Warning: Don't attempt this at home

This is how we kicked off our first morning together on "Man Weekend."
(Warning: Don't attempt this at home.)


I hosted a man weekend with all my old college roommates. While the girls are away the guys will play. We had a blast together.

Friday night we played poker.






We loaded the living room up with all my mattresses and had a slumber party. Sounds weird, I know. There's a story behind it.


Saturday morning we stacked the mattresses up and went mattress diving. What can I say? Not much, really. There was just too much testosterone in the house. We HAD to do something wild and crazy. Mattress jumping fit the bill.

What epiphany did we come to this week? This: "Dude, what happened to us?... We're old!" I know, I know, we're only 28; we're not THAT old. If you could have seen us 10 years ago and then compared it to this weekend, then you'd understand what I'm saying.

Let me paint the picture for you. James had a hoarse voice and three-week old cold, and was trying to nurse himself back to health. Tim kinked his neck Saturday morning mattress jumping and spent the rest of the weekend turning like a robot. Corey hurt his shoulder snowboarding the weekend prior and winced in pain multiple times over the weekend, and had to play sports left-handed. Peter had stomach problems and neck problems; enough said. Matt was trying to keep from injuring his shoulder any worse. And me, I sprained my ankle playing basketball, again. The only person who wasn't hurt was Taylor. He's immune to injuries.

Despite the injuries and pain, we had a lot of fun together. I appreciate having ecouraging, trustworthy and honorable friends.

Abby saw the room and I'm still alive

Much to my surprise, when Abby walked into the room shortly after midnight, she wasn't horrificly taken back by the new arrangement and paint colors. Actually, she mentioned several times how much she liked the paint style and colors. She wasn't sure about the arrangement, but she really liked the colors.

As Diana said, painting and rearranging without consulting Abby first was a "bold move." I guess I'll live to blog another day. I'm excited for you all to see it in person.

Be the first to see (even before Abby does) what I did

I took a pretty big risk and made a drastic change to our master bedroom. And I sorta did it without consulting Abby. Eeek. She's away at a work conference this week. I guess she'll been in for a wee bit of a surprise when she gets home at midnight on Thursday. You know how she "likes" surprises. In case you can't tell from the pictures, I went crazy and repainted the entire room...

This is what you see when you enter our room.


This is what you see when you enter the room and turn left.


Walk to the other side of the room and turn around and you see the door that you entered from.


And the finished product.


Three colors: Baltic Green, Citrus Tree and Library Mahogany.

Not only did I repaint the room, I also rearranged it. The one saving grace that I'm counting on is that Abby helped pick out the colors.

What do you think, will she like it?

We were part of the Sounders magic

Abby and I were lucky enough to be able to attend the franchise-opening day for the Seattle Sounders on Thursday. We went with our friends Jessica Rosenquist and Tim Reeves (whom are in the picture below) and two of Abby's coworkers, Bill and Brad. The six of us had a blast together. The Sounders won 3-0.



And here's our view of the field.






Peter (on the far right in the picture below) was also at the game. He came and sat with us for most of the second half.



For those who don't know, scarves are the apparel of choice for true soccer fans. There were a bazillion scarves in the stands. Just about everyone had one.





I can't let this blog post finish without giving a shout out to the man in the picture below. Bill McLean is one of Abby's bosses at Superfeet and he's an awesome guy. He helped make our attendance at Thursdays game possible, and he helped make it fun. Thanks for everything, Bill!

Six years with WSDOT

It's hard to believe that I've been with the Washington State Department of Transportation for six years. Tuesday, March 17 was St. Patrick's day AND my six-year anniversary with DOT.

After six years, I still enjoy my job. I enjoy getting up and going to work each day. How many people can say that? My coworkers are fantastic too. God blessed me with an awesome job. The best part is that I'm using my college degree too.

