Whoops.. missed last week's entry. I guess that means I have a wrestling move coming my way. My guess is that I'm going to get it tomorrow during dinner. I'll be sure to put it on video for all to see. It's only fair.
This week was insane. Monday started off OK, but when I got home from golf league I arrived to find a tree-branch blocking my driveway. AWESOME! The branch was pretty sizable, at about 12" in diameter at its biggest point. Luckily Kelsey and I park our cars in the garage most of the time. We were both considering leaving ours out because we were just going to take the Saturn in to get the tires replaced, but luckily for us no car was hit. We proceeded to cut down the limb and hack it into manageable pieces for the time being. Of course, being as the nature of bad luck goes, I was off to Boston the next morning. We've had tree branches taking up a good chunk of our yard all week. I started the cleanup process yesterday, but will finish it today. The good news is that we will have PLENTY of bonfire wood. So we got that going for us.
To add to the fun, it hailed here pretty good on Friday morning. Our shingles shed their little pebbles onto our deck, and while our steps on the deck have little dimples now, no clear damage occurred. We might see if our insurance adjuster will come look at our roof, and if we have some sort of luck, we might just get a free roof out of this. I would say its worth a look.
This is our first weekend home in a couple of months with nothing scheduled. We have already caught up on a lot of house chores and are even having people over for dinner / bonfire if the weather holds. It seems to be shaping up to be a nice weekend. I better get going and enjoy it!
That's all for now.
HO K PEACE OUT!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Championship week
For the first time in my life I was able to play in a golf Pro-Am. This week marked the start of the 3M Championship at the TPC in Blaine. This week has been a summer favorite of mine for about 5 years now. Usually my dad lets the boys go to the draw party for him and Brian, Rich and I usually have a blast. They have events at the draw party like a long drive contest, casino games for tickets that you enter in a prize raffle, free food, free alcohol, and a few chances to see some of the big name golfers. The last two years Kelsey has come along for the ride and it has always been a blast. For the past 4 years either Rich or myself have walked away with some gift or prize, be it a driver, a handful of gift certificates for a free night stay at the Grand Casino in Hinkley, or whatever random stuff we grabbed.
This year was a little different. Dad decided to come with the boys (and girls) and see what all the fun was about. We all did the long drive contest but didn't fare so well this year. (Which turned out OK because the prizes weren't anything special) We did our typical casino games and took in a massive amounts of tickets. Kelsey and I put all of ours towards a weekend stay at the Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, with a free meal at the Bank Restaurant. We ended up winning that and we are going to save it for a nice date night. Should be pretty fun!
The other big thing that happened that night was that my boss asked me to play in the second group that EMC obtained for the Pro-Am. I have been watching my dad play in Pro-Ams since I was in elementary school. I even got to caddy for him a few times. It was always a blast and I will never remember some of the memories I have from being at those events with him. So when I learned that I was going to be playing in my very first Pro-Am it was something I have been waiting to hear for some time. I was very excited.
The pro that was playing with us was Jim Colbert. Not many people know him by name, but a lot of people would recognize him because he is the golfer that wears the Calloway white bucket hat. When i was a sophmore in High School I bought the same bucket hat because I thought it was cool. I wore it all the time, and I still have it today. When I learned who we were playing with I made sure to bring it with me for the picture with the pro. I also had him sign the hat when we were done. The actual round of golf went pretty well. Our team tied for second and were only beat when my boss' group's pro made a birdie for them on the final hole to beat us by one. Irregardless of our score, the entire day was amazing. I got to play with Russ, Derek and Jason (co-workers and brother in law) and had a couple of good laughs and a few good shots to go along with it. At the end of the day I got a few gifts to help my golf game, a few memories that i'll save forever, and the satisfaction to play in my first Pro-Am. It really was fun.
This weekend is our wedding weekend. 3 weddings in two days! Once we get through these weddings, I have the SJU Alumni golf event. Yep... more golf! I don't think I've ever golfed this much in one summer. I don't think there is ever such a thing as too much golf, but if there was, this might be approaching it. I am very excited to play on monday though, Rich, Russ, Tim and I are ready to make a run at 1st place. We'll see how it goes.
That's all i got for now.
Ho K Peace out!
This year was a little different. Dad decided to come with the boys (and girls) and see what all the fun was about. We all did the long drive contest but didn't fare so well this year. (Which turned out OK because the prizes weren't anything special) We did our typical casino games and took in a massive amounts of tickets. Kelsey and I put all of ours towards a weekend stay at the Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, with a free meal at the Bank Restaurant. We ended up winning that and we are going to save it for a nice date night. Should be pretty fun!
The other big thing that happened that night was that my boss asked me to play in the second group that EMC obtained for the Pro-Am. I have been watching my dad play in Pro-Ams since I was in elementary school. I even got to caddy for him a few times. It was always a blast and I will never remember some of the memories I have from being at those events with him. So when I learned that I was going to be playing in my very first Pro-Am it was something I have been waiting to hear for some time. I was very excited.
The pro that was playing with us was Jim Colbert. Not many people know him by name, but a lot of people would recognize him because he is the golfer that wears the Calloway white bucket hat. When i was a sophmore in High School I bought the same bucket hat because I thought it was cool. I wore it all the time, and I still have it today. When I learned who we were playing with I made sure to bring it with me for the picture with the pro. I also had him sign the hat when we were done. The actual round of golf went pretty well. Our team tied for second and were only beat when my boss' group's pro made a birdie for them on the final hole to beat us by one. Irregardless of our score, the entire day was amazing. I got to play with Russ, Derek and Jason (co-workers and brother in law) and had a couple of good laughs and a few good shots to go along with it. At the end of the day I got a few gifts to help my golf game, a few memories that i'll save forever, and the satisfaction to play in my first Pro-Am. It really was fun.
This weekend is our wedding weekend. 3 weddings in two days! Once we get through these weddings, I have the SJU Alumni golf event. Yep... more golf! I don't think I've ever golfed this much in one summer. I don't think there is ever such a thing as too much golf, but if there was, this might be approaching it. I am very excited to play on monday though, Rich, Russ, Tim and I are ready to make a run at 1st place. We'll see how it goes.
That's all i got for now.
Ho K Peace out!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
quick hits
Really quick before I have to run out to go to Kelsey's parents cabin...
I can still feel the pain in my entire body from tubing last weekend. Dad decided to try out his new boat's power and threw us off the tube.. at about... 42 miles per hour.. just a guess. I say this because I have never slid off a tube, and skipped on the top of the water as much as i did when I fell off the tube this weekend. I literally watched my dad look back, see that I was off the tube, and turn the boat around before i had finally slowed down enough to submerge beneath the waters surface. Ow...
Needless to say, by courtesy of a favorable judges ruling, Brian and I had to end our best of 3 match at a one-one tie to be decided at a later date. We simply could not take the beating anymore.
It was then we realized why dad was so mean.. he wanted to get up river to go to the Tiki-bar. I was in full compliance by the time we made it to shore that I threw the tubes on the beach, and Kelsey, Brian, Dad and I drove the boat up to what is becoming a nice summer spot on the lake.
There were some other fun things this last weekend. I made it up on the wakeboard OK and i've got that to look forward to when I return later this month, and a new deck that we helped build is also there for some nice laying out in the sun. Should be a great summer at the Trauscht Cabin.
The Biagi cabin is awaiting and it should also be a great time! I'm looking forward to more lake time and beer drinking with a side of cheese curds! Fun weekend 2 of 2 coming up!
HO K Peace out!
I can still feel the pain in my entire body from tubing last weekend. Dad decided to try out his new boat's power and threw us off the tube.. at about... 42 miles per hour.. just a guess. I say this because I have never slid off a tube, and skipped on the top of the water as much as i did when I fell off the tube this weekend. I literally watched my dad look back, see that I was off the tube, and turn the boat around before i had finally slowed down enough to submerge beneath the waters surface. Ow...
Needless to say, by courtesy of a favorable judges ruling, Brian and I had to end our best of 3 match at a one-one tie to be decided at a later date. We simply could not take the beating anymore.
It was then we realized why dad was so mean.. he wanted to get up river to go to the Tiki-bar. I was in full compliance by the time we made it to shore that I threw the tubes on the beach, and Kelsey, Brian, Dad and I drove the boat up to what is becoming a nice summer spot on the lake.
There were some other fun things this last weekend. I made it up on the wakeboard OK and i've got that to look forward to when I return later this month, and a new deck that we helped build is also there for some nice laying out in the sun. Should be a great summer at the Trauscht Cabin.
The Biagi cabin is awaiting and it should also be a great time! I'm looking forward to more lake time and beer drinking with a side of cheese curds! Fun weekend 2 of 2 coming up!
HO K Peace out!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Drag me behind a boat
Its off to the cabin this weekend! I'll start it off with a little golf with the Bro, Dad and Uncle. I always enjoy golf at my parents cabin. The course is very nice and always a challenge, especially when Uncle Dave leads the charge and challenge of drinking at least a 6 pack before the first 9 holes are done. :-)
Then it will be back to the cabin to hang out with the fam and head off to the Stones Throw once Kelsey arrives (poor wifey has to work on Friday!!). After that I'm sure we'll get into a game of dominoes or something like that, which is always fun!
Saturday will bring an early rise both with our dog and the little niece and nephew. I will be taking full advantage of this though because we now have a new boat and a wake board! I'm making Brian get out of bed (or if Dad is up) and getting on that boat as soon as i can to get on the wakeboard. I did a little practice run last week at Kelsey's parents cabin, and while I got up OK, as soon as I climbed back into the boat, my triceps, deltoids and hamstrings really started to flame up. Something tells me I'm going to be one hurting kid after wakeboarding and the tubing challenge that Brian has accepted. We'll need my dad for that one for sure.
The fun part will be seeing Trevor's reactions. I remember being raised on this very same lake and I always enjoyed the water sports. It might not be his cup of tea, but knowing his crazy uncles, he might just want to partake in it after we show him how much fun it is. Either that, or we'll just hang out at the Rhino beach and go swimming with some rafts and play some games there. Remember kids, don't go in the lake farther than your knees! Kids have drowed there! WEAR A LIFE JACKET!! Otherwise Auntie Barb will make you sit up on the beach. (Video evidence is availaable).
I'm sure I'll have a better entry once the weekend is done, if i can lift my fingers to type. :-) Should be a great weekend!
HO K PEACE OUT!
Then it will be back to the cabin to hang out with the fam and head off to the Stones Throw once Kelsey arrives (poor wifey has to work on Friday!!). After that I'm sure we'll get into a game of dominoes or something like that, which is always fun!
Saturday will bring an early rise both with our dog and the little niece and nephew. I will be taking full advantage of this though because we now have a new boat and a wake board! I'm making Brian get out of bed (or if Dad is up) and getting on that boat as soon as i can to get on the wakeboard. I did a little practice run last week at Kelsey's parents cabin, and while I got up OK, as soon as I climbed back into the boat, my triceps, deltoids and hamstrings really started to flame up. Something tells me I'm going to be one hurting kid after wakeboarding and the tubing challenge that Brian has accepted. We'll need my dad for that one for sure.
The fun part will be seeing Trevor's reactions. I remember being raised on this very same lake and I always enjoyed the water sports. It might not be his cup of tea, but knowing his crazy uncles, he might just want to partake in it after we show him how much fun it is. Either that, or we'll just hang out at the Rhino beach and go swimming with some rafts and play some games there. Remember kids, don't go in the lake farther than your knees! Kids have drowed there! WEAR A LIFE JACKET!! Otherwise Auntie Barb will make you sit up on the beach. (Video evidence is availaable).
I'm sure I'll have a better entry once the weekend is done, if i can lift my fingers to type. :-) Should be a great weekend!
HO K PEACE OUT!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Over 1/3 of my life
Well hell. I just had a realization. Back in 1999 I started a form of "employment" that would change my life forever. I listed to some advice a good friend gave me and decided to try to stand on top of a log floating in a duck-pond. From that moment on, my life would forever be changed. I began training to be a "lumberjack" when i was 17. I turn 27 next sunday. That's ten years. Ten frieking years of my life (some more involved than others) have had lumberjack events that provided stories, memories, and experiences that will be with me for the rest of my life. I've done this a number of times but I continue to remind myself how unique this stuff is, and how lucky I am to say that I got to take part in a number of different things. Lets go over some of the key things my lumberjack career has contained:
Highlight - appearing on ESPN for my 15 seconds of "fame"
Lowlight - failing on ESPN for my 15 seconds of shame
Best Memory (G-rated) - Being called a "heavyweight" when rolling with Dan. ( I can honestly say that was the beggining of the end for me. I weighed a svelt 195 lbs and was still "skinny Kevin" yet still viewed as a heavyweight. Now look at me!)
