This is a two part Email. First, if you haven't had a chance to listen to the lastest two podcasts you are really missing out. They are spectacular and really informative. the site is always http://www.internetsafetypodcast.com/ but please check out #15 and #16. You will not regret the time you spent.
On the job front, it looks like I will be accepting an offer tomorrow for Bloosky. They are a small company 50-100 employees and only a 10 minute commute. The job is basically a perfect match since they need an advanced database algorithms guy to do some serious rebuilding and maybe even some AI learning search nodes. They are pretty desperate and looks like they will make me a very good offer for the Provo area. I am considereing it tonight so that I have an answer for them tomorrow. I would have loved to land a job in PHX, but so far no interviews have surfaced. I figured Amazon might have pursued me, but it seems they were really only interested in tricking me into going to Washington. I'll probably post more detaisl tomorrow and whether I accepted the job.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Hey!
Look at me! I am on the blogger page. This is unusual. I actually went back a few days and read some of the recent blogs. I would have made comments there, but then who would ever know! So instead I think I will just slip in a couple comments here. Sorry for the break in efficiency and organization.
Dearest Kathy, I love you. You are beautiful inside and out. Jimmy is lucky for sure. I must agree with mom (for lots of good reasons that I will not go into) that your happiness in life will be a direct result of the choices that you make. You have made some wonderful choices and it brings you to this point in your life. With all the wonderful options and opportunities staring at you. If you continue to keep God's commandments and stay on his defined path, follow his prophets, and hold to that sure rod of iron. Then the Spirit will be your constant companion and eternal happiness your daily reward. It is a promise from God. Seems simple. It is! I wish I could figure it out. You know that I have great weaknesses. Silly stupid things that limit my happiness and opportunities. Please do not give up on me. I am trying to wipe out the bad. Mom has threatened to beat the @$%&8+ out of me and I think she means it this time. I am never going to get mad and go ballistic again! Ever! :-)
To set the record straight on the "Palmyra Tommy Experience" as it has come to be known. If..... well maybe I better leave it at that.
I am most impressed with my children. Most impressed indeed. Tickled pink. Totally topgallant. Completely satisfied. I can see very clearly how Karen has had such a great influence. I am so grateful for her being around these last 27 years. I am hoping that she continues to hang out. Lots of work left to do.
We had a great day with Tom in the temple. It was nice. I am so glad that he is going to be able to spend some temple time with his two brothers before the MTC experience begins. I know he is looking forward to this. Thanks so much to the brothers. They are the best.
Congratulations to Tom on his mission call. I think it is spectacular. If I would have known, 30 years ago (I am coming up on my 30 year mission call anniversary), that my youngest son was going to be called to serve in South America in Paraguay and learn their language and walk their streets, that thought would have been so sweet to me. It would have drowned me in peace. No explanation, but I am happy for you Tom and for me. Thanks for choosing to do it right.
Good luck to Jacob in his job search. All will be well. Hazel and Cari is all you really need, having a good job is just icing on the cake.
Thanks to Bret for being such an anchor to us all.
I have to go back to work! Love from Dad.
Dearest Kathy, I love you. You are beautiful inside and out. Jimmy is lucky for sure. I must agree with mom (for lots of good reasons that I will not go into) that your happiness in life will be a direct result of the choices that you make. You have made some wonderful choices and it brings you to this point in your life. With all the wonderful options and opportunities staring at you. If you continue to keep God's commandments and stay on his defined path, follow his prophets, and hold to that sure rod of iron. Then the Spirit will be your constant companion and eternal happiness your daily reward. It is a promise from God. Seems simple. It is! I wish I could figure it out. You know that I have great weaknesses. Silly stupid things that limit my happiness and opportunities. Please do not give up on me. I am trying to wipe out the bad. Mom has threatened to beat the @$%&8+ out of me and I think she means it this time. I am never going to get mad and go ballistic again! Ever! :-)
To set the record straight on the "Palmyra Tommy Experience" as it has come to be known. If..... well maybe I better leave it at that.
I am most impressed with my children. Most impressed indeed. Tickled pink. Totally topgallant. Completely satisfied. I can see very clearly how Karen has had such a great influence. I am so grateful for her being around these last 27 years. I am hoping that she continues to hang out. Lots of work left to do.
We had a great day with Tom in the temple. It was nice. I am so glad that he is going to be able to spend some temple time with his two brothers before the MTC experience begins. I know he is looking forward to this. Thanks so much to the brothers. They are the best.
Congratulations to Tom on his mission call. I think it is spectacular. If I would have known, 30 years ago (I am coming up on my 30 year mission call anniversary), that my youngest son was going to be called to serve in South America in Paraguay and learn their language and walk their streets, that thought would have been so sweet to me. It would have drowned me in peace. No explanation, but I am happy for you Tom and for me. Thanks for choosing to do it right.
Good luck to Jacob in his job search. All will be well. Hazel and Cari is all you really need, having a good job is just icing on the cake.
Thanks to Bret for being such an anchor to us all.
I have to go back to work! Love from Dad.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Tom and the temple
We had a wonderful evening. We arrived way early, so dad had to fork out $16. for ice cream at Hagaan Daus. We still had over an hour before we had to be there, so we went upstairs on to the 6th floor and read scriptures and talked. It was very relaxing. The Hettingers, Hawks, and Ketchesons also came. Tom seemed very prepared and handled everything well. I felt the spirit very strongly. I even learned a few more things. The temple president didn't let me in when he talked to Tom and dad, but I think that is normal.
The matron, Sister Frost, came upstairs and told Tom a wonderul story about the Paraguayan people, and one about David B. Haight, and told him to find it, print it in Spanish, memorize the additional parts she told him, and use it often on his mission. That was kind of cool. She also told us to rent the movie, "The Misson." Have any of you seen it? It is a sad story about the Paraguayan indians.
We tried to go out for pizza afterwards, and walked all the way to a place Bishop Hawks knows by where we park, but it was closed at 10! I didn't think anything in the city closed at 1o. So we ended up walking around looking for food, and found a dinky little Chinese place. I didn't like my lomein at all. They kicked us out as soon as we were done eating.
It is a wonderful feeling knowing all of you are temple worthy. It is amazing, and it is true.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Hill Cumorah Pageant
We drove up to Palmyra on Saturday to see the pageant. Upper State NY sure is beautiful! It was a nice ride, except at one point a severe storm came through and I overreacted and got scared, and poor Tom was driving. He had to pull over, it was raining so hard.
The hotel was recommended by someone in our ward, and it was a one star. It was called the Finger Lakes Inn, and from the picture and description on the website, it sounded great. It wasn't, but we just had to sleep there from midnight till morning, so we had a laugh about it and moved on. For example, the 'continental breakfast' consisted of those tiny, white powder sugar donuts and coffee, and they were out of plates. The doors had real keys, and most didn't really close. The A/C didn't work, and we never did even see the pool. :)
We did get lost on the way from the hotel to the pageant, my fault, and dad got mad, but by pageant he had already said he was sorry.
The sad thing about the pageant are the anti-mormon protesters. They had bull horns, and as all these nice families walked all the way through the parking lot, they would say things like, "All of you Mormons are going to hell", and "all your good works won't save you", etc. I felt sorry for all the little kids having to hear stuff like that. The one guy kept saying, " no one has found one sword from all the wars you said there were here in NY, so Joseph Smith has lied to you all."
Crazy.
The pageant was nice. It rained before and after, but not during. They do a beautiful job. There is fire and rain and fighting and it all looks really cool.
On the way home, every New Yorker must have been on vacation, because the roads were just bumper to bumper; RVs, campers, bikes, jeeps, boats, cars, everything that could be on the road was, so it took awhile to get home.
We went to the Cananduiga ward for sacrament meeting, and Kathy's bishop from BYU was listed as one of the missionary couples serving there! Small world, she was excited. Unfortunately, we couldn't find him.
It was a fun weekend, for the most part. The kids might have a different story....
The hotel was recommended by someone in our ward, and it was a one star. It was called the Finger Lakes Inn, and from the picture and description on the website, it sounded great. It wasn't, but we just had to sleep there from midnight till morning, so we had a laugh about it and moved on. For example, the 'continental breakfast' consisted of those tiny, white powder sugar donuts and coffee, and they were out of plates. The doors had real keys, and most didn't really close. The A/C didn't work, and we never did even see the pool. :)
We did get lost on the way from the hotel to the pageant, my fault, and dad got mad, but by pageant he had already said he was sorry.
The sad thing about the pageant are the anti-mormon protesters. They had bull horns, and as all these nice families walked all the way through the parking lot, they would say things like, "All of you Mormons are going to hell", and "all your good works won't save you", etc. I felt sorry for all the little kids having to hear stuff like that. The one guy kept saying, " no one has found one sword from all the wars you said there were here in NY, so Joseph Smith has lied to you all."
Crazy.
The pageant was nice. It rained before and after, but not during. They do a beautiful job. There is fire and rain and fighting and it all looks really cool.
