Dreams of life on the other side...

I have been working part time as a Graphic Designer / IT guy and going to school full time for Application Development. Life has been a bit busy for a while now, and this being the last full two weeks of classes, it is also a tiny bit stressful. On the upside, I am working a job that gives me full creative freedom within reason, and I get to use one heck of a military grade computer while doing so. I do plan on showing some of my work there as soon as it is released, so you are just going to have to be patient a little longer.

I have also been donating my artistic and technical talents still at Frontline Community in Grand Rapids, and things there are also smooth sailing, in fact, this is the first church I have found that doesn't make an overly bureaucratic mess out of suggestions towards artistic direction and visualizing the message. Nice place, you should visit sometime ;) Anyways, I have a few pieces here that I can show from past / current series and a couple proposals for future series... (Will be adding more soon)



After this semester of school is over, my Wife and I plan on doing a role switching exercise, and she is going to be putting work on hold while I will be working full time for Rev-X Products and starting my own personal projects in app development. This will not be easy, since I have pretty much played the role of a stay/work at home Dad for almost three years, but I have all the faith in the world that this will work out for the best for all people involved, and this is where dreaming of life on the other side comes to play. What if this actually works, what if this can actually help us afford to spend time with each other more as a family.

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Until then, this is Untitled

I have spent the past days trying to think of a good blog post, and nothing cool came to mind at all. I went through tech projects, art projects, and even an invention or two, nothing! But then I remembered what an awesome week I have had so far, not much to complain about at all.

I started work on a new clients site, got that first down payment, then I also received a check from a back owed client, so that was nice too, not much, but together I was able to pay a little towards rent and pick up one gift each for the kids. This year we picked a gift that has the potential to offer gaming, learning, and communication... but that will end up becoming a whole other post on it's own.

The wife cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal by herself this year, and I didn't even realize till the next day that I didn't have a single complaint about it, it turned out pretty awesome! (That, and I didn't have anything to do with it this year), just awesome! There were also an assortment of baked goodies too, from Pumpkin pie, to some kind of Spice Cake and even cookies. She went all out this year and it turned out awesome.

My mother came over, and we spent plenty of time playing games and socializing. There was even a spy game in there I think, found the to-do list from my little spy... Just not sure why finding Willow is so far down the list :) Overall, it was a good week spent with the family, so there are never any complaints about that. I did plenty of art and even some music in between. I'll update my post later with a live recording of a song I'm working on.

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Watching the kids bloom

Summer has finally hit at my house, the kids are all out of school and Donna has been working days as often as possible, while I have been trying to fit in my Web Design work as much as I can surfing the day. On a good day, I can fit in a good 3-5 hours worth of work, so I have to change something soon to allow me a little more time each day to dedicate to my work. I should also remember to fit in my family time during some evenings, since I'm spending the days primarily with the kids during the week, and the wife has the weekends off. I'll figure it all out, it just might take me a couple weeks.

On a different note, I started to do some stretches and katas with my kids during the days. They are seeing the katas more like yoga right now, whatever floats their boat I say. Taking what I learned from Kuk Sool Won and Aikido, I'm trying my best to only show them things that will help others around them. Mandie has really been the one who likes it the most so far, the boys haven't found what they like about it. I keep on telling them that they will eventually find what they like about it, they just have to practice with me. I'm not planning on showing my kids how to hit, kick or even block. I'm planning on showing them how to redirect. This way we can not have any focus on violence, and the focus is on finding a balance. I figure we get into it over the summer, and when winter hits, we find ways to use some of the fluid motions around the house. Who knows, this might be the key to getting them to clean!!

Our collection of flowers and plants in the house has also taken off lately, we have over 20 plants. This is incredible for us, since we have never had a green thumb, but all of a sudden, plants are sprouting and growing up. I am thinking it is because this summer, we have a healthy Willow, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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Family Picnic

So today, we did our normal Sunday morning thing, but when it came to lunch time, we changed things up a bit and went to Meijers for non perishable groceries and Lunchables. Then we set out to find a park we haven't been to yet. We ended up going to a ball field by Lamoreaux Park, and had a picnic there. Then the kids also got to play a bit in the field. They all had fun, and it was a nice break from the norm of rushing home, doing the dishes, and then finally making lunch.

It was a nice little break from the norm, and it got me to thinking a little bit about how we usually spend time with our families. Typically, I count being in the same room with my kids as spending time with them, but I have been missing the clue. The interaction is what our kids need, not us just being there with them. In the long run, it doesn't really matter what we are doing with them, as long as it is something.  

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Fantastical Friday

So the week has trickled by and as usual, I tried to keep pretty busy. I am almost done with the first website that I was contracted to work on. Sent in the invoice for what work I have completed so far, then also sent an estimate for the added work remaining on the site.

There were a couple items that were not done, but I at least did find a workaround for everything but the menu. In the end, the only option I had to do a dynamic menu with some drop down functions required the system to be built using sections and categories. Unfortunately this system was not. If I pulled any options from the database, as soon as the client would edit or add an article, the menu would have pulled the wrong data, so that sucked.

Did I mention how much I hate oldschool PHP? Well I do. It's not a fun language to work with when your fixing other people's screw ups. I wont mention it again for a while now. I'm done.

I have a weekend ahead of me now, got Family Fun Night at the kids school, planning on being there. Then I have a whole weekend with my wife planned. Maybe I'll drive her crazy... about me ;)

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A day away from technology

I was thinking that today would be a great day to spend away from the computers. And because of this I ended up spending a lot of time with my daughter outside and ended up also going on a hike with my 2 sons and my youngest son's cub scout troop.

We went out to a little nature preserve in Cannonsburg Mi. today. I had lots of fun remembering all of the plant species we passed by as well as hunting for the perfect walking stick, which I found twice :) I was also able to grab a few good photos and capture a few good memories with the boys. My only regret the whole time is not being able to smoke on the trail, it helps me ground myself sometimes when you of my element.

Had a pretty productive day around the house today too. Got the dishes done, house picked up, and I was even able to get to some of the yard work today too. So I do have a decent sense of accomplishment from today, that should help me when it comes to revamping my resume tomorrow. I just haven't had enough hits from it in its present form.

As I was working on my friends resume yesterday, I realized that I am probably over complicating my resume quite a bit, and I could possibly get it down to a single page that SHOWS who I am, and not just what I can do. I'm taking it as a design project. See how I can reinvent the resume. I have plenty of ideas, just have to get them all down and sort out the good from the bad, then sort the winners by cost. We will see what I come up with :)

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Not just another Monday

So today is just another typical monday, but I am refusing to let it be typical. Today's plan is to do everything a little bit differently so my normal routine is put off. This should force a bit of a creative spark if I do it right.
Now I don't normally work on music this early in the week, but today I did, and I started with Jazz. Came up with a few basic chords and rifts, just have to get the harmonics right and soon it will become a song :)
Willow and I also spent a little bit of time doing stretches and exercises, well, she did a couple stretches and then tried to grab my face for a while while I was doing sit-ups. Then she passed out soon after that.
We will see how the day goes, so far it's a nice adventure :)

Update: I was able to create a good dozen plus parts for the song, just have to export them to my desktop and start throwing them on a timeline and adding some effects. Good day so far :)

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