Noodle's Snow Day

Before I get into Noodle's snow day. I would like to wish a Happy Belated Birthday to Momma T.



A Snickers ice cream cake, with fudge and Oreos in the middle with devil's food chocolate cake on the bottom...from Baskin-Robbins; the best ice cream in the world.



Momma T and Norah blowing out the candles. Happy 25th!

Last week we got about 6 inches of snow, and Noodle was tired of being next to Chic all the time and begged me to spend the day with him. We had a great time, but as always, he drank too much.

Here is Noodle making a Noodle Angel

Noodle sledding on the sled that Santa brought us.

Another shot of Noodle sledding

Afterwards we moved inside in the warmth to play a few games of ping pong. He has a pretty good serve, but he can't handle my backhand.



After the Pong beatdown, Noodle wanted to take some shots.




After Noodle gets drunk, he always has to eat.




And then the food came right back up



All in all it was a great day. Love spending time with Noodle.

Still have not named the new car, but we are working on. We should have it narrowed down in the next few days.

Keep on Keeping on!!

Rembering Arnie

I have some sad news to report: Arnie is no longer with us….Go ahead, take a moment to digest the news, it is still hard for me to say. Arnie is gone. But we have to face the facts and realize that Arnie was awful old and he would want us to be happy.

For as much crap as we gave Arnie, he was the best road tripping vehicle that I have ever owned. He might have been ugly, but he was a lot of fun!So, through all the tears, I wanted to take some time to remember Arnie: the good times we had. Please post any Arnie stories that you have as well, it helps with the grieving process.

Noodle and Arnie on the way to Kansas City to see Uncle Bear


This is Arnie and myself in Chicago. He had a great time.


Ben Grubb, Musick, Myself and Arnie in Mexico for Musick's wedding. Man Arnie was hammered all week.



Guys Weekend at the Lake. Arnie got real drunk and went skinny dipping. Crazy bastard!



Arnie and I at the World of Coke. The kicked him out after he drank too much soda he vomited.



Emily, myself and Arnie swimming with the dolphins. He was a little freaked out first: Had a little oil spill.



Bear and Amy, Emily, Me and Arnie on the Beach in Florida. He loved the ocean.



The Gang and Arnie at Mark and Anna's wedding.



So Glad that Arnie could make it to our wedding. He was able to blow bubbles as we left.



Here is Arnie playing with Norah. He was so gentle..



Paddy and Arnie getting so quality time together.



This is Arnie as we were leaving for the dealership. He didn't know this would be his last trip. He had gotten so old he was not cleaning himself.




Arnie parked next the new ride. I think at this point he knew something was going on, because he refused to look at me.

Arnie you will be missed, you served us all very well!

The new ride is a 2009 Ford Edge from Dave Sinclair Ford.



We have not picked out a name yet, we are on 'C.' For those who don't know, we do name all of our cars and in alphabetical order. It started with my folks when they got married and we have carried it on. the Camry is Be Be. We have, for the past 6 cars, picked up some beer and would drink until a name would arise, most of the time we would have a DD and take a road trip. Many people have been apart of the naming game, so once a name is picked, I will let you all know.

Thanks for all those who contributed to Arnie's memory.

Keep on Keeping on!

Job

I wanted to be able to answer a lot of the questions I have been receiving pertaining to my job. Yes, I have in fact left Fill N Thrill. It was a very tough decisions and there are many factors that myself and Emily have thought about over the past 2 months, but ultimately felt it was time to leave.

I developed a great relationship with the CEO and my business partner, so walking away was a tough choice.

I do not wish to go into all the decisions here since I do care about the company and the CEO. I wish them all the luck.

Moving on though, I was also waiting to leave until I had another opportunity, which I do have. Until it becomes 100% official, I will have to leave the name out. But I will be the Assistant Marketing Director and a Territory Manager. I will be doing in home sales basically, along with Marketing. I am very excited about this opportunity, I am able to stay in the Marketing world, which I LOVE and be able to get out there and meet some new people. The job is a lot like I had with Culligan at the Lake with Mom.
It will be the first time in 10 years that I will be a W-2 employee, so we are pretty excited about that. The job gives me everything that I wanted: The freedom to basically set my own hours (no I will not be working evenings, Yes I know that is when both people are normally home, but that is not how this company works). The challenge of Marketing and good pay. All around it just seems like a great fit!

The word that has been floating around my head for the past few days is Grateful! Focus on the good, and what you have, not what you don't!

So, I will keep you all posted. Noodle and I had a fun day in the snow yesterday, so those pictures should be posted soon.

Keep on Keeping on!

my 3rd decade

So, 2009 is over and for a lot of people it couldn’t have ended any sooner. 2010 is going to be the year for everyone. Things are going to change, economy is going to turn around, jobs are going to come back, Tiger is going to quit cheating and global warming will fix itself! The end of every year always brings a lot of hope and promise of the good things to come. We are so quick to wipe our hands with the past year and forge ahead. But sometimes we forget the past year too quickly and what the past year brought us: Joys and Let downs.

For me 2009 was a great year, might be one of the best ones in my short 28 year life span. It did hit me that I am now in my 3^rd decade that I have lived through, so that is a major accomplishment! My liver has not yet given out. Emily and I celebrated our first year of marriage on August 29^th, which was a celebration that you all know almost never happened, so that is a lot to be thankful for.

I was able to celebrate in the marriages of many of my good friends, which is always a joyous occasion. 2009 seemed to be the year of marriages for us. I think we went to 7 or 8 weddings last year. Looking ahead we now start celebrating the birth of children now.

Justin and Meg had baby Dean. Bear and Amy found out they are expecting in May. Doug and Nikki celebrated the birth of Baby Chase.

I found a job that I love doing and got me back in the advertising world, which is a huge blessing for me. That is what I went to college for and for the past 4 years I was really doing nothing with my degree. I feel very blessed to not only have a job, but have a job that I enjoy doing, enjoy working and just enjoy waking up to work. It makes my day much better and much less stress on a new marriage. I know there a lot of people out there still getting laid off, so I count my blessings every day that I have a paycheck to cash.

And the all important New Year’s Resolution. As lame as it sounds: Dropping the holiday weight always comes to mind. But beyond that, Emily and I have drastically cut down our monthly bills, so the big Resolution is to double the amount that we save each month. We met with one of our financial planners today and started that goal into action. Just a few more things to finalize and that should be working.

And last is to be a better husband. I look at 2009 and am very happy with our marriage and I believe that Emily will say the same, but you can always get better. The minute that you think you are perfect, you will lose it all. Emily is the most important person in my life, so I strive to be the best Husband because she deserves it.

What are you resolutions?

Well, if you have a glass, I offer a toast to 2009, and wish everyone a happy 2010 and I hope that whatever you want 2010 to be, I hope it works out! Keep on Keeping on