Picture of the Day - October 13, 2009

Today's picture of the day comes from the trip to Logan on Saturday. We were having a potty break in the Nutrition Sciences building on the USU campus. The kids sat on the stairs and I took this picture from below them.

I've got some work to do on these types of pictures. I didn't change my settings from taking pictures outside like I should have.

Picture of the Day - October 12, 2009

On our trip to Logan I took 354 pictures. I added a bunch of pictures to the archive so that when I miss my normal PotD, I have a bunch of new pictures to pull from.

Today's PotD is of the statue called Synergy on the Utah State University campus. I have always thought that this was a cool statue and I've taken many pictures of it, but this is probably one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Fun Saturday, Sick Sunday...

It was a fun weekend, minus the sickness that seemed to jump in and take over the house.

Saturday started with Jarik's soccer game. They didn't do very well, but Jarik had a good time. He loves playing goalie and does a pretty good job at it. He even stuck in there while they were kicking him when he was trying to get the ball. He likes soccer, so that is good. And I think it eases Chels' fear of him playing football, although he's told me he wants to play football. we'll see what happens.

After the soccer game we headed to Logan for the day. We spent some time on campus and then headed to First Dam and then to the Temple, then to Adam's Park, and on to dinner at Bluebird (thanks again Sam and Camilla). Then we headed home. It was a fun and exciting day, which is good because of what has gone on since then.

We were all sleeping well when I hear Chels jump up and say, KK just threw up. I was gone so I didn't hear it, but there is nothing better than being woken up in the middle of a great night sleep just to clean up puke. Not the only time I'll get this awesome fatherly responsiblity this weekend. After cleaning up the mess and getting KK's bed ready for her to sleep in again, I came in my room and laid down ready to go back to sleep, feeling very nauseous myself. Willing myself to get to sleep, the nauseousness went away as I drifted off to sleep. Sunday morning came and Chels and Tiaree both woke up with sour, nasty stomachs, I decided to take Jarik and Bree to church with me. I was feeling pretty good and went thorough the day with a headache. Then last night after dinner I started feeling sick again. I just figured it was the headache and that it would go away once I got some sleep. So in bed by 10:30 so I could get up for work. And then it happened again, this time it was Tiaree that had just thrown up. This was disgusting, causing me to loose it a little. Eventually got it all cleaned up and then back to bed. The alarm went off and the sick stomach feeling hit me pretty hard. Anyway, to end a long blog with probably way TMI, I stayed home from work.

With one final soccer game and Koins for Karsen at Chili's, it will be interesting to see if the stomachache goes away before then. I think dinner from Chili's will be more of a take out thing for lunch tomorrow. Time to get something to kill the migraine that is now going on two days worth. Stupid headache.

Picture of the Day - October 09, 2009

Today's picture of the day comes to you once again from the picture archive. I was going to go out and take some pictures today but that never did.

I was goofing off down in St. George when we were down there last. Sitting around bored with nothing to do you...find things to do. This was a fun picture to play with. I do have others of this globe that I took as well.

Legacy Bridge - PotD

Today I finally found the key for the padlock and got out of the office for about 45 minutes and took some pictures. I choose as my subject today the Legacy Bridge on the University campus. It is the bridge that spans Mario Capecchi drive. It is a pretty cool bridge and was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics here in Salt Lake City. I had in mind that it had some different aspects to it and so when I got there to take pictures, and those aspects weren't there, I was a little disappointed. What do you do? Well I just decided to do my best to take some pictures that would be cool. I'll let you be the judge. I'll post one of my favorites here but will post the rest on Whadda Photo and Video blog.

Great News - PotD

Spreading the good news. My nephew, Karsen, had a procedure tonight to see how the skin graft is doing. Things are going great and he gets to go home tomorrow. So for the Photo of the Day I've taken the picture from Karsen's blog. I also want to take time to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers and money that you have all given and hopefully will continue to give those things as Karsen goes through the remainder of his life. Thanks!!



Don't forget Chili's in Riverton on Monday, October 12th and the 5K run on the 24th of October. Thanks!!

Stumbled Again...Doh!

So I missed my PotD yesterday. Tuesdays are hard, especially lately with how lazy I've been. Tuesdays are mutual night and when I get home from that I'm ready for bed. Last night I had to do some work as well, which took a lot longer that I had anticipated. So...to make a long story short, I just didn't do a blog. Nor did I get a picture taken to put up. So this morning, I've decided to put up one of my older shots as the Photo of the Day for yesterday.

The picture I chose today, for yesterday, was taken on June 16, 2008 from the Storm Mountain picnic area up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I was playing with some settings on the camera and got this picture. I love having the mountains here in Utah! They are awesome.

Let's Try This Again

So, last night I wrote this extensive blog that would have changed the life of anyone who read it. Well, blog saved the first paragraph then my wonderful wireless network decided that my computer only need to have limited access and I didn't notice until it was too late. So for the life changing blog, oh well. I guess you'll have to tune in again to see if I get the blogspiration, a cool new word, to write something cool and exciting that will change your life. But for now, you are stuck with my mere ramblings.

I've got a couple photos for you tonight, one to make up from yesterday and one that I took today that I thought was pretty cool.


Yesterday after General Conference, while Chels and I were making dinner, Chels had walked to the entryway from the front room to the kitchen and saw Jarik just listening to his iPod and staring out the window. She called me over to take a look and thought it would be a cool picture. So I snapped one of him. When this picture was taken, he knew what I was doing, but was cool enough to pose for me. He's a great kid.



This was taken this morning, October 5th, 2009, when I went out to my car to go to work. I thought the designs were cool and since I'm taking my camera with me more often, I pulled it out and snapped a few shots. I figured I had some time while I let the car warm up and hopefully do most of the work on the windows for me.

Here's a question that I was thinking about as I write this blog. The captions or description of the pictures, should they go above or below the picture? I've seen it both ways and while it is above, it doesn't leave a gap, but below it does. If that sentence even made sense. Let me know in the comments what you think would be better. I've given you and example of both in this blog.

Great Weekend - No PotD

What a great weekend it was. General Conference was great! All of the talks were awesome and were what I needed to hear. I really like President Monson's (listen) Sunday morning talk when he talked about the different service opportunities that members of the church did for his birthday. It was cool. And then Elder Holland (listen) gave a great talk on the Book of Mormon. I don't usually talk much about religious things on this blog, but that was a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon. My first thought after it was over was 'Wow, that was powerful'. You can listen to any of the talks online.

I had a bunch more stuff written on this weekend but it is now all gone. Stupid computer and my wireless connection deciding to take a poop all at the same time I want to publish. Well I'll publish again tomorrow, I took a couple pictures of Jarik today, but haven't pulled them off the camera, so I'll post one of them tomorrow for the make-up PotD. Goodnight!

Back to the PotD

It has been a long week and I have been very lazy when it comes to most things. So unfortunately for my 3 readers, I've been slacking off. For this I apologize.

