Highlights of the weekend:
-- took Brig camping with the scouts, which included lots of junk food, lots of shirtless boys, and not too much sleep, but a happy Dad and Son
-- more quality time with my favorite shovel, wheelbarrow, and dirt mound, which isn't so much of a mound anymore :-)
-- date night with Angela and a couple friends - the Bajio salad was so-so, but Snow White and the Huntsman was way better than I thought it would be
-- church was great - nice to just feel happy to be there, grateful for all the good people, and happy for the Spirit you feel
-- hanging with the whole fam on a lazy Sunday afternoon
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Landscaping Love
Many of you may be familiar with our seemingly endless landscaping saga. Without rehashing the travails, we've kicked into get-it-done mode, and we're actually making some good progress. We're going to finish this bad boy if it's the last thing we do.
We've wanted to be able to use the yard for things like hosting friends, having BBQ's, and just generally hanging out/playing outside. The big side yard has already been the site of numerous neighborhood baseball games, so that's great. It's the back that's been the headache.
Well now, thanks to an awesome assist by my brother-in-law, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. We're very close to wrapping up the sprinkling system, after which we'll get the rest of the sod laid, and then we are substantially complete. Can't wait! Not only will it make the yard more usable and functional, it will also greatly reduce the amount of dust tracked into the house anytime someone comes in.
Highlights of the work completed so far are the trampoline getting buried in the ground - and the guy who did it for us did a masterful job. We also got the fire pit finished, and that's been a definite plus as we've enjoyed sitting out late at night and talking by the fire, as well as having friends over for roasted marshmallows and fireside chats. To make that easier, we also got a good deal on some of those benches where you can fold the back over to create a picnic table - great to have nice, usable, comfortable sitting and eating places.
Finally, I have to mention the satisfaction I've felt as I work hard out in the yard. Sure I can't completely do all the work out there because it's not really my expertise, but I now feel a ton of equity in the work that I have done.
We've wanted to be able to use the yard for things like hosting friends, having BBQ's, and just generally hanging out/playing outside. The big side yard has already been the site of numerous neighborhood baseball games, so that's great. It's the back that's been the headache.
Well now, thanks to an awesome assist by my brother-in-law, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. We're very close to wrapping up the sprinkling system, after which we'll get the rest of the sod laid, and then we are substantially complete. Can't wait! Not only will it make the yard more usable and functional, it will also greatly reduce the amount of dust tracked into the house anytime someone comes in.
Highlights of the work completed so far are the trampoline getting buried in the ground - and the guy who did it for us did a masterful job. We also got the fire pit finished, and that's been a definite plus as we've enjoyed sitting out late at night and talking by the fire, as well as having friends over for roasted marshmallows and fireside chats. To make that easier, we also got a good deal on some of those benches where you can fold the back over to create a picnic table - great to have nice, usable, comfortable sitting and eating places.
Finally, I have to mention the satisfaction I've felt as I work hard out in the yard. Sure I can't completely do all the work out there because it's not really my expertise, but I now feel a ton of equity in the work that I have done.
Friday, May 18, 2012
#hashtag @tweet Post Share Pin Check-in ...
Things have changed in the world over the last few years. I looked at my daughters and their friends hanging out the other day and almost all of them were simultaneously on their phones. Some would complain that technology is making people less social, and ruining our interpersonal skills. Maybe. But I will tell you this: social media is allowing us to vastly broaden our reach at the same time.
When I first joined Facebook, it was at the urging of a good friend, Amy Baugh, who I wouldn't consider ultra tech savvy. She was talking about how it had helped her reconnect with lots of high school and mission friends - that sounded appealing to me, so I took the leap. At the time, Facebook was battling My Space for supremacy (yeah, if you haven't heard of My Space, you can tell who won... also, Facebook's multi, multi billion $ IPO is today...), and I was afraid the notion of joining a social network was a bit "high school". Whatever, I can play in all different spaces ;-). So I did it, and my experience has been exactly like Amy's -- reconnect with lots of high school friends, mission buddies, and many more. I don't spend tons of time there, but I usually enjoy catching up with people's lives using that network.
