Janelle & Matt

2011-06-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

4 MONTHS

Our little peanut is growing up so fast!! June 17th marked her four month birthday. We weren't quick enough in getting her pictures so we had to wake her up, which she wasn't too thrilled about...

Exciting changes over the last month: Camille has two teeth!!! She is sleeping through the night hooray!!! She is rolling both ways (o.k. that technically happened a week after her four month birthday but close enough...), she is laughing, making lots of vowel sounds and all around is an adorable interactive little girl!!

2011-06-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

MAZAMA

The Weaver fam made the trek to Mazama this year for Memorial day weekend. We didn't want to miss the annual pancake breakfast feast, so instead of frantically packing up and racing out the door Friday after work, we got every thing ready and then woke to our alarm clock Camille and were on the road by 5am Saturday morning.

We made awesome time in our new (to us) Subaru Outback and met up with Janelle's parents and all the regular crew in Mazama. We filled up on cakes, eggs, ham, coffee, juice and good conversation.

We headed back to Libby and John's home in Mazama where Janelle has been spending most of her memorial day weekends since she was five years old!! It was a relaxing weekend, although certainly had new twists with a baby in tow! We still got in hikes, great meals and a pretty raucous party to celebrate the hush hush nuptials of Libby and John after shacking up together for over 30 years!

Camille was of course the center of attention! We had a great time and learned a lot about camping with a baby!!

2011-05-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

3 Months!

We are late getting this posted, but here is Peanut on her 3 month birthday!

She's a mover and a shaker these days, so it was hard to get a pic with her birthday sign! She is laughing, rolling over, babbling and making tons of faces! We are still working on sleeping through the night, but we're making progress!!

2011-04-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Easter!

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend of celebration for the Weaver household! Saturday we headed down to Tacoma with the little one and dropped her off with Janelle's parents for the night. It was the first night apart and while we missed our little peanut, we got a very welcome respite and a full night of sleep!!!! To Celebrate Janelle's birthday and our 2nd anniversary, we stayed at the Silver Cloud on the water front and had an amazing dinner at Stanely and Seaforts. YUM!

Sunday was Easter and we attended celebrations at Janelle's aunt Kris's house and then at Janelle's aunt Carolyn's house. Everyone was eager for some Camille time and she was passed around all day. She did awesome and was either sleeping or in a good mood the whole time!

Here she is in her two Easter outfits.

Trying to jump out of the basket.

So cute in her little dress!

Not too happy in the bunny hat!

2011-04-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

ROCK STAR

Couldn't resist posting these pics of Camille with her rockin' sunglasses getting ready for a walk in the sunny evening...

2011-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

Camille is now officially two months old! She had her check up and immunizations and both baby and parents did better than expected! Camille weighed 9lbs 14oz, was 22 inches long, so still quite a little peanut!

Camille is pretty smiley these days and is cooing a lot. She has just barely started to laugh; we've only heard it a couple times, but its so fun and exciting when she does.

She still has her crabby patty moments, luckily they are more often during the day like this one at 1 pm rather than 1 am. Obviously mommy is not living up to the standards set by this outfit all the time...

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Camille is generally sleeping better at night, she still wakes up about every two hours to eat, but she is much better about chowing down and going right back to sleep instead thinking its time to get up. She still sleeps quite a bit during the day giving mom opportunities to dress her in silly hats.

Camille likes her Bumbo seat, still likes the play mat a lot, does well with tummy time, and is really a good baby.

She loves walks in her stroller and in the Bjorn. Here she is on her first trip to Pike Place to celebrate Aunt Amy's birthday. We lucked out with the gorgeous weather since it has been nothing but rain for the last two months!

She is the center of our world and even though we are insanely sleep deprived one look at this adorable sweet face makes it all worth it!

2011-04-07T12:54:00.001-07:00

PICS

Here are a few pics of little Camille. We've been trying to upload videos, but have run into technical difficulties. We were going to post a few more pictures too, but now we can't even get any more pictures to upload! Until we can figure out the problem, these will have to suffice!

Mom, Camille and baby monkey cuddling on the couch.

Cutie!

Mom loves this adorable fluffy vest,

Camille is not so sure. She is sure that she learned this face from mom....

2011-03-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

SMILE!

2011-03-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Happy 1 Month Birthday Peanut!

Camille Kendall "Peanut" Weaver

Wow, its hard to believe our little Camille is already a month old, and yet neither of us can imagine life without her. She has gotten to meet lots of friends and family (unfortunately we don't have pics of everyone), and there are still more waiting in the wings!

Great Grandma Parker

Grandma and Grandpa Weaver

Great Aunt Carolyn

Aunt Amy and Uncle John

Great Aunt Norma

Jesse

Grandma and Grandpa Parker

Janelle is finally feeling a little more normal and healed, although neither of us have gotten more than about 4 hours sleep at a stretch yet. And that is a rare occurrence! Camille is still a night owl, she is most awake between about midnight and 2 or 3am. Then she's up again at about 5 or 6.

We're hoping to get this straightened out soon, but she has certainly taught us that she runs the show now!

Typical Crabby Patty at 1 am

She is just starting to smile socially now and mimic silly faces; which melts mom and dad's hearts!!! She's had her first tub bath and loves to play on her play mat.

Bat those toys!

After 1st bath

With Tired Mom after 1st bath; note the fuzz head!

2011-02-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Our Daughter!

Welcome to the world Camille Kendall Weaver! We love you so much its impossible to put into words!

2011-01-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

38 WEEKS!!!!!!!!

So to change it up a bit, Janelle has been trying to get a video of the rolling baby girl does now, but as soon as the camera is on, she somehow knows and refuses to perform! So while this still doesn't do the belly dancing justice, it is at least a taste of what this little one subjects Janelle's insides too ALL DAY LONG! The best movement can be seen with a big kick right at the beginning and then some good rolling at about 50 seconds. Feel free to fast forward, we realize staring at a big belly isn't that exciting.

Janelle is very ready for labor to begin, she's even past the scared and nervous stage and on to the "let's get this show on the road stage, some pain for a few hours/days is going to be better than continuing to feel like a walking bowling ball".

As we've mentioned before we have been speculating what this little one will look like; will she have dark hair like Matt, reddish hair like Janelle, freckles, straight or curly hair, Matt's mouth, Janelle's cheeks... what? So Janelle found a program online that will morph two pictures, so for fun made a potential Matt and Janelle kiddo. O.k. so its more creepy than anything else, but here were the results:

Otherwise, our lives are consisting of filling in last minute baby items, more doc appointments, setting up daycare, pediatrician, finalizing work schedules and thinking things like "next month at this time, we'll have a baby in the house..... crazy!"

2011-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

Its the Final Countdown!

Ok we know that we have been very neglectful of the blog. Despite that we're going to keep it relatively short and sweet. Time has been absolutely flying by but we have packed in a lot in the last several weeks. Two visits from Matt's parents at Thanksgiving and Christmas, which were fun as always! A baby shower for Janelle, visits with Janelle's family for Christmas, lots and lots of doctor visits including an ultrasound that all the baby's grandparents got to be a part of, Matt's birthday and celebration with friends and family, a very uneventful New Years, our cat Tony running away at the beginning of December, a new addition of another orange kitty a week ago, and sadly the passing of Janelle's grandfather. Whew that sums it up. Obviously what is in the forefront of our minds is the impending arrival of our baby girl Camille, which if Janelle had her way would be now!

The baby should be here in just about 3-4 weeks, the room is all ready and Janelle is too. Matt is still wrapping his head around the reality of fatherhood, but couldn't be more excited! :)

36 Weeks

Janelle is very proud of the fact that she has no stretch marks, not that she has any control over that, but still....

2010-11-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

Halloween Part II

One of the party goers finally posted some pics from the Halloween party where Matt and Janelle went as roller girls. So here is the official evidence: Its Preggy Sue and Baby Mama!

Sorry it isn't bigger, since its not our pic, Janelle couldn't figure out how to make it any bigger. Its a little hard to tell how big the belly is in the pic, but for a little perspective this shirt used to fit Janelle just fine and hit at about the hips. Now it doesn't even cover the belly!

2010-11-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

Halloween

We had a very busy October with Matt teaching two classes to try to save up money for Janelle's maternity leave, visits with friends and work. Check out our friend Jesse's blog exciting times (link on the side) for some pics from our pumpkin patch adventure with the Paulsons, and John and Amy. Jace documented the day!

For Halloween, Janelle dressed as a pregnant cheerleader at work on Friday and Saturday Janelle and Matt both went as roller derby girls. It was quite the sight to see with Matt dressed in a skirt and fish nets and Janelle wearing a half shirt with temporary tattoos on her belly. We didn't personally get pics but there are some out there somewhere....

We got several trick-or-treaters and many parents were very congratulatory when they saw our pumpkins.

Unfortunately we have fallen behind in taking belly pics, hopefully soon when we get new batteries for the camera! Janelle is feeling kicks all the time now and if you look closely they can even be seen on the outside from time to time!

2010-10-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

5 Months!

We're more than half way there! Today marks the end of the fifth month of pregnancy for Janelle! In the last two weeks we've added a new chair and rug to the nursery and Janelle has started feeling the baby move and kick multiple times a day now. Matt has even gotten to feel some kicks over the last few days. Its exciting that now the baby is big enough to share this experience with both mom and dad!

Although it may be hard to tell from the picture, Janelle's belly has grown quite a bit over the last couple weeks as well and there is no mistaking that she is pregnant at this point.

2010-09-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Half Way!

Whew, we made it to 20 weeks! Its amazing to think that in just about 4 1/2 short months we will have a brand new baby GIRL!!!! in our arms. We found out the sex about a week and a half ago and we are over the moon with excitement that we will be having a daughter! Of course the ultrasounds aren't 100% but the tech was quite confident that there will be a member of team pink joining our family.

We have been working on the nursery and have finished the painting. Thanks so much future Uncle John! He drew on the rolling hills which turned out adorable and Matt and John had a beer and pizza night painting. We put on some decals of owls, mushrooms, birds, and hedgehog, which are super cute! Its definitely coming together. We have bought (and received!) some very very cute baby girl clothes and can't wait to see her in them!

Janelle is really starting to show now and likes that it is obvious she is pregnant now but not so big that she's super uncomfortable.

2010-09-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

baby GIRL weaver!

On September 14th, we had the anatomy and gender ultrasound, and it went great!

The baby appears to be growing and developing right on track which is always very reassuring news. We were very anxious to find out the sex of the baby, and while ultrasounds are never 100%, the tech felt about 95% sure that we will be welcoming a daughter in February! While we obviously would have been happy no matter what, we both were hoping for a little girl and it took several days for the news to sink in that we really are getting that wish!

The first pic, the baby is turning her head away from the camera, in the second its a profile and in the third; the angle is sort of like if you were laying down on your back and looking at your own hand. And you can also see there isn't a whole lot visible down below..... ;)

2010-09-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

17 Weeks and Camping...

Well, for some reason it is much more difficult to get a belly pic that is both cute and shows the belly well than you would think. So this is the best we could do this week.

Unfortunately, Janelle has been fighting off a head cold so was thankful for the long weekend to sleep, relax, sleep, watch tv, rest and sleep. Since she really can't take time off of her new job the three day weekend couldn't have come at a better time. In other baby news, in just about a week (and as long as Matt Jr. cooperates), the mystery will finally be over of if there really is a Matt Jr. or a Janelle Jr. in there! We could not be more excited and as the day grows closer its harder and harder to wait!

The last weekend of August had us camping with Janelle's parents which has become a summer tradition. The last several years have been less than ideal weather with rain and/or cold temperatures. We finally lucked out this year with our trip to Lake Alta with sunny skies and pleasant temps. The campground was quite full which resulted in the bathroom being occupied literally 24/7. (Janelle would know since one of the lovely side effects of pregnancy is many frequent trips!) You would think we were at a night club with all the ladies in their cutest clothes, doing their hair, make up and showering multiple times a day. It was..... odd to say the least. But overall it was a very fun and relaxing trip, filled with laughter and good conversation.

2010-08-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

15 WEEKS

We got a lot done this weekend in terms of preparing for the baby. We picked out paint colors, which are VOC free! So environmentally friendly. The main color is going to be a sky blue and then we are going to paint on rolling green hills. Janelle taped off the room and Matt painted the blue color. You can see it in the background of this extremely flattering picture of Janelle. She is excited that she is officially starting to show and even though it isn't that much yet, it makes everything feel a little more real....

2010-08-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

BABY WEAVER

Its official, we are expecting our baby sometime in February 2011! We are over the moon excited and still trying to wrap our minds around the fact that we are actually finally going to be parents in a short six months!

We love to speculate what "Matt Jr" will be like. We don't know the sex of the baby yet, but we refer to the baby as Matt Jr since Janelle's cousin Daniel thinks this is what the name should be, regardless.

Here are the pics from the most recent ultrasound at 13 weeks 2 days.

Our next ultrasound will be in mid September and we will hopefully know the sex at that time! We thought we might be able to tell at this last ultrasound, but the baby was crossing its legs and the umbilical cord was in the way, so hopefully it will be more cooperative next time!

2010-07-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

National Independence Day - 2010!!!!

After a relaxing Saturday at home, that allowed us to catch up on some much needed sleep, we packed up to get ready for our adventure planned for the national holiday. A good time was had as we took advantage of the three day weekend for Janelle and I to run up north and visit one of our favorite stomping grounds and site of our wedding, one Bellingham, Washington. We had a great room in the Fairhaven Inn; a very cool older building directly in the center of the historic Fairhaven area just south of downtown Bellingham. After checking out the sweet folk dancing and local music scene happening in the courtyard just across street from our hotel, we visited one of our local favorites for lunch in the form of the Colophon Cafe. All of the fun cow motifs, one yummy homemade milkshake, and some great sandwiches set us up for the rest of the festivities. Following the sandwiches we heard a little more from the local music talent and headed back to the room for a little R&R prior to the rest of the evening. Following the quick rest we headed through the familiar streets of the "'Ham" to hit another of our favorite dining locales with the always cool Boundary Bay Brewery. I proudly wore my "Save the Ales" sweatshirt as we dined on a great BBQ sandwich and some chicken enchiladas (Love the Southwest Style Mexi food in this town!!) and sipped on some of the unique and quite delicious home-brewed beverages. After perusing the in-brewery shop for possible gifts and fun clothes we decided to brave the crowds and head out to the site of our wedding and the site of the 2010 July 4th celebration for the locals. We got a prime parking spot just on the outside of the park and trotted right in with our large blanket and lawn chairs to experience all of the fun. After scoring one of the choice spots near the waters edge we cruised through the sweet vendors at the park and admired the small stage and beer garden that had been placed directly on the same site where Janelle and I stated our vows just a little more then a year before. There was a great small-town feel to the whole proceedings that fit just fine with the two of us. Great views, some amazing people watching, and a gorgeous sunset as the sky grew dark kept us content as we waited for the annual pyrotechnic show. Despite a little drizzle just as the show began, and lasting throughout the show and some following, there was a a wonderful display with many "oohs" and "ahhs" as the colors flared. Following the show we were able to hit a gas station for some snacks on the way back to the hotel and enjoyed lounging on the uber-comfy bed as we snacked and watched some TV to cap off the evening. In the AM we hit the continental breakfast and enjoyed a few waffles before cruising through our favorite Bellingham toystore and plant store. A great visit, and a fun way to spend the 3-day weekend in one of our favorite places in the Northwest; that holds a special place in both of our hearts. Till next time!!! ;-)

2010-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Our Jungle

So the weather here has been everything but summer like in the past few weeks. As a result we haven't been able to get out to the yard to weed or cut the grass, and its gotten pretty wild! Missy enjoys being a "jungle cat" though!

Finally on Saturday we got a nice break and had a gorgeous day! Tony even ventured out.

Other exciting Tony news is that Janelle had a friend, Kasie, from Bellingham come down for the weekend and Tony hung out in the living room for a long time while she was there! Progress!

Otherwise, the past few weeks have been pretty crazy, Janelle went through an extensive interview process for a job and was finally offered the position! Unfortunately part of that process included needing to move the baby we had placed with us because there was a conflict of interest with having that specific child an this job. So again we had just a three night placement.

Janelle put in her two weeks at her current job last week, which she is glad on many fronts to be leaving, but it is bitter sweet since the families she works with depend on her so much and she knows it will be difficult to say good bye. But she will not miss the long hours, unsupportive environment and being on call 24/7! The new job is a pretty significant pay cut, but at this point it is worth it to minimize the extreme amount of stress Janelle has been under.

So there have been a lot of changes lately, but we are both confident good things are in store for us!

2010-06-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

Speaking of a baby in your arms....

