Well, we just got back Monday from a nice trip to Meredith's parents' for Christmas. It was a nice week...we got to see a lot of Meredith's family, and just had a good time with everyone. We got wonderful gifts from our families, and had fun getting them gifts as well, even though we weren't able to spend as much on gifts this year, having spent a lot of money on gifts for ourselves (or our house).
I suppose I should mention one new item I got. Several months after preordering, I picked up my Xbox 360 at EB Games on Tuesday morning and quickly set it up. I have for the most part been a pretty big slacker when it comes to setting up our AV equipment, but getting in a new toy inspired me. I have 2 games for it right now, which are Call of Duty 2 and Perfect Dark Zero. They're both way fun games...I've spent way too much time on them over the past couple of days. I really like the new controller...I got used to it really quickly. It's kinda funny though...I sold my old Xbox about a month and a half ago in anticipation of getting the Xbox 360 in, and so my fingers are going through some sort of callousing period, as they reacclimate themselves to gameplaying.
We've gotten quite a few rooms close to finality now. Since I have this week off, I've been working hard on the house, and have gotten several projects done. Soon we'll be down to cleaning, which will be a relief.
Well, I guess I'll post some sort of 2005 retrospective here in a couple of days.
Until then...
Steve
EDIT: I thought I'd add my gamercard to this, for all of my Xbox playing friends:
Homeownership! Ugh...I mean yay!
Well, I reported in our last post that we were about to get the keys to our new house...we got 'em! And ever since, our lives have been changed from before. I've had many new experiences...for one, I shoveled the driveway for the first time in my life. Having grown up in Florida and then living in apartments in the snow belt, I'd never raised a snow shovel before. Isn't it exciting? I don't think so.
Well, to chronicle my experience, here are the projects so far:
1) Painted the den, living room, and both bathrooms. It wasn't that bad, but the perfectionist in me still cringes at the imperfections in our painting. I don't think anyone else would ever notice unless looking closely, but it still bugs me.
2) Put up new cabinets in the bathrooms. This was pretty easy.
3) New blinds/shades in the kitchen. Again, not bad.
4) Bought like a zillion things. I love the house, but it has to have lightbulbs, smoke detectors, rugs...tons of stuff.
5) Put together a lot of things. Computer desk and shelves, quilt rack...again, I like getting new things, but if I don't have to use another allen wrench for a long time, it won't hurt my feelings. By the way, if anyone needs one of the allen wrenches that come with furniture, let me know. I have about 10 of them now.
Looking back on my list, it looks pretty small. We've done a lot though...nearly every day I come home and work on something. We're also getting pretty close to starting to put stuff up on the walls...I think once we reach that milestone, it'll feel even more like home.
I used to read Dave Barry's books about moving and home repairs and laugh and laugh...now I see that his commentary was not as funny as I originally thought. Still funny...just in a different way.
Well, that's about it. I have my final exam tomorrow morning...I'm scared to death, but that's nothing new. My hw partner and I have done very well on the homework, but it's open book, which often makes it even harder. Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading!
Steve
Well, to chronicle my experience, here are the projects so far:
1) Painted the den, living room, and both bathrooms. It wasn't that bad, but the perfectionist in me still cringes at the imperfections in our painting. I don't think anyone else would ever notice unless looking closely, but it still bugs me.
2) Put up new cabinets in the bathrooms. This was pretty easy.
3) New blinds/shades in the kitchen. Again, not bad.
4) Bought like a zillion things. I love the house, but it has to have lightbulbs, smoke detectors, rugs...tons of stuff.
5) Put together a lot of things. Computer desk and shelves, quilt rack...again, I like getting new things, but if I don't have to use another allen wrench for a long time, it won't hurt my feelings. By the way, if anyone needs one of the allen wrenches that come with furniture, let me know. I have about 10 of them now.
Looking back on my list, it looks pretty small. We've done a lot though...nearly every day I come home and work on something. We're also getting pretty close to starting to put stuff up on the walls...I think once we reach that milestone, it'll feel even more like home.
I used to read Dave Barry's books about moving and home repairs and laugh and laugh...now I see that his commentary was not as funny as I originally thought. Still funny...just in a different way.
Well, that's about it. I have my final exam tomorrow morning...I'm scared to death, but that's nothing new. My hw partner and I have done very well on the homework, but it's open book, which often makes it even harder. Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading!
Steve
Where are you Horse L. S.?
Well, today is my Mom's birthday, so happy birthday Mom!
Tonight I just thought I'd write a few lines for the fun of it. I reported a while back that we're nearing homeownership, which is both exciting and scary. I can't say that I've ever questioned my overall job security more than the last month (being heavily in debt causes some major questions to appear in the mind, baseless or not), but I'm good, so no worries. We're closing on Friday and receive the keys on Saturday, which has us totally pumped.
Well, that's not really what I wanted to talk about tonight. I just wanted to reminisce a little. Tonight my dad and I talked on the phone about music, and I related that I've been buying a few great classic tracks on the web these days, and he related to me that I used to rock out to them when I was very little. So I decided to take a little trip down memory lane. Here's the playlist so far:
Hold On Tight - Electric Light Orchestra
Your Wildest Dreams - The Moody Blues
Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
Beginnings - Chicago
Feeling Stronger Everyday - Chicago (my computer is stuck on that artist)
Lookin' Out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival
...
I have to confess that it brought me nearly to tears to listen to some of these songs. I have such good memories of listening to music with my Dad. Inevitably when I became a teenager and then an early adult, and having the strong, independent personality that I have, there were a few years that my relationship with my Dad wasn't perfect. However, in the last couple of years, with the occasional hiccup interspersed here and there, I've come to really like my Dad again, and he has become a great friend. And as I've thought about that, and have put some of these tunes on the speakers, I remember how much I loved spending time with him when I was really young...like when we first moved to Florida, and even earlier (I have a few faint memories of Rock Springs and Orem still too). We listened to music a lot then too.
