The Holiday Season

Christmas is over and now that work is slowing down I now have time to relax and get to know my wife again. It has been a crazy month working but there is a lot of good news. My foot is not broken. It had gotten so painful that I couldn't walk and after some very expensive scans I was left not knowing why it hurt but at least it doesn't hurt now. The hernia that I thought I had may just be a pulled muscle and with a few weeks of not busting my gut everything should go back to normal. A great part to all of this was that my insurance is great and after all the doctor visits and scans it only cost us 60 bucks! Of course the majority of my ailments are work related but it is great to have it sorted out.

My wife is doing well with the pregnancy. There are times when that little boy of ours just kicks and wiggles all around and I can't imagine that it is all too comfortable for her but she has been a trooper through it all. We were spoiled this Christmas with great gifts from family and friends. My Mom got our family a Queens onesie and sweatshirts for us. Of course the best part was giving some great gifts that the family loved. is great at picking out presents that everyone really enjoyed and can use which is a big change from my usual gift card presentation.

With work at UPS slowing down, we are looking at starting up a pest control business again and I have to admit that I am excited for it. I will stay at UPS to get the great benefits and do my own thing in the afternoon. I miss working for myself, my boss was really cool.

That being said, life is great. Now we just need our friends from New York, New Jersey, Florida and Colorado to come out here for a really fun vacation!

My Favorite Thing

The other week I watched Oprah do her show talking about all of her favorite things. Mostly it was all just a bunch of gadgets and gizmos that were kind of cool but seemed more like a waste of money than anything else. For me, my favorite thing happened this morning around 5. My wife who has taken to sleeping on the couch when her back is really bothering her came into the bedroom to cuddle with me. We talked for a couple hours as the snow was falling outside and morning slowly crept into the room. I loved it, cuddle time is my favorite time of any day.

That being said nothing else seems all that important. I am sitting at this computer realizing that the painkillers I took for my foot are keeping me from being able to write complete sentences. Maybe I will write some more tomorrow when I can see straight.

6 Months

Tomorrow will mark the 6 month anniversary of our wedding day and there are times that I wonder where the time has gone. In the last half year we have had a small moving business in NYC, condensed both of our lives to fit into a Toyota Tundra, moved over 2,000 miles cross country to Utah to start a new life and are expecting a little baby boy into this family at the end of March.

I have to laugh at myself when I look back to my wedding day when I thought I knew what it took to have a great relationship in this marriage. Once upon a time I thought that cooking and washing dishes, cleaning the house and doing the laundry would be a great way to show my love and appreciation for having a great person in my life... I now know that what it really takes is money. I am not trying to be sarcastic here but If I had enough money there wouldn't be any problems (or so I am told). We could hire someone to do the laundry and someone else to cook and even a third person to clean. After all that was taken care of, I could send my wife on all the trips that she wanted and she would come home and like me again. Of course after two days that would wear off and she could go on another exotic trip where she would miss me once again and come home.

To be honest, I don't like being back in Utah. I know that this is the best place to be right now but I am looking forward to when I will be able to get out once again and be in a new place trying new things. The advantages far exceed the drawbacks so I don't plan on leaving anytime soon but it keeps me daydreaming for the time to come where we can start in a new place once again.

I am glad to be married. I am learning more and more about my shortcomings on a daily basis and in a few years I may be a good person after all. In the here and now, I will just do my best to bring home some more money.

The "Ups", the "Downs" and the "I don't know what the hell is going ons"

Marriage. Enough said.

The best thing about being married has to be having the chance to spend everyday with the coolest person on earth. After dating many years, it is great to find a person that I can share the quiet moments of life with. I often find myself checking the clock throughout the day waiting for her to come home and wondering what she is doing at the moment. Of course by opening up so much and trusting in one person there are going to be the moments of hurt and sadness but they are easily forgotten when the sun decides to shine it's rays once again.

I would have to say though that as a man I spend most of my time wondering what the hell is going on. We, as men, aren't that perceptive of life in general.(at least that is what I have come to understand) When women are happy we are foolish enough to think that as long as we do nothing, they will stay happy. Avoiding the negative is not a good offense. It is like balancing dishware, you are very careful to put everything in it's proper place and very gingerly, you take you hands your off and hope it will stay balanced for a few moments. Of course as you move a few feet away, it all comes crashing down. There are no breaks in a marriage. This is a good thing though for a guy like me because I enjoy smelling the roses a little too much and by doing that, I am late for work... Damn. The final conclusion is that if I am not actively pushing forward, I am only backsliding. Most days I am left wondering what the hell is going on but slowly this giant cadbury egg is catching on.

