The Christmas Season

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year! What other holiday can you dedicate a whole month to? The Christmas Spirit runs throughout the season as we put out our decorations and put up the tree, feel more of the spirit of giving, and one of my personal favorites, hear the familiar sounds of Christmas music. I adore listening to (and sometimes singing) the tunes of Christmas, especially those dedicated to the birth of Jesus Christ. It is remarkable to think about the celebration of Christmas, how the world can re-focus on the birth and life of the savior, and how amazing He truly is.

New Comforter

I've decided to get myself a brand new comforter for my bed this Christmas. For those who know me, you would know that sometimes it takes me a long time to make decisions. True I can be very indecisive at times, but once I know what I want, my mind is made up. I've been thinking about getting one for awhile now and finally made the decision to go for it, with the conditions it has to be micro-suede and can't be white.
Ok, so that decision is made. Now comes the fun part, actually picking one out! After browsing through Walmart and Ross and other discount stores, I didn't really see anything I particularly liked. So I turned to the internet and came across two good sites from which I've narrowed my search down to 3 (pictured). As of yesterday I have already ordered one of these. Guess which one?
Well the one I really wanted was a bit out of my price range (at $124.99). The other two fell within the range I was willing to spend, so I chose one. I guess now I need to go out and get some blue accent pillows. Unless I decide to change my mind...

Princeton

I flew out to the east coast again this year. This time to Princeton, NJ for another work conference. We stayed at the historic Nassau Inn during the week which is located in the middle of downtown (Palmer Square) and right across the street from Princeton University. I very much so enjoy visiting and touring around different college campuses, and Princeton is definitely a beautiful one.




Some of the highlights of Princeton: First night i had some of the best pizza I have ever eaten at Teresa's Cafe. It had wild mushrooms, hot italian sausage, and smoked gouda on a white sauce. Wednesday night I attended a volleyball game of the Princeton Tigers vs. Penn. I also enjoyed hanging out at the Frist Center (student union) and wondering how intelligent these students must be. I tried to find the institute class there, but was unsuccessful. It seemed like everywhere I looked around campus the architecture of the buildings looked very gothic and castle like. I bet it's even more beautiful there in spring and autumn.

New York 11-18-08
I also was able to get away for a half-day trip to New York City to celebrate my birthday! I took an hour train ride up to the city. I arrived at Madison Square Garden and walked up Broadway, through Central Park, and up to the Met museum of art, before I headed back down along 5th avenue to midtown. Jared and Debi Lee took me out for dinner to this cool little place, Kashkaval, where we ate cheese and bread and fondue. It was certainly a cold day but the weather was not too bad.

Family Photo

I wanted to add a recent photo of my family for those interested to see everyone growing up. This was taken at Nate and Melissa's wedding in Rexburg in August.
Dad and Mom. Ben, Lindsy and baby Carter. Nate and Melissa. Me, Noah, Jakob, Jeremiah, and Johanna.

OSU Homecoming

Homecoming at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater is a pretty big deal every year. It began in conjunction with the festival of the harvest which has led to one of the biggest football homecoming celebrations in the nation. Besides the actual game, the celebration which headlines homecoming is the "Walk-Around". You must be there to truly appreciate the size and intricate work of the decorations as well as the vastness of the 'sea of orange' as the whole city converges on the streets of south campus. Here are a few pictures of the event.
This year's theme was 'Generation Cowboy' and each Greek house made unique decorations accordingly. It is all made by gluing tissue paper on chicken wire. All for tens of thousands of onlookers on a Friday night. Pretty impressive.

First Year Coaching

We just finished our 2008 High School season last night with a loss at Regionals. I never thought I would be coaching in high school, especially for girls volleyball, but it was a great experience. I definitely learned a lot of things as I tried to teach, motivate, encourage and just have fun with the girls. Most of my time and effort was spent with the 8th graders, but I also served as an assistant with the Varsity and JV teams.
Here's a photo of me with my Ponca City 8th grade girls after they took 2nd place in the Bartlesville Tournament. It's not what's on the front of your jersey, but what is in your heart that matters.

Madison-Wisconsin

Trip to Madison, WI for work. Another fun university town as well as the state capitol. I will add more photos soon.. hopefully!