The Soapbox

2009-05-12T19:28:00.002-06:00

Hahahaha...

Now that no one is reading this blog, I will post something...

I have been on hiatus for several reasons. 1st, Microblogging on Facebook and Twitter gets far more attention/reads etc. It also gives the 2 people that read my stuff a platform to respond (which they never do). It appeals to my lazy side, where typing out a full post and making sure that its actually readable, is too much work. It allows me to upload photos without fighting with the layout on this page. And it allows me the flexibility to blog a short thought, at the time I think of it, rather than a full out paragraph/essay. Problem is, half the time I think of stuff to put on Facebook and Twitter, I censor myself cuz I know a zillion people could read it. Here, I censored myself less because its not as available, at least to Lazy people like me. Heck, thats why we have RSS feeds. Why even wait for the page to load, just read it in the RSS feed window. Thats why America is fat by the way, we cant even get up to let the page load on our 20mb dsl lines.

Yes, I know we dont have to get up to let a page load on our computers, it was a lame joke, lets move on.

I still intend on using this page, I actually have had several blog ideas run thru my head lately... Then again, I have had some status updates run thru my head also and havent put those up either.

Until then...
Shon

2009-01-06T17:23:00.009-07:00

So, its been another month.

I have a ton of pics, in fact, too many to put up here so I left off the pics from when we took Jayden to the Natural History Museum. We had people over for Thanksgiving, and we cooked our first HUGE meal for about 15-20 people. It was so much work with my parents away, we decided to go with a lighter fare for Christmas. We ended up just getting Papa Murphys pizzas for Christmas. It was still good.

so, this is Christmas Eve... my parents used to take pics of me and my bro and sister so I figured I would take pics of Lysa and Jayden. Melanie stayed over at her friends house, so none of her.

These next few are from christmas morning.

Me with Lily (my niece) above.

Jayden opening a pimp hoodie...

(below) We always take a self portrait on Christmas... looks like I put on some weight from last year!

The Saturday after Christmas, I went snowboarding with my buddy Matt, and then came home and had some friends over for the UFC fight, We had a great time and played some Wii Sports, Boxing/snowboarding afterwards.

And then, only a few days later, we spent all day cleaning again to have another New Years Eve Party. Now I know many of you have been to our New Years Eve Party before, this one had an interesting twist. Terry (Lysas Mom) had a little ceremony and reception to celebrate her getting married to Trent Romaine. Lysa read from a book, and then they did their vows just after midnight. After they did their vows, Lysa and Trents son Josh, signed the marriage certificate.

Most of the crowd was for their reception...

Then it was Wii time! bowling/tennis etc.

(below) Eric and my buddy Dave...

New Years Day, Lysa and I took Jayden to the park. I only got one pic of that though.

We are currently in the process of getting Jayden into a preschool. He is learning so fast, its amazing. His vocabulary grows by the day! He really is a sweet kid.

We just got him Wall-E and he loves that movie and Horton hears a Who. He sings "Frosty the Snowman" all the time, and loves to Color. We got him a couple aqua doodle pads. He loves those, and I like those cuz of the cleanup...

anyways, hopefully, more to come sooner rather than later.

2008-12-04T12:32:00.002-07:00

I will put up another blog in the next few days with some pictures and what we have been up to for the last few weeks, but I wanted to point you to my parents new blog, to follow what they are doing in Africa.

http://fmauro3472.blogspot.com/

Enjoy,

Shon

2008-11-06T10:38:00.005-07:00

Jaydens Trip to the Aquarium.

This fish below was huge, it could have swallowed Jayden whole...

Jayden loved the tropical fish, he kept calling the blue ones Dory, from Nemo... of course he loved seeing the clownfish.

They also had a hay maze, Jayden had fun running around with the other kids in the hay.

Then, when we left, he kicked off his shoe in the parking lot as I was putting him in his carseat. We drove all the way to highlands ranch to Aaron and Laurens and realized the shoe was not in the car when we got there. I had to drive all the way back to get it... Fun! :0)

2008-10-29T02:50:00.004-06:00

To all Friends and Family, PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE BLOG...

I hate doing this... I prefer to let everyone do as they please and make their own decisions and use their own judgement. But, I cant sit silent on this one. I hope you will read this and understand that I would not type a word of this if I wasn't completely positive I absolutely had to write this and risk your anger if I did.

I come to all of you humbly and admitting I do not know it all, but my conscience will not let me sleep.... Please, please, please... don't vote for Obama. I'm begging you to pray and evaluate this for yourself, I am sure that you will come up with the same revelation.

From the moment that Scott and Amy introduced me to Obama, I was as SNL says "In the bag for Obama". Just like the press, just like everyone who has fallen for his smooth talk and charismatic style, I was sold on his policy.

I ignored all the warning signs. His past voting record. His bad choices of relationships. His lack of viable experience. His words and everything in his site about his policy is perfect. Too perfect.

The first warning sign for me was Lysa. Lysa has an uncanny ability to get a feeling that always comes true. Some would call it prophetic. I used to call it crazy. Time and Time again, she has shown me that when she gets a "feeling" its ALWAYS right. Its basically her gift of discernment. A few weeks ago, she expressed her "feeling" that Obama should not be president and that Mccain would be the better vote. I wont be voting for Mccain, but I completely agree with her discernment now.

