Where Did March Go?

It’s kind of ironic that I’m starting a blog post with a title saying March is over and we’re getting hit with a snowstorm today. Oh well.

The last time Cindy or I posted here, we were still freshly relaxed from our trip to Maui and busy getting into the spring feeling by doing some cleaning at home. Now, 4 weekends later, so much has gone on that it’s really too much to cover in detail.  In the last few weeks, we’ve:

• Been to a few Hawks games,
• printed out photos from our Maui trip,
• ordered and received our vacation portraits (which we absolutely love),
• another cavity-free trip to the dentist,
• Cindy’s first visit to her new eye doctor,
• celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with some grub at Hackney’s,
• booked our next long weekend in Door County for my birthday in April,
• rocked out (badly) at our second Rockband Nite party,
• budgeted our next trip to Maui for September’s Maui Photo Festival (details soon),
• made it back to Woodfield (aka Swarovski) for the first time since January so Cindy could get her annual member pieces,
• and probably a dozen other things that I’m forgetting right now.

Hawks Games
As mentioned, we did manage to check out a few Hawks game this month. Two, to be exact, and both on the opposite sides of the spectrum. The first was a matinee game against the New York Islanders, a team which has the distinct honor of having the worst record in the league. And the Hawks played like garbage. There were actually people in the rows in front of us that decided to leave early, something we hadn’t seen in the handful of games we’ve been to this year.

The second game, however, was absolutely amazing. It was this past Wednesday against the Western Conference leading San Jose Sharks, and the rematch to the game we saw last year. Not only did we have incredible seats down in section 111, the Hawks played out of their you-know-whats to keep us on the edge of our seats the entire game. When the dust had settled, the Hawks were victorious by a score of 6-5 after needing a shootout to determine the outcome. 

Since we were setting closer for this game, I brought along some of my camera gear and took advantage of the view we had. I think I scored some pretty decent shots, and you can see them for yourself. We currently don’t have tickets for any more regular season games, but there’s always a chance we might grab some last minute. Potential playoff tickets go on sale Tuesday (they haven’t officially clinched anything yet), and we’re also planning on going to the upcoming Bud Light Hockey Night event at Buffalo Wild Wings the following week.

Door County
Well, seeing that it’s already been 4 weeks since our last vacation, we need to get away again. :)  Kidding aside, we’re going to spending my birthday up in Door County this year, as I celebrate turning 25 for the 4th time. This trip, we’re staying in Ephraim, which is just south of where we stayed in Sister Bay last December. We’re sticking with the 4 days weekend plan, leaving on Thursday (after a half-day at the office) and coming home Sunday night. Other than scouting out a few lighthouses, one of the state parks, and a spa day for Cindy, we’re planning to take it pretty slow and enjoy the peace and quiet.

It’s still a little bit chilly this time of year up in northern Wisconsin, but no where near the single digit temps and snow we encountered 4 months ago. From what we’ve been reading, we’re looking at mid-40’s during the day, which isn’t great, but still cool enough to switch on the fireplace and whip up the hot cocoa. May is supposed to be the time of year when everything starts blooming, so we’ll have to keep that in mind for next year.

Maui is Calling
As productive as March has been for everything else, I’m still pretty behind on my photos and website updates from our last trip to Maui. While I’m still working on getting caught up there, we’re already hoping to go back in September for the Maui Photo Festival and Workshops. It’s the first of what is shaping to be an annual event on the Valley Isle where novice and experienced photographers alike can attend workshops and hands-on instruction from professional photographers from around the world. Early registration ends on Tuesday, and I’m hoping to score the discount for that today or tomorrow and then start figuring out the rest of the details.

It’s a four day festival from Sept. 16th-20th, and we’re hoping to make a week out of it by leaving that Tuesday and ultimately arriving home the following Monday. While I’m off shooting and filling my brain (and my memory cards) with all new tips and skills, Cindy should have no problem finding things to do. It’s being held at the Hyatt Regency Maui, which has a HUGE spa and a quaint little stretch of sand along Ka’anapali Beach. It’s still walking distance from Whalers Village, where we always spend time during our annual trips, so it looks like a win-win for both of us. Plus, the 20th is our anniversary, and what better way to spend our anniversary than on Maui (again).

