Rich Encounters

Baby Grant

2010-07-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

A Few Pics of The House

2010-04-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Morning view from our back yard.

I'm still going to do some painting and glazing in the bedroom, but here's a pic or two anyway.

The following are just a bunch of the main part of the home. I'm done glazing here, so you can get an idea what the rest will look like.

Front Room. The painting is a print of an original of my brother Jason's.

The Ugly Duckling.

It's pretty plain on the outside, but eventually we'll do some things, but right now we're more concerned with getting the inside put together and the upstairs finished. We even referred to it as the ugly duckling when we went to put an offer on it, but as Lindsey always reminds me, the ugly duckling becomes a beautiful swan :)

New House, New Baby, New LIfe

2010-02-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

Josh and I have not blogged in a very long time. When we got back from Memphis, TN we were homeless and spent all of our spare time searching for a place to buy. We finally found one in Lehi and moved into it on October 28th. A few weeks later Josh and I went to California where Josh experienced Disney Land for the first time. We've celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and both our birthdays since we last blogged. I guess the biggest news of all is that we are going to have a baby boy sometime around July 6th. After five and a half years of marriage we finally figured it out:) For right now we are calling it Alfred. If all else fails Josh says we can name it Bruce. Obviously we may need some better suggestions. Here's to our New House, New Baby and New Life!!!

Just A LIttle Update.

2009-09-13T19:00:00.001-07:00

Josh and I are back from Memphis, Tn. Hurray!!!! The downside....We are homeless. Before we moved to Memphis we put everything in storage. We are staying with my parents in West Valley and we are commuting everyday to Utah Valley (Pleasant Grove ant Provo). We feel very displaced. Our things are scattered between my parent's house and our storage unit. The house hunt has begun but it is a lot harder than we thought it would be. We want to buy something in Pleasant Grove, American Fork, or Lehi. We just haven't found the right one yet. Wish us luck!!

Madea Goes To Church?

2009-08-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ok so her name wasn't Madea, it was "Apostle Shockie D. Weathington," pastor and overseer of New Hope Ministries in Memphis, Tn, but what a resemblance to Madea on left. And the similarities weren't in appeance only. The woman will tell you where to go and how to get there be it Heaven or Hell! I first met Ms. Weathington about a month and a half ago when I installed an alarm in her home. While there we struck up a conversation on religion and she invited me to her church. I didn't think much of it until about a week and half ago when I showed up to an install and it was her little church. So, today we visited their Sunday Services, and it was all i'd imagined and then some.

While the congregation was a bit taken back when five white people walked in they were extremely welcoming. Their choir of 4 women could outsing three LDS ward choirs, and there was less false doctrine than in our ward's Sunday School. Though the delivery was very different! After all it was an Apostolic church, and they don't exactly whisper in there congregations. There was lots of Praising(Yelling). It was quite the experience and before the end of the service I was called up to sing"Amazing Grace" and all of us shared our testimonies. All of which were confirmed by applause and "praise God" and "amens" galore!

It was really a fantastic experience which will not soon be forgotten, and we made some great friends!

Dr. King

2009-07-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Last week, Josh and I went to the Lorranie Motel. It is the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot. The motel has been turned into a museum about the history of African Americans. Before you enter the museum they have you watch a documentary on Dr. King. It was really good and has won a few academy awards.

One of my favorite things in the museum was a bus that was similar to the bus Rosa Parks was on when she refused to give up her seat. If you sat at the front of the bus the bus driver would ask you to move to the back. The warnings got more and more harsh. After all the warnings it was explained that if you hadn't moved to the back of the bus you would have been arrested.

The museum has renovated the rooms that Dr. King was in before he was shot in exact replicas. They have coffee sitting on the nights stands, shaving supplies in the bathroom, shoes on the floor, etc. While the motel has had to make some updates they have kept a small part of the original concrete with Martin Luther King's blood on it.

The motel/museum also owns the building across the street from the motel. It is in that, building they believe, James Earl Ray shot Dr. King. This part of the museum talks about the actual murder of Dr. King. It has the gun and other evidence on display.

The museum made us appreciate Martin Luther King's life and what he stood for. I hope his dream will continue to push forward.

