Copes

25 Things About Me

1. I love being a mommy. I think it is the most rewarding job because I get to spend all of my time with my little guy and see him grow and do new things every day.
2. I love my husband because he works so that I can stay home and do what I have always wanted to do. He also watches Ethan anytime I want to go out and actually encourages me to go out with my friends. He is also a great daddy, funny, super smart, and cute.
3. I never wanted to have a career, being a stay at home mom is the best job. I wanted to be a housewife since I was a kid
4. In the last 10 months, I have really grown to enjoy exercising. I was never motivated enough to go to a gym or go run, but stroller strides is  the best exercise program because you are working out, but you have your kids with you. It is also a good social networking avenue.
5. I love going to the movies to see just about anything
6. I am really shy, but have become a lot more outgoing since having Ethan and joining stroller strides (Thank you Jodi and Melissa!!!)
7. I wish I had a talent such as singing or dancing.
8. I like to cook, but am not creative or bold enough to try new recipes. Every time I try a new recipe it never tastes very good. 
9. I am a Britney Spears fan and was even when she went through her “crazy” phase. The album she came out with then was not very good, but I still own it.
10. I am a coffee snob. I love my Starbucks and girl talk time with Angie while enjoying our Starbucks.
11. I hate regular coffee. I tried to buy the Peppermint mocha creamer, but it is not even close to being the same as Starbucks.
12. I aspire to be a great parent and always have an open and honest relationship with Ethan.
13. I married my high school sweetheart
14. Pink is my favorite color
15. I would absolutely love to go see a taping of Ellen and/or Dr. Phil. We went once to see a taping of a show that used to be on called, “Less than Perfect” and I thought that was really cool.
16. I do not really like talking on the phone anymore. I did as a teenager and I now wonder what the heck we talked about. I saw my best friend all day at school, but we still managed to spend hours on the phone.
17. I am addicted to TV and my tivo!! I think Tivo is the greatest invention!
18. I am extremely proud of the fact that I breastfed my son until he was a year old. I wanted to give up numerous times, but I made a commitment to myself and my son that I would do it for a year and I did.
19. I was the first one in my family to go to College. I am proud that I graduated. (That said, I probably would not do it again if I had it to do all over) However, I am proud of myself for sticking with it.
20. Dr. Pepper is my favorite soft drink. It is the syrup of life as Riley calls it.
21. I like to sleep in. That is one of the hard things about being a parent. You do not get to sleep in anymore.
22. I love to be pampered. Massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, I could do that every day!!
23. I love to go on vacation to pretty much anywhere. That is the one time my husband will actually spend money and not worry about it.
24. I always drive when Eric and I go anywhere together.
25. Screw you Matt, this list took me a week.

25 things about Eric

Both Matt and Stephanie Adams posted a 25 list, so I jumped on the bandwagon, not to be confused with the Cardinals bandwagon.

1. My favorite beers are Moose Drool, Fat Tire, Kilt Lifter, and when I’m feeling manly, Arrogant Bastard
2. I am only happy when my plate of life is overwhelmingly full. I want to be an expert in web design, web development, Linux Administration, Windows Administration, Digital Circuit Design, Digital Architectures, Digital Signal Processing, Lighting, Photography, Sales, husbandry, fatherhood, leadership, shooting, … I think that is it.
3. By day, I design next generation medical device signal processing architectures. By night I husband, father, and develop web applications.
4. Economics fascinates me. I get very excited when I see the free market work. I get very frustrated when I see it bastardized by government intervention.
5. I love to learn. In fact, I call it my crack addiction. My formal education is currently in its PhD stage (in Electrical Engineering). If in the future, I got a law degree, an MBA, and an MD degree, I wouldn’t suprised, but I probably wouldn’t be married either…
6. I love to read, but have no time for fiction. Books on history, politics, economics, are fantastic.
7. The book, Unintended Consequences kickstarted my love of the 2nd Amendment and its true meaning.
8. I am probably the only athiest to start a bible study group.
9. I mountain bike, I play ultimate frisbee, and now flag football, all less than I should
10. I am a radical Libertarian, believing in personal choice, extremely limited government, the rule of law, and liberties.
11. I believe the root of all morals are personal liberty
12. My faith in modern medicine is about as strong as my faith in Social Security
13. I can only drink coffee at work, where I am sitting in front of a computer thinking heavily. Every where else my hands are too busy.
14. I hate staring at my shoes. I take as many opportunities to meet new people and spend as much time as possible strengthening current relationships.
15. One day I will finish my beer delivering robot
16. I am usually the cheapest person you will ever meet. The only exception is on vacation, when I spend like its going out of style. Also, when I do spend money,  I choose to buy quality items that last instead of cheap ones that don’t. That does not apply to anything purchased at Harbor Freight.
17. Despite what others may think, I have the best wife in the world. She knows me so well, she doesn’t have to ask how my day was.
18. The next car I buy will be paid in cash. I can’t see myself financing any depreciating assets.
19. I’ve learned more about money and people from Primerica than anywhere else.
20. I have 1 desktop, 2 laptops, and a server at home. I run Windows, Ubuntu Linux, and FreeBSD. None of my computers can support Vista. I will buy a Mac before I go Vista.
21. I love open source software and its communities. I love that I can ask a question in a forum and some one will answer, freely exchanging information. I contribute to several forums to ensure a strong future for open source software.
22. I don’t throw anything away until it has no possible future use. That means keeping old computers, bikes, pens, paper, chairs, anything I can reapply to my life.
23. I think most college degrees are a waste of money. Most people don’t need college degrees to be successful in life. Most self made millionaires started their own trades company.
24. I wear the pants in my family. Its a good thing too because my legs look terrible in a skirt.
25. I want to teach my kids strength, honor, about ethics, money, and how to win friends and influence people.

