AndyMan's Hideaway

Back in cheese land!

2008-10-13T19:11:00.003-05:00

I am back from Chicago! Well, I have been back since Friday, but I have just been chilling and relaxing since I got back, so I didn't post anything about Friday! Our class was pretty lax and pretty fast - we actually got out at 1! Which was super freakin' awesome because that meant I actually got to bowl on Friday night! (not that I did that well, but I still got to which was awesome!) For lunch on Friday, we had Gino's Pizza, their legendary deep dish to be exact. Essentially, lasagna on a corn bread crust. Super thick, and super good. I probably would have gotten it with just pepperoni, instead of the meat lovers, since that is how I am, but it was still good and filling. So yeah, we got done at 1, got to drive home early (we were home for 4 which was sweeeet)

All is good on the home front :) We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Gracie's first birthday!! (only 24 days!!!) Well, her party isn't until the 8th of November, but man, it is just hard to believe she is already going to be a year. How time flies - and it will just continue to fly and get better (wishful thinking? ;)) And I should probably mention J. J. Keller just once in this blog, mainly because apparently the E-Commerce team at my work is stalking me, err...I mean has some alerts set up that scour Google for mentions of our lovely company - so hey ECOM! :)

How 'bout dem Packers?! Finally stopped their slide yesterday and got back on the winning side. Rodgers looked like his shoulder is getting a little better, although you could tell there were times when he just didn't have the zip on the ball - hopefully that gets better. Next week should be a challenge against the Colts, especially since it looks like they are starting to get their act together too. The Packers D just has to keep playing like they have been and if Grant can get it going as he has the past couple weeks, I think we can be in good shape.

That's about it from me...man, 5 updates in the last week. I didn't think it was possible...until next time (2, 3 months from now, hehe...)... here's a movie I want to see: Zack and Miri.

EDIT: I thought I should start posting some pictures of my baby, since I don't do that much. Here is one of her and me from a wedding a few weeks ago (one of the FIVE we went to in September!)

Tales from the Windy City - Day 4

2008-10-09T20:11:00.006-05:00

Nothing like watching The Office on a nice, large LCD flatscreen TV. And chilling on my LAST NIGHT in Chicago! It was a fun time, but I MORE than ready to see my girls and hold them and kiss them and see them smile in front of me (and not through the awesome pictures and videos that Kirsten has been sending via our AWESOME phones) Hang on...

...commercial break! So we started our third and final class today. Quite a bit more info than the first three days - probably mainly because we have had so much info already and there just isn't much more room left for it. On the plus side, we are a bit ahead of schedule and it sounds like we are going to get out a little early tomorrow, which is great! Jason and I hit up Chef Petro's again for breakfast this morning - pretty sure 3 days in a row constitutes us as regulars now, doesn't it? It really is a great place though, really good breakfasts for pretty darn cheap and nice home-town feel service. For lunch, we had Potbelly's again...I got the smoked ham sub again. I should have gotten the meatball sub to try something different, but I didn't think of it until later. Oh well, it was still quite tasty.

For supper, we went to the Italian Village. And let me tell you...wow. I have always been a fan of italian food, and no, not just Chef Boyardee for you smarty pants out there (*ahem, Kirsten*) --hold that thought...

Okay, I am back :) Now, Italian Village. Fan-freakin-tastic. It is actually three italian restaurants in one - and it was the first Italian restaurant in Chicago. I don't know if all three are the same age or how that works, but regardless. I had ravioli with meat sauce and it was really awesome. I then got a piece of cheesecake to go. Ooooh boy, was that a treat to have when I got back here :)

Overall, I would have to give the Chicago food a 4.5 outta 5. It was really cool to try something different just about every day and get to enjoy all the different types and such. GAH! Heroes commercial! Must...mute...TV...okay, much better. I haven't seen the new episode yet so I don't want anything ruined.

So I am sick of all the election BS going on, but man, SNL is hilarious. I do admit I haven't watched much of it lately, but I love the stuff they do with politics.

But yeah...as far as Chicago, it was a good time, but I am more than ready to be home. It is neat to have the opportunity to even do stuff like this for my job and to further my experience and all that good stuff. I enjoy traveling, but I really do miss my girls. They are everything to me and I really can't wait to see them :)

Haha, Bill Murray! Nice! (Sorry, watching the live SNL thing on right now, good stuff)

Tomorrow, we are going to be checking out in the morning before we hit class, and then likely just hitting up one of the (no joke) 5 or 6 Dunkin Donuts just on the way to our class for breakfast. Seriously, it seems like once Chicago finds a place they like, they duplicate it as much as they can (and this is just in the 2 or 3 square-mile area that we have been walking in all week!) Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, StarBucks, CVS Pharmacy, Potbelly's, etc...it's just funny. We are having Gino's deep dish meat lovers pizza (I think I am drooling just thinking about it...) so we don't want to fill up too much on breakfast (and really, you can't get anything at Chef Petro's and NOT be filled up) So we are just going to grab a donut on our way and enjoy our last day of class. I can't wait to go home!

Tales from the Windy City - Day 3

2008-10-08T20:01:00.004-05:00

I must first say - the Sears Tower is fucking amazing. Pardon my french, but it really is. But more on that later.

We had our second of three classes today. It was a deeper look into what we learned yesterday, and quite a bit helpful. And it sounds like our last class is just going to be all programming - right up my alley!

Onto the food side of things, you know, the things that matter when you are traveling! We had breakfast at the same place as yesterday, Chef Petro's, and it was just as good. I had some super thick french toast (it was seriously like, this ... | | thick! (as to scale as I can do, haha)

We had Chipotle for lunch - and that likely sounds familiar to a lot of you, since it is a fairly popular chain, and one just opened up in Appleton! Now usually that wouldn't be something I would like, mainly because I am not a fan of the spicy - I like my tacos with meat and cheese. No more no less. Well, turns out I can get just that at Chipotle! So I did - steak tacos with cheese, and they were actually pretty damn tasty. A little bit on the spicier side, but nothing too ridiculous (bearable, in other words, heh)

We then went to the Sidebar Grille for supper. A fancy grille with a bar and some nice HD-TVs all over the place. And $11 burgers. So they have to be good, right? Well, you certainly would hope so! I got one of the burgers and they WERE really good. Nice soft buns, thick meat, nice and pink inside...

...wow, that is quite dirty sounding ;)

But yeah, pretty good burgers. After supper, we decided to try the Sears Tower again! It was overcast this morning, but a really damn nice night. Clear skies, good temp, so we walked down to the tower. Quite a few others had the same idea as us, but it wasn't overly crowded at all. We watched a short video about the tower (just a little clip from something on the History Channel) and then headed up the Skydeck! It is the 103rd floor of the 110 floor building - so quite high, obviously. I took some pictures with my phone, so they didn't turn out overly great, but still show how absolutely amazing the view is from up there. And since we were up there at 7PM, we got to see the city all lit up. It was just really cool. Quite the marvel of modern archetecture, much like a lot of the other buildings in the city. Just really freakin' cool to see. And I of course got a couple little gifts for my girls, but I don't want to spoil the secret here ;)

Once I get home (only two days!!), I will toss the pictures I got on here for all to see. You can definitely tell how much of a "small city" boy I am with how much I am gushing about Chicago, haha. Typical tourist ;)

Tales from the Windy City - Days 1 and 2

2008-10-07T18:57:00.005-05:00

I had meant to start this last night, but I got caught up in the baseball and football games and then crashed, so I didn't get to it! So here we are, Tuesday night, my second full day in Chicago!

Why am I in Chicago, you might ask? Well, for business of course (doesn't that sound all grown up?) The J. J. Keller website is getting a new search engine and we have purchased a product from a company called Endeca. It is actually not quite a search engine, but more of guided-navigation (not unlike what you see at sites like Amazon, or Walmart.com, or HomeDepot.com - the latter two are actually using Endeca!) Long story short, we are here for a training course on all things Endeca - we being myself and Jason, the senior developer on the project whom I work with.

We drove into town on Sunday night, left around 5.30pm. We first had to go to Keller to pick up the company car (a nice Lincoln town car, all fancy-pants and such) It was slow going to start though...traffic was backed up all the way through Oshkosh (I presume the Packer game and weather, which was rainy and icky, all factored in) so we didn't really start moving along until we reached just outside of Oshkosh, almost an hour later. We didn't get into Chicago until just before 10pm, but it was a pretty nice drive, and it was really cool driving into Chicago. I have only been here a handful of times, and the last time was in high school for a field trip (so like...7 years ago - and with my memory the length of, well, probably this blog post, I don't remember much)

Anyway, we found a parking ramp near our hotel, the Hotel Allegro, in the theatre district. Pretty darn nice place. Very fancy (more so than me, for sure, heh) but pretty nice. Not a place I would stay willingly (mainly because of the $250/night price tag - granted we did get a discount for there for Endeca, which means we are only paying $190/night, PLUS the company is paying obviously) - but still! I will try and get some pictures up when I get back - I still haven't figured out how to get my new phone connected to my computer (think my USB ports are dying) but I will try.

So we got the car parked and got checked in. Jason is staying on the 7th floor, while I am on the 16th! Yikes! It isn't so bad - other than the fact that the elevator moves at about 100MPH and you feel like you are in the Tower of Terror every time. I know that Kirsten would not like it at all (but I noticed that all the elevators in the city are like that, at least the ones I have been on..which, well, has been just two - but still!)

