Movin On Up...

66. Move into my own apartment - Wow, it has been forever since I have blogged. I have been so busy with the holidays and the Big Move that I have totally forgotten to post, but I am still knocking out goals in the process.

I finally moved out of the lease house that I had lived in for over a year and got my own 1-bedroom apartment. It is really, really nice, and I was the first person to sign a lease in the whole place. It is brand new and they are still working on the other buildings.

The clubhouse has a Resident Lounge with a plasma tv, chairs, pool table and demonstration kitchen (Benihana style); the fitness center has tv's on each treadmill and eliptical and is open 24 hours; the Wi-Fi lounge has a plasma tv, chairs, computers, and a free coffee bar; and the pool is a wade-in pool with fountains, grills on both sides and outdoor fireplaces with lounge chairs.

My apartment is about 800 square feet, 1 bed, 1 bath, and it is just awesome. I haven't been able to take many pics yet, but everything in my living room is brand spankin new, including brand new furniture and a 42" plasma HD tv and tv stand.

I am so happy to have been able to take this step in my life and I feel so fortunate to be able to have a place of my own. I can't express how happy I actually am that I have accomplished this goal.

Here are a few pics from a house-warming get-together I had:

22. Get a physical - I know, I know, corny picture, but I got a physical this morning!! This is one goal that I can completely credit to this list. If I hadn't have made this a goal, I wouldn't have done it.

I figured I was 25, it was time to get one, and I'm glad I did. I took the morning off of work and Jennifer went up with me. Turns out, I'm very healthy and don't have any problems.

I did have to give blood for the blood tests, and for those of you who know my history, I don't do too well with that. But I did make it through this time, just got a little light-headed.

I'm waiting on the blood tests to come back, but I'm not all that worried about it. I am just very happy that I knocked this goal out by the end of this year. Now comes the hard part...the dreaded dentist appointment..

Let's Go Clubbin!

95. Go to 10 new Houston bars (2/10) - A few weeks ago, it was our President Ginger's 40th birthday, and we all (about 30-40 of us) got together to celebrate. The night started at the Rockstar suite at Hotel ZaZa (coolest hotel in Houston, and then we all took a party bus to Status.

I had never been, and even though I am not a clubber whatsoever, we had a great time. The outside is the coolest part, away from the dancing. They have a patio that stretches from the building to the street, and it's all Miami-ed up. They have little sections separated by walls, with couches and tables in each one, so you could have your own little private area. There was even a bar outside.

I definitely want to go back sometime. Not neccessarily to dance or for the inside, but to hang out on that patio. I have also heard the crowd can get very interesting there. But overall it was a very fun experience.

Nothing Like NFL Sundays..

95. Go to 10 new Houston Bars (1/10) - I need to get onto these goals, I have a lot of stuff left to do and time is ticking along. I know I've been to some new Houston restaraunts but of course I have forgotten them and not blogged about them. It's hard to always be thinking about the goals.

I have been to Norton's Pub & Grill twice so far this NFL season for the games, and we have had an amazing time. The food is above average and there's a huge selection, and the setup is great for watching NFL games. They also have the new Big Buck Hunter and Silver Strike. I give this bar a 8/10.

Workin Hard...

58. Get a client to buy 10,000 gallons in 1 month. - I finally went out, got my own client to join our fuel program, and got them to buy 10,000 gallons in a single month! It took quite a few clients to get my big one, but once I did, they started buying and haven't looked back. They bought about 7,000 domestic gallons and about 6,000 international gallons, bringing their September total to 13K!

I can't reveal the client on a public forum for legal reasons, but I can say that they fly several Gulfstream III's like the one pictured and I am just very happy that I've finally got a client that I'm proud to have! I should buy them a gift card for helping me knock out one of my goals..

Now, for that 100,000 in a month goal...wow. That's going to take a HUGE client to be able to knock out, but it can be done..

Psycho!

