Where are we now...?

Who is Captain CTR?

2012-01-29T23:52:00.001-06:00

So, Adri is the primary chorister at the moment and she absolutely loves doing it. We go through the same routine each week. She talks about it all week, prepares, and gets everything ready... then when Sunday morning comes she is nervous, hoping she does ok. Then, when I go to get her after all is said and done, everyone talks about how great she did.

Well, this week she got a crazy idea from the Crazy Chorister (see her blog by clicking on Crazy Chorister). She needed a Captain CTR. Being her husband, she asked if I would do it, and I didn't hesitate to accept an opportunity to dress up in church. So, in just a few short moments we came up with the costume you see here.

Cape complete with the homemade CTR badge and a mask from some extra fabric Adri has from another project.

Well, I showed up to the song "Choose the Right" and talked to the kids about what it means to choose the right. I then asked each kid if they would be willing to choose the right, and gave each of them a CTR bracelet. I told them what they needed to do while singing the song and then trotted out of the room. (And... I just spoiled the movie, so you really don't need to watch it... it is 4 1/2 minutes, so I wouldn't be hurt if you skipped it).

Late Night Trains

2012-01-15T11:59:00.002-06:00

Every so often Adri and I get the itch to go explore something--look for a new adventure, and do something we haven't done before. Last night this involved driving out I-80 here in Utah looking for something, anything that peaked our interest. As we drove we pulled off at a place we have been before, just not at night. As we pulled up we found that there were already people there, so we hoped back in the car and continued on down the road. We randomly pulled off at an exit and hopped onto the frontage road. It just so happened to be right next to some train tracks that were not in use. So, out came the camera, and the adventure continued...

Christmas with the Gasser's

2012-01-05T23:50:00.001-06:00

Adri and I headed to Dallas, TX for Christmas this year. It was in the high 50s low 60s almost the entire time we were there. Then it was 70 when we left, and we came back to Utah and 20s with no snow.

We had such a wonderful time down there. I didn't get pictures of everything that we did and saw, but I tried to get what I could. We spent time going to 2 different museums, saw a couple movies, played some games, went to see some really cool buildings architecturally speaking, and visited a Hare Krishna church, and spent a lot of time reminiscing and sharing stores and just talking and catching up.

So, without further adieu, here are the pictures for our Christmas with the Gasser side.

We made gingerbread houses, and had quite the entertaining time as we did so. Dad, Mom, Jeff and James really got into theirs. I think they ended up putting just about everything they could onto it. Can you pick out which one is theirs from the photo?

It as a lot of fun playing Santa for the little ones this year. It has been a really long time since I have seen that many presents under the tree, but I guess that is what happens when you get 13 people together for Christmas and have 2 nieces and a nephew that get to be the spoiled ones.

My brother Danny is an architect (or at least finishing up school to be), and loves buildings, so we had to go see some around town. This one above is the Marty Leonard Memorial Chapel, and was designed by Fay Jones. I am not sure who that is personally, but the building was awesome and provided for some really cool pictures.

Jeff is working with the Beckett Fund and they were possibly going to be picking up a client in Dallas, so we stopped by there to do some filming and photo shoots. We were at the Hare Krishna temple there and were invited in to see the ceremony. It was quite interesting, and very intricately decorated.

We also went to the location of JFK's assassination and read about that as well as looked at the memorial.

Now come the family pictures. In order here you have Megan and then Abby who are Kristy's little girls. Megan wants to be a dancer and ran around in her outfits the entire time we were there. Abby is super cuddly and loves the slides at the park.

Then you have Liam who is Danny and Denise's little boy, and he is so energetic, adventurous and curious. He was non-stop going all day every day, and it was a lot of fun to build towers and let him run over and knock them down.

James

Jeff

Denise, Liam and Danny

Adri and I

Adri and I (again - it's our bog so we can put up multiple pictures)

Megan, Chopper, Kristy and Abby

Adri, Mom and Dad (sorry mom and dad that I didn't have any better pictures of you two, haha)

I just had to put this because I love my mom's face in this picture.

And finally, the actual family pictures. People ask why I never do straight faces and am always goofing around in pictures... well, it runs in the family. We had a lot of fun taking these pictures, and they turned out great. Best part is that they were free because I took them. Yes, I was in them, and I took them.

We hope that everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we did and that the New Year treats you well. We are super excited for the adventure that this year will be, and look forward to continuing to share it with anyone that wants to take a moment to read.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (even though it is after the fact, I know)

Mappy Hallogivingmas

2011-12-15T00:06:00.001-06:00

Hello hello... it has been quite some time since we last posted. And in that time we have celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and we are getting close to Christmas. So, in one conglomerated post of them all we have Hallogivingmas!

First, the Hallo...

Adri and I love haunted houses, and since Rocky Point is no longer in operation, we went to the place that pretty much bought all of their haunting gear... Nightmare on 13th. We went to this one last year as well, and this year it had a lot of great improvements.

Adri had a work party where they dressed up as old ladies. She may look like she is wearing a wig here, but I assure you that she is that "talented" to be able to make her hair that big. I did the spray coloring to help out.

Then we got together with some friends and went out to eat in our costumes. Mike and Lisa here made these themselves. I was quite impressed!

Dimitriy and Monique I think just decided to bring out their secret lives. Or maybe not so secret.

People ask Adri and I where we are headed next, or where we have been recently, so we figured this was only so very appropriate. I'm sure we'll continue to be asked, which is okay because it means we are continuing to do something we love!

Next, the giving...

Unfortunately I realized that we didn't take any pictures during Thanksgiving (sorry!), but we had a great time with Adri's family. In fact, we got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice. Once with my cousins the Weidauer's and once at Adri's parents. James, who is in school at BYU-I, came down to celebrate with us and we also got to see Danny, Denise and Liam.

This little bear happened into our life at this time of year, and we can't help but be grateful for the pranks we get to play on people with him. He's already terrorized Adri's parents. Not sure who is next... be warned...

Lastly, the mas...

Although Christmas has not yet happened, we are already in the spirit of it. Shopping was finished in November, and Adri has already been asked by some people to do some baking. These are some cupcakes that she made for a friends party. They turned out so great!

As actual Christmas is almost here, we are excited to spend it with my family this year. It has been so long since we have all been together that we aren't really quite sure what to expect (except a lot of great times and stories of course).

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever you may be celebrating at this time of year!

Our Swiss Cuckoo Clock

2011-10-01T18:49:00.002-05:00

We purposefully didn't put any pictures of this on our blog before we had a video to share. So, we wanted to introduce the one thing Adrienne just had to get above all else while in Switzerland...

It plays a bunch of different songs. not sure if it is random, or based on the hour. Regardless, we love it and I have a feeling this may not be the last...

From guten tag to au revoir...

2011-09-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

Before we really get into the meat of this post, I want to give you fair warning. In the just over a week we spent on this trip we took a total of almost 800 pictures. So, narrowing it down was difficult. By such, there are 71 here to go through. Hopefully you have some time to sit and look. We also took a bunch of video, but have not been able to go through that yet, so that will be at a later post. Anyway, on with the post...

Adri and I have been planning a trip to Europe for some time now, as we wanted to celebrate our 1st anniversary overseas. In talking to friends and family about things they had done that was a lot of fun, and looking at cost of tickets, we settled on a few days in Interlaken, Switzerland and a few in Paris, France.

We flew directly into Paris overnight and got right to work on eating French food. Here we have our first meal, quiche and a chocolate filled pastry (for Adri's sake). Quite good, and worth the price hike in food since we were now using Euro's instead of dollars.

We checked into our hotel and headed into Paris for a quick bit trip before we had to get up in the morning and catch our train to Switzerland. As it was raining, we didn't take the camera into Paris our first night.

Up the next morning and off to Switzerland. We rode the train from Paris to Basel, then Bern and into Interlaken. We arrived at about 12:00 noon on a Sunday, and come to find out, our hostel wasn't open for check in until 3:00 PM. It was still raining, and a bit chilly, so we found a little alcove in and alley way and sat and waited there for about 2 hours. The entire town was shut down, so there was no where to go except this alcove. Finally, someone showed up and let us in for the last hour until we could check in.

We stayed at the Happy Inn Lodge, which was quite quaint. But, the people were super friendly and helpful. The only private room left had 3 twin beds, so we shared a bed for a couple nights (Adri doesn't like to sleep alone and does enough of it while I am traveling for work anyway) until Adri got sick of squishing onto a twin bed and decided she wanted the top bunk.

We explored Interlaken the rest of that Sunday and all day on Monday. It rained both days, so we couldn't really see where we were in terms of being in the mountains, and there wasn't a whole lot we could go do outdoors like we wanted. But, we started to fall in love with where we were.

On day 3 in Interlaken, the weather cleared up and warmed up and so we took a boat cruise out to see some castles. We quickly learned that Switzerland was by far one of the most picturesque and beautiful places we have ever been. Cruising along on a blue-green lake of glass, with massive mountains all around and little Swiss towns dotting the fields and green rolling fields. I'd be lying if I didn't say we started to consider just moving there. With our pass we were supposed to be able to get into 2 castles. The first one we entered was in Hilterfingen and was more of a mansion than a castle. At least that is how it seemed when I think of a true castle. The castles here were not your typical stone and moat castles. The second castle was in Oberhofen, and they wouldn't let us in because we apparently didn't have the right ticket. We talked to the tourist office later about it and the refunded us the ticket and said they would call because they've been doing it that way for 5 years and never had a problem.

The castle above is the one in Oberhofen and the one below is in Hilterfingen. Both beautiful and unique in their own respect.

On day 4, our final day in Switzerland, we decided that we wanted to see if we could find the most typical Swiss town within a reasonable distance that we could. We were told to head up the canyon to Gimmelwald. We hoped on a train, the transferred to a bus, and then onto a gondola just to get there. On the way up the gondola Adri went to grab her phone to take some pictures and found that she no longer had it with her. She had left it on the train. Luckily, after we enjoyed our time in Gimmelwald, we went back to the train station and someone had turned it in. Blessing counted!

