L O S T

While there were many wonderful things that came out of our nice holiday jaunt to Utah, there was one particularly paramount comment that changed everything. And I mean everything.

On our way home from Utah, we stopped at Brandon's parents' house in Loveland, CO (and ps, how can you not adore a place called 'Loveland'?) and hung out for a bit with Brandon's friend, Seiji. When the conversation turned to television, Seiji mentioned that you can watch Lost Season 3 on abc.com.

This is what happened next:

I was all: "No you can't" in my most know-it-all-tone. Then Brandon was all: "Yeah, you can only watch the last six episodes." Then Sieji was all "Oh, that's weird" and the conversation changed subjects.

Cut to Monday, the next day.

I get this text from Brandon that was all, "Seji was right, all of Lost season 3 is online." And then suddenly I was all, "Yes! This is incredible!" and bolted home as quickly as my little red neon would go without breaking the law.

I also call that section, "All: A Literary Experiment."

Now, here we are, three days later. Brandon and I are watching L O S T obsessively. Several months ago, Brandon's friend Ryan told us about a site where we could watch L O S T but it just didn't work out. The resolution was crappy and it wasn't worth it. But L O S T on abc.com is a gem. So thanks for the link Ryan, we are just resolution snobs.

We have probably watched five or six episodes since Monday and right this very second, I am anxiously awaiting Brandon's return from hometeaching so we can watch more. I am blown away by Desmond, not to mention the whole surgery incident and can't wait to find out what happens. I find myself constantly raising my hands to the ceiling during these episodes and saying, "This is SO awesome" in my most impressed, definitive voice. This is embarrassing, but I am also tempted to read all L O S T message boards and learn what the geeks are hypothesizing about. I think we've just been in L O S T withdrawal since we finished season 2.

Watch out for the Others. They are evil.

Tag. I'm it.

I just got "tagged" by my homeboy Ryan to share a little bit about myself. This requires me to answer four simple questions. So here we go.

Question 1: What is your favorite t-shirt that you own?

I have a bounty of wonderful t-shirts which makes this question difficult. Currently, I would say that my favorite shirt is one that says "Eagles are Forever" and also features a picture of an eagle. I like it because it looks cool and is soft. Here is a picture of me wearing the shirt and a monkey:

My favorite t-shirt which I don't own features the Cobra Kai logo and says "Sweep the Leg":

Question 2: Who is the most famous person you've ever shaken hands with?

Funny you should ask. During the summer of 2002, my boyhood hero Jim Rome came to visit the Mile-High City. A little smooth-talking scored Ryan and I some tickets to the "Meet and Greet" session. That is where I met Van Smack. Our hands embraced for a brief moment and he wrote something really fast on a picture for me. It was awesome. Not too many people get to meet their boyhood hero, so I feel lucky. Here's a graphic depiction of the event:

I met Rick Majerus and Urban Meyer and some Utah athletes.

I also met Marc Brown, creator of Arthur the aadvark. He came to my elementary school and I got done with my work so I got to go to the library and meet him. It wasn't really cool at all when you think about it.

Question 3: What are the coolest nicknames you've given people?

Hmmm...let's see. When my roommate's ladyfriend, Jen, crashed a gigantic foam airplane into my eye, I named her Jen Ladin. I also have a friend named Mattle who I named "Frattle" because he joined an LDS fraternity. Also, during our non-affiliated undergraduate years, I addressed my wife as Mohammed. There was also Evil Joe, Krusty, Lyn Ladin, Karl C, Robot, Rawd, Rawd.com, and Rawdimir among others.

Question 4: What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate experience?

My undergraduate experience encompassed four entire years. It's hard to say which is the best, but here are the candidates:

I got to help pull down the goal post after Utah's undefeated football regular season. Not very many people get to be that guy.

I got my first Speedo modeling gig. This work was published in a major periodical.

I shook my booty for the "Arctic Circle Shake" and placed in the top three.

My brother and I scared the neighbor with the gift of a snake in a box and then blamed it on Evil Joe.

This list could go on and on. I would have to say that my undergraduate career was truly prolific in many ways.

So now everyone knows a little bit more about me. Yippee!

Things That Will Make Your Life Better

1) Homemade leftovers, especially during finals week.

I know you are probably thinking "finals week? We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet!?" My program, however, is on the quarter system which means it goes super fast and we start and end at odd times.

But back to leftovers, they are seriously the best. A couple weeks ago we made a gigantic thing of a super yummy taco soup because we had the missionaries over for dinner and ended up with tons extra. That soup satisfied us for the whole next week.

This week we have been having an endless supply of yellow curry, with a recipe supplied by Leslie. Seriously, each time I eat it, it gets better. I don't know if it is because I am so frazzled, busy, and in desperate need of a meal at the end of the day, or if it is that good. Probably both.

So, if any of ya'll have good recipes that make for great leftovers, send 'em our way. Now I gotta go...our Relief Society is having their last free yoga class of the year. I can't miss it!

Things That Will Make Your Life Worse

1) Group projects for school.

Enough said.

I'm sure I could come up with more--actually canned peas, dog poop in the stairwell by our front door (true story, happening right now), and the local 10:00 news just came to mind.

But group projects. They really suck. At least the only one I had this quarter is finished. AND--I got through it without gouging out my eyes.

If you don't like hearing about mundane things, don't read this

As Brandon and I reflected on our recent blog entries, we both realized that the most blog-worthy events that occurred in our lives over the past two weeks were 1.) not getting Rockies tickets for the baseball world championships finals 2.) Brandon's handlebar mustache and 3.) Kevin Federline. Man oh man, aren't our lives exciting? I know you are all jealous!

Now: on to something more exciting.

Its official. I have gotten over my fear of crockpots. Yup, and I bet you are jealous. Prior to this week, I would think about using the crockpot and get this sinking, anxious feeling. I was worried they would burn our house down or that I would somehow be the only one in the history of crockpot users to mess up. Plus, I actually enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes and somehow irrationally concluded that if I were to start regularly using a crockpot, we would be on the downward spiral to only eating casseroles with cream of chicken soup and ground hamburger.

Alas, none of that has happened. Our house is still standing, the food never burned, and I still have an interest in cooking. We used the crockpot to make tortilla soup a week ago and then yesterday to make some pork sandwiches (yes, believe it or not, I ate pork, enjoyed it, and will probably do it again. Walls may just start crumbling). Actually, Brandon was in charge of the whole pork thing so if I ever have to do it by myself, that nervous feeling might come back.

Other ridiculously mundane things in our lives include:
1.) We saw The Darjeeling Limited on Saturday night. We enjoyed it. If you like whimsical details, underplayed humor, and watching dysfunctional families reconnect, go see it.

2.) Brandon bought a ridiculous amount of Halloween candy when it went on sale Nov. 1. While he got some of the good stuff, we now have a giant bag of the Willy Wonka candies--laffy taffy, nerds, runts, sweet tarts, etc. All the stuff I thought you grew out of by age 12. This morning, though, I did hear some pretty good laffy taffy wrapper jokes.

3.) We get to activate a Costco membership this week.

Stay tuned for more nail-biting excitement. You won't want to miss what we have to tell you next.

K-Fed Update

We are sitting here reading celebrity gossip/crosswording (guess who's doing what) and we stumbled upon this gem:



We also found out how much Britney and K-Fed spend each month.

Courtesy of People.com:

Britney's Expenses:
• $102,000 on entertainment, gifts and vacation
• $49,267 on mortgage payments
• $16,000 on clothes
• $4,758 on eating out
• $2,500 on phone bills

Kevin's Expenses:
• $5,000 on entertainment, gifts and vacation
• $7,500 on rent
• $2,000 on clothes
• $1,500 on eating out
• $750 on phone bills

Kevin the Moustache is currently traveling through the waterworks, because he got removed from his facial home and washed down the sink this morning. Maybe he'll fall into mutagenic ooze and meet up with some sewer rats like Splinter, the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Maybe he'll become a ninja moustache.

Just thought you should know.