Matt is right now sitting with the new baby sleeping in his arms. She ended up being placed with us tonight and as usual we learned more after the fact. She will likely be with us a lot longer than the last little one, but the plan is still for her to go to her dad. So time will tell...

She is again super cute, has two or three little curls right on the top of her head and an adorable smile. Fun!

Janelle has already made a rookie move as a parent. She needed some baby supplies so decided to make a run to target. She brought a few diapers in the car, but only brought one into the store. She decided to change the baby since she was wet and Janelle wanted her to be comfortable for the shopping trip. Janelle got her settled into the cart and off they went to shop. Fast forward five minutes later and the undeniable sound of a major major blow out! Yikes, Janelle frantically threw the items she needed in the cart as she watched the baby's clothes turn a lovely shade of brown.

She checked out, ran out the car, grabbed another diaper, one of the new outfits she just bought and went back in to Target for some damage control. Note to new parents, no matter what always bring more than one diaper and a change of clothes....

2010-06-01T15:59:00.001-07:00

And the Roller Coaster Ride Continues...

Well after our last experience being foster parents, we weren't sure if we could do it again. BUT, we're back in the saddle. We talked last week about whether this was something we wanted to continue or not and decided we wanted to give it another shot. As was the case last time, Janelle got several calls immediately when she let the licensor know that we were ready. Since we were heading down to Portland and would be out of state, none of them would have quite worked out. On Thursday, Janelle got a message from one of her co-workers in Tacoma asking if the Seattle office had an adoptive home for an 18 month old girl. Janelle knew nothing more than this all weekend, but of course the wheels started turning as to if this would be a good fit for our family.

We talked seriously about it and decided that if there were no major medical or developmental issues, we would do it. But Janelle talked to the social worker today and learned a lot more information including that the child did in fact has some significant delays and a medical issue. There is always a little bit of a feeling of disappointment because there is excitement around the idea of having a child in your home, but we knew this really wasn't a good fit for our family.

But low and behold a call came in a few hours later for a six month old baby girl in need of a home. She has already been in care for a while, which means it has already been determined of her need to be in foster care. So she won't go home after just a few days this time. As you may remember from last time, nothing is certain until that child is in your arms, but its looking like tomorrow we may have another baby in our home!

To Be Continued....

2010-06-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

And The Winner Is....

No Game!!!

This past weekend Matt and Janelle headed to Portland for the North American Gay Volleyball Association (NAGVA) National Volleyball tournament. Matt decided to do a closer National tournament this year, which turned out to be NAGVA. It was a fun filled weekend, which included some of the best people watching you could imagine, a low key, welcoming atmosphere, and some very competative AA teams. Janelle was by far in the minority being a caucasian heterosexual (biological) female. She had a great time watching the competition from the safety of the bleachers and listening to all the crazy socializing going on, which seemed to be the primary focus for a lot of folks. The most exciting part was that the team Matt set for (No Game) won the whole tournament! An interview with him will be featured in a gay athletic magazine!

Also great fun was Matt reconnected with an old pal, Rich, from his days at Linfield. We went out to lots of great, fun little restaurants in the area and the boys drank whiskey sours for old times sake. All in all, a wonderful, fun, exciting weekend. One for the history books and that went WAY too fast!

2010-05-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

PROOF!

We know there have been wild rumors that we might actually have two cats. Missy is super social and everyone knows she exists, but Tony is another story. There have been claims that he was seen by a few people other than Matt and Janelle. Well it is time to put all the mystery to rest. Here is rare footage of the elusive Tony!

2010-05-15T16:07:00.001-07:00

Congratulations! Hooray, exciting news! Janelle passed her Clinical Social Work Licensing Exam Saturday morning! She is now officially a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, which means she can now change the credential at the end of her name from just MSW (Master of Social Work) to LCSW! Woo-hoo, look out world!

2010-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

POOR MISSY!

Well, our cat Missy has had some ongoing issues with an area on her side. It would become a little wound and then reheal over and over and finally this last week it unfortunately got a bad infection. Janelle took her to the vet and they decided it was best to remove the area once and for all. While in surgery they also decided to remove another suspicious looking area on her other side. So Missy came out with a cone and two big incisions. Poor Missy!

She is doing well though and doesn't seem to be too uncomfortable at this point. She can't wait to take the cone off though!

2010-05-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Good-Bye and Good Luck!

Well we had a wonderful fun filled weekend with beautiful weather, multiple walks around Greenlake and loving getting to know our little house guest. We knew there was a court hearing Monday morning and we found out in the afternoon that it was determined that the baby would be placed with family.

On the one hand, this is really the outcome that is best. It is best if children can stay with their families. But for us, this was not the outcome we were personally hoping for as we already were quite smitten with this charming girl. We got to say our good-byes last night and we are praying that everything works out for the best in her life and she grows up to be safe, happy and healthy.

This whole experience was wonderful in so many ways, but saying good-bye is always extremely hard and we will need some time to decide if we can do this again...

2010-05-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

1st Mother's Day!

Well, as we mentioned before, foster care is a very unpredictable road. So we finally found out Friday morning after much waiting that the baby we thought might be placed with us, was placed in another foster home. We were disappointed, but the more we learned about that specific situation and the needs that child might have, we were also slightly relieved. The blow was probably softened by the fact that in the same phone call letting us know that baby was no longer an option, that there was another baby, again a girl, this one four months old, that needed a home. We said yes and this time things moved much quicker! By Friday afternoon, our new little addition was in our arms. Or more specifically Matt's arms! Matt got a crash course in baby care all on his own as Janelle had to return to work after meeting the new little one and picking her up.

Matt did great, as Janelle knew he would and then she finally got home and got her baby fix! We played and admired the adorable kiddo and then ran to Target for a baby shopping spree! We took baby home and she crashed! She woke up about an hour later, had a little snack and is now off to dream land again, and hopefully we will be soon too!

We can't publish her name or pics, but all you need to know is she is super smiley, has Matt's hair, and loves to raspberry. We're in love!

2010-05-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Journey Begins....

Well, here we go. Janelle saw a referral today for a 3 month old baby girl. (Hence the pinkish font!). She was working out in the field and so all she could tell from the email was her age and gender. Janelle emailed and texted Matt saying what do you think, are you ready for this?! He said let's go for it, so the wheels are in motion.

Nothing is ever written in stone in foster care, so until she is actually at our house, we won't be sure she will be placed with us. Currently she is hospitalized for injuries. It sounds pretty horrible, honestly one of the worst Janelle has seen in awhile. But at least for Janelle, this one just felt "right". Time will tell. There is a meeting tomorrow to determine if she will go to foster care and/or if there are relatives who might be options. As of today, it is looking like she will come to us at least for a little while.

We're nervous and excited. Janelle may get to be a "mom" for the first time on Mother's Day! We will keep you posted...

-The future first time (foster) parents (Insert huge giddy grin here)

2010-04-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

ITS OFFICIAL!!!!

2010-04-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

1st Anniversary and Janelle's B-Day!

Last Sunday was our first anniversary and Janelle's 31st birthday. We celebrated by starting off the weekend by getting 90 minute massages (and then Matt falling asleep back at home) at InSpa Saturday morning. Then we exchanged gifts, which had a decidedly zen feel with a Buddha statue from Janelle and a stone massage kit and a reflexology kit from Matt.

Next we headed to the Silver Cloud Hotel on Lake Union. We immediately jumped on the bed of course and sat in the "super lounger" which was a kind of like an arm chair with a foot rest attached. We checked out the cool view and then took the shuttle offered by the hotel into down town and explored Pike's Place and Pacific Place.

We headed to our home for the night and decided to go in the hot tub since there was no one there. Ten minutes later we headed back down and the hot tub was overflowing with people! Janelle was not happy since this meant she had to slowly ease her way into the "freezing" pool. She finally took the plunge and went all the way in after about 15 minutes of gradually walking further and further in and then the hot tub opened up. Janelle was in there in no time! We took the elevator back up to our floor, the elevator stopped, we waited and then we started heading back down again! We had to ride down and back up and luckily this time the doors opened! Unfortunately even after rinsing off, the hot tub caused some seriously itchy skin. UGH.

The next morning we had a yummy free breakfast and lounged around until it was time to check out. We went home and Janelle's parents came up to celebrate her birthday. We had a great time and Janelle scored a new Ipod! Woo-hoo!

Suddenly, Matt got a text message and Janelle declared "I'm going to read this o.k.?" and promptly did so. This is really out of character for her, and of course the one time she did this, she read a text from John revealing a birthday surprise Matt had in the works! Poor Matt was super bummed, but Janelle was stoked to learn she was getting a mini guitar! She's played for years but because as she is a petite thing, her regular guitar is a little big for her.

So that is the weekend in a nutshell. Being the notoriously bad bloggers we are, we forgot the camera, so the only evidence of the weekend is our photo booth pics we took at Westlake Center. Matt had a difficult time figuring out where to put his head until the last shot!

2010-04-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

DONKA DOO BALL

We originally saw clip on The Soup, but now we can't get this word out of our heads and say it randomly. We have no idea what it means but it cracks us up!

2010-02-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

WE'RE BACK

Our trip to Disneyland was a huge success and a very welcome respite from our daily grind! Matt had an initial job interview at Fred Hutch the afternoon before we left and Missy got to spend the weekend at the Parker grandparent's. We suspect that since the Parker parent's cat Simon and Missy got along so well that there might be a new cat addition sometime in the near future at the Ruston house!

We were there on Valentines Day with our cute matching shirts, which we got quite a few compliments on and Matt got a little grief for too! Whoops, sorry Matt! This is the ONLY Valentine decoration in the park! Janelle was disappointed that Disney did not get more in the spirit of love!

Janelle was asked twice by park staff to carry the coveted line marker tag to estimate line waits. Here she is taking her jobs very seriously.

Getting scared for the Haunted House.

Our last night at the park, we managed to accumulate five fast passes, and added two more during the sequence for a total of 7 rides right in a row, which was a really fun way to end our trip. We went on Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, California Soarin', California Screamin', Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and yes you guessed it Thunder Mountain. Overall we had gorgeous weather, very sore feet and an awesome time!

Hope you enjoyed our pics, and as an added bonus, here is a video of Janelle on her favorite ride California Screamin'. Sorry its sideways...

2010-02-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

DISNEYLAND HERE WE COME!

We are flying down to (hopefully) sunny California tomorrow to spend some time with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and the whole crew! We have super cheesy matching shirts to wear on Valentines and are hoping that it is decorated for the day of love! Mostly though we are just super excited to get to spend some fun time together away from all the craziness of our regular lives! To Be Continued....

2010-01-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

The holidays have come and gone and once again we have neglected to blog at all.

We had a low key Halloween with lots of trick or treaters including one dressed as a pirate who walked right in the door and chased our cat down the hall! Jace strikes again! Yearrrgh maties!

Thanksgiving was spent at Janelle's aunt Kris's house which included a nice visit from Matt's parents. We had a small celebration for Matt's birthday at California Pizza Kitchen and were able to see friends Trish, Craig, Lucas and baby on the way. We're so excited for you guys! Matt's dad took lots of great pictures (who Strode?) one of which we saw on the Fischer's Xmas card. However, we noticed that photography credits were not given...

Christmas was not white this year, which Janelle was VERY happy about. No delays in getting work visits done this year. Matt's parents were back in town and we got in lots of games including a night of Triva at Buckle's, no Buckbeaks, wait um, Barkleys. Oh yeah, Buckley's! It was tons of fun even with the less than stellar announcer. Matt even won a free beer with his knowledge of Zeppelins. We also were able to spend time with Janelle's family and even squeezed in a trip down to Port Orchard to Janelle's high school hang out the Family Pancake House to visit with an old high school buddy who was in town.

This year we again decided to just get some bigger things for the home instead of individual gifts to each other. So we now are the proud owners of Wii and the new Mario Brother's game. (Thanks for the help Steph!) Janelle was sore after one day of bowling, batting, and tennis. We also got a matching arm chair for the living room, so we finally have a little more seating!

Now here we are using the free wi-fi at Panera since we still are in the dark ages with dial up at home. Celebrating New Years day in style. (at least our style what what)

2009-10-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

House Projects and Crazy Big Mushrooms

Janelle's dad was up again this weekend to finish the bedroom heater project and did some other little projects as well. Like remove the crazy glass plate heater in the kitchen.

Before...............................After

We have to finish that one up still, but it is so weird how this giant heater just leaves a tiny little hole in the wall to patch and then paint over the area. Its so nice to have a handy dad! While he was here he noticed some giant mushrooms that sprouted up on one of our little flower gardens. It is a little hard to tell how big they are from the pictures, but they are cool!

2009-10-22T20:20:00.001-07:00

Crazy Cats!

When Janelle's parents were up last weekend, Janelle's mom brought a new scratching block for Tony and Missy. They LOVE it! Missy immediately began scratching on it and doing things like this:

She even drooled on it! Tony has become much more brave and actually spends time with us on the couch now, but we haven't ever been able to get any pics of it since he still will bolt if you move too much. When Janelle's parents were here, no one could find Tony anywhere. They were baffled. Janelle later discovered that Tony has ripped a hole in the box spring and was inside the bed! The joy of owning cats....

The handsome Tony

2009-10-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Redecorate

So we did a little redecorating last weekend. Here is our new rug!

And new couch pillows.

We also got some seat cushions for the dining room chairs. Plus, Janelle's dad came up and did some work on the second bedroom and has put in a new heater. Yea! Thanks Dad!

2009-09-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Summer

So now that you are all caught up from our wedding and honeymoon, its time to catch up on everything else. We had a very busy summer filled with several outdoor volleyball tournaments for Matt, including another very successful JWI, despite Matt being a little under the weather that day.

Highlights of our summer included an activity packed trip to San Diego to celebrate Matt’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. The whole Weaver family was there with their significant others, children and even some in laws! We stayed in an amazing rental house, and surprised the Weaver parents with decorations and matching shirts for everyone. We went to Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, and Soak City, a waterslide park. The Wild Animal Park was very hot, but we agree that it was our favorite attraction. The waterslide park, which Janelle was very much looking forward to, was poorly run and did not live up to expectations unfortunately. But overall the trip was great; there was lots of time in the pool at home and some competitive rounds of Tripoli.

We also spent a weekend in Leavenworth at Janelle’s aunt Carolyn and Uncle John’s cabin. The weekend started out a little rocky with Matt losing his wallet before leaving for the trip, but we decided to press on and still make the best of it and had a quiet, relaxing time hanging out at the cabin and browsing the shops in town. Upon his return to work, Matt found his wallet that he had misplaced in the lab and we were both relieved for that!

The annual summer camping trip with the Parker parents fell on Labor Day weekend this year, which ended up being one of the worst weather weekends of the summer. We headed up to Orcas Island anyway and had a beautiful site in Moran State Park. We braved the elements and tested out the waterproofness of our new tent. It passed with flying colors! We also had new sleeping bags which kept Janelle warm all night which is a tall order, so we were very pleased with this purchase as well. Luckily we brought Matt’s volleyball canopies which saved us from getting soaked. We also were able to fit in some nice hikes/walks in the area and drove up to the top of Mt. Constitution. It was freezing up there, but worth it to see the amazing view. Janelle was especially pleased that we were able to do this, since earlier in the year, we took a trip to Orcas and the road was closed to the top. We tried to hike all the way, but Janelle got a migraine in the middle of the hike and was “defeated by the mountain”. She vowed to be back to see the view and now the mission is complete.

Tony, the new addition our family has continued to slowly warm up to us and will now sleep on the couch with us, but not on our laps! He is a night owl and has unfortunately caused some nights of disrupted sleep with his galloping up and down the hall after toys, chases with Missy, and attempts at opening cupboard doors. He is also a bit of an escape artist and has bolted out the door and through a window to have some adventures outside. Luckily he came back and we were able to get him back in the house, but we aren’t ready for him to be an outdoor cat since he is so scared and skittish still.

Whew, so now friends and family you are caught up on our lives!

2009-09-27T13:31:00.001-07:00

Honeymoon

The day after the wedding consisted of a wonderful brunch hosted by Matt’s parents at their rental house in Bellingham and another opportunity to visit with friends and family. Then we headed home for some needed rest time and to say good-bye to Missy before heading off to PUERTO RICO! We left very early Monday morning, feeling very glad that the morning commute was not taking us to work but rather to sandy beaches! After a somewhat long travel day, we picked up or rental car in San Juan and used trusty Garmina (Janelle’s couldn’t live without gadget, the GPS navigator) to get us to our vacation condo.

The next morning we woke up to our amazing view from our high-rise condo and were very excited to hit the beach (and Starbucks, which as you can see from the pic was spotted from our balcony). We spent our week long vaca relaxing, relaxing, seeing some sights and did I mention relaxing?

