Lots of updates....

There are a lot of changes happening now, which is one of the main reasons that I haven't written in awhile. Mostly it has been because our internet was kinda flaky while we moved and I wasn't able to get online for almost a week!

I got A's in the three classes that I took this fall......but I also found out that I am not able to get into my major this semester. This means that I have to wait until next fall to start my classes. Sigh! Anyways, I decided that I didn't want to sit around on my butt until then, so I applied at a part-time QA job. They said they would like to offer me a job, pending my background check approval. I will start after the first of the year and will be working 30 hours a week, M-F. Right now I am on the schedule at the dog shop for 2 nights....we'll see how it all works out.

We are looking forward to having myparents come and visit this weekend, so if you have anything you would like to send with them like notes or goodies (like an Xbox360 - Matt) pass it off to them before they leave on Friday.


We are getting unpacked and organized at our new place. I have a couple of pics and we will continue to post more as we get through all of this moving stuff :)

Our new rug - we got it off from Craigslist!

There's a monkey in the jungle, watching a paper trail

Caught up in the conflict between his brain and his tail...

So, yeah. No updates for a while, huh? That would be in part because we have no internet connection, but mostly because we've been moving all of our belongings from one location to another.

Mandy and I have moved so many times, we have it down to a science. Not to brag, or anything, but damn... when we move, we move very well. We were able to pick up the rental truck, move everything into it, drive to the new location, unload its contents into the new house, gas-up the truck and return it in less than 6 hours. The total cost of renting the truck, with gas and mileage included: $33.00. That's roughly 1/8thth of the cost just to fill up the gas tank one time on the truck we moved out to Denver in. Craziness.

Right now, as would be expected, the house is in shambles as we decide what goes where, who does what, and when does which. Once all of that is settled, a little painting is done, and some furniture procured and gotten rid of, we will post some pics.

In a few weeks, we will be entertaining the lovely Mr. Cat-Fattener and his wife Sue for a week or so. They will come baring gifts, or gift, rather, in the form of a dog. We need to have the place someone spiffed by then, as well as make up the spare room so Mandy and I won't have to sleep on the air mattress and give up our bed. It will chaotic, but fun. We're really looking forward to spending some time not doing much of anything.

Work is going well for the both of us. I'm sure Mandy will want to share her school/work situation herself, so I'll leave that be. My work is also going well. Very well, in fact. I've learned more in the past four month working at this job than I did in four years of college education. It's been stressful, rewarding, and energizing all at the same time. Lovin' it!

That's about it from the mountains. Mandy has some new dog pics she'll be posting to Flickr soon, so keep an eye out for those, especially for the yet-to-be-taken picture of me with Bodhi. There's a good story behind that dog. One you will never, ever believe. When I was told, I nearly spit out my drink and shouted, "No way!" To ramp up the suspense, I've added a poll to the right-hand nav of the blog. Just choose what crazy, unbelievable fact is true about this dog, and we'll see if the readership of this humble blog can read my mind.

Video Walkthrough of New Apartment

Mandy and I have signed a lease on our new apartment/house. It's much more spacious and groovy than our previous, and our intention is stay here for the next (minimum) 18 months. We're planning to really move into this place, paint, decorate, etc. If this does indeed happen, it will be the longest time we've stayed at a single place since we've known each other. In the seven years we've known each others, we've moved eight times. With this move, it will be nine. I think we've earned a little respite from boxes, packing tape, and extortionate truck rentals.

We have already started the moving process, and expect it to take the next month and a half due my traveling and both of us being back in GR for a week over Thanksgiving. We'll add more updates as we do things to the place.

No excuses for the video quality. It was shot on my new 8525 phone.

(Boy, this new blogger-video is really nice.)

Not humid.....but still hot!

Before moving to Denver, I did research on what elevation does to most people, so I would be prepared if I came across symptoms that I was having. Although both Matt and I went through an intestinal yucky and slight headache period, I was not ready for the biggest change in my environment. I was so focused on the elevation that I totally skipped over the semi-arid part of the description of Denver found here. If you are from the mid-West and are used to high humidity keep this in mind in visiting or moving to a semi-arid area....it's dry. Now that may seem pretty obvious, but not for me.

Many of you know that my nose has been broken many times during high school sports. I had nose surgery a few years ago to fix the septum (or nose separation) in order to help me breathe - which it did wonders. I hardly had any problems and I could tell a distinct difference in how much I had to breathe. After being here a couple of days I found that not only does it take more effort to breathe, but it is so dry which dries out your sinuses - I keep saline spray close at hand.