Part of me wishes I could be that little kid again. I miss the simplicity of life. I miss the "pool" that my sister and I dug in the backyard (and had to be hosed off after swimming in it). I miss my dog Spike and my cat Ralph (named for my best friend at the time). I miss watching He-Man and flying kites and riding bikes and getting John Deere tractors for Christmas. (The title is a reference to a springy plastic riding horse that I had as a kid.)
The other part of me, and frankly most of me, is very happy to be exactly where I am now and who I am now. The Book of Mormon challenge issued by President Hinckley has been very therapeutic for me--I feel renewed spiritually, where I've sometimes felt weak over the past months. I'm also doing a pretty darn good job at work (at least I think so), and I think that my wife and I have reached a sweet period in our relationship, where I enjoy planning and living our life together. I'm excited for the horizons that lie ahead of us.
Well, enough rambling. I hope this means something to someone else out there. It means a lot to me.
Steve
Tonight I just thought I'd write a few lines for the fun of it. I reported a while back that we're nearing homeownership, which is both exciting and scary. I can't say that I've ever questioned my overall job security more than the last month (being heavily in debt causes some major questions to appear in the mind, baseless or not), but I'm good, so no worries. We're closing on Friday and receive the keys on Saturday, which has us totally pumped.
Well, that's not really what I wanted to talk about tonight. I just wanted to reminisce a little. Tonight my dad and I talked on the phone about music, and I related that I've been buying a few great classic tracks on the web these days, and he related to me that I used to rock out to them when I was very little. So I decided to take a little trip down memory lane. Here's the playlist so far:
Hold On Tight - Electric Light Orchestra
Your Wildest Dreams - The Moody Blues
Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
Beginnings - Chicago
Feeling Stronger Everyday - Chicago (my computer is stuck on that artist)
Lookin' Out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival
...
I have to confess that it brought me nearly to tears to listen to some of these songs. I have such good memories of listening to music with my Dad. Inevitably when I became a teenager and then an early adult, and having the strong, independent personality that I have, there were a few years that my relationship with my Dad wasn't perfect. However, in the last couple of years, with the occasional hiccup interspersed here and there, I've come to really like my Dad again, and he has become a great friend. And as I've thought about that, and have put some of these tunes on the speakers, I remember how much I loved spending time with him when I was really young...like when we first moved to Florida, and even earlier (I have a few faint memories of Rock Springs and Orem still too). We listened to music a lot then too.
Part of me wishes I could be that little kid again. I miss the simplicity of life. I miss the "pool" that my sister and I dug in the backyard (and had to be hosed off after swimming in it). I miss my dog Spike and my cat Ralph (named for my best friend at the time). I miss watching He-Man and flying kites and riding bikes and getting John Deere tractors for Christmas. (The title is a reference to a springy plastic riding horse that I had as a kid.)
The other part of me, and frankly most of me, is very happy to be exactly where I am now and who I am now. The Book of Mormon challenge issued by President Hinckley has been very therapeutic for me--I feel renewed spiritually, where I've sometimes felt weak over the past months. I'm also doing a pretty darn good job at work (at least I think so), and I think that my wife and I have reached a sweet period in our relationship, where I enjoy planning and living our life together. I'm excited for the horizons that lie ahead of us.
Well, enough rambling. I hope this means something to someone else out there. It means a lot to me.
Steve
Can't take the pressure
Well, in recent weeks two of my sister's have taken it upon themselves to follow my lead and create blogs of their own. (One of them even named hers Life! Can you believe the plagiarism?!) I've put their links into the sidebar too, so please check them out. Anyway, they've written almost as much as we have in less than a month, so in an effort to stay ahead of the game, I thought I'd write today.
First things first...we put an offer down on a house! For privacy reasons I won't post up the address or anything, but suffice it to say that we're really excited about it. It has a two car garage, a nice open kitchen, and a beautiful master bedroom and bathroom. We have the inspection this week, so I suppose that it's not set in stone yet, but in looking at the house, we couldn't find anything significantly wrong with it. We're really excited. I think we'll probably try to move in over Thanksgiving weekend.
Other than that...not much to speak of. Incidentally this is the second house we've put an offer on, since the first one may have had water damage, and would have required a lot of work to get up to livable standards, where this house is pretty much ready (we'll still work on it some, but predominantly just by carpeting one room, changing some cabinet hardware, and buying some furniture to put in the place). Our life has pretty much revolved around house stuff these last 2 weeks, and I'm glad that we found a place we can call our bank's own.
Steve
First things first...we put an offer down on a house! For privacy reasons I won't post up the address or anything, but suffice it to say that we're really excited about it. It has a two car garage, a nice open kitchen, and a beautiful master bedroom and bathroom. We have the inspection this week, so I suppose that it's not set in stone yet, but in looking at the house, we couldn't find anything significantly wrong with it. We're really excited. I think we'll probably try to move in over Thanksgiving weekend.
Other than that...not much to speak of. Incidentally this is the second house we've put an offer on, since the first one may have had water damage, and would have required a lot of work to get up to livable standards, where this house is pretty much ready (we'll still work on it some, but predominantly just by carpeting one room, changing some cabinet hardware, and buying some furniture to put in the place). Our life has pretty much revolved around house stuff these last 2 weeks, and I'm glad that we found a place we can call our bank's own.
Steve
Fall Rolls In...
Well, it's been quite a while since we posted anything on here, and even longer since I personally posted, so I thought I'd come on and babble for a while. For some reason I began to think that I needed to put a new picture up every time I came on, and being unprepared to do so, had been holding off on writing.
These past few weeks have been hectic, or at least they've felt that way. I'm currently pursuing my Masters Degree, and it always seems like I have homework or reading or a lecture to watch or something. I hate being behind, but when you're working full time, it takes so much less than it did in college to burn yourself out. This month we also began preparations to find a home of our own. The only thing that scares me right now about that is Denver home prices. Denver's prices are pretty darn high...condos run low $100s (on up), townhouses often fill the upper $100s, and then homes start at high $100s and go WAY up (it's not hard at all to find homes that go for half a million dollars...or more). I'm pretty confident that we'll find something in our price range though, even if that means it can't be the last home we own. I'm not willing to eat dirt to live in a home that's beyond our means.