Gimmelwald was just majestic. It was the perfect little swiss town up in the mountains. Sitting in the rolling hills and cliffs of the Alps with the cows and their bells, flowers flowing out of the window boxes, intricate wood carved shutters and doors. We quickly realized that if Switzerland was where we wanted to live, it was in a place like Gimmelwald.

The next day we hopped back onto the train and made our way back to Paris, sad to leave the beauty of Interlaken, but excited for the hustle and bustle of a big city. We had a 4 hour layover in Basel, so we stowed our luggage in a locker and went exploring there.

We ate REAL chocolate chips (so yummy), found an incredible church, the zoo and Adri's next car (a little old school Fiat).

Once we arrived in Paris that night we quickly navigated our way to the hotel, checked in and went to bed for the night. We had a very full day ahead of us.

Our first day in Paris was a day to see as much as we possibly could. After 9 1/2 hours walking around Paris, navigating the subway and seeing as many sites as we could, we were spent. We visited the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees (even found an H&M and Zara there).

We ran over to the Louvre Museum to see some of the famous pieces of art that it housed.

The most famous of which is probably the Mona Lisa. The crowed just to see it was intense. It had it's own wall and cost the museum thousands of dollars in renovation just to be ready for these types of crowds.

We ran over to Notre Dame and explored that church as much as was permitted. It was the most intricate and detailed church I have personally ever seen, both on the inside and out.

Then we made a quick stop at the Eiffel Tower to make sure we got some day pictures. We didn't go up it this day because we had reservations for the following evening so that we could skip the lines.

On the final full day in Paris Adri had everything planned. The morning and afternoon at the Chateau de Versailles and then the evening on the Eiffel Tower.

Versailles was enormous. I've never seen a house so big, with 40 acres or so of land. According to the tour information, it takes 60 minutes to go from the back of the chateau to the back of the property by foot. We didn't make that journey, but we still did a fair amount of walking. Sadly we weren't able to see all of the interior of the building, but it was still stunning and immaculate. We were able to see enough to get an idea of the scope of what had been constructed here.

After we toured the inside we headed out onto the grounds to see the fountains and then head towards Marie Antionette's hamlet. Along the way we came across the "Love Temple."

We quickly made our way out to the hamlet, and arrived there right as it opened. For a short time we were the only people out there walking around the pond, enjoying the buildings and grounds. Sadly we could not go into any of the buildings, but it was still stunning. Adri described it as the place she dreamed about when she was told all of the fairy tales when she was little. I think that is the perfect description of location.

On our way out a local college had students out taking pie to the face to raise some money for some event they were putting on. So, for 2 Euros Adrienne smashed this kids face with whipped cream.

We made our way back to Paris, grabbed some dinner and headed out to the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting. We took the elevator all the way to the top, and the view was amazing. You could see pretty much everything about Paris from there. All of the major monuments were lit up so that they were easy to pick out. While we were up there they did the "Light Show," which is really just a ton of blinking lights on the tower. Good thing I don't have epilepsy or I probably would have had some issues from all of the flashing lights.

We couldn't have asked for a better place to finish our trip and finish celebrating our 1st anniversary than at the Eiffel Tower. We are happy to have completed our first year together and look forward to many more to come.

Tour of Utah 2011

2011-08-14T23:21:00.000-05:00

Adri and I had the opportunity to go watch the final two stages of the Tour of Utah this year. Oh the perks of knowing the right people. Anyway, we were fortunate enough to be able to get into the VIP tent that was right on the finish line both days (technically on the start and finish on Friday since they were doing laps).

Anyway, we had a wonderful time, and it was such an amazing event to be at. It really inspired us to continue biking. We actually took some friends on Friday that asked me if I was getting into biking so that I could race in the Tour next year. As awesome as that would be, it isn't going to happen. I don't have the time nor money to get into biking like this.

Anyway, we got some great photos, and just loved every minute of the Tour. Overall winner was Levi Leipheimer (won last year as well). This was the first year the race was part of the international circuit, so we had some of the big names and teams here.

This was the start of stage 4 and Levi is in the middle with the yellow jersey on, which signifies that he is the overall leader.

It was really cool to see the teams really take care of their big rider. For about the first 6 laps of this race Team Radio Shack stayed in the front of the peloton (main group of riders) to make sure that Levi rode well and didn't have to lead out and get too tired too fast.

This is a video of the peloton in stage 4 going by, and you can hear the announcer talk about how great Team Radio Shack is doing. Not too many laps after this though there was an attack by two other teams that just blew the group apart. It was so crazy to watch it all unfold.

This is Rafael Montiel, on the Columbian team, who won stage 4. He and the riders behind him (about 20 others) beat the rest of the field by about 2 minutes.

I don't really even know who this guy is, but it is one of my favorite photos of the Tour that I took. And I think it says a lot about how hot it was, and how much work they put into this race.

This is Cadel Evans who actually won the Tour de France just a few weeks prior. His team, Team BMC, was in the race, but he was not. He said he was going to ride it but then the Prime Minister of Australia (where he is from) asked him to come home and celebrate his Tour de France victory with them. Anyway, when he flew in the put him in the VIP tent with us, so we got to be right there close to him. My friend and coworker actually got his autograph, and sadly I did not. It's ok though. It was just awesome to be there.

Here is Levi Leipheimer in 2nd behind Sergio Henao (of the Columbian team) allowing him to win the stage. At the beginning of the final climb, these two just took off up the mountain to the finish at Snowbird. Sergio was 23 seconds behind Levi in the overall standings at the beginning of this the 5th and final stage. Everyone was saying it was a very classy move for Levi to let Sergio win the final stage since he was going to be winning the overall race. I would agree with that.

Lastly, Adri ran up to get Levi's photo as he was going to accept the yellow jersey for the final time of the race. He was kind enough to pose for one quick shot that just made her day.

All in all it was an awesome opportunity for us, and one that really solidified for us how awesome cycling is. We are so excited to be participating in such and awesome sport. Hopefully we will have the opportunity in the future to be a part of more races!

Chop chop, mix mix... new life recipe!

2011-08-07T18:09:00.000-05:00

Two big things happened in Adri's life recently. She invented a new recipe for her life. It is called Kitchen Cut, and has her beaming from ear to ear.

First announcement, or ingredient... Adri decided to cut her hair. Yeah, I know, lots of people cut their hair. In fact, just about everyone will cut it at some point in their life. I thought I would point this out because I think my dad would say something like that when I say that Adri decided to cut hers. Well, she didn't decide to just cut it, she decided to chop it off. Luckily for her she didn't have to do it on her own. Her sister Taneea is trained in the art of hair cuttery, so she did it for her.

Here is the final look. Adri is very excited about the new style and always thinking of ways she can do it and just happy for something different. I like it too!

The second ingredient in this recipe of hers is a brand new Kitchen Aid. Adri recently completed 5 years with her company and they gave her a list of things to choose from. I don't think there was much of a contest between this and whatever else may have been on the list. I think the hardest choice was the color. I gave her my two sense, and I think it worked. I didn't choose the color, just told her to pick something she will be able to live with for however long we have the thing (hopefully a really long time). So, presenting.... Kitchen Aid...

And, when you mix the two together you get Kitchen Cut. It looks quite good and goes very well together. It is very versatile and easily managed. It produces some wonderful creations and brings a lot of joy to one, Adri. I'm happy to have had the opportunity to witness and be a part of this new recipe, and even more excited for the surprises that come from it.

Adri and Kitchen Aid (a.k.a. Kitchen Cut) send their love to all.

A day on the lake... and a little brotherly love!

2011-07-31T23:54:00.003-05:00

One of my best friends, Dan Pittman, has a boat that he loves to take people out on. Adri and I have been out before with him, but had the opportunity to go out again this weekend and we remembered our camera this time. We were out on the lake about 7 or 7:30am, and because there were clouds there was no one else out there. The water was fairly calm, especially right after the clouds were gone. Anyway, it proved to be a great morning out on the lake with some fun times, and some great pictures.

Adri and I were both able to get up on at least something. I hadn't been on skis in over 10 years, so being able to get up was quite the accomplishment for me. Adri got up on a REALLY old wakeboard. So old in fact that the "bindings" weren't really even boots. More just padded velcro straps over and around the back of your foot. Needless to say I was impressed.

It was then time to bring out the tube. Dan and I like to play a game of who can get the other off first. I went for quite a while and then decided that I needed to stop hanging on.

Well, that proved to be my downfall. But instead of going off the side, or flipping the tube, I bounced right over the back of it.

Dan and I got on the tube together while the girls tried to get us off. Eventually Dan had to throw me off, or we had to voluntarily fall off. Nothing against the girls, I just think they were more worried about not tipping the boat on turns than getting us off.

Dan decided to surf the tube a bit, but that didn't last long either.

Then it was time to get the girls on the tube. This was a classic moment, and images I may never forget. I just love the look on both of their faces as we circled to make waves, then went out and back right through the middle of them.

Needless to say, we gave them quite a bit of air. Adrienne held on as long as she could, but pretty much had to let go if she wanted to not get dragged behind the tube.

Now, lastly, for a little treat. We have had thunderstorms on and off today, and so Adrienne and I decided to go on a walk in the evening as things were clearing up. It was quite beautiful actually, and we just love this kind of weather. Nice crisp air, the wonderful smell after a good rain, the cleanliness of everything and just the overall awesomeness.

Anyway, as we were walking we started talking about middle names. I went through the middle names of my brothers, and Adrienne just loved how they all sounded. As I mentioned Danny's we suddenly realized something about him. So, we spent a few moments putting together our love for him. We just couldn't resist turning him into the man we've always known him to be.

The past meets the present...

