Matt RaibleMatt Raible is a Web Developer and Java Champion. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

The Angular Mini-Book The Angular Mini-Book is a guide to getting started with Angular. You'll learn how to develop a bare-bones application, test it, and deploy it. Then you'll move on to adding Bootstrap, Angular Material, continuous integration, and authentication.

Spring Boot is a popular framework for building REST APIs. You'll learn how to integrate Angular with Spring Boot and use security best practices like HTTPS and a content security policy.

For book updates, follow @angular_book on Twitter.

The JHipster Mini-Book The JHipster Mini-Book is a guide to getting started with hip technologies today: Angular, Bootstrap, and Spring Boot. All of these frameworks are wrapped up in an easy-to-use project called JHipster.

This book shows you how to build an app with JHipster, and guides you through the plethora of tools, techniques and options you can use. Furthermore, it explains the UI and API building blocks so you understand the underpinnings of your great application.

For book updates, follow @jhipster-book on Twitter.

10+ YEARS


Over 10 years ago, I wrote my first blog post. Since then, I've authored books, had kids, traveled the world, found Trish and blogged about it all.

My Summer Vacation in Montana

As an adult, I've often reflected upon my childhood and one of my favorite times of the year: Summer Vacation. The feeling that fills your mind and body on that last hour of school before summer break is simply awesome. I don't know when I began longing for that feeling again, but I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it again this year. I took an entire month off from "working" and enjoyed a proper summer vacation at my family's cabin in Montana.

My plan to take a month off began formulating years ago when we'd drive to the cabin for the 4th and only spend a few days before driving back. The trip was never long enough.

I started talking about spending all of July at The Cabin a couple years ago, but never committed to it. My opportunity finally came last December when Julie asked me if she could take the kids to Florida for 3 weeks for Christmas. I quickly realized that, as a kid, 3 weeks in Florida was an awesome opportunity and agreed to give up my time with them. However, I also realized I could get some negotiating power from the agreement and said "only if I can take them to the cabin for 3 weeks next summer".

For regular readers, you know the rest of the story. My Dad flew to Denver for Father's Day Weekend, stayed the following week and then we embarked on our journey to Montana on Monday, June 29th. The first week was great and we had tons of fun during the rest of July. Here's a list of some highlights:

  • Running a 5K while Abbie and Jack ran the 1 mile "fun run" with my Mom. It was Abbie's first race and she got 1st place with a time of 11:05.
    Ready for the Celebrate the Swan Race Abbie wins! 1 Mile in 11:05.
  • Hiking to Holland Falls.
    Hike to Holland Falls Holland Falls Mom at Holland Falls
    Feeding the Chipmunk Holland Falls View of the Missions from Holland Falls
  • Picking Huckleberries.
  • Greeting my sister after she rode her motorcycle for 13 hours in the rain.
  • Spending my birthday at Big Sky Waterslides, something I used to do every year for my birthday.
  • Golfing with my family in Columbia Falls.
    Golfing at Meadow Lake Golf Course Meadow Lake Golf Course
  • Building a set of bunkbeds for the kids.
    Helping with Bunkbeds Making Bunkbeds
  • Rides on "Rocket" (4 wheeler) with the kids, especially when Jack would say "go as fast as Rocket can go".
  • Golfing with my good friend Owen in Seeley Lake.
    Owen has mad golfing skillz
  • Prepping and pouring the floor on the New Cabin.
    Tamping the Floor Floor ready for Cement Time to Pour the Floor
    Floor Pouring Crew Floor Pouring Crew Floor Finished!
  • Fishing with my Dad in "Joe's Jungle" and installing a new window in the cabin afterward.
    New Window Best. Fit. Yet.
  • Teaching Abbie and Jack how to shoot a gun (a .22 pistol) for the first time.
  • Getting my next gig.
  • Traveling to Idaho for Clint and Autumn's Wedding Reception (they got married last December in Costa Rica).
    Happy Couple and Family Howdy Horseshoes Beautiful
  • Seeing Abbie get all googly-eyed over an older boy in Idaho.
    Water Fight! Abbie, Devon and Jared
  • Staying up to watch the sunrise in Idaho.
  • Milling D Logs for the kids' Treehouse.
    D Log Maker D Logs for the Treehouse D Logs on Treehouse
  • Making it from The Cabin to Denver in 13 hours with only one speeding ticket.

More than anything, it was great to spend so much time with my parents and children. The Cabin is a very special place to me and I'm proud I can take my city-slicker kids to let them experience the outdoors and live like I did growing up. In the city, they always have an adult nearby and are never left on their own for long. They wear helmets when they ride their bikes in the alley, even though they have training wheels on and couldn't fall over if they tried.

In Montana, the rules all change.

In Montana, the adults worked on the New Cabin and the kids were left to occupy themselves. Their imaginations ran wild and they played with each other for hours every day. They made me see and remember one of my favorite things about childhood - infinite possibilities. As I kid, I was a dreamer and used to think that anything was possible in the world (flying, teleporting, you name it). I'm happy to see that Abbie and Jack believe that anything is possible too.

A week ago, I returned to Denver after driving almost 4000 miles in 30 days. I feel refreshed after so much time off. I've got my goals and ambitions in line for the rest of the year and I'm looking forward to writing more, smiling more and doing great things for my new client. Over the next several months, I'll continue to work with GWT and even have plans to talk at The Rich Web Experience in December. When I travel for work, I'll be in Boston and Cupertino. Hopefully I'll see some of you along the way.

As usual, you can see all my pictures from the past few weeks in my Montana 2009: Weeks 2-4 set on Flickr.

Posted in General at Aug 01 2009, 11:38:40 AM MDT 1 Comment
Comments:

you are the luckiest man in the world, because of these nice children. :)

Posted by yekmer on August 01, 2009 at 07:19 PM MDT #

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