My Mint Oreo's

Movies

2011-06-09T21:42:00.000-06:00

When a new movie come out like "Tron legacy", "Transformers" or "Thor", I generally enjoy where the producers take the story line even if it is in a different direction than what I would have wanted. I try and not let plot twist and little mistakes about the movie distract me form enjoying it but some times I just cant help it. During these times it is good to know that someone out there has the talent to change the story. At "How it should have ended. com" has taken it upon himself to correct the mistakes in movies and tell them in a more logical way. here are a few that I like.

"Tron" Orignal

"THOR"

The new "Star Trek"

"Transformers"

One of my favorites is "Twilight"

I love the comments and jokes they put in each movie.

Music to muse

2011-05-30T21:31:00.002-06:00

I love music it has the ability to be inspiring, soothing, and so much more.

Christmas decorations

2011-02-01T23:55:00.001-07:00

last year I reported the overall decorating that I did on my house with a total number of light broken up between outside and inside. Well this year is no different it just took me longer to post about it. So last year my grand total was 1775 lights inside and out this year I added more.

For one thing my artificial tree grew over the course of the year I know what you are thinking artificial trees can not grow. I would tend to agree however, I had to add 50 more lights to completely cover my tree this year bring the total to a whopping 1,000 on just my tree alone. last year I had a similar problem and I thought I would be just fine but no the lights from last year ended 2-3 feet from the top of the tree. Needless to say I was very perplexed and confused, so I concluded that my tree even though it is not real grew a foot or two. We also placed our tree in our living room window to add to the overall outdoor lighting experience.

In addition we also splurged and purchased a DVD of a fireplace to help set the mood for Christmas. I can tell you even though it was a fake fireplace just watching it and hearing the popping sounds of the burning logs I could actually feel the warmth of a real fire.

This year we decided to start buying the LED light set, and slowly over the course of the next few years would replace our existing light with more power efficient strands. However this year I just added to what I had because I’m like that, and I bet you can not tell which strands are the new one right.

These pictures don’t show it but one of the old strands ( the same ones I used last year and suspended them form my celling on my patio) was set to a chase setting which created a interesting effect seeing as everything else was just solid. This strand is on the gutter and above the main level window and door.

I also for fun put some lights in my girls window just to increase the excitement level for them. I did this because I can remember back when I was growing up seeing the lights twinkling through my bedroom blinds and light up my celling. I loved watching as one of the old c9 bulbs would blink while the others would be continues. Just having those light on would make me so excited about the Christmas season, and I wanted my girls to have the same memories.

So now comes the time where I tell you the total number of lights for this year with an astounding 2520 I can smile knowing I broke my personal record. The break down goes as follows 1,000 lights on my growing tree, and 1520 on the outside of the house. So until next year this is my new record for decorating.

Volcanoes

2011-02-01T22:33:00.003-07:00

This semester in my classes we are learning about volcanoes, and everything that goes with them. So I thought I would share with you some of what I learned first off geologist have a index rating for volcanoes that is similar to the rector scale meaning a change from a 1 to a 2 is 10 times more powerful. This scale is called Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) (check the link for more info)and ranges form 0 to 9 in intensity rating. Each volcano has a different rating based on the plume height, frequency of eruption, its occurrence, and the total amount of ejected material. With a little back ground I wanted to share some new knowledge about a type of volcano that I did not know much about they are called a “Maar” volcanoes and are very deadly. They form like any other volcano by magma rising to the surface however in this case the magma comes into contact with an underground aquifer. Water is instantly flashed to steam and as a super heated gas it need to expand rapidly but being trapped under ground applies pressure which is quickly over powered in a atomic like explosion earning a VEI of 5-6. Some of these eruptions produce super heated plumes that can rise 55 kilometers in the atmosphere in case you are wondering NASA describes space as starting at 100 kilometers from the surface of the earth just to give you an idea of the height these plumes can reach. They produce pyroclastic density currents(PDC) which are super heated ash flows that can travel up to 100 miles an hour, destroy anything in there path. These PDC are what is responsible for the destruction of the city of Pompeii and all the people that lived there (note Mt. Vesuvius is not a maar but is a Strato-volcano like Mt St. Helens). It is common to find maar’s as a shallow lake sometimes as deep as 10 to 200 meters and as wide as 60 to 8000 meters. I will describe more volcanoes and what I have learned in upcoming posts but until then get to know what your walking around on.

New Songs

2010-07-14T23:01:00.001-06:00

It has been a while since I posted any music I relay like Andy Mckee. What he can do with a guitar is incredible and enjoyable to listen to

I did not know they could do that….

2010-07-14T22:46:00.003-06:00

I was reading a post about dolphins on another blog and got interested in all the other videos that were similar. It took a few minutes until I came across this one and had to share it.

Sweet

2010-07-11T18:28:00.002-06:00

It took awhile and a lot of hard work but I did it.

I passed my Calculus I class.

I. Am. Awesome.

Just wanted you to know,

about me and my awesomeness.

Go me.

Geology

2010-04-28T15:44:00.003-06:00

As some one who is fascinated by Geology to the point that it even persuades my humor it was great to see a movie with some geology humor in to. What is great is that I'm not the only one who can laugh at a good geology joke. During the movie Planet 51 I was delighted to see one of the main character had about the same level of interest in geology as I do. Then when I thought this movie could not get any better there were two seen that made me laugh so hard so that I thought I would share it with you.

In this first clip "Rover" is collecting rock samples and finds more than just a rock what made me laugh is how he dealt with this pest (which is a scorpion / lizard).

On this planet when it rains it does not rain water; however, in its place is something I would never want landing on my head.

As a student of geology hoping to one day be a planetary geologist this movie was interesting.

The Reason for the Break

2010-03-05T10:27:00.002-07:00

It has already been two months since my last post it all comes down to habits my are not the most predictable. Have you ever had the moment where you do something very well for awhile then the habit slowly fades? For me the most stand out moment where this will happen is when I play one of my all time favorite video games Final Fantasy 1. Every time with out fail when I reach the last dungeon (which is also the fist one in the game) all of my ambition to finish off the game disappears. I think that has happened in a different way to my blog. However I will try to rekindle my habits and post more regularly.

Recap of 2009

2010-01-03T23:04:00.003-07:00

I have been neglectful when it comes to posting the experiences and stories of my life. Over the past few months I started a few entries but they never seemed to get off the ground. Which brings me to this point where I realized that a new year is upon me and I had not finished out the 2009 year on my blog. So the point of this post is to share the last few months worth of adventures with a little back story.

One year ago about a week before Christmas 2008 we moved to in my opinion the best and newest apartment that we had ever lived in to date after M and I were married. With the move happening so close to the holidays I did not have time to properly decorate our new home. This was a problem I was going to rectify for the 2009 season.

When it comes to decorating with lights I try and emulate Clark Griswold from the Christmas Vacation movie. My only limiters this year was the amount of lights I could put up and the limited space on my 8 foot by 8 foot patio. I started putting up lights out side over my Thanksgiving break yes before Thanksgiving Christmas lights were going up over at my house. I am pleased that I was able to put up 835 lights on my patio I know what your saying "835 that's nothing". Well to that I would remind you that my story is not done yet there is still more to come. We also this year revived a new Christmas tree from my sister (thank you), and for the first time picked out an entire matching set of ornaments (the non-breakable ones) and a complete set of clear lights specifically for the tree. What is truly amazing is the fact that it took 950 lights to completely cover the tree which we set up in our front room window. So my 2009 total lights count with the tree and outside lights combined is 1775 .

For New Year's eve I spent it taking down 1775 lights and putting away all of our Christmas decorations. With all the decorations down and in there place we can now start seating up the baby stuff before the next semester begins.

Christmas Giveaway

2009-12-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

My wife told me about this website called 5 minutes for mom that is giving away a lot of great prizes. Right now they're running a seasonal Christmas giveaways and dads can enter too. So now I'm going to head over to 5 minutes for mom and enter in a few giveaways.

Just To Prove A Point...

2009-10-03T23:39:00.009-06:00

In reference to the previous post or "my search for my windmill" as a good friend compared it to I was visiting the church web site and saw this little tidbit.
I was unable to post the youtube video here because of a sizing issue but here is the link to view it.
Now that this subject is on my mind I keep running into the same phrase "What Matters Most." Just the other day my girls were watching the vegie tails movie "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" I just happend to walkn into the room when one of the charicters said somting the struck me as intresting. "Sometimes a test helpes us decide what matters most" here is a clip so you can see what I was talking about. http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1106772249/ Then just this evening when I was at the presthood sesion of general confrance (which was very very good) more of the same advice was given. Now all I have to do is apply it. My quest for the windmills is on thanks to all of the advice I have recived.

What Matters Most?