Shitty Shitty Bang Bang!

2009-07-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I apologize for the mild vulgarity, but those were the words and that was the sound as all 200+ pounds of me came crashing through an unsuspecting customers ceiling. Yes, that's right, laugh it up, I was the doofus everyone makes fun of because he mis-stepped. Well in my case I slipped, but either way it kind of sucks. I did catch myself so really it was just my legs that came through, but oh the gasps I heard in the living room below. You know, the worst part is really the half second after it happens when you realize what just happened and the fact that you have to deal with the aftermath. Yes, it's true, vulgarities did escape my lips, but can you blame me really? Long story short, it wasn't beyond my skill set to repair the ceiling rather swiftly.

Now, i'm pretty sure we've all had one of those "Oh Sh*t!" moments whether it be wrecking a car, starting something on fire, spilling grape juice on moms white carpet, etc., etc..... So, I'd like to here about them. Comment away!

Kix on Beale

2009-07-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I went to Kix on Beale with Kelly. Every Thursday night Kix 106, a local radio station, puts on a free concert on Beale Street's Handy Park. Last Thursday Heidi Newfield preformed. It was a great concert but not a great crowd. A large portion of the people there were smoking and almost all of them were drinking. By the time Heidi had finished her set Kelly and I were ready to go. We didn't stay around for the other performer and went and got ice cream instead. It had been a long day.

Earlier that day Josh dropped us off downtown on his way to work. We had to find stuff to do before the concert so we went to the oldest store on Beale Street called A. Schwab's. It was built in 1897 and was suppose to be really cool with old nickel candy and a museum upstairs. The store was in bad shape. It could have been really cool but was really ghetto. There was stuff everywhere. It felt kind of like a dollar store and stunk really bad. We went up stairs to see the museum and it was a small little room with stuff just piled in it. There was a hand written sign that said

"Look and touch but items not for sale." The items had definitely been touched. There were old cash registers, type writers, old billing records that were falling apart, antique glass bottles, clothes, etc. The stuff was really cool but was getting destroyed because everyone was allowed to touch everything. After being a little depressed about the whole thing we thought at least we can buy some old fashion candy. Well they didn't even have that. We left feeling really sorry for the store and went to find something else to do.

We went to the Peabody Hotel to see the famous Peabody Ducks. These ducks are trained to march on a red carpet from their "Pent House" on top of the building down the elevator to the lobby and to the fountain in the center of the lobby every day at 11:00 am. At 5:00 pm. the whole process is reversed. It was really cute.

After we went to the Peabody we got something to eat ad then wen to the concert. It was a long day but we had a good time.

All Fireworks are Legal in Mississippi

2009-07-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

This 4th of July Josh and I experienced lighting off illegal fireworks. The only thing is they were all legal here in Mississippi. Our whole group combined efforts and between all of us we had about fifty mortars, 20 roman candles, 300 bottle rockets, a few fountains, sparklers (for sparkle bombs), and a few other things. The guys put all of their launchers together and were able to launch 6 mortars at a time. It was really cool. We put on a really great show for each other. After our fun little experience I know why these fireworks are illegal in Utah. We set our fireworks off in a street by a fields which we caught on fire about five times. If it had been a field in Utah it would have been bad news. It was a great 4th of July with a BBQ, fireworks, and friends. The only thing we missed was family. Love you guys.

Mud Island

2009-07-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Josh and I went downtown with a bunch of friends and rode the trolley. The trolleys in downtown Memphis are over a hundred years old. Ours was 103 years old. It was fun getting to see the city that way. After the trolley ride we walked over to Mud Island. Mud Island has a scale model of the Mississippi river starting at Cairo, Illinois to New Orleans. I never realized how long and big the Mississippi was. I now have a better understanding of why they call it the "Big River".

We had fun playing in the water and being with friends.

Announcement!!

2009-07-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my younger sister Karen called me and told me that my mom was going to be a grandparent. It took me a while to register that. I then realized that she was pregnant. Before Karen and James even got married she kept telling me how she was going to have the first grandbaby. Well now she is. I guess if I really cared about having the first grandchild Josh and I could have done something about it, but we didn't. I figure all of the grandchildren will be loved the same. Well Congrats Karen!!!! Thanks for taking the pressure off.

