Year: 2015

2015 (or at least the rest of it picking up from my last post):

After Jake died – I was very distraught. Super broken up about it for weeks actually. It started to have an impact on my work. I don’t think I really posted about what I was doing at American Express during that time. I was working for the Financial Intelligence Unit (the FIU) for American Express. I was writing up reports on suspicious card member activity and referring my investigation to local authorities or to the main government branches. I helped them out for a year in that role. They “borrowed” me from my regular department on loan, and would keep “borrowing” me as a resource as they didn’t have any open roles at that time but had a severe backlog of work.

After a year was up my department demanded me back and didn’t want my time to extend any further with them. I contacted the FIU team and they said they tried to keep me in that role, but the director of my department was adamant that they needed me in my old role. I was livid. I saw this as the company getting in the way of what was best for me and my career. In my view, the FIU role was a very good thing for my career and was a natural fit. I know what you are thinking (maybe)? So what was so big about the FIU, anyway?

I never considered myself to have much value. In regards to education or — well much of anything. This role really started to change the way I thought about myself. I was sitting next to people in this role with much more impressive resumes than I had. Everyone was either a former FBI agent, Homeland Security, lawyer, homicide investigator, or worked in other aspects for the government. Everyone had a law degree at the minimum. I was creating the same reports as these people were, with the same (if not better in some cases) quality of work. This blew my mind. How could I do that? I was just a guy with some college, who dropped out so he wouldn’t be strapped with student loan debt for the rest of his life with plans to return after paying off all the loans. I then never ended up going back because my school had closed down and I found a hard time finding other schools to accept my credits from my bible college.

So back to normal life, no longer with the FIU. I was recalled back to the service center and was again working in the accounts department for the Australia and New Zealand region. At this point, I was very determined to get out of my role and into a new role. As happy as they were to have me back in “my old role” they actually had me doing new things such as leading training and onboarding new employees. Not something I minded doing but wanted to have a “career” in mind since I not only had my wife to think of but also my daughter (Arabella).

I applied for numerous jobs within AMEX, finally getting some traction on a role as a Project Analyst. This was about the same time (nearing the end of summer) when I went on a pre-planned vacation. The wife and I had flown out my father-in-law to come to visit. Before this – we started off the weekend with a wedding in California. This was the wedding of one of my longest and overall best friends – Emily! Here is a photo from her wedding:

After the wedding, we went to my parent’s house and waited for Gramps (my father-in-law) to arrive. We wanted to show him as much as we could, including Arizona, as we had grown to love where we lived.

Side note: during the trip, I ended up getting a call to do an interview for the Project Analyst role. I remember sending everyone off to do something around the hotel while I stayed in the room doing a phone interview (I was on vacation). I recall talking with Ashima and Vince, who I would end up working with as I ended up landing the job.

This trip was notable because it was the first time my father-in-law had come to visit and he normally didn’t travel – especially by plane. We took him and his sister all around Southern California – from San Diego to Los Angeles, to Las Vegas, and all-around Arizona from the Grand Canyon all the way down to Mesa. It was a fun and very memorable trip. Here are a few photos:

Vacation ended and my new role as a Project Analyst, but also to act as a Product Owner for the corporate capabilities team. The team had a few people based in Arizona, more based in Florida, and a couple even in India. It was an exciting time. I had to learn everything from scratch. I wasn’t sure if I was succeeding or not in my role for at least the first year that I was in it. Then I began getting very positive feedback from my manager and others I worked with. This was a good fit for me.

So the only other thing I’d mention for this post from 2015 is: BACK TO THE FUTURE!! I mean, you can’t be a fan of the movie and not mention that right?! So we had a whole weekend planned for October 21st, 2015 (the BTTF day). We went to some of the filming locations for the movie, as well as wore some gear. We also went to Universal Studios (because Hill Valley was actually the backlot in Universal Studios). Here are some photos:

Towards the end of the year, we visited Oregon (Arabella’s first time). We left after we went to our annual Christmas eve service at Central. We came home and opened all of our presents that night. Then drove round the clock to get to the PNW (taking turns with my parents who were also aboard for the trip).

She met some cousins and extended family as well as my brother. Yeah, so during the trip we stopped in Seattle and surprised my brother (as he kept saying he didn’t have the means to visit). At the time it was also an attempt to get my parents in a better relationship with him. We took Ara around PDX and showed her things that she has probably forgotten she first saw, but we wanted to ensure that we did so that we knew she had the chance to see them with us. Plus you never know what will happen in life, or if you will get the opportunity to do so again in the future. So we went to see as much as we could from the Portland sign, Multnomah Falls, Pioneer Square (and our brick we have engraved), to the coast, and as mentioned Seattle too.