On the way home, every New Yorker must have been on vacation, because the roads were just bumper to bumper; RVs, campers, bikes, jeeps, boats, cars, everything that could be on the road was, so it took awhile to get home.
We went to the Cananduiga ward for sacrament meeting, and Kathy's bishop from BYU was listed as one of the missionary couples serving there! Small world, she was excited. Unfortunately, we couldn't find him.
It was a fun weekend, for the most part. The kids might have a different story....
My early birthday present
Well, I got a nice gift certificate from Mom for finish line today and Cari had been discussing each getting running shoes so we got some! I was planning on getting my favorite A5 or A7 comfort adidas styles as I have always liked them. However finish line didn;t have them so I found myself checking out Nike instead. They didn't have the best Nike style either but they did have a few versions of the pegasus. Which was last year was Nike's top running show for pavement.
Now what makes this post interesting was I decided to try the Nike + running system that tracks your miles and time etc. I hate Apple, but I have to go buy a Nano because no other companies have cached in on this deal. Makes me sick giving this company more money, but anyways we are hoping Cari and I can share the ipod and that it can keep track of both of our running logs. Don't know yet if this will be the case.
So we will have fun tracking our running for the rest of the season and if anyone else wants in let us know. It is a little pricy, but you can buy the shoe sensor adapter($10) for any pair of shoes if you don't want to buy a pair of Nikes. The kit is only 30 bucks but you need a Ipod Nano to use it. We will let you know how effective it is and whether it is helping us with jogging. I figure any form of tracking like Wii Fit will actually get me outside running! Thanks again Mom for the present!
Now what makes this post interesting was I decided to try the Nike + running system that tracks your miles and time etc. I hate Apple, but I have to go buy a Nano because no other companies have cached in on this deal. Makes me sick giving this company more money, but anyways we are hoping Cari and I can share the ipod and that it can keep track of both of our running logs. Don't know yet if this will be the case.
So we will have fun tracking our running for the rest of the season and if anyone else wants in let us know. It is a little pricy, but you can buy the shoe sensor adapter($10) for any pair of shoes if you don't want to buy a pair of Nikes. The kit is only 30 bucks but you need a Ipod Nano to use it. We will let you know how effective it is and whether it is helping us with jogging. I figure any form of tracking like Wii Fit will actually get me outside running! Thanks again Mom for the present!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Americans driving less
http://snipurl.com/wsjdriveless
I was telling Tevia this week that I actually have noticed some changes in the way people drive due to high gas prices recently. The biggest change I noticed is how many more people are using the bus. I have worked at Prudential for 8 years and rarely saw anybody take the bus. Now I see groups of people leaving together to walk in the summer heat to the bus stop. The link above seems to prove that changes are coming.
I see this as a good thing. By watching the people just walk to the bus stop I see that more people are interacting. And not via text messaging or phone or Facebook or whatever. But actually talking to each other. I hope that this will bring back more sense of community and we can reach out to those around us. I hope we can focus less on the importance of being able to transport ourselves freely at any time and focus more on getting schedules and being home at a certain time. Wouldn’t it be great to see more people leaving work on time because they have to – otherwise they will miss their bus or carpool? This will force companies to think differently and hopefully get people to focus less on work and realize that real socialization should take place outside of your office.
I was telling Tevia this week that I actually have noticed some changes in the way people drive due to high gas prices recently. The biggest change I noticed is how many more people are using the bus. I have worked at Prudential for 8 years and rarely saw anybody take the bus. Now I see groups of people leaving together to walk in the summer heat to the bus stop. The link above seems to prove that changes are coming.
I see this as a good thing. By watching the people just walk to the bus stop I see that more people are interacting. And not via text messaging or phone or Facebook or whatever. But actually talking to each other. I hope that this will bring back more sense of community and we can reach out to those around us. I hope we can focus less on the importance of being able to transport ourselves freely at any time and focus more on getting schedules and being home at a certain time. Wouldn’t it be great to see more people leaving work on time because they have to – otherwise they will miss their bus or carpool? This will force companies to think differently and hopefully get people to focus less on work and realize that real socialization should take place outside of your office.
Monday, July 07, 2008
4th of July Weekend
This last weekend we made our way up to Lakeside to visit Tevia’s parents. I had an extra day off of work so we were able to leave on Thursday after picking up Risa. The drive up was uneventful, but fun as we got some rain. Since I rarely see rain, it was nice to drive in it and I looked forward to being in a cooler climate for a few days.