Other than realizing my failures as a man, not much is new. I did receive a call from a friend here in the ward and he informed me that the two of us were asked to plan a party for the Elders. We had a good laugh discussing some ideas and figuring out the best way that we could offend the most people and never be asked to plan something like this again.

Se llama Miguel

I was not so gently persuaded the other day to watch a Spanish lesson... Se llama Miguel. I am getting better already! Before I know it, I will be called as an ambassador to a Spanish speaking country and when I am called upon for this great duty, my response will be, Se llama Miguel. World peace will follow, children will be fed and the doves of peace will fly overhead!

Since it has been over a month since my last post, one would think that I would have a lot to report on but sadly I don't. I sleep, wake up and get a hernia. Yes, I have a hernia. My work at UPS which I undertook to take advantage of the most excellent benefits has left me wounded and limping. Most likely I will not get it fixed until January so that I won't miss out on work until things get a little more stable around here. The sad thing is that I wasn't even moving a heavy box at the time. There were plenty of instances where I was moving 140 pound boxes around but the moment of the tearing occurred when I moved a 70 pound box to a shelf around the height of my shoulders. The nice things is that while I am at work, it is not too painful. The times it hurts the most is on the weekends when I am not as active. Other than that, I am enjoying my time back at the bottom of the labor pile. My body is used to waking up at 3am every morning and there are a bunch of fun people to talk with to pass the time while I am there.

The nice thing about getting a hernia has been the realization that I won't be able to work with my body forever to earn a living so it is time to finish my schooling. I have been thinking about what I would like to study and I decided on religious studies. I have made some goals that some may think a bit far reaching but the way I figure it, if I can apply myself to education the same way that I applied myself to my own jobs it will be a piece of cake. I am going to have to pay some parking tickets that I swore I would never pay but what could be more apropos? My education will start again when I can put my pride down and look at the bigger picture.

Utah is great except for the lack of pizza. I know that this is a great place to be but sometimes I miss the friends and food that are back East. All the more motivation for me to do well in school and see which way the wind will blow.

One note of total happiness. and I were able to hear the baby's heartbeat last week! I don't know how to explain it but all I can say is that hearing a tiny heartbeat made me feel like the richest man on earth. This little baby is going to be really smart and I get to be the daddy of a really smart kid. I am proud already.

My bad...

After much prodding from some good friends I realized that it was time to get a new post up. This one will be without a picture because since the cell phone is broken and hasn't been replaced I can't post a pic of my sexy self!

So we moved to Utah. We arrived at then end of JUne and spent a couple of weeks just getting comfortable here. Seeing friends from Jersey, introducing my wife to some crazy family and eating a ton of good food.(I really miss NY pizza) I want to start up my own business again and get some things rolling but it is just a matter of figuring out what I want to do, and getting some start up money. I sent an application to UPS and to Kennecott and UPS called back first. I have been working there for the last 5 weeks from 3:30am to 9:00am and losing a ton of wieght! I have to admit that was the biggest draw for me. It is a constant workout to move and lift those heavy boxes and at the end of the morning I am tired, sweaty and stink but it feels great.

We found a great basement apartment up the street from my grandparent's which means that I will be in their ward. It also means that we are in my parent's ward. The nice thing is that the apartment is clean andvery cold with the AC blasting through it. The only downside is that there are a ton of spiders, lucky for me I have plenty of shoes to throw at them.

Somewhere in all of this, I turned 28! Crap, it's time for me to be an adult.

We spend a lot of time visiting with family and my personal favorite, playing with Daniel, Moo and Samuel. The Egbert's put in a small swimming pool in their backyard and I love going over and swimming while visiting and getting lots of little treats.

I have to admit that I really miss my Jersey friends and the life I had in Queens but it is very nice to live in a place where we are safe and life is very quiet. Oh, I really love eating great Mexican food again and making Tater-tots! Sooooo good!

Waiting for the manicure

Come on the train...get your riding.

A paradise in the Bronx

Preparing the supplies

I think that this blog has now pretty much turned into a picture blog with my whole week summed up by a simple title.

We are married! It feels great to be able to start a new chapter in life with a wonderful woman who I am so happy to spend time with. I am not sure what most "newlyweds" do with their time but we have decided to start a business! Starting tomorrow morning we are movers. We have a truck for hire business and within 24 hours of starting it have 3 jobs lined up. It may not seem like much to most people but I am excited to see what we can do with this in the month we have remaining here in New York. It should be a great way to spend time together, see the city and raise enough cash to get our butts to Utah.

I love my woman!

Us!