So our we is split up into 3 classes - one class that was yesterday and today (I got my first certificate of completion, yay!), one that is just tomorrow, and then the third that is Thursday and Friday) The guy that is teaching the classes is really down to earth, a younger guy, really knows his shit too. We have gotten quite a bit of information in just the two days we have been here, but it has been really great info and although this project is going to be quite a bit of work once we get back, I know that it is going to be really freakin' sweet when it is done and be really beneficial to the company as a whole.

Ah yes, I almost forgot about eating! For breakfast and dinner yesterday, we ate at a place called 312 Chicago, which is actually attached to our hotel. VERY fancy, and you know me, I am not the "fancy" type. But it was pretty nice - at least for breakfast. Take a look at their website, and their dinner menu. Anyone that knows me in the slightest will probably think I didn't eat anything, as nothing on there looks like I would even like it! But I had the rigatoni with meatballs...but not just any meatballs, VEAL meatballs! They actually weren't THAT bad...but I probably wouldn't have them again. I like my cow grown-up ;) We had lunch at the Endeca office (which is only about 6 blocks are so from here, so we are just walking) They ordered from a place called Potbelly's. Pretty darn tasty sub sandwiches and they loaded on the meat and cheese. Good stuff.

For breakfast this morning, we went to a place right across the street called Chef Petro's. More of a city-style diner, really nice waitress, definitely more my style. And damn good food. We are going there again tomorrow as well. For lunch today, we had sandwiches from Cosi, another fine sandwich establishment. Again, really good stuff. For supper, we decided that we wanted to go check out the Sears Tower and then find some authentic Chicago-style pizza. When we left training at about 4.50, it was raining decently. Now the Sears Tower is about 2 blocks south of the Endeca office. Our hotel is about 6 blocks north of the office. The pizza joint that we found was probably about a mile west of the Sears Tower. We figured we would walk, get some exercise, enjoy the sites. First off, Chicago at 5PM is nuts, I have never seen so many people - all KINDS of people, walking around, all determined, hailing cabs and getting on buses and lots of them being rude of course, heh. Add on top of that fact - that it is now raining. It started raining while we were in training. Ugh, so this should be fun...

We walked back to the hotel to drop our stuff off, and it was a steady drizzle. Nothing TOO bad yet. So we did have to back-track before going to the Tower, but we were still up for it. So we left for the Tower. It is raining a little harder now - and I have to say one thing - it was absolutely hilarious to see how many people had broken umbrellas. Pretty sure I saw more broken umbrellas than working ones (and there were a LOT of umbrellas, heh) Of course, we didn't have one. Took us about 20 minutes to get down to the Sears Tower, and we are pretty good and wet by now. We go to the Skydeck entrance, and it is still open, but the guy at the bottom tells us that the visibility is zero - well, what is the point of wasting our money then!? At least he was nice enough to tell us BEFORE we bought tickets. So we stood in the doorway a minute or two, contemplating our next move. We were halfway to the pizza, and already wet, so why not just go the rest of the way? So we did. 20 minutes later, and a whole lot wetter, we got to Primo's Pizza. GIANT slices of pizza. One big slice and a soda for 5 bucks. And soooo worth getting wet. Some damn fine pizza. But then we had to walk back to the hotel. Which was about 2 miles away now. Yeah...let's just say, I got back here about 45 minutes ago, and I don't think I am dry yet, haha. But it was fun, and a good story for sure :)

We are going to try the Sears Tower again tomorrow or Thursday, as long as the weather holds out - we obviously want to go when we can actually SEE something from up there! It looks like it supposed to be nice late tomorrow and Thursday, so here's hoping. I am here through Friday, coming back late Friday night, so keep your eyes peeled for another couple updates - and maybe this will be so enjoyable to me that I might *gasp* do regular updates again! ...doubtful ;)

Kirsten...Gracie...I miss you girls so much...I really can't wait to see you on Friday!

I love sports

2008-08-17T00:25:00.001-05:00

Today is a fantastic day to be a sports fan. To be honest, really ANY day is a great day to be a sports fan. But something about today really hits home. Ever since I can remember, I have loved sports. My top sport is, of course, football. Being from Wisconsin and so close to Green Bay, it isn't hard to believe that I was brought up a diehard Packer fan and have known nothing but Packers since day one. I love them during the winning times (most of the time I have been alive) and I love them during the losing times - with or without "The Legend". But this isn't just about the Pack. Despite them playing a preseason game today (which they did pretty shitty in anyway), I was more focused on the Olympics and the Brewers!

Now I have been following all this stuff with Michael Phelps since he got to Beijing. The guy is a freakin' phenom in the pool. It is unreal what he can do - but I never thought he could win EIGHT freakin' golds. But yet, at around 10:05 tonight, Lesak finishes the 4x100 and gets the gold for the US - completing the sweep. 8 for 8, 7 world records, all in one games. How nuts is that!? This will be a record never matched again - and if Phelps isn't named Sportsman of the Year, I will boycott SI :)

And then I flip to the Brewers. Losers of 2 straight, looking a little lax tonight, not sure how they might fair. They are down 2 - 3 when I flip it on. Bottom of the 7th. First out is a nice ball hit into a center with a great diving catch by Cameron. Next batter up - first pitch - hits a deep fly to left. Kapler (in for the injured Braun) runs after it, but it is well hit. But he keeps running, and leaps and CATCHES IT over the left field wall! He lands in like the third row and comes back in, ball in tow. Easily one of the best catches I have probably ever seen. I obviously keep the game on - Hardy hits a 2-run homer in the 8th to take the lead, the Dodgers tie it in the 9th, but Torres is able to strand the bases loaded, and then Hardy hits an RBI single in the 10th. Riske strikes out Manny Ramierez in the bottom of the inning to end it and the Crew wins.

It seems trivial, especially to those not in Wisconsin, but man - I love sports. You throw just about any sport at me and I will watch it with full attention - especially when something amazing is about to happen.

PS - Rodgers, I am fully behind you.

Time for a vacation!

2008-06-02T21:03:00.001-05:00

Well, in 5 days. And I cannot WAIT! This is really mine and Kirsten's first vacation together as a married couple (I mean, we had our honeymoon and we got to go to the Dells for a couple days last year, but this is a FULL vacation!) And I shouldn't say the Dells, because Kirsten makes fun of me when I do. We are TECHNICALLY staying in Warrens, WI at the Yogi Bear Campground, but it is close to the Dells and it is still during the time when we would go to the Dells, so I call it the Dells :-P Either way, it is the first time in 3 years we get to go (didn't go in 06 because of the wedding and only went for a couple days last year) and we got our place, which will be fun. And vacations are just plain fun anyway!

Other than that, all is well. Gracie gets cuter by the second and she is going to be a lot of fun on vacation too. She isn't crawling yet, but we are pretty convinced she is just going to right to walking. She doesn't like to be on her tummy much but she loves to move and groove, and has really strong legs already (she can stand with our help obviously) She likes to mimic us and is getting really talkative (pretty sure she has said both da-da and ma-ma, because she will say it and then look at the respective person and smile!) She knows how to melt your heart - now if only she would stay that way for years and years ;)

Just a quickie today...I can't wait until Saturday! Hey - that rhymed!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T08:59:00.001-05:00

OMG TWO UPDATES IN ONE WEEK!? I must be losing my mind or something...

I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome mother's out there. Two of them in particular: First, my mom. Words in a blog cannot even come close to describing how awesome my mom is. Mom, you have been there for me (and especially Kirsten) through everything over the years and you never get your proper due. You are an absolutely amazing woman and an even more amazing mother. You are always good for a laugh when you're down, a hug when you're sad, an ear when you need to talk, a shoulder when you need to cry, or a drinkin' buddy when you need to kick back :) I couldn't have wished for a better mom if I had tried (and I am sure back in my teenage-angst years I tried once or twice, haha) You never judged me, you were always just there offering opinions and accepted whatever I decided, being behind me 110% the whole time. And how you have accepted Kirsten as essentially one of your own is beyond words (especially for Kirsten) Mom, I don't think I say it nearly enough - but I love you. You are amazing and you deserve it all.

Then there is the NEW mom in the group - my lovely wife, Kirsten Ann. This time last year, I was getting ready for my college graduation, knowing that Kirsten was pregnant but not sure at all what to expect. Kirsten was anxious (to say the least) as well and we were both really excited. Fast-forward a year, we have a gorgeous 6-month-old daughter and we are two very happy parents. There have been times Kirsten has questioned her abilities (as most parents do) but there is no doubt in my mind - I would not want any other person raising my daughter than you, Kirsten. Everytime I see you look at Gracie, it is always with love (or a grimace from the smell...) and you are the best mother she could ever hope for. She doesn't realize it yet, and maybe she won't for a while, but someday she will know that you are an amazing mother and that you love her with all your heart. Just like I love you. I can't wait to see our baby girl grow up and to see you become an even better mom the whole time.

So to my Mom, Kirsten, and all the other awesome mom's out there - happy Mother's Day. Everyone deserves a fantastic Mom like I have and like Gracie has...and this day is to celebrate you!

That that don't kill you, can only make you stronger...