We were a block from the beach, so we spent time there often, but we were also able to make some trips into Old Town San Juan, Clara Caves, and the rainforest. It was a very nice break from our busy lives and then it was time to return to our crazy cat Missy, who had been cared for very well by cousin Amy.

2009-09-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

Five Month Anniversary

Its hard to believe it has been five months since our wedding! Last Friday was our five month anniversary, so in honor of this we're finally posting about the actual day itself! (Plus we obviously got very behind in our blogging, so this gives us an excuse to catch up.)

After the rehearsal party in the morning, celebrating Janelle's birthday, and getting all dressed up, we took pictures with our amazing photographer Laura Totten. It was beautiful and sunny, and the pictures turned out awesome! Janelle then was chauffeured to the ceremony location, the Squalicum Boathouse, in her generous Aunt Kris and Uncle John's minivan. Her dress took up the entire back seat! Pictures continued with Janelle getting colder and colder, so she had to go inside and warm up before the ceremony.

Then it was on with the show! The bridal party walked out to an instrumental version of Imagine by John Lennon and one of Janelle's most cherished memories from the day was getting walked down the aisle by her dad Bruce. We joined in the ring of flowers and exchanged vows. It was a short and sweet ceremony with Matt's dad reading a beautiful poem, which was another very special moment for us. The location and view were exactly what Janelle had envisioned for the day, so we were very happy about that. The weather could not have been more beautiful (although the sun was in Janelle's eyes the whole time!) and again made for gorgeous photo ops!

Then the ceremony was over, Janelle breathed a huge sigh of relief since this part of the day she was most nervous about, and we got to spend a few moments alone taking in the fact that we were now husband and wife!

The quiet did not last long though and then it was time to par-tay! There was great food, the best music anyone could ask for since Janelle put it all together meticulously for weeks, and lots of laughter, catching up with old friends and family that hadn't been seen in awhile, and even a little dancing. In honor of Janelle's birthday tradition, there was homemade pie made by her mom Lisa instead of cake, and there was a slide show in her honor. The night went by quickly, and Janelle crammed her dress into Matt's decorated jeep and we were off to the Chrysalis hotel.

2009-06-29T16:02:00.001-07:00

Update on Life:

Hey all, things continue to just roll along in our lives as they tend to. I have had the opportunity to play in some nice v-ball tournaments this summer, mediocre success but good friends and some good fun. This last event was a charity tournament to raise $$ for the American Cancer Association. There was gorgeous weather, 70+ teams, and we were able to raise close to $5,000!! Not a bad day at all. The garden continues to grow well as we are now harvesting raspberries every day with quite a crop remaining. We even caught a picture of Missy trying to harvest some berries for herself!! I also have been able to pull some nice radishes while the carrots and lettuce continue to sprout up. Just for the fun of it I planted some corn, beans, and pumpkins to one side, we will have to see if anything turns out from them. Always fun to experiment with the growing stuff, we certainly have enough space to spare for a few trial plants each season. In the meantime the lilies that I planted have started to bloom and combined with my daisies gives a great contrast I think. In other news we added a new member of the family in the form of a orange tabby cat named Tony. A 3-year old male he is slowly settling into the routine at our place and him and Missy are becoming friends it appears. Nice that they can share the space together and keep each other company while we are at work. He is a little skittish as of yet but slowly improving I think, only time will tell. Janelle is rolling along in her new job as an intake person for one of the counseling programs at CCS. She is at least "OK" with the position for now and certainly helps reduce stress with us both back to having steady jobs. I am also planning to interview for a possible teaching job at the Univ. of Phoenix in the next month or so. I have seen myself doing teaching at least sometime in my life so this might well prove to be the chance to get my foot into the door on the profession. Looking forward to the opportunity regardless.

2009-06-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Gardening Fun

One of the passions I have found since moving into our house almost 2 years ago in Oct. was gardening. Honestly I never thought that I would enjoy the pursuit but find it to be really cathartic for me. Doing some mindless physical labor every now and then certainly seems to keep me focused on important things and allow me to get out any and all extra energy I might have on any given day. At Janelle's urging I do everything as green and organic as is possible. I compost all of our yard waste that I can, use grass cuttings and natural fertilizers/sweeteners on the lawn and basically never use chemicals in the yard at all. So far we have been rewarded with some great growing lawn, flower beds, and a small garden plot. This year I have planted tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, and a couple types of peppers. After last years poor crop I decided to be aggressive about the peppers and have constructed my very own mini greenhouse to help them along. Only time will tell!! Meanwhile I have some great luck with the lupine from last year that have grown to shoulder height in 3 great colors and bring in swarms of fuzzy bumblebees, great for pollinating all of my plants and creating quite the soothing background hum that just says "garden" to me. I have also had great success in transplanting several large patches or irises, last year to the front patch and this year to the side area along the driveway. TONS of flowers result for some good color to accent the house. Fun to try new stuff with now a garden patch filled with Lilly, lupines, fig and apple trees, veggies, roses, raspberry and strawberry vines, euphorbia (sp?) and even the fun "puff-ball" flowers on the chives plant. Now if only those peppers will grow this year!! If you have never tried you hand at this I would certainly recommend the experience. Start small, don't sweat a few dead plants and let yourself get buried in the pure nature of it all. ;-)

2009-05-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Missy is weird!!

As I continue to sift through pictures and fill in the details from our wedding and the related events I thought I might entertain you with a video of our odd cat. Missy has a thing for the small, sparkly balls that you buy at the pet store. She goes crazy for them, then sits on them as if to forget that she has them, only to go crazy once again upon the discovery of the ball sitting beneath her. She is quite crazy but certainly keeps us entertained at home, as she is quite a snuggler. Nothing like having some weird animals to complete the family.!!

2009-05-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 25th - Set-up & Janelle's Birthday!!

The big day finally arrived. First things first though....not only was this the day we were getting married but also the birthday of my gorgeous bride Janelle. That is right, the big 3-0!!!! She was so gracious in allowing us to have the wedding on her special day, also makes it easier for me to remember the anniversary date!! We showed up to the boathouse bright and early to be met there by the members of the intimate wedding party including my brother John, sister Michelle, and sister-in-lay (Janelle's cousin) Amy. The parental sets also showed up to help and our great audio/visual crew for the event in the form of Justin Paulson and John Paulson. Nothing like having some extended family to give jobs to!! We ran through the details of the ceremony, practicing the timing with the music, walking pace, changes based on our outside/inside location, and general spacing for the event. As we finished up the details many of the same folks from the previous night arrived to help set up the basics for the event prior to the caterers arrival along with celebrating the birthday girl on her day. Amy's mom Kris provided great doughnuts and coffee from our favorite B-ham bakery, Lafeen's Donuts. Yummy!! After I crammed way too many into my mouth and got on a nice sugar high I got to sing along with the crew in the annual b-day song as she blew out the candles on her pastry. Following the sublime melody I got to sit next to Janelle and watch as she opened the several gifts that friends and family had brought. A nice haul with some cute shirts/wraps for our intended tropical honeymoon, a nice pitcher to go with our newer dish set and even a pair of "Just Married" t-shirt to wear on the aforementioned trip. What a fun way to start our big day with all of the friendly faces and nice gifts. After we left Janelle's parents graciously stayed at the Boathouse to keep the doors unlocked and to meet the caterers when they arrived. The ladies went off to get their hair done for the big event and the guys hit a local brewery to catch the start of the NFL draft where our local team was picking high in the 4th overall position!! We arrived just in time with friends to see the big moment, have some great food, and share a few beers and laughs before heading back to the hotel the get dressed and have the first round of pictures. Just you wait!!

2009-05-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Friday - April 24th Rehearsal Dinner

After getting to Bellingham, WA after work, late on the 23rd Janelle and I had a chance to get a little extra sleep, have some breakfast and then get rolling on the day. As the ladies went off for a trial hair appointment followed by nails at a local salon the boys hung out at the rental home my parents had in Bellingham for the weekend. Napping with the nieces and just taking it easy was just what the doctor ordered on this afternoon. After reconnecting we have some time to just relax before heading out to freshen up and get ready for the first major event of the wedding weekend, the rehearsal dinner. We decided on a local place we had actually not gone to before, the Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen. A little bit of a stretch as we really did not even know what the food would be like but it certainly made for a unique location and some regional flair. We got there to a nice ovation from the ~30 friends and family awaiting us in in our covered space outside the brewery. My folks had added some nice decorations to the tables with pictures of Janelle and I along with some cool potted flowers that are going to have a home in my home flower beds in the next few weeks. Everyone had a tix for one for the beers made right on site and we all ordered from a menu we decided on from their base fare. Everything tasted great and the pizza I chose was good as was the tuna from what Janelle told me. ;-) To help out with everyone getting to know one another we had made up a stylized "flow chart" so people could see how everyone was related. The fun pics at least made for some fun conversation. Thanks to my sister Michelle for helping put the piece together for the evening, people really seemed to enjoy it. I had also put together a small trivia contest with questions about Janelle and I. It was fun to emcee the short game around the festivities with the winners getting some bride and groom-shaped rubber ducks!! We also received a really nice toast from my sister-in-lay Amy (Janelle's cousin) and my brother John. Very heartfelt and fun, thanks a ton guys. My sister also read a simple blessing from my mother, much as at my brother's wedding she needed someone else to read to avoid the tears, very sweet from the mam-bear!! It was great to get a chance to see so many of my childhood friends and family in the form of the whole Allen and Madden families who had been so close to us growing up in Flagstaff, AZ as a boy. As per usual when this group rallies together there was lots of laughs, just a few pics (shocker!!) and stories to be had by all. According to our best recollection it had been 10-12 years since all of the 3 families had been together in their entirety. What fun!! We even had a few rounds of the local train running right by our location, the track was within 20 feet of one end of the covered area we were in. What a shocker and quite loud. However it was a great treat for the kiddies there and they all eagerly anticipated the follow-up train after the first had passed. After a few more beers, hugs, and a little dessert (I had the nice chocolate mousse) the crowd drifted off to get some sleep for the big day to follow. We also we able to transfer into our nice room at the Chrysalis Inn and Spa. What a gorgeous view and location to get ready for the big day. More pics of this locale to come!! Thanks everyone for making the rehearsal dinner such a success and for the Weaver units (Strode and Judy) for hosting the first night of fun.

2009-05-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

So much to catch up on!!

Where to even start?!? The last few weeks have been exciting, tiring, eventful, memorable, and countless other things all rolled into one big blur it seems. Here is a basic synopsis of the events and I plan to fill in with blogs about all the major happenings as I sort out the pictures and finally unpack from all the traveling!! On Thursday, April 23rd Janelle and I headed up to Bellingham,WA for the start of our wedding festivities. After some nails and hair items for the ladies Friday night was capped off with a great rehearsal dinner at the Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen. The next morning we celebrated Janelle's 30th B-day with some great doughnuts, set up and rehearsed for the ceremony, and enjoyed the great company of family and friends. After some football draft for the boys and primping for the ladies it was pictures at our gorgeous hotel and at the site itself. A great ceremony and reception followed as our intimate affair took place in a gorgeous setting as the sky cleared and allowed for our outdoor ceremony and some amazing sunset shots later in the day. The next morning we had a nice final brunch to open a few more gifts, say goodbye to many of the out of town guests and head back home for to get ready for the next adventure. The next day came all too soon as we headed out at the crack of dawn to get our flight from Seattle to sunny Puerto Rico for 8 days of sun, sand, nature, and fun. After a long travel sequence home we arrived to find one needy cat and the house still standing!! All good things. I will do my best to fill in the story as we go. It was amazing to see all of the family and friends for the special events and had a hard time thinking it could have gone any better all things considered. Once again Janelle's birthday magic gave us a perfect day for our special event. More to come, I promise!!

2009-04-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Digging into the past:

After the recent gifting of some family flatware heirlooms to Janelle I just had to go on a little archeology mission to try and find out what I could about the gorgeous set of spoon that Lisa was so generous in passing along to us. A little history of the spoons within the family is as follows. Engraved with the letter "T" they originally were the property of Alice Odell Tracy, Janelle's Great-Great-Grandmother. They were passed along to her daughter Alice Merle Tracy Parker. This was continued with the passing along to Dave and Donna Parker, Janelle's paternal grandparents. From there they moved to Lisa and on to Janelle. Amazing to have something passed through 5 generations of related women!! I certainly felt like I was on Antique Roadshow as I looked for any marks, patterns, or whatever I might be able to find as clues to the origin of the spoons manufacture. What I found was quite satisfying and a cool little chunk of history from my point of view. ;-) Using the cameras here in the lab I was able to get some really nice close-ups of the impressions on the back of the spoon's neck, and was then able to match these with patterns I found online. Both the lettering and the small impression of the Stag's Head matched a famous American-made flatware company that has been around since the early 1800's; R. Wallace & Sons Mfg. Co. Started in Chesire, Connecticut in the 1833 the company has gone through several permutations within the Wallace family and remains today as Wallace Silversmiths and can be found in Boston, MA. At one time it was the largest producer of table flatware in the world!! I was even able to find the specific pattern engraved on the spoons. It is called the "Louvre" pattern, a pattern that was discontinued in 1893. By my calculations that makes the spoons at the very least a mere 115 years old!! Not too shabby I would say. In any case it was a great chance to do a little historical searching and learn a little bit more about my soon-to-be in laws at the very least. Hope you enjoyed the facts as much as I did!

2009-04-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Another crazy weekend:

The fun never stops in our busy lives as we cram every available moment until the wedding with any event and or activity that you can imagine. On Saturday I helped to host a reverse 4's coed tournament that raised some $$ for Seattle Children's Hospital. we were able to donate a bag of toys and a few hundred dollars the worthwhile local cause. We played a modified "Express" tournament with great success. 11 teams on 2 courts and we were able to get in a TON of games and still have the gym completely empty prior to 5pm. A really nice step in the right direction in terms of getting folks home at a more decent hour from these events. From very good play and balanced competition on the whole with 2 competitive elimination brackets to finish off the day. Congrats to Tim Dozal's team for winning the upper bracket and to Sergey Royt's team for winning the lower bracket. My team of Stacey Terry, Sherry Leeson, Sean Smith and myself played quite well, going 4-3 on the day and losing a nail-biting 3-game semifinal to the eventual tournament champs. Good times with some good friends. Janelle and I got to lounge around the rest of the evening and on through the next, taking time to visit relatives for a fine Easter meal and good conversation. It was nice to see all of the familiar faces and get an opportunity to celebrate a joint, early b-day for both Amy (April 14th) and Janelle (April 25th). Janelle got a very special gift from her mother, a set of spoons that has been handed down through generations of mother-daughters, well over 100 years old!! It is so amazing to have family heirlooms like this that bridge across many generations. A host of desert options and the usual great food was packed away by all in attendance. Great fun. The plans continue for a busy week as we get ready for the big event, look forward to our Puerto Rico honeymoon and just keep life in check as we roll along!!

2009-04-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Fun in the sun!!

Finally we seemed to have a taste of real Spring this last weekend here in Pacific Northwest. Lucky for Janelle and I we had a scheduled trip to our intended wedding site (less then 3 weeks remain!!) to meet with our caterer at the facility and go over wedding plans. What a treat to see the boathouse in all of it's glory on a sunny day as lots of the Bellingham folks flew kites in the park directly adjacent to the building. The scenery could not have been better as we watched ships rolling in and out of Bellingham Bay in the bright sunshine. No if only we could order up the exact same weather with an added dash of about 10 degrees of heat or so and I think we will be all set. The rest of the day we also got to hit some of the local shops that we like in this neck of the woods and I was able to buy a few goodies at one of my favorite outdoor/gardening spots "A Lot of Flowers" in town where we admired their array of seasonal plants, unique garden items, and a fun blend of various items for home and garden. All of that while spending the day outside with a little fresh air. I could spend so much $$$ in this type of store!! We did locate some great blooming shrubs (hellebore) with gorgeous flowers and some various colors. Best part, they flower in the winter to early spring to add some much-needed punch to the garden in what is typically considered an "off" season for blooms and anything showy out in the yard. Something to look for as a possible addition I think. The shopping in B-ham is quite eclectic, certainly a reflection of the town, university that calls it home, and the people that make up this gem of the Northwest. We came across some favorites but perhaps none made us laugh/smile more then this. It is answered in one simple question, what could be creepier then one of those porcelain-faced dolls that always seem to come alive in horror movies and nightmares? The answer, one you know it, seems just as simple.....That same doll wearing a flamingo costume!! Only in Bellingham faithful readers!! After a few additional stops where we were able to get our banquet license and some other errands done we capped off the trip with a great lunch at one of our favorite local places, the Colophon Cafe & Deli. Filled up with some great sandwiches and soup we had a leisurely drive home and some nice time just relaxing there. We finished the night renting Slumdog Millionare and just chilling in the house for the evening, felt really good. Sunday we were able to get quite a bit of yard-work done, the inaugural mowing of the season, and some additional plant rotation, trimming, etc.. Such a nice way to spend the day in the mid/high-60s. I think the entire block got the memo as the trimmers, weed whackers, and mowers could be heard from close to 9am until 6pm all around the neighborhood. Janelle and I also had a chance to run some errands including getting some new sheets, returning pants, grabbing a new started shrub from my co-worker Gail, and generally continuing to try and check things off our list. Some much to do so little time!! I sure hope the weather holds.