After weeks of careful study and prayer. I have come to the conclusion that Obama is merely an illusion. Not to say that the man Barack Obama is an illusion, but that the person that is running for president is not that man. If you pray for discernment and then watch all that he has said and then WHAT HE HAS DONE. I think you will realize the same.

Now I know you have heard the following a zillion times, but try to stay with me. I am trying to express something I dont really know how to express in a blog. It started with who he spent his time around. I find it hard to believe that 20 years in a church under this whacko Jeremiah Wright did not affect him one bit.

In fact, anyone who says that they hung out with someone for 20 years even once a month and says that they didnt pick up one thing from that person is bull... I have worked with a bunch of whiners at qwest for only 8 years and I hate who I have sometimes become in acting just like those I despise so much. I worry very much about someone who says that they have an immunity to such a thing. That was only the first warning sign.

Then, I got interested, I compared my views with his. His website says that he will reduce taxes for the middle class... I am extremely interested in anyone who will realign the economy to make it possible for someone like me to make some money and not have all of it taken away by the government. I was completely for Obama in this realm. Sadly, his voting record doesnt back his talk. As a christian, and as a young person growing up in a post-modern society, I feel I have gained somewhat of an accurate skill in deciding if a person is being sincere or not. Initially I felt Obama was. Now, I KNOW he was not. I loved his liberal ideas about how to bring around the economy. I felt that even if one quarter of all his policies passed, it would be a HUGE step for this country in the right direction. Sadly, I feel that those that vote for Obama will not see much to any of this come to pass.

My next problem I had was the abortion issue. Now, listen for a second. I absolutely hate it when christians make elections a ONE ISSUE decision . I dislike the fact that alot of christians consider Abortion and Roe vs. Wade the determining factor in their vote. I actually dont care if you fall under this category and are enraged by this. I think it is ignorant and stupid for a christian or anybody to take a MORAL issue like abortion and decide a president based on what a candidate says during an election year. I believe firmly that if the CHURCH as the body of christ stepped up and did what Jesus said "Love one another as I have loved you" and "Love one another as yourself" Abortion would not be an issue. Shame on the Church/body of christ for failing this one. I could vote for a Pro-life candidate no problem. I dont have a moral problem with that. I do have a problem with a candidate that votes 3 times to not protect babies that are born ALIVE.... I dont accept his excuse that he didnt know what he was voting for, or that the bill had changed in a way that caused him to change his vote... Its all smoke... He knew exactly what he was voting for, and he chose to do it 3 TIMES.... Nevermind if his daughter got pregnant he would want to know before she aborted it. Nevermind the fact that he was never the one that had to leave a very ALIVE child alone to die. Nevermind that my nemisis, the evil Hillary Clinton, who I despise, voted the opposite of Obama. Just as the other 97 percent of the Senate did.

I could go on all night. Its now 3:30am. There are several more reasons I cannot and will not vote for Obama. Unfortunately, I may not convince you with this blog. Either way, as Paul says, in 1 John 4:1 , test the spirits. I challenge you to do just that. I've been wrong before, and I WILL be wrong again. In this case, I seriously doubt it. I have a BAD feeling about what will happen if Obama is elected. Many people have said it, and I ignored it for months. He just seems to me like a wolf in sheeps clothing. Maybe I am the wack job, maybe I got it wrong. But I do know this, a few weeks ago, I was going to vote Obama, and now I know that I wouldn't vote Obama at gunpoint. As my friends and family, if that doesnt mean something urgent to you, I dont know what will. I challenge you to do your own research into this issue. Dont take my meaningless word on it.

I love you all, and will continue to love and respect you no matter what your feeling about this post or your differing view.

Shon

edit notes: Ooops, my choice of words was really poor there. It always sounds so much better in my head, and I just try to get it out fast enough... thanks to Lance for mentioning that. Theres a reason I dont write this stuff usually. Especially at 3 in the morning.

2008-10-24T13:24:00.004-06:00

The Iphone... Before and After

Since I have spent a bunch of time on this. I figured I would share these with everyone.

As most of you know, I like things to be the way I want them. When I buy something I can personalize, I make sure its the way I want it.

I wanted to give you some before and after pics.

Now most of these Icons came from a theme I found on www.ModmyI.com, there are also good ones on http://www.spaziocellulare.com/ispazio/en/ .

Theres no way Ill stop at just using someone elses theme entirely. I went and found hundreds of mac icons and went thru and changed several others. Included in those I changed were Cydia, Maps, Categories, Ewallet, Cycorder, Youtube (which Im thinking of renaming as Apple Tv and then using an apple tv icon), Under the games and apps folders I have also changed a few icons.

I have active: User Wallpaper, Dim Wallpaper, Boss preferences (numerical battery), A 49ers battery icon (which I couldnt get a screenshot of), I have extended preferences which include changing my at&t symbol and clock to whatever I want. and backgrounder, an app that lets programs run in the background while you open other programs.

all in all, Pretty much whatever I want to do, I can. Just like my Powerbook.

anyways, have a great Friday and weekend.

Peace,

2008-10-22T09:42:00.003-06:00

Changes...

Sigh... Once again, its been too long since I posted. The funny thing is, there has been alot going on. Plenty to talk about, but I had nowhere to start.

First, if you havent heard yet, after over 8 years at Qwest, I am leaving the company to go to TwTelecom (or old TimeWarner telecom). After a couple years of frustration with the way the place is run, I just cant deal with it anymore. I have been increasingly frustrated with the move from what used to be a great place to work, to a micromanaged center where employees are not treated like Technicians, but basically babysitted.

my last day is Tues Oct 28th, I start over at Twtelecom on Friday Oct 31st, which incidentally is the anniversary of when I bought my 4runner in 2002.

