My Vacation So Far

Last night we went to Red Lodge and stayed at the Rock Creek Resort. We had a blast!

Today I want to finish editing Roanelander. I'm having some major sound problems with the footage, and I'm trying to figure out a way of fixing it.

I might end up posting some of the videos on YouTube this week.

Expectations

How often do we hold expectations for others?

This is a question that has come to mind recently. Sometimes I think I have these thoughts of where I think someone should be at or what I think they should be doing. Usually what happens is that they don't do that or they decide to do something else and then I feel let down.

I really don't think this is healthy because it almost make people into our own personal slaves, to do whatever we want them to do. If they don't do it, we make them feel guilty...whether that is a sly comment made at dinner or a sarcastic joke a few days later, or just ignoring them for a few weeks.

Why can't we allow each other to grow at different rates? Why do we constantly feel that everyone has to be on the same track as us? There is a time and place for confronting our friends on an issue, but this is definitely not that and I think this actually promotes the kingdom of satan.

Holiday Break

This morning I spent some time trying to plan out the holiday break. Andrea and I are probably going to go to Red Lodge for a night. We also want to have a lot of people over for video game and movie nights. I'm pretty excited about the break. I really hope it "fills me up" from all the hard work I've been putting in over the last 3-6 months.

I will probably post more photos and topics over the break.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is quickly approaching. It sounds like Mike (my boss) will be giving us 12/26-11/4 paid time off, which is very generous of him. Andrea and I may take a road trip or something for part of this time, since it will be a week and a half.

Things have been pretty busy/crazy in November. Harlo has been having a few difficult nights and times where she doesn't stop crying. But we are getting through it and she seems to be doing a little better as time goes on.

Harlo looked at me directly in the eyes and smiled for the first time tonight! It was very exciting and reminded me of one of the reasons God says children are a blessing (even though sometimes it is hard to see how they are a blessing...).

Andrea seems to be adjusting a little better to things, and things are starting to settle down a little bit.

Here is a video I just posted on YouTube of us giving Harlo a bath. You can either view the video below, or you can click this link to view the video.

Self Evaluation and Site Updates

I was reminded recently how important it is to always be in a state of self-evaluation. It seems like I'm always headed for a hole unless I pay attention. Now that I have a little one, it makes this fact seem more "urgent" to me.

I created a new header graphic for the blog, and posted some photos of Harlo. There are some things I still want to tweak with the look and I want to post some really awesome Harlo photos that I got from my dad. An obvious benefit of having a dad who is a professional photographer is that he gets you some really great photos.

One thing that I learned while witnessing the birth of my first born is how much of an awesome wife I married. She has more determination and strength than I could ever have. I'm so grateful for marrying her....we are a perfect fit for each other!

Anyway, I'm going to try to get deeper with some future posts. My goal is to kind of "think out loud" so to speak.

Managing Stress

It seems that I go through these phases where I get more stressed out much more easily. Sometimes I feel like I am on a roller coaster ride, and that I can't seem to get on top of things. I definitely don't want to have things be easy all the time, but sometimes I get worn out if I feel like I'm putting in 110% into something, but I'm not getting anywhere. That is what I fear...that my hard work is actually not paying off.

Is it wrong for me to want to be as productive as possible? Is it wrong to not want to feel like I am getting somewhere and not just spinning my wheels all the time? Is it wrong for me to not want to waste time?

I'm not asking for a perfect environment, where everything goes as planned. Because I know that is not possible. What I think I need to do is evaluate my strengths and my weaknesses and figure out how to best utilize those in all areas of my life.

Tonight I spent some time doing research on dealing with stress. I learned that there are things I can do to cope with stress, and that I need to do a good job of staying away from the things that stress me out. Below are some links to the sites that I found very useful:

http://www.quintcareers.com/managing_job_stress.html

http://www.cvtips.com/handle_stress_at_work.html

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-21-2006-106124.asp

http://www.cvtips.com/tackling_stress.html

The fact of the matter is that we all handle stress differently, and it effects us all in different ways. In the last few years I have become increasingly aware of what stresses me out and how I can flourish.

Blog Priorities

I'm not publicizing my blog yet, because there are things I want to add before people see it.

The list below is mainly to create a priority list for myself in what I want to work on in regards to the blog:

- Create a web album with categories for photos.
- Add links to my friends websites in the right nav area.
- Update the header with a collage of photos.

I really want to get away from My Space, even though I might still use it from time to time, mainly to keep connected with my friends.

Fable 2

Last week I got a new game called Fable 2. This is a pretty fun game. You can purchase all the buildings/houses/castles that are in the game and you can earn gold every 5 minutes from the shops you own and from renting out any houses you own (you even earn gold when you are not playing). There are a lot of choices in the game that either make you more pure, or more corrupt, and these change your appearence.

The game even supports split screen co-op, which definitely would be worth a shot. I may post some game screenshots this weekend.

New Blog

Creating websites for a living sometimes takes the desire to do anything related when I come home. However, I think it is healthy for me to express feelings and desires in a healthy way with a website. It provides a way for family and friends to see what I'm up to, and it kind of tracks my life (so to speak).

It also can help me learn new things by writing how-to articles, posting photos, posting videos and posting interesting sites that I come across.

It took me a while to get http://www.chrisroane.com/ and http://chrisroane.com/ through Blogger, but I finally got it figure out.