Blog Name Change

Everyone the address for this blog is going to change from heynerd.us to tcmfam.blogspot.com. Please make any necessary changes to favorites/bookmarks. So the four of you that read this, please make the change. The change will be effective tomorrow. I know short notice.

Tracy

Photos of the SL Temple

Yesterday I had some time to kill before Harold go off work before our BBQ and games. I decided to leave work early and head downtown and get some pictures. I want to get working with my camera again so I decided to blow the dust off and see what I could do. I didn't play with too many of the settings, just changed the camera from aperture mode to shutter speed mode and played with that a little. It was a bad time of day to get pictures but I did what I could with the light I was given. Here are a few of my favorites. These are unaltered, straight from the camera to the blog.

This was just a single flower standing tall in the Beehive House Garden

The SL Temple is so beautiful

The recirculated water fountain/stream going through the grounds of the Church Office Building

Nice reflection. I'm horrible at taking portrait format pictures.

Tried this to see if it would be cool. I like it.

More beauty...

I like this one too...

This bench is on the west side of the temple, sort of out of the way. I thought it was cool.

Last one.

I was thinking of heading up to the Capitol building but ran out of time. I also want to go get some pictures of the Cathedral of the Madeline. Stay tuned...

Quick Post for a New Picture

We had a nice lightning storm roll through tonight and so I got my camera out and took some pictures. I probably took about 20-30 pictures, only about 9 of them had any capture of lightning at all. This is my favorite.

Lighting to the south.

I took it through the kitchen window and you can see the vertical lines of the screen if you look close enough. This was cool. I waited to long to get some good ones, but next time I won't. I'll post the rest tomorrow.

A Couple More Pictures

I was looking through a few more of the pictures from our trip and thought about posting them. The first day we were in Yellowstone there were some high winds that knocked the power out at the Yellowstone Lake lodge and there was a fire somewhere that was blowing smoke in from the south. Here are a couple I took.

The Sun over Old Faithful through a slit between the smoke and the horizon.

The sun over Yellowstone Lake.

The sun over some trees on the road in Yellowstone.

I thought they were some cool pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

It's Been A While

Good evening everyone. It has been a while since I've blogged, I know, I'm a loser. Well there has been a lot of things going on in life since I wrote last. Chels has been having some stomach issues that have kept her down a lot. She has good days and bad days, but for the most part, she's doing OK. We will hopefully get to the bottom of things with her shortly.

I was released as the YM President of the ward and put on the Stake High Council. It has been a lot of fun. We I have spoken twice since my call and I will be speaking a lot more. I don't mind speaking in public so it will be fun.

We've been home for a week or so now from our family trip to Yellowstone. We had a great time. We stayed in a huge cabin in Island Park with Chels parents, Sam and Cait, and Erik and Ali. Twelve of us total. We spent some time in Yellowstone where we got to see some wildlife, but not as much as we'd hoped. We saw a lot of bison, some elk, a beaver, and an eagle. We got to see some huge waterfalls and Old Faithful. We took a hike along Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Island Park and hung around the cabin. After 4 days in Island Park, we headed down to Jackson Hole, WY for a Bar J Chuckwagon dinner. It was a lot of fun and the food was great. Other than a disappointing visit to Quake Lake, it was a lot of fun and we are going to plan another trip in a couple of years.

Here are some pictures of our trip...

Erik and I stayed up almost every night to get some night shots. This was the last one I took.

We stopped at the Idaho Falls and Rexburg temples on our way to Island Park. This is us in front of the Rexburg temple.

Once we got to Island Park we hung out at a place called Mack's Inn. KK was having a good time throwing rocks.

Jarik got a first aid kit for his birthday and carries it everywhere. Bree hurt her toe so it was Dr. Jarik to the rescue. He's a great Cub Scout.

Yes this is creepy. This is Sarah, Tiaree's doll. She ended up with being stuck in all sorts of creepy spaces.

