The Most Wonderful Time...

...of the year!  I always enjoy the last quarter of the year.  I love Fall weather, Thanksgiving, Christmas, seeing old friends, spending time with family, the start of the basketball season, time off from school and work.  It almost seems unfair that there's so much good stuff packed into such a short amount of time.  Thanksgiving was great with the typical potluck with family friends.  I felt really old this time around though.  I think I was the oldest "kid" there by a good 4 years and found myself yawning and tired at 11PM while everyone else was still full of energy.  I also had my first out of town visitor at the house!  I really need more decorations and stuff to make it more homey.  Any tips?  If it was up to me, the walls would be full of Mavs and car posters...hmmm.  I'll try and spruce it up a little more before I get more visitors = )

So what else have I been up to?  This semester has been pretty easy in terms of schoolwork.  I find myself kind of bored some nights.  Noah and I have been playing a lot of Ping Pong lately.  I think its our way of coping with the loss of tennis due to the cold weather.  But I can only play Ping Pong for so long so I have committed to finally buying a guitar.  I think I've probably been talking about it for a good 3 years now.  But here it is in writing, I swear I will get a guitar this month.  Any suggestions?  I also want to pick up the violin again.  Rumor has it that they want a friend and me to play during worship at church.  Wait 'til they hear me play!  I might have to fake it like I did during HS orchestra...hehe.  I guess that's why I sat on the inside the turned the pages = )  Aww orchestra...

Work has been pretty good.  It's getting busier and busier now that I've been in the position a few months.  Deere had a record year for fiscal year 2004 so they're finally doing a lot of renovations to the office and factory.  I think the office furniture is really from the 1950's...no joke!  Also my chair is falling apart.  Little plastic pieces break off from the caster wheels every day.  I'm just waiting for the chair to collapse!  I think corporate culture is so funny sometimes.  The board of directors was visiting Dubuque earlier this week so there were huge preparations for their visit.  The floors were waxed, they put a big display of 10 machines out on our front lawn, put up John Deere flags along the entrance and road, and closed off a set of newly renovated bathrooms!  Thats right, they closed bathrooms for these guys!  We get this email telling us not to use them!  It was really weird...they quarantined them from the rest of the normal employees.  My coworker, who's desk is right by one of those bathrooms, had to walk upstairs into my area everytime he needed to go.  Haha...it was kinda funny.  One of our board of directors is the CEO of BMW.  Mmmm....BMW.....

In other news, the ILLINI rock!!!   Did anyone else see the men's basketball team absolutely annihilate Wake Forest last night?!  They were up by 32 points at one point!  Wake Forest was supposed to be the #1 team in the nation.  Can you say OVERRATED?!  The Illini are #3 now but I'm positive that we'll soon be #1.  I-L-L....

Tonight my friend Dave from undergrad will be in town for an interview at Deere tomorrow!  I'm actually his host so I'll be picking him up early tomorrow morning from the hotel for breakfast and taking him Deere.  I also get to leave early to take him back to the hotel.  Score!  It'd be awesome if he gets a position here.  He'd about double the Asian population here!  Hehe, I can't wait until the next census!

Alright, well, hope this update satisfies those faithful fans that still check my Xanga.  If anyone is free the weekend of Dec. 17th, there is talk of a group of people visiting Dubuque for skiing and other fun stuff.  Let me know if you're interested!  Hope everyone is doing well! 

Finally!

Today I finally closed on the house!!  Now the joys of landscaping, interior decorating, mowing yards, and shoveling driveways can begin = )  But first, a quick trip to good ol' U of I to interview people.  Hope you are all doing well!  Come visit Dubuque!  There's much to offer in terms of skiing, gambling, outdoor activities, and general Iowa-ness.  Hehe...take care everyone!

That was fast...

Can anyone believe that it is almost October already??  Where does the time go?? So what have I been up to since my last update....almost a month and a half ago?  Let's start with work since that takes up the majority of my time...

So if you've been paying attention, you know I've been working in the backhoe powertrain design group.  I'll say I've probably enjoyed working with this group the most since they're quite the cast of characters.  Things are very informal and friendly, but stuff still gets done..its cool.  I've been  designing parts for what we call "mule" machines.  We test components for the next model on current production machines...hence the name "mule" (we're a clever bunch eh?).  This boils down to a lot of Pro/E (luckily I TAed that class that taught this!) and making simple parts.  In a geeky way, its neat to see a part you created on the computer installed and working out on a machine.  Hopefully it doesn't break!  How embarassing would that be??  Anyways, along the way, I've found a permanent position that is effective Oct. 1.  I will officially be a design engineer for the skidsteers powertrain group working on engine applications, engine trim, axles, and chains.  So I'll be responsible for the engine, things that attached to the engine (air cleaner, muffler, turbo, alternator, etc...), and stuff that connects the wheels to the motors.  Ahh!  It's kinda overwhelming at this point but I'm looking forward to the challenge.  The engine isn't really that important...right??    Here's a picture of a skidsteer to refresh your memory:

Aren't they adorable???  I just wanna put them in my pocket (like Earl Boykins...haha!)

