World Soccer Daily Cameo

Yes!!! I finally made it on World Soccer Daily! Actually, this was really only my third or fourth email into the show, so it's not like I've been trying and trying.

First, I'd like to give you a quick background on the show and then I'll talk about my email read on today's broadcast.

World Soccer Daily (or WSD) is the premier football (or soccer) radio show in this country. It's a call-in show that airs every day for 2 hours on Sirius Satellite Radio. The show also streams live on the web and is available as a podcast on iTunes. Most people listen via iTunes, so it's consistently (I just checked) in the top 25 most downloaded sports podcasts on iTunes. The show has frequent listeners from all over the world as well. The owner, Steven, also has a weekly television show on Fox Soccer Channel. The point is, it's not just some "Mickey Mouse" operation. I've been listening for a few years and have to say that it's really grown leaps and bounds. The show has now gotten to a point where it can get interviews from the some of the top professionals in the English Premier League (EPL); probably the most popular league in the world (certainly the richest). For example, in the coming weeks the show will be interviewing the manager (and other staff/players) from Hull City, one of the newer yet better teams so far in the EPL this year.

Since the year is coming to an end, Steven (the host) was trying to award his team of the year for 2008. If you've seen any of my previous posts in the last few days, I've been really keen on Villa. I wrote an email into the show this morning and Steven decided to read it on the air essentially at the start of the show. He stumbled over my words a bit, but I still think it's really cool to hear him read it on air and to tell me I'm "exactly right".

The first picture in the video is the show's logo, then me, then the Villa badge, then a picture of the show's hosts. I added the pictures to the audio clip from the show. If you're at all interested in the show, please check it out. You'll get hooked instantly because the show is outstanding. I doubt they'll every read this, but for those that do, I want to thank Steven and Kenny for doing such a great job!

Hull 0 - 1 Villa

Villa "nicked" three points tonight in a game that could have gone either way. Both sides played a well-organized game. In my opinion, a fair result would have seen both teams gaining a point. However, when things are going your way...they really go your way. With about 10 minutes left in the game, Hull put the ball in the back of their own net.

A few days ago Villa scored an injury time equalizer against Arsenal. The previous game against West Ham saw Villa score the winner in the 78th, and two league games before that Villa beat Everton with another injury time goal. What the Hull?

Next up on Friday is Spurs vs Wigan in the 3rd round of the FA Cup...should be a snoozer. Do I really have to watch it?

AVFC Fun Facts

Instead of focusing on the negatives at Spurs, I'd like to take another approach and focus on what has caught my eye about Villa as a club/organization. In my mind, this is more important then anything that happens on the field.

First of all, there is something "right" about what's going on at the club...and something that I can definitely relate to.

The American Connection

As far as I know, Villa now have the most Americans in their side then any other Premier league team. This year they signed the "Brads". Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan, both American goalies. I've been a huge fan of Friedel over the years and think at 37 he is still one (if not, the) best goalies in the entire league. He plans to play into his 40s, so he's still possibly going to around for a few more years. If 24-year old Guzan can develop, there is a possibility that Villa will have an American keeper for some time.

Villa are owned by Randy Lerner...an American who made his money in the banking/securities industry. He also owns the Cleveland Browns. Based on all accounts, he is the right kind of owner...one that has money, is committed to the club, yet doesn't appear to overly involved with what happens on the pitch.

More then a Club

If you've seen the kit this year, you'll notice that Villa are sponsored by Acorns. Actually, this isn't a sponsorship at all; it's a partnership. Acorns is a local Children's Hospice that cares for life-limited children and their families. Life-limited children are not expected to reach adulthood. They require specialist care 24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week. Acorns is the only organization that provides this to local life-limited children while also offering a range of support services for the whole family to help them cope at every stage of their child's life and beyond into bereavement. Through the relationship that started over two years ago, AVFC decided to put the organization instead of a sponsor on their shirts. Who does this nowadays? I think it's a very commendable thing to do in an age and league where most sponsors are either alcohol or gambling related. I realize that Villa used to be sponsored by an online casino, but the fact that they made this change speaks volumes in my opinion.

Villa were formed by four members from the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in 1874. The current ground (and the same one they've been playing at since 1897) is bordered by Trinity Road to the west. The Trinity Road stand of the stadium actually is built over the road, meaning that the stadium essentially forms a tunnel over it. Trinity Road and the Villa name may not have a current relevance to the church for the supporters (I don't know), but it at least reflects the historical connections to it.

History

AVFC has a long and successful history. They are only one of four English teams to have won the equivalent of the Champions League (the European Cup) - the others being United, Liverpool, and Forest. They were one of a dozen original founders of the Football League in 1888 and one of the founding clubs of the Premier League in 1992. As far as major honors are concerned, they rank fourth in the country. Basically, they've been relatively consistent performers for over 125 years. Although they have been relegated a few times, only Everton has played more season in the top flight of English football then Villa. Villa have spent 98 seasons at the top.

Other Cool Stuff

In an era of global teams, Villa have stayed local. As far as I can tell, almost 2/3 (about 60%) of the first team are English. That's amazing, considering some of the other big clubs struggle to field very many at all...the worst offender being Arsenal who regularly field sides without a single Englishman in the starting 11. For Villa to keep it English means that they've had to be deliberate about it...hinting at a philosophy and an actual transfer market plan.

I've always liked the current manager, Martin O'Neill. He seems to be a nice guy, a bit on the quiet side, but definitely a man with a long-term plan. It appears he's building something over time, and has actually resisted the urge to buy more players for the heck of it even when offered more money by the board/owner.