As if that isn't enough change at once, we also are looking for childcare for Jayden. Its crazy, and its draining to try and find someone trustworthy to take care of your kid. I have called a bunch of places and talked to a bunch of people and we still haven't found a place in the right location, that we trust, that isnt waaay too expensive. The interesting thing is we only need 5 hrs a day, 4 days a week, and every place we find, its cheaper to do all day? How does that make any sense?

We have been blessed with great friends who have helped out immensely. Big thanks to Kris and Lance Gideon who took care of Jayden for the last few months. I couldn't have gotten this new job without them. They also helped us get thru a time to where we are now capable of affording childcare we wouldn't have been able to previously. And thanks to Paige and David Greiner, Nate and Angela, Calvin and Melaine, The Whipples' and all the other people who have taken Jayden for a day or a few days in times we were in a bind.

So, thats it for now, Ill try to keep you updated more often.

Til then my loyal readers,

oh, and ck out this before you leave. CLICK HERE

2008-09-15T09:52:00.004-06:00

Hey, get to add another friends blog today!!! Im a one stop shop for all your blog reading needs!!

Today, we add my friend Jen Hodges formerly known as Jennifer Coleman...

Jen is one of my oldest friends... (as in she isnt old in age, but we have been friends since the 5th grade or so)

click here

or go to the sidebar labeled blogs of utmost importance and look for jen the mum

enjoy!

2008-09-11T19:33:00.007-06:00

The Verdict...

Well, its been just a day or two over a week since I got the Iphone 3g. Since this isnt just a normal purchase but also a switch in sides in the eternal battle that is Blackberry vs. Iphone, RIM vs. Apple. I figured I would not delay the inevitable, but put to blog my Iphone vs. BB Curve comparison.

The Prelude

First off, both rode on the At&t network. However, the Curve did not have Wireless or 3g. So, I will do my comparison on the similarities and/or the comparable equip/features. Then, I will go add in my thoughts on the Wireless/3g nature of the Iphone and its future? competitor, the BB Bold and Storm. We wont even bring up the windows crap phones or the palm cuz 1. I never owned one (for good reason) and 2. they are so far behind its not even funny.

The Look/Aesthetics/Feel

The looks are a tougher one, because everyone had different likes and dislikes, but since I am the one doing the comparison, I'll defer to my taste. If you are talking straight factory settings, the Crackberry comes with the At&t theme (pictured above) and it sucks. flat out. Its also a huge file for a theme and its ugly, bloated and I hate it. The iphones look is nice, its clean, soft and has a great contrast between the buttons, and the background. The icons are a huge part of the iphone because all the icons are uniform. At&ts icons and the blackberry aftermarket apps are far from uniform. The after market icons for the iphone from the app store are integrated way better and fit in better with the native iphone apps.

The exterior of the phones also play into the look of them. The back of the 16gb iphone I have is white, and it has the chrome around the screen. I actually like the color and the overall exterior look of the Curve.

as far as the aesthetics... I have to give the Iphone the edge for the look of the screen and the icons where I actually like the Curves exterior design a tad more. The curves stock themes drive it down several points.

The feel of both are great, however, the iphones chrome and now 3gs white and black back feel very slippery to me. a case is an absolute must for me. I feel as though the iphone could just slip out of my hands. The Curve is lighter and even though about the same width, feels wider in my hand.

Ill give the Curve a split decision here.

Functionality/User interface

The blackberry as well as everyone knows has a full keyboard with a rolling scroll ball. It can be easily changed to allow it to scroll faster or slower depending on your preference. The Iphone has a glass touch screen that is slick... it really is the epitome of a great idea executed extremely well.

The Curve and all blackberrys work off an Os that supports lots of menus and ability to search through root files, almost as you would on a computer. The options screen is simple and just a list. I dont like the fact that its a chain nightmare though. If you dont remember what menu your option is in, its a pain to go thru all the options cuz they are all several folders deep. Some of the options folders are not classified well, making finding certain options difficult. The plus is that you can do pretty much what you want with a BB. I was able to easily go into the Desktop Manager and edit the code to completely remove bloated and unnecessary files. This proves to be a handy tool, because Blackberrys come preinstalled with themes for almost every carrier in the U.S. and Europe. That takes up alot of memory. The only factory theme you have to keep is the standard BB zen or icon to make sure it keeps all the info on native applications and icons, and to be able to navigate the Os. For syncing, you use either Desktop manager for windows, Pocketmac for Mac or you can just set your phone to mass storage mode and drag and drop what you want into folders like an external drive. The Curve has a place for a mini flash card which I bought a 8 gb card for. The Media player is subpar, the audio whether thru headphones or speaker is muddy and there are no ways to equalize the music. The biggest downfall and one I cant understand is the lack of Html email and browser. Its almost like RIM decided they were so good at what they do that they didnt need to worry about such trivial stuff. Especially when an user can pay an extra 30 bucks for an aftermarket app to get the feature. BOOO!! the long awaited os 4.5 should fix both of those issues. The delay in releasing those features is a huge knock on RIM, and its a feature I was not about to wait for. You cant play streaming video, only videos you are able to download. The one Great thing about blackberry is its ability to download applications, themes etc. OTA or over the air. Of course, that is also standard on the iphone.

the Push email however gives RIM a nod over Apple. Even with the Microsoft Exchange, the iphones push email is a little different. All emails to a Blackberry go straight to the RIM noc in canada. This is good for speed of email, its like sending text messages, but is bad for outages. If the Noc goes down. So does all the email for every blackberry everywhere.