2011-07-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

Adrienne and I were in Logan this last weekend visiting some of her family. Her sister that lives in Colorado was in town, so we headed up Friday night to spend time with her and her kids. On the way home on Saturday we decided to see if we could find where I lived in my short time here in Utah. Adrienne wanted to see where I grew up. Technically I didn't spend all my years in North Ogden as I was 2 when we moved there from Salt Lake. But all the years I remember in Utah were there. So, we pulled off the freeway where we thought we might be able to find it. Low and behold, not long there after I start to recognize where we were. We drove down the street of the Cherry Days Parade. I could remember having my dad's Mazda truck on the side of the road where we would jump out for candy and then stash it all in the back. He would always let us lay down in the back while he drove crazy, rolling us around and bouncing over the speed bumps. This is also where I lost my favorite hat at the time.

This house here is where I learned to ride a bike. It is also where we had our dog Katie who we were told ran away (we all know better now days). I also met my best friend here, Tyler Schvaneveldt. My dentist, Dr. Russell lived down the street, as well as other friends, Josh Clarke and Bryan Butler. This also where Danny met his first crush, Ashley Warren.

This is where I went to elementary school... Bates Elementary. I remember Halloween parades through the halls, and my favorite teachers, Mrs. Searle and Mrs. Bitton. I loved playing soccer here in the big field and sliding down the hills in trash bags when it snowed.

Danny should remember this house. One day when we couldn't find him, we found out he had wandered over here and was in their house eating food. We spent a lot of time here, and learned to play video games (anyone remember Double Dragon?) with the boys who were at least 2x our age.

After we left the grey house we moved into a rented house for a while (sorry I couldn't find it), while we waited for our house up near Ben Lomond Peak to be built. We moved into the home below and spent a few years here before moving back east. I remember the big flood when my dad woke up almost every hour to remove water that was pooling outside my window. I remember the fire when we had to evacuate and go to my Aunt Laura's. I remember the bobsled course my mom built in the winter on the side of the house for us to sled down. I remember biting through my tongue on a pogo stick across the street. I also remember sleeping on the deck out back on a warm summer night and looking down the valley at the lights.

This sign here should be significant to my father. He challenged my sister and I to ride from the bottom to the top of this road (one big hill about a mile and a half to two miles long) without stopping. He told us that if we made it he would buy us a new bike. I still have not seen that new bike... and I later found out he didn't think I would do it. I learned that day that I could do anything I put my mind to. So even though I didn't get that bike, I thank my dad for teaching me the lesson.

There are so many memories from my early childhood that all came streaming back when I drove through the streets of North Ogden. I think Adri really enjoyed driving them with me and listening to my stories of things that happened, and having me point out different locations and telling her what happened there. We only spent about 30 minutes driving around, but it was 30 minutes well worth it.

The Tetons of Grand

2011-07-18T00:54:00.001-05:00

Adri and I have been planning a camping trip to the Grand Tetons for quite some time now. I think it came about when we first started talking about our trips that we want to go on this year. It was either that or Yosemite... and since the Tetons are so much closer, it was an easy choice.

Anyway, we went this weekend and had a wonderful time. A couple friends from our ward came along, as well as a friend from the singles ward where we met. We camped, hiked, wanted to climb (but I got some sort of stomach sickness), drove a lot, explored and just had an all around great time. We wished we had had a way to take our bikes up to ride around the park. The weather was perfect for it. We also are happy to have not had any bear encounters. Apparently they've had a lot of bear activity this summer and had to shut down a few camp grounds as a result. But, we are home now and in one piece still.

This outhouse is located in an area call Mormon Row and was so very picturesque. There were many other buildings as well, but this just stood out to us. So much so, that when nature called, we couldn't help but answer.

This little guy is what we think is called a Pika. There is in fact an animal species there by this name, but the picture wasn't that great, so we couldn't be sure. Granted, they were cute and had we had a can of spray paint we would have turned him yellow and looked for some special power. Maybe we should call him "Chu."

This panorama is more of Mormon Row, just showing off multiple buildings with a view of the Tetons. I think this is a place I could wake up to every morning and go to sleep to every night. It was so very beautiful.

We went on a hike near around Jenny Lake that was created by a glacier. I waded through some water to my knees (only because I was balancing on a fallen tree) out to a rock out-cropping. That's where I got the following 2 pictures. Others wanted to follow, didn't want to get their socks and shoes wet. That's why Adri and I wear hiking sandals.

We arrived at Hidden Falls (2.5 miles up) and were cooled off by the mist. So much so that Adri even started to shiver a bit at one point. I think she is always cold, but that's ok.

We both played around a bit. Adri tried to not get knocked over by the falls where I tried to command the beast.

After a long day and a great time over the whole weekend, we enjoyed the camp fire and stars. Once the sun went down we headed out for a quick photo adventure to Oxbow Bend to get some pictures of the stars over the mountains. This on below may look like the sun, but it is the moon. I left the shutter open so long that you can see the clouds have moved.

This mountain here in the distance is Mt. Moran. Not the most popular peak in the park, but sits at the other end of a beautiful lake so that you get a great reflection. This again was taken at night.

And of course, we had to get a shot of our tent and the stars at night. I think I ought to submit this photo to REI to show them what great use we are making of our tent.

Lastly, I want to leave you with a panorama of the Teton range. Due to location, Mt. Moran looks to be the tallest, but the Grand Teton is the actual tallest (it is the tall jagged one on the left).

We would recommend this trip to anyone. It was truly amazing, and just spectacular in its views. There was plenty to do, and we plan to go back one day. Adrienne has decided that she wants to hike the Grand Teton and summit it. I find that a worthy goal and one to strive for.

Life just adds up...

2011-07-10T21:30:00.001-05:00

It's been almost a month since we last posted anything. Consider this our repentance.

Anyway, since the last post we have been quite busy with life. I've been on the road a lot lately, which Adri doesn't always enjoy. But then I got us tickets to Paris and Switzerland for our 1 year anniversary because of all the miles I've flown and she was suddenly ok with it.

As seen here, I was amazed to make it to another birthday. #29 this year... almost as young as my old man. At least that is what all of my siblings are telling me.

We continue to seek out and find abandon buildings. This shot is from a house that is near the hospital here in Salt Lake. No fences, no signs, nothing... just pure abandonment off the side of the road. the front door was even wide open just beckoning us to enter. Adri got eaten alive by the mosquitos (I think she counted 20 bites from the 20 minutes we were there), but we got some cool shots and didn't even get to explore the whole house. I think this is my favorite of the shots I took there.

We also found this abandoned bowling alley when we were in the St. George area. Everything was still in place practically, and it even looked like that they had an auction of some sort for all of the stuff and then left what they couldn't get rid of. I've always wanted a pair of bowling shoes to just wear randomly, but even here I felt like it was stealing if I took them.

The weather has been very up and down lately. Hot one day, rain the next, and just all over. I guess that is typical for around here. Anyway, it has produced some awesome sunsets for us though. This was the view from the balcony at our apartment.

For the 4th of July we went to a parade/breakfast in the morning. Adrienne took pictures on our little point and shoot, but at the moment we can't find it. By such, we sadly do not have any photos from that part of our day to post right now. Sorry!

But, we went on a great hike up the canyon. It was quick and easy, and really great weather. It started to sprinkle a bit, but nothing worth not going for. We were looking for Donut Falls, but there has been so much water coming down that it was overflowing and we couldn't see the donate. We had a good time anyway.

And of course, who can celebrate the 4th without fireworks (well, apparently Kristy and Chopper can). We went to Murray City because Adri said it was an hour long show the last time she was there. It was about 15-30 minutes this time, but it was still good and we can't complain.

All in all life is just dandy for us right now. So much going on and so much to do. We even got asked to speak in our old single's ward at the end of the month. Kind of an exciting thing if you ask me.

I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle...

2011-06-11T14:54:00.001-05:00

In memory of a ring tone my father once had (and the band Queen), "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like."

Last weekend Adri and I decided that we needed to finally at least go look at bikes. "We'll only be there for, say, maybe 30 minutes. Let's just get some information, get an idea of what we like and then we can buy later," I said. I wish I had heard a buzzer at that moment telling me I was wrong like on Family Feud. Anyway, we went to Canyon Bicycles (on recommendation of a co-worker) and had a wonderful experience and actually found some great bikes. Took them for a spin in the parking lot and Adrienne fell in love. At this point there was no hope. So, after about 4 hours of looking at bikes and gear and getting fitted and trying stuff on, we found last year's models so they were cheaper than normal, and so we got a great deal. We both got a Specialized Secteur and already love them.

First, we have Adrienne's bike. This white beauty fits Adri like a glove. We realized as we were driving one bike home at a time (because both don't fit in my car and we don't have the bike piece to my rack yet) that our bikes match our cars. Adri really liked that!

And here is my bike. It seems that many of the things I get are darker in color. My snowboard, my car, now my bike... maybe my dark side is trying to come out.

Anyway, we bought the bikes on Saturday and then on Sunday went for a quick spin after church down to the park about a mile away. We rode down, hung out for a bit and rode back. Once we got home, Adri looked at me and said, "Mark, that was so much easier than riding a mountain bike. I felt like every single pedal actually did some work. I was more comfortable and just felt so much better." That's when I knew we made the right decision.

These two pictures are proof that we do actually own the bikes and didn't just take pictures of them at a friends place. See, I am even wearing shoes that clip into the pedals. Adri is afraid of them at the moment, so she just has the baskets (as they call them).

Lastly, we have planned our first loop... about 6.5 miles. Adri's sister, Taneea, was in town this weekend so they could have a girls day and so I got up in the morning and thought I would try to loop. Took me about 35-40 minutes to do. Not bad for my first ride. Now I need to get Adri out there with me.

We still have a few things to get, but the essentials we have, and we are loving our new bikes! Now we just need to start training for a triathlon.

Bouldering in Joe's Valley

2011-05-29T20:23:00.000-05:00

For part of our Memorial Day weekend we headed down to an area called Joe's Valley. It is about 30-45 minutes just outside of Price. We had only heard about this place, and heard there was some great bouldering. Plus, we had a new tent and sleeping bags to try out. So, we rounded up a few friends, our gear, and headed south.

We didn't know exactly where to go, but luckily a local knew a general idea. "Look for the parked cars on the side of the road down the canyon," he said. That's exactly what we did. There were cars everywhere and people grabbing their gear and heading to the rocks. We just had to pick a place and stop. Turned out to be a great half day of bouldering, a great camping trip and a place we will definitely return to.

Adrienne is starting to get more confident with my camera and her artistic eye is starting to come out as well. This little tree was at the top of the first boulder we were climbing on. Unfortunately Adri also basically became the photographer, so you won't see many photos of her climbing. I think she is ok with that as she feels that she is still coming into her own as a climber.

After a bit of climbing we had to hike around with our non-climbing friends, and then become one with nature.

Again, this is a place we will definitely return to, and one we are happy to take people with us. So, if you're ever in Utah and want to enjoy some beautiful Utah scenery and climbing... we know at least one place to go.

A Weekend Full of Cakes!

2011-05-15T22:44:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone. This is Adrienne. I thought it was my turn to blog. I wanted to share with you my projects for this week. I was fortunate enough to make a Wedding cake for my friend Ilene and a Retirement cake for someone with the Morman Tabernacle Choir, this weekend. The process started Monday when I baked all the cakes (8 batches total to be exact) and made all the fondant and frosting in advance. Frosting the cakes was one nights project, then covering each one with fondant was another night.

Luckily Mark was out of town for 2 of the nights. The rest of the time he was super helpful and attentive while I stressed and destroyed the kitchen and dinning room. He was so great and found lots to do while I was in my own little world (example: lots of games on the Xbox)

So here is Ilene and Brionne's wedding cake. It made it to the place in almost a crumpled mess. The humid weather and my not-so-stiff frosting under the fondant was perfect for a collapsing cake. I think the flowers were a life saver and distracted most from any big flaws.

We were lucky enough to actually eat this cake. I don't mean to brag... but it was fantastic! It was Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting. I wanted seconds!

And now for the retirement cake. I think this one is another one of my favorites. I was sent a picture of the cake with the same idea but my client wanted it square. The cream and black looked super classy. I really love the look of piping on Fondant. I think it is so sleek. I thought of my sister in-law, Marie, a lot. She was kind of my inspiration. I think this would be very fitting for her too.

Ironman = Motivation + Inspiration

2011-05-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

Adri and I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at the Ironman St. George during its 2nd time running. I have never personally witnessed such an amazing event. From the pro athletes who are there to win it and just blow your mind in their speed, to those that are there for the first time just overwhelmed to finish, and then on to those that are completing their 15+ Ironman. It was such a motivating and inspiring event. So much so that we are talking about completing one ourselves one of these days. We looked at bikes, we talked about logistics of doing it and how we would train for it. We would love to one day say that we are an Ironman and Ironwoman. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Ironman triathlon, it consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run (marathon)... totaling 140.6 miles of pure determination. All of which must be completed within 17 hours (2:20 for the swim, 8 for the bike and 6:40 for the run).

As volunteers we got to be at the start and finish without being questioned as to why we were so close to everything. That just added an extra measure of amazing!

We watched as the pros entered the water and took off... all about 40 of them. Their physical condition and mental toughness just astounds me.

Here we have the other almost 1900 people entering the water after to pros to being their quest to become an Ironman.

As you can see, some people were overjoyed and just so excited to be there that they just couldn't contain their enthusiasm. Others took time to collect themselves and seek an inner peace to get them through the event.

As the racers swam we took a few pictures of us at the swim finish and then what we would be doing as wetsuit peelers (a.k.a. strippers).

Here Adri and Margie a being cute while I actually try to do my job. Basically we helped remove the wetsuits of the competitors as they came out of the water. Some of them were delirious and overwhelmed that they didn't realize while we were there until it was almost too late. Often we had to tell someone to just sit down and let us help them get out of the wetsuit. We had one girl come through just screaming and crying for joy at what she was doing and how hapy she was to be competing. It was quite an emotional experience.

Here Adri is helping to remove the wetsuit booties that keep their feet warm, while Wendi and I just rip the whole wetsuit off. Those things came off in about 5 seconds or less if you grabbed and pulled just right.

This area is the swim to bike transition area. There were so many bikes to look at and just wish I had... haha!

After we finished our task for the day we headed home to take a quick nap before we had to be at the finish.

At the finish we got to see the pros as they crossed the line at about 8 hours and 32 minutes for the men... which is averaging about 16.5 mph through the entire race. He broke the course record by 8 minutes as well.

Then we watched the female winner come across at 9 hours and 30 minutes. She beat the next closest female by 36 minutes... incredible.

We went back at about 10:00 pm at night to watch more people come in. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera at that point, but the emotion was incredible. You could see the joy, the pain, the satisfaction and determination on every person's face as they crossed the finish line. It just brings a tear to your eye of the pure happiness those people have as they accomplish such a feat.

All in all the event was awe-inspiring and just worth every moment. We hope to volunteer again next year and continue to be a part of such a cool experience. And, on top of that, we hope to compete in one ourselves here someday soon. I guess that means we better start training...

We hope that anyone that can will be there to support us when we accomplish this goal of ours!

Beautiful, and abandonment

2011-05-04T09:21:00.000-05:00

A friend at Adri's work asked her to make cupcakes for a baby's blessing this past Sunday. She gave her an idea with a picture of what she was looking for and this is what Adri put together. She is so good, so talented, and I think she sees it before she makes it. Oh, and they were quite good too!

It's also been a while since Adri and I went out on a photo-adventure. With an opportunity to do so on our way to see a friend's new place, we couldn't pass it up. We heard about this abandoned house from Maria Wood (the person who took our wedding photos) and just had to go check it out. It was a small little home with nothing inside, but some of the ways that things were peeling and falling apart were just so fascinating.

It's fun to think of the contrast between Adri's cupcakes and my fascination with the decaying. It just goes to show that you can find beauty in all things.

Running and climbing... recent accomplishments!

2011-04-10T19:56:00.001-05:00

So, we haven't posted in a while, and there are many things we would like to post about. But, we just haven't taken the time. Regardless, we wanted to take a quick moment to talk about some recent accomplishments on both our parts.

Adri recently completed another half marathon, then Moab Half. That brings her running totals to 6 full marathons and 8 half marathons, not counting the countless miles run while training. Needless to say, I am quite proud of my Adri.

Lastly, just this past Friday, Adri and I entered a climbing competition at our local climbing gym. We talked to a few of the employees there before signing up and were told it was nothing serious. I told them what I am climbing consistently to know which group I should sign up for. They told me that there will probably be a lot of advanced people in the intermediate division and so on down, so I signed up for the beginner division. Adri signed up for the same division in women's as well. So, we had a great time and both did super well. Adri didn't place, but she climbed a route that is hard than anything she has ever tried... and she climbed it well. I also did well, and in fact placed first in my division. If I remember hearing the scores properly, I would have placed first in the intermediate division as well.

Life is just grand, and we are having a great time running and climbing, and traveling in between.

Visiting the city that never sleeps...

2011-03-12T15:40:00.000-06:00

Adri and I decided that we need a vacation to somewhere on the east coast that she has never been. And, if you consider that (outside of meeting my parents in Michigan before we were married) she has never been east of Colorado, it was more a matter of which of the many places to go as opposed to when we should go. So, as we talked and brainstormed, we debated Washington D.C., Chicago, and New York City. Well, after much talk, and finding the prices of flights were the cheapest, we decided on the great city that never sleeps... New York City. We hopped on a red-eye flight out on Thursday to be in the great city through Sunday night. And what a trip it was.

We checked into our hotel Friday morning about 8am. Thanks to all the traveling with my job we had enough points to stay in the Hilton Times Square, right in the thick of things, for free. Can't argue with free-ninety-free. We got to our room and saw a beautiful scene right from our window. The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building were in direct line with our window.

After we had unpacked our stuff and slept for about 2 hours, we decided to venture into Times Square. We walked around enjoying the scenery, the people, and the random stuff. We'll just call this lady Pastey. We still aren't sure what she is supposed to be representing, and where the inspiration came from. But, I think we can be pretty certain this doesn't represent the New York Marathon because I don't think the rules and regulations of such a race would allow for this kind of running... sorry Adri.

Next on the list of Times Square randomness were the herd of sheep that Adri just had to kiss. They looked almost like the Serta Mattress Sheep, or claymation like Wallace and Gromit. Regardless, it was another interesting things to see.

As we continued to walk around we started shopping in some of our favorite stores that you can't find in Salt Lake; namely H&M and Zara. In our search for the perfect clothes to take back to Salt Lake that we felt no one else would have we ran into Mega Mind cleaning the streets. Not sure why he changed to a white outfit, but hey, I guess it helps him to blend into the rest of the crowd there.

At lunch time we just had to go to a local favorite... The Shake Shack. Fantastic burgers, crinkle-cut fries and the best shakes ever (which they call concretes, probably because they are so heavy that they sit in your stomach like concrete).

As we continued to enjoy ourselves we ran into a guy selling comedy club tickets to a show tonight. His phrase to get our attention was, "Do you like black people?" How do you ignore something like that without being called racist? He tried to offer us a great deal, but we had to pass it up. We can't pass up the opportunity to take Adri to her first ever Broadway play. And what better place to start than with Phantom of the Opera. We walked over to TKTS and waited in line for half price tickets and got in that night. She was so excited that she even got a little emotional and almost cried. I'll forgive that because I guess when you've been growing up dreaming about it all your life, that would be an appropriate reaction.

After the show we had to call it quits for the night. No more time walking around, and we didn't want to overload Adri... at least not yet. So, we called it a night, excited and giddy about what was to follow the next day.

We got up in the morning and decided to head out towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along the way we stopped by Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza (that picture is for Danny and Denise) and some really cool old church.

After exploring everything in that vicinity we decided to hail Adri's first taxi and head up to the Met. The guy who picked us up was quite nice, and quite aggressive in his driving. In fact, I think he was about 100 times more aggressive than Adri. I didn't know that was possible.

