So what are we planning on doing in Barcelona you may be wondering, well to be quite frank we have no idea. This was one of those “spur of the moment” kind of trips that Jenn loves to do and we plan on winging the trip the same way we have done in the past. The weather looks like it might be a bit hit and miss but we weren’t going for the beach more to take in all of the sights. So off we go again, our flight is at 8:30pm out of LAX on Wednesday and we head back home on March 10th. Expect daily recaps of the trip along with photos and possibly videos will be coming daily after we get back.

The breeder was nice enough to take a bunch of shots and boy does Bentley look awesome!!

So in late November (11/29/09 to be exact) we put in a deposit for a male Mini Goldendoodle at a local Goldendoodle Kennel here in Southern California that was renowned for these types of dogs. They showed us pictures of the parents which are shown below (Ella & Logan) and we were instantly sold on it.

Ella (Mom)

Logan (Dad)

Well we finally heard the great news today that Ella had her puppies and she ended up having 1 male and 3 females, and being the first on the male deposit list we got our puppy!  He was born on 2/3/10, which is funny because a lot of great things have happened on the 3rd of the month for both Jenn and I. We started dating on a third, we got engaged on a third, and Jenn’s favorite number is 3, so we took that as even better sign for our little guy. Which brings me to his name, we have decided to call our Mini-Goldendoodle, Bentley. I wish I had a cool story of how we came up with the name, but I think we just came up with it over dinner a while back. We get to pick up our puppy in 8 weeks or in other words 4/3/10. Jenn and I are extremely excited for the day to come and will of course be updating the World of Joel with new pictures as they come and videos once we get him! Without further ado here are pictures of Bentley at 1 day old.

Since we have so many things going on in the next couple of moths I wanted to get a new video camera to capture the moments. I have been going back and forth on whether I wanted to get a Flip camera, they are small, compact, and get pretty solid HD video. Currently Jenn and I are using a 3-4 year old Canon Video Camera that works but the video quality is just not all that spectacular. So Friday I broke down and ordered a Flip UltraHD (120 mins) and am hoping to get it in the next week or two. I am hoping that this video camera is around for some great upcoming moments in the next couple of months. Should be an exciting time for both Jenn and I and I am sure I will have a ton of updates coming on World of Joel as this all transpires.

If there was ever a year where I was going to have difficult time writing a post recapping a year, it would be now. The year of 2009 was one of so many great highs and at the same time some lows. The year didn’t start out all that exciting. I was just getting my feet wet at my new job at Southern California Edison and Jenn was enjoying her last few weeks of freedom before she too started work at SCE on February 1st.

The beginning portions of the year felt like the beginning of yet another transition period for both Jenn and I from students to full time employees, from a dating couple to eventually becoming husband and wife. We started taking our pre-marital classes in early 2009 at The Grove in Riverside. It was a six week class that at times was helpful but for the most part seemed like just yet another hurdle to go over before the big day in September.

Jenn and I spent the majority of the first few months of 2009 really ramping up for what was to become a very up and down 2009. Some of my favorite times in the beginning of 2009 were when I would go pick up Jenn from work on Friday nights in Rosemead so she wouldn’t have to take the train home and we would go on date nights. Often times we would go to furniture stores (my favorite IKEA) and just start to think about getting our own place, furnishing it, and just what life would be like with just the two of us. I remember the drives home talking with her about our future not caring about traffic, or the long drive, but just enjoying the prospect of what was to come.

We ended up taking a mini vacation in March of 2009 to Indian Wells, CA where Jenn scored us a great deal on a 2 bedroom casita. A video we posted on YouTube for that stay actually scored us two more free nights at the hotel that we are going to use in 2010. This was the first mini-vacation that Jenn and I had taken alone, and although we couldn’t make it to the tennis tournament it was a wonderful quick trip.

In late March, Jenn and I decided it was time for us to get a place of our own. We knew the day would come where we would know it was time. Of course then came the decision of where to live. Originally our plan was to move to Orange County but our work locations at SCE really didn’t call for us to move to Orange County. So we decided to look in Chino, kind of in the middle of where Jenn and I were working at the time.

I remember the drive to Chino, Jenn and I were on the edge of our seats, excited for the prospect of our own place. We looked at some really nice communities in Chino and felt like it might have made a good starting spot for us. After we left the community we decided to drive around Chino to see what was around the apartments. We drove around and I remember stopping in a parking lot and looking at Jenn and knowing we both were thinking the same thing. Without really saying anything we drove straight from Chino down to Orange County and the rest is really history. We ended up signing a lease a week or two later at our current place in Newport Beach and haven’t looked back since.

April 2009 was the month where everything seemed to go from calm to crazy. On April 4th we went down to Newport Beach to sign our year lease on our apartment, which was one of the most thrilling and scary things we had ever done. Jenn and I were on top of the world, we spent our weekends moving our stuff from Riverside to our apartment in Newport Beach, and we had started shopping for everything from a paper towel holder to furniture and art work. At the same time we had Jenn’s Mom that only a few weeks after getting the keys to our apartment was diagnosed with cancer.

In May of 2009 I ended up buckling down and got LASIK done at TLC Laser Eye Center in Newport Beach. I have been kind of hot and cold on the idea for the past few years but with SCE paying a good amount of the cost I couldn’t help but go get it done. The procedure was as easy as they come, less then three minutes from start to finish and I never really had any major irritation from it. To this day I am seeing perfect without glasses and loving it.

There was a time during the summer of 2009 that Jenn and I seriously thought about pushing up our wedding to a small ceremony to ensure her Mom concentrated on getting better. But in the end those thoughts passed and we pushed forward with our September 19th wedding date while Jenn’s mom went every few weeks for her chemo treatments.

As summer moved along it seemed like every weekend had something to do with the wedding. Whether it was picking out the flowers, Jenn’s wedding shower, meetings with our Pastor, picking out tuxes, buying the rings or whatever else comes with planning a wedding it seemed like every weekend was something. As September grew closer and closer I think Jenn and I finally had the chance to sit back just for a few moments and finally grow in anticipation for our big day.

When September 19th finally rolled around it so far exceeded my expectations of the day I cannot even begin to describe it. Jenn looked absolutely phenomenal, she was just stunning. The day could not have been any more beautiful. My groomsmen were great and Jenn’s bridesmaids did a great job as well. It truly was the best day of my life. What is funny however is that I had gotten so much wedding advice from everyone leading up to the day and one thing that everyone said was that it goes to fast, and boy does it! From the moment I rushed my “I Do” to the next day sitting at LAX waiting for our plane to London it felt like everything was moving at 1,000 MPH. The wedding and reception were amazing and I wouldn’t have changed a moment of it. Our Honeymoon was spectacular, the weather cooperated from start to finish and the trip itself was both relaxing and enjoyable.

When we got back from our Honeymoon everything seemed to fall into place. Jenn’s latest rotation at SCE put her only 10 miles away from our apartment which let us spend a lot more time together. Jenn and I started to really work out a nice routine and to be honest had an amazing start to our married life. Jenn’s Mom got great news that the cancer that they had found earlier in the year was all but gone. We spent a lot of great weekends with my brother Jake who got us
into Jenn and my latest addiction the TV show “Lost” which we are now on Season 5.

Jenn and I took a great mini-vacation in November up to San Francisco, our first as a married couple. It was the type of mini-vacation that we had talked about wanting to do for years and it finally came to fruition. It was such a surreal experience to just wake up one morning book a hotel and head out. We had a great time up in the bay area and look forward to all of the quick trips we can do in the future.

The final few weeks of the year were fantastic. Jenn and I got to decorate our apartment for the first time, bake cookies that turned out to be some of the worst Christmas cookies on record, and celebrate our first Christmas together. Jenn did an amazing job getting our place ready for the holidays and that mood was set throughout all of December. We had a great Christmas, to some it might even seem a bit crazy, but all in all it was a fantastic first Christmas as a married couple.

The year didn’t end without any slowdown as Jenn’s car a Toytota Celica started to have some mechanical issues. We ended up buying Jenn a White Certified Pre-Owned 2007 BMW 328i and sold her Celica to CarMax. It was actually a great car buying experience and we finally got Jenn a new car, something she has needed for a while. All in all 2009 was an amazingly crazy and exciting year. I got to marry the woman of my dreams and now look forward to spending the rest of my life with her.

Goodbye 2009 what a year you have been, and Hello 2010 I cannot wait to see what you have in store for me!

Before we could head out for the trip though Jenn had to give a presentation at an SCE event in front of about 300 where she spoke on some ongoing communication efforts that she has been leading projects in. So I swooped in and picked Jenn up after her presentation and we were off to our road trip to San Francisco. I have never met a person who loves public speaking but Jenn gets a little stressed out when she has to do it. So needless to say my co-pilot for the journey fell asleep only an hour or two in on the drive. We ended up getting up to the bay area in around 5 hours and stopped for dinner at Black Angus and then finished up the drive into San Francisco. When we got to the Hilton San Francisco we were upgraded to the 44th floor with an awesome city view with the golden gate bridge in the distance. The elevator literally shook as you went up, Jenn was quite scared and we made as few trips up and down the elevator as possible.

Driving up to San Francisco (Yes My Car Needs Washed)

View from the 44th Floor of the Hilton San Francisco

We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready for our adventure in San Francisco. Jenn’s way of being ready was to hit the main shopping area where she went and got some shoes and clothes at DSW and Forever 21. Not necessarily what I had envisioned for the start of the trip but I was glad to get it out of the way. At lunch time we left the San Francisco Hilton and made our way to the Le Meridian hotel which is closer to Fisherman’s Wharf. There we had a really nice room and great access to a lot of nice restaurants. The hotel recommended we try The Globe for lunch and we were both glad we did. Jenn got a steak and I got their halibut with a glass of wine.  It was a really small but intimate eatery with great service and amazing food. We decided with the cold weather to stop at one of the thousands of Starbucks in the city and get something warm to drink. As I was video taping Jenn in the coffee shop she pointed to a person behind me which looked an awful bit like John Lock in the show Lost. We were not able to confirm if was actually him, but for Jenn and I’s sake I am going to say it was. We are huge Lost fans and have been getting through the seasons the last few weeks and have been loving it. This was really one of the big highlights of the trip.

Jenn Loving Shopping at Forever 21

Jenn With Her Bags of Stuff After Shopping

We went to dinner at a local Italian food place which was a bit eerily empty when we arrived. Luckily as our meal went on it got a bit more crowded and we had another amazing meal there. We spent the rest of our evening walking around the streets of San Francisco and headed back in to watch some more episodes of Lost on DVD.

The next day we headed down to check out Stanford University some where Jenn has wanted to check out for a long time. It only took us 45 minutes or so to get out of the city and to arrive at Stanford where we were greeted by a really nice little town with shops, restaurants, and a nice atmosphere. We ate at a small Italian food place (I am sure you see the trend of our food picks) for lunch and then headed off to walk the campus. I have never been all that into school as you probably read for 4 years or so while I was in college but Jenn loves it and she got all excited walking around Stanford. While we were at Stanford we saw 3-4 weddings going on and a bunch of other gatherings. For a weekend it sure seemed like there was plenty going on. We walked around much of the campus and then headed our way back to our hotel. We ended up ordering some room service where Jenn got a soup and I got a Caesar salad. We were pooped so we watched some more Lost and called it an evening. We headed out early the next morning and made it back to our Newport Beach apartment in around 5 hours. It was a great short trip and I cannot wait to go on our next one, wherever that may be.

View from the Tower at Stanford

Checking out all there is at Stanford University

Even More Walking Around Stanford

]]> http://www.worldofjoel.com/a-wonderful-road-trip-to-san-francisco/feed/ 0 http://www.worldofjoel.com/just-bought-a-27-apple-imac/ http://www.worldofjoel.com/just-bought-a-27-apple-imac/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:33:10 +0000 Joel http://www.worldofjoel.com/?p=720 Jenn and I have been talking about purchasing an iMac for a long time. We have been wanting to get a desktop computer to be our one stop shop to do all of our video editing from all of our trips, host all of our music on iTunes, and all sorts of different things. When Apple announced that they were putting out a 27″ iMac for $1699, Jenn and I jumped on it. Living close to Fashion Island in Newport Beach we decided that we would walk to the Apple Store to purchase our iMac. The idea sounded great at the time, walk around with our iMac, how hard could that be? Well let’s just say I am glad we had my brother Jake around with us because the 27″ iMac isn’t the easiest box to carry around with you. All in all it was hilarious watching us try to walk back with our iMac, but needless to say that we made it back to the apartment with everything intact.

So how do we like the iMac? We love it. Currently I have kind of put my Macbook to the side and have been using this computer for almost everything. It is actually kind of refreshing to have such a large monitor, a lot more real estate to work with. One feature that I don’t think gets enough attention is the new mouse which is actually pretty great. I have become a huge fan of being able to use the gesture controls to go backwards and forwards while surfing the internet. All in all though we love the iMac and are really stoked we waited for the 27″.

Sitting in Front of the New iMac

Watching Jack Johnson DVD on New iMac

Currently I get my Cable, Phone, and Internet through Cox. There internet service is up and down like many other cable providers and there cable setup is rather archaic. The menu’s on are DVR are downright pathetic, and of course the quality of the HD programming isn’t all that red hot. We currently spend $30 extra a month for our DVR service, if I could continue getting basic HD content from Cox for sports, and then get all my TV shows for $30 from Apple I for one would probably quickly make the switch even if that meant a $200-$300 up front cost to buy a piece of hardware to run it.

I think it is a really interesting proposition if Apple really does go forward with it, obviously the big question still remaining to be answered would be how much TV content would be available. Would Apple be able to get CBS, NBC, ABC, & Fox to jump on board? Not to mention some of the other cable channels? It’s an interesting proposition and one that I look forward to see how it plays out.

So here is the list of items I would like to pick up in the near future in no particular order.

#5: Canon VIXIA HF200 HD Flash Memory Camcorder

Currently Jenn and I have a standard Canon Camcorder that I bought Jenn as a gift four or five years ago. The video camera has done a great job over the years but it is starting to see the last of its life cycle. We really want to get a new camera for a lot of the exciting adventures in the coming months and years ahead and why not capture them in HD. I have read countless great reviews on this camera and I am hoping before we get a dog and go on our next vacation that we can buy this camera.

#4: 27″ Apple iMac

On my last list of tech products I wanted to buy, I put an Apple iMac, and to this day I would still like to purchase one. Why haven’t I yet? Well originally it was the mere fact that we needed a lot of other things before we bought the iMac for the apartment. And then when we got to the point where we could buy an iMac I had heard all of the rumblings for the new versions, so I have been waiting. With Apple’s recent announcement earlier this week they have renewed my love affair with these products and I am back looking to buy one real soon, preferably the 27″ model.

#3: PS3 Slim / Bluray Player

Currently we have a PS3 in our family room which we watch all of our bluray movies, but often times Jenn and I want to watch these movies in our bedroom as well. So I know I for one would love to buy either a PS3 to play games and to watch movies in the bedroom or a standard bluray player with Netflix support. Either way it would work out perfect and allow us a lot of great Friday night movie nights laying in bed.

#2: Logitech Harmony Universal Remote (Any Version)

Currently we are using the provided Cox remote for our HD-DVR’s in both the bedroom and the family room, but to be honest they are one of the worst TV remotes I have ever used. I would really like to get a universal remote for the family room to control the several different electronics in that room. Although our current controllers do control both the TV and the cable box even that seems like a stretch for the controller, it would be great to have a controller that actually does what you ask it to do.

#1: 13″/15″ Apple Macbook Pro

So currently my white Apple Macbook looks like it has gone through a war probably from the massive amount of use and abuse it has gotten over the years. Jenn and I really want the iMac to do a lot of the heavy lifting with videos/photos/iTunes etc and then our laptops for surfing and other minor items.  The Macbook Pro is not something we are going to be purchasing in the near future but is something in the next year or so we will be looking for me to upgrade.

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