The Iphone is a little more locked down. No access to root files or folders. But everything is nice and neat and simple as you would expect an apple product to be. The menus are intuitive and the navigation thru the menus is simple and quick with the touchscreen. The Email and Browser are top-notch. They arent kidding when they say this "is the internet" not a mobile browswer. I still think that the missing flash and shockwave from the browsers is a little annoying, but it is a minor nuisance that I rarely have a real problem with. The syncing is where Apple destroys all others. Syncing thru a platform and program like Itunes that is already well established and integrated is where no others can compete. You can sync photos, videos, applications, contacts, music, podcasts and pretty much everything thru itunes. With that comes the luxury of an Itunes store that has all of those things and one of the largest libraries of music at your finger tips. Or, if you are on the go, access the itunes store from your phone and download it wherever you are at. I could go on, but Apple destroys everyone else with its infrastructure and backbone.

Winner by KO Iphone.

Resources

For Blackberry there are thousands... ultimately, that also is a pain, You have several huge blackberry sites and they all have some of the same stuff and a little bit of stuff that the others dont. So, to find anything, you have to really search for it. I found lots of different Mac Leopard themes out there but only one that was free and with icons I liked. There are thousands of apps out there, you can find the best user created ones at www.themes4bb.com . Another super useful site, and one of the most popular among blackberry users is www.crackberry.com . Crackberry has a store, forums, rumors, blogs etc. as well as ringtones and wallpapers. The great thing about blackberry in this case is that you can use almost any music file imaginable as a ringtone or notification and all you have to do is drag it into the ringtone folder. No buying ringtones for 1.99 or more when you can drag an DRM free music in the folder and use it. You want a movie clip or sound bite for an email notification? go to www.moviewavs.com and download the mp3. drag it into the ringtones folder and set it as your email or sms text notification.

With the iphone you have resources all over also, but the most obvious is the GIANT that is Itunes. All the Apps, music, podcasts, videos, tv shows, etc you could ever want. however for those that want tips and tricks for the iphone, try out Crackberrys sister site www.theiphoneblog.com . In fact, if you want to see comparisons on the iphone and blackberry, there are plenty of nice comparisons done by both The Iphone Blog and Crackberry.

Iphone gets a unanimous decision here.

So the winner with 2 of 3 categories is the... IPHONE!

well, I think this will wrap up this portion... I'm sure more comparisons will come to mind soon. and if you have any specific questions on either of these phones, let me know and I will give you my experience on them.

2008-09-03T14:48:00.003-06:00

Another Blog.

Apparently, as several of my friends have fallen off the blogging wagon, Several new friends have joined the ranks of amateur publishers.

Make sure to check out The whipples blog at http://www.coloradowhipples.blogspot.com/

2008-09-03T09:38:00.002-06:00

Ck out my friend Lee and Kelly Koraks blog here

Ill put it on the blogroll shortly... apparently blogger thinks this is a spam blog. whatever that means...

2008-08-15T01:04:00.006-06:00

... And its been two weeks.

"Matt... He doesnt have any money in his pockets! hes only 2!!"

An eventful two weeks nonetheless... Two weekends ago, (that would be Aug 2nd and 3rd, for those at home keeping score) I worked both days and spent the other few free hours I had at the Sonlight annual summer picnic. Not my favorite grouping of activities. That was followed by another 4 days of work until finally I had a day off on Fri Aug 8th. To clear that up for you, I had Wed, July 30th off and then worked everyday straight until Aug 8th. Anyways, Aug 8th was the first in a trifecta of days that Lysa and I had off to celebrate our anniversary. With no one to watch Jayden for the whole weekend, a lack of monetary funds, and no signifigant amounts of time off work, we were unable to go to Cali for a week. So, I dug into my hat of many tricks and put together the best weekend I could. Friday, we went out to Castlewood Canyon to hike, only to find out that the sunny skies we saw when we left were rain and lightning down in Franktown. That, added to the fact that we were about 2 hours late getting there, meant that we had no time to wait out the rain. So, we took Jayden to Park Meadows and checked out the puppies at the mall. We followed that up with Chick-fil-a and then took Jayden over to the Whipples for them to watch him. Our next plans were a closely guarded secret, and I spent weeks hiding the money trail and all evidence leading to the Rockies vs. Padres game we had tickets to. Molly took care of the ceremonies on that one and spilled the beans accidentally to Lysa.

We sat 3 rows back just outside of the infield.

No prob though, I was about 10 min from telling her myself. Now, most people would ask "now Shon... how is that a present for her?" and to that I reply "Because our first date was at a Rockies game!" The critics are now silenced and the world resumes its orbit. The Rockies game was good, they won in spite of a 30 min rain delay, which actually added to the whole evenings ambiance.

She had more fun than this... trust me...

Saturday, we got up a little earlier and went to Dozens, Lysas' favorite breakfast restaurant. My brother also happens to be a manager there so we get some cheap food. Win, Win there. Saturday afternoon, we spent going to Toys r us, moving around some stuff at home and cleaning. Then, we went to Camdyn Sternbergs 1st b-day party. Unfortunately, we didnt get to hang around long, cuz I had to get home to finish cleaning for Sat Night. Sat night, was Lysas gift to me. I got to have several friends over to watch one of the best UFC cards ever. St. Pierre and Fitch headlined a fight card with Brock Lesnar, Kenny Florian, Herring, and several others that all put on a great show. Except for the Kongo fight anyway...