Today I decided that it was time to get off my lazy butt and blog and give you a Picture of the Day. I know you are shocked...try not to faint. (Yes, I have a big head that you all care enough to even fake fainting to make me feel good)

Today's pictures were taken on Saturday this last weekend. I was out doing some work trying to keep my mind off things and was cleaning up when my wife spotted this little guy running across the drive way. Is drive way one word or two? Anyway, I had her get my camera and I snapped these shots:





Yes, this spider was bigger than my friend's chihuahua. OK, I'm exaggerating, but it was close.

He, I don't know how to tell a spiders gender so I'm calling him a he, didn't live much longer after these pictures were taken, because as I was taking pictures he tried to attack me, probably for calling him a he and she was a she. Ok, he...she...now I'm confused, let's just stick with he, was headed for the garage and I couldn't let him in there, so I flicked him and it pretty much killed him. RIP poor spider.

Here are the things I think about. Do spiders have families that expect them home? Is there like spider news? Do they buy there spider televisions from a spider Best Buy store? Really, these are the questions that the government should be spending my tax dollars on. OK, time to get back to work. Sorry for wasting your time.

Sad, sad day

Today was one of those days that you wish you could go to sleep and wake up to the same music like Bill Murray did in Groundhog day. Take the hours of this day and just rewind them to early this morning when a few of us woke up thinking today was going to be a good day. I am usually not too serious on this blog, but today I just need to say how great family is, especially in times of tragedy.

Today my nephew Karsen unfortunately lost part of his left leg, from mid-calf down, in a horrible accident. Being the kid that he is, he asked for a band-aid when the accident happened and though his mom and dad were in shambles, he was a calm, cool little man.

The part of the day that gives me hope that this world is still an awesome place is the support that Rick, Nic, and their family received on this horrible day. Karsen's great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors, were all there willing to do what it took to take the pain of today away as best they could. To step up and go outside of their normal routine to show great love to them. And while the events of today will long live in the memories of those involved, Karsen will continue to grow up with what we now see, more clearly than ever, one of the greatest support groups this world has to offer...his entire family. He will have that same family to encourage him as he does things that all growing boys want to do. Knowing Karsen, we will see him excel in sports and other activities just as much as the next kid with great will and determination.

The other day one of the thoughts that I posted, 'What will tomorrow bring?', is ringing loudly in my head right now. The hard part is that we can never answer that question without living tomorrow and take the things that we are "handed" each day. The nice part is that our Heavenly Father knows us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses and, though we can't understand sometimes, He gives us roadblocks that we need to get over. He has promised us though, that He will never give us more than we can handle. Our families are an important support group in this world to help each of us through those trials. I hope we can all stand back and see that, without having to go through horrible experiences, that we can and need to be close and depend on one another.

Karsen will bounce back. He will learn to adjust accordingly to the prosthetic and will be running and jumping with his cousins in no time. I can just imagine, the short story about a great football player who lost his foot when he was 3 years old.

Please don't forget them in your prayers.

On a lighter note, Jaxon, Karsen's older brother, just informed me that "Karsen is going to have a transformer leg". We sure love the little ones.

Photo of the Day - Mental Image

So for the PotD today I would like to do a mental image. Just because I didn't actually get a picture of what it was. Today Jarik had soccer practice and he rode his bike. Tiaree came and she rode her razor scooter. I just walked because look at me, I could use the exercise.

Well after practice Tiaree jumped on her scooter and Jarik jumped on his bike and they started heading home. Tiaree was nice enough to go slow and talk my ear off as we headed home. I decided maybe I could get there faster if I was on the scooter but didn't want to be a mean dad and take the scooter from Tiaree. So I had her get on my back and then I rode the scooter home. There were a couple people laughing at us on the way up the street. Just as we were getting to our house, Tiaree said that she wished mom could see us. Well the garage was open and Chels just happened to see us as we came up the street and started laughing. So needless to say, though we didn't get a picture of it, I figured that we could give you the mental image of me giving Tiaree a piggy back while riding a razor scooter. When you say it that way you could say we belong in a circus, which I would probably have to agree with you on.

Photo of the Day - Sticky Mouse

Today's picture wasn't taken today. Tuesdays are a bad day to try and get out and take pictures. It is a pretty busy day. This picture was taken in Zion National Park on the Emerald Pools hike between the pools and the Grotto picnic area. I think that Bree or Tiaree saw it and said that it was Toodles from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and that he had crashed. If you don't know who Toodles is, get the Disney Channel and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. If you are older than about 5 it might be a good idea to find a son/daughter or niece /nephew that is about that age. That or you can take my word for it that is what Toodles looks like.

Random Thoughts...

I'm sitting here at work waiting for things to open or copy and was just letting my mind wander and here are some of the things I thought about:

What is witty that I can put as my FB status?
What's for dinner? -Spaghetti, homemade bread, and something else yummy. Chels told me earlier.
What will tomorrow bring? -This is my favorite random thought because tomorrow is always a mystery.

Well there are just a few as I sit here waiting. Watch for the PotD later tonight.

Photo of the Day - Soccer Boy

Soccer is one of Jarik's favorite sports. He is pretty good at it as well. He's got a pretty good kick and he's pretty fast. On the team he is on this year, he is one of the tallest kids. He has a lot of friends on the team and loves to just go out there and run. This was a good shot of him and hopefully I can get more. The kids on his team are pretty good and they will come together as a team, after all they are only 7-8 years old.

Photo of the Day - Last Days of Summer

So today was one of those blah Sundays. It was hard to get out of bed. It was hard to do the church thing. It was hard to get in the mood to do much of anything. We had a family dinner planned at Erik and Ali's new apartment downtown. It was pretty cool apartment and our bar-b-que was on the roof of the apartment building. It was tough to want to go but it was a lot of fun. I love hanging out with the Bingham's but sometimes it is just tough to do the hang out thing. But I'm glad we went. After dinner, we, Chels and I, Erik and Ali, and Grammy and Papa, went to the park on South Temple and 1300 East and had a great time. I took my camera and was taking picture. Today's picture of the day is KK on the swing at the park while the sun was going down. I figured that this was one of the better shots that I got.

Photo of the Day - Creepy

So this summer I had a couple of firsts out in the wilderness. During my Wood Badge course I a skunk walked through my camp. That just happened to be the first time I've ever seen a skunk in the wilderness. Well over the Labor Day weekend we went to Zion National Park and went on the Emerald Pools hike. As we were crossing the bridge, I noticed this family sitting on a fallen tree. Just as I started to look away, I noticed that this family jumped out and ran from the tree. I then noticed this snake slithering across the ground. Yep first time I have seen a rattlesnake in the wilderness. I grabbed my 'long' lens and put it on. I know that you aren't supposed to get too close but I wanted some cool pictures of this snake. I did get yelled at to get away from the snake by my mom. It made me feel like a kid again which was awesome. Of course I ignored her, what is a kid supposed to do when their parents are warning them of danger. Well enjoy. (P.S. This picture is on my facebook page.)

