Winter Writings

I've been hemming and hawing on what to write for my update, considering it has been so long.  I'm not really sure I've fully decided, so if I jump around a little, you were warned. Maybe it'll be just right.

Anyway, things at Tapiture are going well.  We are in the process of closing our latest round of investors which includes some names you would all know.  In addition to adding more money, we'll be adding more bodies.  It is a bit weird to have an office that is bursting at the seems, when at one point, we were a team of four. They all bring some expertise that we most certainly need to get to the next level and bring the rest of the world into the tapisphere, but I must say, there are definitely times I miss all being able to fit at one table.

I have finally transitioned out of having to answer every soul crushing email from customers and users and am now managing a small team of representatives who now have to deal with the crazies.  Well, not all people who write in are crazies, in fact, a lot of them are nice, but the few who are awful, are really awful.  In addition to that, I am back into the editorial world leading a team of editors whose job it is to keep the content flowing and to find the best of the best.  I also am still involved with the operations side of things as the Operations Manager.  That's my title, but I feel more like Kordell Stewart.  His nickname is "Slash", if you didn't catch the reference.  

This doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I sold my car a while ago.  I am strictly a pedestrian now, which is interesting, but becoming easier and easier. One drawback to not having a car is that it makes it exponentially harder to get to the golf course.  I miss playing desperately so I am going to really start making an effort to get back out there.  

Back to work for a moment.  The best thing about the experience to this point is the amount I am learning about the internet/entertainment space as well as business.  I have learned more in this year+ than I have in the rest of my working years, and probably schooling as well.  Hopefully I will be able to take all of this knowledge and apply it to the next big thing after Tapiture.  

I wouldn't say that is a make-it or break-it year for us, but I do believe this is the year that everyone will hear about us.  Big things happening without a doubt. 

My friend Eddie and I are working hard to bring back some of the culture that was lost when theCHIVE moved to Austin, and will be throwing a Super Bowl party.  I am hoping we can get the fun-loving-who-knows-what-will-happen-next atmosphere running rampant again in and around the office.  Some of the engineers are probably less than excited about that, but hey, we gotta have fun, right?

While everything is going great, I am disappointed about a particular piece of information, which I can't share, but it has been on my mind this last week.  I've had a number of different thoughts about it and I think I've landed on my own solution.  There are going to be times when things don't go exactly how you would want them to, and sometimes there is nothing you can do to change that.  However, the one thing you can control is giving everything you have and strive daily to get better. Maybe there won't be immediate results from your efforts, but the things that you learn both about what you're doing and about yourself will without a doubt better prepare you to be a force down the road. You can't always get what you want. But, if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.  Someone said/sang that once before.  

That was sort of an emo paragraph and it may seem out of place, but it's as important as anything else that has happened to me recently.  

I'd like to reiterate that everything is really actually going great, so don't freak out or anything.  I am very much looking forward to what is to come in the next few months, and I believe it will probably inspire more frequent posts.  So really, everyone wins.

Also, I am very much looking forward to Parts 2 and 3 of LDL's posts.

Tappin out, for now. 

Not much happening here...a 3 part series. Part 1.

Oh man, where oh where to begin??  Halloween?  We were spider-man & a pumpkin.  The preschool fundraising Fun Fair?  It was a huge success.  My birthday? I turned 32 & celebrated belatedly with my womb buddy (who was traveling in Columbia the day of..tough life) with the Avett Brothers - it was awesome.  P man's 4th birthday?  Yep.

I'm going to be a little longer winded here, even though there is wonderful, awesome, incredible miracles to share.  My precious boy deserves his own birthday blog post.  Sweet P turned 4 this past November and was adamant that he have a camping / fire party.  And so we did.  I admittedly was pretty impressed with my party throwing skills...plus it was a boys camping party so it was pretty easy.  P has definite opinions of who he wants to invite (just boys and their dads...oh, and one girl who he loves and wants to do everything with.)  P and his daddy spent weeks collecting firewood, while P and I shopped for hot dogs, supplies for s'mores, headlamps as party favors, bug juice etc.  P made his own "welcome to my party" sign from cardboard and left over tissue paper.  I must say...we impressed ourselves.  So our 4 friends (because he is 4) and their dads showed up at 530pm for our campfire and entertained themselves running around with their headlamps for a solid hour and a half. The s'more roasting was mostly a hit - the dads found themselves more involved but mostly they chatted and drank the adult bug juice while the boys (and one girl) ran around like crazies hunting bugs, & hiding in the tent.  P had a great time, we all had a great time.  Pictures...