I also still remember the first time I heard of Twitter. We lived in the heart of the Bay Area, which helps for hearing about new stuff, and which is also prone to earthquakes. We had a particularly noticeable earthquake one evening, which means we actually felt it, and another close friend, Michael Tanne, told me later he immediately jumped on Twitter to check if all his friends had felt it and were ok. What is this Twitter of which you speak? I thought it was weird that his first thought was to jump onto his social network - like I said, things have changed. So I joined up, and evolved from blogging pretty frequently to banging out 140 character quick hitters. I kinda liked the change.
And there's so much more. Now everything links together. Facebook and Twitter feed each other, while Instagram (photo sharing), Pinterest (idea sharing), Foursquare (location sharing), Flipboard (news sharing), not to mention fitness apps (Strava, MapMyRide, Nike+, etc.), note taking apps (Evernote, etc.), and much more all feed directly into both Facebook and Twitter. It's an amazing world where we can share as much of our lives as we want to.
Word to the wise though - don't take a questionable picture of your wife and post it against her will. Just sayin'...
When I first joined Facebook, it was at the urging of a good friend, Amy Baugh, who I wouldn't consider ultra tech savvy. She was talking about how it had helped her reconnect with lots of high school and mission friends - that sounded appealing to me, so I took the leap. At the time, Facebook was battling My Space for supremacy (yeah, if you haven't heard of My Space, you can tell who won... also, Facebook's multi, multi billion $ IPO is today...), and I was afraid the notion of joining a social network was a bit "high school". Whatever, I can play in all different spaces ;-). So I did it, and my experience has been exactly like Amy's -- reconnect with lots of high school friends, mission buddies, and many more. I don't spend tons of time there, but I usually enjoy catching up with people's lives using that network.
I also still remember the first time I heard of Twitter. We lived in the heart of the Bay Area, which helps for hearing about new stuff, and which is also prone to earthquakes. We had a particularly noticeable earthquake one evening, which means we actually felt it, and another close friend, Michael Tanne, told me later he immediately jumped on Twitter to check if all his friends had felt it and were ok. What is this Twitter of which you speak? I thought it was weird that his first thought was to jump onto his social network - like I said, things have changed. So I joined up, and evolved from blogging pretty frequently to banging out 140 character quick hitters. I kinda liked the change.
And there's so much more. Now everything links together. Facebook and Twitter feed each other, while Instagram (photo sharing), Pinterest (idea sharing), Foursquare (location sharing), Flipboard (news sharing), not to mention fitness apps (Strava, MapMyRide, Nike+, etc.), note taking apps (Evernote, etc.), and much more all feed directly into both Facebook and Twitter. It's an amazing world where we can share as much of our lives as we want to.
Word to the wise though - don't take a questionable picture of your wife and post it against her will. Just sayin'...
Friday, May 11, 2012
So bad, and yet so good
Every other Friday or so the team from work goes out to lunch together to get out of the office and get some good grub. We're spoiled because work brings in quite a few lunches and dinners throughout the week, so if we're only going out every once in a while it seems ok to go big or go home.
The undisputed favorite:
The somewhat disputed other favorite, although you may need a pick-me-up in the afternoon:
Where we went today:
...which is why I feel so dirty.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The latest
Now that I've most likely lost all my loyal followers and readers due to inactivity and laziness (or lack of blogging time), I thought I'd resurrect the blogging effort and at least periodically add a few notes about things our family is doing, thoughts that rattle through this head of mine, happenings at work, play and school, and updates in general.
The last four months has been a bit crazy. Crazy means different things to each member in our family, but collectively we've had a fun little ride the last few months. For me, the big thing has been training for, and competing in, Ironman St. George. The last four months have included swimming 67 miles, biking 1,132 miles, and running 381 miles -- almost always very early in the morning, and almost always in the cold. And then to top it off, race day on May 5 consisted of a freak windstorm of 40 mph winds that made it a long, challenging, but ultimately very rewarding day. So all that, added to an already very busy work schedule, plus YM commitments - not to mention all the family stuff going on - have made for a faster pace than we usually have.
Things at Domo have been awesome. It seems like there are never any dull moments. I really enjoy the people I work with, and there's such a cool energy about the company and where we're going that it continues to be a killer place to work. And I think it's just going to get better as we launch our products and grow like we think we can.
So now to the important stuff - what's the family been up to? Micah and Kennan have dance four nights a week, not to mention tumbling and cheer for Micah as she made the JV team for next year, and Kennan made the Jr High cheer team for next year as well. Morgan has been in a local Scera Theater play about Pinocchio, and that's been really fun but like other plays the kids have been in, seems to take up a lot of time and energy. She loves it and has already auditioned and gotten a part in the next one, which I can't remember what it is off the top of my head. She also swims 3-4 times a week. Brig is constantly playing with his neighborhood buddies or his cousin, Spencer, and he's making full use of the new trampoline we just sunk into the ground in our slowly-progressing back yard. He also played soccer this year and he and Spencer were by far the best players on the best team (city league, so that's not saying much...). He's looking forward to baseball starting this weekend, and was particularly excited when he and I went down and bought him a new mitt that feels like a real glove and not a kid's toy. He's a sweet kid who still loves his mom to death. Ang hurt her foot a while back so has put her running/training on hold for a while. I know this grates on her, but it's the right thing to do. Beyond that, she's constantly shuttling kids around, and rarely gets much time to herself - which is why I'm always happy when she gets a girls night or something fun. I think everyone's looking forward to the fast-approaching summer vacation!
Mom and Dad, who have been serving for the Church in Chile this past year, got reassigned to be in the Europe Area Presidency based in Frankfurt, Germany. They're VERY excited for the change, and we're also really happy for them, and hoping we can make it out to visit while they're there. It'll also be fun to have them home in July.
The last four months has been a bit crazy. Crazy means different things to each member in our family, but collectively we've had a fun little ride the last few months. For me, the big thing has been training for, and competing in, Ironman St. George. The last four months have included swimming 67 miles, biking 1,132 miles, and running 381 miles -- almost always very early in the morning, and almost always in the cold. And then to top it off, race day on May 5 consisted of a freak windstorm of 40 mph winds that made it a long, challenging, but ultimately very rewarding day. So all that, added to an already very busy work schedule, plus YM commitments - not to mention all the family stuff going on - have made for a faster pace than we usually have.
Things at Domo have been awesome. It seems like there are never any dull moments. I really enjoy the people I work with, and there's such a cool energy about the company and where we're going that it continues to be a killer place to work. And I think it's just going to get better as we launch our products and grow like we think we can.
So now to the important stuff - what's the family been up to? Micah and Kennan have dance four nights a week, not to mention tumbling and cheer for Micah as she made the JV team for next year, and Kennan made the Jr High cheer team for next year as well. Morgan has been in a local Scera Theater play about Pinocchio, and that's been really fun but like other plays the kids have been in, seems to take up a lot of time and energy. She loves it and has already auditioned and gotten a part in the next one, which I can't remember what it is off the top of my head. She also swims 3-4 times a week. Brig is constantly playing with his neighborhood buddies or his cousin, Spencer, and he's making full use of the new trampoline we just sunk into the ground in our slowly-progressing back yard. He also played soccer this year and he and Spencer were by far the best players on the best team (city league, so that's not saying much...). He's looking forward to baseball starting this weekend, and was particularly excited when he and I went down and bought him a new mitt that feels like a real glove and not a kid's toy. He's a sweet kid who still loves his mom to death. Ang hurt her foot a while back so has put her running/training on hold for a while. I know this grates on her, but it's the right thing to do. Beyond that, she's constantly shuttling kids around, and rarely gets much time to herself - which is why I'm always happy when she gets a girls night or something fun. I think everyone's looking forward to the fast-approaching summer vacation!
Mom and Dad, who have been serving for the Church in Chile this past year, got reassigned to be in the Europe Area Presidency based in Frankfurt, Germany. They're VERY excited for the change, and we're also really happy for them, and hoping we can make it out to visit while they're there. It'll also be fun to have them home in July.
Monday, January 23, 2012
It's only 3 1/2 hours? Let's go...
We had a fun weekend trip down to St George this last weekend, with a few fun highlights. The purpose of the trip was for Angela and me to run a 5k as part of the St George Runner's Series, which guarantees you entry into October's St George Marathon if you run two other smaller races down there throughout the course of the year. The plan was for me to take my bike and go for a long training ride after the race, but it was not to be. Rain all day and ferocious winds derailed my well-laid plans, and I was not too happy about it. But, the 5k was pretty fun. It's a shorter distance than we're used to running, and believe it or not, it's a lot different from the way we train and race. I would actually rather run a longer race because with a 5k you're basically red-lining for 3 miles. I was completely out of breath with about a quarter mile to go and I really thought I might pass out just trying to keep up with Angela. In the end, we finished close together and were happy to find out that she took 2nd in her age group while I took 3rd in mine. Nice to get a plaque...
