Madelyn as a Teenager

This month we took a couple of pictures that came out SO cute of Maddy. And I couldn't help to think that they kind give us a glimpse of what she will look like as an older kid, teenager, or young adult; especially this first one:

Dark Side of the Moon

I set up my tri-pod and set my camera to night shot just to see what I could do. This first photo is a bit blurry-ish, but still pretty cool. You can see the dark side of the moon. Not too bad for a little razor-thin pocket camera.

And this one may just look like a bunch of nothing, but click on the photo and see the larger size. This is actually a picture or the constellation Orion. Again, not too shabby for a little razor-thin pocket camera.

My Living Room

I'm having a lot of fun using my AutoStitch program. I took 13 photos of my living room, and stitched them together (click to see bigger):

Here's the cool thing (if you think about it), you'd NEVER be able to get a picture of the full view of my living room without this stitch program. It's amazing how easy it is to use (not to mention fun).

Panoramic Bliss

I just discovered an AMAZING program called AutoStitch. It is a free download that puts your panoramic photos together to make them look like one. You know, you start taking pictures from the left, and keep snapping photos as you turn toward the right. Then you put them in AutoStitch and it's like MAGIC. The program does everything for you. (for an awesome visual of how the program works its magic, click here) It's really quite amazing. See for yourself (click any photo to see a larger more detailed version):

This photo is made up of 4 images stitched together:


This one is made up of 5 images stitched together:


And this one is made up of 13 (yes, thirteen) images stitched together. It's actually a 360 degree view:
And finally, a vertical stitch. Two images:
*To view these photos even larger, click here

I will be taking a lot more panoramic photos now that I know this is possible!

David Cook

If any of you are NOT fans of American Idol, you might roll your eyes when you read this name. But just hear me out a second.

Regardless of where someone is discovered, talent is talent. I've watched 2 seasons of American Idol now and I have CDs from at least 5 or 6 past winners and runners up.

David Cook takes things to a new level. He was last season's winner. Now, I actually kind of liked David Archuleta more than David Cook, but there is no comparison in the albums.

David Cook came out with a FANTASTIC album. Every song on the CD is amazing and I could listen to it again and again.

Sometimes "idols" are smirked at simply because they were discovered on "Idol." But forget that for a second, click on one of David Cook's tracks that I just put onto my playlist on the side bar and listen for yourself.

I think David Cook can go far. He cut a stellar album. It's on my top 5 list of favorites at this point. Give it a listen. ---> click on Bar-ba-sol or Light On by David Cook in my playlist here on this page. Enjoy.

3.7 Miles

As most of you know by now, I'm getting very excited for my Yosemite trip. I'll post soon about a major change we're making for the trip.

But today, Saturday, I decided to do a bit of hiking to start/continue the "get in shape" process. For Christmas I got my hiking boots and today I strapped them on to break them in.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Vegas. I walked 3.7 miles. It was no problem. It's still yet to be seen if I'll be sore tomorrow, but right now I don't feel like I will. I feel good. It was super fun. I want to do some sort of hiking each Saturday and then, when it gets close to the trip, I might start walking to work and back. It's 2 miles there, 2 back, total of 20 miles a week.

My Calves Hurt

I've been trying to climb stairs lately to start my slow trek to getting at least somewhat in shape for my Yosemite trek in June. Yesterday I climed 8 stories of stairs at Sunset Station. It took me all of about a minute. My heart was pounding by the end. I went home.

Today I can't move. Ouch.

So after only 60 seconds (give or take) of climbing stairs, I'm beat and sore. I can't imagine at this point hiking Half Dome. I've got some serious work to do.

For more information on my Yosemite Trip, check out the website I've created for it: http://sites.google.com/site/yosemitetrip2009/

Funniest. Video. Ever.

A student sent this to me and I about roll over laughing every time I watch it. Enjoy:

SO Unfair!

Okay so those of you who know me well, know that I'm a big BYU football fan, true blue through and through. Blue = good, Red = Evil.

However, Utah this year (like in their 04 season) got a bid to a BCS bowl. For those of you unfamiliar, that means: They be VERY good. They went to the Sugar Bowl as the ONLY undefeated team in college football. They played Alabama who, before this game, spent a large part of the season in first place. They were strong and looking to go to the national championship. They lost thier last game and dropped from first to 4th.

Now Utah was the only undefeated team but still in 6th place (it's a long story why, but it has a lot to do with strenth of schedule). AAAaaaaanyway....


Utah CRUSHED Alabama last night in the Sugar Bowl. It was AWESOME! Why am I rooting for the devil (Utah)? Because they are a Mountain West team, and it's GREAT for our conference if a team can break into the BCS.

Why unfair then? Because now Utah is the ONLY undefeated team in college football. But they're done. They don't get a shot at the national title. Who's to say they'd lose to who ever wins the naitonal championship next week? It's absurd. The BCS system sucks. WE NEED A PLAYOFF!

Our Day at Sea World

Today we went to Sea World. The kids LOVED it. It was SO fun to spend the day watching Maddy and Kaelyn enjoy all the cute animals. Maddy especially loved the penguins.

Here are a couple of pics of the kids at Sea World, enjoying life. And don't miss the priceless video below of Maddy and Kaelyn enjoying the sea otter show!

TB Sauce Makes Mouth Happy

Every time I go to Taco Bell, I knowingly ask for 3 times the ammount of hot sauce that I think I'll need. Then I save the extras. I've got a huge bag at home. Then, every time we make homemade tacos or homemade burritos, or taco salad, etc, I've got the TB sauce. And suddenly, homemade tastes like restaurant (Taco Bell) bought. YUM!

Reading is Bliss

The first four years that Del Sol (the high school I work at) was opened, we had what we called D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read). It's what we used to know as SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). Basically for 20 minutes a day, everyone on campus would, well, drop everything and read.

I loved it. I read an average of 4 novels a school-year only during the 20-minute DEAR periods (let alone any time I spent reading at home).

But this year the school canceled the program (followed by much cheering on the students' part). Since then, I haven't read much. Come to find out that most of my reading over the past 4 years was done during DEAR.

Thankfully, Christmas has reinvigorated my reading itch. I got a couple of good books for Christmas and now I can't do anything but read. Quickly I finished the book I had been slowly working on for about 6 months (Empire, By Orson Scott Card), and straight away picked up my newest book (The Good Guy, by Dean Koontz). Granted, I'm not working right now (winter break) so I have a bit of extra time on my hands, but I've really enjoyed my reading time. I'm half way through this new book and I started it 2 days ago (that's fast for me).

One last thought: Every now and then someone will ask what your happiest memory was, your best vacation, or maybe a time when you were most relaxed. More often than not my answer to these questions (other than my wedding day, birth of children, etc, etc) is when I had a free day in Fiji. I lay down in a hammock on the shores of a beautiful Fiji beach and read a book. When I got tired, I slept, when I awoke, I returned to reading in the most beautiful of settings (the photo above is NOT of my vacation, it's just a random photo I found online, but it reminds me of that wonderful day). Many of my best vacation memories include reading.