As silly as this sounds, the logo and colors are actually a big deal for me. It's a source of pride. I never liked the Spurs logo and/colors, making it hard to wear the badge (or look at it) with pride. I mean, a cockerel is essentially a male chicken. Not very cool nor intimidating. A chicken? Seriously? If anything it evokes the opposite reaction that it should. Take a look at the AVFC badge at the top of this page. Now that's cool! A "rampant lion", a star for the European Cup win, and the motto, "Prepared". AVFC are known as Villa, or The Villians, or The Lions - that's cool. I can wear and respect a lion...not a chicken. Secondly, the colors are actually really nice despite what your initial reaction might be. Officially they are claret and sky blue. Coincidentally enough, we just finished decorating our bedroom and we chose these colors because they look great together. Now if I could just get a club crest to be hung above the bed...

Of course, since they are doing well this year this may appear to be band-wagon-ish. However, it's no worse then someone picking one of the top four for the same reason. Really, I've only been seriously following the league for 18 months now - the same time I've been following Spurs. In my mind, a season or 2 is still within a reasonable amount of time to reconsider this (what will be, a lifetime) decision. I'm not jumping ship completely, but I'm going to follow and consider AVFC now in addition to Spurs. Without focusing on the negatives, I have come to realize that the most important thing for me is what's going on at the club and not solely the success on the field. For the last 18 months everything about the Tottenham organization has left a bad taste in my mouth...not because of the results, but because of everything else that I consider to be a disaster. We'll see if my "romantic" ideals and expectations about Aston Villa Football Club are correct and stand the test of time. Unfortunately, the only way for an American who has no connections to the league to find out is to follow/adopt the team for a season or so. After a season with Spurs, it just doesn't seem like a good fit.

Football Heresy

For those of you who regularly read this blog, you've probably noticed that the appearance has changed. Notice anything else different? Probably not.

I bet Matt does. When Matt brings up this page for the first time he'll probably have a heart attack. So, to the one person outside my family that cares, hear me out buddy. Hopefully I'll be able to explain myself in my next post...at least enough so that you don't lose all respect for me and can at least understand where I'm coming from.

Right now it's way past my bedtime...so I'll have to save the explanation for tomorrow.

5th Anniversary

Today is Stacey's and my 5th Anniversary! I can't believe it's been 5 years.

I love you Stacey and I can't imagine being with anyone else. You are a wonderful woman and a great wife and mother. Here's to 50 more years!

Music by Lauryn Hill (Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You)

Cabo

a.k.a. Cabo San Lucas, a.k.a. Los Cabos

The last stop on our cruise was in Cabo. By far this was the prettiest of the three locations we visited. The consensus opinion was that Cabo was the only place we may want to come back to in the future.

Cabo is located on the very southern tip of Baja California. It also has a large population of retired Americans. It's very different from the other two places we saw in Mexico in that it's much more upscale.

The ship had to anchor offshore and we were ferried to the marina in one of the ship's lifeboats. Since we didn't have a whole lot of time, Stacey and I left the ship before everyone else and headed for the main beach area. On the way to the beach we walked passed a lot of nice boats in the marina, as well as some good restaurants. We stopped at a higher end mall that borders the marina (for example, it has a Mac store) and grabbed some Kahlua laced coffee.

Julia loved the sand and the water. Because her swimsuit is green, she looked like a little sea turtle crawling to and from the water. I got some great video of her fearlessly playing on the beach and in the water, but since this is a family blog I am prohibited from showing it since it contains a certain attractive female in her bathing suit. We stayed there for as long as possible and then headed back to the ship.

Here are some clips of the videos I shot in Cabo. The first clip is coming into Cabo as the sun is rising, then Julia playing in the sand, then Julia and I playing in the ocean.

Merry Christmas!

Mazatlan

The next morning (after Puerto Vallarta) we arrived in Mazatlan. The sun was just coming up as we pulled into port, so we witnessed a great sunrise from the ship. The clouds were thin enough yet covered the whole sky so that they turned the entire horizon red when the sun came up.

We all hopped in a taxi and went down to Old Mazatlan. We weren't that interested in spending the day in the newer, touristy area called the "Golden Zone"...because we weren't that interested in shopping for souvenirs. We were dropped off in the center of town, right next to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The Cathedral apparently is the world's only Roman Catholic Church with the Star of David displayed in each of its 28 stained-glass windows. During the course of construction, money was getting low. Jews from Germany donated a large amount of money to help. In honor of this group, the church placed 28 Stars of David over the windows of the church, to represent 28 days in the Jewish month. Construction begun in 1856 but due to Mexico's turbulent times, it took until 1899 to finish.

We then walked a few blocks to the main market in town. This market was celebrating its 109 year anniversary (if I remember correctly). We got Julia a little dress there. The market had everything you could imagine...it was essentially like a giant Wal-Mart. The most interesting section was the butcher shops - which I'm sure will get your attention when viewing the slide show.

We had lunch at a resturant a few blocks away, and then Stacey and I took an open-air taxi back to the ship. The open-air taxis there are essentially suped-up golf carts, so it was a great way to see the city on our way back. We took the scenic route back, so we got to see some great views of the city and the waterfront. We never made it over to where the resorts are located, but we could tell from the blue water and black rock in the ocean that it was probably a pretty place. It reminded us a little bit of Maui.

Music by David Mead (Elodie)

Puerto Vallarta

The first stop we made was in Puerto Vallarta. We took a taxi from the ship to the downtown area and walked around for a few hours. There were some great sand sculptures and views of the beach. We spent some time walking in and around the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, as well as some of the side streets in downtown. Stacey and I walked up the surrounding hill to get an overview of the town, which provided us with some good views.

The highlight for me of our stop in Puerto Vallarta was eating at the Si Senor restaurant. The food was excellent. I ordered a chili relleno in addition to the chips and 3 kinds of salsa provided as an appetizer. The owner spoke flawless english, but the food was authentic mexican. The rest of the family took a taxi back to the ship while Stacey and I decided to walk back on the beach. The walk back on the beach took a little over an hour. We were asked to buy many things by locals on the beach, including some weed. I wasn’t in the mood that day to get high (besides, the ship was still a ways away and I didn’t have any munchies), so we continued on. Our walk back was nice and good exercise.

