Scott's Blog

Trialthon

2011-09-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

I figured I did it so I might as well document it. A few months ago Seth said he wanted to do a Triathlon so signed up. So much like the Marathon, peer pressure got the best of me. To be honest out side of doing some long bike rides and swimming 4 times I just didn't train at all. For it being my first Triathlon, not knowing how to swim really, using a mountain bike and board shorts I think it went really well.

Rossii and Angie came out this weekend as well.

Don't let the bike fool you he may have done the Marathon with us but he has yet to achieve triathlon glory.

A few pics from a few places

2011-08-14T13:17:00.001-07:00

Kinda bored so I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures of some of my favorite places. I have to admit the last 3 pictures were taken by Jeff Chambers on our Europe trip. I can't take credit for them but I was there with him so good enough. The other 4 I did take.

Uncle Cot Cot

2011-07-12T16:07:00.001-07:00

I do enjoy being an uncle. Having a great Niece and Nephew make it a lot easier, I imagine. Here we are playing "cut the rope". It is amazing how smart kids are these days. They are both fully versed in the smart phone. Compared to my grandma who gets confused on how to make a call on a normal cell phone.

Looks like they will be getting a brother Joshua soon. He is not due for like a month but according to an ultra sound is 9.7 lbs already so the man child may be coming sooner.

Hawaii again

2011-06-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a really long time and with a few requests have decided to post again. Its been 6 months since Hawaii and I know my last post had Hawaii from a yr before that too but too bad. I only like posting pictures and I don't really have any. I had to steal these off of facebook.

Here we are eating in Hawaii. Nathan was attending BYU-H and was inspiration for the trip. Or at least an excuse.

This is the top of Diamond Head. Love the glasses Bryce.

We spent a ton of time in the water. I am in the top right of the picture.

Here is the group. Everyone except Nathan.

Diamond Head.

I miss Hawaii. I think its time for another trip.

Oh yeah I also have a new nephew David Scott I haven't posted about yet. He turned 2 last Sunday. He is adorable and so much fun to play with. An uncle could not ask for anything more.

I know there are some people out there who do randomly check this blog and I keep it open to everyone because I like to stalk too and think it only fair. I will continue to post based on the how many people actually care. So if you look at this blog and want more, post a comment or email me. Whether I know you or not does not matter.

HTC, Portland Marathon, Concerts, Florida and Hawaii

2009-12-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I posted anything. So here are some of the highlights. Since the last post I went on a little bit of a running kick. Mostly due to peer pressure. I ran the Hood to Coast and the Portland Marathon. I have seen a few concerts as well. I went to Vancouver BC to see Kings of Leon. Also saw Paulo Nutini, Anya Marina, Plain White T's and Snow Patrol.
I also went to Florida and Hawaii. Wish I was in either one of those places now. Enjoy the pics.

This is after the Marathon. Rossii, Seth and I are sporting some sweet staches in memory of Pre. We are standing in order of our finishing Rossii coming in first

Melting Pot for my Birthday

Caught in a down pour in Florida.

Epcot

This is at the Kings of Leon Concert in Canada.

Me at the Temple in Hawaii.

Ala Moana

The church in Honolulu

Scooters baby. This shot is on the North Shore where they were having 30 to 40 ft waves. Amazing.

The top of Diamond Head

San Francisco

2009-07-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

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Cinque Terre

2008-08-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

Cinque Terre is an area in western Italy on the coast. Its actually 5 small fishing villages all next to each other. Until recently there was no train or roads so you had to hike in or take a boat. Now the train goes through but they are still too small for cars. Last time I stayed in which is the largest city and is on the north end. This time we started at which is on the south end and hiked through to the north end.

Above is me sitting on a bridge on the path between the cities. The path can take as much as 2 hours to hike to the next city. Below is me swimming in the Mediterranean at one of the cities and us just getting in to one.

On the path there was a puddle spanning it so instead of getting their feet wet John, Tom and Jeff decide to walk the top of the wall with the 100 foot drop. Smart huh. Also pictured is one of the villages from a distance.

Here is me next to 2 of the towns.

Ibiza/Barcelona

2008-08-01T00:31:00.001-07:00

Though it is true Ibiza is basically a party island and almost just one big club with famous people and bubbles dropping from the ceiling there are many other things to do. During the day we got scooters of course what else. Jeff had gone another way so it was just the 3 of us. Once we got the scooters we just went from beach to beach all over the island. This time mine was the fastest so we just raced everywhere we went. It was a lot of fun. I have been to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Cabo, and here in the Mediterranean before but never have I seen water like this. I am posting a lot of pictures to try and convey at least a fraction of what it looked like though my camera does not even come close to doing it justice.

We really didn't have any idea where we were going so we would just ride forever and end up driving along these dirt roads up on cliffs overlooking the ocean till we would find the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. We would swim at a lot of them with it being so hot and the water so warm so as you can see I just had the board shorts and shirt on. Well since the shirt was off so much I kept putting the shirt on so I would not burn but since I did not have the G's that triangle spot where the collar was now exposed that was not usually got fried. I actually got really tan except that one small V. Sucked.

