7/16/07 - Well we made it back from DC! Our luggage was not on the return flight and that was the first time that had ever happened to me! But it came in on the next flight since we exceeded the max weight allowed for the plane on our flight (sure glad they did not tell us that before we took off!). We had a blast. We started off spending a couple of days with friends in the awesome and beautiful town of St. Michaels, MD. They went with us to our first day in DC,, where we went to the national BBQ cookoff on Pennsylvania Ave! The food was great and the smell was amazing. I had to be at work on Wednesday, leaving me only 2 full days to site see. We went all over the place (Capitol, Air and Space Museum, Natural Science Museum, Arlington National Cemetary, White House, Union Station, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial...). There is so much to see and do. I am willing to bet that we literally walked 50 miles in 2.5 days. The mas transit in DC is the best! We learned the hard way what traffic can be like when we tried to meet some friends for dinner Thurs night in Fairfax, VI. It was only a 35 mile drive on the interstate the whole way and it took 2.5 hours to get there and only 30 mins to get home (no traffic at 8:30 PM). We got to meet my aunt and uncle for dinner on our last night there. They took us out for some real authentic Chinese food and it was awesome!
This weekend we went home to vist Rachel's family. We both got to go to the live animal auction where we saw everything from horses to spider monkeys. Mom ended up getting another goat (little girl) and we named her Emma, bringing the number of goats on the property to 3. Spike (Lama) and the other 2 goats took a liking to her right from the start. She wqas a little upset being taken away from her mother and was crying that was very disturbing since it sounds real close to a human baby crying.
6/23/07 - We arrived in DC without any problems, well not until we tried to leave the airport. We got 1/2 mile out of the airport and got into traffic moving at a snail's pace. I think we went about 15 miles over the time of 1 hour. We got up and walked into St. Michaels today, where are staying with some friends. This town is awesome, great food, great shopping, all in this little town that reminds me of a typical New England sea-side town about 40 years ago. We are planning to head to the local winery tonight and then our friends are taking us saling for our first time! Tomorrow we plan to head into DC to go site seeing!
6/3/07 - Well today was a great day. I got to take my new riding lawnmower for a spin. Rachel and I got a home eq loan so that we can get new floors in the house and a few new appliances. We went to Lowes this week and I got the new lawnmower after wanting one for the last 7 years. Rachel picked out the new fridge and washer & dryer she wanted. They get delivered this Friday! I mowed the lawn this morning in 30 mins! That sure beats the couple of hours it would take with the push mower. Great news on the umpire front. I got selected for the ASA fastpitch southern nationals for the second year in a row! Our trip to DC at the end of the month is right around the corner and has both of us excited. Rachel is enjoying her summer vacation.
5/20/07 - Rachel is happy to have only 1.5 weeks left of school. I wish I had a summer off! Work has been quite busy. I am in charge of building a software package that will basically keep track of every aspect of every training we put on. But I am up to the task. I have learned quite a bit and I enjoy the challenge. I am also very blessed to have a great boss and such an awesome team of co-workers to help get the job done. I can not imagine ever wanting to leave the company I work for. I just passed my one year anniversary at IIR and I still look forward to going to work every day.
Rachel and I are heading to Washington, D.C. at the end of June. We are sad that this will cause us to miss our family reunion, but we are excited about taking a much needed vacation! We will be visiting friends and family in the area before I finish out the week at a Coldfusion web development conference. We then turn around and head back to Philly in September for our good friend's wedding!
Rachel's parents came up 2 weekends ago and stayed with us for one night before heading over to Destin. My father-in-law was giving a lecture over there, so we made a weekend of it and went over and stayed with my folks. It was nice getting both families together. We treated our parents to a nice dinner on Saturday night in honor of Mother's day. Well that is about all for now. Hope all is well with you all. Drop us a line!
4/9/07 - Rachel left today to go home to visit her family. Due to limited time off, I needed to stay behind so I could go to work. I have been umpiring just about every day of the week. We are going to Washington DC in June for both work and fun. Unfortunately that means we can not go our family reunion due to the timing of the trip. I got to work on the First Lady's (Laura Bush) website for her Helping America's Youth website. That was exciting. Work is still going good. I love my job! Unfortunately we did not get to go to home for Easter because I had to work on Saturday due to some network changes. We needed to take the network down for about 3 hours and can not do that on a work day. Mom and dad came and visited 2 weeks ago. We went to a Relay for Life fundraiser in memory of our friend Dave Iacampo that died from cancer in December. We also took them to the Tallahassee Museum and got to see our bro-in-law play with his band at the Jazz and Blues Festival. I will post pics of that real soon.
