The Verdict is in!

Well, after a long night of counting all the votes (from two different people, eight votes total)... I determined that the results were too close to call. So, I had to recount... And what I found is that my original counting skills are sufficient enough. I should go work for florida or minnesota or something... That wasn't so hard was it...

So, Faux Hawks at logans won... It had double the votes that everything else had... So here goes nothing...

Alright, when I first moved to fresno, I didn't get out much... After circumstances changed, I started going to hang out with my friends, and we would occasionally go to logans for an adult beverage. The people there were funny. Basically, the people I saw at the gym were the same ones at the bar... Meat Heads (see below)

A term that is used to describe a male who is overenthusiastic about lifting weights and whose thoughts consist of athletics, blondes, and sports cars. Meat heads are unaware of the majority of the English language and often communicate with others by using phrases such as “bro”, “dude”, and “sweet”. The dead giveaway of a meathead is if their attire includes a sleeveless muscle shirt, athletic shorts, and a lanyard for their car keys. If you ever find yourself in a setting with multiple meat heads, be prepared for frequent high fives, chest bumps, and hand pounds.

So, this crowd of meat heads is what I came to expect...


So, the other night, Stephanie, Berger, Luke Mundy, Sarah Mundy, and myself went out to logans for a refreshing beverage... We walk in, and the place has an hour wait, according to luke. He and his wife are sitting outside, and its cold. I walk in and see six empty tables... They didn't have an hour wait, they were just trying to phase out a server (phase out is no longer sitting that section so that person could go home). So, I kindly asked the hostess if we could sit at one of the empty tables in that section. WE didnt want to be served anyways... Of course we couldn't.

So, the five of us are crammed around a high top table, and I see this guy... Now bear in mind that the people that frequent logans are the meat heads (as previously described) but this guy was totally different. This was the polar opposite. He was a bigger guy (probably tipping the scale at 250), wearing an extra small shirt (it was probably an XL, but it was about six sizes too small), with this.. Faux Hawk... it was like a girly man or something... Stephanie could have beat him up...

Apparently, he got his appletini or something from the bar, and went back to his table... I couldn't believe it... It was a swarm of them! It was like tower district moved to north fresno or something!

I just couldn't believe it. I thought that logans was always going to be the little bit of clovis in fresno... Little did I know that it was a little bit of san fransisco in fresno...

Next thing you know, Logans is going to go from serving road house teas to an oxygen bar...

The world will cease to exist as we know it.

2008 election

alright, for those of you who think I dont blog enough, here is your chance to vote. You know how there are millions of people who vote for president, and your voice feels like it gets drowned out? well, you will not have that problem here. I have so few readers that, in my case, every vote does count! For all I know, I may not have any votes.

So, Let me know what you think I should blog about next.

1) Faux Hawks at Logans
2) Engaged life and how that coincides with buying a house
3) work
4) enduring through our pains, and realizing that it happend for a reason, and then seeing that reason...
5) Stephanie
6) Family Holidays.


Now is the time to have your voice heard. If you dont speak up, you cant complain that I dont blog enough.

2008 In Review

I know I know... this is a little premature. But, I like to look at it this way. I am just a little ahead of my time.

So, I totally realize that I haven't blogged in a long time, and I am cool with that. Life has been hectic, But that is no excuse. I have very devoted (snicker snicker) readers. In fact, I have had two (I dont know if I have more than two) mention in the past week that its time for me to blog. (more to follow)

Now to the point of the blog. The following are things that I have learned, growth that I have experienced, and things I have done.


1) I have been to Hawaii... Twice. I honestly never thought I would go to Hawaii. I thought it was too expensive, too far away, and too hot. What I found out is that I dont know if I could live in Hawaii, but I would sure like to try. The weather was beautiful, although a little humid. The beaches were gorgeous, and the water was warm. What made it feasible is that My brother lives there. Thanks drew!

