With our move quickly approaching, 
Katie and I flew out to Western NY to check the area out. First, there are no direct flights to Buffalo. I emphasis this point because layovers were designed by the devil himself to pit man against one another. Our first leg was from LAX to Dulles (5 hours) with a 2 hour layover, then to Buffalo (1 hour). Normally this wouldn’t have been so bad, but we thought we’d gain extra time in NY if we took a red eye. We quickly learned this was a mistake as you really don’t get that restful sleep while flying. Between turbulence, the what felt like foam-less seats.. just an uncomfortable time.
We made it safely in to Buffalo, and man was it snowing. Like full on blizzard snowing. As a matter of fact, we were one of the last flights allowed to land, the rest were being diverted. We rented a Suzuki Grand Vitara which turned out to be one of the nicest rental vehicles we’ve ever had. From the car rental lot, we scooted over to the hotel (Crown Plaza) in downtown Niagra Falls. While the hotel was very nice & comfortable, downtown Niagra Falls is a dump. The city has clearly fallen on hard times as several streets had nothing but boarded up shops and “For Lease” signs. We immediately discounted living in Niagra Falls and toured our first choice, Lewiston. Lewiston is a very quaint community, very ‘Norman Rockwell’. So far we are sold on Lewiston, but the lack of retail outlets and basic signs of life had us starting to rethink our decision to move.
A few days later, we met up with our friend Mike who lives in Niagra Falls for a grand tour of Western NY. Wow, what a difference. You how when you go to LA, you have certain assumptions about areas you think would be nice, but in reality are just awful. Turns out, Western NY isn’t so different. Mike’s tour helped us fall in love with the area. We now know of at least 3 areas where we want to look for houses to rent for at least 1 year before we think about buying: Lewiston, Amhurst or Tonawanda.
Overall, this trip proved invaluable for us. Seeing winter at it’s worst, getting to know the area, seeing how we could drive in snow… invaluable.
So back in August of 2009, during a department meeting, my manager informed us that they would be shutting down the NOC (Network Operations Center) in India and moving it to Western NY area. India’s contribution to our NOC is the graveyard shift for our corporate NOC, not my department, Search Marketing’s NOC, so no real impact to us. The team in Western NY will be 100% new hires, mostly new college graduates but they will want at least one seasoned vet to join that team.
Now, it’s no mystery how much Katie and I both dislike LA. We’re very vocal about it and while we have no real avenue out, we talk about moving to Seattle or San Francisco often. When I told Katie about this opportunity, she exploded in excitement. We really didn’t think we’d get it, but if we didn’t try, we’d never know. So the very next day, I talked to both my manager and my director, putting my hat in the ring.
Fast forward to a few days ago. I was working on a Saturday and my director came in. When he works on Saturday, he usually buys us lunch. While ordering I cracked a joke about how cold Western NY is and how I would need a steak lunch to keep warm… and he made a comment back that made me think that I got the position. I mean, it was a joke/comment in passing, but it was something. We hadn’t heard anything this entire time, so this comment was… something.
Yesterday I was called over to the director’s office and my heart was pumping. I mean pounding. In my world, you don’t get called into his office unless you are in for an ass-chewing! The whole Western NY thing never crossed my mind while walking over to his office… but he pretty much laid it all out to me:
- The facility in NY isn’t done, so I will be going to corp HQ in Sunnyvale first.
- There is no date on when the facility will be done, but July/Aug is estimated.
- In Sunnyvale, I will be living in corporate housing.
- I will be joining the rest of the NY team for training in Sunnyvale.
- I will be granted weekend travel vouchers to come home and visit.
- The company will be packing & moving us in March, when our lease ends.
- I start in Sunnyvale on Feb 1st.
And that’s pretty much all I know at this point. It’s wild and exciting but at the same time, a very safe adventure. We are in the process of planning a bon voyage party for the middle of March, so mark your calendars!
Christmas this year was spent at our apartment in Valencia. We got our tree in the parking lot of College of the Canyons but the decision was epic. We must have spent an hour going back and forth on who wanted what why. Katie is a Douglas Fir fan while I am a Nobel / Silver Nobel fan. We ended up compromising and getting a . It had the bushiness of a Doug Fir but had the platforms of a Nobel. Because of the height of our apartment ceiling, we went with a modest 6′ tree but were very tempted to get a 12′ tree and just propping up on the patio!
We have probably the worst Christmas etiquette on the planet. We wait until midnight on the 24th and give each other our ‘flagship’ gifts. That’s technically Christmas day, right? We don’t care, it a fun tradition that we’ve now upheld 3 years in a row now! This year we got each other bicycles, nothing too flash, but very basic so we can get on the road and maybe even lose a few LB’s. So far, they are amazingly fun and no one has had an accident yet.
