What's been going on since December?

It's been a little while since we have written. We've been pretty boring lately though so it's no big deal I guess. Chris has been working about 50 hours a week. Stashia has been holding down the fort, cutting hair and being social with Tryson. Tryson has been developing into a happy, active little boy as usual. Speaking of the little guy there have been a couple cute stories, my favorite is:

Stashia (coming home after a busy day): We are going to see someone you love.
Tryson: Uhhh...Pablo?
Stashia: No...who else do you love?
Tryson: Uhhh...Daddy?
Stashia: Yes Daddy!

I know I'm loved but I can't entertain him with new adventures everyday the way his favorite cartoon character can.

My other favorite story ended today...so, I've been without my license for some time now, I looked all over, I am usually pretty good about the stuff that belongs in my wallet. Well, I'm going snowboarding for the first time with some Boeing people tomorrow (yay). I got some gear and I put on my big bulky coat for the first time since I was back home. Well, Stashia says, "Hey, maybe your ID is in your coat" and right in the middle of her sentence I say, "Oh my god..." and it was in there. I last used it in the rush to show my ID at the airport!! So in that coat I found: my ID, a can of pepsi unopened (complimentary drink we never used), $5, a ticket stub for "Yes Man" and a bobby pin. Wow...that's all I can say about that. I'm very happy about it though, I could have a beer when I went out on Friday because I didn't have my ID and guess what? The waitress must have been about 20 herself...really? She couldn't just take my word that I was a year older than her? Ha.

So, other than that, I've been sick a couple times, Stashia was sick for a bit and Tryson has been sick. I'm currently fighting some chest congestion, I believe because of lack of sleep. I could complain about working a lot but I won't because plenty of people are losing their jobs out there and would love to work 50+ hours a week (and I like my job)... and I could sleep but I also choose to stay up with Tryson and Stashia as long as possible. Also, for anyone who was wondering about the news clips from Boeing and the 10,000 layoffs, I should be ok. 10k is about 7% of the workforce...I can't give details but I am about 95% sure I don't fall in that 7% of what the are looking to cut, from what they have said in the news. If you see them talking about laying off another 15k or so, you might want to call and make sure we are ok :-)

Well, that's it, pretty boring right now. Christa is coming to visit in March and Tryson will be doing swim lessons soon, so that should provide a few stories.

-Chris

"Pentathlon" (Triath + life)

Hi everyone, so I finished my triathlon today, here are some pictures:

This was coming out of the water after the 400m swim in September water (I am the one in the middle), my thoughts at this point were, "Wow...now I have to bike...it's going to be a long morning."

This is coming back from the 13 mile bike that was pretty tough hills...the 2 mile run was the last segment and that was the best part for me, I'm used to running. When I train for next year, I need to focus on getting my bike ready and my self ready for biking. It was a lot of fun though and I accomplished a few of my goals:
1. Finish
2. Not be last (I was in the middle of 200 people)
3. Not be last in my age group (Male 39 and under)
4. Don't stop swimming (hehe, that reminds me of Finding Nemo) once the time starts, biking once I get on my bike, running once I start running (sounds simple enough but so easy to want to just take a small break).
Other than my goals, I didn't do too well but you know what, it was my first triathlon and I'm only 26, the average age is 35 and it is a lot of biking so I just need to get that section down and I can be more competitive next time.

Anyways, that was the morning...the other 2 events in the pentathlon today were cleaning the car out of and vacuuming it for the first time in a year. Then helping Stashia pack up some of our stuff for out move while wrangling a sick Tryson. Yes, he is seemingly sick, poor little guy and we will both probably be coming down with it soon. I was very glad that I didn't get sick before today. Cold water is colder when you have a fever....brrrrrr. So yeah...it's nuts over here and tomorrow I am going to go to work because I couldn't yesterday. They made me a lead at work so I have responsibilities that go outside of the regular work hours most times and unfortunately I may have to work a Sunday every once in a while, as long as we can make it to a church service I won't complain. So after that Stashia and I are going to try to pick up a cheap vanity we found on craigslist for $30!!! Then we have more packing, call the new landlord to setup a time to pickup our keys on monday!!!....soooo exciting...it won't be exciting when we start moving boxes though, we just helped someone else move....hmmmmpf... Oh well, when we are in we will be happy. Take care, leave us some messages!!!

Monthly Update, HAPPY EASTER!