Well, on to lighter topics. We attended the Foo Fighters/Weezer/Kaiser Chiefs concert about a week ago. I primarily went for Weezer, having been a fan since high school, but was curious about the other bands. Kaiser Chiefs were all right...I'm not going to go buy their CD because of it though. Foo Fighters were...loud. Their lead singer single-handedly caused my ears to ring for 2 days. He screamed a lot. Other than that (and his swearing like a sailor), they were pretty OK. I already own their newest CD, but probably won't go buy further ones. Weezer was great. They played a lot of stuff from their first album, which is my favorite. It was a bit weird though, to sit with all of these teenagers who may have been getting ready for kindergarten when I was listening to that CD. Not that I feel old or anything.
On a more general note, and to address the title of this post, Fall is definitely here. We've had highs in the 50s and 60s this week, freeze warnings at night, and to top it off, a "Winter Storm Watch" for tonight as well. I'm personally not a big winter fan, but I like fall. Something about the cooler air and the colors of fall make it a nice time of year. For a Denver Life kind of post, apparently this is the time of year that people like to drive out and see the Aspens. I've been told that if you drive west (why they label it south, I do not know) on 285 you can see them changing colors.
Well, I've rambled on enough. Thanks for reading.
These past few weeks have been hectic, or at least they've felt that way. I'm currently pursuing my Masters Degree, and it always seems like I have homework or reading or a lecture to watch or something. I hate being behind, but when you're working full time, it takes so much less than it did in college to burn yourself out. This month we also began preparations to find a home of our own. The only thing that scares me right now about that is Denver home prices. Denver's prices are pretty darn high...condos run low $100s (on up), townhouses often fill the upper $100s, and then homes start at high $100s and go WAY up (it's not hard at all to find homes that go for half a million dollars...or more). I'm pretty confident that we'll find something in our price range though, even if that means it can't be the last home we own. I'm not willing to eat dirt to live in a home that's beyond our means.
Well, on to lighter topics. We attended the Foo Fighters/Weezer/Kaiser Chiefs concert about a week ago. I primarily went for Weezer, having been a fan since high school, but was curious about the other bands. Kaiser Chiefs were all right...I'm not going to go buy their CD because of it though. Foo Fighters were...loud. Their lead singer single-handedly caused my ears to ring for 2 days. He screamed a lot. Other than that (and his swearing like a sailor), they were pretty OK. I already own their newest CD, but probably won't go buy further ones. Weezer was great. They played a lot of stuff from their first album, which is my favorite. It was a bit weird though, to sit with all of these teenagers who may have been getting ready for kindergarten when I was listening to that CD. Not that I feel old or anything.
On a more general note, and to address the title of this post, Fall is definitely here. We've had highs in the 50s and 60s this week, freeze warnings at night, and to top it off, a "Winter Storm Watch" for tonight as well. I'm personally not a big winter fan, but I like fall. Something about the cooler air and the colors of fall make it a nice time of year. For a Denver Life kind of post, apparently this is the time of year that people like to drive out and see the Aspens. I've been told that if you drive west (why they label it south, I do not know) on 285 you can see them changing colors.
Well, I've rambled on enough. Thanks for reading.
Since You've Been Gone
Well after much procrastination and spending way to much money on gas, I have finally taken the time to give my review of what was a "pretty good" concert and a very blond Kelly Clarkson. The event might have been a bit more entertaining if I could have actually heard the performer more. There I was surrounded by hundreds of screaming teenie-bobbers. However, once in a while the deafening screams would cease, and I would begin to enjoy myself. I even participated, singing along to most of songs. The concert lasted about an hour and 1/2 and took place at the Colorado Convention Center. Here are some pics from the night.
Kelly Singing away!
My only complaint: the tickets were a bit pricey for the show we got. But hey, in the end that didn't really matter.
There was good company, good food and good music. Can't get better than that!
Hawaii!
Well, we're back! We just went on a vacation to Hawaii, and it was quite a trip! We've never been to Hawaii before, and I can't say that everything went flawlessly, but we had a really good time. We were there for 4 days and 3 nights, which ended up being just about perfect. Had we planned just a little better, we would have been able to get everything done that we wanted, but we came darn close, and if nothing else, it left us a few things to do on a return trip (someday). We did a ton, and I know that some will want the details, so I'll do my best to hit it day by day, and then hopefully Meredith will come on and post and fill in some of the gaps.
Day 1
This was the most "exciting" day, but not in a good way. We got up early to go to the airport, and it was a good thing we did, because we went to check in at the self-checkin (being the savvy travellers that we are) and there was no reservation for us. OK, a little nervous. We go to the desk, and they basically say that a ticket was never issued for us. Now we're panicked. I call up Travelocity (who I used to buy the tickets back in MARCH), and they say that indeed the tickets were never issued. Meanwhile, Meredith is checking up on how much it would cost us to get tickets on the spot. Try $4400! We're pretty upset, and I kinda chewed out the Travelocity guy. I know it wasn't his fault, but I needed him to see that it was Travelocity's fault. Granted, I should have called to confirm (it was the one reservation I didn't call about...go figure), but Travelocity had all of the tools...they just didn't come through. To make a long story short, after an hour on the phone Travelocity booked us on a direct flight to Honolulu and ate the difference between my original price and the price of the new tickets (they ate over $3300). By now, my nerves are shot, and I'm pretty antsy all the way up until we get checked into the hotel.
The flight was nice...for a 7 hour flight. We got there and took the Airport Waikiki Express (info here) to our hotel, which was a nice deal ($14 round trip for each of us). We stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (details here) on rewards points. It was a pretty decent hotel. The rooms were nice, but you are really paying for location on this one. Here's the view from our balcony on the 14th floor:
We got there pretty late in the afternoon, so we just kinda walked the beach. We managed to catch a pretty awesome sunset though:
The rest of the night we spent recuperating from the 4 hour time zone lag.
