:)

Boy, am I in a good mood today! I am actually proud of the US ongress, although not so proud of my district's congressman. However, 2 out of 3 Utah congressmen voted against the bill, one being a Democrat. Love it! Here's another great read explaining why the bail-out is a bad idea. I will concede that it remains to be seen what will really happen, but this administration is known for fear-mongering and going way overboard with supposed "solutions", i.e., Iraq. It would be refreshing to see if the market can work this out without more government intervention which, in almost every case, I oppose.

(Yes, I am a little obsessed with this issue. I promise I do pay attention to other things. For some reason I just like to blog about this.)

Timpanogos

So, yesterday morning, I woke up for the day earlier than I ever have before in my life. My alarm clock went off at 1:30 am. It also went off at 1:39, 1:48, and 1:57. I only heard the 1:57 alarm clock going off. I assume the others occurred, but I don't remember them.

Somehow my crazy friend Brian had talked me into hiking Mt. Timpanogos with him. We're both fairly avid photographers (as is Brian's wife Emilie). The idea was that we'd get lots of really cool pictures.

By the time I met up with Brian and left his house, it was 2:42 am. We arrived and commenced hiking. I don't know how many of you have done night hiking before, but it's quite a different experience. It really distorts how far you think you've gone. We hiked for more than an hour and our GPS said we had only gone 1.2 miles (though we think the GPS was lying to us). Then we hit the switchbacks, which really weren't nearly as bad in the dark. You couldn't see how many you'd done or how much further you had to go. And by that point my mind had mostly shut off again, so I didn't pay much attention.

We made it to the lake up there just as dawn was beginning. We took pictures for 20 minutes and moved on. Our plan had been to make it to the top of Timp by sunrise. We came short of that, but were on the saddle area of the ridge when the sun came up.

We made it to the top shortly there after and spent a good while on our way back down taking pictures. The colors were beautiful, and also saw a few mountain goats. I'll post one picture today here on this blog, and will post many more over on my photo blog in the next day or two.

Football - Advertising

So, BYU beat Wyoming 44-0. *Yawn*

I didn't think it would be quite such a difference in score. Wyoming definitely helped BYU out in that department with 6 turnovers, 3 of them fumbles. BYU's defense scores touchdowns twice (1 fumble, 1 interception). Wyoming fans are again complaining about how old BYU players are and how that's not fair. Balance has returned to BYU football.

Now, on to the real reason I started this post. I thought this was hilarious.

UCLA Marketing

I realize that they want to make money, but I don't see Utah State doing this (maybe I just need to read the paper more?) Funny how a couple weeks changes things.

The Bail-out

If Congress passes this proposed $700 billion financial bail-out, I will be livid. I am not sure I will be able to speak civilly to anyone for a few days (not that it's their fault; I'll just be in a really bad mood). I don't how many of you know how huge this is. It may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, pieces of legislation our country has ever seen. It is so dangerous for our government to think it can control economic laws; it can't, just like it can't control the law of gravity. I am not going to go into all I've learned about economics lately (I am happy to share, should you care to ask, but I still have much more to learn), but I promise you, the market has to correct itself. It's going to painful no matter what. The longer we procrastinate it and band-aid it, the worse the correction will be. If we let the market correct now, it won't be pretty, but it won't be nearly so bad as later. Call your representatives today. Let your voice be heard, among the millions of others who oppose this measure. They are supposed to work for us, so tell them your expectations. I'll close with a post I saw on a message board by "John". I really liked what he had to say:

I write to you at this hour with the hopes that this is accompanied by
numerous calls of concern from my fellow constituents to congress.

While the ceasing of credit flow throughout our economic system will
indeed lead to certain recession or worse, I ask that you weigh the
dramatic and dire effects of bloating our national debt to
unprecedented levels while risking explosive rates of inflation that
will certainly put enormous pressure on the dollar. Threatening the
credit rating of the United States Treasury during a time when
international relations are tense will only lead to further debasement
and eventual collapse of the United State currency as it tries to
compete against rising energy costs. Our government has continued to
disregard responsibility and accountability as it socializes risk
based economic loss. Make no mistake about it; the members in congress
that forced lenders to loosen their requirements for the past two
decades are just as responsible as greed stricken Wall Street execs.