I have to say that is probably a good highlight of 2015.

Until next time

just Pray

note: this post was published on 07/08/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of December 2015 to keep chronological order.

Today is my first post of the year.

I wish it were a happier one.

On July 3, 2015, Jake died.

It is heartbreaking.  It was unexpected.  We had no time to prepare for this.

None.

I just want my kitten back.

Jake was an awesome American short haired tabby cat.  He was like no other.

We had him from the start of our engagement until after our Marriage and even our First kid.  We had planned his future far from today.

We love him.

He use to love the sun.  In Gaston he would climb behind the shades and we would find him sitting, sometimes sleeping behind the curtain.  Sometimes he would just randomly come to visit us in the other room, his fur all warm and toasty.  Either this was from the window or the fireplace. The fireplace?  Yep.  If he got cold he would curl right up to it and sprawl right out.  He’d lay out and sleep as long as it had a flame.  Him and my then fiancé (and now wife) would just lay with each other.

You see my fiancé was sad.  A little lonely and missing her family and friends.  Giving things up to be with me (crazy, yes I know).  Well after we agreed upon this love able cat he stole something from us.

He would always cuddle and give attention to the person in need.

My wife needed him.  He knew it.  He would sleep with her every-single-night.  He would spend countless hours with her.  For a while I actually thought he was just going to be ‘her’ cat and eventually I’d get a dog or something.

He would greet us when we came home.  He sometimes would let us know when he was lonely (by meowing at 2am) and when we called him up on our bed he would purr and knead and turn into a happy… (as my wife would say) he was a  smitten-kitten.  He loved his food, make no mistake.  Whoever fed him would be sure to be treated with some extra affection later on.

I learned this.  I used this.  How?  When he stated to give me attention for various reasons I started to have everyone else feed him.  So they could see the angel I did.  No longer was he just a big cat.  He was ours.  He is family.  He didn’t need us, we needed him.

When we had first gotten him at the shelter he had problems.  Worms and overweight (amongst others) and we nursed him back to a healthy life.

When Arabella was born… We greeted him to her and his first reaction (after sniffing her) was followed by purring and a subsequent head-butt.  What. A. Cat.

I thought ‘this is it, we won’t see him as much now with having a kid.  Our attention will be elsewhere.’  It was true.  But… It wasn’t.  Arabella screamed bloody murder at me for the first year she was on this earth when I’d do anything with her.  It killed me inside.

As for Jake?  He would come keep me company when I was sitting alone.  Even when Arabella was screaming her face, a simple meow and head-butt on my leg.  He would sleep with me at night.  Every night.  He was there when I needed him most.  

I may have been the only one up in the house going through having a hard time and he would come out and stay awake with me.  He was really that good.

It got to the point where I had a job where I dress up everyday.  I  didn’t want cat hair on my pants before I left for work.  I’d sit further away from him.  Tell him to go see Maryia or something else.  …Oh what I wouldn’t give to have that back.

Peppermint will always remind me of my little peppermint-patty.  The ho ho scarf at Christmas.  He would lay by the fire in winter and stare at the Christmas tree in awe (sleeping under the tree was the norm).  The fact that he loved looking out our screen door when it was open.  The time at the hotel when he wanted some Jimmy Johns and I gave him some.  The times in the pool.  There are so many memories.

What about Arabella?  Well she was too small at first to to any real harm.  She would make baby movements but ultimately he would still lay around her.  Protect her.  Guard her.

Then she got older.  He didn’t like her screaming (and would walk away) but whenever it was more than a fit, if she had a fever or needed something more, he would brave through the crying and look at her.  Trying to figure out what was wrong, what he could do to help.  That’s just what he did.

She was walking now.  Unfortunately she didn’t understand when she hit him it could hurt.  She would pull his ears, literally take hair from his coat and stab him with a pencil and he wouldn’t lash out.  Instead during nap time he would assume the protector role.  Who does that?!

Jake.

He really was everything we needed.  Maybe a guardian angel of ours.

Then the bad news.  The sad news.

We had planned our annual trip to LA for the Fourth of July.  We rented a car and started on our way.  Jake and our newest addition to the the family: Jinxy (a hamster) were in their cages.  We left early.  Around 9am.

