Here are a few pictures of the new ride!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Christmas Letter - Park Lane
Brian spent a good deal of time this year jamming with Park Lane. Check us out here http://www.parklanerocks.com/ and check out these videosLife Love Faith http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=707BlgeDI74
Black and Gold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCdBmX1ZB8
Close to You - Off our upcoming album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVSsnaNgHSA or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq4xIFNvQeg
I am Calling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ6YS8Uc1iA
Time Will Tell - Off our upcoming album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ-y7S2cMxA
Love Will Conquer All - See, we can mellow it out with a power ballad! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUf0rtiLITo
Power...with a portion of an impromptu drum solo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xM76ak1HQ
Time Will Tell - Off our upcoming album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeoGRcXXUAE
Take the High Road - another easy listening one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t9xPl3m7y4
Fortunes Falling - Our first attempt ever at playing this song...can you tell! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHXDWN0Zgb4 - this should probably be stricken from YouTube but since it's out there I figured we share it!
2009 Christmas Letter - Vacations
San Antonio
For Christmas last year Brian surprised Jodi with a trip to San Antonio. We headed out in February just before Brian started his new job. We didn't have much plan other than enjoying some warm weather, seeing the Alamo, and hanging out on the river walk...after having lived next to the Mississippi River, the 'river' itself wasn't much to speak of but the area was really nice. We did spend far too much time on this trip trying to buy a new house. We had an excellent meal at The Saltlick on our way back from Austin. It was quite difficult to find however!
Yes, it is February and I am wearing shorts!! A shot with Jodi along the river walk...I just remembered the lady we met on our last day there who had just gotten married...very interesting!
The Saltlick...we drove by it a few times before finding it.
The Alamo
Jodi looks very at home on the Austin City Limits stage.
Ignite Chicago
Chicago has become a 5 hour drive so we only went there once this year for a Christian music festival. It was a great time. We have pictures but we'll let you check out the officials one
Southern California
Jodi's friend Allison got married at Disneyland in November. We made the trip out into a week long vacation. After the wedding we hit the park, same with Sunday and Monday morning. After that we headed down to San Diego for Seaworld. The next day was the Zoo, and Wednesday the beach. Afterwards we headed to LA and visited Warner Brothers Studios. Thursday we did Universal Studios and Friday we did some shopping and headed home.
Brian and one of his heroes...one a Drum Junkie, the other junking a drum.
Jodi got to meet Matt Damon...ooo la la!
The beach!
Shamu showing off
This tree is larger than the one we had to get.
2009 Christmas Letter
Hi all and welcome to the 2009 edition of the annual Miller Christmas letter. Our biggest news of the year occurred just prior to Christmas last year! Brian was offered a new position at John Deere as the Manager of Supply Management for Deere’s tractor factory. This spring, we packed up and headed North to our new home.
We're in a great neighborhood and are enjoying our new home that is spoiling us with extras like a 3 car garage along with dedicated home theater, drum, and exercise rooms. The only problem with the house is that there is over a foot of snow in the yard and drifts up to 4 feet tall! We also got to enjoy 100+ MPH winds in a summer storm as well…wonder how Chicago got the title ‘windy city’? We're just thankful that we came out with little damage and power was restored in less than 24 hours.
Jodi continued on in her role as a Business Analyst for John Deere’s SAP (business software) group. She was able to continue working in the same job but does it fromour new location. She works with people from all over the world everyday so her comrades in India, Brazil, China, France, and North Carolina probably haven't even realized she moved!
Between moving and working we did manage to sneak in a few trips. In February, we headed down to San Antonio. This summer we attended Ignite Chicago, a two day Christian music festival and traveled to the Twin Cities. We just recently returned from a trip to Southern California where we attended the wedding of one of Jodi’s college friends and ended the party at Disneyland. We then headed down to San Diego and wrapped things up in LA.
Brian and his positive influence hard rock band, Park Lane, had a busy schedule this summer playing shows and festivals in Iowa and Illinois. Currently Park Lane is in the final stages of writing their second album and soon will begin recording. With any luck the new album will be available in spring!
After moving, we found a new church home at Prairie Lakes Church. Brian is playing with the worship team and both Brian and Jodi are involved in a small group.
We hope that this letter finds you in good health and good spirits. Remember that among all the sales, gifts, and decorations lies the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of the savior, Jesus Christ. We hope you take some time to pause in this season of hectic schedules to reflect and celebrate His birth!
