Hello all!
Angela and I have been hella busy for the last few months, causing (once again) a long break.
The first week of September we took a road trip across America. Well, sort of. We started off in Plymouth for the Blueberry Festival over Labor Day. Monday we headed for Cleveland, Ohio. We roughed it that evening at a KOA Kampground. Tuesday, we headed into town to go through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We discovered early that day we forgot a prescription at home, and thanks to our Garmin, we ended up in the ghetto getting it filled at a Walgreens. Exciting.
After that we headed to Niagara Falls, where we once again were roughing it at a KOA.
The next day we spent just hanging out at Niagara Falls on one of the islands, reading and picnicing. That evening we headed to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Surprisingly, the Canadian side was really built up, with casinos, shops, and 25 haunted houses (give or take a few). And, for the last time that trip, we roughed it on the Canadian side at a KOA.
Thursday, we headed into Toronto for our luxury suite at a hotel. It was glorious.
While in Toronto, we visited the CN Tower, an island with nude beaches, and did a little bit of celebrity hunting (it was the Toronto Film Festival that weekend). We did see one... don't remember what his name was, but he played the brother (not Will Ferrell or John C. Reilly) in Step Brothers. True story.
The whole purpose of this trip was to go to Angela's friend Kakin (Nick)'s wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, right on the lakeshore.
And that was the first week of September.
Mid-month, the company went through another "restructure", and unfortunately, Angela's position was one that was eliminated. It has been bittersweet. We are enjoying being able to spend more time together, although Ang has admitted she gets a bit bored every once in a while. Also, she has lost a lot of people interaction, so there is some loss there as well. But, she does start school at Indiana Weslyan beginning classes for her Master's, so that is quite exciting.
I've been pretty busy with work. With the restructure, it has increased my team size by 30%, and increased my responsibility. I haven't lost too much hair... maybe some more color, though.
A couple weeks ago, we went to North Carolina for a long needed vacation. We stayed in the beautiful Maggie Valley, about 40 minutes from Asheville. We visited Biltmore Mansion, went through the mountains to Gatlinburg, and stayed inside by the fire more most of the week. It was great, and we are going to move there someday.
And that was the quick and dirty bringing us up to today. Oh, on a final note, Angela is going through an intense background check for a position with Customs and Border Patrol. So, if you are reading this Background Check Guy, Angela is awesome.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Latest and Greatest
A lot has happened to our family lately.
Angela was in two weddings, we had our 2nd year anniversary, we successfully moved in to our new house, there were layoffs at work.... I could go on and on. Needless to say we are trying to catch up with life. Today Dustin cleaned the garage and I have been working on the upstairs bedrooms. The music room is all cleaned up and the spare room is getting there, besides the pile of things to sell at a garage sale. Who knows when I will be able to sell those. The next community garage sale is for when we are out of town. So, it may be next year. I have a great picture I've been wanting to scan and putting up here of Dustin, Zoso and I in front of our new house after a weekend of moving. I'll get it scanned soon.
Ang
Angela was in two weddings, we had our 2nd year anniversary, we successfully moved in to our new house, there were layoffs at work.... I could go on and on. Needless to say we are trying to catch up with life. Today Dustin cleaned the garage and I have been working on the upstairs bedrooms. The music room is all cleaned up and the spare room is getting there, besides the pile of things to sell at a garage sale. Who knows when I will be able to sell those. The next community garage sale is for when we are out of town. So, it may be next year. I have a great picture I've been wanting to scan and putting up here of Dustin, Zoso and I in front of our new house after a weekend of moving. I'll get it scanned soon.
Ang
Friday, June 13, 2008
Livin', Lovin', She's Just a Woman
Led Zeppelin lyric that pertains to me.
We're still set to close on our house on June 20th, or as close to it as possible. I can't wait for the dog to have a fenced in yard, I can't wait to have any yard and Dustin can't wait to mow it. We're not going to have a properly furnished house, but that is better than no house at all. We're running out of room to put packed boxes, so we've stopped packing. I still have to pack our bedroom, the bathrooms and the kitchen (all for obvious reasons).