Here is P opening up a gift from his grandma...a NC State wolf pack t-shirt.  The kids are hilarious making the wolf sounds and hand motions, they have many many teams to root for!  Our birthday decorations are essentially the same every year and for everyone...makes the set up awfully easy!  Saved happy birthday banners go on the back wall, we blow up as many balloons as came in the balloon bag and throw them around the room, and occasionally tie a ballon or two to their chairs.  P got rainbow sprinkle pancakes for breakfast and then was off to school for the morning! I'm pretty sure he even wore his happy birthday hat - he was excited to finally be 4 - especially since now that meant that he could bring 4 things to school when it was his turn to have the sharing bag.

He is decorating his birthday cake.  The signature Dalton chocolate sheet cake..( I said SHEET cake.)

Peter and Daddy get the fire ready for his friends.

P wouldn't stand next to his sign that he spent a few days making...Camp Peter.  But I was pretty proud of us so I am posting this picture anyway. Only 5 weeks away from baby Addy!

The bug Juice was a big hit..along with the glowstick necklaces & bracelets.

Granddad and P make their hot dogs.

The Dads stop paying attention to the party goers & chat and roast hot dogs :/ :/

Friends play in the tent.

I think Lucy may have had a least 3 s'mores.

And finally the birthday boy blows out his candles.  I was a little surprised he actually participated in this event!

I'd say SUCCESS!  And now, on to Thanksgiving...I don't even remember that.  Christmas?? Next post....

Coffee in Colombia

Hola Amigos! I know zero Spanish, despite visiting 2 Spanish speaking countries this year. I feel like such an ugly and uneducated American. Somehow I survived in Colombia for 7 days as a reward for winning the Nespresso sustainability competition back in June. I know my parents (and a few friends) were a little worried about my safety, since Colombia doesn't have the bet reputation. However, after getting off my direct flight from Orlando to Bogota, I was greeted with the newest marketing slogan: Colombia, where the only risk is wanting to stay. 

After traveling on November 4th, I woke up the morning of my birthday with a sunkissed view of downtown Bogota. It almost looked like a painting. No time to celebrate though, as we were scheduled to meet with various stakeholders in the Nespresso supply chain, beginning with a major exporter. My team and I spent the next 10 hours in meetings, listening to experts speak in Spanish, then listening to our awesome English-speaking, Colombian born translator convert the words to English, then trying to formulate a somewhat intelligent questions, then listening to the answer in Spanish and English. It was exhausting but incredibly informative! Even though we sat in one room for virtually the entire day, we were well taken care of. Every time the Colombian Coffee Federation switched speakers/experts, we were offered cup of coffee and snacks. We were even gifted bags of Colombian coffee from the head of the FNC! By the time the day was over, we had exhausted our brains and were ready for bed. Alan (our guide) took us to an incredible dinner spot (where we began eating hours before the local crowd). Just as I really started missing LDL on our birthday, the server came out with a candle in my  blackberry pie. Awesome.

The following day was my favorite, by far. We woke up at 3:30 am to catch a flight across the mountains into the premier coffee region of Colombia, Anserma. Here, we met a proud and hilarious farmer, Don Jamie who runs a non-diversified farm. He has been a part of the Nespresso community for a few years now and took great pride in showing us his farm, his innovative ways to keep pests out, and his wet milling procedure. After 2 other farm visits, we headed down to the area cooperative to participate in coffee tasting done on sight to ensure the quality Nespresso expects. This "cupping" technique required all of us to slurp hot liquid quickly. It was difficult and hilarious. The men & women who have this job are careful to watch the temperature, since if they burn their tongues they no longer have the taste/smell expertise!

The following day I really let my nerd flag fly. We visited Cenicafe, a research lab dedicated to science, innovation, and technology for Colombian coffee. We even got to enter the lab where scientists are creating new rust-resistant coffee varieties! 

Our trip ended with a presentation to members of the Nespresso community at our beautiful hotel. I think all of the team members will admit that it was stressful at times -- not so much of a "reward" trip as it was additional work. That sentiment faded quickly though, as we looked back through our pictures and retold stories of the trip. And how often do you get to eat breakfast with an emu (I think)?

