Random Thoughts

No you are not seeing things, this really is a new post from me, Evey. Why have I not been posting you ask?? Well I really have no good excuse so I won't give you one. I just suck:) But now here I sit with many a story to tell of the adventures of the last week or so.

Last Friday Chris and I decided to go to the driving range so I could test out my new clubs and work on my swing. As we were driving there this car was tailing Chris and then proceeded to cut us off. When we ended up driving alongside this car he was staring at us and Chris muttered something at the guy. As we approached the red light in front of us this car slowed down to pull up level with us and his window started to come down. Now I know it is so stereotypical but in that moment both Chris and I felt our hearts beat a little faster. Say what you will, but if you just gave some BIG black dude with tinted windows a dirty look you would have been scared too. But as his window opened more we saw he was smiling. Once we were both stopped he was like "What Starbucks do you work at? I'm Starbucks too." Not only did we realize he worked at Starbucks and that was why he was staring at us in the first place cause he saw the writing on the van and was trying to see if he knew Chris, but the minute he started talking you knew he was gay. Here we thought this dude was gonna pop some bullets in us and he was just some bug cuddly gay dude who works at Starbucks.

The range we went to was kinda out there a bit in the trees. As we were hitting balls we heard a coyote howling at the moon. We realized the howls sounded pretty close and sure enough sitting way out on the other end of the driving range was a coyote a howling away. At first I was a little frightened, afraid he would make a beeline for me if I hit a ball in his direction. But then I realized a couple of things...The first being that I could never hit the ball that far and the other that he would never be that brave. So we went about hitting golf balls and he just sat and howled.

On the way home we decided to get some dinner. So we headed to a restaurant called 99. We decided to have some nachos as an appetizer, when they were brought to us I was convinced that the person bringing them was Justin Guarini from the first season of American Idol. I know it wasn't, but there is still a part of me who is convinced it couldn't have been anyone else. And then as we were eating I heard the oddest thing.....Tiffany blaring out of the radio. Now don't get me wrong, when I was 9 years old in 1987 and Tiffany released her first album I loved her and sang in my living room with my hairbrush to all her hits just like everyone else. But that was a very very long time ago and I cannot recall the last time I heard a Tiffany song playing anywhere. It took me by surprise and I thought you should know about it.

WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!

Just thought I'd post and let all y'all know that the Seahawks kicked the Carolina Panthers all over the field, and dominated every phase of the game! The final score was 34-14, and now we'll play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the SUPER BOWL! GO HAWKS!!!

My Wife, the Sports Nut

I love my wife very much. One of the unique things about my wife is that she absolutely loves Edmonton Oilers hockey. I myself am quite a hockey fan, and its great that I can sit on the couch and watch the game without any glares, comments, or snide remarks--unless, of course, the Colorado Avalanche (my favorite team) is beating the Oilers. (Or unless I forget to take the garbage out...)

Luckily for me, this love for hockey spills over into other sports too. As you can attest by the new look to our blog, she has become a rabid Seattle Seahawks fan, although it took her a while to warm up to them--which is understandable--coming from Canada, they've only got the Canadian Football League, which, although it is a fun game to watch, is no match for the NFL. We are both SUPER pumped for the NFC Championship Game on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. GO HAWKS!

Along with a different type of football, she was exposed to absolutely zero baseball growing up, so therefore she was NEVER into it. When we first met, she vowed to me that she would rather gouge both eyes out and pour saltwater into them rather than sit down in front of the TV and take in a 3-hour baseball game. And then, she met my mom. Now, my mom is not off-the-walls crazy for the Seattle Mariners, but her love for them is strong--strong enough to pull Evey in like the tractor beam in Star Wars--and make her learn the game and become a fan. My mom taught her the nuiances of the game--when to hit and run, the art of pitching, who the cutoff man is, etc. Now, my wife must watch the Mariners nightly--so much so that we usually buy the Dish Network's MLB Package to catch every M's game while we are here in Boston.