2009-03-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

The wedding is less then a month away......seriously?!?

Where has the time gone? It is very hard to tell most days for me. Oh well, certainly have been packing them in with busy days of planning, volleyball, work and starting the garden fun for the Spring season. This last weekend we had a much deserved sunny day on Sunday and I got to luxuriate in my planned garden for several hours weeding, turning in additional soil amendment and placing a great coat of used coffee grounds across the top to act as a natural mulch and increase the nitrogen content of the soil ahead of my intended plantings. The seedlings for my broccoli and multiple pepper styles continue to do well inside and I hope to get them into the ground prior to the wedding, we will have to just wait and see if that actually happens. ;-) I also got a chance to plant all of the lily bulbs (~21 of them to be exact) in our plot next to the garden as well as some by our work shed. They are Janelle's favorite flower and I have no problem filling our available space with their gorgeous color, I hope that they take this season early enough for some blooms. I also had the opportunity to play a bunch of v-ball with all a large range of players, formats, and locations and had a great time doing them all. Friday was a more organized Moxie reverse 4's open gym at Tyee Community Center in Bellevue. Good times, saw a few faces I had not seen in quite some time and played actually pretty well, great workout event though the really dirty gym made for play like we were on ice. Not the smart day to wear black as both I an Derek March did, we needed sand timeouts!! We even got a picture (shown here) of the whole open gym crew after the fun night, this crew made even me feel tall, a nice feeling for once. Saturday was a USAV men's tournament as we hit the hardwood with 2 Madman teams finishing 3rd/4th out of the 12 teams in attendance. The guys played great, I was a little off at this one, but I felt OK by the end. Our MO for this year certainly seems to be a semi-final team for sure, just struggling to get past the 2 top teams in the region to make the finals this season it seems. Nice to have both teams continue to do so well this season though, hard to ask for any more then that. Sunday, after gardening, I had my last night of the Winter indoor league with our Bellevue team Foushee & Assoc. as we won the league once again with a 4-0 sweep on the night. Such a great group of guys and another fun season as we laugh our way through almost every weekend match. Thanks for including me in another great round guys, looking forward to the next one. Team Foushee: Loch Anderson (Founder/Sponsor), Jason Nap, Ken Deutsch, Jesse Paulson, Gary Shaub, Tony Little, Todd Moore, Matt Weaver, Mark Peterson, and Jay "Short-Bus" Phillips.

2009-03-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Spring is slowly inching closer!!

Even though it seems to be just creeping along for us here in Northwest I think Spring is in actuality slowly making a presence. As the trees begin to bud, the irises continue to sprout and my starter plants get big enough to head towards the garden bed. All good signs in my book. ;-) Janelle and I continue to settle make small changes now and then to improve the house, work on the outside and even get a few of our everyday items upgraded as we look forward toward our impending wedding in just about 1 month's time. The most recent of these was the purchase of some new dishes for general use, something we were in desperate need of with our dated dishes we both had brought with us. Janelle made some great choices as we went with an eclectic set of brightly colored items in the popular "fiesta" style. I really liked how they look and think having the myriad of colors certainly fits our somewhat offbeat sense of style and decoration. How could the wedding have snuck up so close without my realizing it!?! (Perhaps it is a guy thing) Lucky for us we have many of our ducks in a proverbial row as we near the date. I am excited to spend the special time with friends and family followed by a much-anticipated trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate our new life as a wedded couple. Save a spot on the sunny beach for us! I think both Janelle and I will be somewhat relieved to have planning of the wedding behind us as well as a vacation filled with relaxation time and just the 2 of us.

2009-03-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Regional V-Ball Updates:

As we are reaching the middle of March we are almost to the halfway point of the 2008-2009 indoor volleyball season here in the Seattle area. The usual mixed bag for me in terms of results, formats, played, etc.. My coed 6's team which I play on with my brother John and sister-in-law Amy finished second as we lost in the finale to the top team in the league from the regular season. An overall fun season once again. Way to go Happy Fun Ball!! My men's indoor league team (Fouschee & Associates) is in as close of a dogfight for our weekend league as we have been in for years. We play our final head-2-head match versus our main rival this weekend. We head into the match tied for first, should be a fun game. ;-) As for the indoor USAV club team we have had a very mixed result this season to date. Never having the same lineup once might somehow be contributing to that fact some. (No surprise huh?) That being the case we have made the upper bracket at all of the tournaments we have played, one a regional event over arch-rival Island Style, and finished third this last weekend in the most recent regional tournament. I am having a good time continuing to play at the AA/A level and remaining competitive, even if we are not in all of the finals or taking home too many top prizes. Such is life I guess as one ages and continues to try and compete with the young bucks coming up through the ranks. Madman V-ball has continued to prosper as both men's teams continue to finish near the top of tournaments and we appear to be on the verge of adding both a 3rd men's team and a women's team under the banner of the club by the end of the season. Not too shabby I think and fun to see other people excited and interested in the progress and focus we have as an organization. It has really been nice over the last several years to see some of my efforts really making what I feel is a positive impact on the regional volleyball scene as a whole. More to come as the wedding plans continue apace and we try and cram in as many things as possible into our busy lives. Hope everyone is well out there as we celebrate another St. Patrick's Day.

2009-03-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

MWBP '09 Volume III

Another chapter in the bachelor party weekend. After another evening of card playing, video gaming, drinking, and some great burgers and beer-brauts we woke up on Sunday to the sight of new snow covering the lovely valley landscape in our cozy cabin in the woods. What a beautiful way to start the day. We enjoyed some additional pancakes, eggs, and some very angry bacon. Thanks to John and Jesse for being the cooks that morning and to Todd and Matt Leicester for working so hard to clean up the mess. We got in a few more games of Rock Band and got to watch Justin do his thing at the expert level of many songs, pretty darn impressive if you ask me. We slowly packed up our gear and set about cleaning the cabin to a good shine. I honestly say it was cleaner after we left. Not to bad for a group of 7 guys don't you think? We headed out to the snow and were glad to find winter weather but clear roads along Stevens Pass as we cruised back to our Seattle homes.

Once back home we were able to break up the carpool and I tagged along with Jesse back to his place where Janelle had been the focus of a bridal shower at the Paulson's new house. It worked great as we were able to catch up with my folks there, who then dropped us back off at our small Shoreline bungalow. Nice to see their faces at least once more before they flew back to Denver. From the sounds of it Janelle had a great time this weekend as well with her own activities and shower, thanks to all of the special women who made that possible for her. A huge thanks once again to the Fletchers for use of the cabin, for all of the guys willing to make it such a special weekend for me, and to the Weaver parents for making the trip out and share in the festivities. It sure was nice to get in some extra hugs and the usual fun pics. The MWBP '09 Roster: Matt Weaver, John Weaver, Jesse Paulson, Moses Lunquist, Justin Paulson, Todd Moore, and Matt Leicester. And always remember....One Way Plumbing!!!

2009-03-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

MWBP '09 Volume II

The second installment of the story from last weekend. While the boys were at the cabin Janelle was being surprised on her "girl day" of shopping by cousin Amy with a lunch including her mother, Kris, and Stephanie Paulson. This was included in her ongoing day of shopping, massages, and fun in the big city. Meanwhile the guys woke to another cold but clear and sunny day. After a great breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs wonderfully prepared by one John Weaver and Todd Moore we decided to head into town to see what fun we might be able to run into. (A big thanks to Jesse and Justin for cleaning up after the first prepped meal!) We hit the picturesque town with some light snow falling and decided to hit the first bar we saw, the Old Post Office Saloon to grab a beer to start the day in town, planning to move on from there. Little did I know this was the final destination as upon entering we found a great little spot including darts, 2 nice pool tables, a good music system, and some TVs to catch the Pac-10 basketball games as we enjoyed the company. That was in fact the only place we made it to in town. A total of 16-18 pitchers, many games of pool, some yummy snacks, and a disappointing WSU loss later we were headed back to the cabin for more good times. While at the saloon my dad managed to drop by with friend Dan Nelson to join in a few beers, a few games of pool and general merriment with the "boys". My mom and Mary Nelson also dropped by briefly to check in and get a few quick hugs. It was great to see the parents, however briefly during the Leavenworth adventure. From there it was a quick stop at my favorite cookie shop for some gingerbread snacks and back to the cabin!! The rest of the evening was much as with Friday night including Rock Band, card playing, continued drinking, and overall great times with the crew. More to come!!

2009-03-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

MWBP '09 Volume I

This is the first of what might be several entries about the adventure this last weekend as I had my bachelor party/"Man's Weekend" with a small group of seven good friends. We were very lucky to get the use of the "cabin" owned by John and Carolyn Fletcher, my fiance's aunt and uncle. (Thanks you guys!!) It is an awesome location and property located in the picturesque valley just outside of Leavenworth, WA. We were able to cruise through Stevens Pass on Friday evening without too much issue. Even with the heavy snow fall this year we timed it well to have mostly bare roads for the majority of the ride. That night we tapped our fine keg of Coors Lite and the weekend was officially on!! We whiled away the evening hours playing a array of card games and some fun rock band on the small TV and gaming gear we brought with us. (Big thanks to Justin and John for hauling all of the gear and letting us use it to augment the fun!!) That was the majority for the first evening as we went to bed ready to recharge for all of the activities before us that weekend. More to come!!

2009-03-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

As per usual it seems that time flies past without my notice between posts on this thing. I am really looking forward to some warmer weather so I can get outside and attack the landscaping, yard, and plant this year's garden in our lot. I have found such a great deal of enjoyment working outside and live things like plants. I find it very calming (Always a good thing for a hothead like me) and quite therapeutic to be honest. In the eventual case that the weather will turn, we continue to have snow flurries here in the Seattle area even in March, I have planted some starters in the house and will nurse them along with my grow-light as I have them ready to go into the ground to extend their growing season during the warmer months. I hope to have some usable peppers this year as my big goal. Last year the goal was at least one "carvable" pumpkin for the Halloween festivities and I ended up with 3 that I could use!! Really a fun way to do the holidays. The peppers came up just short so I am taking steps to try and get them "over the hump" if you will to something I can use in some stir-fry and salads. ;-) Despite the continued cold weather and occasional light blankets of snow the crocuses, daffodils, and tulips have all managed to come up and start blooming quite well. I also have some nice stalks coming up from all of my irises, even those I split and transplanted in the last 2 seasons of work. Now if I can get the honeysuckle to grow on my other lattice to balance out the front of the house and find something to take in the one marshy spot near the shaded front as well I will really be getting somewhere. It sure is fun to at the very least try some of this things for myself. In any case it is fun to have some color in the yard both front and back and see the silly statues we have meander their way through the fun shapes and plants that populate our beds. Till next time......

2009-02-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

Orcas Island here we come!!

For a celebration of Valentine's Day Janelle and I were able to get away for a few days to the gorgeous Orcas Island in the San Juans. After hitting the ferry ride from Anacortes, WA we cruised the Island to settle into our room at the Inn at Ship Bay. We had a great view out our back porch, just check out the panorama picture above!! Nice weather followed us this weekend as we were able to cruise by quite a few of the local beaches an highlights. We managed to motivate ourselves enough to hike most of the way up the side of Mount Constitution, the highest point in the island chain and in the middle of the Washington's 4th largest state park, Moran State Park. We did not have the energy to make it to the top (we will be back to conquer you mountain!!) we did get quite high up into the treeline to get some gorgeous shots of the island scenery. A nice workout and some relaxation time to boot. Another fun adventure led us to the local Camp Orkila where Janelle had done her retreat when in the 6th grade, a mere 18 years ago. The cabin where she stayed still stands proudly, "Wapato" RULES!! While there we encountered some very bold deer who were none too shy in willing to pose with Janelle for a few pics. I had a great time, as you likely can see, trying out all of the settings on the new camera we received as an early wedding present from my brother John and sister-in-law Amy. Thanks again guys, the camera is awesome!! I always have a good time riding the ferry and cruising the Northwest wilderness that I have such an affinity towards. I am looking forward to some more hiking, camping, and exploring this summer with friends and family. That's all for now onward and upward as we continue rolling along.....

2009-02-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Bonsai!!!

So my newest interest these days is looking into try my hand at the ancient art of Bonsai. 'Bonsai' is Japanese and is 'roughly' translated to mean 'pot planted' as referring to the unique tray-like pot used in traditional bonsai forms. The general idea it to take various tree, shrub, and bush species and adapt them to a miniature version mimicking what we see in real life. As I am always looking for ways to experiment in my own life and garden I thought this sounded like a lot of fun. I wanted to use native plants to keep things local if at all possible and save some $$, the traditional trees and seeds can cost bank!! I am planning to use some wild-growing plants from my own yard, ones I would pull anyway so I see it as another form of recycling and a cheap source of materials. First trial is up and running. By generous donation, my lab mate Gail gave me a small Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) growing up next to her garden that she has planned to remove for years. I have re-potted the plant after extensive root clipping and started pruning the top to generate a shape I like. If the plant continues to grow I plan to do some wiring in the future to train the limbs into interesting shapes. There is almost no, or certainly very few, examples I have been able to find of using this tree for bonsai so this a true experiment. Next few weeks will also see me planting my new seedlings in preparation for going into my garden for the summer. Anticipated plantings include radishes, pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, and possibly lettuce. Growing stuff is fun!!

This weekend Janelle and I plan to head to the islands as we have reservations for Saturday and Sunday night for a fun hotel on Orcas Island in the San Juans. It will be a great opportunity to get away for a few days and spend some some time celebrating Valentine's Day and our engagement that happened 1 year ago on that date. We are looking into some park explorations, window shopping, and other low-key activities. I am certainly hoping that some significant sleeping in will also be on the menu for the weekend. It is always nice to take a ferry trip and we will get the opportunity to use the new digital camera that John and Amy gave us as an early wedding present, thanks guys!! The pictures you see here are actually some of the first I have taken with the new gadget, more to come for sure.

Look at that, another post in as many days...who knew?!? Maybe if I keep them shorter and more manageable they will happen more frequently. The possibilities seem endless... ;-)

2009-02-11T09:39:00.001-08:00

Seriously it has been this long?!? Maybe I am just not cut out for the blogging lifestyle, only time will tell I guess. ;-) I am certainly going to try and keep it up to date starting this spring and into the summer of 2009. Lots on the horizon as the men's volleyball scene is getting cranked up, I am planning for my wedding in April, and getting excited for the outdoor growing season with all of my new gardening plans. More to come as I slowly fill in the pieces here.

2007-07-03T11:05:00.001-07:00

The summer is rolling along here in the Northwest as we enter July, where does all the time go? In any case my outdoor plans in terms of the v-ball have been slightly derailed as I managed to sprain the heck out of my ankle in the final game, on the final night, of my indoor men's 6's league. Luckily we managed to win the league one more time. However the prognosis is me being out of action for ~3weeks. It will be 2 of those weeks this weekend. Most of the swelling and color has been eliminated and the pain is minimal which is always a good sign. That also means no indoor soccer for the meantime while I let the ankle heal. However, I did manage to get in a few tournaments prior to the injury. The first was another reverse coed event with buddy Jen McIntosh. We had planned to play for quite a while so great to have an opportunity to do so. We played great in pool going 2-1 and should have gone 3-0. In any case we split down due to points and the way our pool ran. We dropped the ball in the silver bracket going 1-2-BBQ. Great time though with a sweet girl and her adorable son, Conner, running the park ragged the entire day. My serve was on most of the day and I felt pretty good about my play on the whole. It also did not rain the entire time which sure was a nice thing.. ;-) Following this event I held the first Madman summer tournament of the season with a HUGE success. I hit my all-time high for entries with 44 participating teams. This included one of the larger Northwest women's brackets I have seen in quite a while with 20 ladies teams on the field for the day!! Great success all the way around and I was able to dish out over $1100 in cash prizes, not too shabby. I dragged Alan Wittren out of retirement to act as my partner for this one. We had a great time. Much like last tournament we went 2-1 in pool, went up this time in the split, and then proceeded to 1-2-BBQ to end the day somewhere in the bottom of the upper bracket. another great day though with some of the best weather of the year, a HUGE turnout, my mother surprising me by showing up for a visit, and a chance to hang out with Alan's great family including wife Vikki, daughter Micheal Ann, and newly arrived son Dax. One of these days I might even mix in a little more winning to the day as well!! In any case a great time for all. More to come as I am one the mend, have friend's weddings in the mix, have a trip to see the family in CO, and am planning for the 10th annual JWI event to top off the summer!!

Sports Update:

Indoor Soccer: 6-2-0 (First Place)
Men's Indoor 6's: 31-5 (League Champs!!)

Summer Tournaments:
June 9th: Reverse Coed with Chantelle Kadlec 4th Place (5-3 overall)
June 15th: Reverse Coed with Jen McIntosh (2-3 overall)
June 23rd: Men's 2's with Alan Wittren (2-3 overall)
--------June 24th Ankle Injury-----------

2007-06-11T10:13:00.001-07:00

Now it has REALLY been too long since the last post for me. I have had a great time over the last several weeks though. Here are some of the highlights....We started on Memorial Day weekend as Janelle and I joined the rest o the Parker clan (Bruce and Lisa) to hit up their friends cabin in the glorious Methow Valley in Mazama, WA. I would say this is some of the most gorgeous mountain scenery I have seen in quite a while. From the high mountain meadows, to the groves of aspen trees near the river, and the wonderful views from all angles. We really had a chance to detox, enjoy the outdoors, take one heck of a hike (raised our elevation ~1,700 feet over the duration), and enjoy what seemed like a flock of hummingbirds around their house. Huge thanks to the Parkers and friends for allowing me to partake in their family plans as usual, they have made me feel extremely welcome. This was followed by one day or rest back at the condo and then off to the airport as we head to Austin for the USAV volleyball Nationals!! A really fun trip with some great, warm weather in Texas and some much improved Nationals play from the boys of Madman Volleyball as we took 13th in the Men's "A" bracket for the nation. More then halfway to the top from where we finished last year and the play to prove it!! A great it to a really successful season where we saw a lot of player really develop their games as we went through the tournament schedule. Janelle and I were able to wander the town to see the sites including the impressive capitol building and some cool art in this eclectic city. This adventure included seeing a HUGE annual biker rally called ROT that happen in Austin each year. Thousands of bikes with all of the streets closed off to allow them to cruise, very fun. We also ate great, so much good food to be had!! This last week I have finished up several of my indoor v-ball leagues for the summer. My coed 6's teams won both the Monday league in Renton and the Thursday league in North Seattle. The North Seattle crew won without half of the team at nationals, great job Amy and Mike Repka in holding down the fort for team "Happy Fun Ball" in the Jet City League. My indoor men's 6's league is down to 2 weeks as we had a double-header last night. We went 8-0 to extend our lead in the league as we look for another championship. Indoor soccer continues to roll along and we are 4-0, I think my keeper skills might actually be improving as I go, we will see as the season continues. I have also started on the outdoor volleyball for the summer as I played with buddy Chantelle Kadlec in a rainy tournament last Saturday. We looked pretty rusty but still went 5-3 and finished 4th behind 3 very solid open teams, not too bad to start. We will see how many different players I am able to play with this summer, I usually have quite a mix which is fun. I have plans to play this next weekend with another buddy Jen McIntosh, should be a good time. Next on the schedule is also some serious house-hunting with Jesse and Janelle as we look for the price-range in the area and what we might be able to get into for what we can afford, I am really looking forward to it. More to come as the adventures this summer!!

Sports Update:

Indoor Soccer: 4-0 (First Place)
Men's Indoor 6's: 29-3 (First Place)
Monday Coed 6's: League Champs (See pic above)
Thurs. Coed 6's: League Champs

Summer Tournaments:
June 9th: Reverse Coed with Chantelle Kadlec 4th Place (5-3 overall)

2007-05-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

WAY too long in between posts for me. Just have not been able to find the time for some reason. Oh well, that happens I guess. Busy times as Janelle and I start the process of looking for a house to purchase in the Seattle area. I think this will be a great adventure and I am really looking forward to it this summer. The job continues to roll along as I had one of my manuscripts accepted to be published in the near future and am working on the next in the series that I hope to have submitted near the end of the month. Things just seem to be really rolling along right now. The sports continue to roll along as I currently have 3 v-ball leagues and an indoor soccer league that I am participating in. In addition the end of this month brings the indoor national tournament in Austin, TX that my team will be attending, I am looking forward to it quite a bit. Janelle is also going to travel with us, her first vacation in quite a while, I hope we can make it a great trip for her as well. We finished up the regular men's indoor season with a trip to the Oregon Men's regionals with a make-shift group of our usual players. We did not play the best ever but improved every match and took a very tough Oregon team to 3 in our elimination round. We are quite a bit ahead of where we were last year heading to nationals in how we play as a squad. I expect we will be even more competitive this year in the A bracket of the national tournament. 2 of the v-ball leagues are in the final weeks and will finish up be the end of the month, the men's league runs through June and the soccer through July. As I finish these up I will be excited to get outdoors for a little camping, BBQing, outdoor v-ball, and general appreciation of the great nature-related activites we have access to here in the Northwest. I will run my usual 3-4 v-ball tournaments this summer culminating in our finale of the 10th annual JWI charity event I run each year. Tough to believe I have been doing this for so long, sure seems to have flown by when looking back on the events. It is always a fun process to work out the details of the event with friends and family as we continue to add crazy extras every year to the gifts and perks of the tournament. Good times for all, and planning seems to be at least half of the fun.

Sports Standings:
Renton Coed 6's V-ball: 14-4 (2nd Place)
Jet City Coed 6's V-ball: 12-6 (2nd Place)
Bellevue Men's V-ball: 14-2 (1st Place)
Indoor Soccer: 1-0-0 (Tied or 1st)

2007-04-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Recently we had a joint celebration of both the Easter Holiday along with Amy and Janelle's B-day. As is obvious the girls had a good time opening some fun gifts from the whole family crew. Amy sure does love candy!! This was followed by a couple of good weeks of the usual athletic events and associated fun. I subbed in a few times for the coed 6's team in Renton that my friends the Naps play for. We went 8-1 during my 3 weeks there which felt great and had quite a good time playing with all of them. A silly bunch, we spent much of the time on the court laughing it up at each other's antics during the play. We started the coed 6's league in North Seattle and have my brother back from the knee injury to play a little ball. We have started the first 3 weeks with 2-1 wins in each of the matches to date. I think we stand at 1st or second in the league at this early point. In the men's 6's league we are now into a new season and started with a 4-0 sweep in our first week. We have a bye this week and continue next Sunday. The soccer has wound down with a few tough games but a nice 12-8 win in the finale. There is a final game this coming week for 2 other teams that will decide our fate. A loss or tie by one of the teams puts us in the top 2 of the league a places us in the finale versus the number 1 team in the league for the right to play the champion from the Eastside league. It would be a nice rematch as previously we are 1-1-1 versus the top team in some great games. I am signed up for next season as well and look forward to more fun with some old friends on the team. The men's USAV volleyball season is also winding down. With our recent 3rd place finish once again in Portland we now have a regional event this weekend in Issaquah. We do not have available most of our big guns so it will be interesting to see how we do on the whole, should be a fun one either way. My bro plans to play and it will be great to have him there for the day, we always have a good time. We have then been invited to the Oregon men's regionals on May 5th. We plan to attend that and see if we can get over the hump versus those Oregon punks. It felt great to be asked and to have performed so well on our last 3 travel tournaments. Then at the end of May we have Nationals in Austin, TX to finish the season, it has been a great one. Check out all the updates for my team at: www.madmanvolleyball.com. Recently my friend at work got me a GREAT pair of tickets for a Mariner's game at Safeco Field. Jesse Paulson and I were able to go and enjoy some great sunny Seattle weather and had a really nice time. This weekend I look forward to seeing friend Ryan Nickols as we celebrate his upcoming nuptials this summer at his parent's house which should be quite fun. I also have the volleyball tournament and then next week is Janelle's birthday on April 25th. Fun for all!! The work front has also been going well. I have accelerated my application output and feel confident I will have some options. In the meantime my current projects have been running quite well as I just found out I have a new paper accepted and hope to put out another one in a few weeks. Additionally there is now an option to extend my time here with a slight raise into the next year which might well be a great fit for my current goals of house-hunting in the Seattle area by the end of the year. More to come as all of this develops!!

2007-04-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Another few busy weeks have flown by here in the Northwest as the sun has continued to make some extended visits to the Seattle skies and the flowers/trees are coming into full bloom. It sure has made the walks to work spectacular with all of the color and fresh smells which I have been able to enjoy. Nature is good for the soul my friends!! I do feel like there are times when I run on solar power and really become energized by having a little more exposure to that big halogen flame in the sky once in awhile. The job continues at a good clip as I eagerly await the results of my current manuscript submission, I am hoping for an acceptance on this one which will allow me to focus on the final paper planned before I leave the lab. It also appears that in the meantime I might get some authorship credit in a couple of journal papers that are being done with reagents from our lab that I was crucial in the development of. In addition I have been able to provide technical help to the producing lab. All of this would of course help in beefing up the old resume for the continued job search here in the Emerald City. This last weekend I had a very nice time as Janelle and I were able to host my brother John and his fiancee Amy for our first event in our new condo for a dinner followed some traditional egg dying. Silly fun to be sure but fun nonetheless. We had a great time and produced some pretty good eggs in my estimation. I have posted some pics here so that you can judge our products for yourself. The volleyball has just started up again for the next round of my coed 6's and Sunday night men's 6's for the region. We had a great night of fun with coed last Thursday as we ended 2-1 versus the team that beat us in the final last tournament round. Looks to be another fun round of play with some good buddies. We won the men's league and now seek to defend the title once again as we start those matches this coming Sunday. The indoor soccer is also winding down as we played last Wednesday to a great 11-4 victory and have 2 games remaining. We are still in the hunt to be one of the top 2 teams in the league but will most likely need some help to move up past our current 3rd place position. In any event I had another great attitude experience and almost feel like I have turned another big corner in being okay at sports events with my temper and attitude, only time will tell of course but it is nice to see improvement even in myself. This month we have a final trip for V-ball in Portland to look forward to as well as a tournament near us to finish the month. In addition I hope to visit Trish and Craig in Issaquah, celebrate Amy's birthday on the 14th/Janelle's Birthday on the 25th, and continue to get manuscripts and resumes out the door. Looking forward to the summer months, nationals in Austin, and a trip to Denver to see all the Weaver crew along with my adorable nieces!! More to come!!

2007-03-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

Another few busy weeks have passed in the Northwest as the spring quickly takes full hold of the region. Gorgeous blooming trees and flowers are out as the sun has peeked out a few times and we are starting to have a few warm days here and there. We had such an amazing summer last year in terms of weather, I hope we have some of the same luck for this season with chances to get out and enjoy all the region has to offer. The sports seasons continue to march along. Soccer I would rate "OK" as we have hit a rough spot with the team with some tough games, not our best play, and personality conflicts. I am trying to take a new attitude to the rest of the season to end on a high note. The men's indoor league has ended well, we have our last weekend for this round next Sunday and we go in with a a comfortable lead, we will win the league once again no matter the outcome. Really a nice way to end as we stepped up our game quite a bit I thought. The coed 6's ended with a 3-game loss in the finals of our tournament. We played just fine and the other team played what I consider their best match of the league season, hats off to them. We still had a blast with our group and I would not change our line-up at all. We also had a successful regional men's indoor tournament that was well received and had some great play for all involved. My team finished 3rd (our seemingly favorite spot) but played great all day in my opinion. On a personal note this was perhaps one of my best attitude days in years for a whole day. No blow-ups to speak of, anger was almost non-existent and just was a positive experience. It really feels good to be able to go into an event focused on my attitude for the day a to be able to maintain that for the whole day win or lose. The move has been great for me and Janelle and love our new space as we continue to make it our own. I think we are almost ready to event host someone over to check out the new duds and show off what we have. I am really looking forward to it. A quite week coming up with no Wednesday soccer, Thursday v-ball, so a clean slate for the evenings, looking to get lots of other stuff off of my list.

Sports Update:
Indoor soccer: 6-2-2 (3rd in the league)
Coed 6's Volleyball: 21-6 (Finished 2nd in league)
Men's 6's Volleyball: (Finishing 1st in league)
Men's USAV traveling Team
Tournament finishes to date: 7th of 11, 2nd of 9, 3rd of 11, 3rd of 11, 3rd of 7

2007-03-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Another fun-filled week in the Emerald City. This last round of sports went quite well as we had a double-header in soccer versus the next 2 best teams in the league record-wise. We had a hard-fought 2-2 tie and a 13-10 win in a finale for the night. The only bummer was the fact that my bro tweaked his knee once again that night on a hard tackle. He has his Dr.'s appointment this week and I am keeping my fingers crossed for the best news possible. Thursday in coed 6's volleyball we had our buddy Alan Wittren from our USAV men's team fill in for John in a fun-filled match as we went 2-1 and have the first place seed going into the tournament for that league. We were also able to get all 4 of our Sunday night match to continue our newly-acquired lead there as well. This last weekend we had a men's USAV tournament in the Portland, OR area. Our improvement continue as we finished 3rd of the 11 teams in the AA/A bracket and knocked out another of the top OR-based teams in the elimination rounds. Good way to end the day. We proceeded to hurry from there back north to the Bellevue gym for league play and finished 3-1 versus one of the other tough teams in the league to finish the night. I am also working a little each day to get my new condo I am sharing with Janelle into shape. We are looking to add a desk to our furniture for the computer gear that we currently have and another bookcase so that we can fit all of our massive book collection into the space without having just packed boxes piled on the side. Some pictures included here of the gorgeous cherry tree in bloom right outside our balcony window. Also you can clearly see that our cat Missy is making herself right at home in the new place and even comes pre-packaged, sealed for freshness!! Crazy feline to be sure but she seems to fit well with us and we have really enjoyed having her around since the end of last summer. This week I have another round of indoor soccer and the start of the coed 6's volleyball elimination rounds. I also have tix for a concert this coming Saturday as we go see a local favorite, the Paperboys for their annual St. Patty's Day event at the Showbox in downtown Seattle. I also am helping to plan the next indoor men's event in the region on Sunday, March 25th. We are hoping to build off of our success in the last Seattle event and have been really pleased with were we have been headed to date, just really seem to be gaining momentum. So long for now and more to come!!

Sports Updates:
Indoor Soccer: 5-1-1 (Tied for first)
Coed 6's V-ball: 17-4 (1st place seed in elimination tournament)
Men's Indoor 6's V-ball: 27-5 (First Place)

2007-03-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

One more week in the books and it has been a busy one for sure. I am 99% of the way done with my move with all of my stuff cleared out and the apartment cleaned, keys go back today. Janelle is in the final stages as her lease comes up on the 14th so a little time to breath with that one. I would say 98% of her stuff has been moved into the new place as well by this point. I was pretty happy with the Craig's list by the end as we sold Janelle's coffee table and TV stand and my computer, computer desk, desk chair, pair of couches, full bed set, bike rack, dresser, and headboard/foot board combo. Much of this happened all on the weekend during the move...craziness as we ran between places and helped load up stuff into people's trucks and such. A huge thanks to Janelle's parents Bruce and Lisa who came all the way up from Port Orchard to help with the moving of big furniture in their truck during the weekend. It sure made for quicker work on our end and saved a nice bundle of $$ that we would have spent on a rental truck otherwise. They are great people and have been really supportive of me. Nice to be able to pair down this much though, only way we will be able to fit all of our stuff in at this point, organizing here we come!! I will get up pictures of the new place and the gorgeous cherry tree out front ASAP. In the meantime my thumb has improved quite a bit, I have since played in the men's indoor 6's league twice with little to no discomfort. The indoor soccer continues well as I played field in our latest rout (we won HUGE) and I felt pretty good afterwards. I will give the thumb another week at least to heal up as I play in the field before moving back to goal where I am a little more comfortable. Rick played great there in my absence (I would even rate him higher then me actually) and we all had a lot of fun. We have a big double-header this week versus the next best teams in the league, should be interesting to see how my lungs/legs hold up to the extra work. This weekend I am off to Portland area again as we hit another men's volleyball tournament with Team Madman, should be a blast. I would think we will have a big target on our back after our great play last week so it will be interesting to see how we respond to the challenge. Regardless I am anxious to hit the court once again with our fun team and my bro for this one!! All for now, updates to come!!

Sports Standings:
Indoor Soccer: 4-0-1 (First Place)
Coed 6's V-ball: 15-3 (First Place)
Indoor Men's V-ball: 24-4 (First Place)

2007-02-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

Just an update from the weekend activities. Pretty good results I felt like as the Madman indoor men's team took 3rd out of 11 AA/A teams at the most recent Oregon event. In the process we knocked out the premier Oregon-based squad in KBCC whom had not lost in such an early round in the last 5-6 years!! Not to shabby way to start the weekend. We proceeded from there to lose in a very close 3-game semifinal to the next best Oregon team in my opinion as we fell in the third game 13-15. Great play from all of our guys who stepped up a ton to put on quite a show in my mind. The middles (Alan an Tony) made a world of difference once again controlling the net and opening up the offense for all of our hitters. The only bummer was a fairly significant jamming of my thumb during the early action of the day. Some pretty good swelling and color there which has been significantly decreased in the last few days with my icing and other therapy. We will see how quick I am able to heal. Looks like a break in my role of goalie at least for the time being. In addition I was able to tape up real tight and play on Sunday night in our big grudge match versus the sand players in the Bellevue indoor league. Web swept them out with a 4-0 match as they imploded into self-arguing and one guy leaving the court to leave the rest to play with 5!! Classic ego v-ball action I tell you, gotta love those bech guys!! That places us in 1st for the league with a 2-game buffer. Not too shabby. My month-ending move continues apace as I look to start the physical part on Thursday when I plan to move the majority of my stuff to the new location. I all hoping that the 4-5 items on Craig's List will also be pared down this week to prevent us having to find a way to store any of them. Looks like I have leads on at least 2 of the items for this week which would be a major victory in my mind. More to come as the move, more indoor soccer, and hopefully some bro-time happens this week!!

2007-02-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

No pictures this round but lots to update on the sports and life front. First the sports. Great fun as usual as my coed 6's team continue to roll over the last few weeks with 2 3-0 sweeps of the upper half of our division, clinching us the top slot in the impending playoffs that start in 2 weeks. The men's 6's also had a sweep in our one match since last I posted and we now stand at 16-4, just 2 games out of first (The Seattle beach boys) and have set up for the big showdown this Sunday as we take on the Beach Guys for the bragging rights in the league, should be a good one. The soccer has been fun as well as we have gone 1-1 since last I posted but our one loss was on a night when we have no subs and played shorthanded for much of the match, oh well....We get another shot at the guys who beat us in just a few weeks, should also be a good one I would predict. In addition to all of this I have been able to pull off a very successful men's indoor tournament here in Seattle, one of the bigger ones we have had in the last 2 years if I am not mistaken!! Felt really good to try and rejuvenate the local scene and have such a great response from all who attended. To boot my squad (Team Madman/ www.madmanvolleyball.com) played our best to date, finishing in second place and taking the only game off of the eventual winners Island Style. What a way to round out the day. As busy as the sports scene has been the other stuff has been just as busy as I now have a 4-month extension from my current job to look for a new one in the Seattle area. I also plan to move in with my girlfriend Janelle at the end of the month, we are both really excited. This of course has led to some crazy weeks combined with packing, selling items on Craig's list (never knew this would be such a headache!!), packing, getting parking permit, making trips to Goodwill with donations, etc... It will be great to finish this stuff up. It has also be a very good cleansing experience emotionally and physically for me to start fresh in this chapter of my life. On top of all of this my brother announced his engagement to long-time girlfriend Amy whom I adore!! I am really excited for them and to have Amy as a formal part of the Weaver Crew here in the near future. Off this weekend as I play another v-ball event in the Portland area and look forward to finishing up all of the moving details. Happy days to come!!

Sports Standings:
Coed 6's v-ball: 15-3 (First Seed for Playoffs)
Indoor Soccer: 3-0-1 (Tied for first)
Men's Indoor 6's v-ball: 16-4 (Second place by 2 games, big match for first this weekend)
Indoor Men's V-ball USAV: 2nd place finish in Feb. 18th Tournament

2007-02-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

Another week has gone by and fun all the way around. I had a bye for my men's 6's team on Sunday so no news there but my coed 6's team won a hard fought battle versus our archrival in the league for the last several years Badd Fung Shui 3-0. That puts us in the top slot for the league at this point with our 9-3 record after 4 matches. We play again tonight versus a team we went 2-1 against the first time around seeking to improve our outcome from that night, we will see. I also had another chance to play goalie for the indoor soccer team I have joined. We won again with a 10-4 game versus last years champion of this division, not a bad way to start out a league 2-0. Once again I gave up a few goals I would like to have back but that is certainly the way it works in indoor it seems. The team we played had a VERY good goalie, I am not ashamed to say he was much more talented then me and yet the style makes it very hard to keep out scores with as much pressure as we had all night. Oh well, we will see if we can keep things rolling with our team in the next few weeks, we have some good match-ups on the horizon with some of the stronger teams in the league. I have added here a few more choice images from my awesome trip to Akron to visit the nieces. That is in fact me wearing the fine horse-head costume as we played dress-up and helping the little ones add to the impressive hairdo of the snowman we managed with what little snow they had. It was not very deep but man did it stick....perfect for snowball/snowman manufacturing!! I am still glowing from my trip to see the girls and am excited for the opportunity to see them in a few months as most of the Weaver Clan intends to descend upon my parents house in Denver for a few days of what I am sure will be some crazy fun. I am also starting to organize a men's indoor tournament for Feb. 18th. I have been disappointed in the region and their efforts for the men these days, the community itself is somewhat to blame as well. In any case I think being a little more pro-active might stimulate some play for all of us still wanting to get in some indoor play for the season. Should be interesting to see where things end up with this attempt. Until next time!!

Sports Standings:
Indoor Soccer: 2-0 (Second Place, only by numbers of games played)
Coed 6's: 9-3 (First Place)
Men's Indoor 6's V-ball: 12-4 (Tied for 2nd Place)

2007-01-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

I am returned from a fantastic trip to see my 2 adorable nieces in Akron ,OH. I was able to visit this past weekend to help out my sister Michelle and husband John as they get continue classes to prepare for an international adoption. That's right.....a new niece or nephew appears to be on the horizon, this time straight from Thailand, more to come!!! I am excited by their willingness to help out in the greater scheme of things in the world and open their home to others, I know they will improve the life if a child with their loving lifestyles and passion for quality parenting. On that note I would point out that my sister has proven to be a phenomenal mother, I know she has doubts sometimes, but she has raised to gorgeous and well-adjusted little girls who I have no doubt will continue to flourish in her care. The trip was filled with many highlights as they weekend seemed to just fly by for all of us. We ate, danced, sang, read quite a few stories, and played in the snow as we made a snowman with one of the best hairdos I have seen in quite some time. I was even able to share with Sara one of my favorite childhood stories "Where the wild things are" on my last night in Ohio, it was wonderful to see her sharing my excitement about the childhood classic. Let the wild rumpus begin!! And rumpus we did. The girls showed us all of their new dance moves as they have continued to enjoy starting their own dance classes in recent months. No surprise there will all of the history and love of dance that Michelle has. It was quite a sight as the twisted away to their favorite music, Lori chasing after Sara around the room asking for her to be a dance partner, one of the cuter sights I have seen in a while. They are becoming good friends as they grow up together and improve their sharing and playing skills as their interests grow, so much fun to be a witness to. I know it has been a real joy for my mother to have such precious grandchildren to visit. she has glowed in their affection and takes the role of grandmother very seriously, she had a wonderful model in her own mother who was such a wonderful supporter my siblings and myself. After all of the dust has settled I am looking forward already to this summer when the plan is to meet at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Denver with my sister, the nieces, my brother, Amy and Janelle if we can swing it for a big family gathering for all of us. I know it would be special if we can all make the effort. I sure do love those little girls and look forward to more cross-country adventures in the near future. So long for now.

2007-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

Off to a new adventure this week as I travel to Akron, OH via the Denver airport to visit my older sister Michelle and her two adorable daughters Sara and Lori. How lucky am I to have such cute relatives? I am really looking forward to the trip as my mother will be joining the fun, getting on the plane in Denver as we take care of the girls for the weekend so Michelle and her husband can take classes as they prepare for an international adoption!!! That's right, another niece/nephew is on the way. I think they have made a great choice for them with this process and I am more then happy to help out with the little ones and use it as an excuse to continue my reign as "Favorite Uncle"!!! We have some fun adventures planned for them, I will let you know how they work out upon my return. Last night was our first league game for the indoor soccer team that I am on, I play goalie, at least to start. A nice win as we came out on top 9-5. I let in a few I probably should have stopped but held my own for the first time back on the indoor field in over a year. A really fun time and quite a workout in the heat of the place, I probably sweated our 5 pounds and I was not even running all that much. We have a great group of guys and it should be a fun opportunity to catch up with buddies and hang out with the brother of course. The v-ball is rolling along as well. Last week we went 3-1 in the indoor men's league and 2-1 in the coed league, next round tonight for coed. Night quite the same feel and dominance for these 2 leagues as in the past but still fun and both teams have chances to hit full stride in the coming weeks, very early yet. All for now, more upon my return from Akron!!

Current Sports Standings:
Indoor Soccer : 1-0 (Tied for first)
Men's V-ball Indoor 6's: 9-3 (Tied for 2nd)
Coed V-ball Indoor 6's: 4-2 (2nd Place) Game versus number 1 team tonight (We trail by only 1 game)

2007-01-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

One of the best things I have a chance to do when time permits is to share an evening of inane entertainment with my younger brother John. Officially this is termed "Bro-night" and includes the basics of food, beer, and something silly for entertainment that evening. Hilarity seems to appear all on its own no matter the choices made from this list. Last night was one for the ages and what we have coined the start of the "New Era" for our relationship..goofy huh? That's just the way we roll, deal with it. Nothing like a little bit of clearing of the air to start out the new year with a clean slate and a closer bond then ever. Top that off with popping the tap on a Coors Light mini-keg for all of the Rocky Mountain refreshment. Follow this up with some great chicken dishes from the local QFC while watching a few episodes of our favorite blue-garbed crime fighter The Tick!! If you have never seen him and his moth-clad sidekick Arther in action it is more the high-time that you did so, it is hilarious in the Weaver brother scale of humor. Barely managing to stay on the couch from the laughter we followed this up with several rounds of computerized action as we warmed up the old NES for some favorites, in particular a round of King of the Beach as we hit a few balls on the sand with Sinjin and Stoklos. The highlight might well have been a rousing round of Battletoads. One of the more challenging of all NES games in my opinion and a really fun time while enjoying a healthy portion of the 5L of frosty goodness at our disposal. How can you not have fun while jumping, swimming, kicking, punching, tossing each other around, speed-biking, snake-riding, surfing, and beating foes into submission with large sticks with a pair of slimy amphibians? Lots of laughs, some hilarity with costumed superheroes, a few great beers, and re-centering oneself with your best friend. Tough night to match in my book. A new year awaits and we can only wait to see what that will bring.

2007-01-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

Not a great weekend for my sports playing or teams that I follow. Seahawks lost a tough game in Chicago in OT to drop out of the playoffs. The WSU Cougar men's basketball tea lost a heartbreaker in overtime versus Stanford on the road. We had a tough go at the tournament in Oregon for my men's indoor 6's USAV team (2-7) on the day. We were missing the three middles from our roster and had to constantly shift formats through the day to try and combat the issue. To follow that poor showing up we went 2-2 in my men's league night in Bellevue just last night against a team we have historically had success against. Jesse had a tough night hitting (Very tough blockers on him all night), we were pretty short on bodies, and 2 of the guys showed up mostly drunk and were most certainly not their usual level of play for the match. We also had basically no reffing and the other team had what I would consider 12-15 REALLY bad sets of the course of the match which makes a big difference over the course of a game like this. In any case we also fell on our faces with our play and might well be in trouble with defending our reign in this league with this start and the competition upgraded again this year. Despite that fact things continue to roll along here in Seattle and I have added a few images for the new year festivities that my dad took as was kind enough to send our way. They include a great shot of the fireworks from the Spaceneedle. What a great view from my brother's rooftop!! I also have one from the cruise of downtown as we hit the shops for the day. Good times with the family for sure. I hope the week brings some better play from myself on the hardwood and a fun bro-night with John for some brew and Nintendo Madness!!

2007-01-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

Another great weekend in the books as we were in the throng at Qwest field and survived the emotional rollercoaster that was the Seahawks home playoff game in the wildcard round. After many crazy sequences the Seahawks managed to pull out a close with in the final seconds over the dreaded Dallas Cowboys by the 21-20 margin after a botched field goal attempt from the 1 yard line!! Even with the miss-handled snap on the play a shoe-string tackle was required to avert last-minute disaster for the Hawks, what a game!! They had a great give-away at the game with "12-man" green gloves for the first 50,000 fans. As you can see Janelle thought they were great fun!! As usual we had some great seats courtesy of the Weaver parents season tickets and the help of my bro John in the Hawks office making sure I got my playoff seats. A great way to see the game with friends John, Amy McKenna, Jesse and Steph Paulson, and the Hoadley twins. It has been incredibly memorable to see all this great football in what might be considered the heyday of the Hawks organization. The weather held after all of our miserable rain, we won a close game over a hated foe, and we are still in the running for the Superbowl in Miami....tough to beat for a weekend. I also managed to get a fun pic of the stadium all lit up as we left the field of battle on Saturday. Good times. This week I also started two of my indoor v-ball leagues as I have coed 6's on Thursdays and men's 6's on Sundays. It will be a very interesting league for the men as along with many of the usual opponents there is a team comprised of entirely sand guys, some of the best in the region in fact. There is always some lingering bad blood between the dedicated outdoor versus indoor guys so our match versus them I think will prove interesting at the very least. More to come form this as things develop. At any rate I am glad to start back into the swing of things on the hard court and look forward to this coming Saturday as we head South to the Rose City of Portland, OR for our first men's USAV tournament of the year. We are going down with a little bit of a miss-matched crew but looking forward to the fun just the same. I am also looking forward to starting a fun indoor soccer season with my brother along with friends the Hoadley twins, Mark Kadlec, Lee Graber, and others. Should be another fun time and a great way to get back in shape if I can manage it.

Currents League Standings:
Men's 6's - 4-0 (Tied for first)
Coed 6's - 2-1 (2nd place)

2007-01-02T14:42:00.000-08:00

What a great way to start off the new year!! Is anyone else amazed that it is already 2007?!? I feel like the last year just flew bye....I guess that is just the way It goes when you are having so much fun. I was able to spent part of the holidays at a wonderful dinner hosted by Craig and Trisha Fisher (Sp?) in Issaquah where we were able to spend time with Trish's extended family which included her parents Byron and Janet (My beloved Godparents!!) and older sister Denise with husband Rob and daughters Temmi and Skylar. Great to see three generations of ladies all together as we poured over scrapbooks and told childhood stories well into the evening. They cooked up some southwest favorites including tamales and enchiladas...yum!! A great extended family pic topped off the evening that we will talk about several meetings from now I am sure. Then my parents were here to celebrate the new year with a sonics basketball game and fireworks from the roof of John's condo in Belltown of Seattle. We started the night with a little dinner with food from the Seattle Center Food Pavilion and followed up with some cheap seats in the rafters which made the night very low key as there are really no bad seats in Key Arena. We watched as they squeaked out a win over the hapless Boston Celtics. A few beers, some creative cheering and a quick visit from friend Sally topped off the event. From there it was on to John's as we opened up some late X-mas gifts from the parents an to the parents. I got some nice new cooking gear, shirt, hat and $$$ towards some new car tires which the old Jeep really needs. I also was able to give John his B-day gift which was a Madman Volleyball hat along with a video presentation I had made for him with old pics, clips, and a soundtrack. It turned out quite well and we ended just in time to rush up the stairs and welcome in the new year with fireworks from the Space Needle a few kisses with snuggled loved-ones on the clear night. A memorable one to be sure and great to spend with family and friends. Now it is on to another season of indoor v-ball and maybe even some soccer action as we crank up the new year. Here's to great one!!

