CAD Frustrations

This is one of those posts that is meant only for blowing off steam.

I am so frustrated with my computer!! It's loaded an yet it still CANNOT perform the needed tasks.

For instance, I have to work with aerials. Not because I like to, but because everyone thinks they look so pretty.

If they only knew the work that goes 'behind the scenes' to make your plans look pretty.

Aerials are .tif / .jpg photo images that been taken by a really nice expensive camera that is connected to a really nice expensive airplane. The are photo shots of the world we live in (google maps & google earth are aerials everyone can use, but are much much MUCH less quality...but incase you were wondering what an aerial was).

I have to 'tile' up 7 .tif files into cad to make up Riverdale City. Each .tif file is 750+ megs multiply that by 7 and you get 5250 megs or 52 gigs right? Well my computer simply does not like to work when using those stupid tifs.

I'm doing this stupid project for Weber Pathways. Okay, it's not stupid, but we've totally lost money on it. Dad tells them we'll put an aerial image behind the survey & contours and then I'll spend 10+ hours creating it. 10+ hours which should take me less than 1 hour.

Why so long? Well, these are .jpgs and they are 35+ megs x's 2 = 80+ megabite file and it has taken me literally 6 hours just to print like 10 drawings today.

So as my computer is cranking these babies out, what am I doing? Well, I'm certainly not on my computer, because I can't have a single program besides CAD Map running or it crashes. Even then it will still crash 3-6 times a day. So I sit here and waste time & money. I sit here & can't do a single thing. But wait until my computer is done processing these stupid images.

They really do look professional, but they are the biggest pain in the butt!!!
I think we should charge the clients an extra fee to use aerial imagery. They are free to download but they are truly a commodity because you don't really need them and I'll spend tons of hours just to rotate, stretch, align, crop, and print these babies.

I hate aerials.

Just to show you how awesome my computer is (since I had to look it up today)
Windows XP
64 x2 dual core processor 3800+
2 gHz
3.25 GB of RAM
Nvidia Quaddro FX 570 Video Card
228 GB Hard drive (127 GB free)

And yet it crashes over stupid photos of the earth.
Go fig.



Here's 1 of the 5 pages I fought with today.

Is it time to go home yet?

I hate it when it's near the 4 o'clock hour on Friday. I just want to go home already! Besides, I got my work done that was due, so I'm ready for the weekend.

Tomorrow I'm going to a baby shower for my friend Marci. She is having twin girls. Isn't that crazy? I don't think I've ever been close to someone who actually HAD twins. They will be delivered around the middle of November, so they will be only a few months older than our baby boy. Who knows, maybe when they grow up they will fight over him. Hahahaha...

Okay, so I wanted to tell you about my cute sister and what happened to her on Monday. I guess it's not really what happened to her, but what she did. Anywho....

Joshua & I were grocery shopping at Albertsons when she called and asked me to go down to Macey's and help her. Mom had told her there were some great case lot sales down there, only one problem. She, being married less than one week was CLUELESS as to what to buy.

By the time we got down there, the damage had already been done. Her shopping cart was full of case of apple juice, the biggest bag of sugar I had ever seen, and some other stuff that I made her put back. Then we calmly walked down each aisle and showed her what grocery items she should be putting in her basket. Mayo, mustard, cheese, flour, a SMALL bag of sugar, ketchup, vegetable oil, salt, you know....basic stuff everyone needs.

Poor thing was clueless.
Absolutely clueless.

I told my mom the next day, "Shame on you for sending your poor daughter down there" Everyone thought it was hilarious. Okay, it really was.

Could you imagine her bringing the groceries home to her husband and him asking, "And we're supposed to eat what?"

Heeheehee

We've all been there.

I am so taking her grocery shopping the next few times I go.
Poor poor clueless Steffy.

It did feel nice feeling so very wise. *wink*

It's 5pm. I'm outta here!