Day 2
On Day 2 we got up and laid out on the beach for a while. I'm a bit too high-strung to lay around for forever, but we had a nice time. We went out pretty early, so we didn't have to deal with the crowds. After that, we went and picked up our rental car...an 05 Mustang Convertible! I got a good deal from being a Marriott Rewards member, so check on that if/when you go.
We put the top down and headed out to the Polynesian Cultural Center in La'ie (www.polynesia.com). It was a spectacular drive. We took the most direct route, but saw some wonderful scenery. We arrived shortly after the PCC opened, and it was a good thing! If you buy a package ticket you can come back for a total of 3 days, and if you have time, you really should. There is TONS to do and see. The PCC is really a pretty neat place. I initially bristled at the price (we got the Ali'i Luau, which was $80 per person), but you really get your money's worth. Most of the presentations are interactive...we danced/played/made lots of different things, and there were tons of shows to see. We also visited the La'ie Temple Visitors Center, which was a wonderful experience. This is one of the few shots of us together that we got on our entire trip (something about handing our camera to a stranger on the beach...):
On the way back we managed to persuade the driver to drop us off at BYU-Hawaii so we could walk around a bit. It was cool being there, and we bought a few shirts and made our way back. By that time the canoe show was going on, where they dance in the middle of the river on canoe-born platforms. It was a cool show, and just a hint of what was to come later. The Luau was amazing! It was buffet-style, so naturally we ate until we were sick. That's also where we got our coveted flower leis. They were beautiful. The Luau also featured a pretty nice show, and we got to go up and dance on stage for celebrating our anniversary. They also had a group performing from Japan...pretty neat!
After that we went to the Horizons show, which was a great experience. I'm not going to post up any pics of that (I'll leave it to Meredith), but it was really neat.
Since the night was pretty much spent, we headed back to the hotel.
Day 3
We got up early on Day 3 in order to hit the USS Arizona Memorial before our car rental ran out (we ended up making it back with about 8 minutes to spare!). When you go, be prepared to spend nearly half the day there, between standing in line, waiting for your group to be called, and then to partake in the movie and finally going to the memorial itself.
I really enjoyed going to the memorial, but not in the same way that I enjoyed the other places. To be perfectly honest, as I'm writing this now, I'm holding back tears. It was a very emotional place for me, as were the Arlington National Cemetery, the WWII Memorial and the Enola Gay exhibit in D.C. I'm something of a WWII history buff. For some reason the stories of the men and women that were willing to lay down their lives for their families and the freedoms they enjoy really touch me. And these men...struck down with little or no warning...I just don't have words. I guess their loss saddens me, and at the same time I feel an immense pride for being one of their countrymen. Being on the Memorial itself, I fought back tears the entire time, especially at looking at the wall full of names of those who perished on this ship alone. I have to confess that it made me almost a little angry seeing people taking smiling photos on the Memorial...you don't do that kind of stuff in a cemetery. We don't have many photos from that place, again because I'm such a baby about it, but here's one of the memorial from the shore:
One of the disappointments from the trip was not being able to visit the USS Missouri (seen on the left of the Arizona Memorial in the above photo), which was the site of the Japanese surrender at the end of the war, but again, we'll do that on another trip.
The rest of the day we spent exploring the countless shops along Waikiki, including the International Market. That place reminded me a lot of the fairs in Brazil...most of the stuff comes from China. It isn't bad stuff, but not the highest quality ever. The good news is that you can haggle prices, so we got a couple of good deals. We also hit Hard Rock Cafe and picked up another set of souvenir glasses (we're up to 6 now) with our meal.
Day 4
We were going to try to hit Hanauma Bay on day 4 at the behest of our friends, but that's really something we should have done on day 1 or 2. It was just too stressful to do it on our last day...especially since we had to check out. Again, next time.
We kinda just goofed off on our last day. We went to the zoo, which was actually pretty cool (I'll let Meredith talk more about it), and walked Waikiki again. We found a cool restaurant called Cheeseburger in Paradise (named after the song we're guessing, but there were thankfully no mentions of Jimmy Buffet anywhere (NOTE: I know that since I grew up in Florida I should like him more, but the only dose I can take of him at this point is about 2 lines of a song at a time. They overplayed him a little bit on the radio down in FL, and I'm still getting over it. The same with Journey and the Eagles. Amazing bands, yes. But I can't handle them in large doses.)). The burger was among the best I've ever had, and we just had a good time.
Well, after that, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, and waited for the shuttle. The rest you can probably guess...pretty standard return trip stuff. One cool thing we did was upload our pictures to Costco's photo center on the web from our hotel room on Thursday morning. When we got back on Friday morning (overnight flight), we just ran into Costco and grabbed them. Easy as pie!
Like I said at the beginning, we really loved our trip. It was nice to spend some time with Meredith, and remember how much I really love her company. Hopefully we can get back to Hawaii someday, but if not we have some really great memories.
Aloha and Mahalo (thanks)!
Steve
Day 1
This was the most "exciting" day, but not in a good way. We got up early to go to the airport, and it was a good thing we did, because we went to check in at the self-checkin (being the savvy travellers that we are) and there was no reservation for us. OK, a little nervous. We go to the desk, and they basically say that a ticket was never issued for us. Now we're panicked. I call up Travelocity (who I used to buy the tickets back in MARCH), and they say that indeed the tickets were never issued. Meanwhile, Meredith is checking up on how much it would cost us to get tickets on the spot. Try $4400! We're pretty upset, and I kinda chewed out the Travelocity guy. I know it wasn't his fault, but I needed him to see that it was Travelocity's fault. Granted, I should have called to confirm (it was the one reservation I didn't call about...go figure), but Travelocity had all of the tools...they just didn't come through. To make a long story short, after an hour on the phone Travelocity booked us on a direct flight to Honolulu and ate the difference between my original price and the price of the new tickets (they ate over $3300). By now, my nerves are shot, and I'm pretty antsy all the way up until we get checked into the hotel.
