Grandpa
&
Emily
with their happy smiles.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Our Trip to Alaska
So, I have been spending countless hours planning our route to Alaska. Yes, we went to AAA and they were able to provide us with a route and maps and books and everything else we need. Now, it was just planning where to stop.
Chris & I went through the maps and decided on most of the stops we're making to sleep overnight...oh, and sights we want to see along the way. Yet, when I sat down and did GoogleMaps between all the stops we're making...we were driving, at times, 18 hours in a day. This was going to NOT WORK! With the dogs & the baby, there is NO WAY we can stay in the car that long. So, I added in a few more stops along the way to break up the long driving days.
I think we finally got the route down and I am going to start booking hotels. (Yet, the Gov't hasn't paid us yet for this trip so we're having to front the cash until we get it from them...I'm not sure how far we'll get on our own "savings" -- Especially because we dumped everything we had into my new Jeep...and last week the last little bit spent to fix up the Jeep came out of the Christmas Fund...Oh well, I guess we won't get to come home for the Holidays this year...maybe next year...besides, you don't really want to see our ugly faces so soon anyway, right!)
Sorry, I digress. I'll have a map up after we leave so you can follow us on our journey. I'll put it up so you can see where we've been. (I'd do it now, but you don't know how many weirdos may be out there reading this... ;0)
Chris & I went through the maps and decided on most of the stops we're making to sleep overnight...oh, and sights we want to see along the way. Yet, when I sat down and did GoogleMaps between all the stops we're making...we were driving, at times, 18 hours in a day. This was going to NOT WORK! With the dogs & the baby, there is NO WAY we can stay in the car that long. So, I added in a few more stops along the way to break up the long driving days.
I think we finally got the route down and I am going to start booking hotels. (Yet, the Gov't hasn't paid us yet for this trip so we're having to front the cash until we get it from them...I'm not sure how far we'll get on our own "savings" -- Especially because we dumped everything we had into my new Jeep...and last week the last little bit spent to fix up the Jeep came out of the Christmas Fund...Oh well, I guess we won't get to come home for the Holidays this year...maybe next year...besides, you don't really want to see our ugly faces so soon anyway, right!)
Sorry, I digress. I'll have a map up after we leave so you can follow us on our journey. I'll put it up so you can see where we've been. (I'd do it now, but you don't know how many weirdos may be out there reading this... ;0)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Church Chili Cook-Off - 1st Place!
I represented the family and went to the Church Chili Cook-Off. I got a chili recipe from Aunt Carol, which I remember having at a camping trip, probably about 20 years ago. Well, I went to the annual church cook-off and I won 1st Place for the chili I brought!Thanks Aunt Carol!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Death of a Loyal Friend
Today's beautiful summer day had a gray cloud hanging overhead. I've seen it coming, and he's been getting weaker & weaker over the last week. Today, I lost a loyal friend. He has been there for me through the early mornings and has stayed up with me late at night. After a few meetings with a specialist, and every attempt to make it better...he finally couldn't take it anymore.
Many of you have interacted with him but may not have known it. His name...well, he didn't really have one, but we called him "The External." Don't laugh, but yes, I am talking about my external hard drive.
We've been through a lot together. I purchased him about a year and a half ago on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving.) I was already in full swing of developing my web businesses and need some extra computer space. Money was tight and it was the only Christmas present that I gave to myself, which anyone that knows us would know that we have a habit of shopping. It was my first "big investment" into a future business.
As time wore on I had moved ALL MY FILES to The External. I had all my pictures up there; pictures of when Emily was born, pictures of you with Emily, pictures of Chloe & her ball, pictures of Chris at AST school. All of my website & marketing clients...they were on The External. I was pretty much "paperless" because I'd just save scanned images & everything else on The External.
I've been working with an IT company that has helped me troubleshoot computer problems in the past, but they couldn't do much this time around. I finally went out today to buy a new external hard drive (I'm sure The External was sad to see the replacement come)...but I had no luck with transferring the files over.
In a last attempt to save my data I have sent The External to the IT folks that have been helping me and they are going to try to recover the files and save them to CDs. So, this afternoon The External was on it's way to meet Cory of ITX in Sparks, NV. I really hope Cory can help retrieve my files. If not, I'll be sending you all an email asking for any pictures you have of me & my family...because, of course, I haven't developed many of them and now they may be lost forever.
It's been a sad day and I am hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.
Many of you have interacted with him but may not have known it. His name...well, he didn't really have one, but we called him "The External." Don't laugh, but yes, I am talking about my external hard drive.
We've been through a lot together. I purchased him about a year and a half ago on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving.) I was already in full swing of developing my web businesses and need some extra computer space. Money was tight and it was the only Christmas present that I gave to myself, which anyone that knows us would know that we have a habit of shopping. It was my first "big investment" into a future business.