After the trip ended, I decided that Puerto Vallarta was probably my least favorite of the three stops. I’m sure that we didn’t see the nicest areas, but as a whole I think Mazatlan and Cabo were prettier places. As the day was ending, we had a perfect view of the amazing sunset from our balcony aboard the ship. We watched the giant sun set, and got some great pictures of it.

Music by The Beach Boys (Do You Wanna Dance)

Cruise Pictures

If you didn't catch these pics in the below slideshow, here are the full versions. These are my favorite pictures of Julia from the trip.

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

We’re back from Mexico! As far as traveling is concerned, everything went smoothly. In the span of a few hours our modes of transportation included a ship, a van, an airplane, a bus, and a car. Oh, and if you count the tram at DIA you can throw in a train too. Thankfully, our flight landed at DIA only a few hours before another aircraft decided to take the scenic route and light itself on fire.

Our trip had an eventful beginning. Right after we made our way through security at DIA, two people came running up the escalators, screaming at the security guard to shut it off. At first we thought someone had gotten stuck, but then thoughts quickly turned to the idea that someone had pulled a gun or weapon. After a few moments we went down the escalators to find a larger man collapsed at the foot of the escalators. He was breathing, but it appeared as if he had a heart attack. However, he was breathing and the paramedics were on their way…so we assume he made it to the hospital. Nevertheless, it was an unsettling start (it probably was around 6:30 a.m.) to our trip.

We made it to the port in L.A. right as the ship opened for boarding. The port in L.A. is huge. We received our “cards”, which act as your room key, a form of i.d. on and off the ship, as well as your “charge card” while on board. No cash or credit cards were used on the ship. Instead, these cards were used to pay for items and were linked to your room/personal credit card. That first afternoon/night we just got settled, ate some food, and walked all over the ship to get familiar with where everything was located.

We essentially spent the first two days and the final two days “at sea”, with the three days in between docked in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo. So, I’ll talk and post some pictures of those places in the next few days. For now, I’ll just talk about the ship and being at sea. As far as the ship itself goes, it really is an amazing accomplishment. It’s massive, and has everything from two swimming pools, a huge theater, a movie theater, an internet café, countless restaurants and bars, shopping, a full spa, a full gym, a running track, and cabins (a hotel) inside it. It’s like a floating city. Our ship was the Sapphire Princess and was built in Japan, although according to the staff most are built in Italy (surprisingly). As you’ve probably heard, food is available 24/7. The buffet is always open, but we also had many formal or sit down dinners and were able to try many unique foods. I tried frog legs, lamb, and so many other unique things I can’t remember. There is so much food, and because it’s all inclusive, you eat it just because it’s “free”! The dinner wait-staff that we were assigned to for the whole week were fantabulous. Ana (from Romania) and Bilyana (from Macedonia) were the finest I’ve ever been served by. They did a great job especially considering they had a few other tables too. However, I was stuffed every day by the time dinner came. The cooking staff on the ship estimates that they serve approximately 10,000 meals A DAY to staff and guests. It’s ridiculously ridiculous.

Here are some of the stats from the ship's kitchen:

Dry food storage area - 16,000 sq. feet
Walk in fridge capacity - 18,000 sq. feet
Butcher and fish shop preparation - 7,000 sq. feet

Average amounts of:

Meats cooked daily - poultry 1,800 lbs; beef 2,100 lbs; pork 1,000 lbs
Salads served daily - 1,600 lbs
Mayo used daily - 28 gallons
Vegetables cooked daily - 2,500 lbs
Flour used in pastry cooking daily - 1,700 lbs
Assorted pastries prepared daily - 6,000
Ice cream prepared (made) daily - 90 gallons
Butter used daily - 500 lbs
Fresh fruit served daily - 7,000 lbs
Coffee consumed daily - 470 gallons
Dishes washed daily - 70,000

Other highlights on the ship included playing bingo, getting to see dolphins swim (and jump/flip) next to the boat, and did I mention all the great (and “free”) food? Stacey and I also got a massage at the spa and we were able to work out on new fitness equipment. It was relaxing in some senses – like, we got away – but not in others. Julia slept next to our bed and was up a lot. Even if she didn’t wake up during the night, Julia made sure she was up by around 5 a.m. every morning. Additionally, one person usually had to miss out on dinner one night since she needed to go to bed at the same time dinner was served. We tried bringing her a few times, but it really wasn’t any fun for Stacey (or whoever was trying to keep her entertained) at dinner.

All in all getting to see the ship was a good experience. As you can tell from some of the below pictures taken on/from the ship, it’s really amazing when you think about it.

Music by The Beach Boys (Fun Fun Fun)

Que Vivan Los Amigos!

Well, this will probably be the last post for the next week or so. Please hold back your tears...of joy!

We're leaving very early tomorrow morning for our Mexican cruise. We're flying out of DIA and the ship (Princess Sapphire) leaves the L.A. area tomorrow night. We'll spend a week on the ship, but we'll have a day each in Mazatlan, Puerta Vallarta, and Cabo. Weather looks like it should be around 85 all week.

The tentative itinerary is as follows: Hollywood, California. You are very great. 100,000 pesos. Come to Santa Poco put on show, stop. The In-famous El Guapo. From there, I'm sure we'll trim the hedges of many small villages as well as see the singing bush and meet the invisible swordsman. Then, I'll probably kiss Stacey on the veranda...although the lips would be fine. Chip, CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, NANNY!!!

I've never been on a cruise before, so I don't know what to expect. Regardless, it will be fun to get away with Stacey and Julia, and my parents and Michelle. Of course, we'll post our pictures here and tell you about our wonderful adventures on the trip when we get back.

Bon Voyage!

The Three Amigos (Aaron, Stacey, Julia)

Birthday Pictures

Here are some pics from Julia's 1st birthday party!

