Summer Means BBQ and Baseball

It's officially summer. How do I know? It's the way my life got exponentially busier while Genna's life got dramatically more simple. One of these days we'll get on the same page, just in time to retire and move to leisure world.

We saw our friends Melody and Cambria in May. The Getty was an awesome day trip.

Genna is officially finished with her second year of law school. Despite her stress and concern, she managed to do incredibly well with her grades. Now she's gearing up for one more year of school and the bar preparation that follows. In the meantime, she makes sure that we eat well, and she gets to catch up on her favorite shows. Thanks to Netflix she also had a new season of Arrested Development to enjoy.

I've been busy at work. My new home at Disneyland consists of the Downtown Disney Monorail Station and the Grand Californian Hotel entrance to Disney California Adventure. These two locations allow me to run small operations with an experienced crew. In some ways it's similar to the space shuttle, in other ways it's nothing like that.


Working at Disneyland is a blast. It brings out the best and the worst in people. I'm lucky that I see more of the best than the other. We get to help out with Make-A-Wish and a lot of other impressive programs. We give great discounts to military families as well. We also get to see celebrities and other public figures as they come in to enjoy our parks. It's nice to know that they're seeing the same attractions that we can all see.Time really flies there also. I've been there over two years now.

I don't have a lot to complain about when it comes to working at Disneyland. Most of the time the biggest complaint I have is seeing how people choose to dress in public. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing that makes leggings acceptable alternatives for pants. There's also nothing youthful about a 50ish year-old guy with a fresh tattoo and an Ed Hardy shirt.

I did take the trip of a lifetime with my dad this summer. We got to see five great baseball stadiums and the Hall of Fame over ten days. My dad led the way to Wrigley Field, Camden Yard, Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Fenway Park. We also saw a lot of New York and Boston. It was incredible. If you follow facebook or instagram I shared a lot of awesome photos.

 In other news, I've decided on majoring in Film at Cal State Fullerton this fall. Their program is exciting and it's a subject I have a lot of passion for. I know some people will question the practicality of the major, but it's my life and I will sleep better if I'm doing something I have love for.  

Keep in touch with us on Facebook, Instgram (gennasince1984 or jeffro517), Twitter (DidUSeeThat1 or GennaDelany), and of course www.didyouseethatone.com

Life is good in Fullerton, California. We just got our first gas grill and we've been using it as often as possible. Like most Giants fans, we're loyal, but the food is helping the tough times feel a little better. Now if we can only get them winning again.


P.S. Our dog is enjoying the summer as well....

Our 2013 Goals....

It's a new year with new possibilities. I'm going to do my best to avoid tired cliches as I talk about the things we're hoping for during the next 12 month period. widely known as 2013.

Jeff - I'd like to return to my education. I've been a college student, off and on, since 1998 and I'd like to continue that journey. I love to learn and I'm ready to pursue my passions. In the meantime I'm working hard at Disneyland, making sure to soak up the awesome opportunities offered to me every day.

Another highlight this year is the trip my dad and I are planning to see some of the old ballparks back east. We're also planning on heading to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame.

In addition to that trip, Genna and I are also planning our annual Spring Training trip in Arizona. This time we might have our good friend along for the ride. It's also a good chance to see Craig and Linda.

Genna - I think Genna just wants to continue to succeed in law school. She'll finish her second year in May, and then in August she'll begin the third and final year of her journey. In a lot of ways it's been a quick trip to the halfway point. I know Genna has worked so hard and I'm glad she's got a lighter load this semester.

Well, there you have it. It's our future year in a nutshell. I hope to keep in touch with all of our friends and family who are sharing this amazing journey.

What 2012 taught me.

So, the year is over and it's time to assess what I've learned in the last twelve months. So, here goes:
  
I learned...

1. Law school is boring, even when you're not actually in law school. (My wife has super-powers and cannot be bored to death, no matter how terrible the subject matter or reading material might be.)

2. Some people like to fight with the windows open. (I do mean fight.)

3. You don't get used to bad water, it just continues tasting like gross.

4. Our dog will eat just about anything. (I think this year it was the Disney trading pin that most surprised me.)

5. Canned alfredo sauce is a great laxative.

6. Traffic is traffic, don't let people tell you it's worse somewhere else. It always sucks to be stuck behind someone else when you just want to go home.

7. If you only make it to church once in a while, they don't ask you to do much. (It pays to be the new guy.)

8. Korean rap exists. (Now my sisters both have new career options.)

9. My cousin Paul is older than I thought.

10. Christmas isn't the same when my mom isn't around to light something on fire. (I know mom, it only happened once, but in this family that's all it takes.)

11. The Giants are great at looking mediocre through 162 games before winning World Series Championships in great style.

12. If you write a blog and pester people for long enough, you'll earn about $6.00 a month doing it. (That's about 10 cents an hour. So check out www.didyouseethatone.com)

13. Lance Armstrong was doping.... (Not as shocking of a revelation as you might think.)

14. You can win an election despite failing to accomplish anything you promised to do the first time you were elected. (Thanks a lot, Steven Foster of La Habra High School.)

15.  Hollywood isn't quite as glamorous as advertised. (They do some of the cleaner homeless people though.)

Our SoCal Christmas

So here we are in Fullerton for our second annual Law School Christmas. Genna is now officially done with half of law school. (For those of you keeping track, this means I'm about 3 semesters from retirement.)

We've had a good fall and winter so far. Genna's family came down for Thanksgiving, and we had a great dinner. We were also joined by our good friend Brandon. Soon after that we had my family in town and spent some time with them for a few days. It was good to see the kids and have an awesome dinner at Goofy's Kitchen inside the Disneyland Hotel.


