Kenna of the Bells

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So, Alicia and I got this dog, Kenna, and she's awesome. She is an AKC English Mastiff, and she's awesome! We love her very much. Not only that, but she's gonne be HUGE! :)

So obviously, with such a large dog, training is going to be key. We have started with potty training, as we find that very important. We have read on the internet about people teaching their dogs to ring some bells when they need to go potty. So we decided to give that a try. We put some bells on the door Wednesday of last week, and starting making her brush her nose against them when we took her out.

Then, yesterday afternoon (only four days later!!!) as we were in the kitchen cooking, we heard the bells jingle! Hallelujah! We let the dog out, and she went pee! We honestly thought this was a fluke until a few minutes later when she did it AGAIN!

I don't think we are completely out of the water yet, but we are off to a good start! :)

Anyway, check out the pictures of our new girl. She's pretty cool...

Feeling Inspired

Did you ever feel like it was time for a new project? I have... and I do.

I have tossed around thoughts of what I want to do. Maybe something around the house? Toolbench? Server closet/room? Hall closet? Maybe something more along the line of systems stuff. Build a new server, and setup a domain at home? I still like the idea of putting thin client...ish systems in our house. Setting up a Windows 2008 domain, and RDP server? With 2008 you can publish individual applications through Terminal Services, so I don't need Citrix to do that anymore. I wonder how that looks on a Vista machine. I guess the published apps would be "aero", so that might not be too pretty. Something to think about.

Or maybe I should build something else... like some new speakers? ;)

I feel very motivated to do something productive, but I can't figure out what it is. I also don't know where I'm going to find the time to do it.

Maybe I should do all of those things! :)

Anyway, I started playing with Ajax a litte while ago, and created this... http://ahren.homeip.net
What do you think? I had big plans for this database interface that would list all of the servers in an environment and give you an easy, organized way to view them and sort them. That link is as far as I got. hahaha.

Anyway. I guess I'll go now.

Married! WOOHOO!

Well, Alicia and I are married! :)

We tied the knot March 1, 2008 at 12 noon. The outdoor ceremony was awesome, the weather couldn't have been better, and the reception was TONS of fun. In addition, we got to see some friends for an after-party that we really wanted to visit with.

All-in-all, it was one of the best days of my entire life! I love Alicia very, very much, and I am excited to start the rest of my life with her by my side!

We went to Jamaica for the honeymoon! "Yeah mon, no problem..." is all I have to say about that! What an amazing place! I highly recommend it!

We are all moved into the new house, and things are awesome. Thanks to everyone who came, and to those who wanted to, but couldn't! I am so fortunate to have so many people in my life that care about me.

Alright, that's enough cheese. Now for the nerdy stuff...

So, I got some awesome tools for my garage! :) Tablesaw, Circular Saw, Jigsaw, and more! I am going to start my first project in my new garage soon: a workbench! Any suggestions? I may not listen, but you are welcome to offer them up.

At some point I want to put some sort of air-conditioned switch/server closet in my attic, but that may have to wait a while. That will happen right before the thin client install in every room!

I installed my own thermostats in the house. They are touchscreen... pretty fancy. We also hung a pot-rack over the kitchen island that someone gave us as a gift. Pretty awesome stuff! I'll have to post some pictures of the house interior when we have more stuff put away.

Alright, I guess I should go now.

Thanks!

The rest of my life

Well, the rest of my life is beginning. For those of you that haven't heard, Alicia and I are getting married! :)

Assuming all goes well, we are getting hitched on March 1st, 2008. That's right, only six weeks away! Yes we are crazy :) And no we are not in a hurry for any...particular...reason. We just found a place we like that was available and decided we are going to "do this thing" :)

We are also buying a house! We are options pending for a new home in wonderful Pearland, Texas. Now we just have to finalize inspections and financing and we are good to go!

From a 700 sq. ft. apartment to a 3300 sq. ft. house. That is what I call a big improvement :)

I'll keep you all posted!

Awesome Co-Workers

So, some of my co-workers; Chris, Ethan, Carlos, and Julie surprised me with an early birthday present today.

Guitar Hero 3

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am!!!!! Thank you guys SO SO much! This is the most excellent thing every!

Now I have three days to unlock tons of songs before the birthday bash! :) Woohoo!

Happy New Year

Well, the new year is upon us. It has sure arrived quickly, and I'm pretty sure it's going to take me forever to remember to sign checks with an 08. But it's here, and I welcome it.

Thanks to everyone who helped my 2007 to rock.

I have been playing Assassin's Creed on PS3. Let me just say, that game is AWESOME. It is long...but the controls are really good. The graphics are excellent, and game play is challenging, yet fun. I highly recommend it.

I can't WAIT for Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band. I hope someone pays attention to my birthday list, otherwise my decision to not buy them will look dumb. :D

We went to Jerry's party this weekend. That was muy fun. Thanks for having us Jerry! It was great to see all my friends again.

I guess that's enough of an update for now. I'll do more later.

Add to Google Button!

So, because I know everyone who reads this wants to read it ALL THE TIME, I have a added a nice "Add to Google" button to the sidebar on this page. It looks like this:


This will allow you to add my blog as an XML feed to your Google Homepage or Google reader! You should definitely do that since I am SO cool ;) Or if you just want to...