Trip to Manila (The Flight and first day)

Well, I made my first trip to Southeast Asia to Manila, Phillipines to be exact. The flight was very long, but alot of fun. I flew Business Class which made it more bearable. Lots of great food. Here are some pictures of the flight and the first day in the city. I will post more as the days go on.

Here are the pics

Disney with the Lobbs

We took the girls on a long weekend trip to Disney World with our close friends, the Lobbs. The girls had a wonderful time with their best friends Nick and Nate. We stayed at Port Orleans. We had a great dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on Friday night and then to our favorite place of all time, The Biergarten at Epcot. We did all the great rides as the crowds were rather light. We can't wait to go back in December!

Here are the pics

It's COLD here - so, we needed some new hats!

The weather is getting really darn COLD here in Florida. I think it dipped down into the 60s...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

So, the girls needed some new hats to help them brave the cold. I was up in Calgary this week, so I picked up some cool Canada Maple Leaf scarf hats that I thought they would love. Sure enough, they haven't taken them off yet. They wear them everywhere now...

Here are some more pics in their cool hats.

New House Painting

We painted the bedroom and Jen also painted the living room (which turned out amazing!!):

Nick's 4th Birthday Party

We had a great time at Nick's 4th Birthday Party today. Nick had his party at the girl's favorite, A Play Patch. All of their best friends were there. Donuts, cheese, juice, cake...could you have any more of their favorite foods?? The kids had a blast and ran around with smiles on their faces the whole time.

Here are some pics from the party

Garrett's Birthday Party

Anna and Ellie were invited to a great Abrakadoodle party at Garrett's house today. They had a wonderful time doing their water-color resistance painting. All the kids had an awesome time and of course got to eat corndogs, dino-chicken and lots of cake. Happy Birthday G-man!

Here are some pics from the party

Street Rods with the Girls

Dad and I took the girls to the Souteast Nationals at the fairgrounds and they actually had a great time. They entered a coloring contest and braved the October heat to check out the beautiful cars with Papa and Daddy.

USF at Miami 2005

Jer and I went down to Miami to witness history in the making. The first time that USF faced one of the big Florida schools and we were there to witness it at the Orange Bowl in Miami. We had a great time. Even though USF gave the game away, we really did enjoy ourselves. Just to see the Bulls in a major venue playing a major powerhouse like Miami was fantastic!

We rented a nice Lincoln LS on Hertz points and headed down on Saturday afternoon. We got down there at about 4 and checked into the free hotel that Jer got (once again, on points). We then headed over to the stadium at around 5 just to walk around and check stuff out. It turns out that we happened upon a big USF Alumni gathering. They had a huge tent, awesome food, kegs and kegs of beer and live entertainment. Leroy Selmon was there, Betty Castor, Judy Genshaft, Tom Veit, the band, the cheerleaders, and about 600 of our closest friends. What a nice surprise...

We went into the decrepit old stadium and found our amazing seats (provided by my wonderful boss - Thanks Ed !). It turns out we had unbelievable seats on the 40 yrd line smack dab in the middle of the Miami fans. I thought I had been to some loud venues before, but damn, my hears are still ringing. C - A - N - E - S - CANES ! Ugggggh. How many times did we have to hear that ?!?!? 3 or 4 too many times, thats how many.

It rained, in fact, we had to move up into the cover of the upper deck to stay dry one time. We then were able to move down for kickoff and enjoy the fun.

USF just gave it away - we turned the ball over on STUPID mistakes. We basically included the Miami D in our routes. Ah, look, there is an open Canes safety, and wow, he's open ! Well, we were happy just to be there. The Bulls got an idea of what it is like to play a top team in their house, which was 58K strong with fans by the way. All in all, we had a FANSTASTIC time and wouldn't have traded it for the world. It is was a great father-son weekend, of which we will have to repeat again next year.

GO BULLS !!

Here are the pics

Garcia Comes to town

Jason Garcia and Joe Fisher came into town during the same weekend. Some might call it the convergence of 2 large storms (The Perfect Storm), but we all had a wonderful time.

Jason stayed with us during the weekend and Anna really took to him. Of course, 2 hams are usually drawn to each other.

Here are some pics of our evening out at Channelside.

Link

Weeki Wachee Springs

Jen was away for the weekend at Michelle's baby shower, so we decided to venture up the road 40 miles to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the Mermaids. We had a great time on a steamy summer day. The river cruise, the mermaids and swimming in the cold springs was very nice.

Here are some pics

Our Fairies

Can you imagine a cuter picture than this??

Sunday Drive to Wilderness Lake Preserve

Well, we took a Sunday drive to check out all the new neighborhoods up North in Pasco County. We went on a wild goose chase trying to find Connerton and finally found it just 10 minutes away from home ! While we were looking we found WLP which we always wanted to check out. Here are some pics from the neat Lodge and Lake. The kids LOVED the neat tree-fort playground and the fish that they got to feed. Overall, we thought the lodge was amazing. They had a spa, a nature learning center, boats you could check out, a swimming deck, a great pool, etc. But, the homes were just OK. Nothing really made us feel that the homesites were any different than anywhere else. I wish they had forced the builders to all build in the NorthWest lodge or cottage style of home. There is nothing stranger than seeing a great lodge and then a Florida style stucco house with palm trees - UGGH.

