Boston

This is a long overdue update... A ton has happened in just the few months since I last wrote. I'll try to make this as chronological as possible:

Patti came up to visit in mid-October. She spent 9 days here, and for the first time she got to meet my other best friend who lives here. They got along great (of course they are practically the same person, so why wouldn't they)...

So right on to November... the first weekend of November Patrice, Brian and Megan all came up for the Boston College/Florida State game. We had a blast and we got to see FSU upset the #2 team in the country! Woohoo! I felt a little bad for the BC fans, but it still felt great over all... Patrice was absolutely miserable because it was in the low 40's and pouring rain and her feet got wet on the walk over the the stadium. Megan had a blast though!

For Thanksgiving I flew out for a week's vacation at my grandparent's lake house in Homer, Louisiana. Lots of my family also went which was awesome. I was feeling really homesick at this point. Even more exciting though, was Mike, one of my best friends while growing up, decided to fly out and spend the week there as well. His sister Tatiana also drove in from Tallahassee. It felt great to catch up with him. It's always fun to hang out with Honey and Papa as well.

On to a very sad and depressing thing: my friends lost their baby Wesley so I only had the title of god father for less than a day. The whole situation has really brought me down during the last few months, so to avoid thinking about it, that is all I'm going to say... at least for now. On the brighter side, I'm flying to Australia in May for their wedding! 9 days in Sydney and 4 days in Fiji. I'm extremely uberly excited about it!

Now, in December I flew home for the holidays. My PTO expires at the end of the year, so with the combination of holidays, I was there for almost 2 weeks. While I was there I got to see my god daughter Ashlyn! She makes me happier than anyone on the face of the planet! It is so hard not being there while she grows up. I spent 2 days with her though... Man, those were two very tiring days.

During the holidays my dad, my grandma and I decided to do a three way car swap. My grandma got my car, my dad got her car, and I got his car. It's been a major ordeal, but it is finally working out. I was tired of paying $400 a month in car payments when I was only driving 30 miles a month.

Dmitri was kind enough to drive my dad's car up to me, and my car down to my dad. Of course, he got a free trip to Boston out of it. He spent a little over a week here, and during that time we went skiing in New Hampshire with my neighbor's brother Doug and my co-worker/friend Josh.

Of course, not everything is wonderful... I have horrible elbow pains from too much computing (of course, I'm using the computer to write this, which probably isn't the best idea). I've been to a Dr. who says I need to see a specialist... I also talked to her about my knee pain that I've had for nearly 3 years now... It hurts a ton to run/ski/hike/walk/ride my bike, etc. It most likely is going to require some sort of cartilage manipulation surgery, but hopefully not.

For new years I quit soda again... I drank no Dr. Pepper all of 2005 and absolutely no soda for 2006, but then I rewarded my self with a Dr. Pepper to ring in the new years 2007... well, that was a bad way to start a new year... so after getting in the habit of drink way to much soda again, I am forcing myself to quit it... for good this time... I'm 32 days sober... go me!

Well, I think that covers everything, although extremely briefly... but I'm suppose to stay off the computer, so that's all I'm going to write.

Labels: allie evans, ashlyn pinner, best friend, boston, boston college, brian and patrice mankowski, dmitri sokgobenzon, florida state university, homer, josh kolash, megan folts, mike smith, mike treffehn, papa and honey, patti botero, tatiana treffehn, wedding

Work is still kicking ass... the new version is super cool, a few little things to do yet, but the main design is pretty much done. Been a busy month, I got to see my friend Alana Rush, who I haven't seen in over a year. She had been traveling the world doing cool stuff. When she finally moved back to the states, it just happen to be 45 minutes from me. I just found out another one of my high school friends moved to Florida, MA as well. Hopefully we'll get back in touch as well.

I've been really happy with my decision ever since I moved here. I love my job, my neighbors, the weather... pretty much everything about it. I am wickedly stoked about the weather... Fall starts in a few days, but it already feels like it... today was the first day this week to hit 70 degrees! The smell of the air brings back wonderful memories of days before Florida. I don't know how I made it nearly 9 years there... It completely and utterly sucks...

The only thing I miss about Florida is my friends and family... Nithin has already come to visit, he was the first, and he gets many friend points for that (note to all you other friends who haven't yet). Patrice, Brian and maybe Megan are all coming up in early November for the Boston College/FSU game. Patti plans on coming up sometime next month as well. YAY visitors!

When Nithin was here we did a lot of the touristy Boston stuff, so now I know what to suggest to people when they come up to visit me... I'll still use the next few as guinea pigs, but at least now if I have to work, I'll have something to suggest to people...

On the 1st of this month I helped my best friend move. I had to carry heavy furniture down 3 flights of narrow stairs, walk it 4 blocks, and then up another 4 flights of stairs... it took 3 of us 4 hours to get everything, and she claims to have already moved "the majority of it" before I started helping... I was sore for a week...

Not much else besides hanging with the neighbors, waiting for visitors, moving friends, and catching up with old friends has happened as of late, so not much else to blog about...

Labels: best friend, boston, boston college, brian and patrice mankowski, florida state university, megan folts, nithin sathyamoorthy, patti botero, work

WOOHOO! I was found out today that I am going to be the God Father of two of my closest friend's first born! What an honor! Super exciting, I can't wait until he/she is born! They told me right before work, and then I had to try and not be too excited and actually be productive! For those of you who don't know, I am the godfather of my cousin's daughter (love of my life... hardest part of moving to Boston was leaving her) as well.

Well, I haven't updated in forever, but that is because it has been some of the busiest weeks of my life... I finished moving to Boston, I am almost completely settled now... need a few more random things, but other than that, I am pretty much set up. In a gist: I absolutely love my apartment, my neighbors kick ass, and work is very enjoyable and is only about a mile from me. Jäger is loving life here too, so many new smells.

On the way up to Boston I made lots of stops. First, I stopped in Tampa for Patrice & Brian's wedding. This was absolutely awesome beyond words... Everything was perfect... short ceremony, long reception, good food, and most importantly great people. It was great to see all my family and friends. Some of the people there I hadn't seen in nearly 11 years! All the parents of my elementary school friends were there... It was great seeing them... and for the first time I was an adult as well... much different conversations take place between two adults, than between a child and an adult. It was very enjoyable. For the third wedding in a row, I caught the garter... still single ladies!

The next day I continued my drive to Boston. I stopped in Tallahassee to pick up a few things (at this point my car was packed to the brim with at least 2 tons of my belongings). I had dinner with Kyle, Shannon, Dmitri and Nithin. And then early the next morning I was off... I drove all the way to Philly, arriving after 1:00 AM... I stayed at my friend Mike Treffehn's apartment. He and I had fallen far out of touch in recent years, and I was really happy to catch up with him! (despite it being after 1:00 AM we chatted for nearly 2 hours).

I was off the next morning for the final leg of my drive. The drive through New York sucked, but Connecticut was beautiful! I need to do that drive in the Fall, it has to be gorgeous.

Once I finally arrived, I had to unload the 2 tons of stuff from my car... then I went Target shopping, filling my car again, having to unload it again. Then I went to Ikea, and had to unload another 3 tons form my car... then I went grocery shopping and had to unload even more... Once I was finally done, every muscle in my body ached.

Well, that is all I have time for, but in general, everything is going great! Can't wait for Boston tourist to seek refuge in my apartment!

Labels: allie evans, ashlyn pinner, boston, brian and patrice mankowski, dmitri sokgobenzon, dogs, kyle gower-winter, mike smith, mike treffehn, new york, nithin sathyamoorthy, philly, tampa, work

1300+ miles each way... Long drive, but well worth it. Last week was Spring break and Dmitri and I drove ALL the way to Boston (24 hour drive, with only food and restroom breaks) to see my best friend Megan. We stayed there for 3 nights and she gave us a tour of the historical parts of the city. We saw Paul Revere's house, as well as the church he lit up... We also went to the original Cheers restaurant, pretty cool place!

After Boston we drove out to Vermont and stayed 4 nights .5 miles from the base of the ski slopes! It was absolutely great. When we weren't skiing, we were relaxing (something that I don't get to do often in grad school!)... Of course, knowing my luck, we got the coldest week EVER recorded in Vermont for March... -15 degrees Fahrenheit, without the wind chill, and the wind was 20-30 miles an hour! I mean gosh, the second day was so cold that we couldn't ski, so we went to the mall in the town over. The car refused to start for a good 2 minutes (rather new car, it was just too cold)... The windshield wiper fluid was rated to work as low as -25 degrees, but it was frozen solid. Anyways, once we finally got to the mall, we bought some books and went back to the hotel and read all day. Quite nice indeed!

Labels: best friend, boston, grad school, skiing, vacation

My best friend (and yes, friend only) Megan is driving all the way from Atlanta to visit me here in Austin for a week... I very excited because she is really the only person I feel completely comfortable around... We have been best friends since I asked her out the second week of 9th grade... Our relationship only lasted about four days because she only dated me because she needed an excuse to dump the boyfriend she was with when I asked her... I forgive her though... we just became closer and closer after that and we even made the common pact of "if we are old and both single, lets get married..." Well, at the time the ripe old age of 26 seemed suitable... I mean that was 11 years from then... but now it seems so soon, and so it is an on going joke that we better hurry and find somebody so we don't get stuck together... Of course, if we ended up together, it won't be a completely horrible thing... he he... I mean, if only she weren't republican... but I am hoping she will grow out of that, but we'll see... I mean she is moving to the wonderful city of Democrats (Boston) for Grad School... maybe she'll see how miserable it is being a republican, or at least she'll want to try and fit in... he he... Anyways, recently she has been my lifeline during a rapidly changing time in my life... I'm balding (rapidly), I'm single, I feel old, I am starting Grad School, etc... She has always been able to help me step back and take a deep breath, she lets me realize everything is ok... So yeah, she is awesome... I just hope everyone in the world can be lucky enough to have a friend like her, because I know I'd be lost without her...

