Ten wonderful, incredible years!!!

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that it's been that long since Tammy and I were married. It seems like yesterday that I watched in amazement at how beautiful Tammy was when she was walking down the isle toward the altar.

But so much has happened in that same span of time. Just since our last anniversary we have been blessed with a beautiful, wonderful daughter, and we are now home owners. It's amazing how time seems to fly some times and stand still the next.

I am looking forward to the next ten...twenty...fifty--and longer--years of marriage to my wonderful, beautiful wife, Tammy.

I love you Tammy! You're the greatest!

I'm still here!

Wow. March 20th was the last time I posted an entry here. It seems like a lifetime has passed in that short time.

Let's see...what has gone on since then? The greatest thing to happen to Tammy and me: We had a beautiful baby girl on May 13, 2005 at 5:55 a.m.! Her name is Megan Storey Welch, and she is the most wonderful baby in the world (at least we think so). I'm not going to go into all the details here, because I've set up a web page for her where you can see all the updates and pictures. Just go to meganwelch.com to catch up on the latest.

Tammy has been off of work since shortly before Megan was born, and she goes back to work on August 7th. On August 8th, Megan will start day care at the Disney/YMCA facility on Disney property.

Speaking of work, I started a new job with my company on May 2nd. I now work in Technology as a Sr. Applications Specialist. The title isn't too descriptive, but basically what I do is I support systems for the Circulation Department. I haven't moved too far away from Circulation, but it's a new challenge and I'm learning a lot, which is what I wanted and why I made the move.

We recently traveled to New Orleans (Megan's first trip) to have Megan baptized at St. Angela Merici church. We had a wonderful party afterwards and many family and friends attended. During our trip to New Orleans, Tammy and I were lucky enough to attend the Duran Duran concert at the UNO Lakefront Arena. My family babysat Megan while we went. It was a great show.

I had the opportunity to meet Jeff Gordon again (this was the second time this year) at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. I met him, got his autograph and took a picture with him. I also toured his transporter and met his crew chief, Robbie Loomis. We had garage passes, so we saw all the drivers. I have tons of pictures. Click here to see them. It was a blast!

I've also been doing some work around the house, mowing the grass (will it ever end?) and such.

This time I mean it: I'm going to try to write more in my blog.

Mowing the lawn

After 10 years of living in an apartment, I couldn't wait to have a house of our own so I could have grass to cut (among other things). Well, we've been in the house since early January and the grass had finally gotten long enough to start thinking about mowing it. So, I bought a self-propelled Troy-Built mower and a Black and Decker trimmer/edger at Lowe's a couple of weeks ago to get the ball rolling.

I decided this was the weekend I was going to finally cut the grass. I couldn't wait. I got started at 11 a.m. today. I started in the back yard, but I had to move some junk that the previous owners left, so that took a little while. I then got the mower out and started it up. It started on the first pull. Can you believe that? Anyway, I started cutting the grass. And more grass. And more grass. Our property is a quarter acre. Thank God we have a pool and concrete in the back yard to cut down on the amount of grass.

After the back yard came the front yard. Our lawn in the front slopes down pretty dramatically. That was tough. I had to stop a few times so I wouldn't pass out.

Then I had to edge and trim the weeds. That took a while since it hadn't been done in about four months. After the edging came the cleanup.

When all was said and done, it took me five hours from start to finish. Damn! I am sore all over. I'm telling myself that this was a one time thing, and that it should take less time as I keep it up. But I can only think of summer when I need to cut the grass each week.

I still thank God that I have a lawn of my own to mow. But I hope it gets easier than today! At least in the summer I can jump in the pool after mowing to cool down :-)

Been a long time

Sorry about the lack of updates. It's been so busy around here, what with us expecting a baby in May, moving into a new house in January and work being busy for both of us--oh yeah, we also took a trip to New Orleans in February as well.

Let's hit the highlights since the last post two months ago: We completely moved into our new house and did some minor renovations (painting, new furniture, etc.). You can see the progress here. Were keeping these pictures somewhat updated so you can check back and see the changes.

Tammy and the baby (Megan) are doing fine. Tammy went for her bi-weekly checkup today and got a clean bill of health from the doctor. Everything is on schedule for the due date of May 18.

We went home to New Orleans in February at Mardi Gras. You can see some of the parade photos here and here. Our families threw baby showers for us and everyone was incredibly generous with their gifts. You can see the photos here and here.

In February I also had the opportunity to meet 4-time NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon. It was the thrill of a lifetime for me. You can see the pictures here. I want to thank Tammy and Melissa for coming with me, but a big thank you goes to Chris for coming along and taking all the great pictures. Thanks a million!

Well, those are the highlights. I promise to try to post more often, especially about the silly and meaningless stuff I normally post about :-)

Out of the apartment and in the new house

Tammy and I said good-bye to the apartment last night. We moved everything out and cleaned it up this past weekend. We lived there for nine years. We stopped by last night to make sure everything was in good order and to take video and photos. Many tears were shed. Although we didn't intend on staying there that long, and we it wasn't our dream house, as Tammy said, "We made it our home."

We're going to miss the place because so much happened to us while we were there. But, we're moving onward and upward with our new house and our baby on the way, so we still have a lot to experience.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tammy and I are thankful for having such a wonderful year and for having such loving and supportive family and friends. We received our Christmas presents early, being blessed with expecting a child and with buying a new house.

We wish everyone a happy, safe and wonderful Christmas spent with loved ones.

Company anniversary

Today is my 10 year anniversary with the Orlando Sentinel.

Wow. Ten years. A decade. Nearly a third of my life. It's gone by in a flash. It seems like just yesterday that my sister, Tiffany, helped me move to Orlando. Two weeks after moving here, I got engaged to my lovely wife Tammy.

What a wild, strange trip it's been. :-)