Yard Work

Finally had a weekend at home... no trips, no weekend work, no Beta projects, no conference calls... nothing but just being home and having fun. Heather was on gone and Friday and Saturday so I had some good guy time. Ordered hot wings for dinner, I went to the Tire Rack to watch the finale of the One Lap of America race. I got to watch the Nissan GTR compete despite the freezing cold. Then I ran some errands, enjoyed some basketball and just relaxed.

Sunday, in honor of Mother's Day I did yard work. Growing up we always bought my mom flowers and helped her plant them for Mother's Day. This year I can't be around my mother, so Heather and I spent most of the day in the yard together. Our backyard is a mess of a jungle so we ignored that and we worked on the manageable front lawn, bushes, and landscaping. We have been pleasantly surprised a lot this spring as our flowers and plants have grown in nicely.

Don't even know what this is... but it was purple and cool.

Heather loves daffodils and we had TONS of them.

Memories of Holland, MI... Tulips.

I need to start learning the names of our flowers... no clue.

We have several flowering bushes around the house as well.

These Lilac bushes are especially nice and smell great.

Well keeping up our huge yard is a lot of work. We bought a lawn mower, hedge trimmer, weed whacker, and lots of chemicals for killing dandelions! The worst part is all the leaves... in the fall my dad and I bagged 22 bags (30 gallon/50 pound bags), this spring I did 12 more, and this weekend another 14 bags! In pounds that is 2400! Wow...

The bags and bags and bags...

The hard work is paying off... at least in the front yard.

Hopefully we will tackle the back yard soon. I am hoping this summer Novali will enjoy some gardening with Heather and I. Maybe we can grow our own tomatoes! We will see...

Traveling

I just got back from Washington DC for a conference. It was nice on Saturday when Andres and Miguel came down and visited. We walked around a bit and had a late lunch together and caught up.  They even got to see me in action as we walked by a young lady with a flat tire. I sprang into car mode and changed her tire in less than 10 minutes. Andres took a picture and Miguel posted it on Twitter so it was a team activity.  The conference was pretty busy but on breaks I finally was able to post pictures from Novali's birthday. I have been trying to post more often but it is difficult. Maybe now that I am on twitter it will push me more to blog and then post the link. I am on the road a lot the next few weeks but once May hits it will slow down.  This upcoming weekend not only are we having guests at our house... BUT... I am an instructor for Tire Rack Street Survival school on Saturday and on Sunday off to Northeastern University for some consulting. The weekend after that I am off to San Diego for a board meeting. I have never been to San Diego so I am looking forward to that trip. After that life will slow down a little bit... at least I hope!  Aside from traveling the next couple weeks I will be busy with yard work and other projects around the house. There is so much to do and so little time lately. Not to mention that this is a super busy time at work for me, April is always hectic with end of the year programs and graduation. It has been a great year so here is to a busy but great ending. Ciao!

Birthday Season

April is birthday month in the Centellas family. Tons of them... just in my immediate family Miguel was on the 7th and Novali and my dad on the 10th. I got to call Miguel and my dad for their birthdays and this year for Novali her birthday fell on Easter weekend. The last couple years we started a little tradition of staying downtown Chicago for Easter and visiting a different church. Two years ago we did the Moody Bible Church and last year we stayed at the Drake and visited the Fourth Presbyterian Church across from the Hancock building. (Blog: Easter Bunny) This year we got a room at Palmer House Hilton. Luckily we got upgraded to an executive floor room because on Saturday we planned a little birthday party for Novali. Andres came for the weekend and it was set to be a fun downtown adventure. We checked in early on Friday and then we walked to Millennium Park and ate at the Park Grill.

Novali and her birthday hat at the hotel.

Dancing with Tio Andres in the hotel room.

Friday night we had dinner with the Gomez family at one of Novali's favorite places, La Villa. It is a nice little italian place where we have gone for several events. She opened some gifts and we had a good time with family. Heather and I gave Novali a locket with a picture of Nono in it so now she can take him everywhere! Saturday we got ready for her party. She had 5 or 6 friends coming up to swim in the pool, eat pizza and have a fun party. Heather and Tamara set it all up. Heather made some gifts for Novali to give her guests. She met them in the hotel lobby with a party tiara and a note card to go to our room. Once everyone arrived and changed it was pool time! The kids had a good time, Andres and Heather helped entertain all the kids in the pool. We also let them get into the hot tub for just a short time... then it was pizza time! The kids ate and then Novali had brownies her mom made for her as her birthday cake.

Every kid loves a pool party.

Happy Birthday!

The party ended... and then we just enjoyed walking around downtown some more. We did some shopping, Novali asked me to buy her a fedora and she wore it around all night! It was a lot of fun and we ended the night watching High School Musical 3 in our room. Sunday was a super early morning. We found the Chicago Temple online that had sunrise services in their sky chapel. It is 400 feet above the street level and was beautiful to see. We enjoy a nice early service, some pictures at the hotel and a quick breakfast and then took short naps. Then another quick stroll around downtown and packed up.

The beautiful Methodist Chicago Temple.

In the Palmer House after church.

It was a fun weekend, and I can't wait for next year as we make plans for another cool hotel and another Easter service. I posted more photos on Novali's website: Easter/Birthday 2009.

Maybe Spring?

