Married Life/House Progress

Well I won’t have to tell you married folk but for all you single friends and readers out there, Married Life if Awesome and I highly recommend it…with the right person of course!

It’s so much fun to share and spend so much time together with the person you love and to go through different challenges (which I’m sure are just beginning seeing as I’m newly married with our whole lives ahead of us) and excitements.

Speaking of excitements; Niki and I went up to our build site again today and took some more pictures.  We are so excited to see all the progress that has been made.  We’ve seen it go from a dirt lot, to a hole in the ground, to footings and finally to a real foundation.  Of course it’s a lot further along than that, We have all the walls and they have paint on them, cabinets are in and today we noticed that the counter tops are on and all the exterior concrete and finishing has been completed.  We received an email requesting our final walk through be scheduled for June 15th but we’re hoping to move it sooner than that (I’m hoping for the 10th).  Here are the pictures you’ve all been waiting for, I’ll try to post some from every stage.

A Long Over Due Update…

Sorry everyone for the huge break I’ve taken from blogging. The past few weeks, I know it’s been longer than that since I’ve posted, have been very busy, EXTREMELY Wonderful, and very fun!  For those of you who don’t know here is what has happened in the past four weeks.

• Got Married on 5/1
• Went on a week long Honeymoon to So Cal
• Returned home for 4 days
• Caught a red-eye flight to Norfolk, VA
• Went to Busch Gardens
• Attended my Brother-in-law’s med school graduation
• Week long family vacation (with the in-laws) in OBX, NC
• Returned home and started a weeks worth of training at work

I’ve discovered that Niki and I aren’t particularly camera happy but I will post some of our favorite pictures from our wedding which we just got back on Tuesday.
 
Well there you have some of my favorite pictures (a very select few since we got about 350).

Some of you know that Niki and I also have a house being built in Woods Cross, Utah (Now you all know).  The exciting thing is we’re nearing completion (estimated closing of June 11th – 21st) and if they’re still on schedule the only thing not finished and installed is the carpet.  I don’t have pictures available for me to post yet (some of you are thinking, “how is that possible since Niki has posted some already”, well it’s easy she used her camera and the pictures have been uploaded to her parents computer)  don’t worry I promise as soon as I have pictures of the house to post I’ll put them up.

It's Getting Closer!

I really am terrible at this whole blogging on a regular basis thing.  It's been almost 2 full months since my last blog. I don't antcipate this being a very long entry but if it's like some of the others I didn't think would be long it could very well explode.

First we'll update you all on Wedding and Housing stuff.  We're down to 22 days till Niki and I get married, I'm not going to lie about it I'm really really excited, but I'm seriously freaking out on the inside (I believe the phrase is, "a duck on a pond").  Lets see, I don't know where my check list of things I still had to do went so I guess I'll try and go from memory:

• Book Temple - Check
• Book Dinner - Check
• Hire Photographer - Check (We love working with Angie)
• Rent Tux - Check
• Book Caterer for Reception - Check
• Order Ties for Groomsmen and Fathers (10) - Check
• Create Gift Registry - Check
• Plan and Book Honeymoon - Check
• Book Reception Venue - Check
• Get Marriage License - Planned
• Pray it all comes together - On Going!

Anyway, we all know there is way more than what I have listed.  On to more great news, Housing Plans!

Niki and I have found a place to live!...Wait I'm not done, it gets better!... It won't be ready for us to move into untill mid June or early July because...it's still being BUILT!  YAY! That's right Niki and I are building a house in Woodscross, UT.  We're so excited and stressed about everything and I've had several people tell me that I'm crazy to plan a wedding and build a house at the same time.  The new "joke" is that if Niki and I can survive two of the most stressful things in life, or so I'm told, at the same time we'll be able to survivie anything.

On to the less life altering events of my life. Last night was the Sigma Gamma Chi end of year banquet.  You know the banquet where they announce the new chapter presidents and new IC officers and all the awards and such.  Well for those of you who don't know for the past year I've been serving the IOTA chapter of SGC as the VP of Brotherhood, as part of this banquet our presidents were release and as such releasing all of us as well.  The new President of IOTA is my good friend and Best Man, Nate "the Legendary Red Baron" Birth! I'm so exicted for IOTA next year, though I will have graduated by then (getting married is graduation from SGC), Nate will do an amazing job as he has such a great love of the brothers and the program.

Other items of note from the banquet: IOTA won Chapter of the Year! Shadow "Flash" Johnson and myself, Michael "Cash Money" Simmons both received SGC Ideals Awards. Our beloved Roger Tingey was called to IC (we will miss our Clutch!) as was former president Dash Hixon.

