I told her no and that I would be able to make it. She told me to keep it a secret and not tell him and that she would arrange for tickets for Alene and I when we came out.
So, I told Roman I wasn't going to be able to make it. Said I would be at a wedding.
Alene and I got our tickets and flew into Sacramento on Thursday night (the 16th). I had been chatting with Roman off and on because I got my new iMac and had a bunch of questions (by the way, I'm STOKED about having the sucker; it's so beautiful). As we drove toward his house, I called him when we pulled up to his apartment complex. I just chatted with him about nothing and walked up to his door while talking to him. I then knocked on his door and he asked me to hold on. I hung up and was standing in his doorway. He was shocked and stoked (as was I). It was cool.
Homeboy felt bad though because he had not prepared the house for visitors and was half dressed. I told him it didn't matter because I've lived with him before. Funny stuff.
Anyway, so we hung out that night. I got to see his 5 month old son Baron and his other son Jalen, and just have a good time. Betsy (his wife) showed up from work about 1/2 hour later. It was a blast. She was suprised a bit too because I had originally planned to show up on Friday night, but I was so stoked when we got to Sac-town that I had to go see him.
The next day (Friday). I took Alene on a tour of my old stomping grounds (as I was born and with an exception of a 4 year hiatus to Utah and Arizona, was pretty much raised in that area until I was 20 years old). I took her on the back roads up to my old hometown of ElDorado. We went into Coloma, where the gold rush started. We saw all kinds of great things. I hadn't been there since about 2000 and so much has changed. It was crazy.
We went to my old house that I grew up in. We lived on about 3 acres and behind our property there was tons of other acreage owned by ther people. It was basically used to graze cattle, but it was wooded and fun to play in. When I went hiking back there to see how it looked, I was amazed at the change. The whole area behind my old house was completely over-grown. It looked weird. I could hardly get through any of it and couldn't even get close enough to see my old house. There were these wild blackberry bushes that had grown like crazy. It was rediculous. Still, had a lot of good memories come back. It just amazes me how much could change over the course of 10 or so years can take place. This field behind our house had a small vehicle trail, waking paths, etc. The fact that it was so over-grown that I couldn't get through it made me think about the world we live in and the history involved and how fast things can become covered up by nature if they are not touched.
Amazing.
Later that evening we met up with Roman and his family and my good buddy Mark Wills (along with his brother Eric and Eric's girlfriend) and went to a sushi place called Mikuni's. Now, I'm not a big fan of sushi and wasn't too stoked about going there, but it was Roman's night and I went with it. I tried a few items here and there, but mainly stuck with my sesame chicken and rice. Not to shabby though and we had a good time.
Saturday was fun. Saw my buddy graduate and then we had a BBQ at his apartment complex. After eating, we had a touch football game. It was a blast playing (I tossed 3 balls to Alene and she caught and ran with all of them) however, I was SORE the next day (and still am). I'm so out of shape. I always complain about it, but never do anything about it. Oh well. Anyway, we also played whiffle ball (or as Roman would say "Whoofle ball") and that was fun too.
We had to get up EARLY on Sunday morning because our flight left at 6:20am. Not fun. Anyway, I got back in time to give a lesson in church to my young men and then get down to my parents house in Springville for a fathers day BBQ.
All of us kids got together and bought him a gas BBQ grill. The thing is nice and he was shocked when I snuck it into the back yard onto the porch. He figured I was bringing his charcoal cooker that he left at my house. He's stoked.
So it was a good day. I'm tired and sore as hell, but had good times.
Oh yeah! Yesterday I tried wake boarding for the first time. My brother in law (Jere) took me out on his boat early Tuesday morning. It took me about 15 tries before I got up. I was so sore from the previous few days, so my muscles were weak. Once I did get up though, I was in heaven. I felt like I was snowboarding again. It was a blast. Finally my legs gave out and I was too tired to get up again. Jere is really good at it and actually jumped the entire wake.
