Category: Special

Sometimes, life isn’t general.

Nine Years!

I think I may have said it before, but when I started this all I had no life, which gave me nothing to say but all the time in the world to say it.  Now, I have a life, am doing stuff, but always have something better to do that write it all down.  That and Facebook gets most of the little updates now.  I do mourn the loss of my record, that I could look back on when something happened, or reminisce about whatever event.  It would be nice if I kept that up.

Regardless, today is nine years since I began the blog, and it will stay only for at least another year.  I will put some thought into what happens beyond that over the next year though.  Does it get converted to some different format, does it stay online, do I start using it for another purpose, or does it all just get archived to my hard drive?  I have a year to decide.

In life type stuff, for those unaware, I have a permanent job (since July), a house (since September), and a dog (since November).  All are going well.

So, thats about all I have for now.  Too much to update on everything thats happened in the months since I posted, so I will just leave it here.

If you actually read this, let me know, so I have an idea of weather anybody reads and how worth it continuing to post would actually be.

nick

Experimental

So, just for fun, I am posting from my iPhone. Yes, I have a new iPhone. I need to set the blog back to the the homepage, now that I have a permanent job and don’t need to advertise for myself anymore. Also, on October 30, we would be at six months since my last update, so something here was needed. Hopefully more soon. Nick

Seven Years

So, it was seven years ago tonight that I started my blog.  Since then, I have posted over 587 entries (I say over because some have been deleted, but the current number of entries, not including this one, is 587) containing just shy of 171,000 words.  Unfortunately, I seem to have lost interest over the past two years or so.  Some changes are coming, I am sure of that, but I don’t see an end.  Yes, few people blog anymore, (and I seem to be becoming one of them) but I was never one to follow the crowd.  I can certainly see a 10th anniversary celebration in three years.

In other news, April is now the second month to contain zero posts (Nov 2009 was the first).  May could well have suffered the same fate if not for the Blogversary.

In jobs news, I had an interview today that went rather well, have a phone interview Tuesday as well.  Still no response from the Sandusky or GR interviews last month.

In an attempt to improve my job chances, we decided to move closer to where they seem to be, and have been living in Grand Rapids (Comstock Park, to be exact) for nearly three weeks now.  We moved in on May 8, having gotten the keys on the 7th and signed on the 3rd.  It does seem to be helping, based on the two interviews I mentioned above.  It is also nice having so much more around to do and see than we had in Big Rapids.

Jenn and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary (of “going out”) on May 13 by going to Kobe, which we thought would be like Genji but wasn’t as good.  We also celebrated our 6 month anniversary (since the wedding) on April 10 by making a meal at home, of shrimp scampi and sautéed vegetables (note: the OS X spell checker put in that accent mark itself).

Apple’s  iPad is certainly making some noise.  I have played with one and though I was originally in the “what the hell is it?” camp, I have to say it is pretty awesome.  Yes, it has its flaws like no multitasking (until fall) and no user accessible file system, but it does 90% of even what I do on a computer.  I can see it covering everything a person needs for several people I know.

In other news…

Yeah, I lead a rather boring life.  I wish I could think of more but I can’t right now.

So, hopefully I will have some good news to post soon, but until then I am out.

Wedding, Part 3 – Honeymoon

So, I left off at us getting home on Monday the 12th.  We stayed home Tuesday, then Wednesday left for Bay City to drop Jenn’s dress off at Clayton’s to be cleaned and preserved and leave her bouquet with my Mom to preserve it.  From there we drove to Novi to shop Twelve Oaks.  We arrived at the mall but decided to go look for a hotel first.  We found a nice hotel in Waterford, checked in, then went to dinner at Mitchell’s Fish Market in Birmingham.  After dinner, we decided to skip the mall and went back to the hotel for the night.

Thursday, we headed to the Detroit Zoo for the morning, which was rather dead due to being off season, a weekday morning, and rather cold out.  Still, we had fun, and saw some cool reptiles and amphibians.  Next we headed further down Woodward right downtown to Greektown.  You can tell you are heading deep into Detroit when you  stop seeing McDonalds and see only White Castle, Popeye’s, and Church’s.  So, we had lunch at the Greektown Casino buffet, played in the casino for a little while, then went out to the street and stopped at a bakery for some baklava.  From there, we left Detroit via 94 and headed down 23 to Dundee to walk around Cabella’s.  We went through the St. Julian Winery outlet, and walked around Cabella’s, then headed north to Milan for the night.