32. New Classic movie each month- (BEWARE SPOILERS!) I love watching a scary movie at home when its cold and rainy outside, it really is one of my favorite pasttimes. I have always been a HUGE horror film fan, and it being Halloween week, I figured to watch a classic horror movie for my goal.I hadn't seen one of the all time classics yet before tonight, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. I had heard all about the shower scene, the stabbing motion, Norman Bates' mother, but I never knew the big spoiler, and I'm glad I didn't.

I thought the movie was solid. In a way I like how the older classics didn't rely on gore and guts to classify as a horror movie, but I do wish there were more jump scenes. There was not a single jump scene in this movie, and that was the only negative considering its considered a horror classic.

I thought the music was superb, kept you on your toes the entire time. The concept (abandoned hotel, creepy manager) was very original for its time. The acting was great, and the storyline and twists were phenomenal.

My only complaint would be that it's not so much of a horror movie for me when there's no jump scenes. The music seemed to build up far too often with not enough punch. But for a suspense movie, this was definitely one of the better ones.

I would however not put this ahead of The Shining.

IMDB Rating: 8.7 / My rating: 8

18. Vote for my choice - Today, I voted early. I was going to wait until Election Day, but I got off work early, and early voting was going on, so I went ahead and voted to avoid the lines on Election Day. It was actually my first Presidential election to vote in. I was too lazy 4 years ago to get out and vote when I was 21, and I set voting in this year's as a goal to force me to do it. It felt very patriotic to do my civic duty and vote for our next President. Now its wait and see time...

The 3rd and Final Debate...

17. Watch a Presidential Debate - I caught most of the 1st debate and missed all of the 2nd debate because I was out of town, so I was forced to watch all of the 3rd debate to knock this goal off, since it was my last chance. I'm really glad I did and I doubt I will ever miss another debate again based on my experience with this one.

I did not like the 1st debate very much. It was sort of like a quarterbacks' first start (you know me with the sports analogies). It was very unorganized, sloppy, and just didn't feel right. This one was a night and day difference.

I was proud of both candidates for helping the moderator keep the pace of the debate and for their attitudes about having a great debate. I thought they both held their own very well and both acted like they should be President.

I don't want to get into the actual issues so much as I want to just break down the debate itself, like I did with the VP debate. So again, just a few quick hits:

- I prefer the sitting at a table debate, it feels like they are right there with us as Americans, and it shows them off more as businessmen trying to sell their product to the viewers as opposed to standing and pointing fingers as if theyre already a dictator. I think all debates should be sitting at a table.

- I loved how the first question of "What are your new plans to help the economic crisis" ended with the 2 discussing how much they were going to cut taxes for small businesses and those making X amount salaries. It's funny how off base they can get..

- The moderator I thought did a terrible job of letting them interrupt one another. They really need to get someone like myself in there who will tell them both to shut the hell up when the other is speaking. It is SO annoying as a viewer to have to listen to them both talk at the same time. That garbage needs to stop.

- The health care topic was a debacle, both of them did not make any sense with their answers, and they both kind of avoided the topic by changing the subject.

- The abortion topic was one of the most interesting, and I did respect Obama for saying that he's not for abortion and promotes adoption even though he votes for women's rights. It did make sense..

- The education issue was the most important in my opinion, since my fiancee is going to be a school teacher, and I loved McCain's policies far more than Obama's. Obama's "trade 4K in college tuition to students for community service" made absolutely no sense, it could never happen, and it seems so far out of this world. The only thing that would do is increase the deficit drastically. I loved McCain's strategies of awarding those good teachers out there, letting military personnel go straight into training for their teachers' certificates, and having more choices among charter schools to attend. I feel that these 2 candidates are going to be putting into place the school system that will be there when my kids are old enough to go to school..

All in all I highly enjoyed the debate last night. I absolutely LOVED John McCain's aggressiveness. He made Obama look like a little girl up there as he kept backing down from McCain's attempts to get him to respond to his threats.

