the secret is out!

Yes this is the real reason why.... dad can stay awake at work all day, have a smile on his face, go to his church meetings, laugh at mom's crazy jokes, stay up late to watch Letterman, and do it all again the next day! Its also the reason why sometimes mom acts like she is drunk, giggles like a school girl, and burps louder then dad!!! i dont even want to know what my life would be like without the magic that is

Diet Coke!!!

Another Cruise Question

When we are out and about and doing snorkeling, swimming with the dolphins, etc., what do you do with your wallet, passport, glasses, etc.? Any good ideas?

Cruise - Dog Bisquits and collared shirts

Hi! The cruise is getting close!!!

We learned a little tidbit from Brent Maughan who goes on lots of cruises. He says to buy some dog bisquits when you get to Ft Lauderdale while you buy the snorkeling gear and put them in a plastic sack. Then, when you go snorkeling, you let a little bit of the dog biscuit out and fish come to you like crazy. Sometimes you need to throw some away from you to clear the area.

Also, I e-mailed some information on dinners and clothes etc. Basically, you can wear shorts and swimming suits everywhere except to dinner where they want you to wear collared shirts and pants or nice jeans for guys. Slacks or jeans, dresses skirts and tops for women.

It sounds a bit like selecting the dress standard for a youth dance, doesn't it?

There is also a dress up restaurant if you went to really dress up (ties etc). I don't know how people feel about that.

Andy said that typically on cruises the drinks cost (everything but water). The lobster might also be charged.

See you all in a couple of weeks!

Thoughts on the Oscars

Well, another Academy Awards has come and gone. Kate Winslet now has a well deserved Oscar, and Hugh Jackman was fantastic as the host, so I'm happy. I also enjoyed Steve Martin and Tina Fey as presenters, as well as Ben Still as Joaquin Phoenix (who p.s., I think is faking it; that's the only explaination I have for Casey Affleck recording the whole crazy thing). Didn't love the church reference nor the previous acting winners long speeches to the acting nominees. . . .they need to return to the previous winner presenting it. Other than that, it was well done. I enjoyed the montages as well as the singing and dancing (including Anne Hathaway, who at times annoys me).

As for the outfits.. . The best dressed men: Daniel Craig and Brad Pitt.
Best dressed women: Angelina Jolie (I haven't loved any other dresses this awards season but this was good), Anne Hathaway (the red carpet dress), Taraji P. Henson, and Tina Fey. I also liked Amy Adams dress (congrats to Caroline Herrera who redeemed herself after the hideousness of Renee Zelwegger at the Golden Globes) and Nicole Kidman. I was so-so on Kate Winslet (she normally does better. . . I disliked her hair more and more as the night went on) and Penelope Cruz. I hated Beyonce's dress, and my worst dressed of the night goes to Reese Witherspoon. She is capable of so much more.

Here are some pictures of the Oscar dinner. We kept things small and mostly family this year-- the sisters, Mary and her (young) aunt Tracy, and Kiersten. Definately not the same as with the parents, but it is an attempt to carry on the tradition that Mom started.

some fun with photoshop

Oscar Ballot

Though we are far away, some traditions still continue. How about if everyone picks their favorites on a comment?

1. Actor
2. Actress
3. Supporting Actor
4. Supporting Actress
5. Director
6. Song
7. Costumes
8. Visual Effects
9. Animated
10. Picture

10 random things!!

i think it would be fun if each member of the family shared 10 random things about themselves. somethings we may already know about.... and some may be new and fun!! everyone needs to participate!! have fun!

ok ok i'll go first....

1. i hate it when cupboard doors are open. in becca and ashton's apartment there is this one cupboard that wont stay shut and i try every single day to make it stick.... it totally bugs!

2. i drove 4 different cars in high school that often had problems

*betty- i would have to put her in neutral when i stopped
so i could constantly have my foot on the gas!
* The caravan- in case anyone forgot the gear shift was off one to the left meaning when you were in Drive it looked like you were in Neutral. that confused many a passenger in my car!
* CPS - yes this vehicle may have had more power the a rocket ship, however it lacked something very important... paint
* the lumina- this car was actually nice and cute... no complaints!
3.i fall asleep on my right side every night... but when i take naps i fall asleep on my belly
4. i hate hate hate the smell of pickles when there is no meal attached to them. like when becca thinks she needs a pickle at 10:00 pm i want to puke!
5. one of my very favorite memories EVER is playing junk yard in the basement with andy, becca, cherise, romel, and sometimes the Calamias. i had my first kiss playing that game, yes that's right romel and i smooched in the basement!
6. cherise and i would watch movies like the Pelican Brief and the Fugitive and pretend like we understood them. we were like 9 years old. i would do this because i remember mom, dad, rachel, and andy saying they were great movies. i dont even know if i fully understand the Pelican Brief now?? i should have been watching saved by the bell!
7. one night in high school me and some girls took a lawn nome from someone's lawn, drove it around town and took pictures of it at random hot spots in spokane. then we developed the film and wrote a story as if the nome had written it explaining where it had travelled to on its adventure around town.
8.because of my family i assume everyone scares their family and friends while they are going to the bathroom.... i have found its not as common as one might think.
9. i dont like it when people breath loudly and or make a whistling sound when they breath.... it freaks me out and its all i think about if i hear it. dont they hear it?? i think to myself
10. one time when i was roller blading i fell really hard on my tail bone. since then i can't sit very long in the same position with out my buns hurting, so i always have to rotate at movies, church or on road trips.

Urp Snerd and Framus

We were discussing words used around our home not used by anyone else (such as Leona Work Day). Well, Mom said one yesterday that I hadn't heard on the outside.

Urp Snerd and Framus

I don't know how to spell this, and actually don't even know what it means.

Dad's Thought of the Week

Here is my thought of the week:

"Do your duty that is best, leave unto the Lord the rest"

This statement is originally attributed to David O. Mckay (who made a lot of quoted statements, "No success can compensate for failure in the home", etc.)

What's interesting is that this statment has been quoted by President Monson in General Conference in 1986, 1992, 2005 and, most recently, in Oct of 2008.

We generally focus on the "Do your duty that is best" part, and that is important, but often do not think of the "leave unto the Lord the rest" part. Often we spend our time, worrying about the rest leaving us little time to do our duty.

As things get a little tense, with the econmic problems and all the other challenges, I think the words of our prophet, repeated 4 times, can be very comforting.

I love you all!

Quirky Quirky Movie Review

Last night, Mom and I saw the movie "Lars and the Real Girl" (Netflix).

I don't know if you have seen this, but it has to be the quirkiest movie ever made. By that I mean it makes Napolean Dynamite seem mainstream.

With that said, it is actually good and we recommend it. It is a very kind movie, where there are no bad guys at all.

Has anyone else seen it?

I dont know what you guys saw when you woke up?
but I saw this....

and was not happy about it!

I do however know what we will be waking up
to in approximately 1 month...

and I am very happy about it!!!

Cruise Update

Hi! We are a couple of steps closer on our trip. We have one hotel room for the night on March 11th (Wednesday) for Denise and I at the Sheraton Yankee Clipper Beach Resort on the beach at Ft Lauderdale. Then I have two rooms for everyone Thursday night at the same hotel. I also have a full size rental car for those days. We can use that to pick up people. On Friday, we can drive a group to the port, then come back and get another group and drop the rental car off at a location close to the port and either walk or take a taxi to the port.

On the way back, I have reserved 2 rooms also at the Sheraton Yankee Clipper. I do have two rental cars so we can more easily get around on Monday.

I have also reserved 4 dolphin exeriences for Nassau for Mom, Rachel, Sarah and Becca.

We're getting more and more excited with each passing day.

Cruise time Tick-off

I want to thank whoever put up the time tick-off for the Cruise. I like looking at it every time.

Where is Gotham

So Stefany and I have talked about this a couple of times. I come from the Chicago camp and she comes from the NYC camp. Here is what we found.

The distance between Gotham City and Metropolis has varied over the years, ranging everywhere from being hundreds of miles apart to being twin cities.

Why it is NYC

"Gotham" is a nickname for New York, first used by Washington Irving in the early 19th century.

For most of the publication history of Batman in comics, Gotham has been assumed to be a New York City analogue; Frank Miller has said that "Metropolis is New York in the daytime; Gotham City is New York at night."

DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz says that Gotham is "New York from 14th Street down, the older buildings, more brick-and-mortar as opposed to steel-and-glass."

New York Times journalist William Safire describes Gotham City as "New York below 14th Street, from SoHo to Greenwich Village, the Bowery, Little Italy, Chinatown, and the sinister areas around the base of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.

Tim Burton's Gotham was based primarily on New York,
"Batman Forever," (1995) was filmed partly in New York City,

In the Batgirl series, as well as in the Vertigo Comics' Sandman series, Gotham is implied to be an entire state, analogous to New York, with Gotham City as its capital. In both cases, the book refers to "Upstate Gotham"

Why it is Chicago

Longtime Batman artist Neal Adams considers Gotham to be based on Chicago (whose nickname is "New Gotham"), pointing to its history of corruption and organized crime, and adding, "One of the things about Chicago is Chicago has alleys (which are virtually nonexistent in New York). Back alleys, that's where Batman fights all the bad guys."

Films directed by Christopher Nolan have shown a Gotham more closely based on Chicago.

Man-Bat #3 refers to Gotham City being in the Central Time zone.

"The Dark Knight", (2008), the film depending most on exteriors, was filmed entirely on location in Chicago, including recognizable shots using the Sears Tower, the Trump Tower, LaSalle St. and Navy Pier (for the Joker's seemingly fatal joke involving the two boats).

In The Dark Knight, the License plates of the cars registered in Gotham strongly resemble that of Illinois but they say Gotham for the state.

However there is a third place that it could be.

Why it is New Jersey

A Gotham City driver's license shown in Batman: Shadow of the Bat annual #1, contains the line "Gotham City, NJ".

A location on the Jersey Shore is described as "twenty miles north of Gotham." Robin and Batgirl drive from a "secret New Jersey airfield" to Gotham City and then drive on the "Hudson County Highway". Hudson County is the name of an actual New Jersey county.

New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), placed Gotham City and Metropolis on opposite sides of a Delaware Bay, with Gotham City in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware.

You Decide