25 Weeks

How your baby's growing:
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.



So since I am at 25 weeks, I thought that I would post a photo. I really don't want to, but I'm doing it as documentation of this pregnancy.
Bleh, icky photo!

Jen/baby update:
I'm still having a hard time eating. Morning and dinner are my biggest issues. I have no appetite, all food grosses me out (except smoothies & mashed potatoes). I am making myself eat, because getting too hungry causes migraines (I have learned that the hard way) and nausea. The baby's schedule has switched. He used to move around a lot at night when I was lying down to go to sleep, but now he's super active late-morning. Josh has possibly felt him kick, but it's still pretty light.



This is my last week in the 2nd trimester - HOLY COW!! This is going by way too fast! Eeekk! Todd (from work) says it's all downhill from here....but I corrected him...it's all UPhill from here! LOL

Chris & Stefanie's Wedding

Photos from the wedding!!

Stef & her bridemaids

(l-r: Chris's sister Alecia, Amanda, STEF, Jen, Destiny, and Chris's sister ?,

in front, Kalli)

Nelson family with bride & groom

Mom & Dad with bride & groom

Chris and his groomsmen
(l-r: Lyric, Christopher, Joshua, CHRIS, Chris's friends ? & ?, and Michael)

Walking down the aisle
I got to walk down the aisle with Joshua :)

Michael & Destiny
Christopher & Amanda
Kalli (flower girl) and Lyric (ring bearer)
Lyric 'stole the show'...halfway down the stairs he stopped & noticed all these people staring at him holding cameras. He put on the cheesiest grin and said "Cheese". Kalli kept trying to walk him down the stairs, but he kept stopping and giving the widest chessiest grin. Everyone was laughing. It was priceless! I am trying to get some other photos, and hopefully someone caught it. Also, once they got to the floor, Lyric took off to the front and the rings went flying across the floor while Kalli tossed flowers. So cute so funny!
The bride making her entrance
Stef's bishop Steve Thompson married them

Congratulations!


Cutting the cake


Bride & groom danced their first song to "To make you feel my love" by Garth Brooks
Their car
My handsome husband!! He didn't wear a tux to our wedding because he hates them so bad and says he looks terrible in them. Well, he had us all surprised, because I think we were all expecting him to actually look bad in a tuxedo. LOL But he looks so handsome!!
The little ham himself, Lyric
Kisses from Aunt Jen

The wedding & reception turned out so fabulous!! They were married at the Chantilly Mansion in Layton, Utah. A beautiful building! My amazing mom made the bridesmaid's dresses, and did all the flowers, bouquets, etc. The bright colors really looked great together. Dad cried during the ceremony, while Mom just sat and smiled! We walked down the aisle to Canon in D by Pachelbel. Joshua made a wedding video that had me sobbing 1/2 way thru it, it was so great!! I made the guest sign in pages so Stef can put them in a scrapbook. :) Joshua filmed the wedding, but since he was in the wedding line, it was a little hard to get the ceremony. We had it on a tripod and had Todd (from my work) try to maneuver it around. And since I was in a lot of the photos, I didn't get a photo of the entire family- darn it! But thanks to my cousin Cami who used my camera to take the ceremony photos, otherwise I would have none!! The cake was delicious (and made by my friend Jen V!).

So many people came to congratulate them. I can't believe my little sister is married!!!!

24 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

info from http://www.babycenter.com/

I had an eventful week last week, which is why this post is so late! Tuesday the 16th was our Dr. appointment. All is good, but the Dr. said I need to eat more, snack more, and gain more weight. I have only gained 2 pounds since becoming pregnant. That was a surprise to me!! I swear since the last week, my belly has really popped out and I'm feeling really big. Plus, if the baby is over 1 pound, my weight must be re-distributing it in different places. I LOOK like I've gained 10 pounds. NOT KIDDING. I really need to take a photo! I am told to eat higher calorie foods, and snack all day, but that's a hard thing to do. I hate to just eat to 'just eat'. My tummy already feels like I can't push it out any further (is this when the stretch marks start showing?). My Mom's cousin told me last week that she only gained 8 pounds with her last baby, and the Dr. said that the baby will get what it needs, and it will be her that will suffer from malnourishment. I'm sure I'll gain more than more 8 pounds, in fact I'm sure I've already gained another pound because I've been making it a point to eat bigger meals and much more ice cream.