2) I went dancing, in public for the first time ever. I went to school dances, but never out in public. It was interesting, and a great time. I can definetly see how fun it is with the right person.

3) I have gone to Washington DC. Another thing I never thought I would do. I have, more recently, become somewhat of a history buff. I knew there was a lot of history in DC, but I never knew how much. the best thing about it is that most of it was free. All the smithsonians were free, the capital was free. The only thing that costed was parking. You cant park anywhere for free. that sucked... I think I got one, or two, tickets... I dont remember. But what I do remember is that if you dont pay your tickets, the car rental company will charge you for them months later.

4) I went to disneyland. The best part of that was the lack of crowd. for a saturday in the middle of summer, there was almost no one there. It was awesome.

Now, for the more important ones.

1) I have started dating and got engaged to an amazing girl. for those of you who dont know, her name is steph. I fully acknowledge that everyone who reads my blog should know, because I stated it in a previous post. Steph is an amazing girl who has a wonderful heart for God. She challenges me in so many ways. Some of our best times together are praying or doing devotionals. I cant wait to experience life with her.

2) Steph and I are buying a house together. I have had a realtor for the past couple years (Judy Nazaroff, if you are looking for one). I just never had a house that worked out. I put a couple of offers in, but nothing ever came of them. Steph and I ended up getting into a brand new house (still in construction). the original owner fell through, and steph and i came through with a great offer, and they accepted. We got accepted for the loan, and just finished picking out all the interior stuff. Ill tell you what, picking out things for the inside of your house is frustrating. Two people, two styles.... All I wanted was everything grey... Everything goes with grey =)

3) Most importantly, I have decided that my relationship with God comes first. The year started out hard. I remember having a conversation with God, and telling him that if He wanted me to do something, he needed to tell me, because I was tired of doing things on my own. I have prayed that before, but i think it was different because I completely meant it. I was just tired of life. Life with God is not a marathon, as it has previously been described to me, it is an all out sprint. In hebrews, it talks of how the author strips off everything that holds him back, to run the race he needs to run. Its not just a statement, there are so many actions that need to follow it up.


All in all, this has been a pretty good year. I have an inckling that next year will be even better...

Date Nights Are Great Nights!

So, Steph and I were supposed to make dinner at my house last night. But, I forgot to pull the salmon out of the freezer to thaw. This means that dinner would have been late, and freezer burned. So I sent her an e mail asking if I could just take her out instead. She seemed excited about it. I decided that I would surprise her.

So, I hopped on the internet expressway to try and find restaurants in Bass Lake or Oakhurst area. I worked up at a camp up there years ago, and ate at a really nice restaurant that had a wine bar in it. It was a really cool atmosphere.

So, I showed up to her house late, but I had flowers. Those flowers were going to help me later, which, at the time, didn't know.

So, we started driving up to bass lake. We got up there, just to find out that my nice restaurant was now a Diciccos... Crap!

So, then we started driving, and driving, and driving. We ended up at a place called the pine lakes resort, or something like that. There is a restaurant there called Duceys. So, we went to put our name in, at eight. We then found out that the wait time would be an hour... Double Crap!

We ended up walking across the street to get something to drink. She was not happy, but holding her frustration inside well. Good play champ!!

We sat out on the porch enjoying a blue moon, and just talked.

After that, we went to dinner, and just had an amazing time.

Overall, our date started out rocky, but we both ended up being blessed by it. I got a chance to connect with Steph on a deeper level than normal, and it was fantastic.

Date nights are truly great nights.

Let the poo roll...

So, I have been out at this poop plant for two or three weeks now... Overall, it has been a good experience so far. There are a few thing s that I am learning...


1) Even though you may not have a whole lot to do now, if you slowly work your way through what you have to get done later, it will make for a much easier life. I have been trying to work through drawings and figure out exactly how I want to do what needs to be done. By figuring out all my issues now, it should make life that much easier when crews come on site. The nice thing is, I wont have crews for probably a month and a half.