The flight was nice...for a 7 hour flight. We got there and took the Airport Waikiki Express (info here) to our hotel, which was a nice deal ($14 round trip for each of us). We stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (details here) on rewards points. It was a pretty decent hotel. The rooms were nice, but you are really paying for location on this one. Here's the view from our balcony on the 14th floor:
We got there pretty late in the afternoon, so we just kinda walked the beach. We managed to catch a pretty awesome sunset though:
The rest of the night we spent recuperating from the 4 hour time zone lag.
Day 2
On Day 2 we got up and laid out on the beach for a while. I'm a bit too high-strung to lay around for forever, but we had a nice time. We went out pretty early, so we didn't have to deal with the crowds. After that, we went and picked up our rental car...an 05 Mustang Convertible! I got a good deal from being a Marriott Rewards member, so check on that if/when you go.
We put the top down and headed out to the Polynesian Cultural Center in La'ie (www.polynesia.com). It was a spectacular drive. We took the most direct route, but saw some wonderful scenery. We arrived shortly after the PCC opened, and it was a good thing! If you buy a package ticket you can come back for a total of 3 days, and if you have time, you really should. There is TONS to do and see. The PCC is really a pretty neat place. I initially bristled at the price (we got the Ali'i Luau, which was $80 per person), but you really get your money's worth. Most of the presentations are interactive...we danced/played/made lots of different things, and there were tons of shows to see. We also visited the La'ie Temple Visitors Center, which was a wonderful experience. This is one of the few shots of us together that we got on our entire trip (something about handing our camera to a stranger on the beach...):
On the way back we managed to persuade the driver to drop us off at BYU-Hawaii so we could walk around a bit. It was cool being there, and we bought a few shirts and made our way back. By that time the canoe show was going on, where they dance in the middle of the river on canoe-born platforms. It was a cool show, and just a hint of what was to come later. The Luau was amazing! It was buffet-style, so naturally we ate until we were sick. That's also where we got our coveted flower leis. They were beautiful. The Luau also featured a pretty nice show, and we got to go up and dance on stage for celebrating our anniversary. They also had a group performing from Japan...pretty neat!
After that we went to the Horizons show, which was a great experience. I'm not going to post up any pics of that (I'll leave it to Meredith), but it was really neat.
Since the night was pretty much spent, we headed back to the hotel.
Day 3
We got up early on Day 3 in order to hit the USS Arizona Memorial before our car rental ran out (we ended up making it back with about 8 minutes to spare!). When you go, be prepared to spend nearly half the day there, between standing in line, waiting for your group to be called, and then to partake in the movie and finally going to the memorial itself.
I really enjoyed going to the memorial, but not in the same way that I enjoyed the other places. To be perfectly honest, as I'm writing this now, I'm holding back tears. It was a very emotional place for me, as were the Arlington National Cemetery, the WWII Memorial and the Enola Gay exhibit in D.C. I'm something of a WWII history buff. For some reason the stories of the men and women that were willing to lay down their lives for their families and the freedoms they enjoy really touch me. And these men...struck down with little or no warning...I just don't have words. I guess their loss saddens me, and at the same time I feel an immense pride for being one of their countrymen. Being on the Memorial itself, I fought back tears the entire time, especially at looking at the wall full of names of those who perished on this ship alone. I have to confess that it made me almost a little angry seeing people taking smiling photos on the Memorial...you don't do that kind of stuff in a cemetery. We don't have many photos from that place, again because I'm such a baby about it, but here's one of the memorial from the shore:
One of the disappointments from the trip was not being able to visit the USS Missouri (seen on the left of the Arizona Memorial in the above photo), which was the site of the Japanese surrender at the end of the war, but again, we'll do that on another trip.
The rest of the day we spent exploring the countless shops along Waikiki, including the International Market. That place reminded me a lot of the fairs in Brazil...most of the stuff comes from China. It isn't bad stuff, but not the highest quality ever. The good news is that you can haggle prices, so we got a couple of good deals. We also hit Hard Rock Cafe and picked up another set of souvenir glasses (we're up to 6 now) with our meal.
Day 4
We were going to try to hit Hanauma Bay on day 4 at the behest of our friends, but that's really something we should have done on day 1 or 2. It was just too stressful to do it on our last day...especially since we had to check out. Again, next time.
We kinda just goofed off on our last day. We went to the zoo, which was actually pretty cool (I'll let Meredith talk more about it), and walked Waikiki again. We found a cool restaurant called Cheeseburger in Paradise (named after the song we're guessing, but there were thankfully no mentions of Jimmy Buffet anywhere (NOTE: I know that since I grew up in Florida I should like him more, but the only dose I can take of him at this point is about 2 lines of a song at a time. They overplayed him a little bit on the radio down in FL, and I'm still getting over it. The same with Journey and the Eagles. Amazing bands, yes. But I can't handle them in large doses.)). The burger was among the best I've ever had, and we just had a good time.
Well, after that, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, and waited for the shuttle. The rest you can probably guess...pretty standard return trip stuff. One cool thing we did was upload our pictures to Costco's photo center on the web from our hotel room on Thursday morning. When we got back on Friday morning (overnight flight), we just ran into Costco and grabbed them. Easy as pie!
Like I said at the beginning, we really loved our trip. It was nice to spend some time with Meredith, and remember how much I really love her company. Hopefully we can get back to Hawaii someday, but if not we have some really great memories.
Aloha and Mahalo (thanks)!
Steve
Congrats Brian and Alicia!
Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. We've been really busy around here. First, I registered for a graduate class this Fall, which I'm not really looking forward to, but know that if I don't do it now, I'll never finish.
However, the big event this past week was the wedding of Brian and Alicia (my sister). We flew out to WA on Thursday, went to the Wedding and Reception on Friday, and helped take the tables and chairs back to the rental place before hopping on a plane on Saturday. We had a really good time, and Meredith took some excellent photos. You can find them here. My chief contributions were decorating the car (which is in the pictures) and impersonating Napoleon Dynamite. Sweet!
Anyways, it was a great trip. I was so happy for Alicia to find someone so great like Brian that I actually got pretty weepy at the wedding. I wasn't expecting it...it just happened. So I'm one of those dorks that cries at weddings. Sue me. Oh, and I found a new tactic for dealing with Road Rage. A girl kinda cut me off, and I could see that she was mouthing me, so I just stuck my tongue out. It was great.
Well, wasn't that a fairly random post? Hope you enjoyed it. By the way, if you're curious about what it means to Latter-Day Saints to be married in the Temple, read this article. Hopefully it can shed some light on just why we build these buildings with the gold guys on top (that's Moroni, just so you know).
Thanks for reading!
Steve
However, the big event this past week was the wedding of Brian and Alicia (my sister). We flew out to WA on Thursday, went to the Wedding and Reception on Friday, and helped take the tables and chairs back to the rental place before hopping on a plane on Saturday. We had a really good time, and Meredith took some excellent photos. You can find them here. My chief contributions were decorating the car (which is in the pictures) and impersonating Napoleon Dynamite. Sweet!
Anyways, it was a great trip. I was so happy for Alicia to find someone so great like Brian that I actually got pretty weepy at the wedding. I wasn't expecting it...it just happened. So I'm one of those dorks that cries at weddings. Sue me. Oh, and I found a new tactic for dealing with Road Rage. A girl kinda cut me off, and I could see that she was mouthing me, so I just stuck my tongue out. It was great.
Well, wasn't that a fairly random post? Hope you enjoyed it. By the way, if you're curious about what it means to Latter-Day Saints to be married in the Temple, read this article. Hopefully it can shed some light on just why we build these buildings with the gold guys on top (that's Moroni, just so you know).
Thanks for reading!
Steve
Summer Concert
Warp coils and borg nanoprobes. Now that my episode of Star Trek Voyager is done I can finally focus on writing about my latest highlight of the week: my experience at Dom and Jane's Summer Concert. Thanks to living in a big city, I have come to appreciate the joys of having live entertainment easily accessible. As my fourth concert in Denver and sixth ever, (Barry Manilow was the first concert I ever saw, but that is another story)...I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks to Steve's passion for music I went to the concert recognizing most of the songs. In all there were three performing groups, but needless to say we were there for Collective Soul. I was surrounded by individuals bopping their heads and raising their hands to the beat. Feeling a bit out of place, as I normally do when everyone around me is so good at dancing and swaying in place, I finally let my hair down and enjoyed it. There is something liberating when you are in a group of 3,000 all singing the same song. Even though I didn't know all the words, I still had a great time and it was an opportunity to share in one of Steven's hobbies.
Me and Steve Rocking Out !!!
Our new website
Hi! Well, we have a slick little counter on the side of this website that not only tracks hits, but also tells us what website referred the user to ours. Having looked at the results, it seems that there is a gap in the website offerings for Denver Night Life. We're not exactly the biggest movers and shakers out there, but we do like to eat out once in a while, and we really love movies. Some of our friends from work hit the clubs occasionally, so I've asked one of them to help us out with that side of things. Like I said on that side, it's going to focus on the entertainment aspect rather than the drinking, but I think it'll still be useful. Well, you can find it at www.denvernightlife.net...dot-com was taken by someone who wanted a lot of money, so we ditched that one. Again, if you visit, let us know what you think. That website, much more than this one, is devoted to the visitors...it's nothing without you.
Well, thanks for visiting again.
Steve
Well, thanks for visiting again.
Steve
Snowmass and Aspen
We made it back, and I thought I'd post up a few pics of our trip. It was all in all a fun time, though we didn't get to go downhill biking (even though I love riding a bike way too fast down the side of a rocky mountain, braking the entire way, I wasn't too broken up about it). However, we did get to ride the lift to the top and take some pretty nice pictures. TIP: If you like doing this kind of stuff, Snowmass has FREE lift tickets all summer. You can ride to the top, hike around for a while, and then hop on it to ride back down. OK, now the pictures.
First, here's a picture of Meredith and I. I figure we were due to post up a pic.
We also drove up to Aspen on Saturday evening. Wowzers...those people have some serious cash. I could tell that by the fact that when I drove by a cop pulling someone over, I noticed that the cop was driving a SAAB! No Crown Vic's up there. Unfortunately none of the Aspen pics I took turned out very well (dusk is tough), but it was a beautiful place.
Well, that's about it. Oh, and it was a blast driving the Mustang up through the mountains. In spite of the climbs to Eisenhower tunnel, I made 27.1 MPG (amazing for a Mustang) and absolutely blasted by most of the people in the climb (at least the ones I could get around)...doing just over the speed limit!
Thanks for reading. I personally really like the cloud picture and am using it for my wallpaper. If you want a wallpaper sized image of any of these, email me and let me know what resolution you want so I can email you the right size. If there's enough interest, I'll post them up.
That's all for now. Have a good week!
Steve
Get more info at Snowmass Website.
First, here's a picture of Meredith and I. I figure we were due to post up a pic.
OK, so now some assorted pics of the mountainside:
We also drove up to Aspen on Saturday evening. Wowzers...those people have some serious cash. I could tell that by the fact that when I drove by a cop pulling someone over, I noticed that the cop was driving a SAAB! No Crown Vic's up there. Unfortunately none of the Aspen pics I took turned out very well (dusk is tough), but it was a beautiful place.
Well, that's about it. Oh, and it was a blast driving the Mustang up through the mountains. In spite of the climbs to Eisenhower tunnel, I made 27.1 MPG (amazing for a Mustang) and absolutely blasted by most of the people in the climb (at least the ones I could get around)...doing just over the speed limit!
Thanks for reading. I personally really like the cloud picture and am using it for my wallpaper. If you want a wallpaper sized image of any of these, email me and let me know what resolution you want so I can email you the right size. If there's enough interest, I'll post them up.
That's all for now. Have a good week!
Steve
Get more info at Snowmass Website.
