Category: Uncategorized

Today Jessica and I are enjoying a much needed day off together after an incredibly long day yesterday. I worked a normal day at Amazon, then went to Gaucho to bartend at 4:00. Jessica had been there since 2:00 getting things setup, and we proceeded to have a long, busy night. It was a lot of fun though and I’m glad I did it. I definitely plan on filling in there whenever I can. It’s a nice change of pace from the office environment and I always enjoy seeing my old friends from the restaurant industry. Plus we’re saving to buy a house so any extra work will benefit the cause.

Our darling baby Ava got to spend the night with Auntie Dana, Uncle Brad, and her cousins Kallan and Anna. This was only the second time she has spent the night away from us, so we were very happy to get her back this morning. After Dana and Brad dropped Ava off the three of us went to IHOP for breakfast, then got home in time for our friend Laurel to come over for a visit. Looks like the rest of the day will be spent taking the dogs for a walk and watching football/movies. I’m going back to work tomorrow morning but it will be a short week from here on out.

2012 was a great year for us that was full of unexpected change and pleasant surprises. We’re so happy to be back home in Seattle, near lots of family and friends, and excited about all of the good things to come in 2013. Obviously bringing a new addition to our family will be the best part of this year. We’re so fortunate in every way. Happy 2013 to all of our loved ones, both near and far. It’s going to be a great year.

Although I finished up with my latest classes last weekend, I received my final grades today. I was happy to find out that I got an A in each class, which means I received a B+ or better in every class of the year. It hasn’t been easy balancing school with family and work, and it’s only going to get tougher as I move on, but I’m very happy I made the decision to go back and finish my degree. I’m especially excited about moving into 2013 simply because I’ll be able to tell myself that I’ll be done with school ‘next year’. I’m a year and a half from graduation, which still feels like a ways away, but we’ve got so much to look forward to in the meantime that I’m sure it will go by quickly.

Jessica is doing much better now in her second pregnancy than she was a few weeks ago. I’m sure the move and job change made it especially tough on her but we’re getting more and more settled in everyday and she’s doing well. She is almost done training at El Gaucho so that will be nice to have completed. I finally received the assets I needed to get started on my project at Amazon and have been working on it a ton, including weekends, in order to make a good impression on my manager and co–workers.

I’m going to be guest bartending at El Gaucho on New Years Eve, meaning Ava will be staying the night at Dana and Brad’s place, and Jessica and I will be able to spend New Years together, which will be fun even though we’ll be working. I’m looking forward to seeing lots of old friends, even though it’s going to be an incredibly long day for me. I’m basically going to work from 7:00am until 3:30pm at Amazon, then 4:00pm until 2:00am at Gaucho, but luckily I have the next day to do nothing but chill out at home. All else is going well and we’re happy to be back home in Seattle.

Today we celebrate our first Christmas back in Seattle, as well as Ava turning 13 months old. Jessica and I were just talking last night about how this is our sixth Christmas together but only our second in Seattle. The first one was spent in Colorado, then we went to Iowa for our second, and our fourth and fifth were down in San Diego. We’ve definitely been getting around over the years. I went into the office yesterday and was the only one there, but was able to get a lot of work done so I was happy about that. Then last night the three of us went over to Dana and Brad’s house to hang out and open presents. We got Anna a Kindle and loaded it up with books for her, and for Kallan we told him that Jessica and I will be taking him to see Soundgarden in February. They both seemed very happy.

This morning we slept in, then I surprised Jessica with breakfast in bed before opening presents. We’ve made a few video calls to family and now plan on spending the rest of the day watching movies and having a nice meal. I truly couldn’t ask for a better Christmas than to stay home all day with my girls. Here are a few pictures from last night and this morning. Merry Christmas!

