What an amazing weekend

He is here! My new best friend came into this world Easter morning at 1:11 after 3 days of heroic labor by my amazing ninja wife . I know that every parent thinks that their child is special but I know that mine is the best! I had the great chance to be the first one to hold him since I am the one who got to catch him and I knew right away that this kid is awesome. There really isn't much else to say other than I am so elated to have this guy in our family and I am so glad to everyone who has been so helpful in getting him here.

Love and Marriage

made an interesting comment yesterday, she mentioned how odd it seemed that couples who had been married for 30 or 40 years could still be in love with the person that they married. It struck a chord with me and made me think about the reasons I fell in love with her and the things that make me smile when I think of her.

When we first met I was amazed to meet a strong intelligent woman who was able to take charge and lead the way when no other person stepped up to the challenge. We were at a singles activity and she not only organized it but also taught the lesson, did the cooking and cleaned it all up and at the same time was doing her part to befriend new members in the area. I was impressed.

She is a great dancer. I have never been any good at it but I dance to have fun and can pick up a few steps but when she dances, there is a glow that she has because she is doing something that she really loves and is very talented at. I enjoyed watching her dance with the other Latino men at the dances and seeing her really get into the rhythm of the music.

No one can ever say that does not speak her mind. It seems at times that it would be nice if she had a filter but the only way for a guy like me to get the message is to be as blunt and cruel as possible.

The most important thing for me was her ability to mingle with all walks of life. In my upbringing I was taught to appreciate people and the array of talents that each one had. My wife was able to chill with the Princeton crowd and laugh with the working folks.

Now I realize that there are even more reasons for me to love her. As I am sitting here in the living room I can see the clothes that she wore yesterday spread throughout the room. No matter how fast I clean, she is able to disrobe even quicker. At first I went crazy always picking up after her but now it has become something that I really enjoy. I just know that when I want to sit on the couch I have to move her pants and jacket and sometimes her earrings.

I think that my favorite is how she can take up most of the bed and covers and still complain when I try to roll over in the night or get something to cover myself.

She has compiled enough information on birth and care provider practices to write a book of her own and while it may seem a bit obsessive to some people and even to me at times, I know that she does it to give our baby the best start to life possible.

I am excited to see this little guy that she has been carrying around these last months. I wonder what he will grow up to be and what will make him laugh. I think about who his friends will be and how he will treat other people.

Our marriage has been a lot of work, we spend a lot of time discussing what each of us need to keep going but I like to think that we have grown into better people with the other helping out, at least I know I have.

Getting Closer...

I might get in trouble for posting this picture that took at Christmas but I don't mind. Doesn't my wife look so cute ??!! It is great knowing that the big day is just couple of months away and then we will have a little baby boy in our family. We have been busy working with Hypnobabies and learning the skills needed to have a natural pain-free birthing experience. I really enjoy learning about how the entire process can be made to be a positive experience for Mom and baby.

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.