More Updates Soon
Seeing that it’s been almost four weeks in between this and our last post, we’re going to try and do a better job of keeping things updated here. March was such a busy month, but April doesn’t appear to be any less hectic, and once the weather (finally) starts warming up, we’ll be outdoors again and doing all sorts of fun things.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to head out and grab some lunch. Where’s my winter coat?

Our Cleaning Weekend

We new by around Wednesday last week that it was gonna be raining pretty much all weekend. With that, and given the fact that we were recently back from two weeks in Maui, there wasn’t going to be much we’d be able to do to have one of those great weekends to talk about come Monday.

So, after staring at a disaster of an office at home last week, we decided to kick off spring with a little cleaning. As you can see from the shot below, we had our work cut out for us.

Well, after a little shopping, a few trips to the dumpster and recycling drop off, here was the result 36 hours later.

Maybe it’s not as drastic in these photos as it is in person, but believe me, it feels like a whole new office. There still a few changes to be made, and some things to sort through store more permanently. For now, I’m just happy we’re done.

Now, the real question some of you (or at least Cindy) might be asking is… How long will it stay clean this time?

What’s on tap for next weekend? Cindy’s closet! (please send help)

Warmer Days

Wow, still catching up on a lot of things after another great trip to Maui. After being greeted last Sunday with frigid temps and eventually some lake effect snow for a few days, we’ve finally thawed out and made it to over 60° F for a change. I event went rollerblading during lunch on Thursday, which was great.

It looks like we’re about to get some drenching rain this weekend, followed by a smaller cold snap, but that’s cool. We’re not letting the rain bother us today because we’re planning to get all of our spring cleaning done, or at least started. Honestly, my home office here looks like it was hit by a tornado. Yikes! We did a little impromptu shopping last night after dinner to get a few room organizers that I hope will straighten things up a little (okay, a lot).

Trip Details

We’re still going through a lot of our post-trip activities as well. Seeing that this was our 4th trip to Maui, we’ve done this a few times already. Cindy started uploading some photos to her Facebook, but never finished. I was writing journal entries for our trip on our Maui blog, but I still have a week left with that, too. We still haven’t gone through all the photos we took to get some of them printed, we have new paintings we picked up while on Maui, and photos in frames from last year’s trip still waiting to be hung. :)

Hopefully, once everything gets back to normal around here, we’ll be posting more regularly again. At this point, travel wise, we’re thinking of going up to Door County for my birthday in April (6 weeks away) and possibly going back to Maui for a week in September for a photo festival and workshop. More on that soon.

One Year Ago

One year ago today, I was leaving the dentist office in a lot of pain. I had just finished a visit in which I had 3 cavities filled at once, which took about 90 minutes. I still cringe thinking about it.

It was then and there that I decided to give up my then cherished Mountain Dew. And cold turkey, at that. For fact or not, I blamed my little Dew addiction on rotting out my teeth for all those years. From what I remember, I was chugging about 2-3 24oz bottles a day between work, home, dinner, etc. I had thought dropping the habit would have been pretty hard, but it actually wasn't that terrible of an adjustment.

That's when it ended, and when it started. That habit ended, and a new part of my life started.

After about 2 weeks of giving up all soda, I honestly impressed myself. I thought, why not more?  I decided to give up things like french fries, potato chips, and other forms up junk food.  I dusted off the exercise bike in my office at home that was being used as a coat rack. Once the weather got warmer, I broke out the rollerblades and hit the bike trails. Everyone started to notice a small(er) difference.

The Result

Skipping to the results, here's a photo that Cindy and I took just last week during our trip annual trip to Maui.

Taken on February 25th, 2009.

Like our trips to Maui, this photo is an annual tradition for us, too. Our last trip was in April, which was just after I started my little life altering experience. Here's the same photo from last year.

Taken on April 23rd, 2008.

Kind of a difference, can't you tell?

All told, I was about 260 lbs at the most when I started this last year. Last check, before we left for this most recent trip to Maui, I was weighing in at 185 lbs. That's a pretty big change for over the course of a year. It's taken a lot of commitment and tons of support from friends and family, but it's all been worth it.

Now that the weather (any day now, I hope) is gonna be turning warm again, I'm really looking forward to getting back out on the blades again. My initial goal was 180 lbs, but is 160 out of the question this summer?  We'll have to see, won't we.