I love just being out on a lake. It was so nice. I'm trying to talk Alene into financing a couple of wave runners, but I don't think she's too keen on the idea. Someone give her some pressure to give in! :-)
Anyway, one side-effect from wake boarding is how sore your forarms are the next day. I can hardly move my arms with out them being in serious pain. I have to keep bending my hands back to stretch them. They feel like they're going to cramp up any time.
Anyway, that is that for now.
My best friend Roman was graduating from college at UC Davis. He at one time mentioned when he graduated and I mentioned that my (then) future brother in-law might be getting married around that time, but I wasn't positive. I soon found out he wasn't getting married until September, so I'd be able to make it out to his graduation.
However, Roman's wife called me (which isn't normal) and asked if it was a money issue as to why I couldn't make it out. I told her no and that I would be able to make it. She told me to keep it a secret and not tell him and that she would arrange for tickets for Alene and I when we came out.
So, I told Roman I wasn't going to be able to make it. Said I would be at a wedding.
Alene and I got our tickets and flew into Sacramento on Thursday night (the 16th). I had been chatting with Roman off and on because I got my new iMac and had a bunch of questions (by the way, I'm STOKED about having the sucker; it's so beautiful). As we drove toward his house, I called him when we pulled up to his apartment complex. I just chatted with him about nothing and walked up to his door while talking to him. I then knocked on his door and he asked me to hold on. I hung up and was standing in his doorway. He was shocked and stoked (as was I). It was cool.
Homeboy felt bad though because he had not prepared the house for visitors and was half dressed. I told him it didn't matter because I've lived with him before. Funny stuff.
Anyway, so we hung out that night. I got to see his 5 month old son Baron and his other son Jalen, and just have a good time. Betsy (his wife) showed up from work about 1/2 hour later. It was a blast. She was suprised a bit too because I had originally planned to show up on Friday night, but I was so stoked when we got to Sac-town that I had to go see him.
The next day (Friday). I took Alene on a tour of my old stomping grounds (as I was born and with an exception of a 4 year hiatus to Utah and Arizona, was pretty much raised in that area until I was 20 years old). I took her on the back roads up to my old hometown of ElDorado. We went into Coloma, where the gold rush started. We saw all kinds of great things. I hadn't been there since about 2000 and so much has changed. It was crazy.
We went to my old house that I grew up in. We lived on about 3 acres and behind our property there was tons of other acreage owned by ther people. It was basically used to graze cattle, but it was wooded and fun to play in. When I went hiking back there to see how it looked, I was amazed at the change. The whole area behind my old house was completely over-grown. It looked weird. I could hardly get through any of it and couldn't even get close enough to see my old house. There were these wild blackberry bushes that had grown like crazy. It was rediculous. Still, had a lot of good memories come back. It just amazes me how much could change over the course of 10 or so years can take place. This field behind our house had a small vehicle trail, waking paths, etc. The fact that it was so over-grown that I couldn't get through it made me think about the world we live in and the history involved and how fast things can become covered up by nature if they are not touched.
Amazing.
Later that evening we met up with Roman and his family and my good buddy Mark Wills (along with his brother Eric and Eric's girlfriend) and went to a sushi place called Mikuni's. Now, I'm not a big fan of sushi and wasn't too stoked about going there, but it was Roman's night and I went with it. I tried a few items here and there, but mainly stuck with my sesame chicken and rice. Not to shabby though and we had a good time.
Saturday was fun. Saw my buddy graduate and then we had a BBQ at his apartment complex. After eating, we had a touch football game. It was a blast playing (I tossed 3 balls to Alene and she caught and ran with all of them) however, I was SORE the next day (and still am). I'm so out of shape. I always complain about it, but never do anything about it. Oh well. Anyway, we also played whiffle ball (or as Roman would say "Whoofle ball") and that was fun too.
We had to get up EARLY on Sunday morning because our flight left at 6:20am. Not fun. Anyway, I got back in time to give a lesson in church to my young men and then get down to my parents house in Springville for a fathers day BBQ.
