Monthly Update

so, as i thought i might, i've let myself down regarding updating the blog more often. no one's surprised, so we'll move on....

we're moving steadily toward parenthood, and it's a little scary. lol just not knowing exactly what it's going to be like and how we're going to be as parents, but i think that all new parents feel that way, and you just learn as you go. there's no doubt that Olivia will be showered with love at every chance, and that we'll give her the support and encouragement she needs. it's going to be an adventure, for sure! we also just completed our "special delivery" class this past weekend, which went well and answered some questions regarding natural vs. medicated vs. c-section births. toni is still planning on going completely natural but knows that she may change her mind once things get going. we're slowly but surely getting the nursery and other things done around the house but we've got a ways to go yet. luckily Olivia won't be in the nursery right away anyway, so we've still got some time.

made a few more upgrades to the Jeep as well. Got some bright LED bulbs for the interior as well as the license plate:





License Plate comparison:

License Plate final:

The photos don't do them justice - these things are BRIGHT, especially at night!

I also found out about a guy on ebay who sells decals you can put into the "Compass" stamped in the rear bumper. they come in a variety of colors, several of which also offer "reflective" so i opted for the "white reflective" ones since our jeep is white though i tried to get toni to go for a contrasting color to make it pop even more... Anyway when they came in they were more of a silver color when just looking at them, which i confirmed with the seller was correct. i was a little put out by this at first, but once i got them on, you can't tell as much and it looks really good. Here are some installation pics:

Before

Halfway done:

Finished (no flash):

Full View, Day, No Flash:

Full View, Day, With Flash:

Full View, Night, With Flash:


Toni drove behind me the other night and said it looks really good, so i'm happy with the looks as well as the added safety at night. And for only $11 shipped (from Canada) it's hard to beat!

That's all for now folks!

Birthday Bash and Jeep upgrades (kinda)

First off, I know it's been about a month since my last post. I know. I'm sure there are some excuses I could use to some extent, but honestly I'm just not that concerned about it at this time. Though I will say that I (again) am going to try to post more regularly. I know you're laughing on the inside, too.

Had an AMAZING rock star karaoke birthday bash in Bham this past weekend - all I can say is WOW! Such a great time! Toni did such an amazing job putting it all together and everyone got into it, which made it even better. By far one of the best birthday parties I've ever experienced. We're not sure it could ever be topped, so we may end up doing a sequel for my 40th! lol I'll be sure to post more info with pics as soon as we get them all compiled. And tomorrow, I'll officially be in my thirties....and have a baby by the end of the year! 2009 is definitely a great year!

On to other news: as I posted last time, we got a new 09 Jeep Compass and have been enjoying it thus far. I've always been into lights (just like the look of the whiter, higher temp waves rather than the somewhat dingy looking regular halogen), so I invested in some Silverstar bulbs for the fog lights. Here's a look mid-install (Silverstar bulb is on the right, stock on the left):



Pretty decent difference for me from the outside (you can see the higher temp range on the ground as the Silverstar is noticeably whiter), and from the inside the visual range immediately in front of the vehicle seems to be much better. Here's a shot with both fogs installed and headlights on:



Last night I also installed Silverstar bulbs in the headlights, but the images didn't turn out great. They seem to be brighter looking out, but looking at them head on, you don't see as much of a difference as with the fog lights, but I'm still happy with them, especially for the price I got them for.

I just ordered some LED bulbs for the interior and license plate and reverse lights, which I'm really excited about (what a dork, right?). I'll be sure to post pics of the before and after as soon as they come in, hopefully this week. I also plan on putting in (not sure if I'll do it myself yet, or get the dealer to do it) a Cold Air Intake by either K&N or Mopar (which is made by K&N from what I understand, but is blue instead of red and may go over better for the warranty). That may be the extent of my upgrades for this vehicle, but we'll see.

Well, until next time!