Category Archives: Mom & Dad

Mom & Dad #1: How We Met

By the time you read these, I may be a bit old to remember the details of how your mother and I came to be. My memory is not bad, although your mom would argue this fact to the death, and I still have a vivid picture of how things went.

I am going to do these posts in order, and will span them out to cover different monumental moments. This is the first in the series…how we met.

How We Met

First, let’s get this out of the way, your mom was 15 when I met her and I was 18. This is not a practice that I encourage, so don’t ever use this as justification. It was December of 2002 in Tucson, and your mom was visiting with her best friend who happened to be Cousin Elizabeth. There were the same age, and went to school together in Sun Valley. It was just a few days before the new year, maybe the 29th, and they were staying through the 3rd or so.

I had graduated high school in May of that year, and was back in Tucson after attending Eastern Arizona University for a semester to play baseball. I was burnt out on playing and would be attending Pima Community College in the spring in preparation for UA. This was during winter break.

Elizabeth had already been down for a little while and mom was flying in just for a few days. She almost never made it actually. Mom and Mia were driving to Boise for the flight in winter conditions when their car spun out on the road and they hit a snow embankment. Luckily they were not hurt, but had to be towed out and mom missed her flight. They almost turned around, which possibly would have changed both our lives forever, but she was able to jump on another flight.

Now, this is going to sound really corny but I swear it is the truth. I was working at a restaurant at the time, Old Pueblo Grill, as a bus boy. Part of the job was also doing security in the parking lot once a week or so. That night, I came home as I had recently moved back and was staying with Boppie while looking for a place, and your mom was there. I swear, no joke, the minute I saw your mom I knew I was in trouble.

She was there in jeans and a cute shirt, I has been patrolling a parking lot and was in a grey sweater and jeans and looked like a bum. I met your mom at the kitchen table and knew instantly that we had a connection. She did not have the same strong feeling, although she definitely had an interest me, but we instantly hit it off. Your mom was reserved and smiled a lot, she was just perfect.

Here was the problem, I had a girlfriend. I was still dating who ended up being my high school sweetheart, her name was Annie. We had been together, on and off, for about 3 years and since I had moved back we had been together and moving pretty quickly in terms of plans. Annie was a year younger than me, still a high school senior, and was really my first love. We had been through a lot together and really couldn’t imagine our lives without each other.

When I met your mom, she changed all that overnight…

I know it sounds ridiculous, but there was a shift in my feelings immediately. All I could think about is your mom, all I could dream about was finding a way to get her, and being the person I am that doesn’t give up on something they want I began to court her.

How Things Progressed

The days leading up to New Year’s Eve we talked, but she was really consumed with doing stuff with my sister and Elizabeth. I did get to see her here and there. I actually blew off a date with Annie one of those nights, saying that I was going to a movie with my dad, and got caught as she saw him at the movie. I blew it off because I knew your mom would be coming home while I was gone, and I didn’t want to miss her.

Annie was a very intuitive person, and one of the few people in the world that could see through my bullshit. Perhaps this was because she had so much practice, but regardless she was never someone that it was easy to lie to. Annie knew from the moment she met Caroline that there was something up. She even told me that she knew I liked you mom the very first time she met her and saw me with her. Annie was not really the jealous type at this point in our relationship either, so this comment really took me by surprise. But she was right and I knew it.

The day before the new year I took the girls, not including Annie, up to Phoenix to go shopping. This was the first time I really got any decent amount of time with mom. On the ride back, everyone fell asleep. After a little while your mom woke up and we got to talk the rest of the way home. She told me about her family, where she was from,  school and her ex-boyfriend. I was falling for you mom fast. That’s when new year’s eve came…

New Year’s Eve

On New Year’s Eve my best friend Mike was having a part that we were all going to. Now Mike is an awesome guy, was single at the time and a desirable dude. All week Elizabeth and my sister were working on fixing mom and him up as they were both single. Mom and Mike has a lot in common. Both came from wealthy families, both their dad’s were successful business men, both intelligent and shared a number of other similarities. On paper they were a great fit. That being said, their personalities could not be more different and they could not possibly disagree more on pretty much every social issue out there. Regardless, Mike is a smooth talker and mom was a beautiful girl.