All of us kids got together and bought him a gas BBQ grill. The thing is nice and he was shocked when I snuck it into the back yard onto the porch. He figured I was bringing his charcoal cooker that he left at my house. He's stoked.
So it was a good day. I'm tired and sore as hell, but had good times.
Oh yeah! Yesterday I tried wake boarding for the first time. My brother in law (Jere) took me out on his boat early Tuesday morning. It took me about 15 tries before I got up. I was so sore from the previous few days, so my muscles were weak. Once I did get up though, I was in heaven. I felt like I was snowboarding again. It was a blast. Finally my legs gave out and I was too tired to get up again. Jere is really good at it and actually jumped the entire wake.
I love just being out on a lake. It was so nice. I'm trying to talk Alene into financing a couple of wave runners, but I don't think she's too keen on the idea. Someone give her some pressure to give in! :-)
Anyway, one side-effect from wake boarding is how sore your forarms are the next day. I can hardly move my arms with out them being in serious pain. I have to keep bending my hands back to stretch them. They feel like they're going to cramp up any time.
Anyway, that is that for now.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
OH FREAKING YEAH!!!!!
I forgot to add something else that I'm STOKED about. My new computer.
Jeff mentioned he wanted to buy my eMac. He offered $600 and I immediately told him $500, if I was even going to sell it.
Anyway, I started looking into the new iMac and pricing. They have re-furbished and last years models on sale for $1000. I went to my better half and asked her if it would be OK if we got one, threw it on a credit card and paid off half of it once Jeff paid us for the eMac. Plus, I have a tub-tile job coming up where I can make $250 and a few other odd jobs. She, being the loving wife who just wants me to be happy, said "yes". I was stoked.
I immediately called Roman and he did some research for me (dude knows all the deals). He found that with my student discount, I could get a BRAND NEW one WITH a printer for about $300 more. Again, the wife said yes.
So anyway, I ordered it and I can't wait. The sucker is loaded. I got the 17" 2GHz with a 160 GB hard drive and a 128mb graphics card. Plus it comes with built-in airport extreme and bluetooth 2.0. Needless to say, I'm happy.
So here is what I'm getting in a few days. The ONLY thing I plan on changing is upgrading the memor to 1GB:
Jeff mentioned he wanted to buy my eMac. He offered $600 and I immediately told him $500, if I was even going to sell it.
Anyway, I started looking into the new iMac and pricing. They have re-furbished and last years models on sale for $1000. I went to my better half and asked her if it would be OK if we got one, threw it on a credit card and paid off half of it once Jeff paid us for the eMac. Plus, I have a tub-tile job coming up where I can make $250 and a few other odd jobs. She, being the loving wife who just wants me to be happy, said "yes". I was stoked.
I immediately called Roman and he did some research for me (dude knows all the deals). He found that with my student discount, I could get a BRAND NEW one WITH a printer for about $300 more. Again, the wife said yes.
So anyway, I ordered it and I can't wait. The sucker is loaded. I got the 17" 2GHz with a 160 GB hard drive and a 128mb graphics card. Plus it comes with built-in airport extreme and bluetooth 2.0. Needless to say, I'm happy.
So here is what I'm getting in a few days. The ONLY thing I plan on changing is upgrading the memor to 1GB:
The latest
Hmmmmm, life has been moving much faster after getting married. A breif run-down on what I've been doing.
Marriage
Marriage is great though. No complaints, no regrets. Not as though I expected them going in. I knew Alene was the right person for me and I only hoped I could be the right person for her, but I think I'm doing a good job of just being me and she loves me. It's so nice to come home to someone you love so much, share ideas, talk about "nothing" and get through the day. She makes me very happy and I love seeing her most brightening smile every day. It warms my heart.
We have some pictures from the wedding. I'm getting around to posting them on my web site, but it takes some time. Patience every one :-).