You can kind of see where water changes color. It stars this amazing turquoise and then turns a dark dark blue once it goes out aways. You can see the line but the color doesn't come through like it looked in real life. I would show more pictures of the beaches which were amazing but this is Europe so I better not.

This picture on the left is of the fortress in town. Ibiza used to be mainly a stopover for Pirates on their way back to Spain. it is actually really cool walking through. It is just like they turned the lights on in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and it was real. Seriously one night we were exploring and walking down some back streets which were all stone and had to be hundreds of years old I felt like I was in Tortuga with Jack or something.

Pretty sweet helmet huh. I wont say why we are stopped or where Tom is. Montizuma had nothing to do with it this time. I would love to come back and do that all again and hopefully I will be able to come back some day on a boat and someone will take a picture of my boat like the one on the left.

Barcelona is a pretty sweet town. We didn't have much time but I have been there before so it wasn't a big deal. We spent a lot of it on the beach. Barcelona has some really nice beaches right down town. Here is La Sagrada Familia and the Spanish version of the Arch De Triomphe. I will put the French Arch and the original one in Rome up later.

Next up Cinque Terre which is one of my favorite places on earth. Seriously I love this place.

Ronda/Madrid

2008-07-17T09:40:00.001-07:00

Madrid is not my favorite City in Spain. But as you can see we found something to do there too. Anyone see Vantage Point? Look Familiar?

This picture is in Ronda. Ronda is a beautiful town in the south of Spain. As you can see it is built on this ginormous cliff and there is a huge canyon which splits the city and an old stone bridge which connect the two sides. See below.

This is a nice Ronda sunset from the cliff. The other picture is from our train ride from Ronda to Madrid and just a random small town with a Castle on the hill over the town. I thought it looked cool.

Here is a picture of the bridge spoken of before. It looks a lot cooler in person. When you are there looking at it you feel like you are in the Lord of the Rings movie. The other picture is of the Ham museum in Madrid. What trip would be complete without a trip there?

Here is a random lantern that were all around the city. Spain beat Russia 4-0 while we were in Ronda so it got pretty crazy plus it was a Friday night. Jefe at the bottom looking up at the bridge.

Next up Ibiza

Rabat/Tangier

2008-07-11T16:32:00.001-07:00

Casablanca had to be cut out because of an unexpected 9 hour train ride. In Rabat we saw a Jazz concert in the Chellah which is a castle like place with a bunch of old Greek ruins inside. Pretty sweet. This other wall is in the town square.

This picture was of the exit as we were leaving the concert. This other picture is of a guy who tried to sell us some t-shirts. Seriously this is a full grown man he spoke English well too. K so maybe he was just a kid on the street.

This is the Beach in Rabat at night. The Atlantic is behind me. This sunset is on the beach in Tangier.

This is John and I just taking in the view of the straight between Europe and Africa at Tangier. Tangier is the site of the recent movie The Born Ultimatum. Every corner we went around Jeff was like this is it this is where the chase was. I heard that phrase about a million times. It looks just like the movie it is pretty sweet.

This is Tangier in the background and me on the ferry that took us to Spain.

Check it out I match the wall perfectly. I couldn't have done that better if I tried. Weird huh.
Here is the Rock of Gibralter. Its bigger than I expected. This is taken on UK soil. Also weird.

Next up on the trip Ronda.

Marrakech

2008-07-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

The first city in Morrocco was Fes even though this picture of me is in Marrakech.

These lights and fountains are kind of the city center in Fes and seemed to be the hot spot for the night life. I loved all the fresh fruit stands they have everywhere especially with the weak dollar finally not killing me.

Here is just a picture of me by our hostel in the old Medina of Marrakech. The old medina was a way cool part of town. The markets just covered these old streets. They just spilt out Djamaa el Fna. Jamaa is the name of the big square where the market is. We call it FNA for short. It could be very easy to just get lost. We heard about some cool waterfalls in the Atlas Mts which are not far away so we took a cab out there. The canyons are a lot like the ones in Utah but there are houses all up in there with people living in them. We had to hike to the falls and I was not really impressed with them that much. I have seen way better in the Gorge but I guess the really good ones are a few days hike.

I have to admit I ate at McDonalds more in Europe then the last 8 years in the USA combined. The picture on the left was a kind of fruit smoothie. It had like 12 different kinds of fruit and was probably the best $1.50 I have ever spent in my life.

On the way to the Falls Tom and John took the opportunity to catch some sleep. We had gone like 3 nights on a Train or in an Airport so we were pretty tired. This was a Corbra in FNA square. They are really aggressive. Not the Snakes but the charmers. They grab you take your Camera put Snakes all around you and take your picture. Then demand a lot of money and if you don't pay they erase the pictures.

We didn't have a lot of time but we couldn't come to Africa and not get to ride on a Camel.

Here are 2 pics of FNA one in the daytime and one at night. It is a huge square and there is tons to do. I really like Marrakech and the square is def the coolest part. It is also famous for its Orange Juice. There are I would guess probably 60-80 large carts which are for the most part identical all spread out but most right next to each other that are just stacked with Oranges. For 3 Dirhams or 35 cents you get a glass of freshly squized Orange Juice. It is pretty good.