I can not stand how often that Obama ad runs. He has spent so much more money on advertising than McCain has. In this time when our economy is falling apart, thousands are losing jobs, Obama is running the same ad bashing McCain on every channel about every other 15 mins. I watched the Cowboys-Cardinals game that McCain and Obama referred to, and the commercial got so annoying. At least change it up. And I am so glad that McCain pointed that out.

McCain won this debate in a landslide in my opinion. Don't you dare call me biased either because I said Biden beat Palin in a landslide as well. I watched these debates as non-biased as I could, and I could not help but see McCain as our future President while Obama kept avoiding issues, asking McCain to stop asking him questions essentially, and backing down from the fight.

When we are attacked by terrorists or threatened by other countries, I don't want a man up there who won't step up to the fight, I don't want somebody up there who has zero experience in foreign policy and who will let others push him around while avoiding the issue. I want a war veteran, a man who will call out his debate partner and won't back down until he gets answered, I want a man who will step up to the terrorists and enemies and call them out as Reagan did.

Those of you who want Obama to win because of George W. Bush's administration, I quote John McCain last night as he once again looked Obama in the eyes and put him in his place: "If you wanted to run against George Bush you should have ran 4 years ago, I am not George Bush."

John McCain won that debate and John McCain will get my vote on November 4th.

No matter who you vote for though, make sure you get out and vote and do your part..

My First VP Debate..

Tonight I watched my first Vice President debate. I had never watched one before. I try to watch the Presidential debates, but never thought a VP debate could be interesting. I knew this one was historic and would be entertaining, so I tuned in..
My thoughts:

- I am a Republican. I watched the McCain-Obama debate and thought McCain won that. I will blog about their second debate because the first one was a mess. I hated the way both of them acted, I hated the interruptions, I hated the mockery and below-the-belt punches, it was just a big ole mess. Hopefully they will correct that the second time around.

- I loved the Palin-Biden debate. They seemed to have much respect for each other, and I loved how they didn't interrupt one another and they smiled when one jabbed at the other. It was exactly how a debate should run.

- I thought Biden used his time much more successfully. He spoke probably 3 times as much as Palin, mainly because she kept her answers short. She really should have used as much time as possible. Hopefully it wasn't because she didn't have enough to talk about...

- Sarah was smokin hot as usual tonight. She really is a hottie for her age, John chose well with the "sex appeal" aspect.

- I hated how Biden always got the last word. I was very dissapointed in the host in that she kept giving Biden the final argument each time. Every time you thought Palin had the last word, she would let Biden retort. This wasn't fair.

- I loved Palin's little quirks. I love the way she talks ("say it ain't so Joe," "doggone it," "at the end of the day, its all gonna be alright). Her little witty comments really made her connect to most of small-town America.

- I wish Palin hadn't have talked about Alaska so much. It was Alaska this, Alaska that. I know she's the Governor, but she's interviewing for VP of the country, I wanted her to discuss more of what she would do rather than what she has done as Governor of a state that most of America knows nothing about.

- I'm glad Biden didn't degrade Palin as his reputation suggests. I thought he conducted himself very well, and I.....

thought he won this debate handidly. Palin got her jabs in and won a couple rounds, but Biden won this debate hands down. I was highly impressed with Biden. In fact, I will agree with my roommate Hunter that the only 2 of those running qualified to be President are John McCain and Joe Biden. He was excellent and really showed Sarah how to debate. He never let a single incorrect statement she made go by without correcting her, and he did it in a respectful way.

Sarah Palin did an excellent job and I only wish they would do this again so she could have a second bout with Joe, because I think she would correct her mistakes and speak longer on her answers, but Joe Biden was more prepared tonight and he showed it.

That said, I'm still a Republican!

Finally...INDIANA!

32. Watch a classic movie each month (2/33) - I know, I know, laugh it up. I had never seen an Indiana Jones movie in my life. Well, Jennifer recommended I see it as part of my "Classic movie" goal, so I did.