2008-05-07T21:23:00.001-05:00

Hahaha...man, 4 months ago I said "Hey, I will make this a weekly thing!" And it is now May and I haven't updated once, lol. Oh well...life gets busy and I guess I am just not the type to sit down and blog. I wish I was. I really enjoy writing and just spilling my guts, but I never think about the blog. Oh well, no biggie really...(PS - Kirsten and Kate, thanks for the "comments", ya losers :-P)

Life is going absolutely fantastic. Gracie just turned 6 months old yesterday and she is so freakin' cute. I mean look at her!

I never thought I could come close to loving someone as much as I love Kirsten. Obviously it is a different kind of love, but it is just nuts how much she makes me smile every single day. I cannot wait until she can talk and walk and interact with me more. She is already starting to get a personality and every day is just more and more exciting. Kirsten and I love her to pieces and we are so very happy.

My new job (oh yeah, did I mention I got a new job?) is going awesome. Alliance was great, but I needed something new. The commute was a real drag and I needed new scenery, and J. J. Keller is the perfect place for that. I absolutely love the people I work with, the work that I am doing, and most notably the company itself. Very friendly all over and just make me feel wanted. I do miss Alliance at times, and I am so grateful for all that they did for me - they were my first "real" job and helped get my feet wet (gotta suck up a little bit in case my creepy former manager, Scott, still reads this - which I doubt, haha...HI SCOTT!) but change is always good.

Not much else to say now. Birthday is in a couple weeks and I am stoked to see REO Speedwagon at the PAC. Should be a good show. Hopefully get to go out afterwards :) Ciao for now!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T21:39:00.001-06:00

I am going to try and update this thing at least once a week...call it one of my New Year's resolutions. Whether it be a random update of happenings in my life, or a rant about something, I have always wanted to be a more consistent blogger, even if people don't read it that much. Still fun to just write, which is something I do enjoy doing :)

New Year's was awesome, as usual. Kirsten and I got to host my family's annual party and it was really fun. Got pretty hammered but felt great today, so that makes it even better. Just an overall great time and I cannot wait until we host another sweet party.

It is nuts to think that 2007 is over already, mainly since so much happened in our lives last year. Found out Kirsten was pregnant then had a baby (duh), had one car die but bought two new (used) ones, graduated from college and got my first real job, celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary, bought a house...all in one freakin' year. I am not sure how 2008 will live up to that, but I know it will try its damnedest :)

I am pretty excited for a new year, as I usually am, but I am not sure why. I mean, I knew a lot was going to happen in 2007, mainly because of graduating and moving back home and such (obviously I didn't know exactly how crazy with the baby and such, heh) but I just can't wait to watch Gracie grow up more and start moving around being a terror and just being more cute (which I am sure is not even possible...) I just love life right now and am happy to spend another year with my awesome wife and my new wonderful daughter. So here is to an amazing 2007 and to an even better 2008 :)

Welcome to the land of fatherhood!

2007-11-14T11:49:00.001-06:00

It has been over a week now and I know some people are dying to know details and such, so I figured I should probably post about it - I am a dad!!! Kirsten went into labor last Tuesday (November 6th) at 6am, just as I was getting up for work (how convenient!) We went to the hospital around 9am and at 6:09 that evening, our wonderful darling daughter Grace Ann was born! She weighed in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 21 inches long. She is absolutely gorgeous and it was really the most amazing moment of my life when she was born. Not only that - but I have a lot more respect for Kirsten and for ANY woman that has ever given birth. Kirsten had an epidural so some of her pain was subdued, but I know she was still hurting (and obviously feeling the effects afterwards too) and she admitted that it is the hardest thing she has ever done. I could never imagine doing something like that myself and it just made me love her that much more.

As far as Grace - wow. She is absolutely adorable and precious and I can't believe that Kirsten and I made her...we got to go home last Thursday and while those first couple of days were nerve-racking, things are easier now. I am in the middle of a week of personal leave, which is nice. I get to help Kirsten get into a routine with her and spend some quality time with the both of them. She is a decent sleeper so far, getting up only once or twice throughout the night. Kirsten and I switch off on the nights, so we aren't both dead to the world the next day.

It really was an amazing experience though, and many thanks to all the congrats from everyone, it's nice to know there is so much support out there :)

Will this be the week?

2007-11-04T20:59:00.001-06:00

So the doctor moved Kirsten's due date up to this Wednesday (up three days) Kirsten has been more than ready for over a month, obviously, but now that it is getting so close, it is starting to get almost surreal. I really cannot wait for this to happen...and I know she can't. Could be anytime this week...or next...heh. Who knows...I will keep everyone posted! Yay!!!

I'm not dead...really, I'm not

2007-10-02T21:40:00.001-05:00

As much as I pretend to be a blogger, who the hell am I kidding? Haha - I am lucky if I write in here once a month, yet I wish I did it at least one a week. Oh well...a lot has happened over the summer and it has been a fun one.

- My job is going very well. I have been there 4 months now and I know I have learned a helluva lot, as well as grown professionally as an IT person. The people I work with are really awesome and really understanding in helping me as I start out and such, and I feel as though I am actually a helpful member of the team there. Plus the people that I do projects for and such are really nice and the whole environment is just awesome. Who knows where the job will take me, or where my life will take my career, but I do know that however long I end up at Alliance, it will have been invaluable experience and I won't forget it.

***So I started writing this blog about a week ago, and stopped here, haha. Geez - can't even finish my thoughts! I will try and finish now, before I head to bed...

-It has been fun being in the real world, although things are going to take a drastic turn once the baby gets here - and I honestly can't wait. I very much enjoy where my life is at right now and I am more than ready to be a dad. Kirsten is definitely more than ready to have this baby too, haha. She has about 5 weeks until her due date (PS - Happy birthday to her tomorrow!) and she is hoping that she will have it earlier than that. Everything has gone as perfect as you can hope for, no complications up to this point and I hope it stays that way. Just the normal aches and pains. After a few weekends of work, we finished up redoing the baby's room and it looks really awesome. Her baby shower is on Sunday, so it will be filled with lots of goodies then. There is some stuff in there already, like a really nice dresser and a kick-ass crib (that was actually quite fun to put together, heh), but there are a few odds and ends that we need yet (obviously) I am getting very anxious and excited for what is about to happen. I really have no idea what to expect with the whole birthing experience, but I know that it is going to be amazing. And because the people I work with are so awesome, I get to take a week off (granted it's upaid, but I could careless) after the baby is born to spend with Kirsten. Plus I have a few extra vacation days that I might use, so that is nice.

That was really the majority of my summer: work and preparing for the baby. Had my graduation party in there (which was a lot of fun), started a bowling team (we bowl Friday nights and I fuckin' LOVE it, it is such a blast), Packers are kicking some ass lately (I am thinking about doing a weekly Packer blog - we will see how long that lasts) - overall, life has been good to Kirsten and I lately and we cannot wait to welcome a new addition into this wonderful life of ours :)

My ear is killing me right now - still trying to get over a stupid cold - so I am off for now. I will try my best to keep this updated a little more...try being the operative word of course. Who knows...you all know how to get a hold of me if you need to :) Ciao.

Happy Anniversary...

2007-07-29T21:17:00.001-05:00

...to the most amazing woman I could have ever dreamed of ending up with. We have been married for a year today and it has been the most amazing of my life. And to think, that in the next few months, ours lives are going to change so drastically...and I cannot wait :)

I love you Kirsten Ann, more than I could ever say...

All I want is to have my peace of mind...

2007-06-03T16:10:00.000-05:00

Life is quite peachy right now. Finished my first week of my new job and I am enjoying it quite a bit right now. It is (obviously) a lot different than anything I have ever done and it is tough to learn some of the business rules and such that they do there, but I know that I pick up on things and I knew the learning curve would be steep going into it. Either way, I very much enjoy the people that I work with and the atmosphere around there. Plus the fact that I am making good money and the benefits are amazing are killer pluses. I guess I just have to realize I am at a "grown-up" job now, haha.

Went and saw The Lion King at the PAC last night - and WOW! It was fucking AMAZING! I had heard from people that had already seen it that it was decent, but I was very excited to see it for myself - and boy, was I surprised. It has been a couple years since I saw a decent play (which is really sad) but man, I really love having the PAC here in Appleton and I know I will be using it more that I am back. If you haven't gotten a chance to see The Lion King yet, it is still in town until the 10th. I HIGHLY recommend it. It was just awesome, very well done from all aspects.

Not much else to talk about right now...just been working and cleaning up things around the house (which looks really awesome) All we have left is the basement and everything will be pretty much in order. I got all my grades back from my last semester and I had my best semester as a student (which I expected to happen), although I didn't get the 4.0 I was expecting, which kind of pisses me off - but a 3.78 isn't bad. Either way, it means I graduated for real and it's over now, heh.

Oooh, one important thing that happened this weekend - Kirsten and I got new cellphones! Our contract was coming up and with Sprint, after 22 months, if you sign a new 2 year contract, you can get $150 (per phone) off a new phone! So we totally got new kick ass cellphones, plus we changed our phone numbers so they are 920 numbers now. My new number is 920.257.3568, so make sure you update your records :)

A World's End

2007-05-25T00:34:00.000-05:00

Got to see the first showing (not a midnight showing, sadly, but the 8pm showing this evening) of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and it was phenomenal! Easily the best of the three, although I highly enjoyed all three of them (and after seeing the very, very end of the movie, after the credits - which all TRUE moviegoers stay for - I really hope they don't make a fourth...it would kind of ruin the integrity of the first 3) Either way, still a very worthwhile movie and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone :)

PS - After seeing some of the previews before the movie, I realize that this summer could be a pretty fantastic one for movies. Already a good handful that I really want to see.

