A Day for the History Books

Today is my half birthday, i know, you're excited. But that isn't the historical part of today. November 24th marks the day that i have gone 6 months without eating dessert.

I stopped eating dessert over the summer because of a diet that i was on. Unfortunately by the end of the summer i didn't reach my goal weight and i didn't want to start slamming on desserts (which are my biggest vice) and ruin my diet before i even reached the weight that i wanted to be. I've been maintaining my weight , which to be honest, i've never been capable of doing, and have now started to lose weight again. I didn't want to start eating desserts and do the whole roller-coaster thing, so now its kind of become a game. I've already gotten this far, why not keep going? My goal is to go a whole year without eating dessert. I've already got 6 months down, only 6 months to go.

Here are two of the things that are the hardest to go without:

Ten Things I'm Grateful For

(Written by Aaron)

10 things I am grateful for (not in any particular order):

1.) The time that I have been able to spend studying for the CPA exam thus far and consequently having passed the three sections I have taken.

2.) The 48.5 cents a mile I reimbursed when I drive to a client’s location. It gets me just enough money each week so I break even buying lunch out.

3.) My new car. Not because I particularly love my new car but it means that I don’t have to worry about my old car breaking down all the time. May you Burn in Purgatory you giant piece of Passat crap.

4.) Our Apartment’s Parking Stall #16. It’s the best 15 bucks I spend each month. I get a second spot so I don’t have to circle the block finding a spot and worrying about my car being on the street.

5.) Our sound machine. There is nothing better at the end of a long day to lie down in bed and get lulled to sleep by the sound of a light river flowing by.

6.) 25 cent sodas at the office. Up until about three weeks ago I was able to get a can of soda at the Deloitte office for a quarter. However, three weeks ago they raised the price on soda and used our office food subsidization to reduce the price of “healthy foods” in the vending machines instead.

7.) My wife making dinner every night. I love to come home to a home cooked meal and just relax with the Mrs.

8.) The Dallas area sports teams. I will always have a deep profound man love for the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Cowboys. Without Dirk, Romo, and the other guys my life would be incomplete. Que the Back Street Boys song.

9.) The brown jacket I bought from Banana Republic like two weeks ago. I have always wanted a brown three quarter length jacket and I finally got one. I wear it pretty much every day.

10.) Friday Night Date Night at Costco. The title explains it all.

Disclaimer: What about my wife, my family, and the gospel? All three of those would supersede any thing on this list. They are the three most important things in my life without exception. Without those three things my life would be without meaning.

And the Utes Win

Congrats Aaron!

Utah: 48 BYU: 24

I hope that Utah busts the BCS wide open.

The "Holy War"

Kara says: Go CougsAaron says: Go UtesWho will end up at #1?

Here is Aaron getting ready to go watch the UofU vs. BYU game with some guys at work.
We'll just have to wait and see what the results are...

The Twilight Movie

Last night Kate, Travis, Aaron, and I got tickets to see the Twilight movie. Actually Kate had bought the tickets a week in advance to make sure we got them before they sold out (Thanks Kate!). To be honest, i was really nervous about seeing the movie. I didn't think that they were going to be able to make the movie as good as the book. I was worried that the guy playing Edward wasn't going to be able to do him justice. I just wanted the movie to be as good as the book. So needless to say i was very skeptical. We started the evening by having dinner at Kate and Travis' apartment. After dinner we watched some college football to pass the time until we had to leave for the movie.We got there an hour early, but the line was still out of control. The wait wasn't bad at all though, they let us into the theater pretty early . Aaron was such a good sport and came with us to the movie even though he was the only that hadn't read the book. Isn't he so cute?Walking into the theater. I was so nervous. I wanted the movie to be really good, but was worried that it was going to be bad.I don't want to hype anything about the movie.. but with that said, I LOVED IT!! I was a million times better than what i expected. I have some thoughts on the movie, but i'll keep them to myself and just say that you should go see it. Aaron said that he really liked the movie, and like i said before, he hasn't even read the book. I'm thinking that i might want to go see it again, any takers?

The Results are In

Thanks to all of you who suggested books for me to read, i knew you would come through for me! I figured there might be some people out there who are looking for a good list of books to read so i thought i would share the results.

Erika suggested this little number: The Poisonwood Bible. She said it was slow at first but has a great finish.
Chelsea suggested any book written by Jodi Picoult, including: Ninteen Minutes, My Sisters Keeper, The Pact, Change of Heart, and Plain Truth.Kate suggested: Pride and Prejudice, and said that it puts Edward and Bella to shame (bold statement Kate!) We'll have to wait and see... Although i have seen the movie (the six hour version) and i LOVED it, so i'm thinking i'll like the book too. Kate also suggested: These Is My WordsJacque suggested Jane Eyre, which she said is along the same lines as Pride and Prejudice and there is an Edward in the book. I love Edwards. Last but not least, my mom suggested that i should go back and actually read the books that i did book reports on in middle school. To be honest mom, i actually thought about going back and actually reading them. Maybe then i can see how legit my B.S. was when i wrote those reports.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I'm glad i now have a long list of books to read. For future reference if there are any books that you come across that you like, let me know. Happy Reading.

Calling All Readers

Alright, for some reason i have been FLYING through books lately. Over the summer i acquired a few books that i added to my "To Read" list, at the time i thought the list was long and it would take me awhile to get through them... Well i am now officially out of books to read and want to head out to Barnes and Noble for some retail/book therapy but i need a little guidance. Do any of you have book recommendations? Books that you loved/can't live without owning a copy? Your help would be fantastic. Thanks.

Senor, Enough Already!

I'm not feeling so well today. The only thing that i want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. I, however, have been unable to do so because one of my neighbors has his stereo on full blast and is singing at the top of his lungs and array of spanish songs. I'm one spanish ballad away from throwing my cough drops at him to try to make him stop. If i wasn't so sick i might enjoy the music, but right now i just want peace and quiet. Oh great, now he's blasting Celine Dion... He does have a wide variety of music interests. I'll let you know if he sings as well as Celine does.

Mastermind

I think that its safe to say that my sister Ashby is a crafty mastermind. Once she had Brooklyn she taught herself how to make bows. After a while she started to sell the bows. Now she has set up a website where she sells bows but also tutors anyone who wants to know, on how to make bows. She recently made bows that look like the Disney Princesses and a Minnie mouse bow, all out of ribbon. I think all of the craft talent that my family has is all with Ashby. Check out her bow website called Brooklyn's Bows, its definitely worth your while!


Update: I was just informed by my sister that there is a giveaway on her blog. She's giving away two minnie mouse bows, a tinkerbell bow, and an expandable bow headband. Not to mention the fact that some of her friends have chipped in and are giving stuff away as well. All of it is free, you just have to give your name and email address in the comments section. She's also taking suggestions if people want to learn certain bow techniques. Enjoy! And i hope you win : ).

Halloween Festivities

After Aaron got home from work we met up with our friends Kate and Travis to start the Halloween celebration. We first headed off to Round Table for some pizza. It was mine and Aaron's first time going there, so kate wanted us to document the momentous occasion. Here we are with our delicious slice of "Big Vinnie" pizza. Mmm it looks just as good as it tasted!
Then we headed off to DC Cemetery for a little haunted house action. It was featured on HGTV, and if they featured it you know its worth it. Gotta have love for HGTV.Everything in the Cemetery is robotic and the guy does it all for free. Its amazing how talented this guy is. The crowd there was nuts.Me and Kate standing in lineAbout to enter the DC Cemetery. We ended the night with a Wackee 6 competition where Kate kicked our butts. Overall it was a fantastic Halloween!