From the category archives:

my life

Where have I been

by jltitus on February 1, 2010

Just a quick post to let you know I’m still alive. This last weekend Eric and I were up in Port Angeles for a family thing. I’ll write more about it this week. I just wanted to drop a line and let you know I’m still here.

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New Years post

by jltitus on January 4, 2010

It’s a new year and so of course that means making resolutions for the year that for me, usually mean I’ll break. Actually, I like to think of them as goals more than resolutions. This year I have a lot of them and I’m hoping that I can reach most of them. I’ve broken the list into a few categories.

Warning: This is a long post.

Health & Wellness

  1. Eat more vegetables and fish… less meat and chicken.
    I have eaten way WAY too much junk over the holidays and have never been good about eating enough veggies each day. I’m hoping this year I’ll turn over a new leaf and eat more veggies and fish. I even ordered some new recipe books from Amazon to inspire me. Eric is up to the challenge as well. He loved using the Epicurious iPhone app to find new recipes to try. I’m hoping that at least once a week I can get a recipe posted that we’ve tried.
  2. Exercise for 30-45 minutes at least three times a week.
    Ahh… the elusive exercise. This spring and summer I did really well exercising and lost some weight. Of course with winter comes the rain and who wants to run in the rain? Not me and NOT my dogs. So exercise has been a bit elusive for me lately because of the weather and well, I’ve just been crazy busy at work. So this year I’m hoping to break that and get to getting. My mother-in-law, Julie bought me the Biggest Looser game for the  Wii. It was on my Amazon wish list. In any case I now have the Wii set up in my studio and have committed to exercising and playing that game. I’ve just started and let me tell you, it kick my bootie. Here’s to removed those unwanted pounds for good.
  3. Walk the dogs three times a week.
    I’m a bad owner. I’m so terrible about taking my dogs for a walk and getting them outside it’s not even funny. Baylee is a little round and well, Kona will never be fat because she’s got the Jack (Crack) Russell in her. So I’m going to get them out and walk them three times a week. Maybe once a month or so I’ll take them to the winery to run. They love it there. I try to take them to the dog park but they get overwhelmed by the super big dogs and just won’t do much so, walking it is. I’m hoping I can get my lazy self up tomorrow and take them. Maybe Eric will join me?

Personal improvements

  1. No more than 2 hours or TV or electrical entertainment a day.
    I think I’m a certified couch potato. Most of the time Eric and I do the same thing every day when we each get home. Plop in front of the TV and watch whatever is on or what we’ve got on the DVR until it’s time to go to bed. Go to bed and in some cases watch TV until midnight for no other reason than because it’s there. I have a stack of books, both professional and fun, that I’d like to read but haven’t had the time because I’m parked in front of the TV.  This year that changes. This year I’m only allowing myself two hours of TV or electronic entertainment a day. With any luck I’ll reduce even that. Tonight Eric is watching some football game so I’m upstairs reading and writing. I thought I’d be bored to tears but I have to say, I REALLY enjoy the quiet time. I like being able to collect my thoughts and write them down. I just like not having the blare of the TV. Tonight I only watched 30 minutes of TV and I have to say, that was enough for me. I’m feeling good about this one and hoping to continue it all year-long.
  2. Read at least 2 books a month
    Again, I haven’t had, or made, a lot of time to read. I enjoy reading but I’m not a fast reader so it takes me a while to read anything. This year I’m hoping to read 24 books over the year, that’s about 2 books a month. I’m really looking forward to this one as I have several books to read. My “To Read” pile is HUGE, like 40+ books and that doesn’t include the ones on my Kindle. I need to get reading!
  3. Try to blog once a week
    This one is here because I’m a bad blogger. I don’t feel the need to HAVE to blog but I want to blog. I often use my blogs to capture events that I later scrapbook. Some of my friends and family read my blog to keep up on things Eric and I are doing or have done. Note: I’m terrible about emailing people about what I’m up to. So I’m hoping to post a blog every week. They might be about thing I’ve read, things I’m doing, scrapbooky stuff, cooking, who knows.. but I’m going to try. If nothing else it will be a great way of me to improve my writing.

