New Tech Blog

I wanted to create a blog that I could put technology related posts since it always seems like I'm coming across information that would be useful to others but didn't want to e-mail a bunch of people. Anyway, I thought about including the posts on this blog but I didn't want to clutter it since the theme on this one is more updates about us. So head on over to see what it's about and why I chose that name. Make sure to bookmark it and check back often. 

http://theflyinpenguin.blogspot.com/

There is also a link on the right of this blog under "Blogs We Follow" for future reference.

2011 Recap

Now that January 2012 is almost officially over, and the hurricane that is the holidays has settled down, moved on for another year, reminiscing has kicked in.

Here's what our 2011 looked like, for all who either witnessed it or missed it: 

-In April we visited Hocking Hills for the first time with the Robinsons and Uhls. We spent a relaxing weekend in a little cabin, hiking, playing games, soaking in the hot tub, and enjoying each other's company. It is a beautiful area and we hope to get back this year again. 

- In June we both started new positions at our companies - both after 3 years of the same position. Aaron moved from Desktop Support into the Product Technical Readiness team, and I moved from the front office sales assistant into an executive assistant position, which then led to being the office manager/executive assistant. Both of us are currently happy and blessed by our employment. 

- For the first week of July, Independence Day, we spent a rare vacation with a lot of "Lyon" folks down in the Outer Banks. I believe there were 18 of us total. That was another relaxing and fun week. The house we rented was big enough for an army, complete with its own pool. I spent many afternoons lounging by/in that pool reading. That was hard to come back from. 

-In August we brought home Lucy, our puppy! The past 6 months with her have been a myriad of crazy: crazy fun, crazy exhaustion, crazy frustration, crazy silliness... Lucy is such a good dog. She has bundles of energy (what 7 month puppy doesn't?) but is scared of her own bark. She absolutely adores Aaron and craves his companionship all the time (eh, I'm just ok). She learns new concepts almost immediately, sometimes so fast you can't even remember actually teaching her something. She has provided us with lots of laughter and sweetness - and lots of responsibility!

- In October we celebrated our first anniversary. We traveled to Pittsburgh for a night in a nice hotel and indulged in an amazing dinner at a local restaurant. It was nice to reflect on our first year together and what we've learned and what we hope for in the future.

- Also in October we took some time to go down to Columbus, where Aaron was going to donate his peripheral blood stem cells to a patient with a form of Leukemia. Though it ended up being a trying experience, it was also very humbling and emotional. Sadly, the patient didn't survive after her procedure due to complications we were not told about. Still, Aaron says he had a great experience with it and will definitely do it again someday given the opportunity.

-November and December flew by, with the many events and get together's for the holidays. Before we knew it, we were ringing in 2012 with friends in Akron and making plans for the next year. 

Here's what we have to look forward to in 2012: 

- A week in Hilton Head with the Robinsons and Uhls in March

- Welcoming a new baby into the family in April - our first niece! Parents Scott and Katie Lyon in WA. 

- Flying to WA and getting to meet our new niece in September when we visit the new little Lyon family. 

- Making some needed and long awaited major home improvements, like hardwood flooring, and a backyard fence for Lucy so she can run around until her skinny legs fall off.  

-Celebrating our 2nd anniversary - what should we do? 

Hope everyone has been enjoying a safe, healthy, and happy 2012 so far. We look forward to spending time with everyone this year. 

10 Things We Learned from our First Year

I promised we'd share our insights on what we got out of our first year of marriage. For our anniversary we spent a night in Pittsburgh - just to get away for a day and put aside all of the every day demands - the house, the pets, the finances, and upcoming events, big or small. 

While in Pittsburgh, we enjoyed a very lovely and indulgent dinner. One point of our conversation was spent reflecting on the past year: what we learned, what we didn't expect (or did), what we would do differently (if anything - I can't recall either of us saying we actually would change anything), and what we hope for the next year. 

Here's what we came up with, a general list of points to consider in year one of marriage: 

1. Go on dates. 

It's so easy to forget about this very important aspect of any relationship. Enjoying quality time together doesn't restrict itself to watching Redbox movies for $1 and eating in. In our pursuit of squaring away our budget, saving money, paying off debt and above all else, forming a financial alliance that enables us to work together as a team, we often neglected to take each other out for a movie, or a dine-in meal, or anything that gives us the opportunity to pay attention to our relationship - the sole reason we have for even needing to pursue the above. 

