2010 My Year

So it's Christmas Eve, 2010. All the tv shows are about a review of what happened in 2010. I kinda like that idea. So this is my look back at my 2010.
The first months of the year were spent getting ready for March. My fiance at the time left on March 7 to go across country on the Amtrak to California and then back to get married on St. Patrick's Day. The Amtrak was amazing! It was so cool to eat a steak dinner in the dining car while going through the Rocky Mountains. We had never been to San Francisco and that was also intense. We hiked for hours on the slightly treacherous Palomarin trail, had seafood at the wharf, foolishly hiked Angel Island, and did 100 other things tourists are required to do.
Then came March 17, wedding day. It's funny to look at the video and see how nervous I was. My spouse and I have known each other for years but something about going through the steps was terrifying. And now we're married! That's great because I'm not going through that stress again :)
So I'm married and now comes the happily ever after. Not quite. Then came the toughest part of 2010. We had a beautiful cat named Jubilee that we loved and that loved us. She'd been with us since we had first dated. We made sure to give her the best life we could and she knew it. Old age caught up with her and we had to let her go. I miss you Jubilee. I love you girl.
Our house got quiet. After awhile, we decided our cat Marcia needed another cat around. Enter Rogue. Rogue is orange, has sharp claws and teeth, and doesn't like me that much. Hopefully in 2011 she will realize that I am cool and I feed her. Meanwhile, I'm content to be her scratching post.
2010 has also been the year of the facebook. I won't mention my obsession with farmville, other than to say if you need a neighbor, send me a message. This has also been another year of our youtube channel. We've tried to keep our 1500 subscribers entertained.
So what about 2011? God knows what's in store for us. We're planning to take our first Bahamas cruise. Who knows what will happen. There will be plenty of laughs and more than enough tears. For now, I'll say goodbye 2010 and thanks for the memories.

A Farmvillain

Ok my one reader, you are right, I haven't written anything in awhile. It's not my fault. I've become addicted to the dumbest game on the Internet. Of course, I'm talking about farmville. I'm not sure why I'm so hooked on it. I know to the minute when my crops will be ready. I know how many bricks I still need to upgrade my haunted house (three more). And if I get sick of my farm, well I have three others I work on too.

But there are some things about farmville that seem weird to me. Granted I'm not a real farmer, but do farmers have lighthouses on their farms? When you harvest real farms, do you find fuel under your crops? How about ice cream parlors or for that matter haunted houses? The only part of farmville that is realistic is that strawberries only take four hours to grow in real life too.

So now I'm going to try to get back into my original obsession; Youtube. I'm starting to work on a collaboration video with a Canadian friend. (Yes Josh I will start filming tomorrow). And now two of my youtube buds in Ireland want me to do a collab vid. Hey everybody, can't we just farm instead?

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Soon I'll make a post about my upcoming Bahamas cruise. But right now I have to go plant acorn squash.

The Year of the Flea and the Ancient Chinese Secret

So we have a new Kitten, her name is Rogue.

If you want to see a video of her check out our youtube channel. Yeah, I know she's cute. What the picture doesn't show is the gift she came with. Fleas. Lots and lots of fleas. So for you cat owners, you know that's no problem. Buy flea killing stuff. Done. But it only takes three months to work. So now might I suggest a flea comb? Well that would be a great idea. But Rogue loves to bite and claw and try her darndest to kill me. So combing her is, to say the least, entertaining. And then there is her big sister Marcia. Marcia hates two things, Rogue and fleas. So now medicine and a comb for Marcia. That it why I am calling the summer of 2010 the Year of the Flea. I know summer is only three months but the fleas are making it seem quite a bit longer.
But what about the Ancient Chinese Secret you ask? What a great question. I have had this blog for months now. I write about things I think are interesting, or annoying, or funny, whatever. I love reading comments. But, the only comments I get are in Chinese. Yes, I know, it's spam. I won't tell you what the comments say. I suggest you use google translator. When you do, you will think the comments are as funny as I do. Trust me on this. Until then, it's an ancient chinese secret. So if you are reading this and you DON'T speak chinese, feel free to comment.
謝謝你讀這篇文章，對評論。

