I just finished up my summer law class with a solid B. I guess I can say that is good. I was hoping for an A, but hey, you can't ace them all.

That brings me to my pondering for tonight...why does school seem so never-ending? Is it because I am one of those very few 33-year-old undergraduates? Sitting in a classroom full of 19-23 year-olds makes me feel as though I waited way too long to finish school. Which, I guess I did. But, in contrast, as I built a career over the past ten years I probably wouldn't be where I am now had I focused on school. I wouldn't have gotten to see various parts of the country including California and Alaska. I probably wouldn't have met my wife and love of my life, and future mother of my two children.

I think I made a good decision to target my career and focus on school now. With just a handful of credits left, I am so close to having that piece of paper which may or may not be the key to pushing me into the upper stratosphere of pay. Then again, I think I have capped my salary here in the Dayton area. I guess only time will tell.

And, since I'm in the scholastic frame of mind, I think I'm going straight for my master's next year...

After traveling out west and seeing some amazing places such as Yosemite, Zion, and Chugach in Alaska, I realized there are some absolutely amazing sites in this world, and I need to make the time to see them before they are (or I am) gone.

This list is limited solely to places in the continental U.S. I would very much like to get out of the country and see places across the globe, but that is for another post and most likely not going to happen until my kids are in college.

Here is my top 10, in order of preference:

1. Yellowstone
2. Grand Canyon
3. Arches
4. Petrified Forest
5. Bryce Canyon
6. Black Hills
7. Painted Desert
8. Grand Tetons
9. Rocky Mountains
10. Crater Lake

This is not necessarily my entire list, but that would be too long and most likely unattainable. This is my "realistic" list for now.

It's hard to believe how fast time goes. Things have been so busy for us I haven't had much time to even blog lately. I've been working long hours at work and attending class two nights a week for 3 hours. Needless to say, life's pretty hectic. Luckily, I did get to see the Dark Knight this past weeekend and blogged my review.

What's harder to believe is how fast summer has flown by. Last winter was incredibly long, dark, depressing, and just plain rough. I pined for the warm, sunny summer days and they are here...and almost gone. I feel as though I haven't done many "summery" activities this year. Although, last night I was driving around with the sunroof open in the G6 at midnight and that was kind of cool.

Luckily, we did get to Sherry's house at the lake for the 4th of July and will be back in a few weeks. It's always a good summertime thing to be at the lake (despite getting eaten alive by mosquitos the size of garbage trucks). We're looking forward to our next trip down as we'll be meeting Paul, Tonja and Abby for a quick 3 day trip.

Life has been good to us, though, and Rhonda and I have (two!) very wonderful reasons to look forward to winter. Much more to come about that, soon. Our life is about to be significantly changed in ways we can only imagine...but it's also the most wonderful thing in the whole world for us.

Stay tuned!

Rhonda and I just got back from her aunt's home on Lake Norris in Tennessee. It was a very good weekend. We got some serious relaxation in, and I did a ton of fishing. The fish weren't really biting for me, but I did catch a small bass this morning before leaving. Rhonda's aunt caught a channel catfish on Saturday and Jim and I filleted him and we had him for dinner--it was the freshest fish I've ever had! Normally, I don't enjoy fish, but this one was pretty good fried up and battered.

The lake was THE place to be this weekend. I've never seen so many boaters, skiers, jet skiers, kayakers, swimmers and tubers in my whole life. The highlight was a party at Flat Hollow Marina complete with a band and fireworks.

I forgot just how much I love summer. Winters around Dayton tend to do that to a person, I guess. There's nothing like a hot summer evening, just hanging out. These kind of days go by way too fast in my opinion...summer needs to be much longer than it is. Or, maybe I need to be somewhere that doesn't get so dang cold in the winter ;-)

Catch the photos and vids here.

I hope everyone is doing well so far this summer. It's hard to believe it's almost June. Where has the time gone? I've been so busy with work and school I've watched time fly right past me. As a result of all that, I've also found myself not taking nearly as many digital photos as usual. So, I've decided to poll some folks and request your suggestions for some things I should capture on "digital film" (or, better known as my memory card). Please help me out with some suggestions of what you think would be some good subjects for photography this summer. They can be anything--people, places, things, etc. Should I try the lake? Should I get more flowers pics? How about the dogs enjoying summer in the back yard? Please! I need your help!