2. We come from several different families.

This is something we heard in our pre-marital class at the Chapel and yet it still managed to make us go, "hmm." Our individual families are the single biggest outside influence that each of us had before we got married. So many attributes that make up who we are individually are due to the way our families handle things. Money. Conflict. Decisions. Holidays. Each other. From the way our families joke with each other to the way our families plan vacations, all of it serves to point out the fact that we are one marriage from two different backgrounds. The advice our pre-marital class gave us? Move forward from those families (while being grateful for what they taught us) and do things our way. 

3. After the wedding, everything goes into one pot. 
As mentioned above, something we spent a lot of time and energy on over the last year was forming a financial alliance. Our goal is not only to be responsible with money, but to not let it become a bridge-less valley between us. Combining two salaries into one household income has so much potential to create conflict. Before the wedding, we as individuals "did our own thing" and never had to answer to each other for our decisions - that alone is an adjustment to make. We've heard of people who keep their money completely separate and make it work for them. We decided it made us stronger to unify our pocket books and together decide where and when the money went. 


4. Both of us have quirks and less-than-ideal habits. 
I sometimes wander away from the fridge for minutes at a time, leaving the door open, and forget to turn off the stove after I've served whatever came out of it. Aaron doesn't easily throw, give, or put stuff away, and could probably sit in front of the TV all day every day and happily play video games. We both find ourselves rolling our eyes at each other, picking on each other, wishing the other would just stop this and make our lives easier. I don't have to be a marriage vet to know that this is not something you learn or easily accept in one year. At least we accept that fact, even if we haven't graduated to finding the quirks and habits endearing yet. So - this one lives on, possibly for a long time coming. 


5. Figure out what your responsibilities are. 
This is easily the biggest one we've had to deal with. I used to have a one-bedroom apartment and only had to step over MY stuff, if I had to at all. I like to live in a clean, clutter-free spot. I feel warm and fuzzy inside when my living space is tidy with few "things" around. When there are too many "things" around or the dust-bunnies are collecting and the animal hair is snowballing, I get grumpy. The foundation of my mood is then pre-set to be judgmental and annoyed, even if I've had a good day. When I see that Aaron can contentedly live with "things" piled up around him and not be affected by it, that mood becomes my entire attitude. I need tidy and clean. Aaron does not. This does not make either of us in the wrong or right. It was NOT long in our first year before we realized this "sharing of responsibility" topic had to be discussed and resolved, because it was building discord between us. No, I can't say that we have resolved it, just discussed it to the moon and back, over and over, not always nicely. There has been progress. What we have learned so far? Divide the responsibilities, that part's obvious. Pick a day the responsibilities are to be handled. And STICK. TO. THE. SCHEDULE. We're 2 for 3 so far. 


6. Respect each other's differences, tastes, preferences, and ideas. 
My eyes may always glaze over when Aaron talks about science, history, and computers. I've had to defend 100 different subjects in 100 different debates where the subject is: "Is that art?" I want to install a fence in the backyard and paint every room in the house - Aaron wants to re-wire the house and install a home server. In the end, we compromise and accept, reminding ourselves that value is perspective and cannot be dismissed or ignored. We like and want different things. In marriage, dreams are to be shared, simply because. 


7. Say what you want. 
For some reason I have the tendency to be under the impression that Aaron can read my mind. I think, "He knows me better than ANYONE else; surely he can tell what I'm thinking or how I would feel about this or that, or why I'd be annoyed about that..." No, this is not the way Aaron is, any more than it is the way I am, woman's intuition and all. Even when the results aren't consistent, we have learned that communication works best when you actually use it. 


8. Pick your battles. 
We could wage war on a lot of issues. I can ask Aaron to put his clothes IN the hamper instead of throwing them at it and leaving them where they land; he could make a bigger deal out of the fact that I hardly ever lock the door from the garage into the house. Instead, we settle for the less than perfect qualities, knowing that we are married to an amazing person who has the ability to know when something's important and needs serious attention. 


9. Be a unified front. 
Always, always, always appear to be on the same side, even if secretly you're not. This is one of the many ways that the outside world can bring you down, by pitting you against each other. Intentionally or not. 


10. Grace. 
Another insightful bit of advice we learned from our pre-marital class: Each of us is married to a sinner. In simple and cliched words: we are not perfect, and never will be. Forgiveness is the key. Just as we have receive Grace in abundance, so must we give it. I don't think I need to say much more about that. 

Finally, I will leave you with a saying that we found relating to a familiar concept, that made us giggle: 

“The man is the head of the house. But the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.” 

We finally caved and bought a new car. Aaron's Golf has been hanging in there for a couple of years, just barely. We figured since he works from home half the week that it is just not justifiable right now to buy a new car, when the Golf was being driven just 3 of 7 days a week and only about 30 miles a day anyway.

