Friday, June 24, 2011

Two-fer

I have here, what I like to a call a two-fer...as in two-for-one. Here's why: 

1.) While I anxiously await the new season of Glee returning in the fall, I'm keeping occupied by the awesomeness that is So You Think You Can Dance. If you don't watch the show, you should...it's awesome. This performance was my most favorite number from this week and I wanted you to share in all its awesomeness.

2.) The particular subject matter of this performance is fitting because our dear friend Kenny Lindholm will be coming home from Iraq this weekend! We are so excited to finally have him home!...probably not as excited has his wife Kayla, or little peanut Kenzie, but still... we're pretty pumped!

Sorry it's kinda long, I couldn't find a video of just the dance itself on the tubes (youtbe, that is), only the dance and all the other fluff with it

Monday, June 20, 2011

Birthday Time

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SUPPY,

Oh hey, how did you get in there baby Nathan?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Shucks, I do Love you
Happy Birthday Nate!!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

This Guy...

Today is Father's Day. So how appropriate that I tell you a little bit about my father eh?
My dad, he's a pretty funny guy.
 We make fun of him for a lot of stuff, but most of the stuff we make fun of him for is really funny. Like, the kind of funny where you leave, go about your next days business and then suddenly you remember your convo from yesterday and you just start to chuckle again out of the blue.
  
I have what I like to call Daddy Logic. An example of Daddy Logic is as follows:
One morning I was at my parents house when my dad walks out in a t-shirt and swim trunks, keep in mind, it's about 8 in the morning. 
"You going swimming daddy?"
"No, why?"
"Well your wearing swim trunks"
"Yeah, I wore out my sleeping shorts, they got a hole in them"
"So why don't you buy new sleeping shorts?"
"Well because I have these swim trunks."
Daddy Logic at it's finest. I laugh about that one even now.


Or how about one time I walked in to my mom's exercise room to find my dad facing the elliptical machine, feet planted on the floor with only his arms moving the handles back and forth. If you're using Daddy Logic, this is a legitimate workout.

Despite using the occasional Daddy Logic, my dad is super smart. He's an analyzer...which also sometimes make for some funny exchanges. 
One night he was super stoked about some socks he had. He was doing a happy dance when I asked him,
"Where'd you get those socks daddy?"
(points to his dresser drawer) "Over there."
"Well, yeah, but I mean where did you GET them?"
"Oh, you mean prior to over there?" (points to his dresser drawer)
"Yes! I mean, like, where did you buy them???"
"Oh. Target."
Talk about taking the long way around.


While he uses his super smart analyzing skills to work hard all day for his family, sometimes it means he might not take notice of the small details at home.
My mom had a bouquet of artificial sunflowers left over from my wedding in April '09 that was on display in their living room. About eight months or so ago my dad says to my mom:
"Hey those flowers look nice there. Are those new?"
You can imagine the fun we had with that one. After my mom tells me the story, my dad unaware that I know of his remarks, when he comes home from church, I lay this one on him:
"Hey daddy, these couches (which have been in that living room since the 6th grade) look nice in here. Are they new??" 
He has a good laugh and we continued to milk that one for what it was worth all day.


And I can't tell you about my dad without using his signature line:
"It builds character."
This could possibly be his one and only answer to any complaint that you'll ever have. He used to have an old GMC truck and the flip mirror that was on the visor was broken. So every time you would flip down the visor, the cover to the mirror would come tumbling down at your face.
"Daddy when are you doing to get that fixed?!!!"
"Hey, It builds character"
When I was young, every Saturday morning, while my mom and sister were out doing agility with the dogs, I always got stuck having to vacuum the pool. When I made known my grievances and expressed how unfair it was my dad insisted that
"It builds character."   
When I called him to complain about a super duper ooooober liberal teacher I had in college that taught a little more opinion than actual coursework he replied with,
"Well, it builds character."

How can a Dad get any cooler than that, you might ask?!?? On top of all the above-mentioned goodness, well...
My dad looks like Santa.

Boom.

AND since we got so many precious pictures together from my wedding I'm about to post a bunch of them all in a row, so get ready.





I love you man.
Like, really really love you.
Happy Father's Day!