Worst Memory - Driving to Texas in a rainstorm somewhere in Kansas. The trailer and truck went into a fishtail-like swing and I haven't been able to peacfully sleep in a moving vehicle since.
Best skill gained (lumberjack variety) - being able to stay on a log in the water.. that's cool enough for me
Best skill gained (non-lumberjack variety) - I'd say either my ability to perform under pressure, because i"ve already failed on ESPN and nothing is worse than that! - or being a well versed traveller.
Favorite place that i've competed - Other than Hayward because of the History, it would have to be West Virginia. That's where Nate and I really became good friends.
Least favorite place that i've competed - Anywhere in Ohio.
The one thing I wish i could take back - throwing up in the RV during my sleep. To this day I STILL can't figure out how it happened.
Biggest thing I wish I could still do - Make as much money lumberjacking as I do with my "stupid desk job" as the true lumberjacks call it.
All this is due to the fact that I'm going to help out the Fischers once again and compete in a lumberjack show in Iowa. Nothing special for them, but for me its revisiting a life I will always remember. I mean, I've been doing it for 1/3 of my life! That's amazing! I know some people have been doing it for their ENTIRE lives, but this is me we're talking about.. its just crazy! It seems like yesterday I was bringing home a bag of lumberjack laundry (aweful stuff) to get cleaned before we headed out to our next site! What the hell happened? I am old. :-)
Oh well.. time for one more go-around this weekend. I'll be singing the Craig and Terry Lumberjack songs, wearing flannel, running with chainsaws and enjoying another fair. Looking forward to it!
HO-K Peace out!!
Highlight - appearing on ESPN for my 15 seconds of "fame"
Lowlight - failing on ESPN for my 15 seconds of shame
Best Memory (G-rated) - Being called a "heavyweight" when rolling with Dan. ( I can honestly say that was the beggining of the end for me. I weighed a svelt 195 lbs and was still "skinny Kevin" yet still viewed as a heavyweight. Now look at me!)
Worst Memory - Driving to Texas in a rainstorm somewhere in Kansas. The trailer and truck went into a fishtail-like swing and I haven't been able to peacfully sleep in a moving vehicle since.
Best skill gained (lumberjack variety) - being able to stay on a log in the water.. that's cool enough for me
Best skill gained (non-lumberjack variety) - I'd say either my ability to perform under pressure, because i"ve already failed on ESPN and nothing is worse than that! - or being a well versed traveller.
Favorite place that i've competed - Other than Hayward because of the History, it would have to be West Virginia. That's where Nate and I really became good friends.
Least favorite place that i've competed - Anywhere in Ohio.
The one thing I wish i could take back - throwing up in the RV during my sleep. To this day I STILL can't figure out how it happened.
Biggest thing I wish I could still do - Make as much money lumberjacking as I do with my "stupid desk job" as the true lumberjacks call it.
All this is due to the fact that I'm going to help out the Fischers once again and compete in a lumberjack show in Iowa. Nothing special for them, but for me its revisiting a life I will always remember. I mean, I've been doing it for 1/3 of my life! That's amazing! I know some people have been doing it for their ENTIRE lives, but this is me we're talking about.. its just crazy! It seems like yesterday I was bringing home a bag of lumberjack laundry (aweful stuff) to get cleaned before we headed out to our next site! What the hell happened? I am old. :-)
Oh well.. time for one more go-around this weekend. I'll be singing the Craig and Terry Lumberjack songs, wearing flannel, running with chainsaws and enjoying another fair. Looking forward to it!
HO-K Peace out!!
Friday, June 12, 2009
A new season
Well, with four weddings out of the way this year, I can finally say that wedding season has reached the "All-star break." We're not quite half-way with the wedding season or the summer, but it certainly feels like we've been to a lot of weddings. They have all been fantastic and Kelsey, myself, and all our friends definitely have memories at each one. The good news is that we don't have to keep spending our money on wedding gifts, figuring out what we have and what we need to return where, or store someplace in our ever shrinking storage space within our house. Nope, no more of that, for now at least. Now its time to move on to the other season during the summer... CABIN SEASON!!
We're off to Balsam Lake this weekend for a bit of relaxing with Kelsey's parents. I'm looking forward to this weekend because I get to go swimming and such, which is really how I kick off summer. It isn't summer till I hit that water! Frank went out and got a Sea-Doo Jet ski for the lake this year and we couldn't be more excited for it. We now have access to the two best modes of transportation around Balsam Lake. The pontoon for tooling around and getting some sun while stopping off at the bars for beer and cheese curds, as well as the Jet ski for all the fun and excitement you need on a sunny day. Luckily for us the weather looks like it might hold out for a decent weekend at the cabin. Better than last weekend anyway. :-)
We will be heading down to Lake Arbutus at the end of the month for this old man's Birthday. There is also a new toy there waiting for us as well. Dad got a new boat, and since he likes making deals, the salesman threw in the only water toy that we were missing, a wakeboard! I've done the tubing, and kneeboarding throughout my youth, and just don't have the strength to do it anymore, and waterskiing isn't that entertaining to me. Wakeboarding seems right up my alley to provide a few bruises for the Monday meetings at work. Needless to say I'm just happy the lake is up this year and that we have a chance to get out on the lake for some water sports, swimming and of course drinking. :-) It should be fun to take Trevor on the boat as well. We'll show him how much fun the toys can be and before you know it, he'll be out there carrying on the "King of the tube" title that I succesfully held until I gained enough weight to throw myself off. Maybe Brian and I need to make another title match to see if my 200+ lbs will knock his skinny butt off the tube while going 30 mph. I just hope I don't pop the tube when we hit the waves. :-)
Well, we just gotta get through one last friday shift of work and then we're Cabin bound! Get the beers cold, and enjoy your weekend!
HO K PEACE OUT!
We're off to Balsam Lake this weekend for a bit of relaxing with Kelsey's parents. I'm looking forward to this weekend because I get to go swimming and such, which is really how I kick off summer. It isn't summer till I hit that water! Frank went out and got a Sea-Doo Jet ski for the lake this year and we couldn't be more excited for it. We now have access to the two best modes of transportation around Balsam Lake. The pontoon for tooling around and getting some sun while stopping off at the bars for beer and cheese curds, as well as the Jet ski for all the fun and excitement you need on a sunny day. Luckily for us the weather looks like it might hold out for a decent weekend at the cabin. Better than last weekend anyway. :-)
We will be heading down to Lake Arbutus at the end of the month for this old man's Birthday. There is also a new toy there waiting for us as well. Dad got a new boat, and since he likes making deals, the salesman threw in the only water toy that we were missing, a wakeboard! I've done the tubing, and kneeboarding throughout my youth, and just don't have the strength to do it anymore, and waterskiing isn't that entertaining to me. Wakeboarding seems right up my alley to provide a few bruises for the Monday meetings at work. Needless to say I'm just happy the lake is up this year and that we have a chance to get out on the lake for some water sports, swimming and of course drinking. :-) It should be fun to take Trevor on the boat as well. We'll show him how much fun the toys can be and before you know it, he'll be out there carrying on the "King of the tube" title that I succesfully held until I gained enough weight to throw myself off. Maybe Brian and I need to make another title match to see if my 200+ lbs will knock his skinny butt off the tube while going 30 mph. I just hope I don't pop the tube when we hit the waves. :-)
Well, we just gotta get through one last friday shift of work and then we're Cabin bound! Get the beers cold, and enjoy your weekend!
HO K PEACE OUT!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The the fun times begin.
After the ceremony we got on our big limo-party bus loaded with champagne and beer. We set off to Pioneer Park to take some pictures and as we made our way down Hwy 36 we hit some traffic just as we approached Stillwater. This isn't uncommon and as we later learned that there was a couple of weddings and proms on the boats we should have figured we'd be sitting in traffic for about an hour. We were originally OK with this because we had beer and good music to keep us occupied. But then, the beer ran out. Luckily we got to the park and took some more amazing pictures and decided that it was about time we went somewhere where they had beer. Considering the reception had free beer we figured we might as well go there and start the festivities.
We got to the reception around 5:15 and started making our way through the crowd. We cut the cake for the photo-op and made our way even further through the crowd. The groomsmen and I got up to the bar for our first shot of the night. The LeBron bomb was something to behold, and all I can say about it is that I still had sugar on me later that night.
The dinner was very good, and the cake was amazing. Kelsey didn't get too much cake and is still very upset with that, but all in all I think the food portion went very well. The little hiccup in the night was Kelsey's grandma having some health issues, and all I can say is that thank goodness there were plenty of Nurse and medical personnel in attendance to make sure everything was OK. The photo booth was a big hit throughout the night, once it finally got there. :-) There are many photos throughout the night of drunken debauchery and all around good times. Kelsey and I will treasure the numerous pictures we have in a little guest book the attendant gave us at the end of the night. Apparently I threw up a few too many middle fingers (thanks Rich) in my pictures and I might have to edit them out before my nephew tells me I'm going to "Hellen"
The dance floor was packed all night and I was extremely grateful that everyone I talked to said how much fun they had. I think in essence that's what I wanted our wedding to be. We strived to make sure that the guests would have something to do, or that things would be easy for them so that they would have a good time. I think our hard work (mostly Kelsey's) paid off in the end. It seemed like a night to remember for everyone, and not just ourselves. I couldn't have been happier with the slide show, the speeches, the family that attended, and all the great things people had to say about our big day. It really was the greatest day of my life. :-)
Next post I'll get into the Honeymoon, minus the dirty details. I don't want to go to "Hellen" right?
HO K Peace out!!
We got to the reception around 5:15 and started making our way through the crowd. We cut the cake for the photo-op and made our way even further through the crowd. The groomsmen and I got up to the bar for our first shot of the night. The LeBron bomb was something to behold, and all I can say about it is that I still had sugar on me later that night.
The dinner was very good, and the cake was amazing. Kelsey didn't get too much cake and is still very upset with that, but all in all I think the food portion went very well. The little hiccup in the night was Kelsey's grandma having some health issues, and all I can say is that thank goodness there were plenty of Nurse and medical personnel in attendance to make sure everything was OK. The photo booth was a big hit throughout the night, once it finally got there. :-) There are many photos throughout the night of drunken debauchery and all around good times. Kelsey and I will treasure the numerous pictures we have in a little guest book the attendant gave us at the end of the night. Apparently I threw up a few too many middle fingers (thanks Rich) in my pictures and I might have to edit them out before my nephew tells me I'm going to "Hellen" The dance floor was packed all night and I was extremely grateful that everyone I talked to said how much fun they had. I think in essence that's what I wanted our wedding to be. We strived to make sure that the guests would have something to do, or that things would be easy for them so that they would have a good time. I think our hard work (mostly Kelsey's) paid off in the end. It seemed like a night to remember for everyone, and not just ourselves. I couldn't have been happier with the slide show, the speeches, the family that attended, and all the great things people had to say about our big day. It really was the greatest day of my life. :-)
Next post I'll get into the Honeymoon, minus the dirty details. I don't want to go to "Hellen" right?
HO K Peace out!!
Where to begin??
It seems like forever ago that the biggest day of my life came and went. Because its been so long since I've posted I'm having a little trouble trying to figure out where to start.
I guess I could always "go back to the beginning."
Friday, May 15th was the day of our rehearsal. In the morning I got to go golfing with a lot of friends and family. It turned out to be a very nice day, although very windy which made the golf a little challenging. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and it really helped relieve some pre-wedding day stress. :-)
The rehearsal went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed very excited for the big day. Everyone learned their roles and knew what they had to do so all-in-all it was a good rehearsal. The grooms dinner was held back at Tartan Park and was a really fun dinner. Kelsey surprised me by having a 3D cake made of a boom running race. I was one of the 3D frosting dudes, and the funniest part was that during transportation, my dude tipped over off his log and fell into the "water." Originally Kelsey was a bit worried that this would wreck the cake, but once she found out that it was my dude that fell in, it suddenly became the most realistic cake ever. ;-)
The other big hit of the night was something that Kelsey had planned for us a few months before our wedding day. She had found online a description of a "Dutch Tradition" where the couple puts two wine glasses, a bottle of wine, and two letters, one for each person written by the other, into a box. The mothers of the bride and groom nail the box shut and it is to remain sealed. The only way you are supposed to open the box is to pry it open when you are at your last resort before a potential divorce. The idea is that the wine is supposed to get you to sit together and drink, while you read the letters reminding each other why you loved each other when you began. If you make it without ever needing "the box" then Kelsey and I set a time of 20 years to open it anyway as a little wedding anniversary idea. Needless to say a lot of the comments about the box were positive and even more were humorous in nature. A couple of my friends said they'd already would have been through at least two boxes in their marriage. A couple of the groomsmen starting quoting that they are going to start new drinking traditions and claim that it's a "Dutch Tradition" and Kelsey and I found a new joke to say when we are on each other's nerves... "That's it.. GET THE BOX!!" All jokes aside, its a very nice thing to have as a new tradition in our family and I will enjoy opening it in 20 years. :-)
The wedding day began rather early for me, but not as early as the girls. :-) Brian and I had to drive down to Stillwater to drop off my car for the night as we were staying in a hotel in downtown Stillwater that night. We got back and I got showered up and headed over to the Church when I was told to. I got there at 11:00am ready to have Kelsey come and begin our big day together. We decided to see each other before the ceremony because that way we could get all our pictures in before the ceremony and still have a little time to not be rushed afterwords and to just enjoy the day. She was supposed to meet me in the little Chapel outside the Church at 11:15am. Well, 11:45 rolled around and she finally came out. :-) We realized that I was on time, and she was running a little late. It worked out fine, but with my nerves being as they were that morning anyway, I got a little worried for about 5 minutes in that span. :-)
She was as anyone would expect, the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. She looked AMAZING in her dress and it really was everything I had hoped for. We took some great pictures and were all smiles throughout the ceremony. Nothing really went wrong in the ceremony, except that when I went to light the unity candle, my candle stuck to the candle holder and as I pried it out the wax spilled on my hand... it didn't feel too great.
We even had my nephew and Kelsey's niece make it down the aisle as they entered the Church! Chloe, the flower girl, was to everyone's surprise, in a dress and down the aisle right with Trevor. It was spectacular!
The ceremony continued without a hitch and before we knew it, we were married. We ushered everyone out of the Church and after a little cleanup, it was time to get on the limo bus and begin the party time. :-)
I guess I could always "go back to the beginning."
Friday, May 15th was the day of our rehearsal. In the morning I got to go golfing with a lot of friends and family. It turned out to be a very nice day, although very windy which made the golf a little challenging. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and it really helped relieve some pre-wedding day stress. :-)
The rehearsal went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed very excited for the big day. Everyone learned their roles and knew what they had to do so all-in-all it was a good rehearsal. The grooms dinner was held back at Tartan Park and was a really fun dinner. Kelsey surprised me by having a 3D cake made of a boom running race. I was one of the 3D frosting dudes, and the funniest part was that during transportation, my dude tipped over off his log and fell into the "water." Originally Kelsey was a bit worried that this would wreck the cake, but once she found out that it was my dude that fell in, it suddenly became the most realistic cake ever. ;-)
The other big hit of the night was something that Kelsey had planned for us a few months before our wedding day. She had found online a description of a "Dutch Tradition" where the couple puts two wine glasses, a bottle of wine, and two letters, one for each person written by the other, into a box. The mothers of the bride and groom nail the box shut and it is to remain sealed. The only way you are supposed to open the box is to pry it open when you are at your last resort before a potential divorce. The idea is that the wine is supposed to get you to sit together and drink, while you read the letters reminding each other why you loved each other when you began. If you make it without ever needing "the box" then Kelsey and I set a time of 20 years to open it anyway as a little wedding anniversary idea. Needless to say a lot of the comments about the box were positive and even more were humorous in nature. A couple of my friends said they'd already would have been through at least two boxes in their marriage. A couple of the groomsmen starting quoting that they are going to start new drinking traditions and claim that it's a "Dutch Tradition" and Kelsey and I found a new joke to say when we are on each other's nerves... "That's it.. GET THE BOX!!" All jokes aside, its a very nice thing to have as a new tradition in our family and I will enjoy opening it in 20 years. :-)The wedding day began rather early for me, but not as early as the girls. :-) Brian and I had to drive down to Stillwater to drop off my car for the night as we were staying in a hotel in downtown Stillwater that night. We got back and I got showered up and headed over to the Church when I was told to. I got there at 11:00am ready to have Kelsey come and begin our big day together. We decided to see each other before the ceremony because that way we could get all our pictures in before the ceremony and still have a little time to not be rushed afterwords and to just enjoy the day. She was supposed to meet me in the little Chapel outside the Church at 11:15am. Well, 11:45 rolled around and she finally came out. :-) We realized that I was on time, and she was running a little late. It worked out fine, but with my nerves being as they were that morning anyway, I got a little worried for about 5 minutes in that span. :-)
She was as anyone would expect, the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. She looked AMAZING in her dress and it really was everything I had hoped for. We took some great pictures and were all smiles throughout the ceremony. Nothing really went wrong in the ceremony, except that when I went to light the unity candle, my candle stuck to the candle holder and as I pried it out the wax spilled on my hand... it didn't feel too great.
We even had my nephew and Kelsey's niece make it down the aisle as they entered the Church! Chloe, the flower girl, was to everyone's surprise, in a dress and down the aisle right with Trevor. It was spectacular!
The ceremony continued without a hitch and before we knew it, we were married. We ushered everyone out of the Church and after a little cleanup, it was time to get on the limo bus and begin the party time. :-)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I think i'm all set
I'm going to pick up my tux in a few hours, all of my gifts and cards and letters for Kelsey are all set to go, the rings are well hidden in the house, our out of town guests are starting to arrive, we're all packed for our Honeymoon, I'm done with work for the month of May, i'm ready for golf tomorrow, and all the little details seem to be wrapping up nicely. Yep.. I think i'm ready to get married.
I'm 26 years old and I'm getting married. Life never works out the way you think it will, and I guess it didn't take me the full 26 years to realize the full meaning of that phrase, but in the end, I'm very glad life didn't work out the way I planned.
There are so many thoughts going through my head but I think the one thing I can hold onto is the happiness that I feel to be experiencing this art of finding someone special. I tried so hard to force myself to find someone, when in the end she found me. I've discovered a lot of new things about myself through her and some of the new things will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Its also exciting to look forward to seeing old faces and sharing a few drinks with all my friends and family.
The slide show is complete and barring a technical glitch with the software at the reception hall it should go over very well. I'm happy with the timing and quality of both of our songs choices and the timing worked out exceptionally well.
All in all it should be a great weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
time to make some memories.. I'll follow up with some pictures and insightful postings later.
Ho K.. Peace out... last time as a "single" blogger. :-)
I'm 26 years old and I'm getting married. Life never works out the way you think it will, and I guess it didn't take me the full 26 years to realize the full meaning of that phrase, but in the end, I'm very glad life didn't work out the way I planned.
There are so many thoughts going through my head but I think the one thing I can hold onto is the happiness that I feel to be experiencing this art of finding someone special. I tried so hard to force myself to find someone, when in the end she found me. I've discovered a lot of new things about myself through her and some of the new things will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Its also exciting to look forward to seeing old faces and sharing a few drinks with all my friends and family.
The slide show is complete and barring a technical glitch with the software at the reception hall it should go over very well. I'm happy with the timing and quality of both of our songs choices and the timing worked out exceptionally well.
All in all it should be a great weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
time to make some memories.. I'll follow up with some pictures and insightful postings later.
Ho K.. Peace out... last time as a "single" blogger. :-)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
168 Hours
168 hours from now I will be taking my position and getting ready to get married. :-) Its really getting close now! The good news is that we have almost everything taken care of. We have a few loose ends to tie up but nothing that is extremely stress worthy (in my humble opinion). In fact this weekend, the biggest task I have is yard work, and that is mostly self appointed work. Other stuff that will get done is other house work and cleaning getting ready for our guests this upcoming week and for when we are gone on our honeymoon. Its kinda nice and settling knowing that the big day is so close, and I guess all I have to do now is just wait and look forward to what will be a wonderful day.
Kona seems to be settling into her groove of the non-winter seasons. She spends more time outside then in, and she is exponentially harder to get inside when you need her to come in. Luckily I've got my own little trick that works 90% of the time, so at least there is that. She's sorted through her toys and bones and found two of her favorites and will only pay attention to them. She's settling down into a very nice dog in my book. I think you have to try and remember how bad she used to be, and just be able to look at her now and say... its not that bad. :-)
I had a little realization the other day when it comes to this blog contest. I'm actually going to have to take some time on my honeymoon to post something. I think i'll have to do it when Kelsey is in the shower getting ready for dinner or something, because I'd rather take a DDT, a four-figure leglock, or a pile driver than skip any of the good time on our honeymoon to post a blog entry. We'll see what happens.
That's about it for me today. We've got some errands to run and some Mothers day stuff to figure out, and then before you know it, it will be Sunday and one day closer to the wedding.
Ho K Peace out!
Kona seems to be settling into her groove of the non-winter seasons. She spends more time outside then in, and she is exponentially harder to get inside when you need her to come in. Luckily I've got my own little trick that works 90% of the time, so at least there is that. She's sorted through her toys and bones and found two of her favorites and will only pay attention to them. She's settling down into a very nice dog in my book. I think you have to try and remember how bad she used to be, and just be able to look at her now and say... its not that bad. :-)
I had a little realization the other day when it comes to this blog contest. I'm actually going to have to take some time on my honeymoon to post something. I think i'll have to do it when Kelsey is in the shower getting ready for dinner or something, because I'd rather take a DDT, a four-figure leglock, or a pile driver than skip any of the good time on our honeymoon to post a blog entry. We'll see what happens.
That's about it for me today. We've got some errands to run and some Mothers day stuff to figure out, and then before you know it, it will be Sunday and one day closer to the wedding.
Ho K Peace out!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Odd and ends
OH lets see... what to write about.
Recently I've fallen into the habit of listening to talk radio on the AM dial. The only reason I listen to any radio anymore seems to be to get my sports highlights. I enjoy the 93X morning show because they are the only morning show that makes an effort to talk sports. I'll listen to an afternoon show on KS95 for the trivia stuff, but other than that, radio for me is boring and I hate the commercials. I have enough CD's to listen to for the music aspect but honestly, I don't know why I listen anymore. I ended up on KFAN one day and realized that they talk a lot of sports! I figured this would be a good way to pass the long drives home (when Kelsey isn't in the car) but after I dove into the actual afternoon programming I noticed that these guys are just idiots! I think one of the hosts actually has more dead air periods than when he actually is talking! It drives me nuts! Then they throw in random topics when they have nothing to talk about concerning sports, and dear GOD, they can be even more obnoxious when they go on tangents! I don't know.. I'm doing this to myself so I shouldn't complain... but seriously.. I'm not impressed.
Softball started this week. Running to first now feels like I have a plow strapped to my back instead of my usual fleet footed speed burst the 60ft to the bag. My legs still hurt two days later! Hopefully I can get into softball shape soon enough... maybe more beer will help. :-)
A while back the Johnsons were nice enough to have us out to the club for dinner. Trevor was there and he hit a new point in his young life as viewed through his uncle's eyes. He quoted Princess Bride. I'm not talking one or two lines... I'm talking MULTIPLE scenes. It didn't help that Russ and I egged him on to do most of them, but you could tell he loved it. I want him to memorize this scene:
If he does that at our wedding I'm going to die. I'll see if i can work on him this weekend. :-)
Its Derby weekend! I'm resurrecting my Calloway golf hat for luck. We'll see how it goes. Looking forward to seeing some cousins and aunts/uncles as well. But the big news is that the lake is filled up! We can finally take advantage of the whole lake! The best part though is the new boat. Dad's putting it in this weekend for the grandkids and probably even the big kids too. :-) That is of course, after the work of putting the dock in is done. :-)
All in all it should be a nice little getaway weekend to avoid the hassles of home life and wedding planning! I'm looking forward to it!
HO K Peace out.