2006-12-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well the big X-mas fro '06 has come and passed here in the Emerald City. I had a great couple of days and will remember this holiday for years to come. We started out with a fun-filled trip to the Seahawks game as they took on the league-leading San Diego Chargers and fought to the bitter end. They fell slightly short with a tough 17-20 loss in the closing seconds but fought pretty hard for the entire game in my opinion. A much increased effort over the last several weeks, hopefully a good sign as playoffs near. It was great to hang out with my brother and Amy again and we had a good time no matter the outcome. A great way to start the big holiday. The one silver lining is with the 49er loss to Arizona the same day the Hawks clinch the division and will at least make the '06 playoffs and host a first round playoff game as a division winner. Nice for the city and I am sure to be there losing my voice once again in this unique opportunity with a regional team in the hunt for the super bowl once again. That of course was on Christmas Eve. After the game I braved the slick roads and headed north as as I spent some time that night with Janelle's extended family at aunt Carolyne and uncle John's house as they hosted the Parker gathering. Low-key and fun this time around with nice talks with the grandparents and family. Then down south as we headed to Port Orchard and the lovely self-built home of Bruce and Lisa Parker. They spoiled me rotten as I received a full stocking and many presents. My best will have to be the leather coat from my girl Janelle, fits great and I am loathe to take it off!!! They made me feel like one of the family for sure and it made for a really memorable Christmas morning. After a lazy breakfast and present session we headed north once again to hook up with the extended Paulson crowd with John, Amy, Jesse, and Steph all in attendance. Good times again and more presents!! I really feel spoiled this year for sure. We finished off the night after a superb dinner and pies with a trip to the theater for our holiday showing of "Night at the Museum". I had low expectations as with all Ben Stiller movies in my mind but was pleasantly surprised and laughed quite frequently at the show and would recommend it to others. Then it was off to the apartment as we cuddled in with the cat to go over all of our holiday loot and rest up for my parents visit for the New Year!! Hope the holiday were kind to all of you out there.

2006-12-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my brother Johnny I was able to get tickets to see the recent Thursday night game between the Seahawks and the 49ers in QWest field. The Hawks had a chance to clinch the division and stay in the running for a good playoff seed but failed on both tasks with a very poor performance. You can clearly see the distress if the situation on the face of my game buddy Mike Walton. Luckily there were a few beers to be had, as evidenced by the slightly goofy look on the face of one Stacey Terry and good times were still had by all. There was a HUGE storm that night as we all ran through the monsoon to see the game, nice for us that most of the really crazy stuff held off during the game. It has however placed a slight wrinkle in the local Seattle environment with lots of black-outs and the like with the associated school closures and such. I am getting ready to make finish up final holiday shopping and such this weekend and get the last items on my list. I have not done too badly this year and look forward to some holiday time with the Weaver parents as well as Janelle's parents in Porch Orchard, WA. I leave you with this landscape picture showing off the great seats we always get through John as the Sea Gals show off their holiday routine with some really silly giant, foam candy canes as props. Does anyone else groan when they hear "Santa-baby" during the holidays? Good times none-the-less and more to come as we gear up for the main event. Bring on the Bearded Fat Elf in the crazy red suit!!!!

2006-12-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

Tis the season my friends. The X-mas season is in full swing here in the Northwest and what better way to kick it off then hitting a few holiday parties with friends and maybe play a little volleyball if I can squeeze it in...(when has this ever been a problem for me huh?) So just this last Saturday Janelle got all dolled up and we hit the town, first stop was as friend Loch's place where he hosts his swanky X-mas party. Full bar, HUGE house, all the ladies in cocktail outfits and ~%50 the guys in tuxes, you get the picture. I did not go in a monkey suit but Janelle looked stunning in her new black/white dress and had fun hitting the catered buffet table and sipping on the free drinks with me!! It was a little cold to say the least but we managed to circle the fireplaces most of the night to stay warm. From there we headed out to Sally's annual white elephant gift exchange party and saw a host of others including the Paulsons, John/Amy, and even Todd still in town after the Denver adventure!! We had a great time with a few more beverages, food, and some great gift exchanges. People liked the silly snowman hat and gloves that Janelle decided to bring while my metal detector (which I thought was a GREAT idea) had only mixed reviews. We however made a killing as I came home with the mini-keg of our favorite Coors Light...that's right the Silver Bullet is in the house!! Janelle also scored big with a gorgeous dinosaur lamp. I cannot wait to celebrate the holiday season under the soft glow of the pterodactyl. In addition I have spent the last several nights decorating my new synthetic tree that I purchased for quite a small sum at the nearby Target store. It might not be all that impressive but I am very happy with the finale tree and glad to have all of my childhood ornaments out on display for all to see, sure makes it feel more like the holiday around my place as well which is sure nice. I would like to thank Janelle for pushing me to get the tree and do some decorations as well. I think it adds a lot to the room and has made it feel like a the start of the holiday season for both of us. On Sunday I think played in a men's 4's v-ball event with my brother John, Jesse Paulson, and Mike Walton, all members of the Madman Volleyball Team. We had a great time as we battled at Highline Community College and ended up the day with a stellar 10-1 record and the championship!! Everyone played great and we beat a pretty tough AA/A level regional team in the fun 3-game finale (our only loss came in there by the way). Nice to be able to win some regional events with buddies and having such a fun time doing it. Amy McKenna and Todd Moore also dropped by during the day on the way to drop Todd at the airport and joined in the fun. A great weekend and I look to carry the momentum through the holiday season!!

2006-12-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

I hope to make this the first of several posts about the recent trip I took with a group of Seattle buddies to visit my folks in the "Mile High City" of Denver, CO. They were incredibly gracious to offer up their home to all 8 of us to crash in their various rooms for the extended stay!! Friday night they prepared a delicious turkey buffet for us all that we crashed through, leaving nothing but some small scraps of the huge offering. We followed this with a fun night of cards playing "Mean-spirited Matey" to go along with our pirate themed weekend!! (See attached photos for proof of branding!!) On Saturday we started off right at The Delectable Egg, great food and a good way to start the day. With coffee in tow we headed to the nearby hills to check out Golden, CO and most importantly take the awesome tour at the Coors Brewery!! Pics include the crew as we hit the half-way point of the tour to sample some fresh beer to be ready for the rest of the day. After the tour we ran through downtown Golden to eat lunch at Woody's for their great pizza buffet and gather about the earliest known Colorado pirate, none other then Adolph Coors, who started the brewery. Imagine our surprise and excitement!! From Golden we headed up nearby Lookout Mountain to see the grave of Buffalo Bill and some native wildlife on the way including deer and elk marching through the snow. After some pics at the grave site (Brrrrr, it was cold!!) we headed down the mountains back to Denver to rendezvous with Jess and head back home. Following some quick downtime we headed out for the night on the town with dinner at Lime followed by drinks at the Funky Buddha and dancing for some on the split levels of Club Vinyl. We followed up the night with a slow start with coffee graciously procured by the ladies and some football on the tune. We headed out the to get some more good pizza at Old Chicago and from their on to the Sunday night football clash between the Denver Broncos and the visiting Seattle Seahawks. Exciting, if not a little sloppy, game which the seahawks pulled out with a last minute field goal 23-20. Bummer was that all-pro, and all around good guy, Al Wilson was hurt for the Broncos in the game, definitely took some air out of the proceedings. Next morning it was off to the airport where we altered some flight so that Amy, John, Todd Moore, and myself left late on Monday night, getting to spend another full day with the Weaver Parents in sunny Colorado hitting the Northfield and Cherrycreek malls before finishing off right with Chipotle burritos and some free tix from the airlines!! A great trip and one of my favorite in recent memory, a memory that is getting shorter now that I am 33 as of last Wednesday!! Hope all is well out there.

2006-11-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here is some of the picture evidence of all the great times we had over the parent's visit from Denver. They include a great group shot of all of us at "Sport" in Seattle for my early B-day celebration, another nice group shot as we hit Aldwerwood Mall in all of it's holiday glory to kick off the shopping season, and one of me and my mother (notice the resemblance?) as we prepped for one of the meals at my apartment. What a great visit this was. In addition I get to look forward to heading to the Mile High city with a group of friends to see the Seahawks/Broncos game on this coming Sunday, what a treat!!
I had a great celebration spread out over the week for my 33rd B-day and got some great old-school Nintendo games and a movie (V for Vendetta) from Janelle, some great cards from John/Amy, and a video camera form the units!! I am pumped as I have wanted a new one for years having finally run down my old one. I love to videotape the v-ball and play around with the editing, another hobby I get to indulge in now!! I am sure you will be getting some examples of this once I have a chance to put something together to post on the blog....should be fun. Hope all is well out there and more to come after we get back from the snow in Denver!!

2006-11-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

What a great visit from the parents for the Turkey-week festivities!! We started off right on Tuesday night by meeting at Red Robin for some goodies before they were off to bed for the night. The next day they picked me up after work and we went to my place and made a great chicken dinner for the whole crew including John, Amy, and Janelle. Always nice to have at least a few meals at home on vacation to hang out and talk in a very relaxed environment. We finished the night with a rousing game of Tribond which the parents one in a close battle!! The next day was Turkey-day for all as Amy, John, Janelle, and I gathered at the home of Kris and John Paulson for our usual feast...great food as always, thanks Kris!! We then headed out to catch the new James Bond film Casino Royale, kind of a prequel to the rest of the series and I thought very well done. A little more graphic then the usual 007 action but still very fun and fast paced. The parents had a great time for their turkey-day in Leavenworth visiting their close friends Dan and Mary Nelson and from all reports had a nice time. The next day we had another nice day as we picked up John at after work and proceeded from the to a nice lunch at McMenamin's Pub in the Queen Anne area which is always a favorite near Seattle Center. We then tried to hit the new exhibit with the Dead Sea Scrolls at Seattle Center but found it to be too popular for the holiday weekend and decided on another plan of attack. We ended up going downtown instead and hit another movie, this time the quirky Stranger then Fiction with Will Ferrell. I really liked this offbeat film, and thought Ferrell did a great job in a much more serious role for him, a lot like Jim Carrey in The Truman Show in my mind in terms of a performance. From there it was off to the house sitting locale of John and Amy as we had pizza and some beers to finish the night. Great times for all. Saturday was a slower pace and the Units (Mom and Dad) started us off right with breakfast at my place with mom's awesome pull-aparts and some hobo hash topped off with some sparkling cider, great way to start the weekend. From there we went to the Alderwood Mall to cruise around in all of the Holiday glory. We picked up a few choice items and then it was back to the house for a quick change and on to the next event. This was a great one as we had a suite arrange for dinner and a show at a really fun downtown nightspot, the Triple Door. While we were there we dined on some awesome Pad Thai and duck (Amy's favorite) before enjoying a slightly mellow set with one of our regional favorites The Paperboys. They finished their performance with a funky twist as all the lights were out they had on suits with glow sticks, all appearing at stick figures for their final 2 songs, very fun. Many of our friends were able to join us for the evening and we had a great group of 12-15 people for most of the night in our suite. Huge props go out to Dave Hoadley (And his friend Kim from the venue) for helping set up the room for the evening. Sunday was more fun as we hit Sport in downtown Seattle for my early B-day celebration and went from there to the Music of Disney exhibit at the EMP in Seattle Center. Fun way to spend the day with those I love about me. We finished the night meeting our good friends the Nickols at Best Wok in Bellevue, one of my parents all-time favorite Chinese food locales. Nice to catch up with them after having played v-ball at my turkey tournament with their sons Eric and Ryan. I finished up my parent's visit yesterday as we had lunch at one of my favorites Zeena's before they met John and Amy for Monday Night Football to watch the Seahawks beat the Packers on the frozen tundra of Qwest Field!?! A great adventure and some memorable moments as always when the Weaver's gather. I am looking forward to heading in just a few short days to the Denver area to see the Hawks play the Bronco's in the Mile High City and stay at the parent's house this time. Man I love this season!!

2006-11-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

A quick update after a whirlwind weekend for me. Friday night I was at friend's Steve Weinrich and Rachel's house for a really fun party they threw. Everyone was supposed to dress in old formal wear from prom or bridesmaid fashion-style. Janelle went in a stunning green number complete with fake rhinestone at the waist on a large bow. I had a green jacket, plaid pants, suspenders and a very nice brown tie. Good times with good people as we were able to see Jesse Paulson, Mark Kadlec, Tim Hamman, Kiera Bholes, and many others. Saturday was spent getting final details ready for my turkey event for Sunday. I also managed to watch the disappointing Cougar game at a friends house (Thanks for hosting Jason Nap!!) with many sympathetic cougar faithful. Good times despite the loss to the hated Dawgs!! That's what you get for playing so sloppy I guess. Sunday was my 1st annual coed 6's Turkey-ball tournament at Sammamish High school in Bellevue. We packed 15 eager teams into the 3 courts and had a blast. I surprised my team with a set of personalized jerseys for everyone and had a really nice time with all the faces, new and old. A ton of people came out of the woodwork that I have not seen in ages or ever before, which was one of the main objectives for the event and something I am really proud of. For the most part it ran just right on time with some great competition by the end for all with really close games all the way around. All but one of the 15 teams won at least one game!! Pretty rare when that happens and it goes to show you how close things were across the board. I was a little bummed as my team did not fair quite as well. We did finish 4-4 on the day which was nice and were probably right in the middle play-wise. I continue to struggle running and playing in the same tournaments, I overwhelm myself which leads to a pretty short fuse on my end of things and some outbursts that I am always trying to limit. In any case, I managed to raise ~$1000 for the volleyball program at my Alma mater and get 5 packed boxes worth of non-perishable food items as donation for the local food bank charity Northwest Harvest for the holiday season. Not to shabby for a days worth of work I guess. I can use ALL the karma I can get these days it seems like. All for now, I will try and post some pictures from the events when I have the chance.

2006-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

Well we are now in the throes of my favorite season!!! Why you ask? Hard to say if it is the gorgeous turning of colors, the fact that my B-day (#33) is this month (29th), the turkey and goodies on the horizen, or just the middle of the football season. In any case I love it all. My walks to work in the morning are some of the best with that crisp feel in the air. The Madman/Moxie Turkey-tournament is just around the corner. We have had a HUGE response, forcing us to expand the field with still almost a month left. Now with it being only a week away plans are in full gear. I am also wrapping up all of my league play for this round in the Seattle area. I had a dissappointing finish in the reverse 4's league as we finished the season #1 and then managed to drop our first playoff match in a 1-2 heartbreaker. Oh well. I can take solice in the fact that with 2 weeks remaining my men's league has us in the lead and looking like we will repeat as champions. In addition my coed 6's squad came out on top last night for a big league championship. We went all out for this one with headbands and gear abounding. I of course would not allow myself to be topped and appeared with special facial tatoos for one night only!! Amy McKenna was unable to play due to some eye work that day but showed up and supported the team and managed to get in the picture as "Pirate Amy". Check it out, yeeaaaarrrggg!!! I also had a chance to see the Seahawks take on the dreaded Raiders on Monday Night Football at Qwest Field. Here is a picture from the kickoff after the final score in the 4th quarter by the Seachickens. I had a blast and have my bro to thank for all of the tix. On that note we plan to head to the all-important divisional game versus the Rams on Sunday, go Hawks!!! I also recently attended the B-day/housewarming party for good friend Stacey Dozono, she is on the coed 6's team with me. Her apartment looked great and many familiar faces were there, I even got to hold Chantelle and Mark's new baby Landon!! Good times abound and I am sure they will continue as we hit stride in what is my favorite time of the year!!

2006-10-31T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well the holiday season is officially arrived as it is now Halloween. I must admit this is one of my favorite times of the year with the Fall season, football on TV, grown women wearing sexy schoolgirl outfits...what can be better for a 30 something male? Janelle and I carved some sweet pumpkins on the weekend with a cat from Janelle and a glasses-wearing dude from me. Not sure how the lit-picture will come across but I thought we did a good job nonetheless. I played in a reverse coed 4's volleyball event as well this last weekend and had a blast with Stacey Terry, Christina Hengtgen, and my baby bro. We placed 4th and played tough to the very end. We were dressed as the "Service Industry" with the TGI Friday's waitress (Christina), the Pizza Delivery Guy (Myself), the Starbucks Barista (Stacey) and the all-important Hooter's Girl (John). Great time was had by all. Perhaps the best moment was realizing that one of the teams was dressed up as myself!! That is right, they were the official "Matt Weaver Tribute Team". Great shirts, shorts, socks, sweatbands, headbands, and tattoos adorned them all. Great laughs for all and I felt really honored to have made such a mark on the Northwest Volleyball Community with my goofiness and antics on and off the court. Who knows what really the future might bring but I do know that we will be having good times with those we love and care about with planned trips to Seattle, Denver, and beyond. Hope you and yours enjoy a great holiday season!!

