The Misadventures of Homeownership

Anticipation

2009-12-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Samuel to come is a time that feels charged with anticipation. It is a time to prepare. Certainly it is a time to prepare the space, for his presence will require specific things- a crib, a carseat, clothes, diapers, and so much more. More than that, we need to prepare our minds and hearts to know and care for him.

This season of waiting for my son has been an interesting one, as I find that as I wait, I am even physically tense. This tension is present as a sign of my anticipation of his arrival. Even more is the physical anticipation evident in my wife. She is carrying him with grace and poise, and yet in between times when she relaxes, I can tell that she is tired, sore, and needs to be cared for.

I think that at Christmas it is a bit of a perfect time to be anticipating the coming of a child. It gives me perspective on the advent- the anticipation of Christ's coming. How can the experiences that I am living through now - how can they inform and inspire me as I reflect on what Christmas means?

-- Post From My iPhone

Regret, life, and moving forward

2009-11-05T23:04:00.001-08:00

Life's interesting. I've lived a while and am beginning to do things that I swore I'd never do. Like going to bed at 9 pm. Another of those things was that I would never have regrets in life. It's funny how you can say you won't ever regret anything when you're a 15 year- old highschooler. (No offense to those who may be there at the moment). I really tend to not regret anyway. But one thing I do regret is not including certain people in more important roles in our wedding. Time has passed and will continue to pass- but looking back at it, I was imagining what I would say if I could travel back intime and talk to me, but before the wedding. Before it was planned, anyway. Certain people were not in the wedding party because I thought it would inconvenience them, and I didn't want to do that. (turns out it just hurt their feelings, which has made mr feel bad about it ever since- go figure, good intentions). Others had other commitments (like their own wedding hundreds of miles away a couple of days apart), and still other people couldn't afford to fly out, or weren't close enough friends yet.

I truly wish I could go back and change all of that.

And yet...

Isn't the proof on the pudding? These are feelings I have, and they come fromthe basis of love and care for these people in our lives.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the important thing seems to mr that we make time now for these people- to talk to them, visit them (virtually, at least, with the computer or mariokart wii). The important thing isn't ultimately whether they made it to the wedding... It is whether the wedding has made us into a fily that shows and communicates our love to the important people in our life.

I am greatful for all of the people in our life, whether our wedding showed it or not. And I'm going to try to move on from my regret, move forward. I think lingering on it is probably a waste of energy. I could just as well be playing wii with them, or talking on the phone with them.

So if you're one of those people who were not in or at the wedding, don't sweat it. I have felt bad about it, but I'm going to move forward, and try to spend time talking to you- sharing life 'now' with you. I hope you can do that with me.

-- Post From My iPhone

The Surprise Ending (macbook saga part 4)

2009-10-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the past month, we have had to take our laptop to the Apple Store twice to have it repaired. After I picked it up yesterday from the second repair, Dave noticed that several of the screws were missing. So we took it back in this evening for them to replace the screws. Just before we were about to leave, Dave asked the manager to give us more details about what had been done to the computer this last time that it was fixed. It turns out that they had to replace the entire motherboard. The work that they've done in the past month would have cost $1100 if the computer hadn't been under warranty. I told the manager that it concerned me that we had to do two major repairs in one month, especially since we only got the computer in January. The manager left for a minute and when he came back, he told us he was inclined to give us a whole new machine and that since they don't make the one we have anymore, he was going to have to give us a MacBook Pro. Um... are you kidding me! The next thing we knew, he came out of the back room with a brand new laptop in hand. He also asked us if we would like to buy Applecare for the new laptop for $200. We decided it was worth it to just go ahead and buy it now. When he rang it up he told us our total was $49 because his discount button just kept popping up and he just kept clicking it! So, we got a brand new laptop with three years of warranty for $49 today... It was amazing! What a blessing!

MacBook saga, pt 3

2009-10-13T22:02:00.001-07:00

If you read yesterdays post, you'll know it has now been three weeks since the original genius bar appointment where I took my MacBook in for repairs. (yes, the trackpad does have issues, we'll fix it)
Well, I just now get my macbook back. Apparently they were not supremely nice to my wife when she picked it up, especially to the point that they told her nothing of what was repaired.

