Savannah Firsts

This weekend Joel and I went to Savannah to see a band play, and to see this guy (on the left):

Yup! It's Jeff! For those of you that don't know Jeff, he lived in Lawrence and grew up with Joel. We were friends until he moved to SLC his junior year, but we've still kept in touch. He's in a band called Creech Holler, and also enjoys a healthy solo career. They played at a bar called The Jinx, and were really good. It was a great time - they're a very charismatic group. Here are some pics so you know what I mean:





Jeff looked like he had taken a bath in his clothes when he was done. He was nice enough to give us copies of his band and his solo albums, and I've been listening to his solo album incessantly since we got home. It's beautiful, mesmerizing, and creative. Way to go, Jeff!

It was a lot of firsts for me, so I'll do another Top 10 list:
1 - First time at Carraba's (mmmm)
2 - First time in Savannah at night - more people at night than in the daytime by far!
3 - First time in a bar
4 - First time on "the list" at the door
5 - First drink in a bar (Diet Coke, thank you very much)

See - proof: A drink in a bar. Diet coke is tasty!

6 - First time seeing Jeff perform
7 - First time seeing Blood Wrestling (on tv - not as gross as it sounds, but I wouldn't want to try it)
8 -First time awake until 3am since I was in college (pre-mission)
9 - First time I had to wake up for the free breakfast at the hotel at 10, and then went back to sleep afterwards
10 - First time leaving Finn alone overnight (thank you Jonathan & Celeste!)

A pretty great weekend!

Five-Star Fabulous

So, this last week has been dedicated to the most intensive training I've been involved with so far in my new job. I'm part of the training and development team in my company, and we've recently hired the Mobil Travel Guide's consulting arm to help us improve our star rating. (If you've ever heard a hotel touting 3, 4, or 5 stars, this is the company that doles them out.)

We've been doing a training classes for all of our effected departments. We're conducting 26 classes in 10 business days, with 9 different curriculums and reaching more than 620 employees.

I've been working 10 and 11 hour days for the last 2 weeks, and am getting very tired now. My schedule this week has been like this: Work, come home, zone out on the couch for 1 hour, fall asleep on the couch before 9:30, wake up, and do it all again.

As grueling as it's been, it's also been very exciting and fun. It's a great project to be working on, and I feel like it'll be a good thing when it's over. And thankfully, it should be all over on Wednesday. So, this is why the lack-luster post this week. Hopefully this time next week, I'll be back to my picture-posting self. Sneak peak: our new house, and the new sofa that was just delivered this week.

How time flies

So, as many of you know, my little brother, Adam is not so little anymore (currently measuring in at a modest 6'4"), and while still my brother, he's also about to become someone's husband! Adam Buhler and Karen Christensen are getting married on January 4th in Nauvoo, IL. I've linked to their wedding site at knot.com if you'd like to see pictures and hear the story. It's pretty cute.

All I have to say is that Karen is awesome - she fits into our family as seamlessly as if she'd been a part of it for years. She's funny, fun, can be goofy and silly (a necessity in the Buhler household), but smart with a great head on her shoulders. Oh, and did I mention she's gorgeous?? Cuz she is. My dad said, when they announced their engagement, "Adam, you are definitely marrying up. I can't believe she said yes. Karen, I hope you don't wake up from this dream for a very long time." Classic, Dave.

Here's a couple pics of the happy couple:

Also, my sister sent me cute photos of her and my two nephews on Halloween. When did she get old enough to have two kids? I don't know. I'm still getting used to it myself. But here they are, Kristen, Jace (tiger), and Jamen (bear). If you count the Chesty Lion in the middle, it's enough to make you want to say, "Oh my!"