I am definitely feeling better. I am such a baby when I get sick. Luckily I have Grant to keep me grounded and to help me feel better.
Today is a special day for me and Grant. 4 years and 4 months ago we started dating and 9 months ago we got married. I got up today like any other day. Grant was still sleeping when I left to go to the gym. Usually Grant is gone when I get back from the gym. Today I was running a little behind schedule and got home about 10 minutes later than usual. I was surprised when I saw Grant's car in the parking lot. I walked up the stairs and saw him standing there all dressed up for work. He hugged me and and gave me a kiss and told me that he waited to leave for work just to tell me he loved me and happy anniversary. I am a lucky girl!! Boys -- take notes!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sickness
It is starting to feel like summer again in Florida and I am sick. I got sick last week and thought I was getting better, but it has not gone away. :( It's just a cold, but I am not a fan of being sick.
Other points of interest::
*Last night my Mom made my favorite dinner and invited Grant and I over. It was fabulous.
*Jordan and Ryan are coming to visit in May. They purchased their flights over the weekend.
*Grant is really enjoying his new job and is going to get his first pay check on Friday!
That is all for now! I am going to go take some more Tylenol Cold! =)
Other points of interest::
*Last night my Mom made my favorite dinner and invited Grant and I over. It was fabulous.
*Jordan and Ryan are coming to visit in May. They purchased their flights over the weekend.
*Grant is really enjoying his new job and is going to get his first pay check on Friday!
That is all for now! I am going to go take some more Tylenol Cold! =)
Friday, February 16, 2007
My Valentine's Day
This past Wednesday was Grant and my first Valentine's day as a married couple and our first since he left working at a restaurant. I was very excited to actually be able to have dinner with him on Valentine's Day for the very first time. =)
I woke up at 6:00AM like any other day and went to the gym. Now that Grant is working he is usually gone by the time I get back from the gym. I got back to the apartment around 7:40AM. I saw that Grant left the light on over the dining room table, which is very unusual. I walked over to the table and saw several heart-shaped pancakes, fresh strawberries and blueberries along with a Valentine's Day card. I was so touched! I opened the card and read the sweet words that Grant wrote. Later he told me that he picked that specific card because the colors of the card (pink, black and white) were the same as our wedding colors -- that is attention to detail!
While at work I received really beautiful pink and red roses -- LOVE them!
I left work a little earlier than normal and came home to find my husband busy at work in the kitchen!
He made me shrimp scampi and pasta with chocolate cake for dessert. We enjoyed some wine and a fabulous homemade dinner.
I gave him a fabulous new watch and a card, both of which pale in comparison to everything that Grant did for me. He truly is amazing. I usually have VERY high expectations for my friends/family. Grant definitely consistently blows right by those expectations. I am a very lucky and grateful wife!!
I woke up at 6:00AM like any other day and went to the gym. Now that Grant is working he is usually gone by the time I get back from the gym. I got back to the apartment around 7:40AM. I saw that Grant left the light on over the dining room table, which is very unusual. I walked over to the table and saw several heart-shaped pancakes, fresh strawberries and blueberries along with a Valentine's Day card. I was so touched! I opened the card and read the sweet words that Grant wrote. Later he told me that he picked that specific card because the colors of the card (pink, black and white) were the same as our wedding colors -- that is attention to detail!
While at work I received really beautiful pink and red roses -- LOVE them!I left work a little earlier than normal and came home to find my husband busy at work in the kitchen!
He made me shrimp scampi and pasta with chocolate cake for dessert. We enjoyed some wine and a fabulous homemade dinner.
I gave him a fabulous new watch and a card, both of which pale in comparison to everything that Grant did for me. He truly is amazing. I usually have VERY high expectations for my friends/family. Grant definitely consistently blows right by those expectations. I am a very lucky and grateful wife!!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Snowy Indianapolis
Grant and I had a GREAT time in Indianapolis last weekend. We decided to travel up to Indy to visit with friends and celebrate Grant's new job! We were quite excited about the 6 inches of snow they received a couple of days before our arrival.Right after we got to Richard and Nate's house we decided to layer up and play in the snow! We both made some fabulous snow angels. It was very fun.
Grant's snow angel
My snow angel
Grant's snowy butt!!
That night was "family dinner night" at Richard and Nate's. Several people came over and made dinner. It was fun hanging out with some of Nate and Richard's friends in Indy.On Friday we went downtown to see some sights. In downtown Indianapolis there are several war memorials and a nice indoor mall -- perfect for the winter time! We walked around as long as we could bear the cold and stopped in museums and shops along the way. It was a fun afternoon.
That night we went to dinner and to a comedy club. Afterwards we hung out in Nate and Richard's hot tub...in single digit weather!! The guys decided it would be fun to run around the block in their bathing suits and make angels in the snow. They looked SO cold!!
BURRR! Crazy guys running outside in their bathing suits!!!
Richard, Nate and Grant -- Like old times!
Me and my Chicago girls =)
Here we are again :)
On Saturday a group went sledding and I waited for Jordan, Ryan and Marin to come over. I was so excited to see them and really touched that they made the trip for one night to see me! We went to Mongolian BBQ that night and spent some time catching up.The weekend went by quickly and now it's back to work for me and the beginning of a new job for Grant. :)
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
I'm going to freeze!
Grant and I are leaving for Indianapolis tomorrow morning, not to celebrate the Colts SB win, but to celebrate Grant's new job. I am super excited to see our friends, but not super excited about the FREEZING weather! I complain when it gets under 60 in Florida. We'll see how I do when it's under 30 in IN.
I am, though, really excited to hopefully see two of my oldest and best friends from Chicago who may drive down for a night. It's tough being so far away, but I am glad the distance has not adversely affected our friendships.