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Not mom’s best picture, but she was a little tipsy 🙂

Annie and I headed to the party a littler earlier than mom and the other girls. When they arrived, I remember this specifically, I was sitting on the counter with Annie standing between my legs and we were, well, flirting and such. Then I saw your mom. This is where any doubt about my feelings towards your mom in Annie’s eyes were put to rest, as I jumped down from the counter and went and gave your mom a big hug. This came to be known as the “prolonged hug” as Annie put it, and sent Annie into full defensive mode.

Meanwhile, Mike was working his angle on mom. Mom, and you can ask her about this as this is not just my opinion, was not really all about Mike and honestly I don’t think he was really all about her either. That being said, it was New Year’s Eve and decisions are not always thought through.

The night continued on, and midnight was approaching quickly. I had a pissed of girlfriend on my hands and couldn’t help but not care as I was focusing on mom too much to care. So when there was about a minute before midnight, and Annie and I were preparing to ring in the new year, all I could think about was your mom.

The moment came and went. I kissed my girlfriend, and your mom kissed my best friend. Oddly enough, rather than upsetting me or making me sad knowing that they kissed, it hardened my resolve. Annie was a a great girl and any guy would be lucky to have her, but it was at that moment I realized that things would never be the same between us. I thought over the previous days that perhaps this infatuation I had with your mom was just that, an infatuation, and that it would pass. After this night I knew that was not the case. After this night I knew that your mom and I had something, whether she knew it yet or not, and that I couldn’t rest until I either had her or gave it my best shot. My life literally changed that night, unknowing to me at the time, and things would be different from then on out.

Your mom was leaving in 2 days, and I had to see if what I thought was there actually existed…

2 Days To Go

Annie spent the night that night, and pretty much told me that she knew I had feelings for your mom. This was emphasized when I got up and went out in to the kitchen and found your mom there and talked to her for 30 minutes just to have Annie come out mad and call me back to bed.

Really didn’t get a lot of time with mom over the next couple days, until the night before she was supposed to leave. Everyone had fallen asleep and we stayed up talking, and flirting a bit. At this point I think we both knew something was going on, but with her in Sun Valley, me in Tucson, with a girlfriend and her in high school it seemed not just improbable but impossible.

That night though, and I never recommend cheating because it is bad, but your mom and I kissed for the first time. It was January 2, 2003, and it is was confirmed, for at least me, that I couldn’t just let this go. I had to pursue your mom no matter what that meant. Elizabeth wouldn’t like it, Annie wouldn’t like it, our parents wouldn’t like it and likely nor would any of our friends; but I could care less.

This is what sparked our relationship, and out of this a tremendous amount of effort, love, sadness, anger and a number of other emotions and actions would result. Your mom left the next morning without me knowing my next move, and left me thinking about if this was really feasible. I felt like I was in love with your mom then and there, a feeling I had never experienced before and definitely not this quickly. I pondered for days about what to do, and in the next post we will go into it.

Hope this gives you some insight into just how it all started. Can’t wait to tell you more.

Love, Dad

What Does Dad Do?

The last couple of days have been pretty exciting for me, as I was a contributor to a pretty major inbound marketing piece that was put out. Figure at this point it is a good idea to fill you in a bit on what it is that I do. I am very excited because I work in a field that changes it seems by the day, so by the time you are old enough to read this my role will likely be completely different.

In a nutshell, I help companies optimize their websites so they show up higher in search engines (primarily Google). I do this a variety of ways which I won’t go into, but it is a combination of code changes in addition to off-site factors that help to create basically an online reputation for the company website. My current title is SEO/Product Marketing Manager and this encompasses a few other things as well.

In addition to SEO (which is explained above and stands for Search Engine Optimization) I also manage web analytics, social media product development and PPC strategy. Let’s start with analytics.

Web analytics track everything that happens within a website, from traffic to time on page to the links that are clicked on. It has thousands of metrics that are accounted for, and I use these to draw conclusions on how we can better optimize and arrange the sites as well as report out to the brands that we work with.

On the social side, I manage the product strategy in what we develop. For example, we recently built a Facebook product that allows major brands (Wendy’s in this case) to post in geo-targeted areas on their national page. We are working on Twitter and Pinterest product currently.

Finally, on the PPC side (pay-per-click) I work with new clients on their strategy in terms of paid search. I work on what their approach should be in each market and then we have a team that will execute on making it happen.

