Sports Heartbreak

Before I launch into my sports heartbreak, here are a few pictures from this past weekend.  Olivia, Tricia, Brett, Quade, and I headed downtown to the Gateway for some dinner and a movie.  It was a grand time!

We went to the California Pizza Kitchen and then to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  It was a really good movie...kind of a downer but also very inspiring at the same time.  The acting was phenomenal.  It was really unlike any movie I've ever seen before.  I would definitely recommend it!

Now for the sports heartbreak.  I often find myself questioning why I love sports so much.  Yes, the victories and awesome plays bring so much joy, but the losses and bonehead plays hurt so, so much!  I guess I remember the joy more than I do the pain because I continue to subject myself to the rollercoaster of emotions that is sport fandom.  
I have been a 49ers fan since I was 10-years-old.  You know...the Jerry Rice and Steve Young years!!  I could name at least 30 other players probably from those years.  But they have sucked for nearly the last decade.  I admit, I lost touch with the NFL.  I would still always check if they won (which was rare), but I was definitely not a dedicated fan.  Even this season, I wasn't way into it until the season started coming to a close and it looked like we were actually going to be a worthwhile team.  I guess that makes me a fair-weather fan, which I hate.  I pledge to be more diligent in my allegiance to 49er football.  Hopefully them doing well this season will mean that more of their games will be on nationally televised TV next season so I can actually watch a game or two.
So all of that brings me to yesterday.  I'm still not over it, can you tell?  Losses always hurt, but this one hurts real bad...like the very depths of despair bad.  I headed over to Amy's after church for the game.  We took these pictures before the end of the game so that's why we still look happy and confident (and I'm sporting my new shorter 'do!  Hot, I know.)!

Dan dug into his hidden supply of classic 49er gear and pulled out these beauties for he and Amy to wear.  The t-shirt is signed by Steve Young.  Too bad Steve still isn't our quarterback still!  Don't even get me started on the former Ute QB who we have now.  I've never been a fan of his for obvious reasons, and yesterday did not change my mind about him.  Just not good is what it boils down to.  And let's just add Kyle Williams to the growing list of Kyles who I strongly dislike!
So even though the outcome of the game was the worst, at least I got to hug and kiss these two face...

 

And I got to capture this little lady at her finest...

Yes, it is her saying "cheeeeeese" in this next one...

And my personal favorite...she might be a future cheerleader...

 

Maybe next season 49ers...I will be a loyal fan, I promise (after all, I have a t-shirt now)!  Unless you suck again, and then I might be a little half-hearted in my loyalty!

Texas or Bust

It's the moment you've all been waiting for...my Texas post.  On Mon, Jan. 2, Deeds and I launched off on a cross country adventure.  Remember the state of the car for the drive from Utah to B-town?  Similar scenario, but for 22 hours (1460miles) now instead of 10.  No A/C (heater blowing constantly, windows down 95% of the way), no cruise control, and no sun visor on the passenger side.  Call me MacGyver, but I fixed that last problem.  Nothing that a hair clip, piece of dental floss, and a few sheet of paper won't solve!  Literally a life saver!

So picture Deeds and I driving through the middle of nowhere, windows down so there is zero talking going on, no music because the CD player is broken and no radio stations to be found, and you will have a pretty good idea of how we were rollin'.  After the sun went down the first day, we did rig up my iPod docking station as speakers for Deeds laptop, and we watched HP 7.1.  We stopped in Las Cruces, NM that first night.  We slept in and took it real easy the next day.  We got to San Antonio around 6pm if I remember correctly on Tuesday night.  We checked into our hotel and headed straight to Lulu's Cafe.  Deeds had seen this place on some sort of food show, and it supposedly has the best chicken fried steak in the U.S.  It was entirely too greasy for me, but the mashed potatoes and rolls were sure good!  They also have cinnamon rolls that are bigger than your face, but we didn't get one of those.

On Wednesday, we headed over to the San Antonio temple to do a session.  Note: Make an appointment and bring your own temple clothes when attending the San Antonio temple.  It was quite the ordeal to get us in the 10:30am Wednesday session, but we made it and it was lovely!  Such a beautiful temple!  I love all the stained glass!

From there we headed to downtown San Antonio.  Our first stop was the Alamo of course.  Here is Deeds "remembering the Alamo".  It was way smaller than I ever imagined, but I love historical stuff like this!  So cool!

Next to the Alamo there is a theater where you can watch a 45min IMAX movie about the Alamo.  It was awesome!  I did a paper on the Alamo in college for a Spanish class, but I had totally forgotten that we got our butts kicked.  Really sad!  But good ol' Sam Houston came and conquered!  Here is Deeds hanging out with Davy Crocket.

After the Alamo, we walked around the Riverwalk.  We were a little early to get the real feel for the nightlife, but it was still beautiful!