I am, though, really excited to hopefully see two of my oldest and best friends from Chicago who may drive down for a night. It's tough being so far away, but I am glad the distance has not adversely affected our friendships.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Ms. Pacman Domination
Hey I'm a roll with these post, although, as Duck pointed out I'm a day late. It's hard staying at home with nothing to do.
A while back I had seen an info-mercial for these controllers that plug into your TV that let you play some classic arcade game. I thought it was neat and knew how much Becky loves or maybe should say loved Ms. Pacman, so I had it in my mind to get one for Becky as a gift. It had slipped my mind and forgot all about them until I ran across them at Target near the game section shortly after Christmas...dang few days too late. I showed them to Becky and we purchased the Ms. Pacman one. There are several controllers each with different games on them. The Ms. Pacman came with four other games but we were mainly buying it for one.
At first, neither of us were that great, but now I control the high score. Becky claims that's only because I stayed at home and played it all day but that is simply not true. I was and am a very busy person. The first high score that stuck around for a while was around 35k. Then, I set the new one at 43k. Shortly after that and on the same night, Becky had beaten it (I forget her exact score). Her score held for a while, but a few days later, I topped her with a score of just over 49k. The other night, after Becky went to bed, I played a few games and set a new high score of 54,130. I didn't tell her the whole next day. After dinner, before anything good came on TV she started playing. If she doesn't do well on the first level she restarts or she'll restart if she dies on the first or second level. I do too sometimes, but she is a reset master. She had a decent game going and still hadn't seen the new high score. I was sitting next to her just waiting until she saw it. She got pretty far, and after dying, she looked over to see how close she was to the high score and realized I set a new one! Her face was hilarious as she was surprised and upset somewhat that I didn't tell her, and also because she won't be able to catch me.
She knew I was going to write about my Ms. Pacman domination today, since I didn't yesterday. This gave her one more night to beat my high score and to stop me from posting about my crushing of her in one of her favorite games. She played all night right up until bedtime. On her last game she did really well, but fell short by 2 or 3 thousand points. She was so close, but couldn't pull it out. The frustrating part for her was the last level she played on. During the game floating fruit appears and on this level the fruit was a banana, which is worth 5k points. She had missed getting it and ended up dying in the process of trying to eat it. Had she gotten that one banana this post may not have been written, but it was.
One of the other games is pole position and I enjoy playing it also, and of course I'm rather good at it now.
A while back I had seen an info-mercial for these controllers that plug into your TV that let you play some classic arcade game. I thought it was neat and knew how much Becky loves or maybe should say loved Ms. Pacman, so I had it in my mind to get one for Becky as a gift. It had slipped my mind and forgot all about them until I ran across them at Target near the game section shortly after Christmas...dang few days too late. I showed them to Becky and we purchased the Ms. Pacman one. There are several controllers each with different games on them. The Ms. Pacman came with four other games but we were mainly buying it for one.
At first, neither of us were that great, but now I control the high score. Becky claims that's only because I stayed at home and played it all day but that is simply not true. I was and am a very busy person. The first high score that stuck around for a while was around 35k. Then, I set the new one at 43k. Shortly after that and on the same night, Becky had beaten it (I forget her exact score). Her score held for a while, but a few days later, I topped her with a score of just over 49k. The other night, after Becky went to bed, I played a few games and set a new high score of 54,130. I didn't tell her the whole next day. After dinner, before anything good came on TV she started playing. If she doesn't do well on the first level she restarts or she'll restart if she dies on the first or second level. I do too sometimes, but she is a reset master. She had a decent game going and still hadn't seen the new high score. I was sitting next to her just waiting until she saw it. She got pretty far, and after dying, she looked over to see how close she was to the high score and realized I set a new one! Her face was hilarious as she was surprised and upset somewhat that I didn't tell her, and also because she won't be able to catch me.
She knew I was going to write about my Ms. Pacman domination today, since I didn't yesterday. This gave her one more night to beat my high score and to stop me from posting about my crushing of her in one of her favorite games. She played all night right up until bedtime. On her last game she did really well, but fell short by 2 or 3 thousand points. She was so close, but couldn't pull it out. The frustrating part for her was the last level she played on. During the game floating fruit appears and on this level the fruit was a banana, which is worth 5k points. She had missed getting it and ended up dying in the process of trying to eat it. Had she gotten that one banana this post may not have been written, but it was.
One of the other games is pole position and I enjoy playing it also, and of course I'm rather good at it now.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Soon to be...
It's so easy not to post, plus I don't know how many people actually check this thing anymore since the posts are sporadic. So as Becky mentioned in the previous post I have some news. This morning I received an offer from Kemper Auto and Home to fill an IT Programming position which I verbally accepted and will be signing for when the papers arrive in the mail. So starting February 12th I'll be working for Kemper Auto and Home as an IT Programmer working with Blaze which is similar to java but is ultimately a rules management solution, designed to automate operational business decisions and much more. Although they are providing me some study material to get more acquainted with the language and its concepts, I will also be spending some time relaxing at the sandy beach across the street while Becky's at work.
For the month that I was unemployed the majority of my time was spent job hunting and of course cleaning up after Becky and running around town for her. So hopefully with the two weeks I have to relax I'll have a few more post pop-up. I can tell you this that my next post will be tomorrow and on my domination of her favorite classic arcade game.
For the month that I was unemployed the majority of my time was spent job hunting and of course cleaning up after Becky and running around town for her. So hopefully with the two weeks I have to relax I'll have a few more post pop-up. I can tell you this that my next post will be tomorrow and on my domination of her favorite classic arcade game.
Wedding Season is Approaching...and post number 100!