Happy 2010! Brian and Jodi
See additional blog posts for pictures and more stories!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
2009 Christmas Letter
While we loved our old home, we think our new house is swell too. Jodi wishes the kitchen could have more storage but other than that all is good!
Takin Brothers did a great job moving our 22,000 pounds of stuff! Soon thereafter we initiated our 10% Stuff Reduction Initiative.
We documented our time in the old house...
Before moving in we took time to paint the master bedroom...we learned how difficult it is to paint textured walls.
While the Takin Brothers packed and moved our stuff, unpacking was our chore!
We installed new countertops this summer
Nearly finished home for the hot tub
Fianally we put a new floor in the guest bath
See additional blog posts for more info!
Takin Brothers did a great job moving our 22,000 pounds of stuff! Soon thereafter we initiated our 10% Stuff Reduction Initiative.
We documented our time in the old house...
Before moving in we took time to paint the master bedroom...we learned how difficult it is to paint textured walls.
While the Takin Brothers packed and moved our stuff, unpacking was our chore!
We installed new countertops this summer
Nearly finished home for the hot tub
Fianally we put a new floor in the guest bath
See additional blog posts for more info!
2000-2010 How things have changed in technology
I figured I'd take a moment to reflect back about the decade that's about to end...let's look at how a few things have changed:
Music Distribution: In 2000 we had two things going on 1. a move towards higher definition media made possible by better lasers (SACD and DVD Audio) and mp3 audio (Napster was in full swing). I think we know the story here, high def lost out (so did Napster) and we are not in the age of iTunes and iPods (or in my case iPhone). This is a somewhat unfortunate situation. I have a DVD player that can play the now dead formats and I even have a few high def format discs for 'critical listening' and showing off to people who have no idea what they are listening to. The compressed formats for digital files were necessary due to restrictions on storage and bandwidth. Hopefully these formats will improve in definition as those restrictions continue to be eased. Personally, I converted in 2008 when I got an iPhone. While I had put all my CD on computer around the end of 2005, it wasn't until I got an all in one device (phone, pda, camera, gps, mini computer, and oh yea, digital music player) that I stopped using CDs in the truck and started to use my MP3 jack (which I had fortunately added).
Computers: At the beginning of the decade I built a computer...cheaper than buying one. It had a Pentium chip in it. At the end of the decade I just bought two computers. I'm only vaguely familiar with the specs. They seem to do everything I want then to. Back then I bought a 20" CRT...it took up half my desk. Today I use two 22" wide screen LCDs. Together they take up 1/3 of my desk.
Memory: Early in the decade I was amazed at how a little CF card could hold so much (.5 gig) of data. Early in the decade I paid $65 for a 256K jump drive. Recently I saw an 8 gig mini SD card for $15 and just bought an 8 gig jump drive for the same price. I threw the 256K drive away.
Wi-FI - Early on it was non-existent, then we got it, we had to use cards and antennas. Today, I expect it everywhere I go (hotels, restaurants, down towns, other people's houses, etc.) and I still really really like it when it's free. It revolutionized the way we work and live. Everything can be done 'real time'. Information is shared instantaneously wherever we are.
Cell - at the beginning of the decade I had a plan where I paid $25 a month for like 20 minutes of calls...basically enough in case of an emergency. Today I no longer have a land line. My wife and I share a plan for $70 and get 550 minutes. We pay an additional $60 for unlimited data. We use the data more than we use the minutes. At the turn of the decade I had a flip phone. It could make calls and it had an internal phonebook. Today I have a device that does just about everything...it can even make a call although not all that well.
Email or should we say electronic communication - sure everyone had email in 2000. I think it was almost like a joke for adults. Today business is conducted via email, instant messages, and texts. People are far more accessible and things happen at a much quicker pace. When buying a house at the beginning of the decade there was very little emailing going on. At the end of the decade, everyone freaked out when I suggested we might actually fax something.
Movie distribution: The beginning of the decade saw DVDs coming of age. They were way way better than VHS. We endured the Bluray HD-DVD format war (Bluray one that one) but now are still waiting to see if Bluray will take off. My fear is that it will go the way of SACD and DVD-Audio....higher quality will loose out to instantaneous and readily available distribution through digital downloads. Again, until the bandwidth catches up, we'll be forced to compress the heck out of the media....and again, most people don't know, don't care, or don't have the equipment to tell the difference between ok and awesome.