Flag Football Begins

I started a Maricopa Parks and Recs Flag Football League today. Nate Devlin recruited me to play on his team. We played two games today at Pacana Park. It was a lot of fun. Except, I did get a bloody nose from colliding with a guy. The swelling should go down by tomorrow. It was the first time I played football in an organized league. I was the rusher (I would sprint to the quarterback to pull his flag either forcing a bad throw or getting sacked). I got several sacks and a safety.

Eric & Ritch Shooting

Ritch and I went shooting Friday. It was the first time I fired my brand new Springfield Armory .40 hand gun. I fired 10 magazines for a total of 120 rounds. Walmart has 50 .40 rounds for about $13, making it an affordable trip. We used the range in Casa Grande again. My shooting peaked at the 8th magazine. I was shooting a 7 3/8in round target on a 8.5×11 sheet of paper. The Green line is shots on the paper. The blue line is shots on the target. I did get 3-4 bull’s eyes, which is always nice. I am practicing a good opposing-forces grip (right hand pushing and left hand pulling) and a slow trigger pull.

When we were there, we met some guys shooting off .50 bolt action rifles. When it fired, the muzzle break created an 8 foot cloud of dust. Flippin sweet. Below is my accuracy. Here are some photos. We also conducted another experiment; ball round vs. hollow point vs. hydra-shok. Hydra-shok won.

Aubrey Turns 26

Aubrey turned 26 Sunday. She enjoyed a nice, long birthday weekend. It started by meeting my parents, brother, and new sister-in-law for dinner at Rock Bottom Friday night. Saturday, we had a party where neighbors, Aubrey’s family, and stroller strides friends came over. We had between 5-3000 babies and toddlers over. It was a great circus party. Keana insisted we sing to Aubrey and Aubrey blow out candles. Sunday, Ryan and Carolyn watched Ethan so Aubrey and I could see a movie. Then we stopped by Charles’ BBQ to chat, and wrapped up the weekend with dinner with Aubrey’s friend Sarah. We have a few photos of the party. I will post those later.

Fun in the Flagstaff Snow

The Devlins’ (Nate, Melissa, Keanna, and Carson) invited us to their home in Flagstaff for the weekend. Their home backs up to Mount Elden and its national forest. We had alot of fun. We arrived early Saturday afternoon in time to enjoy lunch at La Fonda Mexican Restaurant. It was very tasty. Then the kids enjoyed their nap. After their naps, we went in the back to enjoy the snow. It was snowing most of the day. Nate and Keanna made a great snowman named Bill, but then Keanna changed his name to something else.

Here is the photo link of all the snow fun.

For dinner we went to Flagstaff Brewing Company. I had the Stink Burger and a great Porter. After the kids went to bed, we played a game from the makers of Cramium. It was interesting. I liked the turbo round!

It was a great weekend and a great way for me to close my two weeks off from work. We thank the Devlin’s very much for the great weekend!

Ethan Shopping

We went shopping the other day. We let Ethan walk around the store. He liked this part of the store.