Sunday, Lysa got up early and went to Best Buy, while I fed Jayden. She came home with her Wii Fit and started playing it as soon as Jayden was in bed. I... took a nap. When Lysas mom came over to take care of Jayden, Lysa and I went to our next destination. PF changs. For those that have not been there, GO! I absolutely hate asian food, but I love that place. We had the Pear Mojitos to drink and the Lettuce Wrap appetizer. Then I got the Kung Pao shrimp and she got the Changs (spicy) Chicken. It was great. Pricing for the both of us after tip was in the 70$ range though. You get what you pay for though. I then suprised her with a trip to the mini golf course. Again, I hear you asking how that is for her and if you know me, I absolutely hate mini golf. I hate putting. I hate everything to do with it. But, Lysa likes it and we haven't played since we were dating. In fact, those that know how ultra-competitive I am, will understand why the first and only other time we went, we got into a huge fight. Once again, Lysa beat me on the mini golf course. We followed that up by bowling. A skill she has vastly improved on with her Wii. She beat me there too. In my defense, there were absolutely zero bowling balls that fit my fingers. After the 6th frame I finally went and got a lighter ball that I could cradle in my arm and didn't use my fingers.

All in all, it was a good weekend and Lysa had a good time too. Just crazy though, 5 years? Time flies so quickly. Jayden is 2 and it seems like not so long ago, Lysa was pregnant and huge and we were waiting, waiting, waiting for him to come out! Its a challenge to even just focus on the present. To cherish everyday for what it is and avoid looking at tomorrow. I've found when I look for tomorrow, I find myself in next week and that tomorrow is long gone. Of course then, its a different tomorrow, but you all get the point.

Have a great tomorrow... of course for me right now, thats today!!

have I confused you enough yet?

2008-07-30T09:19:00.004-06:00

How time flies...

I dont get it... I just cant stay on top of blogging. I turn around and its been weeks since I blogged.

So, Mom and Dad are in Africa. Melanie is there with them and will be coming back in late August. We just finished taking care of Gabe, while Terry (lysas mom) was out of town for two weeks...

Scott and Amy came into town and hung out for a few week. She has some pics up on her blog. Make sure to check the blogroll on the right side of the blog for her link. It was great seeing them. Maybe next time we can keep them longer. They had a ton of people to hang out with and we didnt get to see them that long.

Scott did leave Colorado and had a present mailed to me. If you are interested in the contents, you should call him and ask him about the present from boulder!! ;0) (had to give you a hard time buddy... its just too funny!)

heres a pic with a few of us...

On Saturday the 19th, We also got to see Aaron and Lauren and Austin and Hunter... With all the friends that have moved away, its a relief to know that someone is moving back...

Jayden had a great time with the Kerchners. We went and looked at the Puppies at Park Meadows too.

Here, Jayden got a slide for his birthday, he loves sliding down it all day.

Jayden also shuns normal toys and tends to humor himself by climbing in cabinets..

below- Jayden plays with some play dough.. the non-trademarked version..

So last Saturday, I spent most of the day cleaning out the aquarium with the oscar fish that mom and dad left...

I wasn't too happy about it to begin with, but I take too much pride in my work to not feel a sense of accomplishment and feel like I have something invested in these fish now..

Before cleaning...

After the cleaning

So that gets you thru Sat and Sunday, I am off today and Jayden and I have some work to do. Not sure how much Ill actually get done, but we will see wont we.

2008-07-18T20:02:00.011-06:00

Sam and Katie Wiley!

Well, these are from July 5th. Sam and Katie came over for an evening, it also happened to be the same evening that I had previously scheduled a UFC fight. I didnt get to spend as much time as I wanted with them, but they could be out here for a month and that wouldn't happen.

For those that dont know Sam, I bought my old townhouse from him when he moved back to Ohio. Now hes back in College and getting his degree...

A trivia fact about Katie, she and mom graduated from the same High School, albeit, several years apart.

Sams emergence also brought out of hiding people like the one pictured below.

I scarcely knew that creatures like Justin still existed. It was great to see him, for those that dont already know. Justin is as close to a twin as I got. I do have more hair and slightly less belly, at least for now. Justin and I have tons in common. We both even share this now: we never have enough time to see each other anymore.

Can you recognize Dave when hes not passed out on the floor?? Here, he is lying on the floor, but is sober and not sick to his stomach.

Tom, another that would never be caught at a UFC fight without the excuse of the Wileys... see how clever I am to expose him to a great sport?

above, Matt and David with a little of Brian in the corner. both sipping beers, both looking extremely content. almost happy.

Jayden sitting on Brian and Terri. He loves those two!!

a broader pic of the room during the fight.

My brother Matt and my wife Lysa... Lysa was making some really good blondies... (those are white brownies with white chocolate and usually macadamia nuts, try one at Applebees, they are great!!)

Closet... I nicknamed him so due to his aversion to smoking in public or letting anyone know that he smokes.... Even though everyone already knows he smokes.

David-From the couch to the floor. We had 2 rooms full of people for this one. Next one will be bigger.

That will wrap up the pics from the 5th. On we move to last weekend. Now I will only be 6 days behind. After a huge fight, lysa and I had a good talk and then she had her friend Kristi-Ann over to hang out and I went golfing with Eric.