Three men with digital SLR's. This is going to be a long trip with loads of pictures. I took over 500 myself.

This little guy, OK, he's kind of big, slowed traffic down. We passed him twice.

The family at the Upper Falls.

 

 This is a picture taken at the Lower Falls.

This was just the moon setting in the west. Taken from the cabin.

This is Chels and KK doing the 'Firepower' thing from Night at the Museum 2. It was cute.

It was a great trip and there are sooooo many more pictures. I'll have to spend some time getting some up on FB.

3-day Weekend Blur

I got into work this morning and was talking to someone about the weekend. After they got done describing the weekend they had they asked how my weekend was. I couldn't at the time think of what I did on Saturday. I sat there with that thinking look on my face and seriously couldn't remember. It was annoying. I remember now what I did, but at that moment in time, nothing.

Overall the weekend was a good one. Minus the welts I sustained while mowing the jungle, I call a backyard, down yesterday it was a great weekend. On Saturday the YM/YW did a combined service project at Oakcrest girls camp. We cleared some trails. It was actually a lot of fun and something we may look at doing in the future. We met Nester there.

Nester is a dog that was wondering the camp that was very friendly. He became a couple of the YM's best friend while we were there. It was funny.

After the service project we headed home and took naps, 3 of the 4 kids fell asleep. Then we had Rick and Nic's kids for the night as they went to Wendover. It was fun for the kids.

Sunday was our usual Sunday, church meetings etc. Chels' mom, dad, sister and sister's husband came over for a bbq on Sunday and we hung out for a while and played some SingStar. It was a cook night.

Monday was the tradition of the early morning breakfast. We headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon, the Storm Mountain picnic area, for the yearly tradition of bacon, eggs, hash browns, sausage, and fun. We get up there cook breakfast, eat breakfast and then just chill for a bit. Pretty much everyone, minus the kids, tried to get some shut eye enjoying the beautiful atmosphere we were in. We talked about heading down the canyon and getting stuff for the rest of the day. We decided to forgo that idea in the interest of saving some gas and headed home. I decided that we were going to have a marshmallow roasting fire in our fire pit so I opted not to shower and headed into the previously mentioned jungle to get some things done. It was a lot of fun to find out that some of our backyard still has some pretty nice grass and that we may not have as big of a project coming in the backyard as we thought. Then the family that was over Sunday for another bbq and we had the fire in the fire pit on our back patio for those that wanted to roast marshmallows.

It was a great weekend. Here are some pictures that I got this weekend...

KK with a pretty flower in her hair.

 

 A bridge over the river in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Storm Mountain picnic area.

Marshmallow roasting in the backyard with the kids.

Rick, Nic and Fam

Last night I had the opportunity to take some more pictures of my sis, this time with her family. And believe it or not, my camera still works. Hahaha, just kidding Nic, I love ya! I'm getting a little more comfortable with my camera in the small area that I'm using as a 'studio'. The 50mm f/1.8 lens is helping but there is a little more blur. But without an actual studio, these pictures turned out pretty nice. I think the winning family picture was the last shot taken of the night. Here are a few of them...

Nic and Karsen

The best family shot of the night. They are so cute.

And this is how we all know them best. Silly family. 

It was fun taking pictures of these guys, even though Karsen would smile really good and look away from the camera or look at the camera with a weird smile on his face. We are going to go do some outside shots soon. Fun stuff.

Sleeping Angel

Back in February I took some family pictures for some friends and just finished processing them. Yeah, I'm a slacker. Well I was playing a little bit and processed this picture after watching a quick tutorial on Lightroom. Let me know what you think of the picture...

Great Weekend!

I'm a big fan of the weekend. However, like most people, I think it goes way, way, way too fast. Did I say way in there?

