Amazing

What an amazing season it has been! Warm, cold, warm, cold. I am a person that likes to complain a lot. I will admit that. "It's too cold" or "People drive too slow when its icy". But I actually opened my eyes this morning on the way to work. As much trouble as the ice causes it truly is a beautiful sight. Look at the trees! They are so beautiful.

It is difficult sometime to appreciate God's magnificent power. Sometimes it is even confusing. I look at the ice in the trees and the rooftops and see a beautiful 'winter wonderland' but then I read the news and see that there were a whole bunch of deaths caused by slick roads.

Everyday we are surrounded by things that are beautiful but can be severely devastating. Take a look at a hurricane satellite image and tell me that it isn't a beautiful sight. What gets me is that even though it is so beautiful it can be devastating to so many people. Tornadoes are the same way. I find them mesmerizing but they can be so horrific to anything in its path.

I guess that is the mystery of it all.

Smith Development Services, LLC

I started my own company yesterday. I have weird feelings about it. On one end I feel really excited. It seems like an enormous step that I just took. I am running my own company! I have the responsibility of putting it on my taxes. Reporting income and taking care of all the write-offs. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like it is that big of a deal to very many people. Anybody can start up their own company with just a couple hundred dollars. I won’t be aggressively seeking work contracts and am just using the company to separate the income I receive from working for Electrotank.

I really want this to be a good move for me but worry that I am getting ahead of myself. I currently am an employee of Codernauts, LLC and will probably switch over to a contract basis this December or January 1. There are lots of advantages and disadvantages to doing this. I worry a lot. If I switch over to contract then I can’t be considered an employee. What happens if I need to get a loan or my credit needs to be verified. I don’t know how that affects it at all. But, nothing will change with the amount of income I will receive. Well, not much anyway. I should get paid about 7% more to cover the amount that Mike is currently paying. He is also pulling money from my paycheck for taxes. I would see all that money and just have to pay those taxes at the end of the year.

So, basically that is where I stand on that. I do have my own company and will use it to some extent. With any luck my Masters classes will pay off and I can grow and start making more use of this company.

Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful time of year! I love thanksgiving. It's a great time to be with family and just reflect on all the blessings and things we have to give thanks for. I am extremely thankful this year for everything that I have. I am able to spend Thanksgiving with new members of my family. Since the wedding I have been able to get accustomed to having new in-laws. This has taken some getting used-to but has been a true blessing.

We have a new house this year and we are all very healthy. So many things that we have that we aren't necessarily deserving of.

I feel guilty at times that we have so much but there are so many people in the country (and world) that are barely scraping by or don't even have that much. I feel guilty that I keep so much to myself to plan for the future and keep my family happy. Kristen and I do what we can by donating to the church and giving to other things here and there. But is that enough?

I guess that I will find out the answer to that question soon enough. If there are things that I am supposed to be doing with my money other than the current plan then I am sure that I will be let know soon enough.

Well, as for this post I am done. I haven't written in a while and am going to try and post more. But I have been working a bunch and trying to give some time to school too. I will try to write but if I don't it may be middle of December (after school) that I have time.

Work Work

Things have been quite busy for me lately but I have been much calmer than ever. It is very crazy. I have started working on a project on top of the 40 hours I put in at Unity. Its actually going to be a fun project. I will find it hard to concentrate on Unity work.

So many things have 'finished' up in the last couple weeks. I finished my presentation for school and then finished my test the week after. I didn't have class this week. Things are going great. I have even been able to spend some time working on this new project.

Anyway, not much really to write about here. Just starting to get excited about Thanksgiving too. I am going to be cooking this year. John and Michelle are coming in to town and Chris and Steven will be here too. I have invited my family but I doubt that any of them will show. Mom and Gary are going to Wichita, Dave and Sara said they would keep us in mind and Chris and Chris said the same. Ken is doing stuff with Megan's family.

That's it for now.

Peace

Yesterday was a very frustrating day for me. I was at work and stuck on a problem and had home loan stuff to do. My mind was a bowl of soup. I couldn't keep anything straight and it was very frustrating. I had to go home and have Kristen sign a document I needed to take to the title company. Lucky for me Kristen offered to take the stuff to the title company and I was able to work from home. Because I was so 'all over the place' mentally I wasn't very patient with Kristen and didn't show her the attention she deserves. Who am I to do that!?! I see her little enough as it is, then when I do get to see her I do that!