Temple Trip

The Village

I have developed a pattern of putting up a picture and taking a few days to write about it. Life is just too much fun to write all about it.
This past Tuesday, and I went into the city for the afternoon and it was a perfect Spring day. We started off in Chinatown and then worked our way up to the village and had some sausage bread..... it was soooooo good. That is something that I will miss when I am back in Utah but it is a fair trade. We got some ice cream right after that at an upscale overpriced ice cream shop, of course this is actually really good ice cream and worth every penny.
We are coming up to the final 2 weeks of engaged life and as much as I enjoy it, I am so excited to get married!

Saturday in the city

On Saturday, I met up with a couple friends in Manhattan and did the standard running around that I have grown to love. There is something fun about being able to walk the streets that so many people plan vacations to on a daily basis. Of course so much exposure has helped me realize that my most favorite thing to do is just sitting back and enjoying the sounds and people... and take a lot of pictures of myself.
One bit of exciting news, I saw the orange mime and he is now silver!!! I am so proud of him and how he was able to grow and really stretch his character into something larger than himself.

Thanks Megan!

Megan!!!! The gift card was great, I bet you miss that chocolate don't you?!

Itialian Thick Dark Hot Chocolate!

My fiance had some errands in the city this morning so I met up with her and we stopped by Max Brenner's to get some of the good stuff... This hot chocolate is the reason why I am able to smile! Nothing like a cup of pure goodness in the morning to clear away some stress. They have really good breakfast food as well and I was lucky enough to finish off what my little butterfly couldn't. I had a promising job interview yesterday and I am looking forward to hearing from them.
Tonight is the Queens dance for YSA and although it is fun to go and I always enjoy myself there I have to admit that I just love spending time with the woman I love.

Dano-man

I was going through the pictures on my phone and saw this one again... I miss those kids a ton and it maks me want to move back to Utah even sooner. I am just reminding myself that the longer I stay out here, the more great stories I will have to share with them down the road.

LGA

Alright, so I know that it has been a very long time since I have typed up any new information about life here in NYC and I am very sorry for that.

Let's start with the picture. This is Megan in the front with me and her sister Merideth is in the back. They came out a couple of weeks ago and had a fun time here in New York. I have to admit that I like having the company here with me ad it is fun to have some people to cook for. and I took them to our favorite spot for hot chocolate, Max Brener's. I really really love that place and need to figure out how to make it like they do so I can move to Utah and make a ton of money with the stuff.

We have a marrige license. I don't have a job yet but at least we have the license. It wasn't too painful because when I got really bored, let me type morse code on her nose. I had to stop making the beeping sound but at least she let me type away to pass the time. There is nothing like City Hall here in Queens... No one understands anything but they want you to pay lose attention and not have your cell phones on.

As far as wedding planning goes, we are plugging away at it. Actually I should say that she is plugging away at it, I try to get involved but I have the attention span of a turkey sandwich. I am good a getting take out food and driving although my driving involves a lot of horn honking and yelling at people that can't hear me.

Other than that I have to be honest and say that my life is pretty great! I have good friends, family and an incredible woman that wants to be my wife. I never thought that life could work so well in my favor.

Lunch at Luigi's

mom had a layover at JFK on her way to Spain and I was the lucky one to spend 7 hours with her. Its not a bad way to meet the mother of one's future spouse, it forced us to talk to each other and get a lot of awkwardness out of the way really fast.
Still on the job search. I am hoping that I can find something soon that I will enjoy. Maybe I am being too picky with that last statement but it would be nice to have a job that I enjoy going to again.
My friend Megan is coming to town this week and it will be fun to have her around just so I have an excuse to eat a lot of pizza and cookies.

One box at a time

Since we will both be having jobs in the near future we decided to get some of the heavier things moved now while there is plenty of time. I got David this morning and we went to apartment to get some furniture loaded up in my truck. After we did some moving we went to a Columbian place for lunch in Jersey that I really like. The food is good but my favorite part is that it is cheap!
My dad and stepmom along with the royals are flying into the city this coming Wednesday and it will be fun to have them around and meet this awesome woman in my life. I think that Katie and Tayson will have a lot of fun and I plan on feeding them a lot of pizza. We will see how many different places we can get pizza at in just a few days. We will take them to get some hot chocolate as well. Mmmmmmmm, it has been a few weeks since I have gotten some and I am feeling the urge to get some more.
Working with the young men is going well. They are good kids and other than being teens, there isn't much bad about them. I do a lot of driving and that is getting a little annoying but that is what it takes to get everyone together out here. I even did some pushups with them.... That is a sign that I like them, I don't do pushups for anyone including myself!