2) The unknown can be good. I have met some really cool guys down here. The rumors that go from one company to another are ridiculous sometimes.

3) and most importantly, I still have a lot to learn. God has been working on my pride down here. I am working in a part of the company that is very unfamiliar. So, pray that I can keep my head down and working, and this should make my life a heck of a lot easier.


One more thought...

I am dating the best girl ever. If you haven't met her, you should. She is something else (in a good way) =)

A return to my roots

So, I have been working in Tulare for the past three days. I will be working in Tulare for the next year and a half... With that being said, I have had a return to roots, on two fronts...

First, I grew up in Visalia (woot woot!). Visalia is about ten minutes from Tulare, and I feel like I am in my old stomping grounds. I can remember late nights getting stuck in farmers ponds, cruising Mooney, and eating at Mearls drive in. Well, It is now illigeal (as it was then) to cruise Mooney, Mearls drive in closed, and the farmers pond is still there. Ah, the memories! It has been alright being here, but it sucks to drive an hour each way to go to work. At least I can come home though.

When I first started at Lyles, I was working in Madera at the ethanol plant. My first day, I was given five stacks of plans, each about four inches thick. On these five sets of plans were miles (literally) of pipe. My job was to highlight them. I had to use different colors, distinguishing paint or insulated, and how thick of insulation. I worked forty hours a week for three weeks to accomplish this. Needless to say, I was going nuts.

Now, for number two... Part of my job here in Tulare is to define the scope (what work we will be doing) that My company is going to be doing for our sister company. So, you guessed, the Coloring is back!!! This shouldn't be nearly as bad though, because I have one set of plans, and it is only about a half inch thick. But, I am having flash backs, and this isn't a whole lot of fun. So, I will color for a while, then take a break and check espn.com. Then, I will color some more, and go and get a drink... I am just trying to find ways to break up the monotony. I almost got a stapler to put next to me, just so I could hit it a bunch to release a little tension.

I dont have a whole lot more to do, but I still have some. I am finding out that my job is going to be, at least for a while, the same thing, over and over. I get to try a process, become good at it, and then repeat it many times over.

Let the repitition continue

The Update to end all Updates

Well, by popular request, I have decided to sit down and pen another blog. Sometimes, I lay in bed at night thinking that maybe I should update my blog for all my fans (and stockers), but heck, she already knows all of this, so why bother. (You aren't really a stocker steph, partly because if anything, it is the other way around)

Work has changed for me, I am now, as of today, stationed on a poop plant in tulare. It smells like poop, it looks like poop, and it will probably be home for the next year and a half. I sat down this morning, and am only beginning to see how much I need to catch up on. Hopefully my mind will prevail, and wont make this too hard.

If you have read steph's blog, you will find that we have been to DC (which was incredible), and to the coast a couple of times. My life has been amazing since she has been a part of it. She has been someone that has fit so seamlessly into my life, that I honestly dont know what life without her was like. She is always making me laugh. I have been truly blessed by her being in my life.

All except one thing...

Well, as of today, she put her family and I on diets. This is completely understandable. We have all eaten poorly for the past couple of months, and it is starting to show. She says that she isn't making me do it, and she isn't, but it sounds so much cooler for me to say that my girlfriend put me on a diet. In fact, I find it kind of funny.

Speaking of funny...

The other night, we went to a ball game, and steph almost got hit by a ball, again. See her previous blog for details on the first time. Well, a foul ball was hit, and I saw it curving toward us, I told her to move, and then I moved. She was able to duck out of the way, and it hit an elderly lady behind us, but dont worry! No grandparents were hurt during the writing of this blog... So, in order to make this story more interesting, I am saying that Steph threw herself in front of the ball to protect me... That was awfully sweet of her. Like I said, she is amazing.

There is the readers digest version, I will try to update with another post later this week.

peace out.