Ava has been wall–walking and walking while holding someone’s hand for a while now, but last night she broke through and started walking on her own! Obviously this was very exciting. We’ve known she could do it for some time but she didn’t realize it. All she needed was a little confidence in herself. Everyone keeps telling us that once they get started there is no stopping them so I’m assuming she’ll be walking everyday from here on out. Unfortunately Jessica was at work last night when Ava got on a roll but she has the next four days off, which is convenient considering tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I’m sure she’ll get more than a fair dose of seeing Ava walk around. I’m usually the one that’s gone when Ava does something for the first time so I was really proud and excited to be there for this. Luckily I had my phone handy and was able to take a couple short videos of her as she got started. It’s stuff like this that makes me so happy to have this website. I love the fact that Ava will be able to look back at any time in her life and be able to see her first steps. Enjoy!

Today our beloved niece Anna turns 12. We spent the evening with her, Kallan, Dana and Brad yesterday having dinner, eating cake, and watching her open presents. She’s such a good kid and seemed to have a great time. Before we got to their house the three of us decided to brave the crowds at Bellevue Square mall so Ava could get her first picture with Santa Clause. Obviously the mall was a madhouse but we had a good time and were luckily able to get one picture of Ava before she started crying. I didn’t blame her one bit for crying in the arms of a strange bearded man in a red suit, but we’re glad we did it.

We finally made time to look through the photos Lisa took on Ava’s first birthday and wanted to post them just in time for the holidays. All else is going well now that we’ve gotten settled in at our new home. I’m learning new things everyday at Amazon and Jessica is getting up to speed at El Gaucho. We’re looking forward to catching up with family as soon as possible for the holidays. Enjoy the new pics.

A week ago tonight we arrived in Seattle after two extremely long days of driving. We left San Diego on the morning of Thursday the 29th and drove 14 hours before arriving in Medford Oregon that night. Going through the Sisques mountains in Southern Oregon that night was a nightmare. The rain was coming down as hard as I’ve ever seen in my life and it was pitch black. We ended up driving 840 miles that day and it was rough, to say the least. The next day was ‘only’ about 9 hours of driving, including some terrible traffic in Tacoma, before finally arriving at Dana and Brad’s house around 7:30pm. Once again, we couldn’t have done it without Amy’s help, and I want to wish her a very happy birthday today. She’s always there for us when we need her and was a total rockstar throughout the entire moving process.

Saturday morning we got the keys to our new house and finally got to check it out. We’re happy with the place considering we moved into it without actually seeing it in person. Our only complaint is that the master bedroom is pretty small but it will be fine for the next year or two until we’re ready to buy a place. Monday morning I started my job at Amazon and I’ve been hard at work all week trying to get up to speed on all of their systems and terminology. I’m going to need to learn a new programming language called ‘Ruby on Rails’ for my job so I’ve been studying hard every night. There is no question that getting up to speed at Amazon is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do professionally but I know I can do it. It’s going to take so much hard work but I’m more than willing to put in the time and effort. I really like the company, my teammates, and the environment. I just need to focus on finishing out my contract and getting hired as a full–time employee and we’ll be golden.

Today our POD finally arrived and we’re so excited to start unpacking our stuff tomorrow. Dana, Brad, Kallan and Anna are coming over to help us unload after I deal with getting new license plates for the Honda in the morning. I decided to get a head start tonight but ran into a problem with the latch that unlocks the door. I had trouble with it when we were getting the POD loaded up but now it’s completely stuck and will not open. I spent over an hour trying everything I could think of but so far nothing has worked. I wanted to try using some WD–40 and a hammer, which I own, but of course they are both inside the POD so we’re either going to have to borrow them or purchase new ones. No guarantees this will work but I’ve got to figure something out. It’s like torture to have all our stuff sitting in the driveway but not be able to get in.

