LGO Tour Shirts

Classmate Ben took the liberty of making these tour shirts in the style of a classic 80's hairband shirt. Take note of the "WIPS and Supply Chains" on the back... for those without operation background WIP stands for "Work in Progress" and is a very common in manufacturing facilities. I found that especially hilarious.

Seattle

Day one of the plant trek... Boeing... Awesome. I'll post pictures later, but we managed to see a little of Seattle tonight before we leave tomorrow. I left my mark by contributing a piece of gum to the "gum wall". A wall covered in chewed gum. It was a gross as it looks and sounds.

Colts Game

After I finished my undergrad degree at Purdue, I found myself with LOTS of idle time on the weekends, especially on Sunday. That is when I found the beauty of the NFL. Growing up in Indianapolis, I have always watched the Colts, but not religiously, mostly due to lack of interest as a kid and lack of time as a high school and college student. But post college, I suddenly had the time and the interest!

Additionally, I was able to acquire tickets through work, thus increasing my interest and enthusiasm. It’s one thing to watch a game on TV, and a whole different experience to watch the game live.

Over the years at work, I was able to attend at least one or two games per season, and it almost became a habit. This fall in Boston, one day I came to the realization that I would not be attending a Colts game this year, and with that came disappointment… until I check the Colts schedule and my winter break schedule and discovered a home game when I would be in Indy!

I quickly called home and informed my ticket reliable yet anonymous ticket acquirer of the coincidence. He sprang into action and secured tickets for the final home game of the season, which was especially exciting because the Colts were undefeated at that point. Unfortunately, the Colts pulled their starters in to prevent injury in hopes of a superbowl victory instead of an undefeated season. As my wise brother pointed out, incentives in the NFL encourage a Superbowl win over a perfect season. Too bad that happened when I was there.

Don’t feel too bad for me... we had tickets in a 50 yard line suite.

Me and my sister, Laura.

Laura and I in the bobsled... wait... why is there a bobsled at a football game?

Indiana COLD

Just as everyone depart Boston, I stayed for my first Christmas celebration and to witness the cold snap and snow. Temperatures dropped from roughly 30-40 degrees down to the teens.

I then returned to Indiana where the weather was considerably warmer than the temperatures in the teens in Boston. And then the cold snap hit Indiana. However Indiana had to “one up” Boston by dropping into the single digits… and even hitting zero. I have proof. A picture from my car.

Luckily, I’m warm blooded.

Hello Tom and Goodbye for now

Going home, to me, means seeing family and friends. Through the Christmas celebrations I have seen most of my family and with New Years approaching, it’s time to see friends.

I have recently received word that my good buddy Tom, roommate and friend from undergrad, will be deployed to Afghanistan shortly after the first of the year, leaving a few precious days to see him until late in the year. As usual, I made the most of it. We started from the time he arrived at the airport.

My other buddy, Ross, and I began the preparations. We were best men in Tom’s wedding and thus are intimately familiar with his less than excitable nature. Thus in order to maximize his “comfort” when returning home we made beautiful neon colored posters to greet him with at the airport. The posters had great information and sayings such as “hey Tom, We’re over here” and “Tom is my hero”. While he showed little more than a sheepish smile as he realized the crazy people holding signs were his friends, I am confident that he appreciated it… right Tom?

We then left him with his wife for the evening and rejoined him the next day for a fantastic New Year celebration at Ross’s house.

The weekend culminated with spending all of Friday with Tom. Enjoying out usual Qdoba burrito, watching #4 ranked Purdue PUMMEL #6 Ranked West Virginia, and just catching up in general.

Leaving Tom that evening brought tears to my eyes, knowing the hardships that he and his family will be going through during the next many months.

Tom, as Ross’s dad would say “Don’t be Stupid”. Make us proud. We’re thinking of you and we’ll see you soon.

Plant Trek Here We Come

1st flight down, 10 more to go in the month of January.

I'm on my way to Seattle with classmate Kacey for the Domestic plant trek. We are currently sitting in the Memphis airport with free wi-fi thanks to Google! (thanks Google!). I must say, this airport smells like heaven. There are several BBQ places filling the terminal with wonderful pulled pork smells.

We are excited for the upcoming days, but looking at the schedule, it'll be exhausting. I guess that's what college is for! I realize that I have some catching up to do, so I'll try to accomplish that during the next flight.

Happy New Year!

Christmas #3

Christmas celebration #3 was with Dad's side of the family, where we continually strive to define "Big Family"... I love it! This year we have officially outgrew anyone's house. Both Christmas and Thanksgiving were held at the Parish Hall at St. Mary's Church in Navilleton, Indiana. While it's not quite as "home-y", the Aunts did a wonderful job of decorating and setting up for the event.

Family members started trickling in about about 5:45 pm with dinner planned for shortly after 6pm. After a delicious dinner and catching up with cousins and family, we gathered around the grandparents for gifts. Grandma sewed all the ladies a large purse and all the children a shoulder bag. She's crafty and makes gifts every year. One year she made everyone a chess/checkers board!

After the gifts, the next generation of family (the great grandchildren) resurrected the traditional Christmas Talent Show! It brought back memories of my childhood and putting on the show for the parents! Although thanks to the church facilities, the great grandchildren had a real stage on which to perform, while the grandchildren always made do with the basement corner or the cleared out dinning room.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the evening!

Grandma, Grandpa, 16 grand children (2 not present), 13 great-grand children (2 not present and 2 on the way!!!)

Foster lounging after the show

More home made music

In-laws... we'll let them stay.

Cousins Michelle, Lucas, Sarah, Katy, and Mom and sister Laura

The Talent Show!!!

More Talent Show!

Cousin Lisa and Conner

Lilly and Kaylee...Sisters?

Cousin Michelle

My dad's sisters... each individually known as my favorite Aunt.

Grandpa and Grandma and their 7 kids (Dad is on the left).

Christmas #2

My first Christmas celebration of the year took place in Boston with Dave and Rebecca. Now that I'm back home again in Indiana, our first extended family celebration took place on Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family.

My Aunt Faith graciously hosted the family for an afternoon and evening of great appetizers and dinner followed by the traditional gift exchange and perhaps a new tradition of attending midnight mass.

The gift exchange is always fun because it's a white elephant style exchange where everyone brings a somewhat generic gift. We then pick and order in which people select and open gifts with the option to "steal" previously open gifts. It's always fun to see the reaction when the uncles open a gift containing jewelry or the aunts open a gift containing tools or car care supplies. I lucked out and ended up with a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, which will be put to good use with the upcoming Domestic Plant Trek.

Here are a few pictures from the get together!

Sister Laura and Cousin Andrea who visited in September.

Mom and Granma
Aunt Kaaren and Aunt Carolyn, say that 3 times fast.

Cousins Jared and Patrick:

Merry Christmas (#2)!!!

A White (Day After) Christmas

We woke up to a nice dusting of snow the day after Christmas. I'll count it as a White Christmas because we'll be celebrating Christmas that evening!

Merry Christmas!

Home Made Music

While I may not be the most musically inclined individual in the family, there is plenty of talent elsewhere to make up for me. Here is a clip of my dad and grandpa warming up for the family Christmas celebration that evening. Enjoy!