Wednesday the 17th my sister got married, and I was the matron of honor. It was a crazy day, constant running around, then standing in high heels off & on all evening. I think I overdid it because I was in bed all day Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday. I had a migraine, which is really nothing new, but I also had extreme pain in my lower abdomen. The pain would radiate all the way around to my back, it really hurt! I couldn't tell if it was the muscles or bone, it was a deep pain. Plus while lying down, the baby was kicking almost nonstop, which was weird & new for me. Tylenol & hot/cold packs just didn't work, and I couldn't get a hold of my Dr. But come Saturday night I was feeling much better, so I have concluded I just must of overdone it on Wednesday and stretched out those muscles, or maybe my hips decided to widen all at once (lol), I don't know but it was something!

So what am I doing right now? I'm eating 5 calorie mints...I didn't realize how hard it was to eat junk! LOL

Today is the day before

my sister's wedding!!!

Crazy day today, I have a Dr. appointment at 1:50pm and then the wedding dinner is at 4:00 pm. We're still working on Stef's video and her guest book. Josh will prolly be up all night finishing & tweaking it.

There's lots of family in town, from all over the place!

I need nylons....don't let me forget to get nylons....& hair spray! All of a sudden every little errand is a big deal...we can't forget these things! LOL

My sister is getting married tomorrow!! WOW!!

A Weekend of Birthday Cakes

Joshua & Amanda's birthday are both on September 6th. So Saturday night we had a Nelson family BBQ with hamburgers & all the fixings to celebrate. Josh's favorite color is black (is that even a color? LOL) and Amanda's is pink. I think the cake turned out perfect (thanks to Albertsons bakery - lol)!

Happy Birthday Amanda & Josh
Then on Sunday we were supposed to celebrate Josh & his brother Brad's birthday, but something came up and we weren't able to. D & his girlfriend were over at our house we decided to celebrade anyway. I made this horrible site of a cake. It took me 2 tries to make the rude boy & rude girl (it's a ska music thing) by tracing a design over wax paper with frosting. I've seen it done, and I definitely need more practice!
31 candles...
I think I'm done with making cake & eating cake for awhile. LOL

SALSA Recipe

SALSA
Recipe from Pat Nelson & Jen Summers

½ bushel of roma tomatoes
4 green peppers (take seeds out)
8 jalapeño peppers
4 onions
6 anaheim peppers
3 cloves garlic

1-½ cup vinegar
½ cup sugar
¼ cup salt

Put peppers, onions & garlic thru food processor.

Core tomatoes & put in boiling water. Cook until skins split.

Squeeze tomatoes out of skins (Caution – very hot!!).

Put in big bowl, dump off water & juice. Put thru food processor & thru strainer to get juice out.

Put in big pan; add peppers, garlic, onions, vinegar, sugar & salt. Simmer for 30 minutes constantly stirring so it doesn’t scorch.

Sterilize bottles (easiest thru the dishwasher). Add Salsa, lid & ring. Turn upside down for 15 minutes then turn back up. It may take over night for lids to seal (you will hear them pop all night). Check seals 24 hours later, if not sealed, use those bottles first or keep in refrigerator.

Makes 16 pints.

Notes:
1. You can use other tomatoes; however Roma’s are the best because they don’t have a lot of water in them, & they don’t soak up much water from boiling. If you use other tomatoes, be careful not to strain as much or you will lose almost all of your tomato.
2. The original recipe called for ½ cup salt, but this made the Salsa WAY too salty. After making this a few times we have decided ¼ cup works better!