A Much Needed Break!

2009-06-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

Last week Josh had his first day off sense we have been out here. (He always has Sunday off but works Monday through Saturday the rest of the week.) We decided to take full advantage of the two day weekend and we went to Nashville. Lucky for us it happened to be Country Music Fest. We bought some last minute tickets that happened to be pretty good seats and found our way to the L.P. field in Nashville with help from our GPS. The concert was star filled with performances from Jack Inram, Heidi Newfield, Montgomery Gentry, Miranda Lambert, John Rich, Taylor Swift, Sugar Land, and Kenny Chesney. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The funny thing about concerts are they can make or break an artist for you. Seeing some of the artist live are completely different from just listening to them on the radio. We ended up loving all of the artist more as we left except for one, Taylor Swift. Now don't get me wrong I love Taylor's music but it is a good thing that I don't have to watch her flip her hair fifty million times while she sings her songs. I think she has been taking too many lessons from Miley Cyrus. Apart from Taylor, who is more suited for a teenaged crowd, we loved all the other performers. The concert was really long and after being there for over five hours we decided we had enjoyed ourselves enough and left early to avoid driving home with all the drunk people. We spent the night at one of our friends homes and left for Memphis the next day after stopping at some of Josh's favorite places in Nashville. It was my first time visiting Nashville and I loved it.

We ended the weekend by going to a Memphis RedBirds game with a bunch of friends. My favorite part of baseball games is always during the seventh inning stretch were the crowd sings "Take Me Out to The Ball Game". I always sing it at the top of my lungs and I was really embarrassed when I saw Josh out of the corner of my eye video taping me. It was a great weekend and it was fun for Josh to do something other than work.

My First Tornado Adventure

2009-06-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a EF2 tornado caused damage in Desoto County. That is where I live now. Josh called me yesterday afternoon and told me that a tornado touched down a few miles away from where we live. I immediately turned on my computer and looked up weather. I put in my zip code and sure enough I was in a severe thunder storm with severe tornado warnings. I guess all I really needed to do was look out my window and see massive amount of rain pouring down with the trees almost sideways because of the wind. I spent the next two hours cautiously away from my windows and without power. I found a cosy spot to hang out and read a book while I watched the storm pass. The storm gradually eased up but that didn't mean our power came back on. The worst of the damage in Desoto County is that 50,000 people are without power. Last night almost our whole apartment complex left in search of a place to eat. (All of our utilities are electric.) Luckily our power came back on this afternoon. The total damages we have are our meal from last night $25.00, a few spoiled items in our fridge estimating around $20.00, a restless nights sleep because of no A/C, and my first tornado adventure Priceless.

The Memphis Botanic Gardens

2009-06-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Memphis Botanic Gardens. I went with a bunch of the wives and kids of the husbands that are working for Pinnacle out here. We had a great time. To our good fortune ever Wednesday the Botanic Gardens houses a farmers market. It was fun looking at all the different booths. They even had peaches for sale. Can you believe it. Peaches in June??? It was a fun day.

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens

2009-06-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. They had a good collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings and I throughly enjoyed walking the halls taking in the masterpieces. The gardens were just as magnificent as the paintings. I don't know what I liked more...the Gallery or the Gardens??? They were both beautiful. I was only able to take pictures of the gardens because they wouldn't let us take pictures in the gallery.

The Pink Palace

2009-06-09T20:23:00.005-07:00

The Pink Palace is a historical museum ranging from archeology to chemistry and is based around the history of memphis. The Pink Palace was a house built out of Georgian Pink Granite for the founder of The Piggly Wiggly, Clarence Saunders. Clarence Saunders built the house for his personal residence in 1923 but lost the home because financial troubles. It became a museum in 1930.

Apparently this Polar Bear is really Popular.

These dresses where worn by the queens at the Cotton Carnival.

This is a picture of a typical kitchen. I just thought is was really cute.

This is a picture of the ceiling in one of the rooms. I thought it was really pretty but the picture doesn't do it justice.

