The Life of Riley

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Back like the McRib

Well fancy running into you here.

I know I have been distant for a while. Quite a long while actually.

Much like the McRib to OC McDonalds, I hope that my return to blogging is met with similar excitement.

Over the past few months I have:

• purchased my first home
• been back home to Texas twice
• become the last remaining single member of my team at work
• inherited the most kick ass computer at work
• joined a new church
• expired the warranty on my car
• furnished said home with furniture
• spent too many hours at Panera
• started watching Mad Men
• discovered the coolest new service that allows me to never shop for clothes in a store again

So what would you like to hear about first? How my new place.

My first decision was decided on what city I wanted to live in. I narrowed it down to Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, and Aliso Viejo. Here is the breakdown.

So, after months and month and looking all kinds of condos, one of which was a pot grow house. That was an interesting one. I ended up landing on Aliso Viejo. I liked the young community, location, proximity to the beach, freeway/toll road access, and it seemed a bit out of the busyness of Orange County. There are ton a running and hiking trails. I loved it. So, I found a place and here it is:

I am so thankful for it. Come over anytime! The door's always open unless it's closed. Then just ring the doorbell.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Flying Solo

As I was reading through my blog reel this morning, I ran across this interesting article on AdAge on how marketing and advertising to singles has shifted in the past few years. It really got me thinking how drastically the number of married people in this age range has decreased since 2000...not since the 60s...but the year 2000! Wonder why that is? I'm not saying it's bad or negative, in a lot of ways I think it's great. I mean, I am contributing to this drastic shift myself.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

What I learned at my 10-year reunion

About a 3 months ago I had my 10-year high school reunion back in Hereford, TX.

Hereford's cool. It's the most relaxing place for me to go. When I go back, all I do is hang with my family, eat at Sonic, and walk my parent's dog. That's about it.

The reunion was fun. I mean how can a rodeo arena with beer-filled livestock feeding troughs and about 80 classmates trying to figure out how to impress people they see every ten years not be fun?! Seriously.

I had a ton of fun catching up with people I hadn't seen in a decade.

If I had a scanner I would have scanned picture of what I looked like in high school. But just for your imagination, picture an acne-stricken face, about 30 pounds lighter, Tommy Hilfiger from head to toe, and a rad braided leather belt at all times.

So here's what I learned/noticed from my reunion weekend:

• 10 years goes by really quick when you think about it. Really fast. I hope life slows down a bit.

• Everyone is "best friends" after 10 years. I mean, there were people I don't know if I ever talked to in high school and all of the sudden we were chumming it up like old pals.

• Tommy Hilfiger and Doc Martin's aren't timeless.

• You can get a lot better looking in ten years.

• You can get a lot worse looking in ten years.

• Thanks to Accutane, my looks dramatically changed since my senior year of high school.

• It's quickly evident who has faced their high school insecurities and dealt with them...and even more obvious who hasn't.

• It's way better to not peak in high school. WAY better. i would go as far as to say it's better to not be popular in high school. It gives you a false sense of reality.

• Why did I care so much about impressing people in high school or hanging out with cool people? Sucks I didn't realize it then.

• Ten years of unresolved bitterness doesn't look good on anyone.

• After high school, it's important to surround yourself with quick-witted people in life. They rub off on you and make you sharper.

• Having kids makes you a more joyful and content person. I was like 1 or 3 people at the reunion without kids. It was really cool to see friends interact with their kids...and curiously, some of them had a lot of kids! A lot more than I thought was physically possible in ten years for sure.

• The people you most want to be around are the ones who don't care what others think.

• Post reunion, you remember who seemed the happiest, not who looked the best.

• Not being the most popular in high school makes it really easy to exceed everyone's expectation after 10 years

• I would 100% go back and do high school all over again.