Other sports that she enjoys to watch--golf (you can chalk that one up to my man-crush on Phil Mickelson.) She called me at work on a Saturday a couple of years ago when I was still working weekends in Seattle to tell me, "I can't believe this, but I've been watching golf for three hours. What is wrong with me?" I just laughed and smiled inside, knowing that if Phil was ever in contention to win a tournament, I could plop my lazy butt on the couch and watch golf until the cows came home. She likes watching the major tournaments like the Masters and the US Open.

Now, the only sport I have to work on with her is soccer. She was very interested in the World Cup back in 2002 when the US team made the quarterfinals, but since then, she has regressed. Hopefully later this year when the 2006 World Cup starts, I'll get her loving Sam's Army again!

Last night was girls night out! It was my friend Connie's birthday so 8 of us went out to dinner to On the Border. By it's name you may have already guessed that it is Mexican. I had never been there before and it may already be a favorite. I had a Steak Fajita Salad and it was so yummy, the salsa however that it came with nearly burned my mouth off. It was a fun night.

Chris went over to hang out with Troy and Travis while us girls were gone. Amy and Troy just got a new puppy over Christmas, she is a cocker spaniel, her name is Nettie and she is SO cute. Our other friend Kirsten just got a 7 week old Chocolate Lab on Sunday who is also SO cute. So she brought Jackson over so that Chris, Troy and Travis could babysit. Apparently him and Nettie played and wrestled ALL night. How cute...sometimes it makes me sad we didn't have Belle when she was just a little puppy, but then I remember we also didn't have to clean up all her little accidents and I don't feel so sad anymore.

I know I am a little behind on this one....but hey, at least I am doing it!!! Amanda tagged me for this one.

"The first player of this game starts with the topic Five Weird Habits of yourself and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits, as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals."

1. I must ALWAYS have a full glass of water next to the bed. I rarely drink it, but I cannot settle in unless I know its there just incase I need it.

2. My towels have to be folded a certain way, if Chris folds them and they are not that way I will unfold them and redo it.

3. When I walk Belle I go out of my way to make sure she doesn't step on the utility covers on the sidewalk for fear she will get shocked and die. I know that makes me sound crazy but there have been 2 dogs electrocuted in Boston in the last few months from those very things.

4. I have to wear my Seahawks socks whenever they play because I am convinced they will lose if I don't. Tell me I am crazy...but I wore them every Sunday for 11 weeks and we won all those games. Our last game of the season I didn't wear them and we lost.

5. Every night before I go to bed I check the locks on the door and the stove like 5 times to make sure it is all off otherwise I cant sleep.

So there you have it, call me crazy if you want!!

I am not sure who has been tagged or not already so lets go with... Leslie, Tammy, Shelley, True and Lucy.

Happy Monday

Last night Chris and I watched Madagascar. I thought it was a great movie, very well done. I love all the animated movies that have come out the last few years. I would have to say though that this one is one of my favorites.
As unexciting as this post may be it's all I have this morning. Perhaps I am not awake enough yet to think of anything witty and interesting.

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

As you can tell Chris went to work on our template today. We decided it would be fun to have something Seahawks at least until next Sunday which is when they host the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game. Hopefully we will have reason to keep it around till February 5th.

I have absolutely nothing exciting to say:) If your lucky I may think of something later!!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

As the writing of this post will show you I am very much alive. Ever since my horrid tooth experience I decided to lay low for a little while and let Chris take over some of the blogging duties. He does a very good job and I really wish he would post more often.

As for my mouth...I feel 100% better. Still have a few more things to get taken care of but otherwise all is well. I am actually going to go in today to see if they can take my stitches out. They are the kind that just go away on their own, but they are all coming loose and I am sick of feeling like I am eating string.