We had a sick puppy one night this week, so I played mommy and stayed by his side and made him feel better. Now he is being his very annoying self. I thought I would have to take him to the vet, he was dehydrated. I put him in the bath tub and doused him with cold water and brought his fever down. Don't tell Dustin but I've been really wanting to have babies soon. I keep saying once we get a house, then we can start having babies... but I also tell Dustin he can get more tattoos once he gets me a house. Which one wins?? :) I also don't want to have babies until I can devote five or so years to working either part-time or not at all. I also don't want to pay for daycare expenses.
Speaking of work, it has been really crazy for me. I am working on lots of projects and initiatives and not recruiting! That makes me a happy girl. I dislike recruiting and love projects and initiatives. One of my biggest responsibilities is to run the entire Performance Review process next year. I'm starting to teach myself all the details and pick the brains of my coworkers. I will be responsible for this process for a 1000+ employees!! Talk about lots of pressure for someone my age and of my experience. Here are the other projects I have been working on. When you see me, ask me about them and I'll share what they are about.
Add to that the stress of house buying and I've been a little out of it lately. :)
Alright, I've had my distraction for the evening. I'm gonna go be productive. In the next two weeks, I am in two weddings and hopefully we will have a house. More to come.
Angela
We're still set to close on our house on June 20th, or as close to it as possible. I can't wait for the dog to have a fenced in yard, I can't wait to have any yard and Dustin can't wait to mow it. We're not going to have a properly furnished house, but that is better than no house at all. We're running out of room to put packed boxes, so we've stopped packing. I still have to pack our bedroom, the bathrooms and the kitchen (all for obvious reasons).
We had a sick puppy one night this week, so I played mommy and stayed by his side and made him feel better. Now he is being his very annoying self. I thought I would have to take him to the vet, he was dehydrated. I put him in the bath tub and doused him with cold water and brought his fever down. Don't tell Dustin but I've been really wanting to have babies soon. I keep saying once we get a house, then we can start having babies... but I also tell Dustin he can get more tattoos once he gets me a house. Which one wins?? :) I also don't want to have babies until I can devote five or so years to working either part-time or not at all. I also don't want to pay for daycare expenses.
Speaking of work, it has been really crazy for me. I am working on lots of projects and initiatives and not recruiting! That makes me a happy girl. I dislike recruiting and love projects and initiatives. One of my biggest responsibilities is to run the entire Performance Review process next year. I'm starting to teach myself all the details and pick the brains of my coworkers. I will be responsible for this process for a 1000+ employees!! Talk about lots of pressure for someone my age and of my experience. Here are the other projects I have been working on. When you see me, ask me about them and I'll share what they are about.
- XYZ Project implementation - including HR updates and roll out
- I'm now the benefits expert for Indy
- Health & Wellness Initiative
- Employee Engagement
- AAP/EEO
- Virtual Workforce
- SharePoint/HR server expert
- Employee Profile Testing
Add to that the stress of house buying and I've been a little out of it lately. :)
Alright, I've had my distraction for the evening. I'm gonna go be productive. In the next two weeks, I am in two weddings and hopefully we will have a house. More to come.
Angela
Monday, June 2, 2008
Pictures from the Future
Here is a picture of Dustin, Angela and our nephew Bryce. Some day, we'll have our own family picture! Also, there's a picture of our new house. We're supposed to close on June 20th and will hopefully move in Fourth of July weekend. We've been keeping very busy and have started packing.
Monday, May 19, 2008
house and birthday fun
Welll... our original attempt at home ownership turned into a slight disappointment. I blame the Russians. well, not all Russians... the sellers of the house. they didn't quite understand why a house would appraise for $7K less than what it appraised for in 2005. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the declining housing market.
But that is okay. It made Angela and I realize that we do not need to get that house in that market. So we are looking again. We think we have found a new one. This one is $15K less that the original house, but feels like it has much more house. It has two fireplaces, 3 bedrooms, a loft, and huge back yard. We put in a bid this afternoon, so keep your fingers crossed.
Today also just happens to be Ang's birthday. Happy Birthday Angela!! For her birthday, Ang got a massage, some flowers, and a nice dinner at Eddie Merlot's (a fancy restaurant in Indianapolis). Altogether, I think she had a good time. You will have to ask her. She also has a surprise coming to her at work tomorrow, plus a fun new game that comes out in a couple days (Wii Fit).