Wedding Season is Approaching
A week and a half ago wedding season officially began for me and Grant. We made the all so familiar trek down to Fort Myers for my good friend Mandy’s bridal shower and bachelorette party. I guess Grant didn’t make the trip for those reasons…
Here is Mandy and 5 of her 6 bridesmaids at the shower. =)
All of the girls who met on Jennings 1 in Y2K plus a baby and a half!!
As a bonus we got to see Grant’s parents for the third weekend out of the past 5. We have now been regulars on I-75 for what seems like years!
Mandy’s shower and bachelorette party was a blast! Her family is so much fun to be around and Mandy was just glowing! I cannot wait to see everyone again in April for her wedding.
The fabulous limo we had for her bachelorette party.
Me, Erin and Mandy inside the limo.
Other weddings scheduled for 2007 include my good friend Danielle from UF and one of the girls I grew up with, Marin. It is all quite exciting! I am so excited to be there to see my closest friends get married. I love weddings! Since Grant and I got married 8 months and 3 days ago two of Grant’s groomsmen have gotten married and 3 of my bridesmaids have gotten engaged and are getting married this year. =)
Grant may actually post on here sometime soon as he should have some news to share today. =)
A week and a half ago wedding season officially began for me and Grant. We made the all so familiar trek down to Fort Myers for my good friend Mandy’s bridal shower and bachelorette party. I guess Grant didn’t make the trip for those reasons…
Here is Mandy and 5 of her 6 bridesmaids at the shower. =)
All of the girls who met on Jennings 1 in Y2K plus a baby and a half!!
As a bonus we got to see Grant’s parents for the third weekend out of the past 5. We have now been regulars on I-75 for what seems like years!
Mandy’s shower and bachelorette party was a blast! Her family is so much fun to be around and Mandy was just glowing! I cannot wait to see everyone again in April for her wedding.
The fabulous limo we had for her bachelorette party.
Me, Erin and Mandy inside the limo.
Other weddings scheduled for 2007 include my good friend Danielle from UF and one of the girls I grew up with, Marin. It is all quite exciting! I am so excited to be there to see my closest friends get married. I love weddings! Since Grant and I got married 8 months and 3 days ago two of Grant’s groomsmen have gotten married and 3 of my bridesmaids have gotten engaged and are getting married this year. =)
Grant may actually post on here sometime soon as he should have some news to share today. =)
Friday, January 19, 2007
I bleed Orange and Blue
I have had sufficient time to recover now from our win over Ohio State last Monday. What a fabulous game! It was simply amazing to watch the Gators dominate a team that everyone thought was unbeatable. I feel that this truly shows that the SEC is the best conference in college football and the Gators are the best team.
Grant and I made the trip down to Gainesville to watch the game with some of our good friends. If we couldn't go to Arizona the next best thing was to watch it at UF. We left Jacksonville at around 5PM and met our friends at the O'Connell Center to watch the game surrounded by 10,000 Gators. Everyone was given a free "It's Great to Be a Florida Gator" tee-shirt, size large of course!
Before the game the crowd was quite lively. But after that first play, with the blatent hold and OSU touchdown, everyone was silent. That did not last long, however, as the crowd was completely into it again on the next Gator drive.
After the game Grant, me, Erin, Beau, Ashley and Charlie, along with every other Gator in Gainesville, found ourselves on University Avenue. We were all taking photos and screaming! It really is Great to be a Florida Gator!!
Grant and I made the trip down to Gainesville to watch the game with some of our good friends. If we couldn't go to Arizona the next best thing was to watch it at UF. We left Jacksonville at around 5PM and met our friends at the O'Connell Center to watch the game surrounded by 10,000 Gators. Everyone was given a free "It's Great to Be a Florida Gator" tee-shirt, size large of course!
Before the game the crowd was quite lively. But after that first play, with the blatent hold and OSU touchdown, everyone was silent. That did not last long, however, as the crowd was completely into it again on the next Gator drive.
After the game Grant, me, Erin, Beau, Ashley and Charlie, along with every other Gator in Gainesville, found ourselves on University Avenue. We were all taking photos and screaming! It really is Great to be a Florida Gator!!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Some photos
Sorry it has been a while since I've last posted. Much has happened. Here are some fabulous photos of what Grant and I have been up to.
In front of the Christmas tree at Sea World. Grant bought me Sea World tickets for my birthday this past year because I had never been there before. We hadn't had a chance to use them until now. It was so crowded though! At the end of the night it got bitter cold for this Florida girl. We started to head for the exit and asked a worker where it was. He was upset that we were leaving so soon. He told us that we could trade our tickets in for a season pass at no extra charge! So we did!!
At the Shamu Show at Sea World. I admit that I was a little disappointed that the show consisted mainly of the trainers telling stories on the video board. Next time I hope there is a little more Shamu-Action.
On the way back from Fort Myers (I will post about our visit in the next few days) we stopped in Tampa to see my best friend Jordan, her boyfriend Ryan and their friends Renee and Glenn all from Chicago before they left for a cruise. It was PERFECT timing! I only wish Grant and I had gone on the cruise too!! Next time we are so there!
Here is a photo from New Year's Eve. We went to dinner with my old college roommate Erin, her boyfriend Beau and their friends Charlie and Ashley. Afterwards we went to a bar and then downtown to watch the fireworks. Here we are at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Jacksonville. There was the cutest group sitting by us. They had all been friends for 60 years!!! Most met each other in elementary and middle school. They all met to catch up in Jacksonville from all over the country.
I'll post more later about our trip to Fort Myers over break and our NATIONAL CHAMPION FLORIDA GATORS!!! This was a great week!
