Craig's Thoughts

Abby

2011-01-24T09:49:00.000-05:00

My daughter, Abigail, was born last week! It's been amazing to see the changes in our lives, and the almost daily changes for her, even in the first week.

The support we have received from family and friends has been truly appreciated, especially from our small group, who have provided dinners since we've come home. It's such a simple thing, providing dinner, but it goes a long way.

Busy summer

2010-08-09T23:37:00.000-04:00

So, as usual, I stopped posting to the blog as soon as things got interesting :)

I've really been enjoying photography, and have continued posting at my photo blog. I've also recently been pretty active at http://photo.stackexchange.com, which is a Q&A site dedicated to photography.

My other hobby lately has been baking... I know, a guy who bakes. Go ahead, laugh if you want, but good bread goes really well with grilled food. Also, it's incredibly easy to do, and tastes great.

In other news, I'm going to be a dad in January, which is both exciting and a little scary. I mean, I'm sure Amy and I will both be good parents, but it just doesn't seem right. Either way, this is keeping us fairly busy trying to figure it all out and get things ready.

Add to that my work and involvement at church and Plainfield Lodge #653, which all makes the calendar a little more difficult to keep in order. All in all, I wouldn't change a thing, but looking back through all that I'm not feeling as bad about ignoring the blog...

Christmas

2009-12-28T10:38:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we had christmas at my parents house. Although we had all already given most of our christmas gifts, it was really nice for Amy and I to have some time with everyone up here and exchange gifts again. I think everyone was very happy with the gifts (I know I was). Afterwards we spent the afternoon/evening playing games.

I think one of my favorite parts was playing a card game my brother got us for christmas called Fluxx. Basically, the whole idea of the game is that you have to lay the right cards to accomplish a simple goal... the fun comes with the rules... that are always changing (along with the goal that changes too!) I'd never heard of it until yesterday, but it is an awesome game!

The other gift that I'm really excited about is a new camera lens (the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II). It is a really simple lens which is good because it forces me to work a little more to get the shot i want. It's also creates much sharper images than the other lens I have, which I'm really excited about!

All in all, I had a great time and am looking forward to traveling up to Michigan later today for Amy's family's Christmas celebration.

End of the decade...

2009-12-22T08:38:00.000-05:00

I ran across a great story today about dumb moments in technology from 2000-2009. It's a great read and brings back some great memories of ideas I've had the pleasure to laugh at over the last 10 years. I hope others enjoy it as much as I have!

Amazing evening, and a new camera

2009-09-10T23:56:00.000-04:00

Not really that much to say, except that I'm really enjoying my new camera, and the sunset tonight was really spectacular.

Vacations

2009-07-28T08:04:00.002-04:00

It's been a great summer, we've been able to take a week long vacation to colorado with my family, and we've already gotten to take two camping trips (hopefully 2 more this year).

It's always awesome to get out and enjoy nature, and I love that there are great parks near us! It's a lot of work to get everything packed/setup/tore down/cleaned/put away... but when it's all over it's always worth the work. Somehow it's still one of the most relaxing ways to spend a weekend...

Only way it could be better is if it didn't rain everytime (with our luck I doubt it).

House

2009-07-28T08:01:00.002-04:00

It took a while, but all of the chimney/fireplace work is about done now! We still have a little bit of painting to do and we'll probably have some small drywall stuff taken care of, but all of the major work is done! It's been quite the process... and not one i'd like to deal with again, but in the end it all worked out great.

House news

2009-06-05T11:53:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy couple months, and I ignored the blog for a bit. The biggest news is probably that our chimney fell off in a storm... not exactly my idea of fun, but I think it's going to work out fairly well in the end. For more details, check out Amy's blog.

In other news... we're not really loving our refrigerator... so we've started looking around for a new one, preferably a samsung or GE, but really, the main goal is a fairly well priced stainless steel french door fridge... Luckily we're in no rush, so we can take a little time and look around for a scratch and dent... preferably heavily discounted because of scratches on the left side... hahaha

Changes in 2009

2009-01-20T19:19:00.002-05:00

So far, it's been an interesting year so far... not a whole lot going on, yet it's been fairly enjoyable. Last year ended quite nicely for us, with 2 weeks of vacation, but that really made the adjustment back into work pretty hard. After getting back into the flow of things, it's been much better.

Also, Maria seems to have adjusted to her new home quite nicely over the last few months. When we got her, she was really apprehensive and seemed to be a bit nervous. That was understandable, because of her past, as she had lived with other dogs and had been in fights with them, but it has really been interesting seeing the changes.

Lately we've even been able to leave her out when we're gone on short errands, and while she tore up blankets at her old house, we have been able to leave towels in her crate during the day. I'm really glad about the changes, because she seems to be much happier overall and more comfortable during the day.

