not only have i slacked on caylin posts, since i haven’t posted a caylin post since her last birthday, i’ve slacked on everything else.

i never wrote about shmoocon, or disney. never ever going on a holiday weekend again! need to write a post just for the last disney trip.

brett and i went to nashville in february for a getaway. unfortunately, i was sick the entire time. but, i powered through. i need to write a post for this, too. we went on a trolley tour all over, which was great. lots of good food and, of course, whiskey. we didn’t get to do the ropes course like i planned because SICK, but next time. so many bars and so many singers/bands. i can’t wait to go back.

brett and i went to LA again for the layerone security conference. so many friends and so little sleep. should probably write a post for this, too.

we went to carolina rebellion. i bought 3 day passes this year, which meant i went to see lynyrd skynyrd by myself the first night–brett wasn’t able to leave work early enough. the next 2 days were amazing, however. exhausting and amazing. got to hang out with james for most of it!

i attended a web application penetration testing course in april, and another round of red hat certification training in june. and passed! woohoo.

had my first jury duty. i sat there for half an hour and it was dismissed.

got a speeding ticket. right outside our neighborhood. right after they dropped the speed limit from 55 to 45.

brett and caylin and i took a day trip to pawley’s island in june to buy brett’s new truck. his old one had been giving him issues non stop. while he was at the dealership, caylin and i played at the beach.

went to mooresville and winston for father’s day weekend. stayed at my dad’s house and had a nice visit. then hung out in mooresville to see brett’s family.

brett’s hunt club has had work days on some weekends, so a few random saturdays he went out there for the day to help out. build fences, clean up, put out feed, etc. and every time… poison oak. no thank you.

brett and i went to see luke combs play twice with our neighbors–once in february at myrtle beach, and once on july 4th weekend here at isle of palms. saw chris stapleton here on daniel island in may.

mom and i went to see seinfeld and blue man group at the performing arts center. there are no words to describe how much i love seinfeld. and blue man group was incredible, as expected. brett and i saw them in vegas a few years ago. so much fun.

oh, i turned 30 this year. that happened. had a ton of friends over for the 4th weekend. thomas, melina, phil, brandon, and his brother thor all stayed at our house. we didn’t blow up any cakes this year, but brett went all out with the fireworks and bought the GOOD ones. it was insane. evidently i bit a few people. a lot of neighbors came. a lot of former coworkers and friends we hadn’t seen in a while. i love 4th of july weekend–not because of my birthday, but because it’s one of the few times i get to see most of these people.

brett and i got back from vegas and DEF CON last weekend. it was epic, as usual. hung out at the pool a lot more this year with brett and phil and lindsay. sat in on a couple talks in the villages, and wandered through contest areas. but it was a very different con. this year was more about friends and vacation than the actual conference itself, and i’m ok with that. we went to the michael jackson cirque show, and saw the rat pack. lots of great dinners and parties.

this weekend we’re going out with ashley and jason on their boat for her birthday, and then out that night, so that should be fun.

this week was my last week on one of my projects/teams at work, which was bittersweet. don’t want to leave the team, but it had been 2 years and there are new projects rolling in that should be exciting.

soon, it will be caylin’s birthday. mom is planning a picnic birthday lunch at her house before the birthday since she will be in new york for her actual birthday. and the weekend after caylin’s birthday, we’re having her actual party. i need to start researching how to make a peppa pig cake! wish me luck.

one of these days, i will get around to writing the other posts. so many things i want to remember. this year started out a little rocky but, i have to say it keeps getting better. i am lucky to have so many amazing people in my life.

breaking up all my trips since august into separate entries. the original was just way too long.

sooo.. DEF CON 23.. in short:

• met a ton of people i’d been wanting to meet for a while
• hung out with my con friends
• made it the whole trip without puking
• brett and i went to a nice dinner and saw absinthe–incredible. i spilled an entire flute of champagne in my purse. also, never wearing that dress again.
• rapid7 party, was packed, open bar, lots of ballsy folks jumping in pool and getting escorted out, drew giant hermit crab on digital graffiti screen
• car hacking talk, kaminsky talk, android stagefright talk, hacker jeopardy…
• got my telephreak badge, but once again didn’t get to stay for the party
• stayed at bally’s, con was in bally’s/paris this year
• actually used the spa/gym, was super nice. and free!
• food court downstairs allowed us to not spend $50 on every single meal, but… you can only live off hotdogs for so long
• new hotel was an interesting changeup, line con was organized by day 2, just so much more walking involved
• we made a new friend at the roulette table, brett and i went out with him to margaritaville the night before freakfest
• so many red bull whiskeys on this trip
• finally got to properly meet @securityweekly and crew, next time will attempt to hang out
• actually played table games this go around… it had been a few years since i gambled
• epic trip was epic

caylin turned 2 saturday. two. TWO. T – W – O. sweet jesus, WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE. this has been… the wildest, most unexpected 2 years of my life. i’ve said this probably hundreds of times at this point, but being a mom is nothing like i ever imagined or expected. every day gets better and more fun. it’s incredible watching this little tiny person figure out the world in front of her.

it also gets more fun being the birthday elf, even when all her toys seem to require assembly.

brett’s mom, grandma, and brother came into town for caylin’s birthday weekend. i woke up extra early saturday morning to go pick up her bubble guppies cake and balloon from publix, and a few other things i forgot. got home, got caylin ready to go, and we all drove down to the low country children’s museum downtown.

ashley brought caylin’s BFF madi to meet us. none of us had ever been before. we got there a little before 10. the outside of the building doesn’t look like much, but once you get inside, it’s like the building never stops. room after room of new activities. i wouldn’t hesitate to take caylin every weekend if it didn’t take a half an hour to get there.

she was in HEAVEN.

we hit up the craft room first while we waited for madi and ashley to arrive. caylin had never painted before. she’s got tons of crayons, play-doh, markers, etc, but never paint. or glue. that kind of spells disaster, at this age. so this was the perfect place to start. they had baskets and buckets of cut up paper, pipe cleaners, crayons, popsicle sticks, glue, magazine clippings, markers, newspaper, construction paper, foam pieces, yarn, paper plates cut into animal shapes. she helped me color a butterfly, and we glued some colorful foam pieces on a strip of paper to make a crown which she later destroyed on the way home.

there were 3-4 seats where kids could paint, so caylin found her spot and went to town. tiny aprons, lots of paint, and giant sheets of white paper. she would have sat there for hours if we didn’t drag her away. caylin painted 2 masterpieces, and i wrote the dates on them and her name. there were 2 drying racks so you could come back later and pick up your child’s art. we went back an hour later and someone had either taken them, or thrown them away. i was a bit ticked off, but at least i got pictures.

if i write every room in detail it will take me hours, so i won’t bore anyone with it all. the pictures do it better justice anyhow. but basically there was a pirate themed room with a giant ship. there was another room with lots of tables filled with water and little boats and rafts and bridges and cars. a room with a rock wall and a slide and a see saw and tons of things to climb on. one was a miniature grocery store that was like a mini-publix. there was an entire outside area but it was way too hot for that. one room was kind of like medieval times–it had a dress up area with knights clothing, a castle, tunnels/caves, a dungeon, stables, you name it.

basically, this place is incredible. $8 for SC residents for all day access. walking distance to other stuff downtown and there is a parking deck right across the street from it, which was super convenient. i can’t wait to take caylin again.

we all ate lunch at melvin’s–an awesome little barbecue joint just over the bridge. their burgers are my favorite out of pretty much anywhere.

got home and we all napped, because, SO tired. this is proof.

after naptime was cake and presents. she isn’t super fond of chocolate/sweets. usually it’s 1 piece of chocolate or 1 bite of cake or cookie and she’s pretty much over it, but she was stoked about the little plastic bubble guppies cake toppers and her balloon. worth it. and now we have leftover cake.