In front of the Christmas tree at Sea World. Grant bought me Sea World tickets for my birthday this past year because I had never been there before. We hadn't had a chance to use them until now. It was so crowded though! At the end of the night it got bitter cold for this Florida girl. We started to head for the exit and asked a worker where it was. He was upset that we were leaving so soon. He told us that we could trade our tickets in for a season pass at no extra charge! So we did!!
At the Shamu Show at Sea World. I admit that I was a little disappointed that the show consisted mainly of the trainers telling stories on the video board. Next time I hope there is a little more Shamu-Action.
On the way back from Fort Myers (I will post about our visit in the next few days) we stopped in Tampa to see my best friend Jordan, her boyfriend Ryan and their friends Renee and Glenn all from Chicago before they left for a cruise. It was PERFECT timing! I only wish Grant and I had gone on the cruise too!! Next time we are so there!
Here is a photo from New Year's Eve. We went to dinner with my old college roommate Erin, her boyfriend Beau and their friends Charlie and Ashley. Afterwards we went to a bar and then downtown to watch the fireworks. Here we are at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Jacksonville. There was the cutest group sitting by us. They had all been friends for 60 years!!! Most met each other in elementary and middle school. They all met to catch up in Jacksonville from all over the country.
I'll post more later about our trip to Fort Myers over break and our NATIONAL CHAMPION FLORIDA GATORS!!! This was a great week!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
It’s been a while...
Sorry for the delay. I took the last couple of weeks off. Grant and I moved 99% of our things into our new place and finally got all of the furniture we had purchased delivered, traveled to Sea World and Fort Myers, celebrated our first Christmas and New Years as a married couple. One of my close friends from elementary school got engaged. It’s all been exciting and fun!
We will start with Christmas. It was wonderful to finally share a Christmas with Grant. My family always does dinner on Christmas Eve. Grant, Tess and I made a bunch of Christmas cookies (thanks to Kari and Aunt Nancy for the cookie cutters and supplies) and brought them to dinner. We each opened one gift and then went home. When I woke up on Christmas morning I walked into our living room and saw my presents all together in the center of the room. Grant said that Santa must have been lost because we never got a tree! I was so excited!! I opened my gifts from Grant right away. He got me some perfume, the hair straightener that I wanted and PINK golf clubs with PINK golf tees and a PINK golf towel!! When I was done looking at all of my cool new presents we went over to my parents’ house where I had my presents for Grant. I got him some cologne and a bunch of new work clothes that he needed.
Here is Max, my family’s dog, in all the wrapping paper.
Stay tuned for pictures from Sea World, Fort Myers and New Years Eve!
We will start with Christmas. It was wonderful to finally share a Christmas with Grant. My family always does dinner on Christmas Eve. Grant, Tess and I made a bunch of Christmas cookies (thanks to Kari and Aunt Nancy for the cookie cutters and supplies) and brought them to dinner. We each opened one gift and then went home. When I woke up on Christmas morning I walked into our living room and saw my presents all together in the center of the room. Grant said that Santa must have been lost because we never got a tree! I was so excited!! I opened my gifts from Grant right away. He got me some perfume, the hair straightener that I wanted and PINK golf clubs with PINK golf tees and a PINK golf towel!! When I was done looking at all of my cool new presents we went over to my parents’ house where I had my presents for Grant. I got him some cologne and a bunch of new work clothes that he needed.
Here is Max, my family’s dog, in all the wrapping paper.
Stay tuned for pictures from Sea World, Fort Myers and New Years Eve!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all from Sunny Florida!!
Hawaiian Santa in Fort Myers.
This is how some people down here chose to celebrate the season!
Nothing says Christmas quite like lights on a palm tree in 80 degree weather!
Hawaiian Santa in Fort Myers.
This is how some people down here chose to celebrate the season!
Nothing says Christmas quite like lights on a palm tree in 80 degree weather!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
He did it! Grant graduated!
Grant and I had a great time visiting family and friends in Fort Myers over the weekend. It was a joy to see Grant walk across the stage at his graduation. I am so proud of the perseverance he displayed through three different schools in 2 different cities culminating with his graduation on Saturday. We were joined in celebration by my Aunt Diane, Grant’s parents and both sets of his grandparents. I feel that we have looked towards this event for so long. The end of college. The end of long distance. The beginning of so much more. In a way, we have made it together. We are now starting our lives together.
Not only did Grant graduate, but we are now moved into our first home! With the generous help of my brothers and the use of my mom’s minivan, we have moved almost all of our things into our apartment. I never realized how much stuff we had and how much we still need! We are slowly unpacking and making our place a home. The first thing Grant unpacked was our television, which had been previously used as a Christmas card stand by his parents. (We kept the box and can bring it back if you still need it!!) I continued to unpack our wedding gifts and other necessities. We are looking forward to having our HD cable installed this week and experiencing football in a whole new way! Our mattresses and sofa were delivered this week and our bedroom furniture should come in a couple of weeks. It is so nice see each other each and every day. Since we spent so much time apart we really know how lucky we are!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Moving Day
Today is the day. Grant and I get our keys to our first place together at 2PM. I am so excited! We will only be able to move in a few things today and will do more tomorrow and Sunday after we return from our trip to Fort Myers this weekend for Grant's graduation. Slowly our furniture will be delivered and we will begin to really make our new place a home!
It is just amazing to have Grant back with me. I have missed him so much! We are enjoying every moment together! The little things are the most special though. On Tuesday night we watched a movie, last night we made dinner together. I just love seeing him when I get home from work each and every day!
Grant had a great homecoming weekend. We went to see "Blood Diamond" on Friday, went shopping on Saturday and went to the Jags game on Sunday. Here is a photo of us at last week's AMAZING Jaguars game against Peyton Manning and the Colts!
It is just amazing to have Grant back with me. I have missed him so much! We are enjoying every moment together! The little things are the most special though. On Tuesday night we watched a movie, last night we made dinner together. I just love seeing him when I get home from work each and every day!