Music by Dean Martin (Sittin' On Top Of The World)

Lookin' Slick

This has been a long time coming. I finally went and bought a suit tonight. In all honesty, I would never have gone out and done this on my own. Pretty much everyone in my family (Dad, Mom, Stacey) except me agreed that I needed to own one of these puppies. To be fair, I should have purchased a suit years ago. So, when an "offer" was made "that I couldn't refuse", I capitulated.

I would recommend Men's Wearhouse on Powers to anyone. I walked in the door and the woman that helped me knew exactly the size of jacket I wore just by looking at me. Long story short, about 30-45 minutes later I was out the door with suit in hand.

The suit fits perfectly, and in my humble opinion, looks really good. The white shirt that I purchased to go with the suit is amazing...and this is coming from a guy who really isn't into clothes. I've never worn something so well-cut, so comfortable and stylish.

So, the first time I'll wear this in public will be next week on our cruise. I'm positive that I'll get many uses out of it in the future. At the very least, I'll be wearing the shirt and tie to work on occasion. It's actually fun to dress up every once in awhile.

Gonzaga!

If you didn’t see my previous video a few weeks ago, Julia has taken a liking to the word “Gonzaga”. Actually, I don’t think she particularly likes the word…it’s more how we’ve been saying it around the house. We drag out the first syllable, and then say the second and third syllable very fast. The ending of the word is very abrupt, and when we say it we usually jump a little bit for effect. In the past it’s always been good for a smile. If you were to type it, it would look like this:

GONNNNNNNNNNNNNNZAGA!

After a fun filled day of lots of cake, ice cream, and presents, she was undoubtedly high on sugar and very excited. Out of the blue she started to imitate the way we say the word – so much so that we were able to get it on cue and on video. Maybe it was just because she had put on her new kiddy Gonzaga t-shirt from Uncle Pat.

So, her first words were “hi kitty” and her second words were “Gonzaga”. Funny. Turn up your speakers to hear how close she actually gets. Hilarious.

Happy Birthday Julia!

Our little Julia turned 1 year old today! Stacey's parents, Matt and Pat flew into town and my parents and Michelle came over as well. We basically spent all day hanging out together - but mostly it involved watching Julia eat her birthday cake and open her presents. We had a great time and I know she did too.

I hope you enjoy watching Julia (with her chocolate pirate goatee) mow down her birthday cake. She's so cute!

p.s. I'll save the sentiments for another time and place...or maybe not at all. It's hard to put into words what she means to us and how much we love her.

Sunrise, East-Side

It's December 2nd, 7 a.m., and it's already 60 degrees outside. These shots weren't adjusted at all - I just focused on the sky.

A December To Remember

What's worse then being sick? Being sick on Thanksgiving! Talk about getting the short end of the stick on one of my favorite holidays. I'm feeling better, but not 100%. At least I got it out of the way before the best December EVER kicks off. Check this out:

2nd - Stacey's parents arrive for Julia's 1st birthday

6th - Matt and Pat arrive for Julia's 1st birthday

7th - Our little cutie-pie celebrates her 1st birthday

11th - Headwaters Christmas Party

13th - We leave for our cruise to Mexico with my parents and Michelle

16th - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

17th - Mazatlan, Mexico

18th - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

20th - We return from our cruise

22nd - Grandma Engebretson arrives

24th - Christmas Eve

25th - Christmas

27th - Stacey and my 5th anniversary

31st - New Year's Eve

Totally ALLSOME!

Pumpin' Iron

Tickle Fight!

...and some dancing...

Happy Birthday Stacey!

Go Zags!

Catsup...A Government Conspiracy

A few Saturdays ago, Stacey and I swung by the Wendy’s drive through to pick up some lunch. I was in a very contemplative and philosophical state that day, so I was pondering many of life’s biggest questions. As we sat in line, I turned to Stacey and asked her about the one in particular that had been weighing heavy on my mind:

Whatever happened to catsup?

Seriously, haven’t you ever wondered what happened to catsup and why everything now is called ketchup? What was so bad about catsup? Why did it disappear from the shelves? Did ketchup go better with Haterade? As far as I can remember, catsup and ketchup looked the same and tasted the same. Obviously, there had to be answers out there and someone had a lot of explaining to do.

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a whole lot of information out there on this topic. Seems to me that there has been a lot of covering up by the “ketchupers” and of course, it involves the federal government. Just like Area 51, the JFK assassination, and many other examples, the fate of catsup seems to be part of a huge government conspiracy.

It all started shortly after World War 2. As America entered the 1950's, it appeared as if only 3 major brands remained to steal the spotlight...Heinz Ketchup, Del Monte Catsup, and Hunts, who could not decide on a spelling and bottled under the names Hunts Catsup (east of the Mississippi), Hunts Ketchup (west of the Mississippi), and Hunts Tomato Cornchops (in Iowa only). At some point in the 1980s, the federal government stepped in and ketchup was declared a vegetable on the government's standards for school lunch menus. Suddenly catsup, because of its spelling, was not on the approved list. Heartbroken “catsupers” could see the end in sight. It wasn't long afterwards that Del Monte changed the product's name to Del Monte ketchup and Hunt’s remedied its schizophrenic position on the subject.

So then the question then becomes, why did the federal government feel the need to step in and end this ongoing debate? And why did they have to bring children into this mess? Proposing that the “ketchupers” had better lobbyists is too easy of an answer, as is the failure of Hunts to “earmark” their right to call it Hunts Tomato Cornchops. There is a better explanation. From my extensive research, I believe that ketchup was responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall, and hence, the end of the Cold War and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and communism. Top secret U.S. government documents reveal that in the 1980s, the Heinz company still had strong ties to its founder’s home country, Germany. Billions and billions of dollars worth of tomatoes and ingredients that went into making Heinz ketchup were actually manufactured in East Germany and were being smuggled into the United States by the U.S. military. Many people don’t realize this, but the U.S. government used U.S. military aircraft and warships as commercial shipping vessels during this time. In the end, our ketchup habit was supporting communist East Germany with cold hard cash. At first, the U.S. threatened to call the product catsup, thereby dooming East Germany’s economy to utter ruin. However, this would have also exposed the huge cover-up operation between the United States and East Germany. In an attempt to pacify the East Germans and avoid a huge ketchup scandal, the U.S. government negotiated the agreement to name the condiment ketchup on school lunches as fair trade to bringing down the Berlin Wall. The East Germans accepted the overthrow of their government for the economic right to now legally supply us with their yummy ingredients while the U.S. government avoided certain disaster and the exposing of their continued backing of East German communism to support our eating habits.