Caiden
Had a little "scare" or a reality check last week. Caiden's mother text messaged me and asked how long I planned on staying in Utah. My automatic reply was "indefinite. Caiden is my priority and I'll never leave him". She replied, "well, there is a chance we will be moving to San Diego. Sounds like we need to talk". My heart sunk and I was immediately saddened by even the mere thought of it. I called her immediately to talk about it.
She basically said she's been seeing some guy that lives in Chicago and is moving onto Med school. The only cities he can go to it are in Chicago, New York, San Diego and some other place. Anyway, they were considering getting married and with that, she would move to where he is. She said it wasn't set in stone that they were getting married, but they've been talking about it.
So I asked her to consider a few things besides taking Caiden. I asked her to consider him staying here with Alene and I. I also asked her to consider what Caiden wants.
We have Joint custody going on, but she has the physical custody. I have Caiden every Tues/Thurs/Saturday and every other Sunday. It works well (so far) and Caiden seems very happy with the situation.
Still, with that I have/had no idea what my rights were as far as him leaving.
To me, it naturally made sense that since he is used to Alene as his step-mom, he has all of his cousins, grandparents he's grown up with, and friends he's made, that he should stay here. If he goes to San Diego, he knows his mother and will barely know his new step-father (if it comes down to that).
Anyway, I guess we'll see how that shakes out. I just hope it doesn't come down to that. One thing is for sure, I've tried to make a little more quality time with Caiden then I have in the past. It would kill me to have him gone for months at a time. He's a part of me and I'm close to him (as I know his mother is too). To know he is somewhere else and to know he will be missing me just pains me to no end.
Web site
I've been wanting to make a quality web-site for some time. I plan on working on one during the course of this summer and hopefully have something dope and not lame like that dang geocities stuff. I just want something that is easy to check out and easy to update.
Travel
I'm stoked. Alene and I are going to be taking a little trip this weekend. I'll talk more about what we did when I get back. Needless to say, I'm excited.
Home Improvement
I've been doing a lot of work on the two front rooms of my house. Alene and I picked out some paint for each room and some pergo-like flooring for the immediate front room. The tough part has been working with the plaster in these rooms. I could tear it all out (as I've done in other rooms in the past) but these rooms are special. The ceilings don't come to a corner and start, the walls just go up, then gradually curve into the ceilings. It looks really cool. Anyway, the plaster is really old and crumbled off in some parts, mostly around the bottom where I tore off the old base-boards (I put new ones in). I had a lot of patching to do. (side-note: If you ever have to patch plaster, use the stuff called "fix-all". It's in the paint department at Home Depot and the stuff is STRONG and dries in like 20-30 minutes so use it quickly and spread it smooth; it's almost impossible to sand down).
So I patched the walls, threw some more orange-peel texture to match the existing, then painted the suckers. The TV room is a dark Green and looks dope. The front room is a brown-ish color.
I laid a light maple-looking color pergo floor, which looks really nice. Once I put down the base boards, it was even better. Now we just need some carpet for the front room and our bedroom, and a new door for our bedroom and we're all set with half the house.
Here are a few pictures of the progress:
I still have a TON to do on the house though. Kitchen is next (someday) and we are going to tile it, along with the bathroom and the back laundry/office area. Should look good when it's done, but that will be a little here and there. I have to shim and level out the floor in the kitchen. That is going to be fun :-). In addition to the kitchen, I have to put on a new roof next year. I should do it now as I found a nice little leake that ran down the wall in the front room and caused a big bubble on my new paint. I'll have to temporarily patch that for this winter, then actually fix it with a new roof next year. It's going to cost about $3000 or so. I have to tear off 3 layers of roof shingles (which include asphalt and wood shingles). It's going to be a plast. Then after that I have to put down some new 7/16" OSB (for those that don't know, OSB stands for Oriented Strand Board, which is basically a sheet of that 4'x8' plywood that looks like shreds of wood glued together. It's basically used on most houses these days). I actually look forward to doing it. I've only roofed a garage and my little shed in the back, however, I did those both by hand w/o a compressor or nail gun. Now I have a dope compressor and a framing nailer (which I can use to tack down the OSB). All I have to do now is rent a roofing nailer, which won't be that much.
