Merry Christmas to all!

It has been an exciting year for the Rosenbaugh Family, and I’m really grateful that we were able to share it with many of you. Here’s the month by month rundown:

The wicked awesome seal we used on the wedding announcements

January: Wedding planning was in full swing. Wedding announcements were printed and shipped to us so we could get started mailing everything out to everyone while Hayley was finalizing her dress fittings and I enjoyed Jimmer.

February: We held our annual Super Bowl party (I hate the Packers) and had a really good turnout – including a lot of delicious food. Hay went skiing over President’s Day weekend with her family, and I got to see Jimmer destroy TCU in their high school sized gym with my buddy Gary. More wedding planning madness ensued, including me purchasing a sweet Hugo Boss tux and a bunch of stuff from Brooks Brothers.

March: “Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us together today. Wove, twue wove… So tweasure your woves forever!” We got married on March 26, 2011 – GO TEAM ROSENBAUGH! Then we swiftly left the country to party it up in Costa Rica for a week. The wedding was great, and both of us are incredibly grateful to all of our family and friends who made the sacrifices to be there with us. I personally have to thank my most excellent groomsmen, Travis(aurus Rex) Tidball and W. Spencer Porter - you guys are truly great!

Family and friends in front of the temple doors

April: The honeymoon continued into April, and then it was time to get used to normal life and the fact that BYU wasn’t going to play in the Final Four. Hay studied up a storm for her next exam while I finished Red Dead Redemption and began the amazing Mass Effect 2. Honestly, April was allllll about relaxing after the wedding planning, and boy did we need it.

Hay & I on the beach in Costa Rica

May: We had a wonderful Open House in Houston to celebrate with friends here at home, and then we were off to Chicago for a fun filled adventure in the city and another Open House at my parent’s place! Rand and Cynthia (Hay’s parents) made the trip to both Open Houses, which made it that much more fun.  Also, I beat Mass Effect 2,was immediately sad it was over, and Hay took her actuarial exam of doom. It was a busy month!

June: The beginning of Birthday Season! Hay was spoiled with a birthday celebration and a really awesome road bike: Orbea Onyx (lady edition – Hay named her Betty). We also went to an Astros game with ExxonMobil, X-Men First Class was great, Assassin’s Creed 2 helped me learn Italian (“Requiescat en pace…”) while I enjoy assassining, and Jimmer got drafted.

July: The “Birthday Season” continues!!! I was spoiled w/ a Cannondale SuperSix road bike (awesome – it’s named Thor, after the cyclist and not the Marvel Superhero) and a really great little birthday party! We went on a bunch of bike rides and thoroughly enjoyed the weather before it started getting really warm. Oh… and CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS AWESOME!!!!

August: Papa Ron came to visit us while in town for work! We loooooove having people visit us! We got all caught up on Mad Men, which is highly recommended. (OhDon – we just want you to be happy and make good decisions!) Other than that, we went on our first long bike ride (34 miles, Hay was a trooper) and threw a party for absolutely no reason other than that we wanted to see our friends from the single’s ward.

Hay relaxing on the rocky cliffs of Acadia National Park

September: We went on am amazing trip to the Northeastern United States, hitting seven states and getting to see Derek and Brooke, Carly (Hay’s Sister), and the Jersey Boys (along

Riding in the Tour de Cure (50 miles)

with the beautiful Acadia National Park, the Freedom Trail, the US Open, and forests of the Northeast). Later in the month I participated in the Tour de Cure, riding 50 miles w/ the ExxonMobil cycling team to support research for the cure to diabetes.

October: Hay went with her sisters to Tennessee for a long weekend and came home singing “Rocky Top” nonstop, I got the new iPhone 4S and proceeded to use Siri for just about everything, and we got to see Memphis as our first show in this year’s Broadway Across America season! For Halloween Hay was the Morton Salt Girl, and I did nothing… Again… Maybe next year I should buy that bear suit I’ve always wanted?