Recently I've fallen into the habit of listening to talk radio on the AM dial. The only reason I listen to any radio anymore seems to be to get my sports highlights. I enjoy the 93X morning show because they are the only morning show that makes an effort to talk sports. I'll listen to an afternoon show on KS95 for the trivia stuff, but other than that, radio for me is boring and I hate the commercials. I have enough CD's to listen to for the music aspect but honestly, I don't know why I listen anymore. I ended up on KFAN one day and realized that they talk a lot of sports! I figured this would be a good way to pass the long drives home (when Kelsey isn't in the car) but after I dove into the actual afternoon programming I noticed that these guys are just idiots! I think one of the hosts actually has more dead air periods than when he actually is talking! It drives me nuts! Then they throw in random topics when they have nothing to talk about concerning sports, and dear GOD, they can be even more obnoxious when they go on tangents! I don't know.. I'm doing this to myself so I shouldn't complain... but seriously.. I'm not impressed.
Softball started this week. Running to first now feels like I have a plow strapped to my back instead of my usual fleet footed speed burst the 60ft to the bag. My legs still hurt two days later! Hopefully I can get into softball shape soon enough... maybe more beer will help. :-)
A while back the Johnsons were nice enough to have us out to the club for dinner. Trevor was there and he hit a new point in his young life as viewed through his uncle's eyes. He quoted Princess Bride. I'm not talking one or two lines... I'm talking MULTIPLE scenes. It didn't help that Russ and I egged him on to do most of them, but you could tell he loved it. I want him to memorize this scene:
If he does that at our wedding I'm going to die. I'll see if i can work on him this weekend. :-)
Its Derby weekend! I'm resurrecting my Calloway golf hat for luck. We'll see how it goes. Looking forward to seeing some cousins and aunts/uncles as well. But the big news is that the lake is filled up! We can finally take advantage of the whole lake! The best part though is the new boat. Dad's putting it in this weekend for the grandkids and probably even the big kids too. :-) That is of course, after the work of putting the dock in is done. :-)
All in all it should be a nice little getaway weekend to avoid the hassles of home life and wedding planning! I'm looking forward to it!
HO K Peace out.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
It begins
This week has been the launching pad for a few things new to 2009.
On Monday we had our first round for the Theodore Wirth Golf league that Rich and I won last year. Something tells me that this years title defense will be harder than last years league. There are different people playing, and the talent level seems to have risen from last year. This calls for some serious sandbagging! But since we already have our handicap established from last year, it won't be as easy. Should be an interesting summer of golf!
Another first this week is that Kelsey and I have our first wedding to go to tonight. Yep, the first of ten for this year. This one is south of the cities, (i think) but should still be a fun time. I'm sure we'll be taking some notes as to what to do for our wedding and I know I will be interested to see some of the differences between their wedding, and what we have planned. Hopefully the beer is free and the DJ/band is done right. That's about all I need for a good wedding. The food can be a variable, as I have been known to go get subway during the dinner portion of the evening. :-)
Work is becoming very busy with a few key jobs in the wheelhouse. I'm more of a supportive role now due to the fact that I will be gone for 2+ weeks in May. I also did not pass my LEED test this Friday. I'm a little disappointed but I don't think I could have done well enough to pass. The information was just a little too out of my league right now. Maybe next time!
Other than that we're finalizing some wedding details and Brian and I are finishing up the slide show. Should be an interesting week coming up! Every day gone is another day closer! I can't wait!
Ho K Peace out!
On Monday we had our first round for the Theodore Wirth Golf league that Rich and I won last year. Something tells me that this years title defense will be harder than last years league. There are different people playing, and the talent level seems to have risen from last year. This calls for some serious sandbagging! But since we already have our handicap established from last year, it won't be as easy. Should be an interesting summer of golf!
Another first this week is that Kelsey and I have our first wedding to go to tonight. Yep, the first of ten for this year. This one is south of the cities, (i think) but should still be a fun time. I'm sure we'll be taking some notes as to what to do for our wedding and I know I will be interested to see some of the differences between their wedding, and what we have planned. Hopefully the beer is free and the DJ/band is done right. That's about all I need for a good wedding. The food can be a variable, as I have been known to go get subway during the dinner portion of the evening. :-)
Work is becoming very busy with a few key jobs in the wheelhouse. I'm more of a supportive role now due to the fact that I will be gone for 2+ weeks in May. I also did not pass my LEED test this Friday. I'm a little disappointed but I don't think I could have done well enough to pass. The information was just a little too out of my league right now. Maybe next time!
Other than that we're finalizing some wedding details and Brian and I are finishing up the slide show. Should be an interesting week coming up! Every day gone is another day closer! I can't wait!
Ho K Peace out!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wow.. what a week..
This week marks the home stretch. We're now within one month of the big wedding day, and this week couldn't have been a more appropriate lead into what is probably the most stressful month of the engagement.
Work plain and simple has been chaos this week. I have two projects that needed direct attention all week and really haven't had any time to come up for air until just now. Thankfully they both look prosperous and it might actually be a very good couple of revenue generators for us. So there's the good news.
The bad news is that our little dog Kona has had yet another adventure and unfortunately this time she didn't come out unscathed. Kona took it upon herself to crawl through our culvert in the back yard. This culvert starts in the middle of our back yard, goes 20 yards underground, and ends up opening up to the ditch next to the road that borders our back yard. Once she crawled through this culvert, she was on the outside of the fence and free to run all around. The bad part wasn't that she got out, but that somehow, while crawling through the culvert, she ended up getting a laceration just below her butt-hole (I could use medical terms but i'm just not into it). So with the severity of the laceration, we had to take her into the vet for stitches. She had to be put under for the work and has since come back home a little groggy and confused as to why her butt got shaved. I'm sure she'll be her old self soon enough, but its just not the same without our normal crazy dog running around. Maybe after a weekend of rest and relaxation in her trusty kennel she'll be up and about ready for more walks, some fetch, and the constant annoying of Kelsey. :-)
Now that its less than a month until our wedding, Kelsey and I have been pushing through all of our to-do lists. We got a lot of stuff done this week, but it also feels like we didn't do as much as we wanted to. While there is still time, we both have the feeling that it will be here before we know it. We've been ahead of the curve the whole time and we're not about to let things slip away just yet. From here on out it'll be all things weddings, unless Kona decides to hurt herself again. :-)
That's all I got for now..
Ho K Peace out!
Work plain and simple has been chaos this week. I have two projects that needed direct attention all week and really haven't had any time to come up for air until just now. Thankfully they both look prosperous and it might actually be a very good couple of revenue generators for us. So there's the good news.
The bad news is that our little dog Kona has had yet another adventure and unfortunately this time she didn't come out unscathed. Kona took it upon herself to crawl through our culvert in the back yard. This culvert starts in the middle of our back yard, goes 20 yards underground, and ends up opening up to the ditch next to the road that borders our back yard. Once she crawled through this culvert, she was on the outside of the fence and free to run all around. The bad part wasn't that she got out, but that somehow, while crawling through the culvert, she ended up getting a laceration just below her butt-hole (I could use medical terms but i'm just not into it). So with the severity of the laceration, we had to take her into the vet for stitches. She had to be put under for the work and has since come back home a little groggy and confused as to why her butt got shaved. I'm sure she'll be her old self soon enough, but its just not the same without our normal crazy dog running around. Maybe after a weekend of rest and relaxation in her trusty kennel she'll be up and about ready for more walks, some fetch, and the constant annoying of Kelsey. :-)
Now that its less than a month until our wedding, Kelsey and I have been pushing through all of our to-do lists. We got a lot of stuff done this week, but it also feels like we didn't do as much as we wanted to. While there is still time, we both have the feeling that it will be here before we know it. We've been ahead of the curve the whole time and we're not about to let things slip away just yet. From here on out it'll be all things weddings, unless Kona decides to hurt herself again. :-)
That's all I got for now..
Ho K Peace out!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Long time coming
Well, for the past 40 days I have done my best to give up pop and swearing for Lent. The swearing part didn't go as well as planned, and that kind of surprises me. I don't like to swear and I think I do a pretty good job of using replacement words but for this specific season, I'd give myself a D- for my poor performance.
The pop side of the effort was a lot better. It killed me to not ask for a Mountain Dew while I was on the road. Its so much easier to have a pop while at McDonald's or out at a restaurant. It seemed like the immediate substitute at the restaurants was beer. Not the greatest substitute but still, it wasn't pop. There was the occasional request for only water, or perhaps some form of juice or lemonade, but I can honestly say that I did a pretty good job of giving up pop. Needless to say, tomorrow I'm going to have at least 3 mountain dews if I can. :-)
Work is picking up. I got back from a trip with two big sites and the big project of the year has to be completed by June 20th. This was an interesting thing to try and work out with my co-workers seeing as how I will be gone for 2 weeks in May. The good news is that we got it figured out and there shouldn't be any big problems.
Wedding planning marches on. This is our big weekend to finalize any plans we need to dust off and get down on paper. I'm off to get our marriage license paperwork filed with Kelsey! I think she'll actually have to write her name as "Kelsey Trauscht!!!" HAHAHA!! This is going to be fun!
Gotta run! Happy Easter Everyone!
HO K PEACE OUT!
The pop side of the effort was a lot better. It killed me to not ask for a Mountain Dew while I was on the road. Its so much easier to have a pop while at McDonald's or out at a restaurant. It seemed like the immediate substitute at the restaurants was beer. Not the greatest substitute but still, it wasn't pop. There was the occasional request for only water, or perhaps some form of juice or lemonade, but I can honestly say that I did a pretty good job of giving up pop. Needless to say, tomorrow I'm going to have at least 3 mountain dews if I can. :-)
Work is picking up. I got back from a trip with two big sites and the big project of the year has to be completed by June 20th. This was an interesting thing to try and work out with my co-workers seeing as how I will be gone for 2 weeks in May. The good news is that we got it figured out and there shouldn't be any big problems.
Wedding planning marches on. This is our big weekend to finalize any plans we need to dust off and get down on paper. I'm off to get our marriage license paperwork filed with Kelsey! I think she'll actually have to write her name as "Kelsey Trauscht!!!" HAHAHA!! This is going to be fun!
Gotta run! Happy Easter Everyone!
HO K PEACE OUT!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Not "private" for your reference
I'm not so sure i like these "private" postings my brother may or may not be doing. I think its a sham because none of the rest of us can see it. I get that the topics would be private, but maybe I'll have to throw in a clause about how private postings don't fully count and that supplemental material must be posted... otherwise how are we to know that it actually happened? A conundrum indeed..
This weekend is the annual Stillwater Alumni basketball tournament. The 1998-2001 team is off to a pretty decent start. We won our pool by some sheer luck. We lost our first game to the 2007-2008 team by 3 points. We couldn't close the door on them and they took the game from us. Then in our second game we beat 2002-2004 by 35 points. Interestingly enough they beat the team we lost to creating a Pool of 1 and 1 teams. By point differential we advance to the tournament play tomorrow as a number 1 seed! Crazy stuff, but all in all its been some good basketball. I really am starting to feel a whole lot older going to this tournament. I haven't made it the past few years, but seeing some of the old teammates has been fun. It is weird to see kids that were in second grade come out and give us a run. Time catches up with us all i guess.
I am on the road again this week. Dallas and Orlando are on the list for my travels and I guess I'm kinda hoping this will be the last trip I have to take before our wedding. Something tells me that won't really happen, but a guy can hope right? I guess I'll just have to try and keep everything at a minimum and just make sure i keep earning that paycheck.
The biggest news of the week however would have to be the fact that the Bears got a quarterback. I don't care what we gave up for him. Having a quarterback will at least make it interesting to watch them! It wasn't the greatest time watching only the defense do all the scoring. I'm looking forward to football season already! Maybe i better get through summer first. :-)
Golf league starts this month. I hope it stops snowing by then. I don't like playing golf in the cold, kinda takes all the fun out of it. :-)
Allright.. posted within the time limits.. lets see if Brian claims another "private" posting or not.
HO K PEACE OUT!
This weekend is the annual Stillwater Alumni basketball tournament. The 1998-2001 team is off to a pretty decent start. We won our pool by some sheer luck. We lost our first game to the 2007-2008 team by 3 points. We couldn't close the door on them and they took the game from us. Then in our second game we beat 2002-2004 by 35 points. Interestingly enough they beat the team we lost to creating a Pool of 1 and 1 teams. By point differential we advance to the tournament play tomorrow as a number 1 seed! Crazy stuff, but all in all its been some good basketball. I really am starting to feel a whole lot older going to this tournament. I haven't made it the past few years, but seeing some of the old teammates has been fun. It is weird to see kids that were in second grade come out and give us a run. Time catches up with us all i guess.
