Jonathan & Amy

July 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Note: to save time, in this post I've linked to several articles I've written for TheTalkingBox.

Jonathan and I spent a week in Southern California. We drove to Los Angeles on a Monday and hung out with a HS friend. The next morning we went to a taping of The Price is Right (which will air June 25th after two delays from the original schedule), which was a lot of fun! I'd totally recommend it! You can read about the experience in full here.

After The Price is Right, we went to a taping of The Tonight Show, which wasn't as exciting as it could have been. I'd skip it next time. For the full experience, read here. I'll share the picture we bought, though! (It looks better in real life!)

After that, we drove to San Marcos, a cute little city, for the night. On Wednesday, it was onward to San Diego! We've both been numerous times before, but this was our second trip together. We were there for the specific purpose of attending Comic-Con, which I wrote about extensively for TheTalkingBox, and links to each article can be found here. Here's a photo of each of us, though, taken near the Batmobiles. We're wearing Gandalf hats. JB is sporting a Def-Con shirt (a hacking thing) and I'm wearing a Packrat shirt (an online game). My Danica Patrick nametag is a joke from The Neighbors television show.

Also in July, we finally got a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in our area, about 15 minutes away. We went a few days after it opened and a few more times in the following weeks, introducing various friends to the delicious chicken they have.

We really enjoyed watching the Olympics and even altered our daily lives to be able to watch many events live, which was really exciting.

We went to Psycho Donuts with our friends, Jim and Diana, which is a great little shoppe. We went to the Campbell location, although there's also one in San Jose. Here's a picture of my s'mores donut.

We also went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which is overpriced for what it is, but really pretty neat. You can get just about anything with garlic, including garlic ice cream, garlic popcorn, garlic crab fries, and just about anything else you can think of! There are fair rides and a lot of children's activities, plus some musicians and other entertainment acts. I really liked the variety of crafts vendors, and we picked up a couple of gifts for people, including a really neat bread knife for Jonathan's mother. We'd go again, but we'd probably seek out some discount coupons or something that gave more money off than just buying online!

June 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

With our ten-year high school reunion on the horizon, I went to Florida the week before so that I'd have time to get some last-minute details accomplished, as well as meet up with my summer camp friends for a three-day weekend. I'm sorry to say that I only took one photo all weekend, and it was of my friend's new baby, so no great images to share.

The reunion was not without its problems, but on the whole it was successful. I was pretty stressed out by the end of the weekend, but luckily everyone close to me tried their best to keep me sane. :) That said, here's a picture of me with my two best friends from HS, Tori and Jessica.

Also while I was in Florida I was finally able to try one of those places where you learn to paint a picture in just a couple of hours. I struggled quite a bit, but here's my tiger and the instructor's... you can guess who did which!

When I returned to California I started back on my quest to make more friends here. I went to a lovely lunch that was organized on meetup.com (my second with that group), but the group ended up disbanding shortly thereafter. Some of the girls joined another group, which I went to once, but it just wasn't for me. BUT, the important thing was that I had a fabulous lunch at Jubba in San Jose (African food, with an emphasis on Somali cuisine, I believe). I can't wait to eat there again!

We also went to the annual Greek Festival in San Jose, which we went to once in the past. It was still amazing and much better than the one in St. Lucie County, but it doesn't compare to the one we went to in New Orleans in 2006! Here's a picture of some items inside the sanctuary of the church.

Jonathan never ceases to be lucky when it comes to winning things... I was really excited about buying tickets to see the Olympic Gymnastics Trials here in San Jose, but he ended up winning a pair at work so we were able to sit in a skybox to see the first day of the Men's Events. It was unbelievably exciting! Because we were so far away, it was difficult to get good photos, but, trust me, it was really special to be in the audience to cheer on athletes who would compete for our country just a couple of months later!

May 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

In May we celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary in Yosemite with Jonathan's parents. We saw a bunch of different areas of the park, some repeats from last year (here and here) and some new. Jonathan and his dad both had a good time photographing various sights (we even went out to try some long-exposure night shots!), and below you can see a picture I took of them trying to get great photos of a waterfall!

Another thing we did while his parents were visiting was attend the annual Sunnyvale Downtown Wine & Food Stroll, which we all enjoyed. We also went to a street fair in downtown Campbell, which is an area I don't get to much but always like. We went to Maker Faire for the second time. While it was still fun, I don't think I'll be making an annual thing out of it. And, up in San Francisco, we rode the cable cars and visited the Cable Car Museum (worth a short trip, although they had some terrible editing errors in the displays).

I also did some video game testing. I can't really say much about it because of non-disclosure agreements, but one of the games I played is now available for purchase, so it's kinda cool to see that I might have made a difference somewhere.

April 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I'm going to try to catch up on the past 11 months and get this going again. obviously, I've forgotten a lot of what we've done, but something is better than nothing!

First, a quick run-down on the last weekend of March (which I forgot about earlier)... Jim and Diana stayed the night at our place on a Friday so that we could all go to Great America the next day - Lockheed had rented it out again for Employee Day. Unfortunately, it rained the ENTIRE day. We originally planned to get there at 10am, but, because of the rain, we went out to breakfast first. The rain only got worse, so we decided to do something else instead. And we hit a ton of failing options. First, we drove to the closest bowling alley from where we ate... only it was going to be FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS for the four of us to bowl ONE GAME. And this wasn't even laser bowling or anything... just plain 11am bowling! We walked right out and across the street to go ice skating instead. Sadly, open-skate didn't start until 2pm, due to lessons that morning. So, we went to the other end of the mall to look at movie times. Except, our friends had to catch a 2pm train back to the city and there weren't any movies starting in time for us to see. So, we walked the mall for a bit... nothing too exciting. We considered playing remote-control cars, but it was like $1/min/person and there was a wait. Jonathan and I kept thinking that the rain would let up and we would head to the park (it's the one only ten minutes from the house), but it never stopped for more than 20-30 minutes, so it would have been a disaster.

Now, on to April! You may or may not know that we have a Major League Soccer team right around the corner - the San Jose Earthquakes. Now, I'd seen a national game before, but I still don't know a lot about soccer. Still, it was fun to go! We got our tickets through a Living Social deal (love those!) and found parking without too much of a problem. (It probably helped that the game was at a local University.) Our seats weren't the best, but they were fine for the casual fan. I actually thought that halftime was really neat - they had some martial arts demonstrations and even a lion dance!

We had our annual Easter dinner, though it was just the two of us for the second year in a row. I made a ham with a cherry glaze. We're not sure what it was, but we both agreed that it was one of the best hams we've had in our lives, so that was fun. I also tried my hand at making mashed potatoes from scratch for the first time... it wasn't THAT much more work, but the result wasn't that much different, either. I was more excited about making green bean casserole (not normal Easter fare, but we both missed having it at Christmas), which I also made from scratch. I liked it a little more than Jonathan, and I definitely learned some tweaks for the future... for instance, I'd halve the cheese, cut the beans (I steamed fresh ones for the recipe rather than use canned), and add mushrooms (I didn't use canned soup, either... I made the sauce with butter, flour, sour cream, etc). I rounded out the meal with fresh rolls and red velvet cookies... the rolls turned out too heavy (they didn't rise too much the second time, so I think that was the problem) and the cookies were a bit dry (or, perhaps, red velvet is just better as cake!). Honestly, I was most proud of the fact that I pulled off a 2pm lunch after getting home from church and taking some Easter pictures, LoL!