Tarjines is the special way to cook things there and they are really good. This is just one of many carts set up with spices. They stack those things so high. Fes was cool and Marrakech was Awesome there is a lot more there but I don't have room for the pics so once again you have to see it for yourself.

next up Rabat and Tanger

Lake Como

2008-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

We got into Lake Como kind of late so after getting settled in we went out and got some pictures in my lovely yellow shorts. For anyone who is not familiar Lake Como is Princess Amidala's home. It is also where Danny Ocean stole those paintings from that French guy in Oceans 12 and it is where James Bond went to the hospital and ended the last James Bond Movie. So if you have seen any of those your expectations for this place should have just rose exponentially.

The next day we rented Scooters to cruse around the Lake. This was probably one of the best ideas of the trip. Its like the Lake was designed with Scooters in mind. There is a one lane road which goes all the way around the Lake. The Lake is huge so we just rode to Bellagio and took a ferry to Varrena. Then rode back. Every city, small town and building was amazing. Seriously every view was incredible. If you have seen any of those movies you know what I am talking about. Plus the Scooters are pretty fun in themselves. Like the Space Helmets?

This is a very familiar site to anyone who has been to Italy or even Europe. We spent a lot of Euro's on Gelato. It is so good we got in many times a day. I am not even kidding my diet on the trip consisted mostly of Gelato, Orange Fanta and Crepes in France.

Above are a bunch more pics of us around the Lake. That Cannon I just wanted to feel the power between my legs. Lake Como is Amazing. I will def be back. I have a bunch of video's and I mean a ton. Tom went a little Video crazy. There are some cool ones like the Bungee Jump or us riding around but they take a little more time so let me know if anyone wants to see any of those.

Next Tom and I flew to Frankfurt Germany on Rian Air which makes all flights in America seem like first class. In Frankfurt we met up with John and Jeff. From there we were suppose to fly to Marrakech but do to France being full of Morons it was canceled. That's right our direct flight from Germany to Morrocco was canceled because of a strike in France. So we ended up flying to Fes later that day. So next post Morrocco.

Switzerland

2008-06-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Switzerland is the next place we went. It is such a beautiful country our train ride had some of the most amazing views. This would be a cool country to come and spend a few weeks just doing outdoor recreational stuff. These pictures are actually of each other one looking down and other looking up. This is the town of Bellinzona.

We hiked around Bellinzona for awhile before meeting Jeff at the Varzascas Dam for the Dam jump. You all should recognize this jump from the dam jump in James Bond Golden Eye. After the dam jump we got a ride from Antony the owner of the jump. He was a really nice guy. He wanted to show us a little town south of there he thought was cool so we ended up eating dinner with him and hanging out for awhile. He is in the picture on the right. The other picture is of Jefe's jump.

This is supposedly the second highest jump at like 750 feet or something like an 8 second free fall.

Amsterdam

2008-06-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

We started the trip in Amsterdam. Well at least Tom and I did. The flight was direct from Portland and just over 9 hours. I love direct flights it makes things so much easier. Amsterdam is such a beautiful town it reminds me a lot of Portland. At least the weather and scenery does. There are these giant letters that say I AMSTERDAM and I tried to fit it all but this is all I could get in the picture.

I have been here before so it was nothing new but the thing that sets Amsterdam apart most (besides the drugs and prostitutes which is def there) is the bikes. Amsterdam is crazy with its bikes. I heard there are 800,000 bikes in Amsterdam and from what I saw not one was made after 1980. It seemed like bikes out numbered cars 20-1 and I am not even exaggerating. Everyone rides, guys in suits, tons of girls in short skirts or flowy dresses. They even pack 2-4 kids on a bike with Mommy or Daddy for the commute. So basically everywhere you go there are bikes chained up all along the street. Most roads have 2 or more bike lanes between the sidewalk and the street. Here is a picture of a nice typical bike and a bike parking garage. These pics don't do it justice but you will probably hear that on every post. You will just have to go and see for yourself.

We also made a day trip out to Muiden to see a castle out there. Due to a wrong train and a bus strike the trip was longer than originally planned. We had to walk 3k to get to the castle which after all the walking in Amsterdam was not fun. Fortunately we hitched hiked on the back of a truck for the ride back making things much nicer.

Here is me dressed up for the occasion. Everyone knows what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam plus I have a missionary checking this so sorry if these pictures are not the ones you expected to see for a post about Amsterdam.

Next post up on deck is Switzerland

Euro 08

2008-06-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

I know I said I would post about this trip this month but it takes too much time and Euros to do much here with the pictures and everything. But I promise some decent pictures and some brief descriptions of places and what we have been doing. We are out of Africa now and moving through Spain. Tomorrow we will be in Ibiza. I am looking forward to being on an island and being on some nice beaches. So probably next post will be in a week and a half for anyone who wants to see pictures.