Life's (not) funny that way

March 7, 2010 was 25 days ago. We were going across country on Amtrak's California Zephyr to California. The trip was perhaps the best in my life. Amtrak is an experience everyone should try (if you can afford getting a room). Seeing the country where there are no cars, no roads, no Walmarts was surreal. California itself was everything I thought it could possibly be. We toured islands, beaches, hiked panoramic coastal trails, and ate seafood at Fisherman's Wharf.
March 17 was 15 days ago. I got married to the love of my life, my soul mate. I was extremely nervous, a funny sight if you know me. And then we came home.
We returned to life on life's terms. My spouse had been laid off. Our budget was virtually exhausted. Our refrigerator and car's gas tank were empty. We've adjusted to married life. We are adjusting to poverty. Life's (not) funny that way. To use a tired cliche, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A ray of sunshine has been the generosity of my friends. One donated food, another tried to slip me the money she had in her pocket. Tears rolling down my face, I tried to give it back to her. She wouldn't let me. I just said thanks and wished her a Happy Easter.
I won't go into the emotional turmoil this has been causing. First I don't know you, second, that's not what I want to remember when I read this in the future. It will get better. We both know that. Money comes and goes. Jobs come and go. Love endures.

Only A 60% Chance of Rain

One of the weirdest if not best times of my life. And this is how I saw it. We were living in Wilmington. If you don't know who "we" were then you don't know who DeBenson is, but that's definitely another story.
But as I said, we were living in Wilmington. For those of you that don't know, it is by the coast of North Carolina. We spent alot of time seeing what the ocean and beach are about. We night fished (again another story!), we drove to a part of the beach that deer would hang out, 30 or more of them feeding on the sea grass. And then there were the Rocks at Fort Fisher. The rocks were built during the Civil War. Our Southern Confederate troops fought the Northern Union forces at our last major southern port Fort Fisher, NC. "The Rocks" were built to close off blockade runners, but that isn't the story.
"The Rocks" go from Fort Fisher to a place called Zeke's Island. It is about 3 blocks long and a block wide and out in the ocean. We decided to hike the rocks and explore the island. I checked the weather that morning. There was a 60% chance of rain. "Hey," I said, "that means there is a 40% chance of no rain!" My fiance liked the justification and so we drove to the Rocks.
Let me describe them. Boulders in the ocean. They're slimy, slippery, jagged, deadly. Off we went the three mile trek on these rocks to Zeke's Island. This is how I know what a caveman feels like. We crawled over each rock, the Island getting closer, the tide closing in making us walk on partially submerged stone. After an hour, we make it. The rain starts.
Zeke's Island is nothing. Sand, bushes. That's it. Five minutes of looking around and we're both done with it, soaked and ready to play video games at home. No problem. Yes problem, time to walk back on the now totally submerged Rocks in the middle of a huge downpour. So we walk.
I remember thinking that we would slip and fall onto the jagged rocks and just end up featured on tv as two poor victims. We kept "walking". I knew we were in trouble. A fishing boat came within 50 feet of us and I waved. I honestly hoped they would rescue us. They waved back and kept going. Crap. We hiked for another half hour. At last land. We got into our car and really enjoyed not being adventurous.
You can see "The Rocks" in our youtube video called Never Gonna Be Alone. But they look sunny. They look fun. Picture them with a 60% chance of rain.

What's this New Video About???

Ok, so you probably just saw my new video and just found this blog. You want to know what the big secret is. First, I forgive you for not keeping up with my blog. =) Second, you might have guessed, I'm getting married! We're going to California by the Zephyr and then getting married on the way home.
I love my youtube channel. On all the videos I have posted, I've been thinking what the most people would find funny or weird or whatever. This video is my first that I only thought about making it for one person. And I've learned that nothing else matters.
So to everyone else, I hope you like the video. If not, it's all good. To my fiance, I love you. Thank you for the past, the present, and our future.