2009-09-29T21:51:00.006-06:00

Over the last few day a simple idea has been reappearing before me, it appeared within the sources for the talk I was asked to give and in the material for my other church lessons. All I can think about is that there is a very important message that I need to pickup on and seriously apply. Thinking back on my life there are several moments where I could have been doing better in my pre-collage education yet I chose to play and entertain myself. For those choice I have received my reward now I must make a choice, continue to goof off or buckle down and focuses on what matters most. It may seen like a simple decision to make but for me it is and has been very difficult. My study habits are (I admit) mediocre at best (however compared to High School there leaps and bounds better) my desire to work on my studying habits is almost nonexistent (any suggestion would be welcomed). I don't meant to sound like a complete slacker it is just that I have lost sight of what matters most to me and I an unsure about how to reestablish that focuses. It seem that others have a solid goal that is not easily forgotten and one that propels them though other non related classes. I would love to know a way for me to have the same drive I see in others when it comes to information/classes that I see no value in. I'm not trying to sound negative about myself or my ability's to learn but it is hard lately to feel confidant in my studies. It all comes back to what mattes most and figuring what that is.

Relaxing

2009-09-05T22:06:00.003-06:00

Some times I find it hard to actual relax for the most part what I do to take a break has involved a move, watching t.v., or playing a game. Each time that I walk away form those activity's I'm anything but relaxed. It wasn't until recently that someone mentioned a way to tell if what your are doing is relaxing or not. I was surprised by the simplicity of the notion that I almost did not pay attention to it, but if it had not been for the start of another semester and a new calling on top of my teaching I would not have listened. With gratitude for thos that shared this message to me I now share this lesson or message with any who want simple key to relaxing. That key is a question to ask your self and the question is this if the activity that you are doing to relax (weather it is watching TV, or playing a game) if you can not walk away with a feeling of refreshment and readement for what is next then that activity it is the wrong thing for you to relax. For me I have found that guitar music help me relax, so I have noticed that my last guitar music post is now on the next page of my blog I thought it is time to post another sampiling of Andy McKee.

I enjoy this music and I hope that it help you relax and prepair for the rest of the day.

Yellowstone Travel Story

2009-08-23T20:56:00.003-06:00

It has taken us a few days to finish this story and post the pictures of our vacation to Yellowstone, but it is finally done and you can see it at my wife's blog. Due to its length (and I really do not want to transfer it over to my blog because I'm being lazy) and size of the file I will not post it here. The post was a joint effort and once you read it you'll know why.

Another Semester

2009-08-21T23:14:00.004-06:00

It is official the fall semester starts next week, and it puts me one semester closer to the goal of graduation. We did have one last adventure before going back, and it took place in Yellowstone National Park. Growing up my family would go to Yellowstone at least one a year for a vacation I thought maybe I should continue that tradition with my family. I was shocked to discover that my wife of almost 7 years has only ever been to Old Faithful once and never camped in the park. With this camping trip I not only had two wide eyed girls but one in awe wife. It was cute to watch my children light up with each animal that came into view. To hear there little excited voices asking questions about Old Faithful, geysers, and any bug that came into view. Most of all it was entertaining to watch as my wife experienced more of Yellowstone for the first time. :)

Summer 09'

2009-08-07T18:48:00.002-06:00

This summer has been very fun. M has enjoyed her time during her internship. We have seen some new sights and done lots of activities for the girls. But if you were to ask me what one thing was the most exciting that would be finding out that we are going to have another child. Yep that is right we are expecting number 3 in February.

Tails of an Overweight Aging Man.

2009-05-21T23:19:00.003-06:00

It is two weeks till the end of the semester when the needed one credit class began on a Tuesday night. Surrounded by younger and more fit peer the first and last class session began. This class room session was to inform the class as a hole what to expect and what items were necessary for completion of the field part of the course. Stuff like bring your own tent, clothing, food, water, and lights at least three. Being a one credit class the task to complete for the weekend classes were nothing more than show up and participate.

With all the excitement of a child awaiting Christmas morning I got all the necessities packed and ready to for the weekend field course. Arriving five munities before the pack up and head out time I was able to stow my belongings in the pack truck and stand around for everyone else to show up. With a quick pep talk about the location of our journey and a reminder of what to expect we headed out on a hour and half to the first site. Now I bet you are wondering what it was that earned the title of this post. Our first stop was a old lava tube that was not very difficult to navigate or explore. That is right I signed up for a caving class. Being a Geologist at heart and soon with a diploma (give or take a few years) it was like being lead into a candy shop as a child and told have what ever you want. Everything from the way the cave moved to the structure of the cave it’s self was extremely interesting to me. Often I would be seen just staring at a seemingly boring bit of rock but I would see different colors, shapes, and fracture patterns (some a bit odd by the way) and just try to figure out what happened down in the cave.

Cave two turned out to be another forty five munities away on deeply rutted with patches of ruff basalt popping out every few feet. Thankfully my friend whom I will call Dave was an expert when it came to going off rode with many years of practice and a few old trucks to vouch for it. As luck would have it we had to park the vehicles and hike for about one and a half to two miles over broken up basalt in the middle of the hottest part of the day. On the plus side the wind was cool and kept the hike pleasant. New camel pack and friend the journey to the cave went by quickly. However this cave turned out to be very different for the first. It too was a old lava tube but its size made the other look like a golfer hole. The temperature in this cave was much colder that the last and as a point there were ice goblins and ice stalagmites and stalactites. But the most difficult obstacle was the cave floor being covered in an inch of ice at times.

On the journey back to the parked vehicles the group spilt into several smaller groups that all found there way back with the last group containing the instructor and his aids excitedly telling everyone that they had discovered a new cavern not on any of the maps. Promising all that would attempt to go and enter the cavern that the trip would be well worth the effort required but nothing more was said other than you will need gloves and knee pads. Upon entering the cave witch stood only five feet tall and rapidly narrowing down to a foot to two feet tall with a jagged ceiling and floor one would wonder if they had a nasty prank just pulled on them. Crawling on the rock was tiring and craning my neck up to see were I was going caused a sharp pain to develop in my neck making it difficult to look where I was going for long. It turned out that I was being left in the dust by everyone else I could tell that the instructor felt bad for me as she stayed close to me to make sure I could make it to the end. During part of this journey some of the other class members would stop and roll over to rest and giving there legs and arms a much needed break one such individual was resting up ahead of me when the incident happened. Our instructor aid, who was ahead of me, reached the point right next to the before mentioned caver who reached out and grabbed the instructor’s arm and said her name. All I heard was her scream witch caused me to look up to see what had happened. But when I looked up to see her turn on her side slightly and start punching at every part of the resting caver intent on doing as much damage as she could. As for the caver he was trying the best he could to curl into a more defensible position an almost impossible feat as the cave was so small. This bit of amusement seemed to brighten the gloomy and sharp predicament I was in by leaps and bounds as I was the only one behind them and could easily see what happened. Roars of laughter could be heard echoing all around the group as the story was retold to those who were up ahead. After army crawling a tenth of a mile the cavern opens up into an antechamber with an exit to the surface further on after a short crawl and a bit of a tight fit. This chamber was spectacular a large gas bubble like one that can be seen when driving through a lava flow. On the outside it look like a giant mound or hill but on the inside it is empty.

It was decided that this unknown cave would be the last on our trip for that day and we broke out camp in a little valley with the hope that it would shield us from the now very cold and gusty wind. Needless to say that night was miserable to cold and windy to sleep but the next day was full of promise at six a.m. (anyone who know me knows better that to require me to be up and coherent at 6 a.m. let alone cheerful). The next cave was the most technical and thankfully the last that we would be doing that day. It started with a 20 to 30 foot repel into a cavern which was full of rock mounds which were the result of the ceiling caving in. This cave also had a short crawl the only difference was the floor was covered in about six to seven inches or more of find sand. Compared to the previous cave this short crawl (maybe a hundred feet) was like crawling on velvet. Unfortunately the cave did not have any alternate exits which meant we had to ascend out of the cave the same way we went into it. Not wanting to go first I watched all the others use the ascender doing the equivalent of 30 pull-ups. David (my new friend) wanted to go early on and hooked into the lines and with surprisingly little effort was up and out of the cavern (he is in the air national guard). When my turn came Another one of my instructors that were on the outside of the cave started joking around that they would pull up all of the ropes except two for the instructor who was still down in the cave (who by the way was the same instructor who was startled in the previous cave). Panicked stricken she started asking the only reaming person in the cave who had come well prepared for rock climbing (and was the person who startled the instructor in the previous cave).

With more words that I would care to type I emerged from the cave with the distinct thought of being over weight or lacking muscle power or both (more likely the later). True to there word they yanked up all but two ropes for the remaining instructor who despite the disadvantage emerged out of the cave without the aid of the extra lines and ascender.

As for the title of this post it was stated to me by David (who is the same age as me) the day before and I quote this question and answer session that made me smile and laugh he asked me.

David “Do you know how I can tell that I’m old?”

Rich “How?'”

David “I’m at the end of the group.”

(Short pause)

David “Do you know how I can tell that you are old?”

Rich “How?”

David “You are behind me.”

(Much laughing)

I hope you have enjoyed my tail of an over weight aging man who is me. ;-)

Crystal cave continued.

2009-04-14T23:48:00.001-06:00

A while back I posted about a cave full of giant crystals. Just recently I found some more information about this cave of wonders in Mexico. It can be found here.

Guitar

2009-03-29T23:56:00.002-06:00

I have always been a big fan of guitar music as well as learning different songs to play on the guitar. I have recently stumbled upon two You Tube videos that astound me so I thought I would share. I wish that I could play like this (maybe if I try hard enough).

Super Who?

2009-03-03T00:35:00.002-07:00

Just the other day I was trying to catch up on some blog post that I have been neglecting to read when I spotted one that called me to action. I found my self glued the the computer following the links to an amazingly entertaining site. It was at this web site that I spent a good hour of my time turning myself into a superhero. After nine try's to get the one that I liked and felt that matched me (well almost my muscles are Bigger ;).... ok not really) the best. Now for your enjoyment here is the Fearless Caped Fighter.

You can like me spend some time and make a superhero of yourself at The Hero Factory.

Just for fun I thought I would share with you some others I created before I found my hero.

First off there was the Courageous Masked Hero.

Next came the Courageous Masked Knight.

Followed by the Strange Caped Jedi.

Which lead to several others that started to look alike but with different color outfits, hair, and capes or even no capes like.

For example The Incredible Bearded Superior was the second to last one I did and the one I would have gone with.

Go have some fun create your own super hero.

Wii Have Advanced Into the 21 Century

2009-03-03T00:34:00.002-07:00

I can still remember the Christmas when our family gift was a Nintendo Entertainment System. We had the original Mario brothers game that included duck hunt. We as a family spent hours playing those games. However, my favorite memory is the one of my oldest sister playing mario brothers. If the Wii had been invented back then her movements would have defiantly aided mario jumping the chasm or enemy. Watching my sister send shock waves to the gaming system through the remote's cord every time she needed to jump always made me chuckle. Maybe that is why I did not see her playing it much after that. However, Now that there is a gaming system that uses those motions to interact with the games I think she would do really well.

Whirl wind

2009-01-08T11:35:00.002-07:00

First off I want to say sorry for not posting lately. However, these last few weeks have turned out to be very busy. It all started with the week of finals I had one critical class that I needed to pass. Meaning that I was studying every chance the I could get. I did not find out what my grades were until Christmas eve. Which only increased my stress levels to the point of my pre test levels. I did pass all on my classes in case anyone was wondering. Also during finals week we needed to pack up our house and move. When we just barly finished moving into our new apartment the promised snow storm hit dumping about a foot of snow. Then it has been a struggle to maintain our health and unpack. For our hoidays we spent christmas at home thanks to the dangrous driving conditions. Our new year's eve we visited M's family and had butterfinger milkshakes. This break before school starts again has not felt like a break, it was more like a whirl wind of activity. To top it off just yesterday we paid our fees for the next semester that starts this coming Monday. Our goal is to be finished unpacking before school starts again.

M.I.A.

2008-12-11T11:45:00.001-07:00

For the next few days I will not be posting due to finals.

Lagoon

2008-12-02T11:07:00.002-07:00

This post is very late but I kept forgetting to post about my trip to Lagoon. Just this last summer M and I along with two good friends went to Lagoon for a long over due day of fun for ourselves. First off we went on the Rattle Snake Rapids several times well before the day became hot to avoid the crowed. We did not stop riding it until each member of our group was drenched. It was my favorite ride when they first put it in several years ago and it still one of my favorite rides. A new feature of this ride is the the onlookers can drench the people who are on the ride. But seeing how we went early to this ride that was not a problem for us. The only thing we forgot to do was put our money and tickets into a plastic bag to keep them from getting soaked. Right after this ride we chose to continue with the wet them and rode the log ride once. It was not even a question after that ride we were going to try and dry off using the roller coaster and other rides to supply the wind. The tidal wave and the turn of the century were the ones we chose to attempt to sped up the drying process. Wet jeans just don't fit well. Well these two rides put M past her endurance and she became very sick. Even though she has been on them before and had a great time riding them this time it was too much and I think that she might not be able to go on rides again. Which was vary sad to say the least because we loved to go on rides together. The last time we went to Lagoon we had fun running from ride to ride and our favorite then was the Cliffhanger. So we took our friends over to it so we could show them what they had been missing. I love this ride, the seats are two rows that the operators can lock into position then rotate so the row is completely upside down twenty feet above the ground. To make it more interesting they shoot water up at the passengers. Only this time when I rode this ride I got a bloody nose from being held upside down too long. So even though it is a ride I enjoy I do not know if I can go on it again. To the left of this ride was the spider I have never been on this ride and did not care for what it looked like but our friends had and loved it so they encouraged me to ride it with them while M stayed on the sidelines while her sickness was going away. The Spider was a fun ride but it ranks up there with the wild mouse (which I hate and will never go on it again, However M likes the wild mouse) I would go on the Spider again but it would not be the first thing I would run to. The one I would run too would be Wicked this ride is one I could ride on all day it only last about ten seconds but it is a blast. I have only seen a few pictures of rides that looked like this and even then I wanted to go on one. This is Lagoon's newest ride and was vary popular the lie took about twenty to thirty minutes to get through; however, it was well worth the wait. I especially liked the sound effect of a rocket when the ride started signaling the take off up the vertical tower leading to a straight drop off. Just describing it makes me want to ride it again. M thought I was nuts to even want to go on a ride like this what can I say I must be a little nuts. It was very fun and I know M would have had a blast on it. There is one ride that M and I really enjoy it is the Top Eliminator this ride simulates real dragsters. It is position on tracks so that no one will crash but the control of the speed is all in the hands of the rider. Reaching speeds of 75 mph in less that 2.8 seconds to read more about it click hear. We raced three times to see who could get the best time and with four cars to race it was perfect we all could race against one another. The picture is bad but you can get the Idea. Each of the rides we went on can be found at Lagoon's web site. Before we could call it a day we had to ride three more rides one of them was the white roller coaster (this is another ride the I do not like) it is Lagoon's legacy ride it is old and made out of wood. Not one that is smooth in the turns or the rises. Every time I ride it I'm very thankful to not have died. I know others enjoy it so I will not make it out to seem worse than it is. Every time I go to Lagoon I ride it but every time. Manly it is because someone in my group wants to try it out. Even after all of my attempts to convince other wise. It wont be until after the ride that I will hear that they should have taken my advice. Unlike the Wild Mouse I will ride the White Roller coaster just in case any one was wondering what the difference is between the two. Next is also a new one that I have wanted to ride when it first was put in the park but M did not and even this trip would not ride it. The Rocket is a intense ride the like the name states stars off like a rocket. At about one hundred feet stops and drops back down to the starting platform. I thought for a second during this ride that I was going to die but just for a second other than that I enjoyed the comments from my friend as the ride took off. I wish that I could remember exactly what he said but that is impossible for me to recall. Just the force form taking off make the restraints feel loose and like I could fall out. Then on the way down the seat feel like they disappeared because now I was falling faster than gravity could pull giving a weight less effect even though the ground was rushing toward me. After the Rocket we all rode on the Bat which is the only hanging ride that Lagoon has and we all enjoyed that ride even M who said she would enjoy riding it again. It was a mild ride but still very fun and I could enjoy riding it several times. After all of our rides were done we went around to the games and tried our luck at several different ones. M won on the Mini golf challenge, and we almost won several times at the classic bottle and ball game. The one we won at was the whack-a-mol game which is where we won a couple of care bears for our girls. The only bad part of our day was the driving in Utah. That is always going to be a sore spot for me.

New Features

2008-11-19T12:37:00.002-07:00

I have discovered several new features that I can offer on my blog and I have added a few that I think will be beneficial for everyone including me. I'm only having one little problem and that is putting it all together in a visual appeasing manner that will allow them to be seen and used. So far I added another daily quote at the top of my blog, a new picture, a poll on random questions, a new blog buddies list titled double stuff (if you want to be added to that let me know who you are and I will add it), a followers link, What's up in the world breaking news, a subscribe to, a slide show, labels, New music, a music search, astronomy picture of the day, NASA picture of the day, Watch shows online, and a you tube slide show. How ever I need some opinions on what I should keep and where I should put it. I do not like clutter or random placed objects. However, If you think my site would do better off with out a specific item, perhaps I'm missing something, or should move it to a different spot let me know.

Music Tag

2008-11-15T00:01:00.006-07:00

I found this at ramblings of an otherwise coherent mind and thought it look like fun. You might enjoy what your about to read or not but I liked it.

Rules:

1. Put you music player on shuffle.

2. Press forward for each question.

3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn't make sense. NO CHEATING!

4. Tag 5 people (or not)

5. With the answer, give your own comments on how it relates to the questions.

Questions:

1. HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?

Something's Missing (John Mayer) - Some times it does feel that way.

2. WILL YOU GET FAR IN LIFE?

Ignition Remix (R. Kelly) - All I need to do is start the ignition

3. HOW DO YOUR FRIENDS SEE YOU?

Invisible Touch (Genesis) - I'm Invisible!

4. WILL YOU GET MARRIED?

The Space Between (Dave Matthews) - The Space between me and my spouse grows smaller and smaller each day.

5. WHAT IS YOUR BEST FRIEND'S THEME SONG?

Turn it on Again (Genesis) - I had no Idea that it was your theme song..

6. WHAT IS THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE?

That's All (Genesis) - Apparently that's all of it.

7. WHAT WAS HIGH SCHOOL LIKE?

Bigger than my body (John Mayer) - I often felt lost in the crowd.

8. HOW CAN YOU GET AHEAD IN LIFE?

Hold On My Heart (Genesis) - Keep what maters most to me close.

9. WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?

Play (Jennifer Lopez) - We play games together be it board games or golf.

10. WHAT IS IN STORE FOR THIS WEEKEND?

Stay (Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories) - Could not have put it better myself stay home.

11. THE BEST THING TO DESCRIBE YOUR GRANDPARENTS?

A thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton) - It felt like they lived a thousand miles away before they passed on.

12. HOW IS YOUR LIFE GOING?

Hanging by a moment (Lifehouse) - Some times it is hanging by a moment like around finals week

13. WHAT SONG WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Sadhana (Steve Stevens) - I love this song it is a guitar solo found on the woods and steal record(I wish I could play like that).

14. HOW DOES THE WORLD SEE YOU?

Can't Escape my love (Enrique Iglesias) - I'm very sweet to everyone (unless they can't drive well).

15. WILL YOU HAVE A HAPPY LIFE?

Heaven is a place on earth (Belinda Carlisle) - How reassuring is that.

16. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS REALLY THINK ABOUT YOU?

Move Along (All American Rejects) - Either I have some great dance moves or I need to go on to something new.

17. DO PEOPLE SECRETLY LUST AFTER YOU?

Disturbia (Rihanna) - I guess that the answer is disturbing ;)

18. HOW CAN I MAKE MYSELF HAPPY?

No Such Thing (John Mayer) - **Whimper** that's not good.

19. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR LIFE?

Higher (Gloria Estefan) - Reach for the stars.

20. WILL YOU EVER HAVE CHILDREN?

Swing Swing All-American Rejects) - This song is the one that my girls love. I used it (along with the visualization in media player)to distract them when they were crying.

21. WHAT SONG WOULD YOU STRIP TO?

Can't Help Falling In love (A*Teens) - Well it does have a nice beat and good lyrics.

22. IF A MAN IN A VAN OFFERED YOU CANDY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Say (John Mayer) - I would say a lot of things to this person none of which I should repeat.

23. WHAT DOES YOUR MOM THINK OF YOU?

Life is a Highway (Rascal Flatts) - I always kept her on her toes. One word Ants.

24. WHAT IS YOUR DEEP DARK SECRET?

Reach (Gloria Estefan) - I'm really elastic man! Able to stretch to "fantastic" lengths. ~~(there is NO hidden meaning M just pure chance *wink wink*)~~

25. WHAT IS YOUR MORTAL ENEMY'S THEME SONG?

Apologize (Timbaland) - That's right. They had better apologize.

26. WHAT IS YOUR PERSONALITY LIKE?

Ride Wit Me (City Spud) - Lets go for a ride.

Well that is the end I hope that it made you smile even a little and yes my player was on shuffle these were the ones that came up. My music is not the most extensive but I do have a lot of songs. If you want to try it then you have been tagged. I do however want to tag a couple of people, they are:

"M"

"Jason"

"Rhoda"

"Leah"

"Kara"

Have fun and I can't what to read your post's. Now you know what type of music I listen to

Photos

2008-11-04T22:39:00.002-07:00

This is site is a must see. First off the creator is a good friend who has treated me well. I had know that he has taken pictures in the past in fact I know what happens to the pictures that are deemed as "looser pictures". Needles to say I'm not sure who has them, or where the stack of 300+ pictures are at this moment. Aside form those looser pictures I had seen few of the pictures that were deemed good. Now I have the opportunity to purchase anyone that I want which is a staggering task of trying to narrow down my favorites to one or even just a few. Right now on his sight if you send people to it you can be entered into a contest to win the picture of your choice, but hurry the drawing will end soon visit his site http://www.alongthebackroads.com/webpages/homepage.html to learn more about the giveaway. If you would like to read his blog you can click the link here Adventures & Misadventures of Daily Living or select his blog from my list of friends under the heading "Double Stuff". Tell him Rich sent you.

Fall Fun

2008-10-29T14:58:00.002-06:00

Even though the Autumn season started a wile ago It was not until yesterday that our tree out front started to drop it's leafs. Our sidewalk, grass, and car was covered in a thick layer of leafs. We decides to take advantage of the new fallen leafs by gartering them up into a large pile and jump in them. M and I have never played like this in the leafs so what a perfect time to start and share what we missed out on growing up and make sure that our girls have a good memories. We jumped in piles of leaf tossed had full of leafs into the air and took lots of pictures. It turned out to be a good opportunity to grow closer as a family.

Blessings

2008-10-29T00:28:00.003-06:00

For our anniversary M and I gave each other the books that we have been wanting for awhile. M's book is "Inside every woman" and mine is "Brisingr" along with the preceding two books. Latter that evening we went to a trunk or treat in our old ward. All of our neighbors are in that ward while M and I are in a different ward of our choosing. The event was enjoyable and entertaining. Plus the girls were having a ball playing games and receiving candy. The girls, M, and I had a great time. For our family costume we decided to go as a set of Lego's. We used cardboard boxes and plastic cups that we spray painted. To attach the cups we cut out holes, in the front of the box, that were just smaller than the cup so we could insert the cups snugly. I was the blue Lego M was the red Lego J was the purple Lego and A was the pink Lego.

When we came home we decided to use our circular cutouts to "spot" our neighbors door. Before we had a chance to take a snapshot of our handy work we were interrupted by a car screeching to a halt right out front of our house. For about ten seconds all I could see was clouds of blue smoke wafting into the head light beams of the car. M on the other hand saw the whole thing happen the little girl wanting her mommy then running out into the street after her only to be hit by the car. I have never been so close to an accident like that before M took off running to the girl almost instantly while I stood in unbelief not completely knowing what had just happened. Luckily the little girls was not injured even though she was knocked down. Needless to say we ended our anniversary on a very sobering note. We did get a picture of the door though and had a little fun with our neighbors before the day was over. The note says "You've been spotted!"

Anniversary

2008-10-25T22:11:00.002-06:00

Six years ago at 10:30 I was blessed with the companionship of the most wonderful person in the world. I just wanted to post a little about her. My nick name for her is "M". She has been the driving force behind me to get back into school. On top of that she is an wonderful example for how to be a good parent, student, and friend. Today she let me sleep in until I needed to go into work, and brought me breakfast in bed. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say how much I love her and thank her for all she had done for me. I love you M.

Did you know!

2008-10-19T19:47:00.002-06:00

My CIS teacher showed us this clip of information and I thought it had a lot of amazing information. So I decided to share it with everyone. The First one is the one my teacher showed my class just follow the link bellow. The second one is one I found online and it almost shows the same information.

1. Click on the link bellow to view it.

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=x7aVOMrlfkkijQwcLllwk6WjB5JE0zrF

2. Click on the play button to view it.

Projects

2008-10-17T09:37:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I had a presentation due in my biology lab. My group decided to find information on amphibians to present. Well I was chosen to create the power point while everyone else would send me the important points of there parts. Well It did not turn out that way. What happened was one person sent me information that I could not open because it was corrupt. The second one sent me information but not in the format that would have helped me make the presentation. So not only did I have to create the power point but I had to sift through all the information and find the key points to present. I did not mind much until I realized that I had forgotten and missed the dead line for an online quiz because I was spending so much time on the presentation. Then I was not very happy good thing that my grad could take the hit and not be effected by it too much. But it was not only my quiz that I missed but study time for a math test. My math class is one that I'm struggling in and I know that it is my fault for letting it go and not worrying about it. It just never seem like there is enough time in the day for everything that I need to do. Lately it feels like I start something and the next minuet it is 1 a.m. and I'm no were near being done or understanding what I'm studding. I think that I have a learning block or something I just can not grasp things very quickly and it is not limited to math and biology but every class that I have taken (minus the P.E. ones) have turned out that way. Questions that I should know the answer to I draw a complete blank even if we just went over the answer five seconds ago. What could help me remember?

Why can't I remember? That are the question I keep trying to find an answer to.

Here is a picture of an amphibian that I did my presentation on it is called a caecilian

Great Deals for Collage Students

2008-10-03T23:52:00.002-06:00

Just this semester I learned about some great deals for collage students that I feel like I should pass along. First off I have a Computer Information class and as part of the classes home page is this link. It is a deal that Microsoft puts on for collage students. You half to be a student with 0.5 credits and have a valid edu email address. The deal is you can purchase the 700.00 dollar office suite which includes everything that Microsoft has made for the price of 59.95 dollars. The site is called "The Ultimate Steal" and not only does it give collage students this great deal on office 2007 but several other deals on other software. I will post any other deals I come across and if you know of one and want to share the tip to other then just reply to this post and leave a link to the sight.

New Hobby

2008-09-18T12:45:00.002-06:00

This last summer I picked up a new hobby one that can become very expensive. I have discovered that I love to golf or at least pretend to golf. It all started when one of my good friends invited me to join him and another friend for a game of golf. Well I have played the game before and without much luck or enthusiasm to ever try again. however I was persuaded to go one more time and found out that I really enjoyed it. Especially when we reached the last hole where the green was specked with yellow autumn leafs. If you know me I really enjoy the fall colors and weather. Well after that game I was hooked and wanted to go again. So a few days later I went out an purchased my own set of clubs. Now I have gone several times to the golf course and to the driving range and I'm improving every time that I go. I even find myself wanting to go and hit a bucket of ball to relieve my pent up stress. This is what my clubs look like.

New Car

2008-09-16T13:36:00.002-06:00

Over the weekend My wife and I decided to go and check out our local auction and if we could purchase a second car. Well our first two choices of cars went way over our spending limit. However our third choice did not and we were able to purchase it.

This is what our new car is. If you can not tell it is a Mitsubishi Eclipse. It has been a very great blessing to finely have two vehicles we now can get earns done while the other is at school or work. Plus it is very fun to drive. ;-)

Funny things that my girls have said to me

2008-09-07T23:34:00.002-06:00

My wife and I decided one day to get a chore chart going for our children to get them motivated to do more around the house. When we finely found one and started using it my eldest who was overly excited about the chart asked me "Daddy what's on my schedule for today?"

Lately my youngest has been in this fascination with Winnie the Pooh. Well one day she was trying to get ready for the day and was having trouble putting her shirt on. I was about ready to help her when she frustrated exclaimed "oh! bother". Needles to say Winnie the Pooh has been shelved. :-)

Five things you might not know about me.

2008-09-07T23:24:00.002-06:00

1. I have taken and passed a foil fencing class. My favorite part about that class was learning all the tricks that one can do with a foil. Like throwing a sword to another fencer either by flipping the sword with ones foot or from the tip of the sword. Then my personal favorite starts with the sword at ones side pointing to the ground then pressing the blade further toward the ground causing the blade to bend. With the sword in this position the owner lets go and the sword will flip up and rotate 180 degrees. This maneuver makes it possible to spring the sword up into the air landing in the owners hand ready to fight. If done right one could add a little spin in place for artistic flair.

2. I play the guitar, and I'm currently learning how to play the piano; however I do know one song and it is not the one that most people thinking of aka"chop sticks". If you know me then you probably already know what song I'm referring to if not I wont spoil it for you. I am also trying to learn how to play the violin, so that it will be the crown jewel of my musical accomplishments when I have learned that instrument.

3. My Major in Collage is Geology with and emphasis in planetary geology. I will graduate with two minors one is in business and the other is in G.I.S technology. I have been hoping to double major, but I have yet to find one that will work in my schedule. One of my goals in life has been to graduate with a doctorate in an field that I love to do.

4. I love to fix things it does not matter if it is electrical, mechanical, wood working, including anything that breaks around the house. I'm not very good when it things get too technical but I can hold my own. ;)

5. I love to golf. My best drive to date has been over 225 yard. Now that might not seem like a lot but I just started golfing in July of this year. Technically I have only played 6 games of golf (9 holes each) in my life 4 of those games were this summer. I have gone to the driving range 4 times in my life and they all were this summer. My average score per game is a 58. Not the greatest but not bad for a beginner.

Now it is your turn list five things that people might not know about yourself on your blog and leave a comment here.

This post was inspired by my wife.

Memory tag

2008-07-22T01:24:00.002-06:00

Revisiting old memories with family and friends is always fun but some memories slip. Some memories that we have created though we at the time thought we will never forget them have not become so faint that we don't know if it was a dream or reality. So hear is a way we all can benefit from each other all I ask is to keep it G rated and play along. I found this Idea on another blog and thought that it was a stupendous idea. The fowling is the original post that can be found on the above mentioned blog just edited a little.

A little game called MEMORY TAG...du du du dun! I have a horrible memory, but I thought this might help bring some of it back. Anyway look's fun, I'll try it!
Here are the directions:
1. Add a comment on my blog and leave a memory that you and I had together.It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! I guess good or bad, but be nice!!I
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

New Look

2008-07-22T01:05:00.002-06:00

Just the other day my wife and I was looking at other blogs and noticed that some if not all had changed there look and layout. Feeling the need for an improvement in my blog I started to look at other templates and backgrounds. Then as a mishap my side were placed out of there normal order. Leading me to recognize that not only did my background need changing but my side elements too. Thanks to my sister who just started her blog I discovered some new elements that I happen to like more that the originals I had. So all of my work and playing around has created the new face of My Mint Oreo's I hope you like it.

As the Years Pass

2008-06-03T21:48:00.002-06:00

This year marks my ten year high school reunion; yes, I graduated in 1998. But what is amazing to me is that every now and again I will run into an old friend form school. For a few moments I find myself stunned to see someone form that time era. However, it never last long we get to talking and then discover what the other has been doing for the past few years. Then it occurs to me there was another group of people that I was close to for two years then I left them behind. For that group it has been eight years since I saw anyone or even spoken to anyone form there. Just the other day I went to the web site where everyone post their information, and I was shocked to see that few if any that I had know post anything. Lately I have found myself thinking back on those times wanting to know just how each of my friend are doing and what they are doing. As of yet I have never ran into anyone form there. I do hope that changes.

4 things about me

2008-04-08T10:59:00.002-06:00

I received an e mail from my friend and thought that everyone would enjoy reading my answers.

Four things about me that you may or may not have known in any particular order. The directions are at the end.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Retail sails person (Office Max)

2. Machine operator (Ballard Medical)

3. Customer Service Manager (Wal-mart)

4. Insulation Installer (Interwest Insulation)

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Transformers

2. Oscar

3. Star trek generations

4. Back to the future

Four places I've lived:
1. POCATELLO, ID

2. Roseville, CA

3. Redding, CA

4. Grass Valley, CA

Four TV shows I watch:
1. Chuck

2. Who's line is it anyway

3. Knight rider

4. When ever I get the chance Discovery

Who I think will respond:
1. you

2. maybe not you

3. my friend (maybe its you)

4. my family (maybe its you)

Things I am looking forward to this year:
1. SUMMER

2. Camping / Hiking

3. Getting in contact with old friends

4. Ridding my Mountain bike

Four talents you have:

1. Playing the guitar

2. Wood working

3. Spending money :)

4. Playing with my kids

DIRECTIONS:
Now, Here's what you're supposed to do... And please
do not spoil the fun.

For blogs ( Copy and paste this into you blog, and delete my answers and type in your answers. Then leave a comment on my blog with a link to your's so everyone can get to know you.)

For e-mail (Hit forward, delete my answers and type in your
answers or copy and paste. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you.)

The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about
those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person
who sent it to you.

Spring Break :)

2008-04-01T14:14:00.002-06:00

For spring break this semester we decided to go on a mine vacation to Utah. More specifically we went to Ogden and Sandy Utah. The trip was just the right amount of distance form home so that you could easily forget all your worry's and enjoy your self.

Our first stop on our vacation was at the dinosaur museum in Ogden. Where my girls along with some of their friends discovered dinosaurs around every corner. I wished we could have gone a little slower so we could read about each exhibit. But when children think that they are discovering something new around every bend they race to be the first to see it. From my stand point it was very amusing to watch their excitement increases with each passing minuet, and I rather enjoyed just watching their faces with every new discovery.

To top it off the museum had some very fun activities that, for a fee, you could dig up polished rock out of their gravel pit. While my girls were busy doing that I was picking out some geodes that I wanted to have cut. Over all the museum was very effective in getting me to forget my worry's.

Next we went to the Mayan restaurant, the food was good and the entertainment was amazing. This restaurant's boasts that you will have a South American jungle experience. You sit in the branches of a three story tree full of rain forest animals. Its entertainment is centered around a water fall, taller than the tree that stands across form it, where actors will jump into a pool some 60 feet below.

To finish up our vacation we took our kid to the build a bear workshop in the gateway mall. Where my girls enjoyed giving their bears a air bath and picking out clothing for their bears.

This vacation was the best that I have had in a very long time. In fact it was so good that I completely forgot about all of my homework that was due when spring break ended.

The every elusive top grade

2008-02-07T00:14:00.001-07:00

We have all been though the experience of waiting in tense anticipation for our master peace to be handed back to us with the praise of the teacher. There would be a set of numbers written on the chalk board declaring where the grade for the assignment and how they fit in to the standard grading system. Then the moment has arrived with mounting excitement the teacher hands your master peace back to you. Upon glancing at the numbers written in red ink all the excitement vanishes like popping a balloon. You realize that your master peace was not as great as you had hoped it would be.

You see I never thought that this day would ever come where one of my assignments is marked as the top grade achieved out of the class. In my past educational history I have never had the honor of having the top score on any work that I have done. Most of my work would range some where in the middle close to the top but never quite the best. During my grade school years my efforts were fruitless I felt like a trout jumping up a water fall and not quite making it to the top to continue up the river. No matter how hard I tried it just was not enough to get to the top of the water fall I always fell short like the trout. Never being able to gain the top spot was a pattern that continued to plague me all through my high school years, even into collage. Even though I had always done my best I was now becoming so accustom to falling short that I believed it was always going to happen.

With my first English assignment being handed back today I did not want to get my hopes up just to get them dashed. With my previous experiences as undeniable proof I believed that there would be no change. My desired achievement would ever remain elusive like a deer evading the hunter. Then Monday the 4th of February rolled around like in the past, posted on the board was the range of points that would define what grade I achieved. So expecting another average grade my paper was handed back to me, without looking at the score on it I quickly shoved it into my binder as to conceal it form other students. Hopping that my professor would not go over and explain how her grading worked, so I could delay looking at my master peace ripped to peaces. I began taking out my note book and got ready to start taking notes on her lecture. However, my professor started into an explanation on her grading system and how the grades ranged. With dread creeping on me I pulled out my paper to asses the damage this time to my self-esteem.

Stunned at what my eyes were telling me thoughts like, This can’t be what I think I’m seeing and Could it possibly be true? When I heard my professors declare that the top grad received by a student was exactly the same number that I was looking at on my paper. Instantly my heart began to swell with pride as a renewed hope began to blossom replacing gloom and discouragement. Then sever thought rushed around my mind like, Mine is the best score there is none better than mine and finely! With this swelling realization I just wanted to jump up and yell “I did it!” But the lecture was starting and my moment was over after so many years and it was over just like that. It just didn’t seem fare that no one was congratulating me and partying, and where were the balloons and confetti?

The Gap Filler

2008-01-31T13:32:00.001-07:00

Over the last few months lots has happened. My grades for my classes were all realy good and in the spring I will have a 17 creadit load. However, the benifits that I was receving from my job decided to cut me off after 6 months insted of a full year like they promised. This is only one of several issue I'm having with them changing there minds about something they have promised me.
On a good note just the other day my dd informed me that she has a green puppy named Charkie, lol. I'v been whating for the stage where she has imagenary friends. It is so fun to see her interact with her puppy. I wish I could rember my imagenary friend; can you rember any?

Thought for today

2007-10-05T21:31:00.001-06:00

This semester I am taking a variety of classes one of which is U.S. History and culture. One of the interesting things that I have taken away from this class is the culture of the Native Americans tribes. For instance did you know that the women had the final say in any trade made by her husband. On top of that women were the ones who divided the food between the tribe. But the most interesting thing I learned was that most of the tribes traced the genealogy through there wife's side of the family.

Trying something new

2007-10-04T10:28:00.001-06:00

Right now I'm sitting in the library at school ''studding'' for my quiz in geology at 11 and I needed a break. So I'm trying to make a post using my palm. It takes a little getting use to and is not as fast. Now for something new I call it the fact of the day. Did you know that the largest diamond found in the world was about the size of a bowling ball. Where is it now? It has been cut several times the largest piece is the size of a tennis ball. Currently adorns the top of the royal scepter of England.

Monday Muse

2007-09-23T23:01:00.001-06:00

This is a comic that one of my teachers had in there slide show that I think is very funny.

Hope you enjoy it

New Gadget

2007-09-23T18:18:00.001-06:00

Most people will tell you guy's love gadgets, well that is true. At the start of the school year there was one gadget that I really wanted it is a Palm TX. Sure enough I got my gadget and It has been the biggest help to me. I do not want to sound like I'm defending myself but my memory is getting very shotty and I'm forgetting things left and right. However, Now that I have it I have all my classes and assignments in it along with scriptures both bible and book of Mormon and hymns with the children hymns book and the current president manual. On top of that i can use it as an mp3 player and surf the web. So I think like it is a very reasonable purchase.

Friendship bread

2007-09-22T11:58:00.001-06:00

My wife (with my persistance) is making friendship bread which is the best bread ever. It takes over a week to prep the bread the main ingredance which is a bag of milk shugger and flower. However, when the bread is cooking it smells hevenly. If you ever get a chance to make it it is well worth it.

Geology & College

2007-09-19T22:22:00.002-06:00

If you were wondering where I found out about the giant quartz crystals, it was from my geology class. However, the information about this amazing discovery is a couple of months old, April 9 of 2007, which shows you just how much out of the loop I am. Now considering that my major is geology, I need to work on being better informed about this kind of thing.

A couple of weeks ago I started a class that I didn't think I would like that much. It is American History and Culture. It sounded like all the other boring history classes that I have taken in my life. I have been pleasantly surprised at the information that we as a class are covering, some I have never heard of or even thought about before. For instance, did you know that in the Native American culture before the Europeans came over was mostly a Matriarchal society? Meaning that the women were more in charge of things than the men. For example when men the women were married it was the man who would change his name, and their lineage was traced through the female side rather than the males side.

Kind of interesting.

The Fortress of Solitude.....in Mexico?

2007-09-10T11:37:00.001-06:00

You might remember the Fortress of Solitude in the movie Superman it looked something like this and was located at the South Pole.

Well it looks like Superman has another one in Mexico. Maybe he got tired of the cold weather. (See below) Just check out the link to the discovery of this cave of crystals.

Life Cycle

2007-08-07T21:16:00.001-06:00

My wife and I received this E-mail about how a pack of dogs took on an alligator it came complete with a photo of the event the following text is what we received.

“Read the story first before you decide whether to open the attachment or not...

I wouldn't recommend eating while you look at this but as a Natural history picture it's fantastic.

Dog Pack Attacks Alligator in Florida: At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty. The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator", can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the pack mentality" bred into the canines. See the remarkable photograph attached courtesy of Nature Magazine. The Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Not for the squeamish! Not really! But go ahead and read the story first anyways, trust me! “

;-)

Look at them, there so cute.

Game Night

2007-08-05T21:30:00.001-06:00

Lately my wife and I have geen inviting friends over and playing games with them like Cranium, Clue the great Museum Caper. My favorit game is the last one it uses the classic charictors from the orignal clue game however, in this version it is a littel different. One person playing is the bad guy and the rest is are the charictors trying to find the bad guy and stop him or her from stilling all the art in the museum. This game is not in stors any more but it is the funest game that I have ever played. I like being the bad guy it is very tense trying to sneek arround and still all the paintings in the museum and not get caught. Another game that I like is Risk 2210 a verson of the game brought into the nucler erea with the addition of concering the Ochens and the Moon makes this game realy difficulet. What game are your favorit games?

Tricky MeMe

2007-07-29T22:37:00.001-06:00

Well this will be fun to try this meme has a interesting twist that is you half to answer the meme in 3 words. Thank you Nate for tagging me this looks like it will be fun.

1. Where is your cell phone? Don't have one

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend? I can't tell

3. Your hair? Short light brown

4. Where is your father? Home in bed

5. Your favorite thing to do? Go Bike riding

6. Your dream last night? Something about wizards

7. Your dream car? Chrysler 300c, blue

8. The room you're in? Cozy living room

9. Who did you hang out with last night? I'm not telling

10. Your fears? Snakes, Scorpions, Sharks

11. What aren't you good at? English, Cooking, Knitting

12. Muffins? Hot fresh blueberry

13. One of your wish list items? Honda Gold Wing

14.The last thing you did? Played board games

15. Your computer? Old Toshiba laptop

16. Your pet? Imaginary Norfolk Terrier

17. You are wearing? Tan shorts, shirt

18. Your life? Rushed, Stressed, Unique

19. Your mood? Calm and relaxed

20. Missing? Several game peices

21. Your car? Sporty Honda Odyssey

22. What are you thinking about now? Sleep, Headache, Math

23. Your work? Blissfully unemployed student

24. Your summer? Hot, dry, crazy

25. Your relationship status? Married, 2 kids

26. Your favorite color(s)? Blue, White, Red

27. When is the last time you cried? Smashed toes repeatedly

28. When was the last time you laughed? Playing board games

29. School? Projected graduation 2011

30. Favorite 90's group? Blink 182, Everlast

This was fun I hope you enjoyed reading my comments now I'm supposed to tag 3 people. However, seeing how everyone I know has been tagged I will use my old stand by. Which is if you want to give this meme a try then consider yourself tagged.

$799.99 Flat Panel TV GIVEAWAY!

2007-07-27T19:56:00.001-06:00

Over at 5 Minutes for mom they are giving away a 37" Flat Panel LCD HDTV thanks to Best Buy. This is and amazing prize worth $799.99 I have wanted a flat panel TV and to get one for free would be great. You can enter too just go over to 5 minutes for mom and sign up for your chance to win this astounding prize. But you had better hurry you only have until Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 12:00am Eastern to get a chance at winning this fabulous prize.

Are you smarter than a 8th grader?

2007-07-19T22:59:00.000-06:00

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 7/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

First MEME

2007-07-19T21:08:00.001-06:00

If it had not been for my wife I would not have know that Kara tagged me for this meme. I know that is really sad I should check blogs more often. However, I do not have as much time as I would like to so I will try to do better.

INSTRUCTIONS:Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:
1. The Ice Box
2. The Buzz Queen
3. I Was Born2Cree8
4. A Bit of Me
5. My Mint Oreo’s

Next select five people to tag:
1. I do not know that many people If you would like to try you are now tagged.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Then answer the following questions:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was 17 and enjoying summer as for exactly what I did it probably included a T.V. , Nintendo, and too much time. :)

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Well one year ago I was working too jobs and didn’t have much time for anything else. I was a machine operator at one of them and a night Customer Service Manager at the other and it did not give me much time for sleep.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Peanut M&Ms
2. Chocolate Twizzlers
3. Jerky
4. Sugar Cookies
5. Rice crispy treats

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
1. (The Ping Pong Song) Do You Know by Enrique Iglesias
2. 100 Years by Five for fighting
3. Starry-eyed surprise by Dj Sammy
4. Mashed Potatoes by the wiggles
5. The Belly Button Song By the Boys in the Sink

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Payoff our debts
2. Payoff our families debts
3. Help out my friends whenever they needed it
4. Get a truck and tons of fun toys for us(like jet skis)
5. Go on lots of fun vacations (with family and friends)

Five bad habits:
1. Being lazy
2. Eating too much fast food
3. Not getting to bed at a decent hour
4. Spending too much money
5. Being grumpy

Five things you like doing:
1. Playing my video games
2. Reading
3. Playing with gadgets
4. Flying
5. Word working

Five things you would never wear again:
1. Anything that I had to wear growing up
2. Jeans with holes in the knees
3. Overalls
4. My Michael McLean signed t-shirt
5. T-shirts that have had the neck stretched out too much

Five favorite toys:
1. My Optumis Prime Transformer
2. My guitar
3. My tools
4. My bike and bike trailer
5. My Computer

Wow!

2007-07-18T16:20:00.001-06:00

when I have been surfing the web recently I found some amazing things one of them is this site that is giving away $500 dollars worth of electronics such as a PS3, Xbox360, etc. Now the PS3 is something that I have wanted ever sense they came out but I could not afford to get one. But now I have a chance to win one and you can too, all you half to do is copy this message or you can put it in your own words then just post it in your blog.

“Over at JohnCow.com they must have the coolest web hosting provider in the pasture. These guys are having a cowpetition and are giving away a $500 prize! Here’s your chance to win a Playstation3,or an Xbox360, a Nintendo Wii, an iPhone .. you name it, they’ll pay it! Don’t miss out and check out their mad cow blog!”

So what are you waiting for check them out!

Movie Review

2007-07-17T12:11:00.001-06:00

Just the other day I went to one of the movies that I posted earlier about. I bet you can not guess what one I went to, that's right it was Transformers and it was awesome! I really enjoyed the plot and the computer graphics were really amazing. But the best part was how funny it was I was not expecting it to be so funny. I do not want to give away any of the movie for you so you will half to go out and see it yourself.

Amazing Prize

2007-07-17T11:45:00.001-06:00

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

Norfolk Terrier

2007-07-17T10:54:00.001-06:00

I think that this is the cutesiest dog in fact this is the dog that I want to get when we move into a house. We use to have a beagle she was very cute but we were having trouble finding a good apartment that would allow us to have a dogs. In fact all we could find were rundown old apartment in scary neighborhoods. So getting a dog now would not be very practical.

MY BAD

2007-07-12T23:00:00.001-06:00

Well if you know me you would come to find out that I have this thing about myself that my wife calls it being a pack rat( she might be right of coarse). However, I would like to clarify what really happens (this goes for most of my stuff but not all of it) when someone or something happens that I like or care for I attach some sentimental value to it and I'm a very sentimental kind of person. This has led to a collection of odd stuff for example rocks, pens, key chains, my old mission letters and pictures, and a variety of nuts and bolts. Now I really have a weakness for pens I for some reason think that they are really neat and I can not get enough of them. If you do not believe me all one has to do is look at my pen holder it is bursting with writing utensils and I have some more stored away in the desk drawer. To top it off I have picked up several free pens with the name of the company that is giving them away printed on it. I have some from as fare away as Mexico one has a had woven covering with my name woven into the design. Out of all of these there is one that has been my prised possession it was given to my on fathers day last year by my sweat wife. I do half to admit that when my wife presented me with it as a gift I was a little let down, she had been going on about how she got a tool for me so naturally I was thinking along the lines of a hammer not a pen. It took a little while before I could say thank you and I could tell that my reaction to it just crushed my wife that is something that I'm very sorry about. She told me how she had the hardest time thinking of anything to get for me and how a someone tolled her about this pen and how she knew that I liked pens so she thought it would be a perfect gift for me and she was right. This pen is simply amazing it is called the Fisher space pen and can do the most amazing things like wright in zero gravity, under water, and at any angle they are the official pen that NASA uses in space. So you can imagine that a pen like that would be expensive the one my wife got for me was 30 dollars and there are ones that go for more than 150 dollars. Well about three+ months ago it disappeared and I could not find it anywhere and the last place I remember putting it was in my pant pocket. Well just today it was found stuck in the drain pipe for the washer. Need less to say it was very badly beat up, the outer case is all dented and crushed in places and the cap has a hole caused by rust right were the tip is. What is truly amazing is the after three+ months of being stuck in the drain pipe it still works it is nothing to look at but it still works. However, I'm very upset that I was so care less with it and that it ended up all mangled. I intend to keep it as a reminder to me to always treat those things that I value most in my life like my family and especially my wife differently from ordinary things.

Mood

2007-07-04T17:21:00.002-06:00

Here is my mood whats your's?

Your Mood Ring is Blue-Green

Inner emotions charged
Yet, somewhat relaxed

Mood Ring Generator

Games

2007-07-04T11:59:00.001-06:00

My time off has been very nice my wife and I have been trying to finish a PlayStation game called kingdom hearts it is a combination between Final Fantasy and Walt Disney. It is very fun but in order to see all of the secret videos when you finish the game it requires you to complete a lot of Minny games and side quest. That is what we are trying to do and all we have left is one boss fight against Sephiroth the hardest person to defeat in the game even more difficult than the end boss.

The main character is Sora and through out the game he is accompanied by Donald and Goofy in almost everything there are a couple of times that you are left alone to fight. If you would like to see the end of the game you can see it here the first part is the secret part for the first game called deep dive, and the next one is for the second one. hope you enjoy them

It is over!!!!!.......

2007-06-23T22:10:00.001-06:00

A lot has happened to me over the past few weeks and I'm still not that very good about blogging I hope to get better as time goes on. Well if you asked me how I feel about the whole thing it would be very hard to sum it up. First I'm relieved that it is over now I do not feel like I'm sitting around letting the world pass me by or, stuck on a sinking ship that keeps on dragging me down with it. Second I'm a Little sad that I'm leaving all of my friends and going on to other things. Third I'm scared to start something new and not having that feeling of regularity in my life. I hope that collage will help me get into something that i relay like and enjoy. Now is the time to start moving forward and maybe glancing back to remember the good times. Like being in Mexico with friends and all of my friends from second shift I hope that they will find there path in life. Forth I'm excited to be moving on with my education and being with my family. We have already done some very fun things, for example we purchased a bike trailer and have had some real fun biking around. My wife has signed up for a swim class with my d.d. they are so very cute swimming around. To top it off we are planning on going camping some time this summer so we will be ready for school this fall.

A Break

2007-06-04T15:48:00.001-06:00

Well I was given a very good gift from my boss just befor I came home this last time. That was to say that our groop did not half to come back to mexico for two weeks the best thing about that is if we go back down I will only have two week left untill my end date. However, He did say that if I could call him and tell him that im not going back and he wold take care of it. There reason for doing this is becous there upper managment beleves that they no longer need the support team around and that we are just in the way. So to test it and see how things will run without the support they decided to let us have a break. What is realy funny is that they have not ben able to run everything at top preformance and in fact there reject rate is sky high. Not to mention that not all the processes have been validated for production and there is no more inventory left. That means that as of now they are about 3 if not 4 weeks behind on most of there production durring there busiest time of the year. Oh well it's not my job to worry about it. :)

On that note im very ecited to be home with my girls and i have been loveing every minute of it. My wife and I broke down and got an eight person tent for camping so we are all ready for our vaction this summer. I hope that the girls will be ok this will be there first time sleeping in a tent and everything so it might not be as smooth as we are hopping. It still sound like fun.

Bird

2007-05-25T03:10:00.002-06:00

Your Power Bird is a Cardinal

You believe that each day is precious, and you spend your times as best as you can.
You see the wonder in small things, and you are often content with what you have.
You life an interesting, colorful life - and you bring color to those around you.
Confident and expressive, you believe you know how to live a good life. You're living it!

What's Your Power Bird?

Viva Mexico

2007-05-12T18:42:00.002-06:00

Oh boy that about sumes it up, this trip marks the first time that I was relied on as a one of the two drivers for the group. They did not wast time breaking me in on the first day where I had to take over and lead driver in our carivan(oh boy)we had to follow a true Mexican driver in to the heart of downtown Nogales. In Mexico the streat are very tinny but that will not slow down the drivers and the people who walk arround do not wait for cars to stop suprisingly they do not have that many accadents. However, on the bright side we got to enjoy some true Mexican shopping all you half to do is show your intrested in the item and then the fun begins. Step two is to ask the price and never never never say ok and take the price. All you half to do is say too much and walk away do not worry they will not let a sail go they will follow you and make a better offer. It has been realy fun to barter down the price of things and get a good deal on suverners. How ever the only suviner that I want is a magnet that has Mexico printed on it I have yet to find such a magnet. In fact I was toled that magnets were not in season right now, I almost laughed and said when is the season for magnets. :) There is one thing that I do want to get for my girls that would be a littel gutair with real gutair strings and painted pink. They are so cute and I know that my girls would love to have them so we will see if I can get a good deal on them.

