If I would just blog more often I wouldn't have to do all these lists (or just stop blogging about every little thing in our lives) It's only half as long though this time, enjoy (or don't... I don't care, it wont stop me)
1) Lightning - Last night was amazing. There was a huge storm moving through the Valley and a ton of lightning. Maria and I raised the blinds on the bay windows in our bedroom and laid on the bed and looked out at the sky as it lit up. The windows gave a great view of the sky in several directions.
2) Under Construction - I am excited for this weekend. Maria and I decided we are going to finally begin work on the nursery. We are still trying to figure out what exactly we want to do and how so it should be fun. We hope to have it done by the shower in two weeks.
3) Stinky-pew-pound - When I was a boy my little brother and I would "help" my dad when he had to make a trip to the city landfill. There were a couple routes you could take to the old St. Johns dump but one seemed to by my dad's favorite. Taking Water Street North you could drive past the sewage treatment plant and pounds and my dad to torture us would slow down and roll down the windows as we drove by. We would yell and scream and try to hold our breaths. Now that I am older and the dump has since moved and trips to the dump are such a chore I am reminded of days of old every time it rains in Queen Creek. Our backyard has poor grading and fills with water every time it rains. Combine this with dog crap, trash, and green floating moss/mold and the stinky-pew-pound (as Quentin and I used to call it) comes to me.
4) Previous Owner - The man we bought our home from came for a visit the other night. The realtor who sold us the house was babysitting his girls and he came by to introduce himself so we would know each other when we met at the bank today to cash the insurance check. His girls had fun running through the house to look at their old rooms and exploring the mess that is our basement. It was sad to hear his story and see the man affected by selfishness and infidelity of another. Maria and I hope for the best for him and his three little girls.
5) Big Kid - I did not want to go to work today. As I was getting dressed Maria asked why I had this little grumpy smirk on my face and I said that putting on my dress shirt and tie is making me mad! I just wanted to put on a pair of comfy jeans and a t-shirt. She accused me of being like a big (grumpy) kid and told me I had to go to work.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
As a matter of fact we are still alive, thanks for asking...
Here I go again... a list-like update of what we have been up to during the last week or so.
1) The Check - Finally the insurance has sent a check for the water damage in the basement!! Only one problem... it is made out to the previous home owner. Now all we have to do is coordinate a time with him to sign it over to us and then we can deposit it in our account.
2) Barf - This has become the subject of every conversation Maria and I ever have these days. Maria is so sick and tired of being pregnant. She barfs up almost everything she eats and when her stomach is completely empty she continues to barf up who knows what. This happens day and night! I am afraid Davis might be an only child.
3) Ladder Issues - The last few days I have been helping Royce (our cabling expert) at work with some of our larger projects. Monday I went and helped him run cables for a new Eye Masters in the west valley. I was standing on a ladder feeding cables as Royce pulled them when the ladder decided it was tired of me being on it and folded. I was left hanging from the rafters!! Royce managed to get the ladder back under me but not until after I had completely mangled the aluminum studs used as a wall support. The very next day at another location and similar situation I found myself swinging like Tarzan from six cables as I fell to my butt!! I was fine but I managed to tare the cables through the ceiling about 3 feet.
4) Baylee's Birthday - Saturday we celebrated Baylee's birthday with a totally awesome Luau Pool Party at John and Kelly's house. We had a ton of fun and Maria who almost didn't make it because she wasn't feeling well said she was glad she went. That will easily be the best first birthday Baylee will ever have!
5) New Neighbors - Sord of. My parents finally closed and began moving into their new home. Moving furniture from storage will surely offset the cost of the new home (renting a storage unit doesn't build as much equity as a house does). Although they will not be living full time in the new home we suspect they will find more reasons or excuses to come and stay closer to the growing grand kids.
6) Graduation - This really should have made it closer to the top of this list... Maria is done with school. Yep, Saturday morning she finished the last two classes for her Bachelors Degree in Business Admin. She was stressing over one of her classes but managed to pull it off with an A. We need to plan a celebration of some sort sometime.
7) Yerbua - yur-boo-ah; noun, The new nick-name given to adorable but crazy little Aubrey. Simply her name spelled backwards the name seems to be suiting her quirky personality. She is getting so big and is becoming more and more fun to play with. She loves balls, shoes, and cell phones (she walks around the house talking on any ones cell phone held to her head using only her shoulder!)