Grant had a great homecoming weekend. We went to see "Blood Diamond" on Friday, went shopping on Saturday and went to the Jags game on Sunday. Here is a photo of us at last week's AMAZING Jaguars game against Peyton Manning and the Colts!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
He's Coming!
Grant is coming! Yesterday, Grant took his last exams at FGCU. Today, Grant is packing all of his things. Tomorrow, Grant is moving to Jacksonville! I am so excited! We move into our new place a week from tomorrow and Grant graduates a week from Saturday. Everything is coming together and we are looking forward to being a real married couple…no longer separated by 6 hours of highway and no direct flights.
So far the only things we’ve gotten for our first home is a bedroom set, end tables and a coffee table and the fabulous television that Grant got on Black Friday. We still need so much. Everything from a dining room set to couches to mattresses and whatever we want to put in the second bedroom. This weekend we will try to find those essentials for our move in on the 15th – which I cannot believe is close to a week away!!
So far the only things we’ve gotten for our first home is a bedroom set, end tables and a coffee table and the fabulous television that Grant got on Black Friday. We still need so much. Everything from a dining room set to couches to mattresses and whatever we want to put in the second bedroom. This weekend we will try to find those essentials for our move in on the 15th – which I cannot believe is close to a week away!!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Our New Place!
Last week was a big week for Grant and I. We got approved for our first home! We will be renting a condo close to my parents, to my office and hopefully close to wherever Grant ends up working! I am so excited!! Our new place is a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo with great amenities. We are expecting lots of visitors!!
Since we now have a place and a move in date – December 15, we needed to start looking for furniture. Grant did his part in getting the new fabulous television and I was able to get a good deal on our bedroom set on Black Friday. The only bad part is that it won’t be delivered until January 5. We still need to get living room furniture, a dining room table, furniture for our guest room/office and mattresses. Looks like we have a lot of shopping to do!! =)
I cannot wait to unpack our wedding gifts and settle down in our new place. Most of all, I cannot wait to have Grant here with me. I miss him so so so much! Today is our 6 month wedding anniversary! Grant sent me a dozen pink, white and red roses to my office. He is the BEST!
Friday, November 24, 2006
Black Friday Fun!
Grant posting here... yeah, I know been awhile.
Black Friday really starts Thursday and here's my story. Thanks to a post over on Duck Notes that listed two websites on Black Friday deals, Becky was able to get a head start on the deals that would be available. One stood out to her and she suggested that I try to purchase the item. The special deal was going on at Best Buy and there was a minimum of 5. This item wasn't in the newspaper ad but was only shown on their website.
Since the item wasn't in the newspaper ad, I figured this would improve my chances of getting one. I contemplated as to how early I should arrive at the store as I know people start lining up fairly early. At first 3AM sounded good with the store opening at 5AM. However, during my wonderful 11hr Thanksgiving shift at the restaurant I thought about how awesome this item will be for Becky and I just as we are about to move into our own first place together. I chose to head up to the store after work. At 9:45PM, as Becky is getting ready to go to sleep herself, I headed to the store thinking an hour or two nap in the car would be nice before people start showing up.
How WRONG was I... I pulled into the plaza and notice quite a few cars in front of Best Buy and a radio and news van there. I parked the car and started walking towards the building. At first you would have never guessed it was the line to the store, but more of a line to get into a not so trendy bar minus the alcohol, to an extent. There was karaoke and line dancing for most of the night and early morning. Unfortunately, my spot in line was far from the front of the doors and past much of the dancing. At 10PM I found myself on the side of the building about the #119th person in line. Best Buy has two more stores to its left, which the line passes to give you an idea of how long the line actually was. Of course it was longer then needed to be because people had tents, chairs, coolers, sports equipment, grills, and yes karaoke gear.
I was able to get to know my neighbors in line pretty quickly. They were all fun to hang out with for the night. Two guys about 4 people in front of me drank 24 coronas and some cans of miller light while they waited. There were a few guys behind me also drinking. I would of never thought of people drinking in a line to go into a retail store.
One of the gentlemen in front of me was there for the same thing I was. Having just over a hundred people in front of me and assuming they'd probably only have five of these items I was a little worried that my time in line maybe wasted especially with the guy in front of me going for one. I talked to Becky on the phone briefly and then she went to bed. Although, she told me before going out there she would keep me company on the phone while I was out there but she didn't last long. During our conversation she felt as well that my chances were slim in accomplishing the goal. I figured at this point I would stick it out. The few other people in front of me were going for laptops and also computer monitors and other small stuff.
The police drove by every so often although there was no real trouble and of course they had to make fun of every one waiting in line for hours through out the night. During the night as every one sat in the grass in their chairs, tents, and sleeping bags we watched as the sprinklers begin to go off across the street. People then began to joke that our section is next and glanced around to where the sprinklers were but no one took it seriously. Well maybe they should have because around 2AM sure enough the sprinklers came up from the ground near the street and begin spraying everyone. Luckily, I didn't bring anything with me and I was able to get out into the street with without getting soaked. On the other hand, the people sleeping on blankets in the grass or lounging in their chairs or even the people that just so happened to be standing in front of the sprinkler got drenched and all their belongings did as well. It was quite funny actually, and most people laughed at it. We all joked about them doing it on purpose and taping but no video tape has surfaced yet. The temperature wasn't too bad starting off but as 3:30AM approached I was getting pretty cold. Only having the basic jeans and jacket on along with just standing around didn’t help the dropping temperatures.
