Is Rusty Still in the Navy?

Yes, its Christmas Vacation time. And not just the movie, although I still haven't watched that this season... But also for me! I head out bright and early tomorrow morning and fly to Kansas City where some friends will be picking me up and whisking me away, eventually back to Omaha. I'm rather excited to be back and see some friends. I've been down here for a week shy of 9 months now and have only been back to Omaha twice, and neither time really got to spend any time with people.

I'll get some good quality time with my friends and family, including the traditional Christmas at Grandma's where we will more than likely eat dinner in the cold, dark basement, and open gifts, followed by the annual decorating of the Christmas Jeff.

Then Friday afternoon, I fly out to Las Vegas to help watch my niece and nephew. I'll have a Vegas New Year, before flying back to Tulsa on January 4th. Yep. Really looking forward to the next 2 weeks!

I'll try to do some mobile blogging while I'm gone, and who knows, maybe even another Vidcast?

i love you,

dw

Omaha wrap-up!

I'm exhausted today, but I had a great time back in Omaha. Sorry I won't end up having another vid-cast out of this. I really had planned on it but honestly just did something very uncharacteristic of me and took it easy this weekend. Lots of pictures at the bottom!

I got in Thursday night and instead of going out with the several people I had talked over plans with I just went to a small coffee shop by myself and watched a friend of mine perform. It worked out perfectly that he went on later because of a delayed flight and I walked in the door for the last song of the guy right before Nicholas. I sipped my delicious free coffee and enjoyed it.

The next day I was able to meet up with an old friend from high school. I basically keep in touch with 2 people from my class regularly. Stephen (Beav) and his wife. We had delicious Alvarado's burritos (one of the three Omaha restaurants I had planned on hitting up while I was there) and just chatted. It was also my high school's homecoming, and although I could care less about whats going on with my high school, my sister was bringing out her three kids to the parade and I also wanted to be sure to see my grandma so it was a great opportunity. So I went to the football game, and after Stephanie took Avery and Jackson home but left Annabelle with me and mom to take to the game.

Saturday I went back in to Omaha and took some pictures around town. I've always wanted to photograph the downtown area but have never really taken the time. I still could have used more time, but I got a few of the iconic markers for downtown Omaha (photos all below). I had to rush through at the end because of the wedding. I quickly got ready, picked up my date and then her dog got out! We had to chase her all over the neighborhood. Thankfully I had planned on getting to the wedding plenty early so that I could get the camera set up (I videoed the wedding) so we were only late to when we said we'd be there, not to the actual wedding.

It was one of the best weddings I had been to in a while. I have to honestly say I wasn't paying much attention to the actual content of the ceremony because I was concentrating on filming, but I assume it was nice, and the reception was great. There were a couple slide shows, including one that the photographer had quickly put together of the wedding photos in between the ceremony and that lag time before the wedding party showed up. There was also a "friends and family" slideshow that I was awesome enough to make with Andy and my CWS picture with "the Captain". Oh, and also there was a picture of a random friend we haven't talked to in nearly a year. The funny thing was, he was the only one in the picture. And maybe 3 people at the whole wedding even knew who he was. Randomness. We finished the night out back at the hotel hanging out and singing karaoke. Andy and I broke out our rendition of Tag Team's Whoomp There It Is. Just call us DC-the Brain Supreme and the Man, Steve Rollin. And perhaps the highlight of my night was the fact that not only did I beat Janel in darts (a rarity) but I beat her 2 games in a row! And that was after not playing darts in 3 months! I'm sorry, what was the question... Why am I so awesome?

Sunday was just a church/hang out with the family kind of day. I didn't end up leaving town until 5:30 which meant I got home around 12:30, and after only getting about 4 hours of sleep the night before, it made for quite the long day!

Here's all the pictures from the weekend! (click to enlarge; roll over for description)

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Omaha is my Homaha

I commented to someone the other day that, although I'm really loving it down here, I haven't yet found that connection where I've quit calling Omaha "home". I've been down here for a little over four months now, and I'm by no means homesick, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited to head back. I'm leaving Thursday after work and should get into town late that night, but possibly early enough that I can hit up Old Chicago before it closes.

