IN THIS CORNER...

Hunter got into a fight with a coffee table last night. He lost. Despite his swollen left eye, he was in good spirits this morning. A little shiner won't stop him.

THESE 3 THINGS

-The end of Finding Nemo
-An episode of Parenthood on NBC
-Zac Brown’s “Highway 20 Ride” music video

What do these three things have in common? Well… they all made me cry.

Apparently, fatherhood has made me soft. I did make it through The Blind Side without shedding a tear – Nikki cannot say the same.

LOST

I have a buddy who recently posed an interesting question. “If you could put a group of people on a plane that would crash on a deserted island and be lost forever, whom would you choose?”

Here is my list:

Nancy Pelosi
“Saving the world” at everyone else’s expense, both literally ($$$) and figuratively.

Kanye West
I don’t dislike you because I’m a racist. I dislike you because you’re an idiot.

Britax
You can’t make a car seat that costs less than $400? And you had to show that child safety video that made Nikki cry in the middle of Baby’s R’ Us, didn’t you?

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland
Feel free to keep singing, but please don’t make us watch your face. Are you constipated, confused, in pain? What is it?

Dane Cook
Even I can appreciate the occasional well-placed F-bomb, but dropping it every third word isn’t funny. Know what else isn’t funny? Stealing jokes from other comedians.

The Creators of Olive Garden Commercials
Earth to you: people who visit your restaurant don’t sit around and make G-rated jokes about how someone in their dinner party can’t resist your delicious food. Stop insulting our intelligence.

Nickelback and their Clones (Staind, 3 Doors Down, Daughtry)
Seriously, enough is enough… The only thing than worse than your smoker voices is your fabricated angst. Who listens to this crap, anyway? Maybe it’s the fifth-graders who are writing your lyrics. And I thought the world would have learned its lesson with Creed.

Michael Moore
Distorting the truth one cheeseburger at a time.

Kobe Bryant
Hug your kids in front of the camera. Kiss your wife. Try to make us think you’re a good guy. But we still remember what you did back in 2003.

UDOT Workers
Tell me why it takes more than two full years to put in an exit at 114th South? Here’s an idea: have more than one person work at a time.

Keith Olberman
At least pretend to be unbiased when reporting “the news”.

Jay Leno
Conan got screwed, and you’re still not funny.

Hunter -- already a Character

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of Hunter from the last couple of weeks. He is already quite a character and keeps us both laughing.

Hunter's sweet bed head that he wakes up with after each nap and in the morning:

Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo:

Brendan really hopes Hunter will want to play Football:
Just chillin on the plane to Portland, eating a Candy Cane:


Hunter's new obsession and favorite toy, his toothbrush!! Making his Grandpa Hunter proud!!

byePod

As I prepare to fill my iPod with new songs, I pay tribute to the ones that have gone before. These aren't necessarily my favorites, but they are the songs that i could never bring myself to skip, in no particular order:

Chelsea Dagger (The Fratellis)
If I had my own British band, this is what I would sing

>Fire Burning (Sean Kingston)
Not typically my kind of music, but this Kingston kid's got something. Does this song suck? Yes. Do I totally love it? Also yes.

>There Goes My Heart (Alan Jackson)
This will forever remind my time (and trials) while dating Nikki

>Tick Tick Boom (The Hives)
More like Tick Tick... Awesome

>Pump Up the Volume (MARRS)
Does anyone remember this song? Know who does? A 12-year-old Brendan practicing his breakdancing on the kitchen linoleum

>No Hablo Ingles (Bowling for Soup)
Cheesy, but I love cheese... especially the delicious kind

>A-Punk (Vampire Weekend)
Finally, some Vampires I can support

>No You Girls (Franz Ferdinand)
One of my favorite bands singing one of their coolest songs

>By Your Side (Sade)
One of, if not, the best makeout songs ever

>If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (Weezer)
These guys seem to come out with something good every few years

>Toes (Zac Brown Band)
Zac Brown's version of what I call a “Kenny Chesney beer on the beach in Mexico song,” except this is his first time singing one. Chesney just released his 87th, I think

>Angel (Shaggy & Rayvon)
I recently went through a phase of calling Nikki “My Shorty." As you may have guessed, it didn’t go over well.

>Adalida (George Strait)
Not this legend's best work, but it’s catchy

>Rock & Roll (Eric Hutchinson)
Play, repeat, repeat, repeat... sleep... play, repeat, repeat, repeat...

>Hear You Me (Jimmy Eat World)
One of the most beautiful and one of the most difficult song for me to listen to

>Spaceman (The Killers)
Overplayed, but amazing nonetheless

>Angels on the Moon (Thriving Ivory)
Once you get over his voice, you’ll like it

>I Gotchoo (Bowling for Soup)
Reminds me of the music I listened to during college

>Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked (Cage the Elephant)
It’s about time this cool, little tune got some recognition

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Hey, Soul Sister (Train)
Brand New (Emilie Mover)
Bad Kids (Black Lips)
Say Hey (Michael Franti & Spearhead)
Around the Bend (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour)
I’m Shipping Up to Boston (Dropkick Murphys)
Wild at heart (Gloriana)
The Great Salt Lake (Band of Horses)

Halloween 2009

I know this is a little late, but here are a few photos from our Halloween Adventures through out the Month of October!

Here is a a picture of us at a party in Ogden we always go to!! The outfits were inspired by Hunter's Yoda costume!



Halloween Night with the cousins that live in Utah:
This is a picture of Brendan and his work buddies, Brendan is Cookie Monster!! They were the hit of the party and I thought this was very clever of them!

Brendan's job does a huge Halloween Party every year for the Employees. This year they had hired a couple of Improv Comedians. Well during one skit, one of the comedians was acting out a fight with Cookie Monster, so Brendan impulsively ran up on stage and tackled him (see below) in front of his entire company.

Brendan and me as Pirates for a Halloween Party hosted by a good friend in our neighborhood!!

DRIVING IN UTAH

I used to think the following rules were a joke, but after dealing with an average of four daily accidents enroute to work, I am a believer.

Let’s finally admit it. We Utahns are the worst drivers on the planet.

With that, I give you...


15 BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN UTAH

1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A real Utah driver never uses them.

2. Under no circumstance should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of being hit.

4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it, and it will result in you being rear-ended.

5. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving you a relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs.

6. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.

7. Speed limits are arbitrary, given only as a suggestion and are apparently unenforceable in Utah during rush hour.

8. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Utah driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.

9. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire.

10. Learn to swerve abruptly. Utah is the home of high-speed slalom driving thanks to the State Highway Department, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes.

11. It is traditional in Utah to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light turns green.

12. Remember that the goal of every Utah driver is to get there first by whatever means necessary.

13. If a driver stupidly signals to get into your lane, accelerate as fast as possible so that they can move in behind you. They either don't know what they're doing or are from out of state. Remember, using your blinkers confuses Utah drivers.

14. If you haven't maneuvered into the correct lane to exit, because you are on an important cell phone call, feel free to swerve across 3 lanes without signaling. You wouldn't want to waste the extra fuel by waiting for the next one. Besides, that's why they widened the highway.

15. Slam on your brakes whenever you see a police officer. It's a good way to warn other drivers that they should all fall in line behind the officer to form a traffic bottleneck. Once he has safely exited, resume speeding.