bonus video post...

braden grows up...

as you can see, my son has already grown up (he stands up for pete's sake)...i don't know what else to say...i feel like he's gonna be starting kindergarten pretty soon.

shutterfly is super fly...

jamie and i decided that this christmas would be the year that we send out our first christmas card...we had heard great things about the website Shutterfly...so we thought we'd give it a try...the result: absolute success...

the best part: we didn't actually order the cards until monday night at 9:00 pm but with standard shipping (3 to 7 days) they arrived in wednesday's mail...yeah you heard me right...printed and shipped in one day...

so kudos to shutterfly...and watch your mailbox...awesome-ness is on the way...

more braden...

here's a few more pictures of my young son...as you can see, he has already developed quite a sense of humor...

remember, remember the fourth of november

my son arrived on time...almost to the hour...the countdown to Braden was scheduled to end at noon on nov 4th (his due date) and he did not disappoint by arriving 58 minutes ahead of schedule.

vital statistics
weight: 7 lbs, 6 oz.
height: 19 in.
birthdate: 11/4/07 - 11:02 am
location: clovis community hospital

...and now a few photos to tell the story...

...after laboring from midnight to 5 am (while i slept...she didn't wake me) the contractions began increasing in frequency...by 8 am, we decided that it was time to go to the hospital...


...when we arrived at the hospital, jamie was already at 6 cm so things moved quickly...but there was time for a picture in between contractions...


...the contractions got worse, jamie pushed, he popped out, and we took our first picture...


...mom did a fine job...


...in aunt jordan's arm...


...our first family picture...


...his eyes opened, but the picture was blurry...


...we dressed him up...and his clothes are still a little big...



...and then we went home...

planes, trains and automobile rentals

i found a crazy site today thanks to cnn.com...

it is a website for people who want to get discount rates on airfare, hotels and other travel stuff...now i know what your thinking...

"but casey, i'm always looking at travelocity and that stupid gnome never gives me a good deal. plus it is too much work to wade through all the junk and advertisements on those sites"

you would have a great point...except this site is different...it searches every other site (orbitz, priceline, travelzoo, etc) and gives you all of the information in a ridiculously easy-to-read fashion...

go check it out...i was playing around and found unbelievably cheap rates and now i'm ready to become a world traveler...except for the fact that i have a son arriving in two weeks...

www.sidestep.com

baby update

this is the last baby update you will receive:

age: t-minus 2.5 weeks
height: 19-21 in. (head to toe)
weight: 6.8 lbs. (average)
vital organs: fully developed
position: head down, ready to go

we're almost there and we are pumped!!

weekly wonder of wikipedia #3

this week's weekly wonder of wikipedia is near and dear to my heart...mostly because i wrote it (in collaboration with gene)

it is a short article about our good friend phil 's new album...cannons

Weekly Wonder of Wikipedia #3

baby update

for those of you who are interested in keeping up with the physical development of my son...here are some facts:

age: t-minus 5.2 weeks
height: 18 in. (head to toe)
weight: 5.5 lbs.
vital organs: fully developed (lungs still getting finishing touches)
position: head down, ready to go

all about me...

i was tagged...

Here are the rules:
- Each player starts with eight random facts about themselves.
- Those who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight facts and post these rules.
- At the end of the post, choose some people to get tagged and list their names.

ONE
i drove a 1966 mustang during high school. generally it was fairly reliable except for two glaring occasions:
-the first day of school (senior year)
-junior/senior prom (that's right, in my tux and all)

TWO
as a child (sometime between 1st and 4th grade) i considered running away. i am not sure why, i don't remember being unhappy. i think that i just thought i'd be better off living on the streets or something. i also took a picture to leave with my parents. i never did make it though...i lived in madera, so it would have been a long walk to get to "the streets"

THREE
my friends and i brought a barbeque to school during our senior year of high school and hosted a number of tailgate parties during lunch

FOUR
my grandpa (who passed away last year) fought in world war ii and was in a plane that was shot down over germany. he was in a prisoner of war camp for months until he was rescued by the british army. he was only given one potato per day as his meal which caused him to pretty much pass on the mashed potatoes for the rest of his life.

FIVE
although i played sports for my entire childhood, i never once received a physical fitness award (not even national, and definitely not presidential) simply because i couldn't touch my toes. i ran the mile, shuttle run, pull-ups, sit-ups. but the v-sit, sit and reach, or whatever they liked to call it always got the better of me.

SIX
i will pass out or throw up if i bleed. you can bleed as much as you want, i'll be fine. but please don't make me bleed. to try and conquer this fear, i gave blood for the first time a month ago. i barely made it, and you'd have thought that i just got my skin bleached, but i did it...and i'm still just as bad as before.

SEVEN
i learned to read when i was three years old, and by kindergarten i could read at an eighth grade level. i was not allowed to read in our normal reading groups and a special reading partner from the junior high came and "tutored" me. unfortunately that was the highlight of my academic career.