Home & Finance

  1. Focus on one room a month to “super” clean and organize.
    Ahh… the elusive organization. OK, I’m an organized person. My house is pretty organized too but there are pockets of “junk” and clutter that need to go. In the past I’ve tried spring cleaning but that has ended up in the “junk” moving from one location to another. So this year, with the help of a book bought, One Year to an Organized Life, I’m going to tackle one room a month and clean it from top to bottom and organize everything in it. I’ll Craig’s List what I can and then donate the rest. By the end of this year I want the house it tip-top shape. We’ve just got too much stuff that we don’t use or need around here. I’ve even wrangled Eric into this goal. If we meet the goal for the month, we get to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out. I’ve actually already started. This month is my studio/office. Over New Years I took up the carpet and padding, painted the floor with porch paint and as I started putting things back in the room I purged my stuff. Now there’s a big pile of stuff on the ping-pong table in the garage waiting for Craig’s List. I have to say it feels great to have that room almost done.
  2. Stick to our budget
    Eric and I are not good at budgeting. I mean we can plan a budget but it’s the sticking to it that we’re not good at. This year we’re going to really try to stick to it. Our goal is to be debt free, except the mortgage, student loan, and car payment, by the end of this year. That means some belt-tightening and sticking to a budget. We can do it I’m sure we’ve just been lazy.
  3. Pay bills on time and together
    This has been an interesting one for us. Paying bills I mean. When we were first married I paid all the bills and kept the finances going. Early last year I couldn’t take it any more and just dumped it all in Eric’s lap to deal with. He has a different style that I do, like keeping the balance in his head rather than using something like Quicken or something to do that. he also doesn’t reconcile the account each month. Those things started driving me crazy so we sat down and wrote up our budget and then I made an Excel sheet with a column for each pay check we’ll get for the year. I then identified what we will pay with which paycheck. Now when Eric gets paid he knows what bills he has to pay and when I get paid I know what bills I need to pay. We also moved from Quicken to iFinance because it’s a Mac application and has an iPhone app that allows you to sync with your Mac so we can always know how we’re doing.
  4. Increase 401K
    I’m getting older, hit 40 in 2009… that means retirement is closer. When I retire I want to be able to live the way I do now, maybe better so it’ time to throw more money in the 401K. I’m thinking whatever raise I get this year will go right into the 401K.
  5. No credit card charges
    To meet our debt free goal by the end of this year that means no more charges on the credit cards. When we have them paid off I’ll be so happy. This month we’ve gotten two paid off already. Now we just have a little more left to go. I’m going to SO do the happy dance when we get there.

So here’s to a new year, new goals, and a great future ahead. I hope your year is starting out well too.

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WineCampPDX planning meeting

by jltitus on October 5, 2009

Wow, I’m so excited to see so many people interested in the idea of a WineCamp here in Portland, Oregon! In little more than a week 23 people have entered their email to be notified of WineCampPDX news. That’s pretty impressive.

It’s obvious that there is a lot of interest in WineCampPDX. The next natural step is to get those interested in planning the event together.

Those that completed the subscription form on the September post should have an invitation to the planning meeting October 13th.

If you want to attend, but don’t have an invite, please email me, Jona Titus, at jonatitus@winecamppdx.com or tweet @winecamppdx /or @jltitus on Twitter.

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Wordcamp PDX- day one

by jltitus on September 20, 2009

Today was day one of WordCamp PDX and let me just say.. it was AWESOME! I attended last year and really enjoyed myself. This year was even better. I couldn’t believe all the people there. There were WAY more than last year.

Here’s a summary video.. or you can read below. Note that the video isn’t that great because I did it right into YouTube (Won’t be doing that again).

Jason Grigsby – Speed Up Wordpress. Make Readers Happy and Your Site Green

The talk was very interesting and really made me think. Jason pointed out that since 2003 web page size has tripled and the number of objects on the page has doubled. Now that may not sound like that big o a deal but what I also learned was that this increase means more servers and more servers means more energy usage. I can’t remember the exact numbers but I remember Jason saying something like the amount of power used by the increase of servers can power all of Mississippi for a day. I’m sure I got that wrong, but it was something like that. I have to say I was blown away. I mean I just never made that connections. Jason went on to show us how to optimize a site and reduce the energy load that it’s using. Basically how to minimize the server drain and optimize the site. It was so neat! After seeing this presentation I’m going to optimize my site in the next couple of weeks and share the information with other bloggers in hopes that they too can help decrease the footprint on the environment.

Cami Kaos / Dr. Normal – Bondage: How to be your podcast’s Dom, not its Sub

The next presentation was by Cami Kaos and Dr. Normal. They share with us all about podcasting and things to consider when starting your own podcast. I think the biggest challenge for me would be to be consistent with it. They do such an amazing job of bringing great guests on the show. I love it.

Matt Mullenweg – WordPress Q&A

Matt Mullenweg was the next presenter. His session was more of a Q&A session with people asking hims all sorts of questions.  It was interesting to hear the questions but also to hear his thoughts on WordPress. I also learned that you can post a blog posting from MS Word.  Interesting stuff!

Shayne Sanderson – WPMU and Ecommerce

Shayne talked about WPMU and ecommerce and how to monitize your blog and start selling things. He did a great job discussing ecommerce and the plugin for WP that helps with that. I think the bummer was that the wifi wasn’t cooperating and so that made it hard but he was a trooper.

Unconference topic – Using Wordpress as a CMS

I have to say this was interesting too.  Not just because it was a non-conference topic but what began as a “how do you use WP as a CMS” really turned into what plugins do you us that help make WP a CMS. I loved the conversation and the recommendation of plugins I now have a TON of plugins to research and see if they could help in my blog(s). Thanks for the great conversation and ideas!

Tyler Sticka – WordPress-Powered Portfolios

Tyler was the last presentation of the day. I think it couldn’t have been better timed. I loved the topic of using WP for Portfolios. I really liked the fact that Tyler didn’t use bullet points in a presentation but used sketches to convey what he wanted to say. It was so nice and refreshing. He got me thinking about reposting my portfolio of ISD work and other things that I do. I really like Tyler’s website and how he has it arranged. I think I’m going to have to look at it more closely and see what I want to do with mine.

Now that I’ve attended the first day I have a HUGE list of things to look at. I thoughts I’d get them down here in case I lose my notes or someone has more to add.

List of things to check out now

  • Gzip
  • Sprite Me
  • PHP Speedy plugin
  • Podcaster iPhone app
  • Podpress
  • blip.tv
  • intensedebate plugin
  • sitepoint.com
  • wordpress.org/showcase
  • wordcamped
  • wordpressme.org
  • wordpress.tv
  • bluelimemedia
  • exclude pages plugin
  • page mash plugin
  • flexi page
  • custom post templates
  • wiki plugin?
  • more fields plugin
  • flutter
  • pods plugin
  • customize post listing plugin
  • multilevel navigation plugin
  • breadcrumbs plugin
  • roles and responsibilities plugin
  • advanced category excluder plugin


Final Thoughts

Today ROCKED! I can’t wait for tomorrow. I also got spurred on by the conversations and things. I’m now thinking about working with those that are interested to start blog/site for corp training, informal learning etc. I think it could be really cool. Bring together “training” people and “techie” people. If you’re reading this and interested, DM me on Twitter (@jltitus) and let me know.

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Update on life

by jltitus on September 19, 2009

What does one do when you don’t want to write but you want to let people know what you’re up to? Vlog about it.  Hope you enjoy!