This weekend started out on Friday with our Aaronic Priesthood camp out in the west desert. It was about an hour and 20 minute drive out there, which isn't too bad. We got up there and had some dutch oven dinner of potatoes, steak, and chicken. Very tasty. The cooks at camp did an awesome job! After dinner we had 5 different stations/fires where the boys went around and we talked to them about attributes of some Book of Mormon heroes. I wasn't slated to do one of these break-out sessions, but filled in for one of the other leaders that was running a little late. I got to talk about Captain Moroni. It was pretty cool. I had to wing it, but it's not hard when you are talking about him and the Title of Liberty. We got done and finally went to bed between 1 and 2, after a joke and talking session around the campfire. I don't know for sure what time it was because my phone was going to die so I turned it off and I didn't have a watch...stupid watch batteries. Well I got up the next morning to see if I could help with breakfast but they had everything under control so I started walking around camp and taking in the peace and quiet of being so far away from the city for a little bit. Here is a picture I took...

This is a picture of the sun coming up over the Oquirrh Mountains. For me the sun usually sets over the Oquirrhs, but this time I got to watch it rise over them. Pretty cool.

Saturday after I got home Chels and I were able to do some yard work. Chels got the lawn mowed and I got the front parking strip tilled and the dirt thrown in the dumpster that the county brought. I have the side park strip to do still, but I will get to it, eventually. I worked for about 2 and a half hours on that and finally stopped when I had to get in the shower to go to Rick's birthday party. Which I was thankful for because I probably would have just kept working, starting on the other strip, and then I wouldn't have been able to move at all today. The bar-b-que was fun. I got a brat and a spicy sausage from Harmon's to cook up. They weren't kidding when they called it spicy. While we were at the party we got to step outside and watch the space station streak across the sky. That was pretty cool.

Sunday was Sunday, which for me is a great day. Church was great. KK was sick so Chels kept her and Bree home and Tiaree, Jarik, and I went to church. I think Jarik took a little nap and Tiaree just sat next to me and read scriptures that I pointed out to her. It was nice. Then Jarik and I got to go and have dinner with my grandpa. The whole family was going to go, but with KK throwing up most of the day we thought it wise to let some of them stay home. Tonight grandpa told me that he is used to his house being our house that it's tough sometimes to be alone, which I don't doubt.

Tomorrow we go back to work and school and whatever. Who knows what this week will bring, but let me just say, that I'm ready for next weekend.

Join Club Scouting...Huh?

So I was driving to work this morning and saw this truck that had a bumper sticker on it that said 'Join Cub Scouting'. Well when I first read it, kind of at a glance as I was paying close attention to the road so I didn't crash, I read 'Join Club Scouting'. I don't know where that 'L' came from in my mind but it was there when I first read it and then it was gone. For those of you that don't know, I work pretty closely with the scouts in my area. As a matter of fact, my son is a Cub Scout so I'm involved from many different angles. But when I read, or thought I read, 'Join Club Scouting' I had to chuckle a little bit because I can think of a few scouts that I'd like to club. Haha, not really, but if you work with scouts you can see where I'm coming from. I do love working with the young men in the area they are all great young men.

See You Later

Yesterday, May 4th, 2010, this world lost an angel living on it's soil. My dear Grandmother died after a battle with cancer. I got the news yesterday around lunch time from my sister who was there when Grandma slipped this mortal realm and returned to be with her family and friends on the other side of the veil.

Words can't express the feelings that I have for this woman who was more than a grandmother to me. The love she had for her family and friends was beyond that of any that I know of. She insisted on holding family functions at her house every Thanksgiving and Christmas eves, regardless of the requests to move it somewhere we could spread out a little. I think she loved the noise of the great prosperity that she leaves behind. I loved taking off from work early on those days and riding the bus down to her house to help her and Grandpa arrange the tables and getting the places set. We always had time to sit and talk on those occasions and I would selfishly call it my special time.

I will, as will most of my friends, remember the toast we would go get whenever we felt the need. It seemed she always had a loaf of bread ready just in case we came in from our running around to grab some. Her hugs were awesome and the little whispers in my ear that she loved me were always a great comfort and helped me move on during some hard times in my life.