Some of the membership speculated the return of inactive members to the chapter due to Nate's call to President and the likely calling of said members to positions in the new presidency.  It is my opinion, bitter as it may be, that this should not be the case as these member have shown over the past year how fickle their commitment to SGC and specifically IOTA is.  I am of the opinion that IOTA and SGC as a whole deserve leaders and officers who are willing and desire to support the chapters and whole fraternity regardless of presidency or activity.

I will miss my IOTA Brothers, the good times we've had will always be remembered.  I fully expect to be kept informed and invited back to the various activities that almuni are priviledged to attend.  You all know of my love for SGC and particularly IOTA, you know of the changes that your fellowship and program have brought to my life.  Thanks to All of You!

Three Years Ago Today...

Three years ago this very day I reported for my first day of training with my current employer, IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group).   This post may be a little boring but seeing as I've never written the story of how I am where I am I thought I do that now.

I started in training to be a reservations agent for the general reservations department, nothing super special, on February 12th, 2007 though I had originally applied and been interviewed for a guest relations (customer service) position.  The reason I was in a reservations class was I needed employment and they weren't hiring a guest relations class for another month or so.  Anyway, so training lasted four weeks (two weeks in class and two weeks on the job, paid of course) and at the end of the four weeks we were able to take calls with minimal questions about the process of making reservations.  During the last week of training I was again interviewed and offered a job in guest relations which I accepted.  I spent one week actually on the floor taking calls as part of a regular team rather than a training class before I began training for guest relations.

Guest Relations training lasted five weeks (two weeks in class, a week of on the job, then another week in class and another week on the job).  After those 5 weeks I was assigned to a regular team and began taking calls like a regular guest relations agent.  During the training for guest relations I had applied for several openings (I knew going into this job that I had to get off the phones as quickly as possible or I wouldn't have a job for very long, phone jobs really aren't my cup of tea) and been interviewed for two of them.  The second one I applied and interviewed for was Developmental Global Workforce Analyst and after only two weeks on the phones for guest relations I was called back for a second interview/presentation.

As I prepared for my presentation I was given the topic "Everything an Agent Needs to Know About Workforce Management" and the only stipulation was that I could not talk to anyone currently in the Resource Planning department.  So I set out doing my research on the programs I knew IHG used for workforce management, I also asked my team manager for any recomendations she had.  She sent me in the direction of a reservations team manager for reasons I didn't know.  When I arrived at the desk of this reservations team manager she listened to my story of what I was doing and why, picked up her phone, called her husband and asked him.  I was a little confused thinking how is your husband going to help with this.  When she got off the phone with him she turned to me and gave me tons of information about what our Resource Planning department does and told me that her husband was one of the graveyard Global Workforce Analysts in our company. (Remember the stipulation was only that I couldn't talk to anyone in Resource Planning)

So the day came and I left my station dressed in my best and with my presentation in hand.  I stopped by my managers desk to let her know where I was going, she wished me luck.  I walked into what I now know as the megaplex and gave my presentation at the end of which I was asked a few questions, thanked for my time, and told that they would make a decision and let me know by Monday (which is when they wanted the position to start).  I gathered my things and set off to my station back in guest relations.  Upon arriving in the guest relations department my manager called me to her desk to see how things went.  I told her that I thought things had gone really well.  Little did I know that Brad Johnson, one of the Resource Planning managers, had already called her (between me leaving their office and arriving in my managers) and informed her that they would be offering me the position.

As I recall the next day was a Friday and one of my days off, I was in the back yard of my house doing yard work when my phone rang and it was work.  When I answered Brad Johnson was on the onther end and he informed me that they had made a decision, he didn't make the offer right away which caused me to  think
I'd be stuck on the phone forever,  but he finally told me that they'd like me to start on Monday which again if memory serves me right was May 7th, 2007.  I was beyond excited I could hardly wait this meant three things: First, I was getting another promotion, the second in less than three months.  Second, I was off the phones! I had reached my goal of being off the phones as quick as possible. Third, I had the weekend off as I was to start training again which is Monday - Friday.

So a quick summary I started with IHG on 2/12/07 and twelve weeks later was no longer in a position where I was on the phone.  Lets also keep in mind that of my first twelve weeks I only spent three weeks out of training and nine weeks in training and here I was going back to training for four more weeks.  So thirteen of my first sixteen weeks were spent in training.  Needless to say I am very pleased with my progression up within the ranks of IHG.

