Summertime!

It's been a pretty eventful summer so far... I've been to 3 family reunion vacations, nearly completed 2 semesters of graduate school and begun searching for a house. So if you've been anxious to see a new post on my blog since my last one dated April 4th... get over it.

Work is good despite difficult market conditions. I've managed to avoid 2 rounds of layoffs so far at IM Flash. We keep hearing rumors about the NAND flash memory market picking up, but it hasn't translated into any comfortable feelings of job security yet. A couple of weeks ago my team was affected and my good friend Dave was let go.

We've had several vacations in the past month and a half. Our first trip to Capital Reef National Park was a nice getaway. We stayed at a nice motel in Torrey, UT and got to see much of the park and enjoy good company with the Phelps. The hyroglyphics were nice, but it was really cool to see a couple of really nice bucks moseying through the park.

Our second trip was to Georgetown Lake in SouthWestern Montana. The weather was pretty bad the first 3 days. On the third day it actually snowed on us (June 22nd). We had a good time with the Friels despite the bad weather. The fishing never picked up, but I did catch a little Rainbow on a dry fly on the Blackfoot river near Missoula. This is the river made famous by the movie "A River Runs Through It" so I was excited to have some bragging rights.

Last weekend was the Phelps extended family reunion. Total head count... 154 of 183. The Phelps reunions always draw a crowd. Each year this event gets better for me. I still don't know half of the family members names, but I enjoy getting to know more of them. It was my in-law's turn to host the event, and I'm always amazed at how much work goes into planning and preparing for meals and programs. Kylan had fun being in the Silly Circus and eating the candy that was passed out on movie night.

Finally what I'm most excited about is getting our own house. Leslie and I have talked about this for nearly 3 years during times when nothing was affordable. We're excited to get a better sense of stability and independence that comes with homeownership. ... on a side note, it's also nice to have a tan and be getting haircuts again too.