Upon arrival we met Tevia’s parents at our favorite restaurant: La Casita. This was a great start to the weekend and I enjoyed my machaca chimichanga. We played “Ticket to Ride” several times while in Lakeside. This game was introduced to us by Jacob Webb while we were in UT last. We have played it a few times online with Jacob Wall and my parents, but we finally bought the game last week and were excited to play it. Jarek loves the game and wanted to play it anytime we had a free moment. I also enjoy the game, but have to admit I am not too good at it.
On the 4th we decided to do a BBQ in the afternoon and had some good burgers and hot dogs in the new gazebo at Maison Webb. In the evening we headed over to Show Low high school to see the fireworks. We had gone here a few years before and Jarek was very young and hated the fireworks and noise. This time it was Enok who didn’t like them. He spent the entire show with his head buried in Risa’s jacket. The show was nice with one exception. A few cars over there was a guy who was either completely drunk or stoned or both. After each big firework he would scream something at the top of his lungs. At times it was just a “yahoo” or something like that. But other times he would drop the F-bomb and say crude things about Iraq. Fortunately our kids were shielded behind a truck and so you couldn’t really hear the guy. It was only near the end (and after hearing the family by us complain about him) that I realized how close the guy was. I am amazed that the people around him just let him go on. This was a family show and this poor guy was so self-absorbed that he didn’t care what was going on around him. I’m glad my kids didn’t see/hear him. But I hope that if we had I would have had courage enough to go talk to him and his group and ask them to take care as there were kids around.
The weather was gorgeous and we spent plenty of time on the lawn playing badminton or golf or volleyball or just sitting around. Tevia’s father shot off rockets which the kids loved. On Saturday we went to a party where they roasted a pig. We didn’t get much of the pig, so afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a nice trip to Dairy Queen. Tevia and I shared a Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzard; Jarek ordered a banana split. We enjoyed the treat and compared calories as there was a list of nutritional data right by our table. Though we didn’t have Wii Fit with us, it was still always in the back of our minds.
Sunday we went to church and afterwards ate some sandwiches on the homemade bread the boys and grandma had made. The drive home was awful. The usual 3.5 to 4 hours took over 5 due to traffic. The craziest part was I have no idea why traffic was so bad. It took us about 1 hour to go 14 miles or so at one point – and then all of the sudden traffic was great again. There was no wreck, no light, no nothing. Very odd. We dropped Risa off and prepared ourselves for Monday. Yeah Monday!
Upon arrival we met Tevia’s parents at our favorite restaurant: La Casita. This was a great start to the weekend and I enjoyed my machaca chimichanga. We played “Ticket to Ride” several times while in Lakeside. This game was introduced to us by Jacob Webb while we were in UT last. We have played it a few times online with Jacob Wall and my parents, but we finally bought the game last week and were excited to play it. Jarek loves the game and wanted to play it anytime we had a free moment. I also enjoy the game, but have to admit I am not too good at it.
On the 4th we decided to do a BBQ in the afternoon and had some good burgers and hot dogs in the new gazebo at Maison Webb. In the evening we headed over to Show Low high school to see the fireworks. We had gone here a few years before and Jarek was very young and hated the fireworks and noise. This time it was Enok who didn’t like them. He spent the entire show with his head buried in Risa’s jacket. The show was nice with one exception. A few cars over there was a guy who was either completely drunk or stoned or both. After each big firework he would scream something at the top of his lungs. At times it was just a “yahoo” or something like that. But other times he would drop the F-bomb and say crude things about Iraq. Fortunately our kids were shielded behind a truck and so you couldn’t really hear the guy. It was only near the end (and after hearing the family by us complain about him) that I realized how close the guy was. I am amazed that the people around him just let him go on. This was a family show and this poor guy was so self-absorbed that he didn’t care what was going on around him. I’m glad my kids didn’t see/hear him. But I hope that if we had I would have had courage enough to go talk to him and his group and ask them to take care as there were kids around.
The weather was gorgeous and we spent plenty of time on the lawn playing badminton or golf or volleyball or just sitting around. Tevia’s father shot off rockets which the kids loved. On Saturday we went to a party where they roasted a pig. We didn’t get much of the pig, so afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a nice trip to Dairy Queen. Tevia and I shared a Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzard; Jarek ordered a banana split. We enjoyed the treat and compared calories as there was a list of nutritional data right by our table. Though we didn’t have Wii Fit with us, it was still always in the back of our minds.