I will ever be grateful for her and the blessing of the testimony that she held. The testimony that she ever so willingly shared with me of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I think back often of times when I sat by her in sacrament meeting and would find little candies in her purse that I could eat during that meeting. The simple lessons of tithing and the importance of the scriptures and the temple that she would share with me just here and there. Her love of the temple was an inspiration to me and gave me a desire to enter that building. I feel that the man that I have become is due in part to this wonderful daughter of God.

Here is the lyrics to one of my favorite songs that seem to take on a new meaning with the passing of a loved one:

In the quiet misty morning

When the moon has gone to bed,

When the sparrows stop their singing

And the sky is clear and red,

When the summer's ceased its gleaming

When the corn is past its prime

When adventure's lost its meaning - 

I'll be homeward bound in time

Bind me not to the pasture

Chain me not to the plow

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow

If you find it's me you're missing

If you're hoping I'll return,

To your thoughts I'll soon be listening,

In the road I'll stop and turn

Then the wind will set me racing

As my journey nears its end

And the path I'll be tracing

When I'm homeward bound again

Bind me not to the pasture

Chain me not to the plow

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow

My daughter, Bree, said with a little hmph, on her way to school after we found out yesterday, "It's not fair.", and when my wife replied, "What's not fair?"  Bree said "Grandma gets to be with Heavenly Father now.". To that my little Bree, it is fair and well earned. Because of the things that Grandma helped me to learn I know I don't have to say "Goodbye" I get to say "See you later!".

Back on Track

Wahooo... Wait, you are all, both of you, confused as to what I'm back on track for. Well let me tell you. I had previously mentioned that I wanted to read more and set a goal to finish a book a month. With how slow I read, that is a major thing for me. Well last month I was reading Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet by George Q. Cannon. It was very good and a book that gave me a greater respect for Joseph Smith and what he did in his life. It taught me some things about not only the Prophet but for those people that were around him. He had many loyal and great friends. He struggled through many trials and persecutions all because he had seen a vision and reorganized a church. I would give it an A and tell everyone that they should take the time to read it. It took me a while to read because I'm still a pretty slow reader and I wanted to make sure that I took this book in.

When I finished with that a couple weeks ago I was walking around our house looking for something to read and picked up The Lost World by Michael Crichton and started reading that. I got a few pages into that and figured I should read Jurassic Park first so I put it down and got on the library website to see if they had Jurassic Park checked in. It wasn't but his newest book, Pirate Latitudes, was available so I picked it up and started reading it. This book started out a little slow for me as he started to build his characters but a few chapters in and the adventure starts. Charles Hunter and his crew set out from Port Royal, Jamaica to get a ship that is supposedly full of treasure and is anchored in a very well protected Spanish port. Captain Hunter plans the attack and gets those in Port Royal that have specialties that will help in this quest. Capt. Hunter is very good at what he does and has to think quickly as they encounter a few bumps along the way. It was an easy read, which are my favorite kind but it kept me turning the pages. Good enough for me to finish it in a week since I checked it out on the 22nd. (Image used from Goodreads.com)

My next book is Storm Front, which is book one in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I don't know what to think about it but Goodreads.com gives it a 3.9 rating and I've had to wait a week or so to get it. I'm hoping to pick that up tonight. If you've read it let me know how you like it. As far as this blog goes I do recommend both of the other books in this blog.

Way to Go Papa!!

As many of you know, Chels' parents sing with the Tabernacle Choir. Well there is a limit to the amount of time that one gets to spend in the choir, either 20 years or the age of 60. Well recently her dad reached one of the limits and it was time for him to retire from the choir. This last Sunday was his retirement meeting. He got to sit on a nice soft chair.

(This is our papa as a General Authority picture)

Then he had to stand up while Mack Wilberg said some nice things about him...

Then he got to shake hands with Mr. Mac and the Prophet and get a picture taken with them...

