You have to be under a rock to not know that the Olympics are currently going on right now.  I love the Olympics!  They are always fun to watch.  It’s a great time.  That has been pretty much the only thing that’s been on our TV for the past 48 hours.

The opening ceremony was amazing.  I was very impressed with it.  The fireworks looked really sweet.  The entire show was great.  I don’t know if/how that one will be topped.

While I’m not training for the Olympics I am running again.  Today I ran 2.65 miles in 18 minutes.  While that’s still a far cry over my best time, I was pretty impressed today.  So tomorrow will be a longer distance run.  I’ve found a good site to track all of my workouts, which I find quite helpful.

This weekend was really fun.  We had a bachelor party for one of my high school friends at our place (Beth wasn’t there though).  We went to a St. Paul Saints game. It was my first game, and I really enjyoed it.  They have some good between inning entertainment.  Plus it was a chance to enjoy the outdoors.  if you’re not a big fan of baseball, I would recommend a Saints game over a Twins game.  It’s a great time.

So it’s been a while.  A lot has happened. 

First off pictures from our trip to PA over the Fourth of July are up.  You can check them out here.  It was a fun trip, as I previously talked about.  But Beth’s grandpa passed away this past weekend.  The funeral was Wednesday.  Beth was out there for it, while I stayed home and was really busy with a lot of other stuff going on.

Often times over the past few weeks I’ve thought I should post something.  But here’s a highlight of things I’ve been doing:

• Twins game against the White Sox.  It was the Thursday game with all the mayhem during the 7th inning.  It was pretty sweet.
• I’ve been running a lot.  I’d like to go 4 miles today.  We’ll see if that happens.  I need to be doing 5 miles by Sept.
• Work has been interesting.
  
• I’ve been approached to do a part time job.  Not sure if I’m interested in it.
• National Night Out where I got to meet a number of our neighbors.  It was fun.
• I’m becoming more involved with a few campaigns/political activities.
• School is going well.  The end of the quarter is neigh.  That means more work.
• Summer is going by way too fast.
  

So that’s kind of an overview.  I’ll try to do better in the future.

It’s been a pretty good and relaxing weekend.  Spending time in the pool, lounging outside, campfires, and hanging out.  It’s been great.  I like having a “vacation” in the back yard.  It’s better than driving to a cabin!

Today we went to Como Zoo to walk around and see the animals.  It was failry fun.  There were a lot of people.  We also saw at least 5 different bridal parties taking pictures, and they were setting up for a wedding in the pavillion too.

Afterward we went to the Roseville Mall.  I played with the iPhone and I really like it.  Having played with the iPhone last week as well, I can’t wait for November when we get our iPhones.  I like the interface, and I found it rather easy to type on it.  It takes a little bit to get used to it, but it’s also fairly easy to get the hang of.  I wish I could have used some of the apps from the App Store though.  Oh well.

I’ve seen a number of commericals for the Sprint Instinct.  While I’ve not tried out that phone, it looks interesting.  Also the Sprint plans seem rather nice.  $99 for unlimited everything.  AT&T has an Unlimited Voice plan for the same price, but you don’t get the text, data, or any of the other things you get in Sprint Unlimited plan.  I wish that type of plan would come to AT&T.  It would take away one of my few concerns with the iPhone.

So AT&T if you’re listening, bring better plans for the iPhone!

It’s Monday, what can I say.  So here’s an update:

Some of you may know that I applied for a temporary job at Bethel.  I didn’t get the job.  So I’m still looking for something to fill the time and make some money during the reduced hours at the House.  I did see the Apple store is hiring.  I might apply there.

Yesterday I got in my car to go to church.  My car started hard.  It turned over real slow.  I had noticed a few times before the car started kind of hard.  So when that happened I thought it was the battery.  But I made it to church.  After church the car started fine, and I went to the auto part store.  The battery tested fine.  But I could get the car started when I tried to leave.  Turns out the starter went out on me.

So the nice people there gave me a push and I was able to pop the clutch to get it going.  I made it home and took out the old starter.  Now I’m waiting for the new one to get into the store.  That should be there by 3:30, then I get to put it in tonight.

So while I sit at home I’ve been doing some good yard work and getting the house cleaned up.  It’s nice to do that again.  This place was getting a little bit messy.

I had a chance to play with the new iPhone this weekend.  We went to the Apple Store and looked around.  The iPhone was pretty sweet.  They had it running off of the 3G network and I was pleasantly surprised with the speed.  Beth enjoyed it too.  She says she wants one too.

I got out to the Driving Range yesterday with Pat.  It was great!  I was a little worried about how it would go, but it went better than I thought it would.  It was nice to hang out with Pat again, and the driving range is always fun!  Of course Pat helped pull the starter out too.  (Or he did most of it I guess).  Thanks Pat!  You rock!

So that’s an update. It’s a good time here in the Bleess House.

So that’s an update on things here.