After she did her errands she came home some before she had to go to work. I spent some time with her away from my computer and work. After she went to work I started working again until I had to leave for class at 6. On my way to class I was fed up with work and all the things that were on my shoulders. Then I realized something. I hadn't really been praying and asking God for help through all of this. I pray a lot but just quick 'text-message' prayers. I took some time and gave in to God. Since then I have had a sense of peace come over me that is amazing. I know the person who has control of it all is on my side.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in the details to forget what is really important. A job is important and day to day duties are important but these should never interfere with your relationship to God or your family.

I know that I need to adjust my priorities. Once those are fixed then everything else will make sense. I won't stress out as much about things that don't need to be stressed out about.

Scott

Summer Colds

I am not certain what it is exactly that I have but it has been nagging at me for almost 2 weeks now. 2 days after Kristen and I got back from our honeymoon I came down with something I figured was a cold. I stayed home from work that Thursday and tried to sleep as much as I could then and Friday too. Then Saturday we traveled to Manhattan so I could show Kristen around campus and show her where I went to school and all that fun stuff. Then we stopped in Topeka to visit my brother and towards the end of the night I started getting a stomach pain. We left and I stopped by my sister's house to get Aero (my dog) and then headed home. My stomach continued to hurt. Sunday Kristen went to work and I stayed home trying to sleep off whatever I had. The stomach thing got worse and I ended up going to the urgent care clinic by my house. Three hours of waiting and the doctor didn't know why my stomach hurt. He gave me a prescription for the symptoms and sent me on my way. In any event I started feeling better the next morning and by Tuesday my stomach was alright (I stayed home Monday from work too).

I thought the whole thing was going away but it just kept nagging at me. It moved up into my head and I started coughing up a bunch of snot. I thought this was usually a good sign but I have been doing it for 4 days! This morning I went to work and felt like crap again. I 'toughed it out' which really means that I whined like a baby but dealt with it and stayed all day at work. After I got a little food in my stomach that felt better but I continue to cough like crazy. I stopped coughing up much so it is starting to hurt to cough.

I am sure you really wanted to read that but it is really a pain in the butt so I thought I would share. I will post another happy message next. :)

Scott

I'm Married!

The wedding is over! Kristen and I had such an amazing weekend. It was awesome to see all the family and friends and be able to visit with all the people. We had so much fun at our reception!

The weekend before the wedding my best man and brother of 27 years came into town for my bachelor party. We stayed in Kansas City Friday night and went out to Fuel. It was a good time. There were quite a few guys with us. Then Saturday we loaded up and headed to Perry lake to camp the rest of the weekend. We got out there and looked for a spot for a while. We ended up camping in the middle of a grass patch as far back in the State Park as we could. Thank goodness Christopher (brother-in-law) brought his big tent that we could all hide under for shade. It was quite toasty out in the sun. We got everything set up and played some games then went in to a sports bar to watch the K-State game. They lost. Then the rest of the weekend was pretty much the same. By Monday morning when we loaded up I was exhausted. I got to the house and did some stuff around there and then crashed for a while.

That week I wasn't much good at work. Tuesday I worked for about half the day and then went and met Kristen and James, Cayce, their girls and Mom for lunch. Wednesday I worked all day then had class (no fun at all!). Thursday I worked most of the day then Kristen and I had our last dance class!

Friday was just crazy since a lot of family had come into town. It was a lot of visiting. We had a huge lunch at Mi Ranchito after the girls went to the Nailery. Then more visiting. Then we had the rehearsal. That was crazy! I walk into the church and there are over 50 people there...most of which had a part in the wedding! We finally get the rehearsal started and get it ran through. Most things were still kind of fuzzy to me. The pastors seemed like they were having issues figuring out who was going to do what. That was funny. They asked me (thinking that I knew what they should do). :)

Then we went to the rehearsal dinner. Wow. That was a headache. I had booked a large portion of The Other Place and when I called on our way over there (we were running slightly late) the person that answered the phone didn't know about my reservation! I talked to someone else and they said that they double booked and they could get us the other side (smaller space). So nothing was set up when we got there and there was hardly any space. Once we got people situated and comfortable it turned out to be a GREAT night. It was so much fun. There were probably over 60 people there. I think most people had a good time.