2006-10-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over a month since my last post?!? Man I am bad at this message thing. Oh well. Life has been the usual hectic fun here in the lovely Northwest. Volleyball continues to be the usual big part of my life. Currently between my 4's league (2nd place at 14-4), Coed 6's league (1st place at 18-3), and 6's men's league (1st place at 21-3) and 6 reverse 4's tournaments in the last 8 weeks or so (2nd, 3rdx2, 5thx3). I have pictured here one of the fun tournaments I played in, I am the goofy one with all of the temporary tattoos, wristbands, and the team all got funky socks from me as a little present for the event, they were all well received. I have been on the court a lot as you can tell and with pretty good success I would say all things considered. Janelle has had some good news as well as she is moving to a new job that is closer, pays more, and has better benefits. She gets a nice week break before the start of the new event in her life. We are busy getting ready to attend some sort of Halloween party and coming up with some fun costume ideas. I have a costume tournament scheduled for the 28th with my brother that should also be a a fun one. I plan to do pumpkins and fun as usual, pics to come of all the costumes and fun!! I am also in the process of planning a "turkey-tournament" for the holiday season and currently have 7 slots filled of the 12 we were hoping for with almost a month left to plan....that is a huge success so far based on the northwest scene and how late teams seem to like to sign up, should be a fun one and we plan to raise some money for a local highschool program and food for a local foodbank. Work has been hectic as I aim to finish up the loose ends here at the lab before my next career move, your guess is as good as mine!! ;-) In the meantime I am working on no less then 3 separate manuscripts as we speak to round out my time as a postdoc at BRI. I have had what I felt was a great run here and look forward to some new challenges. Hope all is well with you out there.

2006-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Indoor volleyball season is staring to heat up as I have now 3 leagues running. I am 11-2 so far between the 3 of them after a week and a half so not too shabby. I forgot how much I like to play with brother John and good friend Mike Repka for the indoor 6's. I also get a chance to play in some much more intense games on Tuesday's for reverse 4' s with buddy Mike Walton and some new ladies Anna Dudek (Old friend of John's from UPS college days) and Nicole Cauble. We went 2-1 to start versus a tough squad and look like we will be very tough for the league play. On Sunday nights is my men's 6's in Bellevue with Jesse Paulson and the rest of the boys. We are 4-0 to start off and have only added to last season when we finished 40-0 for a true sweep!! Looks like some additional competitive teams for this round which will increase the fun level a lot for our guys to be pushed a little. Last weekend I had a very nice time going to the WSU Cougar game at QWest field with the help of my friends in the ticket office there. Janelle and I were able to see the Cougs pull off one of their patented cardiac wins with a final play field goal. We had great seats, great weather, and great fun, laughing with all of the cougs sitting around us. I think I ran into something like 8-12 people I knew from WSU there as well, fun to catch up. On Sunday it was a little more lazy with laundry, watching the Seachickens on TV and a BBQ later with Moses and Laura Lundquist to kick off our favorite reality TV show, the amazing race!! We played their DVD game version with them, John, Amy, and Steph Paulson (Jesse's wife) and had a great time. Overall a fun weekend. Missy, the new feline addition to my life, is getting along well as an urban apartment cat and keeps me smiling all the time. I have added a catnip-filled "slug" to her toys to give her the Northwest feel. She loves it all right....A true Seattle cat!!

2006-09-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Crazy last weekend and a short week after the 3-day weekend. Saturday I went with Janelle to the local Humane Society and found a cat to adopt!! I went home very happy having chosen a 9 year old grey tabby to join the fray at my apartment. She goes by the name "Missy" and seems to answer it so we might or might not change it for her new life with us. Janelle was able to pick her up the following day and she was sitting in our laps by the end of the day, she looks to be a great fit. Litterbox, food, and her first vet visit are all sorted out so it looks like a go to me. Sunday I played in a reverse coed tournament with Steph Hinkle. She is a long-time NW player and is leaving mid-week for grad school back in the Midwest, she will be missed. It was a great opportunity to play with her before she left. We had the usual slow start but also had the usual pick-up in the old losers bracket top win 3 in a row to finish 3rd on the day in AA. Not to shabby. The usual issue with NW Volleyball company for the tournament with grumbling all around. I still think this might be their last summer. The next day (Labor Day) I ran a reverse 4's grass event for a local charity (Hope Worldwide) and had a great time. I played with Alan Wittren, Vikki Vandyne, and Bri Haight. We played great until Bri had a serious leg injury on a slightly exposed stake and had to be taken to the ER by the local EMTs. Never something you like to see at a tournament and a real reminder of how lucky you can be just to walk off the field, win or lose. We finished in 3rd for the day with some very strong teams in attendance. Report back from Bri was just stitches and a 2-week break before playing again, just what we had hoped for when we all feared the worst. Later in the week I was able to see my godparents the Allens at the new home of their daughter Trisha and husband Craig in Issaquah for dinner. A great time was had by all and we talked well into the night with silly stories of days gone by. This coming weekend includes a scavenger hunt party in Seattle, helping a good v-ball friend move, and a BBQ with the Paulsons. Job hunt, volleyball, manuscript writing, and good times all lie in the weeks to come....Stay tuned!!!

2006-08-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

Kind of a mixed bag this weekend to be honest. I ran my last planned 2's volleyball tournament of the season on Saturday with a really nice turnout of 28 teams for the day. It was a little hard to get all of the brackets set up but we managed to run 3 full elimination sets by the end. I had a tough day personally, just could not get the motor running at ALL!!! I would say it was my worst emotional meltdown of the summer by far, not the way I wanted to end the summer at all. It's frustrating as I feel like I battle against myself emotionally all day long, something I have been pretty good about this summer and made significant strides at in the last few years. I just seem incapable some days of bringing down my competitiveness a notch while still playing the way I would like, not sure if there is an answer to be honest. The one good note was that my partner and I finished better playing 4 straight string games at the end to finish 3rd in the middle bracket, losing 19-21 to another team that could easily have been in the upper bracket and ended up winning the middle one. My brother played in this event as well and it was great to see him as usual, having Janelle, Amy and John there certainly helped me keep somewhat of a lid on things for most of the day. Sunday I played in the D&D event and was able to manage MUCH better. I think not having to worry about the organizing side of things does wonders for my psyche as I am also trying to pla. I finished 4th out of 16 guys and managed to beat both Dave Dickman and Jesse Paulson (True top-flight AA men in the area) in my pool to win it. I then lost 2 1-1 splits by points in my next matches. Oh well.....at least my string of 5 straight top 4 finishes is intact for the D&D tournaments over the last 2 summers. Not too shabby I guess. I am in the planning stages for my final hosted event of the summer, that being a reverse coed 4's grass event on Labor Day for charity. Looks like we might have a nice turnout for the event and I am excited to see who might show up. I am really ready to get back indoors for some indoor play, my first love of volleyball, and getting back together with my men's team. Most of the leagues and play for this format start within a month or so. Other then that work and the usual life stuff keeps me out of trouble for the most part.

2006-08-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Another gorgeous weekend of weather here in Seattle. Man have we been spoiled rotten this summer. I played in a VERY competitive volleyball tournament on Sunday with a good friend Billie Hwang. She is one of the more outgoing/competitive players in the region and we made quite a duo with our high energy and loud natures on the court. I did not feel all that well and she cramped at the end of the day but we were right there in all of the matches and were able to beat several of the teams I really wanted to by the end of the day. Saturday was a great day as we celebrated the nuptials of my friend Mike Repka. Included here are a few images of him with Chantelle & Mark and also with John and Amy right before the ceremony. Mike was a dancing machine at this event!! Really fun to see him having such a great time on his big day. Tashana looked great in her dress and things seemed to go really smoothly for the most part. I wish them all the best as they start off on their new adventure in life as a married couple. Busy week here at lab as my tech is gone on vacation and I have double-duty for the next 2 weeks of that stretch. Should be good though as I finish experiments and work out some manuscripts before my time here is up. I host my last 2's event of the summer this Saturday and it looks like by initial numbers that it will be a nice sized one as well. I know my brother John plans to play which always makes for a fun time for me with him in the mix. I have had a great v-ball summer overall. Maybe not the best results all the time but competitive at least, a lot of new partners to share the fun, and a success with my running events once again. I think the JWI was one of the v-ball highlights of the summer for the region. That is all for now as I grind out the week and get ready for the next weekend full of activities!!

2006-08-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

Nice week on the science side so far I must admit. A little success with my sub-cloning and some transfection of mammalian cells does one's heart good!! I have also been better this week watching what I eat and getting some exercise every day. A walk around Greenlake, 2 trips to the gym, and a soccer match. Not too shabby for me. I hope to be in much better shape with my weight as I head into the indoor season here in the Northwest. This weekend holds a wedding of one Mike Repka (pictured above with good friend Todd Moore). Reception and event are to take place at the Seattle center, cool venue for sure!! I also am scheduled to play a reverse coed tournament on Sunday with friend Billie Huang. We might have as much potential to blow up as any team in Northwest V-ball history, I am sure we will have fun though. We will see if that happens as The Northwest Volleyball event have a habit of not happening these last few seasons. I am also getting excited already for possible indoor fun this season as out Bellevue league is starting a few weeks into September. A really great group of guys, we have won this league the last few seasons (4 out of 5) and look to continue the run. We will have to see what kind of competition there might be out there this year. I am looking forward also to possibly making an indoor team to field with my good friend Jesse Paulson as we make a more competitive season and look towards another nationals run?!? Only time will tell I guess. I will report back after the weekend to fill in the adventures.

2006-08-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend with the Weaver Parental Units in town for a chunk of fun in the Emerald City. We had gorgeous weather almost the entire time. It is always a fun time with my parents as we laugh almost the entire duration of the visit, no matter the general circumstances. Ever wonder where I get my stunning good looks? Just look at my mother and there is nor disguising the source of my genetic make-up.
Starbucks did us right on a few mornings as we got fueled up for the adventures to come including the zoo, the Seahawks first pre-season game and other times to sit and chat. The Seahawks looked a little sloppy in their first time on the field this season but one can expect that with a lot of expectations for their season after last year's amazing run into the playoffs and all the way to Detroit for Superbowl XL!!! Thanks again my bro John for being the awesome Seahawk hook-up for tickets and gear, it has been great to have someone we know on the inside of this great organization. Ask to see his NFC Championship ring sometime...Impressive to say the least!

The zoo was a real highlight for me. I have loved going to see the animals since I was a small kid and my enthusiasm never seems to dim no matter how old I get. These monkey put on a great show for us with much swinging, sliding down poles, and sunbathing. They then had a grooming session that was hilarious as their facial expressions of "strained patience" was recognizable to a male of any species!! Great stuff, great trip, great family time. Looking forward to the next trip to see some additional Weaver-type faces!!

2006-08-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had a great midweek visit with my uncle Tony (my dad's younger brother) and his lovely bride Sally. It sounded like they had a great trip through Alaska enjoying the gorgeous scenery and ruggedness of the Northwest get-away. They also were able to indulge in the favorite pastime of my uncle, that of fly fishing. We heard some of the "whopper" tales and had a grand old time catching up. I must say it is a little eerie how similar Tony and my father, and for that matter the older brother Walt, all look more alike in my mind as they age. Not a bad way to go I guess, I have been accused of looking like my brother once or twice as well in my time. We had a great meal, thanks for the treat Sally and Tony!! It is great to be able to stay in at least some touch with the relative spread out all over this great country of ours. I will have to get in a visit with uncle Walt, aunt Gwen, and aunt Julie and I will have seen all of my dad's family within the year!! Quite an accomplishment for me with how spread out we all are. Nice to have a night to hang out with family and catch up with good friend Dave Hoadley afterwards for a few beers at the Lava Lounge close to my brother's condo. Great way to get ready for the Weaver parent's arrival in the Seattle area tonight to have fun all weekend with the boys!! I am looking forward to some good family time with lots of laughs, pictures, silliness, football, and non-stop fun that almost all of our visits seem to produce. More to come as the craziness ensues!!

2006-08-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

What a fabulous weekend or relaxation, fun, and adventure. Janelle and I drove up to the always lovely Leavenworth (very cute Bavarian-style town in the North Cascades) and were able to spend a relaxing weekend enjoying one more glorious weekend here in the Northwest. We were able to stay in a cabin belonging to Janelle's aunt and uncle, thank you so much Carolyn and John for the kind use of the lovely facility!! We played a few hands of cards, some trivial pursuit and spent many a moment on a very complex puzzle we found while staying there. In between we found time to hit the nearby trails for a quick, if not steep, hike into the woods and got some additional Northwest wildlife photos which I seem to be really stocking up on this summer. I know dad would be proud!! We were also able to hit the local Starbuck's with the glorious backdrop of the Cascades, sure is a nice way to enjoy an iced Chai in my mind!! We were then off to a childhood passion of Janelle's in the form of one Slidewaters water park!! We had a great time hitting all of the attractions in the park, had some yummy park burgers and chicken nuggets and cruised back to the cabin for another relaxing night without phones, TV, or even radio. Just some time to cook some pasta, hit the puzzle once again, and take it easy. 10 hours of sleep later I felt rejuvenated for sure!!! I am looking forward this week to get in a meal with visiting aunt and uncle Tony, the parents arrive on Thursday and then some Seahawk action!! Full weeks ahead as usual. This sure was a nice time to re-charge the batteries for all of the fun left in the month!! A few planned volleyball tournaments, parents visit, friend's (Mike Repka) wedding at the Seattle Center, and who knows what else I might cook up on short notice. It has been a great summer so far and I expect nothing less in the remaining weekends and warm days as we send this one out with a bang!!

2006-08-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hey look at this...2 posts in one week, a new record!! I have had the great opportunity these last 2 seasons to play with a coed soccer team composed of mainly people from my work at Benaroya Research institute (BRI). Pictured here is the majority of our team under out anniversary banner with Jack (CFO) who helped us get some money for the snazzy uniforms you see pictured here. ;-) It has been a TON of fun and has reminded me of how much I like to play other sports besides volleyball, at least now and then anyway. I think my mother would be proud that I am getting some exercise in the fresh air at least once per week as well. I was brought up right!! I helped to organize some pick-up volleyball last night as well, a good time to be had for all. People also seemed very appreciative which is nice to hear of course. I also have been in contact with a new group in the area that might be running a fundraising 4's volleyball tournament during Labor Day weekend that I would help organize/run. More to come if that turns into something real or not. I think I caught a cold just the other day and the lack of sleep in recent weeks has finally caught up to me. Hope to get some good rest tonight and get back on the mend for the rest of the plans for the month, I cannot afford to be sick with the parents in town (Mom would not like that)!! More to come.......

2006-08-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

I am recovering at this point from a weekend of v-ball fun....still. On Saturday was the 9th annual JWI event I run in honor of my bro. It was a great success with 56 players in total and over $1000 raised for a local charity, tough to beat that. The next day I did something I rarely do, play volleyball in the sand. I had a great group to play with and by some stoke of pure luck made it all the way to the loser finals to finish 3rd in a group of 30 teams, what a day!! I had a blast but am exhausted and have been for the whole week. The special wristbands that my good friends Jesse Paulson and Todd Moore gave me carried me through the day I think (nothing like a little Penguin Power!!). I am just really glad both events went off without much of a hitch, people had a good time, and money was raised for some great local organizations. How can you not have fun when looking like this at a v-ball event? I think I won the costume section of the day hands down!! I know at least I was able to put a few smiles on people's faces for the day, that certainly counts for something. I am now gearing up for a visit from my folks out of Denver, a trip to the east side of the state with my girlfiend and my final events of the summer later this month. No rest for the weary I guess. Until then...

2006-07-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun this last holiday weekend. Saturday just hanging out and taking walks at the parks up by Capitol Hill and in West Seattle (Lincon Park). Gorgeous day and nice to be out and and about in the Northwest on such a weekend (they can be few and far between). Sunday was spent playing in the local Duke & Duchess grass volleyball tournament. I had a blast and finished in the top 4 of the 32 men there, not too shabby for a broken down player like myself. I thought I might go a little farther but really hit a wall in my last 3 games and had nothing left to go on...oh well, not to shabby in my own mind at least. I am looking forward to a fairly mellow holiday on the 4th and hope to have a few burgers, beers, and laughs with my friends and family in the Seatle area, should be fun no matter the final destination I would imagine. I might play in the local grass tournament on that date if I can find a partner on short notice. Many of my friends plan to play and it would be nice to join them on the field if I am able to do so. Only time will tell I guess. I have recently gotten into a war of words with some of the sand volleyball community as to the relative strength of players in the region. I hate getting involved in these fights, and do so less often as I try to be conscious but have a VERY tough time holding my tongue....as long as it stays as just words I guess. It is so easy to get involved with these conflicts online as they seem very impersonal and you never have to look anyone in the eye while it happens or oftentimes afterwards as well. I think it just comes down to feeling like I have had to fight hard to legitimize my participation in a sport that I live for the last 16 years, I have become extremely defensive and find it remains one of my primary hot buttons these days. Man I am long-winded!!! All for now.