Appreciation #17

My appreciation this week goes to my sister-in-law, Melissa Finck. I have been very fortunate to be able to get along with all of my sister-in-laws, I am truly blessed. Melissa is so much like my own sister that I often refer to her that way. She has been a member of this family for over ten years and I have to say that my brother James sure did well for himself. Melissa has taught me so much about having a positive attitude. When life tries to knock you down, she will tell you to get back up and find the positive lesson out of the situation. She is one of the smartest and most ambitious people I know (yes, James I am sure that you have helped with this matter). I look forward to out talks and mostly our walks whenever we get together. My favorite part about her is her laugh, it always puts a smile on my face. I love you Melissa, thanks for always being there for me.

Reassertion

There have been accusations (I'm looking at you Jeff and Carl) that being out west has made me soft. That by virtue of having constant sunshine, living nearby pristine beaches, and taking two months of vacation I've somehow lost the edge of awesomeness I've possessed. I submit to you the following exhibits in my defense. First, I've doubled my Halo ranking. That doesn't come without significant dedication, personal sacrifice, and unwavering focus. It's a goal I've long held and now have conquered. Second, the new websites I've discovered. I won't link to them on here. Let's just say if you google fail you can go with results 1 and 3. I warn you, if you start with these you might not be able to stop. Third, the newest member of our family:

When we first moved my plan was to take the bus to school each day (it is neither yellow nor short but a public bus line). That worked for the first two weeks during orientation. The first day of actual classes two buses passed by full. I figured it was an aberration. It happened again the next day. Friday I got my motorcycle license and Monday purchased this beast. I kind of felt bad for the deal I got. He was obviously barely treading water financially and trying to raise some cash. He was looking for a life line. Instead I stuck it to him. I think I'm doing all right not going soft.
There are some other things going on in life. Since we've been asked to give our time and resources in support of Prop 8 it's been a hot topic around here. My co-workers in NY disagreed on politics but we were able to discuss things civilly. Though I didn't take up their positions I knew where they stood and why. It's unfortunate more conversations can't go like that. Like with most political topics, extremists lead the causes, tempers flare, and perspectives are lost.
Along the same lines the stock market has been on fire. I leave work and stop monitoring it daily and it acts all unruly like it runs the joint. I'm just hoping it recovers in time for my job search next year.
Oh, I've been in school also. The classes are okay but it's like recruiting bootcamp. My suits are the wrong colors or shades. Fortunately I'm a tall male with a good handshake. The lady said that should be enough. Tomorrow night is our first career night with all the big banks. I need to bring my A+ game. Good thing I haven't gone soft.

Sometimes they surprise you

There is something about Conference weekends that I just love. I usually feel uplifted and refreshed by all the talks and council. Also, it is a great time to get together with people you love. This year we had brunch in between sessions on Sunday and we had quite the spread. That was not the amazing part. While all of us ladies sat on the couches, the men were in the kitchen cooking. Just when you least expect it, they will surprise you.

Fall

Yeah, it is Fall time and I so wish this is what I was doing:

This can't be Doug Hall.

For those of you that know Doug you know that he loves to wear funny (he thinks that they are SO funny) shirts, shorts, and flip flops. He was lucky enough to wear that very same favorite outfit to work everyday in NYC. He did go crazy once and buy some designer jeans but at a discount of course. I always looked forward to Sundays because the man could sure clean up nicely. So, you could imagine my surprise when he told me that we had to go shopping and we were buying dress shirts and pants....even new dress shoes. I was even more surprised to wake up and see him leaving the house wearing this to school. Wow, my man is hot....all of you would be so proud. It also might have something to do with him losing 25 pounds.

Venice Beach

I love the fact that Venice Beach is about three miles away from us. We went there on Saturday with our friends Heather and Bryan and had a great time. We ate greasy food and ice cream....yum. We also:

Watched the muscle builders

And watched the performers.

NYC Friends

Even though things have been crazy, we have still managed to enjoy ourselves. One of my favorite things has been meeting up again with friends that we met in NYC that now live here.

We visited the Franklin's a couple weeks ago and enjoyed dinner at their beautiful home. They moved here two years ago and Nate attend UCLA doing the same MBA program that Doug is doing. They were super helpful in getting us situated here in LA.


We also met up with Kristina and her soon to be husband last week. There are getting married next week and they are just adorable together.


That is it for now:)

Busy, Busy

We have not been meaning to avoid our blog for so long but we have just been to busy. When I used to hear people say this I would think, come on....how busy could you really be?? The answer....very. Doug has officially started school and he is enjoying the challenge. He will have to write about it some time (it has been four months sense his last post, I think that all of you should give him a hard time). I started my new job that I am very excited about. Check them at here. It is a company named Motivfilms and they are much like the company that I worked for in NYC. They do more graphics and production, but there is also an editing department. I switched roles a bit, instead of the editing side, I am working with the production. I decided to put my planning and organizing skills to the test. It has been a week and a half and so far so good. Being a new job, I am working some pretty long hours. Doug called me last night at 9pm wondering what he should do for dinner, he is feeling very lost. That is the update for now, we hope to mention all the fun stuff that we are doing soon;)

SYTTYCD

So You Think That You Can Dance is on tour (anyone want to go see them with me?). Have you not missed these faces and dance moves??

Premium M&M's

I first heard about Premium M&M's on this blog and if you know me at all you know that I had to go buy some that night to try out. Okay, they were good but it made me wonder:

Are these chocolates for the sophisticated candy eater? Should I be ashamed to eat regular M&M's?

Thoughts??