Richmond

2008-05-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

Christopher's call came today he will be serving the Lord for the next 2 years in the Richmond Virginia. Congrats Chris. Preach on brotha.

Less than 3 weeks to Europe.

Sorry

2008-03-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone I just wanted to get on here to apologize for the lack of post since Mexico. At first I really just had nothing going on and then it got to the point where I had so much going on I didn't have the time. So for anyone of you who has checked a few times only to see the same old post at the top I am sorry. Just so you know I will try and post an update at least once a month till the Eurotrip in June which I am sure will get many many post.

Cabo

2008-01-13T00:15:00.001-08:00

The first day of our jeep excursions consisted mostly of exploring Baja and finding small Mexican towns, villages and random beaches. We went as far north as Todos Santos (the town with the Hotel California). Then as you can see here in these pics day number 2 was much more off the beaten path. We headed up to the hills where we had made a few friends 2 days earlier. We took dirt roads till we found these canyons. Then we would drive up the canyons or dry river beds on the sand, granite and creeks till we could no longer move forward.

We did a pretty burly hike up one of the canyons. Its kind of hard to tell from the pics but some sizable rock face climbs had to be made and sandals are not the best climbing attire. Having the whiteness brothers with me did make me feel a lot better about my tan though.

I did not take a whole lot of pictures. I should get the ones from Toms camera soon. Cabo is a pretty touristy town so the nightlife is pretty sweet. They stay up way late. I am really going to miss the weather and beach. Here are some more pics of some of our climbs. Till later.

More Mexico

2008-01-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

Today we rented a Jeep. Do you want full coverage insurance? Yes please. In fact can you double it because we are going to need it. Baja is pretty cool a lot like Arizona but more vegetation. The roads are crazy. Cows, Donkeys, Goats, Cocks and Pig just wonder around at will. They just cross the freeway whenever. There is no shortage of off roading we just turn off, open gates and go for it.

This is just one of the beaches we found wondering around Baja. The Cabo Arch is right around the corner from these rocks. Its pretty cool. We got some cool videos of the jeep so there should be some more to come.

Viva Mexico

2008-01-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

This is a picture from our balcony. Not bad. Another one taken at night neither one really does it justice but will have to do. For those who can't tell I am in Mexico right now. Tom, John and I are spending a week in Cabo San Lucas.

We have done a lot in the few days we have been here. Here is a picture of the zip line. We did 8 lines, the longest in Mexico. I have some good videos of this stuff and might post some when I get back.

This is Johnny. Wave runners were pretty sweet. We got some more stuff planned so there will probably be more mexico to come on the blog.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T00:53:00.001-08:00

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Councellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Movies in 07

2007-12-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Now that the year is coming to an end I thought I would go back and take a look at a few of the movies that have entertained us over the last year. 07 has been a year of trilogies. Almost everyone sucking and being a huge disappointment. Despite the lack of good 3rd movies in a series the year has been pretty good. I don't want to just do a top ten list so I will just go over a few of the highlights. Well probably more than a few since I think the total number of movies I have seen in the theater this year is over a 100. The reviews are on the other blog so none of that either.
Trilogies:
Spider man, Shrek, Pirates, Oceans, Bourne, and Resident Evil

Best Post Movie nightmares
Javier Bardem/No Country (hands down winner)
Kevin Costner/Mr. Brooks

Biggest Disappointment
Good Luck Chuck (how do you go wrong with this premise starring Jessica Alba????)

Biggest Surprise
Gone Baby Gone (Who knew Ben can direct?!)

Best Western
3:10 to Yuma (I didn't know they still made these)

Best Movies About Middle East
The Kingdom (Who knew I would like one of these)
Kite Runner

Worst Political Propaganda
Lions For Lambs

Best Men in Thongs
300

Most Realistic
Transformers

Best Comedy
Superbad

Most Painful Comedy To Watch
Dan In Real Life

Best "True Stories"
Hunting Party
Into The Wild

This Post might be changed randomly as I remember cool movies deserving of the list

Ozzy/Zombie

2007-11-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

What the freak? The first time I post about how well Oregon is doing they lose to Arizona the next day. With Dixon out not to mention their top receiver and potentially top 2 running backs they didn't really stand a chance. Sucks. Why do you toy with me Oregon? Wed night Tyler called and said he had some free tickets to the Ozzy/Zombie concert so that was pretty sweet. Ozzy is old but played about 50% Sabbath songs so that was cool. Zombie mixed White with Rob about 50/50 as well which was excellent.

Go Oregon

2007-11-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

I just watched The Music Within and figured I would do a post about the increase of movies being filmed in Portland. In the last year there have been a few. Mr. Brooks, Feast of Love, Music Within and coming soon Untraceable. Pretty sweet I liked Music Within a lot. I won't review any of these movies on this blog but just wanted to say go Portland, good on ya. Speaking of Oregon way to be number 2 lets pray the BCS doesn't screw us. Again. Oregon basketball is ranked 11th very nice and 6 Pac-10 teams in the top 20. Good job Oregon. You rock.

Fantastic Four

2007-11-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile and I don't really have much to report so here is what much of my time goes to. Actually all four powers combined don't take up very much time but they are some of my favorite things. Looking at this post and seeing what is important and takes up my time I can't decide if it is one of the saddest things ever or most beautiful things ever. Beautiful, definitely beautiful.

PDX-BWI-SLC

2007-10-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

2159-Number of miles driven

38-Number of straight hours it took to drive 2159 miles

341-Number of text messages

8-Number of strawberry milks

3086-Number of miles flown

5245-Total number miles traveled

47-Number of hours it took to travel 5245 miles

Here is the car that made it all happen.

I tried to take a picture of a really pretty sunset in Kentucky but my camera didn't pick up the color AT ALL. The camera did however pick up the bugs on the windshield.

Fortunately after the drive Tom and John had enough time to do some off roading. I didn't get any good pics of it because I was not going miss out by getting out of the car to take any. Once again my camera doesn't do the color any justice.

Kimberly Grace

2007-09-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Lil Kim is due to be born in just 2 weeks and she is almost a month old. I can't believe people actually stay pregnant for the full 9 months like suckers. JK. Kimmie is doing very well and only sleeps 23 hours a day now.

Here Kimmie celebrates Oregons 39-7 victory over the previously #5 ranked Michigan. Kimmie was pretty excited she really likes the Ducks.

Surfs Up

2007-08-28T00:10:00.001-07:00

Tom jensen had a BBQ for Zundy while he was in town so Tyler, Jeff and I stopped by on our way to the beach.

So we got to the beach late Friday night and went out Saturday morning. It was cloudy in the early morning but got totally clear in the afternoon. The waves were good but came in a very rapid succession. Not good when you suck at surfing and are dragging a long board out. Overall it was fun and I did catch some good waves even if a few caught me. I didn't want to take my camera down on the beach while we surfed because there was no one to watch it and thought it would get all sandy and what not so not many pictures. What I did get were not very good so my solution was just make them look all weird. After a few hours of surfing I had 2 hours of forced lay out and burned myself something fierce. Oh well at least I have some color.

Jeff drove because he gets twice the gas mileage as the xterra but then we didn't think of the boards. Fortunately we only had to take them a few miles and it all worked out just fine.

The First Half of August

2007-08-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in a long time so I am just going to go through my camera and will just post whatever I got pictures of in August. I will try to get a brief description below each to walk everyone through the month thus far.

We went to the Pittock Mansion as a family (+Dylan), to kind of wrap up the family vacation. Then we did some things downtown.

I actually stole this first picture of Danielle because I like it and I can and because I never take pictures unless I am actually doing something so don't have a ton of her. We went to the gorge to enjoy the warm weather but that water was not exactly hot but we both got in anyway.

We did some more swimming but there were not many people around to take pics. Lucky there was a random guy there for these.

The next day the fam thought it sounded so cool they all wanted to go up too. So we all went up and I have a few more pics of us but not much more room for them. We climbed the rocks at Oneonta behind the waterfall and jumped in which was cool. Not easy but very worth it. Above is Dylan and Nathan jumping in. Seth did as well but the photographer missed it.

Above are 2 videos of me jumping in.

The first is Horsetail falls then Oneonta.

Next is Multnomah falls and to be honest I can't remember the name of the last falls. Not that it matters I am sure I couldn't spell it anyways.

By far the biggest event of August was the birth of Kimberly Grace. She was born almost 6 weeks early but is a beautiful 7 lb 6 oz baby. I held her but the camera was out of batteries so more pictures in the next post.

Tyler and I headed up to the Dew tour in Portland. We got there kind of late but did get to see the snowboarders rides some rails. Which is cool its not everyday you see that in downtown Portland especially in August.

I happened to have my camera while Susan I were in Downtown so thought I would get a few picts and here they are.

The Yoga Master busting a break dance move. Nice. It looks like it is raining but if you look closely we are at one of the fountains downtown.

RETRACTION from the last post:
We didn't fly anywhere for our vacation for other reasons than Chrissy couldn't fly. Chrissy could fly and it was not her fault.

Famous Graves

2007-07-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

While in Seattle we also made a visit to a few famous peoples
final resting place to pay our respects. The first was to Jimi Hendrix's grave. He is laid to rest in Renton Wa just south of Seattle. He has a whole memorial with the road circling it. You don't even have to get out of the car.

Next we visited the graves of Bruce and Brandon Lee. They have a nice little grave but it is just mixed in with everyone else and not all by itself like Jimi's. The Lee's are on Capital Hill in Seattle. I actually would have really like to visit Kurt Cobain since he is really a part of Seattle but unfortunately after he was murdered he was cremated. There is a little memorial in Aberdeen where he was born but it was too far out of the way. I wish I would have gone before since I spent a fair amount of time right by there with Jamie in Shelton.

I have only been to a few graves so I thought I would throw these in since I was on the subject. The first is Jim Morrison's Grave. He was buried in Paris and the pictures are above. Below is Oscar Wilde's Grave. It is covered in kisses made by visitors.