Yesterday's POTD

Well I knew this was a bad week. After 4.5 hours of sleep I went to work then came home and worked on the yard, which btw is coming along great, and decided when I was done that sleep was more important that finding a picture and all that stuff. I will have a POTD posted this evening for today so stay tuned.

Picture of the Day - Sept. 15, 2009

So I was thinking about it and this was a bad week to start the POTD. I'm putting in a new front yard and have been skipping lunch at work so that I can get out of there a little earlier and haven't had time to go take some pictures that I want to take. Next week I will hopefully have time to go out and get some picture taken.

Today I was reading in a book that I have that talks about my camera and some of the features. I read the part that they talk about depth of field and the setting on the camera that you can use to set your f-stop or aperture on the camera and the camera will choose the best shutter speed for the shot. So I tried shooting our racquetball activity in Av mode on the camera.



Enjoy...

Photo of the Day - Friends Are Awesome

Sam Gowans and I after putting in the sprinklers. Kerry Hyland was there helping as well just wasn't in the picture.

I just want you to know that I will rarely be in the 'Photo of the Day' but I needed to have this as the photo of the day and comment on how awesome of friends I have. I am a very lucky person when it comes to friends. I have many friends that I have had since I was young. I have friends that I have just become more acquainted in the last few years since we moved into our house. A couple of friends, Sam Gowans (pictured) and Kerry Hyland (not pictured), helped me dig some trenches and redo my sprinklers so that I can put some sod down this weekend. Which I wouldn't have without another friend. Then there are a bunch of friends coming over on Wednesday to help move some dirt around. I can't list everyone by name but I want to just send a shout out to all those people that I can consider my friend and that consider me a friend. Thanks.

New Feature...Photo of the Day

So I've decided to start doing a photo of the day on this blog. There is sort of two-fold reason and I'm pretty sure it won't last too long, but I'm going to try. The two-fold reasons are, I want to blog more and I want to get better at taking and 'developing' pictures. It may not be a lot of text, but I'm hoping to always have a picture.

For today's picture I want to start off with my beautiful daughter Bree.



She was the 'Star' in her class at school so I had her stand against the wall and shot a few pictures. She is just so dang cute.

Another day has come...

Well it is Thursday today and tomorrow we are headed to St. George. The kids are all excited and giddy for the trip down to Utah's Dixie. I'm excited too, I love going down there and seeing my mom. It's always fun filled and way too busy when we go down, but I'm not complaining.

Last night/this morning, sometime when I was dreaming, I had this dream that made me feel like the only safe place today was in my bed. Maybe that is why I slept in today. I had one of those dreams that you dread what is going to happen all day and nothing usually happens. When I finally got up realizing that I couldn't hide from the day everything went well. Everyone was in a good mood. Jarik and I had a fun little boxing/fighting/slapping/kicking fight. He was trying to get some $$ Chels had on her dresser and we basically boxed it out. It was fun. Then the drive to work was smooth, even with the crash on 6200 S. Now I'm at work and should focus on the things that need to be done, but I wanted to take a moment to blog again and see if I can't get this to be regular again. Not that I have any readers. Well have a great Thursday.

Pictures...

So I've been thinking about it since the other night that I want to get out and take more pictures. Pictures are so fun to take. I wish I had the time to take classes and what not. It would be fun to learn all the ins and outs and such. I know with digital there are so many things that you can do with pictures these days. I will get some more taken soon and post them. :) Laters!!

Haven't Posted in a While

So I haven't posted in a while. I don't have an excuse either, well except for laziness. One of these days I'll take more time to post thoughts and what not. Tonight however, I wanted to take a second to post and show a couple pictures that I took this evening. Last night there was a really cool sunset with the smoke from fires in the area. I didn't have my camera with me so I missed out. Tonight I was thinking that we'd have some of the same cool effects so I took the family and we headed to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple and took some pictures.



I am not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination and I just like to play but I thought this turned out pretty nice. I will put a few more up on my photo blog.

Father's Day Weekend Fun

Today is Father's Day and it has been a good day and a good weekend. I'm just glad that I have the next week off to keep having fun.

Yesterday we went to the zoo with Twilight Mom's. It was fun until it started pouring rain and everyone got cold. We headed out of there and then headed downtown to find some other stuff to do. We decided to take a tour of the Conference Center and it was pretty cool. I think Chels will get the pictures of it up on her blog. It was a good time. Then on the way home, I thought of something fun we could do as a family. We stopped at Lowe's and bought 100' of rope and the to Walmart to get some clothespins and we made a fort in the basement.

The view from behind


The view from the 'front door'


The view of the TV


After we got the fort built, we had dinner in the fort and watched Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring. It was awesome.

Then today, after church, we headed up to Logan for some geocaching and some BBQ'd hot dogs. We walked around campus and had a lot of fun. The kids are probably sick of hearing 'this is where we lived', 'this is where I had class', etc. They enjoyed running to look at all the sculptures on campus, especially the french fries. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll have to drive up to Logan to see for yourselves. Our pictures that I took on the 'A', the True Aggie 'A', were all overexposed. Stupid me and my stupid camera. I fixed it up the best I could and I think it looks different but good.



After church today I got some gifts from the kids that they made at church. Part of the gifts were that they needed to write something to us and this is what Tiaree wrote.

Dear Dad,

I think you are the best dad ever! I love the surprises you do.

Tiaree

I'm glad I can keep the kids happy. I hope that all the father's that read this had a happy father's day.

Correction from Yesteday

In my attempt at being funny, I made my wife a little upset. In yesterday's blog I said that if I had gone home Tuesday night, I would "probably be bored telling the kids no they couldn't have candy and watching Chels read her books or blogs or TM stuff". Apparently she didn't like my joke and thinking about it it wasn't very funny. She said that we would have figured out something fun to do because it was my birthday. Everyone needs to know that I love my wife dearly and don't like doing things to upset her and Chels needs to know that I am sorry for making it sound like it would have been a boring night if I would have come home.

Fun Birthday Evening

So last night we were planning on going to the Tabernacle Choir concert but were told that kids couldn't get in. So I was going to head home and just sit there and probably be bored telling the kids no they couldn't have candy and watching Chels read her books or blogs or TM stuff. So I decided that we could meet as a family downtown and go through a tour of the Conference Center because we've been wanting to do that for a while now. So we met downtown and had dinner at the Gateway and then took the train up to Temple Square to walk by and listen to the music through the doors of the Tabernacle, they took the speakers down that piped the music to the outside. Well we found out that 5 and above could go in and that KK could go in the cry room. So we decided to catch the last half of the concert and it was enjoyable. I had my camera and used it as an opportunity to snap a few of the choir and such...

When we got there we didn't think they were going to let us in so take pictures the best I can right...


Right up against the glass, you can see Grammy and Papa if you look closely...


Mack Wilberg (sp?) telling them to get on key, according to Grammy...


Speaking of Grammy...