National Donut Day

2009-06-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

National Donut Day is the first Friday in June of every year. If you did not know about this glorious day you sorely missed out. Krispy Kreme was giving away free donuts all day. I first went into the Krispy Kreme to claim my free donut and I must confess I also went through the drive through to claim another one. The first one was just so good I really wanted another one.

A little bit of history about National Donut Day... It was created in honor of the Salvation Army Women who served donuts to the soldiers during WWI. The salvation army set up huts close to training camps in France. The donuts became an instant hit with the soldiers. On one of the busiest days Margaret Sheldon wrote "Today I made 22 pies, 300 doughnuts, 700 cups of coffee."

Race For The Cure Slideshow

2009-05-10T12:44:00.001-07:00

Race for the Cure

2009-05-09T11:58:00.001-07:00

Today I ran in the Race for the Cure. I ran in celebration of Pat Redmond and my mother-in-law Dorothy Rich. My mother-in-law is a survivor of breast cancer and Pat is my cousins Grandma.

Pat is currently fighting breast cancer. My aunt Annie put a team together to celebrate Pat's fight against this disease. Even though Pat is in the middle of chemo therapy she did walk part of the race. She was surround by most of her Grandchildren and a lot of friends. We hope this race brought her some encouragement and faith that she can win this battle.
. Today we saw many slogans about breast. Here were some of my favorites.

Save Second Base (I had to explain that one to my Grandma.)

Save the Boobs

Save the Man Boobs (for men that get breast cancer)

Chesticals

Boobs or Bust

Christina's Rack Pack

Tiny Tits

Holy **it save the Tits

That’s What She Said

Show Your Support

My mom said Save the Earth phooey Save the Boobs. They feed the children. Give Joy. Make this earth a happy place. Boobs or Bust. Hopefully someday we can find a way to save the boobs.

Goodbye Old Friend. Hello New Adventure!

2009-04-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's a little hard to believe this day has come, but it has. After a couple months shy of three years in the beloved Provo house we have moved out. It was hard for us do, due to the fact that I largely remodeled the home in and out, but adventured called and it was time to answer. So, you are probably now asking yourself, "What adventure?" So i'll try my best to give the nutshell version.

I am currently living at the place to the right called The Hamilton in Horn Lake, MS located just outside Memphis, TN. Lindsey, on the other hand, has returned to live with her parents. Oh, easy now! Don't worry! Lindsey and I are doing just fine, she just has to finish teaching school before she can join me for the rest of the summer.

While Horn Lake is beautiful my original plan was to be living in Nashville, TN, which we will, but not for a couple of months. For those of you who may not know I am a musician/singer/songwriter/whatever, and an opportunity arose to do a summer job that would allow me to be in Nashville with some time to pursue my music career goals. Yes folks, I'm installing security systems for the summer. Unfortunately some plans changed after signing on and we are spending the first two months in Memphis instead of Nashville, but since I have to be away from Lindsey for 6 weeks I should have plenty of time for songwriting. While in Nashville I hope to get more songs written, network, and look into the possibility of a more long term move to Music City in the future. However, Lindsey is committed to teach kindergarten again next year and I have voice students awaiting my return. To some degree our lives seem a bit like a suspenseful "To be continued. . . ." Well, when we know what's gonna happen we'll let you know.

Since the theme of this summer seems to be "change"(not inspired or affiliated in any way with Pres. Obama) I decided to change my image a bit as well. Those who know me know I've had facial hair for about a year now. Well. . . .

it's all gone. Of course there's a pretty good chance it will be coming back before too long.

I also bought myself a new guitar to keep me company while I am without wife. It is an Epiphone Dove and while it may not be the most expensive guitar money can buy, it's pretty good and I quite like it. Now I just have to learn to play it:)

Well folks, that's about it for now, but I'm sure our summer adventures in the deep south will produce many a great story to blog about in the future, but until then I'm signing off. Talk to ya'll later.

Color Me MIne

2009-04-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Josh and I went on a double date last Thursday with our friends Ian and Chelsea. We went to Color Me Mine. Josh and I had never been and had a great time. We were able to pick up our bowls tonight. We think they look great. Thank you Ian and Chelsea for a great time.

Ian and Chelsea busy at work.

The Finished Product.