Isaiah 55:8-9

2008-11-10T08:39:00.002-05:00

Ok, long story here... I'll start at the beginning.

Our church (Church at the Crossing) had begun a major campaign to build a new sanctuary and had spent over 100,000 on all that goes into planning a major building like that. Last year, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) came to the church with plans to upgrade the Keystone exit of 465, which in the process would take some of our land (where the new sanctuary was planned to go).

Forward to yesterday.

The church has taken this opportunity to refocus and start a new campaign to pay off the remaining debt on the old building and focuse on outward ministry, both locally at Bells chapel church of god and at state, national, and world levels, with several missions trips planned throughout the world. Yesterday Pastor Steve also let us know the final decision for the land, and the offer made by INDOT to not only pay for the land, by also repay us for the costs undertaken planning for the new sanctuary! It was really exciting to see that not only was God redirecting the church, but he had in mind a way to recover all the costs of our work.

Last night, Bells Chapel caught fire, and from the news, it sounds like the building was gutted. It's really good that it happened when it did, because during the day the church provides a daycare for about 150 children, but it's still really hard to see the damage there in a place where the church is so needed.

As hard as it is to hear about the fire though, all that I'm thinking is the incredible timing of our churches campaign. Clearly God is at work here, because no one could have planned for this, and yet here we are, unable to build our new building, redirecting our efforts to help bells chapel in the weeks before the fire. I don't know what God has planned here, but it is truly comforting to see what he is doing here.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (New International Version)

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Housework...

2008-10-28T13:26:00.002-04:00

I've really been enjoying the fall, but I'm remembering the downside of having woods behind the house... It was a little more work then I would prefer to rake all the leaves.

Still, it didn't take too long, just an hour or two last night, but my shoulders are a little sore today from it, haha. It did help a lot though, it looks much nicer back there with the leaves out of the yard (not that it'll last too long).

Also, we replaced the kitchen lights last week, which really helped the look of the room a lot. When we bought the house there were really ugly brownish lights with painted metal leaves (I'm sure someone else would like them, but they're not our style). We hated them, and it is really nice to get them all replaced with some more contemporary lights. The new ones are brushed nickel and frosted glass. It's really made a difference in the overall look of the room, which I'm really happy with.

Next on the list is either new appliances or door handles... (we're not too thrilled with the dishwasher), but either one can wait, the rest of the stuff is all functional and not overly annoying, so it's not really all that important....

Maria

2008-08-19T15:16:00.002-04:00

We recently got a dog, and we're really enjoying having her around. She's a yellow lab, almost 3 years old, and her name is Maria. Besides that, there really has not been that much going on for us. We went to the state fair 2 weeks ago, which was pretty fun, and last weekend we went camping. The rest of our time has been spent doing the regular routine... work, cooking/cleaning, dinner, take maria for a walk, watch tv, sleep and then start over.

It's been quite a while since I updated, so I just wanted to jot down a quick summary... if you're interested in more frequent updates, twitter is a good place to watch. (It's also shown in the side column here.)

Marley's

2008-07-04T09:25:00.002-04:00

Last night we went to "Marley's Island Grille" (www.marleysislandgrille.com

). They had some of the best seafood I've had all week. I had the
"Supa-Dupa Groupa" and the "Macadamia Nut Bread Pudding", both of
which were wonderful. The grouper was perfectly cooked and I really
enjoyed dessert. All in all a great resturant, which I'd reccommend
to anyone who's planning to be around Hilton Head.

Savannah GA

2008-07-02T22:10:00.002-04:00

Today we took a trip over to savannah, which is only about 30-40
minutes away from Hilton head. It's a beautiful city, and I really
enjoyed walking through Forsyth park. Besides the park itself, with
live oaks and Spanish moss, the surrounding historic district is
amazing to see. We ended the day with pizza at Vinnie Van Go-Go's (www.vinnievangogos.com

) and ice cream at Leopalds Ice Cream (www.leopaldsicecream.com). I
can't think of a better end to a beautiful day in a beautiful city.

Hilton head vacation

2008-07-02T21:59:00.001-04:00

I've had a great time so far this week in Hilton Head, SC. I wasn't
too sure what to expect, but it has turned out to be a great place to
relax. The beaches are wonderful to walk along, and not nearly as
crowded as many other places, such as myrtle beach. Definately a
place I'd consider visiting again.

Best of all, we still have two more days left before we leave!

Vacation

2008-06-23T15:52:00.002-04:00

Less than a week till we leave for vacation, which of course means... packing! Ok... so I tried to be excited, but as many know, packing is probably my least favorite thing to do. It'll be worth the effort, because i think it's going to be a pretty nice trip, but... this is going to be a long week.