We celebrated our 12th anniversary as a couple at our favorite Mediterranean restaurant again, with us both ordering our favorite dishes. Then, we planned to spend the weekend camping at Pinnacles National Monument, about 90 minutes away. Unfortunately, they ended up being full when we arrived at 11am (they have walk-up tent sites), so we just spent a day there instead. It was still pretty neat to explore the Talus Caves (we'll save the Balconies Caves for another day!), see the reservoir, and hike a few trails. The high was around 60, so it wasn't too cold... the low was in the 30s, though, so maybe it was a good thing that they didn't have any sites left! On our way home we stopped for BBQ in Hollister - not the best, and the sauce was a little vinegary for our liking, but give Maverick's a try if you're there!

My Bad

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:06:00 +0000

I know. I came back and did a ton of posts and promised to do better.... then took another two-month hiatus. But, we've been busy. I've been swamped, honestly. Between taking on my high school reunion and good weather bringing people out to visit and giving us more to do on a regular basis, it's just been a constant stream of "stuff." I'll work on it. I just wanted you to know I haven't forgotten completely. ;)

March 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000

March was another whirlwind month for us, though nothing much actually happened. Jonathan did more volunteer work with the science high schoolers (oh, we went to a big Boy Scout award dinner at the beginning of February to thank all of the volunteers over the course of the year - it was one of the most inspirational things I've ever been to!) and I took on being part of our high school reunion committee (ten years in June! wow!). We talked about going skiing before the end of the season, but didn't really have the time or energy... luckily, it's just been a junky year for snow and nobody is really having great experiences anyway, so we don't really feel bad.

We did, however, take a short trip to Florida to see one of my oldest friends (since sixth grade!), Jessica, finally marry Bret. They were engaged for about six years (she's been in med school), so it was wonderful to share in their special day. We got a chance to see Jonathan's aunt and uncle as well, so it was a pretty eventful getaway. The wedding day was incredibly rainy, but, luckily, they had a very large tent, so it wasn't that big of a problem (though the humidity level was pretty high later in the evening). It did delay the start of things, however, as the ceremony was in the open, near some gorgeous trees. Jonathan had his camera and took some great pictures, so I'll post a few.

cupcakes & pies instead of wedding cake!

they wrote their own vows... Jess's made ME cry!

just after the kiss!

with the bride! (and, for those of you following the hair
drama, this is four days after I had it recolored)

February 2012: Cake Decorating

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

February wasn't the busiest month for us, mainly because we had done so much traveling between November, December, and January. We needed a break! Our friend, Tony, spent a day with us while he was in town. He lives in Denver now, so it was nice to see him, especially given the fact that he was only around for less than 24 hours before he continues his trip down to San Diego. And, it just so happened that I began the next set of cake decorating classes that night as well!

It has been a full year since I took the Decorating Basics course, so I was excited to finally be taking Flowers & Cake Design, offered at Michael's by Wilton. I switched locations to get a different instructor, and there were only eight of us in my class. I enjoyed the instructor much more, so I was very sad to hear that she was retiring after that month. Otherwise, I would have been more likely to consider taking the next course (fondant!) right away. Now, it looks like I'll likely wait until at least August, if not longer. But, that's okay. I still had a lot of fun and learned a lot. There was still a lot of homework with practicing flowers and techniques, but at least we weren't swimming in cake all month. This course required just one cake, for the final. It was a big one, though, as it needed to be 3-4" high. I definitely chose an ambitious cake to replicate for my final, and three of my seven classmates stayed until I finished (I was the only one who took the entire two hours) to take photos. It was a chocolate cappuccino cake with chocolate cream cheese filling and chocolate buttercream frosting - all from scratch, of course. I sent half of it in for Jonathan's colleagues (who get spoiled by my baking and Jonathan's chili/ribs/pork/etc) and we shared the other half with some friends over the next week.

roses (you can tell the early ones from the later ones!) and lilies

daffodils, primroses, apple blossoms

these were my "backup" flowers for my final cake - roses,
apple blossoms, and violets

my final cake! roses and lilies on top, apple blossoms and violets
on the sides, reverse shell border, and all-around basketweave

a look inside the cake and a little better peak at the basketweave

January 2012: Weddings & Birthdays

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:00:00 +0000

When we left Las Vegas, we flew to Orlando. We're not always able to attend every wedding for which we're invited, but seeing how two were on the same day, in the same city, Jonathan has known the grooms since childhood, and one of the grooms was in our wedding party, we made the arrangements. Now, this was complicated by the fact that the weddings began only thirty minutes apart! Luckily, things went swimmingly and we were able to catch many of the major events at both! [I thought we had taken some photos, but they must be on a memory card someplace, so nothing to share there, sorry!]

We started out at Steve & Karen's ceremony, which was in the same sanctuary where Jonathan and I were married. They both looked so happy. We had originally planned to go straight to their reception, but at the last minute we decided to pop by Eric & Kara's ceremony to get a program. Fortunately, they seemed to have gotten a late start, so we went in and sat near the back and were able to see most of the ceremony. On the way out, we talked to a few friends so we were excited to see them later. We hadn't missed much when we arrived at Steve & Karen's reception, and spent some time catching up with the others at our table and some others as well. We stayed for dinner and really enjoyed the pasta station they had! We got a chance to talk with the bride and groom, but we headed out just before the first dance. Originally, we had planned to stay a little longer, but the second reception had changed venues and we needed to give ourselves extra time for travel. We arrived at Eric & Kara's reception about ten minutes before their cocktail hour was over, then picked at the dinner served. Most of our table didn't show up, so it was just Jonathan and me, his parents, and our friend, Justin. It did make it easier to talk with a few friends, though, with extra space at our table! The cake was good, the speeches were cute, but we didn't get to do much dancing. We left before the very end, but were still able to participate in the "Dollar Dance" and see the happy couple one-on-one.

When we landed back in Florida I noticed there were advertisements at the airport for the Ice Skating World Championships - apparently they were being held in San Jose this year! I was immediately obsessed with getting tickets, and Jonathan kindly obliged my desire. I ultimately decided to buy Championship Pairs tickets, an event which took place just after my birthday. But, I didn't want to get slammed with a Ticketmaster fee, so I waited. Turned out to work out perfectly! Jonathan had entered a raffle at work for tickets to the Junior Ladies Short Program, and he won! So, we went there on Monday night for that competition, and while we were there, we bought the other tickets directly from the box office! I was overjoyed at being able to be there and see the skaters in real life. Jonathan was a good sport, and we made a game out of picking who would win and who would fall when we first saw each round of skaters in warm-ups. (You'll clearly be able to tell which photos I took with my simple camera and which ones Jonathan took with his fancy camera, LoL)

I made champagne cupcakes with champagne frosting
and decorated them with vanilla hippos.

Mariah Bell

Ashley Cain

Tiffany Vise & Don Baldwin

Kloe Chanel Bautista & Tyler Harris

Rita Fehr & Peter Biver

Felicia Zhang & Nathan Bartholomay

Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker - They Won!

Amanda Evora &Mark Ladwig - Even with a fall, they came in 2nd

January 2012: TCA & CES

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:00:00 +0000

We had a heck of a January. We were only home for a few days before we started traveling again. Long story short, I had to change my travel plans to join Jonathan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas so that I could spend a day down in LA for business. Luckily, I had booked on Southwest so I just changed my flight to leave from Burbank instead of San Jose. Then, I rented a car and drove to Pasadena the day before so I could be there for FOX's winter press day. I left as soon as the last panel finished, drove to Burbank, dropped off the car, and flew to Vegas. Jonathan had been there for nine hours or so already, so we reconnected and got settled into Paris for the night. I love that place - so many things to look at, plus there is some delicious food there!

There were still some Christmas decorations when we arrived, but they were down by the time we left. This is the tree outside the Venetian.

gotta love the fountains!