So really spring is being lame and not really coming all the way in yet. We have gotten into the 60s and very nice outside, and then this past Sunday it was snowing! So what is going on over here while I am waiting for the good weather? Lets give some updates.  Plants - Novali and I planted some seeds in little indoor green houses. It was supposed to take 2 to 3 weeks for the plants to grow. Well in less than two weeks the plants are coming over grown! I had to take the lid off the green houses already. I am wondering how long I can hold off planting them but the ground is still very cold. Hum...  Workout - despite the spotty warm weather I am running at home outside in our neighborhood. It is nice as I am learning the side streets around here well. I also like getting ideas for our landscaping from other houses in the area. I am working on the perfect route around for distance and avoiding all the hills. The hills makes for a scenic neighborhood, but are hard on the knees. But to answer your question, yes I am trying to work out regularly.  Work - April starts in a few short days and it is a busy work month for me. All the end of the year programs, leadership awards, student government elections, and preparing for summer orientation all hit at the same time. However the slow summer time is coming soon!   Travel - well I have five trips in 5 weeks coming up. I am off to San Francisco this weekend to a conference where I am presenting 5 workshops. While out there I am skipping over to Berkeley to do a program for them as well. Then back here for a couple days and then off to Chicago for Easter Weekend with is also Novali's birthday. It will be fun, doing a little hotel pool party and Tio Andy will be visiting also. The following weekend I head out to Washington DC for another conference. It will be nice because I hope to catch up with Andres and Miguel while out there. I want to see little (or not so little) Javi. The following weekend I am waiting to hear on a consulting trip to a Chicago area college which at this time shall not be named. Then I finish with first weekend in May in San Diego for another conference. So on the road again... and then May-August will slow down a little for me. The  House - We did some spring cleaning, raked some leaves and cleaned up the front and side yard. The backyard is a whole other story right now. So many trees and we are waiting to just see what starts to grow where as the ground warms up. I really am looking forward to landscaping and doing work around the yard. Wish me luck... So there are a few quick updates from me... Ciao!

Girl Scout Cookies

Last weekend another bonus of the nice weather was that in front of nearly every store we visited had Girl Scouts in front selling cookies. Who can say no to their cookies? Well for one, not this guy that's for sure. I got some thin mints (that I know Heather likes) and I got some Samoas (they changed the name a while ago but they will always be Samoas to me. I was pleased, felt like I was supporting a good cause and during the rest of the shopping trip was looking forward to tearing into some Samoas! Yum yum...  Well that evening, sat down after dinner to a family movie with Novali and Heather. Of course it was time to bust into the Samoas. I had one... then two... and then I had the dumb idea of wanting to read the nutrition information. I turned over the box as I was getting ready to reach for my third cookie. I started reading the nutrition information from the top. It started fairly normal, yeah only 2 cookies are a serving. Seriously... all snacks are like that, does anyone really follow that? Well then it said the calories, 140 in two cookies. Man then the news started getting worse. Then the bad news hit, 11% of your daily fat intake in two cookies! What's worse is that for saturated fat... a whopping 29% of your daily value. WOW. In two tiny cookies... no wonder they are so delicious!  Don't Girl Scouts have to get some type of health merit badge? Don't they feel bad selling these cookies to unsuspecting consumers? I mean, yeah I am still gonna finish the box, but thats the point... I think they need to come up with something else that won't make me feel bad about myself.

Roses are Red

March has arrived, we moved the clocks forward an hour, and spring weather is slowly starting to show its head. We had Novali this past weekend and it was a ton of fun doing things outside. We got her on Friday and its always fun chatting with her in the car and hearing about her day.  Saturday was a fun day and started early. Everyone got up and made breakfast... some pancakes in fun shapes. I got some pancake shapes a while back and have been waiting to use them. So we mixed some pancake batter, cooked some sausage and had a nice big breakfast. Before getting ready for the day we through in a roast that would make a delicious dinner.

Pancake shapes: Heart, Star and Bear.

Novi's bed... her cool disney pillow.

Novali made her bed and then we went shopping. It might of been her first trip to Lowe's... we went shopping for plants. We got some indoor pots to start growing some flowers early. She had a ton of fun picking out the types of flowers she wanted to plant. We decided to get a rose bush as well and try to plant that for Heather. We toured around Lowe's for a while, Heather met us out there, we went looking at patio bricks and things we could do to out big back yard. After we returned from the store we got to work outside.  There was a lot to do... Heather and I cut ivy off the front of the house and cleaned around our landscaping. Novali climbed our front tree again, dug up some worms and wanted to make them her pets. Then we started to work on the rose bush. Novali started to dig the hole as I got the top soil and tools out. We dug a hole for the roots, and then planted what we hope will be a full flowering rose bush (wish us luck).

Novali up in the tree again.

Hopefully red roses will be growing soon.

We ended the night with some delicious roast pork sandwiches and watched Tinkerbell. We relaxed and everyone went to sleep early because we were very tired from all the hard work! Sunday we slept in, and then we worked on our indoor green house. We can't plant outside until the end of April or early May. So we decided to start planting some flowers indoors. The little green houses we got hopefully we will let the flowers start to sprout indoors and once it gets nice outside we can transplant them. It was a tun weekend.  Novali got to talk to my mom and dad and also with her Tio Andy. It is great because Andres will be coming to Chicago for Easter weekend which is also her 8th birthday. Can't wait for that weekend! For more pics from the weekend go here: Spring!

What a Month

So I am very behind in my blogging... yes I am aware. It has been a very hectic month! I made a consulting trip to the Michigan Multicultural Greek Symposium at MSU for a weekend, I did a trip for my fraternity board to Dallas to help facilitate a retreat, and then I had a trip to St. Louis to present at a conference. I have been a busy bee... and on top of that had my one year evaluation at work and kicked off a busy semester. Well what's new in my life? Not much, still traveling a lot, still enjoying our big house, still having fun in South Bend, and of course still having a fun with Novali on the weekends. Heather and I had her this past weekend... It was a snow filled weekend. Unfortunately we don't get good snowman making snow here, but we braved the outdoors and tried... we didn't get far but managed the worlds smallest snow man. Novali climbed a tree and did well for a city slicker.

Our little snowman.

Climbing up the crabapple tree.

Another fun indoor trip was to the movies. We have a discount theater and they were showing the Disney movie Bolt. It's is about a girl and her cartoon dog, very good and very funny for all ages. I highly recommend it if you have not seen it yet. That ended the weekend... right now I am wrapping up Sunday night getting some work done to make the weeks work a little easier and Heather is doing laundry. I had a car club meeting this week and it is really giving me cabin fever being locked up in the house waiting for warm weather. Hopefully there won't be too many more snowy weekends before we can do things outside again... like finally use our driveway to wash cars... reminds me I need to buy a hose. Ciao!

My Momma

Well today my mom gets a year older... when growing up our family would go to Zehnder's for family style chicken. It was a tradition that lasted until I was gone to college. It was nice last year when as a family we visited Zehnder's for an ice festival and to be in Zehnder brought back cool memories.  I called my mom... they complained about the heat, and the crazy Bolivian politics... you know, the usual. My mom talked about retirement, fun swimming in the pool, forgetting her cell phone number, and those fun things that come with getting older. She has turned 60 years old... time flies, and she looks great for her age! Hopefully means good things for my future! I can't send a card cause it will get lost (ie stolen) in the mail. So my blog will have to do. Happy Birthday Mom!

The Best of the Best

I need to get some photos posted but wanted to post a news update on the Spelling Bee. It was last night and was a very cool and professional event. It was hosted by the Uno Charter Schools at one of their elementary schools. There are seven schools in the system and each school had a spelling bee to prepare for this event and sent their top speller in grades 2 through 8.  It was a cool little auditorium and the participants would sit on stage in a row. Each one would come up, get their word and try to spell it. There was a screen behind them, that as they spelled the word the judges typed it out. If they got it wrong, they were eliminated and the proper spelling of the word was put on the board. The students during round one had to come up and introduce themselves, I think Novi was the only one that didn't appear nervous. They group them into three categories. It was 2nd and 3rd graders, 4th and 5th and then 6th through 8th. So that meant that Novali would be up against 3rd graders as well. Tough challenge.  Her group had 14 students (one 2nd and 2rd grader from each school) and they went first. It was off to a good start and the words got harder and harder. Novali made it to the top 7 and the words really started to get hard. SERENDIPITY. ALFALFA. BOUTIQUE. She got some zingers right (I forget what words she spelled in early rounds) and stayed on into the top 5! That's when words got really hard. She got IGUANA. CROISSANT. GENRE. and I forget what else right... and then she made it to the top 4! Thats when the words really ramped up. I don't remember all of them, but Novali got some mega hard ones correct.  Novali was eliminated on a word I am not sure I could spell had I not seen it on her spelling sheet. QUICHE. Unlike others though when they didn't know a word; she thought about it, was poised, and then spelled it phonetically as best she could. She turned around and waited to see the correct spelling and then took her seat. In the top three were two 3rd graders and one 2nd grader. So really she placed in 2nd place out of students from her grade. It was a very proud day as my daughter is the best of the best.  She took the loss well, didn't want to take photos but besides that was upbeat. I am glad she wasn't a sour sport about it, and happy that she made it so far. I will try to post photos this weekend...

Novali and the Bee

So 2009 is off to a good start! Last week Novali had a school spelling bee. She qualified as a handful of 2nd graders who spelled all their words right in their classroom activities. The school had 6 students per class that would compete for one spot in the district spelling bee. I took the afternoon off of work to go and see the spelling bee. I posted more details on her website: Spelling Bee

Novali spelling at the Carlos Fuentes Spelling Bee.

The big winner!

I also had Novali for the following weekend. She had Friday off, and I arranged to bring her to South Bend after the spelling bee. I luckily got Friday off as a snow day at IU South Bend.... Four Day Weekend! Unfortunately it was nearly 30 below zero, WOW. We enjoyed some indoor activities, we saw High School Musical 3 on campus sponsored by my programming board, we entertained some of my fraternity visitors, and then finally got to go outside and play in the snow. On the link above I have some photos of Novali playing outside.

Making a snow angel.

Making footprints in our deep snow!

Well now it is back to the grind... over the weekend we practiced her new spelling list and this Thursday she has the bigger spelling bee. Weather permitting I will be ducking out a little early from work again to get to Chicago for that as well. Wish Novali luck!

Holiday Pictures

Excuse the delay... here is the link to pictures from the holidays in South Bend and Chicago. Enjoy... 2008 Holiday Family Visit

Bed and Breakfast

This year for Christmas Gifts our family received an exclusive free stay at the Centellas DeCourval Historic Bed and Breakfast in the lovely Ridgedale neighborhood of South Bend, IN.  They got one free night in a tastefully decorated guest suite (some rooms more spartan than others). Included in the stay was full cooked to order breakfast with eggs, toast, sausage, breads and fresh juice and coffee. Some of the extended stay guests received free tickets to an IU South Bend (Titan Basketball game.  Friday night included some Central Michigan Football in the Motor City Bowl (unfortunately a loss). The night finished with a trip to J Willys a local rib place featured on the FOX hit show, Kitchen Nightmares.  Saturday activities included a driving tour of the Notre Dame campus to see the golden dome. Some guests enjoyed a drive out to the nationally known Tire Rack test facility and race skip pad. Other quests participated in a healthy outdoor afternoon walk through the Ridgedale neighborhood. Included in the neighborhood tours were several historic homes and was highlight by the Mossberg House designed by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. Saturday evening was a big dinner for thirteen! It was a multiple course dinner... started early with soup and wings from the Wing Nut. A break for some more college football, some family photos and waiting for a turkey and dinner to be ready. Then the meal continued with turkey and homemade mashed potatoes... even Novali helped preparing some of the dinner.  All guests at the bed and breakfast enjoyed the meal. For future potential guests: Our Bed and Breakfast includes free parking, bedroom options on the first and second floor, activities for children, it is close to local shopping and wireless internet is available at no cost. During the week check in is at 5pm and on the weekends at 3pm. Check out begins at 11am after breakfast and guest not staying an additional night must be checked out by 1pm. We currently don't take online reservations, but we can take them via text.

End of the Season
Stores are having end of season sales to kick off the holiday season, the fall season is fully upon us and reminds us that fun summer season is over... so it was fitting that one of my car clubs, the Furrin Group decided to do a last race of the year. So last weekend (Nov 9) they had an autocross at the 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI. So despite the cold weather, and a little snow falling I packed up my car stuff and drove up.

It was a cold rainy day. My shoes got soaked, and unfortunately I wasn't very competitive because I didn't have good rain tires, but who cares it was fun! It was a mega long course with a few really tricky spots. I wasn't able to put together a good run, but I did well against a die hard group of racers. In GStock there was 4 cars and I took 3rd... not the best... and overall out of 24 entries I finished 9th in the pack.

It was a great autocross season. I entered more races this season than I did in my previous 5 seasons combined! I won my first race, and I took my first top ten overall finish. I also was ask to be an instructor for the Tire Rack driving school for teens (Street Survival) and got more involved with the Sports Car Club of American (SCCA). In the South Bend SCCA I will finish in the top 25 of nearly 200 members which is great for a first year member!

So what do I have to look forward to next year? Hopefully more races, more trophies, and possibly a trip in the next year or two to the national championship race. I also was asked, and accepted to be the co-chair of the Street Survival school for 2009, and potentially become the chair in 2010. I also would like to get to some big track events next year, I didn't do any this year but hope to have more time next year to work the Spec out on a track.
- Click images to enlarge

The Spec at the last race of the year...

The Spec tucked away in the garage for the winter.

So until then... the Spec finally has a roof over its head, gets some rest, and comes back ready to tear up Autocross in 2009!

Our House
Our House... in the middle of our street... Our House... was our castle and our keep... Our House... that was where we used to sleep..

Well like that well known 80's pop ditty Heather and I now have Our House. I really fell in love with South Bend and knew Heather would love it. Each time she would visit, and I would have Novali we explored more and more of the city. I grew to enjoy the location, the cost of living, my job, and the people. So we started house hunting. Not very serious at first, we looked here and there, drove by some areas and learned more about South Bend.

On Labor Day Weekend, we scheduled visits to a couple houses. One was out of our price range but we figured, hey, why not? When we got to house we learned it had a huge price drop, bringing it closer to our range. Talk about good timing right?

Well let us introduce you to Our House

It was built in 1939, full brick and plaster with a unique slate roof. The house is nearly 2600 sqft on the main floor, about a 1/5 of that is an addition. It has an attached two car garage, beautiful hardwood floors, interesting antique door handles, trim and light fixtures, and the plaster walls are in great shape.

Main floor has a open space kitchen, formal dinning room, large living room with a fireplace, a cozy family room, and a den/guest bedroom. There is a full bath on the 1st floor with shower and laundry. The backdoor opens into a large backyard with a playset with swings and a slide.

Upstairs are three bedrooms and a full bath. The master bedroom is very large but no closet space. The bathroom is pretty dated but large enough so when its renovation time we'll have lots of options. The other two bedrooms are good size and will serve as great rooms for kids.

The basement has potential, and the first thing to go will be the huge boiler. Hopefully it holds on for a few more years... the house also has a 2 zone sprinkler system, decorative crab apple trees in front, and an alarm by ADT.

Our area is called Ridgedale and is considered a top neighborhood in South Bend. It is near the big golf course, good schools, and close to a 24 hour grocery store. It is a Jewish neighborhood and has a beautiful Synagogue as well as a big Methodist Church we visited once already. Its an old neighborhood with rolling hills and very unique homes including one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (Mossberg House) just four blocks from our house.

This will put me about 2 miles from work and close to the highway to head to Chicago for Novali or to the South Bend airport. So after nearly two months of negotiation, paperwork, and lots of lost sleep... today at 1 PM Heather and I closed on the house. We are now proud first time homeowners and couldn't be more excited. Thanks to everyone for their advice and support through this tough process.

Ciao!

The Soccer Star
This past Saturday was the first game of the Carlos Fuentes Eagles 2nd grade team. They were no Chicago Fire but they got the job done. Their game was at a really cool indoor soccer facility in Chicago called Chi Town Futbol. It had two indoor soccer fields and one indoor pee wee field. It had a nice concession stand and soccer shop. The pro shop came in handy because I was a bad dad and forgot her shin guards so we luckily bought some on site.

We got there early... the only ones. We were told to arrive 30 minutes before the game, and we arrived 45 minutes before the game. At 30 minutes before the game we were the only ones there... ha. Either way, the game started a little late but it was a ton of fun. Novali was all excited and I was pumped to watch their first real game.

It was a cool facility.

Ready for game time.

They played two games and won them both. She has a couple guys on offense that are really good and just blew out the other team. Novali played defense which was cool cause that was my position. What was funny is that their coach taught the defense to not push up a lot and stay back (reminded me of zone soccer) and Novali took it to the extreme and just stood in place most of the game.

Novi looked left...

Novi looking right.

She did get some time on offense and got the ball a couple times. I had fun cheering for her and I think she spent more time looking at me in the stands then watching the soccer ball! We will keep working on her skills and see what happens. Maybe she has a future in soccer!