Bogota city center

As the end of the year nears, I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to have been blessed with the health and flexibility required to have visited 3 countries in the last 15 months. Each country was a unique experience and learning opportunity. While I hope to continue the adventurous life, this travel weary soul knows that there is just no place like home. 

the Baby Grows Up!

I am determined to finish one child's birthday celebration before the other begins - so here goes with #lucylooistwo!  Our baby turned two back in September and has certainly lived up to a two year olds reputation.  She's precious, with an opinion and temper all of her own.  We like to joke that she takes on some of Aunt T's qualities :) I kid, I kid, T!

We celebrated little l's birthday with what is probably going to be our traditional two year birthday present, a strider bike all of her own.  She insists on doing it totally alone, which is wonderfully independent...but we'll see how long it takes before we actually make it out of the driveway on that thing.

Big brother was the lookout man for when the birthday girl & her daddy got to yay yay and gradndads for the big celebration.  He also was responsible for distributing the party hats.  If there is not hat, there is no party!

The big two year old was thrilled with her birthday present - and I'm excited that there will be no more fighting - at least over who gets to ride the bike.

Since L's birthday was on a Monday we took a girls brunch out to First Watch after we dropped P man off at school.  She got her very own chocolate chip pancakes & didn't have to share, and we watched her squeal with delight as she pulled out bracelet after bracelet from her gift bag from yay yay.  She has been obsessed lately with doing absolutely everything I do, including showering (that one is fun),  washing her face, putting on lotion and finally, she wants to always wear my watch and one bracelet.  So now, she has her own!

We picked up brother from school still in our birthday hats and headed home where we discovered several fun things dropped off at our door!  So after rest time, we had tea time thanks to Aunt Jan.  The kids did this for over an hour.  It was hilarious.  Everyone had to use the bathroom more than usual that afternoon!

I think it is safe to say that the birthday girl thoroughly enjoyed her day - and big brother was a great help (and also loved the presents).

Hopefully this video works out of the kids riding their bikes / running around like crazies in the street while their Daddy chugs his coffee :)

The next Saturday we headed out to Walt Disney World, the happiest place on Earth, to celebrate our happy 2 year old.  She LOVED it.  P LOVED it even more.  Aunt T was given a few tickets to Disney from someone who wanted to thank her for all of her hard and awesome work and she was gracious enough to share them with us - and lets be honest, she had more fun with the kids than she would have by herself! :)  I tried to plan plan plan as much as I could knowing that we had two young ones on our hands who would get cranky no matter where they were...and let me just say, that the internet has plenty of opinions on how to do Disney.  As in, way overwhelming.  I was determined to just have fun and ignore the crazy crowds...so lucky for us, there were none!  As soon as we arrived in the park my careful planning went awry as we headed straight for the train and Frontierland instead of sprinting to FantasyLand like I hoped.  No worries, not only was no one on the train, there was no one in line for Splash Mountain.  So while it was L's birthday we made her and yay yay entertain themselves while we took P down to the Briar Patch.  It was not his favorite.  Not in the least.  It didn't help that the ride got stuck right under the scary vultures.  I was a little afraid he would try to get out of the log but luckily he decided that was even more scary.  We all made it & I think the rest of us laughing helped soothe P.  Plus after that we went to It's a Small World which will calm anyone's nerves :)  And not to worry, L got plenty of treats while she was patiently waiting for us.

So we hit up Small World, Mickey's Philharmonic (not a hit with either kid...they don't like the 3-D), the carosel which is always a favorite & then lunch.  After lunch P pulled out the map and directed us where he wanted to go...race cars for him, Dumbo again for Lucy.  P loves being the mapholder and dictating where we should go next....deju vu for me & Uncle Bale :).

Next up - Dumbo again, the Little Mermaid - which spawned a P-man obsession with Ariel that lasted nearly a month.  He barely got over it in time to decide to be spider-man for halloween instead of Ariel.  We did Winnie-the-Pooh and wound our way around to an old family favorite...the Country Bear Jamboree!  But not before we downed some mickey mouse ice cream...

And then, we made a break for the exits.  Honestly, I thought it would be 3pm when we got to the car.  It was 5p.  We made the best of our whole day, September is for sure the time to go to Disney...hopefully the millions of people who read this blog while they are making plans will pick another month :)  I'd say everyone, grandparents, parents, aunts & kids all had a pretty great birthday!

