Some Pig

The Break Up

2011-06-17T11:10:00.004-06:00

The past day has been one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with in my life. Scratch that, it has been the hardest thing ever for me. As of a couple weeks ago, Leslie was starting to feel nervous about getting married and she was not sure she wanted to go through with our wedding the way she had been feeling. I pleaded with her and begged her to stick it out, all while giving her advice, praying for her, and asking her to speak with as many people as possible to help her through this nervousness. But after much effort on both our parts and not much result, we both agreed that the best thing for us to do would be to call off the wedding. We both want to be happy with who we are marrying and right now, with these feelings, she would not be happy to walk to the altar in the temple with me.

As you can imagine, I am a wreck and I am having a hard time with this. I love Leslie more than anything and I was totally ready to spend my life with her, but I cannot force her to feel a certain way and I can't make these feelings go away. I know you all care a lot about Leslie and me and that's why I wanted to let you know here. I appreciate your prayers and thoughts.

On the Road Again

2009-09-14T16:41:00.017-06:00

I can't believe it's been since April that I last posted. A lot has happened since then: I got my job back as an inspector, I went to Havasupai, Jackson and Texas, bought a new bike, won the Stobbe family golf tournament, and lots of other fun things. I'm still living with the parents though. I'm hopeful that pretty soon I'll be moving out. When I do, I'll be sure to post pictures. Here's what's been going on:

Havasupai

This is one of the new waterfalls created by the flood that came through the canyon last year. They are calling this one Rock Falls.

This one is also new. They call it New Navajo Falls.

This waterfall is unnamed. We found it when we were just walking upstream to get to Rock Falls. There is no trail to get to it, but it was great for cliff jumping.

This waterfall was known as Navajo Falls. As you can tell, water no longer flows over it because the flood changed the course of the river.

Jackson

I didn't have a lot of time on this trip to do sightseeing. It was my first time seeing the Tetons though and I thought they were amazing. These other pictures are a home I saw in Alpine, WY.

Texas

Texas was great. I flew into San Antonio and had a little extra time, so I went to see the Alamo and the riverwalk. After that I went to Laredo, Corpus Christi and South Padre Island.

Corpus Christi. This is the USS Lexington.

South Padre Island was really cool. Unfortunately, it was rainy each day I was there and I couldn't get too many good pictures. Also, I ran out of memory on my camera by the end of my trip.

This was just a way cool backyard. I had to post it because I really liked it.

So I'm Trying to Buy a Condo

2009-04-29T14:53:00.004-06:00

I have been looking now for about 3 months for my own place. At first, I wanted to buy a house so I could have a yard and such. But I changed my mind when I saw a few condos. But I need some help. This has turned out to be much harder than I was expecting. My realtor is doing a decent job finding places, but I'm not liking many of them. Or if I do like them, they turn out to be too expensive. I was hoping maybe some of you had some ideas for me. I am looking for a place that's under $125,000, and relatively close to my work on 33rd South and Highland Drive. It doesn't necessarily have to be that close, but it would be nice. Since I feel like I have exhausted pretty much every other resource on the internet to find a condo, I wanted to ask you all and see if anyone knew about a place.

Maybe something like this:

Okay, so maybe not THAT nice.

Probably the Worst Decision I Ever Made

2009-03-30T18:00:00.003-06:00

Disclaimer: This post is kind of a downer. Don't read it if you don't want to feel depressed.

So most of you know by now that I no longer work as an inspector anymore and that I took the new position in my company that I talked about in my last post. I am really regretting that now. I hate my new job, I get paid less, and I don't get to travel twice a month. I don't know why I took this new job. I guess I thought there was a good reason at the time, even though I would be taking a pay cut. Now I'm wondering if I should try to buy a house anymore, or even if I should quit. I'm really not enjoying what I do anymore. At first, my boss told me that if I didn't like my new job, I could go back to being an inspector. Now, he's saying that the inspector position doesn't even exist anymore, so that's out.

So, sorry if you're depressed now after reading. I really just need a place to vent my frustrations. I'm sure things will pick up soon.

