It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. Even more amazing is the fact that I can remind myself to write a blog article and it still will take months to accomplish!Before talking about what is coming in 2010, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the past few months of 2009 and all of the blessings contained therein!
Travel and training was another cornerstone of the year and the past few months were no exception. In October, I went to Philadelphia to help one of our offices move and build a network/video conferencing lab. While I was in Philadelphia, Tiffany, Emily and Sarah took a road trip from Phoenix to San Diego to San Francisco and back. They had a great time. As a small treat during my trip, I was able to go into New York City with a co-worker. We had to test a system in mid-town and then walked around Central Park, grabbed some delicious pizza and made a quick trip through Times Square.
I also made a fair share of trips to California over the past few months. After a while, they all start to run together. In December, I spent another two weeks in Las Vegas for Cisco training. This time, I obtained my Cisco Certified Voice Professional certification (CCVP). It involved 5 tests and it was very intense. I really enjoyed the classes and the material covered. Like last year, I attended classes at CCBOOTCAMP and highly recommend them for any Cisco training. In 2010, I will begin working toward my CCIE-Voice (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert - Voice) along with a number of other small certifications that I still need. The highlight of my trip to Las Vegas was Tiffany coming up to visit for a few days! It was nice to see her half way through the two week trip.
The biggest news of the last quarter is that Tiffany and I closed on a house in November! In July, we had bid on 3 houses. We did not expect the process to take so long, but we are happy that God provided ample patience. We closed on the house and moved the day before Thanksgiving. The next day, we hosted family and friends at the house for a big meal! Tiffany did a fantastic job, especially considering the fact that we had JUST moved into the house. Since Thanksgiving, we have continued to settle into the house. We have painted a couple of rooms and have been busy unpacking boxes. We have also had guests over a few times to help us settle and enjoy this gift from God! We look forward to unpacking the last box! I also look forward to clearing items off the "to-do" list... But, I guess that is part of owning a home!
There were a lot of other adventures over the past few months. Unfortunately, since I did not blog about each one, I will not make this post longer by adding details. Some of the adventures that we had included rock climbing in South Mountain at Teddy Bear Wall, visiting the World Wild Life Zoo and a wonderful trip up to Flagstaff before it turned bitter cold and snowy.
In a few short days, we will begin our next big adventure. As previously posted, Tiffany and I, along with some close friends, will be heading to Ghana on January 13, 2010. We are very excited about this trip and are amazed at how God has provided. He is an awesome God and has shown us His power once again. Check back soon for updates!
Finally, if you would like to read more about the past year, please click to view our 2009 Christmas letter.