8) Baby Shower - Maria has finally decided to do a baby shower. This does not completely rule out the idea of doing a Baby BBQ at some later date for other friends and family. We have decided on a date that will work well for us, family and hopefully most of our friends. Please mark you calendars for Saturday, September 13 (time and location TBA via invitation). To ensure that you are on the invite list and that you are not stopped at the door by the bouncer please provide us with you address so we can get an invite out to you ASAP.
9) Los Di Geronimo - Some friends of mine from Caracas Venezuela are coming to town and will be staying with us from Sep. 6-13. I am so excited to see them and have them meet Maria. They are so much fun and know that they are going to have a great time here in AZ. I am even considering taking them to the Grand Canyon but I am not sure I want to go though. I have never been and think it is funny to admit having lived within only three hours of one of the Natural Wonders of the World for my entire life and never gone to check it out.
10) I can't think of a tenth - I was even struggling to come up with a ninth but wanted to try and be consistent with my previous over-sized update a few days ago.
1) The Check - Finally the insurance has sent a check for the water damage in the basement!! Only one problem... it is made out to the previous home owner. Now all we have to do is coordinate a time with him to sign it over to us and then we can deposit it in our account.
2) Barf - This has become the subject of every conversation Maria and I ever have these days. Maria is so sick and tired of being pregnant. She barfs up almost everything she eats and when her stomach is completely empty she continues to barf up who knows what. This happens day and night! I am afraid Davis might be an only child.
3) Ladder Issues - The last few days I have been helping Royce (our cabling expert) at work with some of our larger projects. Monday I went and helped him run cables for a new Eye Masters in the west valley. I was standing on a ladder feeding cables as Royce pulled them when the ladder decided it was tired of me being on it and folded. I was left hanging from the rafters!! Royce managed to get the ladder back under me but not until after I had completely mangled the aluminum studs used as a wall support. The very next day at another location and similar situation I found myself swinging like Tarzan from six cables as I fell to my butt!! I was fine but I managed to tare the cables through the ceiling about 3 feet.
4) Baylee's Birthday - Saturday we celebrated Baylee's birthday with a totally awesome Luau Pool Party at John and Kelly's house. We had a ton of fun and Maria who almost didn't make it because she wasn't feeling well said she was glad she went. That will easily be the best first birthday Baylee will ever have!
5) New Neighbors - Sord of. My parents finally closed and began moving into their new home. Moving furniture from storage will surely offset the cost of the new home (renting a storage unit doesn't build as much equity as a house does). Although they will not be living full time in the new home we suspect they will find more reasons or excuses to come and stay closer to the growing grand kids.
6) Graduation - This really should have made it closer to the top of this list... Maria is done with school. Yep, Saturday morning she finished the last two classes for her Bachelors Degree in Business Admin. She was stressing over one of her classes but managed to pull it off with an A. We need to plan a celebration of some sort sometime.
7) Yerbua - yur-boo-ah; noun, The new nick-name given to adorable but crazy little Aubrey. Simply her name spelled backwards the name seems to be suiting her quirky personality. She is getting so big and is becoming more and more fun to play with. She loves balls, shoes, and cell phones (she walks around the house talking on any ones cell phone held to her head using only her shoulder!)
8) Baby Shower - Maria has finally decided to do a baby shower. This does not completely rule out the idea of doing a Baby BBQ at some later date for other friends and family. We have decided on a date that will work well for us, family and hopefully most of our friends. Please mark you calendars for Saturday, September 13 (time and location TBA via invitation). To ensure that you are on the invite list and that you are not stopped at the door by the bouncer please provide us with you address so we can get an invite out to you ASAP.
9) Los Di Geronimo - Some friends of mine from Caracas Venezuela are coming to town and will be staying with us from Sep. 6-13. I am so excited to see them and have them meet Maria. They are so much fun and know that they are going to have a great time here in AZ. I am even considering taking them to the Grand Canyon but I am not sure I want to go though. I have never been and think it is funny to admit having lived within only three hours of one of the Natural Wonders of the World for my entire life and never gone to check it out.
10) I can't think of a tenth - I was even struggling to come up with a ninth but wanted to try and be consistent with my previous over-sized update a few days ago.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Independent Agents
I am really starting to see the benefit of dealing with independent agents be it car salesmen, health insurance agents, or the most recent to grace our presence: Car Insurance Agent.