Check out Novali's website for more pictures: Novi's Pics

Also... you might notice my camera is struggling... it lasted me nearly 5 years and took many photos. She needs to be retired soon... so sad.

Fall Updates
I finally have some new photos of Novali to post. I know I know.. its been a while. We had a lot of fun visits in late August, September and now into October. We had some fun things from attending her first baseball game, learning how to cook new things, reading books, went to Notre Dame, learning to swim (still not ready), attending a car race again, going to the beach, hearing a jazz band, watching old Dr. Seuss movies, joining a soccer team, playing at the park, and most recently this weekend we went apple picking.

It is always fun taking a weekend and just enjoying some time with Novali. I am really glad I made the decision to move here as living so close to Chicago has been great. I am posting a photo page of all the things we have been up to lately.

It was a fun fall... Novali did a lot of cooking with me.

I continued to try and get her into cars.

The newest adventure was a trip to the County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN. It is right on the Illinois and Indiana border. Heather and I met Tamara, Syed and Novali for a fun day trip. It was a great orchard. They had tractor rides, apple picking, pumpkin patches, farm animals to pet, huge general store... and tons more. Novali love the Moo Choo and we picked a lot of apples and she got us through the giant corn maze.

The County Line Orchard.

She had fun learning about and picking different apples.

Please enjoy the photos. The full gallery is the Novalí website and the direct link to the photos is here: Fall 2008 Pics

Next week Novali kicks off her first soccer game. I am returning from a conference the day before but I won't miss that game. I will make it out there and get some photos posted afterwards... I promise it won't take months for me to post more photos! Stay posted.

Go Irish!
Whenever you tell someone you live in South Bend they say... Notre Dame fan? My typical answer at first was, "No" I am not from South Bend and didn't go to Notre Dame so why would I be a fan? Well slowly that answer turned into "I am not a fan yet, I am trying to fight it"... cause man it is hard not rooting for Notre Dame here.

Well its not helping that this year Notre Dame is off to a good start on the football season. So maybe I am becoming a fair weather fan. Well this weekend I had Novali and we went to my favorite Wing place (I am still addicted to wings) and the Notre Dame game happened to be on the TV. Novi got excited and recognized the Gold helmets and asked me if I was cheering for Notre Dame... and my answer was simply, "Yes". So we ate our wings and cheered ... Go Irish!

Que Sera Sera
Its fall... campus is buzzing, I am thirty years old... Regardless of how scary it feels, the future is coming and though we can't control it we do what we can to make it the best.

I was always the guy who had his life planned out... well lots of things changed. I changed my major, I changed my career, I moved, I did many things not on my list and life has been good. I have always been blessed with good fortune despite my sometimes horrible decision making skills.

So what am I trying to get at... I don't know. I guess in the midst of wedding plans, talking about buying a home, trying to figure out how to get to Novali's soccer games.... my mind wanders back to past ambitions and thoughts of "Is this the next step?". Do I want to do more consulting and push that part of my career? Or do I focus exclusively on IUSB and in building my career here? What happened to thoughts of Law School? What happens if Heather finds a guy she likes more who happens to be her height?

I was never much of a "Que Sera Sera" kind of guy. Well Heather and I saw a house... fell in love with it... and after three weeks of going over and over it we have made an offer. I love the house, but you know what I can't help but think... maybe it isn't the right thing? I guess I will know when we hear back from our agent right?

I came up with a line a few years ago that I use when people ask you the ,"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" question. My reply was designed around having changed my major but I guess now it revolves around having changed my life to meet my environment. My answer is usually:

"Five years ago if asked that question it would have put me someplace complete different than where I am right now. Right now I am completely happy and looking forward to the next step of life. So I guess in five years I want to be happy with myself over what I am doing and knowing that I am making a difference and that its the right place for me."

Usually you can tell the interviewer wanted an answer about how I really want their job. How I will be an awesome employee and make a difference in their line of work. Then I see them realize that I will be those things because I made the choice to apply and if they make the choice to hire me it will work out. I have several great stories about jobs I didn't take and employers who didn't take me... and I look back happy over the outcome.

I guess this blog is me letting off a little stress about life and also just sharing a little something about me. I end each blog saying that I will write more... which doesn't usually turn out to be true. I guess I will write more when I am ready to would be the correct sign off.

The new 20
So people ask how does it feel? I reply, how does what feel? Well... turning 30? I think in my head that it is pretty much the same as when I was 29 years and 364 days old.

However usually my answer is that I am not a big birthday guy... and thats true. Growing up birthdays were always low key, I always spent them up north for Labor Day Weekend and I brought a friend. In college no one was ever around for my birthdays since it was usually on Labor Day Weekend and people went home. So usually it was just a few friends out for dinner or something.

So my 30th is low key... here at work my department decorated my office early this morning before I can in to work. They hung a few banners and put a cake on my desk. One card they gave me was especially funny... outside says "Don't worry. 30 is just a number".... on the inside "You would still totally blend in at a frat party. Happy Birthday!"

In historical fashion Labor Day weekend was my birthday celebration. Novali and Heather baked me a delicious cake and Novali painted a plate for me. We had a lot of fun... we went to a South Bend Silverhawks (minor league baseball) game, went to Michigan City to the beach, went to my swimming pool, and just hung around enjoying the last weekend of summer.

Thanks to everyone so far for the birthday wishes, and the facebook posts and myspace comments. Its a busy day but I am enjoying my day so far in typical low key fashion. Ciao!

Quick Updates
So its been a while since my last post... I try to get into regularly posting but life and work gets busy and I fall behind and blogging is the first to go. Today was one of my busiest, I worked 13.5 hours today with no lunch break. I ate on the run in between meetings. However I wanted to blog this week so here it is, just a few quick notes.

