25 things

25 is kind of ominous. It is the beginning of old age. I have 18 days of youth left. I googled 25 things to do before you turn 25 and this is one of the lists I found. Apparently being boring is a pre-requisite for turning 25.

1. Hang curtains in your bedroom.-check

2. Become friends with someone you meet in unusual circumstances.

3. Make your own Halloween costume.-check

4. Go to a concert/movie/restaurant alone.-check

5. Open a Roth-IRA account.-I may have one of these through

6. Own stock in a company you believe in.-I think I owned stock when I was like 12, do I still own that Dad? I think the company may have bottomed out. I believe in Coca-Cola, maybe I should buy stock in that.

7. Read The Iliad.- I may have read parts of this but it will not be read by the time I turn 25, I can promise you that.

8. Start a blog.-check

9. Join a professional organization.-no thanks.

10. Go on a spur-of-the-moment, weekend trip to a foreign city.- Does Canada count?

11. Attend a poetry reading.- I would if I thought it was even remotely possible to get Jackson to agree to this, just so I could watch him squirm.

12. Go to a music festival.- I have kind of done this. Not really.

13. Learn to dance.- This is just not going to happen, anyone who has seen me try and keep a beat knows why.

14. Take a road trip with friends.- you know I don't think I have ever done this. I am even more boring than this list!

15. Get paid to do something you like.- see me laughing right now.

16. Do some sort of adventure/adrenaline activity.- I generally equate adrenaline with death defying stunts, so no thanks. As for adventure... I will have to think harder on this one.

17. Take a course on something you’re interested in.- done and done.

18. Regularly read a newspaper/magazine/blog.- check

19. Be recognized for something or at somewhere.- isn't it kind of strange if you have to try to be recognized for something?

20. Have business cards.-check, although I have never used them.

21. Cook dinner for a friend.- check

22. Win something. Big or small.-check

23. Start a new hobby after college.-check

24. Pick up the tab for no good reason.- I tried to do this the other day, kind of.

25. Be irresponsible. It’s allowed sometimes.- always.

I think I need to find a better list of 25 things to do before 25, this one is kind of depressing.

we still love you utes

We went to a bar in DC to watch the big game with the DC area alumni group. Although we lost we had such a good time. The whole bar sang Utah Man after our touchdown. It was awesome.



Eric Weddle after losing to BYU in 2006:

“(BYU’s John) Beck made a play,” Weddle said. “We dropped eight into coverage and Beck pumped it three or four times and found the open guy.

“Give him a lot of credit. In a way I’m kinda proud for Beck, because he finally won a game for his team. For three years there have been a lot of critics that have questioned his ability to finish games and he did it tonight.”

Max Hall after beating Utah in 2009:

"A little bit, yeah. I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything."

"So it felt really good to send those guys home," Hall continued. "They didn't deserve it. It was our turn, and our turn to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight. And it felt really good, again, to send them home, to get them out of here, and so it is a game I will always remember. I think the whole university, their fans and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose."

Keeping it classy Max.

See you next year BYU, hopefully from the other end of the score board.

rivalry week

How you know it is Rivalry Week (Rachel, you may want to stop reading here)-

1-Jackson's e-mail account starts filling up with e-mails like "I hate BYU" or "Deep thoughts by Bronco Mendenhall"
2- I start getting e-mails from Jackson of the YouTube video of the Utah cheerleader beating up the BYU fan.
3-Facebook becomes inundated with invites to groups for Utah vs. BYU the Rivalry (GO UTES) status changes like "I am teaching my unborn child to hate BYU" (by the way Matt, I don't think you will have to teach your child, I am pretty sure all your children will be born with a hatred for BYU)
4-Photos like these are everywhere I turn



5- I would make relentless fun of this next picture, but I am pretty sure that if Jackson has his way every family picture we take will be the Utah equivalent of this.

Dr. Jackson

I went to my favorite unlicensed dentist this week. It was surprisingly difficult to get an appointment with him. He was very thorough, he called me to confirm my appointment.

getting set up

reviewing the case

getting down to business.

There was considerably less bleeding this time. The dentist has improved!

go red wings!

The super cool fire station in Detroit. The city may be dead but it has some awesome buildings!

We went to the Red Wings game this weekend. It was very exciting, despite the fact that we don't know the rules very well (Jackson will disagree with this statement).

We went with Pam and Jordan.

get your own tots

Last week I was perusing various sites when I came across the recommendation for a tater tot casserole. I thought this presented the perfect party opportunity. Tater tot casserole, dress up like Napoleon Dynamite, and Friday the 13th. A perfect combination. Added to that every one's husbands were out of town so Jackson got to hang out with four girls all night!

Jackson has the innate skill of taking the absolute worst pictures of me.

I put the bump it to shame. Carrie as Kip and Kara as the side pony tail girl who sells boondaggle (I think. Regardless, her leggings were sweet)

We felt that under the circumstances it was only appropriate to pull out, Who Wants To Be A Celestial Heir?

post it

The sheer amount of post it notes I use at work has become an office joke. I currently have 11 post it pads on my desk, that I can find. When Art Fry, the creator of the post it, came to campus last week my coworker made sure to get his autograph for me, on a post it.

My eleven post it pads with the masters signature.

Where the post it proudly hangs.

I was kind of bored.

This is Art Fry. Did you know he got the idea of the post it because he wanted something to tab his church choir music with?

halloween-the real thing

Our, still, un-carved pumpkins next to our neighbors much more festive pumpkins. I blame the highlighters. We spent our time with them rather than doing fun things. You may ask yourself why I took a picture of my highlighter next to Jacksons, and with good reason. His is huge, and taking a picture of it proved to be a satisfactory method of procrastination. Now the real question is, what on earth do we do with two huge un-carved pumpkins?

We did have our annual chili party this year, after which we made everyone watch the Utah game, even the BYU fans.

Where's Waldo and Prince William and Kate Middleton with their dragon.

H1N1 and the classic Halloween witch, scarecrow and pumpkin.

I was a tomato this year and Jackson wanted to be a Utah fan but was firmly told that as he is a Utah fan every day he had to put a little more effort into his costume. He was Kyle Whittingham. We had to give his goatee some help by way of eyeliner.

Here is a better picture of my mercury thermometer for the work.

I made graveyard brownies for the spooky dessert competition. I didn't win but I did get 2nd place and $15 at Target. I made Jackson take me to Target for Friday date night to make sure the money didn't burn a hole in my pocket.