I feel like we barely scratched the surface of what San Antonio has to offer.  Hopefully Deeds can explore more and find more awesome stuff to do for the next time I'm there.
We went out to dinner that night with my coworker, Larry Pruitt, and his wife.  It was great to see Larry and meet his wife.  We had a great time with them!  And they bought our dinner for us.  Such great people!

On Thursday, we met up with Deeds soon-to-be roommate and searched San Marcos, TX for a place for them to live.  We went to 3-4 different apartments and did that whole thing for several hours.  Barf!  I hate finding a place to live!  And coordinating that effort with a dude who we've never met and his mom was quite the adventure!  Here is the place they decided on...

The mom of Deeds' roommate was really nice, and she bought us lunch.  We were getting all sorts of meals paid for!  That afternoon, we headed up to Austin.  Our first stop was the Capitol building. 

We had to pay tribute to this legend.  God blessed Texas when this guy was in charge!  JK...I really have no idea, but I sure like him!

Always a fan of a good rotunda!!

After the Capitol, we walked around the University of Texas campus a little.  Hook 'em Horns!  Their football stadium is ginormous!!  I always think that LaVell Edwards Stadium is good size, but this stadium just makes good ol' LaVell look silly.  It would be blast to be there for a game!

Then we headed out to Hey Cupcake!  My friend, Heather, had been to this place last year and said we could not leave Austin without eating one of these cupcakes.  They are deeeeeeeelicious!

 

Then we went to this bridge where the largest colony of urban bats live.  At dusk, they fly out over Lady Bird Reservoir.  It is supposed to be quite the sight.  So we were waiting for that to go down, and it never did.  Come to find out (after calling the bat hotline, of course), the bats had flown south to Mexico for the winter.  Boring!  Hopefully Deeds will get go back and see them later in the year.  Here is me waiting for the bats and downtown Austin.

After the bat fail, we went to Driftwood, TX for some Texas BBQ.  The Salt Lick was a must on our Texas To Do list.  It sure did not disappoint.  Deeds said it was in the top 5 moments of his whole life.  This place is literally in the middle of nowhere, and it is huge.  People flock from all over to this restaurant.  Brisket....yummmm!  Pure BBQ bliss!

The sausage was just about the best thing I've ever tasted.  This is their smoker...what a beautiful sight!

Deeds' friend, Brad, and his wife were so nice to let us stay at their townhome that night.  We talked with them for a little while before heading to bed.  Stellar people!  I know my little Deedsy is in good hands with friends like that living close by in San Marcos!  The next morning, we ran a few errands and stopped by the NAVTEQ-San Antonio office on the way to the airport.  I like to check out our local offices whenever I'm in the neck of the woods.  Then I had to go catch my flight home.  Celebrating a great trip with my Lakers water that I got for Christmas!

It was a such a fun trip and so great to see where Deeds is going to be living for the next year and spend time with him before he sets up shop in Texas without me.  Boy, was I ready to get home though!  I was ready to get back into my routine.  Time to get back to the real world!

2011 in Review

2011 is over...already?!  This year has been an interesting one.  It was filled with highs and lows...thankfully a lot more highs than lows!  I kept a little journal all year of something out of the ordinary that I did every day.  Here are some of highlights:

January
1 - Shoveled Amy and Dan's driveway with Brett so it would be clear when they got home from Cali
12 - Ate Cajun food in Dallas which included eating alligator...tastes like chicken!
26 - Watched Jimmer score 42 points against #4 SDSU
February
8 - A car crashed into the tree right outside my office
17 - Dinner with Karen, Claire, Kendall, my dad, and some Walker cousins
21 - Lied straight to a woman's face. She wanted to use my phone to call her son and I told her I didn't have a cell phone.  Oopsies!  Seemed too shady to go along.
24 - Kyle kissed me!
March
6 - Visited Jacob's grave and broke up with Kyle :(
11 - Watched Jimmer score 52 points to break Danny Ainge's record for most points score in BYU career
12 - Snowshoeing up White Pine with Brett and Tricia
20 - Beat Oregon Trail with Haley and Brett
25 - Got asked out on a second date by Andrew. Yay!  First second date from a blind date.
30 - Pier 39 and ate my first It's It ice cream sandwich
31 - Jogged on the San Francisco Bay trail and saw a skunk
April
2 - In Boise with Kara, Ryan, and Isaac
7 - First date with Quade-dinner at Jason's Deli
12 - Walked around the University of Arizona campus all day for work
18 - Moonlight snowshoeing with Olivia, Brett, and Brian
23 - Dyed Easter eggs with Jack and woke up to Jack in my face...nothing better!!
24 - Flew to Albuquerque and last Sunday in YSA ward
30 - Ran 3 miles in 6 inches of snow
May
1 - Osama Bin Laden was killed
16 - Saw Old Faithful
23 - Spent $400 on new brakes for my car
June
6 - Went to a movie by myself - X-Men First Class...loved it!
9 - Gallbladder removed!  Good riddance!!
18 - First run since surgery, registered for half marathon, bought BYU football season tix
23 - Surprised mom and dad...we're home in B-town (with Amy, Sophie, and Jack)
30 - Woke up to the woman below me pounding and yelling "HELP!" (She had fallen and hurt her knee and couldn't get up)
July
4 - Ran 8 miles with Heather, breakfast at Ruth's Diner with Deeds, and fireworks at the Grossen's
9 - Ran into a rattlesnake while hiking with Heather up Mill Creek canyon
11 - Ran up 21 flights of stairs at Preston's
12 - Barfed on the UofU campus
17 - First night sleeping at my new abode with Tricia and Olivia
30 - Made homemade rootbeer with Olivia
August
6 - Ran 10 miles!
20 - Ran a half marathon (2:11:38) and went real golfing with Deeds
27 - Watched the sunrise from the top of Mount Timpanogos
September
2 - Morning bike ride with Kara and Isaac
9 - Backpacking with Brett, cooked steak over the fire
17 - Dirty Dash and BYU lost to Utah 10-54 :(
28 - Witness couple with Deeds at Oquirrh Mountain Temple
October
12 - Roommate night - saw The Help
14 - Spent night in Lyman, WY visiting Amber Taylor
24 - All my siblings together for FHE at Amy's
26 - Olivia's dad's funeral in Ashton, ID
30 - Spoke in sacrament meeting
November
11 - Brett took me to dinner, dessert, and movie for my birthday
21 - Me, Amy, Jack, and Sophie all have the flu...barfing!
26 - Ran to Draper Temple and back from Amy's - 6 miles
29 - Visited Martin's Cove
December
3 - Moab 10k (56:23) with Heather and ice cream with Walsworth and Brian & Amber Lambson's wedding reception
12 - Disneyland and California Adventure all day!!
23 - Stayed at Hooters Hotel with Deeds in Las Vegas...haha!
26 - Watched Jimmer's first game in the NBA - the Kings beat the Lakers.
30 - Caught up with Erica Arreola and Katie King - friends from junior high

As you can see, it has been quite the eventful year.  I remember last January a friend asked me what my new year's resolution was for 2011 after accomplishing my big weight loss in 2010 and I told him my only resolution was the stay skinny.  I accomplished that!  Yahoo!  That will probably be my new year's resolution every year for the rest of my life.  It is a battle every single day, but I am forever grateful for a healthy bod!

What can I say about 2011?  I had my heart broken for the first time in a long time  That was not fun to say the least.  It made me quite funky for about 3 months I would say.  I feel like I finally came out of the funk in May.  I learned so much about myself and what I want in a relationship, so it was worth it, but boy did it take a toll on little ol' me!  The whole gallbladder thing was an ordeal too, but I'm glad to have that little sucker out of my life!  Olivia's dad passing away was another tough one.  I don't handle people I love being in pain so well.  Despite all the tough times, this year was full of some great accomplishments and such happy times.  Just about everything involving the Jimmer was happy times!  Surprising the parentals and showing up at their door with Amy and the kids was so great!  Completing my first half marathon was probably my greatest accomplishment.  Hiking Timp in the middle of the night was awesome!  Every moment I get to spend with any part of my family is a gift (especially Deeds staying with me for a couple of months in the fall).  My trip to California with my roommates and friends was the funnest time ever!  Probably the greatest blessing in 2011 was moving in with Tricia and Olivia.  They both bless my life every single day.  I feel so blessed!

Bucket lists items accomplished in 2011:
Go snowshoeing under a full moon - 4/18/2011
Watch the sunrise from the top of Mount Timpanogos - 8/27/2011
Be covered head-to-toe in mud - 9/17/2011

Kiss a black guy - 12/4/2011

I'm looking forward to an awesome 2012!!

New Years Eve

We kept New Years Eve pretty low key this year.  We hung out at the homestead and played games.  Around 10pm we started up a 48 Mystery that the 'rents had on the DVR.  Most of us were dozing off.  We flipped over to the countdown, watched the ball drop, and then all went to bed.  I'm just not cut out for the late nights anymore...especially when I'm roommates with my little Iz and he wakes up between 6:30am and 7am without fail.  It was fun to ring in the new year with the fam.

Ringin' in 2012 Cosby style!

Grandpa did Isaac's hair.

Me and my bros...Ryan's face makes me laugh so much!

Love ringing in the new year with these people!

Iz is trying to watch the Laker game I'm pretty sure.

We played the picture/emotion game.  Making constipated faces.  This really 100% kills me!