The next morning we got started a little later than we had hoped, but still managed to check-out of Paris and check-in to Imperial Palace, where we stayed for the remainder of the convention. We both had plenty of stuff to see on our lists and spent the next few days splitting up and meeting up to talk about the latest technologies. I stopped at several booths (there are THOUSANDS) to talk about television updates and upcoming features, while Jonathan had other interests. Jonathan had been to CES twice before, but this was his first time as press, so he enjoyed being able to attend more of the panels and discussions. It was also very handy to have internet access and post stories immediately. I won't post too many pictures, as we did cover CES over at TheTalkingBox.

a look from the monorail at the expansiveness that is CES

just an inside shot

it's a busy place!

we learned all about DISH's Hopper, and I had my picture taken with their kangaroo mascot!

We had very little free time in Vegas, which was a bit of a shame. We did, however, manage to eat at two buffets (something Vegas is known for and I had never tried one) and Hash Hash A Go Go, where we shared one of the famous meals from Man v. Food - the Chicken Benedict (sage-fried chicken with fresh spinach, bacon, tomato, griddled mozzarella, chipotle cream, and scrambled eggs on top of a fresh biscuit and griddled mashed potatoes). It was amazing, and we were sorry that, between the two of us, we still didn't finish it!

December 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

For Jonathan's birthday, we went to Benihana with a group of friends. It was a good time, especially as we no longer have teppanyaki as often as we used to. Another night, he and I did something else that was pretty cool... we did some indoor skydiving. It was a very different experience from regular skydiving (which I surprised Jonathan with for his 19th birthday, though we ended up going four months late), and quite a bit more difficult than I was expecting! (in the below wind tunnel pictures, I'm wearing yellow and Jonathan is wearing blue) I was really hoping that I'd find it fantastic, but I ended up struggling and didn't enjoy is as much as I had hoped. It's not even that much cheaper than regular skydiving, which sort of amazed me. After talking with some other people who have tried both types, it really seems that there are two main parts of skydiving that people really enjoy... one is the feeling of free-falling and the spinning and maneuvering in the air... the other prefers the jump from the plane, the view of the ground, and handling the parachute. For folks who like the former, indoor skydiving would be great. For people who like the latter, the real thing is a better fit. And, I'm one of those in the second group.

We went back to Florida for Christmas, which was a much shorter trip than Thanksgiving. We spent a couple of days on the west coast of the state, and Jonathan and his uncle enjoyed a bicycle trip on Christmas Eve which allowed the rest of us to enjoy having a destination holiday. We went out for Christmas Eve dinner, experienced a different church service, and walked on the beach of a state park on Christmas morning. It was a different way to spend the holiday, but it was fun.

Dennis and Jonathan about to embark on their ride

On the 27th we had Christmas at my mom's house, then we left to return to California. We had a quiet New Year's Eve, having dinner at our favorite Mediterranean restaurant, watching the movie New Year's Eve, and having champagne in our hot tub in the backyard.

Back: Stacie, Kyla, Amy
Front: Jon, Kevin, Jonathan

Thanksgiving 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:35:00 +0000

We went to Florida for Thanksgiving a week early so that we could do a few other things while we were in the area. Long story short, I flew on the Tuesday a week before Thanksgiving and Jonathan flew on the Thursday, so I had a day and a half to myself. I took the half-day to get my hair done in Orlando (I really like the Aveda Institutes), which was much overdue. I was really happy with the outcome, but I definitely should have taken more pictures. You'll see how the color turned out throughout the pictures over the next few months, but it's different now anyway. We'll get there.

your head gets really heavy while you wait for the dye to set!

later that night - can't really see much of the cut, but the color is pretty spot-on

Anyway, we left Friday to drive up to the panhandle to go camping with Joe and Bryan. It was almost as cold as it was the year before, but at least we didn't have the same rain. Of course, this is partly because we stayed further from Tallahassee (actually, it wasn't too far from Gainesville, really).

Joe's brother had gone hunting and brought back a boar, which he cleaned up for us (he's a professional meat-cutter - which is different from a butcher) and we roasted it over the fire for dinner, stuffed with veggies and potatoes

just a picture of the area where we were camping

On Saturday we left the guys and drove to the game. Then we saw my friend, Heather, and spent the night at her place. We had a great time (as always) and met back up with the boys for lunch before we drove back to Melbourne. I rode with Joe while Bryan rode with Jonathan, and we had some errands to run on the way so it was a bit hectic. It was more complicated, however, by the fact that Bryan was hosting a Thanksgiving at his place that night, which is why we all split up to begin with - Joe and I picked up a pre-cooked turkey in Ocala while the others went to the store and started cooking as soon as they got back to Melbourne. We had a good time, though it was just the start of the vacation.

an action shot from the FSU-Virginia game

At this point I don't really remember what we did the next few days, but I know we renewed our driver's licenses and did some planning and work. We spent Thanksgiving in Fort Myers, and Jonathan and I both spent quite a bit of time hitting up the pre-Black Friday deals. Jonathan and I, plus his dad and his uncle, went out around midnight to hit a Black Friday sale, as his uncle had been looking for a new television. It was a madhouse at HH Gregg and we ended up leaving empty-handed. It worked out fine, however, because we swung by Sears the next day before lunch and he was able to get the same item at the same price! We were in and out of the store in about ten minutes! We struck out with a bunch of our other shopping plans this year, but I was able to pick up the kits for the next two cake decorating courses at 50% off, so that was good. We stayed in Fort Myers to watch the Gator game on Saturday night, then headed back to Fort Pierce on Sunday.

we made wings to watch the game... one still had feathers on it!

The USS Hornet

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

As soon as Jonathan found out that you could stay the night on an aircraft carrier in our area, he was hooked. He had me call immediately to inquire about the earliest opening, the cost, and everything else you can think of. The first option was while Kyla was here, and she wasn't all that interested, so we booked for early November on a Friday night.

I honestly knew very little about aircraft carriers before we went. I had no concept of how large they were or the number of people who lived on them. So, while I was fascinated by all of the information we learned over the course of 20 hours, Jonathan understood a lot more and asked detailed questions. Overall, we both really loved the Hornet and would recommend you not only visit it, but do the overnight experience. (there are 15 pictures below. It seems like a lot until you know I took over 250...)

us with the Hornet

the entrance

view of San Francisco from the Hornet

It wasn't that easy to find - they could really use some more signs from the highway! I did know where to park from talking on the phone with the coordinator, but we started walking up to the pier and didn't see any signs about which staircase to climb... not the greatest when you're carrying a backpack and a sleeping bag and pillow! So, yeah, we chose the wrong one at first. We figured it out and got situated in our group - there were 17 scheduled to sleep aboard that night, but sometimes they get 300! We were soon shown to our barracks, where we laid out our beds.

8 of us shared this room for the night. The beds were fairly comfortable,
though there was very little space between you and the bunk above!

I thought this was cute

you can see how you get between levels and how you get between compartments
(notice the step you have to make between doors in the back)

Then we began the tour, had dinner, watched a video, and had another tour. Before the night was over, there were different options - we chose the ghost stories. Needless to say, I was thoroughly creeped out by the end of the hour and didn't sleep too well that night. The next morning we had breakfast and then brought our stuff back to our cars. The price of the overnight gave us wristbands to use for entry into the Hornet the entire day, so we did some touring on our own, then had a volunteer docent show us a few things as well. We didn't spend the entire day there, but you certainly could!

tons of planes, inside and out.

one of the things the Hornet is known for is being the recovery
craft for the Apollo 11. This is a replica of the capsule.

the astronauts had to wait in one of these to make
sure they weren't contaminated with space germs

Machine Room

look at those torpedoes!

surgery

Cobbler

the Admiral's Quarters

we rode in this simulator - neat!