I am on the road again this week. Dallas and Orlando are on the list for my travels and I guess I'm kinda hoping this will be the last trip I have to take before our wedding. Something tells me that won't really happen, but a guy can hope right? I guess I'll just have to try and keep everything at a minimum and just make sure i keep earning that paycheck.
The biggest news of the week however would have to be the fact that the Bears got a quarterback. I don't care what we gave up for him. Having a quarterback will at least make it interesting to watch them! It wasn't the greatest time watching only the defense do all the scoring. I'm looking forward to football season already! Maybe i better get through summer first. :-)
Golf league starts this month. I hope it stops snowing by then. I don't like playing golf in the cold, kinda takes all the fun out of it. :-)
Allright.. posted within the time limits.. lets see if Brian claims another "private" posting or not.
HO K PEACE OUT!
Friday, March 27, 2009
How did I get here?
I can't really describe where my mind is this week. I feel like i've been in kind of a daze and just floating through this week. There has been some time to step back and take an introspective look at where I am in my life, and it really hasn't produced any surprising answers.
I'm 26 years old, and about to get married. I have a steady job, a house, a dog and the drive and ambition to succeed at a number of things throughout my life. My goals are obtainable, the method at which I plan to obtain those goals is ever-changing, but I still find myself along a very recognizable path. I've had plenty of surprises and things aren't exactly as I'd pictured them, but I really don't have any complaints.
I don't know why I'm feeling so "goo-ey" this week, but its given me a chance to recognize what's going on.
I'm getting married in 50 days to the most wonderful woman in the entire world. :-) She puts up with all of my idiotic ways and lazy habits and still manages to make me smile every minute of every day. I've never been good with words that express how I really feel about her and I know I'm not doing her any justice by trying to spell it out on a blog, but it has been one of the biggest things going through my mind these last couple of weeks. I guess i'm just really excited that the big piece of my life puzzle has fit so well into what I had hoped it would be.
Along with the wedding stuff, its come to my attention that the family chapter of my own life is about to begin. Trevor put it perfectly when I was watching him last weekend. "Uncle Kevin, when you marry Kelsey, you're going to be the Daddy and she's going to be the Mommy." Wow.. thanks Trevor, you hit it right on the head. At some point down the road Kelsey and I will have kids, all boys by the way. We're naming them Stuart, Oscar and Yosemite. (That oughta keep the grandparents guessing for a couple days) But with that realization comes the fact that I'm going to have to try and parent these lovely boys of ours. Growing up as a kid with a strict curfew I always swore I would do things differently. Now that I'm here I still think I will do things differently although not as I had originally thought. :-) You can expect that statement to change over time as well.
Yeah, growing up is hard. :-) I still enjoy things like video games and playing imaginary games with the little kids, but this whole responsibility thing is exciting too. I always hoped I'd be an active dad with whatever my kids will want to do. I can see that if we do have those three wonderful boys, Kelsey may have to kick us off the video games early Saturday mornings if she wants any help around the house. And if by some miracle we have 3 girls, well, then maybe I'll just have my own little room with a TV and video game setup as my own personal "retreat" room.
:-)
Ho-K Peace out.
(This post was published without any discussions on names with Kelsey. Those are the names of our three boys though.. believe me.. ) :-)
I'm 26 years old, and about to get married. I have a steady job, a house, a dog and the drive and ambition to succeed at a number of things throughout my life. My goals are obtainable, the method at which I plan to obtain those goals is ever-changing, but I still find myself along a very recognizable path. I've had plenty of surprises and things aren't exactly as I'd pictured them, but I really don't have any complaints.
I don't know why I'm feeling so "goo-ey" this week, but its given me a chance to recognize what's going on.
I'm getting married in 50 days to the most wonderful woman in the entire world. :-) She puts up with all of my idiotic ways and lazy habits and still manages to make me smile every minute of every day. I've never been good with words that express how I really feel about her and I know I'm not doing her any justice by trying to spell it out on a blog, but it has been one of the biggest things going through my mind these last couple of weeks. I guess i'm just really excited that the big piece of my life puzzle has fit so well into what I had hoped it would be.
Along with the wedding stuff, its come to my attention that the family chapter of my own life is about to begin. Trevor put it perfectly when I was watching him last weekend. "Uncle Kevin, when you marry Kelsey, you're going to be the Daddy and she's going to be the Mommy." Wow.. thanks Trevor, you hit it right on the head. At some point down the road Kelsey and I will have kids, all boys by the way. We're naming them Stuart, Oscar and Yosemite. (That oughta keep the grandparents guessing for a couple days) But with that realization comes the fact that I'm going to have to try and parent these lovely boys of ours. Growing up as a kid with a strict curfew I always swore I would do things differently. Now that I'm here I still think I will do things differently although not as I had originally thought. :-) You can expect that statement to change over time as well.
Yeah, growing up is hard. :-) I still enjoy things like video games and playing imaginary games with the little kids, but this whole responsibility thing is exciting too. I always hoped I'd be an active dad with whatever my kids will want to do. I can see that if we do have those three wonderful boys, Kelsey may have to kick us off the video games early Saturday mornings if she wants any help around the house. And if by some miracle we have 3 girls, well, then maybe I'll just have my own little room with a TV and video game setup as my own personal "retreat" room.
:-)
Ho-K Peace out.
(This post was published without any discussions on names with Kelsey. Those are the names of our three boys though.. believe me.. ) :-)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Well that was just downright horrible
Just downright no good very bad horrible couple of days here in Cleveland. I don't mean to knock on the group that put it on, or the idea of trying to learn something in a very short period of time, but this just was not fun.
Here's what I went through, just to give you a little background.
There is a program that focuses on building "green" buildings. Its called LEED. You may have heard about different buildings around the area becoming LEED certified. There is a Cub Foods in Phalen that is LEED Gold Certified. This certification has to deal with a whole bunch of things like where the building is being built, what materials are being used, is the energy being used efficiently, etc. etc. etc. Basically the "greener" the building can be, the more credit it earns in the LEED system. The reason why more buildings aren't becoming LEED certified is because it costs a LOT of money to build a building like the Cub Foods in Phalen, over say a normal Cub Foods.
Basically, this week was a class to try and cram for a test to become a LEED Acredited Proffesional. The material I need to know is in a 400+ page book and has a very large amout of detail that requires memorization to take the test. I basically walked in knowing about 3% of what was on an 80 question test, and I'm walking out with knowing about 15%. I don't take the test until early april, but the amount of studying won't be easy. I'm really more upset at how grueling the whole class was. We were in our conference room for 24.5 hours in 2.5 days staring at Powerpoint slide after powerpoint slide pouring over this huge book. Trying to retain that much knowledge is like trying to drink from a firehose!
Anyway, enough about work.... how bout this wedding we got coming up!
The invites went out and it was pretty funny because I got to be the one to send them out. I'm reminded of an episode from Scrubs where Turk mails out his invites. I had to laugh a little bit because I realized that its starting to become very real and VERY exciting! Rich was with me and I think that having someone there for "moral support" was nice. It also helped because we had to weigh each letter individually because we were so close to the limit of the normal postage. Here's a little tidbit.. if your invite has a Ram stamp.. you owe me $.17!!
Kelsey and I went to pick out our wedding rings, and I found the one I wanted. Nothing special, pretty simple, but it feels right. I'm not a jewlery guy, but I don't think I'll have a problem wearing this ring on my finger for the rest of my life. :-) Now I just have to hope i don't lose it!
Still got another 2 hours before my plane boards, but I should probably get going. I can't wait to get home, not learn about LEED, maybe play a little video games, and hang out with my dog. Kelsey has a shower tonight, and if she gets home, i'll enjoy hanging out with her too.
HO K Peace out!
Here's what I went through, just to give you a little background.
There is a program that focuses on building "green" buildings. Its called LEED. You may have heard about different buildings around the area becoming LEED certified. There is a Cub Foods in Phalen that is LEED Gold Certified. This certification has to deal with a whole bunch of things like where the building is being built, what materials are being used, is the energy being used efficiently, etc. etc. etc. Basically the "greener" the building can be, the more credit it earns in the LEED system. The reason why more buildings aren't becoming LEED certified is because it costs a LOT of money to build a building like the Cub Foods in Phalen, over say a normal Cub Foods.
Basically, this week was a class to try and cram for a test to become a LEED Acredited Proffesional. The material I need to know is in a 400+ page book and has a very large amout of detail that requires memorization to take the test. I basically walked in knowing about 3% of what was on an 80 question test, and I'm walking out with knowing about 15%. I don't take the test until early april, but the amount of studying won't be easy. I'm really more upset at how grueling the whole class was. We were in our conference room for 24.5 hours in 2.5 days staring at Powerpoint slide after powerpoint slide pouring over this huge book. Trying to retain that much knowledge is like trying to drink from a firehose!
Anyway, enough about work.... how bout this wedding we got coming up!
The invites went out and it was pretty funny because I got to be the one to send them out. I'm reminded of an episode from Scrubs where Turk mails out his invites. I had to laugh a little bit because I realized that its starting to become very real and VERY exciting! Rich was with me and I think that having someone there for "moral support" was nice. It also helped because we had to weigh each letter individually because we were so close to the limit of the normal postage. Here's a little tidbit.. if your invite has a Ram stamp.. you owe me $.17!!
Kelsey and I went to pick out our wedding rings, and I found the one I wanted. Nothing special, pretty simple, but it feels right. I'm not a jewlery guy, but I don't think I'll have a problem wearing this ring on my finger for the rest of my life. :-) Now I just have to hope i don't lose it!
Still got another 2 hours before my plane boards, but I should probably get going. I can't wait to get home, not learn about LEED, maybe play a little video games, and hang out with my dog. Kelsey has a shower tonight, and if she gets home, i'll enjoy hanging out with her too.
HO K Peace out!
Friday, March 13, 2009
cuz i got time
Because my room is so hot, thanks to the hotel's heating system, I can't sleep. So I figured, rather than rush through another late entry at the airport... i could hammer one out here!
It seems to be the season of showers. Kelsey has 5 showers and the first one associated with my family is this weekend. There will be cousins and other relatives there that I haven't seen in some time. Some of these people have yet to meet Kelsey! I hope she's ready for an interesting weekend! The other thing I've noticed is that the number of gifts we get for each shower. With our system at home, if we double up with things we have in the house and our new gifts, the old things have to go. No questions about where we can store it, will we need it down the road or who might need one, but rather when we can get rid of it. I think this is a good thing. Seeing as how I tend to keep things that are somewhat sentimental, yet totally useless.. Kelsey helps me "realize" that these things would be better off donated to someone who can really use them. On a side note, is there really anyone who can use things like a Viking figure that has no appeal to anyone with a sense of decoration, or a track number from the state meet in 2000? Who knows. :-)
The wedding details are all getting figured out. Now its more about the stress of getting the little things done and waiting for the big day. The invitations go out on Monday and I know we can't wait to see who's coming and who is not. We also looked at wedding rings together on Wednesday. I have to say I'm in no way a "ring" person. I think I passed all that kind of stuff on to my little brother. He has more jewelry than I would ever wear in my lifetime. But when you finally find a wedding band that really makes you say... "Yep... i could wear this for the rest of my life.. and i look forward to making sure everyone knows i have a special someone... somewhere"... it might just change your opinion of "jewelry."
As for now, i think i'll get a little break from work. This week was crazy as ever with a lot of things due. Now we play the wait and see game, and hopefully we'll get some good news. Until then, i'll just keep plugging away and waiting in anticipation for the big day.
Ho K Peace out!
It seems to be the season of showers. Kelsey has 5 showers and the first one associated with my family is this weekend. There will be cousins and other relatives there that I haven't seen in some time. Some of these people have yet to meet Kelsey! I hope she's ready for an interesting weekend! The other thing I've noticed is that the number of gifts we get for each shower. With our system at home, if we double up with things we have in the house and our new gifts, the old things have to go. No questions about where we can store it, will we need it down the road or who might need one, but rather when we can get rid of it. I think this is a good thing. Seeing as how I tend to keep things that are somewhat sentimental, yet totally useless.. Kelsey helps me "realize" that these things would be better off donated to someone who can really use them. On a side note, is there really anyone who can use things like a Viking figure that has no appeal to anyone with a sense of decoration, or a track number from the state meet in 2000? Who knows. :-)
The wedding details are all getting figured out. Now its more about the stress of getting the little things done and waiting for the big day. The invitations go out on Monday and I know we can't wait to see who's coming and who is not. We also looked at wedding rings together on Wednesday. I have to say I'm in no way a "ring" person. I think I passed all that kind of stuff on to my little brother. He has more jewelry than I would ever wear in my lifetime. But when you finally find a wedding band that really makes you say... "Yep... i could wear this for the rest of my life.. and i look forward to making sure everyone knows i have a special someone... somewhere"... it might just change your opinion of "jewelry."