EIGHT
while i would always choose to live in a city, i secretly really like nature. i love to go hiking. yosemite is probably the coolest place i've ever been. and someday i want to do one of those survival campouts. you know where you grab a hiking pack and head out into the wilderness for a week or two and live off the land. i don't know if i'd know how to live off the land, but i'd like to try.

so that's it. i gave a few fun facts for anybody who reads this thing. i don't think that i have anyone to tag who hasn't already been tagged...so carson, you're it.

weekly wonder of wikipedia #2

the second installment of my new highly anticipated series demonstrates the dedication and imagination of the wonderful star trek fans that live out there in the world wide web...please notice the meticulous attention to detail including full color graphs and even an artist's rendering of a concept that does not and will not ever exist

Weekly Wonder of Wikipedia #2

weekly wonder of wikipedia #1

i have decided that my blog is boring and it is time to get with the program...therefore i have started the weekly wonder of wikipedia...it will be a weekly tribute to an outstanding, informational, obscure or unappreciated article that may be lying dormant in the deepest depths of wikipedia world...

my first article is a tribute to my so-cal brother (whose blog you can check out here)...this was one of his favorite tv shows as a child and since only 26 episodes were created, it didn't last for too long...the second section entitled "the life of the gnomes" is my favorite...

Weekly Wonder of Wikipedia #1

baby update

let me update you all on the status of our baby boy (he goes by Braden or Brady for short)...

Braden is getting close to two and a half pounds...he is kicking and punching his mother in the stomach like crazy (i will talk to him about that when he comes out)...the doctor says that he is growing normally and healthy...jamie has gained nearly 20 pounds and she still has eleven weeks to go...i have spent the past few weeks working on his nursery and it is just about finished...

july in review (belated)

my blog break has ended once again...and I'm back with a vengeance.

well, the month of july went like this...

WEEK ONE - return from company training, unpack suitcase, start new job, move out of apartment, into new house, meet neighbors, paint new house, mow lawn at new house, pack suitcase for next week.
WEEK TWO - enjoy a nice relaxing vacation at shaver lake with in-laws.
WEEK THREE - unpack suitcase, unpack boxes, paint baby's room, assemble furniture, meet more neighbors, spray for bugs, receive first mortgage bill (ouch!), pack suitcase for next week.
WEEK FOUR - enjoy a nice relaxing vacation at hume lake with belmont family.

as you can see, i was stressed and unstressed all at the same time...

and here's the new house...

that's my boy...

as you may have already guessed...we're having a boy...i'm pretty stoked about the whole situation...i would love to have a girl but it sure is exciting to think about having "my boy"...he'll throw the touchdown passes and i'll stand in the crowd and yell, "that's my boy!!"...it should be a great time...

i'm working on posting an ultrasound picture but i don't have a scanner right now...

i started my new job at PG&E on friday...it was very different from the unique world of truss manufacturing...basically the tattoos per capita were much lower...not quite as low as maybe a bank or something but lower than i was used to...as part of my training i am leaving to go to livermore tomorrow...i will spend the week there and come back on friday...this would be great but we are closing escrow on our house this week, so that leaves a lot for my beautifully pregnant wife to take care of...

i know i am sounding like the boy who cried wolf here but stay tuned for a strong week of blogs...i am going to be pretty bored while i'm out of town so i should be full of stuff to write.

by the way...as always check out gene's blog...he's on an awesome road trip.

so many things to talk about

so, as the title suggests, we have so many things to talk about...

-our house will be finished on june 26th...which also happens to be our three-year wedding anniversary...so that's good news.

-jamie and i are having our first child in november (also good news). the only question is...will it be "little casey" or "little jamie"??? that question should get answered in the next few weeks...stay tuned for the big announcement.

-after spending the past year driving to visalia for work, i have decided to stop. in two weeks i will start at pg&e. i'll basically be doing the same thing that jamie does but on the electric side of things. so we're pretty excited about that.

-i was thinking, "hey, gas is expensive and if i'm not gonna drive to visalia anymore, why do i need a car??" so my idea is to buy one of these bad boys:

jamie thinks i'm joking...but i may not be...

-my (sort of) cousin/friend grant is moving back to minnesota...it is a sad time for everyone...thought i'd let you know since i devoted a whole post to him and his state

-my friend/buddy gene has completed his album that he has been working on for basically forever...check it out here...it's grrrr-eat (tony the tiger...you don't hear that much anymore)

hopefully my blog will evolve into something more than just a news report...i'm working on that

quick update

so here's what's new:

-after our latest doctor's visit...our child has a heartbeat...and i heard it.

-our house is about six weeks from being finished.

