Bucking Broncos

My brother has been in Iraq for over a year now. He and his wife come home in a couple months which I am sooooo excited about. The Broncos have a soldier of the game at every home game and Monday Night Football against the Packers was my bro's opportunity to be on the Thundervision. My Dad, and my brothers and I had the opportunity to benefit......that being going to the game for free.

Traffic was insane and I was late. Consequently, the seat next to the humongous walking Bronco was left vacant for none other than this guy. Automatically I knew I was going to really have to step up my game. This is the scenario. Bro pops up on screen gives a few shout out's, camera man pans to us and we give it up for my bro and the Broncos. When you are standing next to the said Bronco there is this overwhelming feeling that you have to do him proud. I did, I think.

I cheered frantically for what seemed like way longer than necessary...glancing at the Thundervision every couple seconds thinking, "seriously am I still up there....I really can't do this for much longer."

Afterwards brother next to me says something like, "Dude, I was a little blown away by your enthusiasm. Totally unexpected."

My response....I don't really remember.

Guy in front of me, "Dude, did you like win something?"

Anyway, good game but the Broncos lost in about 10 seconds of OT.

Raining in Portland?

People aren't joking when they say it rains in the Northwest. I was in Portland for a long weekend for the 2nd Annual ManFest/Fellas weekend. This is basically just an excuse to get together with past college roommates once a year and have a good time. I find it easiest to describe the situation in a list of phrases.....rain, sudden drop in maturity level, potentially destroying relationships at the host person's home court, rain, physical exercise, rain , rain, torn shirts and soft pants, good food, good food again, rain, Doug-fir, possible bad decisions, making fun of bad decisions, sun....oh just kidding...almost, football, ballistic- take 3, gravy breakfast, and that's a wrap. Good times. Now its back home, behind in school, and totally ecstatic about being back at work.

Nikon D80

It used to be that I would get new toys on a regular basis. I would give in to the idea that I actually needed something when truly I just wanted it. Times have changed and my self control has improved. Now I start to get stressed out when I have a four hundred dollar balance on my credit card longer than two weeks.
I needed a Digital SLR camera. It was essential to my life's progression that I had this. Alright, maybe not but it felt like a good decision after months of researching and thinking. And so it arrived last week in all its splendor. I got it from www.bhphotovideo.com which I must say I was very impressed with. Their prices were less than others, no tax, and an amazing selection. I would totally recommend them if you know what you want. So far, it is everything I hoped it would be....and more. Now I just need to make time to use it on a regular basis.

Chile in the Summer/Winter

Tickets to Chile have officially been booked! We are not sure exactly what we will be doing while we are down there but we know we will be spending a lot of time in Patagonia hiking around. These next few months will give us a chance to figure it all out. And of course we gotta leave some of it up in the air. We will be leaving the day after Christmas and staying for a couple weeks. Hopefully some postings will be made while we are out and about there. It is going to be a great break in between semesters and right after I will be heading into my last semester of architecture school. Holla! If anyone has any suggestions about where to go or what to do in the area feel free to chime in.

The Mother Lode

This weekend turned out to be the opportune time to get the ole property ready for winter. Yeah, its only October but up in those parts you never know when its actually going to be impossible to make it up the mountain. I didn't get quite as far on things as I expected or would have liked but I guess there really is no hurry. Half of the fun is in the process.
I got a great deal on microlams a couple months ago. They have been conveniently stored in my father's garage but keeping them there throughout the winter wasn't really an option so this trip we took them all up. We set up the beams for the floor and stacked and covered the remaining beams for the winter. Much easier work than digging and filling holes...a lot more gratifying too as the actual structure is beginning to emerge....kind of.
The Rockies have had quite a run the past couple months. Game 3 against the Phillies was on Saturday night and there was one potential option for watching the game.
The Mother Lode in Ohio City is a little place off of country road 76 consisting of a general store, liquor store, restaurant and bar....oh and an RV park. The place was great. Greg, the manager, was a nice man and kept the place open and the wood stove burning for us till the end of the tense game. The Rockies were victorious sweeping the Phillies out of Colorado and out of contention for the World Series. If you are ever in the area, stop by the place and check it out.