Christmas Tree for the LA Crowes

Saturday Chelle and I went up in the mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree. We had to hike about a mile in the thick brush until we found the perfect tree. Next, we had to saw it down and all we had was a dull pocket knife. Chelle then carried the tree the mile back to the car as I was busy trying to get cellphone reception as I hadn't checked my email in over 45 minutes. We got back to the car, tied the tree to the top of the vehicle and drove back down the mountain to set it up and decorate it.



Just kidding, I never go 45 minutes without checking my email.



Ok, Ok none of that was true. We drove a mile down the street to the local Home Depot and paid $53 dollars for a tree that was already cut. But we did tie it to the roof and drive all the way back to the house with the tree precariously balanced on the top of the car.



Here is the tree before we put a bunch of shiny stuff on it.



This is what the tree looks like with all the pretty stuff attached.



After the tree decorating ceremony our friends Trent and Mike came down from the Valley to visit.



Us three dudes went for a curry at Ambala Dhaba in little India.



We then headed to Target to buy an outdoor fire pit to keep us warm as we all sat in the back yard the rest of the evening talking and enjoying some wine.



Chelle looks like she enjoyed the Turkey a bit too much during Thanksgiving.
...hey, where's Clementine?



OH! There she is!!!



I'm very proud of the size of my Dachshund.
(He was supposed to be a miniature but now weighs in at a whopping 22 pounds.)



The next morning Chelle made a fantastic breakfast for all of us. It was another fun weekend at the house. We certainly enjoying spending time with our friends.

Thanksgiving two oo7


Just maybe the cutest dachsund in the world.


No wait... this is the cutest dachsund in the world. Ok, they tie.


Cheers for Thanksgiving 2007.


mmmm


Happy Thanksgiving.


Clementine is patiently waiting for me to drop my food. She doesn't realize that I have been using a knife and fork for many years and can do so without dropping a bite.

Third Trip to Havasu

This last weekend Chelle and I made our third trip to Lake Havasu City, AZ in search of our future home away from home. Our very good friend Jake puppysat for us. The dogs seemed to know we were leaving and they weren't happy about it.



The last two trips we have taken the wieners with us, however this time was just for Chelle and I.



Crockett was especially unhappy about the idea of being left in California while we went off to sunny Arizona to look at houses. He crawled in the car as we were packing and wouldn't get out. We had to coerce him out with treats. He spent about 15 minutes in there while we were getting ready to go.



We finally hit the road and drove East.



We forgot about the time change and when we finally got out for our date, the kitchen was closed. We ended up eating at Chilli's and it was fine, but decided that Saturday we'd get an earlier start.



Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (9:30am ;-) for our full day of house hunting. This is the view out our door to the patio overlooking the lake. As you can, it is a horrible way to wake up (read: sarcasm).



We visited 11 houses on Saturday in hopes that we would find the perfect house. It was a frustrating day as we found nothing spectacular.



Saturday evening we went to the Mudshark Brewing Company for dinner. It is a Micro Brewer that makes some very nice beers and even sells Growlers to go. We really had a good time in spite of the lack of a dream home find.

When we got back to the hotel I got back on the computer and continued looking for houses. I found four more that I thought were interesting. Sunday morning after eating breakfast at Ihop we got back in touch with our fantastic realty team who was more than happy to show us the properties. You'll have to wait to see what the outcome of that day was.

To Be Continued....

We've been Elf-ed

My very good friend Patrick has made Chelle and I into Elfs. Take a look HERE.

A visit from Cowboy Keith

Friday night we had a very nice surprise visitor all the way from Nashville, TN. For those of you that have either lived in Music City USA or followed my music career, you may recognize Cowboy.




Cowboy used to run sound for All Star United. I had remembered it as being a longer time, but he claims it was only from 1998 to '99. Maybe it just seemed longer because it was so painful. Just kidding. It was an awesome time to be traveling together. Even though I don't get much of an opportunity to see Cowboy, he still feels like family to me. We shared a bunch of fun memories and had a great laugh.



He introduced Chelle and I to M'Lynn. She met him after he moved on from A.S.U. and started running sound for BR549. They have been friends ever since and whenever he makes it to L.A. they get together. M'Lynn was awesome and Chelle and I really enjoyed hanging out with her. We all went to dinner together and then stayed up quite late laughing about the good ol' days.



Saturday morning, we all went to CoCo's for breakfast, before they headed back up to Silverlake. Cowboy is now running sound for Peter Cetera, BR549 and Dena Carter. He also fronts his own band playing guitar and singing old time country tunes. Keep your eyes peeled, you may see him on the road or hear him on the radio sometime.

Long Time, No Blog

Sorry it has been a bit since I have posted anything. It's not that nothing has been happening, it's just a case of blog burnout. I think I'm over it and I've even found some new tools (ok, toys is more like it) that will make mobile blogging easier. Part of my job at AT&T is to be learned in all the new integrated devices. Those would be all the handhelds that are both voice and data capable. Since I work to ascertain the best mobile solution for business's these integrated devices are generally the Windows Mobile, Palm, and Blackberry devices and not the consumer styled flip phones. I'm now using a service called Shozu, that exports my images and videos to Flickr, YouTube or directly to my blogs. I'll try to post photos and videos more frequently with this service now being utilized.

Chelle and I did go to a Halloween party with a bunch of friends. We met up with friends Renee and Ugo at their place in Redondo Beach. The four of us met up with 17 more costumed freaks and took a Limo Bus to Hollywood. The bus made several stops for us and it was a blast. I wish I had a better camera with me, but I did manage to get a few photos. Unfortunately the camera phone I brought along that night didn't have the best flash.


Ugo didn't dress up but he did where a nice suit. Just kidding, he was a big headed mobster.

Chelle and Shelly

Here is an example of the less than stellar flash.

Chelle was dressed as a butterfly and I was a butterfly catcher. We did have a great time and got lots of candy.