On to much more important things....today is a important day in our house. The Seattle Seahawks play the Washington Redskins at 4:30 pm. The NFL playoffs started last week but since the Hawks are so friggin awesome we had a first round bye and we have home field advantage throughout. Now one thing you must realize is that the Seahawks have not won a playoff game since 1984, the longest playoff drought in NFL history......that's a LONG time. Since I have been a Hawks fan it has been a little painful during playoff time. You see my first year (2002) being a Hawks fan they missed the playoffs and finished the season with a 7-9 record. The next year (2003) was better in the sense we made the playoffs. We played the Green Bay Packers in the NFC wild card game. The game went to overtime and the Hawks won the coin toss. So when the referee said to our quarterback "you have won the coin toss what would you like to do?" Matt Hasselbeck answered with "we want the ball and we're going to score" Well instead of scoring he threw an interception and Green Bay returned it for a touchdown. And so the drought continued. Then came 2004 which came another playoff loss. The game came down to the last seconds with us trying to throw for a touchdown to tie the game. Hasselbeck fired the ball into the middle of the end zone and Bobby Engram just let it slip through his hands. And so it continued.

But this year is different. It is different in so many ways. The Seahawks are a better team than they have been in a long time. Our offense is better, our defense is better. We won our division and we had the best record in the NFC. We finished this season with a 13-3 record tied for second best in the NFL. Our running back Shaun Alexander won the NFL rushing title, the NFL MVP award AND he broke the NFL record for most touchdowns in a season by a running back. He scored 28 touchdowns this season. We are have won many games this year that in any other season we would have lost. We went undefeated at home this year. That is probably largely due to the fact of crowd noise. Seattle is easily one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL. In fact when the New York Giants were in Seattle our crowd noise helped the Giants commit 11 false start penalties, the most in their teams history in one game.

All that to say GO HAWKS! We SHOULD win this game today...everyone is picking us as the winner. And with the likes of Matt Hasselbeck (8), Shaun Alexander (37), Walter Jones (71) and Darrell Jackson (82) we hope and pray the drought is over and that next week we will be watching the Hawks play at home in the NFC championship.

**UPDATE**

The Seahawks beat the Redskins 20-10. GO HAWKS!!!!

Things I shouldn't like...yet I do

I'm a guy. I like guy things. For instance:

Sports. I like sports. I don't like all sports, but I pretty much enjoy the vast majority. I like this sport. This as well. And this one. And this one. This one too. But this sport is an example of one I do not like.

Food. I enjoy food. Some people might say that I enjoy it a little too much. I love this food. And this one. But this is nasty.

Beer. I like beer. I like different types of beer. I enjoy this beer. And this beer. But not this one. Along with that, wine is a favorite of mine as well. Especially this kind.

Now, there are things that I like--being a heterosexual guy--that you wouldn't normally think a guy would like. Like Project Runway. Project Runway is a reality show on Bravo that follows budding fashion designers as they go through challenges and make clothes to win the show and become famous. Each designer gets to pick a model that they use for their creations throughout the show. Heidi Klum is the host, and she makes the call on who is in...or out.

Basically, there is really no logical reason why I should like this show. It's full of eccentric female designers, gay male designers, gay eccentric she-male desgners, and frighteningly thin models. I just can't turn away! I don't know why, but its interesting to me how these people come up with these designs. Having Heidi Klum as the host definitely doesn't hurt things, but I'm not a fashion designer, nor do I ever plan to be. I'm not into high fashion, as my closet can attest. It's just one of those things, I guess.

Christmas Recap

Hello all. Since Evey is on the IR with severe jaw/mouth pain, I decided to take this opportunity to blog a bit about our Christmas experiences this year.

On Christmas Eve, we decided to stay home--not because we're lame, (some may argue that) but because most of our church friends went home for the holidays. We first had our own turkey dinner, with all of the trimmings--stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc. It was very good food, and although I didn't eat too much to make myself sick like last year, I still achieved a food coma, which around the holidays, isn't too difficult to do. After our spread, we decided to watch a movie--Polar Express. A very good holiday movie, but it doesn't hold a candle to the best Christmas movie ever made. Our plans for Christmas day were to go over to the Stumps--pretty much the only family from church that decided to stay home. We finally went to sleep...

...with dreams of sugar-plum fairies dancing in our heads...

And Christmas Day arrived. We woke up at 7 AM--let me rephrase that--Evey woke up at 7 AM to proclaim, "I'm opening my stocking!" Me, in my half-asleep/half-awake state had to take a minute to wake up and realize that it was actually Christmas morning! Once the frenzy commenced, it was not unlike the scene from Christmas Story--wrapping paper flying everywhere, my dog freaking out, and all of us delighting in our gifts from everyone. My main gift to Evey (along with an Old Navy wool coat and pajamas) was a starter's set of golf clubs including the bag and head covers.



Evey's main gift to me (along with a new wallet and leatherman tool) was a Seattle Seahawks jersey with Walter Jones name and number 71 on it. Money.



(Sorry for the poor quality of these pics. Our main digital camera is in for repairs, and these were taken with the backup. But that is another blog for another time...)

So after we opened all of our gifts and consumed copious amounts of candy for 9 AM, we had to start making dessert for our dinner at the Stumps. We decided to make Hot Fudge Cake and Apple Crisp--both Banquet Dessert Bakes. If you haven't tried them yet, they are surprisingly good, and very easy to make. Which I think is the point. Even I can make them, which is saying something.

Off to the Stumps we went. Connie and Mark were nice enough to take us in for the day and feed us. They made a sumptuous pot roast--y'know, the kind that falls apart when you touch it. Mmmmm. There were potatoes, carrots, corn, jello salad, and of course, our desserts rounded out the feast. The Stumps have 3 kids--David (6), Elizabeth (4), and Emma (20 months) who are all very cute and very well-behaved. After dinner, we decided to do--what else? Board games! Scrabble was first, and lately I have struggled. The whole time we were playing, David was putting together his new Rokenbok Construction set which Santa brought him. A very cool toy for his age. Man, if I had these kinds of toys I probably would've become some kind of engineer or something. Instead I had this and this, but at least I had this. But I digress. After getting thoroughly smoked in Scrabble (I had the words, just not the letters) I decided to regain my dignity by teaming up with Evey and taking the Stumps on in a little thing I like to call--Trivial Pursuit.

Now, normally, Evey dislikes playing this game with me, basically because I know things that no mortal should know--except for the sole purpose of winning this game. But this time she decided to play, I think because she was on my side. She performed like a champ though, answering at least 5 or 6 questions correctly! Example: "What NCAA men's college basketball team has won the most national championship tournament games?" Evey answered correctly: Kentucky. Which blew me away, because I thought she answered due to her knowing that Kentucky was a good team--but really, her answer came from the fact that Ashley Judd is such a big fan of the team. But heck, she got it right anyways. We ended up winning the marathon game, although we almost lost our big lead.

So all in all, it was a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had a turkey dinner, a pot roast dinner, gifts, games, and a whole lotta holiday spirit. A Merry belated Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Happy New Year

I know you thought we fell of the face of the earth but we didn't. I had planned on making a big ole post before New Years Eve about our Christmas and stuff. That plan however was derailed when I bit down a little too hard in the wrong spot in my mouth while eating my dinner Thursday evening. I aggravated a previous problem that I had yet to get taken care of. We waited two days and finally had to go in to see a dentist New Years Eve because the pain was so huge I wanted to put my head through a wall..lol. So right there and then I had the tooth extracted (a back molar) and ever since have been laying in my bed with a hot pack on my face looped up on Tylenol 3. The good news is that I feel MUCH better today and actually took my last T3 this morning and am onto just good old extra strength tylenol. I am also on penicillin as a nice infection had started as well...Which hasn't helped the pain factor. SO while our Christmas was wonderful (I will blog about it) our New Years Eve sucked. We had plans but of course had to cancel them and I am pretty much certain that at midnight I was near tears with a hotpack on my face cursing all the people on the TV having good time. I have not had a real meal since Friday, since then my diet has consisted of instant mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, pudding and oatmeal. lol. Tomorrow is my birthday and we were going to go out for dinner but I am not sure I will be ready to eat whole foods by then. So we shall see.

That is all for now, perhaps I can talk Chris into blogging a little about our Christmas, and if not you will just have to wait till I feel like sitting here long enough to tell you about it:)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and heres to a very very happy 2006!!!