1/1/07 - Happy New Year! Rachel and I just got back from a week on the road. We left town the Friday before Christmas to go to my parents' house in Niceville. We spent Christmas there with my parents, my sister's family, and my grandmother. We left there on Tuesday to come back since I had to work on Wednesday. Then we left Thursday to go down to Bushnell to celebrate Christmas with Rachel's family. We came back on Sunday to go to our Parrothead new years party. I love seeing family, but I am very glad to be home! But now I have to go take down all of the Christmas decorations, UGH!
12/19/06 - Today has been one of the hardest days of my life this far. I wish I would have been warned that the older you get, the harder you fall, at least emotionally. Our dear friend Dave Iacampo lost his battle with cancer. I first met Dave when I was dating Rachel. He had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had 3 months to live. Thanks to medicine, they were able to prolong his life for 3 years! We became good friends that always talked about football, and Jimmy Buffett and fishing.... We knew that his day would come, and nothing I could ever do could ever prepare for the heartache I felt today. I pray that Lisa and Danielle know how much we love them. We'll always miss you Dave, but we know you are in a better place.
11/29/06 - I thought it was about time that I catch my blog up to what was going on. I have been to sever doctor appointments. I have another 6 weeks in my walking boot for my ankle. Rachel and I have been coaching soccer. This season is going much better than out last. My sister and her family are moving to Niceville. Josh got stationed at Eglin for the next 4 or 5 years. My new job is still going great. I just got back from Vegas about a month ago for a conference on web development. Unfortunately I did not bring home any extra cash. I had to get a new computer. My old one has both hard drives go out on me. I am wondering if it may be something to the with the mother board. That is about all for now..
9/21/06 - Today was a first! I broke my first major
bone ever! Well, it was a fracture.
I hopped off the top of an 8 ft. fence and landed
fine, but my tendon stretched too far and pulled
part of the bone on the inside of my ankle away
from the main bone. I am in a cast for weeks
and then I will be fit with a walking boot.
It looks like I am out for the remainder of the
football officiating.
9/11/06
- This has been an emotional weekend to say the
least... We got word on Saturday afternoon
that my aunt had died from complications of chemo
treatment for her cancer. Our thoughts and
prayers are with our extended family. David
will be travelling to Michigan to attend services.
FSU had a horrible ballgame on Saturday against
Troy. We won, but it was ugly! Last,
but certainly not least, today is the anniversary
of September 11th. We pause to remember all
of those we lost on that horrible day. Thanks
to all of our heroes (firefighters, EMS, police,
and military) that served on that day as well as
those have served and those currently serving.
9/4/06 - Spent the weekend over in Destin with my Mom and Dad! Glad to see FSU finally could win in Miami! I am sorry to see that Steve Irwin has died. He did a show over at Eglin AFB once. It was cool to see that he was right down the street. He did so much to teach young people about how to live responsibly and how to respect and love mother nature. As much as people teased him, he was such a great person. I know he will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
8/19/06 - High school football season has started!
I worked my first game of the year this past Friday
at Wakulla HS. Now all I need is for FSU to
start its games and I can stop jonesing for football.
Rachel has started teaching again. She is
really liking it. Jenny and Josh had their
2nd baby (Ashley). She is really cute.
I will get some pics up of newest addition to the
family real soon. More exciting news... I
found out this week that I get to go to a conference
in Vegas in October for web development! This
will be the first time I have ever been to Vegas!
8/6/06
- Nationals was awesome! I worked for three
days with 3 games per day. They gave us a
commemerative coin and patch. Now softball
and baseball is over until college fall ball.
Football season starts this weekend for officials.
This football season will be real busy with FSU
having 8 home games! This weekend Rachel and
I are going to visit her family qhile I attend a
football officials clinic in Ocala.
7/18/06
- My Southern Nationals umpire package came in!
I ordered new ASA umpire gear. I am really hyped
to be selected for this tournament. Our UIC(umpire
in charge) has to send a list of selections to Okalashoma
City (ASA National) and they select a smller list.