Last Trip

2009-02-12T10:45:00.002-07:00

I just got back yesterday from Idaho from what was probably my last trip as an inspector/appraisor. I know I have only been inspecting homes for about 3 months, but my boss thinks it's time for me to move up in the company. It's not a sure thing yet, but I am the only person who applied for the position. And if all goes as planned, I will be a business analyst by next week.

I'm going to miss this job. It was a pretty sweet gig to be able to have my company pay for me to travel all over the country for weeks at a time. But it will also be a good thing. It will be nice to be able to go home each night after work and to have steady pay.

Anyway, here are some pictures if scenic Boise. I was also in Sun Valley, but I forgot to take any pictures.

This is Boise State's stadium. I didn't get to see the smurf turf, but I was tempted to drive around honking and yelling, "Go Utes!"

How would you like to have to mow this guys lawn? Yikes!

The Sugar Bowl

2009-01-05T18:21:00.008-07:00

This may have been the best trip ever, despite all the troubles we had getting there. I had so much fun going to New Orleans to watch the Utes wallop on 'Bama. This picture was taken while we were waiting for our plane in Salt Lake. We were delayed on the way to New Orleans and then twice more on the way home. It was not a good trip for flying, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. That's Matt on the right and my Dad sitting down. We met up with another brother, Tanner, at the game.

This is a holocaust memorial on the Riverwalk.

Jackson Square

Louis Armstrong Park

Downtown New Orleans

Top Joe outside the Superdome

This is the view from our seats.

Opening kickoff

This is my favorite picture of all. Note the score.

Finally, we stopped by LSU's campus in Baton Rouge on the way to Houston to catch our plane.

"Honey, why is there a pine tree... in our living room?"

2008-12-10T21:30:00.009-07:00

What's green, 17' 2" tall, prickly, and smells like the forest?

A GIANT CHRISTMAS TREE!!

Don't worry, this was obtained legally. And for those of you who think this is a little excessive, isn't that what Christmas is all about?

Travelin' Man

2008-11-13T15:58:00.014-07:00

About 4 hours ago I got back from my very first business trip. I went to Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. I has been exhausting. I figured I drove a total of 1,684 miles from Sunday night to Thursday. I also saw 12 homes in that time. I chose to drive this time because I was a little late in planning the trip so a flight would have cost the company a lot more money than normal. But it turned out to be a good trip. I even got to see Mount Rushmore for the first time. By the way, how do they think they can charge $10 to see a national monument. Shouldn't it be free? I pay taxes.

The actual mountain it's on is a lot taller than I thought it would be.

They have a walkway leading to the view point with all the state flags and an inscription for when they were admitted to the union.

I found Utah.

I wasn't planning this, I swear.

And for some reason they have mountain goats roaming around the entrance to the monument.

This buffalo was in Custer National Park. I drove through it on my way to Nebraska. Apparently it has the largest herd of buffalo in the country.

My car got kinda dirty during the trip. Oh, and this is not my car, it's a rental.

Here a some pictures of some of the homes I saw for work.

This is a huge cabin built right on a cliff. That's probably a 200 foot drop.

This would creep me out if it was in my house, but whatever.

If you want cheap gas, move to Wyoming. Holy cow!

Wyoming Trip

2008-10-15T12:41:00.004-06:00

This past Friday and Saturday, Joe, Trav and I went to the booming metropolis of Laramie, Wyoming to see the Utah football game played at Wyoming High School stadium.

That's the Utah fan section. We sat with the Wyoming fans because we bought our tickets on craigslist from some lady in Cheyenne.

We got really lucky with the weather. It was cold and windy but sunny. It was supposed to snow and rain but for some reason it didn't. We almost got stuck in a snow/windstorm on the way home but again we got really lucky and avoided the traffic jams just in time.

Workin' 9 to 5

2008-07-12T12:57:00.005-06:00

So I figured that since most of you have no idea what I do all day at work, I should show you some pictures I stole from work. These pictures come to me in reports that I have to proofread and then send to the insurance companies who ordered them. It's boring, but it's my life.
All the reports I do need to have a sketch of the home. And sometimes I have to draw one myself. Believe me, it's more fun than it sounds.

I thought this was a really cool picture. We have to include a picture of the dog if there is one at the home for liability reasons, so an inspector took this one and I think it turned out really well.