Don't forget you can see all my photos on Flickr.

Well, this just confirms my thoughts. A fellow Twitter colleague pointed out this post about the top 100 best and top 10 worst places to raise a family.

Notice that Dayton is #9 in the "top worst places to raise a family". The author doesn't give a specific reason, but Dayton is there, nonetheless. Greensboro, NC, however, is #96 in the top "best places to raise a family".

It's so sad. The city I was born and raised in is slowly dissolving away. The factory work is gone, the crime rate is through the roof, and no one wants to live here anymore. It breaks my heart.

The top local favorites on Netflix for the Dayton area are (not necessarily in this order):

1. Conspiracy
2. Modern Marvels: The Manhattan Project
3. Super Size Me
4. Boyz N the Hood

So, the McDonald's-loving midwestern people are either worried about a nuclear meltdown or want to be in a gang in the hood. Sweet.

North Carolina, I'm on my way...

Rhonda and I are dog sitting this weekend. She's a miniature greyhound and is more like a dinosaur than a dog. She's very cute.

It's been a wild ride the past few days. This past weekend, I worked about 20 hours, and Monday alone worked 16 hours getting a deployment out. The cool thing is, we still made our deadline of midnight by about a half hour. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that this is finally out. I'm sure the fun's not over, but for now I think I might be able to take a breath and relax a little bit.

Now, I'm looking forward to Friday thru Monday which I'm taking off for my belated spring break. School started this week, but meh.

How crazy is this? The Winter Storm Warning we were under for tonight and tomorrow is now a Blizzard Warning. We are expecting 10-15 inches of snow with significant blowing and drifting. Things are only going to get exponentially worse over the course of the night and through the day tomorrow.

I guess it's good Xbox weather and will keep me from driving around town and burning up precious gas in the new ride. Because if it was 65 and sunny right now--I'd sure as heck have the top down and be going...somewhere.

Who's ready for spring? Take a guess.

UPDATE: See the whole thing on Flickr here.

Well, it's been another fun week weather-wise here in Dayton. I finally got the grill together last weekend, but did I get to try it out? Heck, no.

We had two winter "storms" this week with about 5-6 inches of total snow accumulation. The drive home from class Thursday night was a nightmare...thought I was going to wreck several times. I still can't understand what constitutes as bad enough weather conditions for a school or business to close. I don't think they even know.

Anyway, hopefully it might warm up a little this week. At least the sun is out today and it's very bright. I know that as it gets closer to spring the sun becomes brighter and warmer, so maybe things will finally start to turn around a little.

Well, another winter storm warning is in effect for tonight/tomorrow...it's supposed to get really ugly overnight. We'll see if they get it right this time or if it misses us altogether again. We're due for at least one more big one, so it might actually happen this time.

What's really funny is I was looking at pictures on Flickr from a snowstorm we had at this exact same time last February (the 13th) when we had about 8 inches! Guess I can start counting on winter storms this time every year like clockwork, maybe?

"Just a few more weeks" I keep telling myself...

I had spring fever this week. Bad. So, I went to Lowe's and bought a new grill. Rhonda and I have been needing one since we grilled out almost every day last summer and our 10-year-old, rusted-out Char-Broil has seen better days. I figured this was a good time to get one (off season) and it was. I didn't get the Perfect Flame all-stainless grill I wanted because it wouldn't even fit in our Vue, but did get a very nice (and big) partially stainless one, also by Perfect Flame. I'm going to have some fun putting that baby together this weekend. I can't wait to try it out.

It was in the 60's earlier this week...it was nice because I finally kicked my cold and was feeling good enough to be moving around. But, nothing good lasts very long in Dayton. It's in the 30's again today after the rain and storms moved through yesterday, and is forecast to be in the teens by Sunday! I really need to find another state.

I hope Christmas was a great time for everyone this year. I know our family enjoyed it. For everyone we didn't get to see, we hope you had a great Christmas.

Also, please have a safe and wonderful New Year's holiday this year.

We would just like to take a minute and thank all of our friends and family for everything this past year. We have much to be thankful for.

We love each and every one of you, and wish you a very happy, healthy and safe Christmas this year.