Novali - well she starts second grade in a little over a week. We have had some fun weekends and last weekend did her back to school shopping that was fun. We got nearly everything she needs and will finish up a few items next weekend before she starts. It was a fun summer... I had her for five days last time and she came to work with me for a couple days. She was a trooper at work and even helped me with some programs.

Family - My mom started teaching at a local school, my dad is now in the construction business with some heavy machinery he invested in with my uncle. Miguel and Kate are getting ready to go back to teaching and Javi is about the size of a four year old. Andres and Saloumeh are planning their next trip to the Midwest and enjoying a new car (so jealous). Raquel is doing well and enjoying her job, but not enjoying that summer is nearly over.

Work - School starts at IUSB next week... this week students moved into our new residence halls and so I did some fun programming for them thats going on right now. Next week I am doing twice as many programs as have ever been done here at IUSB. On top of that my department is short staffed and I am going to be teaching a class. So talk about busy... but I earned a nice raise after only 6 months on the job so that feels good and I really love it here. Not to mention the new Student Life Website... let the 2008-2009 school year begin!

Fraternity - On August 9th, 2008 I was sworn in as the International President of Sigma Lambda Beta. I have been serving as president since January 1st but that was an interim appointment. I am now duly elected and ready to begin a two year term. I am very excited. Our convention was a great time to see old faces, meet new people, and enjoy the company of my Brothers. It was equally nice that Heather came and enjoyed my convention with me.

Wedding - Heather and I have picked a date (I think) and are now looking into places. We want a casual fun outdoor event. The problem is a venue... do they allow tents, catering and insurance requirements, do they allow music, does it have power, enough parking, easy to find, South Bend or Michigan... all these questions swirling around. To top it off the busy hunt for wedding location we are starting to do some home shopping. the market is stellar right now for buyers. It would be nice to get in while its good... but so many things going on its hard to focus on home buying. It would be nice to have our house purchased and ready to go so when we get married we are all set. Maybe even a rehearsal dinner in our backyard under the stars... I mean if we do a wedding in South Bend.

Racing - Well I won another AutoX. This time I won my GS class at a South Bend region race. Thats awesome because I didn't think I would win an event with my club because of the higher competition here. I might race next in the Chicago area on Labor Day weekend. Novi said she wants to see me race again... but she barely even watches so we will see if we do that or not. The season is coming to a close and I won't be going to nationals so I have to get in a few good races before putting the winter wheels on the Spec.

So thats it from me... hopefully I will have time to post some photos and new stuff soon. I have been planning to overhaul Novali's site and my personal site... but time time time is at a premium these days. Soon. Either way thanks for reading and come back soon.

Driver Weekend
This weekend I had no trip, no work, no conference calls, no fraternity work... just a weekend for myself to relax and get stuff done. So how did I spend my weekend? Driving... what else did you think?

Saturday I volunteered to help at the Tire Rack program called Street Survival. I figured they would have me helping with registration or other odd jobs. To my surprise when I showed up they had an Instructor poloshirt and said that I should be a driving instructor. I was flattered and then nervous... me a driving instructor? It was not a performance driving school, it was a driving safety school so I figured I would be fine.

We did in and out of car instructing.

We also taught them how to check tire pressures and know more about their car.

I had fun with my two students. I hope they learned a lot and it was fun watching them get faster and more confident on the skidpad, slalom and pushing their car hard and keeping it under control. I can't wait until Novali gets old enough and she can come to a school I teach! (I am sure she will love papi being there...)

Sunday was an Autocross. This week I got some used racing tires and was waiting anxiously all week to run race rubber for the first time. It would mean that I would have to arrive early and change my wheels on site (you shouldn't drive on the streets on race tires). I was looking forwarding to learn how to drive on them and move my skills up to the next level.

I got there early for set up and got a spot right in front.

Just changed my wheels... First run on V710s coming up!

I was surprisingly nervous running on my first runs on the tires. We were getting 6 runs and I figured it would be good seat time to practice the new wheels. It is supposed to be very different and yes it was. Well my first couple runs I was a little off and hitting cones but getting a little faster. At the end of the runs I was feeling great... my times were solid but I stilled end up in third (behind the usual suspects). Sounds like the tires didn't make a difference right? Well usually I am over a second behind the guy in 2nd, and then 1.5 or more seconds behind 1st place. The final times put me only a few hundredths of a second behind 2nd, and less then half a second behind first. So winning is in sight now! I ended 6th on the PAX Index and first in my class is in sight!

It was a great "Me" weekend... very relaxing. I am looking forward to this upcoming weekend because Heather is visiting and we will have Novali. Heather has a busy week at work so hopefully we can have a fun relaxing weekend as well. Til next post. Ciao.

Big Updates
Well here are some well overdue updates...

June 2008 Pics
I blogged several times about my parents trip to the states in June. Well I finally got the pictures done. Some of the pictures are from my dad's camera and during times that I was not with them so noted them as best I could. Enjoy folks!
Click here > Pics

Its Official
After dating for a few years and lots of discussions about the future and planning what life would be like married... I made the big step and asked Heather to marry me. Novali approved and I even talked to her father about it so everything was legit. I know it was a long time coming and many people were wondering if it would ever happen... I knew it would happen and I just wanted it to be perfect and I think it was. I am excited as we now more officially beginning the planning stages of a wedding, buying a house (with a garage), moving in together, settling down and having kids! Wow... Novali is excited to be a big sister someday and this is going to be great.

Happy Couple.

Heaher and Novali all excited.

Lots of weekend activities including the pool.

We made Jello Jigglers, Ice Cream... always something to do in South Bend.