November: November started off with the Romans Family Reunion in Arizona – I got to meet a bunch of Hayley’s relatives who weren’t able to travel for the wedding, and I think I successfully proved a valuable addition to the family. I met Brandon Sanderson at a local book signing, the author of some of my favorite books, including Mistborn and The Way of Kings! On a mini-adventure in Houston, Hay and I successfully found the Presidents statues, which was a little trickier than I had originally thought. For Thanksgiving it was off to Chicago! We had a great time hanging out (Color Me Mine w/ the sisters!) and we were able to go on several adventures (including a trip to downtown Milwaukee to see the Jelly Belly factory and Pabst Mansion, and another trip into Downtown Chicago).

(from top left to bottom right) Hay w/ Grandma Katee; me meeting Brandon Sanderson; Hay and the sisters @ Color Me Mine; Hayley discovering the Presidents!

December: This month we’ve hit 5+ Christmas parties ( 2 ExxonMobil, 1 Towers Watson, 1 Ward, 1 friends), celebrated the birthdays of our AWESOME friends Jenny & Kyle, and we’re headed to Utah for Christmas tomorrow (I’m going to learn to ski this year?!)! Oh, and I think I have Hayley now hooked on Fringe, I totally finished inFamous 2 and then got quickly wrapped up in Uncharted 3, which is amazingly wonderful.

We are incredibly excited for 2012 and all of the adventure that it will bring! We already know we’ve got a big trip planned for March/April, I’ll be riding in the Houston to Austin MS150, and The Lion King musical will be coming to Houston in the summer (I’m way too excited for it)!

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the new year!!!

I saw this and found it quite fascinating (see the Mint.com report below)…  I remember how people blasted me for taking a job with ExxonMobil a couple years ago (and I love it, btw) because of how successful we are and how much money we have made.  Well, little do you know that XOM is apparently taxed at about 47%!  That’s not mentioning the gas taxes people pay at the pump and any other fees/regulatory expenses I’m sure we pay out – this is just corporate income tax!

The more time I spend learning about the company and the things we do, the more I respect ExxonMobil for being really financially savvy and conservative.  You also have to remember that the reason we make so much money is because we spend a ridiculous amount of money to do what we do – the profit margin is nowhere as good as that of Apple, Google, or Coca-Cola.  We are, however, incredibly successful and I hope it stays that way!  I’ll do my part by keeping servers online at our US Manufacturing sites…  w00t!

It’s no major secret that Fiddler on the Roof is probably my favorite musical…  I have been dying to see it in a professional show for years, trying to satiate my love for the story with the movie and semi-decent high school performances – but the wait is over!  Not only did I get to see the show performed by a professional company, but I got to see the greatest Tevye of all time – Topol!

When I first moved to Houston I took a look to see what shows would be coming through the area (not sure whether or not to trust the people who told me that the Theater District is one of the best) and I saw that this tour was coming through.  I pretty much Mountain Dew’d my pants on the spot and added 2 or 3 reminders to my calendar to check for tickets.  Eventually they come up on the ExxonMobil discount page (we get a small discount by purchasing group tickets) and I snapped up some good seats in the lower section towards the middle.  I got 4 tickets in my excitement!

My new best friend, Jenny, and I went with Matt Anderton and his wife (who was in the dark until we walked into the theatre and she finally saw a sign telling her what show we were there for – she was pretty euphoric).  Honestly, I had probably about 20 nerdgasms during the show as I tried to hold myself back from singing along and cheering during certain dance numbers.  Topol was everything I could have hoped to see in person – at the 74 years old he still has an incredibly powerful voice, a ton of character, and the energy to keep going!  Jenny and I noticed in the playbill that he has performed the role over 2,500 times throughout his career!  We may as well have been watching the real Tevye from the original short stories…

This was definitely one of the “Before You Die” goals that can now be crossed off.  I’m still smiling on a Monday morning back at work – and I hope the smile lasts for a looooooong time! :-D

Work is a little slow today since I’m transitioning to a new assignment and doing a lot of knowledge transfer (which requires I wait on other people to become available), so I figured I’d do a quick update on some stuff I’ve been looking at recently.

A buddy of mine sent me the following link: http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/.  I recommend you check the Antonin Scalia interview, which starts on March 16th and carries on for 5 parts, and contemplate some of what he’s saying.  Whether you agree with him or not, I think it is certainly worth listening to and appreciating as a strong opinion on the Constitution and the role of the judiciary.

I’ve been reading the book Outliers recently, and I’ve really enjoyed it.  I think Gladwell can be a bit verbose with his books, but I appreciate his thought process and ability to break things down.  I haven’t finished yet, but I’m working through the final couple of chapters and would certainly have to recommend the book so far.  I hope I can take some things from it and apply them to my specific circumstances, but again we’ll have to see what my overall opinion is once I’m done.  I’ve already had a couple of spiritual insights that I’ve pulled from the book that I may share as well.

In other news, I’ll be moving out of my office at the Baytown refinery and heading down to the ExxonMobil building at 800 Bell St. in Houston.  I’m excited for a change, and I’m already pretty confident that I will be working with a really solid team.  And I’ll be honest, a shorter commute is certainly an exciting proposition!

I’ll add more in the coming days - I always have a lot to ponder.

Oh, and I’m having dinner with Dad tonight, which is exciting!  Not everyday I have family in town…

Yes…

New Year’s Resolution: Blog more frequently so that Jason doesn’t have to pester me into doing it…  Not that Jason’s pestering isn’t welcome, because that’s how I remember to do most things, but I should be better at doing it on my own…

As for a life update:

• I work at ExxonMobil and I love it.
• I’m still single and working on it.
• I still enjoy movies, literature, video games and the occasional comic book (though I admit I don’t read comics or play games as much as I used to, which is probably entirely appropriate).
• I bought an iPod Nano and a Nike+ with my Safety Money I received for surviving a quarter at the largest refinery in the United States – thus I’m hoping somethinge encourages me to run (please Nike!!!).
• I’m throwing a New Year’s Eve party.
• I’m still sexy.
• I still think the best movie line ever is, “Come with me if you want to live…”  Actually, I really just think it’s the most believable line that MUST BE ADHERED TO, even in real life.
• Travis is getting married on January 17th and it’s the best/worst/greatest news ever.  Only worst because it means I have to get spousal approval to kidnap him now…  And him visiting me in Houston became a tiny bit harder.
• I make the greatest Gingerbread known to man.

The End!

There is a lot going on I suppose. Maybe not, but it kind of feels like it!

I officially accepted my offer with ExxonMobil on Monday of this last week! I’m pretty excited, but I’m not planning on moving out there until the beginning of September… I look forward to a really great summer, but I can’t lie and say that I’m not antsy already. I’m ready to graduate and get out of school, that’s for sure! Perhaps when I’m just working I will feel a little differently.

Speaking of school, it’s been close to impossible to motivate myself to get my homework done. Seriously, it feels like my Senior year at Prairie Ridge all over again! I hated being that trunky back in the day, but I’m falling into that trap all over again… Homework is the real killer. I can do a great job of paying attention and attending class, but getting stuff done after work hours is NOT something I have a lot of motivation to do right now.

As for my summer plans, seeing as how I won’t be in Houston until September, I plan on working in the Project Management office here at BYU for those summer months. I’ve talked with Ernie and he is totally OK with me doing that – in fact he encouraged it a little bit since he wants me married by the time I end up leaving… I can’t say I don’t want the same, but I thought it was pretty funny.

So, I really don’t have anything specific to write about other than that I’m pretty happy and things are going well! I’ll probably post some pictures of Lauren and I at some point (yes, we’re still dating), but we need to actually take pictures for once if that’s gonna happen. I guess I forget that auxilliery stuff sometimes. Haha!

By the way, I’m writing this post from my BlackBerry Pearl! How cool is that? I’m pretty certain Jason is jealous…

It’s been a fabulous week since my last posting! I wanted to write this last weekend, but I’m glad I held off because it’s a little more exciting to hear the good news rather than speculation on good news!

From the looks of things, I’ll be heading to Houston, TX sometime this summer to start work for ExxonMobil! I don’t know if I could be happier at this point with this opportunity… Back in the Fall I was a little hesitant to head down there since I felt I could head home with a lady friend and be closer to family and the culture I love in Chicago, but now that I’m single (for now) Houston’s singles wards are appealing. Oh, and the biggest factor is that Jason and Erin are going to be down there, so I have psuedo-family in the area. I have plenty of other friends working for Exxon, but with Jason and Erin there I feel 100% comfortable transplanting myself and making the big move.