Lighting - LEDs are now everywhere, Christmas lights, flashlights, and all over pro-audio. They are different than halogen or incandescent but are still quite useful.
Pro-audio - lots more digital effects and boxes...I'm still waiting for a move to more wireless and digital signal transfer...still way too many wires!
Cars - sure they are safer and have lots more features....big new hear is that one spike in oil prices and all of a sudden everything is green....hybrids were a college student project at the turn of the century and now are a must have for every manufacturer
TVs - in 2000, a plasma (an amazingly thin and flat TV) ran like $20,000...today you can pickup a TV of the same size and probably better resolution for about $1,000...less if you'll take LCD or LED...I purchased 3 TVs this decade...CRT projection, DLP projection, then plasma...I know the first format is dead, I think the second one either is or is close to death. The CRT had wicked new component video connectors, the DLP the new DVI connector and the Plasma HDMI...hopefully that technology will stick around for awhile
Ok....you want my thoughts on any other tech trends leave a comment! I can't wait to see what we'll be chatting about in 2020.
Music Distribution: In 2000 we had two things going on 1. a move towards higher definition media made possible by better lasers (SACD and DVD Audio) and mp3 audio (Napster was in full swing). I think we know the story here, high def lost out (so did Napster) and we are not in the age of iTunes and iPods (or in my case iPhone). This is a somewhat unfortunate situation. I have a DVD player that can play the now dead formats and I even have a few high def format discs for 'critical listening' and showing off to people who have no idea what they are listening to. The compressed formats for digital files were necessary due to restrictions on storage and bandwidth. Hopefully these formats will improve in definition as those restrictions continue to be eased. Personally, I converted in 2008 when I got an iPhone. While I had put all my CD on computer around the end of 2005, it wasn't until I got an all in one device (phone, pda, camera, gps, mini computer, and oh yea, digital music player) that I stopped using CDs in the truck and started to use my MP3 jack (which I had fortunately added).
Computers: At the beginning of the decade I built a computer...cheaper than buying one. It had a Pentium chip in it. At the end of the decade I just bought two computers. I'm only vaguely familiar with the specs. They seem to do everything I want then to. Back then I bought a 20" CRT...it took up half my desk. Today I use two 22" wide screen LCDs. Together they take up 1/3 of my desk.
Memory: Early in the decade I was amazed at how a little CF card could hold so much (.5 gig) of data. Early in the decade I paid $65 for a 256K jump drive. Recently I saw an 8 gig mini SD card for $15 and just bought an 8 gig jump drive for the same price. I threw the 256K drive away.
Wi-FI - Early on it was non-existent, then we got it, we had to use cards and antennas. Today, I expect it everywhere I go (hotels, restaurants, down towns, other people's houses, etc.) and I still really really like it when it's free. It revolutionized the way we work and live. Everything can be done 'real time'. Information is shared instantaneously wherever we are.
Cell - at the beginning of the decade I had a plan where I paid $25 a month for like 20 minutes of calls...basically enough in case of an emergency. Today I no longer have a land line. My wife and I share a plan for $70 and get 550 minutes. We pay an additional $60 for unlimited data. We use the data more than we use the minutes. At the turn of the decade I had a flip phone. It could make calls and it had an internal phonebook. Today I have a device that does just about everything...it can even make a call although not all that well.
Email or should we say electronic communication - sure everyone had email in 2000. I think it was almost like a joke for adults. Today business is conducted via email, instant messages, and texts. People are far more accessible and things happen at a much quicker pace. When buying a house at the beginning of the decade there was very little emailing going on. At the end of the decade, everyone freaked out when I suggested we might actually fax something.
Movie distribution: The beginning of the decade saw DVDs coming of age. They were way way better than VHS. We endured the Bluray HD-DVD format war (Bluray one that one) but now are still waiting to see if Bluray will take off. My fear is that it will go the way of SACD and DVD-Audio....higher quality will loose out to instantaneous and readily available distribution through digital downloads. Again, until the bandwidth catches up, we'll be forced to compress the heck out of the media....and again, most people don't know, don't care, or don't have the equipment to tell the difference between ok and awesome.
Lighting - LEDs are now everywhere, Christmas lights, flashlights, and all over pro-audio. They are different than halogen or incandescent but are still quite useful.
Pro-audio - lots more digital effects and boxes...I'm still waiting for a move to more wireless and digital signal transfer...still way too many wires!
