Thoughts at 1:15 am

These days, I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Why do I always take on more than I can handle? I think I have a problem, but I'll leave that for another post. Instead, let's break it down.

I am loving
...............................................................

Birthday cake
Paul Jacobsen and the Madison Arm
Friends that visit from New York
Covering my nuts
Water
Tickets to Hawaii
Heroes
Craig's cooking
Conference
Emailing old friends
Lunch
Looking forward to Oct 18
Focusing on the guys
Senior Financial Analysts
Halloween parties
Good phone calls
Carbs


I am hating
...............................................................

Still being up
Working too much
Moths
(Some) programmers
Saying yes when I mean no
Not exercising
Misunderstandings

It helps me to think of things this way. There are always more pros than cons.*

Sneak Peek

Since I have been working all the time, I thought I would give you all a sneek peak of what's to come. Stay tuned...

All Work and No Play...

With very few exceptions it's been all work around these parts. Kristin is working like mad to stay on top of mountains of work as her company gets ready to launch next week. Her daily work calls with lady cohorts Amy and Jenna are the only things keeping her sane. With Kristin working all of the time I've been feverishly trying to catch up on the CPE credits that I've been strategically putting off for two years. Let the good times roll!

Reconciliation

A major wedge was removed from our marriage this week when after 4 years of convincing Kristin finally tried and acknowledged that the Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork tastes like it was made by angels.

(While this photo is totally unrelated to the Cafe Rio Restaurant, I think we can both agree that it was the right choice.)

Four and Counting

Kristin and I have been married for four years yesterday. We decided to mix things up and celebrate separately this year. I celebrated by playing tennis with Paul, and Kristin and Amy shared a celebratory high five at work in Phoenix. Needless to say romantic text messages were exchanged.

This is our engagement photo. I was 15 and Kristin was 13. Love you babe. Although my celebration with Paul was pretty awesome I might have some tricks up my sleeve when you come home.

Lake Powell

Last week was the family Lake Powell trip. Here are some of the highlights:

Tucker was ready for action.


Then slowed a bit.

And he's out.




Ivan broke the record for smallest skier (note the slack in the rope).


All of the kids including Tucker rode the banana.



Sarah got up on two skis and then learned to ski on one.



We saw some great water (go Marc).



Things got a little crazy at night. Apparently my nieces and nephews missed this talk:

"They go by the name of Rave, r-a-v-e...with flashing lights and noisy music...What does it all lead to? Nowhere. It is a dead end." -President Hinckley.



Joel and Marc taught us how to wake surf. Kristin popped right up and caught the wave a few times. Unfortunately her photo was removed by our censors.




We had a great time. Thanks to everyone, especially Mom and Dad for doing all of the planning.

Carpe Reunion

Last weekend, we had a big 4-day reunion with all of my friends from college. Everyone left their kids (except nursing babies) and were ready to party. Our friends, Liz and Mike, have an awesome house right next to the Hotel Del on Coronado, so all 17 of us moochers crashed their house for the whole weekend and had the best time. (That picture was taken on the beach right in front of their house. Amazing!)

People who were there:

Jack, Mindy, Ashley and Chase




Todd, looking as good as ever....





and jeff (featuring jack)




Craig and I




Jamie and Jon all the way from Georgia





Jeno and Adam




Karisa and Mckay




Liz and Mike, the best hosts ever.




Grant and Chels




and last but not least, Hil.




The highlights:

1
..................................
Being on the beach.
All day long.



2.
..................................
Watching the Beijing Opeining ceremonies, complete with a Chinese-themed meal. Liz is amazing like that.



3.
..................................
The buttercream gang.
We didn't have enough cars, so the boys rode to the restaurant on these:



The girls loved riding them, too, and I have to say we looked a little less, well, gay.





Craig here: Buttercream gang? Let me add some additional photos.

Look at McKay. He's got the look that says, "Ya it's a kid seat. Look away for one second and me and your kid will be half way to Mexico."

And how about Mike? Nothing is more intimidating than a low rider.

Kristin my mom has a framed copy of this somewhere. Don't make me put it back up.


4.
..................................
"Cruising"





5.
..................................
Watching Chase eat sand.

(And Ashley wasn't even fazed. That's what being a mom of 3 boys will do to you. Ashley said her oldest was pooping sand for 3 months even after they moved to Boston. )





6.
..................................
These awesome shades.
(PS They velcroed in the back. what, what!)



7.
..................................
Ashley's awesome game called "It's a sad and solemn occassion. UUUUUUUhhhhhh, HUHHHHHH"
(That's really how it's spelled.)


8.
..................................
All the guys got along. They boys occupied each other the whole trip. At the beach, I didn't even have to pretend to like frisbee, football or going in the water. It was awesome.




Thanks again Liz and Mike for letting us crash and thanks to everyone else who came and made the trip so fun. See you suckas in two years!