And it's true, my baby is no longer a baby...it seemed to just happen overnight.  She's in a big girl bed, no longer uses a paci (that one was tough) and is potty-training.  On a princess potty.  That I have to carry around because she is afraid of the big toilet.  Which honestly, if I were her I would be afraid too...she's in the 6th percentile in weight for 2 year olds and that thing is loud and looks like it would swallow you.  So I'm cutting her a break for now.  But teaching a boy to find a tree was way easier.

Here are some other recent pictures just for your amusement!  P's birthday is next Friday so I'll be back at it before the new one is born!  Fingers crossed....

in case anyone is wondering, P has a "routine" which MUST be followed to a T at bedtime.  In it, he picks put his clothes for the next day.  He will not negotiate.  So I let him wear his favorite things.  He never matches.  Ever. 

And the pictures above are of the EHS homecoming parade...hopefully the video of P being humpty dumpty works.  In P's own words to his teacher..."Humpty Dumpty Falled.  He Breaked."  retold by Peter.  I'm so proud.

I'm 32 weeks pregnant this week.  And now that the school Fundraiser "Fun Fair" is over ( I was in charge of organizing that) I only have P's birthday, Thanksgiving & Christmas...but who's counting??!!!

T.  You're up.  Seriously.  Camp story is long over due.

Octolympics

LTD knows how to plan a reunion. For as long as I can remember, we've been holding "family reunions" in Pensacola Beach, Fl as close to August 8th as possible so that we could celebrate grandmothers birthday together. When she passed away last year it was a unanimous decision that we (her kids & grand kids) would keep up the tradition. So this year, LTD and her sister put together one heckava shin-dig. CMD mentioned it some already but I managed to find a few more pictures to share. 

The games (8 of them) were cleverly designed so that the youngest of us would win prizes. This did not stop us "grown ups" from being as competitive as possible. No one won the sportsmanship award. Ok. I take that back. A few of our add-one won. Well deserved. Thanks for coming A & S! 

 

Games Highlights: 

1. Volleyball - where getting to 8 points when no one knows how to serve takes all day.

2. Shell collecting: Where adults push children out of the way en route to the perfect specimen. 

3. Ball Toss: Who remembers Bozo the Clown's grand prize game?? JET does. 

4. Corn Hole: Husbands & wives on opposing teams. Whoops. 

5. Pin the tail on the Dolphin: Where Uncle Terry blindfolds a tiny 2 year old. 

6. Egg Toss: purpose is to slam it in your teammates chest, right?

7. Boat Races: There were squirt guns. It was pandalerium. 

8. Bocce Ball: closed out the games with a win by yours truly. (I can't really remember, but I'm going to claim it anyway). 

In between the games & comradarie there were many bushwhackers, domino battles, a zero sum trivia game that brought out memory's of the "special" senses of FTD & CMD. 

 

The emerald coast just never disappoints. Sugar sand beaches. Crystal blue waters. Calming sound of waves. Shrieks from kids big & small. It was crazy, hectic, loud. It was family and it was perfect. 

Love you Purple Grandmother. 

Hello, all.  I'm sure you thought that I had gone missing.  I didn't.  I'm still here, just silently so. Well, no longer.  It has been a few months since I last updated you, and not too much has changed. Kinda.

I did move into a new apartment, because I'm trying to keep this streak alive of moving every 12 months or less I've had going since 2003.  While I very much liked my apartment in Hollywood, my roommate decided to head back to NYC, so that left me a little bit in limbo.  Also, the commute was killing me.  It was about an hour and a half in, and about an hour back.  The morning commute wasn't that bad, because it kinda got you ready for the day.  The evening commute was brutal.  When you are headed home, you just want to be home.

So, I moved to the west side.  I'm now a little over a mile from the office and I can ride my bike there in almost no time.  Well, I could, until it was stolen.  So now I switch back and forth from walking and driving. It's pretty great.  I like the apartment, though it is probably a little bigger and expensive than I need/can afford.  I'm sure I'll get a huge raise soon. (I'm not sure about that).

Work is going well. I'm sure you all have heard of, and have signed up for Tapiture by now. We are gaining more traction and are seeing our revenue increase each month.  We are actively trying to grow the team, which is exciting. We just hired an office manager; she starts tomorrow.  In addition to her, we are looking for a Buyer, a Director of Marketing, and 2-3 more engineers/developers.  I sit in on most of these interviews, and it is always interesting to hear how much stuff I have no idea about.  That's not a joke. I am interested by the fact these people are so well versed in something I don't have the faintest idea about.  I should have paid more attention in C++ at Edgewater. Seriously.  People use that. A lot.