Friday we woke up and headed up to Howell to shop the outlet.  Picked up some cool stuff, then headed over to Okemos to shop the mall there.  I got two dress shirts and ties at a really good deal, and we stopped at Big John’s for lunch.  From there, we headed home for the weekend.

Tuesday, the 20th, I had an interview at Grand Rapids Spring and Stamping, which Jenn drove down to with me.  Interview was short, and I still haven’t heard back from it, so not seeming very promising.  We then dropped Jenn’s computer off at the Apple Store to have the palm rest repaired (free, even out of warranty, awesome).

Wednesday, we returned to GR to pick up her computer and drool over the new 20 and 27” iMacs. Also stopped at Robinette’s Orchard.  Tasted some wines, got some apples, had some doughnuts and cider, had a good time.

Thursday night, Jenn went back to work, and the honeymoon officially ended.  The week and a half since have been rather uneventful.  Applied to a couple more jobs, asked for info from Western Michigan on grad programs, not too much else.

In all, over 2 weeks, we visited Alpena, Arenac, Bay, Clare, Clinton, Crawford, Eaton, Genesee, Ingham, Ionia, Iosco, Isabella, Kent, Livingston, Macomb, Mecosta, Midland, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Oakland, Osceola, Oscoda, Roscommon, Saginaw, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.  Quite a list.

We got a new neighbor upstairs yesterday, apartment had been empty since August.  Kind of strange someone moving in in late October in a college town, but whatever.

So, that would be about it.

nick

Wedding, Part 2

So, where did I leave off…

About 4:30 Saturday we headed over to the Tiki Bar to wait for the ceremony.  Chris, Todd, Scott, and I waited there chatting and directing people initially to where the ceremony would be, but the weather wasn’t really cooperating.  So, we started pointing people into the restaurant to wait inside.  Come 4:50 I sent them all down to their chairs and Todd and Chris got them all seated.  Several other people who were staying at Garland for other reasons realized a wedding was getting underway and started offering shots and drinks, and hanging out on the patio to watch.  About 5:00, planned start time, Louann came by and I asked “We all ready?” to which she applied “Not exactly, have you seen Pastor Toby?”  Hmm, of all the things that can go wrong at a wedding, the top three include crappy weather (check), missing bride or groom (good there), or missing minister (check).  So, we wait for him, until about 5:15 when I go and let everybody know whats going on, and ask them for 5 more minutes.  As I walk back up to the patio, I look behind and see not a single person in a seat.  Oh well, it was cold out.  So, just as we all get back into the restaurant, it starts to rain.  It had been a light sprinkle, but was getting heavier.  Then, we notice, it changed over to snow.  Louann continued to run between her office calling our minister, and me and Jenn giving updates.  She called her own pastor and asked him to come up as a replacement.  Around 5:45, Jenn called me and asked if we want to move it inside, and I agreed.  So, we moved everybody from the restaurant to the Great Room (where the reception was to be held) to take their seats there.

Standing outside the Great Room, a minister comes up to me and starts explaining he is the replacement.  Louann quickly comes over and escorts him away, explaining to me that he is our ministers replacement and that her replacement was also there.  We had already mentioned that should both arrive, we wanted to go with hers, as we weren’t really happy with Toby.  So, I spoke briefly with the DJ and new minister about how Jenn and I wanted things to go, and at about 6:00, an hour behind schedule, we got under way.

We were married in front of the fireplace, which was lit, in the Great Room.  Several people later remarked that it was beautiful, and we should have planned that from the beginning.  Jenn and I then took our leave for pictures and returned at 7:00 to begin dinner.  Following dinner was our dance, Jenn and her Dad’s dance, and the wedding party dance.  Rest of the night all went to plan, with everyone having a wonderful time.  Around 11:30 most people were gone so we sent the DJ home, helped with some of the cleanup, and Jenn and I went to our villa to open cards and relax.

Sunday, we met up with a couple people, packed, and then took Todd and Ashley to breakfast in Lewiston.  We saw some guys from Ferris there also so chatted with them for about an hour, then all went our separate ways.  Jenn and I headed over to Alpena to separate what was ours from her parents from what her sister wanted for her upcoming wedding in June.  We opened our gifts there also, then headed back across to Gaylord, where we stayed for the night.  Monday morning, it was back in the car and we headed home where we stayed for two whole nights before running off again.

So, honeymoon to come tomorrow.  Though, pictures of it are already on Facebook.

