Update from the Arctic

Well, seems the posts are few and far between. Sadly, as of a few weeks ago, my college laptop went bust. The computer itself works fine still, but the screen went out and its not much good without it! Our recent purchase, then, was a MacBook, which I am thoroughly enjoying. While the adjustment from Windows still leaves me searching the web for how tiny tricks work here and there, the adjustment has been incredible. Can't tell you why I didn't switch earlier...oh yeah, already had a laptop. I digress..

I've been messing with photoshop and lightroom quite a bi

t more lately. I'm looking at getting a membership to Lynda.com. Did a few of their demos and man, the courses seem amazing. I was home with Laiden on Saturday and snapped some shots of him playing (and me tickling him) on our bed. Here is some of my super novice work with photoshop and lightroom...

The colors are much richer than the original and his face is substantially SANS-boogered. What more can you ask for, all in about 5 minutes.

10'4 Good buddies, its bed time...

Matt

Today I received an email from our President urging me (and many others) to write a letter to a number of newspapers on the subject of health care reform. I would encourage all of you to do the same. I have posted my letter below, feel free to check it out.

I write to you as someone who possesses many of the same qualities as your readers: hard-working, independent, and yearning for my piece of the American dream. At least this is what I strive to be, and I know many others who live by similar values. Unfortunately, many of us will never realize our dream of independence and entrepreneurship as the costs of health care continue to skyrocket. The spirit of entrepreneurship is what built this nation, and I urge it to cry out for change. For as the costs continue to rise, the spirit of those who would venture out on their own shrinks ever more quickly. I have held my tongue on this issue for far too long. It is time for those of us who voted to put our president in office to speak up! Let us stand behind the man who has gotten the ball rolling on something that for many was about as real as a unicorn: Health Care Reform. That bears repeating...Health Care Reform! The ball is perched on top of the hill. All we need to do is speak up and let it give it a nudge. Do not let the voices of dissent discourage us from our path or make us question our goals. Especially when they have had their say and input into the way we get there. Please, I beg you all, be silent no more.

Bryant Park

Today Laiden and I spent a few morning hours at Bryant Park. We have started to make a few playmates in that area and really enjoy hanging out there on Saturday mornings. This morning we made friends with a family who moved here from LA last year. Together we played with a friendly, neighborhood cat. I have been practicing achieving more consistency and greater control over the shots that I am taking. I managed to get a few good shots out of the batch that I took at the park this morning.



Carmen and I are beginning to settle in and are regularly attending St. Mark's Episcopal church. We feel at home in the community there and find it not only a good blend between our backgrounds, but also in alignment with where we are headed. We are now in the middle of a series of financial classes there. They are helping us to prioritize our finances so that we can effectively use our money to further our goals in life. Not only that, but the course has a strong emphasis on working together, rather than against each other, which is great.

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

So here it is, our first post (again). We have had other blogs before, but hopefully we will keep this one going!

Life has changed quite a bitfor us over the past year. I graduated college with a degree in Computer Science and am now working for Country Financial in Minneapolis. Carmen is studying at Aveda for cosmetology and hopefully will be our money maker before long! Laiden is...well, you know how 1 year olds go. And if you don't, go take a nap and enjoy it. Seriously though, he's great. We couldn't ask for much of a better kid: he eats like a horse, climbs into bed at night unprompted, and is actively exploring every crevice you never knew existed.

We recently moved from Illinois to Minneapolis and love it here. In Illinois we were living with my parents for the year until I finished school. We had a lot of help from both of our families making it through this last year with a new baby, a wedding, a senior year, and finally a move and would like to thank everyone for all that they did.

We have plans for the future, but those are ever changing....lets just leave it at that.

Carmen is loving going school. Her passion for all things hair is going to take her (and us) places. She is considering specializing after her 1 year of school at Aveda, so we'll see where things take us after that.