it took her a little bit to get into the whole unwrapping of the presents thing, but once she did, she was recruiting everyone else to help her. she had already seen her awesome dune racer that her grandma gigi got her, so she was hopping in and out of it between presents.

this year, i tried to buy her toys she can learn from or use outside, rather than just random toys that are going to pile up in a toybox. a few puzzles, flash cards for toddlers, legos, mr. potato head, some more books. an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a dry erase board on the other, a ton of chalk and dry erase crayons, magnet letters. i did find her a sit-and-spin and a sprinkler for the yard but those will hopefully keep her active. she LOVES watching the construction equipment around the neighborhood–specifically the bobcats, so i bought her a tiny bobcat.

i could watch her play for hours.

yes. white crayon on white paper.

and of course she and madi had to test drive her new car.

she can’t stay focused long enough to hold the pedal down and steer at the same time, so madi was working the pedal while caylin manned the wheel, and vice versa. neither of them is old enough for this thing but they’ll grow into it in no time. lots of adult supervision/steering/eyeballs required when this thing has the battery hooked up. thank god it goes even slower in the grass. in the meantime, i can take it out for more midnight spins.

basically, birthday was epic. it was nice seeing brett’s family, and my mom hopefully enjoyed her 3-day weekend off baby-duty :) she only had to change 1 diaper, got to eat cake, and slept in.

i am really sucking at writing the past few months. i don’t know what’s happened. i have missed out on so many occasions to document. my only motivation to sit down and write has been to write these monthly posts for caylin so i don’t forget anything, but i hate that that is my only real push.

brett and i went to carowinds with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend MONTHS ago and i failed to even mention it.

i don’t think i even mentioned my birthday/4th of july. had a ton of friends over that weekend, including several of my buddies from back home–thomas, melina, byrd, matt. they stayed here all weekend and it was one of my favorite weekends/birthdays to date. we blew up a birthday cake with a mortar, drank too much, stayed up too late, passed out on air mattresses with clothes from the night before, ping pong balls and beer cans throughout the house. cookie crumbs and crushed tortilla chips everywhere. felt like college.

we went and saw KISS and def leppard in charlotte in july with our neighbors. i still regret not getting better seats. lawn is fun, but front row is THE BEST. i saw dustan and ryan who i hadn’t seen in years.

my team at work has had a lot of successes with stre.am so far, including huge amounts of german and spanish traffic. it’s odd experiencing culture shock online in real time. our membership is in the thousandS now, and growing steadily.

we went to def con/vegas in early august (our yearly trip) and it was amazing. i launched version 2.0 (read: completely overhauled) version of my hacker tracker app and met tons of amazing people because of it. i went to bed no sooner than 4 in the morning every night we were there, drank too much, had too many hangovers, drank entirely too much caffeine, spent too much $ on overpriced room service breakfast, saw almost all my friends, and made plenty more. i know a lot of people dislike the huge influx in def con attendees–yes it’s more crowded and it’s likely a calmer crowd these days than the “original” def con (judging by friends remarks), but it still has the same camaraderie–ridiculously smart people wanting to spread their knowledge. everyone is friendly and inviting and ready to have fun. it’s basically the only time in my life where i’ve felt comfortable walking around a place BEYOND crowded with thousands of people and not get spooked over it. it feels like home. we also went to the beatles LOVE cirque du soleil which was absolutely stunning. what a craptastic recap of something i could probably write about for an hour.

my mom took caylin to freaking DISNEY WORLD for 5 days while we were in vegas. they had a blast, stayed at the all star movies resort, and hit up every pool in their path. she loves mickey and minnie, and knows all about 101 dalmatians and monsters inc. i have watched both said movies on repeat ever since. i can’t wait until we can take her again when she’s a little older.

last weekend was SPARC’s annual hackathon. this was the 4th year, and it was probably the best year so far. my only complaint was that it wasn’t the same overnight style as last year. and that’s not even a real complaint–it just seemed to make it more exciting last time. or i’m just weird and can get by on no sleep when i’m geeked out enough. i’m enjoying it while it lasts. our team won best android app–me, ryan, and kevin balled out as team #laserspacecats. our app was called “toot”, basically a repurposed version of YO which sends your buddy a push notification to tell him you’re almost at his house to pick him up. or tells him you’ve arrived. or tells him to bring some booze with him. kevin wrote the node.js backend and ryan and i did the actual app. it was amazing. again, something else i could write about for an hour, but i know it isn’t going to happen.

i’m all over the place.

i hope that the reason for my slacking has more to do with staying busy and enjoying ALL THE THINGS than it has to do with me actually “slacking”. i also feel like my attention span has taken a severe hit. it took me over an hour last night and an hour tonight just to get this far.

caylin’s 24 month recap…

• she hasn’t been freaking out over her baby dolls as much lately, so i think the obsession is dwindling a little. but not at bedtime. still crucial at bedtime. at least there are no more freak outs if we leave the house without her baby.
• she is still obsessed with her kitty shirt. every night after her bath, she wants to wear her kitty shirt. nap time? kitty shirt. the only time she doesn’t want to wear it is when she wakes up and i ask her, “what do you want to do today?” and her answer is, “pretty dress!!!”
• she loves pretty things :) her beads, my earrings, necklaces. she thinks putting her hair up is “pretty” and is sure to tell you about it. she loves having her nails painted still. every finger i paint, she says “ohh, pretty”. she shows them off to her daddy when they’re done. she has a jeweled mickey mouse bracelet my mom bought her in disney world that’s “pretty”. she’s obsessed with “pretty shoes” and “pretty boots” and “pretty dress”. it’s so adorable. she picks up on other people’s new shoes/new clothes, too, and loves to compliment them :)
• her games. oh my god, her games. she will use my phone/ipad for hours if i let her–it’s an addiction. i hate that i’ve allowed her to get hooked, but at the same time all the games she plays are learning games, so there’s the silver lining. she no longer needs my help–she can unlock the ipad, and go right to all of her games. she bounces between them non stop. same with my phone.
• she loves play-doh, but gets bored of it after like 3 minutes.
• same with ice cream. she talks about cake and ice cream all the time, but all she wants is 1 tiny bite and she is SO DONE.
• monsters inc and 101 dalmatians are her new favorite movies. she’s still beyond obsessed with bubble guppies and sesame street but these have taken precedent as of late. i’ve seen monsters inc approximately 37 times this week. dalmatians is catching up. my mom saved a lot of my stuffed animals from when i was younger, and monsters inc came out when i was a sophomore in high school. i had the plush dolls, so caylin has inherited those. she makes note of “suddy” and boo when she goes to bed at night.
• she has a new “game”, if you could call it that. she flings a bag over her shoulder (pretending it’s her purse). she walks all fancy like out of whatever room you’re in after announcing she’s “going to the store”, and she comes back announcing “I’M HOME!”, with a bag full of beanie babies that “i get” [she got]. IT IS SO CUTE.
• she’s stopped recently, but for a while she had a thing where she would take all the shirts out of her drawers and shove them into her diaper genie. disgusting.
• she loves coloring on the back porch now that i put chalk and crayons out there, so that’s been a new morning and after-dinner activity.
• she loves when brett or i swing her. he can do it better because he’s bigger, obviously, and i’m scared her little hands will slip away from me. shoulder rides, piggy back rides, you name it. she begs for it. if you’re sitting on the floor she will wrap her little arms around your neck, legs around your waist, and yell “BAAAACK!” until you stand up and run around with her. exhausting but i’ll do it all day long if i have to.
• dinner time has also gotten more interesting. if she’s got a TV show or movie to distract her, she’ll sit there for an hour and not make a peep. i don’t want that to be the norm, however, so i turn it all off when we sit down to eat. the downside, however, is she loses interest in whatever she’s eating about 99x faster when there is no TV or ipad to distract her, and she will eat maybe half her dinner and then pitch an absolute fit when we make her sit there until brett and i are done eating. oh, the joys of a 2 year old. like every other phase, it’ll blow over. but it’s unbelievably annoying when a kid won’t just shut up and eat the deliciousness you just threw in front of them.

