I GOT IT!!!

I have the best wife ever!!!
I came home from work today and what was waiting for me, but my own little iPod Nano!!!
It is green and awesome.
I have already uploaded the maximum 4gb of music and am listening to it now.
I went to the doctor last week and he told me my blood pressure and cholesterol were a little high and recommended regular exercise. I told Sarah that what he was really saying was I needed a Nano to go running with. Now I guess I have to really start running, but it will be SO worth it.
Thanks, baby. I love you so much...

Where in the world is... Kevin Whitman?

A quick scroll down the page revealed to me that I have not written a post since our birthday party nearly two months ago. Shame on me! What have I been doing with my time? Obviously life must have been moving at such a breakneck speed that I didn't even have a moment to update all of you on what has been going on. Or nothing has been going on at all. I think it must be a mix of the two.
Anyway, I have been spending a lot of time on our iMac. I LOVE IT! For you PC users out there that are afraid to try something new, fear not. Macs are so easy to use, I keep thinking it should be harder. If you are in the market for a new computer, seriously spend some time at your local Apple Store. And if you don't have an Apple Store, come visit us. We do.
So, my favorite new feature is iTunes! I spent about a week transferring our entire CD collection into iTunes. 3,234 songs and 12.72GB later, we have access to every song we own with the click of a mouse. And syncing everything to Sarah's iPod is super easy. Now, I need to get a new iPod nano (**gift idea**, I like the green one). I've had an mp3 player for a few years that I love to use, but I figured out this weekend that it does not work with our music files on iTunes. Stink. So now, I do sort of need that nano...
Anyway, it is visitor week in the Whitman home. Stan and Candy were here this weekend and just left this morning to head back to AZ. Tomorrow my parents will be staying with us on the way down to their time share in South Carolina. Anyone else want to stop by?
So, I sincerely apologize for my lack of posts recently and I promise that you will start seeing more from here on out!

weMac

I'm surprised Kevin hasn't already posted about this because he's been like a kid on Christmas morning, but we got a new computer! It's a super sweet 17inch iMac that we'll both share, and it's so pretty! We were both in sore need of computer upgrades, and we decided it was kind of silly to buy 2 new computers. I'm really excited to have a brand-new one, though, because all of my past computer have been hand-me-downs, and the latest one (the iMac we bought for my brother in 1998) was painfully slow compared to the one I use at work.

We also got a new printer and computer armoire, so we no longer have two cluttered desks taking up space in the office. And I got a video iPod (we'll probably share it). I don't have an MP3 player, and it was too great of a deal to pass up (we got it so cheap using Katie's student discount, which we also used to buy the computer, printer and Microsoft Office software).

We couldn't have afforded this purchase without the freelance work I've been cranking out for the last 3 weeks, so thanks Freelance Gods. I finished those articles up earlier this week, which was a huge relief. I thought I would have to do more work on them because what I turned in were technically drafts, but my editor said they were in great shape and didn't require any fine-tuning on my part. I'll let you know when they're posted online.

So now that I'm done with that, Kevin and I will both have some time to play on our new computer (I've been hogging it for article writing and research). Gotta go!

Ooh Baby!

Our friends Melissa and Jamiel had a baby girl Friday. Her name is Madison Lynn, and she weighs 8 pounds, 7 ounces. We went to see her at the hospital Saturday, and she's terribly sweet!

Free(lance) at Last

When my friend Darin left “Print Solutions” magazine before the start of the new year, my main source for freelance writing dried up. I had written for him pretty steadily the past few years, which brought in a nice chunk of extra cash. Luckily (thanks to Darin once again) I just scored a sweet freelance gig with a consumer health website that’s launching in October. I’m writing 5 articles for them this month—one on relationships and four on pregnancy—as they stock up for launch, then there should be ongoing assignments (assuming they like the work I’m doing now). They also pay better than anyone else I’ve ever freelanced for.