Here are some more pics

Our Anniversary

8 years ! Can you believe it? Well, Jen surprised me this time and made reservations at Armani's, the same place that I proposed to her. In fact, this picture is taken at the very table I said those words. Well, 8 years later and our lives have changed quite a bit, but we still are in love just like the day we met. I love you Jennifer !

A Day at MOSI

We decided to check out the new Children's Museum at MOSI in Tampa and it was great. The girls loved it. We even saw an IMAX movie all about those guys from the Broadway group STOMP. There was lots to do for the kids. The new Kids in Charge section was really neat. They have some more work to do on it before it is 100% complete, but the girls loved it anyway. They would have stayed in the Publix grocery store section for hours if we had let them.

Check out the pics here...

Washington DC

I worked in DC for a few weeks and was able to take a look around. My office was right across the street from the capital building. The US Capital is a gorgeous piece of architecture; one that makes you proud to be an American. Too bad I was sick for about the whole 2 weeks I was there or I would have been able to take in alot more of the historic town.

Baby Nate's 1st Birthday Celebration

We were invited to a small family gathering to celebrate baby Nate's 1st Birthday. What a cutie. The girls had a great time playing with Nick and Nate. Pizza and cake - how could you beat that???

Here are some great pics of the occassion.

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My Week Off With the Family

Wow...what a wonderful week off. I took 1 week to spend at home with absolutely NOTHING on the agenda, but to do stuff with the girls. It was heavenly. MerMer was in town for the week as well and we did all kinds of fun things.

It was really weird to have a whole week at home to do things as they rolled our way. We would get up in the morning and say "what do you want to do today girls?" And, of course they had all kinds of great ideas.

I will be posting some pics of our various adventures so what here for more...

GUTS !!!

I said to my team...you got Guts??? We are going Live in just days, people are stressed out, tensions are high, etc. So, it was time for a little extra motivation. How? A shaved head and Go Live Goatee !

A check in....

Man - this project is really taking its toll on me. I haven't been able to post a blog in several weeks as things have been so damn busy. I have NOT exercised in weeks, not for a LONG while.

I am tired, I am beat, I am ready to take a breather and get my health/weight under control.

Sunday (or Monday) weigh in...

165 lbs at 9:30 PM. Not bad for memorial day bbqs. I have been eating better, but still need to kick up the exercise. Sitting in front of the new iMac this weekend wasn't a positive influence.

The iMac Revealed!

My new iMac
Originally uploaded by jwarnke.

Here she is...bright, shining, and new. Come on board...she's expecting you....oops, sorry, I'm still in the cruising mood.

Here is my new iMac. This thing is so darn cool. I can't even begin to tell you all the ways I love it. Everything just works, the first time. No driver installs, searching for new software, etc. This is computing the way it was supposed to be. More to come....In the meantime, enjoy some pics.

New Apple iMac G5

WOW. More details to come tomorrow. I am having too much fun on this thing to even stop for a second....

Starting to get sick...

My travel day started with me feeling a little groggy and then by the time I got off the airplane I felt like I could be getting a cold. I swear there is something about being on airplanes that gets me sick all the time. Hmm, I wonder what it could be....maybe all the sick people that decide to fly every week ?!?!?

Anyways, I felt crappy all day; really worn down, antsy, etc. Nothing I ate seemed to fill me up. That doesn't mean that I overdid it, just that I was generally feeling like poo.

I had a salmon salad for lunch, and a chicken platter with 2 sides from Chicken Out. I was too tired to work out, so I did some work, watched a little TV and then crashed at 10:30 waking up this morning with a horrible sore throat. Not sure if this will turn into something worse, but to be cautious I am loading up on vitamin C and those awesome Airborne tablets.

Let's see if I can beat this thing.

Until later.......

Disney World Food, Oh My!

I also had a bad weekend - the weekend started off fine I was down near the 163-5 mark, but......then we headed to DisneyWorld for a weekend. Ah, let's just say that I didn't stay away from Mickey's treats.

Large breakfasts, big lunches and even bigger dinner buffets with desserts! I did; however, find one of my top eateries on the planet. The buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge is unbelievable. It was voted one of the top restaurants in the US last year and I can see why. You HAVE to try this place, but please don't eat for a week before you go.

Now, after all that, I ended the week only down 1 stinkin' lb. [169]

Ok, determination and the avoidance of all things sugar, is what will get me through this week. I shall stop at the health food market and stock up for a few weeks. Cardboard and veggies will be my saviors.

Come on Joe, let's kick this into high gear.

EXERCISE will be the only thing that gets these numbers movin'

A much better day today

I ate very sensibly today. A light turkey sandwich for lunch. A chicken ceasar salad for dinner.

I worked out for about 40 minutes (cardio and weights) and it felt wonderful.

