Bye Bye Miss American Princess
I hate it when I miss really funny and new stuff Mia does. There are always pro's and con's to working from home, but one of the awesome opportunities I have had is to have been at home for most of her life. Being away at a "real" job is probably the hardest thing about it. My time with her and Mickie is cut down drastically. But enough whining...
Today at Wendy's Mia decided that everyone in the place needed to be told "bye." And it was not just an ordinary "bye." It was a "people in Mexico heard her yell BYE." And she had to do it over and over and over again! And then if that wasn't enough, Mickie asked said they were going to pray before they ate and Mia folded her hands and closed her eyes - and then proceded to want to pray the rest of the meal. I guess she could be doing worse things.
Too bad I missed it.
"ByE!" BYe!" "bYE"
So much new and time is too few
Wow, so much has happened in the past week I can hardly keep up. I feel like I am being pulled in about 1000 directions. Okay, so what else is new?
Two big items this go-round. First, I got a job! The weekend after I made my portfolio I got an interview with a company here in Des Moines. They interviewed me Monday morning and Monday night offered me the job. I slept and prayed on that night and accepted in the morning. My first day was on Friday. So who do I work for??? Trans-Lux Fair-Play. The Fair-Play name is fairly well known as they have been making scoreboards for over 70 years. In fact check out who makes your local high school, college or pro scoreboard and it is probably them.
My official title is Media Specialist. I am in charge of 2 corporate web sites. Fair-Play.com and transluxcommercial.com. The one with the long name will be getting a major face lift soon. I also will be doing graphic design for their print media, creating animations for scoreboards (you know, those cheesy baseball characters and huge letters...), and training customers on how to use the software to program the scoreboards. Wow, I am tired just thinking about it all. But it is exactly what I have been looking for. God is good and His timing is always perfect. You'd think I would learn, but noooooo.
Right now after 3 days I am trying to keep my head above water and get familiar with a lot of new stuff but I am really enjoying it. I'll post some pictures of my cubicle soon because I know you all are dying to see it.
The next big item is...(if I knew anything about writing and marketing these articles would be separate but I don't.) so here goes.
Mickie and I officially joined Saylorville Baptist's church plant in Polk City a couple weeks ago. Our church voted a few months ago to plant a new church and the location that was decided on was Polk City. We held our very first service on Sunday morning in the loft of a garage. It was cozy and a great atmosphere. We had over 40 people and 8 visitors from the community! Awesome! I had the opportunity to lead the music which went well. I have put up a small website for the church plant at www.lakesidefellowship.net where you can find out more.
Pray for us as we embark on this awesome journey!
New Personal Portfolio
In my search for a full time job I have seen the need to create a personal portfolio. A resume just doesn't cut it these days. Awhile ago I had the good fortune to acquire the domain joshbyers.com. My name isn't as common as Bob Smith or something but I still thought it was pretty cool to be able to have my own name. So I snapped it up. I didn't know really what to do with it until now.
I have created a personal portfolio highlighting my work done in print and web media. Hopefully this will give potential employers a good view of what I have done and what I am capable of. And it's pretty cool too. Check it out at www.joshbyers.com
Sorry for those of you with dial-up, the site is graphic intense and 56k challenged...
Let me know what you think. I will look forward to your comments.
Choose Your Own Blog
Today I am going to revisit an old blogging game we played awhile ago. In the spirit of "choose your adventure" this blog post will allow you to choose your own flow for today's story. Have fun!
It has been a little [crazy] [calmer] around here with Mickie gone the past few days. She went to [Lincoln, NE] [Maui, HI], [South Bend, IN] for a 2 day class on [fetal monitoring] [growing sugar cane] [being Irish]. Mia and I have had fun although [I haven't gotten much work done], [she backed the car into the garage door]. One of the highlights of our couple days has been [finding a live skunk in the neighbors window well], [going to McDonalds].
Random Uber Shot
Mickie gets home tonight and [the house had better be clean], [there had better be some oreos left]. We just tried the new mint oreos and they are [really good - they taste like Thin Mints], [the worst cookie creation ever], [jive].
That is about it for today's [fun], [silly antics]. If there are mispellings I am sure dad will [let me know], [have an ulcer], [make a joke/pun about ulcers and mispellings...]
Here is today's fun link. Turn any photo into a wacky poloroid with caption!
All Your Wildest Dreams Will Come True
I am on a blogging rampage today!!! This is for you Napolean Dynomite fans out there. I was directed to a site which has a collection of ads done by Nappy and Pedro for the Utah State Fair. They are flippin' sweet!
Video and Audio
This is for you Brady...
Guess the Google
Now introducing the best time waster of the day!!! Like I need any more... I came across this site from anothe site which is how things like this happen. I get into a surfing zone and before I know it I have surfed farther than man has known to surf and inevitably I come across a wacky site that is really cool. That is the case here.
The site in question poses an interesting question. Where did these images come from? The challenge is to look at 20 images from Google and figure out which keyword was used to get them. It's pretty addicting but please don't blame me for your lack of work. I'm just the messenger. Have Fun!