Sunday we went to church and afterwards ate some sandwiches on the homemade bread the boys and grandma had made. The drive home was awful. The usual 3.5 to 4 hours took over 5 due to traffic. The craziest part was I have no idea why traffic was so bad. It took us about 1 hour to go 14 miles or so at one point – and then all of the sudden traffic was great again. There was no wreck, no light, no nothing. Very odd. We dropped Risa off and prepared ourselves for Monday. Yeah Monday!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
No words
Well as everyone knows I will be getting sealed in the laie temple in Hawaii on November 15, 2008 to James Cox (the sweetest guy in the world). I have wanted to blog about this for some time but they're really are no words to describe how I am feeling aka how happy I am. Even though Jimmy and I are so far apart I have never felt any kind of peace like this before in my life which is unusual for people with loved ones in Iraq because it truly is scary but I have no fear or doubt in my mind that this is right and part of God's beautiful plan for me. I also find myself feeling a remarkable sense of gratitude for my Heavenly Father, that he has given me this opportunity in my life and has given me the most incredible and noble person I have ever met to be with for all of eternity. Not every girl gets to get married in Hawaii to the best person ever, and live there for at least 2 years. I can only imagine what the next 2 years will shape us into.... probably beach bums and ocean fanatics as we will master all that we can like boating, surfing, windsurfing, kayaking, and so much more. I have such an adventurous time ahead of me! Anyways, this infinite amount of gratitude has also influenced me to read my scriptures a little longer each day and to lengthen my prayers with more meaningful and distinct conversation. This of course adds on to my happiness which is why they're really are no words to describe exactly how happy I am! I know that Jimmy will be a great husband and father and love getting lost thinking about our future. Even though we might not be the wealthiest family, I am sure that we will live life to the fullest and know that money means so much less than people think. Even I have gotten lost in the greediness of money but the more I study the scriptures and after living in a mansion daily at my nanny house the last year, being rich actually scares me. Anyways I am so glad that you can all come to my wedding. I know that by doing it in Hawaii it will cause it to be small and simple but that is the life that I want to live =). I love life and I love Jimmy. Its hard to believe that a person could feel so much for another soul and it only grows each day. I also love all of you and am so glad that you are my family and support me and Jimmy! So thanks!
Dates with my wife
For the past few weeks Tevia was kind enough to set up a recurring babysitter to come each Thursday (a habit she had gotten into the habit already due to her volleyball schedule while I was still in HK). This gave us the opportunity to go on a date every Thursday night. Our first date was a trip to the driving range where Tevia hit her first golf balls. I plan to slowly work her up to getting on a course some time this year. Each week has been fun and has truly helped us get closer as a couple. I feel this was particularly needed as we had spent so much time apart (yes, 3 months seems like a long time).
I am grateful for her willing to do this and get excited each week to go out with her. Last week we went for a hike and I absolutely loved just being with her on a surprisingly empty mountain overlooking our city of Phoenix and seeing the rain over most of the valley except where we were as my anti-rain power continues to gain strength.
Last night, though it was not a date, we went to see WALL-E for FHE. I don’t know why, but I have really been excited to see this movie. I didn’t really like Pixar’s last movie (Rat-a-whatever) and though I have loved their other movies, I never really was thrilled to see them in the theater. We loaded the kids and escaped the heat into the chilled theater with Risa in tow as well.
I found the movie wonderful and beautiful. I had read some reviews that said it was very “dark” and not really for kids, but I don’t think I would agree. It is a cute love story and one of the more touching love stories I’ve seen in recent years. I think in the first half of the movie there are probably only a handful of words spoken – and this was refreshing and showed that storytelling can happen even without words. I left with a gratitude in my heart for being married to my true love and having the ability to spend time with them on this beautiful Earth. I am very lucky.
I am grateful for her willing to do this and get excited each week to go out with her. Last week we went for a hike and I absolutely loved just being with her on a surprisingly empty mountain overlooking our city of Phoenix and seeing the rain over most of the valley except where we were as my anti-rain power continues to gain strength.
Last night, though it was not a date, we went to see WALL-E for FHE. I don’t know why, but I have really been excited to see this movie. I didn’t really like Pixar’s last movie (Rat-a-whatever) and though I have loved their other movies, I never really was thrilled to see them in the theater. We loaded the kids and escaped the heat into the chilled theater with Risa in tow as well.
I found the movie wonderful and beautiful. I had read some reviews that said it was very “dark” and not really for kids, but I don’t think I would agree. It is a cute love story and one of the more touching love stories I’ve seen in recent years. I think in the first half of the movie there are probably only a handful of words spoken – and this was refreshing and showed that storytelling can happen even without words. I left with a gratitude in my heart for being married to my true love and having the ability to spend time with them on this beautiful Earth. I am very lucky.
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