Eric’s Story Book

Every site I have been on in the last couple of weeks have had top 10’s of the year.  I haven’t been doing any blogging lately I have been too busy with life and work.  Today out of the blue I got an email from an old friend summing up their year in review.  So I figured I would write about it here.  I am calling this the “Year of Baseball” because we went to some pretty far off place to watch some games.  We watched The South Bank Hawks in Japan (left photo) and watched the Cub’s beat the Philly’s in Chicago at Wrigley (right photo).

Well I start this off with Alicia keeps documented of everything we do on Picasa.   You can check our photos out here.  The biggest news of the year is Alicia is pregnant and I am going to be a dad.  The baby is supposed to be here on Jan 23rd but I am really thinking sooner than later.

You can continue reading about my year here.

Well earlier this year it was pretty uneventful, which was really good actually.  We I got a couple of fishing trips done with my buddies Mingo, Simon, and Tommy.

We also took a trip out to Pismo Beach with our friends Kevin and Stacy.  Pismo if you haven’t been there is one of the greatest spots to go and camp and just hang out with friends on the California coast.  It’s the only place you can drive your car down the beach in the state and the camping crowd there seemed very family friendly.

We also took a Vegas trip as much as I can’t stand the place these days.  But our year really started picking up big time around Mother’s Day.  This was our first river trip out to Havasu with our Friends Randy, Tabi, Scoot, and Windi (all pictured).

After a couple of River Trips Alicia and I took off to Japan for our Anniversary.  I can sum it up in about two words “Great Trip”  Also if you fell like it you can check out Alicia’s Photos of our Japan Trip here.  We spent all of this trip moving from Tokyo down to Fukuako to see Alicia’s cousin Keoki and his girlfriend Ashlie.  I had never been to Japan before; besides an 8 hour layover in the Tokyo Airport on the way to Korea; and I have to say it was a great country and everyone there was overly nice to all of us.

I will have to say that visiting Hiroshima was the most sobering and eye opening experience I have ever had.  Seeing the destructive power of men in that form has changed me for life.  While there a group of school kids came to me and asked me a couple of questions for their school projects.   Actually several kids in different towns did this.  The kids from Hiroshima were some of my favorites.

Well shortly after we got back from Japan summer was in full swing her in Newport.  There was no parking to be found and the crowds were in coming in droves.  That didn’t keep us off of the sand we got a ton of beach time in this year right here at the house more than any other year we ever.  This was because… guess what??? I am going to be a dad.  At the end of May we found out we are going to be having a little girl some time this January (very soon it seems). So here is a shot of the first ultrasound of her.  You guys don’t even know how happy I am these days.

Also this year my sister Gretchan moved back home with my niece Jillian.  Jilly turned into my little buddy and was around at the house all summer long.  I really can’t wait for next summer to get her so we can have some more time together.

The rest of the summer at the beach went off without a hitch.  We hung out on 4th of July up in Huntington Beach at Winid’s house.  There is no place better than HB for the 4th.  I will still come out for the 4th when we move away from here.

I can go on and on about the river trips with everyone and trips to Hoover Dam but I will just set some links to them at the bottom of this page.

My buddy Gerald Wisnar takes a yearly trip back to Chicago on Labor Day every year.  I have never been there before so Alicia and I decided to head up there and catch a Cubs game and hang out with Wiz and his family.  Wiz is one guy I would trust with my life we have been buddies since the Marines and you can read more about him here.  Now I have been out to NY and to Chicago and the Windy City gets my vote.  Our Friend Big Brian (guess who he is in the photos) flew up from TX also to hang out with us.

Alright well after our trip to Chicago Alicia had a business trip out to the D.C. area.  Two of my other friends from the Marines live there.   Tim Reynolds and Jeff Spaeth I hold them in the same company as Wiz.  They are both in the story I linked to from above.  While staying at Tim’s house he lives in the same neighborhood as Mount Vernon George Washington’s home.  So Tim took us there to be tourist for a day.

Alright so the rest of the year in a nutshell we went to Pismo one more time with Kevin and Stacy.  Did I mention I love that place?  Oh one last thing I flew up to South Dakota and jumped in a rental truck and drove Alicia’s mother stuff all the way down here to her new apartment in Huntington Beach.   So I got to see all of South Dakota (in the dark), Wyoming, and Utah.

Well that sums up the year now Alicia and I are just waiting on pins and needles hoping for a healthy baby.  I end this with her 3D photo.  I think these things are creapy but Alicia wanted it and who am I to say no.