Around ten or eleven – in the middle of the desert we started to sweat.  We turned down the AC only to notice it was already on MAX AC.

We pulled over to call the rental place. This wasn’t good.  They said to take it to the first one.  Another hour away.

So we did just that.  We drove on.  They assured us everything would be fine- the location had many cars to swap with.  After arriving to the location we learned they actually had no cars to trade.  They checked elsewhere… No cars anywhere.  We kept going.  The gas on this car was pretty good.  We would make it to LA with less than a tank of gas being used.  The temp in the car continued to rise.  Maryia gave our remaining water to Arabella to keep her from overheating.

A little while later after getting into the city, we stopped. We opened up his cage …and found him motionless.  Our hearts dropped.  He would always poke his head out immediately while meowing the whole time.  He would be happy to see us.

This time he was just motionless.

Both he and Jinxy died because our rental car didn’t have air conditioning.  And Arabella was overheated.

The funny part? We didn’t take the car we had originally rented.  We paid more and upgraded so we could have more room.  Why did we do that?  Why couldn’t we just take the reserved car?

His last night just about killed me.  Normally scared of vacuums I cleared the house.  Jake laid on the couch.  He trusted we would take care of him.  He didn’t move.  Hardly batted an eye.  Then later he begged for some food.  He hasn’t had an appetite lately and we wanted his hunger to come back.  It came back.  Maryia gave him some wet food.  This was uncommon- but so welcome.  We just wanted to ensure he was healthy and with us for a long time.

Then there was a thunderstorm that night.

Jake crawled up..  and while purring he cuddled me.  He kept me company.  He later walked across me and laid with Maryia and Arabella for the remainder of the night.  He was protecting them as he has always done.  He loved us til the very end.

And now? I can’t even remember if I saw him the next morning, I was just looking to get on the road…   Why didn’t I just give him some love?  More regrets.  He was always there when we need him.

Jake stole our hearts.  And now our hearts are in peices with this loss of our family member.

R.I.P. Jake Dewey

Aka: Jake Parish, Peppermint-patty, handsome, smitten kitten, Jake soft paws, snuggle bug, king Jake, kitten, kitty cat, tiger cub, jungle Jake, Jakey, Jacob and Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

We love you.  We only wish that we could have been there when you needed us most.

After writing that last post I noticed that the car registered 118. So it has definitely been hot outside.

What will you do when it’s hot in Phoenix?! Get out of town. We took a trip over to Los Angeles. Saw some smoke from a nearby fire as we were driving through the Cabazon area. Saw some Dinosaurs and had Ara see how she compared to their size.

Since we have an annual pass at Universal, we decided to take her and let her have fun in the Water Park area. Don’t let the photo above fool you. She was waiting for Mom or Dad to get wet, but seconds after this she bolted and was laughing and giggling as much as she ever has.

At the end of the night, we took a photo of our girl on the red carpet.

The wife has been doing various themes for her to wear. She has made countless bows and she has so many other dresses that her closet is full. Here are a few from the weekend trip with Grammy and Grampy.

Since it started to get hot in Santa Clarita we took a trip over to one of our favorite beaches at Port Hueneme (in Ventura County).

We returned home to a happy cat with lots of meows and purring going on – he tends to focus his attention on the little one while she is awake – but once she is asleep he gives his mom and dad all the love.

Here is another photo showing just how early I’ve been at work. The management loves it. I am also getting quite a bit faster at processing work than the others in my group. As of the middle of the month, we are also officially in Monsoon season! Here is a photo we took while storm chasing over near Superior.

We have been getting out and visiting the national parks that are in our area. Things that we maybe never have visited but had driven by countless times. One of those things is the Casa Grande National Monument for the Prehistoric Ruins. It may not look like much but it’s pretty cool. They have a visitor center and everything that gives information on the natives that once was in the area and how they were way ahead of their time. How so? Irrigation and the conserving of water (as you would need to do in a desert climate).

After that, we made our way home and were delighted to some more monsoon storms rolling through the area. See many more on insta.

We went to the pool that our community has because a little girl was just BEGGING to do so. She can be pretty convincing at times.

Random photo of the date: Our cups from Einstein Bros. If you have this cup you can go into the restaurant and get a coffee for $1. It saves quite a bit of money versus having to get drinks each time for $2 or $3 each. We got this one off eBay and found another one locally at Goodwill.

