New Photos on My Flickr Site

As the subject line suggests, I've uploaded a ton of pictures to my flickr site. Some may seem a bit repetitive but, again, I'm really using the site as more of an archive than a showcase (although I sure don't hesitate to push it here). Check it out here or the link on the right hand side of this page.

Goodnight

I accidentally ran across a cool little "thingie" for my blog. Over to your right you'll notice a new "flickr badge". Basically, all it does is advertise the pictures I have posted over at my flickr site (which is, for me, evolving into more of an archive than a showcase). Anyway, to all of you out there that read my site (I'm looking at you Michelle and Joy) have a great night and a great day tomorrow!

Some Pictures on My New Camera

Here's some real quick photos I took with my new digital camera (which is a lot of options kinda like my old Canon SLR). Anyway, we're getting ready to go, so here are a few quick images.

Molly and Caleb riding the train at Busch Gardens.

Croquet anyone?

Caleb has Monchichi hair.

Mom and Molly reading some sort of book.

QVC= Quality Value COMEDY!

Check out this QVC blooper. I know, I know. Somebody got hurt. But you have to watch it until the end (it's only 32 seconds long) to see the cameo appearance by a guy that obviously is not in front of the camera very often. It's on the youtube.com site and here's the link right here.

Our Trip

We went to Luray this weekend and had a great time. It was really wonderful to spend so much time with my wife and kids. Anyway, here are a few select shots from the trip. There are more available for viewing at my flickr site.

Here we are at one of the mountain overlooks on Skyline Drive.

Joy and Caleb checking out some of the stalactite formations at Luray Caverns.

Here's Molly reading a book at our room/cottage/whatever. I tried to get the background in the shot since we had an awesome view of the valley below but instead it just looks like any other deck. Oh well.

Here's the handsome couple in the television-less, telephone-less room at the Skyland Resort located at the highest point on the Skyline Drive. Or so the signs claim.

Molly standing in front of Star the pony just before she went for a ride. Ain't she a cutie? (I'm talking about Molly, not the pony.)

There she is riding Star the pony. Oh, and that's me leading way through the maze of equine excrement. It was actually very fun despite the fact that it was pretty chilly that morning.

Another one of Molly.

And one of Caleb.

Until next time (when I decide to stop being lazy and post something more) have a great evening.

Hooray for Luray!

Clever title, don't you think? It will seem even more clever once I reveal the following information: We are driving to Luray, Virginia this weekend.

You remember Luray right? The quiet one that nobody ever really noticed in school but now runs a multi-national, multi-million dollar business? Yea, that's the one.

I'm tired.

Artoo Dee Tow

That's how my son pronounces "R2-D2" when he's playing Lego Star Wars (a very good game by the way).

By the way, check out my Xbox 360's blog. There are a couple of new entries. Worth a chuckle or two. I mean, worth a chuckle or tow.

My Xbox 360 Has a Blog

Well, I just started it today so it may not have much of anything. But, it seems like a pretty clever idea. Basically, it tracks my gaming habits/history and generates blog entries automatically. Pretty cool. Check it out right here.

Wow! I Have a Blog?!

It's been a while since I've posted on here. To be honest, I just haven't had the time. And, to be even more honest, I haven't felt any real need to post.

So, what's been going on with me you ask? Well, we're pretty much settled in our new house and I'm still trying to get "settled" in my new job. The job has been a little more difficult than the house since about every week since I've started I've been reporting somewhere different. Even though I'm a little anxious about this upcoming Monday, at least I'm scheduled to be in the same general area until September. Supposedly.

Well, I'll be sure to post again in less than two months this time.

The Simpsons Quotes

I got a lot of laughs out of this site. Particularly the Professor Frink and Ralph Wiggum pages. Check it out here

One of my favorite quotes:

Bart Simpson (spelling "Impervious" in a spelling B): I...M...P
Nelson: Bart is pee!
Ralph Wiggum: I made Bart in my pants!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

To Michelle: Believe it or not, I still remember the first time I ever saw you. You were just a newborn; still at the hospital. I saw your crazy hair and thought, "That's my sister?" Remember, I was seven at the time and had absolutely no contact with babies (as far as I can remember).

Another super early memory of you: I took you to my first grade class for show-and-tell. Mom was there, of course. I didn't just stuff you into my book bag and head to school (can you tell I've related this story to Molly?). I got to hold you in front of my class and talk about how you were my new baby sister. I was so proud. And I'm just as proud of you now as I was back then.

However, I don't think we have show-and-tell at work but, if that changes, I'll let you know.

Anyway, I just wanted you let you know that I couldn't think of anyone in the world that I'd rather share my birthday with. Knowing that we have the exact same birthday (seven years apart) is something that I'll never get tired of. As an added bonus, I can always easily calculate your age by subtracting seven years off of my age. Pure genius!

As Cracker says: Happy Birtday to me, and to you!

Happy Birthday Michelle. I love you.

I Don't Like Cleaning Up Cat Vomit

The title of this post pretty much sums it all up but, after cleaning up six to seven piles of said cat vomit yesterday, I came to this realization. The only thing I really wonder about is why does some of the vomit, particularly the larger piles, resemble some sort of fabric or upholstery? I mean, I don't inspect cat vomit enough to see if there are any hair or hairballs involved but it is pretty weird.

By the way, isn't "upholstery" a weird word? It sounds like something a bandit would say in reference to his hold-up abilities. Example: "I feel like I've come a long way with my upholstery skills. I can rob a 7-11 in less than 4 minutes now. A personal best!"