It was a lot like I had envisioned it. Reminded me a bit of Pirates of the Caribbean but without the comedy. It was very adventurous and fast-paced. That said, it still wasn't my cup o'tea. It did however surprise me with the bloog and guts scattered throughout the movie, I did nto anticipate that. I thought it was going to be more of a Disney-style adventure movie.
(SPOILER ALERT BELOW)
I've never been into all that sci-fi stuff. The movie had me interested all the way until the scene towards the end when the spirits come out of the ark and kill all the Nazi's that are looking at it, but Indiana and his girl don't die because they didn't look at the ghosts directly? I know it was made in 1982, but still, that's the best the writers could come up with? I really didn't like that scene at all.

Overall, I guess you have to leave your seriousness behind when seeing this. I've always had trouble using my imagination when watching movies, I'm a realist. But I was kept interested throughout most of the film and that's what is important.

IMDB Rating: 8.7 (17th all time) My Rating: 7.0

The Land of Micro-Breweries..

#25 - Try 20 New Beers - I like the way that beer tastes for the most part. I'm not talking about Lets-Go-Out-And-Drink-Till-We-Pass-Out taste, I'm talking about legit, sober tasting of new beers. I like the different flavors and after-tastes of beers I have never tried before. I used to be very closed-minded about beer, but now I want to get out and try some ones that may peak my interest.

Denver and the state of Colorado are known as the Micro-brewery capital of the U.S. There are micro-breweries everywhere. Even popular ones such as Coors, Fat Tire and Blue Moon are brewed right there around Denver.

Well, I don't have long write-ups, just short little notes I took on each one, but here goes a few I tried:



1. Mothership Wit, Wheat-White, Ft. Collins, CO - Very wheaty but light, aftertaste a tad bitter. Great head throughout. I did not like this beer very much.

2. Mothership Wit, Wheat - I tried this one, the Wheat, at the ESPN Zone in Denver, and I liked it a lot better than the Wheat-White. It had a much smoother aftertaste.




3. Buffalo Gold, Rock Bottom Brewery - We went to the Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Denver, and we got the Beer sampler, which is about a 4 ounce pour of each of their 8 beers. Jennifer was not too crazy about most of them, I liked about half of them. The darker ales just are not my style. I definitely liked the Buffalo Gold though, it reminded me a little of Fat Tire.



4. Autumn Ale, Breckenridge Brewery - We went to Breckenridge Brewery in downtown Denver as well, and we loved it here (We both even got a shirt!). Our waitress was awesome in explaining everything, and we both liked these beers a lot better than Rock Bottom. This Autumn Ale was the only ale I liked. It was dark, but it was their seasonal beer, and I respected it.



5. Avalanche, Breckenridge - This was my favorite beer I tried all weekend. It was really awesome. It was a very smooth taste, smelled great, and had a really good aftertaste. I need to find out if they sell this beer down here anywhere, cause it was definitely worth it...

Yeah...it's the Rockies!!

#56 - Visit a National Park - I'm sure most of you have checked out all our pictures from our Colorado trip, but I have to blog about visiting a National Park.

I had been to Rocky Mountain National Park before, but not since I was 3 years old. I've also been to Big Bend National Park. This was Jen's first, also her first time to see mountains!!

We had a blast, considering I proposed in RMNP, but we also got to see some amazing scenery. There really aren't words to describe what it looks like being that high and seeing those mountains.

We got to see some really cool elk:





And the Alluvial Fan is a must-see when visiting the Park!







We really had a great time, and Rocky Mountain National Park is definitely a must-see for everyone before you die...

Best Purchase of my Life..

#99 - Secret Goal - This one I obviously wrote out as a secret goal that only I knew about. The goal was to buy an engagement ring. I had been looking around for awhile, and knew it would happen soon, but made it a goal just to keep me going and it really helped me to stay focused.

When I decided that I was ready to get engaged to Jennifer, I knew I wanted to buy a perfect ring. I had little knowledge of diamonds and bands and rings, and wanted to really get into it. I didn't want to just walk into a store and buy the first ring I saw that I liked. So I did a little research.

After a few months of looking around and researching, I believe I am very educated on diamonds now. It realy is an interesting and fun subject to learn about. Basically, there are 4 C's in diamonds: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat, each having a rating system and each very unique to itself.

I went to several stores and looked online quite a bit before I found the perfect diamond. I was able to see the diamond outside of the setting as the diamond company I went to had just gotten it in stock. It wa sa full carat, which was exactly what I wanted. The cut was Ideal, almost perfect. The color and clarity on it was much better than what I originally thought I was going to get. When I saw the diamond under microscope and in the lights, I knew it was the one.

The band was pretty easy to pick. It is 14K white gold, Tiffany-style. I loved it right away. I picked this ring and actually paid for half of it prior to seeing the final product, but when I went in to pay the other half and see it for the first time, I was blown away.

I believe I made a great call with this ring, and am so happy to have this step taken in my life, as it is a very exciting time! I also have paid for it in full, something I have always wanted to do.

Here are the same 2 pictures of the ring. We are going to get some better pics taken, but all you have to do it see us together if you want to see the ring in person!

MLB Park #10..

#87 - Go to a MLB park other than Wrigley that I have never been to - So while in Denver, Jennifer and I went to a Rockies game at Coors Field. One of my lifetime goals is to go to a MLB game at every active ballpark, and even though that is going to be very hard to achieve, I have to give it a try in every city I am in, right??

Well, it just so happened that the weekend that we planned to go to Colorado, the Astros were in town!! So not only did I get to go see a new ballpark in a new city, but I got to go to my first ever Astros road game!




I had heard plenty about Coors Field before, and how many have called it the most beautiful park in the Majors. One of the factors of this being that if you sit on the 1st base line all the way to center field, you have a clear picture of the Rocky Mountains out of the left field wall. Well, it just so happened for us that Denver decided to get their first muggy, cold day of the year on this Friday, and the clouds were too low for us to see the mountains. Although I had hoped to be able to look at the mountains while watching a baseball game, it was ok because we had already seen plenty of them the day prior and even gone up them.

The game was very cold. I questioned how people live in that city. It was September 5th, and the weather was miserable for baseball. The temps were in the 40's, and the wind was blowing in from left field, so every now and then you would get a nice cold breeze in your face. Even the locals were bundles up in sweaters, coats, blankets. That's not how baseball is supposed to be watched.







The park however was absolutely gorgeous. They had a lot of neat little perks, including a row of seats in the upper deck that went all around the stadium colored purple, which marked one mile high from sea level. I thought this was very interesting..




The fans reminded me a lot of Astros fans. Generally not paying attention to the game, starting the wave at random times, having to have the scoreboard operator tell them when to get loud, but nice and they get into it when they need to. They had stands around the park for Colorado brewed beers (Fat Tire, Blue Moon, etc) that were only $6 each. Even Coors Light was only $6. Compare that to almost $9 at MMP.

The Stros lost. And what's funny is it's their only loss in the last 14 games. Since the All-Star break, we have the best record in the Major Leagues. We are now 4 games out of the wild card. What in the world is going on?!

Overall, I don't think I would put Coors over MMP. I know that sounds strange, and maybe it's cause I couldn't see the mountains, but I have a soft spot for our stadium. I really enjoyed my experience at Coors though. The best part by far is the restaurants and bars that surround the stadium. MMP has a few, but Coors has so many places to go before and after the game, all around the stadium.


Here's a few more shots from Coors Field:

ENGAGED!!

#4 - Get Engaged! - Ok, I know I have not blogged in a long time, but I was anticipating this trip coming up and being able to knock out a few goals, and as it turns out, I am knocking out 4 goals and I have progress on another goal. So I have many posts to post about my goals, then another one or 2 about the trip.