Hence, ketchup.

Things Overheard…

…at a Christian organization:

“ARGGGGGGGGGGGGH! I’ve HAD IT with this mouse!!! I need some alcohol!!!” After which, the individual storms out of his office.

(insert your own, sarcastic response here)

Classic!

Mt. Harvard

Elevation - 14,420 feet
Round Trip - 13.5 miles

Wikipedia:

Mount Harvard is a 14er in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is the third highest mountain in Colorado, and also the fourth highest mountain in the Contiguous United States. It is located in the Collegiate Peaks, part of the central Sawatch Range of Chaffee County, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the town of Buena Vista. The Harvard Crimson, flagship newspaper of the mountain's namesake university, wrote that: "despite its height, climbing up Mt. Harvard is hardly a death-defying experience. 'It's an undistinguished lump on a fairly undistinguished range; it just happens to be very high,' says John C. Reed of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver. Reed, who has climbed the mountain once, describes it only as 'a long walk'. Nor is the view from the mountain especially scenic, compared with Colorado's other 54 mountains above 14,000 feet. 'In terms of being spectacular, Mt. Harvard would not be really high on the list,' Reed says." I added the above section from Wikipedia because I thought it pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly!

Earlier this week Josh and I made plans to hike Mt Shavano on Saturday. As the day grew closer, the weather forecast for Mt Shavano called for "a blustery day, gusts upwards of 40 mph, and wind chill as low as -15 degrees". Understandably, I didn't "warm up" to that idea. So, Friday afternoon Josh suggested we check out Lake Kroenke, a lake outside of Buena Vista that he frequently had sent people to but never had visited himself.

Since we were just hiking up to the lake for the day, we hit the trailhead at around 8 a.m. - late as far as serious hiking is concerned. After all, we had brought our tripods with us since this casual trip was all about getting out and taking some pictures. After hiking for a little bit, we quickly realized that the weather forecast had been wrong. Dead wrong. Like, 180 degrees wrong. The sky was completely blue and without a cloud. The wind was calm, and if it hadn't been for a small amount of snow on the trail you could have told me it was June and I would have believed it.

Two miles in, we came to a fork in the trail. Left took us to Kroenke Lake, right to Mt. Harvard. Since the weather was so nice, we decided to go right, and reevaluate the potential ascent at Bear Lake further up the trail. The weather was holding at the fork in the trail at Bear Lake so we decided to stay right again. The hike was on.

As mentioned above, there wasn't anything in particular that stood out to me on this hike. I remember thinking at the end of if that I hadn't taken many pictures along the way. I guess that's why. However, I learned some good things from this trip. I would characterize this trip as "valuable experience", not necessarily entertainment. That is, this was one of those trips that I gained more then just a few photographs. First, peanut M&Ms make a great energy snack. I was pounding them by the handful, literally. They easily fit in my pocket and I could grab as many or as little as I wanted without stopping. Except for a Red Bull and diluted Gatorade, they were all I ate and sustained me the entire tip. Second, I like my new camera a lot. It's the perfect size and rode in my right pant pocket the entire trip. Third, my L.L. Bean boots dominate. Previously I had worn 3/4 top trail cross-trainers. These boots are waterproof, surprisingsly lightweight, and supportive and durable. I quickly realized that my previous choice of footwear had made my previous hikes less then enjoyable. These boots forced me to use the large muscles in my legs instead of the smaller stabilizing muscles in my ankles and calves. Additionally, I could step anywhere without fear of twisting an ankle or stepping on a rock. I hardly felt any of the mountain on this trip. Previously, in cross-trainers, my feet took a pounding but after this hike they hardly feel walked on. I can't thank my Dad for the M&Ms, but I can thank him for the camera and the boots. The boots in particular made this a much more enjoyable trip! Thanks Dad!

Due to the time of year, we had limited daylight. The last hour or so out were done in darkness. Of course, we had both been smart enough to bring headlamps, so it didn't make much of a difference. In the end, the entire half-marathon trek took us 10 hours. Around town, I could probably walk the 13.5 miles on level ground and at a reasonable altitude in 4 hours. What made this route so long was the 4,600 feet in elevation gain. Brutal. There are other 14ers that you could do twice in one day and probably still not match the mileage and elevation gain that this trip gave us.

I had a great time with Josh and I thank him for his willingness to make a day out of it. Considering the holidays are coming up, I won't be out again until 2009. This trip was a bit spontaneous, but it allowed me to reach the goal I had set for myself back in January to hike 5 14ers this year. Enjoy the pictures. The pictures loop through twice because I wanted to share this entire song with you.

Music by Phil Wickham (Divine Romance)

Northern Exposure

...part completely dark room, part exterior lights, part red cell phone with blue screen, part crazy guy jumping up and down in front of the camera for 15 seconds...

An HDR Sunrise

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a sunset or a sunrise, but the picture never quite did it justice? Chances are your picture ended up looking like one of the smaller photos below. You either captured the foreground but the sky was washed out, or you could see the colors in the sky but nothing else.

That's because the human eye is amazing. It can capture changes in light, color, contrast, etc at the same time, something cameras can't do by themselves. Enter HDR. The basic concept is to take about 3 pictures at different settings and to let the HDR software program blend them all together to re-create what the scene really looked like since one picture can't do it justice.