It is almost guaranteed that I will not be at this company by the time you get this, but I currently work for a company called Balihoo that works with Fortune 1000 companies to help them market on a local level. Some of the clients that I do all the above for are Aflac, Pearle Vision, Kohler, Wendy’s and Behr.

The goal, and one that will hopefully be reached within the next decade or so, is to become a CMO or VP of Marketing for a company. I aspire to be an executive that runs an entire marketing department, or at some point possibly a company in general.

Anyway, thought I would fill you in on what I do now at the age of 29 and see where things are in the future. Can’t wait to see you!

Love, Dad

11 Weeks & A Couple Trips

11 weeks has come and gone, today is 11 weeks and one day. More importantly, it is just 13 days away from our next doctor’s appointment. Really nothing all that cool will happen at the next appointment, other than we will be at the end of the first trimester and can safely tell people about you.

Today also marks the day that your mom is leaving for a trip to the Caribbean, St. Maartens to be exact. Yes, your mom is spoiled. She will be going for a little over a week. This will actually be the longest we have been apart since being married, if you can believe that. Here is what mom’s life will look like for the next week (this is even a pic of where she is staying).

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However, in her absence, Uncle Matt and I are going fishing/camping over the weekend. We are heading up to Copper Basin, which is about 30 miles Northeast of Sun Valley. Going to fish a river called the Big Lost, starting with the East Fork of the Big Lost and then heading to the main waters tomorrow. Here is our campsite as well as where we will be fishing tonight.

Trail Creek Rd Mackay ID 83251 Google Maps

 

Just to keep you in the loop on me, I am also training for another half marathon. The funny thing is that I don’t care for running all that much, but I have found that unless I have a goal that I am working towards it is hard for me to stay motivated regarding fitness. I will be running in the City of Trees half marathon here in Boise on October 13th.

At this point you are apparently the size of a fig. Your hands are forming and your fingers are as well. Your bones are beginning to solidify and you are starting to get teeth as well. Most exciting part is that you are beginning to stretch and kick! Even though mom won’t be able to feel this for another couple months, it is pretty cool to think that you are starting to rock out there in the womb.

I will be out the next couple of days, but will try to get some pics of the fish. Hopefully someday you and I can go together, as that was one of the best things I ever did with my dad and I would love to share that with you. You are constantly on my mind, and cannot wait to meet you.

Love, Dad

4 Year Anniversary

Today is 4 years that your mom and I have been married. Not just saying this, but they have really flown by.  My next task is to write about our story and how we came to be, but today is not that day as we have plans and I don’t have time.

Just to give you a bit of insight though, July 26th, 2009 was our wedding day. We got married in SV at Trail Creek and it was an amazing day. Here is a pic:

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As you can see, I had a lot more hair than I probably do now.

Anyway, tonight I am taking your mom to the Shakespeare Festival here in Boise. We haven’t been yet and the venue is pretty close to the house, so we are going to ride our cruisers down there with a picnic basket and watch the play from the grass. We also got each other a present yesterday: new rocking chairs for the front porch. Now don’t think I am totally lame for wanting a rocking chair as my gift, I would much rather have had some type of new electronic device, but mom really wanted them and sometimes it is good to compromise. They are pretty sweet chairs, and we will be using them to take a picture in the near future to announce YOU to the world!

The festivities this evening will have to be brief, as Uncle Matt is flying in from North Carolina after finishing his first year at UNC. That reminds me that I need to give a brief synopsis on everyone that you will know in their current state, because by the time you read this he will likely be much older and established. Want to ensure that you know what a little shithead he really was.

4 years may not seem like a long time, especially since your mom and I have been together for over 10 as of now, but it really is quite an accomplishment. We really waited to make sure that we were right for one another and have established over and over that we are. I love your mom more than anything in life, and cannot imagine going on without her. She is an intelligent, strong, loyal, stable, funny, and beautiful person. She is everything I could have ever asked for, and if you ever ask Nonnie or Boppie about her and I getting together they will say that she is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

This is the first picture I could find of your mom and I together, I will continue to look but as you can see we are pretty young:

IMG_0544Every great relationship has to have a great story, so in the near future I will write about ours.

This is the most exciting anniversary we have ever had, and it is because we know you are coming. We love you already and cannot wait to meet you.

