• 8.30.04, 8:49pm - Junior
Detective Alert!:
Things are
picking back up at work again, travel-wise. I'm tentatively
headed to Arizona in a few weeks, and Kim and I just got back from a
working vacation of sorts in the Philadelphia and Boston areas (
Siskow
wasn't the only one in Maine recently). I'll post some pictures
soon.
Until then, enjoy this response I received from
Cody
after he learned Kim and I were engaged:
Congrats! I
really can't say I'm too surprised, however. As you
will see in my attachment, I deciphered an intricately laid code
within
the left wing liberal propaganda that is you[r] most current webpage
update [7.7.04,
7:52pm - Vote Kerry-Edwards].
I decoded all of
your secret letters in red colored font while
blurring the unused background and letters. And after really
studying
the cryptics of your site, I uncovered this message:
click on image to enlarge
Will
you marry me, Kim?
Really, it was very
clever. Seemingly random placement of those
17 letters within your last update. I bet Kim was really
surprised
when she decoded your offer of lifetime commitment.
Again, though, I say
congrats. And keep those cryptical messages coming. They
are fun for everyone!
Cody
• 8.11.04, 11:02pm - Here We Go:
So, a lot has happened
since I last updated.
First, pretty much anyone who would be
looking at this site probably
already knows that Kim and I got engaged last month. We'd talked
about getting engaged for a long time, and I finally popped the
question on July 24th, the day after Kim's birthday.
We had made plans to drive down to
Madison County to check out
some of the covered bridges on that day as kind of a birthday activity
for Kim. Neither of us had been down there before, so she just
thought it would be a nice little day trip. All along, though, I
was planning to propose to her on one of the bridges.
Of course, th emorning of the day we were planning to go down, it had
begun to rain. It was also unseasonably cool, and the weather for
central Iowa was forecast to remain that way for much of the day.
Nevertheless, we headed down to Winterset and found a map of the bridge
locations. We started out by driving over to Pammel State Park,
where we had a picnic lunch underneath a shelter while it rained.
But it had stopped raining by the time we finished lunch, and it
actually started to warm up a bit after the sun started peeking
out. So we drove to the first of the five covered bridges.
It was pretty cool. What struck me about all the bridges is that
while the materials and architecture were similar in each one, there
were also subtle differences in the support structure of each
bridge. It gave each one a different personality. Walking
onto one made you feel like you were stepping back in time. It
was very peaceful, serene, and--just as I had hoped--romantic.
After the first bridge, we headed back toward Winterset to visit a
bridge located within the City Park. While in the park, we
noticed a sign pointing down a winding path toward what it said was a
tower. I decided to steer my car down the path, which ended up
winding a couple of miles back and forth through a giant, tree-covered
hill. Near the top of the hill, we saw Clark Tower.
The staircase seen on the left
side of this picture took us up to the second-story windows.
Inside, there was a steep metal staicase that led to the top of the
tower. There, we had a beautiful view of the river valley for
miles in every direction. I took a good look around and decided
it was as good a place as any. So I took the ring out of my
pocket, got down on one knee, and asked Kim if she would marry
me. She said, "Yes," and the rest, as they say, is history.
I'd been planning the day for over a
month, so I thought it was fitting
that I ended up popping the question at a place I didn't even know
existed. Overall, though, the day went exactly as I had hoped it
would. The best part of it was that Kim had no idea it was
coming. You have to know that Kim is the worst kind of
snoop. She'll find out what you're getting her for Christmas or
her birthday before you even buy it. This was the secret of all
secrets to keep, and I had even told a lot of people about it in the
weeks leading up to it. So I was extremely proud that we all were
able to keep this secret from her.
Right now, we're looking at an October
1st, 2005 wedding in Omaha
(pending availability of a venue for the ceremony and reception).
---
On July 30th, my friend
Collin
got married to his longtime girlfriend Sarah. The wedding was in
Vancouver, Washington, which we weren't able to attend. But they
had a reception in Odebolt last weekend, and it was a great time.
I saw most of my best friends from high school, many of whom I hadn't
seen in two or three years. It was great to able to introduce
them to Kim and to sit down and catch up with them. I only wish
that we'd had even more time to talk.
---
On August 1st, we moved to different
apartment in Ames. Here's a
picture of the building's exterior:
We live on the floor with the
big, long balcony going all the way down the building. Our deck
is huge. (No, not the entire length of the building. There
are fences dividing the deck between units. But it's still a huge
deck.) If you haven't received an e-mail with our new contact
info and you want one,
let me know.
One of the perks about the new place is
free high speed internet
access. With that in mind, we bought a new computer. It's
an eMachines PC. Cheap, but good enough for now. Our goal
is to get a nice new Mac in a year or two.
With the new computer and the high speed
internet, I will hopefully be
able to find more time to keep in touch with friends through e-mail and
AIM. And of course, I'll be able to stay up all hours of the
night to write obscenely long updates, like I'm doing tonight.
People have been asking if I've been out
on any video shoots lately for
work. I hadn't been on any since May, but I finally get to out on
one next week, and Kim gets to go with me. We'll be flying out to
the Philadelphia area on Saturday. We're actually going to have a
free day in Philly on Sunday, so that'll be fun. Then, on
Tuesday, we'll fly over to the Boston and New Hampshire areas.
We're looking forward to getting out of Iowa for a little bit, even if
we do have to work for most of the time.
Other than that, I'm just waiting for
the start of the football
season. I'm in fantasy leagues at work and online with my
friends. I'm also in a Survival Football group with many of the
same friends. There are still plenty of open spots in both the
online fantasy league and Survival Football group, so just
send me an e-mail if you want to
join. My only requirement is that you pledge your undying loyalty
to the Kansas City Chiefs--who
will
make it to the AFC Championship Game this year.
One more thing. Some of you may
remember an
update
I wrote late last August about already seeing Halloween decorations and
candy in the stores at that early time of year.
This year, I saw the same thing...on
July 25th.