Halloween 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:00:00 +0000

so... let's start with an apology. Apparently I haven't posted since November. Around Christmas, a couple people asked me why they weren't receiving the blogs in their email anymore. I thought maybe something had changed in the systems I use, but everything looked fine. It hadn't occurred to me that I just hadn't posted in a month! Then, January 2nd rolled around and I started to write a post, since that's the anniversary of the first time we moved to California. I didn't publish it because I didn't finish it. Next thing I knew it was the middle of February and I was again asked if something was wrong with the email system. I admitted that I just hadn't posted in a while. I promised to get back to it. Now it's another six weeks later, and exactly five months since the last update. yikes! I apologize very deeply - I didn't really think about how long it had been.

Jonathan and I have both been very busy with work and side projects, plus we've been to three weddings already this year (and had to turn down one more). We just got done with taxes, which took longer than our usual as this is the first time we filed the business as well. I've also taken on the task of being one of the coordinators for our high school reunion, so that's been swallowing a lot of my time. But, I think the main reason I haven't posted is that I get tired of writing. Today, I published the 1,000th post over at TheTalkingBox. This post is #350 for Jonathan&Amy, and TheTalkingBox is only three months older, so you can see how much more attention that site gets. But, it needs the attention - it's what I do. So, I spend a lot of time writing, and I rarely want to do it in my spare time (you should see the last time I worked on most of the books I'm writing...). But, I have resolved to do better, so hopefully you can look forward to getting regular updates again.

Things to look forward to reading in the near future include our overnight visit to the USS Hornet, our Thanksgiving trip to Florida (complete with football), our Christmas trip to Florida, going to Vegas for CES, going to Florida twice to go to three weddings (including two on the same day), our birthdays, my taking another set of cake decorating classes, and anything else I can remember. On the bright side, no more filler with random restaurants we've been to - I know those weren't the most entertaining for the majority of you guys. ;)

I'll also give you something to read about - our Halloween. As I did mention, we went to play Halloween Mini-Golf when Kyla was here, which was pretty fun and a great way to kick-off the holiday. We also went up to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (less than two hours away) with our friends Eilbroun and Carmen. If we were much closer to October, I'd remember more about the haunted houses and the rides, but at this point I can sum it up to mention that the animal exhibits were disappointing, there were a few good rides, and I was able to try out the new Sonic Generations video game while the other three rode a wooden coaster. Eilbroun wasn't thrilled with our choice to go there (don't forget, we can see the fireworks from Great America from our front yard), but the rest of us agreed that it was worth the drive and time to see a new park and experience different haunted houses. Definitely spring for the VIP wristband on the haunted houses - it easily saved us two hours in lines, if not more. I, of course, carved a pumpkin this year, as always. I chose a scene from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and I think it came out pretty well.

this is the template I used

this is after I scored the pumpkin

all carved out!

the end result

I was dorky enough to dress up on Halloween to give out the candy. Nothing special, just a default witch costume with some black lipstick and eyeliner. The kids were impressed. I didn't see any ground-breaking costumes, but it was still a good time.

That night, we went to Arby's for dinner, partly because we wanted to be together to watch the car roll over to 200,000 miles. It was kinda exciting, not gonna lie!

And that brings us to the end of Halloween (or, at least, what I can remember of it). Stay tuned for more!

Kyla in Cali, Part 2 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

On Wednesday, I took Kyla back up to San Francisco. This time, we drove halfway and then took the subway the rest of the way to save time (and money, really, since it's cheaper to park than it is to take the train the whole way). We went to the Ferry building, Pier 39, and Fisherman's Wharf. We had lunch at the Crab House so that Kyla could try dungeness crab. She didn't think it was any better than any other type of crab. She found a few souvenirs that she liked and we saw the sea lions. We peered at Alcatraz from a distance and she saw the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jonathan was able to take a day off on Thursday to accompany us down to Monterey. It's a coastal area about 90 minutes away, so it makes for a rather nice day trip. On the way there we stopped at a surplus store for a few minutes (they're so much more prevalent in the south than they are here!). We made a lunch reservation at Cafe Fina, at the Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey. It had a lovely write-up in Frommer's, and we requested a table by the window to see the sea lions, as the book suggested. Alas, they granted our request and we had an entire floor to ourselves, though the sea lions weren't out. We did, however, get to see a few otters, so that was fun. The food was wonderful - I really recommend the shrimp salad sandwich.

After lunch we walked the rest of Fisherman's Wharf and admired some of the views. Then it was on to Cannery Row, where we found some decent parking and went to the aquarium. It's a very nice aquarium. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time, especially if you want to see any of the demonstrations or the animal feedings.

see the pretty scallops?

tons of sand dollars

great shot (if I do say so myself) of a live barnacle

honeycomb moray eel

Purple-striped jellyfish

black sea nettle

green sea turtle

leafy sea dragon

We stopped at a beach point on the way back so Kyla could touch the Pacific. We also stopped at a roadside produce stand where I picked up some avocados, kiwis, and almonds. We treated Kyla to In-n-Out for dinner, a Western-US fast food place. That night we made it over to the local miniature golf course, which had been decorated for Halloween. I actually won, which is a rare occurrence. Both Kyla and I got two hole-in-ones, though on different holes. This was the same place where I played for my last birthday, but this time we did the other course, so it was still new.

Kyla in Cali, Part 1 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

My sister came out to visit us for 10 days as part of her birthday celebration.

Since I was already in FL, we flew out together to California on a Monday and arrived rather late due to a storm in San Francisco, so we spent Tuesday and Wednesday hanging around the house, showing her local places, and not doing anything too exciting. Well, we did go to the drive-in movies on Wednesday (and stayed for a double feature!), and she enjoyed her first time to one of those.

Thursday, though, was the first day of excitement - she and I spent a few hours at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. I found out it existed last spring, but hadn't been. They actually have the largest collections of Egyptian artifacts in the western US.

the entrance

welcome

Canopic Jar Sarcophagus - it was designed
to hold a jar of the mummy's internal organs

Tahure's mummy. She was about 28 when she died.

Gazelle mummy! Elderly women kept gazelles as pets.

Taweret Figure of limestone.

cat mummy.

Nile catfish mummy. Fish and beef were mummified for
the deceased to "eat" in the afterlife.

baby crocodile mummies, to honor the god Sobek.

That evening we took her for Mediterranean food in downtown Sunnyvale. We particularly love a place called Dish Dash, where we all enjoyed our meals.

Saturday we took the train up to San Francisco to meet up with Jim and have Thai for dinner. Sadly, Kyla didn't enjoy Thai food (and we went to a family-style restaurant, so she was able to try four different dishes) but she thought that the pirate-themed bar (Smuggler's Cove) that we took her to afterward was neat!

Sunday afternoon we took Kyla to a bridal show in San Jose. Since event management is currently the arena in which she wants to enter, plus she enjoys doing work with brides at her current job, I thought she'd like going to a show. I never went to one while I was planning my wedding, so it was interesting for me, too. After she got into it, Kyla had a great time and mentioned it was one of the highlights of the entire trip.

That night we decided to go to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. It actually has quite a history - it's this giant, 150+ room mansion that was constantly under reconstruction for over 30 years. Sarah Winchester believed that the spirits of the men killed by Winchester guns were out to get her, so she kept building onto her home so they couldn't find her. We opted to take the flashlight tour of the house, though I'm sure it's much more spectacular in the daylight! We also went through the "maze" that they had up, which was really a gargantuan haunted house. It took us 15+ minutes to walk through it, and it was VERY well-done. Groups were timed well, the people who popped out were actually pretty scary, and the decorations in each scene were exquisite. Kyla isn't one for too much scary, but a good time was had by all... plus, it started our Halloween festivities!