It is an honor to be chosen. I bought a keyboard
amp this week along with a mic. I have been practicing
so I can play with Reed Mahoney again now that I
will have a monitor to hear myself. Reed did not
understand that I etrally do play strictly by ear.
My 10 year HS reunion is this coming weekend. I
can not wait to see all of my old friends. I found
2 of my buddies recently online after not talking
to them for 10 years! One the down side, I came
down with a really bad sinus infection. Thank goodness
for a great wife that takes care of me.
6/20/06
- Today, I got the call that has me so excited, I can't hardly stand it! My
umpire in charge has selected me as one of his picks to umpire the 18 and
under girls ASA fast pitch souther nationals! All the national tournament
umpires are selected from a pool of umpires submitted to ASA national headquarters
by regional umpires in charge. I feel really blessed. This the moment I have
waited for and it will be the pinnacle of my umpire career thus far. Now the
countdown begins to the end of July. So far so good.
5/29/06
- Please take the time to thank a soldier (past and present). They protect
our country every day without question. They are the reason we enjoy the freedom
we have everyday. They are the reason that opponents to the war can speak
openly. Take the time to attend a Memorial Day Event. Take the time out to
honor the fallen. Take your hat off, put your hand over your heart and give
thanks to those that paid the ultimate sacrafice and those that continue to
protect and serve. It is our time to salute them! Thanks to all members of
our armed forces as well as our veterans! God Bless the USA!
5/16/06
- David's new job is going great! The boss treats him like an equal. David
completed his first assignment much faster than the boss anticipated. David
is now working for a company called IIR (Institute for Intergovernmental Research).
You can see more about what they do at iir.com.
Rachel is wrapping up her last week with students. Thhen she will have one
more week to work without students. Later in the summer she will have to spend
a week in Panama City to train for teaching AP classes (where you can earn
college credit). David's family (sister and neice too) are coming to visit
at the end of this week!
4/19/06
- Good news! My job search has finally paid off! I have an offer from a company
in town, and another called and said that they want a 2nd interview! They
want me pretty bad apparently since they are begging me not to accept the
offer until we can meet! I will let you know what happens...
4/10/06
- OK, so I have been bad about keeping up with what has been going on... Rachel
has seen the doc about her injury. The doc has cleared her to go back to the
gym to begin working out. However, she has been told to not play soccer any
time soon. Rachel and I just got back from a trip to San Francisco. It was
the first visit to California for us both. What a neat city! We did all of
the traditional tourist stuff (Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, Cable
Cars...). Those pics can be found under the pictures section. Rachel has been
asked to tech dual enrollment Sociology at the high school this coming semester
as well as a class at FSU. I have been umpiring softball and baseball like
a mad man. We are really short on umpires (44), so I have been asked to work
on average 4 to 5 nights a week. Playoffs for softball start in less than
2 weeks. That is about all for now. Check in soon for another update...
1/28/06
- Rachel was playing soccer with our soccer team last Wednesday night and
ran to kick the ball and tore a tendon. She has an MRI done last Friday and
we should get the results today. We are praying that we can nurse her back
to health quickly. I have been trying to update pics on the site more frequently.
Mom and Dad went to visit Biloxi (where we used to live) and took pics all
around town. I will try and get hose up this weekend. We went and saw our
brother in law, Johm, play in the band Roadhouse this past Saturday night.
It was a great show and I will get some pictures up of the show pretty soon.
1/20/06
- The high school soccer season is now officially over for Rachel and I. That
was a different experience being on the coaching side of the line rather than
the referee side. Baseball and softball is getting ready to start up next
week. City league basketball has been in full swing. I was asked to be on
the City' TV channel on a program they called "On Location". They
interviewed me as a basketball official and also did a couple of skit situations
with me. It will run for the next month on their channel. Unpacking is going
a little better, the living room is clear of boxes and so is the kitchen...
1/16/06
- We are still unpacking boxes from our move to our new house! Just when I
am thinking we are making some progress it seems as though I walk into the
garage and there are boxes right back where I just cleared! Radchel and I
are wrapping up soccer season this week with districts over in Panama City.
I was fighting a major cold over Christmas break. It went away for 2.5 weeks
and it came back for another round this past Friday. I am doing my best to
fight it off once more. I am going to go take pics of our new house so that
you all can see what our new house looks like. Go to our pictures section
to take a look.