Hey everyone,
My nephew Hunter is 8 years old and on a mission. He has such a tender heart and has decided to raise money for childhood cancer research by shaving his red hair off. His best friend's sister is 6 and has been fighting cancer since she was 7 months old. If you are interested please follow this link.
Please pray that hearts would be touched and money raise for the cancer research. Thank you.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Updates
Ever had a month when there was so much going on that you can't even make time to reflect on each days activities? The last month or so has very much been that way for Krista and I. Now that things have settled I'm able to look back and see some interesting things that were entirely invisible during that time.
(I'm going to drop random pictures throughout the post to break up the wall of text!)
School:
I am officially done with my bachelor's degree. I now have a BS in technical management with concentrations in database administration and computer information systems. If anyone has any suggestions on how to best abbreviate that - I'm all ears. I went back a few days ago and looked at my grades for my time at DeVry and laughed a bit. It's very easy to see my level of commitment in my grades and workload when you look at it chronologically. I started off with a light work-load and got mostly B's. Then I had a term with a full workload and got A's and B's. Finally, I can look back to the semester I got tired of picking away at classes and decided just to do it. Since that term I've earned nothing but A's and I'm proud of that. I know that when I actually commit to something I'm capable of performing well.
I'm looking toward options for grad-school but I kinda of don't want to start immediately. I could use the break and I think I will take it.
Work:
We had a team member get laid-off/fired in a very abrupt manner in February. He wasn't the best employee and didn't get a lot of work done. Even still - he has been with the company for 15 years and was a reasonably nice guy. Tough times for everyone I guess. I feel bad for him, but I'm glad it wasn't me, so I am trying to be thankful for that. I did get to move into his cubicle (signficantly larger and better located) so that's a bonus.
My new desk
Family:
Here's where a lot is going on! Steve just bought a house in Des Plaines - he closes in the middle of April, Kathy rented an apartment with Mike Bouma in Des Plaines and I just helped her move some furniture in last night. She will likely be fully moved in within a week or two. I'm also seeing Kathy's approach/timbre to life change pretty quickly as the wedding approaches. You can sense the weight of her financial independence and personal responsibility growing when you talk to her. That stuff wasn't there six months ago and it's interesting to observe. She still likes to screw around and is certainly still the Kathy we all know and love, but she also becoming this person who can invite you over for dinner and be the hostess for the night. Eric and Seren got married just over a week ago. Was a very nice wedding in the Grove in Glenview. It brings a sense of closure for a lot of things and opens a lot of doors at the same time.
Everyone at our house simply cannot wait for winter to be over. Whenever Krista and Will are home for the day cabin fever sets in like crazy. I want to get out on my bike, hopefully with Will in a carrier seat and the exterior of the house needs cleaning badly. Finally, we replaced the Malibu. Steve basically rented me the Mailbu for a year for cheap, and I appreciate that, so Krista and I were able to buy an Honda Accord which we're both thrilled about.
What's coming:
Since I don't have school anymore, I'm learning to rebalance my free time, church, work, etc. I'm doing some audio stuff for a 20-something's group at Harvest called Connect on Thursday nights that I'm excited about and I start a men's morning bible-study next Friday with an old friend, so I'm looking forward to that as well. We're also going out to dinner with Ken and Julie next Friday without the kids and I'm looking forward to adult conversation that doesn't revolve around the word 'ball'.
Will has a few words now - everything that isn't a book, banana, or tv is 'ball'. It's really fun as he learns how to communicate in ways other than crying and having fits! He has learned to throw stuff, which is both good and bad. At dinner on Sunday he was chucking toys across the table and Kathy and Bouma and we had to get him to stop. I forsee those being tough things to teach - situational 'okays'. Sometimes it's good to throw balls, sometimes it's not - maybe he'll learn quicker than I think.
Sorry for the giant wall of text - I'll try to update more frequently so it's less each time!
(I'm going to drop random pictures throughout the post to break up the wall of text!)
School:
I am officially done with my bachelor's degree. I now have a BS in technical management with concentrations in database administration and computer information systems. If anyone has any suggestions on how to best abbreviate that - I'm all ears. I went back a few days ago and looked at my grades for my time at DeVry and laughed a bit. It's very easy to see my level of commitment in my grades and workload when you look at it chronologically. I started off with a light work-load and got mostly B's. Then I had a term with a full workload and got A's and B's. Finally, I can look back to the semester I got tired of picking away at classes and decided just to do it. Since that term I've earned nothing but A's and I'm proud of that. I know that when I actually commit to something I'm capable of performing well.
I'm looking toward options for grad-school but I kinda of don't want to start immediately. I could use the break and I think I will take it.
Work:
We had a team member get laid-off/fired in a very abrupt manner in February. He wasn't the best employee and didn't get a lot of work done. Even still - he has been with the company for 15 years and was a reasonably nice guy. Tough times for everyone I guess. I feel bad for him, but I'm glad it wasn't me, so I am trying to be thankful for that. I did get to move into his cubicle (signficantly larger and better located) so that's a bonus.
My new desk
Family:
Here's where a lot is going on! Steve just bought a house in Des Plaines - he closes in the middle of April, Kathy rented an apartment with Mike Bouma in Des Plaines and I just helped her move some furniture in last night. She will likely be fully moved in within a week or two. I'm also seeing Kathy's approach/timbre to life change pretty quickly as the wedding approaches. You can sense the weight of her financial independence and personal responsibility growing when you talk to her. That stuff wasn't there six months ago and it's interesting to observe. She still likes to screw around and is certainly still the Kathy we all know and love, but she also becoming this person who can invite you over for dinner and be the hostess for the night. Eric and Seren got married just over a week ago. Was a very nice wedding in the Grove in Glenview. It brings a sense of closure for a lot of things and opens a lot of doors at the same time.
Everyone at our house simply cannot wait for winter to be over. Whenever Krista and Will are home for the day cabin fever sets in like crazy. I want to get out on my bike, hopefully with Will in a carrier seat and the exterior of the house needs cleaning badly. Finally, we replaced the Malibu. Steve basically rented me the Mailbu for a year for cheap, and I appreciate that, so Krista and I were able to buy an Honda Accord which we're both thrilled about.
What's coming:
Since I don't have school anymore, I'm learning to rebalance my free time, church, work, etc. I'm doing some audio stuff for a 20-something's group at Harvest called Connect on Thursday nights that I'm excited about and I start a men's morning bible-study next Friday with an old friend, so I'm looking forward to that as well. We're also going out to dinner with Ken and Julie next Friday without the kids and I'm looking forward to adult conversation that doesn't revolve around the word 'ball'.
Will has a few words now - everything that isn't a book, banana, or tv is 'ball'. It's really fun as he learns how to communicate in ways other than crying and having fits! He has learned to throw stuff, which is both good and bad. At dinner on Sunday he was chucking toys across the table and Kathy and Bouma and we had to get him to stop. I forsee those being tough things to teach - situational 'okays'. Sometimes it's good to throw balls, sometimes it's not - maybe he'll learn quicker than I think.
Sorry for the giant wall of text - I'll try to update more frequently so it's less each time!
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