I get back from work, take it out of the case, inspect it, and what do I find, but

There are four screws (that I can see) missing. ABSENT.

in addition, the screw that holds the hard drive down has been stripped, looking almost useless.

Am i within my rights to ask for (demand) a replacement laptop yet? this is ridiculous. Yes, I have a backup of the data. Two actually. Yes, I have an iPhone and an iMac at home. But Neither of those are my primary machine.

I'm fed up with this. I want my machine back.
-- Post From My iPhone

Dear Apple... (macbook saga parts 1-2)

2009-10-12T21:51:00.001-07:00

Dear Apple,
I'm tired of waiting, pursuing updates on my own. It has now been three weeks at work that I have not had my laptop. I'm a teacher and I manage data for my class with my laptop. This includes lesson plans, digital lessons themselves, as well as grades and other resources.
That's fifteen days that I have been unable to access essential data.

Did I mention that report cards are due in two weeks? When I brought it in, that was five weeks.

Wil I have it back in time?

In addition to this, it was not one, but two things that have now been seriously wrong with my computer. First the trackpad, and now this mysterious shutting down.

I was advised to "quick-drop" it so the repair would get done more quickly. I was called to say that they knew what was wrong with it and that they would need to order a part. And then I waited another week with no response. So I called and they said that the part was still on order and that I would get a call when it came in.

I believe they said it was now the graphics controller chip that was being replaced.

What next?

But I am tired of waiting for my machine. I use it every day. And I even use it for simple things, like iTunes purchases on my iPhone, which I then back up on my laptop, just to be safe.

So since there is no laptop, I'm stalled on backing up my iPhone. For three weeks.

How long does it take, Apple?

And what is my time worth, anyway?

What about my confidence? The trackpad. The graphics controller card.

What next? And how long will I wait to get it back before I can discover that problem?

No, this is ridiculous, Apple. You need to get me my computer back, so I can get back to using it. The iPhone is nice, but not a laptop replacement.

Speaking of laptop replacement, maybe that's it. Stop waiting for the part, and replace the whole machine.

The clock is ticking, and I'm sick of waiting, Apple.

-- Post From My iPhone

Fishing...

2009-09-02T05:37:00.001-07:00

I have recently had a fair amount of time to reflect on the practice of job hunting, and I have come to some conclusions about it. The one major thought is that job hunting is, in many ways, like fishing. I spent some time this summer at the beach fishing, as well as fly fishing in the Colorado mountains. In both cases this analogy applies.
1: when you cast your line out, and don't immediately catch a fish, it's okay - just cast again. Like this, in job hunting (especially during an "economic crisis") I shouldn't get depressed if I don't get a job on the first try. When you are fishing you just try again.
2: when you are (fly) fishing it works better to "sight fish." This is the practice of throwing your fly out so that it will drift directly across the path of a fish who is actively looking for a bug to eat. This one is pretty straightforward- don't just post your resume on monster or some other site- find an actual job listing and apply to the company (or school, in my case) for that position. This one gets more detailed because when you are fly fishing, you want to look at the stream you are in and see what the fish are actively eating- this helps you to select the right fly to use. In jobing terms, you want to read the job listing for the qualities they are looking for and be sure that your resume and cover letter (or other application materials) are targeted in those areas of your skills.
3. When you get a bite, you need to play the fish smoothly on- don't just yank the hook out of it's mouth because you are so excited. For jobs, the bite is the interview. Be ready dress well, practice interview questions ahead of time. Brush up on the lingo in your profession.
4. Did I already mention that you shouldn't give up? Don't get discouraged. This past summer I "cast my line out" around 70 times, I got 12 "bites" and in the end two offers resulting in the job I have now.
I did just about as well in fishing, actually landing one fish all summer.
Was it worth it?... Definitely.

-- Post From My iPhone

A view from the hammock

2009-07-08T13:29:00.001-07:00

We made it to Charlotte. It's nice here. :)

-- Post From My iPhone

Breckenridge for the fourth of July.

2009-07-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

We headed out to breck with our small group for the fourth of July. It was an awesome time. We rode bikes (whole group) on the rec path to frisco. Some of the guys went mtn biking on the ski slopes. And many of us played with babies, or played dominos, cards, and other games. Good times. The fireworks were awesome, especially so since we were able to stay in the condo instead of going out in the crowds with all of our people and three babies.