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Changing a tire

by jltitus on September 5, 2009

Here’s a little vlog about me, Eric, and the joy of changing a tire.

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Relay for Life

by jltitus on August 9, 2009

For the last three years I’ve been taking about a week off the end of July and heading to Othello, Washington (my home town). I go and hang out with my mom, visit with friends, and just enjoy being there for a time. This time was no exception.

DSC01060 I got to visit my friend Cyndee and her family. She and I had a great girls day in Tri-Cities while Ryan and Daniel went to the Puz’s so Daniel could play with his friend. Cyndee and I went to Tri-Cities and got a pedicures. It was so much fun. It’s not often that I get pedicures so it was a nice treat.

I think after that we ran around to a few other places and then headed back to Connell to work on dinner. Once we got back to Connell Cyndee and I chilled and chatted about everything from what’s she’s doing now, to old teachers we’ve worked with, and more. I miss being closer and visiting her more. I’m so glad she’s lovig her job and working in Connell. It’s great too that Ryan is working there iin town too, so much better than the trips to Walla Walla.

We ended up  BBQing for the night. It was so much fun! DSC01061 Cyndee was running the grill while Daniel and I were playing on his swing set, trampoline and soccer. Daniel is such a cutie pie and so full of energy. After dinner we headed to the pool so Daniel could go swimming. I decided I wasn’t going to goo swimming so no suit for me. I was so  surprised with Dainel. He’s walk up the four flights of stairs to the top of the slide. He’d then slide down. I couldn’t believe it. he’s only 5 years old and he just does it by himself. I would be totally freaked out if that were me. He’s just fearless! It was an awesome visit! Now I just need to convince Cyndee to bring Daniel down here for a visit. I think he’d love the Children’s Museum, the Zoo, and OMSI.

Friday July 24th was the annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life. I’ve been going every year for the last three years. Our team is a bunch of  teachers, friends, and family. I love the relay it’s such a great community event. Othello is a small town, about 6K, with a lot of heart. There are so many people that come out for this event every year. I’m always surprised at how many come out. I think we started out about 7pm with a few words from people that have survived cancer. One of those that talked this year wDSC01082as my mom’s friend, Kristi Spohr. She was actually my French teacher in high school. She did such a great job talking about her experience in finding out she had cancer. I stood there listening to her tearing up and thinking I should really go and get my mammogram done soon. After the talks those that have survived cancer did the survivor walk. It’s the first round around the track and done  by those that have survived cancer. It’s really cool because you see a sea of purple shirts walk the track. It’s neat, and yet bitter-sweet to see all those survivors. I know so many of them too. Some are even people I’ve gone to high school with. I’m so glad they’re survivors.

Every year we raise money and every year we try to do better than the last year. This year we raised $1,700 from our team, the Studs and Duds. I was so happy we’d done so well. I’m always happy if we make more than 1K, maybe next year we’ll make 2K. This year was a ton of fun too because “the kids” (Alex, Cade, Drake, and Gabriella) got to spend the night with us. I think they had a great time! I was proud of myself too because I walked 13 miles straight in the relay. I could have walked farther but I got a blister on my foot so the last 3 miles were hard.

Once the relay was over mom and I headed home. Saturday was a day of sleeping and relaxing since we’d not slept the night before. It was so nice not to do anything. Saturday night we went out to Penny and Israel’s place to have dinner and visit with the kids. I love hanging out there with them. The kids are so full of energy and just fun to play with. Cade had recently gotten a new goat so we went out to the pasture to see his new goat and everyone else’s goat too. We also got to see the new chickens.

Monday I headed to Ellensburg to visiDSC01124t with Eric’s parents.  I think it’s so great that we have such a great relationship. I love my in-laws, they’re the best. Tuesday I got to go with Julie to her book club luncheon. It was so much fun. I love Julie’s friends. We all enjoyed a great potluck luncheon and chatted about all things from books, to movies, to computers, to potatoes. I can’t remember everyone’s names but here’s a picture of everyone in attendance at the lunch. A bunch of great ladies.