To get a really cool plaque...

and then be surrounded by a...can I say...crazy family...

All in all it was a great morning and a lot of fun.

Papa gets to sing a few more weeks with the choir in the broadcast and then he gets to record a men chorus CD with the choir. That has always been one of the things that he has wanted to do and was bummed to hear that he wouldn't get to sing on the CD since they were recording it after the retirement. But he was asked to stick around and sing on the CD, so he is happy.

We have a few more years with Grammy in the choir. Chels has some interest in singing with the choir as well, but we'll see how that goes. There is a lot of stuff that she'll need to do to get the opportunity to do it.

The End of a Blog

So I've been maintaining a couple blogs. Not really writing in either of them, but maintaining them. Which doesn't take much. Well there is the one you are reading, Whadda Blog, and the other one is Whadda Photos... Whadda Photos has been a place where I've been putting up pictures that I have taken. I have felt it is time to retire that blog. I've been thinking about starting a new photo blog as I decide if I'm going to actually do anything with photography. I'm pretty sure that I don't have time for family type photography but I might do some landscape photography. We shall see. If I start a new blog I will let you know.

Another Game Created

So in the last almost 13 years, since I've been married to my beautiful wife, my brother-in-laws and I have been creating new games. These games aren't anything special to anyone outside our family circle, but they have given us hours of enjoyment over the years. We've destroyed plastic lawn chairs, been professional basketball players, and just enjoyed the outdoors playing some awesome games. Well the creative juices were flowing yesterday as Erik, Sam, and I went over to the elementary school behind Papa and Grammy's house with the kids. We had a soccer ball and, apparently, a lot of imagination going on as we went over there. The school has, what I've found to be called, funnel ball stands. Here is a picture.

Image found at http://www.dixieplayground.com/climbers.htm

The funnel we played on is a little different, the bottom of the funnel had tubes that made it a little more interesting the way we were playing the game. We have a load of fun playing/inventing games with everyday normal items, like a soccer ball and a funnel ball stand. We've played horseshoes with rocks before. Jared and I have a game we play that is basically kicking a football to one another and not dropping it across a short field, like the in-laws front yard. That is a favorite of mine.

We will play this game for a long time to come. Jarik was there and got a taste of playing the newly invented game and I think that he'll have some fun with it too. 2nd generation on the fun of the games we invent. Thanks for the fun guys.

New Post on Whadda Photos...

Took some pictures with the point and shoot. Read more and see the pictures here.

Fun Afternoon

So yesterday my awesome boss let me take the afternoon off to spend some time with my family. We went to lunch at Training Table and had a great time.

 One of these days we'll get everyone to smile in a group picture.

The kids find ways to play silly games anywhere.

After filling our bellies at Training Table it was time to head downtown to walk around. Chels wanted to see the new Deseret Book store and we needed to get Jarik some new scriptures. So we parked and walked to the JSMB and hit the distribution center and then down to Deseret Book. We always like getting pictures taken around the SL Temple...

Such a cute family, after waiting for a train to pass we got this cool shot.

Once our time downtown was done, we headed to the dentist. Which is why the family was up around my work area anyway. Tiaree had some teeth that were bothering her pretty bad so we decided to get them taken care of. When we got to the dentist, he said that they were infected and that they needed to come out. So he gave Tiaree the gas and pulled those teeth out of her head. And me being camera happy recently grabbed my point and shoot and took this.

I had to ask the dentist to move his fingers so that I could get a good shot of this.This is the second tooth he's working on. And here are the teeth.

Tiaree did great. The dentist gave her the gas and she was a little nervous about that. After she had been on the gas for a bit, he numbed her with that huge needle thing that dentists use for Novocaine. On the way home I was telling Chels what he had done during the tooth pulling and mentioned that needle and Tiaree was shocked that he did. She didn't remember that at all. She did such an awesome job at the dentist and was so brave. I know I would have been freaking out myself. And that was our afternoon.

