ALOHA!!!!!

So it's 7am here in Hawaii, which makes it 1pm on the East Coast. These past 2 days I have visited Waikiki, Honalulu and yesterday I went to a few overlooks while driving across O'AHU heading to the Polynesian Cultural Center (which was great). This morning we head off for Kauai (the island where some of Jurrasic Park was filmed) and taking a helicopter tour. Really looking forward to getting a lot of sweet pictures. This is also the location which we will be doing some hiking. No major beach time yet, but that will change over these next few days. After all I have a frisbee and it needs to be put to good use :)

Click HERE for pictures.

SO I just

filled in a whole post and it disappeared. Frustrating. I wrote all about the weekend, that I can post anywhere at anytime and am crazy for doing so and wanted to post some pictures. The weekend was good. Floyd on Friday night with Erin's parents, some of their friends and my Dad. Saturday Virginia Tech Womped Georgia Tech 51-7, moving them to #3 in the nation. The crowd energy was impressive, can't wait till Miami comes in November!
Sunday was the Upper Gauley White Water Rafting trip in West Virginia. Not only was the ride a lot of fun, but it was great to have such a good group of friends along!

2 week vacation!

Here I come!

Be looking for updates, pictures from VT football, White Water Rafting & Hawaii. I'm sure I'll have some good stories along the way as well. Have lots to say, but it's time to enjoy Friday night!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Southern Candymakers :(

http://www.southerncandymakers.com/StoreFront.bok

The Weekend - VT's home opener, Volleyball & my knee

So this weekend was looooong. Friday night I went to Floyd with 10 other friends and will have to post some pictures. A few of them were first timers and everyone had a great time. The 'Jugbusters' even played which ended the night just right. The car trip home turned into 5 guys eating potato sticks, hot fries and drinking Blue Razz. We downed everything pretty quickly and it was one of the most fun times I have had in a car in a while...

Saturday I slept in and headed to the game with my Father and Erin. The walk was the normal 30 minutes to the tailgate and 15 to the football game. It was Erin's first time doing it and my Dad has come to enjoy it. Not the fastest way to the stadium, but I've always been an "it's all about the journey" kind of guy. We saw cows, sheep and horses. The tailgate was a good time and the game was fun as well. Started off pretty sunny and hot, but by the end of the game it felt great. The B2 fly over was pretty sweet and the game's final score made everyone happy (45-0).Sunday I woke up late and had brunch before heading to Roanoke to relax and take in one of Erin's volleyball games. They are held the same place Morgan played soccer last winter and it was a pretty good time. It was a lot of fun to see Erin in her natural environment, competitive volleyball. Also fun to watch some pretty good people playing. Sunday night I headed home and Monday I had a doctor's appt for my knee. I went, they prodded, poked, twisted and said I need an MRI, which is scheduled for October 6th. They seemed to think that it is nothing serious and told me to run until I had pain. The MRI will reveal cartiledge damage, if there is any. Until then I'll be hiking the volcanoes of Hawaii (in a week).

All in all another great weekend.

Tonight I went to Floyd

this picture sums it up.

This afternoon's soccer game

DCA Lost, but it was a great afternoon for shooting the game.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a B-2 bomber!

Stealth Bomber flyover to precede Virginia Tech football game Saturday

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets advises that, barring weather or operational factors, the 509th Bomb Wing from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, will conduct a military aircraft flyover prior to the Virginia Tech vs. Ohio University game on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005.

The B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is the world's premier strike aircraft. Only 21 of these bombers exist in the Air Force inventory.

This marks the second visit of this technological marvel to Lane Stadium. The B-2 will fly over Lane Stadium as part of the pre-game ceremony held by the Corps of Cadets, featuring the 760 cadets of the second largest regiment since the late 1960s.

teeth, knees, cows and football

I'm sitting here eating rice and chicken soup, mmmm. Not as good as ice cream, but I guess I need to eat healthy and can't eat ice cream forever. The tooth area is healing up nicely and I am taking the Hydrocodine only 1-2 times a day now. As for the effect it has on me, let's just say my co-workers like when I take it. Had a full physical yesterday and they took a lot of blood for all sorts of tests. They asked me if I wanted to be tested for A, B and C, knowing my health coverage is great I said yes, yes and yes. I also had my right knee x-rayed, the x-rays turned out fine :) Nonetheless I am going to see a knee specialist this coming Monday, need to get rid of the soreness after running/hiking/sports.

