Weblog

So much has changed since I last posted, I don't even know where to begin. First and foremost, I am now engaged! At the end of May, the 26th to be exact, I asked Nhu Nguyen to marry me. We were in Tucson for the week, as she signed up for a biology field study class there. While she was exploring Saguaro National Park with her classmates, I worked from the hotel. I spent most of my time inside the room, as it was a very warm 105 degrees for most of the week. Thankfully, it cooled down considerably for the weekend, reaching only the low 90s. On Saturday, we drove up to Phoenix to visit friends and relatives. We first met up with Tracy, a friend of mine from college who has lived in Phoenix since graduation. After some good Thai food, I introduced Tracy to the delectable Frost Gelato, a chain in Tucson and Phoenix which serves the best gelato I have ever had outside of Italy. After saying goodbye to Tracy, Nhu and I went to visit Nhu's aunt and cousins, who also live in the Phoenix area. I told them that we had to leave at five o'clock, though, because I had somewhere in Tucson to take Nhu for sunset. They told us to check out out Hole-in-the-Rock instead so we could stay longer, but ultimately we decided too much hiking would be involved. So, Nhu and I left for Grant's Pass soon thereafter. Of course, once we got there, we found out that the sun was far enough north that we did have to hike just a bit to be able to see the sun go down, so I helped Nhu along the trail, since she was in sandles. A few minutes later, we found a good spot to sit, and I began, of course, to take some pictures. While doing this, though, I dug the engagement ring out of my camera bag, and gave it to Nhu. The look on her face was priceless. I asked her, "so, is that a yes?" to which she responded, "yes to what?" I then said, "will you marry me?" And the answer was yes!

Another recent change in my life has been my departure from IBM. My last day there was the 30th of May. I am now working at a much smaller consulting company called Neudesic, a small tehnical consulting firm that focuses on software development using Microsoft technologies. This change should see me near home much more often, which has its pluses and minuses. I still have a passion for visiting (and photographing) new places, but I do like the idea of going where I want to go. Most importantly, though, I will be able to spend more time with my fiancée! So far the new job is enjoyable. My first project is using the latest and greatest from Microsoft: ASP.NET MVC 3, with Razor views. Unfortunately, my first project is all the way down in Centennial, which means I have a rather colossal drive. I was told that it is the exception to the rule, though, as most projects allow much more remote work, so we'll see. I do have high hopes for my role at Neudesic!

Well, I have been back from my trip to the Southwest for a week now. The trip was great; I shared a hotel room with Matt Johnson and James Stevenson, and we bummed around Phoenix when I was not occupied with wedding duties (I was one of two ushers). Tracy and Eric's wedding was a success, though one of the bridesmaids did faint during the ceremony. However, water was quickly administered, and the ceremony resumed. The wedding and reception were held in the Desert Botanical Gardens, with a nice backdrop of dozens of saguaro cactuses. I finally got to meet "Grandma from Loveland," and I even danced with her, at the behest of James, who danced with Tracy's other grandmother.

Besides going to Phoenix for the wedding, my trip also consisted of visiting a few national parks. On the way to Phoenix, I went down to Carlsbad to see the gorgeous caverns near the city. The drive from Loveland to Carlsbad was a lengthy 630 miles, the longest leg of my trip, but the time to get there was reduced by New Mexico's US highway speed limits of 70 and 75 mph, or at least on the ones that are divided highways. The next day I got up early to go see the caves, and was greeted by very strong winds. The winds were so strong that they were blowing the shingles off of the roofs of the trailers that were set up as the temporary visitor's center. I was told that after I went into the caves, the park would be closed until the winds died down. This meant that I got the caves mostly to myself, which was very pleasant. After the caves, I traversed the Sacramento Mountains to visit White Sands National Monument. Finally, I spent the night in Lordsburg, near the Arizona border. The next morning I began the trek to Phoenix, stopping at Saguaro National Park, where I saw more cactuses than anyone could ever imagine, including hundreds of the gigantic saguaro cactus. After that, I made my way to Phoenix. Little did I know, and much to my delight, my hotel was just a few blocks away from an exotic car dealership. I went there the next day to take pictures. This included countless Ferraris, a Dodge Viper, and a half dozen Aston Martins. My dream car, the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, turned out to cost a mere $190,000. I guess I will have to live with my Civic for a while.

After staying in Phoenix for three days for the wedding, I made my way to the Grand Canyon, where I stayed for sunset. It was absolutely stunning. I stopped at every viewpoint I could find on the south rim. After sunset, I made my way to Tuba City, where my hotel reservations for the night were. Despite being the largest city on the Navajo reservation, there wasn't a whole lot there; in fact, my hotel was the only major chain. While deciding how I was going to get to Moab, I discovered that the route I had initially planned on taking went through something called Monument Valley. I had never heard of it, but when I looked it up, it looked gorgeous. Indeed it was. In fact, US 163 in Utah is the most beautiful stretch of highway I have ever been on. Not only were there the mesas of Monument Valley, but there was also a good deal of other rock formations, including a place called Valley of the Gods, and also what appeared to be part of the painted desert. I took my poor little Civic onto the dirt roads for some of it, and the offroading paid off. I had so much fun that it took me roughly four hours to go the hundred miles from the Utah border to US 160, which goes to Moab. I finally made it into Moab at around 5:30, checked into my hotel, and went to Arches National Park in hopes of a nice sunset. Unfortunately, the clouds did not cooperate, and the sunset was somewhat disappointing, though I did get a few nice photos. The next morning, I went back to the park until just after noon, and I managed to see the rest of the more popular locations. I then made my way for Grand Junction. I originally planned on staying an additional day to see some of Canyonlands National Park, but I decided against it. Once in Grand Junction, I made my way up to Colorado National Monument, where I got many more pictures of cliffs, but this time from atop them. Afterwards, I made my way up I-70 to the Eisenhower Tunnel, which proved to be a very painful experience in my Civic. On some of the climbs, I was in third gear. Once I made it to the tunnel, though, it was mostly downhill and much more pleasant.

Anyway, all of the photos from this trip, along with my trip to New York, have been posted. I have not gotten around to giving them captions yet, but at least they are up! Also, I know that my site is quite slow right now. With the posting of these pictures, it has become woefully obvious how inadequate this site has become. I am hoping to do a rewrite in the near future, but for now, it is what it is.