House For Sale

Joy and I have lately been discussing how we can lower our bills. (I know this sounds like an info-mercial, but bear with me.) Since I'm starting a new job that will eventually pay significantly more than my current one, we had approached this issue with the "wait and see" mindset. Then one day, it hit us: we bought our house over five years ago and, since then, the market has changed. A lot. We decided to talk to family friend/realtor and get his opinion.

Last Monday, January 30th, the realtor came over and took a quick look over our house. After seeing our house, he seemed genuinely confident that he could sell it. The following Thursday, February 2nd, we signed some paperwork putting our house on the market.

Over the course of the next few days, we started looking at houses. One that's sort of in our neighborhood particularly caught our eye. But we kept seeing several other houses. Joy and I both kept comparing every house we saw back to the one in our neighborhood. No other house stuck out to us. After much discussion, prayer, and driving around, we decided to put a contract on the aforementioned house in our neighborhood on this past Monday, February 6th with the contingency being that we don't buy it until we sell our house.

I should mention that since the Thursday that our house went on the market we have had several people come in and see our home. Of these people, our realtor told us about a guy he's been working with for about a year. As a potential buyer, he has seen over fifty properties but couldn't make up his mind. Well, wouldn't you know it but he put a contract on our house yesterday, February 10th!

To sum it all up, we put our house on the market on February 2nd and eight days later it's sold (pending a ton of paperwork)! I should mention that the price we sold it for is almost twice what we originally paid for it. In other words, we should be able to pay most of our bills off when we move into the new house. We are set to close on our house on March 30th and he is set to close on ours on March 23rd. I am still in a little bit of shock that it worked out this way. I expected to be waiting around for a while until we sold. Now, all we have to worry about is the appraisal and home inspection on our house. Or do we? All the things I've been worrying about during this time have ended with it being obvious that I had no need to worry. Thank you Lord for the way you work things out so perfectly.

Anyway, I'll try to stay more updated with the whole house thing and I'll try to document it with pictures.

Well... BYE!

Some Recent Pictures

Our Jeep parked on the beach at the Oregon Inlet, NC.

Also found at the beach. I'm not sure what kind of animal this belonged to, but I'm almost 100% positive that it was a magical creature. A griffin perhaps.

This is what was left of some sort of shark. I'm guessing a sand shark since we found it lying in the sand. That's pretty logical.

I love black and white photography and I love this picture of Molly.

Hey, it's nature's candy necklace! Yum!

We drove by the cottage that we stayed in last August. Just for spite, we knocked the trash can over. That'll show 'em.

This is the hotel where Joy and I spent our honeymoon. Ten years ago next month.

Molly and Caleb playing on the sand dunes in Nags Head. I guess it's technically called "Jockey's Ridge".

I just finished burying my kids in the sand in this picture. Look! You can hardly see them! (I'm kidding of course.)

Molly and Caleb on the dunes again.

Joy on the phone at the sand dunes.

Joy on the phone (again) with Caleb. On the dunes, by the way.

She loves cheesing it up for the camera.

Joy at the dunes. Umm, on the phone again.

I think it's safe to say that we take a lot of pictures.

Mommy with the kids. She's not on the phone this time. Oh wait. Yes she is. She has the hands free set in her ear.

A fitting end to this series of pictures. Joy, Molly, and Caleb ascending the hill.

Stuff We're Doing Today

Today we're going to drive down to Nags Head, NC for the day. I've always liked going down there in the "off-season" because it's not as crazy busy. Also, this is gonna be my chance to have a little fun driving out on the beach with our Jeep Wrangler. I've been wanting to try out the four wheel drive on this one. We used to have a 1992 Jeep Wrangler and we had a lot of fun driving off road with that one.

Due to a number of reasons, we had to sell our beloved Jeep shortly after our daughter was born in 1999. Then, about five months ago we were shopping for a new car. My wife and I said, "Well, we've always been saying that we really want to get another Jeep whenever we can. This is our chance. Maybe the stuff people do in their lives don't amount to hill of beans. But this is our hill and these are our beans."

Okay, I stole the bit about the "hill of beans" from Naked Gun but you get the idea. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the emergency tow that I'm sure we'll require once our Jeep gets stuck on the Oregon Inlet in NC.

See ya!

Lotsa Gaps

I've gotten a little lazy when it comes to updating this blog. Maybe I need some sort of reason to keep posting here? I don't, really, but here I am anyway.

I finally got my Xbox 360 (no thanks to Gamestop) and I must say that I'm really enjoying it. The most ingenious thing that Microsoft did was to integrate Xbox Live Arcade so perfectly into the console. I'm not ashamed to say that I love Zuma, one very addictive Live Arcade title. My wife is hooked on it as well.

I got Perfect Dark Zero and it's pretty good. The strange thing was that when I decided to thumb through the game's manual, I noticed that the pages are all out of order. Bear in mind that this is not a "pre-owned" game. This was brand new, out of the shrink wrap and the manual is screwed up and is apparently missing at least four pages! Not that care all that much.

Maybe I could sell it on eBay?

The Moon

I saw the moon tonight and it struck me how the earth and the moon face each other. In sight but unreachable. The moon, shining brightest in the darkest night then forgotten the next day. Quietly fading away under the blinding brightness of the sun.

I thought how strange it must be to know your life's work may go unrecognized by the world but still hold so much purpose. But, maybe that doesn't really matter. The value of your life is not in the eye of the world; the world is fickle. Your life is important to God whether or not the world gives you a second thought.