Church Calling
I have a calling at church now. For those of you not familiar with the LDS (Mormon) church, we are all asked to be available to have some sort of "position" or "job" or "calling" to do w/in our ward (it's the designated group of us that meet at a certain time). Callings can range from being the Bishop, one of his councelors, Sunday School teacher, Youth teacher, Librarian, Nursery, etc. They are all done on a non-paying basis. Anyway, my calling when I arrived was the Young Men's President. With this, I'm in charge of teaching and all activities for the Young men in our ward ages 12-17. Should be interesting. I don't know how prepared I am for this, but being that I coach football for kids in this age range, I think I'll be able to handle it. The only difference is I can't yell at them (well, OK, I guess I can a little) and I can't make them do down-ups or push-ups. I hope I'm able to reach out to these kids and give them some good guidance.
Food
Went to Ruby River last Friday night with Alene. Had a DANG GOOD 16 oz New York steak. Probably should have gotten the 12 oz because I was force-feeding myself by the time I got to the last 1/4 of the steak. Still, it was yummy. Most people dog me for using A-1 on my steak. They say it's not a good steak if I use it. I just like the dang stuff and put it on everything I eat (potatoes are really good with it). The steak was good as it was, but I just prefer it with A-1.
Misc.
Anyway, that is about it. Got a lot of work to get done before this weekend comes up. I'm excited for my family reunion, which is coming up in early July. Alene and I have not been able to get out camping at all lately, so I'm hoping to get out at least once before that. My new calling is going to limit my camping through a whole weekend experience a little, but I'm cool with some good Friday/Saturday camping I guess.
Marriage
Marriage is great though. No complaints, no regrets. Not as though I expected them going in. I knew Alene was the right person for me and I only hoped I could be the right person for her, but I think I'm doing a good job of just being me and she loves me. It's so nice to come home to someone you love so much, share ideas, talk about "nothing" and get through the day. She makes me very happy and I love seeing her most brightening smile every day. It warms my heart.
We have some pictures from the wedding. I'm getting around to posting them on my web site, but it takes some time. Patience every one :-).
Caiden
Had a little "scare" or a reality check last week. Caiden's mother text messaged me and asked how long I planned on staying in Utah. My automatic reply was "indefinite. Caiden is my priority and I'll never leave him". She replied, "well, there is a chance we will be moving to San Diego. Sounds like we need to talk". My heart sunk and I was immediately saddened by even the mere thought of it. I called her immediately to talk about it.
She basically said she's been seeing some guy that lives in Chicago and is moving onto Med school. The only cities he can go to it are in Chicago, New York, San Diego and some other place. Anyway, they were considering getting married and with that, she would move to where he is. She said it wasn't set in stone that they were getting married, but they've been talking about it.
So I asked her to consider a few things besides taking Caiden. I asked her to consider him staying here with Alene and I. I also asked her to consider what Caiden wants.
We have Joint custody going on, but she has the physical custody. I have Caiden every Tues/Thurs/Saturday and every other Sunday. It works well (so far) and Caiden seems very happy with the situation.
Still, with that I have/had no idea what my rights were as far as him leaving.
To me, it naturally made sense that since he is used to Alene as his step-mom, he has all of his cousins, grandparents he's grown up with, and friends he's made, that he should stay here. If he goes to San Diego, he knows his mother and will barely know his new step-father (if it comes down to that).
Anyway, I guess we'll see how that shakes out. I just hope it doesn't come down to that. One thing is for sure, I've tried to make a little more quality time with Caiden then I have in the past. It would kill me to have him gone for months at a time. He's a part of me and I'm close to him (as I know his mother is too). To know he is somewhere else and to know he will be missing me just pains me to no end.
Web site
I've been wanting to make a quality web-site for some time. I plan on working on one during the course of this summer and hopefully have something dope and not lame like that dang geocities stuff. I just want something that is easy to check out and easy to update.