Papa clapping to Cindy. This was the last clap of the song...


My kids and Grammy and Papa. This is one of my favorite because they are the only people looking at the camera and smiling...


Picture 1


Picture 2


Please comment and tell me which one you like more, picture 1 or picture 2

Riding backwards on the train never bothered me before. Ugh! I don't think this driver is very good.

This is my first mobile blog.

It was a beautiful wedding...

Well after being horribly sick Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, I hate being sick, we got to attend the wedding of Chels' sister Caitlin on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, one of those days that you melt in the sun and practically freeze if you are in the shade too long. The day started early trying to get the kids up and to Nic's house for the day, then headed to the Salt Lake Temple to attend the sealing. It was a great ceremony and the sealer was great and gave some great advice. 1. To say "I love you" at least once a day and 2. to take the opportunity to kiss her at least once a day. It was short and sweet. Then the wedding breakfast and then home to do the scramble to get the kids ready for the reception. They looked marvelous...
Tiaree

Jarik

Bree

Keighlee


The wedding was a lot of fun, minus standing in the line with the tail end of this stupid illness. Jarik stood next to me most of the night and shook a lot of hands. Tiaree, Bree, and KK did a lot of dancing. KK was super intrigued by Chels' Uncle Meade, who played the Alto Sax for part of the night. He is a member of Kettlefish and he is pretty good. So here is what KK would do while he was playing...



I may be biased a little but aren't they the cutest kids. The illness is pretty much gone and the wedding is over. Tomorrow starts a new week time for some fun.

Classic Sunday Fun...

Mother's Day 2009 will go down as one of the classic Sundays in my mind. The only thing missing was the basketball hoop. We went to Grammy and Papa's for dinner. It was a great Sunday and loads of fun.

Caitlin mentioned yesterday that she wanted to take a group picture so we decided to take some pictures today. I grabbed the camera and the tripod and we set up in Grammy's front yard. Big family pictures are always an issue to get everyone to look at the camera and not be dumb. Of course we get some good ones, but Jarik is being a dork in most of them. Silly kid. We took some of the kids but there is one kid not with us quite yet and we took a picture of that one. This is actually my favorite picture that I took tonight. I've changed the coloring just a little from the original picture, hope you like it.

Funny Moments with KK...

So this morning I was listening to my iTunes on shuffle and heard the song Honey, Honey from Mamma Mia! and it got me thinking about KK. This song is a favorite in my house but it always makes me think about KK, especially. Just thought I'd take a moment and share a couple funny stories about KK and her cute personality.

Her favorite thing to say when we ask her to look for something is 'I can't find it'. For example, a couple weeks ago, I went home so that Chels and KK could go see a Dr. about an illness that they both had. Chels had to use the restroom before they left the house and told KK to find her jacket. She walked out into the front room where I was sitting and sat down on the couch. I asked her, "Aren't you supposed to be getting your jacket?". Her response was "I can't find it". In which my reply to her was that she wasn't going to find it by sitting on the couch. In her words she said "I know" and then just sat there next to daddy for a minute. It was just a funny little conversation.

The reason that the song Honey, Honey reminds me of her is because she loves that song and is so excited when it plays on the iPod. One day we were cleaning and I was in the kitchen with her when it came on. There is a part in the song where the singer says the word beast, but she says it with some energy. Well KK decided that she was going to copy it and she was singing along and that part came up and she kind of screamed 'beast' in a funny little voice. Let's just say I had to stop cleaning and laugh for a few minutes.

She is so dang cute.

Memories of Bobbie

I haven't blogged in a while and thought it was about time. I wasn't sure what to blog about until my brother sent me a news item on KSL.COM that was about my step-sister Bobbie Campbell. She is the daughter of my mother's husband Bob.

She has been missing for 14 years. Stephanie, her daughter, was on the news talking about her. She has used a company to create an age-progressed photo. It was hard to see the photo because I remember a lot of good times with Bobbie. She was troubled in her youth, but she was a great person to hang out with. She was a lot of fun to joke around with as well.

It got me thinking of memories of her and there is one that always makes me laugh when I think about it. I was 16 at the time and had my first car, a 1977 brown Subaru. I loved that car. It looked like a big turd but it was my first car.

Bobbie had asked me to take her over to Orange Street. One of her friends had just gotten out of prison and was in a half-way house on Orange Street. She told me it was on 6th South and it was at 6 South. (or something similar to that.)

We fought like typical brother-sister. It was a lot of fun and this day was no different. We were arguing about addresses and knowing how to read an address. I used to get mad at her because she would never wear her seatbelt in my car.

We were driving down 10th West as we argued over addresses and seat belts. At one point on 10th West, there are some railroad tracks that cross 10th West and you have to take them slow, which, since I was focused on my argument with Bobbie, I didn't realize that we were coming up on the tracks and I hit them at full speed. Well, as you would expect, my car jumped the tracks, Bobbie, not wearing a seat belt, hit her head on the ceiling. Both of us looked at each other in surprise and the conversation stopped instantaneously. When Bobbie recovered from the shock, she reached over, put on her seat belt and we rode the rest of the way in silence, both of us on the verge of laughter.

Anyway, I thought I would share this wonderful memory of my sister. I know she is missed and I hope we find out what did happen to her, even if only to put her daughter's mind at rest.

We love you Bobbie!!!!

The Soundtrack of Your Life

So, I had this thought the other day. Not that it amounts to much because most of my thoughts are of useless junk and, after reading this, I think you will agree.

When you watch movies or TV shows, there is always some type of background music playing. In fact, for a lot of movies, there are soundtracks that you can buy that features the music from the movie. Sometimes you can purchase soundtracks for TV shows too. Its becoming more common, but movies are the majority.

I was thinking, if I had background music playing at different parts of my life, what would the soundtrack be? I'm not talking a collection of your favorite songs that meant something to you, I'm talking about the songs that would represent what is/was going on in your life.

See, movies aren't about life. They skip out on a lot. They show moments in someone's life. When someone leaves to drive somewhere, you see them leave, and then arrive at their destination. You don't ride along with them unless it is vital to the story (a police chase, a certain discussion, etc.) Some movies represent a time frame of days, weeks, or months (years too but that is rare).

If you were to pick out the highlights of your life that would be part of the "You Movie", what highlights would they be and what kind of music would be playing in the background? Not just songs that you like, maybe the song that would be playing you really don't care for but the type of music sets a mood.

Anyway, I really haven't given it much thought about my own life. I might and provide something late although I think my music selection may be a bit lacking. Not that I would need that many songs, but a wider variety.

Help w/ Brinner

If you don't know what brinner is, it is breakfast for dinner. It is a favorite around our house because it is usually quick and easy. Tonight it was pancakes. Earlier this afternoon Jarik asked when I was going to start the meatloaf cups, a smaller version of meatloaf that Chels makes, and I told him since mom was sick that we weren't having them. He asked what we were having and I told him, pancakes. He got really excited and walked over to the cupboard where we have the griddle at and wanted to get it out and start cooking then and there. I told him that it would be a little while because I was straightening the counter space and cleaning up a little and that I would call him up when it was time. The time came and I called him up and he got the griddle out for me. Then he had to dump the pancake mix in the bowl and then the water. I decided to stir it up myself because it would have been a big mess if he would have done it. I started making the pancakes and he and Tiaree wanted to help flip them. Needless to say, I was a little nervous because I have issues flipping pancakes sometimes, you know flipping them and overlapping them. I don't have much coordination. Anyway, I decided to get pictures of the occasion because I thought that there would be problems. Little did I know that my kids were naturals at flipping pancakes. Here's the pictures.


Look at the concentration and determination.




If the keep this up I won't have to make pancakes anymore because they will do it.

My 2 Cents on the #2 Utes

The Utah Utes were voted #2 in the AP poll that came out today. They were #2 behind Florida that won the National championship game last night. Anyway, I just thought for fun I would go back a few years and although the past years don't count I wanted to point out a few fun facts. Since Utah's last perfect BCS busting season, 2004, they have gone 49-14. In that same time frame Florida has gone 51-14, playing one more game in 2008 and 2006. Both teams played to a 9-4 record in 2007, with Utah beating Navy in their bowl game and Florida losing to Michigan in their bowl game. Small reminder, while Michigan had a horrible 2008 campaign, Utah went into the big house and took care of business there. Another point for the momentum for each team, since Sept. 29, 2007 Utah has gone 21-1 while Florida has gone 18-5. I would like to just point out again that past years don't count for anything. So this year, I'm happy that the Utes finished #2 in the AP poll, I think they had a strong reason to fight for the #1 spot. Go UTES!

妹妹

Today I am watching, well listening more, to Firefly first episode entitled Serenity. It's the part where Kaylee gets shot and Inara says to her, 妹妹, which is mei4mei, which means little sister. See I told you that taking Chinese would pay off eventually. Hehe ;)

中文是好玩

The title to today's blog is Chinese is fun in simplified characters, that is if you have the language installed. I started taking Chinese at the beginning of this semester and am having a great time. I haven't put a lot of time into it, but I am still learning a lot. It's a lot of fun and I hope that I can stick with it. Just wanted to play with some of the new tools that Danny found and gave to me to help me put characters on the screen.

再见 （that is goodbye, zai4jian4)

Today is a Special Day

So I added the comment on my Facebook account that Chels and I have been married now for 11 years. And today is one of those special anniversaries because we were married on a Friday and as you know today is Friday.

It has been a great 11 years and I am so grateful that I married a woman that puts up with my crap. My wife is my best friend who is willing to sacrifice a lot for me to make sure that I can do the things that I need to do. Whether it is being patient while I am away with the young men fulfilling my calling. Or getting up to head to work early and stay a little later. She is always cleaning and I haven't been pulling as much weight around the house as I have in the past and she truly has picked up my slack. My wife is wonderful and though I can't say it's been all roses during the past 11 years, we are still happy and totally in love. We stress together, we laugh together, we spend money together, we stress about not having money together, we play with the kids together, we get mad at the kids together, there are a lot of things we do together that aren't listed.

I'm glad that on that 24th of July in 1997, she said yes. I'm glad that when we knelt together in the temple, she said yes again. I'm glad that I get to have her for time and all eternity!

To my dear wife, I want to say I love you 4 ∞!!

Blog When you Have the Idea...

...or at least write it down. Last night after I had turned off my computer I thought of a great thing to blog about. Now I can't remember what it was that I was going to blog about. It was pretty clever and I was laughing as I walked to bed. Well I guess when I feel asleep it reset the funny thoughts in my brain.

So right now Chels and I are watching Ghost Hunters 'Live' and I have to say I'm a skeptic. We just watched one of the guys get pulled by the back of the coat, and you can see the coat move, but I'm thinking that it is something that is setup in his coat and he pushes a button in his pocket. I'm just not a believer in this stuff, to many ways to make these things happen on TV. I don't know I'm just a skeptic.

Well if I remember my clever blog topic I will write it.

Goodbye Old Friend...At Least for A While

I need to say goodbye to an old friend for a little while. I have come to the sad conclusion that this friend is dragging me down and making me sick. I've put on a lot of weight hanging out with this friend of mine. I know it's not his fault he's so fun to be around and that I like spending a lot more time with him than I should. If could keep the time spent with this friend to a 12 oz. can then I would probably be ok. But if he's around, I tend to have more and generally pick up a 20 oz more often than not. So for now, I want to say goodbye to my friend Dr. Pepper. I'm just not going to let him hang around anymore. He's trouble. I'm sure I'll have a weak moment here and there and hang with him again, but for the most part I'm going to hang with my new friend water. This is going to be a hard cut so when you see me show me some support so that I can make this transition easier. Thanks!

Giving up a Man Card

Ok, so I've been debating on if I was going to write this blog or not. It's been decided and I may have to give up one or two, maybe more, man cards for this blog. Let's get it over with and we can go from there...

I am a fan of musicals, one man card. I have been for a very long time. Which some men would have a hard time admitting. There are some good ones out there including the High School Musicals that are so popular right now. This Friday HSM 3 comes out on the big screen and I think Chels bought tickets for her and the 3 older kids for this Saturday, I'm staying home with Keighlee. Well yesterday the soundtrack for HSM 3 came out. Yes I did purchase it, just like the 2 before it. So today I'm going to give you my 10 favorite songs from these 3 albums. Now, I haven't been forced to listen the HSM 3 soundtrack over and over again like I was with the first two, however, I did listen to it yesterday and can say that I'm a little disappointed. Out of the 10 new songs that are on it, there are only two, in my mind, that hold up to the other two soundtracks.

So here are my top 10 songs from HSM:
1. Humuhumunukunukuapua'a - HSM 2
2. Fabulous - HSM 2
3. I Don't Dance - HSM 2
4. Get'cha Head in the Game - HSM 1
5a. Work This Out - HSM 2
5b. Stick to the Status Quo - HSM 1
6. What I've Been Looking For (Reprise) - HSM 1
7. Now or Never - HSM 3
8. What Time is it - HSM 2
9. We're All In This Together - HSM 1
10. Start of Something New - HSM 1

Here are the bottom 5:
1. Gotta Go My Own Way - HSM 2
2. We're All In This Together (Graduation Mix) - HSM 3
3. When There Was Me and You - HSM 1
4. Bop to the Top - HSM 1
5. I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You - HSM

Well there you go. Take the man cards, but I know that there are some of you that secretly are making your own HSM songs top 10 list.

Where Does the Time Go

Well life has really gotten in the way of my blogging activities. I'm sure you've all missed me. Looks like B has kept it going just a little. There really isn't a whole heck of a lot going on in my world these days. Right now I'm sitting on the couch with Jarik while the girls are watching the Haunted Mansion on Disney channel in my room. I wanted to play on my computer a little and they are all hogging my bed. ;) It's cute that they are watching a show together. They should go downstairs and watch it on the big screen. I just heard Chels call Tiaree a wuss butt. Maybe it is Bree, nope it's Tiaree.