Happy birthday to ME!

2007-05-23T19:37:00.000-05:00

Hooray for birthdays! I have always enjoy birthdays, even if I didn't do anything but just chill (although, I usually do SOMETHING) To start off my 22nd birthday, I had an interview at Alliance Laundry Systems in Ripon. I was a little worried about it, but not too bad, I usually don't fret too much about interviews, then I just get worked up and nervous, heh. The drive, despite what many people think, wasn't that bad. It could be the fact that I haven't been on 41 in a while and am just used to traveling 10, but it really wasn't bad. The interview itself, I felt, went pretty well. I felt very confident and even thought it was tough at times, thats what I have come to expect with interviews. Going into a profession like mine especially, these aren't going to be cakewalk interviews anymore. They want to make sure they get the best of the best and they will put you through the ringer if they have to. Well, I felt pretty good driving home, hoping I would hear something in a day or two. About 2 hours later...I get a call from the CIO...OFFERING ME A JOB!!! I had hoped I would get an offer, but I honestly didn't expect to get a call so soon...and based on the amount I was offered and after talking to Kirsten, I am going to take it :) I just need to send back the official offer letter when I get it and I will start next week. I am actually pretty freakin' stoked too, this company seems like a really great place to work and all the people I met today were really nice and I could see myself going far in the company. I am going to need to bust some ass in the beginning to get up to speed, but I expected that, and I am the type of person that will do anything to get up there and make sure I make a good enough impression so they know they made the right decision ;)

As far as the rest of life, I couldn't be happier. I graduated on Sunday and that was pretty awesome. It is unreal to think that four years of your life can fly by so fast, but there it went...just when it seemed like yesterday I was walking across the stage at Appleton West receiving my high school diploma, suddenly I am walking across the stage at Point...graduating college. It was great to see a lot of my friends there too and although I didn't get a chance to stop out by Probst's Grad party, I know I will see them again...it was just awesome. It feels SUPER awesome to finally be back in Appleton...our house is finally starting to look like a house...and feel like one too. Kirsten's pregnancy is going along very well, we got to hear the heartbeat yesterday which was really freakin' cool. Overall, life is starting to finally smile upon us. We were a little worried that it would take me longer to find a job, but I honestly feel like we got blessed with this one, and I have a really good feeling that is going to turn out to be awesome. Hooray for awesomeness :)

Last call...

2007-05-15T02:17:00.000-05:00

This blog might be a little sappy and some of you might just breeze right over it, but I am feeling in that kind of mood right now I suppose. I am not all that tired and the more I think about this coming Sunday, the more I think back on the last four years. Four damn years, come and gone like the blink of an eye. And that is honestly what it felt like. I was talking to my mom the other day and she was saying that she can remember when I first left for school, that it was going to be a long four years. And suddenly, here I sit, done with all of my college classes, nothing left to do except walk across that stage and be announced as a college fucking graduate. Holy wow...

I remember coming into this school pretty much scared shitless. I have always been a fairly confident and very optimistic person. I never even decided that I was going to come here to Point until like...November of my senior year. I was quite convinced I wouldn't be able to afford it and all that shit...and then suddenly I thought, fuck it. They make affordable student loans for a reason and this really isn't an experience that I wanted to pass up (not knowing at ALL what may lie ahead) I got accepted and had a blast of a summer, anticipating the unknown. I got the letter about my randomly assigned roommate in the dorms, some kid named Dan Podell. Seemed cool enough, got a chance to talk to him once or twice before we got here. Met him on move-in day and we really did pretty much click. Had similar yet enough differing personalities that we were great roommates. I think we were both as scared as each other about everything so that helped. I fully believe that had I not met Danno, I wouldn't know 75% of the people I know now and am really good friends with a great majority of them. Then Probst, who I knew from high school (as an acquaintance, he didn't like me because I was friends with Jackie, haha), introduced me to his roomie, Chad. Not sure what it was about Chad, but we clicked the most out of anyone I ever met in college. And obviously, it shows, considering he was the best man in my wedding. He is one of the most genuinely nice guys I have ever met and he is just awesome. Then there are guys like Slip and Svet...who I can honestly thank for my drinking "abilities" (mainly knowing when to say enough is enough, haha)...guys like Joe, who keep me entertained with his girl-chasing ways and his deep conversations that are always so amazing. Joe's roommate sophomore year, James, introduced me to an even more amazing group of people - the Nuns. So many stories from them and so many awesome times, not even sure where to start (so I won't, haha) Then there was Mike (and his always super awesome psuedo-roomie fiance, Sarah, hehe), my roommate sophomore year. A guy that in the beginning I never thought I would get to know so well, but he turned out to be one of my best friends as well (and I am in his wedding this summer! He was supposed to be in mine, stupid Syracuse :-P)

Shower adventures...Steiner Hall...breakfasts at Debot (when we actually got our asses out of bed early enough for it)...intensive quiet hours during Finals week and waiting for that one damn hour when we could be loud as hell, and we certainly were...late night walks through Schmeeklee...tossing the disc around in the circle and just bullshitting for hours...ULTIMATE FRISBEE!!!...Pizza Tuesdays...drunken Taco Bell and avoiding the soda nazi...stumbles home from random apartments (namely Slip and Svets) and parties, yet somehow always making it...chilling out in the Corner Office...giving up alcohol for Lent with Chad just because people thought we couldn't - then succeeding and getting quite blitzed on Easter Sunday...the Portage Party House and the countless good times...Bowling night followed by 35 cent taps at the Cabin...the Outfit...finally finding out that Thursday nights were really the party night...music videos....Singstar...Reel Big Fish jam sessions...Flip Cup and Beer Pong (in the Stadium, of course)...friends being there for me when I needed them...being there for friends when they needed me......finding time during all of this to make it to class (and do well enough to pass!)...and oh so much more...

And through all of this, probably the only thing that ever stayed static (once my second semester rolled around): Kirsten Ann. We started dating during my first Christmas Break here (I was still at home at the time, obviously) Despite some hard times, we worked them together, just like everything we did - and got married last summer. And now we have a house...and a baby on the way. Wow...to think of the amount of love I have for her, it almost hurts...

For many good reasons, I will never EVER possibly be able to forget the last 4 years of my life. My time here in Stevens Point has made me grow into someone pretty amazing and there are just so many people that I really hope I stay in touch with...I made some pretty amazing friends and had some ridiculously incredible times...and if you are reading this, you are probably one of those people. So thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Words can honestly not describe how awesome this time was. And although it is sad to be ending such a crazy awesome good time, all good parties do eventually have to come to an end. And now a new chapter starts for me. One that I am more than ready for. I will do my part to keep in touch with you, do your part to keep in touch with me ;)

One question...

2007-05-02T02:34:00.001-05:00

**Stole this from Joe, interested to see who responds*

1 question.
1 chance.
1 answer.
Thats all you get.

You get to ask me 1 question. (Either PM me on Facebook or e-mail me privately at amgamer23@yahoo.com) Any one question, anything, no matter how crazy it is.

No catch. But I challenge you to repost this and see what people ask you. (and yes, of course, I will respond...or at least try to)

What I've done...

2007-04-30T00:04:00.000-05:00

So wow, the last time I updated was March 30th?! There have been at LEAST a dozen times since then that I have thought "Hm, I should blog tonight..." and then just never did. I will try and cover as much as I can about the happenings in my world over the last month.

As far as pretty much the most important thing to me right now, the mom-to-be is doing very well :) We had our first doctors appt. a few weeks back and her doctor is really nice. He said she is doing very well and she is 10 weeks along (that was about a week and a half ago, so she is around 12 weeks now) We even got to see our first ultrasound (for those of you reading this on Facebook, you probably have seen that already, hehe) I think the ultrasound certainly made it very VERY real for both of us. We knew she was, but there was always that little bit of doubt. Seeing that, for the both of us, was like...wow. Just incredible. There really IS a little person in there. Makes me that much more excited :) She is due November 11th, but just knowing Kirsten, I have a feeling it will be at least a week late. Either way, we are getting so excited and really cannot wait.

The move went pretty well last weekend. Other than being a stressful week of finishing packing and all that jazz, it went good. We had our closing on the 21st (same day as the doctors appt.) and that really made me feel grown up, heh. We signed papers and such for about 20 minutes and then bam - welcome to the world of being a homeowner! Just like that! We also got a car that week (actually a pretty kick ass mini-van!) Got a great deal on it and its in pretty awesome condition, I could honestly see it lasting us quite a few years.