i’m sure i forgot some things, but before this gets even more stupidly lengthy, i also wanted to mention the other most important part of august–brett’s surgery. it was on 8/12 and everything went swimmingly–the surgeon was thrilled. they got everything, surgery lasted less than 2 hours, and we were back at home that evening. brett is basically fully recovered at this point. his voice is a little scratchy at times and he’s still getting back to his normal self after having had to take it easy for like 2 weeks, but other than that, everything is fine. the scar isn’t even that bad–maybe 2 or 2.5 inches, and it’s calmed down a lot. the surgeon recommended taking the radioactive iodine, so that is next, and finding a regular endocrinologist. huge relief for all of us, and caylin was none the wiser. makes you wonder what may have happened when you were that young and blissfully unaware of everything going on around you. we are so lucky to have ashley as our neighbor–we probably would still be waiting for surgery had we continued down the path the first doctor was taking us.

i should just name this post “ALL THE THINGS”. phew.

i hate that i’ve only been posting once a month lately. i have allowed myself almost no down time in the last few weeks. i have stayed up past 3 AM more times in the last month than i have in the last like 2 years combined, at least. it’s a little ridiculous. it’s also entirely my fault.

i finally released my DEF CON hacker tracker android app this month. i started it about a year ago, and picked it back up this month so i could finish it in time for the conference (we leave for vegas thursday! omg!). i pretty much refactored the whole thing in the process, but it was definitely necessary before throwing the source up on github. it was scary looking at my crap code from a year ago, and comparing it to what i can do now. i’ve been on the mobile team at work for just 2 months now, and i feel like my android skill set has more than doubled.

i definitely caught the bug. in my last post, i had just gone back to being on prod ops, and had decided to juggle both teams. that is still my plan going forward, but for this week and next, i’m back on the mobile team 100% so we can meet our deadline.

so… needless to say, i’ve been busy.

my hacker tracker is going to be put to the test this week at the conference. i’m scrambling to make sure i have all of the schedules up to date and that they’re accurate. DEF CON is a super helpful, super supportive audience, but it is absolutely terrifying releasing this app to an audience who will literally pick it apart line by line. i love github, but sometimes it makes me feel like people are looking into my soul, reading my mind when they go through my work. so exposed… it’s unnerving.

the app for work is tentatively being launched next week or the week after. it’s one of the biggest projects i’ve ever been a part of from start to finish. that in and of itself is scary. i hope it’s successful. the internet is a hateful place, and imagining the feedback makes me want to hurl. i take that kind of criticism too personally 99% of the time. i am not thick skinned. i am not ready for this.

basically, i’m stressed. i didn’t want to admit it. i’ve been in denial up until this point (perhaps because i’m afraid if i admit it to myself, my face will break out before we go on vacation. i don’t think i’ve ever been on a vacation where that didn’t happen).

here goes:

i. am. stressed.

and at the same time, it’s exciting. i love it, and i love the learning curve. i love being pushed to make this happen. i wake up every morning stoked to start working. i have a hard time walking away from it at night. it is embedded in like every dream i’ve had lately.

it’s awesome.

i’m also stressed about leaving for vegas. we’ve been away from caylin for 2 nights before, but never 3. and we’ve never been that far away from her. she’s teething right now, and has been waking up once a night crying. not bad, and not for long. i walk her downstairs, warm up her formula, let her calm down, and then put her back to bed with a warm bottle. she’s fine. tonight was pretty bad, but i think that was because she didn’t get an afternoon nap and had been awake for like 9 hours. anyway, my mom is staying here with her, and brett’s parents are coming down so they can spend some time with her. she’s in good hands.

i will probably cry on the way to the airport, and then i will remember that we’re going to VEGAS and i’ll be ok again.

i’m going to miss the crap out of her. ugh.

she turned 11 months today.

• she has her 2 bottom teeth, and the top 2 have poked through a little bit. so adorable. brett keeps calling her bulldog.
• as if she wasn’t a handful already, she’s talking even more now. still babbling but we’re so close to saying a word, it’s scary. and she yells. a lot. she is very demanding.
• she gives kisses now. they are weird open mouth kisses full of slobber, but they’re still kisses. it’s hilarious and kind of gross but it’s super sweet.
• she hits a lot more now. if she doesn’t want whatever you’re trying to give her, she will slap it right out of your hand. or take it from you and hurl it across the room. so. bossy.
• she still eats like 3 dinners a night. OMG.
• she’s trying to walk. trying. she gets brave a lot and lets go of whatever she’s holding onto when she’s standing up now. terrifying for me, but she’s going for it!
• she hates when we carry her up the stairs now. she wants to climb everything and anything. also terrifying, but it’s awesome to watch.
• she kind of pays attention to TV shows now. but mostly she likes one baby einstein video–neighborhood animals. when they play the old mcdonald song, she goes apeshit. see video below. it’s like this almost every time we play it.
• she had her first ever toys ‘r’ us trip last weekend and she had so much fun riding around in the cart, checking out toys, and test driving power wheels :)
• she still won’t let us read to her. she snatches the book and chucks it. will NOT have any of it.
• she kinda sorta dances to music now when she hears it. not every time, but sometimes she gets into it. it’s an awkward shaky weird dance.
• she recently started trying to feed me and brett. she shoved a half eaten slobbery cheese puff in my mouth when i wasn’t expecting it and i almost gagged.

switching subjects: yesterday was brett’s birthday. we decided this year we weren’t doing presents for either of our birthdays, but we never said anything about cake. so i went to publix and picked up a chocolate avalanche cake and a bunch of m&m cookies. it was practically monsooning outside and the roads were flooded but dammit there was going to be cake. i asked all of our neighbors to come over after 9 (wanted to make sure caylin was in bed before they showed up, otherwise she’d never sleep) to hang out and have drinks. i didn’t tell brett, because i wanted it to be a surprise. so when they showed up at the door, brett answered it (in a cutoff, still sweaty from working out, unshowered) and told them he was about to go on a run and didn’t even invite them in. that got awkward almost instantly so i had to barge in with, “BUT THEY’RE HERE FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY”.

brett was pleasantly surprised, and it was awesome. wine, chocolate covered strawberries, whiskey, beer, cake, cupcakes, cookies, and not an ounce of shame.

we got incredibly lucky as far as our neighbors are concerned. amanda and andrew live 3 doors down. our nextdoor neighbors on either side are right around our age. one couple (john and beth) is unmarried/unbabied and they are absolutely a blast to hang out with/drink with/whatever. beth and i went and got pedicures a couple weeks ago. they have four wheelers (you do NOT understand how excited i am about this), a giant bug zapper, and lots of cats. they love caylin. they cook delicious foods. they party with us. brett works out with john and our other neighbors almost every day in the garage. it’s just awesome.

the couple on the other side of us is also our age (ashley and jason) they are married/babied. they’re the ones with the little girl who’s a few months older than caylin. she and caylin have play dates. ashley is pregnant with their second child and is about to pop any day now, so pretty soon there will be little girls running all over the place. she and jason are awesome to hang out with. brett went over there the other night and had a few beers with him while i stayed at home and worked.

it’s weird having this community feel after NOT having it for so long. not only does it feel more secure but it is just so much more fun. it feels like college all over again being able to walk to a friends house to hang out and have drinks. the only difference is now i bring a baby monitor with me.

life is just good right now. i wish it would just sit tight right here for a while. this is a good spot.

in no particular order :) all external links open in new window, images open in colorbox.