Monday was pretty low-key, as we had planned to go miniature-golfing but got rained out. Tuesday we spent time at home going over some things for her upcoming college transfer and such.

September 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:00:00 +0000

We flew to Orlando on the 16th and drove to Tallahassee the next day to enjoy the Oklahoma game. It was a fun time even though we lost. We stayed the night with my friend Heather and enjoyed some Tallahassee favorites, like Gumby's pizza.

Amy with Heather

Jonathan and Amy

Band in the stands

Band on the field

Osceola & Renegade

Jonathan took a few meetings but was otherwise headed back to Cali. On the other hand, I spent some extra time in Florida, though I was stuck with a miserable cold for a chunk of the time. I enjoyed some game nights, some frozen yogurt, a belated birthday dinner with my brother, and the ringing in of my sister's 21st birthday. I spent two lovely days catching up with my camp friends and spent the night at Tori's house. Oh, and dentist and doctor appointments, LoL.

August 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

yeah, I know. It's kinda lame to put the bulk of a month into a single post. But, really, we didn't do too much. I got back from LA, Jonathan went from Florida to Las Vegas (for a conference) and then came home. Then he went back to Denver and I started furiously writing to catch up and create new things.

Jonathan graduated from the program that he was part of at work (the one that is the base for our moving around the past few years) and we had a party at our house for everyone. It was nice to see the twelve or so people in the program again, as I hadn't seen some of them since Denver in 2009. Because graduation was on a Thursday, some of Jonathan's colleagues stayed in the area for the weekend and we went up to San Francisco and did fun things.

We had fabulous Thai one night and delicious German the other. I ordered the Gegbratenes halbes Hunchen in Zwiebelsobe mit Reibekuchen (forgive me for not putting in the special characters). Thank goodness there was an English translation... otherwise I would've struggled! Jonathan went with the Wiener Schnitzel special. Everyone at the table shared two "boots" of Radeberger beer, which was pretty good. We shared pretzels, too. The other notable thing about the restaurant was the paper birds that were positioned throughout both rooms... apparently they re-do them a few times a year!

pretzels

taking a turn with the boot

Jonathan's Wiener Schnitzel

my dumpling-stuffed chicken with shallot sauce & potato pancakes

the birds

We also went to some other neat places in the city while we had friends in town, including a speakeasy, a pirate bar, and a trip to the American Grilled Cheese place again.

Amy in Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:35:00 +0000

I got back from Comic-Con very late on Sunday night and had to leave Tuesday morning to drive to Los Angeles. If everything had been planned further in advance and we didn't share a car, I probably would have driven to San Diego and then spent an extra day either there or in LA between events, as they're not too far apart. But alas, that's not how it happened.

If you have been reading TheTalkingBox for a while, you've noticed that there's been a gigantic increase in output this year. I still do 90% of the writing, but in addition to Jonathan we now have a third contributor to the site. While non-recap posts have been rare in the past month, they are returning... it's just extra hectic at the beginning of the television season! Anyway, back to the point... it's my full-time job now, rather than the hobby it started as back in 2008. It had started taking an increasing amount of time, but after several bigger organizations in the field found the blog, I was encouraged to do a lot more. This included heading to the TV Critics Summer Tour in Los Angeles.

It was a two-week event, though I only went for the first five days - I was pretty late to register and was early in the process of figuring out how to do things as a member of the press. Luckily, I knew a few people who live in the LA area and contacted them to try and get an idea of where would be smart to stay (I had never been to Los Angeles). A very old friend of mine (we sat across from one another in 6th grade science class, to give you an idea) offered to let me stay at his apartment, and I gratefully accepted.

Jonathan was in Denver and would be headed to Florida while I was in LA, so I made the drive alone, which actually wasn't bad. I arrived during rush hour but didn't experience too much delay in getting to James' place. The drive was around 6 hours, which wasn't bad... though it was kinda strange to drive through desert for hundreds of miles and then hit mountains so steep that there are multiple signs telling you to turn off your air conditioner! The car was a champ though, and I'm glad.

a view of the road, mountains, sky, and ocean

Without saying too much (it was a private event, after all), I learned a lot and experienced various degrees of encouragement to do what I'm doing. I found out that the digital recorder I brought didn't work anymore (it gets used very rarely), so that left me out of doing individual interviews. I still got tons of stuff that's been feeding posts and articles and will continue to do so. The first three days were for cable networks and then PBS had two days to showcase things. There were events, panels, happy hours, and parties. The commute to the Tour from James' wasn't bad, it took about half an hour in the morning and fifty minutes at night. And those days were LONG. I was there by 8 or 8:30 every morning and didn't leave to head back until after 8pm or later each night. Fortunately, every meal was provided, as well as multiple snacks.

with Lady Macbeth, a bird at the Playboy Mansion

Part of the Playboy Mansion

Hugh Hefner's duplicate star with a Playmate

Synchronized swimming in a rooftop pool

another shot of the swimmers

The first of five courses during Sundance's evening

Second course

Third course

me with the real Elmo puppet, being handled by the talented Kevin Clash

Sadly, I had a totally of about four hours to catch up with James, whom I hadn't seen since Jonathan and I got married. We did get to share a little about what we've been up to and what's new, and I met his girlfriend. She suggested that, if I only had time to do one touristy thing, to head to the Observatory, as it offered some beautiful views and was nearby. I went with it and stopped by on my way out of town. I'm glad I went, and you can see those photos below. I'm also glad that I took 101 back - it was easier and less nerve-wracking as the cities were closer together... less dessert!

the Hollywood sign!

the city in the distance

look at the smog!

Griffith Observatory

San Diego Comic-Con, Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:30:00 +0000

(aren't you guys glad that I take copious notes all the time? How else would I be able to write about an event I went to months ago, LoL?)

I was so beyond tired by Sunday morning that I slept in until about 6:30am, then grabbed some of the free breakfast that our hotel had been offering but we hadn't been able to enjoy. I also took some photos of the view from the hotel room, which I had been meaning to do all week.

I got to the Con and was surprised at the line for my first pick of the day - "Archaia: The Early Works of Jim Henson." We were allowed to sit though, which was nice. The special thing about it was that they were going to discuss and show some of Tale of Sand, a graphic novel that was never finished. There was a ton of background, a lot of great questions, and we were encouraged to take photographs of the various scenes shown to us on screen. They also aired some of Jim Henson's early works, which were brilliant. You may remember that I saw some of his rare masterpieces a couple years ago.

I took the next few hours to explore Exhibition Hall some more, then went to two back-to-back sessions on learning to draw cartoons. I felt that it was a good way to end my first Comic-Con experience. First, they taught Simpsons characters... specifically Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Then, we got Peanuts characters, but the instructor rushed quite a bit there. We learned two stances for Snoopy, two for Charlie Brown, one for Sally, one for Woodstock, and the profile heads for Linus, Schroeder, Violet, and Lucy.

Captain Jack Sparrow... made of Legos

Peanuts heads

I took a long way back to the hotel so that I could see some more of the Gaslamp district. It was an area that I didn't get to last time I was in San Diego (Summer 2007). I got back to the hotel in plenty of time, and was able to catch an earlier shuttle to the airport. I even was also the only one in the van, so it was a nice, quiet ride. We hit no traffic getting there, and security was fairly quick. Shortly after I made it to the gate though, I began to get really tired. I changed into track pants and a sweatshirt and started writing.

I had a nice flight, chatting with the couple next to me who were also at the Con. It was late when I got in, and I had some trouble finding the car (while I was out of town, Jonathan got called to fly to Denver so he left the car at the airport for me), but made it home and fell asleep without much incident.