DSC01125 Later Tuesday night Greg, Hollie, Miles, and Beth came over to Bob and Jullie’s to visit and play for a while  before we headed to dinner. I can’t believe Mile’s is going into 2nd grade this year. I think Beth has one more year before she starts school. I just can’t believe how much time has flown by. It seems like just a bit ago when they lived up the street from us and we saw them more often. I really wish we saw everyone more often but that darn work just gets in the way of it all.

I had an amazing vacation! I actually extended it to include Thursday and Friday so I could spend time with Eric. I was go glad I took the time off.

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Making your own magnetic picture frame

by jltitus on August 5, 2009

My mom has these two frames in her house that are magnetic and super cool for pictures. I love the idea of having a place to share pictures with visitors and that is easy to change. I like my framed pictures but I thought this would work well and easy to change. I saw her frame and thought, “I could make that for a lot less.” So here are my directions to do, just that.

DSC00971
What you’ll need:

1  12×12 frame
1 12×12 sheet of magnetized metal
1 flour sack towel
double-side tape

Note: I got my supplies at Craft Warehouse for under $15.00

Step 1: Place double-sided tape along one side of the 12×12 metal sheet.

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Step2: Lay the 12×12 metal sheet on top of the white flour sack towel.

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Step 3: Adhere the flour sack fabric to the double-sided tape.

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Step 4: Complete steps 1-3 for each of the four sides.

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Step 5: Flip the 12×12 metal over as shown below.

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Step 6: Flip your 12×12 frame over and remove the backing.

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Step 7: Remove the glass too.

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Step 8: Place the covered metal in the frame.

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Step 9: Place the cardboard backing back on your frame.
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Step 10: Your project should look like this.
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Step 11: The final project should look like this.DSC00982

I can’t believe that it turned out so great! I can’t believe the money I saved either. The original frame, that my mom has, now costs $50.00. I spent $15.00 and about 30 minutes.

I’ve made two of these already and put them up on the wall as you come into our home. I love them because I can put new pictures there for a while. Once I’m bored with them, I print new ones and post them… the best thing is I can use the pictures for my scrapbook pages later.

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Don’t get in an accident in newberg

by jltitus on July 15, 2009

Yesterday was a long day, not only at work but on the way home. I was heading home last night, going the back way because of traffic, when Eric called me to say he’d been in a car accident. The phone call went something like this:DSC01043

Eric: Hi, I just got in a car accident.
Jona: You OK? Was it your fault?
Eric: Yeah, I’m fine. This girl just ran into me. I almost hit a fire hydrant, but I’m OK.
Jona: You want me to come pick you up?
Eric: I think I can drive the car home.
Jona: I’m on 99W already so I’ll just come where you are.
Eric: Ok, I’m on First and Lincoln in Newberg.
Jona: On my way.

So I drive there and when I get there the girl that hit him was there and another girl and guy. It looked like it was a “fender bender”. Eric got hit on the front right of his car, hopped the curb and just barely missed the fire hydrant and a metal pole. He did take out the one-way sign though. I was so glad he appeared OK.

Apparently the girl that hit Eric works for an insurance company so when she got in the accident the first thing she did was call this guy from her work and he was there in just a few minutes. I asked Eric if he’d called the police so that we had an incident number. He hadn’t so I had him call. They said the craziest thing. Apparently unless you’re hurt or your car isn’t drivable, the police don’t respond. I thought that was nuts so while Eric called our insurance company I called the police. It went something like this:

Jona: Hi, this is Jona Titus, my husband was just in an accident on first and Lincoln. Can you have an officer come so we can get and incident number for our insurance?
Dispatcher: Is anyone seriously injured, or the car un-drivable?
Jona: No.
Dispatcher: We do not respond to simple accidents. If everyone is Ok and the car is drivable just exchange information and call your insurance.
Jona: Seriously?
Dispatcher: That’s the policy of the Newberg police.
Jona: Um…. OK, I guess.