A long awaited site around 3:30AM, the employees began arriving. This meant the opening of the doors and handing out of tickets! Since I had never done this before I was unsure what these tickets were, but it was explained to me a little earlier in the night that at 4AM employees would come down the line of people and ask if you're purchasing in a category (phone activation, TV’s, laptop, desktop, etc.). Some items which they had limited quantity of were the ticketed items. This way people wouldn’t have to run over the person in front of them and the people that were there first got the item they really wanted. Now with the employees showing up people started to get antsy and begin to rise and clean up their camping site. After most of the tents, chairs, blankets and other stuff were put away the line got noticeably shorter but not with less people, just less distance between people. I was now on the corner of the end building.
Finally 4AM! The moment of truth, I will finally find out if I've wasted hours of sleep or if I will praised by Becky (yeah right...). As I had waited hours in line on the side of a Best Buy, I realized that there was just a little more time left as the ticket people came down the line. You too will have to wait a little longer for the result of the item I was going after. Some categories go past and the guy with laptops gets to our area. Two of the laptop deals were gone. One was a laptop for $250 and another for around $375. One of the guys in front of me was disappointed but took a ticket for a more expensive laptop instead $599. I am not sure if he decided to get it or not. The lady in front of me was pretty upset as she was going for one of the $250 laptops. She took a ticket for a desktop computer for $3 or 4 hundred and something. It was about 4:30AM now she was contemplating whether to get the desktop or not. She decided she didn’t want to spend that much on a computer since all she does is purchase airline tickets and emails friends. Her computer before broke on her, she described the problem but nothing I could explain to her how to fix there in the line. She then left... I was pretty surprised when she walked away empty-handed after all those hours. As an older lady she probably didn't enjoy the over night wait as much as some of us younger guys did that were there. I felt kind of bad but there was nothing I could do and it's just the luck of the draw to an extent plus you know this when entering a line that is more then a hundred people long.
After this I began to worry. I would soon be in the same place since I was only there really for this one item. Once the people around us noticed she left they talked about how bad that would suck. I agreed but I said even if I don't get what I want I'm still going to take a walk around the store for fun. Also while they were handing out tickets they also were handing out maps of the store. They roped off one end to some of the aisle and created one main loop around the store which had one aisle branching off into individual departments.
Best Buy had some employees out watching the line and I guess some one asked them how many of a certain item they had and it got back to us as 8. I know the guy in front of me taking one so now there are 7 and there are about 118 people in front of me. At this point, I convinced myself I probably wouldn't get it just so the drive home wouldn't be so bad. I heard the guy call out the category I was waiting for he's only a few people in front of me as he hands out a few tickets to them. As he came to the guy in front of me I watched as I knew he was getting the same thing. He had the paper ad in his hand and was trying to get tickets to several items. Their was a similar item to the one I was going for that was in the ad but different brand. The ticket guy was confused as there wasn't tickets to the one in the ad and it took him some time to realize it. Meanwhile I'm standing there looking at the book as he flipped around trying to see if there was more then one of the tickets I needed. Finally, he was giving the guy in front of me the ticket I was looking for. As he pulled it out of the binder I see another ticket behind it! I was relieved but I wanted that ticket in my hand as soon as possible. The guy and his girlfriend continue to ask questions about other stuff, it felt like for at least 10 minutes. It was now my turn and I had got my ticket! At this point I could care less about anything else. I was guaranteed this item that I had waited 7 hours for.
Before we get to the actual item let me just say when they opened the doors and started letting people flood it was crazy. They had news cameras at the front of the door and people from the press. The media had people inside of the store facing the front doors to get shots of the people running in. It was a sight to see and felt like something from the movies as being part of the heard going into the store.
Of course I purchased my ticket item and they told me I have to drive around to the back of the store to pick it up. I got into the car and turn the key...nothing. I left the lights on. This night I had taken my father's truck which doesn’t have automatic lights. I made call home and my father was on his way to get me. We picked up the item in his truck and went home. I went to sleep shortly after taking my item inside.
What is the item that would cause a person to put them through so much you might ask? Well it's a Panasonic 42" Plasma HDTV.
It was more fun then I had thought it would be, but I don't know if I'd do it again. Next year is Becky’s turn.
Black Friday really starts Thursday and here's my story. Thanks to a post over on Duck Notes that listed two websites on Black Friday deals, Becky was able to get a head start on the deals that would be available. One stood out to her and she suggested that I try to purchase the item. The special deal was going on at Best Buy and there was a minimum of 5. This item wasn't in the newspaper ad but was only shown on their website.
Since the item wasn't in the newspaper ad, I figured this would improve my chances of getting one. I contemplated as to how early I should arrive at the store as I know people start lining up fairly early. At first 3AM sounded good with the store opening at 5AM. However, during my wonderful 11hr Thanksgiving shift at the restaurant I thought about how awesome this item will be for Becky and I just as we are about to move into our own first place together. I chose to head up to the store after work. At 9:45PM, as Becky is getting ready to go to sleep herself, I headed to the store thinking an hour or two nap in the car would be nice before people start showing up.
How WRONG was I... I pulled into the plaza and notice quite a few cars in front of Best Buy and a radio and news van there. I parked the car and started walking towards the building. At first you would have never guessed it was the line to the store, but more of a line to get into a not so trendy bar minus the alcohol, to an extent. There was karaoke and line dancing for most of the night and early morning. Unfortunately, my spot in line was far from the front of the doors and past much of the dancing. At 10PM I found myself on the side of the building about the #119th person in line. Best Buy has two more stores to its left, which the line passes to give you an idea of how long the line actually was. Of course it was longer then needed to be because people had tents, chairs, coolers, sports equipment, grills, and yes karaoke gear.
I was able to get to know my neighbors in line pretty quickly. They were all fun to hang out with for the night. Two guys about 4 people in front of me drank 24 coronas and some cans of miller light while they waited. There were a few guys behind me also drinking. I would of never thought of people drinking in a line to go into a retail store.