So if you don’t hear from me much, know that I’m knee-deep in work for the next few weeks. I got these 5 assignments last Tuesday and they’re due on the 29th of August! That’s a tall order for someone who works full-time, but I have a good start. I’ve turned in a pretty complete draft of the relationship story already; I just need to get one more expert quote. And I turned in in-depth outlines for the pregnancy stories yesterday. The trickiest thing about freelancing and working full time is finding time to interview sources during the workday. I’m hoping to line up a couple of interviews in one afternoon and take a vacation day (I can’t work on freelance stuff on HOW’s dime, natch).

Although writing about design and printing isn’t a drag, those subjects don’t exactly make my heart sing. So it’s nice to be writing about women’s health topics, which appeal to me on a more personal level.

Happy Friday

I'm sitting here at work eating tomato bisque from Trader Joe's and sliced cucumbers and feeling pretty darn happy. It's sunny, there's a breeze blowing through the trees outside my window and the sky is a perfect shade of blue with fluffy white clouds. Bryn says on days like this her mom says it looks like the sky has been washed and hung out to dry. I like that thought. It's actually 85 degrees out, but from my vantage point it looks like a warm yet crisp September day when the humidity has left the air and summer is on the verge of segueing into fall. Thinking about days like that give me one of my favorite feelings. After running an incredibly productive but mind-taxing meeting this morning, I was wishing I could leave and spend the afternoon outside. But I think my office weather fantasy is probably even better than reality.

Happy Birthday to US!!!!

Saturday we had our big Two-for-One Birthday Bash at our house. It was awesome. We had a great time getting together with our closest friends and getting to know some of our neighbors even better. Check out a few pictures from the party. Sarah and I had a cake decorating competition, take a minute to check them out and tell us who you would have picked! Liz and Jason came in from out of town to stay with us for the weekend and the four of us spent all day Sunday "recovering" from the party.
So today is my birthday and it has been a great one. My staff got me a cheesecake, some Nerds and Sprees, and a set of sushi dishes, all of which was a very pleasant surprise. I went to lunch with CJ at Kona Bistro (my favorite local lunch spot). Tonight I came home and Sarah had a sushi dinner prepared that we ate out on the deck. It is a beautiful evening and it is nice to spend a night relaxing with my family after such a busy week last week.
Itsmybirthday... woo hoo!

Long time no blog

Sorry you haven't heard from me lately. Time seems to be getting away from us lately, so here's a quick update. Sarah, Gilmore, and I headed up to Edgerton last weekend to visit my family and have a cookout to celebrate our birthdays. Here are a few pictures from the weekend, check out my Mom's blog for a play by play on the weekend.
This week we've been getting ready for our cookout on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to having a great time with all of our best friends. We'll be sure to let you know how the weekend goes.
Hope everyone is doing well and we'll try to keep you up to date as much as possible.

Birthday Recap

Yesterday I turned 31, so I guess I'm officially a "thirty-something" and not just the "big 3-0" anymore. I opened a few gifts in the morning, then went to work. Megan had decorated my office with streamers and signs. We're really busy getting ready to send the October issue to the printer today, so my staff is taking me out for a birthday lunch next Monday. I got calls from all my family members, some of whom sang "Happy Birthday" to me (Grandma Engler was so cute!). The best part of the day was dinner, though: Katie and Matt took me and Kevin to The Melting Pot to celebrate both of our birthdays (Kevin's is July 24th). We had four courses of fondue, which was fabulous. We hadn't been there in three years, so it really was a special treat! Thanks, everyone, for helping me have a great birthday once again!

Superman Returns!

Last night after work I went to see Superman Returns with my friend CJ. It was awesome!!!! I have been waiting to see this movie for about a year and half now, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. I already love the Superman stories, add to that my love of finding out "what else happens" and this movie is a winner. It was a little long, about two and a half hours, but I didn't really notice. It had me riveted to the screen the entire time. An extra bonus that I wasn't aware of until the movie started was Parker Posey as Lex Luthor's girlfriend. She's sort of offbeat, but always entertaining. I haven't made it to the movies much lately, but this one is certainly worth seeing. I won't go into the details, you'll just have to see it for yourself.
Happy Fourth of July!!!