Family

I met my future sister-in-law last week. and I drove up to Dartmouth to meet her sister Mirelle. She's awesome!

Ballet

Saturday afternoon we met up with Camille and Hailee for a nice time at the New York Ballet. It was interesting... A couple of the dances they did were odd but there were a couple of really good ones.
We went uptown and had dinner with a friend of at a great mexican place that was a little steep but very tasty. It was great to have a little spice in my food again.

Great friends

Our friends Lisa and Veronica threw a small engagement party for us last night and it was great. I loved the cake and here is the picture, Lisa said that there wasn't enough room to get the whole word on it... She cracks me up.
I have to thank the many people who are supportive and encouraging to us. Whether it be words of wisdom or hugs and kisses, we are very blessed to be surrounded with good people.

A great dessert

Sometimes we just need some ice cream to make things feel better. Lucky for me that I have ice cream and an amazing woman to eat it with. Notice only one spoon! Who would have thought that I would share my food!!! She is some kind of wonderful!

It's official!!!!!!!

Well here it is! I have only known her for a short time but want to spend eternity with her. May 19th is the day that it will begin!
I love her.

Hello Kitty Valentines!

For the first time, I had a valentines to remember. I got a diary to keep track of events. A bank to save for the events, and a ring to use until the event.
Life tends to throw a few curve balls our way and every now and then we get to hit a home run!

He's blue!

A picture of Ed, Joni and myslef with the blue m&m at times square. It was great having friends in town and showing them all the things and people that I have come to love out here in the East. I am very tired and am now in the proccess of finding a job. I am kind of thinking that it might be nice just to work at Wendy's for a few months just so I can get out of any stressful job situations, plus get a discount on some food.

I have to say thanks to friends and family for their kind words and to David for the time he spends listening and telling me the truth no matter what may happen.

They're here!

Joni and Kathy made it into town this morning at 5:30am and now we will be running around the city and showing them the greatest place to play!

On a personal note, the fox that I have been chasing has caught me! its a great feeling, it makes me wonder how I got through without her.

Kiddles

Becky sent me a few pictures of Dano and Moo and I think this one is my favorite. I have to admit that I miss those kids like crazy!

Alright, well something has been in the works for some time now and I don't want anyone to worry about me. I quit my job today. My boss is a great guy and he wants to head in a direction that I do not want to follow in. He is being more than kind and giving me a nice package to leave with. I am kind of sad about it because I like the people that I worl with but at the same time, this is the right move right now. I am not sure what to do next but I have been very fortunate in life to have things work out in the end and that is what I am hoping for now. I really don't want to talk about it too much right now so i will leave it it like that.

Other than that, things are great over here. I am more smitten by my fox every day as she slowly lets me into her life. I am a lucky man.

Now I just get to start the job search again but it shouldn't be too bad... At least I hope. Oh and if anyone wants to send some cookies, I always eat them.
Here's my home address for those who don't have it.
7804 76th st
Glendale NY 11385

What a good looking group!

From left to right we have Amber, Camille, myself, Josh and Hailee. They are a great group to hang out with and I love these girls... At least I loved them until they stole all my Hello Kitty items from my apartment on Sunday. I have to be proud because they did it right under my nose but still, they took all my Hello Kitty! I came home from church in Manhattan with them and my apartment just felt empty. They all came over late Saturday night for a sleep-over and we had a great time. Of course now they are in hot water and it will take some serious cooking for me to like them again.

I have to say that this was a great week and weekend, on Friday we met up with the NY singles group and played at this place up in Times Square called Dave and Busters. It is a fun arcade and they have food and all sorts of things to do, and it's free which in the city is hard to come by. After that we went to a diner and hung out for a couple hours just enjoying some fun conversation and I pigged out on fries and onion rings. David even made it out for the night and he crashed at my place friday night which was great because he was able to help me move some storage for a friend of ours Saturday morning. Nothing like a little service for a little pick-me-up!

The only thing that I can't get out of my mind is this girl that I am chasing... I have to admit that she is one clever fox. I know what I want to do about the whole thing but I am holding back for the time being out of respect for some other people. It really is driving me insane but the best I can hope for is to let time work things out. Part of me would love to be the caveman and beat my chest and show her what I have to offer and the smarter side of me says that it is best to hold back a little and let her figure things out on her own. One thing I know is that she is worth every second of pursuit. Now if only I could focus on anything other than her for 30 seconds my life would be much easier. Drama.

This week should be another fun one. My friends Joni and Kathy come into town Thursday and we will be running around like crazy people trying to see everything before they go home on Monday. I am glad to have more people come out because moving out here has really changed my life in a positive way and I want people back in Utah to see that.