Funny thing that happened yesterday. Chels and the kids came up to work and we went out to lunch at Red Robin. All the kids got helium balloons there and they brought them home. Of course, Red Robin isn't going to put that stuff in them so they stay "floaty" for very long. So by the time I got home a couple of them had already started to be less "floaty". So I was once again sitting on the couch playing on my computer and watching KK play with her balloon, one of the ones that had lost it's "floating ability". She sat here and kept hitting it up in the air and saying stay as it went in the air and came back down. It was just funny because she just couldn't grasp the concept of why it wasn't floating anymore. It was cute. Silly little girl.

Well that is all for me for now. I'm going to go figure out something to do. Have a good evening.

New Project

You should be careful who you hang out with. I have decided to work on a new project building a mini potato gun. They are not difficult and actually use many things that you have around the house. To do this, I will need:

• Pen
• Medicine Bottle (long, skinny type)
• Electrical tape
• Used electric match

I have found a do-it-yourself video on YouTube. If you go to YouTube and type in mini potato gun, you will probably find the video. I will let you know how it goes.

Addictions

The first step to getting rid of any addiction is to admit that you have a problem. So, I am here to admit to 2 addictions that I have that I need to get rid of.

The first is my addiction to Pepsi. While I really like Pepsi, I have officially decided that all soda is harmful to the waistline and energy level. While caffeine helps the energy level, it does so artificially and then you crash. So, I am limiting my Pepsi intake to 12oz a day or less.

The other is TV. I really like stories, as you all may be aware of but I spend way too much time in front of the television. I need to get out more and do more. My yard is lacking and my project list is growing and I spend that valuable time in front of the television. So, I am also limiting my television time to 1 hour a day.

We will see how long these last. I have no problem with conviction, its will power that I lack. So, I will do my best and work hard to be a better person by following through with my convictions.

The Office - Season Premiere

So The Office premiered the other day. I didn't watch it until just now on Hulu. It was great to see the whole gang again. Michael is as much a moron as he usually is. Just doesn't get it sometimes. I think its funny how some of the things have changed but are still so much the same when you really look at it.

Anyway, not to give anything away but I would give a two big thumbs up and cannot wait to see the repercussions of this episode as is plays out through the rest of the season. Great beginning and I hope it keeps up through the season.

Goodbye Summer

I'm in a bad mood today for some reason. Maybe because it is the first day of fall and a summer that was a lot of fun is over. I can't believe how fast the summer goes. I can't believe how fast everything goes these days. Anyway, I should be happy, fall has a few good things to look forward to. We are going to Lagoon on the 10th of October to go to the haunted things they have there. It should be fun. Plus the weather is nice to head out and do some caching. It will be nice. Plus all the good shows are back on TV. Chels and I are going to start a pretty big undertaking with remodeling the kitchen/dining room/family room area of our house. New paint and flooring. It should be a lot of fun. I will try and do some before, during, and after shots. Well that's all I have to say so enjoy.

Where Have I Been

That is an excellent question. Let just say last week was an interesting week and we all made it alive and Chelsea got home safely from Forks, WA. She had a good trip. And I am still working on going live with a helpdesk product at work. It's pretty busy. I wanted to take a minute and share my thoughts on the new show called Fringe on Fox. Chels I don't know if we are DVR'ing these, but we need too. This is a very interesting show that is very good. The actors they got, especially the one that is playing Dr. Bishop is an awesome actor. He played Denethor in the Lord of the Rings triology. Anyway, if you haven't see it check it out on HULU.

Have a great day.

Another day in the life....

Today is Thursday. Nothing particular about Thursdays. I think they exist only to separate Wednesday from Friday because they really don't seem to have any other use. I'm not particularly fond of Thursdays but try to plan them to make them a bit more exciting. Thursdays tend to be very boring unless you try to make them more interesting.

Like last Thursday. We went to the fair last Thursday. Now there's a Thursday to remember. It was also Patriot's Day (9/11). Of all the Thursdays in my life, I think that one may be a bit more memorable, not because if was Patriot's Day as much as because of a unique experience. In fact, I will probably forget that it happened on a Thursday all together but I will probably remember the experience.

It was not one that you would think would be a memorable experience, but for some reason this one will probably stand out as one of those moments you are glad that you experienced. It wasn't life changing by any stretch but it was definitely unique.

During the fair, there was a stand there that sold Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. What a completely off-the-wall concept. It sounds gross, but you would actually be surprised. In fact, before going to the fair, I had heard that these were there and laughed because I thought it was a joke at first.

Here's what they do. They take one of those pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the kind in the frozen food section (if you haven't seen them, I bet you will go look.) Then, they stick a popcicle stick in it, dip it in scone batter, and put it in the deep fryer until golden brown. Then, they put it in a serving dish, top with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar, and serve.

It was actually very good. I would highly recommend trying one if you are curious and you can find someone to make one for you. The stand also served deep-fried Twinkies and deep-fried Snicker's bars. The Twinkies were made the same way and I assume that the Snicker's bars were also but am not certain.

While Thursdays aren't usually very memorable, good food is. While I wouldn't recommend this on a regular basis, it is definitely one of those treats that you should try at least once. I will guarantee though, once you are done, you will want more but your thoughts will turn to how many meals of carrots and celery that you will need to eat to compensate.

In for an Interesting Week

Well here we are, Monday again. It's amazing how fast it seems that Monday comes about. Crazy more so than amazing. The weekend went fast with Saturday geocaching, hanging at Nic's and playing Rock Band and then the usual Fast Sunday meetings and what not. The weekend tends to fly by pretty quick.

This week will be an interesting one at that. Chels is leaving Wednesday afternoon for four and a half days. This will be my first extended stay with my little ones without my wife. I think it will be ok though, we are planning a trip to St. George if we can get someone to watch the kid we normally babysit. I asked his mom to see if the grandmother could pick the kid up, but haven't heard. Hopefully I will find out tonight when she picks him up. That currently is the only thing holding me back from heading out of town this weekend. I will have to be back in time to get my wife from the airport, but that shouldn't be too hard since she comes home at 11:30pm Sunday night.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes and you can wish me luck with the kiddies this week.

Funny Stuff

Oh the hatred...

I've been stewing on this issue because of the serious nature of it. As has been mentioned before, I hate having serious issues brought up on my blog. But I've decided that this gross display of hatred just couldn't be ignored.