A quick post from Snowmass
Well, I'll make it quick, but I just thought I'd come on here and say hello. This has been a relatively uneventful week, but in a refreshing way. I don't like running around all the time...it's nice to have some calm. Having said that, I'm currently writing this in a condo in Snowmass, CO (close to Aspen). We're out here for a work-related convention for Meredith, so I get to barrel down the mountain on a bike (more on that later) while she's sitting in classes. It's beautiful country...if it weren't so far from Denver (about 4 and a half hours), I'd highly recommend the drive.
Well, time for bed. Oh, and I just wanted to say welcome to all of our first time visitors. I've noticed the hit counter pinging up, and just wanted to say that all of your visits (not just the first timers) really make doing this worthwhile. Use the comments section to let us know what you want info on, and if we've got it, we'll put it up!
Adieu,
Steve
Well, time for bed. Oh, and I just wanted to say welcome to all of our first time visitors. I've noticed the hit counter pinging up, and just wanted to say that all of your visits (not just the first timers) really make doing this worthwhile. Use the comments section to let us know what you want info on, and if we've got it, we'll put it up!
Adieu,
Steve
Havin' fun!
Well, here we are again, in the middle of yet another week. It sure is funny how we perceive the passage of time. Some days seem like they'll never end, and so we don't feel any loss at the end of a day. But how we mourn years!
That's enough philosophy for me. This week hasn't been anything particularly special. We did go see the Fireworks display at the Rockies game. It was really great, but after the game started late and went eleven innings, we didn't get home until about midnight. That's a bit late for me on a work night, and I paid for it the next day, but it was definitely one of the best displays I've seen. Wow...a post about Denver Life! Go figure!
Other than that, I've just been getting packages. I got some money for my birthday, so I ordered some mostly useless stuff (that's the best kind of stuff to get for your birthday...stuff that you'd never buy with your own money, but that you want) and it's been trickling in.
Meredith and I started an exercise program tonight. We're trying to look good for our upcoming Hawaii vacation, and so we've kind of kicked it into high gear. We probably can't make much of a difference before then, but at least we can establish good habits. It's never too late for that.
Blah blah blah...are you still here? No way! Well, that's all for now...by the way, I changed the settings on this page so that anyone who feels like it can post comments about our ramblings, so if you feel like it, go for it! We reserve the right to delete/edit any rude/embarrassing comments, so watch the swears and the goofy stories, but please...let us know what you think! Or maybe just me, since that other "contributor" hasn't done much. :)
Steve
That's enough philosophy for me. This week hasn't been anything particularly special. We did go see the Fireworks display at the Rockies game. It was really great, but after the game started late and went eleven innings, we didn't get home until about midnight. That's a bit late for me on a work night, and I paid for it the next day, but it was definitely one of the best displays I've seen. Wow...a post about Denver Life! Go figure!
Other than that, I've just been getting packages. I got some money for my birthday, so I ordered some mostly useless stuff (that's the best kind of stuff to get for your birthday...stuff that you'd never buy with your own money, but that you want) and it's been trickling in.
Meredith and I started an exercise program tonight. We're trying to look good for our upcoming Hawaii vacation, and so we've kind of kicked it into high gear. We probably can't make much of a difference before then, but at least we can establish good habits. It's never too late for that.
Blah blah blah...are you still here? No way! Well, that's all for now...by the way, I changed the settings on this page so that anyone who feels like it can post comments about our ramblings, so if you feel like it, go for it! We reserve the right to delete/edit any rude/embarrassing comments, so watch the swears and the goofy stories, but please...let us know what you think! Or maybe just me, since that other "contributor" hasn't done much. :)
Steve
Birthday!
Well...I don't really know what to write about this week. It was a reasonably eventful week...after all, I had a birthday. It just doesn't seem that interesting to write about, let alone read. Just for posterity's sake, we went to Red Robin on my birthday with one of my friends from work (more were supposed to come, but cellphone technical difficulties claimed a couple of other people). We had a good lunch, but other than that, really didn't do anything big. We cleaned up our place, which was nice (we've been needing to do it for awhile). I also ordered some final dress-up parts for my car. To be perfectly honest, my patience for pure dress-up is wearing incredibly thin. I like functional stuff...eye candy, especially eye candy under the hood, is pretty meaningless. The only things I can really see myself doing this year are tinting the windows (functional) and getting new wheels and snow tires in the winter (functional). I don't want to pour all my money into my car...after all, the new Xbox comes out this winter! (http://www.xbox360.com) So anyway...it was a good day. I don't really feel different, but I didn't expect to either.
Well that's it. Oh, we bought some more accessories for that mixer. Can you believe I would write about that twice? I can't. Oh well...if you made it this far, you must really like us, so you don't mind me blathering on.
Thanks for coming back...we really appreciate it.
Well that's it. Oh, we bought some more accessories for that mixer. Can you believe I would write about that twice? I can't. Oh well...if you made it this far, you must really like us, so you don't mind me blathering on.
Thanks for coming back...we really appreciate it.
Finally!
Finally!!! I have decided to honor this website with my very own posting. See Steve, I will write on here once in a while. Yes, I suppose there hasn't been much going on since my little trip to Steamboat. My sunburn is a little better but I may have to take up Steve's suggestion of getting a fake tan so that the random spots of burnt/brown skin aren't so noticable. It really isn't a pretty sight.I am really enjoying my new calling as Beehive Advisor at our church. I get to teach and hang out with girls ages 12 to 13. They shouldn't be too boy crazy, right? I think I still liked Barbie Dolls when I was that age. Well till next time. TTFN
A week goes by...
Well, to be perfectly honest, not a heck of a lot has transpired this past week. However, for continuity's sake, I thought I'd jot down a few things.
Most notably, I got released from the Elders Quorum Presidency at church. I couldn't help but feel a bit sad...I think I could have done better at some things, but there is nowhere to go but forward, so I'll just do that. The new Presidency will do great...they are great guys. Meredith's calling also changed...she is now the Beehive Advisor at Church, rather than the Mia Maid advisor (which is what she was before). I'm sure she'll do great. I also found out that one of the younger men in our quorum will be serving his mission in the same mission that I did! I'm thrilled to tell him about the wonderful Bahia.
