Wild Game and Networking for FED in MPLS

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to a Minnesota Wild game, which was sooooo awesome! It really was a great game. Nicole and I had a great time. Although we weren't exactly front row, I will say that the excel is well designed and I still felt like I was relatively close to the action. The shootout was an awesome way to end a game.

I'm excited to go to another game and see them again. I'm already scheming on some tickets.

I've been busy lately. I think that if everything goes well, I'll be working on starting a networking event and hopefully group for front end developers in Minneapolis. Not that Im THE front end developer from MN someday I hope to be :) but there's definitely a need for a place where new and younger developers can meet and share information.

I'm eager to build a website that will be scrutinized by other developers... I'm liking concrete 5 for a cms. Its got bloggin and page management and is highly customizable.

That's all for now!

Getting Back Into Running

Making Commitments

I'm surprised at how long it took me to get off my butt and start doing something. I kept saying I was going to start running for about the past two weeks. After putting off gettting started for far too long, I finally got a run in yesterday. It wasn't long and it wasn't as physically taxing as I thought it would be, considering I quit smoking 2.5 months ago. I was thinking my lungs wouldn't help me out too much, but I was surprised. This whole getting back into shape thing isn't a sprint. Its a slow process that will require a good amount of dedication. Its a commitment.

On a good note this is like the first year that I'll be getting a tax refund. Ha. Oh my.

Here's to getting back into shape and an awesome day!

Ugly Code

truphoto update

That moment when you look at code you wrote two weeks ago... and realize its horrible. Knowing what you know now you just want to rewrite the whole darn app from the ground up. That's exactly where I'm at right now. I learned about a new JavaScript library, Backbone which is pretty awesome for a Single Page Application. Which is what I'm trying to develop. I also learned about some templating engines... mustache and handlebars.js so I'd like to combine them all into a single front end / client side solution. Because after looking at my code, its a mess.

Not as bad as some previous projects, but I didn't like the amount of HTML in my PHP. I feel like PHP should just be there for outputting JSON and interfacing with the Database along with doing server side validation and the other things that PHP is really good at.

So here goes Truphoto version 1.1 with a back end that's only going to output JSON and has a RESTful API, which means  I'll have to pretty much rewrite the back end :( but knowing much more PHP than I did 3 weeks ago I think it will be a lot cleaner. I'd like to try and implement a few HTML 5 features, just for kicks. Mainly cause I need to learn some HTML 5. So after I go for a run tonight It's time to get my developer hat back on and DEVELOP MY BUM OFF!

Life Update

Work is going great, minus the fact that I don't have photoshop, so I'm quite hindered in my ability to look at designs and be able to replicate them. I can do layout based on a jpg, but getting things pixel perfect would be near impossible. So here's to hoping that I get it tomorrow!

I feel so blessed to have met Nicole! She's amazing!!!! I really like how darn comfortable I feel when I'm with her. I want to do things right, take my time, and give this everything that I've got. I really want this to be a healthy and successful relationship. So I'm going to do all that I can to make that happen.

My dog Louie had surgery on Monday, and he has this huge incision and scar where they removed a cyst. I feel so bad for him, I hope it doesn't hurt too bad. Poor Louie!

Things are going really well and I feel incredibly blessed right now! I just want to give back and help others who aren't as fortunate. I just don't know the right place to volunteer at, something hasn't really called out to me but I've got my ears open for the right opportunity.

Change of social media homes.

I'm not going to leave all my social networks. I'm just going to consolidate. No more posting on all sorts of different things. Or checking up on what people are doing. I want to spend more of my time living, and less time observing.

So enough with the facebook statuses. Gone are the tweets. Goodby instagram. Adios tumblr. This will house my digital presence from here on out. If you want to see what I'm up to it'll be on here. I always liked my old blog. I like posting on here. I think that the medium is a little different and its message is one that I agree with.

Just wanted to let all my friends and family know that you probably wont see very many statuses from me in the future. I didn't drop off the face of the earth. Im just moving.

One Twenty Thirteen---Average Sunday

Some things that happened today.

• I wrote a pretty darn important and lengthy (for me) email to my pastor. I hope he gets around to reading it. 
• I surived the cold. 
• Me and my dog did some serious napping followed by some serious snuggling. 
• I think that I figured out how to get some bass coming from my phone to the tape adapter to my car stereo. Before the sound was super bad. I found the equalizer setting...
• I took this picture -->

Things that happen tomorrow

• I start my new job
• I will be running when I get home
• I will be taking better care of myself (not eating dumb things)
• I will be flossing
• Louie is getting his teeth cleaned. 
• I will start reading a REAL book, not something related to work or web dev

A thought to close on

Family. Friends. Relationships. And making lasting memories are getting a priority upgrade. Not that they weren't important before. I just want to make more of a conscious effort at being a better son, cousin, brother, friend, and boyfriend.

Web Development---Truphoto--Introduction

Its been a quick two weeks working on this massive project and undertaking that I'm working on.
Some things that I've learned:

1. How to use bootsrap
2. AJAX 
3. JSON (Which is way too cool for school)
4. PHP (SO MANY FUNCTIONS ANS SO MUCH MORE)
5. MySQL

From starting out with just an idea, and nothing I feel like I've come a long way. My first successful ajax request was probably the coolest I've ever felt while coding.





I've got a long way to go to get this thing completely operational. But I've got a solid framework. I'm learning so much along the way.

Whenever I got stuck I referenced these two books, which have been very helpful. When I first started I was using these every two minutes. Now I'll look at them only when I'm completely clueless. The PHP manual has been quite helpful.

Eventually I'll get my hosting sorted out, and my domain name fixed so it can be tested on an actual server. It's still local right now.

Outlook on life.

I started out as a lanky punky preppy, hippie, hip-hop junkie, skater nerd and somehow turned into a  full grow (and growing) young professional.

With a lot of help from others and God I made it to where I'm at today. I start a new job / contract on Monday. I have an amazing life. I love the people in it. I feel so blessed to have what I have. I don't know how to say thank you to all those that have supported me, prayed for me, and have been there when I needed a helping hand.





I know the road ahead of me is filled with challenges. That's just how life works. I don't know what is going to happen, but I know that I can make it through anything.  Macklemore said this quite well

"I don't control life but I control how I react to it"

Blog version 2.0

Welcome to what will be my collection of my life. 

• The things  I do. 
• The places I go.
• The people I meet.
• What I see
• What I think
• What happened
• What I'm working on
• And probably a whole lot more!

I looked at my old version of my blog, that I started in 2005. I'm pretty sure that the 16 year old me, and the 23 year old me have some different things to say. I wanted to keep the content there separate from what's on here. Its just too different. I have a purpose with this and I want to keep it focused. This isn't Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace (Those were the days).

This is me, Andrew Sherrard.
I was here.
I accomplished things.
I loved.
I lived.
I thrived.

And what follows is what I want to say to the world.
Thank you for listening.