My wife and I (also our new baby girl) just moved into a new place a couple of weeks ago. I had forgotten how big of a job moving really was. When we turn the keys over to a new client I often forget how difficult it is to get all of our accumulated stuff into that brand new home. Moving furniture, hanging pictures, shifting billing addresses, appointments with cable companies, all of that stuff adds up. We are just about finished with all of that. My wife and I are still relatively young and this is our first place where we are getting to have “real” furniture. We had a hodgepodge of things from our old house that was just things we had collected over the years. We purchased some new things through Echelon Interiors (of course) and I have to say that it is so nice to come home to a place that feels like a home. Now I understand that it is just “stuff” but I am grateful for it. Thanks to Joni and Renee for your help with it!
November 9, 2009 – 10:50 am
One of my great passions in life (behind my family) is traveling and surfing. I discovered at 17 years old that you can visit beautiful locations for a fraction of what you spend to stay at “resorts”. Here are my travels up to this point:
- Puerto Rico
- California (three times)
- Costa Rica
- Mexico
- Nicaragua (two times)
- Fiji
I have loved every place that I have visited, however the one place that I truely enjoy is Nicaragua. I have been there twice and plan to go back many times in the future. When I travel I look for many things. I usually want waves, to get away from cell phones, e-mail, TV and any type of schedule. I try not to go to any area that is too much of a tourist destination. I would prefer to just visit a place that has very few people in general. I also try to travel on a tight budget most of my trips usually cost less than 1000 dollars for a week to ten days including airfare, lodging and food.
Nicaragua provides all of those things for me. When I arrive there the place I stay is about a 3 – 4 hour ride from the Managua airport. There is usually a local guy waiting to pick me up and drive me there (this is cheaper than renting a car) since when I arrive I can walk to anything that I need. I also travel with a small group of friends to share the memories (and cost). The first hour of travel is bumpy paved roads and the occasional police checkpoint. After that you will be on dirt roads headed towards the coast for the next 2 – 3 hours. There is lots of bumps and potholes along the way but the journey makes the destination all the more enjoyable. We stay in a small compound and rent a house for the next week. Three meals a day are available if you want for about 3 dollars per person and the beach is a 5 minute walk from our front door. You can access the Internet if you want but I usually choose not to since my goal is to escape. I won’t get into it too much here but I must also say that the waves are phenomenal.
I look forward to my next trip there sometime soon.
My wife was there last time I went and shot a ton of pictures so here is a link to them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilliemichet/sets/72157606765484402/
October 14, 2009 – 9:08 am
Willow Grace Tice
Well, My last post was about fatherhood advice. I now have my beautiful baby girl and there is nothing like the real thing to be the ultimate teacher.
I have learned a ton in the last month and will learn exponentially more in the coming years about her. One thing that I have heard over and over from “experienced” parents is, “Appreciate her right now, because soon she will be out of this phase of life and you will miss what you had”. I am doing my best to heed that advice. As much as I cannot wait to see her walk and hear her first words right now I love watching her sleep and listening to the little sounds that she can make.
So to all the parents that have told me to appreciate what I have right now. Thank you.
September 4, 2009 – 2:30 pm
Well, My wife (Gillie Tice) and I are expecting our first child any day now. We will be having a girl named Willow Grace Tice. When you find out that you are going to be a parent you go through every emotion possible:
1. Excitement
2. Fear (this starts about 3 seconds after the excitement)
3. Love
There are lots of other emotions too that are just variations of the three above. I can only imagine what else I’ll feel after Willow arrives ( I hear they are the same just even stronger) but one thing is for sure… I will be learning and experiencing something new every day for a very long time.
So, is there any advice that any fathers out there have for me? If you have any tips feel free to send them my way. I’m sure I will need them.
Email
Echelon:
Tim Green:
Christina Wagamon:
Tim Tice: