Pic of the Day 2007...The Storage Depot

Pic of the day is back again, I guess that's what happens when you win back to back national championships. Some venues are the same, some have changed, but they're all delightful. Enjoy!

Late Pass Wednesday: Robin Ventura VS Nolan Ryan

We're finally back & it was a great trip home! It might take me some time to get back to blogging regularly, gotta get back in the swing of everything and all. Damon is out here with us for the next 2 weeks, so look forward to pleanty of good stories "You, Me & Dupree" Styles.

Great news, the pic of the day feature from last summer is back, and I also have some great 4th of July rafting pics and stories coming up for you.

Until then, if this doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will.

Those Crazy Office Monkeys are Back!

We keep this delightful magnet on our refrigerator at home. It shows every possible office monkey emotion (click to view a larger image, it's even better close up) and includes an additional magnet to stick on top of it, which allows you to choose your mood of the day. My personal favorite is "apathetic". Which one is your favorite?

By the way...Today I'm feeling EXCITED! (see top left corner on the office monkeys) At 5:00PM today I will officially be on vacation & shortly there after headed back to Oregon! Yay! Can't wait to see you guys!

'Stache Appreciation Day

This 'stache was just a very very temporary stop on the way to cleanshaven-ness the other day, but I do think it suits him. It could be a good look for him approximatley 10-15 years from now.

This Just In

I think I wore out my Elliott Yamin CD. It started skipping really badly today. Wow. That didn't take very long.

Zeb's Summer Fashion Update

This summer is all about plaid, at least according to Zeb. Before we left for the Bahamas Zeb stocked up on plaid shorts. Pictured below are some examples of the plaids that he rocks on a regular basis. He actually wanted two more pairs of plaid shorts in addition to these, but I was able to talk him out of it. How much plaid does one man really need? Apparently it was just such a good deal on these plaid shorts, that he got a little over zealous.
Don't worry, as pictured above, swimming trunks also come in plaid.
One more item of plaid that Zeb has had his eye on is this pair of plaid slip-on's from Vans. It's a good look, my only question is regarding the mixing of more than one pattern of plaid. Hmmm...

Late Pass Wednesday: Bomb Spaghetti

It's been quite a while, but a few weeks ago Zeb and I made a pretty great pot of spaghetti sauce. We threw just about everything and the kitchen sink in there and let it simmer all day long. Here are some of the more notable ingredients added to original style Ragu:

• Sliced Olives


• Chopped Onion


• Chopped Green Onion


• Hamburger Meat & Maple Breakfast Sausage


• California Style Marinated Artichoke Hearts


• Mushrooms


• Garlic


• Extra Chopped Tomatoes

Mmm, Mmm good. I was pretty proud.

I Hate To Ask This, But.....

Does anyone have any experience with Bread Boxes??
We were having a problem with our bread storage. If you keep it in the refrigerator it gets dry and stiff, if you keep it on top of the refrigerator it molds more quickly, but if you keep it on the counter it is ugly and in the way. We thought we found a solution to this huge problem in this delightful stainless steel bread box from bed, bath & beyond, only to find out that this stupid box only exacerbated our problem. A brand new unopened loaf of bread molded within one week sitting in this box. It just seems like that shouldn't happen!! What are we doing wrong? I tossed the receipt for this thing, because I thought it was "the answer" and what could possibly go wrong with a bread box? So does anyone have any tips on this? Is there any way to continue to utilize this handy storage item without putting our carbs at risk of mold? Please help!

Zeb's New Computer

I guess one of the last big items that Zeb has been wanting/needing (it's hard for me to differentiate) for a long time is a new computer. Along with the TV and the sound system these were all purchases that I had been forcing him to put off since about the time we got engaged. I made promises (e.g. "Once the wedding is over, you can get whatever you want") that I hoped he would forget about. I suppose I should feel lucky that he spread out said purchases over the course of our first year, and not our first month as a married couple. The day I had been dreading finally came, there was no more holding out on a new computer. The thing that confused me though, and continues to confuse me (if anyone has any insight, please comment) is: why would you want to buy a computer in all it's various parts and then have to put it together yourself?
Honestly he didn't seem to really be enjoying himself. In fact to me, he seemed tortured. Maybe the more torturous the process is, the more self satisfaction you have when it is finally completed? It seems to me that I would have more satisfaction if I could just open up a box, plug my computer in and be on my way. Whatever makes you happy.
The house was destroyed. Boxes and various computer parts everywhere. The process was highly frowned upon.

One of many blue screens of death, lead to increasing frustration,
and significant amounts of time spent talking to technical support (a.k.a. Damon)
That was solved, but another technical problem with drivers/video card prompted several more hours spent on the phone to actual professional technical support, only to be solved by Zeb networking online with some other computer geeks.

Thankfully, now it is done. Over the last week there have been some minor hiccups, but its looking pretty good. I'm mostly just happy that the office is now neat, tidy and organized.
I just don't understand why the old computer, which is supposedly "dead" is still in his closet???

Corvallis is Burning!

Congratulations to the 2007 OSU Beavers Baseball Team, 2 time national champs!!! It was a great run, and couldn't have been any different from their journey last year, but somehow it was just as exciting!





Like I've been saying, I predict rioting in the streets of Corvallis!! Congrats to Jorge Reyes, CWS MVP. The season just ended, but we can't wait to see these kids back next year! Can't think of a better way to spend our first anniversary!

More Info on the 2007 National Champs

Happy Anniversary!

One year down and the cake stand/punch bowl is still in full effect. And they said it would never last.....

We got this carrot cake to celebrate since the top layer of our wedding cake that we saved is still in my mom's freezer. Good stuff.

Revenge of the Pic of the Day!!!!

I'm so excited for this series that I can't even stand to think about it, let alone write about it. Here is the vital information. DON'T MISS IT.

Saturday, June 23
Oregon State (47-18) vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m. PDT -- ESPN

Sunday, June 24
Oregon State vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m. PDT -- ESPN2

Monday, June 25 (if necessary)
Oregon State vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m. PDT -- ESPN

CarlPavanoitis

The only thing more painful than watching the train wreck that is Carl Pavano is trying to read through an entire article dedicated to trying to explain his inexplicable downfall. For the mascists among us, here ya go:

Money For Nothing

Word of The Day

Boomcrane [boom kreyn] noun
-def:

1. The world's largest tool.

-uses

1. That guy sure is a Boomcrane.
2. Hey, Boomcrane!
3. Don't be such a Boomcrane.

-synonyms

(there is no other known term that implies this scale of toolhood.)

-origin: Beaver Eric

No Surrender

This is my tribute to the 2007 Beavs baseball team. They always have a sign taped up in their dugout that says "No Surrender" & I can't help but think this is the perfect theme song. Plus, they play just about as hard as Bruce rocks out. Which is pretty hard to do.

You can see The Beavs in the CWS championship series this weekend. If you miss it, you're missing O-State history. I have personally predicted the complete implosion of the town of Corvallis in the event that the Beavs repeat as National Champs. People running naked in the streets, cars tipped over, full on riots. Pure insanity. I can't wait to see it.

I Had A Dream

I had a horrible dream the other night. I started to explain the dream here in the post, but it really was beyond explaination. Suffice it to say that it involved a weird guy stalking me via the blog and google and "chicken noodle soup pants." I have no idea what "chicken noodle soup pants" are, but it was a very vivid recollection from my dream, so I found it important to mention here.

So anyway, I had been bothered my the recent discovery that when you "google" my name, links to the blog come up. I really can't stand the thought that people I don't want to look me up, could. This explains my fervent dislike of myspace. So, I got the brilliant idea, that if I changed the header of the blog so that it no longer included our last name, that maybe we might be google invincible. Which would be great. My dream the other night really solidified this idea in my head. To my extreme distaste, when you google my name, the old header and link still come up. UGH!

What does "married to the game" mean anyway? Well, our baseball obsession goes a long way to explain it. You want more? There's Zeb's devotion to the MLB package, spending most of our quality time together watching, discussing, debating or playing baseball, and the fact that the majority of time on our honeymoon was spent watching the College World Series. Enough said. I also imagine the phrase "married to the game" to be a little bit of the way Zeb feels when I make him attened hours on end of women's collegiate sporting events under the guise of "you are supporting me." Does that make any sense?

At any rate, technology is a Bitch.

ROGER 2057

Late Pass Wednesday

How could I forget to tell you guys about Zeb's favorite purchase of the Bahamas trip? Well, here it is. It's a large conch shell, regularly priced $8 (a very important point.) But wait for it.....
ZEB GOT IT FOR $5!!! My foot gives the conch shell scope.

-On a side note, I changed the heading of this blog. Don't let it throw you off. I have a good explaination. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.

Blog Struggles

Why am I having so much trouble posting a blog entry lately? I have no idea. Well, I have an excuse for this week. I'm working WBB camps, its all day long and it doesn't afford me any "desk time" (a.k.a. blog time, email time, BBC time) Last week though, no excuse. And even now when I'm actually making a new post, I'm not really going to post about anything important, I'm just announcing a new "Congratualtions! You Did It! World's Best Link!". It is called Passive-Aggressive Notes From Roommates, Neighbors, Co-Workers & Strangers and I find it hilarious. Enjoy.

O-State Ballers Super Regional Info

For those of you interested in following the Beavs this weekend in their Super Regional action against Michigan, game times (all times Pacific) and TV coverage is as follows:

Saturday, June 9: Noon, ESPNU
Sunday, June 10: 1 p.m., ESPN
Monday, June 11: 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2

Have a good one!

Rubber Match? We Got That.

The Beavs are headed to another super regional this weekend, and to make it even better, they're going to be playing it at home. For anyone who hasn't been keeping tabs on the regional action, the Beavs dropped their second game of the regional to Virginia in the 13th inning. After that loss they needed to beat Rutgers again and then take two in a row from Virgina in order to make it on to super regional action. In true O-State Baller form, they did it in dramatic fashion.

Super Regional play against University of Michigan begins this Saturday. It is a best of 3 series and will continue on Sunday and Monday if necessary. Check out these links for more info and some places that you can keep up with the Beavs even if they aren't on TV.

Oregon State Athletics - Baseball

Free Audio Link for Beavs Games

CSTV Website - Gametracker

I'll post up more links and info when I find it. GO BEAVS!

Braves AA Manger's Crazy Ejection

This guy has some really good technique, if only he could keep a straight face.

That Magic Moment....

Okay, so someone tell me if I'm crazy, or if other people notice this too? It seems like every year, at some point in the spring there is that one day, that one moment, when you realize that you've made it through the winter and the summer is on it's way. Its a really good feeling. At least I think so.

In Oregon it would usually happen in March. You wake up one day to the sun shining through your window instead of just the alarm blaring in the darkness. The days are starting to get longer, you can smell the freshly mowed lawns, baseball season is finally getting going. I always just kind of take a deep breath and it's just the feeling that life is actually pretty damn good.

There are several variations on this moment: it could be driving in your car one afternoon, and it's usually one of those first spring days when its actually warm enough to have your windows down; preferably sun roof open ('89 Mazda 626 styles!) its warm out, but still just a little bit crisp; no humidity so you're having a good hair day; your favorite song comes on the radio; again the smell a freshly mowed grass is key (moment made even better if coincidentally driving by a baseball field and you hear the crack of a hit ball) Que sigh.

Another excellent one is that first evening in the spring when you leave work and it's actually still light outside! This benchmark is by itself worthy of that warm fuzzy feeling, but as always, freshly mowed grass and the crack of a bat enhance the experience.

I had been waiting to have my first Montana spring "moment", and I think a couple of times I had tried to force it, but oddly enough rolling up on June 1, it still had not hit me. I woke up on Tuesday morning and we actually had about an inch of snow on the ground. Me to myself: "You've GOT to be SHITTING me!!" But today I got it. 9:00 PM, June 1, 2007, 68 degrees (high of 83) sun is just now starting to set. And it reminds me why I really do like Bozeman. Hot days with the perfect amount of breeze that picks up in the evening and starts to cool everything off just a little bit around 5:00 PM, postcard worthy sunsets almost every night, and the light over the mountains is just somehow different in the summer. Hmmm. Life really is pretty damn good. Go figure?

Am I really the only one that knows about this? Post up with your "life really is pretty damn good moments!

Memorial Day Weekend

Ali came to visit over the memorial day weekend. It was great to see her and hang out. We tried to be true Montanians, Montanans, whatever we're called, anyway, we went hiking. Like a bunch of idiots we all wore shorts and t-shirts and looked ridiculous tramping through the snow in our tennis shoes. I didn't realize there would still be snow up there! Luckily it was a short hike to these water falls and it was actually pretty warm out. I'm sure the veteran hikers got a good laugh out of watching us.

Late Pass Wednesday: Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em

It's amazing what you'll learn watching VH1 soul. Apparently MC Hammer is back with a new album, and a new single, "Bring Our Brothers Home", which is a political commentary on the war in Iraq, and a new music video.



I don't know what is more confusing/astonishing/flabbergasting, that MC Hammer is still alive or that he actually put together a recording with something socially relevant to say. THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMMM.

After seeing the video, I was intrigued, all it took was a little bit of googling and I found that I'm not the only one with a blog, MC Hammer has one too. Check it out, and you can enjoy such things as MC Hammer reminicing on his music and dance career...and I quote...

While my dance and visual arts have always brought joy to millions (by the grace of God), songs like,"Help The Children, Pray, Do Not Pass Me By, Going Up Yonder, Keep On, and other socially inspired songs that I made have brought me my greatest joy.

Joy to millions indeed. That's just a little teaser for you, but there are pleanty of other gems on there, and this discovery is what has inspired me to start a new feature on the blog. It will be called:
Congratulations! You Did It! World's Best Link! (notice the "Elf" reference) and it will be found on the top right hand side of the blog from now on. I will change it whenever I feel appropriate. I was going to name it "Link of the Week", but then I became concerned that I would not be able to come up with an equally delightful link on such a frequent basis.

Enjoy the MC Hammer stuff, and let me know if it strikes you as hilarious as it struck me!?

Stewardess on Crack

On the flight out of the Bahamas and into Atlanta we were witness to quite possibly the most aggravating stewardess in the history of flying. Here is a brief example of her shinanagans:

Before Take-Off:

Hey Everybody, this is your flight crew and we have been on the road for 3 days and are ready to get headed back to our hometown of HOTlanta, GA! We are raring to go. So ANYWAYS, we are going to do everything we can to make this flight the best flight of your life. We are going to make this flight like it was the best and live it like it was the last day of your life. why would you say this on an airplane?!?! So ANYWAYS, we can't wait to get back home and the pilot can not wait to get rid of me, he says I talk too much, he is right. But we here on the flight crew are going to do everything we can for you, to entertain you. So, ANYWAYS, have a great flight and I will be talking to you all again soon.

After Take-Off:

Hey Everybody! Good News! The captain says that we can turn off the seat belt sign and you are now free to move about the cabin. We are going to serve a snack and there are some new drinks that we are introducing from Delta, you can look those up in the magazine in your seatback on page 87, or if you want a more personal explaination you can ask one of us and we will be glad to tell you all about it. So, ANYWAYS! Sit back and relax and enjoy the flight.

Before landing:

Hey Everybody, good news! The Captain says that we are on time to land in HOTlanta, GA (otherwise known as Atlanta, Georgia.) We will be coming through the cabin to collect any trash that you may want to get rid of, please no babies, husbands or boyfriends.

After Landing:

Good news everybody! Another flight arriving early! Fabulous. We hope you have enjoyed your time on this flight and we hope that you will fly delta again soon. So ANYWAYS! On a more personal note all those tall model looking girls on the plane are the Montana State University Women's Basketball Team and they just came back from winning 4 games against the Bahamian National Team, which is an amazing accomplishment and we should all give them a big hand....yada yada, she kept going on, but it hurt my brain too much, so i quit listening.

As we are walking off the plane, talking to no person in particular she is blabbering about Montana:

Montana! I've been through Montana! I used to live in Seattle and I drove through Montana once when i was driving to, ooh, MICHIGAN! and that is one long state....blah blah blah...she again, kept going, but I was walking too quickly to get away from her so I don't know what the rest of the story was.

Basically take each excerpt that I have been able recreate and add at least a few more minutes of meaningless blabber and the words "So Anyways" and "Hotlanta, GA" repeated over and over to the front and back end of each quote provided and you will have a pretty accurate understanding of the world's most annoying stewardess ever. EVER.

Random Other Bahamas Pictures

Check out a bunch of other randomness for which I haven't summoned the energy necessary to create separate organized posts. Above is a pic of Zeb and I after swimming with the Sharks! What's that look in our eyes you ask? I'd say...THANKFULNESS TO BE ALIVE!


This next one is a little blurry, but we had troubles with the lighting in the gym. It wasn't conducive to photography. This one is the MSU WBB staff before our final game.

Here is a pic of the entire crew, both teams and all the staff.
Here we are all dressed up on the final night of the trip. The girls were severely overdressed for the "Fish Fry" (a strip of shacks that sell different types of seafood) We wandered over to a cricket game that was going on across the street and I personally had no idea what was going on, apparently I have lost a step in my cricket knowledge game since high school PE. Zeb enjoyed watching it though.
Lastly, here are Katie, David, Zeb and I outside of the Atlantis Hotel.

Atlantis Aquarium

Check out these pictures from the aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. This Sting Ray was huge!

Snorkeling with SHARKS!

On our last day in the Bahamas we got the chance to go snorkeling around the local reefs. It was awesome, and my first time ever snorkeling. We stopped at 3 different sites and got to see a great variety of fish and other....sea creatures. The first few sites were harmless enough, we got to feed the fish and swim around with them. It was my first time using fins like that also, and it was hard to get used to at first. Once I got the hang of it though it was awesome, you can really move with those things on. Here's a picture Zeb took from the top of the boat, you can even see the swarms of fish under the water.
That's me checking out what's under the water. It looks pretty boring from this view, but it is a completely different world with those goggles on.
The guide dove to the bottom and brought up a starfish for us to check out. It could only be out of the water for a few minutes and we could see it breathing through it's mouth on the underside.
Uh oh....but thats where all the relaxing and fun stopped! This next picture shows us all in the water clinging to the rope, with about a dozen reef sharks swarming right beneath us! NO JOKE.
They lowered a small box with food inside under the boat about 20 feet or so. Then they sent out the rope and strung us all out , peering down at the sharks! We were only going to be allowed to stay in the water with the sharks for 15 mins. but I don't think we even lasted that long. We were supposed to get into the water gently, as spashing attracts the sharks to the surface. We were also told to avoid any big gestures with our arms, because that is the motion that the sharks associate with feeding. It was pretty difficult, because we were still getting used to our fins and it was kind of the natural reaction to paddle with your arms to tread the water. So we clung to the rope with little dinosaur arms trying to maintain our position! The guides explained that the longer we are in the water and the more action that happens at the surface the closer the sharks will come. One shark came up so close underneath me that I'm sure I could have reached out to touch it, and by the time the last few people were coming out of the water, the sharks were right there circling on the surface! One even brushed up against one of the girls, good thing she was brave. Lucky for all of us, Zeb didn't have to poke any of the sharks in the eye.
After we got out of the water the guides fed the sharks food off the back of the boat and put on a pretty good show, getting them to jump up and thrash around and even get up onto the back of the boat. This is the routine and I figure they have about 10 boats doing 2 trips everyday. The sharks pretty much know how its going to go, but I did have to wonder if one day some shark would just get sick of the routine and skip straight to feeding time? This was one crazy experience!!

Zeb took a great video on his camera of feeding time, I'll post up here shortly for you all to see.

Feeding the Sharks

This is what they did AFTER we got out of the water.

The Maid, Zeb, The Change, The Lost Key, The Crumb - THE CONTROVERSY

Everywhere you go, whenever you stay in a hotel, what do they tell you? Don't leave valuables out in plain view just in case one rouge maid might catch the klepto bug. Well it's no different in the Bahamas, the only difference is that some people (COUGH *Zeb* COUGH) get a little extra paranoid.

We can thank David, one of the assistant coach's husbands for getting Zeb riled up on this one. David had left 2 quarters out on his nightstand just to test and see if the maid would take it. Well she did, and David reported the outcome to Zeb and myself. We headed up to our room and what do you know? The maid was there cleaning our room at that very time. Zeb stormed into the room and announced that he had one dollar in quarters and 14 cents on his night stand when we left the room (allegedly - I still don't believe that Zeb knows exactly how much was there - if any!) and now all that remained were the 14 cents. quarters gone! He proceeded to confront the maid, who denied it OBVIOUSLY, and then left. After she left, the wild accusations didn't slow down. First of all, we had a bunch of food in our room that was bought from the grocery store for the team to have snacks. Zeb claimed that he saw a crumb on the maid's face, and that she must have been snacking on our food as well. He noticed that the room safe was open and jumped to the conclusion that the maid must have had a secret way to get the safes open without knowing our code. It couldn't possibly have been that HE accidentally left the safe open when we left could it? Lastly, I had temporarily misplaced my room key and now it was no where to be found. He claimed that the maid must have taken it to sell on the Bahamas black market (this is one of those plastic slide keys mind you!) As anyone who knows Zeb very well can imagine, by this point he was really riled up, storming around the hotel room and complaining about this horrible country and how unsafe it was. Thankfully David and his wife the assistant coach, Katie, showed up to talk him out of his rage. It made for a good joke the rest of the trip about the maid with the crumb on her face, and the room key on the black market. Sheesh Zeb!