How did I get my job? I'm indebted to a college professor who recommended me for the job. During class one day, Professor Karen Stout said she wanted to talk to me after class. I spent the rest of class trying to figure out why I was in trouble. When someone says, "I want to talk to you after class," don't you immediately think you're in trouble? Maybe that's just me. Turns out, she wanted to know if I was interested in an internship with WSDOT. First question I asked her was, "Is it paid?" She said, "Yes." I enthusiastically responded, "THEN, YES!" Three other students and I interviewed for the position. I later found out that it came down to me and one other student. When my bosses asked Professor Stout who she thought would be better for the position, she said I would be. WOW! And that's how I got my job. Instead of going to class spring quarter of my senior year, I went to work. Not only was I getting paid, but I was earning the exact number of credits I needed to graduate. That was a sweet deal.

Abby came up to Western the night before the interview to help me prepare and practice for it. That was extremely helpful. I woke up the day of the interview feeling like I had the flu. It was awful. I seriously considered calling and asking to reschedule. I felt like dirt. I ultimately decided to tough it out. To this day, I'm still surprised I made it through the interview without passing out.

I remember getting the phone call from my boss that I got the job. Gosh, I was so excited.

What do I do? A bunch of different things. I'm help with Public Relations for Skagit, Whatcom and Island counties. I spend a lot of time working with the media. For example, on Friday I worked with a magazine reporter from the United Kingdom, a newspaper reporter from the Skagit Valley Herald, and a newspaper reporter from the Whidbey News Times. I also work with radio and TV too.

During a meeting on Tuesday, a coworker announced that he had 39 working days left before he retired. I then announced that it was my six-year anniversary and that I had 39 YEARS left before I retired. That got a good laugh from everyone at the meeting.

(Side note - this is our 100th blog post.)

Finally finished the guest room makeovers

Last weekend I finally finished a project that I started waaaaay back in Nov. 08. I finished painting and trimming our guest rooms. Man, does it feel good to be finished. The rooms look awesome too. I couldn't have done it without my Father either.



Now, you're probably wondering why it took me so long to "makeover" two small 8'x10' rooms. I could list off a number of excuses (friends, trips, holidays...) that slowed me down, but I won't. The paint went up quickly and easily. Then I got to the crown molding. And, well... Have you ever tried putting up crown molding? It's tough! Really tough.



At first I was confident and excited to put the molding up. I thought for sure I could do it. I'd even read up on how to do it properly. For those of you who know me well, I don't care much for reading manuals. I'm more of a just-figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of person. But just to make sure I was going to do it properly, I did some reading. After spending the better part of a Saturday confused and frustrated and having made zero progress, I walked away from the project for a couple weeks. I spent my time rebuilding my confidence and formulating a new game plan. Then, guess what happened again; I spent the better part of another Saturday confused and frustrated, and made almost no progress. Again, I shelved the project.



Finally, I accepted the fact that I needed help and called my Father. And, like the awesome Father he's always been, he came to my rescue. I called on a Wednesday and he was at my house by 8 a.m. that very Saturday. He came bearing tools, books and the necessary skills to teach and guide me through the project. Together we worked through the first room and figured out how to properly install the crown molding. It took us a full Saturday to cover over my previous mistakes and finish the room, but we did it. I was able to finish the second room by myself and in about half the time as the first room.

I could not have finished the project without my Dad. I am very thankful to have such an amazing father. When I think back, my Father has always generously given his time and resources to support and encourage me. What a blessing he has been in my life.

(Me and Dad)

Our first Broadway musical ever

We went to Disney's The Lion King (musical) at The Paramount theatre in Seattle on Thursday night with our friends Taylor and Mindy. It was our first Broadway musical ever.

Since this is something that none of us usually do, we decided to make the most of it. It was going to be a fun double date, with dinner and a show. We decided to eat at the sushi restaurant Umi because of a recommendation from a friend. We all love sushi. It's hard to plan a date that doesn't include sushi now.



We all left work early on Thursday and carpooled to Seattle together. We got there so early that we were able to park in the lot directly next to the theatre. That made it easy to leave after the show. We walked about a mile to dinner and it was well worth it; the sushi was extraordinary. We ordered six different rolls, and four were specialty rolls: Mango Tango; Firey Tuna; Casino Royale; and Sunburst. The flavors exploded in our mouths. We all agreed that it was the BEST sushi we'd ever had.