As for now, i think i'll get a little break from work. This week was crazy as ever with a lot of things due. Now we play the wait and see game, and hopefully we'll get some good news. Until then, i'll just keep plugging away and waiting in anticipation for the big day.
Ho K Peace out!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
holy crap!!
Fastest blog entry ever!! Forget correcting spelling mistakes, i'm up against a deadline!
I'm supposed to already have left my house to pick up some of my friends for my bachelor party, but because i don't want brian to be able to put me in a "wrestling move" tomorrow when I am all but dead to the world, i figured I'd just do this now and be a little late.
The bachelor can be late can't he?
I spent all friggin week in Boston and it just about drove me nuts. The constant work, no downtime and I even had to be locked in a Marshals store while our crews retrofitted the fixtures. All in all it was a succesful trip that will bring possibly big bucks to our company so at least it was all for not... but now i'm faced with just getting home, and now i'm leaving the most wonderful girl I know in a house all alone again. She has her friend Alex and wedding invitation stuff to keep her occupied, but I know I'll still miss her. I doubt she will feel exactly the same... more like wondering what we're all up to tonight. :-)
That's right! The time has come. it's off to the wonderful world of Hatfield to really have some fun! Poker, great food, and BEER! What more could a guy like me ask for? Speaking of which.. i best be gettin on. Pictures and more information to follow. Stay tuned!
Ho K Peace out!
I'm supposed to already have left my house to pick up some of my friends for my bachelor party, but because i don't want brian to be able to put me in a "wrestling move" tomorrow when I am all but dead to the world, i figured I'd just do this now and be a little late.
The bachelor can be late can't he?
I spent all friggin week in Boston and it just about drove me nuts. The constant work, no downtime and I even had to be locked in a Marshals store while our crews retrofitted the fixtures. All in all it was a succesful trip that will bring possibly big bucks to our company so at least it was all for not... but now i'm faced with just getting home, and now i'm leaving the most wonderful girl I know in a house all alone again. She has her friend Alex and wedding invitation stuff to keep her occupied, but I know I'll still miss her. I doubt she will feel exactly the same... more like wondering what we're all up to tonight. :-)
That's right! The time has come. it's off to the wonderful world of Hatfield to really have some fun! Poker, great food, and BEER! What more could a guy like me ask for? Speaking of which.. i best be gettin on. Pictures and more information to follow. Stay tuned!
Ho K Peace out!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
whew... that was close
I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to remember my password to be able to post on this site! I tried to have it reset, but it would have taken over two days to figure it all out! By that time I would have failed to post, and I can only imagine what horrible end waited for me with Brian's choice of "wrestling move." Probably something like Hulk Hogan's "Big Boot" or "The Sleeper." Too bad we won't find out this week. ;-)
The Lent season has started. I've chosen to abstain from drinking any pop and swearing. Swearing isn't new, its what I try to avoid doing every season of Lent. I always do keep track of how many times I slip up. Last year it was nine. This year i'm not off to a good start. I have two already and it is mostly due to things that go on at work. I will specifically blame Sears for one of them, and the other has to do with an upcoming trip to Boston.
Next week I venture out east to Baahhston... I'll be driving a caahhr around the yaahd from Monday till Friday. Should be a GREAT time.. :-/ Oh well.. whatever earns a paycheck right?
Along the wedding front, things are progressing. Kelsey and I have picked out most of our pictures for the slide show. I've started scanning mine into the computer. I thought it would take forever, but it looks like I've found a nice little way to make things go faster. Its fun to look at old pictures. I think Kelsey will win the "cutest little kid" contest between the two of us. She has some really good pictures. Of the ones i've scanned so far, this one is my personal favorite of me.
If she'll let me, i'll put a good one of Kelsey for a little preview for all that are interested. Until then, lots more work to do! The day draws near and we're both getting really excited for it!
Ho K Peace out!
The Lent season has started. I've chosen to abstain from drinking any pop and swearing. Swearing isn't new, its what I try to avoid doing every season of Lent. I always do keep track of how many times I slip up. Last year it was nine. This year i'm not off to a good start. I have two already and it is mostly due to things that go on at work. I will specifically blame Sears for one of them, and the other has to do with an upcoming trip to Boston.
Next week I venture out east to Baahhston... I'll be driving a caahhr around the yaahd from Monday till Friday. Should be a GREAT time.. :-/ Oh well.. whatever earns a paycheck right?
Along the wedding front, things are progressing. Kelsey and I have picked out most of our pictures for the slide show. I've started scanning mine into the computer. I thought it would take forever, but it looks like I've found a nice little way to make things go faster. Its fun to look at old pictures. I think Kelsey will win the "cutest little kid" contest between the two of us. She has some really good pictures. Of the ones i've scanned so far, this one is my personal favorite of me.
If she'll let me, i'll put a good one of Kelsey for a little preview for all that are interested. Until then, lots more work to do! The day draws near and we're both getting really excited for it!Ho K Peace out!
Friday, February 20, 2009
One from the road
Ahhh.. Milwaukee.... I can smell the beer! Yeah, it's Friday, about quitting time, and i'm stuck here in the wonderful Milwaukee airport. I have Sears to thank for this travesty! Who organizes a walk through for a lighting project on a Friday? Seriously! I guess that's the price I pay for being the lighting dork that I am!
I can definately say, people watching in the airports is always a blast! Everyone is either going about the motions waiting patiently for the inevitable, or they are completely stressed out over every small detail and taking it out on the poor service workers that man the airline counters and restaurants. Don't get me wrong, there are a fair share of idiots that work in these places, but there is also a great deal of very respectable and kind people as well.
I guess I like seeing how different people travel. I know quite a few that have such a hard time even making it through security, let alone getting on the plane without a single complaint. To me it is more of a game. How quickly can you get through security? How can you manipulate the system to get a good seat, or a free snack? Learning the quickest routes into and out of the same airports that EMC has me frequent on a yearly basis. I guess its all part of the job that isn't neccisarily in my "job description." I'm ok with walking through the "Expert Traveler" lines in different airports. The funny thing is, those are usually the slowest lines. :-)
It looks like my bachelor party is coming together! When I was younger I never thought I would have my bachelor party in Hatfield, WI. But honestly, it seems to be the place where I can enjoy myself the way I want, and also make sure all my friends have a great time as well. We'll have good food, a relaxed atmosphere, and plenty of bars to try and get thrown out of! For those of you that know him, I plan to use the phrase, "I KNOW DAVE RIENSTRA!!" plenty throughout the night. We'll see how far that gets me!
I guess there isn't a lot to write this week. Work has been my focus and big projects are starting so I haven't had as much time to enjoy all there is to offer recently. I'm looking forward to being able to enjoy a nice cold beer soon though. I guess that's enough motivation for now!
HO K Peace out!
I can definately say, people watching in the airports is always a blast! Everyone is either going about the motions waiting patiently for the inevitable, or they are completely stressed out over every small detail and taking it out on the poor service workers that man the airline counters and restaurants. Don't get me wrong, there are a fair share of idiots that work in these places, but there is also a great deal of very respectable and kind people as well.
I guess I like seeing how different people travel. I know quite a few that have such a hard time even making it through security, let alone getting on the plane without a single complaint. To me it is more of a game. How quickly can you get through security? How can you manipulate the system to get a good seat, or a free snack? Learning the quickest routes into and out of the same airports that EMC has me frequent on a yearly basis. I guess its all part of the job that isn't neccisarily in my "job description." I'm ok with walking through the "Expert Traveler" lines in different airports. The funny thing is, those are usually the slowest lines. :-)
It looks like my bachelor party is coming together! When I was younger I never thought I would have my bachelor party in Hatfield, WI. But honestly, it seems to be the place where I can enjoy myself the way I want, and also make sure all my friends have a great time as well. We'll have good food, a relaxed atmosphere, and plenty of bars to try and get thrown out of! For those of you that know him, I plan to use the phrase, "I KNOW DAVE RIENSTRA!!" plenty throughout the night. We'll see how far that gets me!
I guess there isn't a lot to write this week. Work has been my focus and big projects are starting so I haven't had as much time to enjoy all there is to offer recently. I'm looking forward to being able to enjoy a nice cold beer soon though. I guess that's enough motivation for now!
HO K Peace out!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
He paid the price
This is how it went down. Brian forgot to post within the allotted time, and as such incurred the penalty. This time it was in the form of a "Sharp-Shooter" made famous by Brett "The Hitman" Heart. While Mother couldn't bear to watch her two sons wrestling, we did manage to rope young Trevor in to help us out. He was the referee, but he was more enamored with keeping Mother from seeing her boys duke it out. Brian was to tap out when he had enough, but as you can tell... the referee was detained with distractions. Funny.. that's how I remember the real WWF wrestling matches taking place. :-)
It might also be fair to inform everyone of Brian's "status" for this match. The night before he may or may not have drank the deadly combination of Patron and beer. Dehydration may have caused some minor cramping. :-)
Enjoy:
And FYI, he made the bet again. He has until Saturday at 11:59pm to post, or he will receive another "wrestling move."
This does not count as Kevin's post. :-)
It might also be fair to inform everyone of Brian's "status" for this match. The night before he may or may not have drank the deadly combination of Patron and beer. Dehydration may have caused some minor cramping. :-)
Enjoy:
And FYI, he made the bet again. He has until Saturday at 11:59pm to post, or he will receive another "wrestling move."
This does not count as Kevin's post. :-)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Things I used to do:
I seem to be in a reflecting mood today. I keep having flashes of things I used to do way back when I was a kid pop into my head. I don't know if I'm in a nostalgic mood, or if its just my weird brain acting out because it is becoming more active with things related to weddings, spring / summer activities, and an increase in work. Regardless of the reason, the things that stick out are past events.
Its kind of weird to think about, but I've seen my brother once a week for the past 7 or 8 weeks. I think this kind of exposure to each other isn't a bad thing at all, but it definitely is not the norm. That is strictly an obvious statement given both of our schedules. He is busy on the weekends and most of the weeknights. I travel during the week and often have my own things to do on the weekends, and as such rarely have time to see him. But thanks to broomball fitting nicely into our schedules, we get a chance to have a little fun / conversation every week.
This might be the root of my flashbacks because I haven't seen him really do anything athletic or team oriented in a long time. The closest i've seen him to being "active" is when I body slam him at my parents house for Trevor's amusement. (Ok, for my amusement too) But the thing about it is that he fits into our team. He flies around and looks the same as the rest of us out on the ice. I remember when our dad would rent out the gym and would have Brian and I practice basketball. The two images kind of crossed my mind when we were playing our broomball game last Wednesday and these images were some of the latest in a long line of memories that keep circulating back.
I'm also wondering if going through mountains of old pictures for our slide show has anything to do with it. There were pictures of me and a lot of others with stuffed animals. Those stuffed animals were the reason that I had such an active imagination. They all had names, they all could talk, (Brian and I had our own separate voice for their conversations) and I still refuse to throw them out. There was also pictures of lake trips, or pictures of me in a pool. There was all kinds of sports pictures, including a really nice set where I had just teed off on a golf course. One picture was of me when i was somewhere between 10-12 years old. I had poor form of course, but i was wearing this blue fish-net trucker hat that had "Future" written in big letters on the front. The second picture was of me probably during my Sr. Year of College. Much better form, but still in the same generic pose. Its pictures like these, as well as the famous "Kevin / Rich Arms out" pose, that i'm looking forward to doing some cool tricks with in the slideshow merely for my own enjoyment. I'm really hoping that Kelsey will have similar picturs that will tie into the same "theme" and have a really fun little break from our big day to just sit back and smile at the way we were.
Quickly some of my favorite childhood memories:
-Playing basketball / golf with Dad and Grandpa.
-Trying to sneak past Krissy to get a drink of water downstairs because the water was better downstairs. :-)
-Christmas and making sure the presents were organized in everyones "spots" before the sun came up
-Playing Video games - specifically MarioKart or NHL94 thru 2001
- Car rides with the kleenex on a string out the window.
