Heading to Cali Series: Getting rid of Steph’s car
Wow, does it feel good to actually break the news to the world about Stephanie and I heading out to Palo Alto, California. I have held back until now for a few different reasons, but now it’s officially time to let everyone know that WE ARE MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!
Whew…there, I finally said it and in about a week I’ll be living it as we pack up and drive on out west to our new cottage out in the warm and beautifully sunny streets of the computer nerd capital of the world. I’m sure that I’ll fit in just fine, but there is plenty of nervousness going on even though this is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time now. I know that it will work out perfectly with Stephanie and I fitting in like we belonged there from the beginning. I guess it’s like I always say: ‘If you don’t get nervous about it, then it’s probably not even worth doing.’
So, as we move along the super accelerated schedule of moving out there we have a a type of ‘mental list’ of things that we need to take care of before we get out there. One of the first things we decided to take care of was what we are going to do with our cars. Stephanie drives a 2007 Civic si and I was driving a 2007 GMC Envoy Denali and we have decided that we need to not only get down to one car(with one cheaper payment), but we also needed to get into something a little more gas efficient.
But, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the first thing we had to do was get rid of Stephanie’s ride. We were told to go get her car appraised at Carmax so that we could see what it was worth. It was my first Carmax experience, so of course I decided to make a video about it and you can check it out below or over here on YouTube. This is the first of many more Moving to Cali Series videos that we’ll be making, so come on along for the ride!
The Hoopty gets road worthy: Part 1
Stephanie is not the only love in my life, I also have a deep, van-love for my Hoopty that I bought before I headed to Mardi Gras about a month ago. Well, just like anything that I love, I want to make sure that the Hoopty is taken care of so I decided to clean her up a bit and take her in to get a quick checkup at the Ford dealership.
Hoooopty!
Here’s a quick look at how the day with the Hoopty went down. You can also check out the video over here on YouTube.
Fixed laptop = more videos!
My laptop and I have been butting heads for many, many weeks and probably months due to the fact that it has been running really, really slow and has gotten to the point where I can barely get my day to day stuff done without throwing it out my car window. Luckily, I took the high road with the many frustrations that me and my constant companion have been dealing with by taking to the time to archive all of the files, etc. from the laptop’s hard drive so that I could proceed to wipe out everything that has been saved, installed, hacked and created on it.
Well, the good news is that I’m back in business with a decent laptop(it’s runnin’ great…for now), it’s not taking 25 minutes to pull up the Internet and probably the greatest result of getting it fixed is that Stephanie and I can start doing videos again. The videos that we put together are a great creative release from me and something that I really enjoy doing by myself as well as with Stephanie. Since I worked so hard at getting the laptop fired up today, I vowed to get at least one video up and ready by the morning, so here goes nothing.
This video is of a glimpse into the first birthday party of my two baby nieces, Reese and Riley - you can also check it out over here on YouTube if you can’t see it below.
Getting prepared for victory
It’s game time! This is what all of our games come down to: the playoffs. This is where we separate the men from the boys, this is where the rest of the season is decided, this is the big time! Hopefully we play well and win, but if not - hopefully we’ll have a pizza party sometime soon to say goodbye. Hey, it’s a win-win. 
Stephanie’s Thoughts: The time has come… After a season full of ups and downs, victories and losses, and a load of fun and inspirational times, the Special Olympics basketball tournament has begun. Today we will make the trek out to Shelbyville to take on our opponents in hopes of sweet victory. An encouraging practice last week will lead our team onto the court today with a great deal of excitement and confidence. It’s quite an exciting day, but let’s be honest, win or lose the only thing that truly matters is that the players have a great time playing and are encouraged and praised for their hard efforts. This being my first year of coaching Special Olympics, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I can honestly say that it has been one of the most uplifting experiences in my life. Every single one of our players holds a special place in my heart and I look forward to watching them accomplish their goals and aspirations both within athletics and their lives.
A blizzard can’t keep us away from a birthday party
Today Stephanie and I are both down in the snow-filled state of Keeeeeentucky(insert your own hillbilly accent here) for the latest monumental event of the family, the first birthday of my twin nieces Reese and Riley. Up until about an hour ago, Kentucky was under an official blizzard warning(see my sister’s snow covered car here) but it didn’t come close to stopping me and the rest of the fam from making the trek down for the bash. We hopped into dad’s Yukon, slapped ‘er into 4-wheel drive and actually had no problems making our way down once we were on the road.
Well, according to my niece, Madison, it’s time for Uncle Hup to get off the computer and come play and it’s pretty hard to argue with that. I can’t wait to see the twins tear into their first birthdays cakes…get after it, kids and make this uncle proud.
Until I get the video done for today’s birthday goodness, check out my nephew Mason’s first birthday video below or over here on YouTube.
VIDEO: Meet the grandparents
Yesterday I posted about Stephanie and I heading to her grandparent’s house in Danville, IN and how meeting the family members of your significant other is a huge step in a relationship and is not only a great way to better understand the person you are with, but it is also a great gauge on where he/she came from and how he/she became the amazing person that they are today.
As I said, I truly enjoy meeting all of Stephanie’s family and believe me, her grandparents were no exception. In fact, we had such a great time I think that I went into their house calling them her grandparents and I left calling them mawmaw and pawpaw. Not to mention that I was STUFFED with some of the best home made food that I’ve ever had(don’t tell my grandma that I said that).
Be sure to check out a few of the pics over here on Facebook and if you can’t see the embedded video below, click here to view it directly on YouTube.