After The Other Place we went back and Kristen had organized a surprise anniversary party for her parents at the house. When they got home there was as much of their family there as could be with balloons and decorations and a cake. I guess they were pretty surprised. Then I gathered everything I needed for the big day and went and stayed at Jason's house so I wouldn't see Kristen at all the day of the wedding until it 'was time'.

Saturday was mostly a blur to me. I woke up and had the (i guess 'normal') jitters. Drank some coffee and had a small breakfast and then went to the hotel a bit later. I dropped off the bag for Kristen and I and got our room keys. Then Jason, Clint and I went over to the church to get ready! People filtered in and we were getting ready. Chris Dillon worried me slightly as he was 'right on time' for pictures. Everything went good with pictures and then the big moment came when I saw Kristen in her dress. WOW! I still can see it perfectly in my mind. After that I don't remember a whole lot.

The wedding went swimmingly from what i can remember. It was very short. I was so nervous up there. I remember Kristen not looking at me for about 5 minutes because she would have started crying if she did. I hope they were tears of joy though. ;)

Then we had pictures. Wow. What an experience. The lady doing the pictures got on our nerves so bad! She seemed to not have much planned and didn't click along like she should have. We had a meeting or two with her so she can be ready but she didn't look like she was even going off of a list. Two or three times people came up to me asking if they should have been in any pictures or that somebody wasn't in one of the pictures that they were supposed to be. It was quite ridiculous. Then we all FINALLY got out of the church (after the next wedding was setting up) and got into the limo. We went to the hospital garden to take more pictures and the lady wasn't any better there. But hopefully we at least got some good pictures out of it.

Then we went to the reception and that was a blast! We had so much fun there. We were all introduced on our way in. Ron had the bridal party walk in pairs as he announced them. Then Kristen and I walked in last and I gave a less than desired speech thanking everybody for coming and helping out. Then the rest of the reception was filled with visiting and dancing and lots of pictures!

Kristen and I stayed in town Sunday and visited with family more while we could. We opened all of our gifts at our house and then drove to topeka for dinner with my family. We came back to Kansas City, packed and drove out to the airport to stay the night (at a hotel) because we had a 7:15 am flight the next day to Cancun!

The honeymoon was a lot of fun. We stayed at an all inclusive adults only resort south of Cancun close to Playa Del Carmen. I am so glad we did this. All of the food, drinks, snacks and room service were free. They had entertainment and we had a great time. We took excursions on Wednesday and Friday. Both ended up being Mayan temples. The first was Chichen Itza which was a 3.5 hour bus ride! We got free food and drinks on the bus though which helped a lot. Friday we stayed closer but it was still an all day trip. We got to do a zip-line through the jungle (only like 200 feet long though it seemed). We then got to repel into a Senote (sink-hole) and also do another zip-line into the water in the senote. After we all did this then we got to snorkel back into the caves of the senote. It was cool! I have been caving but never swimming in caves. The other days we just ate up and stayed by the pool and relaxed mostly.

When we got back it was busy busy. Tuesday we were running around all day and I came back to work and class on Wednesday. I am not sure what caused it but I got sick and was sick Thurs-Mon. I am mostly better now after a trip to the Urgent Care clinic Sunday to get meds.

Anyway, that was a long post with only a fraction of the information I had to share. Hopefully I can post some more soon and give more details.

Scott

God's Grace

As I was running this morning I noticed it started sprinkling and looked up and saw a very bright rainbow. I saw it and just smiled. I couldn't help myself. I just thought of God's magnificent power and mercy. I though of everything he has given me and blessed me with.

It makes me feel horrible that I continue to fail Him. That I can take everything that He has given me and still forget about it and turn my back on Him at times. The blessing is knowing that I will still receive God's grace and he will continue to forgive me. When will I stop relying on this grace and stop doing thing that are not His will?

I can go on and on with how God has blessed me but I must give praise for my family. They are so supportive and amaze me continually. Another blessing is our Sunday school class. Thank you Lord for giving us friends that are supportive and will help us grow and server you. We talked today about head heart and hands and I am so excited about this upcoming year. We have some great lessons and we have lots of opportunities to server.