It was a fun weekend and I posted a few pics: 08 July Big News

Team PLP
This week I also took the plunge... for race tires. I found a killer deal on some used race tires that I could not pass up. The timing was perfect as earlier I was deciding whether I keep saving for race tires or get other modifications done to my car. Well I decided to keep saving for race tires, and then this deal came up so the timing was right. Hopefully for my July 20th race I will be ready with race tires and really put down some serious times. ALSO... this is cool, below is a video from my last race, it is of my best time and you can see in the sweeper my car on three wheels! I love it.


Well folks... I hope everyone is excited about the engagement and we will keep everyone posted on wedding planning. We are looking at 2009 so it will be coming up quick.

Pull Out the Batmobile
Fourth of July weekend was tons of fun! Heather visited on Friday and we just laid out at pool and relaxed. It was a great day of lounging... no work... nothing but just relaxation. Then off to Jackson to get my SpecV and we headed to GVSU which would be the site of a two day race event with my old car club (Furrin Group).

The Saturday event was called a Test and Tune so it was not for points. I had a great event! There were 10 cars in my class (GS) and I finished 2nd, and then overall on the index (PAX) I placed 6th out of 54. My highest PAX ranking ever!

We went out and celebrated later. That meant some Red Lobster and met up with a friend of Heathers from college for dessert. It was fun catching up and just relaxing again.

Sunday we went out and Heather helped get the car ready and settled into a comfortable outdoor chair and magazine. I got to work timing and waited for my run group. I was stoked about my Saturday times and hoped I could have a repeat performance.

We got four runs. The guy that beat me the day before was off to a good start. I was off to a solid start on my first two runs... then on my third run... BAM... nailed it taking the lead in my class by nearly a full second!

Pic from Saturday afternoon leaning hard into a turn.

Sunday afternoon... flying towards the finish.

No one beat my time in my class! I ended up 1st place out of 15 in GS! There was a total of 91 cars running and I was hoping I would get a top ten finish... well at the end of the day this guy placed 5th out of 91 cars! Another cool fact... only one car there on street tires beat me and that was a newer model Audi TT.

So Team PLP is doing well... I am looking forward to my next event and really hope I can keep this fast streak going!

Hittin Homeruns
So I am still behind on updating and posting photos. I did get this video posted of Novali from Memorial Day Weekend. Heather and I played baseball with her... we watched The Sandlot with her which quickly became a movie she loves now. So we thought she should learn how to play. Its hard to play with just three people but we made it happen.



She had a lot fun and got tired out from all the running around the bases.

$4.19 a Gallon
So June was the month of the driver... I made two trips to Gladwin, MI to visit my parents and grandparents, one trip to Saginaw, MI to visit my parents when they first arrived, I made a trip to Bad Axe, MI for Heather's HS reunion, and two trips to Chicago to get Novali. Then... I made a trip to Jackson, MI for a wedding, to Lansing, MI for a car race, and back to Saginaw to pick up my car that I loaned my parents.

All in all during the month I drove over 2800 miles! Most of those on my SpecV since thats what I had while my parents were in Michigan. Now I bet with my parents driving one of my cars that equals over 3000 miles on my cars combined! Ouch...

The biggest ouch here is the gas prices. Seriously whats the deal... in one week here in South Bend the prices went from 4.25 to 3.94 and then back up to 4.19. Why can't the price just remain one steady price? Is that too much to ask? If you do the math on my miles and the average cost of gas... in the month of June (assuming 25 mpg and 4.10 average gas cost) for all my driving I spent $462 on gas!!! Thats crazy, that could buy me half a flight to Bolivia!

So was it worth it? OF COURSE.

I had a great time with my parents and they are now back to Bolivia and I am looking forward to the next visit. We had some good times... fishing, cooking, racing, sitting on the deck, napping, bowling, talking politics, eating Bolivian food, gutting a catfish, and just enjoying the company and the long weekends. I got to see Javi and Kelly's girls again, saw my grandparents, raced with Andres, and enjoyed a car show and an elephant ear in Bad Axe. June was busy and tons of fun. I know I know... pics pics... they are coming.

Couple of fun updates.

Yes Novali is now a second grader. I think once you have a kid in the 2nd grade you are officially old. Not to mention that I will be 30 this year... its a scary year.

This past weekend I had a race again. This one was with the West Michigan Region (WMR) of SCCA. It was held at the MSU commuter lot. It was a good lot, but small so the course was mega tight! They only had 37 cars there but a fun group of regulars. I took 2nd out of 3 in my class... but I was 9th out of 37 overall! I was the second fastest car there on street tires, and I actually had one run that I thought made me the fastest of the day... but I hit a cone! ARGH. Either way good race day...

Well this upcoming weekend... you guessed it, more driving. Heather and I are heading up to Grand Rapids to visit some of our old stomping grounds and I have a race at GVSU. Its always fun to get to GR and see all the changes. That city just keeps on growing and the campus is also growing a ton as well. Have a happy fourth everyone!

Photos
Yes it is true... as your kids get older you take less photos. I remember when Novi was younger we took photos of everything she did... sneeze, cough, smile, roll over, sometimes even of a funny blink... well now we take less photos and unfortunately I am even worse about getting them posted. It has been a busy time but I am getting caught up. I was reminded of the tons of photos I used to take when Miguel and Kate brought Javi to Michigan and the immediate barrage of photos being taken of him upon walking in the door. Good times.

Anyhow I have two new photos galleries folks.