Rock Climbing in Moab

2009-03-24T14:17:00.001-07:00

Josh and I went with our friends, Peter and Katelyn Lowe, down to Moab for the weekend. It was Josh's first time to Moab so we decided that he had to see Delicate Arch. We woke up early Saturday morning and set out for the hike. We were the only people up there. It was amazing to hike around the arch all by ourselves. After we hiked Delicate Arch we hiked Double Arch. We went back to our campsite and made breakfast, showered and took a rest. Later that day we went rock climbing for the first time. It was a great trip.

Josh, Lindsey, Peter, and Katelyn at Double Arch.

Josh and Peter being Macho, Macho, Men

Before and After!

2009-02-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

So, this summer I took on a rather large project with my friend Craig. It was the project of repairing and painting my 1987 Chevy Scottsdale Pickup. It ended up being a much larger project than either of us anticipated and I would never do it again, but I was very pleased with the results! So without further ado here are some before and after pics. CLICK ON THE PICS TO SEE A LARGER IMAGE. Let me know what you think:)

Music Showcase

2009-01-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

Josh and I have once again become terrible bloggers. So nobody is probably reading our blog anymore. If you are by chance reading this Josh has entered a music contest through mormontimes.com. It is based on the publics votes. It is the same contest that his music student entered a little while ago. Go to this web site http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?id=1964&nocache=1 and vote for Josh. The contest goes through February 14th. You can vote once a day.

Kinderkids Give Thanks

2008-11-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has been the theme for the past two weeks in kindergarten. We have talked about pilgrims, indians , turkeys, family, and being thankful. Today we wrote about what we were thankful for and reenacted the thanksgiving feast the pilgrims and the indians had so long ago. After the feast we sat around in a circle and took turns saying what we were thankful for. We all started our sentence by saying I am thankful for... The following is a list of what my class is thankful for.

Family

Brothers

Sisters

Babies

The World

Food

Princess Barbies

Pilgrims

Indians

God

Jesus

Bruce (My Cat I've told them about him)

Pikachu

Life

Turkey

Thanksgiving

School

Mrs. Rich

Dogs

Fish

Hamsters

Cats

Pets

Starwars

Friends

BYU

Christmas

Christmas Trees

Mom

Dad

Grandma

Grandpa

Cousins

I am thankful for the innocence of children that allow us to see the world in its simplicity. It is the simple things in life that really matters.

Mormon Times

2008-11-15T09:12:00.001-08:00

Josh and I have been so busy recently. We have been very bad bloggers. I have been busy working. You never understand how much time teachers put into teaching until you become a teacher. Josh has been busy painting and working on music stuff. Josh owns two businesses Rich Coatings (painting) and Rich Music Studios. Recently he has been very busy doing both. This week he has put in 14-16 hour days between the music and painting businesses. Josh has a very talented vocal student, Aubrey, that has entered a music contest. Josh introduced her to Stephen Nelson who composed an arrangement of Amazing Grace. This week Josh has spent his time between painting and recording, mixing, and balancing her song. Aubrey is a 13 year old girl. She had a lot of fun in Josh's small recording studio. It was the first time she has recorded a song. This young girl is truly Amazing. The contest is through Mormom Times the web address is

http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?id=757 Please check it out. Become a fan and vote for Aubrey Taylor.

*Josh will be entering this contest next month so we will be asking for your votes again.

Happy Valley is Right!

2008-09-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

So, i've never cared for the the name given to Utah Valley as "Happy Valley," but that's what is was yesterday! I'm fortunate enough to have tickets to BYU football and yesterdays game, while not close, was very rewarding. BYU simply pommelled the Pac-10 UCLA Bruins 59-0.

The weather was perfect. A cool 80 degrees and most of BYU's scoring happened on my end of the field which was fun to watch. Fans were shaking their car keys before half time. The photo to the left is a pretty good view of where UCLA spent most of the game. . . on the turf. Not bad for a "less athletic, slower, over-rated" BYU football team. I think a few ESPN analysts had to eat their words after this one. In fact the Mountain West Conference beat 4 Pac-10 teams yesterday, including a UNLV win over 15th ranked ASU.

It was a great day for Cougar fans. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the beautiful scoreboard afterwards. Especially considering most experts put us only winning by about 8 pts. Just add 51 more and they were right:) The "Quest for Perfection" continues. Go Cougars!

I am a Kindergarten Teacher!!

2008-08-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

Josh and I have not blogged in awhile because we have both been so busy. I just got a job at Central Elementary in Pleasant Grove. I am teaching Kindergarten :) The past two weeks all I have done is get ready for teaching. I have 24 students. So far they are the best Kindergarten class ever. They are really well behaved and very cute.

My Most Embarrassing Experience Ever!!!!

Today at work I taught my class as normal. I went and had lunch, went back to my classroom, worked on lesson plans, went to the bathroom, copied things in the faculty room, went back to my classroom, etc. After I had been working on things in my classroom for a while I needed to take something down to the office. On my way down I had one of the teachers stop me. She came running down the hall and said, "Mrs. Rich your garments are showing." I looked behind and found my skirt tucked in my garments. What a way to start my new job. Who knows how many people saw my tush and said nothing. At least I was decent while I taught my class. Couldn't you see a bunch of Kindergarteners going home to their parents saying, "We saw Mrs. Rich's underwear." I guess it can always be worse.

American Idol Results

2008-08-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

So Josh went with a group of friends to tryout for American Idol. We got is line about 7:00am and the cameras were everywhere. Once they got all the shots they wanted to outside they started to let people in. We got to our seats around 8:30 am. Once we were inside the Energy Solutions Arena the cameras were going full force. They had the whole group singing "Aint no Mountain High Enough" and another song that we didn't know. After the song shots they had the whole group cheer. I was surprised at how so many girls were screaming at the top of their lungs when they were going to be auditioning. Isn't that bad for your vocal cords? I felt like I was back as some boy band concert. (Yes I went to those when I was young.) A few hours latter they started the audition process. They let all the special needs and pregnant women go first. Because of our all nighter we were in the next section to audition. Our friend Dan called us because he was in the last section to audition and wanted to trade me(Lindsey) seats so that he wouldn't be there all day. It was finally Josh's sections turn to start going down to the cattle call. How they have it set up is they have 11 tables lined up next to each other. On either side of each table they have thin black curtains. While you are auditioning you may have other people singing their lungs out right next to you. They have you stand in lines of four people. Four people stand up to the judges and one time. The judges listen to you sing for about 30 seconds. The judges will converse a little bit and then they will either give you a golden ticket or send you out the non winner door. In American Idol there aren't any losers just non winners. So Josh and all his friends were down in ling waiting to see the judges when the judging stopped. Ryan Seacrest stopped by and the filming and screaming started up again. Girls were just throwing themselves of Ryan Seacrest. After about another hour of filming the auditioning start up again. I was so nervous for all of them. They went one by one and one by one they exited the non winners door. Well the only thing we could think of to make us feel better was food. We went to Tucanos and stuffed ourselves silly. Some of the judges said things to them like, "Your just not what we are looking for, etc." All I can say is that while we were there we saw only 10-15 people out of a few hundred get tickets. Out of those people about half of them were freaks. I guess we will just have to wait and see what they were looking for when the season begins.

Josh, Dan, and Ryan

The Cattle Call

Josh is in the middle. This is right before his audition.

Josh is in the middle. His judges were at table three.

The Non Winners :(
They weren't too crushed.

American Idol Auditions

2008-07-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last night Josh and I pulled an all-nighter to register for American Idol. We went to Energy Solutions Arena at 2:00 am and got in line. We spent the next five hours people watching because there was nothing else to do. I always wondered how American Idol got all those crazy people on there show. Let me just say they were everywhere. The crazy people go to American Idol and the truth is most of them really do think they can sing. At about 5:30am the cameras started to come out and that is when the crowed started to get going. The camera crew came by us and I over heard the producer say, "Do you see anyone or anything interesting?" They went on and interviewed people with crazy hair, weird costumes, or anyone that looked out of the ordinary. Needless to say we were not interviewed. At around 6:30am the camera crew came back to the front of the line and took a lot of group shots. They had us cheer and say things together as a group like, "Welcome to Salt Lake City, Welcome to Archie Town, We will take the gold," and so on. A little after 7:00 they let us into the Arena to register. We were at the front of the line but the line wrapped around the entire building. There were thousands of people in line waiting to register. Josh register to audition for the show I register to be his guest. We both got American Idol wrist bands and tickets that give us an assigned seat in the Arena on the day of auditions. Auditions are not until Tuesday. Some of you may not know but this is not the audition for Simon, Paula, and Randy. You actual have to make it through three auditions before you ever see them. Tuesday is the first round of auditions. If Josh does make it through the first round of auditions they will make us sign all sorts of confidentiality forms saying we will not tell anyone. So josh is trying out for American Idol but you will have to wait with the rest of America to find out if anything comes of it. Wish us luck.