Thank you Lord for all the blessings you have given me.

My Church Background

I was asked a question in another blog. The blog is for my Sunday School class and I was just sharing my church background. I figured I would post it here so more people can read it.

I grew up attending church. My mom is Catholic but we went to a Covenant church. I just found this link to their website. As I saw it my dad was anti-catholic and was very persuasive about us not going to a Catholic church.

Church was just something we did on Sunday morning. I went to a very small church in a very small town. About half my schoolmates went to this church and we all went to Sunday school. When I was given the choice I avoided the sermon as much as possible. As my brothers grew up they didn't have to go to church but I still went until high school.

I was saved when I was fairly young and still remember this as a very important event but don't consider it a turning point in my faith. I remember wanting so much to learn more and remember doing better for a little bit but then just went back into my same routine and old habits.

High school was pretty much the same. I went to church occasionally but it never really mattered if i went or not. I remember learning the stories but it never hit home.

College didn't change me at all (for the better). I did, however, start dating a girl and through this relationship started attending church with her and her family. I then was invited by my sister to go to her church. It was a startup church that was renting the sanctuary from another church. The pastor was a friend of my brother-in-law's and I went only because my sister asked me to come. I enjoyed it! I really like the message and Pastor Mark seemed very down to earth and connected with me. This was all new to me. We alternated between her hometown (boring Methodist) church to my sister's (more fun) Baptist church.

I learned more and had times of being closer to God and then straying. I didn't have any friends that I felt really close to that were Christians though. I wanted to be part of this but didn't want to be weird. I was superficial.

That relationship ended and I spent a lot of time 'being free'. I wasn't too crazy but a friend and I did spend a lot of time at bars for a while. (We spent a small fortune playing darts!). I wasn't happy with myself and knew that I needed to change but wasn't strong enough to do it on my own. Poor me was all alone and I didn't want to go to church by myself.

Chris (my friend) and I got jobs at the same company and moved up here to Kansas City. The partying continued for a bit but I was ready to be done with it. After a few months I started looking for a church. I went around and tried out a few churches and always had to go by myself. I was the only one of my friends that would go. Chris' favorite quote is "I don't have to go to church to believe in God and be a Christian." I have had conversations about this with him a few times. That will be another entry.

After attending one church I decided to join a bible study. I went a couple times but it was a group of about ten older (old old) people and I felt very weird.

A buddy gave me the number of a friend who went to church in Olathe. I called him up and went to his church a few times. I was still going just for Church and then going home. I wasn't able to get more involved. But I felt more comfortable. Now Kristen was introduced into my life.

Wow. What a change this made. She took me to COR and I went to a big church for the second time in my life. The first time ended up being a very bad experience (also a topic for another entry) and I wasn't too excited to come. I absolutely loved it. It was enormous but beautiful and exciting to come to. The video screens and production didn't feel cheesy or overdone. I am a tech nerd and this was awesome to see...at church! We came back more and more and my faith continued to grow. Kristen's faith was so strong I had no choice but to believe. She was an answer to my prayers.

Since we have been at COR we became members, got baptized together and joined Couples In Christ. God has continually blessed us in all aspects of our lives and has provided so much for us. I can't wait to see how this story goes from here!

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding

It's crazy that there are 32 days left until the wedding. Kristen has done such a beautiful job with everything. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. It's crazy to think that I am getting married! I Love Kristen with everything that I am. Its just an awesome feeling to know that in just over a month we will be husband and wife. Because of how crazy everything has been lately it hasn't really sunk in. I can't wait to share everything with Kristen again as my wife. The first Thanksgiving and the first Christmas. It feels like we get to start over as our own little baby family.

I think my excitement comes mostly from the fact that my parents split up when i was in sixth grade. I wholeheartedly love my mom and dad but ever since they split up I rarely felt like I had a complete family. I have gotten extremely close to my siblings over the last few years and that helps a lot. But when Kristen and I get married I get to start over. We get to have kids and we get to do things right where my parents faltered.

I am so happy that Kristen and I have the same beliefs about God too! My mom is Catholic and my dad wasn't a strong Christian and I think that really hurt them. Through our premarital counseling at the church and our Sunday school class, along with our church membership and the little that we have given our time to help others together has been such a rewarding experience. Its such a wonderful feeling to know that God has blessed us with each other and that He has his hand in our relationship.