One of the gentlemen in front of me was there for the same thing I was. Having just over a hundred people in front of me and assuming they'd probably only have five of these items I was a little worried that my time in line maybe wasted especially with the guy in front of me going for one. I talked to Becky on the phone briefly and then she went to bed. Although, she told me before going out there she would keep me company on the phone while I was out there but she didn't last long. During our conversation she felt as well that my chances were slim in accomplishing the goal. I figured at this point I would stick it out. The few other people in front of me were going for laptops and also computer monitors and other small stuff.
The police drove by every so often although there was no real trouble and of course they had to make fun of every one waiting in line for hours through out the night. During the night as every one sat in the grass in their chairs, tents, and sleeping bags we watched as the sprinklers begin to go off across the street. People then began to joke that our section is next and glanced around to where the sprinklers were but no one took it seriously. Well maybe they should have because around 2AM sure enough the sprinklers came up from the ground near the street and begin spraying everyone. Luckily, I didn't bring anything with me and I was able to get out into the street with without getting soaked. On the other hand, the people sleeping on blankets in the grass or lounging in their chairs or even the people that just so happened to be standing in front of the sprinkler got drenched and all their belongings did as well. It was quite funny actually, and most people laughed at it. We all joked about them doing it on purpose and taping but no video tape has surfaced yet. The temperature wasn't too bad starting off but as 3:30AM approached I was getting pretty cold. Only having the basic jeans and jacket on along with just standing around didn’t help the dropping temperatures.
A long awaited site around 3:30AM, the employees began arriving. This meant the opening of the doors and handing out of tickets! Since I had never done this before I was unsure what these tickets were, but it was explained to me a little earlier in the night that at 4AM employees would come down the line of people and ask if you're purchasing in a category (phone activation, TV’s, laptop, desktop, etc.). Some items which they had limited quantity of were the ticketed items. This way people wouldn’t have to run over the person in front of them and the people that were there first got the item they really wanted. Now with the employees showing up people started to get antsy and begin to rise and clean up their camping site. After most of the tents, chairs, blankets and other stuff were put away the line got noticeably shorter but not with less people, just less distance between people. I was now on the corner of the end building.
Finally 4AM! The moment of truth, I will finally find out if I've wasted hours of sleep or if I will praised by Becky (yeah right...). As I had waited hours in line on the side of a Best Buy, I realized that there was just a little more time left as the ticket people came down the line. You too will have to wait a little longer for the result of the item I was going after. Some categories go past and the guy with laptops gets to our area. Two of the laptop deals were gone. One was a laptop for $250 and another for around $375. One of the guys in front of me was disappointed but took a ticket for a more expensive laptop instead $599. I am not sure if he decided to get it or not. The lady in front of me was pretty upset as she was going for one of the $250 laptops. She took a ticket for a desktop computer for $3 or 4 hundred and something. It was about 4:30AM now she was contemplating whether to get the desktop or not. She decided she didn’t want to spend that much on a computer since all she does is purchase airline tickets and emails friends. Her computer before broke on her, she described the problem but nothing I could explain to her how to fix there in the line. She then left... I was pretty surprised when she walked away empty-handed after all those hours. As an older lady she probably didn't enjoy the over night wait as much as some of us younger guys did that were there. I felt kind of bad but there was nothing I could do and it's just the luck of the draw to an extent plus you know this when entering a line that is more then a hundred people long.
After this I began to worry. I would soon be in the same place since I was only there really for this one item. Once the people around us noticed she left they talked about how bad that would suck. I agreed but I said even if I don't get what I want I'm still going to take a walk around the store for fun. Also while they were handing out tickets they also were handing out maps of the store. They roped off one end to some of the aisle and created one main loop around the store which had one aisle branching off into individual departments.
Best Buy had some employees out watching the line and I guess some one asked them how many of a certain item they had and it got back to us as 8. I know the guy in front of me taking one so now there are 7 and there are about 118 people in front of me. At this point, I convinced myself I probably wouldn't get it just so the drive home wouldn't be so bad. I heard the guy call out the category I was waiting for he's only a few people in front of me as he hands out a few tickets to them. As he came to the guy in front of me I watched as I knew he was getting the same thing. He had the paper ad in his hand and was trying to get tickets to several items. Their was a similar item to the one I was going for that was in the ad but different brand. The ticket guy was confused as there wasn't tickets to the one in the ad and it took him some time to realize it. Meanwhile I'm standing there looking at the book as he flipped around trying to see if there was more then one of the tickets I needed. Finally, he was giving the guy in front of me the ticket I was looking for. As he pulled it out of the binder I see another ticket behind it! I was relieved but I wanted that ticket in my hand as soon as possible. The guy and his girlfriend continue to ask questions about other stuff, it felt like for at least 10 minutes. It was now my turn and I had got my ticket! At this point I could care less about anything else. I was guaranteed this item that I had waited 7 hours for.
Before we get to the actual item let me just say when they opened the doors and started letting people flood it was crazy. They had news cameras at the front of the door and people from the press. The media had people inside of the store facing the front doors to get shots of the people running in. It was a sight to see and felt like something from the movies as being part of the heard going into the store.
Of course I purchased my ticket item and they told me I have to drive around to the back of the store to pick it up. I got into the car and turn the key...nothing. I left the lights on. This night I had taken my father's truck which doesn’t have automatic lights. I made call home and my father was on his way to get me. We picked up the item in his truck and went home. I went to sleep shortly after taking my item inside.
What is the item that would cause a person to put them through so much you might ask? Well it's a Panasonic 42" Plasma HDTV.
