ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

After getting back to Ann Arbor, I started a new job working with newer clients who had committed to a larger amount of spend with Google. These clients had typically not spent on AdWords before, and had a variety of goals they wanted to accomplish with Google. I'd be working with them for 90 days before passing them on to other teams to continue working with them. As I was staying this new role, I ended up going back out to Mountain View for a few days of training.  It was a fun time, I stayed with Kip and got to catch up with a few people. I was able to go to the earnings call TGIF and hear from the company leadership, which is always really insightful and interesting.  On the way home, I stopped by in Utah for a couple of days. My mum didn't know I was coming, so I waited for her to walk by me in the mall as she was going for lunch with my dad, and tried to grab her bag. She held on pretty tight! It was nice to spend some time with them. We went tu...

While the cats away, the mouse can play! Lain went off to Utah and Idaho to visit our new nephew and I took the opportunity to climb half dome with Kip. Actually, the day before I went to Tahoe with Logan and Veronica, which was fun. I spent the night sleeping under the stars at the side of the road close to Chinese Camp on the way to Yosemite. My phone didn't work out there but before I arrived I send the coordinates to Kip, who met me out there at 2 or 3 in the morning after going to a concert in the bay area. The hike was quite long, I think 17 miles, but it was a lot of fun. At the summit you have to climb up a really steep section, where you hold on to metal cables and navigate up as people are coming down the same route. It gets really congested there, and I didn't have gloves so after hanging on for so long, I could barely feel my fingers. I decided to go on the outside of the cables instead of up the middle so I could get up faster before my fingers fell ...

It's always a good time when family is around! Chris, Naty, and Athena decided to come visit us on their Trinity Trip. They went on a long road trip to California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, calling it the Trinity Trip. They stayed with us after visiting my parents in Modesto, so we wanted to show them a good time. They had only about 24 hours with us, so we wanted to fill as much fun as possible. They arrived late afternoon, so we didn't have much time to head to the beach, especially with traffic. So we went to... Google! We showed them around the different offices, road bikes, and made some Italian sodas. They had a fun time riding around and I had fun holding little Athena. She's always so smiley, which Emre was not as a baby! We headed back home and ordered some pizza, pasta, and mozzarella sticks from our favorite place. Also, some smoothies from our favorite smoothie place. The next day, we went to San Fancisco. They only had a couple hours, so we wal...

Moving back to California meant going back to all my favorite spots. I had been telling Alastair for a while about Fort Bragg, so we jumped on the opportunity to go! We had also recently bought a new tent and we wanted to try it out. We drove along the coast, which was pretty, but I was getting major car sickness. I haven't experienced that in a while, so I was feeling pretty terrible. We eventually got off and drove on the freeway, much better! Our first stop was at sea glass beach. Alastair was a little let down because he googled prior to our trip, expecting the place to be covered with beautiful sea glass, but it was over picked. Emre loved playing in the water, even though it was extremely cold. He had a grand old time throwing the sea glass back into the water. We reserved a spot to camp, but soon realized it was a terrible place. We drove into a mobile home park that had a small section for camping. We drive to our spot, and the campers next to us had pit bulls,...

One of the major benefits of living in California is that we are so close to family, which means free babysitting! Alastair and I took advantage one weekend and dropped Emre off at my parent's place.  We had never let anyone watch Emre for longer than a few hours, so this was really going to test the waters. He did great! He woke up in the morning and went straight to having fun at Lola's house!  Alastair and I left pretty early, so we could grab some food at the store and to beat traffic. This was all done in vain because for some reason, the bank put a fraudulent hold on our card and couldn't use it until we sorted it out with the bank. Super frustrating but whatever. I drove all the way to Yosemite, which is HUGE for me because I hate driving and windy roads freaks me out! But I did it! Sweaty palms and all, I did it!  We made it the park and decided to hike a trail that lead to a lake. Alastair did his research about the destination, promising views o...

One of the benefits of living on the West coast is the proximity to family. We loved all the family time we were able to have, especially Emre! He became best pals with his Gigi and her elephant collection. It was so nice to give her a call to let her know we were on our way to hangout with her! We love our Gigi!  It was also nice to be a road trip away from Grandma and Grandad. They were able to travel to the Bay Area with Alastair's aunts, Vickie and Joyce. I've never met that side of the family, so it was nice to officially meet the McKee side!  We spent the weekend in Monterrey and Carmel. Our first stop was at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. I was so excited to take Emre there! At the time, he was so into sharks. Absolutely obsessed! I was excited to take him to see real sharks. The experience was ok, just bummed that there were soooo many people! completely crowded. I felt a bit overwhelmed and we didn't even manage to take Emre out of the baby carrier. I...

To celebrate our first weekend in the Bay Area, we drove over to the coast. We had read about a little beach that wasn't supposed to be busy called Tunitas Beach close to Half Moon Bay. It was a great drive over there, through the mountains and down Highway 1. When we got there, we had to climb down a little path, using a rope at one point to steady ourselves. It wasn't as bad as we'd read, but it was pretty difficult while carrying Emre! But once we got down, we were able to enjoy the sand and the fog! We tried out our new tent and threw the frisbee around while Emre found rocks and put sand in his hair! He loved to explore, and had a great time doing his thing on the beach. Right as we climbed back up the bluff to the car, the fog cleared! It was nice to see more scenery, but a little sad since if we'd have waited another 10 minutes or so before leaving we'd have been able to take some nice pictures and enjoy some nice sun from the beach! Ah well, gla...

While Alastair had plans to go on his excursion with Kip, I didn't want to be alone for Thanksgiving, so I peaced out and went to California with Emre. It had been years since I was home for Thanksgiving, 2010, to be exact. So I was excited to see my family and friends. Emre did so well on the flight to California. This was the first time that I had flown on my own with him, and he did so well! It was a red eye, and I'm so glad we took it. He pretty much slept the whole time. He stirred a bit and I just nursed him back to sleep. It was great! We arrived around 11, almost twelve at night, West coast time. My parents picked us up from the airport and stayed at my Grandma's house. It was the first time she had met Emre. A little before noon, we headed to Fort Bragg. I love that place and wanted to take Emre there. We went to all my favorite spots. We went to Sea Glass beach, ate chowder bowls and fish and chips, and walked around and looked at the pool...

While Laleinia and Emre visited with Lola and Grandpa, I spent the week working from Google's headquarters in Mountain View. Just like during orientation, I was blown away with everything out there. I got to explore a little more than before, seeing other parts of the campus and making use of new perks. Being out in silicon valley once again reminded me of how lucky/blessed I am, and how appreciative I am to be working for Google. It is great to be part of a company that is changing the world and how people interact with it. I've loved every minute so far! It has also been kind of nice to be away from Laleinia and Emre, but only because it makes me miss them so much. I think being apart every so often helps you to re-evaluate how blessed you are, and makes you appreciate being back together. Having said that, they did come and visit me for lunch yesterday, along with Lain's mother, Gigi, and Lain's Aunt Cindy. It was really nice to see them all, show them aro...

As we gear up for Emre's blessing in Utah, we are out visiting Laleinia's parents in California for a week. After taking a long flight from Detroit, by way of Las Vegas, we stopped the night at Emre's great-grandma's house and spent the day in San Francisco with Lola (Laleinia's mom) before heading out to Modesto. We did the usual, clam chowder and Pier 39, but we also did a few firsts together too. Alastair had never been on a trolley car, and so we waited in line for 45 minutes and got on the side of one! Emre enjoyed it so much that he ended up snoozing in mommies arms! It was a fun trip, up and down the steep, steep hills of San Francisco! The bonus was that we ended up riding for free, saving $7 a person! We tried to pay when we got off, but the driver said it was on the house since they didn't collect our money earlier. Nice. After getting off, we walked/hiked up a really steep hill and then made our way down to Chinatown. We had never ...

After a week in Michigan, I flew out to California for my orientation at Google. I had been looking forward to being at Google's headquarters and seeing all of the crazy things that I'd heard about for so long, but I was also sad to be leaving my wife and son behind in an empty apartment for 5 days. I love traveling and being somewhere new, but I miss my family so much when I'm gone. Ah well, time to look on the bright side, and the side was very bright indeed. But things started with a little hitch. Google had arranged a rental car for me, so when I went to pick it up I was asked to show my drivers license. I instantly remembered that since I'm in the process of getting a Michigan license, I'd left my temporary one back in Ann Arbor. Bad news! So I took a train to San Francisco to meet a friend who drove me to my hotel! Google seems to treat its employees well, even the Pooglers! Google's headquarters was absolutely unbelievable. The campus was m...