A few final pictures of the costumes...

from Avatar

the back of the Avatar guy

San Diego Comic-Con, Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:30:00 +0000

By Saturday I knew what was going on and had a good idea of how things were done. Still, I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what time to head out in the morning. I knew that I was going for Ballroom 20, one of the largest rooms... and the longest lines. I knew that I'd be in there for at least 4 hours, but I'd see five panels. I ended up getting to Comic-Con about 7:05am, but that ended up not being a problem, since I still had a good place in my line.

On the way to the Con I stopped and took some photos of the
South Park area that hadn't opened for the day yet.

So good a place, actually, that I got in for the first panel of the day - Chuck at 10 o'clock. I got my t-shirt and took a few notes, but since I wasn't familiar with the show, I didn't understand the clips or jokes. Then, at 11am, the Terra Nova panel began. It was one of the most highly anticipated events of the conference, and I had a great seat. The panel was only to be one hour, but they started with 54 minutes of the two-hour pilot. It was amazing, though by now I'm sure you've seen it if you cared to. They ran over by allowing a half-dozen or so questions, which didn't really shed much more light on the new show.

the start of the drawing smackdown

The next four panels were all animated, FOX shows. Futurama, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad were all decent panels, though some were better than others. Futurama treated us to a clip from the season finale. It ended with a "drawing smackdown" of Matt Groening and Peter, the guy who normally draws Bender, both drawing Bender. Matt was using his left hand as a bit of a handicap, and still busted out like six sketches in the time it took Peter to draw one. They were given to audience members who were dressed as Futurama characters, which was cool.

I sat next to a Zoidberg look-alike

The Simpsons panel gave us some short clips, shared some guests for the new season, and then took a TON of questions. The best part about it, though, was that Matt Groening gave away a Simpsons toy or collectible to each person who asked a question AND he tried to theme it to the question or to their outfit. I just thought that was really a step above and beyond. Family Guy talked about some upcoming plots, showed some clips, and took some questions. American Dad gave us a pretty full episode, then took questions.

I got out around 3pm and headed back to the hotel to rest and write for a couple of hours before coming back for the big evening event, the annual Masquerade. It's the formal costume contest. I also said goodbye to Kelly, who was headed to her friend's for the night and then back to Oklahoma. I stopped to get Quizno's on the way to Masquerade, which was great. I had a very difficult time entering the building for it, as only one entrance was open but nobody could give clear instructions. Once inside, however, I found a room to watch pretty easily (I didn't get tickets to the actual event so was watching it simulcast) and enjoyed my dinner as the event went on. It was shorter than I expected, and several comments were made about how there were fewer entries than normal because of how difficult tickets had been to obtain.Afterward, I tried the shuttle, which worked out pretty well but not something I'd rely upon. Anyway, here are some photos.

the announcers

Clone Wars Season 4 Wolfpack Clone Trooper

Spiderman

Mad Hatter

Brak-est Night

Hypnotoad

Ugly Stepsisters - Drizella & Anastasia

San Diego Comic-Con, Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:00:00 +0000

I promise we're going to get caught up, folks. I'm embarassed to say I'm still talking about July when next week it'll be November! But, almost nothing happened in August or September, so that should be like 1 post, LoL.

Friday I started off by getting in line for the 2012 pre-registration. I was in line by 6:30am and was told that I was 100+ people past the point of "guaranteed registration." That was a bit frustrating, but I decided to stick it out. I made small talk with the guy next to me while texting Kelly (who was in line for Hall H). They scrunched us up and moved us a bit. Eventually they herded us toward the building and gave out our tickets as we entered. We were put into corrals (4 lines per corral) by 7:30am and it was announced that, if we were inside, we would be guaranteed the opportunity to buy tickets for all four days next year. There were three ways to purchase tickets, and those of us in my area (there were only 6 lines or so behind us, and 60+ in front of us) quickly accepted that we'd probably have to get the days individually, but at least we'd get them. Turned out, Saturday morning folks had to be there before 6am to get in, and hundreds camped out overnight by Sunday's sales, so I was glad I hit it on Friday. We sat for two and a half hours before movement even looked possible, but like every line, once it got going, you flew through the rest of the process. I did have to buy the tickets individually for each day, but I was able to do it, and Jonathan is excited to be joining me next year, as I got tickets for him as well.

I then made my way to Exhibition Hall, where thousands of booths display art, comic books, figurines, accessories, apparel, and all sorts of pop culture stuff. TV networks, movie studios, individual shows, all sorts of people had booths. I spent an hour and a half or so exploring before I headed out.

that's right, a comic about tofu

a giant Batman made of Legos

A look into Exhibition Hall

Two different DeLoreans graced the floor

of course you have to have a photo of a comic book stand!

there was a guy drawing on this car constantly! what a neat idea!

I got in line for my most-desired panel of the day: Falling Skies in 6BCF. The line was long, but I had over 2 hours to go, so I felt confident. That was, until the workers made it clear that the line for this particular room had never before been this long... they ran out of space at the end. I started chatting with the girl behind me, since it turned out she was also hoping to see the same panel I was. This line was very stop-and-go for twenty minutes or so, and we moved from sun to shade to sun again. We stopped for a while and each brought out our lunches - cereal and an apple! We laughed about our common interests and the other things we were excited about at the Con. We got to the sign that announced there were 2000 people in front of us. We made it to the 1500-person sign. And then, strangely, the line took off! We made it all the way inside to the room and were seated a full panel before the one we wanted, so that was pretty cool.

We sat through a panel for Green Lantern: The Animated Series panel, which was interrupted when Conan O'Brien showed up as a surprise guest. I didn't care too much. It was fun, but not amazing. But, then the panel I longed for came to life...

Falling Skies had tons of cast members there and I had a great time hearing them talk about the show, seeing some upcoming clips, and receiving a ticket that I would later turn in for a zip-up hooded sweatshirt, that has now become one of my favorites. The actors talked about their favorite episodes and we learned about what'll be coming in the second season (next summer).

I made the decision to stay in that room, since a major interest of mine in the evening was the 7pm panel in that same room. So, I saw a thing for Marvel TV: Anime on G4, which was actually pretty interesting. We got a few great clips for stuff that hadn't even premiered yet, but I would have preferred different clips overall. Then, there was a panel on Spartacus: Vengeance, which I didn't even take notes on. Instead, I pulled out my computer and wrote for an hour, getting some stuff up and posted and whatnot. My final panel of the day was Teching out with NCIS: LA, which was, sadly, a letdown. They began with a nice video that included many of the gadgets used on the show. They told some stories about how they come up with the things they use, and what was real. I particularly enjoyed one tale about how Lockheed is a consultant for the show.

I am honestly not 100% sure what I did after that, though I'm fairly positive that I made my way back to the hotel, stopping for Wendy's on the way.

And, I'll end with a few more Costume Pics.

Ice Climibers! from the NES game!

Cheetara and Snarf from the original ThunderCats

Where I Was & What I Thought on September 11th, 2001

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Although school starts for many people across the United States after Labor Day, it started in mid-August where I went to high school. So, rather than being a week into a new school year, we were already fully underway. I was a senior in high school on September 11^th. But I was going to a school that I had started in the sixth grade, and the majority of my classmates had done the same. There were only 167 in my graduating class, but I really only interacted with the other 50 or so IB students in my grade. Of the seven courses I was taking, I only had two unfamiliar teachers, as IB kids tended to have the “best” teachers year after year. So, as you could imagine, with no new students and only two new teachers, the year wasn’t all that “new,” as opposed to just a continuation of the previous June.