Jessica started training right away at El Gaucho this week and will be working private holiday parties starting next week. This is their busiest month of the year so it was a good time for her to get started. Lots of my old friends are still working there so it’s cool that they are going to get to know her now as well. We’re definitely happy to be back home in Seattle and can’t wait to get fully adjusted, which basically just means getting our stuff unloaded and the house organized. We’ve been living out of bags and sleeping on an air bed for too long and are dying to get back to normal. I received the pictures from Ava’s birthday photo shoot with Lisa but haven’t been able to go through them yet due to studies for work and school. I’m sure we’ll have some great new pics up soon. It’s good to be back!

Today our beautiful baby girl turns one year old! It’s so hard to believe that she’s already been with us a year, especially since it seems like just yesterday that I was holding her in the hospital. This has easily been the best year of my life and it looks like things are only getting better. We are hard at work this week preparing to move back to Seattle but will be taking time out to do a photo shoot with Ava. My friend Lisa from work is coming over this afternoon to take pictures of her and she’s going to get another chance to dive into a cake and get messy. We’re also thinking about doing something with balloons, maybe even pink and blue balloons since we don’t know if Ava is going to have a little brother or little sister.

Tomorrow our moving Pod will arrive and we will spend the day filling it with all our stuff. Hopefully everything will fit… I’m working my final two days at ScrollMotion on Tuesday and Wednesday, then we hit the road on Thursday morning. The goal is to make it to Redding, CA on Thursday, which is the half–way point, then drive from Redding to Seattle on Friday. We’re staying Friday night with Dana and her family, then taking Amy to the airport early Saturday morning. We get the keys to our new house on Saturday but our Pod doesn’t arrive until the following Friday, which means we will be living with practically nothing for a week. It’s going to be tough but there is no question that it’s all worth it.

My mom flew back to Vegas yesterday and it was tough for her to leave. She is sad because we won’t be able to hop in the car and drive over for a visit anymore but we’re committed to flying her out to visit us more often, plus we’ll still be going to Vegas a couple times a year. Being further from her is the toughest part of this move but she agrees that we’re doing the right thing. I still can’t believe I’m starting at Amazon.com a week from tomorrow. I have been studying constantly to make sure my skills are sharp when I get there. Next time I write we’ll be in the Northwest!

Happy first birthday baby girl. We love you so very much!!!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, which was already one of my favorite holidays, but it’s so much more special now that we get to celebrate Ava’s birthday as well. This was an extra special birthday because it was her first one, and we had a house full of people to enjoy it with. There were ten adults (my Mom, Amy, Tom, Trevor, Emily, Derek, Laruen, John, Jessica, and myself) plus three babies (Malena, Cole, and Ava), and everyone had a great time.

We were waiting for this long weekend to break some very exciting news to our Mom’s in person, which is that Jessica is pregnant with our second child! We couldn’t help ourselves and ended up telling several other family members already, but were so excited to wait and see the expressions on our Mom’s faces when they got the news. Jessica is now six weeks along and has a due date of July 15. Obviously we’re thrilled about adding to our family and have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

My mom and I did the cooking for Thanksgiving and everything turned out delicious, then we got to enjoy Ava opening presents and getting messy with her first birthday cake. There is a 5 minute video of this below. Yesterday was definitely a day of enjoyment but today, and every other day leading up to the move back to Seattle next week, are days of work. We got a lot of work done today boxing things up but there is still so much to do. Luckily we will have the help of my Mom, Amy and Tom tomorrow, plus we have Amy staying to make the drive up to Seattle with us, which will be a huge help with Ava.

We’ll be arriving in Seattle a week from today and obviously there is so much to do between now and then but I have no doubt it will all go as planned. We also recently got the news that we were approved to rent the house that we were most interested in. It’s in northeast Bellevue right on the border between Bellevue and Redmond. Luckily for me the jiu–jitsu school I was most interested in is only 1.5 miles from our home and we have easy access to the freeway when commuting to the city for work. Having a house situated is a huge relief. Here’s the video of Ava with her first birthday cake.