Finally – after the great season that we had last year Lillard is the only remaining person on the roster. I don’t know what Paul Allen is thinking with these changes but I feel that we could have been much better by having ADDED more talent and not letting everyone go. Let’s pray for positive changes in the future (in basketball and in life). I’m getting tired of these long days!

just Pray

note: this post was published on 10/04/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of June 2015 to keep chronological order.

Junebug.

Our June in Phoenix is generally hot and can produce some of the hottest temps of the year.

For example: look at our forecast (below). We have gotten a baby gate up in the house! This is so the monster formerly known as Arabella will not get into every single thing she can get her hands on.

As it has been hot one of the nice things to do is lay inside in the cool air-conditioned temperature and nap. Arabella and Jake have this part down. It is hot enough that Jake pretty much only goes outside to use his litter box and for no other reason.

With it being as hot as it has been, it isn’t totally uncalled for us to get a storm.

We got a storm or two.

The storm produced quite a light show. We were able to capture a lot of strikes with just our iPhones. It is amazing what you can capture with just a camera on your phone. Anyway if you look above there are a few shots that we had. It has now been common practice for us to go more rural and hunt out the storms. This time we were up near Cave Creek. Occasionally w would just sit and listen to the thunder. I’ve always liked a booming thunderstorm. Best surround-sound ever.

We spent some time after the storms at home snuggling our kitty. He likes to snuggle all of the time, but when you have the AC turned down low, can hear the rain beating overhead on the roof and have a kitten who wants to give you purring snuggles? It kinda makes it an even more beautiful event.

Wait, what is that thing?

Welcome, Jinxy! The wife wanted to get another animal and so we are giving this guy a new home with us.

Speaking of home, it seems that as of late I’m almost spending more time at work than at home. Here is a photo of my locker at work, how my work area looks when I arrive at 5 in the morning, and the view I have while driving home at 7ish.

Did I mention that June is a hot month? I’ve seen the car temperature get up to 117 so far. They keep moving the thermometer out at the airport so that the temperatures read cooler. I think this is so that we keep up with the norms for the area. We have a LOT of ambient heat that we get from the surfaces of everything – from the street to the sidewalk and the side of stores.

Stay cool out there! Until next time…

just Pray

note: this post was published on 10/04/22 but moved the publish date back to the middle of June 2015 to keep chronological order.

Snow!

As I mentioned in the last post – we have been having some cooler temperatures in the area. Well, a rare mid-month snowstorm came into Flagstaff. As it was just getting into the weekend we jetted off to go see. In the downtown Flagstaff area, there wasn’t much accumulation. However, once you got up a little higher and in a more rural area, you could see the ground fully covered in white. We were lucky enough to catch this while a light snowstorm started as we were getting ready to head back.

Look at those photos of the girl just snuggled up in her warm outfit.

We returned home to find that Jake was waiting for us. He climbed onto mommy and laid down and began purring.

It wasn’t more than a couple of days later that I picked Arabella up and she wasn’t in a great mood. She was flailing and whatnot, well her face hit the corner of the underside of the countertop. Left a good mark too. I feel so bad for her. We put a band-aid on and then took her to a nearby Phoenix Children’s Hospital location. We figured that we might as well get the best that we can, and they are so good with kids. We took her in and they really put her at ease. She will have the mark of this for a little bit of time.

I haven’t talked much about work lately, but things are going well. They have announced that they are starting to bring people on to fill other roles in the department. I am feeling optimistic about the whole thing. The photo is of the office (at Desert Ridge) all closed down. Unlike the main office this one pretty much only operates from 9 to 5. I was here until almost 7 one evening this month and they had already started to close the place up.

Why was I around until 7? Well, you gotta play the game. The name of the game is getting face time with those other people… and showing that you are dedicated to the point of working extra hours. Arrive and 7 and stay until 5 or 6. Try to be there more than all of the higher-up managers who are watching. It is a little annoying.

What else? We came across this area near Central that has these lamp posts and fruit trees everywhere, along with a big white horse (a statue) out front. We stopped there one afternoon and took a bunch of photos. See Instagram for more.

So I know we mentioned going to the Zoo previously, but we wanted to share this photo that was taken (with Hilary). We are considering getting it. It kinda turned out nicely, don’t you think?

What better way to end the post than by showing a sleepy girl and her sleepy cat? They both crawled up on our bed (yes right now our bed is an air mattress, thank you for noticing) and fell fast asleep. It was too good to pass up.

just Pray

note: this post was published on 10/04/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of May 2015 to keep chronological order.