This is why I love March

I don't know who has been following the madness of March...but this is why I love it. This is what it is all about. What Cinderella team can carry their team to new heights? I mean come one...who has ever heard of Siena? Who is this Stephen Curry kid and why is he averaging 35 points a game? Western Kentucky...you must be mistaken...you mean the Kentucky Wildcats. Who would have thought that Kentucky would have a team in the tourney and it wouldn't be the Wildcats? And I went out on a limb and actually chose Villanova...just because I like their uniforms :)

Let the madness begin!

There is a time in year...where everything just seems to be going right. During this particular time of year it seems like nothing can go wrong. Of course that all changes when your team loses, but until that happens everything is good and right in the world. You don't even mind if your team loses, as long as it is a good game. But given the time of year, you can't stay upset for long. After all, there is just too much goodness going on, to stay mad. Of course I am talking about March Madness. It is the one time of year that I can turn on the TV at any time and watch as much basketball as you want!

It is the only time of year you can sit on the couch and watch for hours as teams battle it out with more heart than the NBA has put together. It is the only time of year that you can't wait for the clock to show your team down by 1 with :10 seconds left and your favorite player with the ball in his hand.It's the only time of year that makes you so anxious you don't know what to do. You can't sit still, so you get up and start pacing the front room. Soon your heart is beating so quickly that you feel like you've been running up and down the court with those players. Depending on who has the ball, those last :10 seconds can seem like an eternity or a blink of an eye. It is the only time of year that sends grown boys into elation or tears depending on how the ball falls.

It is the only time of year when the sound of "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" can send chills down your spine and you long to be sitting in the stands and chanting with the rest of them and the sight of this has the same spine chilling effect...but in a negative way.
And when it all comes down to it, it is the only time of year that you can't wait until the final game. Let's be honest...even if your team isn't in it anymore you're still going to watch. Because you know there will be plenty of good basketball to see. Just to watch someone cut down the nets and know that they are the best is what March Madness is all about.And finally, it is the only time of year that you can see that the players play for the love of the game and not for the love of money. In a world that is full of billion dollar contracts, it is nice to know that there are people out there who really do love basketball...simply because it is basketball. To those individuals I say thank you. Thanks for making this the best time of year.
And to the rest of the world I say....let the madness begin!!!

Les Miserables

I don't know if I grew up in a hole or what, but until January of this year I had never heard of Les Miserables. Ok, I had heard about it in passing, but I didn't know the plot and I had never heard the music. In January my brothers high school put on the production of Les Mis and since both of them were in it, I drove down to Layton and went to one of their shows. As I sat there and watched the first act, I was completely lost. I had to have my step mom explain what was going on during intermission. I decided I was going to tackle to book.
I don't know how many of you have attempted to read the book...but it is super HUGE. The unabridge version contains 1488 pages! My goal this year was to read two books a year, but because Les Mis is so huge I decided it could could for three books. I've now been reading 8 weeks and I am on page 1084. So I don't have much left!

I also was able to track down someone who had the music. I listened to it pretty much all day yesterday and even when I slept I had the music playing in my dreams. Crazy! I highly recommend this book to anyone (if you have some time)...or just go see the play. You get the idea.

Two Flavors-One Box

So my co-worker gave me some cheez-its the other day. I love cheez-its and don't allow myself to buy them because I usually can sit down and eat a box in about 10 minutes (ok...so that is only a slight exaggeration). Yesterday I went to the store hungry (never a good thing) and I ended up buying these:
There is just something about mixing the two flavors. I am in heaven. I know I shouldn't have given into temptation...now I am hooked. They are so good. Just thought I would share my new find with you.

Adventure seeker

Ok, so I never considered myself an adventure seeker...but I am starting to realized that I am. My first great adventure was in 2002 when I decided it would be fun to go skydiving. My mom's friend Dave invited me to go to Ogden and participate in this great little adventure. It was his birthday and he rented out the hanger, provided a band, and had Famous Dave cater it. So I drove up from SLC and had the time of my life. I don't know how many of you have been skydiving, but the first time you go you are strapped to an experienced diver. You hook yourself up to the diver before getting in the airplane and then once you reach the desired altituted you are suppose to slide over to the door where you put your feet on a platform that is attached to the plane. You usually rock back and forth and then you just fall out of the plane. The only problem I had was that my diver had such a big belly that I couldn't sit in the plane and reach the platform. So really I was just hanging out in the air with nothing around me, until my diver decided to fall out too. The rush that you feel when you are free falling, is absolutely amazing. Little did I know that my love for adventure was born that day.

The next little adventure came during the summer of 2007 when I was in Europe. Lori and I were in Switzerland and we were looking for something to do. So we decided that it would be fun to go paragliding. I mean...how cool is it to say that you have been paragliding around the Swiss Alps? So we rode in a van up to the top of the mountain and got strapped up to our guide. Once you are hooked in you run towards the end of the cliff and basically just run off the mountain. As soon as you run of the side of the mountain the wind catches your sail and you just sore. If you ever want to feel like a bird...you need to go paragliding. you basically just catch the wind drifts like birds do. You go around in large circles slowly circling upwards. Then you can do dives and tricks to go all over the place....then you catch an air drift and start circling back up. The view from up there was absolutely amazing. It was so gorgeous. But I must admit that paragliding is not for the faint in heart (or maybe I should say those with a weak stomach). You do end up going around and around in circles a lot and get to pretty high elevations. But don't worry...they have puke bags...just in case you need them.

The last and most recent adventure was while were in Africa this past December. I have always wanted to go bungee jumping...but never knew where. I guess you could say that I always wanted to do it somewhere fun. I mean...paragliding in Switzerland sounds so much cooler than skydiving in Ogden. :) So when we found out that we had the opportunity to bungee jump not only in Africa...but into the Nile, I jumped (literally) at the opportunity. I went first (out of our group of four) because I was the one who was the most excited. I sat there and got strapped in and felt extremely confident about it. That is, until I got to the end of the platform and looked at how far I had to fall. Once I jumped though all fear left. It was the most exhilarating feeling I have ever had.



So basically I am in search of the next big adventure. Let me know if you think of anything. As a disclaimer...it is true that I went White Water Rafting while in Africa...but I am going to save that for another post.