Josh and Lindsey's Movie Review

2008-07-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Josh and Lindsey give The Dark Knight two thumbs up. Dark, complex and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga. Posing moral questions about the nature of good and evil and examining the dynamics of living in a free society that depends on the civility of its citizens to survive, the film explores the nature of heroism and villainy to reach the conclusion that they are not very far apart.The film contains a degree of intensity not normally found in features of this sort. Make no mistake, this is not a movie for children. A great many things separate this from previous Batman films, chief among them the portrayal of the Joker. He’s nothing more than an agent of chaos, a walking contradiction as his actions seemingly defy logic yet wind up being part of a grand sinister plan. He has more than a few cards up his sleeve and as portrayed by Ledger he comes off as one of the most memorable villains in film history. If there's one thought that will stay with audiences after Heath Ledger's stunning portrayal as The Joker in The Dark Knight, it's this: He completely and totally nailed it. While we loved this film we strongly believe it is not for children. Experience the film for yourself before you take your kids and then decide if they can handle the darkness.

*This review is based off of various reviews posted on www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/

Family Reunion

2008-07-20T15:48:00.001-07:00

This year my(Lindsey) family had their reunion at Bear Lake. We had a great time as usual. There was great food and great company, what more could you ask for.

This is a picture of us enjoying the beach.
My mom got all of the girls in the family t-shirts that truly express what we are. The t-shirt says Angel.

Josh took my family to places around the Bear Lake valley that he new about. Josh's parents grew up in Paris Idaho which is along the northern part of the lake. This is a picture of the Paris Tabernacle.

This is a picture of us entering the Paris Ice Caves. The Paris Ice Caves are awesome caves in the mountains with ice in them. I don't really know how else to describe them.

This is a picture of us at Bloomington Lake. Bloomington Lake is a glacier lake. It is so deep that they have never been able to find the bottom of the lake. The cliffs in the background are the cliffs that Josh took some of my cousins and my sister cliff diving. They had a great time.

At Bloomington Lake. Lonnie, Dave, Kay, Steven, Jeff, and Joan

One of the games we enjoyed playing at the reunion was golf ball horseshoes. It is similar to horseshoes but with a twist. This is a picture of my uncle Tom and Larry (Josh's Dad). Josh's parents came up for dinner one of the nights.

Grandma Jane and Dorothy (Josh's Mom) watching us play golf ball horseshoes.

The lovely ladies: Mary, Joan (My mom), and Stephanie

Yes, this is me in a Cowgirl hat. Josh got this for me as a present. I guess you could say She's gone country back to His roots.

Lindsey, Karen, and Grandma Jane

Kirsten, Mickelle, Kaylee, and Lindsey playing Cards.

The Return From- Past The Point of No Return

2008-07-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

This is where I parked while we scouted out how to get down the big cliff.

This was just before the first cliff we had to maneuver down. You can see how deep the sand was.

These were the two cars that went down the trail.