So how about stuff outside work you ask?  Well, I decided to make a concerted effort to get involved at church so I am now teaching Sunday school to a group of high school kids.  My first class is Oct. 17th and we're going over 2nd Corinthians.  There's a group of us so you actually only need to teach every now and then, but its nice because you kinda get a double dose of the passage.  More Bible study is always a good thing!  I've also been trying to get to know people better.  It's been great and I think I'm finally starting to get comfortable and not question my decision on picking the church.  Another bit of exciting news is that this church is planning on planting a church in Dubuque!!  I go to a church in Galena, IL that is about 20 min. away.  There are a good number of Dubuquers that go so our associate pastor felt led to try and plant a church in Dubuque.  It passed the congregational vote and voila, a new church is planned to be planted in Sept. of 2005.  I think this is an answer to my prayers.  I really wanted to feel like and become a part of a congregation and this situation is optimal for getting involved and getting to know poepel since the group that will be involved in the plant is so small.  I've never been involved in something like this...I'm definitely excited.  It's gonna be a real test of faith though, and I hope that I can serve with joy and obedience...more of God, less of me.

Lastly, the other big thing thats been going on is the building of my house.  Fromt he last poll, I decided to go with choice #1 for the brick (it won by 4 or 5 votes).  Thanks for everyone who voted!  The house is coming along really fast!!  The picture below is from July 28th when they first dug the basement.

Now below is on August 17th when they first started the woodwork:

And this final picture is on August 23rd.  Its incredible how fast they work!

It is essentially finished being framed.  The house is almost complete now.  The outside is done and they started installing the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms today.  The hardwood floors and tile are all laid as well and the electrical guys are starting to install light fixtures tomorrow.  The yard is being graded tomorrow as well.  All in all, the contractor predicts that it should be complete in a few weeks and my closing date is on October 20th.  Honestly though, the whole process has been quite the roller coaster!!  It's taught me a lot about finances, dealing with people, being assertive, mortgages, and a lot about myself.  If anything, I've learned that I'm not as grown up, mature, and patient as I think I am or was.  I'd find myself, sometimes, just so frusturated with how much I didn't know that I just wanted my parents to do it all for me.  Or I'd develop an attitude with my parents and revert back to a high schooler (no offense to any HSers reading this..haha).  Also, its shown me how much of an idol money can be to me.  Things will be pretty tight during this first year of owning a home and I find myself worrying a lot about it, developing the wrong attitude towards it.  The whole, "I earned this...I deserve this" instead of viewing it as a blessing and gift that God has given to me.  As always, it comes back to God.  Sometimes when I step back and think about it, I'm ashamed and embarassed at how I cling to money...man.  Its something I've been praying about and could use prayer on if you got any to spare = )   Well, anyways, there are plenty more pictures of the house that I'll post later.  Or...maybe you'll just have to come see for yourself!

Last note, I'll be headed down to good ol' U of I Oct. 4th in the afternoon and staying until the evening of Oct. 5th for a job fair.  Also, I'll be back Oct. 20 and 21 to be a big bad interviewer.  Hope to see all of you who are still there!  Have a great week everyone!

Help a (color) blind man see!

Hello hello, I'm in need of some assistance!  I need to begin choosing stuff for the house.  It's coming along quite quickly actually.  The expected move-in date is late October = )  Anyways, I'm picking out brick and a combination of my indecisiveness and color blindness translates into quite a predicament.  Posted below are 4 choices of brick color that I'm considering.  You should be impressed that I narrowed it down to 4!!  Please just look at the color of the brick.  These are pretty nice houses in the area and will not be representative of what my house will look like.  I will have white windows and still have to choose my siding and roof colors, so keep that in mind.  Ok, thanks for you help!!  IM me at JL3323 if you can't post comments.  Thanks again!!

BTW, classes ended last week and start again on the 25th.  In the meanwhile, I've been trying to play a lot of bball and watching the Olympics.  I'm hooked...GO USA!!!

Choice #1

Choice #2

Choice #3

Choice #4

Currently Playing She Will Be Loved By Maroon 5 see related

Finals Week

So what's worse than finals week?  Finals week in the summer while working!!    I have a final tomorrow, Friday, and next Thurs.  I definitely can't wait until this is over.  This is my last semester of 8-9 credit hours and then its a more reasonable courseload of 4-5 credit hours.  Anticipated graduation date?  Aug '05...cross your fingers!  This reminds me of those two semesters back to back in college when I was taking 18 hrs...that sucked too. 

In other news, today marked my 1 year service anniversary at John Deere!  No streamers or noise makers at work today unfortunately.  I can't believe it's been a year already.  I wonder when it's going to hit me that this isn't temporary?  I still feel like more of a student than a corporate employee.  Some people cautioned me that today is a big deal and that it'd finally sink in.  Well, it's 12:25, I'm about to sleep and I still feel the same (or maybe a little more stressed than usual).  Maybe it's because I'm still in this rotational program that lacks the feel of permanancy?  Maybe it's because I'm still taking courses, still doing hw, still studying for finals...still staying up way too late!   Hmm, maybe deep down I don't want it to hit me?

This weekend I'm heading home, right after my final on Friday or early Saturday morning.  I'm taking the day off to take a final.  Isn't that the worst way to use a vacation day??  Anyways, there's a family reunion on my dad's side.  I'm going to finally meet some little cousin's from Taiwan!  It should be an interesting weekend.

Tiffany and Calantha visited this past weekend.  I have several funny pics from the Dubuque County fair that involve a demolition derby, Calantha riding a tractor, and a petting zoo that I'll post later (its late).  Who knew cars and combines running into each other would be fun to watch?  Haha...give me a straw hat, a blade of grass, and call me Jim-Bob

Good night everyone!