Category: Family

Change of Scenery

Wow. It’s been a whirlwind couple of months, to be sure. I need to get some things updated here. Shortly after my last post my and my family’s lives changed quite a bit. In that time, I took a step along my career path, we rented out our house in Arizona, bought a new house in Southern California, and moved. The dust hasn’t even settled yet, but I’ve got some things rolling around in my head that I’ve got to get out on the blog, so I need to get up to date here so I can get to the good stuff. I won’t talk too much about the move here because I’ve got some footage, and intend to get more, on our experiences, our thoughts and emotions, and more importantly, the adventure of relocating and discovering a whole new lifestyle in a new place, and will likely put it on YouTube or otherwise get it out there (I know my Friend not Fish buddies are saying, “Ya, right” at this point).

From the Desert to the Beach. That said, the quick story is we moved to San Diego (actually, the north county area near Carlsbad), and we’re trying to adjust, get settled, etc., all while I’m starting a new job and trying to transition out of the old.

What’s Next? I’m pumped, though. Not even as much about our beautiful new surroundings because I don’t even think that’s sunk in yet (and we’re certainly not doing many “fun” things yet). It’s more about the new job. I’m focusing now on Windows client and all of the things around Windows, including devices, apps, security, and of course, the enterprise side of it all. It’s especially exciting right now because of what’s happening and about to happen with Windows 8. The Consumer Preview was just released and we’ve learned a great deal around Windows 8 in the last week. I believe that this is one of the biggest risks that Microsoft has ever taken, and I’m confident that it will pan out. It’s just exciting to be a part of it.

I’ve also got a lot of new, interesting customers that I’ve never worked with before, and I’m really excited about that as well. I get to work with a lot of really smart, talented people both at Microsoft and at my customers. I get to learn what these customers are really good at, what is important to them, and hopefully help them do it even better.

Yup…I’m stoked. You’ll probably see a lot more information here that pertains to Windows, especially Windows 8, because it’s my professional life now. I absolutely loved what I was doing before…and I’m excited to take this step into specialization as well. Bring it on.

RVs Up the Coast of California

Okay…there should be a lot more coming on this, but I wanted to at least post a few of the pictures.  In late June an early July of this year the Cederstroms and the Williams families headed out to California, rented a couple of RVs, and headed up the central coast and back.  It was a blast!

We did get one dive in at Monterey…but it was nothing to write home about.  I got to use my drysuit in the ocean for the first time, but that was the highlight of the dive…and no video or photos from that one.  More on that later.

Like I said, I’ll get some more details here at some point when things get a little less crazy and travelling has slowed down, but here are some of the pictures from the trip.  I have more, of course, and Rachel took tons as well, so at some point maybe we have to do some pic swapping.  Enjoy.

Quick Take #7-A Day at the Phx Zoo.

On Saturday we took the kids to the Phx Zoo to see a Zoo Member Preview of the new Komodo Dragon exhibit.  Merek is a reptile freak, so we knew he would love it.  I put together a Quick Take (my seventh) on the visit.

 

I’ve included some pictures in an album here as well.  Click on the "View Full Album" link and hit "Slide show"  Enjoy.

Halloween Comes

The gateway to the holiday season has come and gone, so here are some of our pictures.

During pumpkin carving, Crystal made gourmet (and messy) caramel apples to get us in the spirit.  The kids also got an impromptu fireworks show off of our patio roof.  Someone was putting on a show north of us.  No pics of the fireworks, though.

Speaking of pumpkins, carving cool pumpkins is becoming our thing, so here are the notables this year.  For last years, check out this post on my main blog.  Enjoy the Jack-O-Lanterns from the Williams’ this year.

Trey's ASU Pumpkin. Go Devils! Merek's Dragon Pumpkin

First up for the pumpkin fashion show is Trey’s Sun Devil homage of Sparky + the ASU logo (two for one!)

Next up is Merek’s dragon.  Fierce looking, for sure.
Cayman's Werewolf Pumpkin  

Finally, we have Cayman’s Werewolf.  Scary…very scary.

  

Just a Little Off the Top

Here’s Trey, my youngest son.  He smiles. A lot.

Trey in Payson

He had an interesting day yesterday.  It seemed like most every other day at first, but some time after school and before I got home from work, Trey saw this in our bathroom.

 The Evil Clippers

 

Ignoring all logic and despite the use of this object by his mother for any haircuts or hair trimming that is done at home, Trey decided he wasn’t exactly sure what would happen if he turned this on and ran it through his hair.  Being an inquisitive young man, he determined that this specific time in his life was the best time to figure out what would happen under those circumstances, so this was Trey shortly thereafter.

Trey is not happy

Uhm, ya.

Not as much smiling. He does, however, now know what will happen when he turns that thing on and runs it across his scalp.  As for the timing; two days before school pictures, and at a school that doesn’t allow caps to be worn.  So, here is our smiling Trey now that mom had to try to even things out a little.  This is how he will be immortalized in his 2nd Grade class pictures.

Happy, but bald, Trey

The smile is back.  As for Mom and Dad?  Well, we had a difficult time controlling our laughter so we wouldn’t make him feel too bad.  Seriously, what would we do for laughs without kids?

The Daily Flip 001

Inspired by a comment from one of my Facebook friends, Jennifer, I’ve decided to start Billwil’s Daily Flip, so called because of the little camera I use to capture it (Flip Ultra).  I’m sure it won’t really be daily, but the Daily Flip has a nice ring to it.  We’ll see how it goes; I won’t worry about quality or production value…I’ll just use Flips rudimentary tools to get them out quickly.

Tonight’s Daily Flip is about my oldest son.  He has a project to do tonight at school, almost a performance art meets history project.  Each student had to impersonate a wax sculpture of an assigned historical figure, and then recite a memorized spiel on that person when their “button” was pushed.  Interesting.  Meanwhile, Crystal, my slightly agoraphobic wife, was about to go crazy because of the packed hallways at the school.  You, on the other hand, get to enjoy it from the comfort of wherever you are.

A Little Effort this Year

Okay…so I usually don’t go all out for seasonal decorations…it’s just not my thing, but for some unknown reason, I decided to put a little effort into our pumpkin carving this year for Halloween.  I did a little research on the interwebs, and decided to “help” my kids do their pumpkins.  After seeing some success, I asked my wife to pick up a pumpkin for me, which she kindly did, and I proceeded to undertake the most difficult carving job of my young carving career; the mug of Sarah Palin.  I figured with the election being a short three days away or so, it was apropos.  I had been taught via the web that you can actually accomplish “shading” with pumkin carvings, which I didn’t realize was possible before three days ago. 

Well, it created quite the stir in the neighborhood.  Word spread of the unlikely masterpiece, and people started coming as if to the neighborhood pumpkin Mecca.  Lot’s of comments and ooh’s and ah’s.  Honestly, while I was working on it for the two hours that I spent, I really didn’t think it would turn out (and neither did my wife, Crystal).  Even when it was mostly done I thought it was a bust…but I put a little light in it and turned down the lights, and voilà!  I did some finishing touches to bring out the glasses a little more, and added shading to the hair, and I was done.  We put them out for all to enjoy who could make it by…and now I’m putting them out for you.

First, the kid’s pumpkins.

 

And, for the Palin.

All in good fun, I guess.

Happy Independence Day

What a great day to celebrate!  Here are a couple of pics from our 4th of July breakfast.  Just a little something my amazing wife, Crystal, cooked up.  We had a good discussion for what this day means while we ate.

These are the waffles we had…

…and the rest of the family before eating.

Enjoy your freedoms, everyone.  Do whatever you can to keep them.