Back to the morning of 9/11. I woke up and caught the bus like I always did. I went to my first period class, Orchestra, like I had every morning of my high school career. For us seniors, we were still a bit hostile over the change in direction after six years under a tough-as-nails teacher, who had left in an education scandal of sorts over the summer. The new guy wasn’t a bad teacher, he just didn’t have a lot of respect from the senior class. In retrospect, we gave him a much harder time than he deserved, for much longer than was necessary. After Orchestra I went to History of the Americas, where I couldn’t tell you what we learned that day (and I would’ve looked it up, but my HS notes are thousands of miles away at the moment), but later in the day I was very sorry that I had had history before the attacks. After history was Spanish IV, and that’s when everything changed.

It was a fairly “easy” day in Spanish. We were doing some sort of partner/group work, just practicing conversational Spanish. Out of nowhere, the art teacher from next door opened the door and took a step in. “Kim, turn on the TV,” she said, referring to our teacher by her first name. Of course, this stirred all of us and we craned our necks as the television was turned on… seconds later the second tower was hit. Chills spread throughout the room as we got goosebumps and our jaws dropped. We weren’t sure what was going on. The television stayed on as concern began to rise. Our eyes were glued to the screen as the minutes ticked by. We tried to get a little work done. We didn’t know if this was a planned attack or some sort of freak accident… but two planes hitting one building seemed awfully strange.

When class was over there seemed to be some confusion over whether or not we’d be switching classes that day. After a few teachers poked their heads out into the halls and saw some students had already been released, we were let go, too. I caught up with Jonathan in the hallway and headed to Calculus. He had been in that history class I mentioned earlier – and had a slightly better grasp of what happened. At this point, the main concern was that there would be more attacks… who knew how many planes had been compromised. When we arrived, we were begging the teacher to turn on the news. A Navy man, he was unaware that anything had happened, and thought we were pulling his leg. Despite the pleas of us and our classmates, he demanded that we settle down and began doing something with limits and derivatives again. It was one of the longest hours of my life.

On the way to lunch we talked with others, who had been watching the news for the past hour. Between their reports and the televisions that were on when we entered the cafeteria (they did not remain on), we were brought up to speed. It turned out, the Pentagon had been hit, too. And another plane (later it was determined that it was aimed for somewhere in Washington, DC – likely the White House) crashed into the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. At that point, concern elevated to fear. There had been other attacks. This was not some sort of extreme coincidence. By this point the towers had collapsed as well. We knew thousands would be dead. We knew this would be an important day. And it wasn’t over.

At 17, my entire life was in front of me. I had decided upon what I would major just three months earlier, and I was looking forward to a year filled with hard work, memories, and promise. I wasn’t all that worried that anything would happen to our area… after all, I grew up in a boring city that is not known to many outside the state, and there still isn’t a mall in the county. But at the same time, who knew what would change to preserve safety everywhere? Would the luxury of freedom that I was just beginning to understand and enjoy be destroyed?

An announcement was made over that all extracurricular activities for that afternoon had been cancelled. No practices or games or meetings of any kind, county-wide. With that, fear turned to panic for some. I don’t remember if the cafeteria as a whole was louder or quieter that day. And, honestly, those at my lunch table (myself included) were more concerned about the workload for the week. I got up and asked the IB Coordinator if that afternoon’s “field trip” would take place as planned. It was. See, as part of our Biology III coursework, we did labs out at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute once a month or so. We took two periods (in a rather complicated way, biology was back-to-back with Theory of Knowledge for all IB kids, so these two periods were often treated as a larger block for either course) and rode buses out there to do an hour or so of laboratory work. The fact that the school board had more or less shut down everything yet we were still going to Harbor Branch enraged some of my classmates. “God forbid the IB kids stop working” was the mantra heard throughout the lunchroom. I don’t know if it bothered me at all, really. If we didn’t go that day, we’d have to make it up later. And, since the 4^th & 5^th block went, it made sense that our 6^th& 7^th block would go, too.

Honestly, the events of the day get a bit hazy after that. Obviously we went to English after lunch, but I don’t remember that period at all. Again, if I had my notes from that day, I could tell you, LoL. And I remember sitting on the bus headed to HBOI, talking about the morning’s events, but I don’t remember anything else. Later, on the bus ride home, everyone was talking about the various teachers’ reactions. The younger kids (remember, it’s a 6-12 school) were quieter, but still talked about who let you watch TV and who didn’t. We speculated over whether “it” was over, or if more was to come. I got home and my sister was with my grandparents watching TV; they took her home with them after a Grandparents Day event at her school.

I can’t say that I watched the news that night. As per my usual, I did my homework. I think I worked on my extended essay (another IB-specific requirement, this time a 4,000 word research paper). I practiced my violin. I went to bed that night not worrying. I woke up the next day and went to school, unafraid. When I got to second period, several of us were dying to hear what our history teacher made of the previous day’s events. I can’t say now that I remember anything he said, but I know I would have written it down. That afternoon, I started to question what had happened. My sister, a fifth-grader, had received a homework assignment she was supposed to complete with the help of newspapers and television news. My mom struggled to help her with it, and I had no idea of the answers, either. The second or third question was something like “who is responsible for the attacks?” Well, this was only the day after it happened… this information wasn’t known yet! I was just as clueless, and immediately started arguing about the other questions on the assignment – while I supported “current events” homework as much as the next person, I thought that some of the questions on there were just absurd… the facts just weren’t clear yet. 9/11 went on to influence her classroom for weeks – she told me that the television was on in the background constantly, and they spent weeks clarifying 9/11 and other issues. Meanwhile, at my school, I learned that one boy lost his mother because of the hijacking and attacks. I didn’t know him (I think he was a freshman, maybe a sophomore), and he was out of school for a while. When he returned, I remember people not knowing what to say to him anymore. I don’t remember ever speaking a word to him (our paths did not often cross), though I smiled once. I want to say his mom had been a nurse and was a passenger on one of the planes, but I’m not sure anymore.

That’s the last thing I remember about my personal history with 9/11 ten years ago. I don’t recall when things started to come together. I don’t remember talking much about it for the next year. I don’t remember it directly affecting anything I did or thought. I turned 18 and registered to vote and took college tours. I took a ski trip to West Virginia with the youth group, saw a few concerts, and went to Busch Gardens with my friends. I took weeks of exams (literally. IB does that!) and went to Prom and graduated. I went away to college (six hours from my hometown) and started classes. And then, before I knew it, the first anniversary of 9/11 took place. There was a candlelight march through part of campus, and a friend and I went. Hundreds of people talked to one another about where they were and what changed for them and who they knew had died. I listened as a few students shared that they had chosen a state school because of 9/11 – they had originally intended to focus on more Ivy League universities. It was at that point that I think I first realized how much had changed because of those attacks, though it took several more years for me to realize how fortunate I was to have not been directly affected by the tragedies that day. Today, as I think about how ten years have passed and everything that has changed (flying is not as simple as it was in 2000, for starters), I’m thankful for all of the efforts that have been put forth to keep America free and safe and grand. I’m glad that I live here, and that I’ve been fortunate enough to travel our country often. Last year, Jonathan and I visited Ground Zero, and that really brought everything together for me… to stand near where those towers once stood… it just begs you to reconsider the world as you know it

San Diego Comic-Con, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:29:00 +0000

Thursday was full of big panels and plenty of celebrities. Bruce Campbell was first, then talent from Covert Affairs, Psych, Game of Thrones, and Ringer. Last in that room was a bunch of "fan favorite" actors, which included a dozen or so stars. We heard a bunch of news and spoilers, saw some footage (both old and new), and received tickets from several panels which we traded later for exclusive swag. Covert Affairs and Psych gave t-shirts, but Ringer gave folding stools and Game of Thrones gave bags, mousepads, t-shirts, AND the first book of the series in paperback!

