May 30 2009
For the summer, Ashley and I have decided to train for one of the San Francisco marathons. Our sites are set on San Francisco Marathon at the end of July, but there is also one at the end of October, called the Silicon Valley Marathon. The one in July is coming up pretty fast, so we’re going to have to train pretty hardcore if we want to make it through. We are planning to parallelize the race such that we both run half of the marathon simultaneously, and then add the two lengths together for a full marathon distance at the end. 
It wil be tough, but I think we can do it and it will be a really cool accomplishment to have together! Well, I’m off to run my 4 miles for today!
May 30 2009
I have updated the website to the latest version of WordPress. I have been putting this off for a while because I figured it would be a lot of work, but it wound up only taking an hour or so. The admin interface is pretty cool, but I have not noticed any cool new features yet. I really wanted to get video working on the site within WordPress, but I think we’ll have to create a YouTube channel to do that.
May 30 2009
Well, I know I am pretty late in this, but better late than never, eh? I’m going to try to be more diligent in my blogging…
I just wanted to say “Thank You!” to everyone who sent me cards and Facebook messages for my birthday! It truly made my day to see that so many people remembered me on my birthday!
To celebrate, Ashley and I went on an adventurous drive through the mountains to the East, and discovered a very cool little park a mere 20 minutes from where we live. We intend to spend plenty of time there this summer, and in fact, we headed there for Memorial Day. When we got home, we went to the store to pick up some filet mignon, salmon, and some cheese and bread. We also thawed a section of pork loin we had. I fired up our charcoal grill and got to cooking a feast! We ate the filet mignon bloody rare with baked potatoes and creamed corn, with a sampling of the salmon and pork. The rest we saved to eat through the week! It was a great birthday and an incredible dinner!
May 25 2009
Well, Matt and I have officially experienced a home invasion, less than a year into our marriage. Apparently, it’s a normal part of adulthood, a right of passage that lots of people have experienced… we had a mouse in our house! And, good news/bad news, we discovered that it was actually TWO mice 
YUCK. Fortunately, the mice have been gone for about one week, but it was NOT pleasant experience.
About two weeks ago, we were standing in the kitchen before bed, and we heard some weird noises coming from our walls. Matt mentioned that he thought we had something in the walls, but I said surely not. A day or two later, Matt mentioned that he hated to inform me, but we might need to put out some mouse traps, as he thought he’d seen something scurry across the floor the previous evening. Again, I said surely not (note that I was totally grossed out and we put our food away at night and clean the kitchen regularly, so I wasn’t willing to entertain the possibility). A day or two after that, I went to grab some bread from the top of the fridge. I’d just bought the bread, so it hadn’t even been opened… but it the wrapper was chewed through, and half a piece of bread had been eaten! By this point, I was finally ready to accept the obvious. My acceptance resulted in banning myself from the kitchen for two days.
While buying glue traps at Wal-Mart, another lady told me about her face-to-face encounter with mice in their home. She also told me not to worry, we’d get rid of them. I mentioned the issue to my Mom, and she laughed, and said that they used to get mice when she was little because there was a large field behind their house. This is where I draw the conclusion that mice are apparently a rather normal problem. However, I was sheltered from it as a child. I assume that if my Dad found a mouse, he was smart enough not to tell my Mom about it. And, if my Mom found a mouse, she was DEFINITELY smart enough not to mention it to us kids. Sadly, this time around, there was no one between me and the mice
Note to anyone who has mice in the future: GLUE TRAPS DON’T WORK. Buy the old-fashioned ones. I arrived home from the gym and peered into the kitchen leerily. I saw just enough to jet out of the house and call Matt! But when he arrived a half hour later… the mouse had escaped. In the end, we bought the snap traps and caught two mice. Unfortunately, Matt had to kill both of them, as the traps hadn’t actually killed them.
Well, I’m sorry you all had to read such a disturbing post, but I felt that if we had to brave it, then the least you could do was offer a sympathetic, “Ewww….. I hope that doesn’t happen to us!” I too hope that you never have to experience the terror that is home invasion. But, as several people with similar experiences have told me, “It doesn’t really matter if you clean or put away the food. Once they get in, you just have to get rid of them.”
May 08 2009
I’ve been pretty busy lately with rehearsals and job transitions, but I’ve got some time to blog about the recent activities!