So, in the last month we've had a visit from our friend Laura. She was a lot of fun and I think she had a great vacation over here even though it was kinda cloudy and she didn't get to see some of the amazing views of the mountains or anything like that. We did manage to get a great view up in the space needle and the Seattle underground tour where we found an original Crapper: (THIS PICTURE IS SOOO AUTHENTIC, SEE THE 19th CENTURY ELECTRICAL WORK WITH THE PLASTIC OUTLET?...HAHAHA)
Laura and Stashia have some pictures posted on Facebook I think, so I'm not going to put more up here. I will however post some pictures of Tryson being the happiest boy in the world. He has a natural ability to chase ducks while yelling "Daaaa-keeee!" (The ducks did not share his enthusiasm):


So, what else is going on? Well I'm busy with work and with my class. My class is amazing, the Dale Carnegie class (in short) gives you some great practice in principles of building relationships, being a leader, reducing stress and overall improving yourself by living a more intentional life. I wish I had taken this class when I was a teenager. I think the class would be a great high school graduation gift (even though the average age for my class is probably 35, my instructor took the class when he was 8 years old). Oh and I am on the table of contents page of the Boeing Annual report, it's really cool. They took a picture of me while everyone else was paying attention to what I was saying. It looks like I'm talking about some complex engineering concept but I'm actually talking about how much I love playing with Tryson now that he can walk, anyways, you can see it here (page right after the cover:
Me in Annual Report!!
So, that's all that's up in my little area.

Stashia is enjoying Mom-ing it up. During a typical week she goes to a few play dates so she and Tryson can do some healthy socializing. She also is keeping up with MOPS, infact she won a $100 gift cert. to a really nice spa, which she used when Laura came out. Stashia is also building up some clientele out here for hair, which I am really happy about. Not only does it provide a couple extra bucks here and there but she has found these people through cafemom.com, so they are all moms with children who can play with Tryson while she does their hair or they are older moms and love to see a younger bright eyed child again. Yay, all salons should have a Tryson to entertain....something about child labor laws, does it count if he volunteers?

Speaking of Tryson, we are on to the light of our lives. Tryson says some 2 word phrases now and some of them actually make sense like "momma go", "my ball" and I swear this morning he said "good toy, my ball" but it could have just been a coincidence. He also went up to a 19 month old's face and said "HI COOKIE!!". His love of music grows and when we are at a place like Best Buy, he runs to a stereo and dances until we have to pull him away. I see some music or dancing lessons in his future. Well, I guess I will end with that for now. Have a Happy Easter everyone, thank you for reading. We miss you so much on holidays!

Catching up on sleep, a park, more responsibility

So, this weekend has been great. Usually I go to work early on Saturdays. This is the second weekend in a row I have decided not to, and I think I needed it. One day off isn't enough to really relax, collect your thoughts and do things you have been waiting to do. So I took the weekend off, slept late both days and we went to this amazing park on Saturday. When it gets warmer there are pony rides and a petting zoo, a water park and a big playground with everything you would want for any age. Anyways, it was a beautiful sunny 55 degree day (sorry Michigan people, I must admit I never liked the cold, just the snow) and we spent the day out and about. Here are some pictures of the mountains on the way to the park:
*CLICK PICTURES TO SEE FULL SIZE*

In other news, I wouldn't say I got a promotion, I guess the best way to say it is that I have a higher level of job security. I am a focal (Boeing term for "the person who is responsible for a specific area of the company") it is for a process that I am really passionate about and I guess it is natural that they saw the passion (sorry, I have to speak in general terms as to not release any proprietary info). Anyways, it gives me some real accountability which is exciting. Gotta keep proving myself, maybe someday we can buy a house out here ;-) Oh yeah, by the way, come visit us. Plane tickets are reasonable right now. Come out and see the city. We will take you up to the space needle and do some wine tasting and you can watch Tryson be cute:

Ranch Pizza Sick Carnegie Monkey

I wish you were all here, we are entertaining. Much more entertaining than any blog. For example, Stashia asked me 5 minutes ago, "Do you want Ranch dressing with your pizza?" I replied with, "Ranch, yeah Ranch!" Then a couple seconds ago, she asked me, "Do you want Ranch?" I said, that I had just told her yes ad her reply is that she thought I wasn't serious...ahhh, fun. And the Tryson, he's a reality show all on his own. He gets in a lot more trouble as Stashia noted today. She dressed him today and he ruined it by getting into the fireplace, so she stripped him, through him in the bath and when he got out, that was it for clothes for a couple hours. He now cries when either of us go to the bathroom without him, or leave the room for that matter. He is getting really good with the "hi" and "buh bye". He can say both very clearly and at correct times, although sometimes not at the appropriate times. Sometimes when I see him after work when Stash has picked me up he says "buh bye" and I say, "no no, you want daddy to go away?" and he smiles. Two days ago, I think I scared him when I opened the door after a long day of work and he said a very enthusiastic, "HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" Really cute. Let's see, what else about Tryson, he likes being tickled under his armpits and sides and laughs a ton and he likes to take off his socks and put them in his mouth. That's Tryson.