As for the actual move, the folks got to Point around quarter to 9 in the a.m. and we started loading stuff up. As soon as we got the first few boxes into my parents van, I had the sudden realization that we were not going to fit everything in one trip. We had one really long trailer (with a jeep pulling it), one smaller trailer (with a stationwagon pulling it), my parents van and our van full of shit and we STILL had another van and a half full of stuff that we had to get on Sunday. Yeah, lot of shit, but we made it all! Then there was the fun adventure of the drive back to Appleton...we loaded up the trailers really good and tied everything down nicely. Let me set the scene...my dad was driving the stationwagon in the front of the line with the small trailer (which had 3 matresses, a box spring, a dresser, and a couple other random pieces of furniture), I was next in our van, Kirsten's mom was third with the long trailer, and my brother was the caboose in my parent's van. So we got this caravan going down the highway, cruising nicely. We were just past Weyaweuga, which is about 2/3rds of the way home, when I glance at the trailer in front of me and notice that one of the mattresses (our nice queen size one, the one we actually sleep on) looks to be getting a little loose. They were PACKED in tightly, shouldn't have been moving at all. So I go to grab my phone to call my mom quick so we can strap it down better when suddenly, the mattress flies OUT of the trailer and into the road! Being right behind the trailer, we have the perfect vantage point for this whole surreal scene as it unfolds. The mattress lands flat in the lane next to us. Mine and Kirsten's first thought: not a big deal, stop the cars, go get the mattress, be on our merry way. Before either of us could utter another word...a red sportscar comes speeding up in the other lane with no possibility of stopping or even avoiding the mattress. They slowed down as much as they could (to probably about 30) but hit the damn thing HEAD ON! The mattress pretty much literally EXPLODES, cotton flying everywhere, and the first thing Kirsten says: "Oh my god, we have to buy a new mattress!" It honestly felt like it was slow motion or something, but we all pulled over (as did the guy that nailed our mattress, heh) My dad and I got out of our vehicles and went over to check on the guy and his car...luckily no one was hurt and nothing got damaged, but it was kind of funny seeing him pull pieces of mattress out from under his hood. They drive off and we go back to check on the trailer, see why the hell the mattress flew out (we had been driving like...40 minutes at this point, no reason this should have happened, heh) In the meantime, my brother had stopped back where the mattress was and tossed it into the ditch, haha...he said there was a pretty large hole right in the middle of it. Come to find out that one of the hinges on the trailer came loose, loosening the tightness between all the mattresses. Over time, it just got more loose and eventually came out. So yeah, needless to say, we took it VERY easy the rest of the way. It was a great story to tell everyone though and now we can look back and laugh, heh (and my parents were awesome and bought us a new mattress that day too, so much better than the old one, hehe)

Anyways...thanks for reading that novel, hehe. We stayed in the house Saturday night and then drove back here Sunday to pick up the rest of our shit and drop me off at Portage, where I have been staying since then. I miss Kirsten like crazy and I really just want to be done, but I know I just have to be patient. It doesn't help that I have absolutely no motivation to do ANYTHING...yet I have a SHIT ton of stuff to do yet. It is really nice to be here with everyone though, I am finally living with some of my best friends that I have met over these 4 years and around them all the time, I couldn't have dreamed of a better way to spend my final month here...granted I would much rather have Kirsten here...but gotta take what you get...and I know Kirsten will be with me forever :)

Anyways, yeah...20 days until graduation and they better fly by. No news on the job front yet, although I did apply for a job I am incredibly over-qualified for and will hopefully be offered it. I guess its better than nothing, and who knows what might happen if I get that and have the chance to move up or at least have something while looking for something else. Just sucks when I sit here and listen to others in my 480 class about all these job offers and shit and making $50-$60K starting and I am just like...man...granted they are applying for places around here in Point and Wausau and such, which specifically look for entry-level people coming out of college...but still. Blows. I am still holding out hope for something amazing, because I know I am good enough for something amazing, but I will take anything at this point.

*sigh* Felt good to finally write again. I will have to try and do this more often, because well, what other reason to I have this damn blog? 20 days...20 days...can I stay sane enough to survive?

The Real Me

2007-03-30T22:03:00.000-05:00

Saw it on Joe's blog, and I am bored, so I figured what the hell :)

Your real name: Andrew Thomas Belonger
Age: 21
Height: 5' 10''
Natural hair color: Brown

Eye color: Hazel
Skin color: Caucasian
Glasses/contacts?: I would be blind without them
Piercings: No
Tattoos: 2, one on each shoulder
Braces: I used to, and I will have them again (stupid shitty ortho's :( )
Mannerisms: Eccentric, outgoing, very friendly (a flirty friendly some might say, hehe), loving, patient, motivated (most of the time), caring, forgiving, trustworthy

FAVORITE

Color: Red
Band: Quite a few that I really, really like...probably all-time favorite would be Green Day
Movie: A lot of these as well - all-time favorite would have to be Toy Story, although I enjoy just about any genre
Book: Again, way too many to name...I love the Harry Potter series and I love anything by James Patterson
Food: PIZZA! Well, I like a lot of foods...mostly Italian.

Flower: Not a huge fan of flowers, at least not enough so to have a favorite...probably a rose if I HAD to pick
Scent: My wife's perfume
Animal: Cat
Comic book: Haven't read too many comic books, but I love webcomics
Cereal: Fruity Pebbles
Website: I, too, am addicted to Facebook, but I have quite a few that I frequent
Cartoon: The Simpsons

DO YOU

Play an instrument?: Played the violin at one point, I would love to pick it up again, and I would LOVE to learn to play the piano
Like to sing?: Very, very much so
Have a job: Yup, Computer dude at the University Store with a real career coming soon hopefully :)

Like to play sports?: Love to
Have a boyfriend/girlfriend?: I am married :)
Have a crush on someone?: Mini-crushes, even married people have em, heh
Have any special talents/skills?: I like to think I am just plain special ;)
Exercise daily?: Yeah right
Like school?: At times, I am certainly ready to be done...

CAN YOU

Sing the alphabet backwards?: Not really
Stand on your tip toes without wearing shoes?: ...yes? Very odd question, but I know I can do it (I have freakin' monkey feet)
Speak any other languages?: Took French for a couple years, only remember a little bit of it
Remember your dreams?: Sometimes...

HAVE YOU EVER

Won something in the lottery?: Probably like $20 at the most
Snuck out of the house?: Nope
Been to any other countries?: I wish
Had a serious surgery?: Other than wisdom teeth, nope
Cried over a girl?: Of course
Cried over a boy?: Don't think, other than a family member dying
Kissed a random stranger?: After I knew them for a few hours, yes ;)
Hugged a random stranger?: Of course
Been in a fist fight?: I didn't throw any punches back, but I did get punched a few times!
Been arrested?: Nope

Pushed all the buttons on an elevator?: Haha, yes
Kicked a guy where it hurts?: Good lord no
Ran over an animal and killed it?: I ran over an already dead skunk once...that made the car smell REALLY REALLY bad for like three weeks.
Broken a bone?: Nope
Gotten stitches?: Only for wisdom teeth
Bitten someone?: Haha, yes
Been to disneyland/disneyworld?: Disneyworld, it was great
If you are single, have you had any boyfriends/girlfriends before?: I am not single, but I have had PLENTY of girlfriends, heh.
Have you ever been dumped?: Of course
Have you ever dumped someone?: Yup

IIIII

Am: Me, plain and simple and to the point
Want: to graduate college
Need: nothing
Love: my family, my loving wife, my awesome friends, my amazing life...
Hate: liars, cheaters, people who are fake
Annoyed by: stupid bickering, overly opinionated people
Feel: stressed
Did: just buy a house!
Miss: my Grandma
Would rather: quit school and just live life without worry
Am tired of: school
Will always: love Kirsten Ann

MISCELLANEOUS

What is your favourite genre of music?: Punk and Ska
What time is it now?: 10.31pm
How much money do you have right now?: Not a whole lot...hopefully that changes soon but I don't forsee that happening ;)
Are you hungry right now?: A little
What are you doing right now?: Listening to Chicago, filling out this killer survey
Do you like parades?: Depends...
Do you like the moon?: Yeah
What are you going to do when you're done with this?: Probably check out Facebook or mess around with my iTunes library
If you could have any magical power what would it be?: The ability to change time

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE

Funny?: In my own, quirky way
Cool?: Yeah :)
Pretty?: At times
Sarcastic?: Not really...
Lazy?: Too much sometimes
Hyper?: Yeah, heh
Friendly?: Very much so
Evil?: Couldn't do it
Smart?: In my own, special way ;)
Strong?: Depends how you measure strength
Talented?: In certain areas
Dorky?: Very much so :)

WHAT COMES TO MIND WITH THE WORD

High: Fro
Lonely: A sad puppy
Pen: Pencil
Flower: Spring
Window: My kitties
Psycho: Cocaine
Brain freeze: Ice cream!
Strange: My life
Sassy: Kirsten
Suffering: War
Art: Svet

WOULD YOU EVER

Sky dive?: Probably, I've thought about it
Run away?: I have all I ever need or want here
Curse at a teacher?: If they really pissed me off, maybe, heh...
Ask someone out?: I have done it plenty of times, but no need to anymore :)
Unscrew your cellphone too see what's inside?: Heck yeah, I am a nerd like that
Lie to someone to make them think better of you?: Nope, if they don't like me for who I am, fuck em
Visit a foreign country for more than a month?: That would be awesome
Go scuba diving?: Maybe
Write a book?: I have tried on occasion to write, I don't think I would put in the time, heh
Assemble a computer?: Um, YES! Computers are my life :)
Become a rock star?: That would be super fun
Have a long-distance relationship?: I have done it and it isn't fun...I got the relationship I need now :)
Marry someone you don't know?: Uh, no?

A change would do you good....