Ok, so here is the story. A good friend of mine and some of his other friends decided to do a little car challenge. They called it the "300 Challenge." It was titled such because each team had to purchase a car and have it in running condition for $300 give or take a little. The plan was that they would then take it on a little rally race through central Utah with some specific challenges. It was requested that I would bring my truck along as a support vehicle and to haul supplies. Seems simple enough right? Well it was until we took a wrong turn. The road we took split off at Goblin Valley and was supposed to loop, which it did, but we didn't. We followed a river bed that we thought was a trail but was actually just a wash. We managed to get all the vehicles, cars included, down several cliffs, and after about 10 times of pulling cars out of the sand, we got into open space.
By this time it was getting late and we were all exhausted and low on water. We decided to send the Jeep ahead to go to town and get supplies assuming we were on the correct trail. Well, about a mile down the "trail"( I use the term loosely) the Jeep was there baring bad news that there was no way out. About this same time I blew a tire and one of our party, Shawn, split his lip wide open to the point of needing stitches. Fortunately I had a spare, and an air tank with barely enough air to get the truck running again. We also had a first aid kit to take care of Shawn until he could receive further medical help.
At this point we decided to kneel in the middle of nowhere and ask God for a little direction. Following the prayer we all agreed that we would abandon the cars, load whatever gear was in the cars into the truck, and hall all nine people out the way we came. We had 4 people in the Jeep and 5 in the truck(3 in the cab and 2 in the back laying on top of gear. It wasn't too bad minus one of the last cliffs we had to climb. The Jeep went first and I followed. Near the end of the climb I was crawling sideways on a hillside with a drop-off on the lower side of the truck. Do to the additional weight in the truck the trail literally crumbled beneath the back of the truck and I felt it drop! Knowing that if it continued to slide I would roll down the mountainside and roll over one of my spotters, I simply reacted. With no time to think I simply floored it! With both rear tires popping in the air as they bounced up over the ledge, I pulled to safety. We then drove safely the remainder of the way out of the wash.
When we stopped at the Forest Ranger Station to report the abandoned cars the Ranger stated that we had taken the vehicles "Past the Point of No Return" as they like to call it. They also informed us that where we had gone wasn't even listed as a 4wd trail on there maps. Only a few weeks earlier a man had gotten stuck there in his Jeep ant they had to take in heavy equipment to get him out.
It was a much bigger adventure than any of us had planned for and we were all grateful to have returned safely from-Past The Point of No Return.

God Bless America

2008-07-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Josh and I spent this 4th of July in Logan, UT and Preston, ID. Josh had a paint job up there. I had the week off so I thought it would be fun to go up and help Josh paint. I quickly discovered how much I hate painting and how much I appreciate Josh for doing it as a living. As we were driving back to Preston from Logan on the 4th of July Josh was looking around and he said, "This is America." I looked around and what I saw was cows and hay bails. So I said, "America is cows and hay bails." That wasn't what Josh meant. To Josh America is the country and the roots that made our nation. It is where he grew up. His parents taught him to work the land and love the land. Agriculture was the initial start for this country. As I thought about this I have realized that America can be many things to different people. God Bless America for giving the people here a life they can freely enjoy and love. God Bless America that we may hold this country dear and remember what it stands for. God Bless America and protect it from the growing evils of the world. Bless God for America who inspired men who founded this great nation.

Josh and Lindsey's Movie Review

2008-07-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

Josh and Lindsey give Hancock two thumbs down. John Hancock is a alcoholic, superhero, and a complete jerk who "helps" the city of Los Angeles by fighting crime. Unfortunately he seems to have fallen from the good graces of the public because his vulgar and extreme ways he fights crime. Hancock saves Ray Embrey from a train wreck. Ray Embrey
is in public relations and decides to help Hancock change his public image. The show starts out a bit vulgar to paint Hancock as a bum. While the show may have had potential it failed to deliver in the end. It had a lot of loose ends and no concrete climax. It was disappointing for a Will Smith movie.

The Best Form of Birth Control

2008-06-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

The best form of Birth Control is going from no kids to six boys. Josh and I had the fabulous experience of babysitting our six nephews for a whole week. They were savages and we have proof. We don't even have a picture of all six together.

See the similarities between them and gorillas.

Recent Encounters

2008-06-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Josh and I just got back from a Family Reunion. We were at Bear Lake with all of Josh's extended family. I met most of his extended family for the first time.

This is a picture of Josh's brother Jeremy during the family talent show. (This is not his real hair.)

This is a picture of us inside Minnetonka Cave. Minnetonka Cave is a fascinating 9-room cave of stalactites, stalagmites and banded travertine that was originally found by grouse hunters. There are over 400 steps inside the cave. If you go to Bear Lake this is a great spot to see but be prepare for a hike. (400 steps in 400 steps out)