As time wore on I had moved ALL MY FILES to The External. I had all my pictures up there; pictures of when Emily was born, pictures of you with Emily, pictures of Chloe & her ball, pictures of Chris at AST school. All of my website & marketing clients...they were on The External. I was pretty much "paperless" because I'd just save scanned images & everything else on The External.
I've been working with an IT company that has helped me troubleshoot computer problems in the past, but they couldn't do much this time around. I finally went out today to buy a new external hard drive (I'm sure The External was sad to see the replacement come)...but I had no luck with transferring the files over.
In a last attempt to save my data I have sent The External to the IT folks that have been helping me and they are going to try to recover the files and save them to CDs. So, this afternoon The External was on it's way to meet Cory of ITX in Sparks, NV. I really hope Cory can help retrieve my files. If not, I'll be sending you all an email asking for any pictures you have of me & my family...because, of course, I haven't developed many of them and now they may be lost forever.
It's been a sad day and I am hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The BIG GIRL Car Seat
No more rear-facing infant seat.
Emily got a BIG GIRL Car Seat!!
It will be perfect for the upcoming LONG Journey!
Out Cold!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Out on the Town
Today Emily & I went out to run errands. We left the house at about 1pm and returned around 4pm...the HOTTEST time of the day! We drove around our new Jeep (the "project car" Chris has been working on for the last 4 weeks.)
Well...it worked just fine! I was so worried about it breaking down somewhere, because that is it's reputation. But, no, we went all the way to West Covina to run a few errands and aside from it needing new brakes (which we already know about) it ran great! Personally, I'd like a colder A/C, but it did really well considering that it didn't even work a week ago!
MAJOR KUDOS to Chris & John for getting the car running!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!
Well...it worked just fine! I was so worried about it breaking down somewhere, because that is it's reputation. But, no, we went all the way to West Covina to run a few errands and aside from it needing new brakes (which we already know about) it ran great! Personally, I'd like a colder A/C, but it did really well considering that it didn't even work a week ago!
MAJOR KUDOS to Chris & John for getting the car running!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Housing in Kodiak
Hi All!
So, many of you had asked about "living on base" and I am just not quite sure how to answer that. No, I don't believe we'll be living on base, but we'll be living in base housing...does that make sense? I believe most of the base houses are about 10 minutes away from the base. So we're not technically on base, but just outside of the base. All of the houses seem to be town homes with 2 houses to each building. They all seem to be a good size.
So, many of you had asked about "living on base" and I am just not quite sure how to answer that. No, I don't believe we'll be living on base, but we'll be living in base housing...does that make sense? I believe most of the base houses are about 10 minutes away from the base. So we're not technically on base, but just outside of the base. All of the houses seem to be town homes with 2 houses to each building. They all seem to be a good size.
The USCG Kodiak station has some wonderful resources to help us with our move. They have sent a large packet of information, but they also have an awesome website that has everything we would ever want to know.
Here are the links:
MAIN INFO: http://www.uscg.mil/teamkodiakrelo/TEAMKODIAKWEBSITE/
MARRIED HOUSING INFO: http://www.uscg.mil/teamkodiakrelo/TEAMKODIAKWEBSITE/housing/married.html
HOUSING PHOTOS: http://www.uscg.mil/teamkodiakrelo/TEAMKODIAKWEBSITE/housing/plans.html
HELPFUL LINKS: http://www.uscg.mil/teamkodiakrelo/TEAMKODIAKWEBSITE/links/links.html
Sunday, June 22, 2008
EMT School
Well, Chris left yesterday for EMT school in Northern California. After making an overnight stop to visit his dad in Sacramento, he arrived at school this afternoon. I learned today that he doesn't have a cell signal on base...which totally SUCKS!! I mean, it's hard enough not having him here, but now we can't even speak to him as often as we were hoping!
He brought his computer with him...and that Internet signal works off of a cell tower, the same as the cell phone...so, that doesn't work either. Which is all so sad because Chris told Emily that "Daddy is going back into the computer"...meaning that Chris was going to talk to Em via web cam for the next 3 weeks.
Chris is going to try to drive off base after he gets out from class to talk to Em on the web cam.
She has changed a lot lately. She is finally crawling....FORWARD!! She loves to walk holding your hands to balance herself...and she is not too afraid of letting go either. She's "cruising" around using the couch and tables to get her to where she wants to go. I see walking in her near future.
He brought his computer with him...and that Internet signal works off of a cell tower, the same as the cell phone...so, that doesn't work either. Which is all so sad because Chris told Emily that "Daddy is going back into the computer"...meaning that Chris was going to talk to Em via web cam for the next 3 weeks.
Chris is going to try to drive off base after he gets out from class to talk to Em on the web cam.