Today is a day Jessica and I will never forget because this is the day that I was offered a job at Amazon.com. I was contacted yesterday by the recruiter I’ve been dealing with and offered a phone interview today for a position as a front end web developer at Amazon. I didn’t know if I was ready, or qualified, but I studied all night last night and came into it today feeling cautiously optimistic. The interview was only about 30 minutes and consisted mainly of technical questions about web development. By the time it was over I felt like it went pretty well. I only stumbled on a couple questions and felt like I had a good rapport with the interviewer. Less than an hour after the interview I was contacted by my recruiter asking me to call him because he had news about my interview. To make a long story short, he told me that the manager liked me and felt that I would be a good fit for the job!

I’m initially being hired as a contractor, but the Amazon manager specifically said he intends to make me into a full–time employee before my 3 month contract expires. This is a common scenario for tech companies, and it’s exactly how I got my start at ScrollMotion. Rather than go through an extended interview process, it’s easier for the company to give the candidate a chance as a contractor. This allows them to work with the person for an extended amount of time without any long–term committments. If I don’t do a good job they can simply let my contract expire, but if I show dedication and the ability to learn, I will be brought on. At ScrollMotion I was not only offered a full–time position when my contract expired, I was also offered a raise and a senior title. My only concern was getting the chance to come in as a contractor because I know I will get the full–time position once they get to know me and see what kind of dedication I have to my work.

Obviously all of our family members have been extremely excited for us about this opportunity. The look on Jessica’s face when I saw her tonight was priceless. This is a life–changing experience for us and I can’t believe it’s all happening. It’s also going to be a crazy next few weeks. We are now tasked with hosting Thanksgiving next week, then moving to Seattle the following week. This means lots of planning and hard work, but it’s all well worth it. I think we will look back on this day for years to come as the day our lives changed forever. In my industry, it doesn’t get any bigger than working for Amazon.com and I can only equate it to getting called up from the minors to the big leagues. We have a ton of work to do over the next couple weeks but can’t wait to get back home to Seattle and visit with our loved ones. Many updates coming soon!

Last night I did a guest bartending shift at the Tractor Room, which was the last restaurant/bar I worked at before switching to full–time development work. I just looked back at our old website posts and saw that my last shift at the Tractor Room was on Nov. 9, 2011, which makes it exactly one year and one day later that I did my guest shift. I knew it would be a good time but it went even better than I expected. It was so great seeing everyone and getting caught up. I was a little nervous on my way in because I hadn’t made any of their drinks in a year and most of them are pretty labor intensive, but it couldn’t have gone any better. Everyone there was really happy to see me and I was having a blast all night. They told me that they would love to have me back again anytime so hopefully I’ll do it again soon.

There’s been a lot going on with us lately. We’re only two weeks away from Ava’s first birthday and we’re having a bunch of family out to celebrate it over the Thanksgiving holiday. There also might be a job change in my near future, as well as a possible move back home to Seattle. I was recently contacted by a recruiter from Amazon.com about a web development position that they’re hiring for. It was encouraging that they found me, and a bit surprising. Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world and working for them would be a dream. It simply doesn’t get much better as a web developer than working for Amazon so I’m very hopeful that it works out. I’m doing a phone interview with them this Wednesday and if it goes well they will invite me to Seattle for an in–person interview. The phone interview is highly technical so I’ve been spending a lot of time preparing. I’ve also been getting lots of advice from Tom and my Uncle Jim about interviewing.

If I do get this position it means that we will be moving back to Seattle. Jessica and I have talked a lot about it and we really like the idea of going back home in order to be closer to family and friends. It can be tough living in San Diego with no family in the area and we want Ava to grow up knowing her Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. We also have several friends in Seattle with children that are about Ava’s age so it would be great for her to interact with them. I’ve already decided that if this Amazon opportunity doesn’t pan out I’m going to continue looking for other positions in Seattle. Obviously it could be a lot worse than living in San Diego but I’m confident that something in Seattle will come up sooner than later.

Here’s a couple recent pics of our beautiful baby girl. I can’t believe she’s almost a year old!