I decided after much thought and guidance to accept the position with Bearing Point at the location I work now. The folks I work with are a good group and were glad to hear that I was staying. The offer from Bearing Point was reasonable and I will continue on my current work efforts, maybe they will even get another developer on my team? Work starts October 10th (thought 10.10.05 is a gov't holiday and the base will be closed) and I will be on vacation from September 26 - Oct 5th and will be unemployed from Oct. 1 - Oct. 9 Kind of worked out that I did not have to take vacation, but then again I do not get paid either.

After all that serious stuff I'd have to say the surprise of the last 24 hours was picking up my camera and seeing that the day previous I went outside to take pictures of and with the cows out front. It just made me smile at how strange I am ;)

This weekend marks the first Hokie home football game of 2005, we play Ohio. Poor Ohio...

Random Picture post

I need a pup

Addendum...

Not only did we spend a wonderful weekend with one of Erin's friends, but with Erin's Best friend the lovely and talented Mrs. Lauren Griffin. Not only does she have a sparkling personality, but also the purse to match (think of a bag with the power of 1,000 suns).

I was also able to meet Erin's friend the very strong and quite hospitable Mr. Brad Griffin.

Thank you both for a wonderful weekend during my first visit to Greenville, TN.
Looks like it is now your turn to visit...

Worknight...

Not even sure where to start with this update as so much has happened this last week. Maybe I'll start with now. Right now I am sitting in my room with the right side of my face sore from oral surgery to have a wisdom tooth extracted. Yes, one wisdom tooth, apparently that is all I had. Luckily it has not been too painful, but I am experiencing some soreness as the drugs they shot my gums up with wears off. I'd like to hold off as long as possible taking the narcotic laced tylonol I was prescribed so that I can get some things done tonight.

This past weekend yielded a surprise trip to visit Greenville, TN to visit one of Erin's friends from school. I had her convinced that we were going to North Carolina (the original plan before a family sickness occurred) and she slept only to wake up in Greenville. It was a great weekend and a welcomed time to relax from last week.

Speaking of last week I had job interviews in both Blacksburg and Salem. I think they all went quite well and I am most impressed with the opportunities in Blacksburg. I was also offered a formal proposal from the incoming contracting company where I work now. A lot of thought is going into this decision, I'll blog more as I come to conclusions. That's it for now. Time to go get some Ice Cream as the Doctor told me it would be good for me after the tooth extraction. Maybe I should get teeth pulled more often ;) Joking!

Weekend at the beach!

I think I just had close to the perfect weekend. Spend it in VA Beach, Virginia. This weekend was that VA Beach Rock n' Roll Half Marathon and though I had major doubts of running (due to knee trouble), I was able to finish in a time of 2:26:31. I ran with Pete and together we really pushed ourselves through points where I know I would have not made it alone. Pete has this way of motivation you just by being around hi, and Liz will attest to that by her story of seeing Pete off to the side on the finish line and sprinting to the finish. All in all I am happy with my performance :)

Then there was time at the beach with friends, my one regret was that I didn't get to spend time with everyone! But I did get to see everyone on several occasions :) The weather was pretty much perfect for a weekend at the beach. The temps were in the 80's with very low humidity and a nice breeze blowing. Then there was dancing on Friday night and the VT vs. NC State game on Sunday night (that VT won 20-16). I was also able to spend a good amount of time with Erin, as she was there to support her friends that were running.

On the beach we played a game called "fricket" in which the object is to throw a frisbee between 2 poles or knock a cup off of the poles. I've included some pictures of the game in action. Hope your weekend was as great as mine, I think I needed it with the week I have coming up. Interviews start today and will go for 3 days with 3 different companies. Wish me luck!