Labels: best friend, boston, grad school, politics

Hello... I had to test today... Computer Organization, or as Francisca calls it the 1010110001110 class... and German, which wasn't to difficult... I am starting to get demotivated for my classes... I had a really hard math test last week that stressed me out... and so after I was done, I decided I didn't care... and this weekend I hardly studied for either of my test... I think I did well enough to get B's on both, but the Comp Org one is kinda borderline... I have a 97% in both classes so far, so even if I didn't do to well I should keep my A's...

I am about to go out to eat with my sister and her friends because they are going to T.G.I. Fridays, and I want their points B) It is my neighbor's birthday party and there will be a lot of people... or in other words... a lot of points...

I am glad today is almost over... it was long... and hard, and boring... tomorrow I am going to be doing a programming (nerdism) assignment that is do Friday... I have to make a calculator, which isn't to hard... so that is exciting... he said he is giving us a break by giving us this assignment opposed to another...

I have one more test next Monday, it is going to be hard, but after that I will only have 2 more test until finals week... one in German, and one in math... hopefully I can make it...

I registered for my classes last week, it was exciting... I have the majority of my classes on only Tuesday and Thursday, and NO CLASS on Fridays! I am excited because that leaves me with extra tito time... OH! and I don't have class until like 1:00 PM on Mondays so I can drive home Monday mornings rather than Sunday afternoon... which is again, more tito time...

I am almost 21 and I just can't wait... it is just the fact that it is a milemarker in my life that is fun to hit... the next mile marker in my life is 40, because I will almost be dead... or over the hill at least... unless you call 25 a mile marker because you can rent cars from any car rental company... but that is the only plus side to 25...

I have a good idea for Tito's birthday present... I have something, but I have other ideas as well that are exciting me... I just hope that once I get it I can keep a secret from her... it would be the first time since I started dating her that I would keep a surprise from her... I get WAY to excited... we'll see...

I wish I had a lot of money right now so I can go buy all the video games that I ever wanted before they stop selling them... that is the only reason I would want money... well, and for a car... but I will get one of those when I graduate hopefully unless they don't keep their word...

Well, I have to go to Fridays now... yummy... thanks for reading this, for those of you who have made it all the way down to here...

Labels: boston, francisca amunategui, grad school, programming, tgi fridays, undergrad

I missed it here, Francisca's mom has made me lunch and dinner already and it was SO good, although it contained squash... nasty, but I avoided it... I am a little annoyed because my parents gave my old room away to a visitor... so now I am stuck upstairs with no TV, having to be really quite because they go to sleep at 8:00, can't go browse the kitchen without going ALL the way down stairs (and worsely, if that is a word, back up the stairs...) I don't do stairs... they were made by the devil... anyways, so I don't have my own room anymore... I was fine with it because it was going to be a week (I am only here for spring break) and I thought he would be gone by summer, but in fact he will be there for a month of my summer so I have to put up with this for WAY to long... I don't know if I sound spoiled or stupid or whatever, but it sucks not to have your own place that you are use too... I think I am going to live at the Rush house or Tito's house for that month of the summer... that will teach my parents... he he... We are supposively going on the Rush's new boat tomorrow, I am excited... YAY! (see the excitement)...

Joe really sucks at Mario Cart... it is great winning EVERY game... I feel bad for him... oh well... I was offered a job at Ken's newest business... the networking one... I am going to work there all summer... it will be great... hopefully Joe Joe will be working there too so I can beat him up...

IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hot down here... I hate the heat and hope to never suffer living in a hot place again... I want to live in Boston because there are lots of computer related jobs there and it is MUCH colder there... I hate beaches too... sandy, salty, greasy, hot, sunny (my eyes are abnormally sensitive to light... THEY ARE!) etc... also because my Grandpa would always take me to the beach by his house... and now he has passed, and it is sad... so... I like mountains... they are cold, cloudy (unless you get higher than the clouds...), they have fresh water rather than shitty salt water... they have trees, shade, animals, SNOW TO SKI ON! And the aura of the people there are just much different... even the tourist aura is different depending on where you go... I want to own a ski resort... I could ski for free, but also because for some unknown reason, as a kid I always wanted to run a hotel and resturant... sounds weird to me anyways, but I just thought (and still think) that I can run it much better than the ones they have... Not only that, it would be fun to design and build considering I want to be an architect as well as a computer nerd/geek..

Labels: adriana infante, boston, francisca amunategui, grandpa, joe castelbuono, lori folts, patrick folts, rush family