Bruce Campbell

Live Performance of the Psych theme song

Game of Thrones cast

zoom-in on some of the Game of Thrones cast

George R. R. Martin, the author of the books upon which Game of Thrones is based

After sitting in Ballroom 20 for the bulk of the day, I moved to another room (only having to wait in line for 20-30 minutes) to see a panel on Comic Books that I enjoyed quite a bit. It focused specifically on X-Men, which is a series I really enjoy.

That panel ran a little long, but since it was that last one in that room for the day, it kind of made sense in a way. I headed to an off-site event that wasn't far away, and proceeded to find a nice patch of grass to sit on to wait. KA, one of the Cirque du Soleil shows, was promoting the show by featuring part of it. It was on an outer wall of Petco Park (where the Padres play), and the idea was that there would be a choreographed fight scene set to music, which takes place in a vertical setting of sorts. I was really excited to see it, but sitting on the grass for 90 minutes wasn't worth the five-minute performance. It wouldn't have been so bad, except the grass that hundreds of us were sitting on hadn't had the sprinklers go off while we were waiting! Not only did I lose my "primo spot," but I was working on my laptop when it happened. I was astounded by how friendly and helpful those around me were, as when I dived over my laptop and started shoving stuff into my bag, two guys blocked the nearest sprinklers to help me out and another returned my camera after I moved and dropped it in the shuffle. No damage done, but it could have been loads worse.

The wall had a countdown after a while, since we thought the show would start around 8, and it didn't until about 9:30.

the battle begins

only two "fighters" were real, the rest were CGI

I made my way back to the hotel after that, and spent a couple hours writing some articles before eating my leftovers, showering, and hitting the hay.

Let's cap off the day with some more photos of costumed fans, including Snape from Harry Potter, the group of kids on South Park, and a guy promoting Shark Week.

Snape

Shark Week guy

South Park characters

some Superheros

Ratatouille

San Diego Comic-Con, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:20:00 +0000

So I'll be covering Comic-Con more thoroughly on the television blog, but there were some things that are more appropriate to put here. Basically, I'm going to cover a little bit of background and some information about what I saw and did and whatnot. If you want details about what I heard and learned and received, check the other site, it'll be quite a few posts over there.

First off, what is Comic-Con? It's a gigantic (read: 120,000 attendees) convention that takes place once a year in San Diego. It started out particularly to cover comics, but is now a popular culture mecca of sorts. I've kinda wanted to go for a few years now, but it's not cheap (the convention itself is reasonable, but because of the giant influx of people, hotels are all really high, plus travel and food and whatnot), and I didn't want to go alone. So, when my friend Kelly (who is the sister of one of the first friends I made in college - Katie) announced that she wanted to go, the plan started to be set in motion.

Long story short (and really, it IS a long story), we secured tickets and booked a "reasonable" (read: subjectively reasonable, given the other prices) hotel about a mile from the event. If Jonathan and I had two cars out here, I might have driven to San Diego, though I ended up getting a decent price on airline tickets. Amazingly, our flights got into San Diego about ten minutes apart, so it was easy to find each other. Kelly had a friend who lived in San Diego who picked us up at the airport and helped us run a few errands on our way to check-in at the hotel.

Two big things about Comic-Con: you don't leave a room once you're in (the lines to get in are thousands of people long), and food is very expensive (like $4 cookies from a Mrs. Fields kiosk). So, we both stocked up on snacks at the grocery store, which we packed in our backpacks each day. They were lifesavers!

I had originally planned a little sightseeing on Wednesday (Jonathan and I visited San Diego in 2008 and hit the major sights then), but that got scrapped. I had looked up a great place to eat in Little Italy and got take-out: a delicious, fairly-priced dish of chicken parmigiana with bread. Aside from that, Wednesday was hanging out, blogging, and preparing.

Thursday started out early; we left the hotel a couple minutes after 6am, walking to the Convention Center. Several thousand people were already in front of us in line to pick-up registration badges. We started snapping photos of the costumes and the excitement. We sat on the concrete as hundreds of people walked by, heading for the end of the line. About 90 minutes later, we started moving... and kept moving. We weren't sure what was happening, but the line just kept going, and as we picked up the pace and turned corners, we could see the building. And then the doors. And then we were entering the Convention Center. Volunteers and workers barked out orders to close gaps in the line and have our vouchers and IDs available. We assumed the line would stop again at some point, but it didn't. We rode up an escalator, kept moving, and we were in registration before we knew it. Badge pick-up was very quick, and we then split ways.

Kelly dashed off to get into the line for her preferred room of the day (Ballroom 20), and I headed to get into the line for 2012 pre-registration (after what we went through to get 2011 tickets, I wanted to ensure 2012 tickets). Unfortunately, the line was over a mile long, and I actually got to the end and waited about 15 minutes before realizing there was no chance I'd make it to the front by the 11am closing time. So, I moved on and headed to my first room of the day. I was planning on a lower-key panel, so there were only about ten people in front of me in line. I took the opportunity to whip out my laptop and write a bit, plus charge my phone. I was still a bit overwhelmed by the whole experience, and when Kelly texted to let me know there were only a thousand people in front of her, I ended up packing up and started making my way over to join her in line. I quickly learned that you can't get where you want to go via the shortest means possible, and had to backtrack to get to Kelly, as her line started moving. We were soon inside Ballroom 20 and Comic-Con became real.

Back to Denver, Part 2 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Amy K. Bredemeyer) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:14:00 +0000

I went back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby for a couple of hours until Jonathan arrived.

We didn't do anything too special during the week, as Jonathan worked long hours and I had more than enough to work on. Plus, we saw a lot of the Denver sights two years ago (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4). We did have dinner with his colleagues twice, and we spent some time shopping at the stores nearby. It was only a mile to "stuff" so I didn't have a problem walking to get myself some lunch on the days that I didn't have leftovers. I even managed to snag a deal on a pair of running shoes, which I've been needing to replace for a while now. (and time was of the essence since I was about to go to San Diego for a lot of walking, but more on that another day...) Here are a couple images of a gorgeous sunset we saw in the Mile High City.

Thursday night we went to see the new Harry Potter film at midnight, which was a very strange experience. We had pre-purchased our tickets online more than a week before, and when we arrived at the theater we found the parking to be atrocious! We agreed that we had never parked so far away to see a movie before! We got seated in our theater about an hour before the movie began, and there were several people up dancing to "Thriller," which caught us by surprise. I was also weirded out by how many people felt it was okay to wear a graduation gown as a Hogwarts robe, with little or no other accessories. I feel like that shouldn't count.

Friday we requested a late check-out which allowed me to stay in the room until 2pm while Jonathan worked. Then I moved to the lobby for a couple hours, until Jonathan left the office for the day. We had originally intended to meet a friend from high school for happy hour, but he was thrown a project at the last minute and would be delayed for at least half an hour, which was the bulk of the time we had set aside to see him. Oh well, I guess we'll catch Tym next time! (we also didn't have time to connect with any of our other friends in Denver, so don't feel bad, friends!)

We stopped by a Chick-Fil-A on our way to the airport so we could have some poultry deliciousness one last time (we don't have any within 50 miles!) for a while. Then, onward to the airport. As I mentioned last time, Jonathan and I booked our trips separately, so we were on different airlines on flights leaving about an hour apart. I was on Southwest so I checked both our bags (yet another reason Southwest rocks!) and went to wait at my gate (Jonathan was in a different terminal so we parted ways soon after dropping the rental car). We texted back and forth about how ominous the clouds looked, as we worried about our flights being delayed and whatnot. His took off on time, but by the time it was time for me to board, there was lightning within five miles of the airport, which put us on a temporary delay. They went ahead and boarded us, and we took off within 15 minutes of our scheduled departure, through some of the darkest clouds I'd ever seen. By the time I landed Jonathan had staked out a spot across from my gate so we reconnected quickly, grabbed the bags from carousel, and were off toward home!