Little diddy 'bout...

My new job has been quite an interesting experience. First off, I have never worked for a company that is so big, in every way. For example, I had a work meeting today in a section of Houston called Stafford, which is southwest. Anyway, we passed 3 company buildings as we traveled on the freeway, before we arrived in Stafford! So there are tons of employee's (literally tons), there are many locations, and a huge amount of inventory/product. But because the company is so big, there is tons of bureaucracy. Which means that before I can do anything I have to go through a ton of training lessons. Primarily it has just been safety things like, keeping your hands safe, how to lift properly, chemical safety, fire safety, how to report unsafety, you get the idea. And after each training they give you a little test. It is quite ridiculous because the answers are generally so easy, like 
"Should you store flammable chemicals in a:  
A) Designated smoking place 
B) Out in the open so you can trip over them 
C) In a fire safe storage cabinet. 
 And even if you get some wrong you can go review the test afterwards and it gives you the right answer! The hardest part of the deal right now is making sure my brain doesn't leak out my ears (this feat is quite tricky, and had I not had previous experience in some college classes I may not have been successful). But my supervisor seems like a real proactive guy and is definitely going to a lot of work to help me out. I think that it will be good working for him. Oh, by the way I think that I told you all previously that I would be working on Roller Cones, since that's what they told me. But I will actually be working on instruments that monitor the drill heads. This is closer to what I was doing for my TA job at BYU. I am excited, all this stuff is pretty interesting to me anyways.

So Texas is huge. And there is an insane amount of people just on the road. I have come to accept that traffic at any hour is completely normal, and this isn't just lots of cars on the road, it's like slow poke freeway at 2 pm. And I think that I will develop a distaste for toll roads. 

It's hot. Last two weeks have been in the 90's. It's May.

I'll finish with an update on Calvin. So he now has his own room, and he now recognizes that when we take him in there and rock it's because we want him to fall asleep. Now, that wouldn't be a problem if in fact he actually wanted to go to sleep. However, it seems that he hates, hates to sleep, and he doesn't mind letting our neighbors down the way know about it. On a better note though, he is a funny baby. When we first moved in his favorite thing: the ceiling fan. He'd be on his back just laughing away staring right at it.

Anyway, life goes on...  

Growin' Up

So it has been a while since the last up-date, I'll have to get better at updating this since we are getting more spaced out. So I graduated finally, it took only 5 years, but now its over, at least for a bit. We are planning to leave for Texas on May 11th. It should be very interesting, since we have yet to drive all day with Calvin. The trip is 24 hrs and we are planning on making it in 3 days, which may be pushing it. The most incredible thing has happened since Calvin came, everything now takes much longer. For example we were traveling up to Farmington a few weeks ago and a drive that normally takes an hour and a half took us two hours. We didn't take any stops, as far as I can tell it just took longer, crazy. So I figure with our trip, we will drive for 8 hours a day but really end up traveling for 12 hours, and cross our fingers that everything goes well.
My job in Texas is just outside Houston, in a city called Conroe. I will be on the roller cone drill heads, I am not sure exactly what I will be doing but it has something to do with the design of the the drill heads. I am really excited to start working, the whole experience is adventure right now, new place new job. Included in the job is sort of a rotation program where will have exposure to other parts of the company, and then end up where I started. Something else that I am interested in is their graduate school option, where they may pay for me to get a masters. I am really interested in that because I would really like to get my masters in engineering.
So, having a child has flipped our world upside down. I use to think that I had to have a minimum of like 5 hours of sleep to function. I no longer hold that belief. At the same time I found my self randomly falling asleep when I stopped moving. The joys of being a new parent. A funny thing did happen to me though. I became a very deep sleeper during the night, at times Calvin would be on our bed and 1 am, screaming and I would just sleep right through it. The catch is that I will always wake up to Jennifer's voice. It can be whatever time and she will just say my name and I immediately wake up. I have yet to figure that one out, however I have notice that I respond and start to move while still being slightly asleep, not sure if that is such a good thing. Sleep aside, just being so clueless about babies is really interesting as well, I can tell you one thing Calvin is definitely going to be the experimental child, where we figure out what works and what doesn't.
Anyway, I am sure that I will have lots of stories to share about Calvin, like how he use to turn into a gremlin at night. But I am sure that you are board of reading this so I will tell those another time.

2012! What a year it will be.

Well, 2012 is off to a busy start. Its already February, and i feel like its only been 2012 for a week. Wrestling ends next week. we have four wrestlers in the Region Two Championship tonight. We hopefully will have eight, or so, qualify for the State Tournament next week. USC is kicking my butt right now. I have three weeks left in this semester. Once I get though this semester I will be on the final leg of my masters degree. MAy 11th!!! Thats the graduation date for my Masters. My family, and I, are going down for the graduation. If your schedules allow, I would love it for you guys to join us. Thank you to everyone who has supported me, and encouraged me as I have attempted to go to more schooling than we ever thought I would go to. You have all been a blessing in my life. So, I joined the Navy Reserves, as long as my security clearance comes back approved. I ship out July 11th. I will be gone for 6-8 months for training. I am really excited to experience that aspect of my life. 2012 is going to be a huge year! USC graduation in May, Europe in June, Navy from July to sometime in 2013, Mac's air traffic control school graduation in December (I think thats when he is graduating), Chase's BYU graduation, two babies on their way, and all of Hank's things he has going on. Gentlemen, thank you for being there for me in life. We have turned out pretty damn well, if I must say so. I have never known better men than my three brothers (Mac, Hank and Chase).

Space, the final frontier...