I need to keep this up....

My progress (or lack there of)

Sensible breakfast and lunch....and then for dinner I fell apart. All the people on the project wanted stuff from TGI Fridays and my team just ordered something simple for me while I was at another meeting.

Long story short...I had chicken fingers with honey mustard dip and fries. Not horrible, but not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

I again got no exercise today because I got to the office early and left late. I really need to get up at 5 AM and hit the gym for at least 30-45 minutes. I am not great at wanting to work out at night as I get all amped and can't get to sleep.

Ok - on to a better day today...will update you later.

Weight Loss Challenge

Today Joe Fisher and I started a weight loss challenge...which is really nothing more than keeping each other held accountable to a shared vision of losing weight.

I am the heaviest and unhealthiest I have ever been. We won't talk about the whys as they don't really matter, nor are they good reasons. The important part is that I recognize this and I need to do something about it.

As of today I weigh in at ~170 lbs. I need to get down to the 155-158 range and back into a 32" waist.

Today, to work towards this goal, I took the following actions:
- Ate a breakfast bar, and bottled water for breakfast
- Ate a 1/2 chicken wrap and side salad with water for lunch
- Had a tiny bag of sourdough pretzels for a mid day snack
- Ate a Chik Fil a chicken wrap, fruit bowl and water
- Had a light beer (needed to unwind from stressful workday)

So, this is the first day towards the end goal. One small step for me today, one large step for my future health and well being.

Watch my friend Joe Fisher's journey towards a similar goal at http://joefisher.blogspot.com

Neighborhood Crawfish Fest

Neighborhood Crawfish Boil 


We had a great Crawfish Boil in the hood yesterday. Todd and Jennifer put on their first one ever and boy did they ever do a great job! Yum, they were sure spicy.

Check out the shots here:

"Hey now ! That's not nice, cute, but not nice..." 

"Leesie !" 

Small Town Florida

Dade City Cruise-In 

We took a little one-tank trip up to Dade City, a quaint little town in the hilly NW corner of Pasco County, Florida. During the 1st Saturday of every month they have a great classic car cruise-in. We strolled through the old streets that were closed off for the show and then settled into a nice little family-style restaurant for some warm chow. The weather was kinda chilly, enough for light jackets and sweaters, but the sky was clear and blue. Dade City is definitely a must see - just take the Suncoast Parkway North until you get to SR-52 and head east until you see the signs for Dade City, you can't miss it.

See pics here

Disney Trip

Jason's Blog

We went to Disney for the weekend and had a great time. Magic Kingdom on Saturday and MGM Studios on Sunday. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter which was alot of fun. It was a cold weekend here, so much so that I was forced to buy a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. Check out the pics here.

We finally did it !

Our new mini-van ! 

We broke down and got the mini-van. We have crossed over, made it to the other side. The next thing we'll be doing is shuffling the girls off to ballet and soccer practice. But, we are very happy about making the move to the Odyssey. It is so pretty and has all kinds of great options. We love the DVD system and all the room inside. If we ever had to we could haul 8 people in this puppy. Check out some more pics here.

Mikal's 3rd Birthday

The kids enjoy some cake.... 

Anna and Ellie were invited to a fun birthday party at the park for Mikal's 3rd birthday. Wow - I can't believe he is that big already. We had lots of fun at the park. The weather was so nice, even a little Chilly. We ran around and chased each other, played follow the leader and even found clues (balloons) to find Pooh's Hunny Pot (lotsa treats). It was so much fun, we even had pizza and ice cream cake. Happy Birthday Mikal !!

Here are the pictures from our fun time.

2005 AKC Championship Dog Show Hits Tampa !

2005 AKC Championship Dog Show came to Tampa. 

The 2005 AKC Championship Dog Show came to town this weekend. WOW ! What a fun time, the girls loved to see all the amazing dogs. There were over 1400 of them from all different breeds. We really loved the Weimereiners, Labs and Retreivers. Anna thought all the golden retreievers were named Princess. Ellie of course made her famous dog sounds when she saw each and every one. We had fun going with the Lobbs. It was their great idea. There were some strange dog-people at that show, let me tell you. It is a whole subculture of people that are REALLY into their dogs.

Here are some pictures from the event...

Animal Kingdom January 2005

Animal Kingdom January 2005 

We went to Animal Kingdom for the day, a beautiful Saturday in sunny Florida. It was so nice outside, actually kinda warm. This was everyone's first time to Animal Kingdom and the girls loved it. The first thing we saw was the Safari which the girls just loved. Then, on to the Lion King show. We then raced over to something we should have skipped, the Bug's Life 4-D movie scared the girls both real bad. We will skip that until they are older. We then went to play in the big playground and ride the Dino ride. What a fun day.

Here are the pics. Enjoy !

New Years Eve 2004 ('05)

New Years Eve 2004 ('05) 

We spent this New Years Eve with the Lobbs. We had a nice dinner in our dining room and played games and had fun. We were all tuckered out by midnight and fell asleep soon after.

Here are some pictures from the fun.