I Love Being Dad...

So I was watching a new show called Parenthood earlier today. More like glancing at it here and there and listening to it as I was working on an issue here at work. One of the characters on it is a dad to a five year old kid but didn't know it until recently. It has been fun to watch the interactions that have taken place as he has come to grips with being the dad of this 5 year old kid. The episode that I watched today he got the results of the paternity test and **spoiler alert** he is the father. He decides to tell his parents and then introduce him to their new grandchild. The writers and such on the show have done a great job in growing this character into a dad for this kid. They have shown the interactions well and at the end of this episode he pushes his son on a bike and watches him ride away on the bike with a huge smile on his face.

As I was watching this I thought of my own life and how my dad was in and out of my life. Some by his choice and sadly some by mine. My dad was a great example to me both for good and bad. He was a rock and I had the impression that nothing could hurt my dad. When he broke his ankle while climbing out of a jeep that he rolled and had a cast on, he would still take us to the pool and watch us splash around at his condo. I have fond memories, some of the few that I have for some reason, of me and my dad throwing the football around when I was in high school and was thinking for a split moment that I'd try and play football. My fondest and earliest memory of my dad after my parents divorced was one of hurt as he walked away from our house after being sent away by the a-hole of a step-dad I had at the time. My dad was always a lot of fun to be around and would only get better at pool the drunker he got which I hated. He was a great dad and I miss him.

Well now I get to be dad to four kids that are both a pain and a joy to live with. The dress-up shoes on the hard floors drive me absolutely insane. My kids are growing up so fast. My oldest is 10 and thankfully not one of those that are going on to 18 types. She takes things as they come and wants to be older but doesn't at the same time. I just think she wants to be older so she can have a cell phone. My son just turned 8 and gets to do all the 8 year old stuff now, scouts, baptism, etc. He can be the most selfless person I know but can also be very selfish. He's my favorite son! My third is 6 and she can be a sweet princess. She have very selective listening but seems to hear dad more than mom. She is learning to read and is doing an awesome job. And my youngest, soon to be 4, is a pest, but a cute pest. She is the best hugger this world has to offer and her little dimple when she smiles is awesome!! The best part of these four is when I get home they all have to come say hi and give me a big hug. That is usually when the 4 year old sticks to me and is hardly 3 feet from me. That will end soon so I should enjoy it while it lasts. I wouldn't trade my 4 kids for anything.

My kids all have their little quirks but they all love me as dad. Last night was an awesome moment for me as we got done reading I had two of them on my lap, #3 and #4. They were both in between sleep and awake state and just were little lumps, rather than the fidgety kids they can be. Today I get to go spend the afternoon with them as they are off track and I am pretty excited. I can't think of anything better than an afternoon with the family hanging out downtown and having a great time. Like I said as the title of this post 'I Love Being Dad'

Tagged...ugh

So Sunday morning as I was driving home from attending the AM session of LDS General Conference, I noticed some tagging, graffiti, in the area. As I drove up my street I started to think how I have a nice long strip of white vinyl fence that is an open canvas to hoodlums in the area. The nice part about this is that I knew it wasn't a matter of if I would get tagged, but when. Well the answer came. Here's a shot at the artwork...

Not very creative and by saying that I'm asking for more creative graffiti, where's some wood I can knock on.

Here's the sad part of the story. We are part of West Jordan, but we pay everything to the county. So when this new Unified Police Department fee came out we had to pay it. Well when I called the UPD to report the vandalism, I got to talk to a guy who took my address. After giving it to him, he asked are you in West Jordan, I answered yes and before I could continue to let him know that I was in the county part of West Jordan, he transferred me to the West Jordan Police Department. I talked to the guy there who was very kind and pointed out that we were part of the UPD and I told him that I knew that because I had just paid my stupid fee to them. I got transferred back to UPD and was able to get the information to them. The officer woman that called me back later that day was very polite and told me that about a dozen places had been tagged that night.

