The Pines at Genesee

The folks at The Pines at Genesee came to me with the need to update their site with something that was easier to update.  They had taken a shot at this with a Flash-based site, but soon learned that being in Flash would keep the site from being indexed by search engines.

Working off the design they already had developed in Flash I copied the look they were going for into a content management system (CMS).  When setting up these types of sites I lean towards using the open source CMS called Drupal.  This system provides a modular approach to building a website's look and functionality.  Thus while a site can start as a blog which is easily updateable by average computer users, additional modules can be added to increase the functionality (e.g. for forums, picture galleries, form submissions, etc.).  This flexibility allowed me to add in the randomly rotating images seen on many of the pages.

I believe people should be able to have nice looking sites that they can update without having to learn HTML or Dreamweaver.  I think this site exemplifies that philosophy.

Graduated!

Well, it's been very busy these past two weeks, mostly with celebrations.  First there was Erin's celebration with her friends who had finished teaching another year of high school.  That same weekend we took a very nice walk along Bear Creek in Lakewood followed by a very lucky find. 

I found a Chinese food place near where we were walking, but at 8pm as we pulled into the parking lot Erin was looking pretty skeptical (with a bar/pool hall on one side and tattoo parlor on the other).  However, when we got inside Erin saw on the menu a dish that she remembered loving when she was younger (sesame pockets) and explained that the place that served it had gone out of business.  We really enjoyed the meal and as we were leaving Erin took another look at the sign (Golden Plate II) and exclaimed that the place she had gone to before was titled, "Golden Plate."  We followed up our fortuitous discovery with a movie completing an all-around good night.

I spent most of the rest of last week finishing up papers for classes and preparing for my one final.  But those didn't keep me from flying out to California for my friend's wedding.  It was a crazy, fun weekend as I got to see my friends.  Erin had her own wedding reception to go to over the weekend so we were able to compare notes for our own wedding when we got back together on Sunday.  With a final push Sunday night I also finished my papers finishing that class the following morning.

With the completion of the final for my other class last night I was done.  My friends Brian and Neil and I went out to celebrate downtown.  It was a good night as we also scoped out potential night clubs for the bachelor party in a few weeks.  The busyness just seemed to continue this morning as we got up, had breakfast, and Brian and I got our tuxes for our respective commendation ceremonies.

It feels nice to have classes over after the work of the past two years.  I don't know if I've felt true relief though as there are many other things to plan now.  I think Erin feels the same way.  We're both looking forward to the time when we can relax without needing to make more plans...at least for a while.

Engagement Photos posted

Some of the photos from our engagement photo shoot are up on the photographer's page here:

http://www.susanpacekphotography.com/blog/

Grasshoppers, Snakes, and Diabetic dogs

Well, another busy week and another week closer to graduation/moving/getting married.  Aside from a wonderful afternoon out by the pool on Tuesday the week has been filled with school reading and web projects.  This weekend has been much more exciting.

Yesterday Erin and I met with our wedding photographer for and engagement photo session up at Red Rocks.  We had already rescheduled twice and were afraid the weather wouldn't cooperate again, but we were pleasantly surprised.  In the late evening setting sun our photographer had us take different poses throughout the park.  While Erin did get a little burnt on the motorcycle tailpipes it was a fun outing.

Today we continued to enjoy the sunshine as we took a hike up Green Mountain just West of Denver.  We got some great views of the city and the mountains.  There was quite a lot of interesting wildlife on the trail as well.  The grasshoppers were buzzing around our feet and the views were so gorgeous that I didn't see a snake until it leapt up to almost bite me.

Fortunately, we later learned that it was a bull snake and non-venemous.  Still, it certainly made us more careful about where we stepped.

Even before we saw the snake we were greeted with an interesting site as a woman was carrying a large dog down the trail on her shoulders.  She asked us if we had any candy or sweets as the dog was diabetic and hadn't gotten enough sugar before they left out.  Erin was able to give the dog some of her vitamin water which seemed to get it up and walking again so the lady could continue down the trail.

All in all it was a pretty exciting hike and we agreed much better than going to the gym.  But now it's time to prepare for next week and all the work that still needs to be done.

Life in 3D

Well, life keeps barreling on in all of its multiple dimensions.

School stays interesting as I pass the mid-term mark, but I'm looking forward to the day when it's over.  It has been rewarding being the president of the Association for International Management and I'm glad to be handing it off to some enthusiastic students.

Work has been picking up lately with two new projects.  It's times like these when work is at just the right level (not too much, not too little) that I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing.  I really enjoy the freedom available as a freelance developer and hope that it will always be available.

The wedding plans continue to shape up.  Erin and I now both have our wedding rings after a long process.  Our jeweler has been wonderful, though a little eccentric at times.  We've also gotten most of our ceremony finalized with just a few details to work out.  It wasn't the easiest of processes to put together, but like the rings it is an expression of our hearts and I hope we'll look back at each experience as being worth the difficulties.

Through it all we continue to have fun and try not to take things too seriously.  We just got back from watching Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D which was a fun (though goofy) film.  We also had a wonderful time spending the day celebrating mother's day with Erin's family.

All of these things have been possible because of my mom and I am grateful for all the support she has given.  Happy Mothers Day.

Phipps Mansion Reception

I haven't been keeping up as well this quarter with the blog as I was last quarter.  I guess a full day of classes on Monday (when I usually wrote) is to blame.  It's certainly not for lack of events to write about.  Two weeks ago I got to go snowboarding with my friend Andrew up in Breckenridge.  The snow was very slushy, but we had a great time.  Of course, that week ended in true Colorado fashion with a heavy, wet blizzard.

That week also found me very involved with determining next year's leadership for the international management club I lead at school.  While there was very little turnout at the meeting I called a number of people got in touch with me over the week to let me know they were interested in leading the club.  For a while I had been stressed about what would happen to the club next year, but now I can see that it will be in good hands.

So as the blizzard passed and my worries about the club melted like so much Spring snow I was able to take my motorcycle out to get a tune-up and enjoy a warm sunny day this past Tuesday.  Of course my reverie passed quickly as Wednesday found me in work meetings and a doctor's appointment (all good) all afternoon followed by a midterm in International Business Law that night (easily completed).

Of course the wedding planning keeps chugging along as Erin and I got all the pieces for our invitations, put them together, and sent them out Saturday morning.  I think people are going to like the way they look.  We're also starting to get our ceremony finalized and sounding very nice as well.

The highlight though for this past week has been a visit to the Phipps Mansion here in Denver for an annual IMBA alumni reception.  Erin had never been before so it was nice to get all dressed up and show it off to her.

Well, I have more reading for school to do before we head out to enjoy a picnic on this beautiful sunny day while it still lasts.

The Easters

Well, the last two weeks have been very busy.  It seems like many of the weekends that Erin and I share these days are taken up by wedding planning.  Last week we went to our fourth and final cupcake tasting.  We've gotten to try a lot of cake, but scheduling and going to all of these places was one of our more drawn-out decisions.  We're happy to have chosen the Colorado Rose Cake Company to make our cupcakes with the flavors of chocolate with chocolate ganache frosting, butter pecan with a buttermilk frosting, and amaretto with buttermilk frosting. 

Fortunately our invitations were much easier and we finalized our decisions on those last week as well.  This weekend we were at it again as my best man, Brian, and I went to view tuxes.  Fortunately we were prepared with the bridesmaid's dress and my tux so that everything went very smoothly.  I just hope it goes as smoothly when we all go to pick them up.

Amongst all the wedding planning though was a lot of good food and good times with family over Easter.  Erin and I were lucky to experience two Easters this year starting at my aunt and uncle's in Littleton.  It was wonderful to see my aunt and uncle and share in their hospitality with my aunt's family.  The joy continued as Erin and I went to her parents and experienced all the food and family again.  By the end of the day we were both stuffed and needed to walk off all the food. 

I'm glad that we're lucky enough to have such caring families and that we're able to share this time with them.