Lysa and her friend Kristi-ann, They joined Eric and I for some late night drinking and food. Eric made a fresca-salsa like dish that kinda ends up like a tostada, with tons more flavor and extremely healthy. Lysa had a little to drink in the pic above, hence the sunglasses at midnight. She doesnt drink often, so its always funny when she does.

Below... I have no idea, ... what the heck??...???

After recovering from drinking, Lysa put Jayden to work below...

Why do you think people used to have so many kids?
to do chores..

Im just kidding, lysa didnt have him vaccuum. The kid threw a fit til I gave him the vaccuum, I'm not even joking. I cant wait, I can go play golf and Jayden can clean the house and do all Daddies chores!! that pic was from the 13th. maybe tomorrow I will catch you up to the present.. or maybe youll have to wait a few weeks!!

heres a bonus vid of Jayden to end the post... enjoy!!

2008-07-17T08:01:00.007-06:00

Pics from the 4th of July... yeah, I know, its the 17th.. Im still behind, so whats new?

Jayden playing with his new CARS sprinkler...

Mmmmaaaaaaa... Jayden giving Mommy a kiss.

Jayden with his "goggles" on... they came with the slip'n'slide...

Jayden and I waiting for the fireworks in the back of the 4runner

2008-07-02T22:25:00.007-06:00

Trying to catch up....

Jayden and the cake Lysa made, with no high fructose corn syrup or gluten... pretty darn good. Everybody loved it.

So, I'm behind... Jaydens b-day party was June 21st and I still havent got the pics or video up.

I guess it doesnt matter a whole lot cuz I dont know that anyone actually reads this.

Heres Jayden playing with Sienna...

We got Jayden a sandbox for his 2nd birthday and he loves it. He spends all kinds of time playing in there.

Here is Jayden opening one of his presents.

Jayden and Creed playing together...

all in all it was great. We had basically 2 parties that day, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. My brother and several others came over after work and we grilled up again about 6pm...

Heres a great video of Jayden and Creed having some fun

2008-06-09T18:05:00.002-06:00

5:51p...

My brother Mathew and his girlfriend Shaniqua had their baby daughter Lilly today at 5:51p...

she weighs in at 5lbs 6 oz.

Heres the proud daddy!!

2008-06-04T18:37:00.003-06:00

Hockey, Its about time...

Its about time the best sport in the world got some recognition...

Hope you all had a chance to watch the Penguins/Red Wings game on Monday night.

The triple OT game had me on the edge of my seat, in spite of the absence of my Avs. I found this article about it. I thought it was interesting, this article is from the Palm Beach Post in Florida. I think that the article and where it came from are indications that hockey is doing better than ever and becoming more relevant as a sport. Hockey has always been the best sport, but it was never marketed well, and because of its high cost to play, will probably always be somewhat of a niche sport. But it bodes well for the sport.

anyways, heres the article.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2008/06/03/a1c_elmore_0604.html

I also read that in Detroit, the city that didnt sell out for the Avs or Dallas series.. the ratings for the Pens/Wings games have been higher than the Pistons/Celtics series.

Take that crappy NBA... you gave us crap for a Commissioner and now its biting you in the butt!!

Photo courtesy of Getty Images and Espn.com

2008-05-12T17:30:00.008-06:00

The Full Update

Well, I havent blogged alot lately and for a pretty good reason, Lysa and I have been busy selling our townhome and moving to Aurora.

For those who hadnt heard yet, we are buying my parents place. We had the townhome on the market for less than 2 weeks before it went under contract. It cost me an arm and a leg to sell, but we closed on Apr 28th. Now, we go about trying to buy my parents house.

Below are our last pics in Jaydens old room next to the Avs logo that Murielle painted for us...

Even with the craziness, Lysa and I got to take Jayden to the Avs playoff game against the Wild for game 4 of that series. It was my first playoff game, and Jaydens also. Funny, I go to about 5-10 games a year and had never been to a playoff game. My brother, Calvin and I also went to Game 3 against Detroit in the 2nd round.

Jayden after the game, asleep on his uncle Matts' shoulder...

(above) Jayden at the Pepsi Center for a 5-1 Avs win in game 4 over the Wild...
As far as the Avs are concerned, I feel like they had a pretty successful season. After missing the playoffs last year, they got back into it despite losing their top players for stretches during the regular season and playoffs. No excuses, cuz the Red Wings look, really, really good right now, but for the Detroit series we were without Stastny (leading scorer), Svatos (leading goal scorer), Smyth, Hannan, Forsberg, and Wolski. Thats some depleted firepower.

Last Friday, after the series ended, the Avs and Coach Quennville mutually parted ways rather than renew his contract. Word on the street is that he is interested in the Toronto Maple Leafs job that just became available. Per the rumor mill, the leading candidates for the Avs coaching job are Pat Burns (3 Stanley Cups), Patrick Roy, John Tortorella (Tampa Bay 1 cup), and University of Denver alum and AHL coach Kevin Dineen. Overall, I think if the Avs lose Sakic, and Forsberg like I think they will. They will let go Liles and/or Sauer walk in free agency. They will resign Brunette, Foote and Theodore and maybe Jeff Finger. Finger is interesting cuz he had a great regular season, but then looked lost in the playoffs. He is a cheap role player though and may be given another shot. David Jones looked great down the stretch and should be a lock for the starting roster in October. Then, all the Avs have to do is go after someone like Wade Redden, Teppo Numminen, Brian Campbell or maybe Mattias Norstrom in free agency to fill out the defense. I feel like if our offense is healthy, we are fine there. anyways, enough on hockey for now, onto more pics and updates.