(Just look at the colors on those platters!)


(While the sushi was great, my date was even better. Look at her!)

We safely arrived at the theatre about 30 minutes before the show started. I started to take pictures of Taylor and Mindy, and I was quickly corrected by the usher that pictures were not allowed. Consequently, I only got a picture of Taylor and Mindy; none of us. That's alright.



Will I be rushing back to another musical any time soon? Probably not. Would I say "no" to another musical in the future? Probably not. My wife loved it and thanked me profusely for going with her. Does it matter if I didn't love it? Probably not. What matters is that she was happy. I'd go again just to make her happy.

And, to put an exclamation point on her gratefulness, she got up the next morning and suprised me with a cup of Starbuck's new instant coffee. She's the best! I definitely needed it because we arrived at home from the show just before midnight.

Starved for warmth

I couldn't pass up this opportunity to snap a few pictures of Abby. She was so cute. She had curled up on our ottoman to soak up as much sunshine and heat as she could that was pouring in through our sliding glass door. It was really cold outside, but the slider acted like a magnifying glass and was generating heat.


(These were taken on Sunday, March 8.)

Old pics of the snow (not too exciting)

I just wanted to follow through with a comment I made on a blog post back in February. I said I would post pictures of the snow that we got, so you could see what it was that I had to change a flat tire in. Well, it's March 14, three weeks later and I'm finally getting around to it. (I know, you've all been DYING to see them.)




Some snow on my head for perspective.

Dating? What's that?

Seriously - I'm glad that I don't have to date anymore. I love being able to just sit with Dustin and hang out. I love that we don't always have to impress one another or say something funny to make us like each other.

Dustin and I enjoyed a wonderful evening out celebrating our feat of being together for 10 years at a new sushi restaurant in town and wine tasting at a local winery. It was so much fun to feel young again and go on a date! We had such a great time just being with each other. I remember always being so nervous around him when we first started to date. I'm so glad that's over! I love that we are so opposite from each other, but we are also a lot alike. I love that we know what each other is thinking even before the other says it. And I especially love our secret of saying I love you without actually saying it. It's amazing how much you can love someone and know that you're committed to that one person forever. God brought us together 10 years ago for a reason and I'm so glad that He did!

Our ten-year date-aversary

It's hard to believe that Abby and I started dating March 3, 1999. Tuesday is our 10-year date-aversary. I was 18 and she was 17 when we first met. My how time flies.

Abby and I went to elementary, middle and high school together. Our paths never truly crossed until we were seniors, when we had Computer Science class together. My best friend at the time, Kevin Gould, introduced us. We exchanged e-mail addresses and got to know one another. At that point, we only had three months left before graduation. Not a lot of time to get to know each other. I suppose you know the rest of the story though... we go on to get married. : )

Some things that stand out to me from when we were dating in high school:

1. Threatening talks (notice the plurality of talks; as in multiple) with Abby's dad, warning me to take very good care of his daughter. Otherwise there would be a price to pay. Needless to say, I was plenty scared.
2. Abby's mom making me sack lunches. What a loving mother-in-law.
3. Playing hookie from school on May 22 to celebrate Abby's birthday with a trip to Seattle via the ferry system. I took her shopping.
4. Going to Twin Tolo (the high school dance) together.
5. Asking for permission to give her a kiss after a date, a month into our relationship. She's the first girl I ever truly kissed. Awwwww!
6. Saying I love you 3-4 months into the relationship.
7. Going to Prom together. Might I add that it was perfect time to start dating; I had a guranteed date to the biggest dance in high school. : )
8. Taking the truck everywhere. We took trips to the Washington Coast. Trips to the drive-inn movie theather in Auburn. I sure thought that truck was hot stuff.
9. Learning to play tennis from Abby. She played varsity tennis.
10. Abby visiting me at Albertsons while I was working in the Bakery Department. I had some sweet white pants that went with the rest of my sweet white outfit.
11. Deciding to date through college, even though we were going to different schools.

Ten years later, I'm more in love her now than I have ever been. She's the woman of my dreams. I truly love her.

Here's to another 10 glorious date-aversaries!