My commute: New Glory

My camera still is lacking battery power otherwise this post would be accompanied by some great views. (ill try to be descriptive since I didnt take pictures)

Today I decided to drive to work the "back way". Its actually more direct but it doesnt involve the freeway. Let me tell you it was one glorious ride. I felt like i was experiencing boulder again for the first time.

As I left my apartment i turned right instead of left. As I drove down the road I noticed that there is a chipotle AND a starbucks right up the street from me. within walking distance.

Then i started driving up a hill and noticed that the sky was absolutly BLUE today and I could see the whole front range arrayed to my left. It was so clear they just stood out like huge gaurdian towers. When i reached the top of the hill i turned toward the mountains and started down the hill into boulder valley. The whole valley spreads out below. and since they created a 'green zone' with no buildings it just looks like a great peaceful valley with meadows and trees.

There wasnt much traffic at all so it really was quiet and peaceful. Once into the valley i turned again and started down another road. this road had a whole bunch of nice quaint little old houses. perfectly fitting for the drive so far. At the end of that road it drops me back off in 'civilization' with busy streets and the like. BUT i was only about a block and a half from the office. so all was well.

With a commute like this i think im really going to like living here!!

Yay God for creating such beauty and letting me see it!!!!!!!

all moved in and ready to party.

ok not really ready to party. but once my roommate moves in THEN we'll have to have a house warming party.

but it does feel great to be in my own place again. I mean I really appreciate Fraze for letting stay with him for the past month but there's just something about having a place to really call my own.

Im glad i got all settled in this particular weekend too. It being my birthday and all. Nice gift. :)

pictures of the new place to follow whenever i dig out my camera.

UPDATE: I tried to take pictures but my camera batteries are dead. the wait continues...

Apartment Search is OVER

Thank you to all of you who prayed for my apartment search. Yesterday we signed on a place thats just a little outside of boulder. Its a pretty cool apartment and it seems to be located near TONS of stuff. I definately feel blessed to find somewhere this nice.

It also feels GREAT to be done looking. Now I just have to be patient til around the 10th when we can move in. (i might have to wait til the 14th if they require my roommate to sign the last stuff at move in at the same time i do.)

all in all a happy way to start the weekend.

another license...

So today I went down to the Colorado DMV and waited (only an hour) and got a new drivers license.

Now when i say i got a new license i mean i got a peice of paper that says i can drive for 30 days and maybe they'll send me a plastic one before the paper one expires.

I have to say that just like last time this feels so... final! they didnt keep my license like last time but it STILL felt like ok i LIVE in Colorado now. (though it didnt have that same sense of dread like when i got the florida license.)

the funniest part of getting the license was that i put an address on there that will (hopefully) not be my address in a week or two. AND i registered to vote at that address. hehe

Flooded Desert???

So Last week was spent in Tucson Arizona for my Grandma's inurnment. (like a funeral only with an Urn and ashes instead of a body in the ground.) The ceremony was nice.

The rest of my time there was relaxing and just good to be with my family.

Then came Saturday when I was supposed to leave. It pored all night long (and all morning for that matter). So much so that part of my parents newly landscaped yard was washed away. Their neighbors yards were washed away as well. AND one wall in the house had to be torn out because water was running down inside it. Really sad cuz the house is brand new.

Then when it was time for me to go to the airport we didnt think i was going to make it because half of the roads in Tucson were closed due to flooding. Does anyone else find it odd that the desert flooded?? i mean seriously here folks what the heck? "i got stuck in the desert cuz there was too much water" sounds a little odd.

haha well the end of the story is my parents friends stopped by with a big SUV that could get through some of the less flooded areas so they got me to the airport.

:)

Mountains

Here is a picture taken through the front window of the apartment Im staying in at the moment.


ps. please pray that I would find a great (affordable) place to live for the year.

In the mean time I moved to Boulder.

So I see the last post was on the 4th. Its now the 18th (happy birthday mom). In the mean time I packed all my stuff in my car and moved to Boulder Colorado.

Ive started getting more and more comments from friends and family to blog about the move. So I will fight off sleep a little longer to bring you the story of my move. (if you only want the synopsis: it went well)

so on the 10th my friend Josh (see picture) and I hopped in my car for the long haul to CO.


Heres josh prior to the trip hiding under a little army guy.

So the first day we went to Atlanta where we stayed with the family of a friend of mine. There Josh fought William with airsoft guns. I fought William with a starwars robot and darth maul. and everyone had a good time.

the next day we drove to kentucky. on the way Nashville TN let us down on the whole BBQ thing. That night we stayed with Josh's cousin. There we swung small children around by their arms and tossed them high in the air to land on the couch. the kids were nuts... your not supposed to ask for more wedgies or nuggies. silly kids.

anyway we stayed there an extra day and went to mammoth caves. self proclaimed "longest cave in the world" theyve only explored 368 miles of it so far. im willing to let them keep the "longest cave" title.

Next we drove to Kansas City. by way of St. Louis. Like nashville we were totally let down on the whole 'bbq' thing in St. Louis. I mean seriously folks if people are going to sell "St. Louis Style Ribs" you'd thing there would be SOMEWHERE in St. Louis that sold them too. Done right. But no you'd be wrong. Or at least it wasnt in any of our tourist books. and we didnt see any BBQ places anywhere in that city. we DID see this...


Atleast they had the arch that they are also famous for.

Continuing on that long day we ran across something that has since redefined Josh's life. I think he nearly had a stroke when he first saw this. he started snapping pictures of it like he thought he'd wake up and it wouldnt be there. heres one of them...

Yessir that vending machine sells Live Bait.