I met a guy named Corbin at one of my meetings for work and he told me what he did. He is an independent insurance agent representing more than ten insurance companies. I had him give Maria a call and she rounded up her insurance info for her truck and she scheduled a meeting for us.
Meeting with Corbin was a pleasant experience, he was very nice and explained things well. We had a copy of our policy and he went through and compared side by side the coverages of our existing policy to one he was proposing. He pointed out some areas where we were under insured (including glass coverage!! I could of sworn we had glass coverage!). His policy had greater or equal coverage in all areas and had a lower deductible and lower premium. In all we are going to save about $400 a year by switching our truck insurance. We also went a head and insured our house with him too.
If any of you are wondering whether you have sufficient coverage or think you might be paying too much give Corbin a call. It cost us nothing to have him shop around for us and to compare the coverages and in the end it saves us about $400 a year.
Corbin Krell
480-345-9737
PS: Tell him I sent you! (I wont get anything from it but I see him almost on a weekly basis now)
I met a guy named Corbin at one of my meetings for work and he told me what he did. He is an independent insurance agent representing more than ten insurance companies. I had him give Maria a call and she rounded up her insurance info for her truck and she scheduled a meeting for us.
Meeting with Corbin was a pleasant experience, he was very nice and explained things well. We had a copy of our policy and he went through and compared side by side the coverages of our existing policy to one he was proposing. He pointed out some areas where we were under insured (including glass coverage!! I could of sworn we had glass coverage!). His policy had greater or equal coverage in all areas and had a lower deductible and lower premium. In all we are going to save about $400 a year by switching our truck insurance. We also went a head and insured our house with him too.
If any of you are wondering whether you have sufficient coverage or think you might be paying too much give Corbin a call. It cost us nothing to have him shop around for us and to compare the coverages and in the end it saves us about $400 a year.
Corbin Krell
480-345-9737
PS: Tell him I sent you! (I wont get anything from it but I see him almost on a weekly basis now)
Monday, August 11, 2008
The weekend...
Rather than doing several smaller post I am going to just make one large one but will try and break up the topics a bit so if you are not interested in a certain subject you can skip to the next.
1) The new house - Maria and I are really enjoying the new house. It has been so much fun to have people come and look at it and to really get settled in. One person asked how long we had been living in the new house and when I told them less than a week he said "man you guys unpacked quick!"
2) The Olympic Party - We had a lot of fun having so many people over on Friday. Maria says the house makes a great party house. We had about 16 people over and it did not feel nearly as crammed as 4 in the condo! The chili that Kirsten made was amazing and the Opening Ceremony was equally as impressive.
3) Our basement - On top of getting ready to have people over on Friday we had a team from Emergency Restoration come and begin work on our basement. Friday and Saturday they managed to remove all the carpet and large portions of the dry wall. We are mold free but have to now find someone to put the basement back together. At least all this is not coming out of our pockets!
4) Strep Throat - Lara and Todd, because of their work, manage to be carriers for every disease!! Lara managed to pass strep throat on to Maria (is that the thanks we get for taking care of Yerbua for two days!). Maria caught it early enough to avoid going through what Lara did but was pretty miserable all weekend.
5) Hotel Boyle - Having saved three nights for our own use, Hotel Boyle officially opened their doors on Thursday, August 7th with our first ever guests (at the new location) Karen, Kirsten, Josh, and Aubrey. The no vacancy lights were lit all weekend and last night was the first night since opening that we had no guests.
6) Davis Cole - Not too much to report. Maria has a doctors appointment tomorrow. We are waiting for funding to begin the nursery (all donations are appreciated!) but we are at least happy to have a nursery as opposed to a nursery/office/guestroom/storage/laundry room.
7) Pecan Creek 1st Ward - We miss our old ward!! Man is this new one noisy. The entire ward is made up of 30 something couples with their 2-4 kids. I think Maria and I are the only ones without a little screamer. The bishop seems really nice but its still not Elmwood Ward.
8) Work and School - I have decided to go to school at Walden University for several different reasons and one of them being so I can work full time. Walden allows me to work full time and not be overwhelmed with classes because I only take two every six weeks. The last two semesters at ASU were so grueling and exhausting that I don't think I want to do that again. Not to mention I can finish up quicker at Walden!
9) Graduation - Maria is scheduled to graduate at the end of this month. I want to through a little party to celebrate the accomplishment so stay tuned for more info regarding that.