First from this past weekend... My parents are visiting from Bolivia. Last weekend was chill and we just hung out and welcomed them back. Well this weekend Andres and Saloumeh were in town and it so happened there was a car race in Midland. So I got Andres signed up and planned a fun day for the family at my race. I packed up my canopy tent, chairs, my grill and we made a day of the event. It was also fathers day so my dad got a few rides around the course as a fun gift from two of his sons. I posted times and place details on the Team PLP Site (link below).

The Barstow Airport in Midland is a great venue and attracts some cool cars.

Long list of Porsches, Jags, BMWs, Corvettes, and even a Ferrari.

Andres on his first run!

Yes thats right... as usual I am on three wheels.

Fathers Day Race 2008: Photo Gallery

Well now these photos are long overdue... photos from Memorial Day weekend in South Bend. It was a fun weekend and we packed tons of activities into a few short days. I wrote some details from the weekend on the photo page so check out all the pics on the link below.

Playing in the park

Petting animals at the zoo

Chocolate covered pretzels!

Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day 2008: Photo Gallery

Well enjoy the photos... look for photos soon from my parents visit to Michigan. Hopefully those won't take as long as these photos took to post.

Milestones
Today (er this Month) is a day of milestones.

June 11th, 1985 my little sister was born. We were fresh American immigrants, my mom came over pregnant and my dad didn't speak English. It was interesting this last weekend to hear my mom tell Heather the story of being in the hospital giving birth to Kelly... they had no money, no health insurance, but they managed and made it through without $5 aspirin or $6 box of tissues. The first American born of the Centellas clan. She has over come a lot and has two beautiful young girls who were extremely entertaining this past weekend.

June 2003 I started this little blog. WOW! I clearly don't blog like I used to... for example I still have not posted all the pictures from the visit in South Bend from Novali and Heather for Memorial Day weekend (coming soon I promise). I am trying to post at least twice a month so hold me to that folks!

June 2004 I was offered a job to work at the University of Oregon. Great pay and possibly the best professional development experience I could have asked for out of grad school. I turned it down, opting to stay closer to family, Heather, my friends, and of course Novali. I did go out there and worked for the summer in an interim role until the Albion job brought me back to Michigan. Well now I am the Director of Student Life, potentially starting classes again, and I am glad I made the right choice.

June 2007 I went to the doctor and weighed in at 212 pounds. I had been gaining weight since grad school and hadn't worked out in years. Well today... after work I ran 5 miles in 50 minutes. I usually try to run two miles twice a week, and I just got some small weights to lift at home while I watch TV and do work at home. I decided to push myself today and I also jumped on the scale afterwards. My gym scale said 191 pounds, not as good as the false hope my uncle Ed's scale gave me this weekend (188 pounds) but it does mean I have lost over 20 pounds in 12 months. Not bad.

June 2008 I was out in Baltimore for the second time in six months. This time to visit for my Brother Andy's graduation from University of Delaware with his MBA. Thats a big milestone. Also this month my older Brother Miguel moved to Baltimore to start a new tenure track teaching position at Mount Saint Union. To top that off, Kate my sister-in-law is getting her PhD. On my top of my parents visit this mouth... its clearly a busy time and we are less than half way through the month!

Well there are some of my recent milestones. Ciao.

Summa Summa Time...
Ladies and gentlemen... the semester at IUSB is over so that means work is slowing down a little. My busy fraternity travel time has wrapped up, and now it is summer time. As the Fresh Prince said...
Drums Please... Summa Summa Time...

Now there are a lot things I love about summer: Novali will be out of school soon. That means more time to hangout, go places, do some fun things, and juts enjoy relaxing long weekends. It also means vacation time away from the office. I work a lot... luckily I love what I do so I don't mind so much. However everyone needs some time away from the office. I am not sure what I have planned right now, but I just need some time to relax and not working (that means no consulting, no IUSB, no fraternity, nothing). My parents and both my Brothers are coming to Michigan in June. Its gonna be great.

One passion of mine in the summer, and the thing I can not do in these cold winter months is RACE! Racing season is in full swing now and I love being close to so many events now! I blogged about my race on April 20th... well I did one on May 10th in Grand Rapids with Furrin Group and just finished one on May 18th with my South Bend Region (SBR) Sports Car Club of America.

I was thinking at my Furrin Group race that it was their first race of the season... I remember their first race of the season four years ago when I skipped my graduation to go and race. I need to look up the old pics of that day but I did find my blog post about it. Check this link for two posts about the NX: April 2004 Blog

While looking I thought I would compare my times. Times for AutoX are done in two ways. First is the cars are broken into categories by class. This is by engine size, types modifications, tires (Street or Race), and other items (too many to list). With my NX I an in STS (Street Tire Class that allows lots of mods) which is usually a big class with lots of cars. Right now I run GS (G Stock which means very few mods are allowed but you can run race tires) which doesn't have a lot of cars, but the class is very competitive and in SBR some of the top drivers are in my class. Second is all the cars are classed and put in a class index to rank all their times together.

Well here is my comparison over two different Furrin Group Season Openers.

April 2004 - in STS placed 9th out of 12. Overall 44 out of 64 on the Index.
May 2008 - in GS placed 2nd out of 6. Overall 19 out of 83 on the Index.

So as you can see in a couple years I have really moved up the rankings! I am having a ton of fun and its is a huge stress reliever for me. I like coming home the days before a race and getting the car stuff ready, packing a lunch to take to the event, and then just hanging out with car guys. It has been a little sad lately cause all three events this year I have done alone. I miss having someone come and watch me and just enjoy the day.

Anyhow... no more races for a couple weeks. I am hoping to do a race with the Saginaw Valley SCCA club while my parents and brothers are in town. We will see... well here are pics from my first three races of the year: 2008 - April and May AutoX

Pics of my car were taken by photographers at the events, other pics were taken on my Treo so not the best quality but enough!