Seattle

2007-07-29T00:44:00.000-07:00

Space Needle

For our family vacation we decided to make a trip up to Seattle. Due to Chrissy's pregnancy we could not fly anywhere and really couldn't get that much time anyway with everyones schedules. In Seattle I was kind of lazy on the picture taking so here are some of the Space Needle.

I really like Seattle and enjoyed the trip and we all had a good time (I think). I like Seattle and think it is a really cool town. It has its own feel. We went to Pikes place (see below) which for those of you who don't know is a large outdoor market, similar to Saturdays market and Fisherman's Wharf. While there Chrissy made a comment about the hippies of the northwest which made Seth and I try to explain the difference in hippies. We didn't want her to confuse the grunge hippies with dreads in Seattle for the liberal free love hippies that don't shave in San Fran.

As part of the Simpson movie promotions 7-11 transformed 8 stores all across the country to Kwik E Marts. One of them happened to be just a few blocks from our hotel. It was kind of a novelty but was cool. They even had the squishees. I mean who of us was not aloud to watch the Simpson's growing up yet still manage to know every episode? I am pretty sure that is just about everyone. The movie was better than expected. I will try to post my review but it could take awhile.

Picks of the Week

2007-07-22T16:19:00.001-07:00

So not much has been going on lately or at least nothing post worthy. I have been working a lot lately which is weird since I quit like a month ago. I actually have been kind of busy too with new friends, movies and all. August should be a busy month with the family vacation and a trip to NYC and Bean town. I will have to post more frequently then. Until then here are my picks of the week.

My TV of the week
I also discovered my new hero a few months ago and thought I should share that with everyone. Bear Grylls from the TV show Man vs Wild is insane. He is the youngest Brit to ever climb Mt Everest and floated across the Atlantic on a raft. Not only that but he did it all after breaking his back in 3 places when a foreign legion parachuting mission went wrong. How cool is that (well besides breaking the back). I first saw him a few months ago on his show when he ate a 2-foot snake whole. He just bit off the head and swallowed the body as it squirmed around. That was it for me I knew this show was something special. I was even over at the Chambers house and brother and sister Chambers had tevo'ed it and were watching it. The man is crazy and a genius so I guess he is a crazy genius. I suggest everyone watch it just in case they get lost in the middle of the desert or something and need to know what kind of spiders are edible.

My Book of the week
I also read the book "The Secret" last week, which is kind of weird, but I really liked it. It is a short book, which is a huge plus. It is presented in like a mystical way but I think there is a lot of truth to it and ties to the gospel and faith.

Movie of the week
See movie blog.

The Magic Is In The Hole

2007-07-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Even though I am not a huge fan of doughnuts I do like Voo Doo. They have some very tasty treats. They also have some crazy doughnuts. For example they have a maple bar with bacon on the top. They also have doughnuts with captain crunch and fruit loops on them. I have not decided if mixing breakfast all up like that is pure genius or pure insanity. I would have taken a picture of the menu but I am trying to keep this blog at least a PG 13 rating because I know Nathan looks at it and some of the doughnut names are not exactly PG13.

I knew you could get anything you wanted on the internet I just didn't know it was so available. I mean I knew Craigslist had it all but was shocked when I found out prostitution is on there not to mention the spot for "casual encounters" that is updated hourly. They even have a blog to review the prostitution. Seriously isn't prostitution illegal? I was shocked. Don't ask how I found out and really don't try to find it. It is right there but remember Nathan keep it PG13.

Saturdays Market/Iphone

2007-07-01T13:07:00.001-07:00

I am not 100% but this could be the coolest electronic device to have ever come out. I don't think I have to explain any of the sweet features of this phone of the future so I will just leave it at that.

On my recent trip to Saturdays market I did not have my camera so I took pictures on my phone of course of the some of the entertainment Portland has to offer. I always imagined Jimi to be a lot taller. Other than that he was just like I thought he would be. The man can play disappointingly not with his teeth though.

I don't even know what was going on here.

Even though "Lefty" is at a disadvantage he can play way better than I can. Some film crew was there filming the other guy who is always at SM and he is pretty dang good as well.

Saturdays market is sweet. Who knew getting that many hippies, falafel, Gyros and elephant ears crammed into one place would be that cool. Maybe it is because I am the only one not high. Either way its cool and something I will def miss.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

2007-06-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Since I get to watch movies for free and see so many I decided it was time to finally give something back. I started a movie review blog to help out the less fortunate which has been taking most of my blog time. Unfortunately this blog suffers. I think I will use it for other deep insights and incrimitanting photos I may have of others and use this one as more of a type of journal blog. So now I have 2 blogs well 3 if you count my stalker blog.
I also want to wish my Dad and all Fathers a happy Fathers day.

Argentina BC South Mission

2007-06-13T22:50:00.006-07:00

Nathan finally got his call Tuesday night. In case you can't guess he is going to Buenos Aires Argentina. You know looking back the mission really was the best 2 years of my life. I loved my mission and had some of the best times of my life but all that being said I really just feel nothing but relief knowing that it is Nathan starring down the longest "best" years of his life and not me. Sorry my laptop has in the shop because of a recall so I haven't posted or a while and it could be a few days till the next one.