On Christmas day, the Pettit family was gathering at my brother Gary’s house for dinner and gift 
exchange. We couldn’t stay for dinner as Ann was flying in but we did stop by to deliver presents and visit for a bit. Joel was in from Virginia and he and Michelle showed just as we had to leave. It was nice to see everyone and I definitely wished we could have stayed longer.
Katie’s mom, Ann, flew in on Christmas day to celebrate the holiday with us. Originally, I was scheduled to work and there was no way I could get the holiday off. By chance, on Christmas eve a co-worker needed the holiday OT. This was bitter sweet as if I had known a few weeks prior, we could have gone to Seattle for the holidays to see Katie’s family. No worries though, it was a blessing just to get the day off to begin with and with Katie’s mom coming in, this was the next best thing.
Katie and Ann have a tradition of opening gifts from each other on Christmas night in their own, private celebration. With marriage, I was granted access into this inner Christmas circle and wow… what a celebration. A mountain of gifts under the tree that literally takes ours to open followed by a feast of Chinese take out. Some aspects of the Jordan traditions are in fact eyes-only, so I have to leave the meat & potatoes out.
We only hit the park one time this 
December, mostly due to illness & scheduling. This trip is particularly unique because we actually sat and watched the Christmas parade. Little known fact about us… we have been to the park dozens of time but have yet to actually sit and watch any parade. Katie has been wanting to plan an entire trip around the parade since we first started going, but I always was against it. I mean, sitting on a curb for hours to reserve a spot does not sound like an ideal use for time at Disneyland. Regardless, this trip was the one.
Katie has always wanted to see the Christmas parade and this being potentially our last year in SoCal, I caved and we settled in on the curb, across the street from the Penny Arcade. While waiting, we met a couple who was from Oregon but used to live in Orange county. We talked for a good hour+ and they shared much of our likes/dislikes about the DLR experience. They were far more negative than us, 
something I didn’t think possible!
Once the parade started, we waived and cheered at just about everything that floated by. By the end, our rears were in pain from the concrete and legs asleep from the 3+ hours of reserving our sweet spots. We had dinner, hit a few of our favorite rides and headed for home. All in all, a good trip. 31 photos have been posted for your enjoyment over on our Flickr page.
Thanksgiving has become a bitter sweet holiday in out house. The trend has become that I work and Katie cooks all day so that when I get home, the big meal is ready when I get home. This year was a little different. On Thanksgiving day I worked but took a long lunch and joined the Irons family (my mother’s side) for dinner. Each year, the Irons family comes together at a church in Sunland for a late lunch. My office is only 20 minutes down the road, so I met Katie there to rub elbows with the family. There were family portraits taken, plenty of catching up and meal to feed an army! Unfortunately by the time we got to the meal, I had to head back to work. I packed a to-go plate and split back to work. Not much of a Thanksgiving, but it was a fond one.
Katie made our Thanksgiving dinner on the following Sunday and man-o-man what a spread! I honestly believe she has found the secret to cooking a turkey. Perfectly seasoned, crispy skin and moist white & dark meat alike. We ate like kings and I have only my amazing wife to thank. She puts in the extra love & care needed to pull this gargantuan meal off just right. I have put up a few photos of the table and of the Irons family gathering over on our Flickr page.
Christmas Time @ DLR
Christmas time at Disneyland starts up in the 3rd week of November every year. Anyone who has ever been to Disneyland during the Christmas season will tell you, Disney’s decorations kick the crap out of any local light/Santa display. This year we went during the first day the decorations were up and man was it packed! I picked up Katie at school (hence the photos of Katie in her scrubs) and we shot down to the park before rush hour traffic hit.
Small World, Holiday Edition
This trip was a little different as we actually set out to ride “Small World”. Now, if you have ever been on “Small World”, riding it once per calendar year is enough but now that it’s decked out for the holidays, we broke this rule. I tried to take photos in the ride, but the darkness and blur of the photos weren’t worth posting. So, short summary, it’s amazing. They pipe in the smell of ginger bread and play holiday music. The robot children are dressed in their country’s holiday garb which is actually pretty interesting.
Parking @ DLR
To sum up the trip, we got “Rock Star” parking to boot. Let me explain… parking at DLR is a nightmare. I mean, it’s not terrible by any means, but if you get in at the wrong time or during a heavy flow, you may end up walking near a mile to get to the tram to just enter the park. DLR cast members (what they call their employees) will often tell you where to park while directing traffic. When they are directing traffic, you are at the mercy of lady luck, which as you know likes to screw us regular folks over on a regular basis. When they 
are not directing traffic, you pretty much can choose any row you want to go down and see what’s open. Our standing rule is “Don’t get greedy” which refers to passing up OK spots in hope of finding a great spot. Often if you get greedy and pass up a OK spot, the person behind you will snag it (so there is no going back) and there are no better spots available.. you will have to go back to square one! Very aggravating. SO, this trip, no one was directing traffic because we arrived later in the evening. We ended up parking ridiculously close to the escalator to the trams, one row behind the handicapped parking spots. Like I said, “Rock Star” parking. Not having to trek to your vehicle is a great way to end a day at DLR.