This morning I took two quick shots of the sunrise through a window with my new camera at different settings. They are the smaller two pictures below. I then generated them together using a trial version of Photomatix Pro, and made some minor adjustments. The large photo is the final product. Of course, it's not perfect because I only used 2 pictures, probably over-exposed one of them, took the shots through a window, and quite honestly don't exactly know what I'm doing yet.

Anyway, this was first attempt. I think the results are pretty obvious. The generated image looks a lot better and a lot more like what I saw this morning when I woke up. With some more practice and effort, I'm sure my future attempts will be much better.

Like Father Like Son

Fun With Video

My Christmas present arrived today...a Canon Powershot SX110 IS!

In addition to taking pictures, it takes pretty good video. Since Julia wanted to cuddle with Mommy tonight instead of sleeping, I was able to capture this short clip on my new camera. Talk about hilarious.

11 Months Old

Library Fun With Grandma

I thought you would like to see some pictures of what Julia does on Mondays…library super fun time! Actually, I’ve never been but you can obviously tell from the look on her face that she loves being there. One thing I noticed from these pictures is that she’s grown quite the skullet!

Illinois State Lottery

The winning Illinois state lottery numbers on November 5, 2008 for the evening pick 3 game were:

6 6 6

A crazy co-incidence?! You bet. Still... If you don’t believe me, click on the numbers and it will take you to the Illinois state lottery page.

We Voted...

...barely.

I left work yesterday at about 3:45 to vote. I picked Stacey and Julia up at our house, and we headed to our polling location located only 1/2 mile away at the middle school nearby. The line wasn't too long, so we immediately went inside and found different tables with different precinct numbers on them. Not entirely sure which precinct we were in (this is our first time voting since moving here), Stacey pulled out the voter registration card she had received in the mail so that we would know what table (and line) to get in.

Precinct 379. Uh-oh. There were no tables with this number on it. The card said the address for the 379 location was off of Mark Scheffel road! We were a bit confused, considering that this polling location is literally a stones-throw away from our house. We asked an attendant to be sure, and he told us that this location was not for precinct 379. I was sure that this was our location to vote, considering that I had looked it up only a few days before. Skyview Middle School...that's supposed to be our location but this card says were under another precinct...379.

We concluded that maybe it was like a school district, and proximity didn't necessarily matter. Growing up I went to Rampart, but the kids feet from our house on the other side of Dublin had to go all the way downtown to Palmer even though it was much farther away. They have to draw the line somewhere, so we thought we were probably right on the other side of the line. So, we hopped in the car and drove half-way to Kansas to our polling location.

We arrived to find the end of the line out the door. I went in to make sure there was a precinct 379 table at this location and that we were in the right place. Check. 379. Unfortunately, 379 was the table that everyone else had come for as well. There were 4 different precincts at this location, but they each had one table and 2 workers, despite the volume of voters. Later on I found out that 379 had a line like ours since 7 a.m. straight. You would think that they would have started another table for 379 to match the demand, but the 1 book per precinct of voters probably prohibited that. So, we got in line.

After a few minutes a voting judge came by and I asked him if he had any infomation on where the precinct lines were. It was more out of curiousity then anything. He took me over to a vague map on the wall. It had Powers, Woodmen, and Mark Scheffel on it, and that's as detailed as our location got on the map. Looking at it, I couldn't tell exactly where we lived, and it could very well be that we were just on the other side of the line somewhere in one of the many precincts in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out if we were really in the 379 book until I got to the front of the line...since that's where everyone's names were registered.

So, we stood in line for an hour and half before finally getting to the front. We handed the lady our identification. She flipped back, then forward, then back again. She looked at the name on the i.d. again. We weren't in her book. We were sent over to the provisional table and after doing some research in the "voter bible" the guy told us we could cast provisional ballots here, but that our polling location was at Skyview Middle School, precinct 365, where we went the first time. His words when telling this to us were, "don't kill me, but"... I didn't kill him, but I did say, "I already know what you're going to say".

Long story short...the "genius" that sent us our voter registration card put the wrong information on it!

Meanwhile, Julia started having a meltdown since she had been dragged around for 2 hours. We left this voting location and listened to Julia scream bloody murder all the way home. We got home at about 6 p.m., and I dropped her and Stacey off. I raced back over to the middle school and found no one was there except a few people. I was in and out in 5 minutes (literally). I came home and put Julia to bed while Stacey went to the school and voted. In the end, we got to vote...but I'm still questioning whether or not it was really worth it.

If the clerk's office hadn't screwed up our information, I estimate we could have both voted in about 20 minutes (instead of 3 hours).

Julia's First Steps

Julia took her first steps this weekend, so we decided to get it on video. In the first part of the video she's mostly interested in the camera and kitty. After we busted out the "puffs" she started to walk since she had some "motivation".

I don't know a lot about babies, but I do know that Julia has been beating the "averages" as far as firsts go. She's only going to be 11 months old on Friday, so this seems pretty early to be taking steps.

Anyway, it's all so exciting! If you don't want to watch the entire video, you'll get the idea after a minute or two. Make sure the volume is up so you can hear her talking to kitty.

The Tottenham Insider

Where to begin? About 10 days ago I made a post stating that I had put Tottenham on notice and until they got their act together, I was boycotting (in the most supportive way possible) watching them play. Apparently, the Tottenham chairman reads my blog. The very next day he gathered the manager, coach, and director of football together and fired them all. The worst start to a league season ever (126 years and winless) and being last in the league had something to do with it. However, you can’t deny the sequence of events and so I’m going to maintain my blog was the final straw that caused these major changes at the club.

Tottenham announced that same day that they had successfully lured Harry Redknapp away from Portsmouth and that he was our new manager. For those who don’t know, Portsmouth is in the same league as Tottenham. Fast-forward 3 games. Since Redknapp has arrived, we’ve gotten 7 out of 9 possible points (2 wins and a draw). The difference in results is as noticeable as the difference in play on the field…but I guess those usually go hand in hand.