Added to which, this legislation seeks to give sweeping authority to
the Treasurer without any kind of accountability; to make acquisitions
at one’s discretion at a tune of what will surely eclipse the
one-trillion dollar figure to assist in liquidating the credit and
housing crunch while bailing out buddies on wall-street. The market
has made its move, and began its self-correction of prices. There is
nothing in existence that can determine the value of assets other than
the free market, and yet government believes it is cunning enough to
contain it and keep value artificially inflated.

Congressional hearings throughout this week have been emphasizing the
assessment of risk between a worst-case scenario of complete loss of
confidence within the market, against the inherent debt that the
American taxpayer will burden. Unfortunately I have not been hearing
much out of Washington regarding possible worst-case scenarios if the
government-acquired assets fail to stop the bleeding in a long-term
situation. While I am unwavering in my opinion that the American
people are resilient enough to endure any economic depression, perhaps
more vital questions to ask would be, ‘Can the American people endure
a complete implosion of public trust in American ideology; Are we the
same people that fought against the tyranny of totalitarianism and
entrusted our freedom not to executive powers but instead the world’s
guiding light of freedom, the Constitution of the United States?’

Risk is the theme of this era, and the only certainty is that we have
to risk something. Do we risk entering the ‘next Great Depression’
now, or do we risk the stability of our entire nation as it continues
to incur debt, debase our currency, nationalize industry, socialize
the losses and consolidate sweeping authoritative powers. If history
has taught us anything, it is that freedom sits precariously on the
most slippery of slopes, greased with the desperation of its people
and pushed by the arrogance of its leaders.

Pat Buchanan on the Financial Crisis

Ok, I posted enough non-political stuff (and thanks for all the kind comments and interesting ideas on whether or not to say too much). I think I'll maybe "say too much" for those of you with opposing political views. You may not all be Pat Buchanan fans, but I loved this recent quote of his regarding our country's current financial crisis:

"Yet, still, the promises of the politicians come. Barack Obama will give us national health insurance and tax cuts for all but that 2 percent of the nation that already carries 50 percent of the federal income tax load.

"John McCain is going to cut taxes, expand the military, move NATO into Georgia and Ukraine, confront Russia and force Iran to stop enriching uranium or 'bomb, bomb, bomb,' with Joe Lieberman as wartime consigliere.

"Who are we kidding?

"What we are witnessing today is how empires end."

Waxing Sentimental

Whew, 3 posts in one night, that is very atypical of me. Why so many, you ask? Because tonight is Starcraft night for Brett, which means I need to entertain myself and blogging sounded like fun, which it rarely has recently. Anyway, on with the post...

I am very sentimental about people. I really cherish my relationships with family and friends. I am sure I am not alone in this, but I may be a little more obsessed with it than the average person. I get really stressed about not showing people I care about them, even people I haven't seen in years and may never see again. In fact, the thought of probably not seeing most people I get to know again is really, really sad to me. That is always the hardest part about quitting a job for me. I know I'll probably not see people I got to know pretty well again, even if we promise to keep in touch. It's so hard to really keep in touch and when your circle of family, friends and acquaintances continues to grow, as is natural in life, it gets harder and harder to keep in touch.

The reality that we are moving in the near future, and leaving behind so many people I'll probably never see again, or see on rare occasion when we're all in the same town for a holiday, is starting to set in. I am so excited to move on to our next phase of life and I feel really good about our decision to go to Tucson, but I know I will struggle leaving Utah behind. There are soooo many people here that I love. I don't even see many of them much, if at all, anymore, but it's comforting to know I probably could (without driving long distances or getting on an airplane) should the occasion arise.

It is also setting in that in that short amount of time there are so many people I want to spend time with before we go should we not get to do that again. I'm sure I won't get to see everyone, and I'd be lucky to see even a majority of the people I want to say goodbye to in person. This makes me really sad, but I know this is just a reality of life. I just want to throw out to the great expanse of the Internet that if I knew you, even only somewhat well, I have probably thought about you since and wish you well. I hope I get to run into you at a reunion, grocery store, random friend get together, etc.

I also feel I have been somewhat of a slacker to my friends and acquaintances close-by. Many have recently had a new baby or I've had the thought that I should call them or go on a walk with them. Most days I don't though. I get caught up in the mundane and then weeks fly by and I haven't done anything to acknowledge that I was thinking of them. I need to be better, because letting people know I care is something really important to me. I think it's so important to me because I love it when someone does that for me.