Cars - sure they are safer and have lots more features....big new hear is that one spike in oil prices and all of a sudden everything is green....hybrids were a college student project at the turn of the century and now are a must have for every manufacturer
TVs - in 2000, a plasma (an amazingly thin and flat TV) ran like $20,000...today you can pickup a TV of the same size and probably better resolution for about $1,000...less if you'll take LCD or LED...I purchased 3 TVs this decade...CRT projection, DLP projection, then plasma...I know the first format is dead, I think the second one either is or is close to death. The CRT had wicked new component video connectors, the DLP the new DVI connector and the Plasma HDMI...hopefully that technology will stick around for awhile
Ok....you want my thoughts on any other tech trends leave a comment! I can't wait to see what we'll be chatting about in 2020.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
11-23-09 Week in Review
The week started with my Russian buddies visiting. Good to see what they were working on. Wednesday night we headed down to Bloomington. Right before that my truck started to make some noise.
We stopped for Leonardo's pizza. Got to see my sister's new house (very nice). Thrusday was Thanksgiving. A general good time with the family and of course turkey. We jammed on some rock band that evening and I convinced nearly everyone to get out there on black firday.
Friday started early. We split into two team. I believe my team got named the A-team. We started about 4:40 at Walmart. My sister waited in line and my mom found out where to grab up a Playstation. We got that mission accomplished and were out the door by 5:10. Next stop was Office Max. We spent about 45 minutes in line. They were very organized and handed out cards. We got a memory stick and SD card. I believe we were done there before 6:10. By 6:30 both teams were enjoying breakfast at Hardees. A quick nap and then more family fun on Friday.
Saturday we headed back towards home. We stopped to meet up with Park Lane for a band meeting. That afternoon ran some errands and that night was Skillet! Awesome. We had sweet second row seats. I even caught a drumstick! They so totally rocked.
Sunday we headed back home to prepare for the week ahead.
We stopped for Leonardo's pizza. Got to see my sister's new house (very nice). Thrusday was Thanksgiving. A general good time with the family and of course turkey. We jammed on some rock band that evening and I convinced nearly everyone to get out there on black firday.
Friday started early. We split into two team. I believe my team got named the A-team. We started about 4:40 at Walmart. My sister waited in line and my mom found out where to grab up a Playstation. We got that mission accomplished and were out the door by 5:10. Next stop was Office Max. We spent about 45 minutes in line. They were very organized and handed out cards. We got a memory stick and SD card. I believe we were done there before 6:10. By 6:30 both teams were enjoying breakfast at Hardees. A quick nap and then more family fun on Friday.
Saturday we headed back towards home. We stopped to meet up with Park Lane for a band meeting. That afternoon ran some errands and that night was Skillet! Awesome. We had sweet second row seats. I even caught a drumstick! They so totally rocked.
Sunday we headed back home to prepare for the week ahead.
11-16-09 Week in Review
Nothing too exciting this week. The biggest event was spending a day back at the old job. It was fun, great to see the people and actually work on somthing I'm good at for once! I went to the dentist as well...no cavities!
Friday we saw our first (and potentially last) ballet...the nutcracker...not only was the play about a nutcracker, between the tights and cod pieces, I'd imagine some other nuts were getting cracked! Not sure how good it was, one of the dancers did a faceplant at one point in time.
Saturday was a nice day. We put up most the Christmas lights and finally fixed our siding from the storm back in June! Woot!
Friday we saw our first (and potentially last) ballet...the nutcracker...not only was the play about a nutcracker, between the tights and cod pieces, I'd imagine some other nuts were getting cracked! Not sure how good it was, one of the dancers did a faceplant at one point in time.
Saturday was a nice day. We put up most the Christmas lights and finally fixed our siding from the storm back in June! Woot!
11-9-09 Week in Review
So this is breaking from the normal format just a bit - we'll start with the Friday before.
Friday was the first day of vacation. It was a lovely day here. I headed out for a walk and for a soak. Afterwards we headed out to the airport...a new experience. One plane at a time. I guess the good news is we got the first parking spot! Anyhow, the flight on a prop plane (long time since I was on one of those) was ok. We were able to get an earlier flight out to CA. Once there we got to experience Friday evening rush hour in LA! We checked into the hotel and headed out for a local dinner in Anahem.
Saturday was the wedding. I'm not supposed to reveal anything about the wedding but I'll say this much, it was one of Jodi's friends and it was at Disneyland. A great reception and lunch followed. Afterwards we headed out to the park with the wedding party. My first experience with the tower of terror (not bad) and a swigning ferris wheel. I hate ferris wheels enough...not sure why I ever thought I'd be ok with a swinging one. Ferris is a sick sick individual.