Wedding

So, last Wednesday Jenn and I packed up and headed out on the road.  First stop was in Bay City to drop off a few items to make room in the car, as my Mom and Sue said they would bring them up for us.  Then, we headed south to Romulus and checked into our hotel right across from the airport.  It was kind of cool, because the planes heading to DTW flew rather close, and we got to see them closer than anybody normally would.  After checking in and resting for an hour or so, we headed over to Ann Arbor and ate some Joe’s Crab Shack (amazing place, I had never been there but Jenn had with her mom) and then to the Ann Arbor Mall for some bumming.  We also went to Moose Jaw and REI looking for my Julbo Sherpa’s, but I decided they were just a little too out there, even for me.  Whole Foods was next to REI, so we also walked around there.  Quite an interesting store, not like your ordinary super market.  Wish there was one closer to us, their selection would be nice to have.  After that, we drove through DTW to make sure Jenn could find the pickup area and headed back to the hotel.

Thursday morning Jenn picked up Gwen and her baby Gabe and brought them to the hotel to sleep for a bit.  Once we were all up (again for some) we packed up and were back on the road.  We made it up to Bay City and stopped at the mall to get my tux and Johnny’s vest and tie, then stopped at Target to pick up some Theraflu and Mucinex for me (had been coming down with a flu or something for few days, wanted to make sure it was gone by Saturday) then headed north again.  Finally, we made it up to Alpena, and stayed the night at Jenn’s parents.

Friday morning Jenn had errands to do, including her dress and Gwen’s.  I stayed with her Dad and we picked up some items for the centerpieces.  Come the afternoon we al headed for Lewiston to check in at Garland.  Garland had us in a single villa, which was beautiful.  Jenn’s parents had the double villa right behind the Great Room, which was nice for Jenn to change and have somewhere to run back to during the reception.  We got checked in and met up with Todd and Ashley ow were there a little before us, then had our rehearsal out back at the ceremony site.  Our reception dinner was then at Subway, as Lewiston has few options, and Subway is nice and cheap.  After dinner we went in the big hot tub for a while, then as they arrived I met up with my Mom and Sue, then my Dad, Grandma, and Uncles Craig’s family.

By this point in the night, my thumb was killing me.  To make our centerpieces, I had to bend 2 dozen wires, which I bent largely using my hands.  I had created a blister on the outer edge of my thumb and being sick, it was infected and filled with puss.  So, I lanced it myself after 3 days of soreness.  It looked rather like chinese mustard actually.

Finally, we were at Saturday morning, W-Day.  We woke up and headed to the Great Room to decorate for the reception, with Todd, Ashley, my Mom and Sue, and several others helping.  My mom and Sue took the chair covers to the laundromat to try and de-wrinkle them while Todd, Bill (Jenn’s sister’s fiance) and I working on center pieces, and Ashley doing place cards.  We also set out our pumpkin (Todd had brought it up for us, and was the only person to touch it until Jenn and I got it home) and the mini pumpkins, got the chair covers on, and the girls went in turns to go get their hair done.  As people got up to Garland through the day, they would stop in to say hi, including my Uncle Steve and family who got in around 6 AM and got what sleep they could right after arriving.

With everything seeming to be set up, I headed back to our villa to shower, but realized I had some time and invited some Jon and Greg from Ferris to the hot tub first.  I went back to the villa and changed, then to the Hot Tub to soak a bit with the two of them plus Dane and Andy that they had found on their way (also from Ferris).  Then , back to the villa which I couldn’t get into.  I run back up to the main lodge (which is not a short stroll by any means) and they inform me I was checked out, and in a different villa that night, wtf?  So, I straighten that out and head back to change, passing the photographer on the way and letting him know I won’t be ready for pictures at 3, about 10 min away.  Get up there, shower, change, back to Main Lodge to find Todd and hopefully my brother, the best man, who still wasn’t there yet that I knew of.  So, I found them all, go pictures of us taken, find out flowers are there and get our buttoners and deliver corsages to my Mom and Grandma, then meet whoever I find and wait for 5:00.

And that, is enough for now.  The exciting part next time, followed by the honeymoon (well, parts of it) following that.  Yes folks, a 3-part series.

I'm Done!

As of yesterday at about 1:00, I am done with school.  I presented the big evil project Wednesday morning at 9:00, turned in my lean project and exam at 1:00 Thursday, and am now done.  And, by 2:00 tomorrow, I will officially be a college graduate.  Woohoo!

