Friends

I’ve made a lot of good friends in my life.  But this time, I want to talk about the friends I’ve made in my current job.  I’ve heard so much recently (on news of my departure) that I’ve been such a good friend to xxx or xxx organization.  These include Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, the VFW posts.  I think that’s my involvement with community organizations, or it has been my small way of helping such worthy causes.  I think it’s so neat to be able to be a part of their individual circumstances and missions.  I’m just humbled to help out and be a friend.  And, the people who are a part of these organizations are simply the best.  Thank all of you for your friendships.

Discoveries and Exploration

I like to stay busy, but man!  This weekend we went down to the Alamo City to shoot a wedding – Rachel’s dad.  It was a LOT of fun, and a LOT of work!  I think we did some amazing stuff, though, and I’m very pleased with how it went.  I hope they will be pleased, too.

The countdown begins now as I begin the process of moving and beginning my new position at Fox 7 in Austin.  I will be producing and assignment editing, and it just adds a lot more to my skill set in the industry.  I think it could be an exciting beginning to a new direction in my career, with the possibilities endless.

I think the moving thing is kind of overwhelming at this point, like it always is.  I’ve never really like moving, but it was always exciting to explore a new city and a new job opportunity.  I may be getting to the point where it’s less exciting to actually move because we’ve done it so much, but I will say it’s very exciting to explore a new place.  As we drove through Austin yesterday, I wanted to show Sarah the outside of Fox 7.  It’s right downtown, a block away from the capitol.  And we drove down 6th street toward Mopac, Sarah commented about how she’s excited to have me in Austin so we can discover new things together.  I think that will be very neat!

Here’s to new adventures and discoveries made with those you love.

 

3,640

That’s how many miles we traveled in just a week!  And what a trip it was.  Janette, Sarah and I began our adventure in sunny San Diego, flying from our base at DFW, headed toward Portland, OR.  There, we hooked up with Sarah’s very cool cousin, Sean (who is my age) so that we could all drive together up to Sarah’s (and Sean’s) grandparent’s home just outside of Polson, Montana.

The scenery was amazing, the time spent with family was awesome, and the trip was spent just breaking away from the hectic lives we’ve been living for the past I don’t know how long.  As you can see from the view of the Mission Mountains in Montana, this was just what the doctor ordered for us.

  When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, I was very overwhelmed, meeting people I had never met before.  They swarmed around us like vultures, but they weren’t mean at all, and they didn’t even seem like they wanted to eat me!  Soon enough, I became very comfortable inside this wonderful family and it just felt too cool for words to be a part of it.  This is one picture (of many!) that the Lonnevik’s took to capture the reunion.  Here we are with Grandma and Grandpa — the grandchildren and their spouses.  From left bottom: Mark & Anna (she is one granddaughter), Grandpa, Grandma, Emily (another granddaughter; top row: Lindsay & Darin (grandson and his wife), Sarah and me (of course, Sarah is a granddaughter and I am her spouse), and Sean (grandson).

 Aside from staying up late, sleeping-in in the mornings, and drinking lots of beer, we did a lot of fun things!  We visited a brewery in Polson (Glacier Brewery), but we also went out on Flathead Lake and went wakeboarding.  Here I am on the left trying to get myself up on the wakeboard… and I almost had it about 4 times!  Very frustrating, but it doesn’t look half bad from the picture.  Sean did manage to get himelf up… kudos man!  But it was a blast nonetheless, and it was more time with family soaking up the sun.

   

 (Left: the cabin up the hill; top: a peaceful evening with the moon visible behind a stoic pine tree)

 

After the reunion week, Sarah and I, along with Sean and Janette, all headed back to Portland to spend a day and a half in that great city.  We ate sushi, drank more beer (of course), and even went to historic Cannon Beach. 

Here (above), Sarah and I are enjoying ourselves at the Laurelwood Brew Pub.  Later on, we went on to karaoke at the Ambassador.  Kyle, a guy from Sean’s work, met up with us.  He did the best karaoke version of “Wonderboy” (Tenacious D) that I’ve ever heard!  Karaoke seemed to be a theme with us this week, as we also hit up the stage when we first arrived to Portland (before the big road trip to Montana).  Our post-Montana karaoke stop: Sarah, Kyle and Janette are singing “Bohemiam Rhapsody” together — and are having quite the time!

I already want to go back… feel the sand between my toes, and spend more time getting to know Sean and the rest of Sarah’s family.  But, I think that’s what I get to look forward to — many more trips and new relationships that we can carry with us. 

I guess sometimes family – and new friends – are like a good beer.  You just can’t get enough.

So, CHEERS to this family trip and the nearly 4-thousand miles that brough us all a little closer together in a land (at least for Sarah and me) that isn’t really close in distance, but is definitely closer in our hearts.