Week 28

Now we are entering the third and final trimester!

Week 27

Things have been going great this second trimester.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Thanks to Sam, who convinced me to keep this game rather than selling it on eBay, I'm now playing through the campaign mode of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It's a tactical third person shooter.

This game has it all. You run, climb, slide, dive, go prone, heal fallen teammates, take cover and lean against any flat surface, press select and you have a full 360 degree map of the area, select a HUGE array of weapons (both with and without scopes), pick up enemy weapons, command not only fellow Ghost elite soldiers but M1 Abrams tanks, Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, and many more. On top of that, enemies are outlined in red (and once spotted are noted on that 360 degreed map for future planning), friendlies in green, and you also get night vision goggles.

Graphics are just amazing in 720p, feels like I'm in the middle of the action. Thanks again Sam for recommending that I keep this game!

13 Year Anniversary

Today is our 13 year anniversary of being together. Lediya and I first got together in high school on this date in 1994, which also happens to be the same date as the Northridge earthquake. We celebrated by going out to eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill.

Here's a picture of us from 13 years ago at our Winter Formal. We were so young. Check out Lediya's short hair and my spiffy rented tux!

Latest Picture of Kaelyn

Kaelyn is now 7 months old and growing fast. Here's a picture from last weekend when she visited us.

Week 26

Lediya had a craving for chocolate cake last night, so we had to get one at Jack in the Box. I ended up eating one too.

Week 25

We had an appointment last Thursday and everything checked out great. We even got to see a 3D ultrasound of Baby Beltran's face!

Gears of War

I'm now playing Gears of War, the critically acclaimed third person shooter for the Xbox 360. I just got through the campaign at the Hard Core difficulty and it was awesome. I went through it mostly with my brother-in-law and cousin via the co-op mode. The HD graphics are just amazing. I also played multiplayer with the boys, and it was also very fun, but lacking in some respects. Multiplayer is not nearly as full-featured as Halo 2 multiplayer because you can't edit game settings in-game because it forces you to log out first. You also can't play with the same friends on the online ranked matches as the game does not allow you to create a party.

All in all though the game is simply magnificent. It forces you as a player to use cover and flanking maneuvers to be successful, unlike traditional shoot-em-up games where a bum rush is the best strategy. I am now playing the Insane (the hardest difficulty mode) and it's kicking my butt.