Since its past my bedtime I better sign off and go to sleep.

Scott

It's Amazing

It is amazing how entirely consumed I have become with Kristen. I have never felt this way before and its an awesome feeling to know that we are going to be happy together forever. I lay my head down at night and just have a feeling of peace and security that I have never felt before. The only other thing that gives me that feeling is my faith in God. It amazes me how one human being can give me that feeling. I wonder if it is the same feeling I had when I was little and would run to my mom and dad when i was scared or needed a safe place.

Always Busy

It seems like we always have something going on. I can't wait for a break!

I bring a lot of it on myself though. I have work for 10 hours Monday through Thursday and class on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6 to 8:30. This kills those days entirely because i don't get home until after 9 and usually eat, relax a bit and then go to bed. Tuesdays I have been going disk golfing with a friend and then have the rest of the evening to do whatever. Thursdays have been fairly open. I just got word that the men in my Sunday school class have a guy's night every other Thursday. That would be fun to go to. Fridays are my productive days. I can't wait for Friday because my todo list grows throughout the week and I have Friday to take care of it.

The new job is going good. I am staying very busy. My hope is that I am making the people here at Unity happy. That is what will keep this contract going. We have a ton of projects to do. There will be no slowing down. I have the opportunity to work as hard as I want to and always have more to do. If I ever do run out of things to do then I can always do more work for Codernauts because of their load of work they have available.

Kristen and I were able to go visit her parents in San Antonio last weekend. It was a great trip. We got in Friday night and spent the evening hanging out at her parents house. The new house is beautiful. Saturday we went to lunch and walked around Boerne. Then Kristen's brother came over and we all went to dinner. Sunday we were lazy for a while. Michael played his violin for us so we can give him some direction on what he needs to do before the wedding. We went swimming Sunday after Michael and Katie left and then went to dinner Sunday night. Monday we came home. Our flight had a layover in Memphis. The flight got delayed over 4 hours because of a faulty computer in the plane. I missed my class that evening. That was frustrating. Oh well. All better now.

I better get back to work.

Job @ Unity

I started my job at Unity Village this week. Its going alright so far. I have been given a lot of responsibility. It appears that there are a lot of unknowns and as I figure them out I should document them so they can be knowns from now on.

I think this will end up being a great place to work. I have all of the tools I need and will have the skill to do what they need done. Hopefully I can do it in the time-frame they want!

School started this week too. I was a bit overwhelmed Monday and yesterday but am a little more relaxed today. I was able to settle down and hope to be able to keep up with my homework and studying.

Winding Down

As if it could wind down anymore! I have very little responsibility at Argus this week. I am excited about this change. I have learned quite a few things at Argus. I still have a lot of learning to do and I haven't been able to do it here the last few months. I am excited about this change.

Not really a whole lot going on right now. The basement is still a mess and it is kind of driving me crazy. I want to go finish painting just to have it done but there are plenty of other things that I need to do around the house. I will let Chris finish it. He still needs to put up the bathroom mirror and light fixture as well. Once he gets that done and Steven comes to get the couch the basement will be back to normal. Its kind of driving me crazy right now so I try not to go down there unless I have to. I think the living room and kitchen are the only two somewhat clean rooms right now. :(

I am studying for my Sun Certified Java Programmer test (kind of). I am taking it Thursday. Hopefully I will pass. I would like to have that certification.

Anyway, that is about it. Write more soon.

Baptized!

Kristen and I got baptized yesterday! It was so nice that we got to do it together. Andrew Conard did the baptism and kristen and I both went down. He prayed over each of us then both of us together. Steven and Christopher came as well as John, Michelle, Amber and Carmel. It was nice to have them there even though I am sure that they were bored out of their minds. It meant a lot to me.

We are getting the hardwood floors refinished today. Kristen is home and trying to sleep and I bet she is having a hard time with it. I feel bad for her because she has to go back to work tonight. John and Michelle stayed into town to let the guys in so Kristen can sleep. They are sanding this morning and putting on the first coat of stain and sealer. Then tomorrow they are putting on another coat and the last one is wednesday.

I ordered tires online for the first time last week. Actually, Kristen did it. I told her which ones to buy and she put them on her CC since I am broke. But we sent them to KC Trends and I will take her car in tomorrow to get them put on. I am excited. They are really good tires and I worry about her driving with the tires she has on now.

That pretty much sums everything up. I announced my departure last friday. I believe I put that in a post last week. But if I didn't.... I'm leaving Argus. I am going to work for Codernauts which is a very small company that will farm me out and do coding work for their clients. I will start my new job June 4.

I am very excited about this opportunity and very thankful that God put it in front of me.

2 weeks

I announced to my team today that I am leaving Argus. It was a tough thing to do but also made me realize that this truly is a good time for me to be leaving Argus. I have been in a support position here for months and I have pretty much transitioned all of my projects over to other people. Part of the reason I have been so bored here I guess. I suppose I was signing my own death warrant. The reason I was bored was because I was giving away work. I am leaving partially because I am bored and it is so easy to sneak out of here without too much knowledge transfer because I already transferred it all!

It was harder to announce the news to other people I work with such as the Business Analysts and Account Management people since those are the people that I had developed closer relationships with. They are the ones that I was giving the most support to.

With all that said, I am excited that God has given me this opportunity. I am now giving myself so many more doors to open. It will be a good move for me. I will get out and work for Mike some and then by the end of the year start my own company. This will allow me to do more stable business to business deals with Codernauts and then also give me the experience I need to run my own business for real. I am so excited about this!

Church

Kristen and I became a member of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection yesterday. It is a good feeling to be a member of a church again. I never really gave it any weight before but since I have been going to this church I have wanted to be a member. There are no extra benefits by being a member. There are actually more responsibilities. They ask all members to attend worship every weekend they are in town, do one volunteer job inside and one outside the church, give in proportion to my income and join some type of small group to further your learning of the bible.

Kristen and I already have started attending a sunday school class. I really enjoy it. It is a good feeling to be learning about the bible again and fellowshipping with other members of the church.

We began tithing (10% of our income) to the church this spring. It is a tough thing to do. But since we have been doing it I feel much better about myself and about money. It helps me put things into perspective.

Our sunday school class does things together to volunteer and help inside and outside of the church. This will be a good way to get to know them better too.

We are getting baptized in a few weeks too! I am excited about that. I have been wanting to do it for so long but haven't had a church where I feel comfortable doing it.

I want to go into my life with Kristen being a good Christian and putting God above all else. If we both do that then we will be a good couple. If we try to put each other first then I see problems in our future. Its crazy that I am saying we shouldn't put each other first but I honestly believe that if we put God first then he will take care of everything else.

Scott

Why a rib?

Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.

-Matthew Henry

V-Tech Shootings

I have to do it. I have to join the millions of other people blogging about the Virginia Tech shootings. I read something this morning that really sparked my curiosity.

From the BusinessDay website this article talks about the South Korean President offering is condolences on the shootings because it was a South Korean student that did them. This paragraph was found in that article..

Other South Koreans expressed shock, sadness and fear of a racially-motivated backlash against their compatriots living in the US.

I never once had a thought that all South Koreans need to be punished for this one persons disturbed actions. I don't know about other people in this country. I am really curious to find out whether or not people think that it was his culture/background/ethnicity that played any role at all into this tragedy.

I am keeping all the families and all the injured people in my prayers and hope that this uproar will be handled by everyone with the respect and courtesy it deserves. There is no reason we should retaliate against anybody for the actions of this one student, especially just because of their ethnicity.

I was cute once...

 

So, it is true that at one point in time I was cute! Kristen and I got some baby pictures from mom for the slideshow at the wedding. She gave us some pretty good pictures. This was one of them that I am glad she pulled out of the collection. The reason I was happy to see this picture is because of my finger. My left index finger still has a scar from the end of it being stitched back on. I still have small memories of the incident but never had any proof and couldn't remember how old I was when it happened. Now I know that it was during my cute phase. :)

Don't expect to see any posts of me during my 'not so cute' phase. It is painful every time I see pictures of me after about 10 years old until I graduated from highschool.

Scott

Interview

I have another interview today at a company called CRL. I am nervous about this one. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because I know that I am going to be meeting with developers and it will be a technical interview. I am not good at technical interviews. I just don't know how to express things very well. The best I can do is pray about it and let God do what he does best. I will try my hardest and leave it up to Him.

