Today is my wife’s birthday. Unfortunately, Payton, Emma, and I are all sick. This sucks! We’re still making it special for her. We all colored on a card for Mommy and I got her a cool set of decorative drawers. I also designed a new website for her photography but its not quite ready to launch yet.
Happy Birthday Erika! We love you!
It’s time for a bit of bragging and maybe a few confessions about our relationship. The top comment we hear from our close friends regarding our relationship goes something like this “you two are so perfect together, you’re so lucky.” In a way, we are lucky, on the other hand, we’ve worked very hard to make it work. If two people were to run into each other off the street, go out on a few dates, “just click,” get married, live happily ever after, etc., THAT would be luck, not to mention nauseating. Relationships don’t work that way. The ones that appear to work that way are hiding something.
When Erika and I first started dating, we were clouded by our attraction, youthful bliss, beer, and everything else that comes with living in a college town. When reality started setting in, we had one pressing issue that still plagues us. Most of Erika’s sisters live in Tennessee, we live in Wisconsin, and Erika has always wanted to be closer to her sisters again. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the geography, that’s an 11 hour drive at least. The separation is hard on Erika and early on in our relationship, it really put the bitter in “bitter sweet.” It made arguments worse and breakups seem more practical. There were times we felt like giving up, and times we tried to give up, but we always wound up making amends and sticking together. Why did we stick together? Well, that’s love. How is the tricky part.
One thing we started early on was developing a routine. A few examples: I always give Erika a massage at night before going to bed, she always has dinner ready for me when I get home, and we always end the day with an “I love you” and a kiss. They are simple things, but having a routine reminds you to show your significant other that you love them every day and keeps your feelings for each other fresh.
Another thing we try very hard to do, is to avoid being jealous and controlling. Give your partner some freedom. If they stray too far and it becomes a problem, that could be a sign. If, on the other hand, you keep each other on tight leashes, you create a lot of friction that should not be necessary. You should want to be close and not get into questionable situations. Relationships should be cohesive on their own and not require rules to keep two people together.
I don’t want to give the impression that we’re some sort of wonder couple or that our relationship is perfect; it’s far from perfect. I know that, Erika knows that, but our friends seem to disagree. I think everyone just needs a little perspective. All relationships need work regardless of how long the couple has been together, and no matter how they look from the outside looking in. I think everyone could benefit from doing a little research to help improve their relationship. Here’s a short and sweet article I saw today that, I hope, can give couples some ideas to strengthen their bond:
If you were worried that Lost Planet 2 wouldn’t offer the level of character customization you were hoping for, you can stop worrying now. Check out this blog post from someone who is apparently, in the know (I wasn’t able to figure out who “Snow” is but he definitely has a wealth of knowledge to share). Character appearance is extremely customizable:
The game is loaded with various factions, all with their own cultures. You’ll be getting parts to these characters as you play, and it’s all interchangeable. You’ll be able to swap out heads/helmets, torso/armor, backpacks/t-eng canisters, and their legs/boots. Not only that, but each of those pieces has various colors and patterns to choose from.
Plus, there will be abilities, weapons, emotes (the next level of T-bagging), and titles that can all be changed to make your character even more unique than your friends’ characters. Lost Planet 2 is sounding more and more like an RPG, which, in terms of customization, is a characteristic many of us here are particularly fond of.
Cross-posted at Co-Optimus
At work, we just had a major database upgrade go-live and everything really seemed to click with a few exceptions. This was the most concerning complaint we received:
[Sys-Admin],
I felt I needed to complain to you that [the system] is working too fast now. Before today, when attempting to change to another screen or when searching within [the system], I could kick back, stretch the arms a bit, maybe take some time to get to know my neighbor or even take in a quick movie before the data would appear for me to continue working.Not today, though, it was flying from screen to screen and I was worried that I was going to get so much done that I wouldn’t have to work the afternoons. LOL
Seriously, I have seen a huge difference and just want to say thanks. I ran 2 […] reports today. They were done right away as well. In the past when they were done running that fast, we’d see the word “failed” so I was skeptical when clicking to open it…..and there was the info I was looking for.
Anyway, nice job. Thanks!
[Happy User]
That made my day.
Three years ago today we officially tied the knot and I became the luckiest man alive. I married the sweetest, most caring, and absolutely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. Three years later and our relationship has only grown stronger. We’ve been through so much together and I’ve loved every minute. Here’s to many, many more years of happiness together. I love you Erika aka FoxxyLadie!
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