I’ve been enjoying rehearsals for “Yeomen of the Gaurd”. The music is really fast and really wordy, but it’s been a fun challenge to work on. I’ve met some cool people, most who do music and theatre as a hobby. We started blocking rehearsals this week, so we’re starting to see how everything will come together. I think the show will be great, and I highly recommend it for anyone in the Bay Area in June!
I’m making a transition from Marketing Manager at Solar Designs, Inc., to a contractor position with UserTesting.com. UserTesting.com offers remote testing services for businesses and website owners. They use a unique recording software to allow audio and visual feedback from a user while browsing a site. They have not previously had an active marketing strategy, so I am excited to help out with this aspect of their business. I would also recommend that you apply to become a tester if you have some spare time! UserTesting.com pays each tester $10 per test, and you can do the jobs at your leisure. If you meet the requirements for the test (age, expertise, etc), you receive an e-mail notifying you about the job. You can choose to accept and complete the job, and pass on jobs that you do not wish to complete. It’s a great source for a little extra income when you have time to complete a test. It’s also a great option if you need quality testing, with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
I’m also preparing for Matt’s birthday and our anniversary! We’re coming up on 1 year as a married couple, so we’re excited to celebrate and reflect on the awesomeness that is life together!
Apr 23 2009
I had my first Yeomen rehearsal last night, and it was fast and furious! The finale of Act 1 features a song that clicks along at 140 beats per minute… using eighth notes…. in cut time! For non-musicians, that’s the equivalent of running up and down a flight of stairs while chewing gum and saying the ABCs backwards. The words are pretty clever, but it’s difficult to get them out in an articulate manner. Everyone did a pretty decent job of reading and singing the music, so our director was happy.
All the cast members seem to be pretty talented as well, so the rehearsals are much more productive. I’ll keep you posted on the rehearsal status, but it’s going to be one fast-paced adventure until the end of June!
Apr 20 2009
I took a last minute trip to Dallas this past weekend to celebrate my sister’s 18th birthday and Prom weekend! It was a wonderful girls’ weekend, with some much-needed chill time.
I arrived on Thursday afternoon, just in time for a haircut. Matt makes fun of me for being particular, but curly hair is difficult to cut! I scheduled a trim with the lady who has done an excellent job on my hair for the last 10 years… as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” I had dinner with a friend at Carino’s, a staple we’re missing here in California.
Friday was a busy day, starting with breakfast with my friend that just had a baby. I saw the new addition to the family, a healthy baby boy. We were able to chat for the morning, and he only cried a little! I had Chic-Fil-A for lunch, another chain we’re missing (seeing a pattern?). I picked up the cookie cakes for my sister’s party, and headed home to help cook. Due to rain, her party was moved from a Lake Lewisville party boat to my parents’ living room. My uncle came over to make food, including an AMAZING shrimp and avacado dish! About 30 of Brianna’s closest friends showed up to celebrate her 18th birthday. One of her friends turned it into a dance party… and of course, being the cool big sister, I HAD to participate. My sister, my cousin, and myself performed the Howard girls’ rendition of N*Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye”. If I do say so myself, we were much better than the Howard boys at my wedding The night went well, and Brianna was a great hostess!
The actual birthday morning/prom morning started with breakfast at Mimi’s with my sister. Again, some good cookin’ that is absent from California. We met our mom at The Nail Place for manicures and pedicures. Brianna went crazy with her nails, matching them to her dress via orange stripes and a black star! She looked so cute in her prom dress, complete with zebra-design necklace, clutch, and bracelet. We took a few sister-sister pictures before heading to meet her date and her friends for pictures. I finished up the night with a family dinner at Mr. Gatti’s pizza, and two episodes of “The Closer”. My mom was so excited to figure out that I’m old… crashing before midnight!
On Sunday, I sang in the church choir at FBCC, and attened the Nearly/Newlywed class. It’s always fun to see everyone at my old church, and I really enjoyed my morning in the choir. Finally, lunch at Jinbeh and off to the airport to fly home! Matt didn’t come down with me, so I was pretty excited to get back to him. We haven’t spent this many days apart since we got married, so we were ready for some quality time together. He took me out to dinner at La Paloma, and brought me home to a sparkling clean car and organized apartment… best husband in the world Also, a perfect end to a great weekend with lots of sister-sister time!