-my brother is in China...you can read about him here and here

i will post again soon...

i forgot to blog...for a long time

obviously, this blogging thing is much more difficult than i had expected because it has already been a month since my last post...well a lot has changed in a month...

this may not be news to you (whomever you are) but i will tell you anyway: on november 4, 2007 i am planning on being at clovis community hospital celebrating the birth of my first child (if it's on time)...i know it is hard to believe but...BELIEVE IT BABY!!...yeah we're real excited...the little guy or gal should look like this right about now.

i have a lot of thoughts to talk about but it is late (11:15) and i have to be up early (4:30)...besides, i need to start sleeping extra now before it is time to get out of bed to change diapers...

expect another blog in the next 48 hours for more details

living the american dream...in minnesota

first things first: to clarify something in my last post...fancher creek is a new development that will be built in SE fresno that will be even bigger than riverpark (at some point)...it's actually very exciting, click on the link above to read more.

now to the real issue at hand...i have a cousin whose family is from the great state of minnesota...one of his family members decided to move out here to the west coast...after spending a fine amount of time with this relative (we'll call him Grant...because that's his name) i have learned quite a bit about the north star state, and i believe that minnesota, while not generally considered a heavyweight when one thinks of the status of states, is pound for pound the finest state around.

my reasons are these:
1) apparently, residents of northern u.s. states have a term for people who are exceptionally thoughtful or considerate...it's called "minnesota nice"...can you imagine a person saying, "that person was so nice, they were 'california nice'...yeah, i think not.
1b) on the same note as point #1...minnesotans have a unique sense of community and culture...for example, the state fair is known as "the great minnesota get-together" and get this...1.7 million people attend in a state that only has 5.1 million people...THAT MEANS THAT NEARLY 1 IN 3 PEOPLE ATTEND THE STATE FAIR!!!...state fairs are awesome and minnesotans understand that.
2) minnesota has 10,000 lakes and more miles of bike trails than any other state...do you know what you can do with 10,000 lakes??
3) they have a state photograph!!
4) they have the world's largest ball of twine!!

5)...and finally the biggest reason that i believe minnesota to be the great state that it is...

if you asked every single person in the united states, "have you done something interesting in you're lifetime?"...i theorize that minnesotans will have the highest per capita rate of yes answers than any other state in the u.s....if you don't believe me check out my extremely shortened list of interesting minnesotans...

-macgyver
-paul bunyan
-bob dylan
-f. scott fitzgerald
-ric "the nature boy" flair
-judy garland
-j. paul getty
-moonlight graham
-billy graham
-charles lindbergh
-john madden
-walter mondale
-prince
-charles schulz
-kevin sorbo
-vince vaughn
-laura ingalls wilder
-yanni

can you believe that?...that's practically a who's who of american history...and believe me there are other big names from 'sota (as i now call it) but i'm running out of space here.

but for now, i'm done...i've gone on for far too long...if you've made it this far congrats...i promise to write shorter posts from now on.

goodbye...and go visit minnesota.

stunning news!!

this may or may not actually be stunning news...i just thought that it would be a great teaser...so drum roll please, my wife and i are purchasing our first house...hooray

it is a beazer home, located at temperance and kings canyon...wait, i know what you're thinking..."that's kind of a rough area, casey"...and to that i say "hogwash"...

-SE fresno is the largest growth area in the city...
-we are in the beginning stages of a multi phase tract...
-on all sides of us there are other companies that are building tracts that are huge
-and i'm tired of living in an apartment

here is a picture of the house


it will be a few months until we move in...we're looking at sometime in june...so to you i say, "join the southward migration...down with riverpark and up with fancher creek"

update to first post

i added a profile picture...i have zero good pictures of myself because i usually am the one taking the pictures...in fact...i took this one at disneyland while waiting for thunder mountain railroad...hopefully it is neither emo-ish nor narcissistic...as always, i expect feedback on this...

my first post

well, this is my blog's maiden voyage...to celebrate, i actually smashed a bottle of champagne across the front of my iBook like they do on ocean liners...just kidding...i'm too mature for that...speaking of maturity...i will probably be abandoning myspace and facebook as i have obviously become much too mature for those things...just kidding...i will keep them around so i can check up on everybody...for now...unless no one reads my blog...then it's back to "the space" and "the book."

i am very new to this blog thing so i am accepting constructive criticsm...such as, "you're boring"...or "why do you always use that three period thingy?"...etc.,...to answer the second question...complete sentences are very difficult for someone like me...plus, writing in this fashion allows me to type as i think...so i will...a lot...it's my blog...i'm hungry...when will class end?...see? those are my thoughts...right there in front of you.

so i will stop rambling and get to the point...my blog is not very good...yet....so i'm gonna keep practicing, but in the meantime check out my good friend Gene's blog...he actually has interesting and intelligent things to say...plus he posts his music...so it's win/win/win...and it's kind of ironic that i'm writing this since he is probably the only one reading this...hello gene.

also, as a bonus...check out this guy on youtube...he is really funny and really talented...i can't figure out if the glasses and slow speech are really him or just an act, but either way he's enjoyable...my favorites are rocky remixed and this guitar dealy-o.

so tune in next time...and somebody suggest some better names for my blog...or else you're stuck with the current title