• making the best of the epic badge line with camelbaks o’ beer
• finally GETTING my defcon badge
• dan kaminsky’s talk
• sizzling apple pie at the rio’s all american bar & grille
• acquiring my first bribe card! it was very awkward!
• seeing my defcon friends
• meeting @diami03, @cron__, @stevewerby, @mdl4, @punkrokk, @rogueclown, @ch0l0man (if i left you out, my bad, there was a lot of booze at defcon, and i suck at matching faces to screennames and/or remembering them)
• seeing the blue man group in concert – just WOW. cap’n crunch will never be the same
• seeing ron white in concert – had no idea we’d get a concert from his wife as well! LOVED them both
• @myrcurial’s emphasis on DOING INFOSEC RIGHT. he may be onto something…
• defcon comedy jam – the strange nudity that may or may not have happened on stage, and seeing @Beaker & @jack_daniel make & serve waffles, the latter in a turban
• hacker jeopardy – for the nudity that luckily did not happen on stage, and i learned a few things
• the malware freak show – thank you for making me want to give perl a shot again (should be easier this go around… 9 years later)
• breakfasts at the sao paulo (relatively inexpensive …for vegas)

last but not least… this man (who gathered quite the crowd)

there are so more things that should be on this list.

defcon was awesome. a great many thanks to everyone who keeps making it happen, contributing, and sharing their never-ending wealth of knowledge.

i want to go back.

let me start out by saying that… my weirdness is not random. at all. my mom is weird. my dad is weird. my weirdness was, unavoidably, inherited. and i can never thank my parents enough.

HOWEVER, they still catch me off guard from time to time.

i received an e-mail from my dad this morning. its only contents were “IFP.” obviously, having no idea, i called and asked him what the hell “IFP” meant.

me: dad, what is IFP?
dad: welllllllllllllll you know BRB… and you know LOL… and you don’t know IFP?
me: yes, dad
dad: it means…. Index Finger Pinky! i made it up!
me: wow
dad: you know, you really should use it!

awesome.

on a side note, i’ve been absent from the blogosphere lately. not really on purpose. since brett and i moved into the new apartment, i’ve found that having a separate room for the computers has significantly minimized my time spent staring at my laptop… it’s SO fantastic. although, my addiction to my droid, online scrabble, and TBS sitcoms keep me entirely occupied, and probably just as useless.

i’ve also been a bit of a traveler lately. home for my birthday, hilton head with brett, annapolis/DC for work, vegas for work DEFCON!!!

doing more, writing less. there is such a thing as technology overload, and until last month, i think i was just about there.

to make up for the hiatus, here are happy fun pictures from the last month.

i woke up this morning and actually forgot it was new years eve. almost no one is at work. i can’t believe i’m even at work on new years eve.

i have no idea where this year went. it flew by in the blink of an eye, and so many big things happened, and i just don’t know where it went.

in 2009 i…

• went to las vegas. twice. first CES, first defcon.
• did it big for spring break in panama city.
• went to oklahoma city and presented my research.
• ended a 3 and a half year relationship.
• graduated from appalachian state.
• moved to south carolina.
• purchased my first washer, dryer, TV, and bedroom set.
• learned how to pay bills. all of them. they suck.
• fell in love with my best friend.
• started my career.

and i think the most beneficial thing to come from it all was that i found myself. i realized what i can do being on my own. i learned more in the past year than in any other year of my life. bottom line, i am happy.

2010 will be even better, and i’m starting it off the right way with my first trip of the year next week… to las vegas. :wink:

defcon was freaking amazing. i made a lot of new friends, was wined and dined by goons and geeks, even got handcuffed (and learned how to get out of them). my eyes seriously welled up when i hugged everyone goodbye and got in my cab to the airport. :cry: one of my most memorable trips ever, for sure.

also, i bought entirely too much defcon swag. damn you, vendor booths and your booze.

i didn’t get a lot of pictures but i am pretty sure that’s because we were too busy raising hell in the riv. :grin:

[edit] completely forgot to mention the blacked out brawndo (IT’S GOT WHAT PLANTS CRAVE! i didn’t know that crap actually existed… o_0 it tastes like ass) vending machine. very impressive. i’m pretty sure i have a picture of it on my phone and i will put it on twitpic when i get off work. [/edit]