That's the major updates. We'll keep you posted once we know more on our house hunt.
- dust
But that is okay. It made Angela and I realize that we do not need to get that house in that market. So we are looking again. We think we have found a new one. This one is $15K less that the original house, but feels like it has much more house. It has two fireplaces, 3 bedrooms, a loft, and huge back yard. We put in a bid this afternoon, so keep your fingers crossed.
Today also just happens to be Ang's birthday. Happy Birthday Angela!! For her birthday, Ang got a massage, some flowers, and a nice dinner at Eddie Merlot's (a fancy restaurant in Indianapolis). Altogether, I think she had a good time. You will have to ask her. She also has a surprise coming to her at work tomorrow, plus a fun new game that comes out in a couple days (Wii Fit).
That's the major updates. We'll keep you posted once we know more on our house hunt.
- dust
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Mutt Strutt 2008
Zoso, Dustin and I went to the Race track today and took a walk/run. It was for the Mutt Strutt which is a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Indianapolis. Zoso was really excited and loved seeing all the dogs and people. I think he was overstimulated. We got lots of pictures. Zoso and I took naps together when we got home; we were tired from the 2 1/2 mile walk! Our right feet were more tired than our left from the banking of the track but it was a lot of fun! I think we will make it a family tradition every year.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Welcome to Our Family Blog
Hi! Welcome to our Family blog. Here is a quick introduction to our family. Parents are Angela and Dustin. Angela will probably be doing most of the blogging. We got married on August 6th, 2006 and currently live in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are the type of people that call our pets our kids. We aren't planning on having kids for at least two more years so we spoil our pets! We have four pets and in order of acquirement....
Steve, the snake - She's a boa constrictor and Dustin is watching her for his brother. She is probably ten years old.
Napoleon, the Siamese mix - Napoleon is a birthday present from Angela to Dustin for his birthday in 2005. We got her at the Bloomington Humane Society. We call her Nappy for short. She tries to play hard to get and aloof, but she loves the attention.
Uncle Rico, Tiger mix - Rico for short, Rico and Napoleon are brother and sister. When we got Napoleon, Rico was there too, but we didn't have enough money for two cats. One of our friends and customers in Bloomington offered to buy Rico for us. We had never seen Rico before and he was really shy at first, but now he is a really good cat.
Zoso, Husky & Timber Wolf mix - Zoso was another birthday present for Dustin. He is now almost a year and a half old and still very much a puppy. I like to call him puppylicious. He thinks he is a kitty because when we got him he was smaller than Napoleon and grew up with the kitties as his brother and sister. He likes to chase them, he also likes to pull and run like any Husky. For the most part he is a very good dog.
Now, a little bit more about us (the parents). Dustin is 26 and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a Philosophy degree. He likes video games and music. Angela is 25 and graduated from Indiana University of Bloomington with a degree in English. She likes to read and work-out. We are in the process of buying our first house, so watch out for more posts on that.
Steve, the snake - She's a boa constrictor and Dustin is watching her for his brother. She is probably ten years old.
Napoleon, the Siamese mix - Napoleon is a birthday present from Angela to Dustin for his birthday in 2005. We got her at the Bloomington Humane Society. We call her Nappy for short. She tries to play hard to get and aloof, but she loves the attention.
Uncle Rico, Tiger mix - Rico for short, Rico and Napoleon are brother and sister. When we got Napoleon, Rico was there too, but we didn't have enough money for two cats. One of our friends and customers in Bloomington offered to buy Rico for us. We had never seen Rico before and he was really shy at first, but now he is a really good cat.
Zoso, Husky & Timber Wolf mix - Zoso was another birthday present for Dustin. He is now almost a year and a half old and still very much a puppy. I like to call him puppylicious. He thinks he is a kitty because when we got him he was smaller than Napoleon and grew up with the kitties as his brother and sister. He likes to chase them, he also likes to pull and run like any Husky. For the most part he is a very good dog.
Now, a little bit more about us (the parents). Dustin is 26 and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a Philosophy degree. He likes video games and music. Angela is 25 and graduated from Indiana University of Bloomington with a degree in English. She likes to read and work-out. We are in the process of buying our first house, so watch out for more posts on that.
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