The Big News

A big day for us.

So you heard the story of last weekend, except I left out about half an hour…

While we were ay the mall, I disappeared on Jenn for about 20 minutes.  When she found me, she was rather pissed that I didn’t tell her where I went and all that.  Well, she really kicked herslef for that this weekend.

We will jump forward to this weekend.  We left for Bay City around 5, met her parents for dinner in Mt Pleasant, and then continued on.  Once in Bay City, I led her to Carrol Park, to go down the roller slide for ld times sake.  After we parked, as we were walking to the slide, she saw something in my pocket, and asked what it was.  I played it off.  I went down the slide, then her, then I again.  Unfortunately, it was quite busy, and I was getting more nervous and embarrassed.  We went over to a bench, and she sat down.  I stood behind her, and pulled out what was in my pocket, and gave her the ring.  She started giggling and laughing and was rather obviously ecstatic.

When we were first dating, we actually went to a different park that had a roller slide, on 3rd near her old apartment.  They ended up renovating the park and pulled out the slide, so we would go to Carrol Park sometimes, though far less.  So, I thought it was something special from our past.  I wanted to be at the bottom of the slide when she came down, but became far too self conscious with the 20+ people in the park that evening.

The rest of the weekend was seeing people and calling to tell everyone.  We stayed in Bay City until Saturday evening, and relaxed today.

Our first calls, just 20 minutes after I asked her, people started asking if we had a date.  NO, it’s been 20 minutes, give us a little bit!  We are kind of thinking next Fall, October of November of 2009.  That is rather tentative though, and we don’t know where yet.  Kind of thinking toward Alpena, since my family is split MI and PA and travel for them is less of a big deal.

So, that is that.

Off to bed, last week of work.

nick

EDIT:

Apparently, some people feel it may not be as obvious as I had thought, so… I asked Jenn to marry me, and though it took her 10 minutes to calm down enough to remember to respond, she said yes.

Fun Weekend

A very fun weekend trip to Ludington and Manistee, MI.

So, last week was working, and that’s about it.  But, the weekend, that was better.

Saturday, Jenn and I wanted some adventure, and we found it.  We began with breakfast at Ala Mode cafe, our newfound little pleasure.  They have great breakfasts including a quiche served with biscuits and gravy and hashbrowns.  Following that, we went to Meijer and got not much, then returned home.

Not content with sitting, we packed a bag with general stuff and set out west.  Our fun stared quickly, just past Paris, when we passed a farm.  This particular farm has 4 horses and a donkey, so I always look for the donkey.  Today the donkey happened to be rolling over.  I have never seen a donkey roll over, and I have to say it is quite enjoyable.  It reminds me a it of watching Molly, as the legs are too long and body too large, so any chance of grace is right out.  Next we stopped for snacks in Reed City including a bag of T.G.I. Fridays quesadilla chips which were really good.

Up next stop was at the Amber Elk Ranch near Ludington, where we took the 1 hour tour.  If you are ever in that area, we highly recommend it.

Once in Ludington, we went to the dock to look at the ferry, then to the Jamesport Brewery for dinner.  Very good food and drinks.  It was my second time, after visiting during our SME trip.  the dinners are better than the sandwiches, though the rueben looked pretty good.

Following dinner, we went to the city beach to maybe do a little swimming.  Because of the heavy rains and flooding, there are rather strong rip currents and some sewage overflow, so the beach was unfortunately closed.  We decided that we will need to return later in the summer.  Still, we walked the sand and watched a thunderstorm coming in before heading on.  We drove around and found it is a hard thing to do around Ludington right now.  Twice we had to turn around because of a washed out road.  On our way back to US 10 we saw a lot of flooded yards and forest turned to marshland.

We got on 31 despite the signs advising us it was closed, and headed north as far as we could, finally being forced down a detour as it too was washed out.  Finally, we ended up in Manistee and spent some time in Little River Casino.  We $24, then Jenn joined the players club and got a free $15 credit, won $3 with it, and we left just $6 down, which isn’t bad.  We considered staying in Manistee for the night as it was about 10 PM, but decided to just head home.

Sunday, we cleaned up the house some.  Not clean yet, but cleaned up.

Monday I returned to work, and that will be about it for this week.  Jenn’s birthday is Thursday so maybe something else fun this weekend.  We will see.

Pictures of Saturday are now available on Picassa.

nick