Just over a year ago I had lasik surgery for my eyes. During the prep period, they check how dry your eyes are: 20-15 normal, 15-10 dry....both my eyes were a 5. I carry around eye drops in my purse, have some in the bathroom, and when it's not too hot or cold have some in the car. I have never had my eyes feel so dry and painful as I have after being here for 2 days.

I am not telling you to deter you, but more to give advice to take the necessary precautions. This seems like a great city in which we have been finding new and exciting things to do all of the time. We look forward to exploring and enjoying many more things in the coming weeks, months, and years and updating everyone when we do!

Convoy: Prologue

After a week-long hiatus, I feel the time to start winding the tale of our journey has come. It should be told in three parts, though I'm leaving room for a fourth or an epilogue of some sort. My goal is to fashion each story with pictures and video, making some use of the cool formating features of blogger and giving the reader something to look at and (slightly) interact with. I'm thinking the best narrative style to communicate the journey is through a faux-travelogue. It will be told in the first person, and in real-time as if I were writing it during the journey.

I hope to have Part 1 up by tomorrow night, but it will likely be Thursday before it appears. In the meantime, I'm going to start putting up random posts just to get back in the habit of doing it, so keep an eye to the RSS feed or on the link you used to arrive here.

Peace n' love!

It's official: Denver, CO for 2+ years

We're moving to Denver, CO. Here's the tentative plan:

1. Matt finish work 06/01
2. Mandy finish work 06/08
3. Fly to Denver 06/18
4. Explore city, look for place to live, eat food 06/18 – 06/22
5. Fly back to CinCity 06/22
6. Pack 06/22 – 06/27
7. Drive to Denver with all possessions 06/27 – 06/28
8. Unpack, return trailer, sleep 06/29 – 06/30
9. Drive to Grand Rapids 07/01 – 07/02
10. Chill in Grand Rapids 07/02 – 07/12
11. Drive back to Denver 07/12 – 07/13
12. Stay in Denver until Thanksgiving while working, entertaining guests, and going to school. Maybe get a dog.

Obviously, these dates are subject to change, but that's our tentative schedule. The big question mark in all of

this is how / if we're going to get back to Grand Rapids for the 4^th of July celebrations. We may or may not, it really depends on how burnt out we are from traveling, packing, and driving around with two half-drugged, screaming cats. We're really going to try to make it down around then to see everyone, because it will likely be months before we fly back East.

Next week, I'll write more on the impetus for the move as well as some personal reflections on my time spent in CinCity and what I hope to accomplish over the next couple of years. I'm hoping Mandy will do the same.

For now: Denver dreamin' on such a summer's day…

(Ugh, all these damn formatting issues. This is what happens when you compose posts in Word.)

Moving Report

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

Mandy and I are heading into flux territory again. The wheels of life begin to grind once more and a great evil looms in the East.

Our lease is up at the end of June. So, between then and now we have to decide the following:

1) Where we're going to move
2) What school Mandy can get into to finish her degree
3) Where we can work
4) How/if I can find work that relates in any way to video

We have about six weeks to figure all of this out. While we are on our way to getting a number of these things nailed down, there's still work to be done. My posts will remain sporadic for the next month and a half as we work our way through the big Decisions. I will try to keep the blog updated with details about our job situations, where we're moving, and what we're planning.

So, to start, I am 15 calendar days away from not working at my current job. I tendered my two week resignation this past Wednesday. My last day will be June 1st. My plan is to use the month of June to finish Sue and Casey's travel dvd, help pack up all of our belongings, travel to the new city and find an apartment, and move. Our current thinking is Mandy will be done with her job one week after I am done with mine, so we both can travel to the city to check out apartments and neighborhoods.

This strategy carries some obvious risk, but such is the case with anything worth doing. A career change on both our parts, medical and video, will not come about without sacrifice and work. I think we're both in a much better position financially and emotionally for the change due in large part to our hiatus to CinCity. We both feel the project was a success and are eager to move on to the next thing.

An example of something I've recently had to reassess is my rubber band ball strategy. My work environment is beset with rubber bands of all shapes, sizes, and colors. They gather in dimly lit corners in small, dusty piles. They find their way into cups of coffee, between printouts, and even into shoes. To help with this problem, many of my co-workers have begun to capture the stretchy strings and wind them into rubber band balls of various sizes. Some are monstrous; the har labor of many years. Others are dainty and colorful, the fruits of a passing interest. My goal was to create three fist-sized rubber balls I could juggle. However, my resignation has forced my face up to the fact that this an impossibility. I had only created one complete ball and had just started a second. I realized that the average volume of rubber bands that come my way is not enough to complete the project before I would be leaving. So, this morning, while watching scripts run on my computer, I unwound the smaller ball and merged the bands with the larger ball; my thinking being, one large ball is easier to keep track of than two smaller ones.

(This is two of me pushing both of the balls together)