Photos of the day can be found over on our Flickr page.
You know how when you live in a place with things to do but you never do whatever until friends or family come into town? Yea, believe it or not, Valencia is one of those towns. We have the first SoCal gold strike, the acres of orange orchards, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Castaic Lake & Dam, the oldest operating restaurant in LA county (Saugus Cafe), The Saugus Speedway, Saugus Swap Meet and the list goes on. See, not such a boring town after all.
Our good friends Matt and Ele came to visit and we wound up at Castaic Lake. I have seen Castaic Lake a number of times on TV as they do quite a bit of filming there but living so close, you never really think about going there (or at least I never did). Well, I have been cheating myself! The lake is just breathtaking. We wound our way around and finally ended up on the boat launch. This is no ordinary ramp. It’s massive, I mean, I’m pretty sure you could launch a submarine or destroyer from this ramp. I didn’t snap too many photos, but what I did have been posted over on our Flickr page (Link).
In short, explore your town no matter how ordinary or boring you think it is!
Katie turned the big 3-0 this year and to mark the occasion, I (Josh) collaborated with her mother (Ann) to make it as memorable as possible. Probably about a month and a half out, I decided that a surprise party was in order after Katie told me she had not had a proper party in years. Invites went out and the planning had begun. Ann called me about 30 days out and suggested she fly down from Seattle to further enhance the surprise and to be my partner-in-crime in planning/setting up the party. With all the wheels in motion… all that was left was to wait.
Ann flew in on Thursday the 15th to Burbank Airport and because I worked so close, I picked her up on my way home, losing no time to raise Katie’s suspicion. On the way home, we decided the story was that Ann would stay outside of our apartment and I would go in, concerned that I thought someone hit Katie’s recently-out-of-the-shop car. When I got home, the plan worked perfectly! She was extremely surprised, almost to the point of tears. Part 1 complete!
On to the party… on the day of, Sat Oct 17th, Katie had class until 1p. While she was at school, Ann and I ran errands for the party. The plan was when Katie got home, Ann would take her to The Grove to go shopping for a birthday present while I fake a work emergency and have to stay behind. Worked like a charm! Katie was ticked, but left with Ann, giving me roughly 3 hours to get it all set up. With the streamers up, house quasi-clean, I rant to the store to get the food. Guests arrived while I was out, but we made it home with 20 minues to 6p, when Ann had planned to get Katie home.
We all were talking very low when we heard keys rattling at the door. We kept it locked so we would have a little warning, which worked perfect. Matt, a good friend of mine and one of my groomsmen, was at the front door so he was the first face Katie saw. We all yelled “Surprise!”, Katie stepped back, cocked her fist to hit Matt… then laughed and said “You almost got hit… I mean, there’s a man with a mustache in my house when I expected, well, nothing.” The party commenced and I worked the grill while the rest of the guests talked and viewed the slideshow I made for Katie. Overall the night was very fun and I love that I could give her a great start to her 30′s by having so many people there who adores her. Photos have been posted on our Flickr page.
The celebration continued the next day when we took her to Disneyland to renew her season pass. The crowd was huge and I guess there was a charity event at the park that morning which made traffic a nightmare. We made the best of it and enjoyed our day at the park. Photos are here. We had to leave at 3:30p to get Ann back to the airport in order to make her flight on-time. All-in-all, a very busy weekend and Katie had a whirlwind of a good time.
When I was first putting the site together, Katie and I decided not to post email addresses because we didn’t want the junk mail clogging our accounts. Besides, if you are browsing our site, chances are you already know how to get a hold of us one way or another. Turns out there both friends and family have been asking around for our email addresses so we decided to throw up a quick contact form. Nothing too special, just a 4-field form that will reach us once you fill it out. After it is sent, one of us will get back to you shortly. No promises on time… just ‘shortly’. The link it in the main menu under the header image or at this link: Contact Us
Joel, the youngest in our family is an over achiever… and I mean that in the most positive way possible. He is a UCLA Grad, has a law degree and passed the bar in both California and Nevada. He’s kicking it up a notch by going into JAG for the United States Marine Corp! He is currently in OCS (Officer Candidate School) in Quantico, Virginia and will be graduating in just a few weeks. We are so very proud of him and can’t wait to hear about all he has experienced.
He’s called us a few times from OCS when he has leave, telling us how much the previous week sucked! He is enduring and is motivated, so there’s no question he’s going to make it. We asked for a photo of him a little while ago but that was more of a joke. Michelle found a few pics on the official OCS website and whose name do we see on the canteen.. Joel’s! (See below)
A large number of the family is going to his graduation and I wish Katie and I could go but alas, work owns me. More photos and Joel updates as time permits.
Adventures | Josh | 
February 2, 2010 6:20 pm | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe