THE EIFFLERS HAVE MOVED

THE EIFFLER'S HAVE MOVED THEIR VIRTUAL HOME TO:

http://theeeifflers.com

Check it out

A weekend of fun

Pictures from this last weekend which share a little of the fun to be had in good ol' Portland Oregon. It all started with my companion in the PCC bathrooms which I got to admit brought me a chuckle. Then as paraded downtown looking for a bus home I got held up by a Trimet transit emergency initiated by the kind fellow seated in the wheelchair. As the story goes while the number 12 was making it's way over westbound over the Burnside Bridge he was acting funny and when the driver asked him if he was ok only to have him a few minutes later pee on the bus and pass out. From the spot where I took the picture I could smell the alcohol that may have contributed to the situation. After that an extra bus was dispatched in order to whisk away the mob that lined the street only to turn us into the bus from Speed, because if we went anywhere under 50 miles per hour we could probably see clearly the obscene gestures and foul language directed our way as the bus sped along without stopping (we were filled to the gills and I am thankful I got out from that sardine can alive). One of the highlights of the weekend was testing my mettle in the game of futsal. More like the outdoor version of the "Beautiful Game" where there are out of bounds lines it is however played on a tiny field (even compared to an indoor arena). Fast paced and you're always running trying to exploit the other's team weakness in order to press the advantage the team I played for (which is Brynn's cousin's husband's Brian team) were able to lay to rest the team that had the previous week defeated them. Well we were able to get off to a fast start and pretty much control the game throughout and I think it ended up 9-4 with two assists and goal from yours truly. What's more that served as a precursor to the following day's indoor game where I notched my first goal of the season (albeit in the motif of Henry) which helped soften the blow of another loss by the Cougars (at least we didn't get goos egg'd) and kept me searching for my first indoor soccer victory (28 games and counting).

Finally a blast from the recent past, I dug up this picture from my phone on the day of my aunt's baptism. Just me and Mr. Mikey hanging out before the service and Frances looking very coyly at the camera.

Meme's

Current trend, Babies with Lazer eyes. I love internet meme's. They bring the joy that comes from living in absurdity to my corner of the universe, all with a click of a mouse, oh how I love the beauty of the interweb.

Danger!

Surprise, surprise, look who comes crawling back. I find the best time to write my posts is during my human development class which is a snoooOOOOOoozer (in terms of content not presentation). It just doesn't catch my imagination. So let's get you caught up.

Cougars are 0 and 3... bummer. Still hunting for my first win in indoor soccer (not counting PSU's team). We are so close at times but seeing as this is or first session we tend to let the wheels come off. The rest of our schedule leans toward the bottom end of our league so it bodes well for our chances this week.

Totally stoked for the upcoming session of Kid's Play because we are opening a lot more classes this session. Means I will be officially a night student which come the end of the term I may come to regret. But like I was telling Brynn, this is my first (and maybe only shot) at a directing a youth program so I want to do it right. Already I have overcome any doubts about teaching that floated around my head after the termination of my relationship with Portland Indoor because fate intervened and I was able to find a home in Soccerplex. I only want to make this place better.

Newlywed lesson, part XIX... Worst part of the morning is after you wake up and you know you have to leave the warm comfort of the bed with your beautiful wife at your side. I want to say that my morning wake up routine now at least takes ten minutes longer but I don't want to leave the best part of my life.

One day we will get that stupid red car out of the parking lot... someday...

What a Freak

I have to admit in high school I skipped a few classes senior year. But honestly it was like one or two.. for some reason I am a freak and its always been hard for me to ditch school for the day. This problem hasn't changed since I've been in college. I am so afraid I'm going to miss something extremely important or that I'll get an F because I missed ONE class. So, Monday I had the great idea of skipping my afternoon classes and heading to the beach... and with much debate I finally decided to go.. although I told Clifford to turn around halfway to Salem.... I AM A FREAK! I'm so glad we went because it was a beautiful day and we got to see my family and eat gross pizza.

That night we saw the worst movie I've seen in a while. Dallas' theater only plays one movie and my family invited us to go. The movie is called "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief". Awful movie even for kids. I won't go into much detail... but the coolest part was when Uma Thurman, who plays Medusa, got her head chopped off, then they rolled the head in a jacket and used it to turn people to stone. Overall, bad bad acting, bad bad plot, bad bad everything. And Pierce Brosnan seems to be drunk.

Grossology

Why oh why can't I cook. At school my roommates would always put me in charge of the salad for our Sunday dinners. I've messed up so many things it's ridiculous! Tonight it was homemade mac n' cheese. I mean you wouldn't think it would be too difficult to make, but yes it apparently is. It basically turned out to be boiled plain noodles with hunks of random cheese. I don't know how to explain it, just know it was gross and Clifford was nice enough to eat it even when I forbid him from it.

On a more random note.. Jimmy Dean has come out with Chocolate Chip Pancake and Sausage on a stick. Like a hot dog... I seriously thought it was a joke at first. Wow America...just wow....

Puff

Every time I walk by the Smith and Cramer buildings at PSU I wonder... why is the smoking shelter right across from the non-smoking shelter... it just doesn't make sense to me and I seriously think about it every time I walk by..

Books Books Books

So, I had forgotten how much I really love reading..Someday I'd love to have a huge library in my home. I'm kinda picky and haven't gotten into a book in awhile. Just today I finished a book I started yesterday and let me tell you it got me excited about reading again!!! 

I've always had a love hate relationship with the library like most people I think...love because you get to read as many books as you want for FREE.. but only if you return them on time... why oh why can't I remember to turn them in on time or at least RENEW them??? I have decided to turn over a new leaf this time around, however. I have a fresh start at the Portland library so no fines for me ever! I hope... 

What's happening

Methinks it's time for us to go back to posting maybe two or three times a week. Just a time and energy kind of thing.
Working more and more in hopes of getting the Kid's Play program off the ground before this fall no matter what may happen. I think the potential for it's success is bright and I hope to be able to add that shining jewel to my resume. Just entails a lot of work and i'm definitely putting in the hours at the coal mine which has led to some discussion of balance at home. Which is the eternal plight of the poor college students and to think I wouldn't say that we waste it on random things but rather will be paying the incoming debt (school loan, saving to buy a new car) it unfortunately means working to live. These next few months will be critical as we look to downsize to a one bedroom (we are paying about $100 for an extra room that we use as a storage closet) which means moving, apply for the FASFA for the next fall, and all the while try to squirrel away money little by little but in the end we are so fortunate to be blessed with so much.
Went and saw "Sherlock Holmes" for date night which led to another "Star Trek" where I found Brynn quietly nestled on my arm enjoying the movies they show in dreamland. As for the movie itself... it was ok. Enjoyable but one that you wait for the cheap theaters to pick it up which leads me to some sad news. For the time being the Joy Theater is out of commission which is a shame because the world is in need of more cheap theaters. It's hard to justify why going to the movie should cost $10 aside from the fact that theater owners need some dough to pay for their extravagant buildings. Now granted I dig the stadium seating and reclining seats but when given the choice I think I can bear the terror of sitting in an old padded seat to save seven bucks, sorry Regal. On the way into Cinemagic we ran into Katie coming out which was nice, funny how the city seems to stretch when your life runs out of time to do things. So Katie, you're so grown up now with your teaching job yet you will always be an old woman to me. IDWTTA.
The Cougars are 0-2 after a valiant performance that saw us give it away at the end 3-4 against Chaos Coed, the top team in our division. I believe it was a matter of our motors running out of gas. Luckily this week we get another shot at Umlauts who I think we can hang with and reclaim some Beaverton Stake pride.

Little Big League

My biggest dream is to own a professional sports team. In recent years it's developed a little more thoroughly as I want to own the Timbers. Long has baseball been my official pastime, the Yanks my team, the Volcanoes the team I would end up buying. But now has come the time with soccer that i've grown an insatiable appetite for the game that can only be satisfied by being part of the magic that is the Portland Timbers. Brynn and I were talking about our dreams (you know the one... where a million dollars fall into your laps and suddenly you're free from all the drudgery that spurs the desire for that particular dream) and we the topic fell on the Timbers and where I would be sitting and there is no question, given the choice to be there all season I would be in the north end with the Timbers Army. So when news came that the city council has approved that sees PGE Park being renovated to a soccer specific stadium and home to the newest team to join the MLS I am happy to see that it is my team will become a permanent fixture upon the sporting skyline here in Stumptown. And who knows maybe one day I will run into Hank Scorpio and i'll wake up one morning to find that I have a team left out in my front yard and I would take anything... well anything but the Shittle Flounders....

Date Nights

I've always been told that once you get married its a good idea to have a date night once a week. I've always thought that was a pretty cheesy idea but now I've kinda changed my mind on the subject. We've never really scheduled date time just because of the normal excuses... we have school and work and church and blah blah blah blah.. we do spend a lot of time together but we aren't very good at taking a night to do something different. We have decided as of last night to start doing this at least once a week. We will keep you posted on how well we actually do. Last week we saw Avatar which was our first 3D movie, Cliff posted about that earlier and his thoughts on it are the same as mine.. last night we ate at a hole in the wall burger joint down our street called Humdingers. It was pretty good, the shakes are especially delicious. We also played Scattergories and Clifford totally cheated BUT I will just have to get past it :) .... We are soo competitive its ridiculous....there were raised voices.. nothing was thrown though and the cops weren't called on us...although there's always next time :)

Time flies...

Can I just say that I HATE cliches.... I really really do. BUT I also have to say that I cannot believe my brother turned 18 last Sunday... time really does fly by. I can remember playing barbies with him and his extremely round body ironically dressed up as a pumpkin for halloween. He had super white hair and a bull cut and chubby cheeks. He honestly was a super sweet brother and still is. It just blows my mind that he is growing up and making decisions about college and life and WOW... on a more sad note... I was trying to remember my 18th birthday just 3 years ago and I can't remember a thing about it. I have such a bad memory.. I guess its good Clifford has gotten me into writing on here! 

The memories...

We're watching Blues Brothers courtesy of the wonderful Netflix Instant Watch. Sing it James! Another round goes down in television history as we finished the Shield, some good stuff. Had date night over at Humdingers with their half pound burger a nice little hole in the wall, one day I will have to tackle their one pounder. The Joy Theater is closed until further notice... bummer.

Eternal

"You will be my little sister forever". That was my mom to Titi today as we celebrated her baptism and confirmation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The gospel magnificent as it has the power to unite families for all eternity. Nothing like it here on this earth.

No joy in Mudville...

The mighty Cougars have fallen today 3-1 to our arch rivals, the Umlauts, from the West Hills ward and our goalie Nate Bemis suffered a concussion in our first game on the turf. Hope he gets better. All in all after a seven month layoff I am happy to get back into the beautiful game. Next week we will climb back on the horse. Yeeee Haw!

I'm half machine... I'm a monster!

I love Arrested Development... I love pea coats, 80's nights, hummus, Conan, vintage, indie music, the idea of being a vegetarian., breakfast places, David Sedaris, Netflix, Prius', thinking about how to solve poverty, ugly sweater parties... and much much more...You may ask why I am boring you with these details... I am bringing this up because I have just discovered that all of these things are on the "Stuff White People Like" List. Its a pretty funny list that is totally true...and it proves one thing.

I AM WHITE.....

what the heck?!

Take a look and see how white you are.....
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

The music challenge

I think it's safe to say that any music lover likes to put together mix Cd's to test their musical prowess. Nothing is better than the feeling of having put together a masterpiece that a friend or a loved one raves about and listens to over and over again. In this world of mp3's this art is often lost upon the appetite for the freshest song easy obtainable by many means via the interwebs. My friend Noah is an exception as he continues to pop up every once in a while dedicated to putting together a cacophony of sound on his blog Noonish. In the past couple weeks i've corresponded with friends about mixes and now to you I lay a challenge to produce the following mixes;

1. Your top 20 songs of all time (which stems from you favorite song of all time but who could really put that together, that's just crazy talk.)

2. Your newcomer's album (suppose you meet a new friend who is ready to experience a sonic revolution and your twenty songs will be the direction they will take from henceforth, so choose wisely because perhaps Coolio's "Gansta's Paradise" isn't the sort of thing that you want to hear every time you visit them.)

3. Greatest (pick a band and put together their 18 greatest hits).

4. Local (This one is a bit tougher once you have a kid, school, no time. What local bands and I will extend it region wide aka Northwest though you could be hardcore and focus on your citie's bands and has to be within the last three years)

I will get back to you on my choices but feel free to post in the comments.

Clifford

Hands on Portland

One of my classes this semester is Leadership for Change. Its been a pretty good class so far... the teacher involves us a ton which is good and I'm never wishing class was over because the discussions are usually pretty interesting. We are required to do 6-8 hours of community service this term. The one I signed up for was scheduled today in Hillsboro at the Hillsboro Family Resource Center. They help low income families in the area. They get donations of clothing and food and then they allow families to come once a month and get the clothing and some food that they need. Its a really cool place that helps those who are really in need. Our job was to sort through the donations that they receive. I will admit it was a little boring and I had a red neck middle aged man next to me making fun of The Shins (they were playing 94.7 which I was really grateful for). I love The Shins! How dare he! But, I am happy I could help and I am grateful for wonderful organizations like this one whose only purpose is to help and make people's lives better. It makes me feel good that there are still good individuals out there who want to help people and not just gain riches and status *cough* verizon *cough*.....  

---Brynn---

As an aside it's funny how people eat. This is something that has limited our diet and the food we prepare on a nightly basis. I come from a 2% milk home though I was never inclined to down the white stuff. But when I get in the mood for cereal I can down a whole bag for myself but it has to be just right, chocolate and lot's of it, with milk filled to the brim. Brynn is just a little bit different... rice milk just covering the bottom and she's down with anything, funny how things work.

---Clifford---

Cut it off

I love technology. From the cutting edge to emerging trend, nothing brings me greater satisfaction than trolling the usual culprits so that I can stuff my brain with useless information about the newest goodies around the bend. After the years of eager anticipation and months of fevered speculation today's announcement of the Ipad was a bit underwhelming to say the least. I have to admit i'm a staunch supporter of Apple though all we own are a few iTouches but I have been juiced for the latest and greatest from Cupertino and well... it's a giant iTouch. I'm sure with all the fan boys out there the iPad will do some brisk business and line some pockets for the VIP's at Apple, but as for me and my household (and by household I mean me because Brynn couldn't care less as to what the newest gadget coming out is) we'll wait for the next big thing.
The Verizon saga has ended with Brynn's dissolution of her relationship with them and a very snarky dealing with the customer rep at the store. On the whole when we went in there they acted very polite, the manager trying to do his job and convince us to stay and promising to talk to the employee who failed to mention that she would be changing our plan and tacking on a nice little $10.00 a month fee for internet that Brynn would never have used. It went all smoothly because we consciously went in with the thought not to be angry at the employees (they just work there) but as we were tying things up the lady who had been helping us left us with a nice little parting shot, a chuckle. A chuckle right after, "Good luck at T-Mobile". Now I do realize that while Verizon offers the best coverage in the state and they are making enough boatloads of dinero that two customers leaving (well one and a player to be named later) doesn't hurt their bottom line but when the employees drink the Kool-Aid and give us crap it makes me regret trying not to involve them in our personal struggle with their bosses. It makes me want to act like a jerk. And that's not something I want to treat others. In any case we are (somewhat) free from their grasp, Brynn is getting an iPhone, jumping on T-Mobile, and will stay at the same number. I hate Verizon and can't wait for these next 19 months to fly by and free me from their oppressive grip... ahhh technology.

Why in the heck would Brynn want to surf the internet on an EnV Touch? So can someone explain to me why without telling us about the REQUIRED monthly fee to pay for internet for a "multimedia" phone did Verizon push on us this big steaming pile of poop. This is the last straw, after talking to no less than three different Verizon representatives we have found out the only way out of this is by returning the phone but on the bright side it looks like at the time of her upgrade Brynn was out of contract and this could in fact drop the service as soon as they roll back the contract. She'll be heading to T-Mobile which at least offers a month to month service which is appealing to a couple of joes who got yanked around. There are companies on my bad list (HP being another notable one along with all the cell phone companies) and there are companies in my good list (AAA, best service ever). Guess which one you just made Verizon.

Meh.

After many weeks, broken box office records, and testimonials from countless people including friends, family, and internet denizens we plunked down our fourteen dollars to put on some official Real 3D gear and walked into the theater to watch "Avatar", James Cameron's latest foray into billion dollar properties. After all the kissing up to this movie by the interwebs about the visual splendors contained within the world of Pandora as filmed by Cameron's lens I can safely say that I still feel 3D is a gimmick not ready for prime time. While admittedly it was very neat to see film portrayed in such a manner it never really blew me away, never making me feel like I did with the transition from VHS to DVD, of being on the cutting edge of a technological revolution. Obviously Cameron has pushed the envelope in terms of how cinema can be viewed and there will be a slew of imitators to follow, feeding upon table scraps from the box office king's table (look at the TV industry they're already gearing up to release an army of 3D sets to replace the flat screen Santa brought you for Christmas) and inevitably we will see this field mature into a watchable product. But if I had to do it again I wouldn't mind paying to see Avatar in 2D because it's strength lies in the characters and the actors behind them. Going in both Brynn and I knew the basic storyline which bears a striking resemblance to many stories of misunderstood "savages (who are barely even human)" being swept away in pursuit of the riches they either posses or are in the way of when one of the more "civilized" members gains insight to the inequality and travesty of the situation and determines to be an advocate and fight for the people with no voice. But the cast did a far more impressive job behind their Na'vi masks than we thought possible going into the movie, making the predictable story an easier pill to swallow and holding us in our seats long enough to see the closing credits thus limiting our claim to a refund (*cough* Star Trek on "IMAX" *cough*). Overall not worth the price of admission but definitely a movie you could take in on lazy afternoon.

PS If you look closely at the picture you'll notice old Cliffy has gone "Six Eyes"

Da' Bears, Da' Saints, Ditka

Got my sanity back after the slog through yesterday. Whoo hoo! Felt so bad because in Elder's Quorum I was fighting back the sleep and as a fellow teacher I know how it is when the group seems lost in space, it was good lesson on the dichotomy of service... doh!
Opened up the mailbox and found myself and nice little surprise, a new ATM card! What's nice about this one is that Wells Fargo has an offer that you can design your own bank card (and by design you can upload a photo) and they'll plaster it on for free which is my kind of price so I figured i'd take them up on their offer. Put a nice little picture of me and Brynn from a Timbers game last summer, good for the next three years. I guess this will make up somewhat karmically for all the crap we had to endure this past Friday when we went to deposit some financial aid goodies before our journey to Costco. Brynn had an issue in that when they added her info to the account (she had previously banked with Wells Fargo before we got married) they pulled up her maiden name and slapped it onto the account. What was such a hassle was that we had to bring in our marriage certificate from the county in order to prove the legitimacy of her claim (never mind in order to change her license she had to bring that plus her new social security... etc) to just change her name. That is when a ten minute trip into the bank became a full blown rodeo as the person helping her kept ignoring our pleas to leave and she tried to sell us everything but the kitchen sink, oh wait, she did (bringing the mortgage broker to speak with us about buying a house after we had mentioned that was a long term goal of ours). It was by far the worst experience i've ever had at a bank and reinforces my habit of depositing through the ATM. When I go to bank i'd like to think I am savvy enough to look up the right people for help when I need it but otherwise take my money, use it to lend to others, and ensure that the next time I swipe my card the money is in the account. I wish we could go back to MAPS.

Sleepy time.

Here I am 12 and half hours into my 16 and half hour shift all the while i've been operating on a total three hours of sleep. Yummy. The bed will be so nice to me. But watching the games all day have started to bring my excitement to a fever pitch as my team will take the field for the first time next week, predictions? Champions. What else would we be? Though this division may shake out weird because we've got a number of teams but we won't be playing everyone in the division because there are a few Saturday only and a few Sunday only teams. Which means we need many goals. But talking to the team there quite a few who love playing up and hanging around that net so I have faith in their boots putting that ball in the net.
Next week my aunt is getting baptized and she has asked me to baptize her. I am so happy and this will be the first time that I will be able to do the actual baptism myself. It is a sweet experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity. The the blessing of having the Holy Ghost in her home will be such a boon to her family I can only feel good things to come.

Red headed step child

Gotta love the never ending well of optimism that sports fans draw from (unless your are a Cubs fan). When it comes to your favorite team they seemingly can do no wrong before the season begins, there is always a chance they can right the ship mid season, and when they are done and dusted for the season a true fan looks at the calendar and circles opening day when their team will once again have a chance to contend for their sports ultimate prize. The reason I bring this up is because I have lived in the extremes as a fan of the Yankees and Buffalo Bills (talk about ripping your heart out as a kid being able to watch your team almost win it all... FOUR TIMES! One of my funniest memories was dancing to a playoff game while playing a James Brown tape over and over, this went on for a big chunk of the game). As April rolls around each season I know come October I EXPECT to see the Bombers marching their way towards another World Series Championship. Anything less would be unfit for a franchise as decorated as it is unless of course we did better than the BoSox, in which case we would still remain better than them (as always in the case). But it's funny to be a soccer fan in the United States where you not only have your team but you must support your league as you hold it up to the standards of the world. The reason I bring this up is because around town i'm seeing ads running on the side of buses which proclaim of our beloved Timbers, "Liverpool, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Portland - Finally, we're on the world's pitch." Ummm, back up a second. Since when did the MLS' clout grow heavy enough to elevate an expansion squad in the company of these elite clubs? It's all about hope. The hope of any US Soccer fan that we will one day be mentioned in the same breath as the world's elite, when our greatest victory won't be beating the English at the World Cup but lifting the trophy itself, that is hope, the hope of a sports fan.

Shake down

Well I started perusing youtube and the googledom in order to being my education in the internet of today. As you know several of items on my bucket list include being able to code my Quidditch game and learn how to design and put up websites. In working with the website for Salem Indoor I have come to appreciate the simplicity and beauty of other websites. Looking around the vast 'net I can't say that many indoor soccer places offer a easy ride through their sites. Most are ugly (the the former place of employment which must not be named still has Beavis kicking a soccer ball), information cluttered and improperly maintained because it's takes some hefty money to commission a user friendly site and once it's done no one knows how to take care of it. That's where I hope to fill a void starting with Salem Indoor Soccer. Now i'm partial to the group of people who work there and I want to be able to do anything I can to make it a better place because they just are like family. I think a lot of people in Salem are missing out on a fantastic place to be able to gather and have fun and I think an attractive website would help steer people in that direction. This is really my test case both in being able to learn new tricks and taking the time to knock off things off my bucket list so that all of tomorrow is spent looking back at past today's. I want to find out if I have the chops in order to continue to try my hand improve the overall internet presence of the indoor soccer world in Oregon which by extension is part of the game I love so much. So I press forward through the jungles of the internet, clearing out the weeds, and hopefully a few months you will be looking at a changed man.

Eye on Portland

I love missionaries. They're the most fantastic bunch of young men and young women (and retired couples) who given up their time to devote it serving the Lord. I am sure each of us met different sets who missionaries who bring a remarkable spirit into your home despite their individual talents and personalities. We missed out tonight having them over because we both ended up being scheduled to work which was real bummer for both Brynn and I because we hadn't fed the missionaries since we had moved here.
My Titi Amalia is getting baptized and joining the Spanish branch down in Salem which is a culminating blessing of many hours of praying and hoping that she would be another part of the family that accepted the fullness of the gospel. Briefly her story started while I was on my mission and she and the kids were still in Puerto Rico. Every once in the while she would notice the missionaries going around and they looked starved as the prostelyted so she invited them in for food. Eventually she had sat through all the lessons but still was hesitant to give up the faith of her childhood. It is a hard decision to move away in part from something that is so familiar but the gospel requires a lot of us including the willingness to change and shed the comfortable for what is right. Ultimately as she attended the branch here she found what she had been searching for but there are trials awaiting. Already things are happening to her and the kids as the opposition presses upon her. So if you can keep them in your prayers I would appreciate it.

The quest

I think one of the greatest mysteries of adulthood is that where to find the perfect meal for the right price. I am convinced that there is no way you can find it at those fifty dollars a plate joints nor does the thrift of Little Ceaser's pizza satisfy my taste buds. Whether it's a nice big bowl of pasta, the tenderest steak, or the perfect pork fried rice it's a journey every couple has to take. Now we've got the rice pinpointed to a place in Beaverton (though we keep going up and down Barbur in hopes of finding something closer to home) yet Brynn's Chow Mein with pan fried noodles are hiding out in some kitchen somewhere in Portland. But our quest to finally find "our place" that continues to prove to be quite elusive. We love Gravy for it's breakfast menu and Mississippi Pizza (though it doesn't come cheap) for it's pies. Doughnuts are always fun at Voodoo and the Mango Yogurt drinks from Indian restaurants always brings the taste of that most delicious fruit close to home.

GoGirl

To all the ladies out there....

I love camping and doing outdoorsy things... the thing I hate the most about doing these things, however, is having to pee outside... it's the worst trying to squat and its usually cold and dirty and really it's just not fun AT ALL. I know we all wish we were men for a second so we could stand. Well there is now a solution to our problem... there is a new device called gogirl which allows women to pee standing up... i was way excited to see this!

http://www.go-girl.com/?gclid=CP2Y0LGMrZ8CFRMqagod_3Io0w

Boogers

Everyone who knows me well knows I'm horrible with kids and I've never really thought they were that cute. They smell funny, they seem to always have runny noses and boogers or sticky cheeto fingers, they always need to be entertained... Why do I need to be doing something funny at all times to win their affection?? I've never liked holding other people's babies either.. it's always freaked me out. What do I do with it once I'm holding it??? I never know!!!!!!
When I got called to Sunbeams I was excited (no more relief society :) ) but also nervous... would I have to wipe boogers from their noses?? Would I have to be one of the three stooges to make them laugh?? I wasn't sure how it would end up but I can tell you now that its been so fun! They are adorable and say the funniest things are are more easily entertained than I thought they would be :) Maybe I'm getting better with kids after all .....

Cheesy rodent

Brynn's sunbeams are too cute. Got to see some of them today as church ended and Brynn was reading to them from "Where the Wild Things Are" it was funny we talked about how some of the monster's have the same feet as we do and why they don't wear shoes (there are no monster stores). Brynn is in the right place as she gets ready every week cutting and getting the projects ready with such diligence.

On the field

I am so proud of the Elders Quorum. We came out in force today to help the Bemis' move, it's a great blessing to see so many honor that call by one of our fellow brethren for help. That is how the gospel is supposed to be.
Tomorrow we have an appointment to visit with our home teachers, Matt Hoiland and Taylor Mallard, and I am excited. I have not seen a home teacher in over a year in the shuffle between the singles ward in Monmouth, the Brush Hills ward in Salem, and the creation of the Maplewood Ward in Portland. I've talked about it before on how a faithful set of home teachers really have meant so much to me and was part of the reason I stepped on the plane to Oklahoma. I earnestly believe that being a home or visiting teacher is the greatest calling one can have in the church. We were talking about entrance into the Celestial Kingdom last Sunday and how after we are baptized into Christ's Church we honor our covenant and the requirement came from the Doctrine and Covenants 76 on how we must be valiant to enter into the Father's Kingdom. I know that diligent home teachers who show through their valiant effort that they are faithful to Lord's commandments are the greatest asset to sharing the fullness of the everlasting gospel.

Flattered but I am not just ready for this...

I am saddened to hear about Mark McGwire admitting to using steroids though it is altogether not that surprising. Part of me held out hope that maybe just maybe he broke the home run record legitimately but now this is the nail in the coffin. The reason it hurts so much is because I remember the chase for the record and though I am not a Cardinals fan I made sure that I was near a television every time he was up to bat. When it finally it happened, when the ball finally sailed over that fence the room just exploded as my friends and I celebrated history which is funny because in retrospective I was the only real baseball fan in the room at the time (but my friends would humor me and watch what I watched, same thing happened when we made sure to watch the world cup in South Korea cheering on our boys over there, kicking the ball around at four in the morning.) When the record was broken we spilled out onto the street with signs in hand we had made announcing this great sporting triumph to anonymous cars as they drove by. That was then and now in the reality of adulthood steroid users are a dime a dozen and baseball reels from the damning evidence that continues to be revealed by the investigations into the integrity of America's pastime, little by little my childhood gets eaten away by the coldness fact.
Talked to a crazy guy about employment law today as we took the break from my four hour class. I was just sitting eating some bento (which was tofu, mushrooms, and rice which I do not recommend as tofu doesn't add a bit of flavor, just stands in there and is. Bring on the beef to this flavor party or at least some chicken) and this guy sits next to me (mind you that the cafeteria is maybe 5% full) and starts a conversation with me about being laid off. Now he look a bit disheveled and lost so I thought maybe he had just lost his job and perhaps I could comfort him but I in no way knew what was on his mind as he went off into space talking about where we draw the line between freedom of speech and the work place and his buddy who got fired in 1983. Moral of the story, always stare down at your rice.
Added to my bucket list is the desire to run a marathon. This dates back to my mission when I was serving in Edmond and often we would pass Edmond North and their track. After seeing a few meets on a warm hot days the running bug bit me and not long after my companion (Elder Green) and I were doing our daily runs during exercise time (a big departure from my infamous ankle rolls) in my new asics that my dad had bought for me. This lasted for maybe two weeks before the complacency shark bit and thoughts of enduring a 26.2 mile run were shelved for the comfort of being under a blanket for a half hour and some ankle rolls. The reason this all comes back to me is because my friend Joel Warnock is planning to run the Portland Marathon this year and I have to say i'm very interested but also quite apprehensive. A marathon is not only pushing yourself to the limit but also far past it and requires a singular dedication to train and finally go through with it. So thinking about it but if there is any time to do it it would be now while i'm young.

Count it...

Well it's going down and Conan is really getting after NBC and Jay Leno. They deserve it Coco is my guy. I hope they get the message.

Brynn and I are taking a measure of time to veg out instead of doing actual important things. Oh well, worth it now though we'll regret it in the morning.

A few of us from the Maplewood ward have gotten together in order to form a Coed indoor soccer team that plays on Saturdays but we are still looking for some women to fill out roster, any takers?

One more time

I love Lego's. Bar none they have to be one of the best toys ever created because of they allow a child to express their creations in a physical world. There are many memories of which I am sure you share of building fantastic castles and other faraway destinations that were brought home by these simple plastic pieces in their array of colors and shapes. You always hoarded the little one piece jeweled pieces for use as currency or bombs and what was so extraordinary about this boon of the imagination was that they gave permission to others to join your play. I spent many a night plotting how we would make a stop motion movie of our masterpiece in order to tell the world the real story of Zelda and her hero Link. Many years later those pieces hopefully lie in a box awaiting a child's touch to awake their phenomenal magic. Embed is a short film that awoke this bit of nostalgia tucked away in my brain.

Save Conan

For those of you who are enlightened you know that there is a problem in the universe (or for the truly enlightened there is a great disturbance in the force). NBC wants to bump our beloved Conan O'Brien to the nebulous universe that is the 12:05 am time slot. All because they want to give Jay "Doesn't have a clue he's not funny" Leno a half hour of prime time show biz real estate. It's this kind of clueless shenanigans that kills shows. I hope NBC suffers and Conan gets the respect he deserves. Head over to the Consumerist to spring into action or delve into Gizmodo's coverage of the late night holy war.

School and and increased workload has vaporized my available free time (aka plop on the couch and vegetate) into a million pieces and has called for dramatic force of will to stay on task and forge on ahead. What's more is that i've lost Brynn to the school bug as we sit next to each other, she huddled under a blanket sleeping as I bang away at the keyboard. Our schedule has made us into busy bees with the only guaranteed time that we will ever see each other is our evening prayers (I peek sometimes, do you?) because goodness knows that we will only stay in bed to sleep for so long (I was up at four last Saturday in order to get ready for work). Life has become a balancing act and we will have to manage our the precious moments that we are together wisely as they will be rare to find in these next few months (years...? Yikes!). I question sometimes whether it is worth all the effort, why can't I just call it a day and move onto other things but as I see our lives already changing for the better and our situation, maturity, and experience developing I envision a world where this time and effort we put in now paying off it's dividends. I also and take time to ponder on what this will mean for our children and how this reflects on our individual upbringing. What I do is a measure of which my parents' labor of love, a love which runs swiftly through my veins and lives deep within my soul. In time as we bring children into the world they will up to me and hopefully down upon us as they stand upon our shoulders. And all I want to do is give them the best view that they can get.

Things I like: Kettle Chips, best kind: Salt and Pepper (with Salt and Vinegar running a close second).

We are in deep

Switched to Chrome... dang it.

Today was a big step for us as a couple... we got our Costco card

and after dropping cash at Winco we ended up buying what amounts to our year's supply of groceries and then some. We ended this American ritual of excess with a little song and dance tradition I call "the Pizza Shuffle". There are some things that never cha

nge and that is my love of the pie from the sky but it was so weird to scarf a few slices with anything on top because every time I went with my dad (tradition that I love more than the shopping trips themselves and one of my happiest moments was a few months after I got back we got to take Michael out for a day with the guys and I believe I was the first to share the sweet morsel that is pizza with my favorite nephew) favored our taste buds with some cheesy tastiness. When you get married it's weird what carries over from your life and what bonds you begin anew but I hope this will remain a strong part of who we are, making sure to spend time with our family, regroup ourselves wherever we may be and share in the endeavor that is life.

But as it seems in the big box that is Costco. The parade of good feelings ended when we had towithdraw cash from an ATM to pay for the pizza which tasted a bit off in the first place (I think they may have changed their sauce and put on less cheese, another sign of treason, for shame Costco, for shame). And to think for all the money we spent buying food there we didn't even hit the middle of the store where all the goodies are (though Brynn had to tear me away from the many big tv's when we first got in.) I love Costco because everything just tastes better in bulk.

In other news we have teamed up with a few members of our ward to form a coed momo team over at SoccerPlex. If there are any aspiring Mia Hamm's who read this we need the bodies.