Other than that there isn't much going on. Kristen and I are going paintballing this weekend with Liz and the Dobbins'. Liz is having a bunch of her classmates there. Should be a good time.

A Whole Month!

It has been over a month since my last post. I have done quite a bit since Kristen and I went to Sherlock Holmes. At work we had a guy start on Monday (3/5) and not show up to work on Tuesday! He was sitting next to me. I probably wouldn't show up the next day either if I had to sit next to me. :)

Kristen and I gave blood and then went and saw a play called A Dog's Life. It was funny and quite accurate. It showed a dog's life from the point of view of the dog. It was sad when the dog died at the end though. :(

Kristen and I started our premarital classes this month. It is a small class with only 4 other couples. Everybody seems to be very nice and we are learning a lot about ourselves. It is nice to be able to have somebody else talk about the troubles that they have gone through and be in a class with people that are at the same stage in life (marriage life anyway) as we are.

I went with Chris, Lucas, Jared, Patty and a couple of their friends to Stephen Lynch last week. He is hilarious. He did a lot of his older stuff which was even funnier than listening to it on my ipod. We went out to Aces and Eights after that and Lucas Chris and I joined a dart tournament on a whim. Chris and I ended up getting paired together in a draw-your-partner doubles games. We came out in third place and won back our money from the entry fee. It was a fun night and a long day the next day.

I was able to go to the church and meet the Audio Engineer about volunteering to help out with some of the audio stuff sometimes at the church. He was very antsy and on the go. He showed me all around the church and it is very interesting. I hope I have enough time to get involved and do more with the church, especially in that area.

Well, I better get back to work.

Scott

Sherlock Holmes

Kristen and I went and saw a play at the UMKC Repertory Theater last night called Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. I really enjoyed it. It was an interesting story and the acting was great. It only lasted about 2 hours which was another bonus.

Other than that and school I haven't been doing a whole lot. I am trying to keep up still. I am slowly getting the necessary things done.

Fire. Part 2

I have seen pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's house after it has been cleaned out. All of the basement walls were tore down and rebuilt. Everything was taken out of the house. All of the green carpet from the living room upstairs was gone. I am sure this is hard for Grandma to take. She has spent years and years putting stuff in that house. I hope that it is a good thing for them though. They have stuff that they will never use again and maybe this is a way for them to clear out some stuff and give it away to people that actually can use it.

School is kind of kicking my butt this semester. It isn't all that hard, just a lot to do. I am barely keeping up (mostly because I don't have the motivation). I have been out of school for a while and it is very hard to 'get back in the swing of things'. I can't imagine how hard it is for somebody that has been out for 10, 20 or more years.

Work is fairly slow right now. That might be my only saving grace at this moment. We are losing one more person which will not help things. Another person is having a baby so we will be 2 short in a month or so. We will then be maintaining 5 developers on my team and a new person who is going to be doing software administration of some tools we are using.

I have been spending quite a bit of time trying to get my fish tank set up and ready to start putting more fish in it. When I move into the house I will probably get more fish. I feel bad having Kristen feeding and watching the tank for me. I think I might get one or two clown fish next (Nemo!). There is a lot to do for a saltwater tank. Once it gets set up and stable then it isn't nearly as much work. Just need to watch the ph and alkalinity levels and feed the fish.

Wedding planning is still going on. I need to find a place to hold the rehearsal dinner. Kristen's parents thought it best to not have it at the house. There is a lot of people and I don't blame them. Now i just need to find a place to do it. Oh well, I still have plenty of time.

For now.

Scott

Fire

 

So it happened. Grandma and Grandpa's house caught fire. It is very sad. It was bound to happen. They have so much stuff in that house and it is so old. Reasons for the fire are speculation and I prefer not to make my thoughts public at this time.

My grandparents have so much stuff in their house that this was a tragedy for them. They save everything and so anything they lost is major. It is hard for me to empathize with them. I would be sad if I lost some of my stuff to a fire or for any other reason. But I don't save things like they do. They went through the depression and lived through times where they could barely find money to eat with. They kept everything because they may need to use it someday for any number of reasons. Maybe sell it or trade it for something they truly need.