It was more fun then I had thought it would be, but I don't know if I'd do it again. Next year is Becky’s turn.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
D.C. and Virginia
Time is going by so quickly. It feels like Grant and I got married just yesterday! This past weekend we traveled to Washington D.C. and Virginia to visit some friends and go to Grant’s friend Dan’s wedding. The weather was perfect and we had a blast!
We met at the Baltimore airport on Thursday evening and drove to our friend Danielle’s place just outside D.C. It was so exciting to see the Capitol building, Washington Monument and Pentagon as we were driving! We had a bit to catch up and then went to bed.
The next day we had 10A tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument and 1P tickets to the special exhibit at the Holocaust Museum. We managed to see the White House in between and meet another friend for lunch. I hadn’t been to D.C. since I was in elementary school – so it was quite fun going back and really taking as much of it in as possible. Grant and I cannot wait to go back again and spend more time in D.C.
We had to leave D.C. at 3P on Friday to drive down to Midlothian, Virginia for Dan’s rehearsal dinner. We arrived a little late after sitting in hours of traffic, but it all worked out fine. It was nice to see Dan, his new wife Kendall and some of Grant’s other friends from high school.
The next day we had some time to visit Richmond before the 4P wedding. We went to Maymont Park and drove around downtown Richmond. It was beautiful! All of the Fall leaves were out and the weather was perfect!
That night we went to the wedding, but were sure to pop into the bar next door to check on our Gators. We were quite relieved when they blocked a last minute game winning field goal to secure the win.
On Sunday, we made our way back to Baltimore airport. We arrived there pretty early and had enough time to watch a movie at the gate. It was so hard to say goodbye to Grant, even though I knew this would be the last time we would see each other before his graduation in December – and when he moves to Jacksonville to be with me forever. I cannot wait until we can really start our lives together. =)
We met at the Baltimore airport on Thursday evening and drove to our friend Danielle’s place just outside D.C. It was so exciting to see the Capitol building, Washington Monument and Pentagon as we were driving! We had a bit to catch up and then went to bed.
The next day we had 10A tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument and 1P tickets to the special exhibit at the Holocaust Museum. We managed to see the White House in between and meet another friend for lunch. I hadn’t been to D.C. since I was in elementary school – so it was quite fun going back and really taking as much of it in as possible. Grant and I cannot wait to go back again and spend more time in D.C.We had to leave D.C. at 3P on Friday to drive down to Midlothian, Virginia for Dan’s rehearsal dinner. We arrived a little late after sitting in hours of traffic, but it all worked out fine. It was nice to see Dan, his new wife Kendall and some of Grant’s other friends from high school.
The next day we had some time to visit Richmond before the 4P wedding. We went to Maymont Park and drove around downtown Richmond. It was beautiful! All of the Fall leaves were out and the weather was perfect!
That night we went to the wedding, but were sure to pop into the bar next door to check on our Gators. We were quite relieved when they blocked a last minute game winning field goal to secure the win.
On Sunday, we made our way back to Baltimore airport. We arrived there pretty early and had enough time to watch a movie at the gate. It was so hard to say goodbye to Grant, even though I knew this would be the last time we would see each other before his graduation in December – and when he moves to Jacksonville to be with me forever. I cannot wait until we can really start our lives together. =)
Friday, November 03, 2006
Vegas...again!
Grant and I recently went to Las Vegas for a 4th time, I believe. (I am starting to lose track!) We had a great time!!
We met up with our good friends Jordan and Ryan and stayed at the most fabulous hotel – The Bellagio!
The flights out there were long, but well worth it! I was so excited to see Grant and visit Las Vegas for the first time since our Honeymoon in May/June. I decided to give Grant an early graduation gift – some money to gamble with. I tried to learn Craps, but was not very successful. However, Jordan was quite successful for her first time visiting Vegas. She won almost $400 on the quarter slots at our hotel!! We were all very excited for her win!!
Grant and I were able to spend some quality time together visiting various hotels on the strip. We went to the Wynn and watched the roulette table and saw a girl come and put $1500 on red. The wheel spun and she won! She decided to let her $3,000 ride and won again! With two spins she turned $1,500 into $6,000! Luckily she left after that just before the wheel spun black.
One of the highlights of our trip was seeing our first show. We purchased a dinner and show package at Mystere at TI. It was an amazing show! The dancers were so talented! After the show the 4 of us had a great dinner at The Steakhouse in TI. Being in TI brought back memories of our first trip ever to Vegas.
This Thursday we have another rendezvous planned in D.C./Virginia! I am looking forward to seeing Grant, spending time with some friends and seeing the city!
We met up with our good friends Jordan and Ryan and stayed at the most fabulous hotel – The Bellagio!
The flights out there were long, but well worth it! I was so excited to see Grant and visit Las Vegas for the first time since our Honeymoon in May/June. I decided to give Grant an early graduation gift – some money to gamble with. I tried to learn Craps, but was not very successful. However, Jordan was quite successful for her first time visiting Vegas. She won almost $400 on the quarter slots at our hotel!! We were all very excited for her win!!
Grant and I were able to spend some quality time together visiting various hotels on the strip. We went to the Wynn and watched the roulette table and saw a girl come and put $1500 on red. The wheel spun and she won! She decided to let her $3,000 ride and won again! With two spins she turned $1,500 into $6,000! Luckily she left after that just before the wheel spun black.
One of the highlights of our trip was seeing our first show. We purchased a dinner and show package at Mystere at TI. It was an amazing show! The dancers were so talented! After the show the 4 of us had a great dinner at The Steakhouse in TI. Being in TI brought back memories of our first trip ever to Vegas.
This Thursday we have another rendezvous planned in D.C./Virginia! I am looking forward to seeing Grant, spending time with some friends and seeing the city!
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