Some of the things I love about ExxonMobil:

• I can change jobs w/i the company – I don’t have to go on a major job search when I get tired of what I’m doing and I want to try something new
• They spend a LOT of money on IT, so I know I will have plenty to work with and I won’t be struggling to find resources like if I worked at a smaller organization
• The pay and benefits are SICK! My starting salary is right up there with some of the highest I’ve heard friends from across the country getting, and the 401k and pension plans aren’t anything to scoff at either.
• They have a vested interest in making sure I’m happy and that I have everything I need. They despise turnover, so they’ll make sure I am trained, content with my job, and moving in directions I want to go.

Added benefits:

• It’s very possible I could be moving into my first home w/i a year’s time. This will most likely depend on whether or not I get married anytime soon, because I’d rather rent and save if I’m single – but the option is definitely a possibility since the cost of living is significantly lower.
• The weather in Houston will let me play year round! I certainly love the snow, but at about this point in January I really wish I had the warm weather back so that I could be sitting on the front porch, playing outdoors, and walking to school w/o feeling like my arms are going to fall off!
• I mentioned this before, but having a strong support base in the area will be GREAT! I have several friends down there who I am excited to be working with and living around.

There are other things to definitely be excited about, but those are some of the bigs ones.

In other news, we’ve had a lot of fun around here recently. Last Saturday we held our first annual (and possibly last) Prohibition Remembrance Day party! We had the house filled with root beer, apple beer, nacho dip, and fun lovin’ Mormon kids! Honestly, it was a ton of fun. We read about the Prohibition Amendment, it’s sad demise, and how Utah blew it for the rest of the country (tsk tsk…).

My buddy Kevin hosted the party with me. Talk about a good kid! You’d be hard pressed not to think he’s great, I’ll leave it at that… I met a bunch of his friends, including a young lady who may or may not have caught my fancy… HA!

Oh, and here’s a picture just to give you idea of how much non-alcohol was consumed…

So, it’s about time to do a little house cleaning.  The blog has a new sexy look, new pics are uploaded, and the main webpage is updated with a new main image.  I’m getting a little better with Photoshop, so I’m pleased with how that is going.  Otherwise, I really have no idea what else I want to use the website for right now.  As mentioned in a previous post, I think the blog and site will take on greater value once I’ve gotten married and started a family, but I’m a few steps away from that still.

Over the Holidays I setup new email accounts using the rosenbaugh.com domain.  Hopefully my family members are enjoying email with Jeff as their provider.  :)  In general though, it’s nice to have an email address that will give me a little more flexibility, that is not tied to BYU or another organization I am a part of.  I’m also really happy with the discussion lists that DreamHost lets me setup.  I’ve setup a family distribution list so that an email will go out to all of us by shooting off a single message.  Again, it’s not of super high importance right now, but as the family grows it could be a pretty handle tool.

I’m flying out to Houston to interview with ExxonMobil next week, and I’m pretty excited.  It should be a really fun time, and I’m really hopeful that this pans out.  I originally received an offer from  Accenture (who I 100% recommend for those interested), but I felt very uncomfortable with making a decision that would take me back to Chicago now that I’m not planning on getting married in April.  Houston has a great singles scene, and the pay at Exxon is fabulous.  So, all things considered, this is a really good possibility.  My buddy, Bradford, who is hosting me has had a perfect record in his hostees receiving offers, so I hope that correlates to good things!

I’m picking up dating again.  I still love Britt, but she has most certainly moved on and away from me, so I guess it’s my turn as well.  A couple of unsuccessful dates has made me a little sad, but life goes on, right?  We’ll be having a party here at the house next weekend (after my interview trip), and I’m planning on meeting some people then.  I tell you what though, getting over a relationship like the one Brittany and I had is a difficult adventure.  Things weren’t perfect, but they were pretty dang good, and I still have yet to learn how to emotionally detach myself from those I love (ask all my friends from 10 years ago who still get emails though we haven’t seen each other in a decade).

Anyway, I’ll keep things going on here.  Life is going to get interesting soon, so I’m sure I’ll have plenty to share.