Latest EntryJan 30, 2010 Other Leave a comment
Hey folks!
You all know how much I totally want a Kindle! I occasionally scour the internets looking for Kindle contests and just today I found this awesome Kindle giveaway contest.It’s really easy to enter, all you gotta do is follow the blog (look on the right side of the page) and then you get extra entries for tweeting or blogging about it. Anyway, feel free to enter…and wish me luck!
Jan 25, 2010 I Am... Leave a comment
…reading, playing, and watching the following bits of entertainment. Some of it Nicole and I are doing together, some of it s on my own, and all of it is fun.
Reading:
The Spy Who Haunted Me by Simon R. Green
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Playing:
Bioshock
Metal Gear Solid 3
God of War Collection
Watching on DVD:
Lost Season 2
Legend of the Seeker Season 1
Jeremiah Season 2
Watching on TV:
Castle
Dollhouse
24
The Middle
Bones
Fringe
Caprica
What kind of things are you watching, playing, or reading? I’m always looking for new things to add to my hobbies as well as hearing what is popular beyond my little world.
Jan 22, 2010 Posts of Note Leave a comment
It’s Friday again and that means we have another group of links, blog posts, news articles, and YouTube posts to share. Once again they are all below separated by category…enjoy.
Relationships/Guy Stuff/Marriage/Finances
Investing Baby Steps #1: Know Who You Are – It always pays to know who you are but it pays even more when investing. What are you investing for, do you like risk or do you prefer a sure choice? This post is the first in a series on investing.
How to Run a Political Campaign for Local Office – Everyone at one point has thought that they could do a better job than whomever the current loser is in office. This post details in a very easy to understand way some of the basics.
How to Fall in Love With Your Job Again – Over time everyone gets burned out and everyone knows what it feels like. The questions is…how do you get out of it?
10 Facebook Rules for Married Couples – It seems that everyone and their mother these days has a Facebook page. This post lays down the law (or at least suggestions) how how to integrate Facebook into your married life.
The Virtuous Marriage: Temperance – Everything is good in moderation although sometimes we enjoy certain things a little too much. Learn about a few of those things with this post.
Want to Know Where Your Neighbors Are Spending Their Money? Bundle Will Tell You – I like to look at my finances and budget from time to time to see how I fare. This link is all about Bundle, a new website that allows you to compare your spending with those of your neighbors.
Health & Fitness
101 Ways to Lose Your Gut – I’ve got a bit of a gut, it is possible you have a bit of a gut, and now with this article both you and I could be on our way to have a bit less of a gut.
The James Bond Shower:A Shot of Cold Water for Health and Vitality – Out of all the posts I am sharing with you this week this is my favorite. I found this post on Monday and have been doing the cold shower since then (gradually of course) and it really wakes me up and gets me going.
2 Simple Ingredients That Will Boost Your Morning Energy – Lots of people are not morning people but these two sets of quick and easy exercies will get you woke up and ready for the day.
Tech/Computers/Gaming
This Week’s Best iPhone Apps – I don’t own an iPhone but it is neat to see all the awesome apps that get developed for it.
Cost Comparison of Major Mobile Phone Plans – A neat chart comparing the costs of different mobile plans. Are you paying too much?
7 Futuristic Movies That Got It Right – Some very neat and very accurate movies have predicted the future and some of it is already here!
How Student Can Get Windows 7 For Free – Everyone likes things for free…especially if something normally costs 100s of dollars. Follow these instructions and someone with a .edu address can get Microsoft Windows 7 for free.
Tablet Wars:Amazon Adds Apps to Kindle – I don’t own a Kindle (feel free to donate to the right if you wish) but I know a few people who have one and being able to use apps on them is a step up.
Casual Encounters, 22 Flash Games Worth Getting Addicted To – Out of the 22 games on the list I have played some, never heard of others, and plan on playing many. It is worth checking out if you are looking for something to do.
Odds n’ Ends
A Computer Finally Fights Back – Funny video of what happens when you get just a bit too rough with your computer.
Bond Lifestyle – A whole website devoted to the James Bond lifestyle. If you are looking for an Aston Martin or just a martini Bond Lifestyle has you covered.
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Well there it is, lots of links with just a splash of James Bond. I hope you enjoyed the links and found at least a couple to your liking, have a wonderful Friday and a relaxing weekend.
Jan 18, 2010 Married Life, Relationship Tips Leave a comment
Everyone has hobbies, things they like to do or stay caught up on outside the office. Some people like to follow sports (did you see the Saints game?) or keep up with politics (how about that Massachusetts special election?) or even play video games (keep an eye out for the Assassins Creed II DLC at the end of the month!). But when you get married your priorities do change, I still keep an eye on politics and I still look forward to the latest games but now that I am married there is something that I am more into than either of those things…my wife.