- Airplane rides with stuffed animals sticking out of our backpacks.
- Playing our games in the basement / outside. (Cops and Robbers, Bloody Murder, War and many others)
- Knee hockey!!!
-Rollerblade hockey with Bobby and Joe (more than a few times wrecking the garage door)
- Playing with Rudy
-Going to work with Dad and seeing the Koosh ball or where he keeps his Coke so they stay cold.
-Cabin trips with RC-ProAm and singing Billy Joel with Mom and Aunt "Barf"
-Thanksgivings
I'll stop here because I coul probably keep going all day. :-)
HO K Peace out.
Its kind of weird to think about, but I've seen my brother once a week for the past 7 or 8 weeks. I think this kind of exposure to each other isn't a bad thing at all, but it definitely is not the norm. That is strictly an obvious statement given both of our schedules. He is busy on the weekends and most of the weeknights. I travel during the week and often have my own things to do on the weekends, and as such rarely have time to see him. But thanks to broomball fitting nicely into our schedules, we get a chance to have a little fun / conversation every week.
This might be the root of my flashbacks because I haven't seen him really do anything athletic or team oriented in a long time. The closest i've seen him to being "active" is when I body slam him at my parents house for Trevor's amusement. (Ok, for my amusement too) But the thing about it is that he fits into our team. He flies around and looks the same as the rest of us out on the ice. I remember when our dad would rent out the gym and would have Brian and I practice basketball. The two images kind of crossed my mind when we were playing our broomball game last Wednesday and these images were some of the latest in a long line of memories that keep circulating back.
I'm also wondering if going through mountains of old pictures for our slide show has anything to do with it. There were pictures of me and a lot of others with stuffed animals. Those stuffed animals were the reason that I had such an active imagination. They all had names, they all could talk, (Brian and I had our own separate voice for their conversations) and I still refuse to throw them out. There was also pictures of lake trips, or pictures of me in a pool. There was all kinds of sports pictures, including a really nice set where I had just teed off on a golf course. One picture was of me when i was somewhere between 10-12 years old. I had poor form of course, but i was wearing this blue fish-net trucker hat that had "Future" written in big letters on the front. The second picture was of me probably during my Sr. Year of College. Much better form, but still in the same generic pose. Its pictures like these, as well as the famous "Kevin / Rich Arms out" pose, that i'm looking forward to doing some cool tricks with in the slideshow merely for my own enjoyment. I'm really hoping that Kelsey will have similar picturs that will tie into the same "theme" and have a really fun little break from our big day to just sit back and smile at the way we were.
Quickly some of my favorite childhood memories:
-Playing basketball / golf with Dad and Grandpa.
-Trying to sneak past Krissy to get a drink of water downstairs because the water was better downstairs. :-)
-Christmas and making sure the presents were organized in everyones "spots" before the sun came up
-Playing Video games - specifically MarioKart or NHL94 thru 2001
- Car rides with the kleenex on a string out the window.
- Airplane rides with stuffed animals sticking out of our backpacks.
- Playing our games in the basement / outside. (Cops and Robbers, Bloody Murder, War and many others)
- Knee hockey!!!
-Rollerblade hockey with Bobby and Joe (more than a few times wrecking the garage door)
- Playing with Rudy
-Going to work with Dad and seeing the Koosh ball or where he keeps his Coke so they stay cold.
-Cabin trips with RC-ProAm and singing Billy Joel with Mom and Aunt "Barf"
-Thanksgivings
I'll stop here because I coul probably keep going all day. :-)
HO K Peace out.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Early bird gets worms.. or something
A blog post?? On a Tuesday?? What gives?
Eh... why not?
I'm resorting back to the "things I think" format.
I think the whole facebook "25 random things" note craze is really annoying. The biggest reason because it provides an avenue for the same reason why I hate MySpace: It allows people to start passing around surveys and other things that we normally classify as SPAM when we receive it in our in-boxes. Now i have to sift through all these notes as I strategically stalk.. i mean... catch up with old friends through facebook? Give me a break!
I think the Easter season is intrueging to me, especially Lent. I never really took Lent seriously because of all the things people would "Give up for Lent." I ran into too many people who were giving things up that had no relevance to Lent whatsoever. Recently I tried to carve my own personal stance on Lent and tried to avoid swearing whenever possible. I wrote down every time I would swear accidentially and keep track. In 40 days I would swear no more than 10 times, but as soon as Easter hit, I found myself needing the censor button from radio or TV. It is something I will always work on, but in Lent I guess I focus extra hard on it. This year I'm adding a special challenge. I'm going to see if it's Kevinly possible to not drink pop for 40 days. I will be using replacement fluids in abundance such as Gatorade and Propel, and of course, good old H2O, but for me, and the person I've become today, not drinking pop will be a big challenge. I'm looking forward to it!
I think I had a really good laugh today. Kelsey found the web-page with our broomball stats and standings on it. One stat stuck out to me. Our Goals Allowed number is 21. Our goals scored is 5. The next highest Goals Allowed number is 10. I'm thinking about cutting our Goalie. Seriously, what a mess he is.
I think upon reviewing my desire to avoid pop for Lent and as I sit here with my Mtn. Dew, I'm speculating that its going to be harder to not drink pop than to not drink beer for Lent. And that's saying something!
I think going to the White Bear YMCA was very interesting last night. A lot of memories from when I was very little. Also, couldn't recall the work out room being so SMALL! And HOT! The basketball gym got a new floor and it was pretty fantastic!
I think i'm excited to start putting the wedding slide show together! I know that there have been many wedding slide shows before ours, and I'd like to think that I've seen enough to avoid all the nuances, and thanks to Brian's software, I think I can do a few cool things to keep ours fresh and entertaining. By no means to I think it will be awesome, or the hit of the show.. but the mullet pictures alone will get good laughs!
Ok, gotta run... until next time!
Ho K Peace Out!
Eh... why not?
I'm resorting back to the "things I think" format.
I think the whole facebook "25 random things" note craze is really annoying. The biggest reason because it provides an avenue for the same reason why I hate MySpace: It allows people to start passing around surveys and other things that we normally classify as SPAM when we receive it in our in-boxes. Now i have to sift through all these notes as I strategically stalk.. i mean... catch up with old friends through facebook? Give me a break!
I think the Easter season is intrueging to me, especially Lent. I never really took Lent seriously because of all the things people would "Give up for Lent." I ran into too many people who were giving things up that had no relevance to Lent whatsoever. Recently I tried to carve my own personal stance on Lent and tried to avoid swearing whenever possible. I wrote down every time I would swear accidentially and keep track. In 40 days I would swear no more than 10 times, but as soon as Easter hit, I found myself needing the censor button from radio or TV. It is something I will always work on, but in Lent I guess I focus extra hard on it. This year I'm adding a special challenge. I'm going to see if it's Kevinly possible to not drink pop for 40 days. I will be using replacement fluids in abundance such as Gatorade and Propel, and of course, good old H2O, but for me, and the person I've become today, not drinking pop will be a big challenge. I'm looking forward to it!
I think I had a really good laugh today. Kelsey found the web-page with our broomball stats and standings on it. One stat stuck out to me. Our Goals Allowed number is 21. Our goals scored is 5. The next highest Goals Allowed number is 10. I'm thinking about cutting our Goalie. Seriously, what a mess he is.
I think upon reviewing my desire to avoid pop for Lent and as I sit here with my Mtn. Dew, I'm speculating that its going to be harder to not drink pop than to not drink beer for Lent. And that's saying something!
I think going to the White Bear YMCA was very interesting last night. A lot of memories from when I was very little. Also, couldn't recall the work out room being so SMALL! And HOT! The basketball gym got a new floor and it was pretty fantastic!
I think i'm excited to start putting the wedding slide show together! I know that there have been many wedding slide shows before ours, and I'd like to think that I've seen enough to avoid all the nuances, and thanks to Brian's software, I think I can do a few cool things to keep ours fresh and entertaining. By no means to I think it will be awesome, or the hit of the show.. but the mullet pictures alone will get good laughs!
Ok, gotta run... until next time!
Ho K Peace Out!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Just a follow up...
I did find the sheet music, and can now play the Joshua Radin version of Sesame Street. For those of you who did not catch the song in the episode of Scrubs, here it is. :-)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Not so fast little bro.. (in the nick of time!)
Oh Brian, you think 8 hours is too short of a notice for me not to squeeze in a blog at the last minute? Tsk tsk tsk.. You thought I'd have something better to do on a Saturday night at 9:10pm than blog about random stuff? Do you even know your older brother?? :-)
This week had a lot of crappy traveling for me. To the great city of Pittsburgh (go Steelers) then to the suck-hole that is Ohio, and one final stop in Detroit before flying home. I had a day trip to Milwaukee that was over quickly, and that wrapped it up.
The one bright spot was the discovery of new music! Rich led me on to a new discovery (for me) that enables the music junkie in me. The software is called Torrent, and it allows you to download entire albums for free! This discovery happened at the most ideal time, because the day earlier I had stumbled across an iMix on iTunes that was simply titled "Acoustic." This iMix had songs from mostly punk bands that did an acoustic rendition of some of their top songs. This category of music is my all-time favorite. I had some of the songs already, but I downloaded a few more, and before you know it I had a pretty good start to my own acoustic play list. Thursday night, before my Friday trip, I completed the Acoustic list with the balance of my music library from my home laptop. The result of the effort is one of my favorite collaborations of music. I seriously could listen to the list of 80 some songs non-stop and never grow tired of it. I have to pass it in front of Rich for his approval (and additions) and I will probably throw it in front of Brian too for his additions should he have any that we haven't covered. I haven't been this excited over music in some time. It even got me to bust out my guitar and play a little piano today.
Speaking of piano, I watched this week's episode of "Scrubs" and was happy to see another good show. The first episode involved cameo appearances by some of the cast of Sesame Street. Oscar, Grover, one muppet that i didn't recognize, and Elmo were all pretty funny, but the best part of the show was at the end. In the background a song was playing. That song was sung by Joshua Radin, (one of my personal favorites) and he was singing, of course... Sesame Street. The song was comprised of just his voice, and a piano backing. The song is not available.. yet, but should it ever become available, be sure to know that I will have it the second it comes out. I did however just locate the sheet music for something close to what Joshua played.. I think i'll go check it out and try to play it again!
WOO!
Take that little bro! A posting with time to spare! :-)
HO K Peace OUT!
This week had a lot of crappy traveling for me. To the great city of Pittsburgh (go Steelers) then to the suck-hole that is Ohio, and one final stop in Detroit before flying home. I had a day trip to Milwaukee that was over quickly, and that wrapped it up.
The one bright spot was the discovery of new music! Rich led me on to a new discovery (for me) that enables the music junkie in me. The software is called Torrent, and it allows you to download entire albums for free! This discovery happened at the most ideal time, because the day earlier I had stumbled across an iMix on iTunes that was simply titled "Acoustic." This iMix had songs from mostly punk bands that did an acoustic rendition of some of their top songs. This category of music is my all-time favorite. I had some of the songs already, but I downloaded a few more, and before you know it I had a pretty good start to my own acoustic play list. Thursday night, before my Friday trip, I completed the Acoustic list with the balance of my music library from my home laptop. The result of the effort is one of my favorite collaborations of music. I seriously could listen to the list of 80 some songs non-stop and never grow tired of it. I have to pass it in front of Rich for his approval (and additions) and I will probably throw it in front of Brian too for his additions should he have any that we haven't covered. I haven't been this excited over music in some time. It even got me to bust out my guitar and play a little piano today.
Speaking of piano, I watched this week's episode of "Scrubs" and was happy to see another good show. The first episode involved cameo appearances by some of the cast of Sesame Street. Oscar, Grover, one muppet that i didn't recognize, and Elmo were all pretty funny, but the best part of the show was at the end. In the background a song was playing. That song was sung by Joshua Radin, (one of my personal favorites) and he was singing, of course... Sesame Street. The song was comprised of just his voice, and a piano backing. The song is not available.. yet, but should it ever become available, be sure to know that I will have it the second it comes out. I did however just locate the sheet music for something close to what Joshua played.. I think i'll go check it out and try to play it again!
WOO!