But, the time came that we have been expecting. Aaron's car wouldn't start Monday of last week. He determined that it is probably just a starter, which is a relatively inexpensive fix and wouldn't break our bank right now. We discussed the options (keep putting money into the Golf, more and more, before it just bites the dust, or take what we have now and put it towards a nicer car).

I swear, it was about a minute of discussion. 

We spent the entire week, all of our free time, researching cars, dealers, deals, test driving, etc. We finally settled on a 2010 Nissan Murano, from the dealer in Mayfield Heights (shout out to Nick, Carl's uncle, for taking such great care of us and giving us an AMAZING deal on it). 

It's purty and we love it. 

Now that we have Lucy, we are glad to have a bigger vehicle. She would have settled for the back of a sedan for the course of her life but it would have proven challenging and annoying when there was the need to fit dog and child in it, which will happen eventually (the main reaction we have received over this new vehicle is how much of a family car it is, so therefore we must be expecting or trying to expect. For the record, no, we aren't). 

Aaron observed how he is just one (big) step away from complete domestication. He's got a house, a wife, a dog, and now an SUV. Just add a child to that and we're pretty much set. 

We Still Love Lucy

Our last post was regarding Lucy. Being that the last five weeks have primarily centered around her, there is not much else to update about.

When Darlene from the rescue group put Lucy in Aaron's arms that day, she told us that she was 9 weeks old. It didn't take very long for us to become suspicious that this is a high estimate for her actual age - between the research we'd done on her breed, and Lucy's trainer (who has her own Bernese Mt. Dog and has trained quite a few) voicing her own opinion, we finally decided to take our curiosity to the vet. After quickly scoping out her teeth, Dr. Tiffany decided it's true: Lucy is probably about a month younger than we think. So, that makes her 11 weeks old TODAY.

 As I've told a few people, this new information has been encouraging: If Lucy really was roughly 5 or 6 weeks old when we brought her home, then for an 11 week old puppy who had no early learning from her mother or litter mates (because she was already in a rescue home at 3 or 4 weeks old), she learns fast and easily.

Lucy has been catching on so quickly to what we expect out of her, what her routines and habits will be, and what we are trying to teach her. She knows what we mean when we say, "Let's go upstairs to your crate." She runs for the stairs and bounces up them happily, and waits patiently to be let into our room (and then for the deliciously moist bacon cookie she is rewarded with after sitting politely in the crate). She shows fast response to the new tricks she learns each week at PetSmart. We heard her breed is very smart and trainable, and we wouldn't deny it.

House training is coming along well, too. Lucy can't wait to get outside and do her business and get a bacon cookie for every squat. She is holding her bladder longer and waking us up less every night. For the first 3 weeks we were up 4 or 5 times every night to take her outside because she was physically unable to control her bladder. We have graduated to once nightly, around 3 AM. We are at the point where her pen is becoming obsolete:

(And yes, that is my shoe she is grabbing for on the couch - I had to think fast and grab it at the last moment or she'd have run off with it.)

So moving forward she will have free access (only when we are able to supervise 100%) to the kitchen and living room. We know she will have accidents inside for a little while longer but we accept this is the key to learning: we can't just prevent, we have to correct as well (is that not a MAJOR parenting concept or what?).

In other news, my brother David is officially done with his active duty in the Army. He will be home soon for good. This is an incredibly momentous and exciting time for him. Please pray that he finds a successful journey in life post-service, whether he pursues a degree or finds a job well suited for him, finds a house or an apartment or lives with the 'rents for awhile. Whatever he does, my family will be relieved and happy to have him back where we can hug him more often (he gives great Lyon hugs).

Between the Army and grad school, both of my brothers have finished amazing chapters of their lives this summer. I'm very proud of them.

Believe it or not (we hardly can), we are approaching the 30 day countdown to our first anniversary. Strange! We have had a wonderful first year of marriage. But, as we have one month of our first twelve left to experience, I am not going to provide any insightful thoughts on what we have learned or anything like that until approximately October 10th.

We have both scheduled the week after our anniversary off from work but we don't have any plans of going anywhere (at least not far). We originally thought we would go to Hocking Hills for a few days but have since decided it would just be nice to have a few days off at home, to keep our pocket book in check and to get some projects done on the home front. And of course, to relax and treat ourselves here and there. Any great suggestions for local restaurants to check out on October 9th?

I Love Lucy

We are so excited to introduce our new puppy, Lucy. She is a Bernese Mountain Dog, or for short, a Berner. She is 9 weeks old and comes to us from a rescue group east of Youngstown. 