Sunday was Disneyland again. We hit it early and we hit it hard. I think somehwere in the neighborhood of 12 hours. We did it all. By the end of the night I was so tired I could hardley keep the cars in future land on the little track (thankfully there was the rail to keep you going the right way).
Monday we did a few of our favorite rides again, California Adventure, Toy Story, and Crash (the turtle). Afterwards we headed down to San Diego and hit Seaworld. We did the whole thing (Shamu and all) that day. We finished up with some awesome Mexican in Old Town and a soak in the hot tub at the hotel.
Tuesday was the zoo. Best zoo I've seen. We did almost the whole thing but not quite. We again headed to Old Town for Meixan.
Wednesday we hit the beach. Very nice. Too bad the locals were freezing! They were all wearing jackets and hats like it was winter or something...I stuck with shorts and T-shirt! We headed back upto LA after that. We tried and In and Out burger...not bad. We then hit the Warner Brothers studio tour and then went out to hunt for a cymbal. I tried a Z3 and fell in love. I thought I'd have the guy ship it but he convinced me it fit in my luggage...wrong! We checked into the ultra-luxury hotel Jodi got with her points and tired to find some local pizza for dinner...not much luck. We got to experience LA/Hollywood/Beverly Hills traffic....sucks!
Thursday we headed to Universal. Did the whole park and studio tour. That night we headed out for a Brazilian dinner in Beverly Hills....probably the single most expensive dinner I've ever eaten! Chilled in the hot tub with some firemen from Alerta that night.
Friday we visited a local mall, cruised down Rodeo Drive, and then headed home where there was the lovely scent of manure in the cold cold air...at least the parking meter at the airport was broke so we got free parking.
The weekend was spent catching up at home.
Friday was the first day of vacation. It was a lovely day here. I headed out for a walk and for a soak. Afterwards we headed out to the airport...a new experience. One plane at a time. I guess the good news is we got the first parking spot! Anyhow, the flight on a prop plane (long time since I was on one of those) was ok. We were able to get an earlier flight out to CA. Once there we got to experience Friday evening rush hour in LA! We checked into the hotel and headed out for a local dinner in Anahem.
Saturday was the wedding. I'm not supposed to reveal anything about the wedding but I'll say this much, it was one of Jodi's friends and it was at Disneyland. A great reception and lunch followed. Afterwards we headed out to the park with the wedding party. My first experience with the tower of terror (not bad) and a swigning ferris wheel. I hate ferris wheels enough...not sure why I ever thought I'd be ok with a swinging one. Ferris is a sick sick individual.
Sunday was Disneyland again. We hit it early and we hit it hard. I think somehwere in the neighborhood of 12 hours. We did it all. By the end of the night I was so tired I could hardley keep the cars in future land on the little track (thankfully there was the rail to keep you going the right way).
Monday we did a few of our favorite rides again, California Adventure, Toy Story, and Crash (the turtle). Afterwards we headed down to San Diego and hit Seaworld. We did the whole thing (Shamu and all) that day. We finished up with some awesome Mexican in Old Town and a soak in the hot tub at the hotel.
Tuesday was the zoo. Best zoo I've seen. We did almost the whole thing but not quite. We again headed to Old Town for Meixan.
Wednesday we hit the beach. Very nice. Too bad the locals were freezing! They were all wearing jackets and hats like it was winter or something...I stuck with shorts and T-shirt! We headed back upto LA after that. We tried and In and Out burger...not bad. We then hit the Warner Brothers studio tour and then went out to hunt for a cymbal. I tried a Z3 and fell in love. I thought I'd have the guy ship it but he convinced me it fit in my luggage...wrong! We checked into the ultra-luxury hotel Jodi got with her points and tired to find some local pizza for dinner...not much luck. We got to experience LA/Hollywood/Beverly Hills traffic....sucks!
Thursday we headed to Universal. Did the whole park and studio tour. That night we headed out for a Brazilian dinner in Beverly Hills....probably the single most expensive dinner I've ever eaten! Chilled in the hot tub with some firemen from Alerta that night.
Friday we visited a local mall, cruised down Rodeo Drive, and then headed home where there was the lovely scent of manure in the cold cold air...at least the parking meter at the airport was broke so we got free parking.
The weekend was spent catching up at home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)