I will wait a couple days to see if the UPD graffiti clean up crew will come and take care of it, if not, I will go get the spray that they have at the UPD sub-station near my house. That's my laziness, but I paid the fee and I feel I should take advantage of using the UPD.

Signs of Life

We have a couple of rose bushes in our front yard. I'm not very knowledgeable about what to do to winterize a rose bush, so I left it how it was. Of course the leaves all turned brown over the winter and I expected them to fall off, but they never did. This poor rose bush looks pretty pathetic and I was thinking of pulling it out and replanting it somewhere else, since it is getting really big not because it is "dead". Then the other night I noticed something I found to be pretty remarkable, the plant has decided to come to life again.

ISO 400 50mm f/4.5 1/8 sec.

You can see in the picture on the left side towards the bottom some of the leaves are starting to look green. There are some of the main stems that are turning green as well.

ISO 400 50mm f/1.8 1/20 sec.

I thought it was pretty cool to see these rose bushes showing signs of life again. It caused me to reflect a little on this coming Sunday, Easter, and what this holiday represents.

It represents the resurrection of our Savior, who atoned for the sins of this world. He lived His life teaching and loving those that He served. He lived a perfect life and was the perfect example to all of us. In Matthew he teaches us to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind" (Matt 22:37) and He continues that teaching and adds "Thou shalt love they neighbor as theyself" (Matt 22:39) as the two great commandments. There are many other things that He taught and I generally don't go all religious in this blog, but seeing this rose bush and knowing that Easter is this Sunday, I would like to add that I know He lives. He rose from that tomb and triumphed over death and that He did this for all mankind. He loves us and I love Him.

Brandon and Kara

My brother got married at the beginning of this month. Here is a shot of the cute couple...

 More pictures to come...

Book and Movie Review

I set a goal, not a resolution, to finish a book a month during 2010. So far I have met that goal, though I don't remember what I finished in January. I am such a picky reader that I have to be in a certain mood to read either it has to be completely quiet or I have to be listening to music. If there is a bit of talking I can't focus on what I'm reading, unlike my wife who can read a book while watching TV and be able to tell you what is happening in both. I also will start multiple books during a month, hence the reason the goal is to finish a book a month. The idea is to just keep reading really.

So for the month of February the book I finished was Heat Wave by Richard Castle. If you watch the show Castle on channel 4, this book is ghost written for a character, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) on that show. This book is written just like the show and follows Nikki Heat, a character based on Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and Jameson Rook, a detective and a reporter, respectively. The book follows Heat and Rook as they solve the murder of a wealthy man. The book reads almost exactly as an episode of Castle would go and ends with the bad guy getting caught as you'd expect. For me it started out kind of slow but picked up and ended good. Rating: Buy it on sale.

As for the movie review, Chels and I watched (500) Days of Summer the other night starting Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was a great movie about a boy, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who falls in love with a girl, Summer (Zooey Deschanel), and goes through their time together and apart. This movie had a lot of humor in it and I found one part really funny. Loads of laughs and a fun little story, including a dance scene by Tom. Rating: Buy it

I'm trying to come up with a unique rating system:
Buy it - means it's good and you should have it in your collection
Buy it on sale - means it's good but only buy it if you can find a good deal, don't pay full price
Gifted - means that it's good but not good enough to buy, but if someone gave it to you as a gift you'd keep it
Re-gift - means if you get it for a gift, don't take the plastic off and re-gift it
Trash it - means don't buy it ever, if you get it for a gift, take that person off the invite list for future parties and throw it away.

Well that's it for today, hope you have a great day.

Freudian Flip

On Saturday I took some pictures of family friends, they could be considered family really. Anyway, I was going through the pictures today and found this one that made me laugh a little. Use the title of the blog as a hint...

 

 It just gave me the giggles as I was looking through all the pictures. On a separate note here is one of De'Ja, the reason we took the pictures.

I tried something different with this picture. Hopefully it looks good.