Random Summer Thoughts and Updates

I have been out of the loop recently, and realized that my last post was when Ashley was One, almost 5 months ago.  Here is the quick rundown of what has been happening since.

We have had a trips to Colorado, South Carolina, and Goshen, Virginia.  I have studied for and taken two CPA tests, and am just starting to study for number 3 of 4 in total that I hope to pass by the middle of next year.

Ashley has grown up to be quite a little kid, she is walking all over the place and has a few words, and lots of cute actions, including dancing, jumping and sign language signs.  She has definitely kept us smiling and also busy.

We also moved (just about a mile away), into a bigger space, so Ashley now has her own room, and we have a place to store some of our excess things.  It has been really good, and we like being back in fairlington, and like that it is still close to our friends and church and walkable to many places.

Random thoughts

I saw a guy riding a double-decker bike the other day.  Double-decker mind you, not a tandem, this guy also apparently had some welding skills, since he had one bike welded on top of another, and was about 6 feet up in the air, and going fast I might add.  I hope to see him again on the trails to get a better look.

I for one are thankful that cash for clunkers is over (and maybe I should have titled this section as my complaints).  One of the reasons for this was to make more fuel efficient cars on the roads, theoretically to use less energy and be better for the environment, however, when we think about the number of cars that were sold because of this plan, i cannot help but to wonder how much energy and “fuel” if you will that went in to making these cars, and then all of the landfill space that will be used disposing of these clunkers.  Its frustrating, since it seems like policy is being driven by what is good for the economy and business instead of the environment, but we are being told that its a green initiative.  And now, it seems like they want to do it for washing machines.

PC

 

Ashley is One!

We cannot believe that Ashley is now one. We had a great time celebrating in the park and enjoying the great weather. Ashley even had a few friends come to join her for the party. Here she is climbing on the playground. While not quite comfortable with walking on her own she still crawls fast and smiles when she is on the move.

As you can imagine, everyone was anticipating the cake eating portion of the afternoon. Ashley made a mess and enjoyed playing in her own cupcake. One great moment during her first cupcake experience, someone said the word “share” and she happily offered her full handful of the frosting /cupcake mess. We are happy that she knows the word share, but no one took her up on that specific offer.

Last picture is what Ashley’s first birthday cupcakes looked like before being “patiently” and “neatly” consumed.   Everyone was impressed with and happy to eat Kara’s cupcakes.

Thanks to all of our friends for celebrating with us.

 

Electronic Recycling – need your help!

Give me a second to climb up on the soap box.

The last few weeks i have been fired up about recycling of electronics and computer equipment.  It was at first discouraging since I heard these awful stories of kids in china with high lead levels because american companies were shipping computer equipment and basically dumping it in china, causing an environmental mess and also causing health problems for kids (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2008-12-29-environmental-toxic-waste-watchdogs_n.htm).

But, i found some resources for everyone if they need to get rid of any kind of electronics, and not just for individuals, businesses too, which is great.

One point I would like to make.  Yes, recycling takes a little effort and yes (gasp…) maybe a little bit of economic expense, but my opinion is that that minor cost is so much smaller than the future cost to our health, our childrens health and our world community.  Please consider recycling and making a little extra effort for a worthy cause, instead of taking the “easy” way out and putting yourself before the poor children in China and Africa.

See the links below for organizations in Virginia and many other states:

http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/EnvironmentalServices/swd/EnvironmentalServicesSwdOtherMat.aspx#comp

http://www.mygreenelectronics.org/

http://www.electronicsrecycling.org/Public/default.aspx

http://www.pcrecycler.net/

http://www.ourpeoplework.org/content.asp?contentid=381

http://www.eiae.org/

http://www.turtlewings.com/

 

Ashley’s chair

Don’t call us cheap, see how we even splurge to make sure that Ashley gets her very own chair.

She has been a good sport this week and very smiley.  I missed both Ashley and Megan this week as I was away for one whole night at a training.  Meanwhile, they took a trip of their own down to North Carolina.  While i was learning more about finance, Megan was helping her friend with some wedding planning.

Besides our travels this week, we have been talking a lot about our future decisions.  Nothing was decided, just discussing future housing, future work, future family questions.  As a person who wants to have gaurantee of all the right answers these conversations can sometimes be overwhelming, but so far, its been good.  What we did decide was that we will go ahead and keep Ashley for a while longer (maybe 18 years).  However, I have mentioned this before, but as parents we find ourselves helping Ashley to grow up, but at the same time we like the way she is now.  A fellow father in my office summed it up this way speaking about his daughter “[now that she is 8 years old], I don’t want her to keep growing up”

Today we are off to run a few errands and get some needed household items, hope everyone is doing great.

 

October 2008

I just realized that November is right around the corner and then i realized that the year 2009 is a quick follower.  Seriously, it seems like 2008 is still all shiny and new, what happened…  Then i realize that Ashley just turned 6 months old, and i think “wait, she is new for us in 2008″ and it is like i cannot really remember anything before Ashley.  I mean, i assume we ate and saw movies and had friends, but its just all fuzzy.

However Ashley and our family had a great occasion this past weekend.  She was baptized, and we were able to celebrate her and mark for her a direction to follow, that as she grows that she would see and know her heavenly Father and know the saving Grace of Jesus.  We had a great ceremony and celebration and are surrounded by those who will be praying for Ashly and Ashley’s parents.

Also, we are celebrating that my brother Paul is now in town.  We are glad to have him here, and look forward to seeing him on a regular basis.  My parents came up with Paul to help him move and find a place and were able to stay for a while and be there for Ashley’s baptism.  We were glad to have them around, and glad that they left Paul with us.