On to the good stuff... We're leaving friday for a week at hilton head with my family. Should be a fun trip, and at the very least it will be nice to spend time with family.

Moved in

2008-05-28T12:10:00.005-04:00

The move went pretty smoothly, and we're excited to be at the new house. There are still a few more things that need to be done (but that will always be the case).

We were able to get a second coat of paint on the laundry room last week, that helped a lot. While on the topic of paint, we had decided to go with Behr paint, which was slightly more expensive than some others, but I think it was well worth the cost... only one room needed a full second coat, but we're pretty sure it only had the base coat from the builders 10 years ago... We did have to go over small areas a second time in most rooms, but even then it didn't take much work and the final results look great.

Also, we got our new washer and dryer hooked up. We had initially wanted to get a front loading set, but we realized that they are several inches deeper than a top load, and we didn't have much extra space. After looking around a bit more, we found the Fisher&Paykel top loading set (top loading washer and top loading dryer). Although it wasn't what we had originally been thinking, it now seems like a much better choice, and even if we had more space, I think we'd still prefer them.

Overall, it was a great weekend, productive, but also a lot of fun.

Moving

2008-05-20T10:03:00.003-04:00

We're finally moving into the new house this weekend, after spending the last few weeks getting stuff cleaned up and painted. We're just about done painting, just one more coat on the laundry room and we're good to go. At this point we've already cleaned the house a bit, painted 3 bathrooms, a bedroom, the kitchen, and put one coat on the laundry room.

We've also been able to move quite a bit of the smaller stuff over, so this weekend we just need to take the furniture and the last of the small stuff. I'm really excited to be moving in, but I also really hate packing, so this is going to be a tough week, but it should be completely worth the work.

At work I've finished my big project, (after about 7-8 months work) and I'm able to start working on something new, which is great because now I have more than one thing to work on (I'm still maintaining the last project), and it's always nice to have a bit of change.

We found a house!

2008-03-21T19:22:00.002-04:00

After looking for awhile for a house, and seeing about 40 different
places, we found one we love.
A week or so ago we saw it and made an offer, and they accepted it!

We're still waiting for the results of the inspection yesterday, but everything seemed pretty good as we went through, so I'm not expecting any major issues.

been a busy month

2008-03-06T16:40:00.004-05:00

Well... It's been a while, so I'll just do a quick summary.
1. We're house-hunting.
2. I joined twitter.
3. Busy at work.

1. We decided to start looking a few weeks ago and have narrowed down the search quite a bit already. Also, it has (and will continue to be) a learning process. Although I had a basic understanding of how it all works, there is a lot that you don't know until you really start spending time.

2. I had heard about twitter a few years ago, but I never really felt like it would be all that useful. Recently though I decided that it would be worth having even if I don't personally share much, so I took the plunge. I probably won't tweet much... but here's my profile chills42

3. I've been working on a project for a few months now, and I'm getting pretty close to finishing up the current portion. As such, there is a little more pressure/motivation to finish it up. Not only would it be nice to have it done and be able to move on, it would also look good for my team. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it up pretty soon.

Redesign

2008-01-14T14:14:00.000-05:00

The website redesign is finally finished. There's still more changes in the works, but it's nice to have all the major changes done. If you'd like to see the new design (as well as a few pictures) here's a link http://www.chills42.com

Delays

2008-01-02T09:14:00.001-05:00

I had originally hoped that I could get the site redesign finished by New Years... but that didn't happen. While I'm very close to having it ready, it's not quite there yet.

I have finished the basics though:
- The new style is nearly finished.
- My blog has been redesigned.
- The site has been moved to the new host (http://nearlyfreespeech.net)
- The domain transfer is complete.

Which leaves me with:
- Finishing the new style.
- Moving Amy's blog to the site.
- Updating content (this is partially finished).

Chicago

2007-12-26T20:38:00.001-05:00

This has been a pretty good day.
My mom's Christmas present was a trip to Chicago to see the Phantom of
the Opera! I've always liked the music, but it's a lot better
watching it live.

Also, thanks to everyone who sent birthday cards/text messages! I had
a good time yesterday spending time with family.

Christmas break

2007-12-22T23:37:00.000-05:00

I always enjoy the Christmas season, and it's even better when you can
take time to relax and enjoy the company of family.

Today I was able to spend the day catching up with family that I don't
see very often. I hope that everyone is able to take time to enjoy
those people in your life that are truely important this holiday season.

Vacation

2007-12-21T10:21:00.001-05:00

Well... Today's my last day before vacation. We're leaving tonight
after work to go up to south bend and michigan for the holidays.

Happy holidays and safe travel!