As we grown in our marriage and relationship we less want to do our own thing and more want to share what we once considered ‘our own thing’ with each other.
When you get married you are committing yourself to a relationship that should last your entire life. As we were dating and then engaged we both said “oh, we spend as much time together as we can now but when we are married we will do our own thing too”, if only we had known! We thought that because we would see each other we would want to make sure we get enough time apart but if anything we try to spend more time together. Don’t get me wrong, Nicole and I try to do ‘our own thing’ we are not constantly attached at the hip but we have found that as we grown in our marriage and relationship we less want to do our own thing and more want to share what we once considered ‘our own thing’ with each other.
Before Nicole and I met we both had separate interests that the other did not. I was interested in politics and tv shows (24, Buffy, etc)…among other things, and Nicole was interested in window shopping and hiking…among other things. As we got to know each other and shared our interests we found we enjoyed what the other person had to show us. Some things one of us likes the other never will (Nicole will never be a gamer and I will never scrapbook) but we have more things we enjoy than not and we find that we would much rather do these things together than apart. Sure, when you are married you can do things apart and that is fine…but I am finding that even the things I can by myself before are so much better and so much more fun with someone I love.
Some of you that read my blog are single, some engaged, and some married. for each of you I would love to know your thoughts on this. If you are single, what things would you like to share with someone in a relationship? If you are engaged or married what things have you brought to the relationship to brighten your significant others life and horizons? What do you enjoy together?
Jan 15, 2010 Posts of Note 2 Comments
Welcome to the first posting of Cool & Useful Things Around the Net. I’ve got some stuff from a few different categories to share so I hope that some of it interests you…enjoy.
Relationships/ Guy Stuff/Marriage/Finances
The Least Expensive Way to Check Your Credit – I got my first credit annual credit report last year and but I’ve never checked my credit score, it’s good to know you don’t need to take out a loan to get it.
10 Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Lease – Although my wife and I feel like we have a good apartment and are paying a good price for rent it would have been nice to have had this list first…we didn’t ask all the questions listed.
Visualizing How the Things You Own, End Up Owning You – I’ve not done this but maybe I will in the next week or so and post it here to share, it would be interesting to see for sure.
What the New Changes in Credit Card Rules Mean For You – Credit card laws are changing and this is a quick look at how they will affect you for good or bad. A quick read and important if you use credit cards (which most people do).
What the New Credit Card Laws Mean To You – No, this is not the same link, just a slightly different view on the subject of the changing credit card laws.
Biggest Mistakes When Buying a Car – In the market for buying a car? Go over this list to make sure you don’t get stuck with a poor choice.
How I Cut 16 Years From My Mortgage in Just 1 Hour – I personally don’t have a house or a mortgage but something to keep in mind for the future…or if you are reading this and do have a mortgage.
The Best Time to Buy Almost Anything – This is an exhaustive list covering the best times of the year to buy anything you could imagine.
Food/Cooking
Make Your Own Twinkies – Most everyone loves Twinkies and now you can make them in the comfort of your own home.
Make Your Own Gummi Candy – A recipe to make gummi candy. A great activity to do with the kids and you can even get creative with the shapes and sizes.
Tech/Computers/Gaming
The Year Ahead, Part One – The first part of a look at the upcoming PC games in 2010. Lots of good games on the horizon which I am sure will be demanding my time and money.
The Year Ahead, Part Two – The second part of what is ahead this year for PC gaming.
Napoleon: Total War Trailer (Eurogamer) – An excellent and exclusive trailer for the upcoming PC game Napoleon: Total War.
SEGA Dates Napoleon: Total War – SEGA (obviously) reveals the release date for Napoleon: Total War as well as some info on the special units to be included in the game.
CyberNotes: Three Fantastic Sites For Kids – Looking for fun and safe places for your children to experience the internet? CyberNotes has a review of three such sites from the likes of Yahoo! and PBS.
Odds n’ Ends
DIY Tazer Gloves -You can make Tazer gloves for $20! Gloves…that tazer…how cool is that?!
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And that is it for the week of Cool & Useful Things Around the Net for this week. This week skewed heavily toward finance and money so I hope you found it interesting and maybe even saved a few bucks. I hope everyone has an excellent weekend, has fun, and stays safe…I, for those who are interested will prolly be making Twinkies. See ya next week.
Jan 11, 2010 Other Leave a comment
So, it’s a new year and although I am a bit late I do have a New Year’s resolution for this blog. I’ve had this blog for over a year now and posting has been…sparse. I would really like to get into a habit of posting regularly and to start that I am committing to two posts a week. The two posts will be as follows:
Monday – A post with varying subject matter but somehow related to relationships, family, marriage, etc.
Friday – A ‘Best Of’ links post were I pick a few of my favorite posts from the blogs i read and share them with you here.
I, of course, don’t have a post for this Monday (today) and although probably not the best way to start off my resolution this post will have to suffice for my post today. I will be posting later this week as I’ve promised and I look forward to sharing some of my favorite posts with you later this week and I hope you will stop by.
Oct 20, 2009 Dubuque, Married Life, Work Leave a comment
Well Nicole and I have been married for about a month now. A little over actually. We did get our wedding pictures back and although I really wanted to go through them, all 545, to show you It’s just too many so I just will link to where I put some up on Facebook. Hopefully that will work for now and maybe in the future I will go through them more thoroughly.
After a month of being married Nicole and I are pretty well settled into things. We are mostly adjusted to the things that come up when you start living together such as “Why do you do things that way?” or “Stop stealing the covers!”. One thing that has been really nice for both of us is how neither of has to do everything anymore. It’s nice to have someone help out. For example, I walk to work every day and Nicole drives, instead of me stopping at the store after work it’s much easier for Nicole to do it. On the other hand Nicole loves to sleep in on the Saturdays when she doesn’t work…so I do laundry.
We both are warming up to Dubuque. It’s a bit different but we are meeting quite a few nice people and making some friends. We also don’t want to live in an apartment forever and it’s nice that we have seen a number of beautiful homes and neighborhoods in different areas of Dubuque.
Sep 21, 2009 Dubuque, Friends & Family, Iowa, Milwaukee, The Wedding, Wisconsin Leave a comment
Thank You
Before I get to sharing all about Nicole and my wedding I would just like to take a bit to thank some people that really deserve it:
Both Nicole’s parents and my own – They were extremely helpful throughout the whole process and very supportive. Thank You is really not enough to say how much we appreciate you.
Nicole’s Aunt Lisa – She made our beautiful wedding invites as well as our reception favors. They really were quite excellent and we love them.
My Best Man – Bruce, you were awesome. You gave a great speech at the reception and you were wonderfully supportive through the whole wedding process. Thanks.
My friends from Bethany – None of you had to make the long, multiple hour trip for my wedding both to attend and/or stand up for me, especially you John and Erika…coming all the way from Boston. Thank you, I had an excellent time, Nicole and I both loved seeing you all, and I hope you had fun.
Wednesday
Wednesday started off with myself driving up to my parents in Wisconsin from Iowa. I didn’t do a whole lot but I did get my hair trimmed up a bit and I got to spend some time with my family before the wedding started.
Thursday
On Thursday I got up early like usual (530 or 6ish…no point in wasting the day, eh?) and ate breakfast…got ready for the day, etc. By 1030 I had driven the half hour to Nicole’s parents house to pick her up. One of my groomsmen, John and his wife Erika, were flying into Madison at noon from Boston special for my wedding. We picked them up, got their rental and hotel squared away, and then started our drive to Milwaukee to pick up our tuxes. I don’t think I’ve ever had the drive from Madison to Milwaukee go so quickly! Nicole, John, Erika, and I talked the entire way about all sorts of stuff and when we got to the tux place I wondered what happened to the time in between.
We arrived to pick up out tuxes and they had then ready to go (Savvi Formalwear on Oak Creek, WI if anyone needs a tux or dress, it’s a full service wedding shop). John and I both tried ours on and only required small alterations. We signed for the two tuxes the other two guys in my wedding would wear so verify that they did not try them on before they left the shop and then piled back into the car. By now it was about 430 or 5 and we were hungry. We decided to eat at Bd’s Mongolian Barbecue which, if you have not been to it or a similar restaurant, is where you get a bowl and fill it with raw meat, veggies, sauces, etc and then they grill it up for you on a big flat grill. The food is excellent and one bowl is more then enough although they do offer unlimited bowls if that’s what you want. We each had one bowl for supper followed by a huge brownie/ice cream w/ hot fudge sundae which we all shared because it was huge. After supper we made it home despite some odd directions from my GPS and dropped John and Erika off at their hotel. I also dropped Nicole off at home and then went back to my parents for the rest of the evening.
Friday
Friday consisted of the following things: the wedding rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, and my bachelor party.For most of the day I helped my mother get things ready for the rehearsal dinner and then in the afternoon I went down to Columbus to help Nicole with things down there. The wedding rehearsal started at 4pm and went by quick, it only took about a half hour to go through everything. Where to stand, when to turn this way and that, what to say, how to walk in and out. If you have been married I am sure you know what I am talking about. After the rehearsal we all went to Nicole’s aunt’s house for the dinner. My mother and Nicole’s mother provided the food…and it was good! Everything Nicole and I liked; turkey, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, cherry jello, etc was there and we ate, it was informal and nothing fancy.
After dinner myself, my best man, and my groomsmen drove up to Portage to pick up another friend (who also happened to be named Mark) before driving down to Madison for our bachelor party. My best man took care of the arrangements and for the evening we rented a pool table at the Brass Ring…the only bar in Madison that even rents out pool tables. We got there about 830 or so and stayed until about 1ish playing pool, throwing darts, drinking beer, and eating some wonderful fries. We then decided to pack it in for the night and after dropping everyone off and such I got into bed at 3am.
Saturday
The big day. I won’t bore you with my nervousness and the mundane details of what happened before the wedding but at 1pm exactly the wedding service started. Myself and my groomsmen filed into the front of the church from the back room and I stood there waiting. Needless to say I was nervous and excited at the same time and I couldn’t help but smile as Nicole walked down the aisle toward me. Nicole and I then stood at the front of the church with the pastor. The service was standard Lutheran but this bit from the sermon does make me smile:
Pastor: Nicole, how much time do you think you spent planning the wedding?
Nicole: Alot, more than I thought it would take.
Pastor: And Mark, how much time do you think you spent planning the wedding?
Me: [small smile] Not that much.
[congregation enjoys a good laugh]
So the sermon continued, we said our vows and lit our unity candle. The pastor announced us and we walked out of the church and prepped for the receiving line. I would say that by about 2 the receiving line had wrapped up and we were ready to go take pictures. We were really impressed with our photographer and as soon as we get our pictures back I will share them with you as well as the contact info of the photographer if we are happy with the end result of his work. We did get some pictures in the church, all the family ones and some wedding party ones, and then we drove up to Portage to get some pictures of the wedding party at a park that Nicole likes. We got some reallt good pictures there and made it back for the reception (starting at 530) at 535.
The reception started off with food (of course) and our menu was as follows:
Nicole and I both got a number of compliments on the food throughout the night and it was nice to know that we were not the only ones that enjoyed the food. After dinner the music started and Nicole and I had our first dance; Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. I’m not sure how to explain the rest of the night except to say it went on from there. Some slow dancing, some party dancing (somehow Nicole got me to do the chicken dance *shudder*), the garter and bouquet toss, as well as plenty of socializing. The only problem the whole night was the temporary loss of the garter, someone ended up finding another one somewhere and we only found the original the next morning when Nicole and I were packing our bags. By all accounts everyone did have fun and everything wrapped up by about 10pm or so.
Sunday
The day after the wedding was the present opening at my mom and dad’s house. Parts of my family and Nicole’s attended and we got lots of very nice stuff as well as a good amount of cash. Thanks to everyone who was there and to everyone who gave us presents.
Monday
We went to the courthouse, waited around for two hours while the government demonstrated the meaning of the word inefficient, and then went back to Dubuque with our official marriage license.
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So that is how our wedding went down. I can’t tell you how happy that although it was fun we are both glad it is over and done with.
Sep 12, 2009 The Wedding Leave a comment
As you are reading this I am standing at the front of a church in front of my friends and family getting married to my wonderful fiancee Nicole. This is obviously a scheduled post (it would be kinda hard to blog in the middle of a wedding) but please drop well wishes in the comments. They are very appreciated and I will follow up on all of them when I get back to my computer next week (after Nicole and I get settled in a bit).
So, now that I am finally literally in the process of getting married any hints, tips, advice? I’d love to hear from you.
Sep 9, 2009 The Wedding, Wisconsin Leave a comment
Alright, this is it!
Today starts the final prep work for our wedding on Saturday. I am driving up to my parent’s house today so I am a bit closer to the action (a half hour away from Nicole, the church, the reception hall, etc. On Thursday Nicole and I have a few things still to take care of. One of my groomsmen and his wife is flying in for the wedding so we need to pick them up. We also need to drive to Milwaukee to pick up the tuxes…at the time I did not know I was moving to Iowa…in hindsight I might have picked a different tux rental place. Most of Friday will (as of now) be pretty relaxed until the evening, The rehearsal is not until 4pm with the dinner following. I believe that on Friday I am to have a bachelor party of sorts. My best man did run a few ideas past me so I assume that one of those will take place Friday evening.
And that is the plan for the next few days! The wedding, once again, is on Saturday at 1pm and although there will be a small scheduled post the day of I will post something larger and more detailed after Nicole and I get settled next week. So, friends, regular readers, and people just dropping by wish me luck and a good time. I expect this to be amazing and a ton of fun.