Other than that, we are in the middle of two birthdays. Meredith's happened while we were out at the Mustang Roundup, and mine is this weekend. I've already gotten a couple of my gifts...I blew one of my speakers in my home setup, and through Meredith's help, got a new 7.1 setup that originally went for about $300 for about $95. I also received some money, which helped to buy us a new (well, refurbished) Artisan mixer. I'm not much of a kitchen appliance person, but this mixer is pretty cool. I made brownies with it yesterday (again, a rare occurrence)...it was way easy.
Well, what a waste. I don't think any of this has been truly useful, but like I said, the key to forming a habit is repetition.
Ate mais (literally "Until more"),
Steve
Most notably, I got released from the Elders Quorum Presidency at church. I couldn't help but feel a bit sad...I think I could have done better at some things, but there is nowhere to go but forward, so I'll just do that. The new Presidency will do great...they are great guys. Meredith's calling also changed...she is now the Beehive Advisor at Church, rather than the Mia Maid advisor (which is what she was before). I'm sure she'll do great. I also found out that one of the younger men in our quorum will be serving his mission in the same mission that I did! I'm thrilled to tell him about the wonderful Bahia.
Other than that, we are in the middle of two birthdays. Meredith's happened while we were out at the Mustang Roundup, and mine is this weekend. I've already gotten a couple of my gifts...I blew one of my speakers in my home setup, and through Meredith's help, got a new 7.1 setup that originally went for about $300 for about $95. I also received some money, which helped to buy us a new (well, refurbished) Artisan mixer. I'm not much of a kitchen appliance person, but this mixer is pretty cool. I made brownies with it yesterday (again, a rare occurrence)...it was way easy.
Well, what a waste. I don't think any of this has been truly useful, but like I said, the key to forming a habit is repetition.
Ate mais (literally "Until more"),
Steve
Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup
All right...first real post. Late last year I got my dream car...a 2005 Mustang GT. A friend of mine at work (and fellow Mustang enthusiast) told me about a big event called the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup (http://www.rmmr.org/) that is held every year. To make a long story short, I signed up for the Show n' Shine competition, not being much of a racer myself.
So we went, after washing and waxing the car. It was a beautiful trip out to Steamboat Springs...some of the most beautiful scenery in this part of the country. We stayed at the Steamboat Grand (http://www.steamboatgrand.com/), which was really amazing. The organizers put on a nice hospitality dinner, and after that we returned to the parking garage to clean off bug guts and do a little finishing work. This is where my wife made all the difference--she really dug in and cleaned the car like it has never been cleaned before.
So the next day we got up early and drove to the Meadows lot for staging, since there were over 400 cars in the show. It was really cool in fact...we were a bit early, so we waited until our class came up. When they flipped it down, we hurried and ended up first in line for staging.
As a function of being first in line, we also got to lead the group of 05 Mustangs to the show area. After we parked, we once again started to clean. After we got to a satisfying level of cleanliness (or at least to where we were tired and out of towels), we sat back and watched the people come by.
It was a long day...about 8 hours of sitting in the sun. We got judged, and we watched them pick at things like water spots under the taillights. I didn't think we'd get anything, so I convinced myself that I'd just stay at the awards ceremony until they called our class and then leave. WE WON! Well, it's not like we were number one out of a million...they gave out awards to the top 40% from each class, which amounted to 4 awards in ours. But we were up against some pretty stiff competition, so we feel good about it. I have to say it's all due to Meredith's persistence...I would have given up way earlier.
Well that's it. I'm sure it was riveting entertainment, but I enjoyed it. Maybe I'll post up some more pictures of the event later.
So we went, after washing and waxing the car. It was a beautiful trip out to Steamboat Springs...some of the most beautiful scenery in this part of the country. We stayed at the Steamboat Grand (http://www.steamboatgrand.com/), which was really amazing. The organizers put on a nice hospitality dinner, and after that we returned to the parking garage to clean off bug guts and do a little finishing work. This is where my wife made all the difference--she really dug in and cleaned the car like it has never been cleaned before.
So the next day we got up early and drove to the Meadows lot for staging, since there were over 400 cars in the show. It was really cool in fact...we were a bit early, so we waited until our class came up. When they flipped it down, we hurried and ended up first in line for staging.
As a function of being first in line, we also got to lead the group of 05 Mustangs to the show area. After we parked, we once again started to clean. After we got to a satisfying level of cleanliness (or at least to where we were tired and out of towels), we sat back and watched the people come by.
It was a long day...about 8 hours of sitting in the sun. We got judged, and we watched them pick at things like water spots under the taillights. I didn't think we'd get anything, so I convinced myself that I'd just stay at the awards ceremony until they called our class and then leave. WE WON! Well, it's not like we were number one out of a million...they gave out awards to the top 40% from each class, which amounted to 4 awards in ours. But we were up against some pretty stiff competition, so we feel good about it. I have to say it's all due to Meredith's persistence...I would have given up way earlier.
Well that's it. I'm sure it was riveting entertainment, but I enjoyed it. Maybe I'll post up some more pictures of the event later.
Here we go...
Well, if you've been here before, you've noticed that this site has been under construction for like, well, forever. I had aspirations at one time of creating some sort of cool website where people would be able to find some good info on living in Denver--where to shop, where to eat, where to live, etc. However, that just never happened for me, given the two primary reasons that (a) my writer (my wife Meredith, who will hopefully be posting as well) never got around to it, and (b) I was never happy with my web design.
So here we are, with one of those stupid blogs. I hope for this to be much more than a blog...one of my friends suggested that I have a site where I could upload pictures, and with family ranging the country, that sounds like a good idea to me. I also figure that I can somehow fulfill my original intent for this website by chronicling the things that we do, and thereby show the fun things there are to do around here.
Well, that's enough for now...we just got back from a weekend trip to Steamboat Springs (more on that later) and I need to unpack. I'll try to fill in some details later...so until then, Tchau!
So here we are, with one of those stupid
Well, that's enough for now...we just got back from a weekend trip to Steamboat Springs (more on that later) and I need to unpack. I'll try to fill in some details later...so until then, Tchau!
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