We’ve got a few of the windows open and I’m enjoying the fresh air on this lovely Sunday afternoon.  I was doing some homework and watching the trees move with the wind.  I also noticed one of the neighbors had a tent set up in their yard.  I was watching that move with the wind and thought to myself “I hope they have it secured pretty good.”  No more than 3 minutes later I sit here looking out the window and see the tent blowing across the yards behind us.  I guess they didn’t have it secured too well.

The weekend was good, and I’ll enjoy the wanning hours of it.  The pool party was fun, with a decent crowd.  The storms forced us out of the pool and into the house where we played Cranium.  That’s a fun game, and we had enough people to make it pretty interesting.  After the rain ended we went outside and have a camp fire with some smores.  You have to love smores! So over all we had a good time. I’m looking forward to the next party already!

Vacation in the PA was fun.  I enjoyed getting to know Beth’s family out there.  They are very nice people, and I’m looking forward to going back sometime.  We also got to do some sightseeing as well.  We went to Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, and a few other places.  It was a lot of fun.  Pictures will be coming.  We have some, but Beth’s sister has way more.  We’re seeing them tomorrow so we’ll grab their pictures and post them up here.

Work is going alright.  It’s been interesting and challenging (in both good and bad ways) lately.  Now the reduced hours have started, and so I’m looking for a temporary or part time job to fill the difference.  I’ve got one that I’ve interviewed for twice, and I think I have a good shot at.  A few people out there know about it, but I’ll wait until I hear something to post more on that.

Tonight we’re having our first pool party!  I’m excited about that.  It’ll be fun.  It’s super hot out there.  As long as the storms don’t crash the party it will be a good time.  Although with all the heat of today I wish our AC was working.  I’m not really sure why it’s not.  We’lll have to get that looked at sometime.

And to all a Good iPhone 3G Night!

It’s my favorite Holiday.  Remember what the brave men did for us over 200 years ago to provide us the freedoms that we have and enjoy today.  It’s a great thing to be an American.  I hope you will all take some time to remember the events that brought us our Independence.

As for us, we’ll we’re going to where it all started.  We might make a trip to Independence Hall this weekend, and the Liberty Bell.  I’m not sure how much time we’ll have to see things, or if we’ll get out at all or not.

We’ll try to take some pictures of whatever we do.  We’ll see you next week!

It was nice to come home today and be able to jump in a pool to cool off.  Splash around and have some fun.  I really enjoyed that.

And tonight we had a small campfire, with smores and everything.  It’s like a nice getaway that’s fun and relaxing.  And we can sleep in a comfy bed at the end of it all!

So, I like our house.

Do to popular demand (or Anders) I’ve been requested to talk about Jason Kubel.  Besides the fact that he’s from SD, he seems to be doing alrigh in the Big Leauges.  Batting .378 the last 10 games he’s doing pretty good.  With that I’ll say, if you want to see more about him you can here.

In other, better, news we went swimming today!  The pool is up and running, half way?  There is one drain that isn’t working so well so they’ll be out tomorrow to fix that.  But we were able to jump in today and enjoy some cool water.  It was great!  We’re going to enjoy the pool.

Saturday I spent the majoirty of the day with my dad at Back to the 50’s.  It was a good time.  A lot of old cars, nice weather, and a chance to hang out with the old man!  It was great.

But between it all it made the weekend go really quickly.  And tomorrow is Monday.  So it’s back to the daily grind.

Hey ya’ll,

A friend gave us a 1 month free trial for Netflix.  So we’re looking for good movie recommendations.  If you have seen a good flick lately let us know!  Either leave a comment or send me an email.

Yesterday the pool guys came to fix the bottom of the pool.  They had to put some new concrete stuff down.  The reason they hadn’t done it yet is because of the weather.  You see, it’s not supposed to get wet.

Today started out alright.  I slept in and then had some coffee on the porch.  It was a nice morning for that.  I even got some reading done for class.

Then around 12:15 I headed out.   You see, we were looking online at buying a pool cover (and reel) and a winter cover.  All stuff that we would need for our pool.  Online, brand new, it would cost us about $700-$800.  The other day I decided to check Craigs List.  I found the exact covers we were going to buy brand new, for half the cost!  So I went to Cottage Grove to pick it up.  I couldn’t find a truck to borrow so I took my car.  Luckly the reel came apart fairly easily and it all fit in my car.  It was packed though!

Got it all home, and out of the car.  Put the reel back together, whcih was an interesting task.  Then we decided to go to Lowes for a “quick trip”.  Okay, there is no “quick trip” to Lowes.  Or a cheap trip for that matter.  What I was hoping would have been about $50 turned into about 4 times that amount!  In the check out line, the lady was really nice, but a tad slow.  The guy behind us was a crowder, and didn’t know what personal space was.  I had to buy some nuts and bolts while I was there.  Those got spilled on the floor.  That was fun. Then the screen door we bought was more than I thought.

So Beth took the stuff to the car, I went back to the screen door area.  I realized that the one I had grabbed was in the wrong bay.  So we brought the one we had just purchased back in to return and we bought the cheaper one.