2007-03-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

Ah Sheryl Crow, you speak to the core of me with that song, lol. Change is all around me these days, some major HUGE changes in fact. Firstly, some bad news: our lovely car, the precious 1988 Chevy Corsica that we have been driving for the last year and a half has finally perished. Well, I shouldn't say finally - the thing ran like a charm the entire time we had it, no problems whatsoever. It was a beauty. Then, randomly, the engine decided it wanted to start sucking up oil like it was going out of style. We went in to get it looked at and as we got into the parking lot of the auto place, the engine stalled. The auto guys told us that it seized up and would need to be replaced, a replacement that doesn't come cheap and wouldn't be worth it on a car of that age. So needless to say, Kirsten's dad has upped the car search for us ten fold (he had been looking for a second car for when we moved back) Because Chad is a kick ass dude, he is letting us use his car for the time being (mainly so Kirsten has a way to work) and hopefully Rick will find us something within the next couple of weeks.

Then comes the crazy awesome good news which totally put this whole car thing out of my mind. I am going to be a father. Yup, you read correctly, do not adjust your monitor: Kirsten is pregnant. We found out the same night as the whole car fiasco. It was the second test she had taken in a couple of days (we weren't sure the first one was right, although how do you mess up peeing on a stick? lol) We had been trying for a baby for a few months, with no luck. Yeah, obviously it takes some time, we just figured that it would take a little longer. Well, Kirsten's emotions have been up and down like mad lately (even more than usual, hehe) and things just seemed a little different (plus she was late, heh) So we went for a test and sure as shit - we are going to have a baby. I don't think it has truly sunk in it...my parents and her parents are freakin' ecstatic, which makes us really happy, and everyone I have told so far is so happy for us. I really appreciate all the support from everyone...it just really hard to believe that I am going to be a dad. I have always loved little kids, I am the oldest of all my cousins (and siblings, obviously) and have always felt like more of an uncle type figure than a cousin, I've pretty much babysat for most of them and always have wanted kids...but now that its reality, its like...woah, this is for real now! I know that Kirsten and I are going to make kick ass parents because we both had kick ass parents who raised us to be awesome people. We are just so very much excited...

What a crazy year (hell, even MONTH!) this has turned out to be already...graduating college in two months, getting a new job (hopefully a career), buying a HOUSE (which I cannot WAIT to move into), getting a new car, and now - a baby. Hello, real life - my name is Andrew, be nice to me :)

PS - Kirsten figures she will be due around mid-November-ish (she is going to see a doctor soon to figure that all out I am sure) so be sure to keep us in your prayers and pray for a healthy (and cute!) baby :)

My life should be a movie...

2007-03-11T01:36:00.000-06:00

You've all seen this before, I am sure...it's 1:30 in the morning (well, I suppose more like 2:30 with daylight savings and all, thanks G.W.!) and I am bored and not tired...and in the mood for some good music. I am using only my personal playlist, so I have a feeling we will see a trend. Either way, should be fun...onward!

IF YOUR LIFE WERE A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD BE ON THE SOUNDTRACK?
Rules:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every section of the movie, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

Opening Credits: "Forgotten" Linkin Park

Waking Up: "Far Away Boys" Flogging Molly

First Day At School: "Peace of Mind" Boston (PS - As a side note, such sad fuckin' news about Brad Delp, lead singer of Boston, dying :( R.I.P.)

Falling In Love: "Do I Creep You Out" Weird Al Yankovic

Fight Song: "Espionage" Green Day

Breaking Up: "Hello Again" Hoobastank

Prom: "Brown Eyed Girl" Reel Big Fish

First Time Getting Laid: "Same Direction" Hoobastank

Graduation: "Drinkin'" Reel Big Fish

Life's OK: "Ha ha You're Dead" Green Day

Mental Breakdown: "All Downhill From Here" New Found Glory

Driving: "Pain" Jimmy Eat World

Flashback: "Hum Hallelujah" Fall Out Boy

Getting Back Together: "Don't Stop Believin'" Journey

Wedding: "Skatanic" Reel Big Fish (kind of a creepy song for this occasion, actually, lol)

Birth of Child: "Same Old Song and Dance" Aerosmith

Final Battle: "Hit The Floor" Linkin Park (one of my favorite songs by them, perfect for this)

Death Scene: "Down In Flames" Reel Big Fish

Funeral Song: "Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year" Fall Out Boy

End Credits: "Everything Is Cool" Reel Big Fish

As I said, maybe a little skewed due to the playlist, but not bad knowing the songs :)

Life is busy, and Kirsten and I are so damn antsy, ready to get out of here.

Then again, the more I think about moving back and being done with college, I realize I will miss a whole lot of people. It won't be easy to move and finish a pretty huge chapter in my life...

I will have a new address in a little over a month...

2007-03-06T00:04:00.000-06:00

...BECAUSE KIRSTEN AND I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!

Yeah, so it's been over a month since I updated, but man - this news HAD to go in here! So you all know Kirsten and I have been doing some house-hunting as of late. A few of the houses we looked at were real dumps, like places I am not sure ANYONE would buy. But this one - this one we knew IMMEDIATELY was us. It is an older house, but we both like the older look, gives it character. It has updated everything (electric, furnace, good plumbing, etc...) so it wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg when we first moved in - just cosmetic things that we can do with time. So we took the plunge and after debating for a bit, decided to put in an offer. Our realtor (who by the way, is a super nice guy and is really helpful) put a 24-hour deadline on the offer (it was more like 28 hours, but who's counting?) so we would know very soon (this was Saturday night, we would know by Sunday) So of course, we sat very patiently by the phone all day Sunday...waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Finally, at 10pm, he called - with no news, really. The people selling the house (it's two trustees selling it for an older lady) were in two different locations and only one of them had gotten it, blah blah...in lesser words, they needed a little more time. He said we would know by Monday morning, but he sounded hopeful that they would at the very least counter the offer - which is exactly what they did. I got a call around 3pm today telling me they had countered. I called Kirsten right away (she had gotten the e-mail with the counter, so she already knew) and right away, she said, "I want it". So that was that - I got home, we signed the counter, and sent it back - and with that, we have our first accepted offer on a house :-D

We are both incredibly excited for all of this. Everyone that we have been working with up to this point has been so awesome, helping the both of us in this very new process to us. The house is so cute and we cannot wait to move in. As of right now, the closing date is set for April 19th, so baring anything huge, that should be the date we get the keys. The plan right now is that Kirsten will move back there (she is already looking for a job so she can start right away when she gets back) and get everything settled there while I finish up school here. We are probably going to break out of our lease a month early (so move out May 1st instead of June 1st) so we can save a little cash. We will have the house for a couple weeks, so we should have plenty of time to move all of our shit out of here into the new place. Mike and Sarah are going to be super awesome and let me crash at their place for three weeks so I don't have to worry about commuting from Appleton, so that is pretty rockin. That is the plan for now, as long as things don't change drastically.

I feel like I have done a lot of growing up in the last weekend...it's pretty crazy. Things are going to get pretty hectic in the coming months, but I tell you what - if you told me 5 years ago that I would be getting married, buying a house, graduating college, and getting a good solid job (hopefully, hehe) all in the course of one year, I would have laughed in your face. It is about time we get some good fortune our way, we so totally deserve it.

So be sure to remember 408 E. Summer St, Appleton, WI 54911...that will be our new address in a little over a month :-D

Ultimate - Block 3

2007-02-05T21:34:00.000-06:00

I start this blog with talkin' a little about the current block of Ultimate Frisbee, my second to last block ever (at least at the collegiate level). I have been playing Ultimate every year since I got here (I have missed only one block due to scheduling conflicts, otherwise I have played in every other block) I have been captain of just about every team I have played on and man, I tell ya, it is EASILY the one thing I am happiest I got into in college. I love playing the game, I love the competition, and I love the comradery that I have gained with my team (I have had many teams over the years, but the current team has for the most part been together for the better part of a year and a half). Anyways...our block started last week and due to spraining my ankle (explained in my previous blog), I didn't play. It was hard to just watch from the sideline, but with a couple new additions this block, our team looked awesome. Either way, I was still super stoked to get back out there and play tonight - especially since we were playing Joe's team. Things started off well when Pete threw me a nice hook in the corner of the endzone - I had to dive and roll a little to get it, and that MAC-burn (heh) on my knee and elbow will hurt tomorrow - but holy wow, I had SUCH an adrenaline rush after that. I never realized until tonight how PUMPED this shit gets me. We ended up winning the game pretty handily and even though I was only at about 85% tonight, I feel very good about this team. We have never run the table in DII (came one game short twice - last year against Fabian's team) and this year we hope to do it.

As for everything else, life is looking decent. Finally had my first meeting with Marshfield Clinic today for our project and although it looks like it is going to be quite an involved project (in a nutshell - they want a website that explains and "sells" their IT Department to prospective employees and purchasers of their software), it is going to be fun and I look forward to working with Nomin and Maureen.

Got information back regarding that loan application I filled out last week. At first, the guy told me that he probably couldn't give me any loan based on the low income and such (which I figured), but then he called back later saying they COULD pre-approve us for an $80K loan. Our original price range was $100K - $125K, but if we can find a nice house for $80K, I think we are totally going to take it. So we have switched our looking a little and heres hoping :)

Got my first "thanks, but no thanks" letter from Skyline last week. Kinda depressing, since I was REALLY hoping I would get this job, but I gotta realize that it is going to happen. It was only my first application and interview and I would be RIDICULOUSLY lucky to get it on the first one. I was a little sad, but I have shaken it off and applied at a couple new places since then, so here's hoping on that too!