Some Pig

2008-03-23T23:10:00.002-06:00

I was working on my computer a couple weeks ago and my dad walked in the room and looked at the title of my blog and said, "Uh, Jordan(that's for Andy)...Jordan pees his pants too? What's that all about?" So I decided to change the title of my blog to something a little more appropriate.

And the new quiz is just for fun. I know exactly what I want to do with my life. I just thought I would get some input on what kind of day job to get, since I hate my current job.

Mount Jordan

2008-02-18T22:30:00.012-07:00

Finding a job was one of the most difficult and most boring experiences of my life. Just to keep myself occupied while I was waiting for call backs and such, I built a big mound of snow in my backyard. At the tallest point I think it was probably about eight feet high. These pictures are after a few warm days when it melted a little bit. I wanted to build a snow cave and sleep in it but I don't really have time anymore.

So I know in one of my last posts I said that I got a job, and some of you who have been around me in the last week or so know that the job I was talking about in that post only lasted about four hours. It turned out the job wasn't what I expected at all and I had to go in the next day and tell them I didn't want to job. But now I work at a place called Castle Inspection Service. They do home inspections and for now I am just going to be working in the office proof reading reports. Hopefully after a while I can become an inspector and get out of the office. I added a link to their home page (click on the title of my blog), and if you have time to kill you can see what they do, not that it's all that interesting.

Kalen and I are also talking about starting a small business. I don't know how soon that will happen since he and Jaime just bought a house and he is still going to school full time and working. The sooner I do that the better so I don't have to sit in an office eight hours a day. My Mom actually wants me to quit my job and buy a franchise from a family friend for $5,000, which is a really good deal. It's an option that I'm considering. Sorry I know this is long. I wanted to take advice from everyone else and just put pictures, but I have so much to tell you all. I understand if you don't read any of this.

No Quarter

2008-01-23T18:55:00.001-07:00

I was in a rush when I posted my first blog (below) and I forgot that I had this picture that I took with my cell phone. It's not really high quality but you can see how close we were to the band. My cell phone camera doesn't zoom at all so that is literally how close I was. "You know like those, double guitars?" Yeah, he had one.

New Job!!?

2008-01-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Okay so I haven't posted a new blog in a while. I actually didn't want to post a new one until I got a job, so here's the announcement. I got a job. It was the strangest experience too. It was the most atypical interview ever. The place is called ADM Ventures and they sell consulting to people who want to start their own online business. I went in at 10:00 this morning and no one was there, so I went home and called back and they said they don't open their office until 10:30. So I went back and talked to the boss and he explained what the job is and without even seeing my resúmé, he offered me the job. I don't know what to expect from this. Everyone there seemed so relaxed. He then showed me the new office they will be moving into when it gets remodeled and where the kitchen and pool table will be and I was like, "What, pool table at work? I want this job". Well, not out loud, but ya know.

Oh, and the hours are the strangest thing about the job. The office is open from 10:30 to 12:30 and then from 3:30 to 7:30. It may suck having to work until 7:30 but from the way it went this morning I'm sure even the schedule is going to be very relaxed. It will be nice to be able to sleep in though.

I'm supposed to have another interview tomorrow with a marketing firm, but I don't know what to do about that now. That seemed like a sweet job when I applied and I didn't expect to be offered this job so soon and I was hoping to be able to compare the two and make my pick later. I may still go to that interview.

I have to go back to work soon but I just wanted to let you all know what else is going on with me right now. This picture is of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, from Led Zeppelin. Trav and I went to see a Led Zeppelin cover band this past weekend and it was awesome. They were called No Quarter and they sounded a lot like the actual band. We were right up on the front row, we even got to lean on the stage for the last ten songs. Besides that, nothing much is new. I shoveled all the snow off part of my roof yesterday and I'm going to make a snow cave out of it. The pile is as tall as me right now.

I'M GONNA GRADUATE!!!