Nelson Family - thru the years

I have been scanning photos of Stef & Chris for their wedding video that Joshua is putting together. These photos are great. LOL!

1986ish

1993ish

2004

2004- Siblings

23 Weeks

How your baby's growing:
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see his squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.


Not much new to report! Just getting bigger and feeling wierd things in my belly more & more. I still can't totally determine if he's kicking or it's just gas, but I'm sure that will more defined soon. LOL :) Last night I was lying on the couch (not feeling to well after doing too much yesterday) and I felt something really wierd on my belly & it literally took my breath away. I don't know how else to describe it. My feelings was that he must've done a complete FLIP or something, or maybe a really hard kick? It was wierd and sorta scared me.

Joshua is constantly talking to my belly saying '"Hi baby! I love you!" He is always telling me how excited he is to be a Daddy. The whole being a 'parent' thing just hasn't really hit me. I think because I am such a worrier that I'm not sure how else to think about it, but worry. Thankfully, I have Joshua to be happy & excited for the both of us, and well, I'll do the worrying. LOL

We have got a couple of things for the baby, not too much. I think I want to do colors of greens & blues. :)

I think we've got 6 names now on our list we like, however there is one name we keep going back to. Do I tell or keep it a secret? hmmmm.......

Salsa!

Last night we canned SALSA! Yum!! Yum!!!!! We finished with 22 pints - awesome!! I love this recipe of salsa, and now we have enough to last us a year, I would hope!! I've made this recipe 2 other times, and I remember when Joshua & I were dating we ate a TON of it. It's actually not too complicated, the hardest part is cutting the onions without crying (it's painful!), and pulling the skins off the tomatoes right after they came out of a pot of boiling water (HOT!). The process takes about 4 hours with help. Of course, it's not fun to do it by yourself. When we were going to bed you kept hearing the 'klink' of them sealing, that's always so fun! My mom thinks I'm crazy, and doesn't think it's worth it for all the work and MESS it makes, but I totally do! Not only do you get to have fun making it, but you can enjoy afterwards!!

One year I canned salsa and gave them away as Christmas presents to my friends. Anyone remember that? I think this year I'm going to keep them all to myself! If you want some, you'll have to come over & eat it with us! LOL :)

I'll borrow the recipe from my Mom & post it laters, in case anyone else is interested. I think it's definitely something you need to try first before you go thru all the effort. Everyone has different salsa favorites, this one is puree'd so there is no chunks, and it's got a spicy zip to it. LOVE IT!! So if you want to come over for a salsa night, call me!

These photos were taken with our camera phones, not the best quality, but moment captured!

Better now

Okay, I think I got it fixed. For some wierd reason the Happy Birthday post had some wierd coding in it that messed with the page. Maybe it had something to do with our laptop giving troubles when I was posting it the other night? All good now I hope! *fingers crossed*

What is going on?!!?!

My blog is all wierded out! Some of the fonts went super huge!! Any one else seeing this???????

Josh's Birthday / Anniversary Celebration :)

We celebrated Joshua's birthday by going down to Park City for shopping!!! Unfortunately, due to being sick the beginning of the week, I wasn't very prepared for his birthday, so this year we went shopping together & he picked out what he wanted. We had a great day! We also celebrated our 2 year anniversary from our 1st date. We met 2 years ago on his birthday at Tres Hombres in Salt Lake City. For dinner we ate at Tres Hombres, and Joshua was serenaded to. So sweet! Love ya babe!!!

Happy Birthday Joshua!!

Today is Joshua's 31st Birthday!!!!!
Happy Birthday to you!!!
I love you so very much!!
You have brought so much joy & happiness in my life, thank you for all & everything you do!!
You are truly my very best friend and I am so honored to be married to you!!!!

XOXO!!
Love, Jen