So since Jennifer is graduated, she finds that she has lots of extra time on her hands while I am slaving away doing homework.  To fill the time she has taken to watching different TV series on Netflix.  I would watch a couple of the shows with her when I had free time.  But occasionally I would have free time when she wasn't available, and not wanting to interrupt her episodes I decided to look for a series that I would watch.  Looking through Netflix I remembered seeing one of the Star Trek series.  Having fond memories of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation as a kid I decided to look for it.  I found it and started with episode 1.  It is amazing, I think that I am now a born again treky (not really since I have yet to attend any conventions).  But serious I really have enjoyed watching the old series, and find that I really like it.  Not to mention the fact it brings back great memories watching the show late at night with Uncle Gary on sleep overs.  Really though you guys should check it out if you can.  Then we can find some convention to attend!!

So just to update you guys on the happenings, Jennifer's grandparents basement opened up and we decided to move in with them.  They live in Payson but even with the commute for me, we figure we will save about 2 to 3 hundred dollars.  So right before Christmas we plan on making the move.  We feel that it will be a good thing for us to do. 

The Mid-night oil

I told you guys I would keep you up to date on the Texas job.  So this last week I heard back from them, and they didn't offer me a job.  So it really seems like I am back to square one looking for a job.  I'm not complainin' cause I know that everyone goes through the process of trying to find a job, it is just part of life.

So as school is ramping up for the home stretch, I find myself increasingly burning the mid-night oil.  Man, school can be brutal at times.  The funny thing is that I can work really hard all during the week, staying up late to finish assignments and projects, but as soon as Friday evening draws near I hit a big wall of water.  And then through the weekend I will be lucky if I get one assignment all the way done.  Oh well, the habit hasn't hurt me too much. 

If you guys are interested our baby is doing well.  The doctors say that everything looks good.  As far as names go I have given up on Bear, Jennifer made sure it was six feet under.  So I have been suggesting Jett and she sort of likes that name.  Toss any name ideas my way cause we're still lookin'.

Anyway time to hit the books again, at least for the next bit.

Hawaiian Shirts

I'm just about to leave for work, but I felt the need to get my blog on real quick like.

First of all, have fun in Texas this weekend Chase. I hope your interview goes well. It may not be your first choice in workplaces, but you'll get to where you want to be. Also, if you're interested, I know the FAA hires a lot of engineers to work in air traffic control centers. They do things with the radar, satellites, and communications. I don't know exactly what, but I do know there are positions for engineers. Also, Texas is awesome. Sure it might be sweltering, but at least you can legitimately wear a cowboy hat on a regular basis! And that has to count for something right? Plus, there are some epic hunting opportunities in Texas, and land is cheap. So buy a huge ranch, plant some exotic beasts on it, and let me hone my archery skills.

And now, the real reason for my posting. Yesterday I had the opportunity to tour the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC, or Center) here in Anchorage. The Center is the facility that handles all the planes in the middle of their flights. It's the third of three air traffic control positions, and the one that I am trying to get when I graduate. Anyway, on my tour of the facility yesterday, I couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere was WAY less intense than I thought. Dudes were talking to each other, then would contact the occasional plane, I saw some controllers eating snacks (one of my favorite things to do), while others were just hanging out, making sure their sectors didn't have any airplane crashes. At the end of the tour, I was talking to my teacher and told her how excited the trip had made me, and that I was ready for the workforce; "Just get me a Hawaiian shirt, and I'll report for duty tomorrow" I said. She laughed. But I was serious. I know exactly how Chase feels, I am pretty much fed up with school. We have been going to college (with a short break for military service for me) since the Fall of 2004. It's now 2011, and we're still in school!!!! Aaaggggghhhhhh, get me out of here. But I know it's necessary so I won't stab anyone, but I'll keep it in mind.

All right, I best be off. I gots to get salesman on. Those guns and knives need some selling.

I shall be in touch

Come back to Texas...

Mac's calls for keeping in touch hit the spot.  And I know that I am not the greatest about staying touch but we are all moving and I think that we can use this blog to stay relevant each others lives.

So Provo hasn't changed much if any of you all were concerned about that.  BYU is still here with loads of students all around.  And they are driving me nuts.  I really feel ready to leave the school atmosphere for awhile.  And everyday I get more tired of doing schoolwork all the time.  This last week I got a bit of a break though (that's only cause I got super sick).  So last Sunday in sacrament meeting I started feeling bad and getting a headache.  By Sunday School I was fighting to stay coherent, so Jennifer forced me to go home.  At home I had a big fever and little appetite.  I figured I sleep it off and went to bed at 8pm.  That didn't help much the next day, and so I stayed home and slept most the day.  Tuesday I tried to go back to class but that was a really bad idea.  When Jennifer got home she forced me to the doctors.  There we found out that I had pneumonia.  That wasn't the best timing but my teachers were really nice about the whole thing.  So now I am still on antibiotics but I feel infinitely better.

Well there are two big pieces of news from me.  First is that we will be going to Texas for a job interview at the end of this week.  It is with a company called National Instruments, and they make computer hardware for reading instruments into the computer.  My job would be mainly designing the housing for the units, meaning that I would ensure that they are protected and don't overheat.  Right now it probably isn't the most interesting but it is the best offer yet (but there have been no other offers).  So we may find ourselves in the Lone Star State for a few years.  We'd only be about 4 hours from Jed and his family, so we wouldn't be totally without family.  Nothing is for sure yet but we are definitely considering it.

The next big piece of news is that ... it's a boy!!!  We had the ultrasound last Thursday, the baby is on schedule for the 10th of March and is looking very healthy.  We are very excited and now get to duke it out over the name.  She is putting her foot down on Bear, squashing it out of the picture that is.  But there are names that we both do like, but we are not in any big rush to choose a name.

So that is an update on me.  I'll keep you guys informed on Texas, and let you know how my trip out there goes.