September 11th
Put the flag up this morning in rememberance of Septermber 11th. Thanks to everyone who is or has been taking the fight to the other guys, and keep all us softies safe here at home.
God Bless America!
Scenes from the Labor Day weekend.
Well Andrea and I hadn’t been back to Cimarron since April of this year. Which is really kinda sad since we’re only two hours away. We really have to do better. But we took the three day weekend and made the rounds to see everybody. Had a great time! I don’t know about Andrea but I know I ate WAY too much the whole time. But it was awesome to see everybody and I even got Dad to weld up Andrea’s fuse block bracket for her car. I really gotta get him to teach me how to weld.
But here’s a few highlights of the trip. Check out my Picasa Gallery for a ton more pictures!
Solving the world's problems.
The Duncan cookout.
Opening turns of the Duncan Invitational Croquette Tournament.
Playin' Wii Sports Resort
White girl
It was a blast. Should have got some pictures of the ribs from Mom and Duane’s. MAN those were tasty. I got about a half slab in my fridge, just waiting for tomorrow night!
Thanks to everybody that was there. It was an awesome time! And we’ll be back sooner next time.
01.5.09Holidays officially over
Well, wrapped up the last of the holiday visits with the Althouse family Christmas this past weekend. Got some very nice gifts from everyone. But I’m glad the season is over. Even though I’ve begun my first FULL work week in almost a month, it’s still a sigh of relief knowing that I don’t have any plans for the week ahead!
Here’s to a long, boring, uneventful routine!
Happy New Year! (Year in review)
New Year in Sayuri. Courtesy of biebsworld.com
Andrea and I spent New Year’s Eve in La Crosse at Biebs’ place. A couple of his friends showed up and we had ourselves a “Wii Party”. It was a good time. Found out I’m quite the fencer in Mario Olympics! And as the time ticked down, Biebs fired up his Animal Crossing town and we counted down with Tortimer and his very cool marquee board. He handed out party poppers and at midnight fireworks filled the sky! It was very neat in that cute and subtle Animal Crossing way.
2008 was quite the year for us. Getting married, new town, new jobs all in June. Went to Hawaii in August. All along with the assorted hailstorms, new Wiis, promotions, birthdays, holidays, and highs and lows that came our way. It started out tough with Grandma Pat going into the hospital for her stroke. She’s had perhaps the toughest year of all, but Grandpa said she was able to come to the house for Thanksgiving, definitely something to be thankful for! The beginning of the year also meant saying goodbye to my 1977 El Camino, as the landlord chopped down a limb and it smashed in the roof of the car. On the bright side, the insurance company ended up paying me more for the car than I bought it for!
Spring for me meant job hunting. I applied to a lot of places for a lot of different jobs. I wasn’t even sure I’d be staying in radio at the time. I had even applied for a job as far away as Georgia. Job hunting is seriously one of the least fun things a person can do, and with the tough economy, I feel for all the people out there that are looking for work. Looking back on it in retrospect without all the stress, there were some cool adventures. Like the trip out to Gove, KS where I stopped by the small little town where my car was sold and got to talk to the guy that actually sold it! Something I’ll remember and hopefully he will to for quite a while!
Once the job hunt ended life REALLY started to fly by. My last day a Platinum Broadcasting was on a Wednesday in June. Thursday we moved to Great Bend. Friday we were in Udall, KS for the wedding rehearsal. Saturday we were Mr. & Mrs. Althouse. Sunday we got back to our “home” that we had yet to even sleep in. And Monday I started work at Rocking M Radio. We never could have done it without all the help we got from our family and friends, and it was a time that we both were reminded how many absolutely fantastic people we have in our lives, and how blessed we are.
From this point on the year has FLOWN by! Getting settled into our new jobs and the general disorientation that comes with it really makes you lose track. It seems like no time and we were on the long flight to Kauai. Hardly a day goes by I don’t think, “Man, I wish I were sittin’ at Duke’s with a cold drink in my hand.” While I realize living there is a bit un-realistic, I sure as heck plan on going back a few more times before I kick the bucket. That whole trip we had a whole lot of nothin’ planned, and had the time of our life!
I hope they're still holding our table at Duke's.
Everything from the wedding to the honeymoon seemed so surreal, that it took a little bit to adjust to our new reality. But things are finally starting to seem “normal” around here. I’m starting to get the hang of my new Program Director position, and I feel like 2009 is going to be a good year for growth for the stations I’m working on. The holiday travels are almost over, and I’m looking forward to settling in to a long boring stretch of steady progress. We’re looking to get Andrea’s car painted this spring, and maybe even investigate buying a house. Who can say what will happen? God only knows. But I have a feeling this year will be almost as action packed as the last one!
12.22.08The gift exchange
First off… Sorry about the sporadic posting lately. I have no excuses.
We had our gift exchange at work today. Our limit was $5. There’s not a lot you can do with $5 these days, but Chris Elsen from the Nightshift sprung for a very….practical gift. I’m now the proud new owner of a 9-pack of Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper.
First off, I think he forgot to get something so he just grabbed something he saw laying around the house. Let me be the first to say at least I didn’t get USED toilet paper. But the more I think about it, it’s not a bad gift at all. It’s practical. It will defiently get used. And I always hate having to spend some of my hard earned money on paper to wipe my ass with. So I have a couple weeks’ reprieve from TP buying.
Thanks, Chris! Merry Christmas.
12.4.08Under our tree
Waiting for Santa Claus.
Halls be decked
The "family". Note extra tiny stockings.
Well we got our tree up tonight. It was Andrea’s idea to get a real tree this year. Sure does smell good. And we’ve got PLENTY of water down there, so it should be good. Already shed quite a few needles, but nothing we can’t deal with. As long as it doesn’t make too big of a mess when we haul it out, I’ll be super fine with it!
Sure does look pretty though. I enjoy the holiday season quite a bit. So it warms my heart to see a sparkling Christmas tree in the house. Nothing can compare to tromping into the house, kicking off your snow covered shoes and grabbing a cup of hot chocolate and a Calvin and Hobbes book and reading by the light of the Christmas tree. Just reminds me of those magical times when I was a kid I guess. I always looked forward to this time of year. Yes the presents, but it meant I got to see all sorts of family too. Grandmas and Grandpas, that sort of thing.
Real tree in all its glory!
We had a bit of a time getting the tree to stand up without falling over. Again one issue you usually don’t have to worry about with a fake one. But a little tree surgery and we were in business! We picked up a wreath for the front door. Even though nobody really uses the front door. And pulled out what little other holiday knick knacks we have. And what geek tree would be complete without some friendly Nintendo characters?
Yoshi. Joined by Mario, Bowser and the rest of the gang.
So happy holidays everybody! Here’s wishing you all trees that don’t catch on fire!
Halloween
It’s that time of year again! I love being able to carve pumpkins, but I haven’t done it in years. Now, it’s time to break that streak!
Spider Pumpkin
Scary Spider Pumpkin
I know that the quality is crappy, but we left our camera in my sister’s car. So, we had to bank on the video camera’s abilities to take pictures.
I also made a video so you can see the effects of the candle light here.
10.20.08Pumpkin ale and cars for sale.
Ahh, it’s good to be home. It was a busy day. Not strenuous or anything, don’t get me wrong! Had to fill in for the “office manager” and do my own work. Suprisingly did very little of Dan’s work. It made the day go by pretty fast, but it’s still nice to be home.
Since the beginning of October, I’ve been trying to find this Blue Moon Pumkin beer. It was time to restock, so I stopped by the liquor store and they FINALLY had it! I picked up a six pack and my regular supply of High Life. The new beer is actually very good! Nice and smooth at first with just a hint of pumpkin spice as it goes down. Sweet, but not too sweet.
While I was checking out a fella asked me where I found my Oldsmobile. Said I’d had it for a while and he asked if it was for sale. With a grin on my face I said, “Sorry not right now.” Made me feel good. I’ve been kinda down on the car since the hail storm. Nice to know it still gets some looks, if only from a distance.
07.18.08A day off!
Since we worked all day Saturday, our boss told all of us to pick a day this week to take off, as long as we didn’t all pick the same day of course! And here it is, another three day weekend for me! The great part about it is I got paid for Saturday and now I’m getting paid today too! Geeze, Platinum Broadcasting never would have done that.
So I’ve been lazy so far. Slept in an extra hour. Now I’m just relaxing infront of the computer with some piping hot coffee. Black. It’s a good day so far. Lots to do though. I need to do the dishes and some cleaning up around the house. A friend from work is coming over tonight, and Bryan and Jamie are headed to town tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll FINALLY get everything unpacked.
I’d do some painting today, but the landlord hasn’t got the paint yet. Although she DID get ahold of me to tell me she couldn’t find it anywhere. At least she’s thinking about it I guess.
Going to play some Guild Wars today if time permits. But the more I sit here on my butt, the less time to do that later. Fire up the grill tonight for some brats and beers, and just kick back and enjoy the day. Life can be up and down, but right now, it’s pretty good.