(below) Heres Jayden Asleep in his crib in his new room.

My Mom and Dad spent some time in South Africa, doing some mission work. When they came back, Dads parents, Poppy and Grammy, came up from Arizona to hang out with us for a weekend. Here are some Pics from dinner that night.

Jayden needs some serious hydration after running around the deck in the backyard.

(below) "Sienna!! you forgot your pacifier again!!"

So, Basically, we've gotten moved in. Mom and Dad are getting rid of a bunch of their stuff, and trying to get ready to go back to South Africa.

I took Lysa golfing for Mothers Day and we all went to breakfast at Dozens to see Matt. Matt and Shaniquas' baby is due sometime between Jaydens 2nd b-day on June 23rd and my B-day on July 9th. So stay tuned.

Lysa got a Wii for her b-day (well, it took us a month to find one, but it was for her b-day) and Jayden loves to play MarioKart and the baseball game on Wii Sports. He loves running around outside in the backyard and playing with mom and dads 3 shetlin sheepdogs (mini collies)

Overall, things are going good. Just need to get the place in Aurora in our name and let mom and dad get the next portion of their lives going.

Well, I think thats probably enough to digest or ingest, or whatever gest you prefer. So, until next time loyal readers...

2008-04-13T00:17:00.005-06:00

American Idol Shocker!!

What could bring me out of semi-blogger retirement? Well, just like Brett Favre, I was having second thoughts about leaving on the top of my game. Plus, this was something I had to comment on. Hopefully, I still have some people that will check my blog to see if something ever pops up again.

Anyways, I had to comment on Thursdays American Idol show. As usual the Top 8 performed at the beginning of the show,

Watch this..

I cant figure out what reason they would have to do something this bold... This is Fox!! 30 million people watch this show!! They weren't just singing a song with the words "Jesus" thrown around here and there. They sang a WORSHIP song on stage. Not to mention Carly Smithson at the end of the song! She completely rocked it! I was extremely impressed. Not only is it all over Youtube, but its also a top 10 downloaded music video on Itunes. I mean, whoever talked the Fox suits into doing this was not just brilliant, but they have to be making bank off it. The funny thing is, I dont even mind that the suits at Fox and Apple make money off it.

I mean ultimately, they had to be motivated by money right? thoughts anyone??

I also just noticed that they sung this song on wed first, and omitted "Jesus" and replaced it with "shepherd"... Then they redid the song on Thurs as it was written (above) I wonder if the songwriter and label had anything to do with that?

I also noticed that usually, they cut to the judges reactions, Not for this performance. interesting. hmmm..

2008-01-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post,

I finally got my 180 down, I wanted to put it up for a few friends to check it out.

I wanted tom to be able to get several in from where he was sitting, so I went kinda slow, But I can also do a switch 180 and of course, do it faster and bigger.

2008-01-11T00:07:00.001-07:00

Kickin off the New Year! (with a long post and lots of boarding)

Well, I started the new year in style... with 5 days of snowboarding in the first 8 days of January. Its great cuz I love getting out and doing stuff like that. Last year I spent months playing hockey at least once a week. That kicked off a 4 mo. span of working out at the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Im just glad I could push something into the new year. Im at 10 boarding days on the Season, and hope to hit 25. It should be makeable considering I can board til June at A-basin.

On Jan 1st, Tom, Mark and I, all got up early after late New Years Eve parties to go snowboard at Breck. A new year generally gets people to try new things. Usually, I am not one of those people. This year though, I wanted to work on my 180's and 360's so I had to change some of my binding settings. It worked great and I can ride switch again.

above, Tom got a pic of me landing of a jump off a roller. It was late, but It wasn't that impressive anyways so, no big deal.

Onto the 5th-8th Breck trip. Harly got to use a friends condo (3 bedroom duplex) up in Breck for the week... so, off we went.
I went boarding on Saturday then started the drinking at 2pm while I waited for Harly to meet me up in Breck.
Lauren showed up later with their friend Robert. More on him later.

above, I decided to start talking Politics, while we were drinking... BAD mistake!! Robert and Harly are really into discussing (or arguing) their opinions.

There was alot of drinking all weekend but nothing like Saturday night.

After a bunch of drinks, I got the idea to ride some bikes in the snow drunk... Yeah, Im real brilliant. I did ok at it.

Robert (below) didnt...

Then, we went and made some board adjustments for Sunday morning.

Heres the group from Sunday morning. This would be Roberts first day snowboarding.

Harly and Lauren walking to the bus stop.

(Below) Here I am waiting for Robert on his first run. I didnt wait long though. For a video of Roberts first run ever, ck out my vids at youtube click here... or click on the link on the right side of this page. The guy is a frickin prodigy!!

Sunday night, we were joined by Mark and Harly's friend Brian. Then, there was more drinking, Poker, and movies.

We were joined by Harlys friend Dave, another Brian and Justin. I stayed and boarded thru Tues at Vail, and then headed home, but not before hitting a few 180s, and boarding FEET of powder.

By the way, Robert ended up hitting the box and throwing down a 180 on his 3rd day boarding.

