Our New Camera

As our Christmas present to ourselves, Megan and I got a new camera. It is a Casio Exilim, 10.1 megapixel. We love it. The other day we went to Balboa Park in San Diego and I took this photo of one of the historic buildings there:I really like the video quality and capability of this camera as well. I do wish that cameras this size could handle much higher quality video, but whatever, it does okay for what we need. :)

This video (below) was taken with my new camera a couple of days before Christmas. CUTE!

Ch-Visit

I had an awesome visit with my best friend, Rich on Christmas Eve. I hadn't seen him in over a year so it was a welcomed reunion. When we get together it's like we were never apart.

And of course Rich wouldn't be Rich without a SUPER AWESOME TRUCK!Thanks for the visit, CH!

Kaelyn is SO cute

I rest my case

We're a Two Car Family Again!

It was finally time for us to get a van. Our family is just getting too big for our little car. Not to mention that we've been a one-car family for a year now.

We felt very good about our purchase. Megan and I are pretty good about taking control of a sales situation and telling them what deal they're going to give us rather than waiting for them to give us an offer. My Dad says that the next time he buys a car, he's going to have us do it for him.

We ended up getting this 2006 Kia Sedona for $3500 less than both Blue Book and Consumer Reports say it should go for.

The next day I asked Megan, "Aren't you supposed to have buyers remorse after making a big purchase? Because I don't."

And I don't. I love our van. :) YEA!

New Year's Resolutions

I've heard so many studies that claim that 80 to 92 percent of new year's resolutions fail (just google it, you'll find those numbers accurate and consistent). And 35 percent of new year's resolutions fail by the end of January.

So why do we make them? Why do we continue to promote the creating of goals for the new year? It's not even the start of a new season, but just some random day that we denote as starting a new cycle of the Earth around the Sun.

Knowing that statistic, I've often said: "I won't make my new year's resolutions until February. Then I don't fall into that statistic and I'll have more chance of success." But of course, by February I don't make any resolutions.

So this year I was thinking a lot about it and I think I've come up with a good answer. There is something about a new year that make us feel new. Something about finishing December and doing away with date that you've signed checks with for a year feels fresh. When we enter January 2009 it feels like "the future," it feels like we've entered a new era, a new chapter in our book of life. So we feel empowered to make a change. We feel like, hey, if there was ever a time to start doing something different, it's now.

This year, I think I'm going to try it. Not huge goals, but goals none the less. I'm going to enter the statistic race and treat January 1st like the start of all things new. This not only includes my own health, weight, etc (the most common new year's goal) but things in work, how I run my classes, what I expect from my students, what we are going to set out to achieve and how we're going to achieve it.

Who knows how successful I'll be, but it can't hurt to try.

Wish me luck.

Snow in Vegas!

THIS IS INSANE! Not only did it snow today in Vegas, but it snowed A LOT! We're talking like 3 or 4 inches! This is the craziest thing ever. They say that it hasn't snowed like this since 1979, almost 30 years! Here are some pictures.

Best. Video. Ever.

This is priceless. You MUST watch this video. Enjoy: