I took some generic pictures, which you can see here: http://www.waterman981.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=54887

Well, since I first started this post the wind has finally died down. I've gone up and fixed the chimney. 2 new screws, and some waterproofing. Put the fence all back together. Wow vinyl fences are easy to repair. During the wind I roped off a bush that would have come down had I not done so. The only thing broken is our Christmas lights. A wire got pulled out, and a bulb broke. Due to the wire I'll probably have to buy a new strand. Oh well, it only cost $19.

I do feel really fortunate that was our only damage. So many of our neighbors lost their shingles. I saw tons of homes where the wooden fence that was there is now missing completely. We really were blessed for this event.

Huge thanks to everyone who was able to come out on Saturday to help us move!

Last Friday night we were supposed to pick up the Budget rental truck at 5 PM. During the day they called us to say they wouldn't have it, and present us with other options. We could drive down to Provo (the closed at 5, with game traffic there was no way), or 8 AM in SLC, or 10 AM at the original Murray location. We decided on 8 AM. So rather than getting the truck we just went home. Kristi & Dana came up to spend the night, and help us pack. They were a huge help in the kitchen getting everything boxed up.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed downtown to pick up the truck. We were a bit early so we went to get donuts first. We arrived at Budget of Salt Lake and were told that our truck wasn't there. We were getting seriously pissed with this company. The guy running it was checking out another customer when our 24' truck arrived. Whew! We were able to get the truck, and for all the crap they pulled we got their best discount (20%), and unlimited miles (which was good as we had further to drive now). The guy was really good to us once the truck arrived, but still overall it was a bad experience, and we'll never deal with them again.

We got home and got the move going. My realtor Dave was waiting for us, and just after backing in Steve arrived. They got started with the first boxes as more people arrived. Jason first, then a truck with my in-laws... Father-in-law Wes, Uncle-in-law Kent, brother-in-law Andrew, and nephew Harrison. The loaded up the garage stuff (saws, 4-wheeler) in the trailer they brought. Everyone continued moving items out.

I was running around coordinating everyone, while trying to finish up the last few things. Take all the stuff off the dresser, take apart my desk... Lots of last minute stuff. About 2 hours after we started the truck was all loaded up and it was time to head out. I drove up to the new house with Dave & Jason following behind me. Wes, Kent, Andrew, & Harrison had taken their truck and my car up already, and when we arrived they were finishing up the trailer. All that was left was the big truck.

We got started unloading that. Things went quickly. Steve got up to the new house with his whole family to check it out. Eric arrived after getting off work and continued helping. My neighbor came over and helped unload. We were done unloading everything shortly after 1 pm. The pizzas arrived a few minutes later.

After eating lunch, many had to return home, so we decided it was time to take the truck back. My mom followed me up to drop it off, then take me back to her house. I had inadvertently kept the keys to the van which had some glass panels and our TV's in it. So I drove it back up to our house to unload those last things. When I got there my brother-in-law Spencer and Harrison took the TV's in. I found out that Katie's mom and sister had unpacked and folded clothes, putting them in drawers for us. Before that Kristi helped unpack lots of the kitchen.

Once everyone was gone we both kinda crashed. We were tired, and just laid down on the bed and watched a movie. After the movie we had a few things we needed... 4 wire dryer cable, new washing machine drain hose... so it was time for another Home Depot run. Got what we needed then went and got dinner at Wingers. We went home, and crashed again on the bed.

So many people helped, that really made this move go well for us. We couldn't have done it without all of you. So again, huge thanks to Kristi & Dana, Steve, Jason, Eric, & my realtor Dave. My in-laws Wes, Laura, Andrew, Kent, Spencer, Maren, & Harrison. Sorry if I forgot anyone. And I know some of you wanted to make it, but couldn't due to work. Thanks for checking on the move when you were available!

It's 100% official. We are homeowners. Katie & I closed on a beautiful house we found up in Kaysville yesterday, and today the sellers finished their paperwork, so we are all recorded and it's official!

Yesterday after closing I suddenly felt very poor. We had been saving and saving for our down payment, and suddenly it was all gone. I complained about this feeling to my coworkers and they told me not that you get over it, but that you get used to it. Ughh..!

Unfortunately we haven't gotten the keys yet, as the selling agent is booked tonight, but should get them tomorrow. The plan is to move in on the 24th, and I expect to see everyone there. (especially you neighborino Matt!) During this week before we move we want to do some painting. All the walls/ceilings/trim is the same color. We're going to keep it simple though and paint the ceilings & trim white. Just that little bit should make it even brighter and feel larger.

We're super stoked, and hope to have you all over soon for some fun!

Why didn't anyone tell me buying a house sucks! I'm so freaking stressed out right now. Working with a lender, being told all we need is our down payment money at closing (seller is covering closing costs). Then suddenly today I get the loan application and a request to use my credit card to pay for the appraisal. Money we weren't planning on. So I talk to another lender, won't need to pay that upfront, and a lower rate. Call the first back to say we're going to go with someone else. A bit later his manager calls me back to ask why. I told him how I felt surprised by the appraisal, and worried about additional surprises. As we talk he tells me their rate was high so they could over deliver at closing with a lower rate (which the lender himself never told me), explained the appraisal situation, which I understand, but agreed to take care of it if I wanted to continue. So tonight Katie and I should have two loan applications to go over and decide which to go with.

ARRRAGGUUGGGHH!!!

This sucks. So frustrating, stressful, stressful, and stressful!

Jason and I will be riding 33 laps of a 3.33 mile section of the Jordan River Parkway. We will be based in Germania Park, off of 53rd South. We'd love to have you come and join us for a few laps, or more. There is a playground at Germania if your kids want to just do that. Plenty of fun opportunities. Weather will be great, so come on out!

(In the event of flooding, I believe we'll move to Liberty Park. The only place it may be an issue is under 53rd South. Edit: Checked it at lunch. Looks good! River probably has to come up about 2 feet to be an issue.)

The government told me so! So if you need to get prepared for the coming Zombie Apocalypse, check the CDC site for some helpful preparedness tips.

I just signed up for a "bike race." The Fat Cyclist's 100 Miles of Nowhere. What is it? It's a bike race, kinda. It's a solo event, kinda. It's for charity, definitely.

The first 100 Miles of Nowhere was the Fat Cyclist and some buddies, riding their bikes on rollers (stationary) for 100 miles. 100 miles sitting in their garages, watching movies, etc. In the two years since then more and more people have participated. Riding on their own rollers, around the block, even on an aircraft carrier.

My plan.
As the scheduled day approaches (June 4th), I will decide if I want to participate that day or another, and the location. My current thought is to do laps around Falcon Park. It would be long and monotonous. I would ride, without going anywhere.

How you can help.
Come ride with me! I've talked briefly with Jason, and while I haven't heard for sure it sounds like he is planning to ride the whole thing with me. But we would enjoy additional company throughout the day. Rich has already said he'll ride for a while with us. Perhaps someone to count laps as we go around? People to cheer us on. People to spend lunch breaks and rest stops with. We don't have to ride 100 miles straight, we can stop and chat for a while. But chatting on the bike is better. I'm liking the park idea as those of you with kids can let them play on a playground, supervised by your spouses while we ride. They can even come do a few laps with us.

Additional help?
I'm also tossing around the idea of doing some fundraising with it. Why not? Perhaps ask people to donate directly to LiveStrong (tax deductible) for every mile I rode. Say you pledge 25¢. If I finish 100 miles, you make a $25 donation. If I do 50, $12.50. If I do 125 miles... we'll keep it at $25. Pledge what you like, 25¢, 50¢, $1. I won't ask you to donate more than 100 miles worth. As I type that out, I definitely think I'll do it. Watch for a link to pledge/donate!

Two of the first things Katie wanted to get set up were the kitchen and the bathroom. I think the bathroom is done, and the kitchen is really close. One of the biggest improvements to the kitchen was some cabinets. My co-workers gave us a generous gift card to Home Depot where the cabinets we wanted were. We picked up four pieces. Two base cabinets, a pantry, and a counter top. Check out the before and after.

Before:

After:

Wow...  After months of planning and preparation, tomorrow is the day.  It came up super fast, making me start to get anxious.  Was I ready to leave the single life behind?  I think fortunately tonight my last bit of anxiousness has gone away.  We did a rehearsal, and it seemed like others were more panicked than us.  We were trying to be the calm ones. It was that fear of change that made me anxious. But now I don't think the change will affect me much. Definitely not for bad, only good change.

So, tomorrow is the day. I need to pack, and run back to the tux shop as my shirt is a bit small. Plenty to do tomorrow during my last hours as a bachelor. So when I post again... well I'll still be Mr. Johnson, but a different man. Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow!

Going to the Optometrist is always fun. The thing I like about mine is he does a full eye check every year, checking the health of my eyes (Something Lens Crafters does not do). One unfortunate part of that is dilating my eyes. This results of course in increased light sensitivity and, you are unable to focus close up. So driving home I couldn't read my dash at all. I just had to wing it. At least it doesn't affect focusing at a distance.

Over the last week I've been going through my computer room, cleaning, organizing, and throwing stuff away. In total I will have taken 14 desktop PC's/cases, 4 CRT monitors, and 3 large boxes full of electronics to be recycled.

Last night was the big move. Jason arrived first, and we started in the computer room. We took apart my old desk, moved it out, and vacuumed the room. Next we took apart the new corner desk. This was much more involved as due to the hutch, we had to switch things around. We almost took it completely apart, took a break to have some pizza that Katie brought over, then reassembled it in reverse order in the computer room. As we were finishing up, Eric arrived to help. We finished up that desk, and moved it into position.

The major item that I needed help with was done. Next was the TV. Pulled it off the base, then removed all the components. We moved the TV stand over, and I started hooking everything back up. Steve arrived, and Jason had to leave. I went back to hooking stuff up. My current configuration is a nightmare. Once the cables were all done, we put the TV back on, and checked it out. One mix-up on cabling that was quickly straightened out, and everything was good.

The final bit of moving was a shelf thing up to my moms room, the love seat down from the upstairs den, and a recliner into that den. Steve and Eric knocked them out pretty quick, and all was done! Huge thanks again to Jason, Eric, and Steve for coming over to help!

Slowly but surely this is turning away from my bachelor "mancave", and into what my mother called... "The Love Grotto!"

Link: http://xkcd.com/854/

In hindsight... we definitely should have just gone to Vegas.

Saturday we both got so burned out. We started out going to the reception center in Bountiful at 10 AM. Told them our colors, picked a menu on the fly as we totally spaced coming up with one, and made all the other final decisions regarding them. 1 hour and I was burnt out.

After finishing that up with our mothers, we all went to Cafe Rio for lunch. It was there that my mom said the most unexpected thing. She said that the basement is currently the bachelor pad, and will soon become the "love grotto". Katie and I were not expecting that. So now we're going to get a sign or cross stitch made that says that.

After lunch, we parted with our mothers, and stopped off at Costco to check on the time to print all our invitations, then we drove down to Provo to pick up the RAW engagement pictures. Katie ran and got them while I was chatting with Tony. We stopped at her sister's house on the way back up and dropped off music for her husband to make a playlist for the reception.

We were pretty beat by this time, so we just went back to my place. I looked over the RAW's, and found that we only got one disc of them. The disc with the pictures we are planning to use wasn't there, instead it was a mislabeled Windows 7 disc. I was mad. So much run around with the photographer. I slammed my fist against my desk in frustration. Katie went and sat down on the couch.

After slamming the desk, I took a few breaths, and got up to check on Katie. It was the first time she had seen me mad, and it scared her a bit. I comforted her, made sure she knew I was absolutely not mad at her, just frustrated with the photographer.

All the stress from wedding stuff had been building and building all day, and it had gotten to both of us. We decided it was time to eat, and relax for the rest of the night. While she ate some left over Olive Garden, I emailed our photographer, and politely explained the situation. I set up an FTP site for them, and asked if they would upload the two photos we needed. Within a few hours they replied, and did get the photos uploaded. It was such a relief to get them, as we need to send out our invitations this next Saturday.

Katie and I relaxed for the rest of the night, which was nice.

We should have just gone to Vegas.

Best of luck to Tony & Chelsey in their lawsuit. Hopefully you can get it resolved satisfactorily, so that you aren't worried about the future. Sending good vibes!

Edit: 2nd article posted.

Yesterday I was tagged in 4 photos on Facebook. I wanted to check them out, as some people post stupid stuff. Everything looked fine, so no worries.

Now I don't use Facebook. I don't like Facebook. I had considered it a necessary evil to have an account.

So since I was there I figured I better change my "relationship status". I then kept getting email after email from Facebook on the change. Each time I felt dirtier and dirtier. My dislike for Facebook has turned from dislike to hate.

So I just deleted my account. So I guess it doesn't delete for 2 weeks, so if you think you can change my mind, go for it.

Yesterday Katie and I met with our photographer and got our Engagement pictures done. We took them at Wheeler Farm. They should be cool, I'm excited to see them.

Unfortunately this video has been pulled for the year.

Saturday morning the power went out. When it went out, it looks like it took the furnace out with it. The house didn't get too cold until Saturday night, so I started investigating exactly what is wrong. The furnace uses an electric heating element to light the gas. That element isn't working. I don't know if it's the element itself, or the switch that turns it on, but that's where the fault lies.

So Sunday I left the furnace on (I had already turned the gas off) to circulate the air around the house, hoping to keep it warmer. It was 62 degrees in the morning. It stayed there pretty much all day, and I went up to Katie's house for dinner that night, so I didn't get too cold. When I got home I piled the blankets on my bed, and slept nice and warmly. This morning I woke up early for work, so I had a bit of time. I manually lit the furnace, and warmed the house up for the first time in days. When I left I turned the gas back off, leaving the fan going. Tonight I'll do the same.

I got through the first 3 movies last night. That just leaves the last 3. Fortunately our original plan to see the new movie on Friday night has been scrapped. So we'll probably go see it on Saturday, leaving more time to finish up the last 3 movies with Katie.