But as most of you know, Jennifer Nicole and I are now ENGAGED! Last Thursday, we left Houston for our vacation trip to Colorado. We flew out early Thursday at 7:20am and arrived in Denver around 8:30 or so Mountain time. Flying while already being nervous is not very good on the stomach, but I made it ok. I knew the whole time that the hours were counting down before I was going to pop the question!




We got into our rental car and began the drive to Estes and then beyond. I had heard about Bryan and Kristen's trip up there from them, and figured this would be an ideal and unique location to propose. We drove through Boulder where the University of Colorado is, and me being a sports buff, I had to stop and take a picture at Folsom Field..




We continued the trek into the mountains on our way to Estes Park. The drive was fun, but long, especially knowing what was in store. Jennifer, not knowing anything, surely enjoyed the trip..






We arrived into Estes, and decided to go ahead into Rocky Mountain National Park, on up Trail Ridge Road, the highest highway in the country. It was definitely quite a haul up the mountains. It seemed like it would never end, especially as my excitement grew more and more. We stopped a couple times up the way to take pictures. I do not look myself in these pictures probably because of how nervous and excited I was. I was however captivated by the amazing scenery that the Continental Divide can provide you with. It really is breath-taking..








Finally, at about 1:45 mountain time, 2:45 central, we arrived at the top of the drive. We got out, I sneaked the ring box from my laptop bag into my jacket pocket, and we began the hike up to the top. Now, here's where it got tricky for me. It was a long hike up. It may not look it from this picture below, but it really was. Not to mention it was our first time outside to really breathe the air, and it had gotten very cold way up there. The air is extremely thin, so it already is very hard to breathe. So if you add that to a long hike, PLUS my heart racing about a thousand beats per minute knowing what I was about to do, I felt like I was going to die. Even Jennifer, who is in amazing shape, had a tough time getting up..




Well we get to the top, which is 12,000+ feet high!!! We take a few pictures, including this final picture of us not engaged, at the elevation sign (look carefully, you can see the ring box in my left jacket pocket, I have no idea how she didn't notice it!!):




Now I know some of you wanted me to have someone take a pic of the actual proposal, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to keep that moment private. I wanted that moment, those words, those tears, to be strictly in our memory. I did however get the pre and post pictures. It worked out so perfectly. It worked out just the way I prayed it would. A few people were up there when we first got there so we could gather our breath, take a few pictures. Then they left. So I had her all to myself at 12,000 feet high. So I did my thing, and got down on my knee, and asked her to marry me. She said YES! And of course, I pull the ring out of the box, and drop it (hands shaking so bad). It sucked, but it made it more real. So we got our moment. And shortly after, a man comes up, and I ask him to take our picture and tell him we just got engaged. He was very congratulatory, and took our first picture as an engaged couple:



Then we took a few more, even one of us kissing, with my hat off (which I took off during the proposal by the way):






It was simply amazing how it all worked out so perfectly, just as I planned it. I had never been to this place before, but in my dreams and in my plans, it worked out just as I hoped it would. Plus she said YES!!! We were soo happy and excited. And I was so relieved to have that behind me and our entire future in front of us.

We had an amazing weekend after that, visiting Estes Park and Denver. I will blog plenty more and post more pictures later about our trip, but I know many of you anticipated the actual proposal story.

The ring, as many have asked, is a full 1 carat circle-cut solitaire with amazing quality, on a 14k white gold Tiffany-style band. Here it is below. We are going to have to get better pics when we have our engagement pictures done, cause there's a glare in every pic she takes with the flash. Maybe that just shows off the BLING! Ha, just kidding. Actually I'm not, it really is beautiful.




Ok, thank you to all of you for your Congrats! We really do love all of you and appreciate everything. Our wedding will be in early 2010, we both want her to finish school first (Dec. 2009) so that she doesn't have a wedding being planned in the middle of her final year. We are looking at February or early March as a date, nothing set yet, but will be soon.

I have plenty of more blog posts to come, including a very, very interesting story from the famous haunted Stanley Hotel that many of you will find interesting. Let's just say we both had our first very real ghost encounter...stay tuned!!