We have both wanted this kind of puppy since before we got married but figured we would not likely find one in a rescue group or shelter, as they are right up there with golden retrievers and labs in popularity. Last week I found Lucy's listing online and contacted the group to apply for adoption; I meant it to be a fun surprise for Aaron's birthday next Saturday to take him to pick her up. Unfortunately Lucy's rescue home could not keep her that long according to policy so I changed the game plan and surprised Aaron almost a week early. He was delighted and surprised as I hoped he would be. Please, remind him of that when he is telling you all about cleaning up her messes and losing sleep every night over her puppy energy. 

Berners are a breed very similar to St. Bernards. The breed comes from Switzerland where they were bred as farm dogs. If a typical Berner, Lucy will be fiercely loyal, affectionate and easy-going. 

Like most puppies, Lucy is extremely rambunctious, energetic and excitable. She was nowhere near being house-trained when we got her and therefore is requiring LOTS of attention and supervision. 

So far we have introduced Lucy only to our cat Doolin. We figured Doolin is the cat who is the most resilient and laid back, and he proved us right. He has taken to her well and we expect the two to tolerate each other, possibly even become friends, someday. For now he has not shown fear; just extreme caution and curiosity. Maggie does not meet any new animal, whatever species, size, or gender, without throwing a fit so we are waiting to introduce those two. 

One of our favorite moments so far has been the first time we fed Lucy. Her id tag, which hangs heavily from her collar because she is so little, clangs on her food bowl and alarmed her initially. She didn't immediately make the connection that it was herself causing the noise, not the bowl. Check it out in this video: 

Another endearing trait of hers is that she is unsure of her own depth perception when climbing down the one step into the living room, from the kitchen or library. She approaches the situation by taking as giant of a leap as her little body can manage to get to the floor. We just knew this was something we would want to look back on someday: 

 Berners are not known for living long lives. The Swiss have a saying about this breed that goes, "Three years a puppy, three years a great dog, three years an old dog - the rest is a gift." 

So far she has already been a wonderful gift, so we are off to a great start. 

sand.sunshine.family

Saturday the 2nd, we were up at 5:30, on the road at 6:15. I know, I was surprised as well. Especially that Aaron was actually the one awake first. The ride went smoothly until just after noon when we tried to join up with the rest of the human race on I-95, approximately one hundred miles north of Richmond, where we planned on staying overnight to break up the drive some. That last hundred miles took us three hours. What should have been a 2 or 2:30 arrival became a painful 4:30 arrival. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our time in Richmond, including an amazing dinner at a local brag spot and some time to rest before an exciting week at the beach.

Then, Sunday, it was time for sand.sunshine.family:

We couldn't have asked for a better place to stay in the Outer Banks. 

Well equipped with fantastic amenities, you almost forgot there was a lovely beach within 5 minutes walking distance. We were provided with copious amounts of recreation within our own rented walls: pool, foos ball, swimming, volleyball (did anyone play?), games, basketball...and who can say to get out of the house and do something? It's vacation - everything we wanted to enjoy was right there with us - relaxation, good food, some fun, and each other. 

We did relax.... 

 ....And eat amazing food....

  

...have great fun...

...And most importantly, enjoy each other's company.

 All in all, it was a perfect vacation we will remember always. 

Happy Memorial Day, Davey

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly...”

-Theodore Roosevelt

 

I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph

I was randomly looking at lightning photography last week and was thinking to myself, why haven't I ever tried to take some lightning pictures. The first two "opportunities" came last week with all the severe weather that NE Ohio has had, but they turned out to be almost disasters with tornado signatures passing right over our house. Today a third storm approached from the distance, this time not directly from the west (with no windows), but rather southwest. This presented the perfect chance to capture this wonderful phenomenon. Here are the best of what I took:

This is the first good shot

This is my favorite of the night

Then I switched to the front of the house:

This one was cropped but still turned out great

I almost cropped this one too, but the resident photography expert 

thought the vastness of the sky made it look better as a whole

And yes Mom, I was inside while taking these. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day tomorrow.

This week while in Target I was playing around with some silk floral stems and arranged them just so in this pretty woven vase:

I thought of how nice it would look tucked away in the corner of a room in our house, like the dining room or bedroom, which are rooms that haven't been given much attention in the way of decor.

Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to spend $80 on this compilation, no matter how sweet and custom designed it may be. The vase alone was $30 and the individual stems totaled $50.

So I made a trip to Hobby Lobby (which rivals Target in my list of favorite places) to see if I could duplicate it, being that their supply of silk flowers and vases puts Target to shame. I've also never been in Hobby Lobby where they weren't having a 50% off sale in the floral department!

I came up with this:

Vase $11.50
15 stems for $16
With tax, total of $29
Beating Target at their own game - PRICELESS! (Aaron made me include that line).