She has changed a lot lately. She is finally crawling....FORWARD!! She loves to walk holding your hands to balance herself...and she is not too afraid of letting go either. She's "cruising" around using the couch and tables to get her to where she wants to go. I see walking in her near future.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Family Mini-Vacation at Disneyland
Chris, Emily and I went to Disneyland on a mini family vacation. Yes, we have been to Disneyland many, many times...but this time we were "tourists." We stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel and spent most of the afternoon at the hotel pool, rather than in the VERY CROWDED Park.
This was Emily's 1st Time in a Pool and she loved it! The hotel pool had a regular pool and a small 1' pool, where we spent most of our time. The pool area also had a good-sized water slide, but Emily didn't go on that (you were only allowed 1 person at a time, and although Em comes from good-swimmer-blood...she's just not ready for the water slide)
This was Emily's 1st Time in a Pool and she loved it! The hotel pool had a regular pool and a small 1' pool, where we spent most of our time. The pool area also had a good-sized water slide, but Emily didn't go on that (you were only allowed 1 person at a time, and although Em comes from good-swimmer-blood...she's just not ready for the water slide)
But, we had a great time as she walked around the side of the 1' pool splashing the small puddles on the pool deck. (Ive got a bunch of pics, but they're with Chris in NoCal...so, I'll post them up here once I get them from him)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Family Pictures
My old photographer-boss from San Diego drove up to take pictures of my family. They turned out REALLY GOOD!! I'm sure most of you will be getting a copy!
Just to Give an Update
Hi Everyone!
I just felt like blogging today - nothing really new going on, just wanted to give everyone an update on things.
I've been working a lot lately! Considering that I'm working from home and watching a soon-to-be-toddler, my day never ends. My "2 hours" of work turns into "12 hours" because of all the day's interruptions. Balancing work & life isn't easy, and I don't know if I'll ever "get the hang of it."
Chris is still in San Diego. His estimated "week or two" of Check-Out Admin Paperwork has now turned into 4 weeks with no real end in sight. I talked to him today and they say that his paperwork should be complete by tomorrow...but, that's not saying much.
What's the hold-up, you ask??? - Well, the admin people at the Coast Guard are incompetent!! They've lost his paperwork more times than I can count...they misplaced documents and he's had to do them again...his Chief had a heart attack and has been only back a short while after recovery, and he needs his signature...they leave the office at 1pm even though their daily shift ends at 3pm...and today, well, I don't know what the hold-up is today?!?! It was supposed to be done yesterday. Everything was sent off....he finally had ALL the proper forms and stuff filled out and included in the package...they were just waiting on DC for an approval, which is usually only skimmed over by someone and then approved. Why are the destined to keep him there?!!? You know the chief of San Diego actually offered to keep him there! He said it would be easier to just get the approval to keep him rather than transfer him "over seas." Chris, of course, wasn't too keen on this...I mean, we're all ready to move to Alaska - we're not changing that now! Besides, it's the military, you know it wouldn't be that easy to keep him!
No wonder the government is in the toilet! There are too many people involved in something so simple "too many cooks spoil the broth!"
So, poor Chris is stuck down there...only hoping for a vacation that looks like it will never come.
I just felt like blogging today - nothing really new going on, just wanted to give everyone an update on things.
I've been working a lot lately! Considering that I'm working from home and watching a soon-to-be-toddler, my day never ends. My "2 hours" of work turns into "12 hours" because of all the day's interruptions. Balancing work & life isn't easy, and I don't know if I'll ever "get the hang of it."
Chris is still in San Diego. His estimated "week or two" of Check-Out Admin Paperwork has now turned into 4 weeks with no real end in sight. I talked to him today and they say that his paperwork should be complete by tomorrow...but, that's not saying much.
What's the hold-up, you ask??? - Well, the admin people at the Coast Guard are incompetent!! They've lost his paperwork more times than I can count...they misplaced documents and he's had to do them again...his Chief had a heart attack and has been only back a short while after recovery, and he needs his signature...they leave the office at 1pm even though their daily shift ends at 3pm...and today, well, I don't know what the hold-up is today?!?! It was supposed to be done yesterday. Everything was sent off....he finally had ALL the proper forms and stuff filled out and included in the package...they were just waiting on DC for an approval, which is usually only skimmed over by someone and then approved. Why are the destined to keep him there?!!? You know the chief of San Diego actually offered to keep him there! He said it would be easier to just get the approval to keep him rather than transfer him "over seas." Chris, of course, wasn't too keen on this...I mean, we're all ready to move to Alaska - we're not changing that now! Besides, it's the military, you know it wouldn't be that easy to keep him!
No wonder the government is in the toilet! There are too many people involved in something so simple "too many cooks spoil the broth!"
So, poor Chris is stuck down there...only hoping for a vacation that looks like it will never come.
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