Travel
I'm stoked. Alene and I are going to be taking a little trip this weekend. I'll talk more about what we did when I get back. Needless to say, I'm excited.
Home Improvement
I've been doing a lot of work on the two front rooms of my house. Alene and I picked out some paint for each room and some pergo-like flooring for the immediate front room. The tough part has been working with the plaster in these rooms. I could tear it all out (as I've done in other rooms in the past) but these rooms are special. The ceilings don't come to a corner and start, the walls just go up, then gradually curve into the ceilings. It looks really cool. Anyway, the plaster is really old and crumbled off in some parts, mostly around the bottom where I tore off the old base-boards (I put new ones in). I had a lot of patching to do. (side-note: If you ever have to patch plaster, use the stuff called "fix-all". It's in the paint department at Home Depot and the stuff is STRONG and dries in like 20-30 minutes so use it quickly and spread it smooth; it's almost impossible to sand down).
So I patched the walls, threw some more orange-peel texture to match the existing, then painted the suckers. The TV room is a dark Green and looks dope. The front room is a brown-ish color.
I laid a light maple-looking color pergo floor, which looks really nice. Once I put down the base boards, it was even better. Now we just need some carpet for the front room and our bedroom, and a new door for our bedroom and we're all set with half the house.
Here are a few pictures of the progress:
I still have a TON to do on the house though. Kitchen is next (someday) and we are going to tile it, along with the bathroom and the back laundry/office area. Should look good when it's done, but that will be a little here and there. I have to shim and level out the floor in the kitchen. That is going to be fun :-). In addition to the kitchen, I have to put on a new roof next year. I should do it now as I found a nice little leake that ran down the wall in the front room and caused a big bubble on my new paint. I'll have to temporarily patch that for this winter, then actually fix it with a new roof next year. It's going to cost about $3000 or so. I have to tear off 3 layers of roof shingles (which include asphalt and wood shingles). It's going to be a plast. Then after that I have to put down some new 7/16" OSB (for those that don't know, OSB stands for Oriented Strand Board, which is basically a sheet of that 4'x8' plywood that looks like shreds of wood glued together. It's basically used on most houses these days). I actually look forward to doing it. I've only roofed a garage and my little shed in the back, however, I did those both by hand w/o a compressor or nail gun. Now I have a dope compressor and a framing nailer (which I can use to tack down the OSB). All I have to do now is rent a roofing nailer, which won't be that much.
Church Calling
I have a calling at church now. For those of you not familiar with the LDS (Mormon) church, we are all asked to be available to have some sort of "position" or "job" or "calling" to do w/in our ward (it's the designated group of us that meet at a certain time). Callings can range from being the Bishop, one of his councelors, Sunday School teacher, Youth teacher, Librarian, Nursery, etc. They are all done on a non-paying basis. Anyway, my calling when I arrived was the Young Men's President. With this, I'm in charge of teaching and all activities for the Young men in our ward ages 12-17. Should be interesting. I don't know how prepared I am for this, but being that I coach football for kids in this age range, I think I'll be able to handle it. The only difference is I can't yell at them (well, OK, I guess I can a little) and I can't make them do down-ups or push-ups. I hope I'm able to reach out to these kids and give them some good guidance.
Food
Went to Ruby River last Friday night with Alene. Had a DANG GOOD 16 oz New York steak. Probably should have gotten the 12 oz because I was force-feeding myself by the time I got to the last 1/4 of the steak. Still, it was yummy. Most people dog me for using A-1 on my steak. They say it's not a good steak if I use it. I just like the dang stuff and put it on everything I eat (potatoes are really good with it). The steak was good as it was, but I just prefer it with A-1.
Misc.
Anyway, that is about it. Got a lot of work to get done before this weekend comes up. I'm excited for my family reunion, which is coming up in early July. Alene and I have not been able to get out camping at all lately, so I'm hoping to get out at least once before that. My new calling is going to limit my camping through a whole weekend experience a little, but I'm cool with some good Friday/Saturday camping I guess.
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