Yesterday morning, that would be Wednesday, September 3rd, my wife and I were awoken when it sounded like our dog was trying to climb up our sliding glass door. This startled me because I thought what could startle the dog that he needed to try and climb glass. So I jumped up out of bed to find out what it was and as I look between the cracks of the blinds, as not to be seen by this thing that has caused this noise, I see sitting on the deck a cat. WHAT!!!, a cat in my back yard, doesn't it know we have a big yellow lab. Dumb cat. Anyway, this cat is staring down my dog who is on the grass near the corner of my house. The cat is spitting and hissing, claws drawn at the dog though it seems the dog is just having a little fun. Spitting and hissing, I think, isn't that a little much. I decide that I should save this cat's life and let it out the front door. However I have to let it in the house. Did you know that cats are very quick and can squiggle out of almost and grasp you can put them in. So the cat books it into the house and gets into our kitchen. I approach this cat with some hesitation because I don't want to end up like shredded cheese. I notice that this cat is looking for an escape and looks like it is about to jump on my counter so I reach down and grab it by the scruff of the neck, you know that part you can pick them up with and it doesn't hurt them. I walked to the front door and put the cat outside and it darted away from the house as fast as it could.

It was amazing how much that cat hated my dog, I'm sure he was just trying to play. It's just sad that they just can't get along.

Sorry for such a serious blog, I'll get back to the more lighthearted stuff soon.

Bones Review

**Warning if you haven't seen last season's finale, stop reading...oh and there are spoilers for the premiere in this review as well.

Tonight was the Bones Season Premiere and I have to say it was not disappointing. Sure it was different without Dr. Zack Addy, but he's a sicko now and got what he deserved.

This premiere starts of with Booth and Bones in England visiting Oxford. Of course, while they are there, a murder happens, and yes it is an American citizen so of course Booth gets to help out, and therefore Bones is on the case as well. They solve the case in Booth and Bones fashion and impress their English counterparts whom they are there visiting with. A hottie from Scotland Yard and a guy from Oxford, basically it is set up so you think that Bones is hooking up with this professor from Oxford and Booth is going to hook up with this Scotland Yard woman. No hooking up on English soil however (notice I said on English soil, wink, wink). As they are packing up to leave the great land of England, there just happens to be another murder, this time it is the English professor whom they were there to visit with in the first place. By the way, there is a lot of the story that I'm leaving out. Of course, because Bones is the best she is asked to help with the investigation and of course Booth is invited to stay. His invitation is a 007 gun, just FYI. They again solve this one, once again in true Booth and Bones fashion and get the bad guy.

Now back to the good 'ol US of A. While of course the squints are in the game helping with the murder of the US girl in England via phone and gadgets, a surprise visitor comes into the Smithsonian. A visit from Angela's husband from Fiji or wherever he's from. Now if you watched last season Angela and Hodgins (yes Hodgins Chilly, not Hodges) are trying to get married, they find out that Angela, after a wild night in Fiji, was married to a guy named Grayson. They hire a PI to find the guy so that he can sign the divorce papers. Anyway, he's there and is this hunk stud of a islander and Cam is smitten. Once he, Angela's husband, decides to sign the papers Cam offers to drive him to the airport. Let's just say his flight was cancelled and he wasn't to be left alone in the big city. Cam was there to make sure of that. Cam decides to come clean with Angela, and let's just say things break up a little.

So my overall grade or whatever I'd give it would be a A-. The guy that they got to take Zack's place in the premiere wasn't as good as they could have gotten. Lucky for us it looks like he'll only be on one show.

Memory Flash - "Every Breath You Take"

So, apparently from reading this site, you are familiar with the fact that music is an important part of our family. Most of us associate music with the good and bad times in our lives. On occasion, a song comes on the radio and I just rock to the song. Sometimes though, it sparks a memory.

Today was one such day where listening to a song, a flashback happened and I thought I would share.

The song "Every Breath You Take" by the Police was playing on Jack FM. All of a sudden I had a flash back to when I was 10 years old. We had a step-father that was an avid bowler. He played in winter leagues all the time. This particular memory happened at a bowling alley, Delton Lanes to be exact.

Anyway, while Stan would bowl, us kids pretty much had the run of the place. We wouldn't sit and watch bowling (boooooriiinngggg) so we would run around, play video games, and munch on whatever we could buy with the money we begged off mom (usually fries or candy.)

At Delton, they had a room with a bunch of pool tables. This was our playground for the most part. If people were playing pool, we generally stayed away but if no one was over there, fun times were to be had. Sometimes the lights were off which made it even more fun to play a game of hide-and-seek or something similar. Mostly it was Tracy and I but occasionally, there were other kids who suffered from the same lack of wanting to watch as their parents bowled.

So, just wanted to share. Those times were always fun. As kids, we could find ways to entertain ourselves. Especially when there were other kids our age to hang out with.

Its funny how different things will spark a memory.

Quick Blog - Song of the Day - August 26, 2008

I started a Chinese class today. It is going to be tough, but what foreign language isn't tough to learn. It was fun and the instructor is a little Chinese woman and she is pretty dang funny. I'll let you know how it is going here and there.

So for the Song of the Day today I'm going to pick a good one from Garth Brooks. The song, Friends in Low Places. If you haven't heard this song, you are either completely against country music, and I know there are a few out there like that, or you have been on a distant planet. If it is the latter, let me know, I have questions. That is one of his best songs. If you don't like country music, this one is worth a listening to because it is pretty good. It's not available on iTunes, but if you go to Walmart they have all sorts of Garth music in a box set.

Song of the Day - August 25 2008

Today has been a Monday for sure. I'm usually a pretty big fan of this first work day in the week, but today has been a bust. The reason I say that is that I usually use music to get me out of the crap of these types of days. Today that has been difficult, why you ask, because all I'm getting on the shuffle is the slow songs in the library. Like right now One More Night by Phil Collins is playing, not the SotD by the way, and that's how it's been all day. Slow song after slow song, hard to get in a rhythm that isn't going to put me to sleep with this slow stuff playing all day, so here goes, the random SotD selection by hitting next until something hits that...ohhh string. BTW, the song on now is Arthur's Theme by Christopher Cross, see what I mean.

Here is the next few songs that play in order:
Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson: great song, could be a song of the day, but again slow
Orinoco Flow - Enya: wow, this song is actually the most upbeat song I think I've heard all day. Good song, not SotD quality for today.
Walking After Midnight - Garth Brooks: This is some of his old stuff and that isn't always the most exciting song. This song is too twangy to ever be the SotD.
Adagio sostenuto from "Moonlight Sonata" - Dubravka Tomsic: Snoozer, it is getting rid of the headache a little.
Eensie Weensie Spider - Inside Out: Good song, fun beat, we may have a winner. If you haven't heard of Inside Out, they are a local acapella group similar to Voice Male. They do a lot of LDS music that is a lot of fun to listen to. This song is just a hip-hop version of the childrens favorite. Let's try one more.
The Dance - Garth Brooks: This is one of Garth's best songs. Older but not twangy. It has a great meaning behind it too.

I could go on all day but I'll spare you all the details and give you a SotD, after about 10 or so clicks through the library I've landed on a good one. Today's song of the Day is a classic. Yellow Submarine by none other than The Beatles. You can't this actual song off iTunes but there are a lot of covers for there. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Just so you know the song that is playing now, is Questions by Jack Johnson. I'm going to need to restart the cycle and hope for more upbeat songs.