Once we arrived at the Met we were ready to take off our jackets, and just enjoy some good art and history. We walked up to the counter to get our tickets, I had the lady my credit card and asked for two tickets. She then asked if my wife had the same credit card. We told her yes, and she asked if she could see it and our licenses. Odd... why do we need to pay with two different cards that go to the same account. Come to find out, the first weekend of every month a Bank of America card gets you into the museum for free. Again, you can't argue with free-ninety-free. In our ever free nature we enjoyed some great artwork. Asian pieces, which were some of Adri's favorites.

Then we saw a Van Gogh self portrait, Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack. We just really enjoyed ourselves. There were so many cool pieces, sculptures, weapons, and so on. We spent a few hours there and didn't see even close to everything.

This painting was very interesting. It was titled "Mark." Maybe this is what I am going to look like in my mid to late 40s, who knows. Although, personally, I think it looks more like my dad when he was younger. Well, having said that, maybe it is what I am going to look like when I'm older. Creepy... who do they do that?

Once we left the Met we walked through Central Park on a beautiful day. No wind, no rain, and in the 50s. Not bad weather to be in New York. Sorry, no pictures... Adri had to pee so bad that she wouldn't let us stop to do anything in the park. We go through the park and stopped so she could use the restroom and then headed to Patsy's for some New York style pizza and pasta.... mmmmm! We then walked by the temple, wishing we had thought to bring clothing to go in. It is officially on our list for next time.

After seeing the temple and the Julliard School for the Performing Arts we went back to the hotel for a break. Got dinner and called it a night, and an interesting night it was soon to become. At about 4:30am our neighbors came home. A group of probably middle-aged women on a girls night on the town came home singing and screaming, and just being more loud and obnoxious than anyone would want to hear at 4:30 in the morning. We woke up to their noise and Adri rolls over and asks me to call the front desk. "I don't want to call the front desk. Give it a couple minutes and maybe they'll pass out." 10 minutes later they were still as loud as ever, if not louder. I got up, used the little boys room and then an idea hit my like a bolt of lightening. I walked over to the phone and dialed a number... boop, boop, beep, boop. Suddenly you hear the women next store quiet down a bit and their phone is ringing. "Hello?" "Hi! This is John at the front desk. We are getting complaints about your room." "Oh, I'm so sorry." Click... silence the rest of the night, not even a peep! Yeah, I called their room and pretended to be the front desk... mission accomplished!

We got up the next morning to rain and decided that we would venture out for as long as we could, but this time we would hop on the subway. Again, a first for Adri. On the subway we ran into Spider-Sax. He wasn't the real Spider-Man because he tried to spray me with web when I went to take the picture and nothing came out... so I shall call him Spider-Sax.

We road the subway south the the Brooklyn Bridge. It was awesome to be on the bridge practically alone, but it rained so we didn't get a whole lot of pictures. No worries, we still had a great time. We also went to China Town and Canal Street and walked around looking at all the counterfeit stuff there. Unfortunately we didn't hit the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street or Ground Zero. It was just too rainy and windy to do that.

The trip really was awesome. It went by in a blurry three days, but was worth every moment. It is on our list to visit again one day. We'll probably just hit everything that we didn't get to hit this time. We would recommend it to anyone and everyone, and we hope that everyone gets the chance to one day see the city that never sleeps.

California... there we were...

2011-02-06T23:02:00.008-06:00

As some of you may know, an some may not, Adri and I decided that we needed some time away from work and time away from the cold of Utah. So, we took a weekend and drove to California. A couple days of 70+ degree weather is pretty enticing if I do say so myself. You should try it... I promise you won't regret it. The funny thing is that we have been talking about it since before we were married. And not just talking about it in passing, but literally talking about it and planning it. In fact, I remember very distinctly telling my cousins we wanted to come stay with them in February (as you can see by the date above, it is February). We told our families, our friends and anyone else who cared to listen that we were going. Yet, for some reason, not many people believed us and when it came time to go people asked why we didn't invite them or tell them about it. Well, consider this a warning... when we start talking about doing something or going somewhere, we mean business. So, jump on the bandwagon early and jump on often.

Having said that, here is a bit of our adventure...

We left promptly after work (or got permission to leave early) on Wednesday night and drove to St. George to stay with Adri's friend Margie. It was nice to get that part of the trip out of the way and not have to drive so far on Thursday.
I drove like a maniac of course and Adri stayed calm. She even rewarded me when she realized that we weren't going to die. Thanks for the kiss.
All that sitting really drains you though, and being in a weird position for cutting apples makes it hard to do it in one swift movement. She cut the apple, but not straight and not right away. That's ok.... my knee didn't help when offered. But, when I am trying to drive through the middle of nowhere with nothing to look at but sagebrush and mountains there isn't much to offer and still pay attention to where we are going.
Once we got to California we dropped some things off at my work's corporate offices, grabbed some lunch and went to the beach. Perfect, warm, sunny and calm... everything you could want at the beach!

Once we finally arrived at my cousins house we were introduced the "Michael Jackson Experience," a game for the Wii. Basically you learn to dance like Micahel. As seen in the video here, neither of us is the next Thriller master, but we did our best... and enjoyed it as well.

The next morning was a full day of Disneyland. We rode every ride we wanted to there by lunch, then every ride at California Adventure by dinner (the joys of February visits to Disneyland). We wanted to share a few of our experiences, including the screaming of Adri on the Tower of Terror in the video below.

We took a ride into space through some magical mountain. It was so awesome that Adri scream of joy and I just couldn't help almost jump out of my seat. Then while in space we were recruited by Buzz Lightyear to chase down and defeat Zurg and his plot to overtake the world of toys (somehow a grand total of 125,500 points means that you did it... yay us!).
Then, because apparently life isn't cool enough in 2-D we had to learn to live it in 3-D. As you can see by my glasses, I was already on my way while Adri just talked to the lady taking the picture.

The driving at Disneyland was just as bad as trying to drive through California on any given day... I am going crazy due to the fumes from so many people on the road, and Adri gets scared because she hadn't seen real traffic jams until we got there.

We tried on souvenirs but they didn't make my truly fly, nor did they turn Adri in Mickey Mouse.

Once the sun had set and we spent 12 full hours in Disneyland walking around, standing, and riding all the rides that we could, we went to the car. Oh, but the fun did not stop there. We shortly came to learn something new about ourselves. Your face can do some pretty odd things when you are tired. And, as proof, we are providing you with moments (if not hours) of something to laugh about.

After a full day at Disneyland we were still up for more. The next morning we got up and drove to Six Flags Magic Mountain and rode some wicked scary and fun roller coasters there. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures. We didn't carry a whole of things lot for a few reasons:

We didn't want to lose anything in all the twists and loops and turns we experienced.
We didn't want to get mugged (ask any So.Cal resident about Magic Mtn and you'll hear stories of gang violence and stabbings).

All in all it was a trip well taken and one we will do again (meaning we are already talking about it for next February if we are still in Utah). Hint hint!

Old Xmas and a new PR

2011-01-30T22:53:00.005-06:00

New posts take too long to come about, and I am sorry. This is a bit of a conglomerate of posts as I didn't post after our Christmas, and I also wanted to post about Adri's recent achievement.

First and foremost, a VERY belated Merry Christmas. I hope everyone had as great a time as we did. We were at Adri's parents, and enjoyed spending time with her and her siblings. It was a great way to spend our first Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of any of the festivities, sorry.
We also spent some time at Temple Square in Salt Lake City enjoying the lights and scenes there... but not so much the crowds. Oh well, it's typical there at Christmas time.

Lastly, I have to give Adri props for a wonderful achievement of hers yesterday. As some of you may or may not know, Adri runs marathons. As part of her training for the upcoming one here in Salt Lake in April, she runs a number of other races. She signed up for the winter running series, which is a series of 3 races. It starts with a 5k, then a 10k, then a 15k. Yesterday she ran the 5k and ran a personal best. She finished the race in 27 minutes and 10 seconds!! I am so very proud of her!!
Hard to see in this picture, but she was running so hard that she practically started running our of her pants. If you look closely you will notice that they look as though they are riding a little low and bunching around the knees. We may need to go back to the store and find some new ones. Also, she ran the race with 2 of her training buddies, Wendi and Rob.
Lastly, what am I doing during all of her training? Well, as exhibited here, finding things to stick on my face, wrap around my head, or whatever you want to call it. In fact Adri recently asked me, "what is it with you and sticking things on your face?" I don't know, but hey, it is what it is.

Traditions? What traditions?

2010-12-17T19:44:00.008-06:00

Christmas is a time for love, joy and happiness, and of course... traditions. Problem is, when you are newly weds you don't exactly have any of those yet. So, we have gone about trying to figure this whole thing out. Thus far, it has been quite the adventure. We steal traditions from others, we decorate what little space we have in an already overcrowded apartment, and we try to figure out what it is really that we want to do this year. What do we get for each other without giving it all away? And when we get something, how do we hide it in a place with zero hiding places? Regardless, we are excited to have our first, and so we wanted to give you some pictures of just the beginning.We went and bought our first tree at Home Depot for $32.00. What a deal for a real tree. Adri keeps saying she thinks it is fake because there are 0 bald spots and it looks perfect from basically every angle. We tied it to the top of my Subaru (thank goodness for a ski rack) and drove it home, needles flying through the wind.

We put it into the small corner we have available, and moved the TV over a bit to be sure there was enough room. Put the lights on, and hung the ornaments.
I'm not sure if Adri is trying to be creepy or serious here. Or maybe she is just excited but not sure how to express it. Either way, this is a great face for Christmas.

Of course a tree is not complete without presents, so we put everything we have for each other, for others and anything else that would look good under the tree. Our own first Christmas. Adri also made a wreath (with the help of her mom) that looks great on the wall instead of a clock.
We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to the new year ahead. Of course, in the hustle and bustle of it all, we hope you all remember and cherish the true meaning of Christmas! Merry Christmas to all! Love Mark and Adri!

The game changed... Jazz style!

2010-12-07T19:24:00.002-06:00

Through hard work and effort, and a little luck, I was blessed to be given tickets to a Jazz game and sit 4th row behind the Jazz bench. I was even more blessed to be able to take my wonderful wife, Adri.

It was quite a fun game to be at, and very enjoyable to be there and listen to what the players were even saying to each other on the court. Granted, something like this may never happen again, but having at least one opportunity to experience a game this way, that's fine with me.

Anyway, just thought I would share some of the pictures I was able to take from such an awesome location.

Halloween and trips

2010-11-12T23:45:00.005-06:00

Ok, so I have missed Halloween by almost 2 weeks now... but I wanted to show off our pumpkins anyway. We had one that was not carved (still going to so we can bake the seeds), then a goofy pumpkin, and lastly a Jack Skellington face. We had a lot of fun doing these, and then dressed up as dead rock climbers (I don't have any pictures of this) and went to see a movie.
Adri and I like to go on Sunday drives up the canyon, exploring the mountains, and really anywhere we think may be interesting. It is nice to just relax, a chance for me to take pictures, and time for Adri to just watch and laugh at me as I run around with my camera.

Lastly, we went to Colorado to see Adri's sister Tara and her husband Jeff, and their family (Aidan, Jessie, Cambrey and Avery)... who got a puppy (Tinder). Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them or the dog, and Adri said she is going to train me to start paying more attention to those types of things. Sorry. But, we did get to do some exploring of some abandoned places... oh how I love those places. Here are some of my favorites!

I almost forgot. We went to this place called Bishops Castle. Apparently this guy is just building this all by hand from stones, cement and metal... well, with some wood as well for floors. Anyway, I didn't get any good angles of the entire thing, but look it up and you will see what it looks like. This guy must hate the government because there were signs all over the place talking about how they were trying to shut him down, make money off of his tourist attraction (it is free to go wherever you want), and all this other random stuff. I kinda wish more places would allow you to go anywhere and kinda explore on your own. Sadly, I understand why they don't... but still.Anyway, we ended up climbing all of the towers, and even meditating in a big ball at the top of one. It looked like he was going to make it be able to rotate around you when you are standing in it. Maybe one day we'll have to make a trip back over there and see what more he has done.

A little more interesting...

2010-10-17T16:27:00.007-05:00

You know, one of the benefits of being married is that life just gets more interesting. As a direct result, maybe that means that this blog does too! And, with the wedding being over, Adri and I get to spend more time doing things we wanted to do before and even more time goofing off.

Recently we started hiking again and have had some enjoyable ones so far. We also went camping for the first time as a couple. That was a blast because we got to use some of the things people got us for our reception (for which we are very grateful) and we got to start a list of things that we really need. The entire time we were out there, Adrienne kept saying how much she was loving it and that we have to do it again (even though she was pretty cold at night). Needless to say, you will see that we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit, and we are getting more creative with my camera.

Adrienne wasn't sure which star she liked most, so she just got confused and scared.

I just plain freaked out while we were there and yelled at everything.

Dan copes by stuffing his face with marshmallows the size of your fist and plays "chubby bunny." Sadly, he played alone because he was the only one to be able to fit an entire one of those things in his mouth.

We were settled for a short time, but that consisted of playing in the fire and trying to make it spark as much as possible. In fact, we even resorted to a fire dance.

After enough play and dance, the stars aligned and told the truth. If you look closely enough you will see that they are right on when they say "Mark (insert heart here) Adrienne."

In our hiking times, we have seen some beautiful scenery and it makes us wonder how some people can not enjoy going out and seeing these places. Some of them may be a little harder to reach than others, but regardless they are worth every step it takes.

My in-laws (well, part of them) join in all the fun with us as well. They must have been jealous of the people that rode horses up the hike, as they moved much faster than this log.

Like I said, we get more goofy as life goes on, and we hope these faces don't get passed down to our children.

Cancun... place of honeymooners...

2010-10-03T23:23:00.009-05:00

So Adri and I just got married 2 weeks ago and then spent a week in Cancun, Mexico. It was a great trip and we really had a great time. Some interesting experiences, lots of relaxing and some fun adventures.

Let me first say, if you go to a resort and they ask you to sit through a presentation with the lure of getting a discount on everything, make sure you know how long it is supposed to take. We had to listen to a guy try to talk us into buying into the resort for almost 5 hours... ridiculous. Oh, and if you sign up for a tour, hope you are the last to be picked up and the drivers don't have ulterior motives. 5 hours on what should be only an hour and a half to 2 hours, not fun. Regardless, it made for a wonderfully interesting time.

Anyway, enough typing, here are some pictures...

Chichen Itza was absolutely incredible. I wish we had had more time to wander around here and see thing (this is where the 5 hour shuttle ride came into play). And, I wish we had been able to walk around on the ruins (some guy fell from the top of the big temple and died, so they closed them).

This is called a "cenote," which is really just a sink hole. Anyway, down at the bottom they had built stairs to a cliff about 20 ft up that we jumped off a couple times. We have video to prove it, and that is coming soon.

The beaches were beautiful and the water was so warm. These pictures were taken right after our snorkeling trip. Too bad my camera isn't waterproof, otherwise I would have taken some pictures of the awesome fish we swam with.

This maybe should have been first, but I felt like it was the most uninteresting picture of the bunch. It was how our room was decorated when we walked, and all the cleaning ladies were giggling about how they decorated it.
All in all we had a wonderful trip and we have some great memories from it, but are happy to be home starting our life together.

Sneak Peak: Bridals

2010-08-22T13:23:00.003-05:00

We started taking Adri's bridal shots yesterday. We aren't finished as there are a few more locations we want to go, but we thought we would give everyone a sneak peak of what we have so far. These are only a few of our favorites. Let's just say we took 742 pictures yesterday alone. So, needless to say, we have a lot to choose from and some that turned out absolutely stunning (it's all Adri). We hope you enjoy those that we have so far.

The adventures continue...

2010-08-08T11:20:00.006-05:00

So call me a slacker. I know I haven't posted anything in a while and a number of people have asked me why. Well, July was a very busy month for Adri and I. Between planning a wedding and flying around the country to see people and places, we don't have a whole lot of time to sit in front of a computer and type.

Anyway, like I said, we've been flying around the country to see a number of places and people. For the 4th of July we went out to California. I was already out there for work, only down in San Diego, and so Adri met up with me in San Francisco after I finished work. We spent the 4th weekend with my brother and his wife running around where they call home. We had a great time, ate some wonderful food, and saw some really cool places to check off our list.
When we went to Alcatraz we were hoping to get night passes, but they were sold out so that didn't happen. But, the place was still cool and still eerie. I wish that we had been there alone with free reign to go where we wanted, but obviously that won't happen.
Apparently this is the first summer in years when the sea lions have been back in San Francisco. I guess they just wanted to see us really bad. I think that both Adri and I wish we could have lounged around like this at some point.
Muir woods was pretty cool and peaceful. I've not seen trees this big before, but I hear the sequoia's are even more impressive.
After two weeks back in Utah to plan and prepare for the wedding we headed out to Michigan to see my parents. Adri has never been east of Colorado. I kept telling her to prepare for the humidity because it is so hot, wet and sticky in Michigan. Fortunately for her, the weather was absolutely perfect the entire time we were there. I don't know how we got so lucky, but I'm not complaining.

We went to Mackinac Island, which is pronounced Mackinaw (how a "c" makes a "w" sound I do not know). No cars are allowed on the island, so everything is either human or horse powered.
My parents enjoyed having us around too, I think. Either that or this is their way of saying they are so weird that we should be running away. Well, I am their child, so this is nothing new to me, and I think I followed in their foot steps a bit.
As you ride around the island (8 total miles), there are rock towers everywhere, so Adri and I decided to add our own.
This is my parents back yard. I miss the foggy mornings like this, and the sounds at night that put you to sleep so nicely.

This is my dog Arthur, which Adri would love to have. She even told my parents she would take him, but my mom said no (to my dad's displeasure).

Every so often we will go on adventures at night and see what kinds of things we can find and pictures we can get. This night we got the big dipper, and we saw a baby moose (which at first Adri thought was 2 people walking across the road). The thing was huge.Life for us is wonderful right now. We are so blessed to be able to do the things we want to do, and go to the places we want to go. I can't complain to have such an adventurous girl in my life, and I look forward to the many adventures to come.

Greg & Megan

2010-06-29T08:12:00.004-05:00

This is a couple in my ward, Greg and Megan, who asked me to take their engagement photos. I think they did a great job, and here are just a few of my favorites. I hope they like them!

Can you keep up with us?

2010-06-29T00:32:00.010-05:00

It is about time for this LONG OVERDO update as to what Adrienne and I are doing in our spare time. Then again, I wouldn't really call it spare because I think we would just nap if we had truly spare time. Anyway, we love going out with the camera and taking pictures of just about anything we seem and we love to share what is going on in our lives. So, again, for your viewing pleasure, here are some recent (or not so recent) happenings.

Anywhere from Lasik eye surgery for me... 20/15 vision baby!

To exploring abandoned and burned out houses during the day and night.

Or pictures at night of bridges we find.

Including the pottery studio of Adrienne's parents (they are quite talented if you ask me).

And things that some people might call insane... jumping from a plane over 2 miles high is more fun than insane if you ask me!

Pictures of the weather.

Or just my lovely woman! I love this picture of her, but not as much as I just love her!

Pictures of things we hold near and dear to our hearts.

Things we enjoy doing, and are quite addicted to... we love climbing!

Or, just pictures of the beauty of nature itself.

Regardless of what the picture is of, we just love the beauty you can find wherever you are. There is so much to see out there, and we are working our way through it!

Cakes, cakes, cakes...

2010-06-11T17:56:00.002-05:00

Adrienne has a talent. She took a cake decorating class and fell in love with it. Now she makes cakes for friends and family all the time. She asks me all the time to take pictures, and then people want to see them. So, here you go.... here are the 3 cakes I have pictures of.
This one she did for a friends wedding. It is the first I saw her make and I think it pushed her into doing more because people seem to be asking all the time now.
This was from a bridal shower that she did. A friend saw a picture in a magazine of one similar and asked Adrienne if she could do it. She did and then spiced it up!

I don't know really what this one was for, I think a birthday. Regardless I think it is my favorite so far! She's just awesome, that's all I have to say!

The adventures of Madri...

2010-05-20T18:36:00.005-05:00

Madri? That almost looks like we got close to going to Madrid, but not quite so we took off the d. Actually no, that has just become our couple name. Regardless of what you call us, or what we call each other (I won't get into that), we have a lot of adventures and love every one. If you would like to live vicariously through someone, I would like to make a case for Madri... just saying!

Anyway, this post is a long time coming and really is 3 combined into 1. We've been to a few places in the last few weeks and want to share it with friends and family.

A few weeks ago I was headed up to Portland for work and my boss had said I should go up the weekend before to see the area, head to the beach and really just relax. Perfect time to take Adri on her first trip with me. Within 5 miles of leaving the airport she looked at me and said, "Mark, can we live here?" Whether that happens or not, the area is a place we will always hold near and dear to our heart. Our experience there is what solidified for me the fact that I truly do love this girl and am so excited to have her with me wherever I go. It's also where we found her engagement ring, too bad I convinced her I wasn't buying it and did anyway.
This is probably one of the few "normal" pictures you will ever see of us. They don't happen often--case in point, see picture below.

The above 3 pictures are in the Japanese Gardens in Portland, and it just made Adri more excited to go to Japan one day... I promised her we would. Below is Haystack Rock out at Cannon Beach. Beautiful area, and this is actually a part of the movie "Goonies." Do you know what part?

When we aren't traveling out of state we like to go on picture adventures. I am teaching Adri some about what to look for and how to get what you want out of a picture, but I think she is pretty content with just watching me and being my assistant of sorts.

Then the grand daddy trip, the day after we got engaged. We went to Moab to go on Jeep tours, hike to delicate arch and just be away from the city for a bit. We had a wonderful time and really got a good taste of being down there. I think we will go again to see and do more, anyone want to join?

Well, those are our recent adventures. There will be more to come too, so just keep your eyes peeled and your browsers pointed here. Love you all!

It really, actually, perfectly happened... I got engaged!

2010-05-14T10:14:00.003-05:00

So, I am not quite sure how I did it, or why she agreed to it... but somehow I convinced someone to marry me. Adrienne Jo Rasmussen said yes to me last night around about 8:00pm and has made me the luckiest, most blessed man I know.

Because I know you all wonder, here is a little bit of the story.

We went out to get sushi for dinner because she loves anything and everything Japanese! Had a great dinner and then headed out to the Salt Flats to take pictures of the sunset. We walked around, I played with my camera, and she just watched me and talked to me. I finally got my camera set up the way I wanted it to and then was just "testing" a few shots. She looked away at the mountains and I grabbed the rings (yes, I said rings) and put them in my pockets. I talked to her a little longer and was already down on a knee when I pulled out the fake ring and popped the question. She just looked at me for a moment and I said to her, "This is the ring you wanted, isn't it?" She looked at me again, then down at the ring and said, "Really?" She didn't even answer my question, so I said to her, "Oh wait, no, this isn't it," reached into my pocket pulled out the real ring and said, "This is the ring, will you marry me?" She said yes and kissed me, and here is the proof of it all. Enjoy the pictures!

P.S. I think this is the most normal picture we have, and my face is still squished, but it is one of my favs because it is the first time we said we loved each other!

What do you do in your free time?

2010-04-16T18:35:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, on the days when I seem to be so busy that the end of the day comes too quickly, I think to myself, "What would I do in my spare time?" Well, then I remember days when I have spare time and I remember the crazy things I do. I thought I would share...

First up, Soda Pop Derby! Some of my friends have done this with me, and others probably wish they had. Well, now you don't have to... here are the pictures to prove how fun it is! All you need is some cheep-o soda (I recommend Wal-Mart brand) a crappy baseball bat and a field. Shake the cans, softball style pitch and swing away. The results are as follows:

Oh, and because you can't see it really, you get really wet and sticky depending on how many cans you destroy, so wear trash clothes. Trust me, it's worth every moment!

Next up, I explore... A LOT! I love the old and abandoned things that are deteriorating. They just make for some fun pictures and interesting adventures. Here are some old cars on a hillside that were used to stop erosion (oh how resourceful).

I really do enjoy my free time so much, as there is so much in this world to enjoy!

Recent adventures...!

2010-04-05T23:35:00.003-05:00

I love my life, it is just so fun. So, I wanted to put up some photos from the recent happenings of it and the things I am getting into. Of course there are more, but I don't have photos of everything... YET!

Now, due to the sacred nature of these ski spots and runs, my life has been threatened and I am not allowed to disclose these locations to the general public without consequence, so don't ask.
I am learning even more about my camera and starting to figure out how to get some pretty cool night shots. If you look closely you can see the Big Dipper.

I had to put this one up. The faces are classic and typical Gasser, and it is as though she has no idea what is coming!

Recent addition to the family... FISHEYE LENS!!!

2010-03-07T02:42:00.005-06:00

I just bought a new lens--one I have been wanting for a long time. It took me some time to decide to actually do it, but after a good hearty discussion with someone at a shop and then being allowed to play and test it before I bought--I made the decision. I have been playing with it all weekend, and am absolutely loving every moment of it. So, here are some shots that I took with my new lens... a fisheye!

It gives such an awesome effect. And that partnered with some of the new things I have been learning turned into some pretty cool shots. Enjoy!

Me? Curling? Yes, and fantastic!

2010-02-20T23:50:00.006-06:00

So, with the Olympics going on right now people are glued to the TV quite a bit I am sure. I have to admit that I was entranced when I watched Shaun White pull his Double McTwist 1260, and on a victory lap essentially. Amazing! I mean, to see these athletes do amazing things just makes you feel good. Especially when the person who is so amazing is representing the country you live in!

Anyway, I think most people know what curling is, and most people would probably also say it is the most boring of all events in the winter Olympics. But, I don't think most people have tried it. Well, last night I was able to go to the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City to get a lesson and have my hand at it. Much harder than it looks, and way more addicting. If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend it. And just to prove I did it, and even enjoyed it, here are the pictures.

Row 13... Yes, please!

2010-01-30T01:34:00.003-06:00

I got the sweet hookups from work! I sat row 13 at the Jazz game and had a blast with a date! Boozer and Deron Williams didn't play, but we still won. The game was great, and just because you may not have been there, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. I wasn't in prime location like most of the pro photographers, but I think I got some good shots regardless.

The team is doing great and were recently ranked #1 in John Hollinger's power rankings. And, they keep winning. I'll be back there this coming Wednesday to watch them take on the Blazers! This has to be our year!

Giving it a shot...

2009-12-07T22:02:00.003-06:00

So I have a friend who cuts my hair for me, and she won't let me pay her for it. I have offered and she just won't take it. So, I asked what I could do and she said that I have to take her out to take some pictures. I warned her that I haven't done portrait type work ever and so not sure I would even be any good. She wanted to do it anyway, so on a Saturday morning we went downtown to the University of Chicago and the Adler Planetarium and took some pictures. After some editing to changing coloring, this is what turned out. Thanks Yesenia!

Turkiye... land of mosques!

2009-11-16T08:25:00.012-06:00

Last night I returned from spending a week in Turkey and wanted to share what I saw. The country was amazing. I found that as I was planning it everyone wondered why Turkey, and now that I have gone I ask, "Why not?!" There is so much there to see and experience. From the sites to the sounds, the food and people--the culture is just incredible. I would recommend a visit to anyone who is wondering where they should go next... I would be willing to go back. But for those of you that won't make it, here are some of the things I saw.

There are mosques everywhere in Turkey, especially the Old City. This was probably my favorite from the outside (the Blue Mosque). It is still used today for the prayers 5x a day and so we could only go inside at certain times. There was a definite feeling of peace and calm and sheer reverence when we were inside.

We spent a day in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul walked here, and it was by far my favorite place to see. The Library at Celsus was so impressive, and just the detail and intricacy that Romans paid to everything amazed me. It was sobering to walk the roads of an ancient civilization and sit in their seats and admire the things they were able to do without the technology we have today.

This (above and below) is the Library of Celsus... the favorite spot of Ephesus.

Hagia Sophia was originally a mosque until it burned down. They rebuilt it as a Christian church and then it was turned into a mosque again. Out of respect for the Christian faith, the Muslims did not remove any frescoes when they made it a mosque again, they only covered them with plaster so as to not destroy them. Today it is a museum and you can see where some of the plaster has crumbled away revealing the frescoes beneath, allowing you to see Muslim and Christian together.

When we went to the city of Troy we were the only people walking through the site (until we were about to leave and 5 tour buses showed up). It was an eerie feeling to be there alone, with the breeze blowing through the streets carrying the sounds of times long past.

Topkapi Palace is really only a museum now, but they have a lot of what the people wore and used back in the times of the Ottoman and Byzantine empires displayed here. I learned that the ball hanging from the ceiling (shown below) symbolizes their dominance of the world.

I spent a few moments playing in the Mediterranean Sea. I would have spent more but it was pretty windy and therefore a bit on the chilly side. But the water was so pretty and blue.

The Temple of Artemis was quite destroyed, but this column was huge and somehow still standing.

We spent a lot of time walking through markets as we went from one place to another. The Grand Bazaar was gigantic and everyone had their own clever ways of trying to get your attention from asking how they can take my money to being jealous of the girls I was with. When we entered the Egyptian Spice Market I have never been so in love with the smell of a place as I was there. The smells and colors were overwhelming.

Dolmabahce Palace was the most impressive palace I have ever entered in my life. Sadly, they did not allow pictures inside, so you'll have to look this one up. They had a 4.5 ton chandelier hanging from the ceiling in one room... and it takes 3 months to clean.

Parts of the city still have the old wall surrounding them that was used as protection way back when. It was cool to see these areas and how they were still used today. Some people used them as walls for more modern buildings, others as a beautiful backdrop to their garden.
The Bosphorus bridge connects the European and Asian sides of Istanbul (the only city on 2 continents).