A really bad haircut

Alright, I don't think that I have complained too much since I have moved out here. I have accepted the changes as they come and make the best of them but this, this has gone on too far! I can not get a decent haircut in this city!!! Every-time I have the need for a trim I try a new place just hoping that they will be a little better than the last but all I find are more idiots with razors.

Anyhow... I am over it. Really though, I just miss my Armenian barber in Utah. Greg knew how to do it just right. In a couple weeks it will be grown out enough to be bearable... I guess this is what happens when a person prays for some humility...

Now I am really over it. As far as life goes out here, this past week has been a blast. There hasn't been too much time for sleep but that just makes everything more enjoyable. I don't think that I am getting too old for sleep-overs, at least I hope I'm not.

David has had an injury the last few weeks so he has been coming to the Morristown class with Frank and I and that makes the night much more fun. There is nothing quite as funny as when David is able to throw out a great insult to someone in class who is a little too assuming. We just got back from eating at Cosimo's. The big boss hooked us up with some good meatballs. I have never been a big fan but these were really good. That place has to be my favorite pizza too.... Listen to me. All I talk about is pizza! Some things never change.

WOW!

So there isn't a picture today or much to write right now considering my brain is not working. Just want to say that I had the best night that I have had in a very very long time. Not super exciting, or way cool just the best night. I may be foolish but one thing I know is that people of great value are hard to find and when they come along, we need to absorb every second. I know this sounds vauge but once I can see straight I will explain everything. It's going to be a very good day!

Sleepover

Here's Hailee and Amber sleeping away Sunday morning. They slept over on Saturday night and I drug them with me to the singles ward up in Inwood... Mostly I went there to see a certain female but I only had a couple minutes with her so I am really kicking myself. I hate to admit it but I am smitten. I hate when this happens to me to because I turn into such an idiot. I know that I can play the part without any problems but that is always just for fun, now I can't help it. Oh well, it was good to have some female support though so I had some feedback on how stupid I looked.

I did have a great weekend though. It involved sleeping and dancing and eating. What could be more fun? Friday night there was another dance here in Queens and afterwards a group of us went into Manhattan for some food. I got a giant cookie that was freshly baked topped with ice cream, it was very good. After in the street they talked me into doing my Buttons dance and I did it. I felt ashamed but that is a daily occurance with me. I got home around 4 Saturday morning and spent most of the morning and afternoon in a strange haze that I didn't snap out of until I made plans to meet up with this girl in the city. Nothing like a strong case of the butterflies to get me out of the house and putting on the fancy clothes.

Work is going well and I love my apartment. I can really say that right now my life is starting to show some fruits from the last 6 months of my labors. I can relax and really enjoy some quality time with great people. It is strange to think that if I had not moved out here that I would not have met the people in my life. To some extent I miss Utah and everyone there but now this is my life and I couldn't imagine not being here and really having great people to spend time with. Not that I want to sound too preachy but I feel truly blessed. I must be getting sick to start feeling this emotional but it's just the way I feel.

Big snowflake

I have come to realize that most every picture up on this blog is of me or has me in it. I guess I don't need to justify my vanity seeing how this is my own blog and I am the only one who reads this anyway... Not really but i suppose this could be considered a journal of some kind except that I don't put any of the secret stuff in here, I have to keep mom proud.

Life has been great out here. Work has it's hurdles but I am not working 12 hour days any more and I am able to get out of the office and get the audits done so it just feels good to be outside. The weather here has been amazing. We had 70 degrees in the city on Saturday. I slept most of the morning and then got on a train for Manhattan jsut to get some air and stretch my legs. That sounds funny now that I have said I went to Manhattan to get some air... i have been here too long already.

On Sunday I attended a different singles ward and found them to be friendly and fun. This was the Inwood ward and they meet up in Spanish Harlem, not the greatest neighborhood but a good place all the same. Right when I walked through the door someone introduced themselves to me and said he was Josh, the bishop! That cracked me up. I liked that he was so unassuming to just be himself first and realize that being a bishop is more than a title. They had a break the fast pot luck after church as well so I hung around for that and spent time making a few more friends.

Last night we had FHE for the singles in my branch at my friend Lisa's house. It was great even though i was the youngest one and the oldest was in his 50's. I really liked hanging out with them and we laughed our heads off. My gut still hurts from all the laughing last night. We played Balderdash and there were some very very funny answers.

Other than that, I have just been enjoying the quiet moments. I have some friends coming out this month and some more next month so it will be great to have the company and see some sights.