Golfing!

2009-07-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

Were out golfing on the par three course at Cherokee ridge golf course. Well, actually we are sitting in the clubhouse waiting for the lightening to stop. At least we have good company. Scott and hartley are here with their daughter, and she's being a delightful baby. We're also sitting here marveling at the people who are still playing. Seriously- it's raining pretty hard right now, I can't see it as being too much fun to be out right now. Or safe. We'll just enjoy the time.

-- Post From My iPhone

Summit!

2009-06-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Currently on top of Mt. Bierstadt with Scott! 14,060'

-- Post From My iPhone

At the Rockies game

2009-06-21T18:35:00.001-07:00

Today we headed up to Denver for the Rockies v. Pirates game in Denver. It was a great game with beautiful weather. The Rockies won 5 to 4. Go Rockies!

Joseph...

2009-06-20T18:31:00.001-07:00

About to begin!

-- Post From My iPhone

Greeley park

2009-06-20T15:38:00.001-07:00

So we were just hanging out at a park in Greeley when a police officer (animal control) came up to us. Turns out that the citizens (all three of them) voted that they could not take dogs into any of the city's parks. So that shut is down pretty quickly. What kind of heartless people vote to make it illegal to bring dogs into a park?

Pic is of ben eating a sandwich (on GF bread) in that specific park, before the cop came to suck the life out of our fun.
-- Post From My iPhone

Alberta falls

2009-05-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

Alberta falls- the water is high.

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-05-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in estes park. Headed down to the Glen Haven general store for breakfast- fresh made cinnamon rolls. We're headed into rocky mountain nat. Park now!

Memorial day

2009-05-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

On the way back from Estes Park today, we had such a beautiful view of the mountains. We took a day to just spend some time at Jena's family cabin, and it was great getting to hang with them. I know that Alyssa was really loving getting some time with her girls!

My dog

2009-05-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

So, last sunday Alyssa and I took maggie up to the reservoir with our new friends the Wells'. They have a lab, and we wanted to give the dogs a chance to run in the water. Well Maggie was having SO much fun that she ended up cutting up her paws, and not stopping even though they hurt! It wasn't until she tried walking down the hill again that she realized how painful they were. It's too bad i'm that big of a sucker, because I took pity on her and carried her down the hill. What a spoiled dog. :)

Summer calls

2009-05-18T21:04:00.001-07:00

This summer holds a lot of promise for us. We're going to be travelling to estes park, the grand canyon, NC, and out into the great outdoors for some family camping time. I just can't wait to get out more and ride my bike (I just put new disc brakes on it and I'm PUMPED!), play disc golf, go hiking somewhere, try out my new golf clubs, etc, etc... It's just going to be a really fantastic time. In the midst of it all, we will visit with lots if friends, cheer one of them on as she gets married, and spend some quality time with our families. Summer. It's just so amazing.

{Posted with my iPod}

Mothers day weekend

2009-05-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well, on Saturday, we all piled into cars to go up to Denver to Aunt Allison's house. The plan was for us all to go up and then for Ben (who couldn't come) to surprise everyone (his mom specifically) by showing up.
Ben made it, but his truck didn't. Praise God for keeping him Safe!

{Posted with My iPod}

Spring Break Snow Storm

2009-03-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

It was in the 70's last weekend and now we are having a blizzard. Gotta love Colorado! You never know what to expect. I went to the grocery store this morning to get a few things since I knew it was going to snow and it was crazy there. There were no parking spots. I had to follow someone like you have to do at the mall before Christmas. There were also no shopping carts left. That's how many people were there. I've never seen so many people in a grocery store at one time. I was lucky enough to get a basket to put my groceries in. After I got the things I needed, I got in line at the self-checkout area. Another shopper decided to create her own line at the other end of the self-checkout area and then got really mad at me when I "cut" in front of her to go check out. Good times! We spent most of the rest of the day hunkered down at home and avoiding driving at all costs. We did go outside to shovel and play with Maggie a couple times. Maggie likes to catch the snow when we shovel.

Spring Break

2009-03-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

All this week, Alyssa and I are home on spring break. It's a good time for her to do a lot of work on her thesis, and for me to catch up on my rest, and do a quick review for plugged in. While we are resting and doing our side projects (like fixing up our website), we will also be cleaning up our house- it's a great time for some spring refreshing there as well.