I could NOT believe it. I mean neither Eric nor the girl got any immediate medical attention because it wasn’t a “serious” accident? There was no police to take an official statement? I was so floored. It was then that I started taking pictures of everything, including the one way sign Eric hit when his car hopped the curb. Good thing I’m a scrapbooker and pack my camera everywhere. I couldnt’ help thinking how wrong the whole situation was and honestly how the city of Newberg opened itself up to liability. I mean, what about Eric and the girl and any pain they may have due to the accident? What if a person goes the wrong way on the one way street?

I was peeved to say the least at the city of Newberg.

Eric drove his car home slowly while I followed him. I was so glad I’d gone down to his accident because the though of his car having issues and breaking down on the way home was not something I would have wanted. It took a while to get home, but we made it.

I was worried… but now I’m even more worried about Eric today. I drove him to pick up the rental car this morning and then he headed to work. He worked until about noon and then went to the doctor because his neck was hurting, he couldn’t concentrate, and wasn’t feeling “right”. The doctor looked him over and told him it was a result of the accident. He’s now on some muscle relaxers, doing a lot of sleeping, and trying to feel better.

Crossing my fingers and hoping Eric feels better soon.

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Berry picking with friends

by jltitus on July 13, 2009

DSC01039Every year about this time, I go berry picking as a local farm.  I love berries, specifically I LOVE raspberries. In any case, every year I go out and pick a ton of berries so I can eat some and freeze some so in those awful, rainy winters I have some great summer berries. This year my friend Natalie came along with my neighbors, Sammy, Pla, and their cutie son Matthew. We went to West Union Gardens.

I guess this year has been slow for berries to come on, sort of like the grapes I guess. In any case, we got our bDSC01038oxes from them and were off.  I am always amazed each year just how big the farm is. We walked down past the currents and went straight for the raspberries.  I picked one row, Natalie another, and Sammy and Pla took the row behind me. I was picking and eating and picking and eating. Ok, did I tell you I love raspberries? As we picked Sammy, Pla and I talked about picking berries. I guess they’ve never done it before. This was their first time I think. Matthew loved it. He’d pick a berry and eat it, dig in the dirt with a small stick, and then pick another berry. What a cutie! So we were picking along and my box got about half full when Natalie and I decided to head to the Marionberries. I guess her husband, also named Eric, loves them. So we went picking while Sammy, Pla, and Matthew continued on and walked around. I picked over a half a flat of Marionberries and realized I had no way to carry any more with me and I wanted to get blueberries. I went over to the blueberries and started picking. The blueberries weren’t ready. There was like one ripe one per bushel. So I decided to stop…. that’s when I lost steam. I mean we’d only been picking for about 2 hours but I was done. Ready to pack it in. That’s about the time Sammy and Pla did too… and Natalie wasn’t far behind.

I ended up with a flat and a half of berries. I could have had more if I wouldn’t have lost steam. I’m going to get back there on Saturday for a “super” run and get several flats and call it good.  So I came home with all the berries and was thinking about what to do with them. Well, I washed half and stuck them in the freezer and the other half went in this great fruit crisp I made for dessert that we’d eat when Sammy, Pla, and Matthew came over later for a BBQ. I love my recipe. I think I love it because a lot of crisps don’t have oatmeal and that’s one thing I love.

So here’s the recipe (Just for you Pla.)

Jona’s Fruit Crisp

IngredientsDSC01042

Fruit (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 cup flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 – 3/4 cup of butter

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready an un-buttered 13×9 pan.

Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Scatter the topping evenly overs the fruit. Tap the dish on the counter once or twice to settle the crumbs. Bake for 30-50 minutes until the toping is golden brown, the juices are bubbling, and the fruit is tender. Serve with ice cream.

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