Rico and Jo

I haven’t been writing much this year, as you can see by the lack of posts with any significant content. It has been crazy busy, which is normal for us, but even crazier than usual.

Work has been nuts for me. I’ve been involved in a huge project since January that is the number one initiative in the company right now. So I’ve been working lots of hours and I’ve been incredibly stressed out. Jo is great to put up with me, but realistically I don’t think I could have made it through this year with out her. I don’t like to talk about work when I’m not at work so I’ve avoided blabbing to her about the details, but she is always very supportive and understanding when I’m frustrated and stressed, which is awesome. Good thing is my project launches in just a couple weeks and things should calm down a bit at work after that. I hope.

We have been able to get out a bit too. We had a great trip to Bear Lake with some friends. See pictures here:

BearLakeWeekend7-09

We also went camping a couple weeks in a row with my family. See pictures here:

CampingHarveys8-2009

We have spent a lot of time with friends, gone to a few good concerts (Death Cab, The Killers, and Bliss were my favorites this year), and also played a lot of rock band and other games.

Katelynn just turned 9! Crazy! We had a birthday party for her and Savannah a while back, and you can view those pics here:

KatelynnAndSavannahBdays2009

She is super smart, and is doing really well in school. She has also improved a lot in ice skating. She got 2nd place in two events last month! I’ll try to post video soon of her latest competition.

Zoe and Smokey are fun. They wrestle a lot which is kind of entertaining.

Now we’re gearing up for some Halloween parties and then the rest of the Holidays. Time flies, and we sure aren’t getting any younger. I’ll try to post more often now that I’m finding more time.

Peace ~
Rico

Jo and I got back from Park City today cause we have to work tomorrow and the next day.  We have the place for a week, but honestly, I was ready to come home.  Its a bit strange.  I could used to spend a whole week up there and stay perfectly entertained.  But it was actually kind of boring this time.  Maybe its because we’ve seen it all and done it all up there so there’s nothing new… or maybe I’m just getting old.  Either way, I think I want to sell my timeshare.  Anyone want to buy it?  I’ll make you a sweet deal…

Don’t get me wrong, Park City is still really cool.  One of the coolest places in Utah IMHO.  Its a very liberal town, and it almost feels like you aren’t in Utah at all.  Everyone drinks a beer or has wine with their meals, everyone recycles, everyone is voting for Obama…  Seriously, I saw hundreds of signs for Obama, and not one for McCain.  It was awesome!

I’d probably have more fun up there if I was in better shape.  I didnt even take my Mtn Bike this year.  It probably didn’t help that we had crappy weather this past weekend.  It was really cold and almost snowing Monday morning…

Anyway, the RNC is on, and I feel like getting pissed… so I’m going to go watch the rest of it.  I suggest you check this out, if you haven’t already seen it…

VOTE OBAMA / BIDEN 2008.  Vote for my Step-Daughter’s Future!!!  Vote for the future of our world!

Seriously, make an informed decision, don’t just vote because I said to.   And, if after you get informed, you decide to vote for McCain / Palin…  well, we can’t be friends any more.  If you are family, I just won’t talk to you for a while.  I’m joking.  Mostly.

Not sure how I went from Park City to sharing my political views… but anway, good night.

Rico

PS, I may have offended some people, so just to be clear, I will still be your friend and I will still love you and talk to you and blah blah blah… but really, I’ll be pretty annoyed at you, which is fair I think.  We can talk about it though, and if you can prove to me that your candidate was the better choice, cool… I’m willing to listen to your arguments.  Just don’t come in attacking and divisive like some people I know (current GOP VP candidate included…)

Jo and I spent last weekend at my Uncle Jim’s cabin at Bear Lake.  Her whole family came, and we had a great time playing on the beach, relaxing on the deck, and going through Minnetonka Cave.  I could’ve stayed longer, and did not want to come back home and to work…

Here are some pics from our trip:

Adios,

Rico

Jo and I got home a couple of hours ago. eBay Live was fun, but also very exhausting. We worked long days and then stayed up late most nights to have some fun.

Sunday we didn’t have to work so we went on an architectural boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. It was really cool. Click on either of the images below for all the pictures I took.

From eBay Live and after parties:

eBayLive08Chicago

From the Boat Tour:

ChicagoRiver&LakeBoatTour

Jo and I are leaving for eBay Live early in the morning. I’ll be posting a blog or two from there with some pics I hope.

Till then, adios.

Today was tiring but pretty cool. Yesterdays trek through Canyonlands was probably the highlight so far… but Arches is still awesome. We hiked quite a bit today too, the most so far this weekend… and I’m beat!

Here are the pictures!

MoabDay3-08-Arches

Or view a small slideshow:

Today was incredible. We started early and took the Potash road (a 4×4 only road) along the Colorado River and through the bottom of Deadhorse Point. It climbs a really steep cliff and puts right at the entrance gate for Canyonlands NP. We toured the park, had some lunch, took tons and tons of pictures, then went to Deadhorse Point on the way back to Moab.

Tomorrow is Arches!

Click here for the full size pics:

MoabDay2-08-CanyonlandsDeadhorse

Or view the slide show:

Today was a blast! We took it easy on the drive down, had lunch in Green River, and drove up to the Sandflats Rec area. These pics were taken from there, and most of them are from my favorite old camping spot. Tomorrow we are doing Potash road and then Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point! We’ll post again later!