Since becoming a Global Workforce Analyst I worked in that roll for about two years before the department openend a new position known as Global Planning Analyst for which I applied and was one of only four applicants chosen.  I have been employed as a Global Planning Analyst for nearly a year now and I must say, I enjoy my job and the people I work with.

If any of you are seeking employement I would encourage you to see if IHG is hiring and if they're not keep you're eye on it cause they will be...I know remember I'm one of the ones with the plan! *hahah*  Anyway, check out their jobs site at: jobs.ihg.com

A Full Year and Another Wolf Moon

It was just brought to my attention that the Full Moon which occurred on January 30th was again the Full Wolf Moon which was the first entry of this blog.  I must apologize that I have not written much, a mere seven posts in an entire year, I had hoped and expected to do better than that.  Well, here is the update.

My last post had a wedding update and since we're down to just 12 weeks between now and the wedding that's probably all you're going to get until after the happy day.  So here it goes: The day has changed, I last told you it was set for May 5th (yes cinco de mayo) but has since been changed to May 1st for several reasons none of which will be addressed here.  A venue has been chosen and reserved, the University of Utah Alumni House, Flowers by Cheaper by the Dozens, Photography by Angie Gurney, a dinner the night before at Spaghetti Mama's, Niki has her dress (it just needs to be altered).  Wow, it's been an interesting last couple of weeks that everything has started to come together.  We have a meeting with Angie about the photography tomorrow at 5pm, I've been in contact with a mortgage broker and am in the process of qualifying so we'll have a house (that's been one of the most surreal experiences driving home just how close all this really is and that it's really happening).  Oh, thank you Dan and Emily for recommending Adam he's been absolutely wonderful to work with!

Alright so that's what has happened, here's what still needs to happen: Find and secure a Tux rental for me (I'm thinking Clarks Tuxedos), Get pink ties for the groomsmen (7), Find a caterer (We are thinking of doing an Ice Cream Bar with eclairs and were originally thinking Scoopology but were recently informed that they have just closed as of last weekend. So we're thinking and exploring Brown Brother Catering and Meier's Catering), Announcements with Dinner, Ceremony and Registry inserts (Niki met with a company that she really likes and we'll probably go that route), Find a house and close on said house.  I am alomst certain that there is something else I'm forgetting to mention that we still need to do but that's really close to where we stand right now.

We're both kinda starting to freak out (which as a dear friend of our's Brother Dave Smith said really means that we're just getting more excited) and the feeling just grows as we get closer and closer.  My biggest fear at this point is that I don't really feel prepared for any of this, and maybe we're not supposed to be yet at 12 weeks out but I had always imagined; What am I saying I'm a male I haven't really ever imagined this; I had thought that this would be something big enough that we'd have it all put together and just ready to go well in advance.

Anywords of comfort, advice, excitment, or encouragement and anyother words for that matter are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!

The Full Cold Moon

The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon - December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

The above information is brought to you by the frigid evening tempatures that aided in me contracting this cold which currently plagues my sinuses and by the Farmers Almanac.

I've been crazy sick for the last week for so, with what started out as a simple head cold which I thought I was over by last weekend. Suprise! Monday morning hits and I'm so congested I can barely breathe. To make matters even worse, I wasn't just congested in my sinuses but also in my lungs wheezing terribly everytime I coughed oh and most of you know that my job usually requires me present something in several conference calls every week and you can imagine the impact that this illness has had on my ability to speak.

Finally, one afternoon, my beloved Niki introduced me to DayQuil which seemed to work well for a time but also seemed to have some bizare side effects. I'm not entirely sure if what I felt were side effects of the DayQuil so I intend on taking another dose at some point to determine that. For now I'm treating mostly my sore throat with 1000mg of Tylenol, 400mg of Ibuprofen, and 2000 - 4000mg of Vitamin C. My cocktail of drugs and vitamins (inspired by my Mother) seems to do very well in treating everything except my stuffy nose.

Wedding Update: Niki's decided on a date and I've informed her that I'll support whatever decision she comes to. She has decided and contacted the Salt Lake Temple for May 5th, 2010 at 11:00am. Other plans are still in the planning stages but we're both so excited...I've even started counting down 145 days, or 4 Months and 24 days, or 20 full weeks and some change. I know I'm crazy it's ok.

Back to some full moon observations, I discovered sometime ago that December has the blue moon which just happens to land on New Years Eve. That's right December 31st, 2009 is a full moon. What does this means for all of us?...We need to be extra careful when traveling on New Years Eve. Not only will we have the usual brash of drunk or buzzed drivers but also the added unnecessary risks of the full moon. Please everyone, be extra cautious this Holiday Season.

TTFN

A Pack...or Start of One Anyway...

Recent events in my life have had me wondering what exactly constitutes a pack, as it relates to a 'family' or pack of wolves. Is a paring of wolves a pack or does it require more than just two wolves to be a pack and for humor sake is it possible, should a paring constitute a pack , that it be a paring between a wolf and monkey (very few people will get that reference but I'll explain it later).

In Sunday school I heard the following quote which cracked me up and I share it now with you all because of the source I'm about to quote: "I found the following on Wikipedia, the source of all misinformation." With that out of the way I will now share with you the information which I found to title this story.

Normally, the pack consists of a male, a female, and their offspring, essentially making the pack a nuclear family. The size of the pack may change over time and is controlled by several factors, including habitat, personalities of individual wolves within a pack, and food supply. Packs can contain between 2 and 20 wolves, though 8 is a more typical size.

If you recall in my previous post Out of Hibernation (I know, Wolves don't hibernate) I mentioned a girl I was dating named Nicole Holbrook (who has made fun of me for calling her Nicole since she usually goes by Niki). I did not previously elude to the seriousness of our relationship but wish to do so now. If you will recall I mentioned that I thought things were going just about as amazing as they could be. What I didn't tell you is that from the first moment I knew there was something special about Nicole, and discovered within the first week of dating that I felt she was the one to spend the rest of forever with.

Don't worry I didn't propose right then and there, if I had been engaged in my last post I'm certain I would have mentioned it. But I did start planning a few things like, I started looking at rings and more closely examining my finances and such. About four weeks ago I called Nicole's father and set up a time where he, her mother, and I could talk alone. Obviously I asked for their permission to marry Nicole, which can I say was the most nervous I had ever been to that point. To my relief (not really cause I already knew the answer) they granted their permission and I was able to start the rest of my plans.

I went to a custom jeweler who is family friends with the Holbrook's, Jonathan's Jewelry, and discussed with Jon the design I had in mind and he presented some other alterations which were agreed upon. About a week later I picked up the completed ring and was shocked at how beautiful it was (I knew it would be but to be honest it literally took my breath away). The plan was to get into Nicole's car the day I was going to propose and leave several flowers inside each with a reason I loved her or other inside joke tied around the stem. So I contacted Becca Holbrook, Nicole's sister-in-law, who is a florist on the side and made an order of two dozen Gerber Daises (Nicole's favorite) and two dozen red roses.

November 19th (I had that date in mind for several weeks prior, no there really isn't anything spectacular about that date until now) finally rolled around and the flowers were there, I picked up all of the daises and seven of the roses, returned to my residence where I began to prep for the delivery of the flowers. My dear friend Preacher arrived to assist me and soon we were off for Nicole's work. I had informed her brother, who also works with Nicole, what we would be doing that afternoon and requested his help in keeping Nicole from noticing we were outside in her car. Mission Complete: after fleeing the scene and giving Jeff the all clear Nicole finally (90 min later) left work and discovered the flowers in her car. Strategically I had placed a note on one of the flowers that said, "Happy 3 Months (9 days early)" which I hoped would throw her off of what was going to happen later that evening...It Worked!

At 8:00pm that evening an event hosted by my chapter of SGC known as Iota Idol commenced. Iota Idol is a pageant like competition where the ladies of LDS compete to be the Iota Idol for the year. The events included an American Gladiator: Assault style blue ball war, a Q&A session, a Charades session, and finally a grilled cheese cook off. To my enjoyment Nicole had expressed a desire to compete in this years Iota Idol. Taking advantage of the Q&A session I quickly notified the few members of my fraternity what I had planned to do. The following took place.

Despite the fact that Nicole was competitor number 2 she was called up last, out of order, for the Q&A session. As she approached the MC for her question two of my frat brothers appeared from either side and handed her half a dozen roses. The MC then informed her that her questions would be delivered by a special guest. As I approached from the side and was handed the microphone my knees were shaking as though we were in an earth quake. I thanked the MC and then told Nicole how much I love her, reaching in my suit coat pocket I took a knee, produced the ring and some how managed to ask Nicole if she would marry me. She took the mic from me and said... "YES!" (I had you worried for a minute huh?). I stood while being smothered in kisses and somehow was able to place the ring on her finger.

Everyone there was going nuts. We were finally able to escape and decided to return to her house to share the news. We arrived at her house and shared the excitement with her family. After a few moments I suggested she go look in her room where she found the other seventeen roses in a bouquet on her bed.

We have not yet determined a date but you know I'll let you know when that happens. For now I sign off no longer a lone wolf. Till the next howling...