The little league experience was a success!

After months of practices, lots of running, and 9 weeks of Saturday games, Willie's little league football experience is finally over. The Hunter Wolverine's b-team far surpased it's name to go down in a blaze of glory on Saturday afternoon against Park City. Though in my opinion the PC squad had better uniforms, they got to wear red and black, two of my favorite colors, the Hunter boys definately pulled out a nail biter. With under 20 secoonds left on the game clock and a game tied at one touchdown a piece, the Hunter QB (first time playing the position) tossed the ball to his running back. Lucky for us, the running back figured out how to run with almost no time on the clock and scored a 60 yard touchdown to win the game. To say that the boys and the fans were excited is too mild a statement. The dancing in the end zone proved that it was a great way to end an excellent season. Thanks to the coaches for teaching Willie how to play a game that he has ended up loving, much to Annie and Haley's dismay. If only he could think that getting a rebound and boxing out was as exciting as a tackle. We'll keep working on him. Jr. Jazz starts in 2 weeks anyway. For more pictures documenting the little league experience, click here

Driving To Tooele in the Dark

Yesterday, I drove to Tooele and it was one of the scariest drives I've had in a long time. You see, it was dark and raining, and I don't do so well driving in the dark. It is definately not my favorite thing to do. My assignment was to complete an hour presentation at the high school, which I successfully accomplished. Afterwards, I headed over to the jr. high to say hello to Haley. She was in a meeting so we only talked briefly. I left her a note on the door even though I talked to her and then headed back out to the parking lot. However, before I left, I had to snap a couple of photos. The goal was to get myself in the picture either in front of the jr. high sign or in front of the high school back parking lot. Neither idea worked. So, the pictures are a nice piece meal effect of the jr. high, half my head, and the high school parking lot from the jr. high parking lot. I tried.

Two, two, two concerts in one month

A while back, I decided that I was going to retire from the concert scene. The feelings of being to old (I know, I'm not old...yet) and not wanting to stand for 18 hours had really started to get to me, so I swore off concerts. Then what happens? Two groups I really like come to town to the same venue in the same month. Who would have known? Ross and I went to see Death Cab for Cutie at the beginning of October and Haley and I went to see Iron and Wine with Calexico (note the obligatory concert ticket photo). The show was a little on the slow and quiet side, but the music was nice. Calexico had a real mariachi feel with trumpets and Spanhish lyrics and Iron and Wine's lead singer nearly whipsered many of the songs. The audience however, was quiet too, like when you were in elementary school and your teachers wanted you to be quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Yeah, it was like that. We had fun but left early. The show was supposed to start at 7:00, didn't start until 8:30 and by 10:30, it was past my witching hour and time for bed. Luckily, I got to sleep in this morning.

That's it. A good show. I liked it. I just wish concerts would start on time.

The Most Eventful part of an Uneventful weekend.

This past weekend was not the most exciting or entertaining. I worked all day Saturday. Ross did "projects" around the house. Willie's little league team lost and will not make the playoffs. Sorry Will! I went to bed early Saturday night after reading at least 1/4 of "To Kill a Mockingbird" for this weeks book club.. A typical Saturday, when you think about it.

However, yesterday we did something out of the ordinary. We went on a walk. Not only did we walk, we walked with a purpose. The wildflowers in the neighborhood are so beautiful right now that we couldn't resist walking through the neighborhood with the handy dandy camera to snap a few shots. Ross was a very good helper. He carried the camera bag so I didn't have to. The majority of our photos were of cosmos. They are such a beautiful wildflower, mom loves them, and to say that they are growing in abundance in the neighborhood is an understatement. It was a beautiful way to spend part of our afternoon. Afterwards, I had a nap. It was Sunday...what else was I supposed to do? We did eat dinner with the fam. Sudnay afternoon and went to Parker's birthday party Sunday night. Happy 9th b-day Parkie-Warkie!

I realize that no one really reads my blog, but to those of you who happen across it, enjoy the shots.

O What a Beautiful Morning

This morning I left home a little bit later than usual. Partly because I was tired and didn't want to wake up at 5:30 and partly because I think Ross poisoned me last night. We had barbeque chicken and left over salad and potatoes from Sunday dinner. Well, something I ate didn't agree with me and I spent the night in pain.

I'm better now. Not poisoned...yet! ;)

Anyway, I left home late and got to see the beautiful sunrise. I took this picture through the car window as I was parked on the ramp waiting to get onto the freeway. it was so pretty I couldn't help taking a picture. Enjoy!

How old is the building I work in?

I work within the hallowed walls of an institution of higher education. However, for the last week or so, I have noticed a large cobweb on one of the framed pieces of art that decorates a stairwell I use regularly. Now, don't ge me wrong, I realize that cleaning is a little bit over-rated, but, you've got to wonder how long this web has been on this picture. My spidey sense is telling me that there is a big spider where this web came from and I hope that the two of us don't have to tango anytime soon.