Take that little bro! A posting with time to spare! :-)
HO K Peace OUT!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Another week, another post
Well, our perfect season has ended in broom ball. It only took 2 games. :-) Turns out my goalie abilities were not well represented by the first game. But the good news is that Kelsey scored her first goal of the season!!!..... ON ME! (hee hee). Yeah, it was one of those situations that it just couldn't be helped. She was trying to make a play and it just was the right angle and the perfect deflection right into our net. It didn't matter much, we didn't score a single goal and they had a few more on top of Kelsey's helping goal. The best part about it was that everyone still had fun (to what I could tell). We're looking forward to playing a team that is more on our level. I don't know if that kind of team exists in our league, but we'll soon figure it out! We have a double header next week! Hopefully we take both games! I like it better when we win!
January seems to be filling up with sports! Broomball has taken off now, as we'll play 4 games this month, my Sunday night basketball team is doing pretty well, and the Priest at our church asked me to play a game of racquetball with him! I really don't know what to expect as far as the competitive nature of Fr. Bob, or what kind of game he is looking for from me. I am interested to see what he's like outside of Sunday mass and who knows, maybe it'll help me clear up a few things in the faith realm of life. :-)
Its getting a little real now, this whole wedding thing. By the time the first week of February rolls around we'll be under 100 days until the wedding. I'm not even going to mention the things I have to do before the big day, which by the way, pales in comparison to what Kelsey is doing, but between now and then my friends have to organize my bachelor party! Doesn't seem like a hard task right? Wrong... my friends are some of the worst people to try and schedule something with. This is no fault of their own, but honestly, i don't think you could have a more different group of people with dissimilar schedules. Some of my friends don't work, some travel a LOT, some work odd or long hours, and some can't take vacation. Try finding a weekend where I already don't have something going on, and within 100 days, planning for a bachelor party might be harder than anticipated. Good luck guys! I hope we do something fantastic! (Possible idea... Poker anyone?)
As for this whole Blog bet.. so far so good. Brian is keeping up to his end of the bet, but I sense in my infinate blog wisdom that he soon may struggle. And if he does, Rich came up with a great way to seal the bet. As a refresh, the loser of the blog bet gets to have a "wrestling move" performed on him by the winner. I propose this, if Brian wants to "bank" a loss when he recieves one, he can do so, but the next time he loses, he has to use two losses, or accept this offer. He can avoid two wrestling moves by accepting that both Rich and Kevin can perform one of the greatest tag team wrestling duo's finishing moves of all time.
I leave you with this video, please look for this famous move called "The Doomsday Device" toward the end of the video clip. Actual time is at the 1:53 mark.
OOOOHHHHHHHHHH WHAT A RUSH!!!
Ho K Peace out!
January seems to be filling up with sports! Broomball has taken off now, as we'll play 4 games this month, my Sunday night basketball team is doing pretty well, and the Priest at our church asked me to play a game of racquetball with him! I really don't know what to expect as far as the competitive nature of Fr. Bob, or what kind of game he is looking for from me. I am interested to see what he's like outside of Sunday mass and who knows, maybe it'll help me clear up a few things in the faith realm of life. :-)
Its getting a little real now, this whole wedding thing. By the time the first week of February rolls around we'll be under 100 days until the wedding. I'm not even going to mention the things I have to do before the big day, which by the way, pales in comparison to what Kelsey is doing, but between now and then my friends have to organize my bachelor party! Doesn't seem like a hard task right? Wrong... my friends are some of the worst people to try and schedule something with. This is no fault of their own, but honestly, i don't think you could have a more different group of people with dissimilar schedules. Some of my friends don't work, some travel a LOT, some work odd or long hours, and some can't take vacation. Try finding a weekend where I already don't have something going on, and within 100 days, planning for a bachelor party might be harder than anticipated. Good luck guys! I hope we do something fantastic! (Possible idea... Poker anyone?)
As for this whole Blog bet.. so far so good. Brian is keeping up to his end of the bet, but I sense in my infinate blog wisdom that he soon may struggle. And if he does, Rich came up with a great way to seal the bet. As a refresh, the loser of the blog bet gets to have a "wrestling move" performed on him by the winner. I propose this, if Brian wants to "bank" a loss when he recieves one, he can do so, but the next time he loses, he has to use two losses, or accept this offer. He can avoid two wrestling moves by accepting that both Rich and Kevin can perform one of the greatest tag team wrestling duo's finishing moves of all time.
I leave you with this video, please look for this famous move called "The Doomsday Device" toward the end of the video clip. Actual time is at the 1:53 mark.
OOOOHHHHHHHHHH WHAT A RUSH!!!
Ho K Peace out!
Friday, January 16, 2009
And then there was one... week. :-)
Here's the first entry in the blog competition. After reading the little brother's version.. i'll try to keep mine a little more up-beat. There are no rules for mood of the entry so anything goes.
I'll probably keep my blogs in the form of "I think." Peter King of Sports Illustrated writes part of his weekly "Monday Morning Quarterback" column with "Ten Things I think I think." I like that format and it usually provides for a good read. So for the most part, that's what I'll be using to fuel my entries.
I think broom ball is a very fun sport when played with the right people. Granted not all the right people were in attendance for our first game, but for those that were, it turned out to be a blast. This is the first "new" sport I've picked up, or tried to do, since logrolling / boomrunning. Something about learning new sports is just exhilarating to me. I still enjoy my favorites of basketball and golf, but new sports are challenging and always lead to some fun times because I don't care if i'm not that great. I'm out there doing something fun! Of course, the fact that we won our first game helps out the team moral quite a bit, and it just makes Wednesday nights that much more enjoyable.
I think this winter has a lot more time associated with athletics then I had anticipated. I like getting out of the house every once in a while, but on Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, and any other night Kelsey and I decide to go to the gym, it just seems to help the winter pass a little quicker. I'm sure our wedding anticipation helps too. :-)
I think i'm ready to begin my part of the wedding planning. I'm in charge of the slide show, the ceremony, and 1st assistant to the most wonderful wedding planner / bride to be in the world! The more I can help out the better I feel about everything. Now if I can just find the time to do this stuff before it gets too late! :-) Motivation is high right now, so I don't see it as a problem.
I think i'm ready to live on a structured budget. This would be the first time in my life that i've kept a thorough record of every cent that i spend. I'm tracking where it goes, what its for, how much i have left over, and hell... i might even save a couple bucks! I promise.. its still me, the same crazy spender i've always been. I just have a little thing called discipline. Plus life has a way of making you plan for your future when you're an elderly 26 year old. :-)
I think i'm ready for a temperature above 0 degrees. I can't even go outside to play hockey when its this cold! Seriously, there is something wrong when I can't go skating for a week straight!
I think i'm ready for this week to be over. Its been an off week and I just would like to have a nice couple of weekend nights with some fun events. Kelsey and I are going to the Chanhassen dinner theater to see "The Producers" on Saturday night. I think I might be able to turn that into a little romantic evening... right? :-)
I think that's about it for now. We'll see ya next week!
P.S. Should I win this competition, i can't decide on the "wrestling move" to use on my little bro. I'm debating between the Sharp Shooter, or the Suplex. Any other suggestions are welcome.
HO K PEACE OUT!
I'll probably keep my blogs in the form of "I think." Peter King of Sports Illustrated writes part of his weekly "Monday Morning Quarterback" column with "Ten Things I think I think." I like that format and it usually provides for a good read. So for the most part, that's what I'll be using to fuel my entries.
I think broom ball is a very fun sport when played with the right people. Granted not all the right people were in attendance for our first game, but for those that were, it turned out to be a blast. This is the first "new" sport I've picked up, or tried to do, since logrolling / boomrunning. Something about learning new sports is just exhilarating to me. I still enjoy my favorites of basketball and golf, but new sports are challenging and always lead to some fun times because I don't care if i'm not that great. I'm out there doing something fun! Of course, the fact that we won our first game helps out the team moral quite a bit, and it just makes Wednesday nights that much more enjoyable.
I think this winter has a lot more time associated with athletics then I had anticipated. I like getting out of the house every once in a while, but on Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, and any other night Kelsey and I decide to go to the gym, it just seems to help the winter pass a little quicker. I'm sure our wedding anticipation helps too. :-)
I think i'm ready to begin my part of the wedding planning. I'm in charge of the slide show, the ceremony, and 1st assistant to the most wonderful wedding planner / bride to be in the world! The more I can help out the better I feel about everything. Now if I can just find the time to do this stuff before it gets too late! :-) Motivation is high right now, so I don't see it as a problem.
I think i'm ready to live on a structured budget. This would be the first time in my life that i've kept a thorough record of every cent that i spend. I'm tracking where it goes, what its for, how much i have left over, and hell... i might even save a couple bucks! I promise.. its still me, the same crazy spender i've always been. I just have a little thing called discipline. Plus life has a way of making you plan for your future when you're an elderly 26 year old. :-)
I think i'm ready for a temperature above 0 degrees. I can't even go outside to play hockey when its this cold! Seriously, there is something wrong when I can't go skating for a week straight!
I think i'm ready for this week to be over. Its been an off week and I just would like to have a nice couple of weekend nights with some fun events. Kelsey and I are going to the Chanhassen dinner theater to see "The Producers" on Saturday night. I think I might be able to turn that into a little romantic evening... right? :-)
I think that's about it for now. We'll see ya next week!
P.S. Should I win this competition, i can't decide on the "wrestling move" to use on my little bro. I'm debating between the Sharp Shooter, or the Suplex. Any other suggestions are welcome.
HO K PEACE OUT!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Let it Begin
For the record, a blog challenge has been laid down.
The parties are: one younger brother, and the older much wiser, stronger, bigger (not fatter) brother.
The rules are: One blog must be posted between the hours of Sunday 12:01am and Saturday 11:59pm of any respective week throughout 2009. The blog entry must consist of at least 100 words, be of any subject, and above all be full of Trauscht-esque insight and or humor.
(additional item: one blog post per month must contain images or video.. to be debated this week)
The consequences: (open to debate) A loser will be declared once a blog is not posted during a given week. The winner will be able to perform a "wrestling move" on the loser. The "wrestling move" will be chosen by the winner and the loser must receive the wrestling move without any resistance. After move is conducted a new blog challenge may begin. (Subject to agreement).
LET IT BEGIN! Both parties have until 11:59pm on Saturday Jan. 10th to post 100 words or more.
(this entry does not count in the competition for the older, wiser, better looking, bigger brother.)
HA HA!
P.S. any "wrestling moves" conducted prior to this post are admissible as simply pure brotherly shenanigans and will not count against either parties track record.
The parties are: one younger brother, and the older much wiser, stronger, bigger (not fatter) brother.
The rules are: One blog must be posted between the hours of Sunday 12:01am and Saturday 11:59pm of any respective week throughout 2009. The blog entry must consist of at least 100 words, be of any subject, and above all be full of Trauscht-esque insight and or humor.
(additional item: one blog post per month must contain images or video.. to be debated this week)
The consequences: (open to debate) A loser will be declared once a blog is not posted during a given week. The winner will be able to perform a "wrestling move" on the loser. The "wrestling move" will be chosen by the winner and the loser must receive the wrestling move without any resistance. After move is conducted a new blog challenge may begin. (Subject to agreement).
LET IT BEGIN! Both parties have until 11:59pm on Saturday Jan. 10th to post 100 words or more.
(this entry does not count in the competition for the older, wiser, better looking, bigger brother.)
HA HA!
P.S. any "wrestling moves" conducted prior to this post are admissible as simply pure brotherly shenanigans and will not count against either parties track record.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Be on the lookout
Quick note... for 2009 my brother - aka The Best Man - aka the guy who can't find a rink for broom ball - aka Brian and I have engaged in a challenge. The challenge is a blog challenge. One post for each week. That's right, between 12:01am Sunday morning thru Saturday at 11:59pm one blog post of at least 100 words must be posted. Consequences for not posting will be decided later, although they could be pretty interesting.
Look out for new posts in the very near future.
Also.. we won our first broom ball game for the year! We played a team with a sponsor, all the pads, matching jerseys, and a little skill. :-)
We won in overtime. :-) We were the rag-tag group that have enough skill to overcome all odds and beat the better team on the ice tonight. Honestly, if this is the only win we have all season, i'll take it. It was awesome! :-)
More later. :-)
Look out for new posts in the very near future.
Also.. we won our first broom ball game for the year! We played a team with a sponsor, all the pads, matching jerseys, and a little skill. :-)
We won in overtime. :-) We were the rag-tag group that have enough skill to overcome all odds and beat the better team on the ice tonight. Honestly, if this is the only win we have all season, i'll take it. It was awesome! :-)
More later. :-)
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