10) Qwest - I hate them!! I can't get our Internet to work. I spent 45 minutes on the phone when the tech told me to give the guy who installed our services a call and told me he would call me right back and guess what... he never did!!
1) The new house - Maria and I are really enjoying the new house. It has been so much fun to have people come and look at it and to really get settled in. One person asked how long we had been living in the new house and when I told them less than a week he said "man you guys unpacked quick!"
2) The Olympic Party - We had a lot of fun having so many people over on Friday. Maria says the house makes a great party house. We had about 16 people over and it did not feel nearly as crammed as 4 in the condo! The chili that Kirsten made was amazing and the Opening Ceremony was equally as impressive.
3) Our basement - On top of getting ready to have people over on Friday we had a team from Emergency Restoration come and begin work on our basement. Friday and Saturday they managed to remove all the carpet and large portions of the dry wall. We are mold free but have to now find someone to put the basement back together. At least all this is not coming out of our pockets!
4) Strep Throat - Lara and Todd, because of their work, manage to be carriers for every disease!! Lara managed to pass strep throat on to Maria (is that the thanks we get for taking care of Yerbua for two days!). Maria caught it early enough to avoid going through what Lara did but was pretty miserable all weekend.
5) Hotel Boyle - Having saved three nights for our own use, Hotel Boyle officially opened their doors on Thursday, August 7th with our first ever guests (at the new location) Karen, Kirsten, Josh, and Aubrey. The no vacancy lights were lit all weekend and last night was the first night since opening that we had no guests.
6) Davis Cole - Not too much to report. Maria has a doctors appointment tomorrow. We are waiting for funding to begin the nursery (all donations are appreciated!) but we are at least happy to have a nursery as opposed to a nursery/office/guestroom/storage/laundry room.
7) Pecan Creek 1st Ward - We miss our old ward!! Man is this new one noisy. The entire ward is made up of 30 something couples with their 2-4 kids. I think Maria and I are the only ones without a little screamer. The bishop seems really nice but its still not Elmwood Ward.
8) Work and School - I have decided to go to school at Walden University for several different reasons and one of them being so I can work full time. Walden allows me to work full time and not be overwhelmed with classes because I only take two every six weeks. The last two semesters at ASU were so grueling and exhausting that I don't think I want to do that again. Not to mention I can finish up quicker at Walden!
9) Graduation - Maria is scheduled to graduate at the end of this month. I want to through a little party to celebrate the accomplishment so stay tuned for more info regarding that.
10) Qwest - I hate them!! I can't get our Internet to work. I spent 45 minutes on the phone when the tech told me to give the guy who installed our services a call and told me he would call me right back and guess what... he never did!!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Olympic Open House Party
Maria and I would like to invite everyone over tomorrow evening for chili-beans over Frito's, the Olympic Opening Ceremony, and to check out the new house!
All who would like to come are invited (except Lara, Aubrey, and Todd who have or have been exposed to strep throat recently). For directions call either Jake or Maria or send an email to jake@jaboyle.com.
All are welcome to come as early as 6:00pm, the opening ceremony will begin at 6:30pm (so I've heard), and dinner will be available through out the evening.
We would enjoy having everyone over so don't be shy, just let us know so we can plan ahead.
See ya'll tomorrow!!
Five year anniversary!
Five years ago today I recieved my mission call to serve a two year Spanish speaking mission in Caracas Venezuela for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remember opening my call and now looking back know that I had no idea what was ahead of me.
The opportunity I had to serve a mission has changed my life in ways that are immeasurable. I had such a great time and learned so much. I would not have traded that opportunity for anything in the whole world.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
First days commute.
So we managed to make our first round trip to work from Queen Creek yesterday. To our surprise it only takes about 40 minutes to get to Maria's work. Car pooling allowed for extra time together and also because I drove it allowed Maria some time to unwind a bit before getting home. When we got home Maria made dinner and we both relaxed for a bit in front of the TV - which yesterday we discovered we have cable at the house!
Lara stopped by with Aubrey on her way home from the grocery store and I was telling her how it surprised me how much more time we actually seem to have in the new house. I think I feel this way for several different reasons. Our condo only had one window in the front of the house and we usually kept the curtains closed because of passers by and so when we got home it was always dark no matter how bright it really was outside. Now we enjoy many windows throughout the entire house. Also in our old bedroom we had the windows blacked out because of the headlights of passing vehicles, now we enjoy the morning light without the annoying headlights at night. The additional sunlight in the house makes it feel less like the day is over by the time we get home.