After forcibly pulling Josh from the Live Bait Machine we trucked it to Kansas City. Surprisingly pretty city. We stayed with friends parents there. They took us to good BBQ. and i mean GOOD. finally. more than made up for the nashville and st. louis failures.

The next day we completed our final push to boulder. we drove across Kansas. Not nearly as flat or treeless as I had been lead to believe. There were trees. and it was more gently rolling plains. if you want flat go out to the middle of Arizona.

Finally we arrived in Boulder. City-o-heavenly-mountains. Praise God!

All in all my take on America is that it is a beautiful place. Soooooo much amazing variety in landscape and people. Get out and see the country if you haven't recently.

So now i live in Colorado. hard to believe. but for the time being Im staying in an apartment with a direct view of mountains only a few scant miles away. glorious.

I even like my job so far.

Once i get a more permanent place to stay i expect you all to come visit.

ps. i apologize for all the grammer and spelling mistakes. Im way tired and just wanted to get this blogged for all my wonderful fans. lol.

Feeling 100% patriotic

Today is independance day. The 4th of July. And I went to see my first space shuttle launch (it actually happened today).

Is there anything more patriotic than watching a shuttle launch on the 4th???

It was super cool. We were only a couple of miles from the launch site and we saw it rise majestically into the heavens on a pillar of fire. The sky was clear so we could watch it for a long ways.

Then as it is a shrinking dot of brightness way up in the sky we finally heard the rumble of the rocket. It's so fast going up that its way up there before the sound even has a chance to travel a few miles. But its sooooooo loud that the sound actually carries that far! Very impressive.

They say a night launch is more spectacular because its like a mini sun rising for a few minutes. But Im just happy to have seen this one. Sunburn and all.

No Launch. :(

So I was going to go see the shuttle launch today because its the last one before i leave town. At the last minute i decided just to watch it from Lake hart. GOOD DECISION! They cancelled the launch 5 minutes before it was set to go.

In other news... since i havent updated recently I thought id post that I leave Orlando about a week from monday. So its coming fast!! aaaaaaaahhhh.

*tear*

Well thats it. Im done. Time to clean out the desk, say my goodbyes, and walk off into the sunset. (i always did like the dramatic exit)

Just wanted to point out...

... that my last day at the office is this coming Thursday.

Im not leaving Florida just yet though. I still have some support raising to do. But soon as that is done its on to Colorado!

Make your plans now to see me before i leave. And your plans to come visit me in Boulder. You know you want to.

2006 Hurricane season begins

I dont think there are any storms out there yet but today marks the official beginning of Hurricane Season. And they have high expectations for this years season. 17 named storms (9 of which will become hurricanes). Thats alot more than last years expected numbers but less that what actually happend.

The biggest question is what new words will be added to my vocabulary by enthusiastic weather men?? In the past we got words like 'hunker down' and 'tornadic activity'.

Java One last week

Im back from the JavaOne Convention in San Francisco. It was a great week. I didnt think I had picked up very much detail at all though. But today I was in a meeting with a coworker who was explaining some Java Architecture to a group of other programmers and I knew everything he was talking about! I understood how it all worked together and what I didnt already know easily slide into place for me.

I guess Im finally getting this Java stuff. Time to buckle down and head to Colorado. haha thats just the way my life is.

(ill try to post a few pictures from the convention sometime)

Group Hobby

So last week I took some time to go climbing with some friends. Rock Climbing seems to be our latest 'Group Hobby'. Before this it was tennis. Well Im finally posting because I was just sent a picture that was taken of me while I was 'bouldering' which for you uninitiated means 'climbing without a rope' (you dont go very high without a rope).

I just wonder if this is a foreshadowing of things to come... moving to Boulder and all.

workaholic

When you get to work on Monday morning and you feel disappointed that you didnt work the past two days something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Im super excited that my family is coming to visit in 2 days. The weird thing is that I find myself discouraged that I wont be able to work late when they are here. Im turning into a monster.

I never thought i'd become addicted to work. Ive always been immune before. Haha oh well there are worse things to spend hours on.

anticipation

Today I feel rather excited. I mean im not jumping up and down excited Im just eagerly anticipating certain rapidly approaching events.

For example tomorrow is 'Cinco de Mayo' which to me equals eating yummy mexican food which I just happen to love.

Then next week my parents and sister are coming to visit. Its the first time my parents have visited me here in Orlando so Im stoked about that. Let the good times roll.

Immediately following that I am going to San Francisco for a Java conference. I love that city and so Im looking forward to visiting, and several Orlando friends are coming too so I get to show them around the city. yay!

After that I enter the 'just waiting to move to Colorado time' since I still dont have a final release date set yet.

All in all its good stuff.

Walker Wedding

Since it appears I havent posted since Easter (has it really been that long?) I guess I can talk about anything thats happened since then. And the only thing other than working long hours that has taken place is my trip to California for the Walker Wedding. It was a really nice wedding and I had a blast. It was also fun to catch up with alot of Livermore people. Yay!

Congratulations Derek and Amy. Enjoy your portable pyrex.

Happy Easter

Well i hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I sure did! It was great celebrating Jesus. I kinda wish we celebrated the way God commanded old testament celebrations to happen. A week where no one works and everyone just gets together and celebrates and remembers what God has done.

To bad our culture is so busy that would never work.

Home Sick

Who knew being sick could be so boring? Yesterday was Sunday and after church I pretty much just slept all day. Today Im still not feeling well but I cant sleep. I might go in to work just because Im bored out of my mind staying home.

workworkwork

Well i need to post so i dont break the habit but this week ive been pretty focused on work. Not a whole lot to report. Just being productive.