Mom/Aunt Weekend inches closer and I cannot wait to kick back and party (and see them for a change!) with the family again. It is always fun and it will probably be a very good time to take a little break, heh.

Kind of a random night, I suppose, heh...just didn't realize I had that much to say!

PS - The new Fall Out Boy album is pretty good...I like it. Fuck you haters :-P

A Belated Update

2007-01-29T17:36:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Wait, it's almost February? Well, shit, time really flies when you...aren't...doing..anything, lol. No, I have been keeping myself pretty busy. I have some time before my class that starts at 6.30, so I figured I would post a little bloggy blog. My final semester started last week, nothing too exciting. My two classes besides 480 (WDMD 301, which is PHP and Javascript, and WDMD 380, which is 3-D Game Design) are going to be cool. 301 is going to be super easy, plus Danno and Joe are in it with me, and 308 will probably be a good amount of work but fun nonetheless. For 480, I am working with a group on a project for Marshfield Clinic...although we sadly haven't received our project yet. We have weekly presentations to the class regarding our status and such - needless to say, I won't be having a presentation tomorrow. I want to get the project soon so we can just get it started and get moving...but gotta be patient I guess.

Ultimate starts tonight and I am super psyched, although I won't be playing :( I sprained my ankle something awful on Friday night playing basketball and it still isn't completely healed up today, so instead of risking further injury, I decided I am going to sit out tonight. I am just happy I didn't hurt it anymore than I could have (I rolled it pretty bad and it hurt bad Friday and Saturday) Oh well, it happens - surprised I've gone this long without an injury like that, heh. This will be my first missed game of ultimate since I took a block off in sophomore year...crazy!

Confab is on a bit of a hiatus and who knows what is going to happen with that. Scheduling seems to be getting all confuzzled and everyone is just too busy for a project of this magnitude, it seems. As much as I really want to push everyone to get this done and go for it, I know that my schedule is only going to get more busy and I almost feel its a good sign that its not working out right now (as shitty as it may be) I know we will find time to do it, and if not, its not like our lives end after this semester (even if I am going to be in Appleton)

Speaking of Appleton, I filled out and submitted a loan application for a house over the weekend. Pretty freakin' exciting! Kirsten and I applied with UWCU (the bank we use now) simply because any of the meetings we have we will probably have to be there, and it would be stupid to use a bank in Appleton and to travel there lord knows how many times to meet with them. We figure that once we get the loan, we won't have to actually be at the bank that often so it should work out well. I just hope everything goes smooth with the application and that it all works out. Kinda freaky to be applying for that kinda stuff, but super exciting all the same.
My brother moved out of the house over the weekend, hooray for him! He moved in with a friend of his and they are both pretty stoked about their apartment. We will probably end up going home sometime in the next month or so, because he will need me to hook up his computer, lol. Makes me feel kinda old that my baby brother is moving out of the house...but then I realize he will be 20 in only a few weeks! Yikes! Still pretty cool, now we have another place to party when we move back to A-town, haha.

So things are looking up and up right now. I expect things to start getting hectic soon, especially once I get my project for 480. Bowling starts next week (finally!) and I can't wait for that. For now, I am relishing my time off and just patiently waiting...counting down...4 months...

Merry Christmas to all!

2006-12-26T00:40:00.000-06:00

Well, not quite anymore. It is now Dec. 26th, but I am chilling on Kirsten's parents couch, watching some James Bond with Kenny...just chillaxin...it feels nice to just chill. It has been a busy past couple of days, but it was a lot of fun. Got some really fun presents and got to spend some awesome time with family, which is always really great. Now we get a week of fun just to do nothing around here with a house pretty much all to ourselves.

Got all but one of my grades back so far...2 A's, a B+, and a C. My other grade is going to be an A, so my GPA will be around a 3.4, which is the best in quite a while, so I can't really complain. I am just getting antsy as hell now to start my final semester...not that I want to go back to school...but still.

The first day of filming last Wednesday went pretty well, now I need to work on getting some scripts memorized and worry about hardcore filming starting next week. It is going to be a fun experience and I look forward to it, especially after the fun we had filming just a little bit on Wednesday.

That is about all for now I suppose...I might update a little more later in the week, but not much else to say otherwise I am enjoying break and I am ready to be back here in A-town...:)

If I get drunk and pass out on the floor...

2006-12-20T00:40:00.000-06:00

...you won't bother me no more...
If you're drinking you know that your my friend and I'll say..
I think I'll have myself a beer...

Guess what I am listening to? Hehe. I am TOTALLY done with my second to last semester ever. Wah! Actually ended up pretty well. One class I am a little disappointed in, only because I know I could have done better (especially since we have no tests, just homework being graded) Oh well, rocked everything else and should end up with a decent GPA. I am very much looking forward to starting my final semester. Next semester is going to be busy as shit, but I am so excited for it.

Shooting starts for Confab tomorrow and I incredibly excited. The four of us (as well as one other girl who does a few scenes with us in the pilot) got together tonight and read a little bit. Just a little informal session. Man, I had so much fun. I really feel that this is going to be such a great time and such a learning experience. Both Crystal and Anastasia are theatre people, so Joe and I (or at least I know I am) are a little intimidated, but I have a little edge having filmed a couple films already and the girls are just great fun and man...I am just stoked as hell. Plus I will be on TV, how could that NOT be cool?

Only 5 more days until Christmas, that is pretty exciting. I cannot wait to go home and spend some quality time with the family, that will be fun. Plus presents ;) Let's see what next semester holds for me...

-Confab (We hope to be done filming by end of February, and plus I will be helping edit and such)
-Bowling (Peter, Daanen, Fabian, and I got a team, that is going to be fun)
-Ultimate (only two more blocks I can play :( )
-Classes (I am taking WDMD 301 - Internet Languages, WDMD 308 - 3d Graphics and Gaming, and CIS 480 - 'The Big One' lol...I am also going to taking an archery class in April, just one weekend up in Treehaven, haha)
-House hunting (Kirsten and I will be applying for our home loan and working on getting a house...we hope to have one very soon, so here's hoping!)
-Job hunting (I still have that second interview for Skyline at the end of the month, so it kinda depends on that how much job hunting I will need to do...I am not getting my hopes up, but it would be cool as hell to have a job already when I move back)

It is just ridiculous to think that I will be a college graduate in less than six months. The last four years have been a pretty surreal experience...from being a scared little freshman rooming with a guy I had no idea about...to gaining some of the most amazing friends I could ask for...to getting MARRIED...to just everything. I have grown and changed so much in four years, it is nuts. Just pure nuts. And I know that it is just going to get more nuts over the next four years, and so on and so on. But man...college is just awesome. My sister is having a tough time right now with his guidance counselor and shit telling her that she won't be able to get into college and I hope to get a chance to talk to her over break and tell her to shove it up his ass, heh...he told me the same thing pretty much and look at me now! On the brink of graduating! You can do anything you truly set your mind to, I have always and will always believe that.

So yeah...life is good. Things are going well, and I am just very excited about everything.

6 days...

2006-12-12T21:24:00.000-06:00

Getting some damn good work on done on my final 270 project (going to turn out pretty good methinks) and my stupid ass project for 358 seems to be going well (even though I have pretty much done no work on it, mostly just my group doing it without me...not that I will complain, heh) Played my final game of ultimate last night, really great game actually. We won 10 - 8 but good god, I felt like I was going to die a few times. I am ridiculously out of shape and I was running quite hard last night. I still played well...although I think I rolled my ankle at some point because it was pretty sore this morning. All for the game :) Only 6 more days of classes/tests...then two days of work (which I love a LOT more than school) and then off for two weeks, hooray (well, a week and a half, but still!) Better start memorizing those scripts...

PS - Those of you on Facebook, check out my profile and join the Confab group...the best place outside of StopThatNun.com to get your insider info on the TV show :)

It's another tequila sunrise...

2006-12-10T23:43:00.000-06:00

Evidently I suck at this whole updating my blog jazz. Plus I feel a little secluded from the people that used to read my blog from MySpace...but hey, who cares, right? Heh...just chilling in the apartment right now, listening to some Eagles and other random music. Things have been getting steadily busier, which always happens this time of the semester (obviously) Tomorrow (well, Tuesday, heh) starts the final week of classes, then finals, then the end. I will be happy when I am done with this semester...I think if I can bust my ass this week and do some good work, I should finish strong and have a good GPA this semester too. I am rockin' in most of my classes and I can use a good GPA to help boost my overall a little bit, especially going into my last semester. But the workload has certainly increased as of late and I gotta start getting my priorities straight.

Had a job interview with Skyline last week. They did it over the phone, which is cool because I didn't have to travel to GB (which I would have). Either way, it was pretty cool. Not sure how it went, I felt like a I rambled quite a bit (which is pretty easy for me to do, heh) but I had some good answers to questions and the lady seemed pretty nice. I have a tech interview on December 28th (another phone one) so that should be interesting. It would be cool as hell to go into my final semester of college knowing I have a job. I would be so stoked. Then we just have to focus on the house shopping and all that fun stuff. We have pretty much put that on hold until after the first of the year, just because there isn't a whole lot we can do right now with it and I gotta put the majority of my focus into school.