Love, Dad

 

Trip to Seattle

This past weekend we took our first trip since finding out about you. My friend from childhood got married in Seattle, so Mom and I took a short road trip (7.5 hours) over there to take part. I was a groomsman in the wedding and in our downtime your Mom and I explored the city.

I had been to Seattle a few weeks prior to speak at a conference there for work, but your mom hadn’t been in a couple years. July in Seattle is, well, not normal for Seattle. It was sunny and beautiful nearly the whole time we were there and it made for an incredible weekend. The wedding was incredible as well, which only made things better.

I wanted to tell every friend I have about you. It was on my mind the entire time, and your mom is starting to show some signs. Nothing physically as of yet but she is tired a good percentage of the time. Luckily for her she has never been a drinker. We didn’t realize how big of a deal that would be at events such as weddings and friend activities where alcohol is present. No one suspected anything because she is a healthy person and rarely even drank a glass of wine.

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I gave a speech during the wedding. Public speaking has never been something that has scared me, in fact it is something that I really enjoy (we are both curious to see your feelings about the practice as your mom does not care for it). However, for the first time in a long time, I actually got a little nervous. Not because of the venue, the 100’s of people or that it would be entertaining; only because your mom was there and outside of our own wedding I have never given a speech in front of her. She of course managed to find some flaws with my performance, but overall was extremely encouraging.

In addition to all of my friends (Aaron, Mike, Jon, Chris, Nate, Dwane, Greg, Matty, Adam, Joe, Will, Jon, Joey, Cohen, Jay), Mom also got to see a friend of hers named Laura. Laura has been extremely skeptical of Mom, and had outwardly expressed that she thought she was pregnant. None of us could understand why this was, and we of course vehemently denied that this was true, but she was unwilling to accept our response. After much deliberation, we decided that it was best to tell her about you while we were in Seattle.

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Mom and I at the wedding – Thornbury Castle

These types of trips are going to become more rare as Mom’s pregnancy with you progresses. After you are born we will obviously be limited to even a greater degree with taking care of you. We are definitely trying to enjoy these last few months as much as possible, but both of use would trade any trips at this point just to have you here. We cannot wait to meet you and it consumes every conversation we have.

Love, Dad

Current Situation and How We Got Here

Typing the whole story about how we met, got together, our journey and why we are here now will take longer than the time I have right now (but I will make sure to do another post at a later time).

Half of the reason I am typing this up is because your mother constantly berates me for not knowing enough about my family and their whereabouts when they were younger. I wanted to give you a reference point so you know not only where we are from but where we have stopped along the way. This is also meant to address why we are currently in Boise and where we might venture after this.

Let’s start with your mom:

Mom was born in Palm Springs and lived there until she was about 9 years old. After that she moved to Sun Valley, ID and lived there through high school. After high school mom came to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona and after one year she transferred to USC in Los Angeles. I will stop there as our paths then combined and we were in the same place together from there on out.

As for me, I was born and raised in Tucson. I lived there my whole life and attended college there. Only move I made was to attend Eastern Arizona College in Safford, AZ my freshman year to play baseball, then quickly moved back afterwards. Upon graduating from the University of Arizona, I took a job in LA and moved there to be with your mom while she finished college.

Your mom graduated college in May of 2009, and in addition to getting married that summer, we also moved to Denver as I was offered a new position there with my company. We lived in Denver from May of 2009 through May of 2010 when we decided to move back to Southern California, this time San Diego. We lived from from May 2010 through August 2012 and both worked, your mom as an executive assistant to a CEO in La Jolla and me at as an E-Commerce Manager to a manufacturer of team uniforms in San Marcos.

In July of 2012 I was offered a new job with a company in Boise as an SEO Analyst and we made the move the following month. As I write this, it is July of 2013 and we have been in Boise for nearly a year.

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With the new purchase of the house and you on the way our plan is to stay here for a while. That being said, there are other places we are still considering.

We loved Denver and would be happy to go back there. Chicago is also on the short list (more mine that mom’s as she has never been there). Mom is pushing hard for the south, somewhere like Charlotte or New Orleans.

The plan is that we will be here in Boise from at least 5 years and then go from there. As for where we will end up, who know! But this is what makes things exciting.

Hope you find this interesting later in life, this site is becoming as much a source of reflection for me as it is one for information for you. Cannot wait to meet you, and love you already!

Love, Dad