Also like mentioned a bit earlier the drive home is calming and relaxing with the expanded roads and freeways. When we get home we have more energy for doing things we want or need to do. It was also fun to run into John at the store and have Lara and Aubrey swing by, and leave before 11pm!! :) Kelly also came by last night and dropped off the best sugar free birthday cake I have ever had, thanks a million!
I know it is only day two but I think this move was the right thing for us.
Lara stopped by with Aubrey on her way home from the grocery store and I was telling her how it surprised me how much more time we actually seem to have in the new house. I think I feel this way for several different reasons. Our condo only had one window in the front of the house and we usually kept the curtains closed because of passers by and so when we got home it was always dark no matter how bright it really was outside. Now we enjoy many windows throughout the entire house. Also in our old bedroom we had the windows blacked out because of the headlights of passing vehicles, now we enjoy the morning light without the annoying headlights at night. The additional sunlight in the house makes it feel less like the day is over by the time we get home.
Also like mentioned a bit earlier the drive home is calming and relaxing with the expanded roads and freeways. When we get home we have more energy for doing things we want or need to do. It was also fun to run into John at the store and have Lara and Aubrey swing by, and leave before 11pm!! :) Kelly also came by last night and dropped off the best sugar free birthday cake I have ever had, thanks a million!
I know it is only day two but I think this move was the right thing for us.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Life "in" the new house!
We got the go ahead to move in on Friday night. We sent out a mass contradictory text message asking all those who would like to help us move to meet us late and early on Saturday. We had several people come and go throughout the entire day on Saturday and appreciate everyones help (it was even Lara and Todd's anniversary!).
Although we were allowed to move in we were told not to stay there until it finalized. Our escrow officer was unable to get documents to the recorders office early enough on Friday to record, so we've been staying at Jennifer's house.
We also learned Friday that it looks like the insurance is not only going to replace to carpet in the basement but also through out the entire house! Because the basement carpet is the same color and connected to the stairs and through all the bedrooms they consider it all one piece of carpet. The contractors should be there later today to begin riping out the carpet. We are looking at replacing the carpet with hard wood! We are very excited about that.
Although we were allowed to move in we were told not to stay there until it finalized. Our escrow officer was unable to get documents to the recorders office early enough on Friday to record, so we've been staying at Jennifer's house.
We also learned Friday that it looks like the insurance is not only going to replace to carpet in the basement but also through out the entire house! Because the basement carpet is the same color and connected to the stairs and through all the bedrooms they consider it all one piece of carpet. The contractors should be there later today to begin riping out the carpet. We are looking at replacing the carpet with hard wood! We are very excited about that.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Finally!
I just got off the phone with Shannon, our realtor. She said that Diane, our escrow officer, is in with the sellers signing as we speak. Once finished she has a runner sitting by (her daughter) who is going to take everything to the Pinal County Recorders Office. Once that is done we will be able to begin moving in!!
Tonight Maria and I are going to go out to the house and are going to begin carpet cleaning. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, we are going to begin cleaning and moving in. We have so many people who have offered to help and we appreciate that so much. (Maria said that everyone's generosity almost made her cry at work today)
Those who are in town and willing to help, if you could meet us at our condo any time between 5am and 6am, we will load everything that's left her in the house into the trucks. Those who are in Queen Creek and willing to help if you could bring any cleaning supplies you have (cleaner, rags, vacuum, etc) and meet us at the house anytime after about 7:30 we think we could whip this out in no time.
Again thank you to everyone who has offered to help. Thank you also to those who have already helped along the way. We are so excited and cant wait to have you all out for dinner sometime real soon!!
Tonight Maria and I are going to go out to the house and are going to begin carpet cleaning. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, we are going to begin cleaning and moving in. We have so many people who have offered to help and we appreciate that so much. (Maria said that everyone's generosity almost made her cry at work today)
Those who are in town and willing to help, if you could meet us at our condo any time between 5am and 6am, we will load everything that's left her in the house into the trucks. Those who are in Queen Creek and willing to help if you could bring any cleaning supplies you have (cleaner, rags, vacuum, etc) and meet us at the house anytime after about 7:30 we think we could whip this out in no time.
Again thank you to everyone who has offered to help. Thank you also to those who have already helped along the way. We are so excited and cant wait to have you all out for dinner sometime real soon!!
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