My New Favorite Website

Be careful. Once you click on this link, your day's work will be done and your life will never be the same.

http://emailsfromcrazypeople.com/

The Stranger Than Eviction post (original, full story here) is eerily reminiscent of my housing experience with Carcel (yes, that's Spanish for jail) at Old Mill in Provo. Sometimes I really wish I'd started blogging earlier so we had the whole Carcel saga and could relive it in excruciating and hilarious detail.

The No Pets Clause post just about made me fall off my chair from laughter.

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"Lordy, We in High Cotton Now"

Living in the Greater DC area has its moments. It's quite metropolitan, and people come ehre from all over the world. Due to its government-employment dominance and fancy-suit wearing residents, I often forget that it's technically in the South. Granted, if you drive about 45 minutes south on I-95, you quickly become aware of the Southern-ocity of Virginia.

Today I was reminded that Virginia (even Northern Virginia) is indeed in the South. I was heating up my lunch in the office lunchroom and a few ladies were eating and conversing. I tuned in at just the right moment, and they were talking about the leftovers from some meeting in one of the conference rooms that morning. Stuff like croissants, fresh fruit, etc. Then one of the ladies mentioned quiche and her friend responded, "Lordy, we in high cotton now!"

Awesome. Welcome to the South, friends.

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Back to My Utah Roots

I apologize right now for the length of this post. It isn't that I enjoy verbosity. It's just that it was a very busy and full week and I don't want to forget anything.

Living in DC doesn't afford trips back to Utah very often, so I truly enjoy any opportunities I get. Since I knew the twin girls would be born in the summer, I scheduled some time off from work and bought a plane ticket. Turns out the girls were impatient to see us all, so they were born a bit early, and I consequently was extra-excited to get to Utah and see my family.

I flew out of DCA on Saturday and my parents picked me up at the SLC airport in the late evening. It was late, so we talked during the drive and went to bed pretty soon after getting home. Church was in the morning and then we celebrated my dad's birthday in the afternoon, followed by a little family picture time. Happy birthday, Dad!Stanley and I have a way of fortuitously being in Utah at the same time, and this trip was no exception. We met up on Monday for some lunch and then did some shopping since Stanley had store credit that he wanted to use while he was around. I'm always happy to see Stanley, because we're basically brothers at this point. We've been friends so long and know each other so well, and I wouldn't have it any other way.The Gallivan Center does outdoor movies on Monday nights, so I joined Pete, Jordyn, Dave, and Megan in watching "Dial M for Murder". I was quite impressed with the writing and suspense in this film, and I'd recommend it to just about anyone.On Tuesday, I picked up Megan and her friend from work and we all went to see the newest Harry Potter movie. Though I haven't read the books, I've liked the movies and I think they're getting better as they go. Maybe it's because the actors are growing up, or the writing is growing up. Either way, I like it.Later that evening, I met up with my friend Carly (who I've known since freshman year of college) and we went to MacCool's Pub for some conversation and tasty Irish food. Normally I reserve my Irish food for St. Patrick's Day, but I'm glad we went for it. Those lads and lasses really know their stuff.Gunner and I had playtime for a good chunk of Thursday, and it was lots of fun as usual.I met up with Amber (another friend since freshman year of college) for lunch, and we enjoyed our PF Chang's.After a little relaxing at home, I headed down to Orem and went to dinner with Shonni's family. This was an interesting meeting, since Shonni wasn't there to introduce us all. They were great and we all got along really well, so it was no problem. We actually had lots of fun talking and getting to know each other.Friday is fun day, right? Well, this whole trip has been fun days. I picked up Megan from work and we did lunch at Five Guys, which was quite tasty, if also quite greasy.Then I went golfing with the boys at Stonebridge. We only had time for 9 holes, but I think that was about the right amount for me, since I haven't played in a while and my short game was very messy. Guess I need to hit the practice greens and driving range more...Lots of people take advantage of Saturdays by sleeping in. We did not do that. We packed up our guns and headed out at about 6:30 AM to drive down to some mountain-side shooting ranges on the west side of Utah Lake. We had Oksana's husband and son along, and they loved shooting the guns. Did you know that very few Russians shoot guns? Knife wounds are much more common, because their gun laws are extremely strict.We cleaned the guns (and ourselves) when we got home, and I drove down to have frozen yogurt with Carly at Red Mango.Following that, I went to Scott's for a friend BBQ. It's great to get together with everyone, and I can't believe how big their kids are getting already! To top off the BBQ, we went for sno-cones after. Gotta get the cream on top. Soooo goooood.

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Family Picture Time

We hadn't gotten a family picture since the twins were born, so we were due for an updated portrait. Though we didn't go with the classic matching-denim-shirts or sitting-on-rocks-around-a-waterfall shots, my mom did coordinate us by asking us all to wear a shirt that is a shade of green along with our jeans. We took a bunch of pictures in a couple parts of the backyard, and this is the one that I think we've settled on:

Of course, you're gonna get some goofy pics when my family is involved. This is one of my favorites. We didn't plan our poses. Spontaneity is the best form of creativity.