All in all the trip was worth every moment and every penny. I didn't see even a small portion of everything there is to see in this wonderful country of Turkey. But what I did see was enough to show me the beauty that exists in places you wouldn't expect.

The new proud owner of...

2009-10-23T20:11:00.003-05:00

So, I have to do a little bragging. I have some awesome coworkers/friends. One of my co-workers dad works for Herbalife and therefore has access to different things. He got a couple signed jerseys from the LA Galaxy, a MLS team they sponsor, and gave them to his son Amos who I work with. Well, Amos already has some things, so he decided to give them (3 jerseys) to one of our coworkers (Lisa). Well, because she and I have such a good friendship and she knows how much I love soccer, she sent me one. Therefore, I am now the proud owner of a LA Galaxy autographed jersey! Here are the pictures. I'd put one of me with it, but it is hard to take a picture of yourself holding up a jersey. Again, I have awesome coworkers/friends. Thanks Amos and Lisa!

Now I just need to find a frame for this so I can hang it on my wall...!!

Photoshop learning curve

2009-09-26T20:09:00.005-05:00

As I am taking more and more photos, I am looking for other ways to make them different. So, I spend a good amount of time in Photoshop trying to learn new effects, coloring and so forth. I do prefer the real pictures and those that are barely altered if at all, but sometimes a different effect can bring out a different aspect of the photo or give you a new perspective of it. Here are some of my favorites as I am learning new things...

Jut another Labor Day weekend...

2009-09-13T00:42:00.005-05:00

So, for Labor Day I went out to visit my friend Dan and his wife Courtney. When Dan and I get together there is no normal, I just don't think it is possible. Luckily, Courtney is ok with that. So, we spent the weekend on a boat and blowing up soda cans. Needless to say, it made for quite the entertaining weekend!

We don't play games here. Soda Pop Derby is a serious thing...

...Until you get splattered in the face by so much soda that your eyelids are almost stuck closed. But hey, it makes for a VERY enjoyable time and some cool looking pictures.

Courtney was a great driver, and fearless too. At one point I thought she might tip the boat, but she did a good job of getting people off the tube...

...Here is the proof of her skill. I would have sworn Dan did a belly-flop.

Dan decided he would take me through the middle of a wave, luckily I stayed on...

...Then he decided it was time to bounce me over the top.

These types of weekend are definitely the moments in time that take your breathe away, figuratively and literally. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Beautiful Abandonment

2009-08-21T08:27:00.006-05:00

So, I am quite the curious person, and also have this odd obsession with old abandon places. With work this past week I was down in the Peoria, Illinois area and heard about an old abandon mental hospital. As I started researching it I found that it wasn't too far from where I was, and the people I was working with knew about it. I asked about it and said I wanted to go over there, so they told me where it was, but in the process told me about all these other abandon buildings. I had quite the list of places to visit that night. Most of them I could not get into, well, all but one in fact. Exploring places like this gets my adrenaline flowing, and I get so excited. So, here is a log of my adventures that night. The first picture is the asylum, and from there on, it is all this other building (an old grain milling and elevator plant I think) that I actually did get into without any trouble at all (i.e. no locked doors).

This asylum is currently being restored by some organization down in the area. They give guided tours for $25, or you can stay in it over night with free reign to go wherever you want for $100. I think I know where I might be going for Halloween.

From here on down is all the same place that I actually got inside of. I think I will go back when I am more prepared for the excursion (no work clothes and bring a tripod).

Cash 4 Clunkers and a new health care plan...

2009-08-17T22:56:00.006-05:00

So, I've never been a political analyst nor a political activist, yet this is something that has been on my mind lately. As many of you may or may not know, with my current job I work indirectly with the car industry. I work for a software company that helps dealerships manage their customers. Anyway, as a result, I am in dealerships all the time. As of late this whole Cash For Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S or Car Allowance Rebate System) has been the topic of conversation everywhere I have been. In hearing about it, I have made a few observations and a few of my own conclusions. In these observations, I start to wonder as well about the health care plan that is being debated as well. Here are my thoughts, again, they are only thoughts and opinions.

1. Cash for Clunkers was a good idea to boost car sales and try to get the economy going, but a horribly planned and executed idea.
2. While it is easy for people to get their rewards on this, for the dealerships, it is a nightmare.
3. What qualifies and does not qualify a car has changed a number of times without any warning.
4. There are 14 pages of paperwork that have to be filled out, then uploaded onto the internet. If you mess up, you don't find out until they reject you. In the upload process, there is no save, therefore if the site crashes from everyone else trying to upload, you have to start over. And I've heard it crashes a lot.
5. People are just getting info from clunker cars and uploading it without having to actually prove they took that car in and sold a new one.
6. Since beginning of this program, only 2% of all deals have been paid back by the government.
7. Dealerships are running out of inventory and don't have much coming. So, what's going to happen when they are out of cars? Oh wait, that means that don't make any money...

And really, this is only the beginning. So, as I was talking to a dealership about it, they had one thing to say to me... "People think this is bad... if this is any kind of sign, what do you think the health care plan is going to be like." I'd have to agree. Plus, living in Chicago, I hear plenty of stories from people who work in hospitals that already do universal health care. Latest, there is a lady who had a really bad case of TMJ and can't open her mouth. They told her she needs to get a scan to see what they can do to help. When she asked how long until that can be done... at least a month. Hmmm....

Just as a side note... Glenn Beck makes a good point here.

This is scary stuff if you ask me... and this is just about getting new cars and helping the car industry. What will they do with healthcare?

When you're creative mind needs letting out...

2009-08-16T20:36:00.002-05:00

So, when you have a job that doesn't really lend itself to the creative side of life, and you have a creative side (or at least I think I do), you start to come up with ways to use it. I've just always have this creative itch and when I can't scratch it all the time with work, there are days when I will just go all out on it. This, my friends, is the product of one such day.

Here's how it happened. So... I was sitting in my apartment one day and decided that I wanted to add some spice to it. As I was looking around many things came to mind as to what I could do. But, I had a few restrictions. First, I didn't want to do anything that would just have to get undone the day I move. Out goes painting the walls. I didn't want to spend a lot of money either, so there went putting up drapes around my windows. So, I looked at my table and said to myself, "This is kinda plain... I wonder what it would look like if... ..." So, after a trip to Wal-Mart, 2 cans of spray paint, some tape, a bunch of my pictures, a vision in the head and however many hours of putting it all together, here you have it!

The question is now.... what's next?

Maine and the Lobsters

2009-07-18T10:14:00.004-05:00

This last week work sent me to Portland, Maine. It was my first time ever going to Maine and also my first time ever eating lobster. Not that I haven't ever wanted to, but it is usually pretty expensive. Anyway, it was much much cheaper in Maine, and work was paying for it. So, I figured, why not have the experience in the place most known throughout the entire US for its lobster. The state is gorgeous as well, and there is some cool stuff to see. There are rocky beaches and cliffs into the ocean, lighthouses everywhere, and just all around beauty everywhere I went.This is the victim of my first lobster meal. Oh, and the New England clam chowder was pretty dang good too!
This is by far and away my favorite picture I took on my trip up there. The sun just happened to line up perfectly with the lighthouse to give the illusion of it being on and shining bright during the day.

I hope to be able to go back one day and explore other areas and see what other places and scenes I can find in what the people on Maine call "Vacationland."

Biking Mackinac Island

2009-07-18T10:02:00.003-05:00

About 2 weekends ago I went home to see my parents and one of my younger bros (Jeff) before he went off to school. We decided that we wanted to go to Mackinac Island for a grueling bike ride. It is this little 8 miles around island in Lake Huron where no cars are allowed. You take a ferry to it and then either walk, bike or ride horses. We didn't want to pay for horses so we biked it. It had been raining all weekend, but the weather was PERFECT when we got there.

These are my parents and brothers as we took a break for some pictures and rock skipping. The water was a bit choppy so the most we could get the rocks to skip was about 4 or 5 skips.

This is actually a picture of Jeff from the day before when he and I were near our parents house looking for old places to explore.
Now, I know this isn't anywhere close to the size of Arch's National Park in Utah, but natural arch's are always cool and beautiful!

My first 4th in Chicago...

2009-07-18T09:55:00.002-05:00

Well, I had my first 4th of July in August, and possibly my only 4th of July in August (work may be moving me again within the next 6-8 months). Anyway, it was great. We played some volleyball on the lakefront, went to a Chinese acrobat show (amazing!), hung out at friends apartments and watch fireworks 2 different nights. Here are just a few pictures from the weekend.

Downtown Exploration

2009-06-03T20:56:00.005-05:00

So, this past weekend I went downtown because I wanted to explore this church I saw down there. While I was exploring I found some pretty cool stuff and some cool views of different things, so I thought I would share. (Just so you know, these are the originals, the colors have been edited using some color schemes I downloaded from craigsactions.com.)

Long overdo update...

2009-06-02T23:50:00.004-05:00

I haven't put anything on my blog in a while, and boy have I been to some cool places and had some great things happen. Recently I was in Calgary, Alberta Canada for work, and the people at the dealership told us to go to this place called Banff. Boy am I glad I listened. The place was incredible, and I can only imagine what it looks like when covered in snow completely! The people in Canada are so awesome and nice and the area is beautiful. Should I move there?

I will one day stay in this hotel. I am sure it is quite expensive, but it was incredible!
Along with mountain goats (which at one point we thought were going to ram our car), we saw elk, dear, a bald eagle and the most emerald colored water I have ever seen. We looked for bear and moose, but to no avail.
When I was home during the Highland games my sister, her husband, and their daughter came up as well. We were all there for that and more so because my grandma was in town as well. Anyway, I think my niece started warming up to me some!
I purchased a new car (granted about 2 months ago now). I loved the old one, but I started spending a lot on service, so I just broke down and bought a new one. I love this one too! The biggest benefits to the new one: better gas mileage and faster! I think I can handle that.