Oh yeah, I was recently made Operations Manager so that's cool.  I got new cards and everything.

In non-work news, I decided to drive across the country again, since apparently that's something I do yearly now.  My girlfriend (casually slip that in there) moved to Austin, TX along with the rest of Resignation Media.  We drove to Austin, hung out there for a few days, then drove to Pensacola.  I thought it would be a great time to have her meet the entire family.  (I didn't really think that, but it was going to happen, so whatever).  She seemed to do alright, and we dominated the Octo-olympics that were going on (maybe we did, maybe we didn't, but we kinda did).  It's always good to get back to the beach, and it's fun to play with Peter Man and Goose, so it was well worth the drive.

Since getting back from the beach, I've just been getting back in the groove of things.  Working a lot, but that isn't a bad thing. It takes a lot of work to take over the internet, which we are obviously doing.

Ok, I think that's it for now.  I'm making a mushroom risotto tonight, which I'm hoping will be amazing.  Oh, and Breaking Bad is on tonight. So, it's going to be a good night.

Adele Elizabeth

We're having another girl!  I've been waiting for one of my siblings to blog about some of our summer happenings...but that isn't happening and I just would hate it for adorable little addy to read our archives and think, what am i? nothing to you? no blog mention!? only halfway kidding.  But readers!  We're having a girl! And she has a name!  If you know us at all, you know this is a miracle :) AEL is scheduled to be joining us in early January.  Some people have said that since this is our third baby she'll be a December child....to which I say - please don't tease me.  She'll probably be born in February.  She's a healthy, long-legged little angel addy.

We're looking forward to meeting her and are now engaged in rearranging our house every weekend to figure out where all of our little people are going to go.  It's mostly fun and sometimes stressful with P and L running around asking questions, pinching, biting, laughing....today they discovered a pumpkin costume from when P was ONE.  They both wanted to try it on and have decided that L will be the pumpkin for halloween this year.  Works for me.  Our babies are not awesome sleepers so the plan is to start little addy off in P's current room (she won't demand the door to be left opened and the lights on quite yet) since it is the farthest from the noise center of the house.  This involves moving P...convincing him that the room he is moving to is just for special 4 year olds and he'll get to move in for his birthday.

Also, P has started pre-school again - this year he is a three day three and let me tell you, 3 days is definitely more than 2.  We miss him when he is gone, BUT he loves it and it's nice for me and L to get some alone time...she's beginning to notice that she is rarely without P. :)  We all love where P is in school...the other day in the car he asked me "Mommy, did God use paint to make the world?  Did God build all of these houses?"  And when he finally came home with a hat depicting the 7 days it took for God to make the world I finally understood the song he has been mumbling all week.

"Mommy, did you know that God made the world in 7 days? Is that amazing??"  YOU are amazing sweet boy.

Our baby girl is having to wear an eye patch for a couple hours a day to help correct some eye muscles.  I literally laughed out loud when the eye doctor told me she was also slightly nearsighted and asked if it ran in the family.  I am SHOCKED that P is not in glasses yet and it seems certain that L will be in the near future.  That will be an awesome experiment since we have to wrestle her for the eye patch and it comes off after 10 minutes.  It sure is a good thing L is so cute and has such a hilarious personality...monkey see monkey do with her brother.  She turns 2 on Monday and is getting her very own strider bike (don't worry, she doesn't read the blog yet). She's always desperate to ride P's bike and a fight usually ensues so hopefully she'll take to her strider quickly and they'll both be off a running.  Hope so, since it won't be quite that easy for me to bend down and help her for hours....you're on your own kid!  I can't believe she'll be two...my baby.  We're headed to Disney World next weekend to celebrate thanks to Aunt T snagging several tickets just in time to repeat P's 2nd birthday at the magic kingdom.  Yay Yay is coming to...so they're will be lots of pictures.  In the meantime, again, hopefully someone will update you all on our Summer OctOlympics held in Pensacola Beach this year in honor of our Grandmother.  Good times, great games, crazy fun family.

And YOU, k80roberts....YOU'RE UP.

Our findings from storage - halloween costumes & winter coats

P & the creation story

Saturday trip to Home Depot in search of closet systems

My girl and her ladybug eyepatch

P's classroom - he loves that helicopter thanks to uncle bale

Helping to make his new school bag