Friday Night Lights

Friday night was the last official home game for the Hunter Wolverines. We missed seeing Preston honored as a senior (#51 in the lower picture), but still made it to the game. We were late because Ross and I had to stop at my parent's house to get my red jacket that I accidentally left there last week. After an extensive search for the jacket, it was brought to my attention that my mom gave my jacket away! I know what you're thinking, "how could she do a thing like that?" but she did. After several minutes of complete and utter panic, I relaxed, borrowed one of Haley's jackets, and we headed for the game. My jacket has since been recovered, but Haley's has not yet been returned...sorry Haley. I'll remember to give it back later.

The game wasn't the most exciting high school football game I've been to, but it was still a game. The wolverines played the Kearns cougars, but I'm using the world "played" lightly. You see, there is a rule in high school athletics, it's called the mercy rule, and when a team takes a lead of 35 points or more, the mercy rule states that the clock shall not stop for the remainder of the game. So, when Hunter went up on Kearns 35 to 0 in the first half, we were treated to a very speedy second half of play. In the end it was Hunter with the decisive victory, 42 to 10. Poor Kearns. We were all feeling very sad for the cougars, but at least they scored. I beleive that they may have the best field goal kicker in the state...he just doesn't get the chance to kick.

Hunter now has almost two weeks off and will play Clearfield in the first round of high school playoffs on the road to the state championship.

Good luck Hunter. Sorry cougars. Better luck next year.

Ross started a new job

Hmm. . .do I smell a new job? Why yes, yes I do. It's official. Ross is definately a "mover and shaker" in the business world and started a new Job on Monday with American Express. He is definately loving every minute of his first few days on the job. He is nearly, dare I say, giddy with excitement, about the prospects of a new work environment, shorter hours, and the fact that they are going to purchase him a palm pilot and order him business cards. He truly can hardly contain his excitement. The best part? Ross is getting home at a reasonable time. He often worked very late nights with his previous employer and the last two days has not only beat me home, but beat me quite handily as well. This means that he has more time to fix me dinner and watch baseball playoffs uninterrupted, I guess.


Or, maybe just leisurly lounge laying on a lawn (how about that for illiteration!). Regarldess, he seems happy and happy is always good. Right?

A Good Weekend

I realize that it is only Saturday night, but our weekend has been pretty good so far so I thought I would update the blog. Last night, Ross and I went to a pretty good concert. We went to see the band Death Cab for Cutie. They are basically, in our opinion, a cross between Jimmy Eat World and Cold Play. We went late to avoid the opening band and they played a very long and good set. They played some of our favorite songs and ended the show around 9:30...early enough for us to get home and go to bed. Most important, Death Cab played my new favorite song off of their most recent offering, "Plans." My new fav. is track #5, "follow you into the dark". It is a great little song that I find rather sweet and touching. I highly recommend checking it out if you have the time.

Today was pretty good, too. We started the day at Willie's football game. The team played Bingham and handily beat them, three touchdowns to one. I can't believe how good his team is and how hard they hit for being 10 year olds. Of course I am partial, but Willie is a pretty good football player too. Willie got to be one of the team captains today. It is a cool thing for him except he has to hold hands with the other captains. I think he realizes it is a teamwork thing, and that he doesn't have to worry about it. Besides, he wears gloves so he really isn't touching them anyway. The other funny thing about the game today is that the kids halftime snack was a banana. Well, Willie doesn't like bananas and when he ran past the crew of Petersens, Hubers, Howdens, Woods, and Sudbury's watching his game today, Ross was the only one who was paying attention to him. This made it Ross' lucky day because as Willie ran by, he tossed his banana to Ross without even a flinch or a stutter in his step. Parker ate the banana in case you were wondering.

Tomorrow, we will finish out the weekend doing everything we didn't have time to do today like our laundry and cleaning our house. Then back to work on Monday, but Ross will be starting his new job with American Express, so I am sure he will have a good day in his orientation.

Autumn Colors

This past weekend was a beautiful one. On Saturday, we went to Willie's football game. They beat Grantsville, two touchdowns to one. Willie did a great job as center and played a good game. On Saturday night, mom had a wild party. The Wood's, Stapley's, and Peter (representing the Stoker's) came and we had a lot of fun, ate a ton of food, and laughed really hard. The best part of the evening may have been watching BY-woo loose though. That was fun, too.

On Sunday, Ross took me to do one of my most favorite things...look at the fall leaves. I love to go for a drive every fall and this year we decided to head into the Oquirrhs to check out the color. After driving through Herriman for quite some time trying to find the road and failing miserably, we decided to take the long way to the Oquirrhs -- we drove to Lehi and around the Mountain range to Tooele to test our luck on the other side. Once in Tooele, we decided to stop for gas, get our respective Coke and Mt. Dew and find a road that would take us over the Mountain. We found one, called the Oquirrh look-out. After driving past and gazing into the windows of a new scrapbooking store in Tooele called, "scrappily ever after" we hit the road and saw some beautiful leaves.

At the top of the Canyon, Ross decided to head down the other side because we didn't want to head back to Tooele. We drove down a very narrow road and I held onto the car, wherever I could get a good grip, with white knuckles and super fried nerves. By the time we got to the bottom, I was better, and we were back in Herriman....right on a road that we missed the first two times we drove by.

That was the end of a very uneventful, but nice weekend.

Enjoy the pictures, they are from our drive.

To view a few more, click here