Genna has actually worked really hard and done really well this semester. Of course, she's not going to know that for sure until grades come back, but I think she did an awesome job. She even managed to handle a last-minute rescheduling issue due to the criminals that created some buzz when they tried to run from the cops onto the Fullerton Campus where Genna's school shares some space. Here's a quick video if you hadn't heard. http://youtu.be/3a6Z_Nsy214


I've been pretty productive as well. My website continues to grow more than I ever imagined. I'm currently celebrating a new milestone as my blog has reached 70,000 views. It's been a fun hobby to have in between shifts at work. I've gotten to share my love of films with a lot of people, and that's pretty cool. I'm also hoping to gain some new opportunities with the site as it moves forward.


So back to Christmas and how we're celebrating. Well, in the morning I'll be celebrating with my fellow Cast Members at Disneyland as well as thousands of random people who decided that Christmas is just better at the Happiest Place on Earth. Hopefully I'll be able to get up early enough to do presents before work. I'm also working on Christmas Eve so it'll be a busy couple of days. Christmas evening we'll head over to a family dinner with the Redds, it'll be a great way to finish the day. We're lucky that Genna has such awesome relatives here in our area.

Well, the new year approaches. I hope that we can continue to share our good experiences with all of you.

We hope this season is wonderful for all of you. We miss our friends and family, but we're still enjoying the adventure that is Southern California.

Merry Christmas!

One year down....

I know, I know... it's been more than a year since my last post. Genna and I are still alive and well in Fullerton. I'm working hard to make something happen with my website www.didyouseethatone.com and Genna is plugging away at year two of law school.

Law school and Genna.

I've heard a lot about case law and torts since she started. She seems to have an endless amount of reading to do, most of it out of giant books. She's got some classes she loves (business associations) and some she isn't so in love with (Constitutional Law). She's also making good use out of her laptop. She uses that sticky notes application that I thought no one would ever really use.

When she's not busy learning how to lawyer she's making sure we eat well and have our crap together. Thankfully she's good at all of that. If I was in charge we'd be living in a van by the river.

She's also gotten us into couponing, a great way to save money. We now have about 30 days worth of food storage, something that might come in handy for two people with no money.

Me and Disneyland.

Working at the Disneyland is a treat. In the time I've been there I was promoted to lead and now I've got the chance to help run the Main Entrance operations of the parks. It's kind of less important than it sounds, but it's still a fun challenge.

I've met a ton of cool people from all over the world. It's fun to see what people think about Disneyland when they've never been before. I was lucky to have been dozens of times before I worked there.

I've also met or been around some celebrities. Here are a few of them:

Bob Saget     Scott Hamilton     John C. Reilly     Chip Foose     Brandon Jacobs     Mae Whitman
Ryan Gosling     Lea Thompson     Jennifer Lopez     David Beckham     Eva Mendes    
Lawrence Fishburne     Maroon 5     Taye Diggs     Lit      Owl City     Katy Perry     John Stamos
Paul Rudd     Some Kardashians     John Travolta     Brad Garrett     Jason Alexander     John Lasseter

Well, enough of that. It's a fun experience and I'll be glad I did it no matter what happens. It may not be forever if my plans come together for next fall. I'm applying to Cal State Fullerton and I hope that I'm admitted so that I can finish my degree and move on to grad school.

The Dog.

He's still our floppy little shadow. He's almost 6 now and he's slowed down a bit, but not in a bad way. He's far from being an "old" dog yet. Going from the massive Robinson Complex to this little apartment hasn't been easy on any of us, but he's been the most affected. I think he's adjusted pretty dang well.

So, that's it.

We're alive and well. Now I need to remember to write on this thing more often. 

Leaving the place we call home...

Genna and I have been married just short of five years now. We've had a lot of fun, made some money, and really grown. Now we're taking a risk, maybe not by some people's standards, but definitely by ours. Genna is set to quit working and start school this fall at Western State University College of Law. This will be a big step for her to reach her desired career goal.

For me things are a bit different. I have been working at Chili's making next to nothing. Now I'll be starting a new job at Disneyland. It's exciting but scary since it starts at part-time and we're going to need all the money we can get. It seems like a great company and I have a lot of chances to advance as I stick it out.

So the adventure will truly begin in a few weeks when I move to Fullerton and start working in Anaheim. Genna will stick around Roseville until August. This will be a challenge for her and I but it is for a good purpose. After a few hard months she'll come down with our wrinkle-faced dog to start a new life. We'll be back in an apartment which is good and bad. Mainly I feel bad for the dog since he's had a great life in the Robinson yard. We've all been lucky to live with Genna's parents and to have my family so close as well.

So, the future is bright and scary. We'll enjoy every minute and it will all work out in the end!

Waiting... Always Waiting

So, Genna is waiting for word on her many law school applications. Like all things that require patience this is not coming easily. The truth is that we have put our lives on hold to a degree while we wait to find out if we'll be relocating or staying put.

We're lucky to be free from a lease to reak or any contracts to cancel. The truth is that it's just lame having to wait. Luckier still, we know that with the different options we've got a loose gam eplan on how to make each of them work. Truthfully, it would be best to stay in the area since the least amount of change would be needed. Still, the idea of moving sometimes feels pretty good.

Until the answer comes we'll just have to check the mail and hope for the right envelope. It's a lot like my mission call. The difference here is that I'm sure it won't be someplace overseas. Well, at least that's what Genna said when she told me the list of schools she applied to.