Friday I get to get my teeth fixed! I had a cavity starting to form that I had taken care of a few days before I moved but it wasn't quite fixed properly. So I've been dealing with something called "high bite" for about 4 months, where I feel intense pain if I bite down to hard. Certain foods hurt to chew and it just causes a lot of general pain. So I'm excited for that.

And I just found out that this weekend is my old high school's homecoming. Although I'll probably be able to find many of my classmates who haven't left the small farm town at this game, its not the "reunion" I'm particularly excited for. My dad is one of the coaches and my nieces and nephew will all be out at the game and will be looking darn cute!

Saturday is my good friends Andy and Jaci's wedding, and the main reason I'm heading back. I still need a date, so if anyone wants to go... haha. Should be lots of fun! I met Andy in Omaha and randomly he just happened to be dating one of my friends from college. So not only should I get to see a lot of Omaha friends, but maybe some old college friends too!

And Sunday, I'll make it out to church, so that should cover everyone else I didn't get a chance to see.

Should be a productive weekend! I'm planning on doing a series of blogs covering the trip so come Thursday, keep checking back. I'll probably do some video blogging and put up the raw footage immediately, then edit it together all pretty when I get back.

O.A.R. - This Town

This was shown at one of the CWS games. See, everyone loves Omaha!

Vidcast 1.2

Greatest Show on Dirt

So, I'm really excited to go back to Omaha. Less than a week now. I'm not so much homesick as I am just really wanting to watch some of America's favorite pasttime in its truest form - College World Series. Growing up in Omaha I was spoiled to be able to go every year (except my summer spent in Oklahoma doing my internship four years ago). I always had a good time but never realized how much I loved it until that point. Some Omahans aren't to thrilled about the new stadium being built, and maybe it was a waste, but if thats what it takes to keep CWS home, I'm all for it. I really think that this will be one of those things I keep coming back to Omaha for, no matter where I'm at or how much of my family remains there.

So for any who are interested in joining me, first let me start by saying I have no intentions of repeating last year's infamous fiasco and hope to enjoy the game in its entirety this year. I plan on going to the 6pm game on Saturday the 14th, so you'll find me in line to get tickets bright and early Saturday morning. Anyone who would like to join me is welcome, just call my cell. I'll also be at the Sunday night game and hopefully the Monday afternoon game. Hey, I work at a sports station, maybe I can pull some credentials! :)

a dios

For those who haven't heard, in a little more than a week I'll be moving out of Omaha. I accepted a job as Promotions Director for KXOJ radio in Tulsa, OK and I start May 1st. This couldn't be a better job for me, and couldn't have come at a better time. I went to school for broadcasting, but had a difficult time finding a job when I left school, finding a majority of my experience was either irrelevant or didn't reflect well on paper. I finally made the decision to quit the radio station I was working part time at and go full force into hospitality, which I had been doing for years to get me through college. I had been doing well with it and had been looked at for promotion but always overlooked because they knew I was always looking for my "out". My plan was to get myself up to a management level then make another run for radio. That way I always had something to fall back on.


I reached that level about 2 months and began looking for stuff in radio again. I had known it was going to be tough to get back into, but I had no idea how hard. I couldn't get a radio station to even look at me not having much more than 3 years experience and it had been over a year since my last radio job. I began looking at internships that i could put 10-15 flexible hours into while working at the hotel, just to get my foot back in the door.


Then I got a call back from a hotel I had applied for a Front Office Manager position at. I knew the position had been filled so I stopped thinking about it, but they called and offered me the job of Assistant Front Office Manager and told me I would have a pretty good shot at a FOM position at another property very soon. It was a pretty good offer, and I expected to take it, but told them I wanted to take a few days to think about it. A couple days later was when I got the e-mail about this radio position. I stalled them through the weekend and told them I would give them an answer by the end of the day Monday. Through much prayer, I called the hotel and turned down the offer, still not knowing if I had the radio job. I interviewed that Wednesday, and was told it would be a week from Friday when I would find out. They called Monday!


So for those in the area who want to see me before I leave, give me a shout and we'll try to get something together.