We were pretty cold after the race, and we had told the kids to be ready to hot-tub and swim in the heated pool when we got home. We figured even if it was raining we'd be fine with the warm water. Problem was, what looked like the hot tub from outside the pool area was actually just a small, round kiddie pool. The water was lukewarm, but with the sharp wind and rain drops coming down, it wasn't as thrilling as we had hoped for. Ang, Micah, and Kennan lasted all of 30 seconds, but Morgan and Brig wanted to keep swimming so I took one for the team and stayed in with them for about 20 minutes. Cold!
A highlight of the afternoon was going and visiting Grandma Gurr. We were a little worried because we'd heard reports that her mental health is slipping, so we were pleasantly surprised when she seemed happy and healthy, and fine for a visit. We talked for about 45 minutes, and we all enjoyed it, particularly Morgan who said a few times throughout the day how glad she was we got to see Grandma and visit with her.
Also really neat was running into some old friends who we'd known in our California ward, Ben and Maryanne Maher - he was my Elder's Quorum secretary for a while before they moved to St George. We hadn't seen them in probably 6 or 7 years, and we randomly ran into them at the race. It was really fun to catch up.
Apparently we missed torrential rain in Provo all day Saturday (yep, it's late January and it wasn't cold enough to snow...), so I can't complain too loudly about the inclement weather down south. Good thing is that the resorts probably got dumped on, so the previously horrible skiing should now improve drastically.
We were pretty cold after the race, and we had told the kids to be ready to hot-tub and swim in the heated pool when we got home. We figured even if it was raining we'd be fine with the warm water. Problem was, what looked like the hot tub from outside the pool area was actually just a small, round kiddie pool. The water was lukewarm, but with the sharp wind and rain drops coming down, it wasn't as thrilling as we had hoped for. Ang, Micah, and Kennan lasted all of 30 seconds, but Morgan and Brig wanted to keep swimming so I took one for the team and stayed in with them for about 20 minutes. Cold!
A highlight of the afternoon was going and visiting Grandma Gurr. We were a little worried because we'd heard reports that her mental health is slipping, so we were pleasantly surprised when she seemed happy and healthy, and fine for a visit. We talked for about 45 minutes, and we all enjoyed it, particularly Morgan who said a few times throughout the day how glad she was we got to see Grandma and visit with her.
Also really neat was running into some old friends who we'd known in our California ward, Ben and Maryanne Maher - he was my Elder's Quorum secretary for a while before they moved to St George. We hadn't seen them in probably 6 or 7 years, and we randomly ran into them at the race. It was really fun to catch up.
Apparently we missed torrential rain in Provo all day Saturday (yep, it's late January and it wasn't cold enough to snow...), so I can't complain too loudly about the inclement weather down south. Good thing is that the resorts probably got dumped on, so the previously horrible skiing should now improve drastically.
Monday, January 9, 2012
I'm back...
I've been feeling really guilty lately about not writing in the blog. Not because of high demand, but because it's sort of been my defacto journal over the last few years where I can keep a record of things that happen. Lots has happened over the last three months so I'll do my best to catch up.
Work: Domo has already been an incredible experience. I love the intensity and the energy of having a ton to do, not a big team to do it, and it needs to happen fast. I have a great boss with lots of experience, lots of drive, and a great sense of humor to go with his East Coast personality. There are exciting things ahead over this next year as we launch our product and do business the way we want to do it. There's also been some fun along the way, including the Christmas party that was themed "Back to High School/Prom". Angela and I decided rather dress for prom, we would wear our friends' matching cheerleading outfits (this was specifically encouraged along with uniforms and prom dress) - it felt funny but turned out fun, and we even won $100 for one of the best costumes.
Holidays: We missed mom and dad in Chile, but I'm pretty sure they missed us even more. I got surprisingly emotional a couple nights before Christmas as all the extended family was up at Matt & Debby's, and we skyped Mom and Dad in - one look at them trying to hold it together really made it tough for me. That was a very nice evening to hang with all my brothers and sisters and their families (all except Nate & Jenny), and then we had a sleepover that night and a big traditional Christmas scone and french hot chocolate breakfast on Christmas Eve day with everyone. Christmas Even dinner was at our house and we had Anne & Brandon down for a very good Vietnamese dinner. Christmas day was just awesome. The kids slept until about 8 or a little after, which was fine except with Christmas on Sunday and our church at 9am, it meant we had to get ready for church instead of opening lots of gifts. They ended up looking in their stockings and taking out a couple of things before church, but didn't touch their present piles. Brig was not too happy... In fact we were all kind of frazzled by the time we got to church. We were almost late, and not feeling the spirit too strongly at the moment. It was amazing though to see how our feelings and happiness changed drastically over the course of the meeting - as we sang Christmas hymns surrounded by our ward family, we were filled with peaceful, happy feelings that set the tone for a really great Christmas. Afterwards we opened gifts, talked to Mom and Dad on Skype, had a nice Christmas lunch to get us ready for a spectacular Christmas dinner, and then in the evening went to Christine's to see their family. It was nice for all of us also to have some days off work and school, and we were able to ski, relax, play lots of Wii, and have great times together.
Part of my Christmas gifts to the kids was writing a letter to each one from me. I wrote to Micah about things I wished I had known or done in high school, looking back it with a little broader perspective. For Kennan it was kind of the same but for Jr. High. I wrote Morgan a love letter, and Brig a buddy letter. I decided to hand write them so they would have them in my handwriting, and because it seemed like a more personal effort. I was glad I did it, and I think the kids like it. Ang told me just the other day that Brig said to her: "Mom, I want you to keep Dad's letter to me, because when you read it to me I feel happy in my heart." Man, talk about feeling good!
The Kids: Busy, busy, busy. Micah ended out her football cheering and it seemed like things calmed down a little bit. She does more other events like basketball, volleyball, and even wrestling (which they don't like because of the smell!), but generally we haven't been going with her since they're different from football games. We'll probably go to a couple basketball games, but in general we don't feel the same need to support her in all the little things. She has also been busy with dance - which was crazy over the holidays as her dance teacher ridiculously thought that time off for the holidays meant everyone was full-time available for dance rehearsals. Not cool. We were not thrilled with the whole thing, and probably made the kids miss more of the practices than other kids, but I didn't care. Anyway, Micah and Kennan are both such great dancers - very elegant and genuinely happy when they dance. You can really tell they love it by the big smiles on their faces as they dance, so we're happy to support as we can. Kennan loves to play with her cousin her age, and she went skiing with us a couple of times even though I don't think she loves it. Morgan is our little skier. She asked me to take her up skiing early one day before everyone else so we could go ski the back mountain together - it was so much fun. She's very brave and a pretty good little skier; I love that she'll just ski where she wants without needing me to be with her. There were quite a few runs where she just said, "meet you at the bottom" and then she'd take off. Brig's also a fun skier, and he's getting better all the time as he gets the luxury of Ang taking him up pretty much every week before school or on Fridays. They have been loving playing Wii games they got for Christmas, and reading their own books in addition to the book I'm reading them aloud: Eldest (2nd in Eragon series).
We're still loving our new neighborhood, our friends, and the ward. We continue to do small projects here and there on the house to just make one thing at a time a little better. My latest was setting up a sweet little personal home gym in a corner of the basement far from any bedrooms, so I can go down there either early morning or late at night without waking anyone up. I've already spent some good quality time down in my pain cave.
Speaking of good quality exercise time, I have some very aggressive training and racing goals for this year, and I've done well so far in starting off my training right. Should be a fun year, if you consider waking up early every morning, working out a little more than you're comfortable with each day, and wondering how you will get through it all ... fun. I guess I do, so here we go.
Work: Domo has already been an incredible experience. I love the intensity and the energy of having a ton to do, not a big team to do it, and it needs to happen fast. I have a great boss with lots of experience, lots of drive, and a great sense of humor to go with his East Coast personality. There are exciting things ahead over this next year as we launch our product and do business the way we want to do it. There's also been some fun along the way, including the Christmas party that was themed "Back to High School/Prom". Angela and I decided rather dress for prom, we would wear our friends' matching cheerleading outfits (this was specifically encouraged along with uniforms and prom dress) - it felt funny but turned out fun, and we even won $100 for one of the best costumes.
Holidays: We missed mom and dad in Chile, but I'm pretty sure they missed us even more. I got surprisingly emotional a couple nights before Christmas as all the extended family was up at Matt & Debby's, and we skyped Mom and Dad in - one look at them trying to hold it together really made it tough for me. That was a very nice evening to hang with all my brothers and sisters and their families (all except Nate & Jenny), and then we had a sleepover that night and a big traditional Christmas scone and french hot chocolate breakfast on Christmas Eve day with everyone. Christmas Even dinner was at our house and we had Anne & Brandon down for a very good Vietnamese dinner. Christmas day was just awesome. The kids slept until about 8 or a little after, which was fine except with Christmas on Sunday and our church at 9am, it meant we had to get ready for church instead of opening lots of gifts. They ended up looking in their stockings and taking out a couple of things before church, but didn't touch their present piles. Brig was not too happy... In fact we were all kind of frazzled by the time we got to church. We were almost late, and not feeling the spirit too strongly at the moment. It was amazing though to see how our feelings and happiness changed drastically over the course of the meeting - as we sang Christmas hymns surrounded by our ward family, we were filled with peaceful, happy feelings that set the tone for a really great Christmas. Afterwards we opened gifts, talked to Mom and Dad on Skype, had a nice Christmas lunch to get us ready for a spectacular Christmas dinner, and then in the evening went to Christine's to see their family. It was nice for all of us also to have some days off work and school, and we were able to ski, relax, play lots of Wii, and have great times together.
Part of my Christmas gifts to the kids was writing a letter to each one from me. I wrote to Micah about things I wished I had known or done in high school, looking back it with a little broader perspective. For Kennan it was kind of the same but for Jr. High. I wrote Morgan a love letter, and Brig a buddy letter. I decided to hand write them so they would have them in my handwriting, and because it seemed like a more personal effort. I was glad I did it, and I think the kids like it. Ang told me just the other day that Brig said to her: "Mom, I want you to keep Dad's letter to me, because when you read it to me I feel happy in my heart." Man, talk about feeling good!
The Kids: Busy, busy, busy. Micah ended out her football cheering and it seemed like things calmed down a little bit. She does more other events like basketball, volleyball, and even wrestling (which they don't like because of the smell!), but generally we haven't been going with her since they're different from football games. We'll probably go to a couple basketball games, but in general we don't feel the same need to support her in all the little things. She has also been busy with dance - which was crazy over the holidays as her dance teacher ridiculously thought that time off for the holidays meant everyone was full-time available for dance rehearsals. Not cool. We were not thrilled with the whole thing, and probably made the kids miss more of the practices than other kids, but I didn't care. Anyway, Micah and Kennan are both such great dancers - very elegant and genuinely happy when they dance. You can really tell they love it by the big smiles on their faces as they dance, so we're happy to support as we can. Kennan loves to play with her cousin her age, and she went skiing with us a couple of times even though I don't think she loves it. Morgan is our little skier. She asked me to take her up skiing early one day before everyone else so we could go ski the back mountain together - it was so much fun. She's very brave and a pretty good little skier; I love that she'll just ski where she wants without needing me to be with her. There were quite a few runs where she just said, "meet you at the bottom" and then she'd take off. Brig's also a fun skier, and he's getting better all the time as he gets the luxury of Ang taking him up pretty much every week before school or on Fridays. They have been loving playing Wii games they got for Christmas, and reading their own books in addition to the book I'm reading them aloud: Eldest (2nd in Eragon series).
We're still loving our new neighborhood, our friends, and the ward. We continue to do small projects here and there on the house to just make one thing at a time a little better. My latest was setting up a sweet little personal home gym in a corner of the basement far from any bedrooms, so I can go down there either early morning or late at night without waking anyone up. I've already spent some good quality time down in my pain cave.
Speaking of good quality exercise time, I have some very aggressive training and racing goals for this year, and I've done well so far in starting off my training right. Should be a fun year, if you consider waking up early every morning, working out a little more than you're comfortable with each day, and wondering how you will get through it all ... fun. I guess I do, so here we go.
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