On our weekends in Tuscon my groupe usualy will go and do landury eat and suprise suprise go shoping. It is reducluse how much these wemen will spend they were all burdend down with so much stuff (that they bought in Mexico and Tuscon) that they decided to ship it home. There shoping in Mexico saved them a lot of money and there are very happy about that however, it cost one person 190.00 to send it all home and another only 40. So lesson is, not to purchase more that you heve room for in your luggage.

Now about Tuscon, it hase verey thing and anything you could posably want the downside is that the city is very spred out it could take up to 30 minuets ot get from your house to the store you want. But it dose have some cool attractions one I realy want to go to is call the PIMA air space musiem. There is the largest missel cylo called Titan Missile museum, and the air feild were they store all the plains awating repair called amarc( Aerospace Maintenance and regeneration Center. You get a gided toure of all of this for 25 dollars which is very good concidering the massive size of the musiem, In fact it is the third largest museum in the usa, and the feild where they store the plains is redcoulsely huge it takes 15 miniutes to drive arround it going about 40 mph and that is just one side. There is also a cave that sounds like it would be alot of fun to go and see.

All and all if I cut out the work part of my trips my wife would be right it is a vaction. How every work is trying to mess over as many people as they can by shorting everyones hours. That is one thing that I do not understand, Terry (my lead) had kept a very good writen record of everyones hours in fact they have started maken her type it up in excell. Even with that they will still not pay for everyones hours that they put in working at the plant. I can understand not paying us if were did not work but those were acutaly worked hours that they cut. One of the reasons I came down to Mexico was for all the extra over time which im not getting becouse im the only one who stays on nights. How ever that has changed now that Jason wants to go to nights to avoid the drama that is going on during the day shift.

whell more latter

WOW

2007-04-30T00:02:00.002-06:00

Well where should I begin. How about the airport yea thats sound good the airport. It started out ok we arived at the airport an hour befor my flight was schuled to depart. After the bags were checked in I walked with my eldist arround the airport in about a minute we were back were we started. :) Got to love small airports no big lines and they let your family wate by the gate untill you half to bord. Littel did I know that my hardest thing about this job would be happing when I tried to leave. As I approched the gate my eldist d.d. began to screem "I want to go with dady on a air plain!" of corse hearing her scream that it broke my heart. Looking back at my wife holding bolth of my d.d. (all of them ether crying or close to it) I realy began to wonder if this job was worth it(it's not by the way). But it was a littel to late to back out now, so I had to do the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life up to that point and that was to walk away. Six o'clock roles arround and I find myself in Tuscon, AZ in a very nice hotel called the Amerasuites.

Traviling in Mexico, I do not recomend it ever I would gladly drive in ~~Utah~~ Tuscon anyday over Mexico. There left turn lane is in a crazy spot(numbering the lains going from right to left)lain 1 is the right turn or stright lane, lain 2 is the Left turn lain and lains 3 & 4 are stright only lains. On top of that there is a unspoken rule once the light turns green you better be half way through the intersection, or there will be some angry people and there not afraid to honk there horns and yell to let you know it ~~I gess there trying to compete with Utah drivers~~ :).

Some of the fun things that I have gone and done in Tuson, are going to see the Xasiver Mission, the one that has been in a lot of western movies. Aloung with all the shopping ther is a lot of thing to do however, everything cost so much that it is hard to afford to do anything. There is always relaxing by the pool all day and reading a book.

I had one major highlight that was when I came home yea.

Funny

2007-04-04T21:47:00.001-06:00

I got a big kick out of this.

I Rule Mars

2007-03-31T23:16:00.001-06:00

You Should Rule Mars

Mars is a planet that shines brightly and loops wildly around the solar system.

You are perfect to rule Mars, because you are both energetic and independent.
Like Mars, you seems attractive and bright to others - but you're difficult to pin down.

You are a great thinker, but you only think in the present and ignore the future.
Full of enthusiasm and inspiration, you are into your own thing... and rather insensitive to others.

What Planet Should You Rule?

Having Fun

2007-03-31T21:20:00.001-06:00

In case you were wondering about the new pictures that are on my blog, let me tell you a littel about them. A few posts back I put up some links to some movies that are coming out this summer. Well I have this fascination with Transformers ever since I was young and I loved this cartoon show. My absolute favorite character from this show is the leader of the Autobots(the good guys), his name is Optimus Prime. The top picture is what he will look like in the new movie he looks cool however, I personally like the way he looked when I was younger. O well, I still will go see the movie even though they changed the way he looks. The Next picture is what he looked like back in the old days. In the bottem picture Optimus Prime is carring the leader of the female autobots Elita One.

Bittersweet End

2007-03-30T00:14:00.001-06:00

Today was the last day that my job was open which meant that there were a lot of people that I had to say goodbye to and would probably hardly ever or never see again. On top of that, over the last few months I have watched several close coworkers (whom I have worked with for over a year and four months) reach their end date and move on with life. Everyone that I watched leave has caused me to regret my decision to go to Mexico but not a much as today. I based my decision partly on the fact that there would be someone whom I was already familiar with, that was going to go to Mexico with me. Plus I could use the extra money as well as a vacation :-D. However, he backed out at the last minute and finished today instead. I understand why he did what he did but it still makes it very hard for me to want to go. So I will be in Mexico training the new employees on how to run the machines until the end of June, when I reach my end date. I will be going down on the 8th of April and will be gone for 3 weeks. Then I come home for two days and then go back down for another two weeks. They have told me that we probably will be done training in Mexico before June, so that is something to look forward to. I really hope that they are right because I will not go beyond June for anything. I guess what it really comes down to, is that I feel like this company has wasted five plus years of my life and they continue to want more. I however, have plans for my life. I want to be a geoscientist and graduate collage with a doctorate degree. So I will press on and not get down on the fact that everyone must at some time, move on in there life. But it is sad to see good friends go, and to all my friends from work who read this, I wish you all the best of luck in everything that you do. Keep in touch.

Summer

2007-03-17T23:40:00.001-06:00

This summer is going to be great! On top of no work past June there is four movies that I cant wait to see. First is Spiderman3, Second is Fantastic 4, Third is Transformers, Four Harry potter and the order of the phoenix. You can view the trailers by clicking the title of the movie Spiderman3 gives you two different trailers to look at while the others will take you directly to the preview. This summer looks like it's going to be a big movie summer. I'm more excited about the first three though.

Frustrating Day

2007-03-14T01:36:00.001-06:00

I had a very frustrating day I was pushed to my limit and I'm still to upset to talk about it. However on a good note on my way home from work an idea popped into my head so I gave it a try. You may have noticed my music has changed a little, well my inspiration was to go on line and find songs that I enjoyed when times were not a frustrating. This brought back so many good memories that I think I have found my way to unwind when times get too much. So some of the fruits of my unwinding can be heard right hear. How ever I still like "How to save a life" by The Fray as the theme of my blog what can I say it fits some how (I wish it was "in over my head" by The Fray but the site where my music codes comes from does not have it yet) so you will need to skip to the next one to listen to them. Ahhh the power of music maybe it will brighten you day as it did mine. So just relax and close your eyes and listen to the rhythm (you do not half to listen to the words just the instruments) and let your mind wonder to calmer days. Before you know it you will be smiling and enjoying your day better. Just for fun can you recall the artist's and song's name? ;-)

I WON

2007-03-10T10:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday when we were at Wal-mart my d.d. wanted to go to the play room so we did. However she was to scared to ride on any of the rides so we found a crane game with stuffed animal. So I tried to get a prize. On the first try I almost won a white stuffed bear but at the last second it fell down half hanging over the prize shoot. Of course I could not give up with my prize so close to falling into the shoot. So I tried one more time and lo and behold not only one prize but two This was the first time that I have ever won from this type of game and on top of that I got two prizes! Then latter that day at work I found out that I had won the prize drawing they were having. What a day.

Grrr

2007-03-08T22:46:00.001-07:00

I have had my first grrr moment with my laptop. For back ground I purchased it from my work through a raffle auction for 10 dollars. Its a pentium II and slow but on top of that the battier only last 2 hours at the most so I half to have it plugged in all the time or it will shut off for no reason. well this afternoon I had a very long post I was typing and I didn't notice that the power cord was not fully attached. Well my d.d. were playing their favorite game which is dad just sat down must do something to get him up. Well I had just finished with the latest round and sat back down to finish typing my post when my computer shut down erasing the post :-0. When I brought it back up to see if it saved where I was at only to find it erased and gone forever :-(. Talk about discouraging it took me all evening to wright something and why not about this. O well better luck next time i guess.

Why?

2007-03-07T01:05:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered why any potato chip company prints the price of a bag of chips directly on the bag, Just to sell it for a dollar less. If they are only going to sell it for a dollar less than the printed price why not just print that price?

The Beginning

2007-03-05T14:30:00.001-07:00

I've never done anything like this so we will see how it goes. To start out with I'm Rich this is my blog over there is nothing (yet) sorry until I understand this stuff better it will remain nothing. I have two d.d. and a very loving d.w. On top of that I will be spending the next three months in Mexico helping my work transfer my job down their. Fun fun my d.w. refers to it as I'm going on vacation which It's not. O well we will see if I like it or not. After this I will be unemployed and focusing on getting my degree in geology. This is a little about me.