The Quiet Before the Riot

Life is such a whirlwind. You get caught up in your everyday activities, and you don't have the time to do the things you want to do. I've been meaning to write in this thing forever, but I never get the chance. I really am going to try more. I read an article about Frank Sinatra, and his daughter said the best piece of advice that he ever gave her was to keep a journal...it makes sense. You need to have soemthing to remember your everday life. So I'm going to make an effort to post at least twice a week.

These next few weeks are packed full until we leave for our wedding and honeymoon. We have nothing but full days and nights until we leave, which is probably a good thing...it'll be here before we know it. I'm looking forward to it so much because I really need a long vacation. This will be the longest vacation I've ever had, so I'm pumped.

That's all for now, hopefully I can keep up a twice a week schedule on this thing...

Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf

I've felt like drinking alot lately. This weather here in Ohio is ridiculous...the winter here makes me severely depressed...single digit temperatures and cloudy, grey skies are enough to make anyone depressed...

Life has been pretty mundane lately...same old routine. Haven't had anything exciting at all happening...we did book our flight to Vegas...the trip is less than 5 months away, which is exciting. But nothing, other than that...at all

So, I'll post again when there's something worth posting...

"Do you ever wonder how long it takes to change your life? What measure of time is enough to be life altering? Is it four years like high school? One year? Can your life change in a month, or a week, or a single day? We're always in a hurry to grow up, to go places, to get ahead. And when you're young, one hour can change everything."

Empty Feeling

That's exactly what I have today, an empty feeling. My Buckeyes again lost in the BCS National Championship game, just like last year. They weren't embarrassed quite as bad as they were last year, but it still sucks. I know that it's just a football game, and last year taught me that life will go on, but it still sucks to watch your team and your state get humilated like that again.

It sucks, but come next August, the Ohio State Buckeyes will play football again...and the sun still came up this morning, so that's always a good sign...

That's about it, I just needed to vent and put these thoughts down...

At least my favorite show, One Tree Hill starts it's fifth season tonight...I can't wait!!!

Later Dudes

New Year's Resolutions...

Well, the New Year has come and gone, and I haven't had a chance to put my New Year's Resolutions in writing, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and put them and writing and make a blog post, so here it goes:

1. Lose 30 lbs. by June 1st. Kylie bet me $100 bucks in chips when we get to Vegas that I can't lose 30 lbs. I think this will be relatively easy, as its really only 5 pounds a month. I've already started changing the diet a little, and I plan to start using the eliptical machine every morning.

2. Keep it off. This could be a challenge. I'm sure while we're in Vegas and in Jamica there will be plenty of delicious food, so it might be a challenge when I get back. I think that if I start a daily routine, I'll be ok.

3. Pay off all credit card debt. We're actually in pretty good shape on this one, as I have a plan in place to pay all this off (except for about $600) by the wedding. The challenge is to not use the credit cards once their paid off.

4. Save $3,000. With all that's going on this year, this could be a little tough, but with the wedding gifts we COULD receive (I'm not expecting anything, but I'm sure we'll get some generous gifts), I think we'll be able to get to this # if we're smart.

5. Have $1,500 in each of our IRA's by '09. This could be challenging as well. Kylie's tips should easily fund her $1,500, but I'm not sure how I'll fund mine. I don't want to rely on her tips for mine, so I'll probably have to generate some additional income in order to do this. Guess I need to figure out how to do that.

6. Have $1,000 in an emergency fund by '09. This is kinda important, as we need to have something back (instead of a credit card) in case of unexpected expenses like car repairs, medical expenses, etc. I hope to get this accomplished early in '09.

7. Start playing poker again. I would really like to start playing again, as I really miss it and the extra income (when I was playing well) was nice. I'd like to have a bankroll of $1,500 by the end of the year.

Those are my New Year's resolutions for the year. Of course there are others, like being a better fiance/husband to Kylie, house improvements, etc, but I'm confident in my ability to accomplish those. I wanted to put these ones in writing so I can hold myself to them. I'll try to post updates throughout the year on my progress.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I wish for you all to spend 2008 doing amazing things with the amazing people in your life. Remember, life is what you make of it, and it's all about the experiences. Peace.

"It's not the destination, it's the journey"

The Nameless Blog

I promised I'd write more...that was over 2 months ago, and this is my first post since then. Well, I've just been busy. Not doing anything terribly important or exciting, just working really. Kylie was confronted with a less than appealing medical situation, that required her to have surgery but it seems like that has worked itself out...hopefully.

I finished up my first class in this expierment of me going back to school. I ended up with a B...could've done better, but alot of things came up at once, and I didn't have alot of time to put into the last two projects for the class, so a B is what I get. Listen to my excuses...I should've gotten an A, but I pretty much blew off the last two projects and did them at the last second, which is what I usually do with school stuff. Hopefully I can avoid that this quarter.

Christmas is coming up, and that's exciting...I guess. I'm really trying to be smarter with money and get some debt paid off, while at the same time saving for the wedding in Vegas and the honeymoon in Jamaica...but Christmas isn't really cooperating. I still really like Christmas, but it's kinda lost it's meaning to me in the past two years...it seems like spending money is the new meaning, not giving "gifts", no matter what their monetary value. Maybe next year when we'll have more money for Christmas, I'll get a little more involved and excited.

Other than that, not much going on. Trying to make this push at work so I can get me 2k bonus for the 4th quarter...that would be sweet. No quote today, I don't feel like taking the time to find one...maybe next time. See ya!

It's Been Sooooooo Long!!

I'm back...

It's been a long time, and I've had a TON going on, but I'm going to do my best to start writing more. I want to be able to look back on this blog and remember this time in my life, and I won't be able to do that unless I write some stuff...

Since I last posted, I've bought a house, got a new job, bought another puppy, and have spent a ton of $$ on the wedding preparations. I'm going to start writing more, but I just wanted to throw this post up to get things started...

Also, I don't know if I'll be posting the quotes with EVERY post, but I'll still try to make keep them frequent.

That's all for now, more hopefully this weekend...

All These Things That I've Done

I just sat down to write this, knowing that it has been a long time since I last posted. I'm going to stop promising that I'll post more often, becuause the truth is I probably won't. I'm going to be a lot busier in the next couple months than I have been, so I know more frequent posts are not in the near future. The point I'm trying to make is that life is busy, and I don't know how much I'll be able to post coming up, but that's ok. My life seems to be coming together, and it's a good feeling.

I've been thinking the past couple days about how lucky I am. I have a wonderful family that has supported me in anything I've ever done, whether they agreed with it or not. They've always been there, and have provided me with the material things I've needed (or wanted) to the best of their abilities. I have really great friends who are always there, and we always look out for each other, while having a blast together at the same time. Most importantly though, I have the best finace anyone could ever ask for. She puts up with me when I'm in a bad mood, and sometimes I'm sure that can be a chore in itself. She's beautiful, caring, and she's the woman of my dreams. I'm very lucky to have her, and she's spun my life around 180 degrees, which is exactly what I needed.

The reason I've been thinking about this is because of the things I've had the opportunity to do in my life. I might not have the best job, I might not have the best things, but I've had the opportunity to do A LOT of things. Now that we just went to the Final Four, I've got to watch both a College Basketball and College Football National Championship. I've been to like 30 states. I've played baseball everywhere from Ohio to Tennessee to Oklahoma. I've played poker at some of the biggest and best casinos in the world. Now, I'm no high roller by any means, but I've had the opportunity to do a lot of things in my life, and for that, I'm very thankful.

Well, Vegas was fun…I don't feel like talking too much about it right now, so that'll be that. I might post some pictures on here randomly just for fun.

The Final Four was cool too…it just sucks we lost the National Championship game…especially to Florida. Oh well, nothing we can do. Here are a few pics…

That's all for now…who knows when I'll be back.

"Have you ever wondered what marks our timing? If one life can really make an impact on the world? Or if the choices we make matter? I believe they do. And I believe that one man can change many lives... for better, or worse."