...and just in case that didn't waste enough of your time here is another site that will have you in a trance in about 30 seconds...just move your mouse and click.
Really Wacky but Stragely Cool
Blowout
So, what's with the title? I would be interested to hear what your initial thoughts were when you read the title? Did I have a bad tire, did I get really mad, did Mia's diaper leak? Nope, none of the above. Believe it or not is has to do with a sporting event.
I was invited to go with Pastor Dave to the Drake UNI football game tonight. And so I went. The game was really close for the first 5 minutes and then UNI put up 42 points in the first half. So while the game wasn't that exciting there were a few things that were. Let me share them with you. First of all it was my first experience "in the dome." This is a big deal in Iowa. We have a dome. The UNI-Dome. Nothing real spectacular, but it is a fun place to watch a game. They obviously play on Astro-turf which brought back fond memories of high school football and rug burns. The second exciting experience was the fact that I bought a hot dog inside the stadium of a live sporting event for under $10. In fact there was a special going on for these "Dome Dogs." They were only $1. No, they wern't little weinies. (Is that how you speall weinies?) You know the little minature sausage things on a toothpick? By the way I normally suck on those toothpicks for awhile cause they still have the taste of BBQ... Anyway, back to the hot dogs. Yes $1! I got 2. And that was about it for the exciting experiences. Sorry if I got your hopes up and now you are disapointed. If so then you can add in: the roof of the dome blew off and we were exposed to a bright light which looked like an alien craft after which the players were switched for alien counterparts, yet the dome dogs were still only a dollar.
Next. I think I am really sick or something because I am not pumped up for football season like I should be. Maybe I'm too depressed after watching nothing but baseball hightlights for what seems like 30 years. Someone tackle me.
There are a few spots left for my Yahoo Fantasy Football leasgue if you would like in. Email me by tomorrow morning and I will get you the details.
One interesting side note: On the way home from the game we stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and they had Coke imported from Mexico in glass bottles. Huh? Yeah, that's what I said. When I asked the cashier about it, she replied nonchalantly that they always have them. Hmmm, well alrighty then. I bought 2.
Humbled at TCI
I finally had an opportunity to play my home town golf course and in the end I snuck back home with my tail between my legs. For some reason I have been on a golf binge the past week and a half. I have been to four different courses and shot pretty well on 3 of them. Of course, those three have wide fairways, little water and a lot of room for error. So the tendancy is to get a big head and to think that this game is not so hard after all.
But that all changed this afternoon when I played a real man's course. At the Tournament Club of Iowa you can't go left, you can't go right, you can't go short and yes you guessed it, you can't go long... You pretty much have to put the ball in one place the entire course.
Number 2 at TCI
It is without a doubt the most beautiful golf course I have ever played and second only to Pebble Beach in terms of asthetic beauty. I did have a few highlights: I pared number 2, sunk a 50 foot putt on number 8 and hit a 300 yard drive on 18. Those are the shots that keep you coming back for more.
I was recently discussing with one of my Pastors why golf is such an addicting game. We came to the conclusion that every time you play, the average golfer has 80-100 chances to be a hero. Every shot is a new opportunity to do something great. Whether it's a huge drive, an amazing approach, an incredible save from the sand, or an impossible putt, no matter the situation you can always hit the shot of your life. Case in point: I was burried pretty deep in the sand sitting about 20 yards from the pin with only a sliver of landing area. Not only do I have to get up out of the sand I have to land it in an area about the size of my big toe. And at that moment everything came together as I plucked it from the sand and set it gently 8 feet from the hole. Of course I missed the putt after, but that sand save overshadowed my horrible putt.
That is why golf is such a great game.
The iFlea
With all of the my recent hoopla about my iPod, I ran across this hillarious video. I laughed out loud and so will you. Dad, you will appreciate all the puns. Have fun kids!
iFlea Video
State Fair Day
Today, we had our second annual family excursion to America's Favorite Fair...or so they say. It was a tremendous opportunity to eat just about anything on a stick, mow down a deep fried candy bar, see hundreds of live cows, and get ridiculed by a clown in a dunk tank. Wow.
It was pretty hot, but unlike in CO I decided to wear sunscreen. I think Mia really liked the animals. While we were looking at the pigs a cow mooed really loud and Mia stopped dead in her tracks, whipped around and got a huge grin on her face. I laughed out loud. She also got to pet a horse, goat, and kissed a llama.
By far the best thing about the state fair is the food. While I did not get my deep fried donuts this year, I did get a chocolate covered nut roll. I am still buzzing.
We didn't make it into the midway but I am sure if we go next year Mia will want to go.
Interesting side note: USA Today ranked the Iowa State Fair as the number 2 attraction in America that you have to visit, right behind Las Vegas. Now, I'm not sure what their critera was, but we do have a pretty cool butter cow, and you really can eat almost anything on a stick. So make plans next year to come and experience America's Favorite Fair...
You can see more of our fair pictures on Flickr.