I finally got the photos from our trip to Dallas online. Graduation photos, sight seeing at the Texas School Book Depository, the Fortworth Stockyards, and a few other places. Feel free to check them out!

As promised, here is the year in review.  What a year of ups and downs, but all in all a good year.

I guess I didn’t blog about it a lot.  It was dominated by work, I would say.  It started out with another Legislative Session.  That was what it was.  A year of budget deficits, and craziness.  In March I was appointed to the Blaine Planning and Zoning Commission.  That was a great experience.  I really enjoyed working with the great folks there, and I learned a lot about the Planning and Zoning laws.  Come June my time at the House came to an end.  Some what unexpected, but for the best.  I had been looking for a new job, something to utilize my Master’s Degree, that I was working on.  I already had an internship lined up with the City Administrator of Oak Park Heights.  So I interned there and got some great skills and experience.  During that time I had a few interviews at various places.  I was offered the job of Community Development Director for Wells, MN. I took the job, and it’s been a lot of fun.

One of the big projects I’m working on is utilizing state, county, and local funds to help get a meat processing plant into town.  The plant is working on moving into an old meat packing plant currently.  They should be up and running, with a small crew to start, in a few weeks.  Within about 2 years it should be up to 250 jobs.  It’s been a lot of fun to work on.  The other parts of the job, Planning and Zoning and Housing Redevelopment, have been a lot of fun as well.  I’ve learned so much.  The P&Z stuff I learned during my time as a P&Z Commissioner with Blaine has been very valuable.  It’s been interesting bringing what I learned in a town of 55,000+ to a town of about 2,500.

Other highlights included a week away at Lutheran Island Camp, which was fun.  The whole family was there and we were able to hang out.  We did some fishing, and had our own mini-fishing contest.  I’m proud to say that my boat (consisting of me, Beth, and my brother-in-law Barry) caught 7 fish while the other boat (my mom and dad, brother-in-law Jeff, and nieces and nephews) caught 1.  Go us!

Looking back through the archives of my blog for this past year I remember I did some house stuff.  That was kind of fun.  Being a “handy man” of sorts was interesting. Some worked well, some not.  In August and September we really spiffed up the house more.  Of course that was to sell it.  We really like what we did with the place and it’s kind of fun to be able to enjoy it still.  We have more stuff that we want to do, and we’ll probably be able to do some of it.

So, my friends, after much waiting, that is what I will call the year in review.  This coming year should be more interesting.  I’ll try to be better at getting pictures up for y’all to see.  In the mean time, enjoy life!

That’s right, I’m graduating. Well not quite yet. More like in about 30 minutes (1:30pm CST).

If you want to see me walk across the stage and get my Masters Hood you can do just that! There should be a link on Walden’s site that you can click on to watch commencement live online.

Is not here yet. But it’s coming. I haven’t forgotten. Have no fear.

As we close out 2009 and start 2010 it’s fun to look back on where we’ve been and what has happened in the world around us.  The traditional (I’m not sure if I can say annual) year end recap (can this also pass as a late Christmas letter?) will be forth coming. But as you celebrate the new year join in a chorus of Auld Lang Syne.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you’re having a great Christmas and that you’re able to spend it with your family and friends.  There is much to be merry for this year and I hope you all remember the reason we celebrate today!

That’s what the calendar says anyway. It was three years ago today that Beth and I got married.  It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.  There’s been a lot going on in that time I guess.  Job stuff, grad school, buying a house, enjoying life.  The time is going by quickly that’s for sure.  But it’s been amazing.

I love you Beth!

Or at least it’s December, with Christmas right around the corner.  I’m pretty excited.  Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.  I’ve been listening to Christmas music at work for two weeks now. It’s just fun and everyone is in a cheery mood it seems.  Granted I’m avoiding everyone in a retail setting, so that’s a plus. I’ve done most of my shopping online so far this year. I don’t think I’ll have to buy anything in a store, which is nice in a way. I can avoid the crowds.

Work goes well. The projects are picking up and taking a lot of my time, which is good.  I’d rather be busy then bored. And there is always something to do. It’s a great match.  But nothing new on the house selling front yet though. That’s still in the waiting game. It’s a very tough time to be selling a house.

I’ve been getting into Lost lately. My boss let me borrow the first season. So I’ve been watching that, and am liking it so far. I’ll have to borrow the rest of the disks at some point.  Now that’s I’m done with my grad school I have a lot more free time in the evenings.  Come summer in Wells that will mean a lot more time on the golf course! But in the winter in Wells it means more time reading some books, ones that I actually want to read, and watching some TV.

So I’m officially graduated with my Masters of Public Administration.  I say officially, because the grades are all in.  A 3.93 GPA over all.  Not too bad.  Commencement is not until January and it’s in Dallas. I’m excited to go to that. It will be a nice mini-vacation and should be a little warmer. We have some friends in the Dallas area that we’re going to see and do some of the touristy things as well.  Thanks to Priceline.com we’re going to be staying there for relatively cheap as well!

Now it’s time to clean up the house a little bit before our Open House this afternoon. Then I think tonight or tomorrow it will be time to do some Christmas Baking! Yummie.

I’ve been to a number of presentations lately.  Some of them have been really good. Some were not so great. The information was useful, for the most part.

But one thing that I have noticed of late has bothered me. If you’re going to give a presentation and provide handouts as well: Say something more than whatever you have given in the handout.  Make it worth my time to listen.

It’s one thing I have learned (again) and would simply like to pass that piece of knowledge on.

That was a decent movie from back in the day.  But I would like to take this opportunity to complain about the horrible umpire calling during the AL Playoffs. The Umpires are making horrible calls that always go in favor of the Yankees.

We could use some better umpires. And this is a great case for why we need replay’s in MLB.

</rant>

Normally I’m not one to complain about Monday’s. But today was rough. Tired all day. Work dragged on. The Monday sleep schedule isn’t so great. Oh well.

Life is good here in Wells. I’m looking for some grants to help with a few projects I’ve got cooking. I’m staying busy with the P&Z aspect of my job. It’s really interesting. It keeps me busy, which is also good.

I had a meeting tonight I almost forgot about. I need a good solution to sync my work outlook with Google. The Google solution only syncs to your main G-Calendar, which isn’t a solution.

But now I think it’s time to get ready for bed so I can hit the sack after Big Bang Theory tonight.

I’m not sure where the season that was once called fall went to, but I think we missed it.  Darn global warming, or whatever they call it these days.  A lot of the leaves are off the trees and they are still green. It’s slightly sad.

I’m not a fan of the snow that we got yesterday. It was kind of fun, but it is just too early. And there’s too much snow coming our way tomorrow. It could make the drive interesting. I’ll probably get up a little early and give myself some extra time, just in case.

On the plus side I got some good exercise while raking today! And even climbed up on the roof and cleaned out the chimney today. We have a nice fire blazing in the fireplace right now. I’ll miss the fireplace.  It’s really nice!

And the pumpkin bread that Beth made is done! It’s delicious. Time to eat another slice and have some hot cocoa while we sit in front of the fire.

It’s Thursday night and I’m looking forward to The Office tonight.  It’s quite possibly my favorite show on TV right now, along with How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory.  It’s just a good show all the way around.

So I saw on my facebook news feed today that Pam had posted a new video blog on their wedding site: www.halpertbeesly.com It was a good clip.  I looked through the site and it’ set up just like a real wedding site.  They even have a guest book and people signed it like they are real people getting married.

I would assume that the public knows they are not a real couple, but it got me thinking about that.  People identify with tv characters a lot.  They want these people to be real, on some level anyway.  They want these people to be their friends, after all, they know all about them.  But they’re just actors/actresses!

It makes me wonder if people get too involved with television and why that is.  Is their life just not that exciting?  Are they that enthralled with the show that they’ll leave comments for these not real people to read?

I don’t know the answer to that. It may be an interesting social experiment for someone in the sociology or psychology field. So if you’re looking for a thesis topic here you go!  Just credit me in the title page and I’ll be happy!

That’s right, I actually had some time to relax this weekend, and it was nice.  The house projects are done, and it’s on the market.  We’ve had a few showings, and it’s going alright so far.  Having never sold a house before I’m not really sure what to expect in the process, but I think it’s going well.

So during the relaxation this weekend I got to hang out with Pat at Old Chicago on Sunday and watch some football.  It was nice to hang out again, and Old Chicago is always a good time.  Especially their Octoberfest Mini-Tour!  They have some good brews on it.

It was kind of distracting to watch a game their though.  The noise wasn’t conducive to really staying focused on the game.  However, it was kind of fun to watch three different games at the same time.

And on that note I’m going to watch some Monday Night Football.