Serious topic... Sorry T.

So, Tracy tries to keep this blog on the lighter side and limit the serious topics but I just can't resist. There is a topic that I think needs to be addressed. It has been something that has been going on since the 80's but may have been sparked from previous times. I'm talking about the Cola Wars.

Now, I know there are many differing opinions on which is better, Pepsi or Coke. Unfortunately, many people are under the impression that they are on equal footing in quality. While they both technically qualify as colas, Pepsi by far is much better than Coke.

I know that previous statement may create a bunch of arguments, and that is fine. Those that like Coke are entitled to their own opinion. Me, I like to stick with the facts and the fact is that Pepsi is better in quality and taste far above that of Coke. So, those of you still under the delusion that Coke is better than Pepsi, should really think about seeking professional help.

While the facts may be painful, they can be consoled by an ice cold Pepsi from your local convenience store.

The New Season Approaches

Good morning reader...I've decided to compile a list of my favorite shows and give you the heads up on when the new season starts for each so here it goes.

• NBC
  
  
  
  • Chuck - Monday, September 29th @ 7
  
  
  • Life - Monday, September 29th @ 9
  
  
  • The Office - Thursday, September 25th @ 8 (hour long episode)
  
  
  • A new show called Cursoe that looks pretty good, October 17 (I don't know what time it's at but it's a 2 hour premire)
  
  
  
  


• Fox
  
  
  
  • Bones - Wednesday, September 3rd @ 7
  
  
  • House - Tuesday, September 16 @ 7
  
  
  
  

So there you have it. Those are the shows that I like and will either watch or DVR them so I can stay up to date. Have a great day.

Song of the Day - August 22, 2008

So I've decided to keep track of the Song of the Day in my iTunes library so that I will maybe have a reminder to do it. Ok...on to why you, Chels, are reading, to see what the song of the day is. Today's is a short song in that it is only 2 minutes and 15 seconds long. It took a while for me to buy this song because I didn't want to pay a buck for a 2 minute song. Well this one is pretty good so I finally did it.

Today's Song of the Day is The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson. It's a pretty catchy tune. She did a little remix for this song it's pretty cool as well. Here is the video from the remix on the Bob and Tom Show...

Song of the Day - August 21, 2008

I decided that it was time to bring back one of my favorite things in blogging and that is the Song of the Day. While I know that this will be sporadic and more like song of the every other day or song of the week/month/year, bear with me. Work is really hectic right now and I stay busy all day for the most part and when I'm not totally busy on work, I'm thinking about what I need to do next because of the size of the task in front of me. That is a story for another day, the story for now is the Song of the Day.

So for the Song of the Day today, I'm going to have to go with one that I just bought off iTunes that was finally made available, well iTunes say it was available since Feb. of this year, but I didn't find it until last week. The song is Step by Step by Eddie Rabbitt. I made mention of it in my I Love Music entry from last Thursday. I'm still trying to put my finger on why I like this song so much, but it's a good old song. So if you have an extra dollar lying around in your iTunes account, dl it and enjoy.

Deciding to Blog

So I am sitting here late on a Thursday night watching my wife's computer run through a virus scan and so I decided it was a good time to blog. She's been having all these pop ups happen here and there through out the day. I found a weird looking entry in the processes of the computer and found where they were in the Windows directory structure. I thought I had it all cleaned and then today it happened all over again, so I'm sitting here trying something different. Computers can be touchy things.

There are a few things that I started to do, but seemed to get interrupted or just decided not to do those and finally blogging won out.

The full scan on the computer is almost done and so I will be heading to bed soon. But until then, I will sit and write in this blog. Actually, I think I'm done for now. I think that my readership has gone way, way down, from like 4 people to 1 which is a pretty significant cut in readership. If I was a newspaper I'd be shut down, lucky for all 1 of you, I get to keep writing. One of these days I may even say something worthwhile. And I should emphasize the one of these days a little more...basically don't hold your breath.

I Love Music

So I really love to listen to music and I get in moods for certain songs. That's why I love iTunes as well. So when I get in the mood for a certain song that I want to hear I head to iTunes to see if it is available to buy if I don't already own it. I own a good selection of music. Some of the songs aren't always there. For example, I like the Beach Boys album Still Crusin'. It is a cool album and I had it on cassette tape a long time ago. I started searching for it quite a while ago and then found it on iTunes when they made it available. That was a while ago. I also love songs that remind me of the good times of my past. One of those songs is called Step by Step by Eddie Rabbitt.

Let me give you some background...when I was younger my mom bought this killer stereo system. It had these nice speakers that had a reset button on the back so you could crank it up pretty loud and if it got to be too much, before the speaker would blow it would flick this reset switch and would turn off the speaker. You would simply have to hit the reset button, turn the stereo down just a notch and then you were back to jammin' to your favorite tunes. It was awesome. I guess not completely awesome because my mom would take advantage of this with Whitney Houston early Saturday mornings, like when we were all trying to sleep in. Whitney Houston is not fun to wake up to, horrible nightmares. Anyway, we'd get playin' in the front yard with this radio turned way up so that the neighbors could jam a little too and we'd just have a good time. We'd go in to change tapes and then keep going with our good ol time. A couple of the groups we would listen too were Air Supply, Whitney, Eddie Rabbitt, Alan Parsons Project, and Pablo Cruise once in a while. And there were a couple other ones that I can't remember. But all in all it was a good time. I think that is the reason that I love music so much because of what I can remember from my past, a lot of it had to do with good music and fun. B and Nic, if you can remember any of the groups we used to listen to, let me know.

Getting old....er.

So things are starting to hit that I'm getting older. When we got home from vacation, we received paperwork to enroll Aurora into high school. It is a definite milestone in my life as well as my wife and daughter's. It does make you realize that time is going to move forward whether we like it or not.

It would be easier to keep the kids all young at the fun age. Its not as much fun when they are teenagers although it is more challenging. Hopefully we can get out of the teenage years without killing each other.

Well, school starts again soon. For some of my nieces and nephews they have already started because they are on year round school. Guess summer is coming to a close soon. One more month, and we begin the descent into fall.

Great Camping Trip

I would have to sum up this last weekends camping trip to East Canyon with the words 'A Blast'. Minus the light, annoying sunburn I got on Thursday, the weekend was a lot of fun. I love hanging out with my family and the time spent with grandma and grandpa is awesome. We did some fishing and some caching and some swimming. Before we went, Chels and I got ourselves some bikes and we were able to take them up there, well Rick and Nic took them up for us. We also got a trailer thing for the two youngest to ride in. It was a great purchase and hopefully it won't go to waste now that we are home.

The one downfall to going up to East Canyon this weekend is it broke us away from Chels' family and our annual campout with them. It sounds like that was a lot of fun too. We missed the whole Bingham crew this weekend. It was fun teasing them with pictures of the swimming pool though, hehe.

I took some pictures that I'll post on the photos blog. It was fun taking pictures up there.