2008-01-02T01:06:00.001-07:00

Two Parties in Three Nights

(Harly and Matt discussing Liddells' unexpected win)

So, the last few days have been pretty busy. Saturday Lysa, Jayden and I went and bought a new dining set. Its a little breakfast nook... Adds a bunch more seating to our small kitchen.
We somehow got it, picked it up from Thornton, and still prepared for "Fight Night" Lysa cleaned and I ran errands and got everything else. We got to see Liddell pull off an improbable win over Silva, and then watch Hughes get his butt kicked by St. Pierre in UFC 79...

(above- Mike and Mark)

(below- Dave (downtown) Brown and Ross)

Then, Sunday was another cleaning day to get ready for monday night and New Years Eve and our Third Annual Sands New Years Eve party (trademarked)

(Paige, Lysa and Kiersten at the new "breakfast nook")

It was smaller than years past (check the archive for pics of 2006 and 2007)
but it was still great.

A little New years poker

Mark, Tom and I all went to bed after 2am and got early to go snowboarding.
Pics from that should be forthcoming, as well as a little post about that.

2007-12-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

A Little about this kid.

Funny... I see the blank white screen to write something down and my mind goes... yep... blank and white. I had a few different ideas about what to write, but I will just go with this one for now.

I realized this week that I have consistently put up pictures showing Jayden doing this or that, and its been said a picture is worth a thousand words, but I am not always the one taking the pic. So, sometimes they aren't my words. I thought, for once I would just try to describe this kid.

For those that lost track, Jayden was born just over 18 mo. ago. He was a big baby at 9 lbs 6 oz. and I think that is what helped him sleep the whole night right away. Like most dads i've been told, its a little harder to bond with your kid when he just eats, sleeps and poops. Luckily, that doesn't last long and Jayden has developed quite the personality.

He is all over the place. He gets into everything. He especially will get into stuff he knows hes not supposed to when he wants attention. He will actually watch you to see how you are going to react when he does something hes not supposed to. Negative or Positive, the kid likes attention. He is extremely outgoing. He gets along with everyone. Bigger, smaller whatever,. He can be gentle with smaller kids and the only time we've seen him do anything otherwise was once with Sienna, when he pulled her hair. We have had so many people around thru his year and a half, I think he expects there to always be people around. He hams it up for the camera. He dances to any music he hears. And not your typical little kid dance. He has got the best moves I've seen from any 18 mo old. Must have got it from Daddy. He knows exactly what the Avs logo is, and even when I turned on an Ahl hockey game at my parents made sure to tell me it was "hocckeeeee" . Unfortunately, when he is wearing his Brett Favre jersey, he still says hockey. Im working on that one. His latest word is "Cool". And everytime he sees grandpa frank, he does what I am dubbing the "Mauro Anthem" its a "dun, dun, duuuuuh!!" sound.
As Matt Wilson pointed out last night, he doesnt have any problem focusing on things. Once he is focused and locked in, he doesnt get easily distracted. When Lysa asks him "Is it bedtime?" he shakes his head no... and then when Lysa makes that a statement and says "Its time to go to bed, he grabs his water bottle and goes right for the stairs and to his room. He knows the difference between a question and a statement, at 18mo! I know grown adults that dont get that! (I work with some of them). He climbs up on the couch and grabs my remotes and sits there hitting buttons like I do. If he hears laughing on a tv show or hears other people laughing, he lets out loud laughs. He loves cell phones and remotes. He has tried to change his own diaper, and has climbed out of his crib and jumper. Basically, if this kid gets it in his mind to do it, he will. Even if he does throw a few frustration fits along the way. Its crazy to see this kid analyze stuff. You can see the wheels turning and the look of determination. Hes a Mommas boy so far. He is constantly around her, saying Up, up, up. when he needs comfort, he runs to her. Its all good though, I don't think he will stay that way forever. Give it a few years.

So, ultimately, my mom says he is just like I was at that age. Im sure there is so much more to tell you all. But, I dont have that much time. Its a treat to watch this kid grow.

Laters,

2007-12-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

Handy Manny, Spanish/English and some politics...

Ok, so, I dont talk much about political views here, but I figure nows as good a time as any. Last week, I was out at lunch and stopped at a Shell gas station and a 7-11 and noticed that the signs in the stores had english and spanish instructions and greetings... Except, the Spanish was bigger and on top of the English. Now, I dont really have a problem with people knowing and speaking other languages. I think that the U.S. is sad compared to other countries where much larger percentages of their populations speak multiple languages. However, with that, I also think that the fact that English seems to be a secondary language to these businesses is a little disturbing. Then, I'm at home and Lysa turned on this cartoon about a fix it guy. He and his tools fix stuff and they speak in Spanish part of the time. Again, Im not opposed to any of these things in and of themselves as much as the combination of all these things. I feel that there needs to be more of an emphasis on speaking multiple languages for all Americans, but emphasizing that English is the primary and National language. I dont like that rather than push people to accept that English needs to be used and accepted. That we baby and enable those who dont speak english to stay in their bubble. We dont have to be arrogant about it, or prideful, but we do need to take some action to ensure that English is spoken and will continue to be spoken. I feel like its important for our American heritage to embrace the diversity but also put an emphasis on keeping the english speaking heritage intact. In my mind its similiar to the Christian/Secular issue. We can support other heritages, and languages, and religions, Without pushing the more prominent out of the picture entirely.

As a father, I want Jayden to be well rounded and diverse but also have a clear understanding of where he comes from.

Thoughts? Opinions? Feedback?? hit me up.