Me, I'm sick at the moment, or actually in the process of feeling better, work was so long today. I got home and Stashia was so nice, she took Tryson grocery shopping with her and let me take a 5 hour "nap" which really helped. I woke up and my throat wasn't scratchy, my head stopped hurting and the initial sick "ick" was gone for the moment, so hopefully by the morning after I take my second nap in just a few minutes, I will feel up to a 9 hour day tomorrow followed by cleaning and organizing until about 9 or so and then getting ready to pick up Stash's mom at the airport at 11pm getting settled back here around 2 or so and then getting up in the morning to set up for Tryson's birthday party...so yeah, I'm kinda not allowed to be sick past today. I also can't afford to take time off of work right now. Pray for me, please.

Other than being sick, as Stashia said, I am registered for a Dale Carnegie class, as wikipedia says, "Dale Breckenridge Carnegie (originally Carnegey) (November 24, 1888–November 1, 1955) was an American writer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills." So, the nature of the class I will be taking in the winter will be encompassing a good portion of all of those. I am really busy at Boeing, pretty challenged at the moment. I am working on a project that no one in my group has had to deal with on their own or without training before, so I guess someone either has faith in me or hates me. I hope it is the former of the two. I am continuing to learn and be able to take on more and more work. I am about done with my mandatory training courses and can't wait to become more useful. I'm planning on everything coming together right before Christmas. So, hopefully by the time we come home, we will all feel very settled. What that means for me is a happy work, social and family life out here. We have a month and a half, ready...set...GET SETTLED!!!! (Somehow, that doesn't make sense...like speed fishing or something.....)

*In British John Cleese (Month Python) voice*
And now....for something completely different...a baby monkey clapping:

Chris' First Day of Work

So today was a pretty good day. The only thing that would have made it better was waking up in an apartment eating breakfast, grabbing a lunch from the fridge and going to work. Other than that it was an amazing day, since I can't do those things yet. I started off the day leaving for work real early, getting lost (which is expected, come on it has the largest useable space of any building in the world) and then finding my way to where I thought I was supposed to be, which (because of the company being so busy) they had wrong. I had two tours by two different departments though and I am pretty secure now with the area for being my first day. So finally after lunch, I was able to get down to some business. I don't have my own desk yet or computer because it is so busy, but I think they are ordering me a laptop and I have a semipermanent place for at least a couple days. I would have been able to enjoy looking out at 777's from the cafeteria if my blood sugar wasn't so low. But I still really did enjoy it. It was somewhat erie. I will try to better prepare myself for tomorrow. The best parts of the day were getting to know some great people, realizing that the dress code is anywhere from dress casual to jeans and a t-shirt, learning learning and more learning, having the once a year test evacuation of the building occur on my first day and of course have the chef in the cafeteria mock me in front of about 20 people in the cafeteria for obviously being new...wow..(not so much on that last one) but horray, I think I'll be happy where I am. Oooo...and there is apparently "work out the wazoo" as one person put it, so I might get some overtime in...which is both good and bad, but if temporary, they good would outweigh the bad I do believe. So much more to say, but seriously at this point no one wants to read more about my day other than my Memouse, so I'll just call her tomorrow and spare the rest of you. Thanks for listening, we love you!

-Chris is typing, Stashia is down the hall coloring and doing crossword puzzles, Tryson is either dreaming about his "truck truck" that is still in transit or the many ceiling fans he has seen in stores the last week (imagine Tryson with his head tilted back at a 90 degree angle and a toothless smile yelling "AHHHH....AHHH" that has been my biggest joy the last week.

One factoid about Seattle/Washington: not much air conditioning especially in apartments. It just doesn't get much above 80 ever, so you see ceiling fans everywhere.

Family, Departure and Arrival

We're in Seattle! Well Everett actually. It took a lot to get here and we are happy to get a little settled at least.

Stashia, Tryson and I want to thank everyone for everything they did to help us keep our sanity. There was so much work to have done over the last couple weeks that we would have never made it if we had done it alone. So THANK YOU to our close friends and to our families for doing so much for us at the drop of a hat, we really do appreciate it.

To continue on with the story version of things, flying was not stress free. Three large carry-ons, a backpack and a car seat are enough to carry for 3 or 4 people, but somehow Stash and I managed to carry all that plus passing around Tryson from time to time. Both flights were delayed due to mechanical issues, but we arrived only 30 minutes late. Got back to the hotel around 10pm Seattle time (1am on our body clocks) and crashed around 11:30.

This morning I woke up and was stuck in I-5 traffic making my commute twice as long. There was much relief after I arrived at Boeing though. Very relaxed atmosphere, a very beautiful corporate office, just happiness. I'm excited for orientation on Friday.

For now, Stashia, Tryson and I are going to go out and explore/shop Everett today. We may venture into Seattle in the next couple days, but as always...there is still a ton to do.