   

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

WeinerWatch

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a bit of a news junkie. Yeah maybe my radio never moves from the local talk radio stations, I may or may not have all the political sites bookmarked on my computer, and so what if I DVR the news? I like to be informed ok? So while the Anthony Weiner scandal has been on full blast across most news outlets and I, quite frankly, am getting a bit tired of it all, I'm not sure how familiar everyone else is with the situation. If you're not, let me shed some light on this jewel.

It's pretty simple really. A United States Congressman by the name of Anthony Weiner (yup, pronounced just how it's spelled) got caught taking a picture of his...ahem...wiener, and accidentally posted it on his Twitter account for all to see. At first I kinda felt bad for the guy, like, "how embarrassing" sort of a thing. But then I thought, when a person by the name of Weiner gets caught sending other women pictures of his wiener, it's created what I like to call, the perfect storm. And to illustrate the irony of it all are a few of the best headlines detailing the story. 

Enjoy












Monday, June 13, 2011

And the Award Goes to...

Yesterday, Nate and I and my parents hiked Fossil Springs. After 6 hours of hiking, 3 hours of swimming and/or exploring, 1 round of the alphabet game ("The letter is 'A,' think of every animal beginning with 'A.' The letter is 'B.' And so on and so forth), a few rounds of the song game ("the word is 'dirt,' think of a song with the word 'dirt' in it...and so on and so forth), 1 twisted ankle, a few sore knees, and a whole-lotta laughs, we OWNED that hike. And now, the results are in...the Academy Award goes to:

For Best Director: Nathan Townsend
If it weren't for Nate's impeccable navigational skills we probably would have never found the springs at all. With a serious lack of signage marking the way and extra narrow trails that didn't even look like actual hiking trails, Nate always assured us we were headed in the right direction ("It's getting greener, that means we're getting close to the water"). Or when we came to a fork in the trail Nate was always eager to figure out which one needed to be taken, volunteering to run down the trail, check it out, run back up and decide if it looked like the right way or not. What a guy.




For Best Cinematography: Carissa Townsend
You better believe my camera was strapped to my camelback, ready for easy access and photo documentation of our days' journey!...after all, if you read the previous post I am the resident "photo slut" (Thanks Mom). Whatever, maybe I take too many pictures, but it just won me this Academy Award...so boo-ya.


For the Special Achievement Academy Award: Sally King
Firstly, Sally fell and rolled her ankle, only about an hour after we began our hike. But she got back up and was willing to keep going. You animal You. ...You should see it today though, can you say big, black and blue balloon? But even more-so, Sally ACTUALLY swam in the springs! I'm not sure you can appreciate the magnitude of this event, because this came from the woman who won't even swim in her pool unless it's a good 94 degrees. The springs, ladies and gentleman, were probably a good 65, maybe 70 degrees. And she got in and swam...twice! Kudos to you mother.




For Best Supporting Actor Hiker: Gary King
Gary gets this award because, as opposed to above winner, Gary did not actually decide to swim. He tried, bless his little heart, but decided it was too cold (chicken). However, he did wade in waist deep and  waved to us from afar. It was pretty comical, to see his facial expressions as he walked deeper in (ahh, I still chuckle). Maybe next year Gare, swim and you could be Best Actor Hiker in a Lead Role. Snaps to you though, for making it back up the mountain. Slow and steady...



And last but not least, the award for Best Picture: Fossil Springs
What an amazing little treasure Arizona has, tucked away at the bottom of the mountain! The Springs were well worth the hike and such a sight to see! The water was crystal clear, there was a magnificent waterfall, a cave to swim into, and the actual spring with fresh water coming right out of the ground! A must-do hike!



The cave

Here's more pics from the day!

Finally made it!

Time for swimming! Nate was brave enough to jump in!

Inside the cave





The water was unbelievably clear!

A few minutes before you get to the waterfall, you'll find the actual springs, one of which includes where the water first begins, bubbling up out of the ground

...and down the creek it goes

We took advantage of the fresh water to refill our camelbacks and bottles 

A few yards before the spring is this water hole. Cold water but fresh and deep enough to swim in! Plus the little fish love company!

 With it's own little waterfall!


Slippery, mossy rocks!
   

For this trip, everyone came out a winner!