Re: Building a Deck

2008-11-19T21:27:00.001-08:00

Well, we're building a deck. It is in progress, and the state that it is in now will probably not change for the next month or so until we can afford the next step(!), but that's okay.

Sunset

2008-11-10T19:36:00.001-08:00

Sometimes i am stunned by things that are completely normal. Take, for example, the mountains. They are here everyday from the moment that I wake up until the moment that I go to sleep again. In fact, they are there all night while I sleep too. I simply take them for granted until they grab my attention. Aren't we like this sometimes with each other? With God?

Sometimes i reflect on this fact when someone tells me that they are going "to the mountains" to see the leaves or something like that. And then I wonder why they are not just looking around at the incredible beauty around us. I guess that's why it's valuable to go on retreats sometimes, to get away from it all and see what you have been taking for granted. It's also the reason why it is so important for married people to go on dates on a regular basis. To take time to recognize the amazingness that is your spouse. As for me, I am so grateful for my wife, and just love her to pieces... I can't wait for our next date.

I guess until then, I'll just have to look around at the beautiful sunsets that happen every day.

Go Tigers!

2008-11-09T22:32:00.001-08:00

Last night Alyssa and I brought our friends Nate and Kim to see the CC Tigers defeat The ND Sioux 7 to 4. it was the best hockey game that I think I have *ever* been to. Towards the end of the first period, a player from ND got ejected from the game for checking from behind.

The second period consisted of many penalties against the tigers where there were four minutes of three on five (tigers were two men down) hockey! And finally, one of the Sioux ended up scoring a goal on his own net by passing to the goalie, who had been pulled to allow for another offensiveman on the ice. Amazing. I don't know if I will see another game quite that exciting for a while.

From the first day of school

2008-11-09T22:22:00.001-08:00

I sold the iBook...

2008-11-08T15:25:00.001-08:00

This week i finally (can i say finally if i wasn't looking forward to
it?) sold my iBook. It was my first apple computer, and it kind of
felt like letting go of my baby. (in a not so human child sort of
way). I feel sad about it but it will enable us to move forward and
maybe sometime I can get a new apple laptop to replace it. Now to deal
with the frustrating lack of firewire on the new macbooks.

Sunrise

2008-11-08T15:22:00.001-08:00

Last tuesday i started meeting with a friend of mine for an early
morning read/pray and be ready for the day time. This is the sunrise
when I made my way to work.

Running

2008-05-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been running. Not literally. Well... okay- literally. Today I ran in the 10k Bolder Boulder running race. I did it in 62 minutes. It's about what I was hoping for (Sharp pains in my knees was not what I was hoping for though). But leading up to memorial day, I have been running in a different way; I have been working two jobs and going to grad school. My career choice is to be a teacher and, in pursuit of that goal, i have been working in schools as a special education paraprofessional. This is 7am -4pm monday through friday. And also in pursuit of that goal, I have been attending graduate school every monday night to receive my masters in education.

With these two basic things I have been busy, but I added a third commitment to the mix. I got a summer job at Best Buy selling computers. For those who know me, it is a pretty good fit. No pressure sales- non-commission, I get to listen to what people are asking for and help guide them to the computer that is the best fit for them. I like my co-workers and the environment on the job. Overall it is fun and exciting most days.

The running piece comes in with these three things all happening at the same time. I got hired at BB and started work on May 2nd. For three weeks, I would go to work in the morning and basically be busy until bedtime. Whether for grad school or my second job.

Thankfully now school is out for summer and things have calmed down a bit, but I think i ran a bit faster pace in the more metaphorical race than I did in the real one.

PS. Did I mention that I am interviewing for a second summer job on wednesday?

One thing is true; I'm glad i've finished my running (for now).

Saturday fun

2008-04-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today I took an excursion with a friend of mine to mountain bike on the trails around pueblo reservoir. The cool thing about it is that these trails are rated like ski slopes are, so we rode greens, blues, blacks... Lots of fun. And I crashed (a move I like to call "drop it like it's hot") when I was just starting out... riding on the flat area ten feet away from the car. Awesome!

