We are getting Married!
We have finally gotten around to adding our Wedding website to this page. You can find it on the toolbar in your upper right hand corner, or you can simply click on the button below.
Take a look!
One year later…
Greetings! I’m Danielle, the aforementioned girlfriend who recently received an promotion to fiancé. More about that later though.
We left you in May of 2020. The day we decided to lock in our rate and move forward with buying our first home, we got the call that John would be laid off. That was a trying day. John had been laid off before, but never right before making a large purchase like this. We decided that we would move forward with the purchase, since the mortgage was supposed to be cheaper than the rent we paid for our current apartment. John looked and interviewed for jobs, I worked and we prayed. A lot. All we wanted was for him to find a job that he didn’t hate and that would replace his previous income. The sale of our house was delayed due to paperwork issues and we were given a June 16th closing date, and we continued to pack up the apartment with lots of help from John’s parents.
June 15th, 2020. John got the call. He was offered a 100% remote job. Full time employment. He would no longer be working contract work, and would no longer be in Oil & Gas. Though Oil & Gas has been good to us both, we had grown tired of the ups and downs of the industry. He accepted the job. I cried tears of joy. It was perfect timing. We signed the papers and closed on our home the next day. We were officially home owners! We worked over the next week to get the walls painted, and had all the carpet torn out and replaced with a waterproof wood like vinyl. The house was really starting to come together. We had lots of help from John’s parents. It was greatly appreciated. You can see some before and after photos of the work we did on the house before moving all of our stuff in.
We apparently didn’t have enough to do and decided that it was high time that we have that dream desk that we had both spent the last few months talking about. I took to creating a design and ran my final past my parents to make sure I wasn’t forgetting any super important structural components and then we were off to Ace Hardware (They were the only ones with the right lumber we wanted). We spend labor day weekend sanding, painting, and staining the wood we somehow got home in John’s little hatchback.
Right before thanksgiving we decided a break was in order. We booked a flight and secured tickets to Disney World. We spent 3 days embracing our inner children, and indulging in treats from all over the “world”.
Unfortunately, we returned from this trip to find that my Grandmother had passed away. We knew a few months ago she had suffered another heart attack, but she had since returned home. She had taken a fall. My aunt, her daughter, took her to the ER to make sure she had not sustained a concussion. She coded while she was in the scanner, and was brought back. Only to code again in the elevator on the way to ICU. They were unable to revive her. She always had a smile for me, and usually a few tears as well. She worked hard over her life to take care of her husband and family, and make sure that every soul that crossed her threshold felt welcome. We had a celebration of life for her this past February, when we felt that the vaccine had been out long enough to help people feel safer to attend this gathering.
Looking back a bit, we put a deposit to hold our place to get a puppy sometime in August of 2020. We were looking for a German Shorthaired Pointer. The litter was due in January. They unfortunately did not have enough girls for us to get to make a selection, and all of the boys were already spoken for. So we moved onto another litter and waited.. and waited some more. Finally, on April 25th, 2021 we got the email that notified us that our new best friend has been born and that puppies and momma were doing great. We’ve received a couple of photos since then. The group photo to the bottom right is from 2.5 weeks old. This weekend (Memorial weekend), we get to go meet the breeder and pick out our newest family member. To say that John and I are excited is an understatement. We’ve already acquired a kennel, leashes, a collar, scarfs, dog training clickers, a few toys, a bowl or two, and an elevated bed. We will be sure to share some photos once we identify which one of these little ones is ours.
Since we haven’t had nearly enough change and excitement over the last year, John decided to change things up again. He asked me to marry him on our 1-year and 10-month anniversary. It really was adorable. He had plans to wait till our 2 year anniversary in June, but he received the ring and couldn’t see waiting that long to ask me. I of course said Yes!
So there is a wedding that will happen, most likely in February of 2022. Stay tuned!
Regards,
Danielle
Stay-At-Home, WFH, and Other Updates!
So its been almost 2 months since the stay-at-home order and what a crazy time its been. Here are a few photos from it!
The Masks
The Food
Side Projects
Getting Some Air
As for work, both Danielle’s team and mine have adapted well to working from home. We’re using LEAN Agile so we’re transparent with what we work on. Her team works a lot with people around the world so there wasn’t much change their either.
However great we work though, the world still is struggling under this quarantine. Stocks have dropped, demand for oil went down, there was a price war in the middle east, and profits are down. This has caused a lot of Americans to have lost their means of living, whether it be from furloughs or layoffs. My team got hit with a round of layoffs right before the stay-at-home order and then another during it. After the second one, I thought we were out of the woods, then I got the call.
I was at the grocery store in the checkout line when I saw the name of my agency come on my screen. I was given the notice that I was being cut as part of this wave of budget cuts and my last day would be May 15th. It hit hard but not as tough as one’s I’ve had before. It does come at a horrible time because Danielle and I had just signed the contract on our new house that is set to close on June 1st.
So tomorrow is my last day at my job but good things are on the horizon. Hopefully things pan out with a few prospects which will leave me in a better position than I’ve been in for a long time. Until I get back to work I’ll be doing more streaming(hopefully) and packing stuff to move into the new place by July 17th when my lease ends. If all goes well, the new office will be setup for streaming from day one.
Good things to come, stay tuned and stay safe!
-TxKicker
Coronavirus Quarantine
Hey, Y’all!
So like many of you out there, I’m on self-quarantine to prevent being sick or being a carrier of the Wuhan Coronavirus(COVID-19). Do I agree to the level they’re taking the restrictions? Not really, but there isn’t much I can do. I agree with social distancing and sterilizing surfaces because I’ve seen how a cold spread through my office in January, but shutting down businesses is hurting people’s means to live. I’m fortunate enough to be able to work remotely, but being in Gas and Oil I don’t know how long it’ll last.
On the bright side, I’m lucky enough to be quarantined with my girlfriend Danielle. She’s able to work remotely as well so we have my desk completely set up for both our workstations. As for food, we’re set for a bit and haven’t quite got to the level of rationing but I got some canned food before the rush just in case it reaches that level. Texas hasn’t shut down restaurants yet but has limited them to drive-thru and take-out only. Other businesses have gone to minimal operations with extra sanitation steps. The only thing I’ve left the house for has been an eye appointment and a haircut. I’m Catholic, so the masses have been canceled in every parish and social distancing has been put in place for Reconciliation(confession) and Adoration(prayer in person with the Eucharist). I joined in with the Pope and said the rosary on the 19th.
So, how am I handling the debt fight during this crisis? I’m switching to minimum payments and putting aside the rest. Danielle and I hope that this won’t last much longer and we can move into the house to reduce expenses. I’m sure we all want to go back to the way things were before and I’m sure it will as long as we care for each other and accept short term sacrifices to ensure long term recovery.
This whole thing has also thrown a wrench in my streaming goals but I plan on getting it ramped back up with the probability of having Danielle on as a co-streamer! Maybe even saying a rosary during them to keep up my religious duties. Keep an eye on my twitter and don’t forget to drop a follow for any updates!
God bless you all and pray this will be over fast with everyone being safe and secure.
The Return!
Hey All!
Its been a while, I know, but I feel the pull to return! I’ve been working on a few things and have some life changes coming up that I’d like to share with y’all! So keep an eye on the website, which I plan to update a lot more often then in the past, and I’ll have updates here!
Thanks!
TxKicker
PAX South 2018
Hey Guys!
So PAX South is this weekend! SO HYPED!!!! If you would like to meet up just message me on twitter and I’ll see what I can do. Sometimes these conventions have you going in every direction and you miss out even on stuff you want to do just because there’s so much! So I will do my best to meet up with everyone that messages me, but I can’t make any guarantees since conventions are crazy.
Hope to see y’all there!!!
-TxKicker
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