We take it out to the car.  It doesn’t fit.  We had laid the seats down, but the opening is rounded, and the door was 26 inches wide.  The opening was not that wide.  We couldn’t squeeze it in.  After trying a few other things, that didn’t work, I was very frustrated.  That’s when Beth pointed out our next vehicle should be a bit larger.

After it not fitting in the car I decided I’d just walk home with it.  (It’s only about 2 miles from our house).  I told Beth to see if it would fit in her car and then meet me.  So I started walking.  I had made it probably about 1.5 miles home carrying a screen door before Beth found me.  Apparently she made a guess as to how far I would have walked.  She guessed wrong.  Have you ever carried a screen door home?  I didn’t think so.  It was an interesting endeavor, especially when the wind picked up.

Then tonight, just 30 minutes ago, I was sitting on the porch reading the newspaper.  I thought I saw lightening.  (Remember the pool story from above).  So we try to see if the winter cover would work to keep the rain out.  But because we don’t have any anchors tied into the cemet we’d have to use bricks to cover it.  There wasn’t really enough leeway for the bricks to sit on.  So I’m really hoping that the cement stuff is dry enough and that this rain won’t ruin it.  We’ve waited for about a month since we ordered the stuff to get the pool fixed.  I was hoping it would have been finished today, but no.  So pool parties are on hold until July.

So between the rain, a small car, and carrying a screen door home, it’s been one of those days.

First off, we finally have pictures from 2008.  The Ahlquist Wedding (Kari Blair for most readers), and us doing some yard work around the house (it also includes some pool pictures, pre-fixing).

Secondly, WWDC was today.  For those non-techy savy, it’s where Apple announces all things new and good.  Topping the list is the iPhone 3G. It has great new features that I’m excited about.  The fact that it’s 3G which means faster.  GPS which would be useful.  AppStore sounds pretty sweet as well.  They discussed a number of good applications for it today.  I’ve been following the rumors around the new iPhone for a while.  The one rumor that didn’t come true like I had hoped it would was that you could video chat with other iPhone users via the phone.  That would have been pretty sweet.

Also at WWDC today they announced Mobile Me.  I’m not a huge fan.  First, that name sounds more like Windows than Apple.  Second, what’s the point?  You get some storage space in the clouds, but everything else you can use Google for free, instead of paying $20.  Back to my mac might be nice to have, but I don’t know how often I would actually use that. Needless to say, I won’t be purchasing.  But if anyone likes it (or has used it) sound off and let me know your thoughts.

Third topic of the day, gas prices!  Seriously they are high.  I wonder if it’s worth it to drill for oil in my back yard.  Probably not.  I’m guessing most people know about the site, but it’s worth mention again.  Twin Cities Gas Prices is a site that I’ve been using more often.  I’d encourage others to use it and participate by posting gas prices.  I’m not a fan when I see a price and get to the station and realize it’s much higher.  But I was able to buy gas for $3.98 when most other places were $4.09.  Ouch.  I didn’t pay over $3/gallon for gas until May of 2007, and almost one year later gas prices are hovering at $4.

Those are the topics on my mind today.  In other news the pool fixing was delayed again.  I’m hopeful that within a week and a half we’ll be swimming.  Cross your fingers.

I’m watching Hillary Clinton’s speeech right now, and she’s reminding me of Michelle Obama right now.  She’s talking about all the missed opportunities that we’ve had the last 7 years on the Supreme Court, environment issues, and education.  She talked about how her husband served 2 out of the 3 presidential terms that Democrats were elected to in the past 40 years.  It reminded me greatly of Michelle Obama’s comment that this is the first time in her life she is proud to be an American.

I think that type of comment is the exact opposite of what America needs.  I am always, and will always, be proud to be an American!  That is who I am.  For the people who are not proud to be an American, I ask why?  Why are you not proud to be an American?  You have freedoms and rights that many people do not enjoy.  Those rights and freedoms are enjoyed without regard to which political party occupies the Oval Office.

Don’t put partisan politics ahead of your love for your country.  We are Americans first and foremost.  Partisan political labels come second, or third, or fourth on that list.  Be proud of the country which you and I live in.  Be proud of the rights and freedoms we have.  Disagree with policies and politicians you don’t like, because that’s your right.

But love your country always.  Stand with me and be proud to be an American!

As I’m writing this I hear the sirens off in the distance.  We’re watching Fox 9 and looking out the window at the big rain drops.  The rain is tapering off.  To the north the clouds are dark.  But we are not getting much of anything right here.

Last weekend we were not affected by the storms either.  I didn’t know anything about them until we got home Monday night and turned on the TV.  So our house is doing alright, no big storms or anything. I hope everyone else is safe!

Before the storms we were outside since about 10:30 this morning (well I’ve been outside longer because I had breakfast and coffee on the porch!).  We’ve been doing yard work  and a lot more stuff.  It will be a summer long project for some of it.  I’m hoping to get the back yard all fixed up before the pool is ready, so that’s what my plan for tomorrow is.

We love being homeowners, but it can be a lot of work!