Rose Festival

2007-06-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we took the kayaks out to the Willamette River to enjoy the first night of the Rose Festival and the fireworks. It was a lot of fun. There were a ton of boats all just floating around with music playing. It was cool to be able to kind of just maneuver around wherever we wanted and see all the festivities going on. The fireworks were cool but not easy to shoot especially on the river. There are a lot of pictures in this post but I don't know if I will continue putting so many pictures on. I do it because I like pictures and I like to think that is the main person I blog for but then I have all these pictures so why do I need to post them? I just kind of feel like this is turning into the typical testimony at FT meeting but with a lot of pictures and less jokes. Then again maybe this is the place for something like that as apposed to the other. Anyway if no one objects I think I will be taking a break from the pics hopefully that doesn't mean a break from the blog but who knows.

Portland is really a cool town. They do so much for the Rose Festival it was a really cool atmostphere.

There is the submarine at OMSI. They had these old school sailboats out on the water and they kept firing the cannons. I felt like I was in the middle of Pirates.

I took my camera with me and made sure to bring an extra battery just in case and when I got on the river I realized I had the 16 mb chip in it so could only take like 10 pictures anyway.

I think we had probably the best seat in the house so that was cool. The weather was beautiful. Spiderman (again) Shrek the third and Pirates 3.

Bust A Groove

2007-06-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night I met Tom and Jeff at the gym. When at the gym there was a hip hop type class going on and I casually told Jeff I would buy him dinner if he would go in there and dance with the class. Well turns out Jeff will do anything for money. I mean anything and at the offer of a free Mikes Burger and Shake he was all over it. Little did I know Jeff has got some moves. Looking back I do remember always going over to their house in high school and playing Bust a groove but I did not know Jeff was memorizing all the moves. If you watch I think you can see the stylings of Gas-o in there. Anyways way to go jeff I could not believe how quick you picked it up and that you actually did it. The quality of picture is not that good because it is off my phone. Thank goodness for technology huh.

More of the same

2007-05-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry these post are getting pretty boring. You know its bad when you go back to proof read your own post and you can't finish because you get too bored and there are only like 3 lines. I can't promise anything better in the future but maybe I will try and put some substance or at least some cooler pictures but probably not.

Here are some pics of the Tualatin River I got this morning before work and got bored so messed around with them on the computer.

Washington Park Ride

2007-05-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

Today Jeff and I went on one of my favorite bike rides and I brought my camera along for the ride. We started up at Washington Park and road down to the rose gardens. Oh yea Jeff forgot his helmet so I hooked him up.

After a nice romantic stroll around the gardens we went downtown and found Portlandia and rode around the river.

So pretty.

Looks like some kind of impending doom.

Such a sweet town.
When we went out 2 hours later there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
On our way back up to the car right before the bottom of the park my chain broke so we had to get on max and ride it back up the hill to the car. So basically it was like a 10 mile bike ride all down hill. Not what I was going for but could be worse.
There is the POS. I have had that same bike since like 94. We have been through a lot of good times together.

Jeff flies out to Hong Kong tomorrow. Have a safe flight Jeffy.

Motorcycle

2007-05-19T17:59:00.002-07:00

Last Monday I went out to my friend Doug's house to pick up my solution to the soaring gas prices. When I got there Doug had been drinking and wanted me to pull some logs up in exchange for help with the bike. He has a sweet piece of property out close to incestacada. Whenever I go out there and he is completely drunk he wants me to go offroading while he drives and play a little game he likes to call "is there a God". Not a good idea.

Unfortunately the bike is in the shop and things are not looking good. Plan A on defeating gas prices is going to be a little delayed but Plan B is well underway.

Here is a classic picture of Doug in his usual day off attire. He ski's in the exact same thing, well lose the shirt.

28 weeks later, Spiderman and Delta Farce (don't ask).

New Kid On The Blog

2007-05-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Mt Hood. I had a perfect view right above hood but I was in an isle seat so I asked the old man if he could take a picture for me and 10 min later this is the nice picture of the wing I get. Its not hard just point and shoot. Its okay the old Mormon women next to me was telling me how nice it is to be going home to Oregon and get out of Utah. Preach it sister. Seth and Chrissy are scheduled to come June 21st. Tom said he should be back July 2nd or 3rd for the summer and then down to U of O for the MAC. Eli claims he will move back some time over the summer as well. All that is left is for John to come home. Come home John.

The weather has been really nice here in Portland over the last week so Tommy C and I have been preparing me for some white water kayaking. Thursday we went to the Sunset pool with the white water kayaks and practiced rolling. Rolling, not as easy as advertised. Then we went out on these recreational kayaks on the one non sunny day.

Sorry the quality is not very good on these pictures as you can see they are taken on our phones.
There are no pictures of me at sunset trying to roll but that is probably a good thing because all they would be of is of the bottom of the kayak and me flailing around smacking Tom with the paddle. Sorry Tom.
The movie run is still on. Slowing but still on. The Namesake, Blades of Glory, 300 (again), The Ex and very soon SpiderMan 3 (IMAX).
Tommy C said he would not look at the blog till he was on it so now you are on it and the new kid on the blog. I expect a sweet comment or 2. Here is your shout out on the official Tommy post.

