Snow Day...

Upon reporting for duty at work today, we were the only place open!

Portia and I pretending we were back in Oregon for the day!

Portia enjoying the snow

Though I Walk Through Valleys Low...

Lyrics I Had To Share...

Heard this song tonight and I really felt like I needed to share the lyrics...they hit home for me pretty hard:

Sometimes we fall down and can't get back up

we're hiding behind skin that's too tough

how come we don't say I love you enough

till it's to late, it's not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won't come

we could make a feast from these crumbs

and we're all staring down the barrel of a gun

so if your life flashed before you

what would you wish you would've done

Yeah... gotta start

lookin at the hand of the time we've been given here

this is all we got and we gotta start pickin it

every second counts on a clock that's tickin'

gotta live like we're dying

We only got

86 400 seconds in a day to

turn it all around or throw it all away

we gotta tell 'em that we love 'em

while we got the chance to say

gotta live like we're dying

And if your plane fell out of the skies

who would you call with your last goodbyes

should be so careful who we live for out our lives

so when we long for absolution

there'll no one on the line

Yeah... gotta start

lookin at the hand of the time we've been given here

this is all we got and we gotta start pickin it

every second counts on a clock that's tickin'

gotta live like we're dying

We only got

86 400 seconds in a day to

turn it all around or throw it all away

we gotta tell 'em that we love 'em

while we got the chance to say

gotta live like we're dying

We only got

86 400 seconds in a day to

turn it all around or throw it all away

we gotta tell 'em that we love 'em

while we got the chance to say

gotta live -- like we're dying

We never know a good thing till it's gone

you never see a crash until it's head on

all those people right when we're dead wrong

you never know a good thing till it's gone

Yeah... gotta start

lookin at the hand of the time we've been given here

this is all we got and we gotta start livin it

every second counts on a clock that's tickin'

gotta live like we're dying

We only got

86 400 seconds in a day to

turn it all around or throw it all away

we gotta tell 'em that we love 'em

while we got the chance to say

gotta live like we're dying

"Live Like We're Dying" ~ Kris Allen

Donated My Hair...

I did it! Finally went in and got my ridiculously long hair all cut off!! And I figured that since I didn't want my hair anymore that it would be better used by someone who might need it, so I donated my ponytail to Locks of Love. Locks of Love requires that your ponytail must be at least 10 inches long and mine came in just under 11. Here's a few photos I took today to commemorate this occasion:

Here I am with my hair down for the final time.

Getting ready to go in and get my haircut.

Here I am posing with my trophy ponytail before sending it off to Locks of Love.

Went to dinner with a friend to celebrate and while we were eating dinner I noticed the restaurant had this poster from my hometown of Pendleton, Oregon. It is a Lee Moorehouse photo of the 1915 Bucking Contest Winners: Lee Campbell, Jackson Sundown, and Yakima Canutt.

Living History...

It's what I do...go here for booking & info

A Decade Of Dominance...

In honor of today's (Jan. 4, 2010) Tostitos Fiesta Bowl match up of the Boise State Broncos and the TCU Horned Frogs I wanted to take a moment to shine the light on quite possibly the greatest football dynasty that never was fully appreciated and often overlooked in the last 10 years...The Boise State Broncos.

Okay, so I fully appreciate that this decade isn't complete until the end of 2010. And for that reason I have chosen to look at the record and body of work for the Boise State Broncos dating back to their 1999 season and then all the way through this season which will culminate in tonight's bowl game.

Some of you may not be aware that the Boise State Football program has the best record in all of Division I-A Football, or as they call it now in the FBS. Now I could possibly just ask you to take my word for it or I could tell you to just go look it up for yourself, but I thought I'd be nice and let the records do all the talking for us:

1999: 10-3 W, Humanitarian Bowl def. Louisville Big West Champion

2000: 10-2 W, Humanitarian Bowl def. UTEP Big West Champion

2001: 8-4 2nd Place WAC

2002: 12-1 W, Humanitarian Bowl def. Iowa State #12 WAC Champion

2003: 13-1 W, Fort Worth Bowl def. TCU #15 WAC Champion

2004: 11-1 L, Liberty Bowl Louisville #13 WAC Champion

2005: 9-4 L, MPC Computers Bowl Boston College WAC Co-Champion

2006: 13-0 W, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl def. Oklahoma #5 WAC Champion

2007: 10-3 L, Hawai'i Bowl East Carolina 2nd Place WAC

2008: 12-1 L, Poinsettia Bowl TCU #11 WAC Champion

2009: 13-0 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl TCU #6 WAC Champion

----- --------------------------- ------------------------

121-20 5-4 with one to play 2 Big West Championships

7 WAC Championships

And while I'll let the numbers above do all the talking, tonight I will be rooting on the Boise State Broncos as they take on the TCU Horned Frogs for the 3rd time in the last 10 years in hopes that the Boys in Blue will be able to add win number 122 to their list of accomplishments during their often overlooked "Decade of Dominance." For the ninth time in the last 10 years the Broncos record now stands at 10 wins or more. For the second time that record is an unblemished record of 13-0, and with a win tonight it will be 14-0. Yet again, the Broncos will be only outsiders to the BCS National Championship. The last time they were in this situation (2006) they were told that as a member of the WAC that they hadn't really played against a perennial college powerhouse and proven they can win...so what did the Boys from the Smurf Turf of Idaho do?? They went to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and defeated Oklahoma, a perennial college powerhouse.

I certainly hope that in this year's Fiesta Bowl the Broncos will find similar success. And I certainly hope that the powers that be, who seem so reluctant to have a true college football playoff, will perhaps consider BSU's entire body of work and realize that this school is every bit deserving of its record, and perhaps in the decades to come may be even able to share or win a National Championship of its own.

But enough of my wishful thinking...Good Luck Broncos, and before I depart here's a look at a few of the Broncos I have enjoyed following over the years:

Jared Zabransky

QB 2004-2006

Hometown: Hermiston, OR

Tony Hilde

QB 1993-1996

Hometown: Pendleton, OR

Ryan Dinwiddie

QB 2001-2003

Hometown: Elk Grove, CA

Legedu Naanee

QB 2003-2004

WR 2005-2006

Hometown: Portland, OR

Korey Hall

LB 2003-2006

Hometown: Glenns Ferry, ID

A Day Trip...

Today my friend Drew and I went on an adventure to Richmond going to an antique and tool show; then Drew decided that since I had yet to explore any of the Civil War Battlefields that surround Richmond that we should detour our way back to Williamsburg by stopping at some of the sites along the way. We were able to visit several important sites around Richmond, including Cold Harbor, Chickahominy Bluffs, and we finished by a stopping at Malvern Hill. Here's a couple shots that I snapped with my phone at the Malvern Hill Battlefield:

(Clicking images will enlarge them)

This is looking up at the Union artillery line from about as close as the Confederate Line got before being turned back.

This is looking down the hill from just behind the Union line...the tree line in the distance is where the Confederates begin their attack.