We tied our arch-enemy Arsenal 4-4 by scoring 2 goals in the last 3 minutes. Then, we took on league leaders and undefeated Liverpool, and thanks to an own goal, 2 posts, and another goal in the last minute we won 2-1. Although we have been very fortunate (ok, lucky) since Harry arrived, I’ll take it. We’re now out of the basement and amazingly enough, only 6 points out of a UEFA Cup spot!

I do have to offer a formal apology to Matt though, because he and I were watching the Tottenham Liverpool game together. When Spurs scored the late winner I went silly. Somehow I went from one couch to the floor to the other couch, past Matt, up over the couch, hit my head on the ceiling, over the coffee table, and on to the floor, all while yelling. It all happened so fast, I don’t know what came over me. I think it was probably just months and months of pent up frustration finally getting out.

Halloween

Ah...Halloween. The one time each year when millions and millions of people turn off all of their lights and hide in the basement!

Basement Closet

This is quite possibly the world's most boring blog topic. Anyway, I had fun installing these 4 shelves in our basement closet tonight. Now we can store our games, crafts, blankets, etc downstairs. Heck, if anything, should we ever decide to become Mormons we now have a place to store our emergency food stash! Hey, that's not a bad idea...

Chicken Tenders

Look who were after the chicken coop at my parent's house (a momma and her cub)! They made quite a dent in the wire cage but left when they realized the buffet was out of barbecue sauce.

New Purse

...and another video of Julia playing with her first purse. Thanks for the gift Grandpa and Grandma Johnson!

p.s. sorry the video is so dark

Movin and Shakin

Just a little video so you can see Julia on the move...

On Strike

I’m officially on strike… Actually, I’ve been on strike in practice for a while but now I’m officially announcing it to the world. I have not, and am refusing to, watch Tottenham play until they win.

For those of you who haven’t heard, this year has been the worst start to a league season in Tottenham history. How long is that? Well, the club was formed in 1882…only a few years (17) after the end of the Civil War!

They are still winless and dead last in the league. Last night they lost 0-2 in their first UEFA Cup group match to Udinese (Italy). I have been following the games online and/or looking at the final score before I watch the match. I’ve recorded every game, but haven’t watched a Tottenham match for about 5 weeks now since they haven’t won. Why should I subject myself to repeated disappointment for a situation I can’t change? I don’t think it makes me less of a fan – if anything I would argue it makes me more of a fan because I can’t stand to watch it.

If they get relegated this season to a lower division, I won’t see much of their games anymore even if I wanted to. Additionally, there are no guarantees that they’ll make it back to the Premier League anytime in the near future.

freeBay Update

They are "selling" like hottcakes!!! The only thing left is the brown, decorative wall hanging. Everything else has been "freebidded"!

UPDATE: EVERYTHING'S BEEN SPOKEN FOR. I wonder if I should have sold these instead...hehehe.

freeBay

Open your own freeBay account today! We have the following items up for freeBid:

- a comfy papazon chair with footrest
- wood/glass coffee and end table
- decorative wall accessories (plate holder and decorative piece)
- black Kenmore microwave
- slightly worn La-Z-Boy recliner

Time is running out! Be the first to make a freeBid! Click on the pictures for a closer look. Remember, the first freeBid wins.

(seriously, if you or anybody you know want one or more of these items, please let me know. Otherwise they are going to Goodwill.)

Obama Palin '08

The winning ticket!!!
Hitting up the voters in Harlem

Ready For Winter

Third Day

Guess who played at chapel today? There's nothing like a free concert!

Title Slide

Josh earned some major cool points today.

Every month I prepare the financial power point presentation for our CFO to present to the executive committee. Additionally, I also prepare the monthly financial package that gets distributed to the ministry. Since our fiscal year just ended, we all (Josh, I, and others) have been involved in preparing the “big” fiscal year end presentation that our CFO will be giving key members of the executive staff and the board of directors at their off-site meeting in Wyoming next week. Although I frequently provide numbers (sometimes daily when doing our daily cash summary) that are seen by the executive committee, this is “way cooler”.

We always use a picture Josh has taken in the monthly presentation, but this time Josh was able to include some extra pictures. Here’s the photo that will be shown at next week’s board of directors meeting on the FY09 Budget title slide:

A Finished Basement!

It's finally complete! I know, it's been done for a few days but I just didn't get around to posting this until tonight. Thanks to those of you who asked about it.

This project went really well, all things considered. We're very excited we now have a place to hang out and relax. Although our house was about 2,000 square feet before the project, the layout of the house didn't allow us much space. You may read that and laugh, but it's really true. Our main living room wasn't exactly spacious. All this to say that the basement in this house was meant to be finished.

The smaller room will be Julia's (and future child) playroom for now. All the toys and dollhouses will be kept there. As they grow older, we will probably turn it into a workout area. Across from the playroom is a full bath and two closets for storage. We have additional storage under the stairs, and the main room will be used for working out and watching television, relaxing, hanging out, etc.

The project took a little over a month to complete. We'd like to thank Matt and Chris from Craftsman Basement Finish Company for their great work, responsiveness, and all-around professionalism from start to finish. They did a great job in matching the rest of our house.

I hope you enjoy the slide show. I intentionally placed a picture of the unfinished basement directly before the same shot finished. The before and after view is amazing. I hope you watch the entire video - there's a surprise photo at the end!

Music by David Crowder Band (Neverending)

10 Months Old

R.M.S. Titanic Hotspur

I don’t even know where to begin with this one… I’ve been so busy with other, more important things, that I really haven’t bothered to give it much thought. I’ve been watching some of the games or listening to them on the BBC, but since the first few games of the season I can’t be bothered with this disaster of a club.

Over a year ago, after 2 straight 5th place finished in the league, I decided to pick Tottenham as my team. They were the up and coming team, and after bringing in a top manager and better players things were at least supposed to stay the same, if not get better. Since then it’s been an utter disaster (save the Carling Cup run last January/February). I won’t give you all the details, but all you need to know is that after 7 games this year we’ve only scored 4 goals. We’re in very last place in the league and the only team not yet to win a game. Spurs are off to their worst start since the Titanic sank in 1912 (96 years). The comparison between Spurs and the Titanic are almost too ironic to be funny.

