The Grand

Two weeks ago we had a work event up in Salt Lake at the Grand America. I didn't have a room up there so I was just planning on driving back and forth every day. My boss ended up having a family reunion that week, so he was not going to be using the Suite the company had booked for him. He kindly offerd it to Chris and I. We graciously accepted...and got room service.

I was a little bit baffeld by this as there was no-one registered to stay in this room named Ben. Hmm...

I also loved this bathroom on the main floor of the hotel. I could have stayed in there all day.

When the cat's away...

..the mice will play...or blog. We have a Senior Management Activity at work today which means that about half of the company is out and I am holding down the fort  in the Executive Department by myself. I am such a dedicated employee.

Anyways, let's give an update, shall we?

This week Christopher finds himself in Motor City. Appropriate considering his line of work. He is at a Jaguar delaership, which he says is only staying alive by selling used Ford Rangers. Well, have you seen a Jag lately? Might as well get a 2004 Hyundai, they look identical.

Since he is in Detroit, I am hoping he will get to stop by the set of  'Tool Time' or maybe just run into JTT. My 12 year old heart melted for those spreads in Teen Beat. Oh, home Improvement, what a wonderful show.

While he probably won't see JTT, he may run into Tim Allen as he is actually from Detroit, or even better, Madonna.

He may also run into some potato chip crucnhing bowlers as Detroit is the potato chip capital of the world, based on consumption and has the most registered bowlers in the United States.

Other interesting facts about Detroit are that it was the first city in the US to have pavement as well as a highway. All because of Ford's production of the Model T.

Here's to the Great North of Michigan.

I am a bit late posting this as Chris will be home in approximately ten hours. Tevs.

Shedding some light..

...for those of you who feel like you missed something. Chris got a job at the beginning of May where he travels every week and is then home on thwe weekend.

He does software consulting for a California based company who sells software for car dealerships. This is misleading as Chris graduated in History Teaching. You figure it out.

Anyways, the reason I didn't broadcast this months ago was becuase we weren't sure what this would mean for me at work, so I was hesitant to say anything in case I have some creepy work blog stalkers. Just kidding.

Anyways, now I hope you all feel up to date (Mallory) and you will forgive me for my elusiveness.

Tampa and O, Canada

I am two weeks behind on Chris' locations around the globe---yes, globe, as he is now in Canada. He woke up in a cold sweat on Sunday night asking me where his passport was for his "international" trip.

He spent last week in Tampa Bay, where it was approximately one million degress with 200% humidity. Contrast that with the cool 65 degrees Chris is now basking in. It makes one think that the possibility of moving to Canada is not so bad. Until you think about this:

Not cool.

However, it does seem okay in the summer. Take a look at Calgary, Alberta. Chris' current location.

I don't have the energy or desire to look up random fatcs about Calgary so this nice picture will have to do. Just know that Chris misses me more than life itself.

60

The number of hours I will have worked this week when all is said and done.

Needless to say, it has been kind of a busy week. We have an event going on in Salt Lake starting this weekend and I have been stuck in meetings all week getting ready for it. Luckily this involved lots of free lunches and way too many snacks that I should not have eaten. I had Corn-Nuts for the first time in years. Trust me, they are not as good as you remember. Right now, though, I happen to have a free minute.

Anyways, I have a few non-interesting things to update for the sake of my posterity.

First, Memorial Day Weekend. Chris was dying to go out of town for Memorial Day, which I think is hilarious being as he is ALWAYS out of town. When Vegas didn't work out on such short notice, Chris decided to sweep me off my feet to the romantic destinations of Logan, UT and SLC, UT at the luxurious Anniversary Inn (note the sarcasm).

We have done the bed and breakfast thing before because frankly they always kind of freaked me out, but Chris wanted to try it out and I thought it might be fun. Chris promptly booked us a room in Logan when he found out that Salt Lake was full on Saturday for the express purpose of being able to miss his morning leadership meetings on Sunday. What a guy. :)

Well, Logan is in a word....boring. We didn't really do much besides walk the streets of Logan, but our room was very nice.

In Salt Lake we did a bit more venturing and hit up the Aquarium in Sandy. It is small, but we had fun. We literally read every placard and were in and out of that place in two hours.

Check out this lobster's pincher!! Apparently, lobsters are right or left handed just like humans and their bigger claw determines their handed-ness. Interesting.

Alligators.

I really like penguins.

The best part of this trip hands down, though, was our room in Salt Lake. Apprarently because we booked so last minute there were only a few rooms left. Our choices for themes were either "Wild West" or "carriage Ride." Pardon my French, but there was no way I was doing it in a covered wagon bed (the decor in the Wild West room.) Not that the carriage turned out to be any less weird, but of course Chris thought it was awesome. I mostly just thought it was hilarious.

How ghetto-fabulous are we? Ha ha.

Well, what an adventure. Now to post about Chris' newest location.

Ogallala!

Say it with me now--O-gallala! You know you like it. I know I do. Christopher's home this week is the town of Ogallala, Nebraska.

Doesn't it have a nice homey feel? In case you were wondering (I know you were) Ogallala is home to the Ogallala Aquifer--one of the largest shallow ground aquifers in the world and responsible for 30% of the nation's irrigation water. Not bad.

Other interesting facts about Ogallala and Nebraska:

In Ogallala the Average Cost of Houses Sold (last 2 years)..... $85,000.  I would like to see some pictures of these houses. Chelsea, we might be able to find you one there that is not up against a busy road. :)

Nebraska is the home of Kool-Aid. Also, Spam in produced in Nebraska. Nothing like a nice slice of Spam washed down with a cold glass of Kool-Aid. Now, that's living.

The state insect is the honeybee.

In Blue Hill, Nebraska, no female wearing a 'hat that would scare a timid person' can be seen eating onions in public. I am not sure what this one means, but it sounds legit.

The largest porch swing in the world is located in Hebron, Nebraska and it can sit 25 adults. If we end up moving there (please pray we don't) I would personally like to invite you all to this porch swing which I definitely plan to visit, or steal.

Until next week....

Jersey, Baby!

Chris is back in New Jersey this week. This time he finds himself in the city of Edison, New Jersey. According to Chris, Jersey City was a hole. The kind of place where you think you might be shot walking down the street. No offense to anyone who may be from there.

However, apparantly Edison, New Jersey is very nice. Last year it was ranked as one of the 10 best places to grow up by U.S. News and World Report. And who wouldn't want to grow up in the place where Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb? Other notable people that live(d) in Edison are Susan Sarandon and the late Brittany Murphey. Not bad.

Roll the pictures:

Monument to Thomas Edison.

Random park.

Hopefully we will have a more interesting post next week. :)

LOST post

Disclaimer: I run the risk of sounding completely foolish by posting this, but I really want to post my take on the Lost finale. I know it might be silly to care so much about a TV show, but I do. So there.

Now I am sure that all who read this blog know that I am a fan of the TV show Lost. I always knew I really liked the show, but I didn't realize how much I loved the show until the final credit rolled across the screen rounding out the final minute of the final episode. In short, the finale was beautiful. It was moving. It brought me to tears on more than one occassion (although that is not really a difficult feat.)

After the episode ended I felt that I knew that this was always how Lost was supposed to end. Yes, it was sad. I would say it was tragically beautiful. I have forever been a Sawyer-Kate fan, but in the moment that Kate finally chose Jack, I knew that it was right. That, in a nutshell, was how I felt about the entire ending, and about the entire series really.

Although the finale did not answer all of our questions, I didn't care one bit. In my opinion, Lost has always been at its finest when it focused on the characters and the themes of life--love, death, destiny, revenge, faith, forgiveness, etc. And this is exactly what the writers focused on for the end. Part of the beauty of Lost is the mystery and some of the integirty of the show would have been forfeit if all of our questions had been answered. I personally thought it was profoundly brave of the writers to choose the after-life as the setting for their final scene, something that is such a mystery to so many people.

Sure there are things I might have changed or that I didn't fully understand, but all in all, it was a masterpiece. Six years of my life very well spent.

Now for the less serious part of the post:

The Lost cake prepared by the famous Brittany. You will notice the smoke, monster, submarine, well, and the sparkly cave. Nicely done and delicious.

And of course any big Lost event calls for Lostapalooza at my parents house. Here we are waiting in anticipation.

Farewell Lost, we will truly miss you!

Dweeb-o-la

Check out me in my cool new glasses. Yes, they are the cheapest frames Wal-Mart carried and they are from the little kids section.

They are only needed for looking at the computer screen (story of my life) and driving at night (for years I have been convinced that I will someday run down a BYU co-ed who decides to dart out in the street wearing all black at night...seriously folks?)

Anyways, you may never have the once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing me in them, so I thought I would post a picture. People don't seem to think it is too revulsive, in fact, my boss didn't even notice. Apparently, I have not made a very strong impression in my occupation.

P.S. If any of you were ever wondering what my mother loks like. Voila, see above.

Getting close to the End

I got goosebumps watching LOST last night. It was bomb.

Chris and I will have to find some real friends to replace our imaginary ones once it ends this Sunday. Sad day.