The fire was pretty much contained in one room in the basement. They lost some furniture and some pictures of their parents and grandparents that they will never be able to get back. Grandma kept asking about her clothes in her closet. The closet is right behind the wall where the fire was. Everything in there is probably burnt.

I went to Wichita Saturday because I knew that they had been through a lot and it would help to have somebody there to keep them calm and talk to. They got moved into a hotel room for the time being and the cleaning company is going to come in and start taking stuff out to be cleaned.

We are all very fortunate that they were not injured in the fire. Grandpa was able to get Grandma out of the house and call 911. I thank God for that blessing. I also am very thankful that I was able to go be with them during this time.

King Lear

Kristen and I went and saw King Lear at the UMKC Repertory Theater last night. It was my first Shakespeare experience. When it started I didn't understand a word they were saying but once I was able to pick up on some of the phrases and get used to the speech a little more it was amazing! I really enjoyed it.

It was such a powerful story. I really enjoyed the acting and the story was great. I think I will try to catch more Shakespeare plays if I can.

Engaged!

I asked Kristen to marry me on December 22, 2006. She said yes! Here is her version of how the proposal went.

It’s 2:00pm on Friday December 22nd, 2006. The door bell rings and there is a lady standing at the door stating, “I am here to pick you up, Scott sent me.” I was standing there in a little bit of shock because it was supposed to be Scott at the door at 2. So I get into the town car and she hands me my favorite drink from Starbucks along with a red rose with a note attached that states, “Off to pure relaxation you go. Someone loves you and wants you to know.” I was a little confused because I had no idea what we were doing or where we were going.

She then pulls the car up and lets me out at a day spa. As I arrive at the spa they hand me another red rose with a second note attached. This note says, “Let’s not forget your hands dear girl, for they could be the start of a whole new world.” I got changed and then got a manicure. When that was completed she handed me another red rose with a note attached, this one saying, “Your feet deserve pampering too, let’s go see what we can do!” They took me back and gave me a pedicure. It was wonderful the water was so warm! She did a ginger and milk heat wrap to my feet and hands! It made them so soft. She then handed me a red rose with a note attached stating, “We’ll top you off with a pampered extra. Let’s go see what wonder awaits you!” Next, she led me into another room and I could pick the oil that I wanted to have my massage with, I chose Coconut Vanilla. It was truly the most amazing massage that I have ever had. I was sad when it was over but very excited to see my next surprise! She then hands me a red rose that states, “This wonderful day has only begun. Remember that someone who wanted you to know? Shall we go and see who believes in your radiant glow?

I get changed and I met the driver inside the spa and we walk outside and there is this beautiful white limo parked outside the door with Scott in there waiting for me! It was absolutely incredible. I finally got to thank him for all that he had done for me! I got in the limo and he had made me two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and he had my favorite wine waiting for me! So I got to have peanut butter and wine for a snack, it was really great! We rode in the limo for a while and we just talked and had a beautiful ride! We ended up going to the ballet! We watched the Nutcracker! I hadn’t seen that since I was in grade school. We had great seats! When the ballet was over we got back into the limo and I got two more roses with a note attached, this one saying, “One last step and one more surprise. Off to a place full of lights to top off this beautiful night!”

We drove over to the plaza and stopped at the Melting Pot where we had our first Christmas date! Scott got us the same private room that we had last year! As I walked into the room it had 6 long stem red roses on the table with a bottle of Champagne and another present. I sat at the table and they closed the curtains. Scott put his coat up and we sat together and talked about the roses and how pretty they are and then Scott gave me a cross word puzzle to fill out. The puzzle had been questions related to the past year and a half, it consisted of things that we had done and the places that we had been. I was amazed that he remembered so many things. Scott then told me that he had been nervous all night (I hadn’t really noticed) because he had to ask me something…I think my heart fell out of my chest. He said some of the most amazing things and was so sweet and I just wanted to cry and tell him how much I loved him and how blessed I am that God brought us together. Then he asked, “Will you marry me?” I said YES in a heart-beat! He then laughed at me a little because he said that he hadn’t even shown me the ring yet. So he showed me the ring. Then he said that he wanted to do it right so he got down on one knee and told me how he thought I was wonderful and how much he loved me and then asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES!

She is amazing. She makes it so easy to these kinds of things for. I really enjoy doing this. I just wish I could do more!