Apr 18 2009
Well, yeah, I have not been as hardcore about my fitness as I was in Janurary and Feburary. It was really all I could think about during those two months. However, over the past 6 weeks, work has picked up considerably and I have also been digging into a new hobby (card games). I wouldn’t say that I have completely slacked off. I do go to the gym 2-3 times a week, and I think my dietary habits are still very healthy. I have held steady at 195, but have not lost any additional weight. I probably won’t be hitting 12% body fat any time soon, but I’d still love to, haha! Maybe I can get back on track again soon, but I’m pretty happy where I am, so I don’t have a whole lot of motivation to change. I guess that’s what having a beautiful wife does to you!
Apr 18 2009
Had absolutely perfect weather for riding today. Sunny with a high of 76. I decided to take the bike through mountains down 236 to Santa Cruz. Ashley and I have been meaning to take a Saturday out there for quite some time, but haven’t been able to put it together quite yet. So, I wanted to ride down there and check things out since she’s out of town this weekend.
Santa Cruz is really an awesome town. It reminds me a lot of Valencia, Spain. Well, parts of it, at least. It just has all the feelings of a small coastal town. However, when you get down to the boardwalk, there is a little amusement park with roller coasters, cotton candy, and funnel cakes. There was even a section in the bay were people were surfing. It was really awesome to cruise through there!
Since I had gotten a little bit of a late start and the sun was starting to head down, I decided to take Highway 1 back instead of going through the twistys. Of course, I also wanted to take the 1 for its utterly incredible scenery. Driving on that highway blows my mind every time. It’s like your on top of the world as you look across the ocean and see the clouds of fog hovering over it. It was truly incredible!
However, my late start came back to bite me. At about 6:50pm, the fog rolled in. The pleasure of the ride went from awesome to pretty much awful in 30 seconds, haha. The fog covered up the sun, so the temperature dropped to about 55 degrees, and it was so thick that I could barely see in front of me. It was even condensing into droplets on my helmet shield, so I had to keep wiping it off. It was really getting dark and cold and I did not want to ride back through the mountains in such conditions. I made it up to Half Moon Bay and cut across on 92 to 101 which was an easy trek home.
Well, it was an awesome day to ride and I had a blast! I am always amazed at how awesome riding a motorcycle is. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it. 160 miles today, and hopefully another 100 tomorrow! Here’s the route I took:
Apr 08 2009
Matt and I just returned from a long weekend in Santa Barbara. My brother attends Westmont college, so we went down to visit. Every year, Westmont hosts Spring Sing, where each dorm puts on an 8 minute skit about the chosen theme. This year’s theme was “No Assembly Required”, and the skits were hilarious and random.
The goal is to be creative, which resulted in a random and funny production. Jay’s dorm featured the invasion of the Mongols. After conquering the entire world, the Mongols decided that they wanted to conquer the 90s… that’s right, the whole decade! However, upon reaching 1999, the 90s characters and the Mongols are forced to put aside their differences in an effort to thwart Y2K. They reach this conclusion through a series of revised lyrics to 90s songs, iconic characters, and the decision that assembly is, in fact, required! Jay played Ricky Martin, man purse and all! His Spanish accent and Ricky Martin-esque dance moves were well-received by the crowd. They used a slightly different interpretation of the theme, including it as follows:
“Y2K is coming, we should assemble together to fight it!”
“There’s no need to assemble, Y2K isn’t THAT big of a problem”
“No, no, NO!! Assembly REQUIRED!! We have to work together to defeat Y2K!”
We felt the group did an outstanding job re-writing lyrics and choreographing the moves, and we offer congrats on a great performance!
We hung out on State Street and the Wharf with my parents and my brother. The view is BEAUTIFUL, and Santa Barbara is really peaceful. My mom and I did some shopping, while Matt and my dad took a drive through the mountains. We had dinner with Jay and several of his friends on Friday night at a hibachi grill, and took him out for pizza on Saturday. On Sunday, we went to Ocean Hills church with Jay. The church seems to be growing, and Jay really enjoys attending.
Overall, we had a relaxing and enjoyable trip. Matt especially enjoyed the drive on HWY 1, with mountains on one side and ocean on the other We are definitely planning more trips to the beach as the weather warms up, and hopefully another trip to Santa Barbara!