The new Kitchen (-4)

2008-04-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the new setup! The microwave is hung up and looking good! We're pretty excited about this upgrade. Let me know what you think of it.

kitchen -3

2008-04-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

This is the stove backsplash with the green paint on the wall and the new shelf mounted.

kitchen -2

2008-04-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the hole patched and some paint on the walls

2008-04-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

So, we've been working on improving our kitchen recently. We had to patch a hole in the wall first, and then paint the room, followed by mounting our new microwave on the wall. Here are some pictures of the progress.

weekend warriors

2008-04-12T21:35:00.001-07:00

Well... We've got our kitchen all first-coat-ed but we're still going to have to put a second coat on a lot of it. That should be fun. This weekend we were kid-sitting for some friends, and so now we just have sunday left of our weekend to relax, re-cuperate...

I will be interviewing at best buy monday for a potential summer job. This is a good opportunity because we will not get any pay for my time as a student teacher. So this will potentially turn into a nights and weekends job as well.

I also have an application in to be a ranger on the pikes peak highway, which is nigh on dream status for me as a job... I will take it even if my duties include shoveling horse mess off the ground.

I am hoping to ride mountain bikes tomorrow with some friends at red rock canyon, its a good easy and fun ride- nothing too technical but plenty of opportunities to catch some air. I love doing that :)

And after that, I am planning on mounting our microwave to the wall above the stove. This will be a big step, leaving only the call to the electrician for the wiring to get done.

But for now, it is time to rest.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Class, houses, sheds

2008-04-07T18:15:00.001-07:00

Life is never easy. That's the simplest way to put it. Alyssa and I have been in the house that we own for about a year, and we are dying to move into another house.

Some might credit this to the *one year bug...* when you think about it, we have been moving just about every year since we each moved out of our parents' house after graduating high school. This is a learned pattern that causes us to feel the craving to move now. potentially.

We've been discussing the potential to do the backyard with grass (and a sprinkler system). We've also been talking about xeriscaping the yard.

in addition to all of this, we've talked about building a detached garage on the back half of our property, and potentially building a multi-use storage shed instead of a garage to serve the storage needs without the cost of a garage.

and on top of all of that, we did a search today and found a town house built in 2007 that has 1200 square feet (we have 750) includes a garage, 2bedroom 2bath, and is selling for 107k. Thats a fair bit less than what we bought our current house for... and several important features that we don't have (like a garage, 300+ extra sq.ft, and a second bathroom).

We will wait another year at least, but really. seriously. enough already!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

saturdays...

2008-04-04T22:37:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is saturday, and I am looking at a cheerful assortment of activities including, but not limited to;
-Patching Drywall
-Painting the Kitchen
-Taking down our christmas lights (i dont know what you're talking about...)
-Doing homework for my masters
-Preparing for summer job interviews
-Mountain Biking in red rock canyon

anyhow... it could be a fun day.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Life as a gadget geek

2008-04-03T16:14:00.001-07:00

See, now that we have our own home, we buy things like entertainment centers. We keep upgrading our stuff from college-kid stuff to legitimate-adult stuff. So I've been looking at receivers, HDTVs and surround sound speakers. (With all of the things I buy, I always do a lot of research). What I have come up with? I think I want to take the summer off from technology. Just... quit the game for a while. No computer, no tv... Just a me and the outdoors. Of course that was way easier to do when I was single. Now I am married and my wife would have something to say about that. It just seems simpler.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

our projects

2008-04-02T21:33:00.001-07:00

Okay- so we have some projects going on, and I'm going to give a basic rundown of them. They include, but are not limited to; the microwave, painting the kitchen, putting light (and power, and maybe a locking box) in the carport, building a (small) deck, and landscaping the backyard.

The current project is putting a wall-mounted microwave-vent-hood in the kitchen, and that means that we have been doing some wiring because (and we didnt know this when we bought the new microwave) you need to have a dedicated circuit for one of these things.

Anyhow, the microwave prompted discussion of the paint, so now we are painting the kitchen as well. I'm working on a new (easy) method for posting pictures on the website and when I have it worked out, we'll be seeing some images of what i'm talking about.

In the meantime... Peace out.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Wednesday

2008-04-02T17:13:00.001-07:00

Busy day- We're repainting our kitchen, but I need to go to my group meeting for grad school... more later.

Blogged with the Flock Browser