Ok, I Guess I’m Back
Sure, why not? Since I last wrote here a few months ago I’ve done a lot. I made it through the holiday season in one piece, I redesigned the website, I’ve started a new job, I moved into a new apartment and we’ve come a long way on the wedding planning. It’s been a busy time but everything seems to be coming together nicely.
The Holidays
They were great. We stayed in Minneapolis so there wasn’t the trouble of holiday travel to deal with. We spent the holiday with Lizzie’s family mostly, great meals and great gift exchanging. Nothing to complain about. I went to North Dakota the weekend before New Years and did some snowmobiling. Without hurting myself. It was fun.
Redesigned the Web Site
It hasn’t seen much of a change since 2003, so I needed to do something different with it. I’m just never very ambitious about advertising myself, I’m better at showing off other people (companies). I made it quick, very simple but I think it’s easy to look at. Not quite the jumbled mess it used to be.
Started a new job
This has been probably the most exciting part of the past few months. Around Thanksgiving I was approached to go in and talk about a Graphic Designer & Web Designer job at a company just a few blocks away from home. Turned out the position was a nice step up for me, so after two interviews and a lot of agonizing I decided to move on. I spent three solid years at the last place, it was hard to leave but after spending just a couple weeks now at the new job I know it was the best choice for me professionally. It’s also done a number on reducing my stress level too, I’ve reduced my 1hour commute by about 98%. Heck, I can walk to work now if my car dies on me. Speaking of which, it’s -13 degrees out today, and my fuel lines are all froze up. I’m not too worried though, I can walk to work tomorrow if I have to!
Moved into a new apartment
This is kind of a funny story. We’ve been wanting to move into a bigger place for a while now. Just never had the ambition to do it. Well, the guy in the apartment above us helped us out with this decision by having a little accident. You see, one late evening at about midnight he had a few drinks and passed out in his bathroom. He must have passed out while standing as he fell onto his toilet, breaking the tank and causing water to flow all over his apartment while he lay there passed out and oblivious. Of course, eventually that water all started draining into our apartment below.
Lizzie and I awoke to flowing water. I walked to the bathroom and noticed water flowing from the vent in the ceiling down into the toilet. I don’t think I really understood what was going on at first and I went back to bed. I then woke up enough to be aware that there was kind of a problem at hand, so I got up and looked at it again, and then went down to pound on the apartment manager’s door.
After a long night, we found out the next day that our carpets & ceilings were pretty much destroyed so we had to move upstairs. The apartment we moved to had brand new hardwood floors, new appliances, and an extra bedroom that we could turn into an office. Rather than just taking it as a temporary apartment for a couple months, we told them we’ll just take the place permanently. We’ve been enjoying the extra space a lot.
Coming along on wedding planning
This weeks marks 1 year since we became engaged. We’ll be celebrating our dating anniversary on Wednesday by dining at our favorite restaurant, Ichiban in Minneapolis. We’re coming along well on the wedding planning. There are some things we’re a little behind on like tuxes but I should be taking care of that this month. I finally sat down and designed the save the dates last Sunday and got them printed. We’re now just getting some addresses together so we can get those sent out.
Not much else is new. I’ve just been focusing on the new job and trying to use my new spare time to help Liz with wedding stuff. I’ve been following the primaries and caucuses very closely and have some opinions on the matter, but I’ll save that for another day. I enjoyed the Super Bowl very much, I’m not a Randy Moss fan as I’ve mentioned before, so seeing him fail was rather fulfilling. Meanwhile, racing seasons are beginning this month so I’m looking forward to a new year of that.
So I’ll start writing here a little here and there again. Maybe once or twice a month. We’ll see what kind of time I have, and if I have anything to say. With this being an election year I’m sure I’ll have plenty to rant about.