On top off all that, it’s not like they are playing well and losing. I can’t even watch the games anymore because the quality makes it unwatchable. I’ve resorted to taping the games that are on, finding out the score, and then deciding if I want to watch it or, more likely, save myself the frustration, boredom, and 2 hours of my life.

I think most everyone has agreed that this season is already over. I hope we get our act together soon so that at the end of the year we’re not locked in a relegation battle.

Canadia

For those of you who don't know, Michelle has decided to get her Master degree at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is planning on starting this January.

Speaking from my own experience, Vancouver is a gorgeous place. It's only a few hour drive down I-5 to get to Seattle too. With her permission, I am sharing with you a video she made of her upcoming adventure. As you can see, she's always been very talented and very funny. We wish her all the best and know she'll do great!

Shagalicious!

Yeah baby...yeaaaahh. Oh behave!

Top Crash Locations

For some inexplicable reason I was surfing around the Colorado Springs Police Department website tonight.

I found the statistics they had on their site interesting (under the stats, facts, and graphs menu). I was able to look up a map of our neighborhood's crime activity by week, as well as a myriad of other information about the city of Colorado Springs. For those of you who are the big picture type, as I am, you can rest assured that you live in a relatively safe place. Compared to other cities of comparable population in the United States, Colorado Springs has roughly half the national average of crimes and half the national average of violent crimes. Add to the fact that the majority of crime happens near and around the downtown area, we're all probably pretty safe. I guess this is demonstrated by the fact that elementary and middle school kids in our neighborhood are still able to walk to school every morning by themselves.

For those of you who won't bother to visit their site, I thought you'd at least be interested in this information. Below are the 2007 top locations for automobile crashes. By my count, over half (6) are in my neck of the woods!

RANK
STREET INTERSECTIONS

1 BRIARGATE PY/N POWERS BL
2 N POWERS BL/N UNION BL
3 S ACADEMY BL/S CHELTON RD
4 HY-83/N ACADEMY BL
5 NEW CENTER PT/S CAREFREE CR
6 AUSTIN BLUFFS PY/RANGEWOOD DR
7 E WOODMEN RD/N UNION BL
8 N POWERS BL/OLD RANCH RD
9 E BIJOU ST/N ACADEMY BL
10 HY-83/N POWERS BL

Hello Doggie, Hello Kiddie?

To follow up on my previous post, Julia at least uses the phrase "hi kitty" towards other animals and people. While at the library for story time this morning, she kept saying "hi kitty" to the golden retriever and the other kids that were in her "class". OK, maybe she doesn't know that "kitty" refers to the feline species. At least she's using it as a sort of greeting or at the very least a reference to other 4-legged creatures that crawl, drool, and poop indiscriminately. You can understand why she hasn't yet differentiated between the two.

Hello Kitty

Julia has officially said her first words. Her first words were "Hi Kitty"!

At least a month ago (if not more) she started to make different sounds whenever she saw an animal, particularly our cat. I think it all started because she was trying to imitate the sound of a meow. At first it was just a high-pitched "eee" sound. It was really funny and cute to watch her try to meow, that's for sure.

After awhile she probably picked up on the fact that we always referred to this animal as "Kitty". Over the past few weeks Stacey has been saying the phrase "Hi Kitty" whenever Kitty has come around, since Julia likes her.

A few days ago Julia started to say "Hi Kitty", but I wasn't sure that it counted since I wondered if she really knew what she was saying. Today I was convinced that not only was she saying the words clearly, but that she associated them with Kitty. Kitty came down to the kitchen this afternoon and when Julia saw her, she started to crawl towards her while at the same time saying "Hi Kitty!" over and over again. It's unmistakable, even though she's only about 9.5 months old.

At some point we'll hear "dada" and "mama", but until then "Hi Kitty" will do just fine.

Mueller State Park

We spent the day up at Mueller State Park which is located just outside Divide, CO. From what we heard, this weekend was supposed to be a good weekend to see fall colors. The park didn't disappoint...and at only $6 for a day pass it was certainly a great value for this time of year.

The aspen were full of greens, yellows, some oranges, and even reds. I didn't know that certain aspens can turn red, so that was a pleasant surprise. We did a lot of hiking on the park's numerous trails. We had a great time and will certainly be doing this again next year.

I hope you can make out enough detail in the slide show to see how pretty it was.

Music by John Mayer (Free Fallin', Live)

Day 18

...and they work too! :)

Paper Art

I didn't realize our printer at work was so creative. How this happened I have no idea. It sure was cool as far as printers go!

I realize that many people may find it sad that this was the most exciting thing that happened at work today. I can't decide which is worse though, the fact that it was the most exciting thing that happened today or that I actually found it entertaining? The latter is probably the product of the former, but that still doesn't help me decide which is worse.

5 For 1 Special

Hmm…I hadn’t realized this until I was talking with Josh today at the gym. We are finishing the basement mainly for space reasons. We’ve always known that it will increase the value and equity in our home, but those were secondary reasons. Anyway, today at the gym I realized that we are increasing the living space in our home by 50%, yet it’s only costing us 10% of the purchase price of the home. Not too shabby. I won’t try to guess how much of a money making venture this will be, but at least it’s good to know we’re pretty much guaranteed to get this money back in the long run if we ever decided to sell the house.

Day 15

For those of you who might be getting tired of seeing these updates, take heart! We're really close to being done with this project. Really, the only major things left are to install the shower tile, toilet, sink, and faucets in the bathroom and the carpet. There really won't be any more pictures worth taking until the bathroom is done and then when the entire project has been completed.

Today the electrical trim was installed...which I was surprisingly happy about. We can finally see everything now, and with the exception of carpet, the place pretty much feels complete. We also had the flooring in the bathroom installed. We're about a week away...