Whats up with GS? First the annihilation of Nowitzki then falling to Utah twice and then just working them on #3? I just don't get it? Since I am on it I HATE Ginobili, Duncan and Parker (I like Eva though which makes me hate him more). Go PHX.

Mr and Mrs Rossii Thayne

2007-05-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to fly to Utah to attend the wedding of my friend who I met on the mission and consider a brother. The wedding was beautiful and everything went really well. They both looked great as usual which is a lot more than I can say for any of the pictures I am in. I think everyone will agree it was worth the 5 years it took to make it happen.

Tommy J took care of the entertainment. Nice Job Tommy the RBI was excellent.

The "Rocky Mountain Flex Off" has seen much better days.

Mr P I M P

Congratulations once again Rossii and Angie you 2 are awesome and I know you will be happy. Thanks the trip was well worth it. All the best this post is for you guys.

Movies, movies and more movies

2007-04-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

So I guess its not good blog etiquette to wait a month between posts. Who knew? I was informed if I did not post on at least a weekly basis you all would stop checking. That is not true is it Mom? You will check right? You still love me when I don’t post. Anyway, I am not 100% sure what I want out of this thing yet. I think I started a blog just so everyone could keep up with what is going on in my life without me having to actually talk to anyone. So until I figure that out it is going to be as random as possible. Here is a list of a few things I have been doing over the last 2 weeks.
300
Pathfinder
Fracture
In the land of women
Condemned
Disturbia
Vacancy
Shooter
Hot Fuzz
Redline
Lookout

I like pictures and I like them in blogs when the pictures are of something I couldn’t just look up on the internet myself so here are a few gems for ya. First we will go with something a little older a nice pic of the Eiffel Tower. Next we will go for something new in the land of Cambodia and lastly up top something to make my parents just shake their head (a scowl picture if you will). You think it would be hard for me to find but no I got plenty.

I thought I would end with a deep thought to make this random blog complete.
A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. "Hear that?" you say. "That's dynamite, baby."

Only %10

2007-04-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy with work these last few weeks I have not done anything blog worthy but I feel like I should post something. So I found this map while I was making a myspace page for Mikes (which everyone should be friends with). When I put in the countries I had been to I thought I have done a little traveling in my time. Then the map came up and I was like holy crap I am pathetic. Apperantly I havent been anywhere. 19 countries, 15 states and 1 territory not counting airports and still just the tip of the ice berg. Don't anyone worry though it just increased my resolve. I will fill in the map and I am not waiting till I am old to do it. I have a few things coming up I will post about but for now I think I will just put some old pictures on here. I hope everyone enjoys a little blast from the past.

This first one is a picture I took myself about 5 yrs ago of Tyler Runia. He is diving off some rocks in Zions. The two guys at the bottom are inmates from a prison in St. George. Thats right inmates I have one of their striped shorts to prove it.
This second picture is a classic for the ages in what has to be one of the coolest places in the world (or at least coolest in the 10% of the world I have seen). For those of you who don't already know this is Eli and I when we were like 16 in the San Juans. We are standing on a large stone table in the middle of the woods and in the back of each of those chairs is the ashes of a dead person and the back is the tomb stone. The whole story is cool but creepy I mean creepy.

Duke and Andrew

2007-03-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

I hung out with Duke and Andrew this weekend. Its been a long time since I have seen them and I think the same is true for most of you. Andrew is living in Whitney Idaho. He has a house and some land there where he lives with his wife and 2 kids. He is in town for 3 weeks on business. He has had his own business doing carpentry work for 7 years now.

Everyone remember Duke? He is pretty much the same. He is about 5'9, 170 lbs, a cancer and still loves long walks on the beach. Teresa is from West Linn and they met in the Westlake Ward. Duke works for Les Schwab and Teresa works for the city of Hillsboro. They just bought a house in Banks. Duke and Teresa have been happily married for 1 year this month.

Hey Duke, Taste the crust.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2007-03-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

I guess this is my first official blog with pictures and everything. I hope you all enjoy it. Tommy J came into town to pick a up a car to drive back to Utah so we hung out a little. As you can see we did a little golfing. We both pretty much sucked it up and the putting greens were a little breezier than normal but we had a lot of fun anyway.

After golf we went and saw 300. Tom had never seen it and since it is such a good movie I had no problem watching it again (especially at Bridgeports fine prices).

Mmmmm and what mandate would be complete without a little Gelato.

TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG

2007-03-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

I always thought I was too cool for a blog then I started to think about what I would put on a blog if I had one and realized I got nothing to blog about. Is my life not cool enough to support the demands of a blog? I am not in a foreign country, I am not pregnant (I don't think) and I don't participate in any extreme sports or at least ones I would want pictures of floating around on the internet. So I guess this could be harder than I thought. I just want to keep everyone updated and will try to keep it as entertaining as possible. Oh and I still think I am too cool for a blog.