If this is your first time to the Puzzle Box Top, thanks for stopping by! Click on one of the following links to find out more about the blog, or continue on down the page to find our latest content. Feel free to utilize the Forward and Back buttons in your browser if you would like. This site should function correctly with them.

Click here to read our very first post, fittingly titled Under Construction!

Click here for the concise version of the meaning behind our blog title

Click here for an unabridged and exhaustive (exhausting?) iteration of the previous link

Click here for our tongue-in-cheek attempt at "the fine print."

No, we are not relocating physically, but we are moving to a new location on the information superhighway! As I continue to work on organizing and consolidating our digital lives, we have made the decision to take a page (literally) from the 90's and move from a blog to a personal website. There will be some work to get it up and running, but I'm looking forward (as time and schedule allow) to getting settled in our new digital home. This mirrors another change at home as well, namely that we are setting up a "home computer" instead of each of us having our own computers. (Not to say I am getting rid of my computers, but we are consolidating onto one main computer for the majority of our computing time.)

For anyone interested in looking at the site of our future digital domicile, you can CLICK HERE to visit L19.org.

March began on a Saturday with breakfast with a couple of friends from church, Russ and Driel. After breakfast, Laurel and I headed down to a local river walk and I tried out my latest camera acquisition, a Nikon CoolPix P950. I shot over 300 pictures and enjoyed the chance to take it on its maiden voyage. After that we stayed in town and puttered around in the various stores, hitting up some of our favorites. That evening our neighbor gave us three fresh trout!

I have been slowly easing back into jogging, gradually increasing the length of the runs. I've only gotten to about 2.5 miles so far, but to be fair we have been busy and the weather this time of year in the valley can be quite unpredictable. For instance, this past Wednesday I believe we were in the low 70's, but today we woke up to an inch or two of snow on the ground!

March saw us back at a restaurant we haven't been to in a very long time. There has been an IHOP here in the valley ever since I moved here, and I have been to it from time to time, but it had been a good number of years since I'd last eaten there, and Laurel hadn't ever eaten there...at least not at our local one. As we are always looking for options for a quick cup of coffee and maybe something to eat on Wednesday evenings after prayer and Bible study at church, we tried it out with our friends the Schallenbergers. It actually turned out to be pretty good and we've been back a couple of times since then.

The first week in March saw a headlight out on my Fiat 500, which I subsequently changed out. Thanks to a YouTube video or two, I knew exactly how to do it before I ever opened the hood!

One of the fun events that Laurel especially enjoyed was a concernt here in town. Laurel and her siblings had grown up with Paul Overstreet music, so when we saw he was coming to town, we got some tickets. It was held at the event center at our local fairgrounds and we were joined by Laurel's older sister and brother. I had never heard Paul Overstreet before, except for a CD or two that Laurel put on at the house from time to time. He did a good job and it was fun to find out how many songs he had written or helped write that I was familiar with. Of course Laurel and her siblings enjoyed the walk down memory lane as well!

Having been tapping into my fun money a bit this month, I followed up the camera purchase with a case, extra battery, and a wall charger. Also arriving this month was a watch from the brand Armitron. I hadn't been planning on adding another watch to my collection necessarily, but I have been really looking into square watches, especially the designs put out by Cartier with their Santos line. The Armitron Titan uses a similar form factor and has actually become one of my favorite watches. It now demands most of my wrist time, to the chagrin of the other watches in my collection!

Our Pastor's son works at a place called JDawgs, a restaurant specializing in hotdogs. There was an unofficial "record" set by one of Wesley's co-workers when he ate four of their hotdogs at one time. I decided to attempt to set another unofficial "record" there, so on the 7th, Laurel and I headed to JDawgs. Our Pastor showed up, along with Schallenbergers, and several more from church. It ended up being a lot of fun. Not to set the bar too high, I ate three "double-barrels" or six hot dogs in three buns. After that we headed next door to ColdStone and finished up with some ice cream.

March 14th wasn't really on my radar until Laurel came along. Being the math geek that she is, Pi Day (3.14) has become an annual celebration now. Thankfully the emphasis leans heavily on the culinary side and much lighter on the mathematical one. This time we ended up at Kneaders Bakery and enjoyed a slice or two!

Last week, Laurel's folks came up to look at some houses in the valley. Dick is looking at retirement and they are pursuing the possibility of moving up here. They stayed here with us and it was good to catch up with them, even for a short while. They were able to see four houses and discuss them with their realtor...who happens to be the same agent that we worked with for our last two houses!

This last week also saw us celebrate Laurel's birthday. We both took the 27th and 28th off of work. Thursday saw us hitting up our favorite stores, shops, and eateries in Logan. Friday found us down in Salt Lake. After grabbing breakfast at a restaurant called Eggsburgh (highly recommended if you are in the area), we headed over to City Creek Mall and spent several enjoyable hours just wandering, looking, and chatting. During our time down there, we visited a local jewelry store which happened to be an authorized dealer for a few higher-end watches. It was fun to actually see these in person instead of just online. Laurel and I both found ones we liked, but we didn't make any purchases.

Another thing that has come up this past month is a new interest for me. This past December, while we were down at Laurel's folks' place, my nephews and my sister-in-law's husband were playing a game called Minecraft. I had been aware of the game for quite a while, but had never looked into it. After being told by several folks, including my sister, that I would probably enjoy it, I started looking a little more into it. On the 22nd we went over to my sister-in-law's and her husband and I talked all things Minecraft. I had a lot of questions which he was able to answer and to show me in the game. To make a long story short, I think I've gotten hooked! Currently I am playing an open-source version called Luanti, and am having a ball just exploring different worlds and discovering all kinds of fun things. I actually have only done a very little actual mining or building in the game as I have been so distracted by the scenery!

Church has been going well. In Sunday School I finished up chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians and we've made a start into chapter 6. Laurel has been enjoying teaching the children's Sunday School class as well. While not a "March-themed" subject, Laurel will have an opportunity in the near future to speak at a ladies' function hosted by the church she grew up in. Currently it sounds like there are over 70 ladies that will be attending, including a couple from our church.

Well, let's call that a wrap for this month. As you can see, I'm trying out a new idea here of summarizing the previous month in a post, rather than multiple posts throughout the month. I feel like this might fit better into my personal workflow and be easier to manage as well!

Here it is, the 24th of February as I write the first post for this month. What a month it has been! For starters, Laurel's sister Aubrie was diagnosed with a disease that attacked her nervous system. After a stay in the hospital and at the University of Utah for rehab, she is now back home and doing better. She gets exhausted very easily, and is having to retrain herself to do things like write and play the piano. However, compared to what could have been, we are all thankful for God's mercy and grace extended to her.

Just a week before going into the hospital, Aubrie had been given a 6-month old Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Jazmine (yes, spelled like that). Since Aubrie was in the hospital and wasn't able to take care of her during that time, Laurel and I became dog-sitters for a couple of weeks. Truth be told, Jazmine fit right in with our existing fur babies and she was fun to have around the house. Jaz, Jazzy, or Jazira has been missed since going back to stay with Aubrie.

This month brings us to the year mark since my Dad went home to be with the Lord. Obviously we miss him, but are so glad that he is with the God that created him, saved him, and sanctified him. The memories are treasured for sure...and it is a delight to look back on his life and all that God did in and through him!

Our winter here in the valley has been a very mild one, so we didn't know if we were going to get any significant snow accumulation or not. Well, February has turned out to be quite a hodge-podge of different weather conditions. On the 4th, we hit a high of 63 degrees. On the 13th, it was 10 degrees on the way to work. That evening we got between 8 to 10 inches of snow!

The company Laurel works for recognizes President's Day as a paid holiday, so I took the day off as well and we celebrated Valentine's that evening instead of on the 14th. We went to the restaurant where we went on our first Valentine's, and had a great meal and date!

That week found me ordering a new camera (should be arriving tomorrow!), and getting our taxes filed. I love the feeling of getting that taken care of, especially when it can be done earlier rather than later.

The month isn't quite over yet, so who knows...maybe I will have more to post about in the days ahead. Please reach out and let us know how your year is progressing.