2007-12-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm gonna graduate. The same guy who once shaved his butt to win a $5 bet. And in just a shade under a decade too. Oh man, I am so excited. But I'm also pretty freaked. I have no immediate plans to go to graduate school, so I'm going to be stepping out into the big scary world right away. This is weird, especially for a guy who has not had a job that has lasted more than three months ever in his life. And on top of that, I'm turning 25 at the end of December and I will have to be paying for health insurance. I don't know why but to me that's a big deal. It kind of signifies that I will be grown up. And I will be off my Dad's membership at the country club and I will have to pay for golf now too. This sucks. I don't want to grow up.

Oh well, you have to move on sometime, right? So far I'm just planning on finding a job somewhere small and saving money so I can start my own business. I have had a few offers lately from places that don't sound interesting, so I have just told them I would think about it. What I would really like to do is get a job as a professional public speaker. That's a job right? I don't know why, that just sounds like something I would be good at. And I know what you're all thinking, "public speaking, I thought Pig was way too shy to want to speak in public?" Actually, I really like public speaking. It's challenging and it gives me a thrill. We'll see what happens.

Ok, I know. Long written blog posts without pictures are boring. Well maybe I won't put a picture in this blog, ok? Actually I just bought myself a new ipod and I was going to take a picture of it and put it on the blog, but who hasn't seen an ipod before? Then I was going to put a video on my blog from Tommy Boy, ya'know when he's running down the sidewalk yelling, "I got a D-, I'm gonna graduate!!" That's the video I wanted to post but I couldn't find it on YouTube. Just imagine what it's like and I'm sure you'll start smiling just thinking about it.

Okay, this is getting long. I heard there might be a party/get-together at my house tomorrow (12/15) that Joe was planning and can't come to. Anyone who is in town is welcome to come by, I'd love to see you. I wasn't planning on getting food but if people really are going to come we could order pizza or something. Just call me before you come. (801)209-6120

Dang cougars!

2007-11-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Man am I upset right now. The Utes had the cougars on the ropes, one play away from winning in Provo and shutting up all those crazy zoobies. I know some of you are byu fans and I apologize right now for anything I might say that would offend you. But I get pretty emotional about these games. Amy and I have gone to every home game this year and have had a great time, and a roller coaster ride at the same time. She bought two tickets to the byu game a long time ago and was planning on going with Kristi. But then a week before the game I was wondering how to get a ticket and I realized that Kristi might be willing to give me her ticket, since she wasn't really into this season anyway. So she was really nice and let me take her ticket. So Amy and I went down to Provo on Saturday expecting a win, and well, if you don't know what happened you should probably read about it on another website because I will just tell you what the refs did wrong and why the cougars suck. I can't believe we let their receiver get open on a 4th and 18 play. What can you do though? That's what happens in sports sometimes. I love the Utes and I would rather be a Ute and lose than be a cougar and win.

Here are two pictures we took at the game. I have to put them up quick before Amy puts up the exact same pictures on her blog (because I know she will).

Check out the beard. That's about 8 days. It's not as impressive as that guy's mo hawk though.

Matching red pants. We sat way up high in the Northwest corner of the stadium. Our seats had two good features: we had a nice bird's eye view of the field and we were in the middle of a bunch of Ute fans. I love hearing some of the things Utah fans yell at byu fans.

Abby's Home!!

2007-11-12T21:27:00.001-07:00

Abby got home on Friday so Trav and I went over to say hi. We all went to see Kalen and Jaime and tried to go see Joe and Erika but to no avail. So we came to my house, took some pictures and were going to play boggle, but Abby got tired and wanted to go home. It's going to be good to have another single person around. She was in Halifax, Canada on her mission, in case you forgot.

Getting Started

2007-11-05T12:45:00.001-07:00

There were some rumors going around that I had a blog, so I thought I would start one. It seems like the only way to stay in the loop, and to keep other people posted on my life. I'll probably be really slow on updating my blog though, and since nothing exciting ever happens in my life, you can all just check my blog every two months or so. Here are a few pictures for those of you who are like, "Who's Jordan Stobbe again? Oh right, Pig."

See? It's a pig. Go Utes!

I'm really proud of this one. This is when I won the Stobbe Family Golf Tournament back in July. I won on a three hole playoff (net +1). That club head cover that looks like a dog is what my brothers and I play for every time we golf.

That's my nephew, Jack. He always has something he's putting in his mouth.

This is in Havasupai. I went with Andy's family, Joe and some of James' family last spring break.