Adam and Linds also got some family photos, and I think most of us agree that the pic below shows the best representation of their family.Before Adam & Linds left for the night, I just had to get a picture with my two cutest nieces. Aren't they adorable? Yes, yes they are. And no, you can't have one.

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Diamond in the Rough Triathlon

The DitRT was a great triathlon, though I realize now that there's a reason the word "rough" is in the title. Our experience with the race was full of ups and downs.

Up: cheering companion(s). Shonni came along, and she brought Baxter, too. Don't know when the last time was that I had my own cheering section at a race. Yay for fans! [Sidenote: I actually say "yay for fans" when I go past spectators during races, just for fun.]

Down: driving up the morning of the race. Waaaaaaaay too early to drag my old bones out of bed.

Down: puppy puke. Note to self: either Baxter gets motion sickness in the car... or he still doesn't consider me his buddy and wanted to make that clear.

Up: beautiful weather. You can't ask for a more beautiful race day.

Up: water temperature was juuuust right. Like Goldilocks, I like when it's in the middle. The lake wasn't too cold, but it was cold enough so the swim was wetsuit legal.

Down: hills, hills, and more hills. Somehow the race organizers were able to find every long/steep climb in the county and put them all on the bike course.

Up: flat, fast run course. Guess I was itching to get off that bike, because I had a great run.

Down: running with pain. The skin on my foot was still healing from a prior incident, and it really started to hurt by midway through the run. But I kept pushing through the finish.

Up: unexpected friend competitors. After the race, Shonni and I ran into David and Julie at the food tent. We didn't know they were going to be there, so it was fun to see them. They both had a good race as well.

Up: close victory. We didn't know during the race, but Julie and I actually finished within 8 seconds of each other. To her chagrin, I finished ahead of her.So although there were ups and down, and the event had some "rough" spots to it, we had a good time and I'm glad we went up for it.

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A Birthday Per Day...

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays. It seems like there is a birthday per day out here in DC-land. And every so often, that's exactly the case. Here I present a two-day run of birthday parties that I attended, along with some pictures to keep life interesting.

July 6 - Breanna

July 7 - Charlee

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A Capitol Fourth

[Spoiler Alert: This post may include spoilers about the 4th of July production you know and love. Don't say I didn't warn you.]

The 3rd of July

You may not know this, but the day before most big celebrations shot in Washington DC and televised to the nation/world, there is usually a dress rehearsal to make sure things go smooth(er) on the actual night. These rehearsals are complete with the celebrities and famous musicians who will be present the following evening. That means that we locals can go get a sneak peak of the show without having to deal with quite as much mayhem, as long as we also are patient with their breaks and getting lighting sorted out and the microphones adjusted.

A group of us went down to see the 4th of July rehearsal. We sat on the lawn right in front of the US Capitol, ate food we'd brought, drank free bottled water provided on site (thanks taxpayers!), and watched Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Natasha Bedingfield, and the cast of Sesame Street practice for tomorrow's big show.

We noted a few observations, both general and of trickery. [Alright, here come the spoilers... this is your last chance to not have some patriotic illusions shattered... ok, I'll continue.]

1. Aretha Franklin isn't as much of a diva as she has a right to be. Classy and nice!
2. Natasha Bedingfield isn't just a pretty face with a studio-remastered voice. She can sing live, too.
3. The musicians were not playing with their backs to the US Capitol. They were facing it. In some promotional posters, the US Capitol is digitally matted into the shot to be between the orchestra and the Washington Monument, which is not accurate.
4. Some of the fireworks on TV are not actually going off in Washington DC. Some are added digitally in order to fill in gaps and to make the finale look more amazing.
5. Big Bird is really, really tall. 8'2" to be exact. [Click here to read or here to listen all about Muppets and how they work. Fascinating stuff!]

I hope that didn't crush any patriotism in my reading audience. I just thought I'd share those tidbits of information from a first-hand DC local.

The 4th of July
Our celebration started with a tasty all-American meal at Shandi's house. She even used some fresh food from her garden, so we know that it was as American as it could possibly be.We all drove up to Pentagon City and took the metro downtown, and it was surprisingly not a madhouse. Our chosen firework-watching spot? Right by the Washington Monument. We could hear just enough of the concert, and we had a great view of the fireworks right above us. As we waited for the show to start, we snacked on applie pie and chatted. The fireworks and music were excellent, as expected, and then we waited for a bit to let the crowds dissipate at the metro stations. Apparently we didn't wait quite long enough, because there was still a huge line when we got to the metro. Being impatient, we walked another couple blocks to the next stop. Again, the line was all the way out of the station and onto the street. This time we asked why it was still so long, and someone told us that there had been a fire in the station and that the metro wasn't running there for a bit while they did a safety inspection. The phones and Blackberries came out, and everyone was trying to get info on whether we should just call a couple cabs or walk to a station closer to our destination and hope that the fire hadn't caused delays there. In the end, we decided to try walking to the next station and our faith was rewarded, as the trains were running there. A short ride back to the car, and then quickly home.

An all-around fantastic evening of American awesomeness! God bless America, land that I love!

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Kiwi Safety: The Bare Essentials

Wow, those Kiwis have some innovative ideas for getting people to pay attention to the flight safety presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Mq9HAE62Y

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