Confab (the Stop That Nun TV show) is off to a great start so far. We haven't started filming yet, that won't happen until after the first of the year probably, but we have a good majority of the episodes written and such. We are just working on securing filming locations and getting a schedule out there. Remember, if you are going to be around Point over break and feel like being on TV or helping with the production of a TV show, we will need all the help we can get so please let me know! It is going to be an awesome time, I am pretty stoked :)

Only two weeks 'til X-Mas, that rocks! Plans are back to normal now, Kirsten's Grandma seems to good and her parents trip is back on. That will make things a bit easier for us at least. I look forward to having some time off from work and school and all that. I will be busy memorizing scripts, but that is fun :) (Yeah, I am one of the main characters now along with head writer)...geez, I really do have to update more often, lol.

Final game of Ultimate tomorrow, we had a tough loss last week to Fabian's team. Still always fun to play though, either way :)

I suppose that is all for now...ciao!

The Black Parade

2006-11-14T00:39:00.000-06:00

Listening to the new My Chemical Romance album right now, pretty good stuff so far. A much different sound than what I am used to from them, but very nice. Just got done playing a pretty awesome game of Ultimate. I very much enjoy playing Ultimate, especially with the team I have right now. I am going to be sad when I graduate and I can't play with all these guys again...

I am so stoked, I get to register for my final semester of college tomorrow. I usually am excited about registering, just because that means its getting close to the end of the semester and such, but this is so huge. I won't have to do this again. This will be it.

Kinda speaking on that graduation subject, I applied for my first job today. Two years ago (almost) I had applied for an internship at Skyline Technologies in Green Bay. I know a guy that works there and he threw my name in there and I interviewed for the internship and everything. The guy seemed to really like me and I was offered the internship, the only problem was that they didn't want me just for the summer, they wanted me over the fall too (that would have been last fall), meaning I would have to miss school. After serious consideration (since the money would have been AWESOME and the experience would have been great), I declined, stating I didn't want to miss school and just wanted to finish..good reason I felt. Only 3 months after that, I found the job at the University Store, which I am still at. I feel that was really a god-send, since the amazing experience I have gained here at the store is pretty much unsurpassed (as well as the awesome people I have met and worked with :)) The guy that I interviewed with at Skyline was really cool about everything and told me to contact him again if I needed anything...so I did tonight - with my resume and application for a job next summer. Yeah, it is kinda early, but how sweet would it be to already have a job before my final semester starts? I would feel so secure already, plus who knows, I could go out to GB a couple times before summer starts, do some training, have a little leg up before I actually start full-time. I don't want to get my hopes up too high, and I have put my resume out at a couple job websites too, but man, this job at Skyline would be sweet as hell.

Besides that, we look toward the holidays and spending some time with our families. Things have gotten a little murky with that...Kirsten's rents were originally going to be in Washington over X-Mas, so the majority of our time would be with my family...well now come to find out Lori's mom (who has had some problems in the past) is sicker than originally thought and they aren't really sure how long she is going to make it (long story, don't really want to get into it)..long story short, they are most likely canceling their trip, which kinda messes up our plans. But we pretty much got it figured out now, so it shouldn't be too bad. But man, this having to split time crap is annoying. I hope we won't have to do this forever...just make people come to us when we move back, lol.

I am looking forward to finishing this semester and looking toward the future. I will have to focus big-time on my final CIS class next semester, but that is about it. I will be very antsy all semester, I already know it...will have to be working on training a new guy at work and just ready to get outta here, lol.

Keep Kirsten's Grandma in your thoughts and prayers and cross your fingers for my job, this could be a big chance for me!

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969...

2006-11-06T23:08:00.000-06:00

Let's see what the song for this blog will be...ah, awesome, Minority by Green Day...kinda fitting, heh.

I hate starting blogs like this, because I seem to do it often, but damn it has been a while. I have been keeping fairly busy and whenever I think about posting, I am not at the computer...then when I get to the computer I always come up with other things to do and forget about this. Not a whole lot of interesting stuff has happened in the last month. The TV show is progressing nicely, we had a nice meeting about it a few weeks ago and got some stuff hashed out, we will most likely start shooting over winter break with a majority of the shooting taking place over second semester. I have been appointed with the title of head writer, along with Jason, mainly because we came up with a good amount of ideas before the meeting and such...so I am one of the main guys that the scripts have to go through, which is great :) I still haven't fully decided as to what other capacity I will be partaking, whether I want to audition for a role or just do crew (I know a lot of the guys want me to audition, but I wouldn't mind just be an extra/guest-star, heh)

Married life is treating me very well...since most of you seem to ask me that a lot, hehe. I really couldn't ask for a better wife or person to spend my life with. She gets me (most of the time, hehe) and I get her...and it's just great. Times can get rough, especially when it comes to money woes and such, but we are able to support each other and we know it will all work out for the best eventually...it just takes time. We went and looked at a house in Black Creek a couple weeks ago...and it made me realize that wow, I am growing up. Yikes! Heh...yeah, I know, I probably starting feeling that way when I got MARRIED this summer, lol...but it just makes me realize more and more that as every day passes, I am one day closer to being completely done. Being at a point where I never thought I would get to: a college graduate. It honestly feels like just yesterday I was sitting in high school, wondering who this Dan Podell kid was that I was going to be rooming with...and now he is probably one of my best friends. I honestly can say I don't know where I would be right now had I not come here. I know I would be a much different person, probably wouldn't be married, wouldn't have met some of the most amazing people ever...I will be sad to leave in May, but man I cannot wait. I am ready for another new chapter. I am ready to be a grown-up...I guess, hehe. But really...I wouldn't trade these last four years for ANYTHING. I feel I have grown so much as a person, as a friend, as a husband, heh. No regrets, that is what I always say.

Mmmm, now Hotel California is on...gotta love the Eagles. Only six weeks left of this semester, I feel pretty good about where things are. I should do...decent in most of my classes. My philosophy class is pretty awesome, prof is great and the class is pretty much a breeze. I just gotta buckle down and do decent work in my others...then its on to my final semester and only 8 credits :) I might, if need be, pick up a couple BS classes to get to 12 credits, if my financial aid forces me to be a full-time student, but I would rather take a little cut in the aid then take classes that will just take away from my CIS 480 class, which I really want to just kick ass in. The other two classes I will be taking, one is just once a week on Thursday afternoons...and the other is an archery class that is only one weekend in like..March I think. So the other times I will be working and that's it. Man, next semester is going to rock...just can't get behind in 480, heh.

I am very much looking forward to finishing this semester and spending some time at home...Kirsten and I are going to take some time off of work and head to Appleton for probably around a week, just spend some good quality time with the family and not worry about anything. Ooooh...now Led Zepplin is on with some Kashmir! iTunes seems to like me tonight, heh.

Overall, I really can't complain. I am anxious...and ready...and antsy...and excited...and scared shitless at times, heh. But I got my baby, and shes got me, and nothing can go wrong when I am in her arms :)

Rock on, kids.

UWSP Commercial!

2006-10-30T10:08:00.000-06:00

A couple buddies of mine made a UWSP commercial for a class, and I am in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gs9mWFhPOw

It's pretty funny, so check it out :)

Par-tay!

2006-10-02T16:37:00.000-05:00

This Saturday, October 7th, we are having a party to celebrate Kirsten's birthday! Feel free to stop on over around 8ish to have some fun with us. BYOB, if you plan on drinking, otherwise just bring your lovely self and be ready to have a good ol' time! Call me if you have questions.

Stop That Nun...TV?!

2006-09-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, you read that correctly. Stop That Nun is hitting the boob-tube. And I have to say I am pretty freakin' pumped about it. We have done two movies, the latest of which is going to be on display at the Central Wisconsin Film Festival in early November, and I think we all have a feel for what goes into this process. While TV is quite a different monster to tackle, we are all excited and all ready for the challenge...and the rewards it could entail. As of now, we will be aired on STV (which is the UWSP TV Station) started next semester, from what I hear. I assume we will probably put most of our shows online as well, probably some kind of setup on our website...which is going to be new soon! Our old site is currently down due to bandwidth overages, but we are in the process of transferring the entire domain to GoDaddy, which is giving up a whole ton more bandwidth and just a better overall server for everything. As much as I helped out with the first two movies, I feel that I will be putting the most effort into this TV thing and the future of STN. I really wasn't sure what to think of any of this when I first got involved, I really was very hesitant when James first mentioned it way back when. I really even didn't believe it when we had our first shoot...I really didn't know the Nuns that well and wasn't sure where any of this was going. The first shoot really helped open my eyes that, "Hey, these guys are fuckin' good and serious about it all..." As much fun as we have writing and shooting and fucking around, everything we do has some serious potential to actually take us somewhere. Maybe this whole thing is a stepping stone for the actually movie people (like Erik and Seth and Luke and so forth) or maybe it is something that will actually last when we are all out of college...who knows, right? All I can say is that the future is looking very bright, we are growing and I am very happy to be a part of the experience. The next few months are going to be very fun and I hope to add my little part to that :)

2006-09-29T10:50:00.000-05:00

I might try this place out, see how I like it. MySpace is just getting too...blah...for me, heh. I just want a place to relax and rant when I want, and this place seems like a good spot for that. Who knows how long it will last...