This bring me to the next point of my sentimental-ramble-that-most-of-you-aren't-reading-by-this-point-and-has-really-turned-more-into-a-journal-entry-or-something: It is for the aforementioned reasons that I love blogs. I feel like I am still in touch with people. I know at least somewhat about what's going on in their lives, and they can read about what's going on in ours (or at least our feelings on politics and sports with an occasional picture in the mix). I feel even better about it if I let them know I acknowledge their existence by commenting. However, having google reader has made me lazy about leaving comments, so again I will leave this out in the great Internet expanse that if your blog is listed on our blog, I definitely read your blog. I am sorry I probably haven't left a comment lately. I just don't feel like clicking out of reader to do it. And, if your blog doesn't appear on our blogroll it is probably because I don't know your blog exists, again because I don't click out of google reader to see others' blog lists, like I used to in my pre-reader days.

In short, I love you, readers. I sincerely apologize if I have been less than a committed friend, but as I stated at the beginning, you all probably have a better handle on the concept that you can't stay really well in touch with everyone all the time. In the mean time, I'll try to be a little better about showing I care to those I can. Take care, y'all!

Philisophical Question

I was listening to John Mayer's song "Say" today (I love that song and find it tragic that it's so overplayed). I was really thinking about some of the lyrics: "It's better to say too much than not to say what you need to say." I don't know whether I agree or disagree with this. Are some things really better left unsaid? Do you miss opportunities to express important things if you hold thoughts back? I have yet to make that determination for myself on exactly how I feel about this. I'd like to know, faithful blog-readers, what you think on this subject and why. I feel like a thought-provoking discussion is in order.

Another Tag for Your Reading Pleasure

It was hard to come up with 8 responses for each of these. Sorry it took me so long, Cheryl!

8 things I am passionate about:

1. Family
   
2. Friends
   
3. Music
   
4. Food
   
5. Politics
   
6. Discovering truth
   
7. Good discussion
   
8. Being dependable
   

8 words or phrases that I say often

1. I love you. (I really do try to say it a lot to those I love. It's a phrase worth repeating)
   
2. If you tell me what you want maybe we'll all be less frustrated. (to Adie as I am encouraging her to talk more and head off tantrums)
   
3. Do you need your diaper changed? (I am a stay-at-home mom, this comes up frequently)
   
4. Did anything new or exciting happen at work today? (fishing for info on when Brett will finish his thesis)
   
5. No, that's still up in the air. (the response to the frequently posed question of if we know when we're moving to Tucson)
   
6. I hate the Federal Reserve! (just loving all these government bail-outs and messing with the interest rates)
   
7. I read something interesting today. It really ticked me off. (as Brett cringes and readies for another political discussion)
   
8. I won't vote for either. I think they are equally poor choices. (my response to the question of who I will vote for between Obama and McCain)
   

8 things I want to do before I die (I'm stealing some of yours, Cheryl)

1. See all my kids marry in the Temple
   
2. Own a home with a big whirlpool tub or a hot tub
   
3. Travel extensively - to all continents if possible
   
4. Sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (I'll need some voice lessons for this one)
   
5. Go on another mission
   
6. Get a Masters Degree
   
7. Start or be heavily involved in an organization that makes the world a better place
   
8. Write a book
   

8 things I have learned

1. That being trustworthy is better than being cool
   
2. To not care what other people think (k, I am not perfect at that one yet, but getting better)
   
3. That truth isn't just found in spiritual or scientific things. It can be found anywhere.
   
4. That being a parent is as rewarding, if not more rewarding, as "they" say it is.
   
5. That life isn't fair and that's okay.
   
6. That it's really hard to keep in touch with all the people you care about.
   
7. That there are more good people than bad. The bad people just stand out more.
8. That God really does love everyone even if the injustices we see in the world might make us think otherwise.
   

8 places I would love to go or see (I am fairly certain I want to go everywhere, but I guess I'll narrow it down to my top 8)

1. The Orient - not sure I can narrow this down because I want to see it all, what a fascinating set of cultures
   
2. The Middle East, including places like Iraq if they ever achieve some semblance of stability
   
3. The British Isles
   
4. New Zealand
   
5. Italy
   
6. Russia
   
7. Alaska
8. Polynesia, including Hawaii again
   

8 things I currently need or want

1. A house in Tucson (soon, my friends!)
   
2. To lose 10 more lbs
   
3. To have natural singing ability
   
4. Lower gas prices (I like this one too, Cheryl)
   
5. Cuisinart food processor
   
6. The Federal Reserve to be abolished
   
7. Lots of storage space
   
8. To be able to see more of my family and friends before we move, but still have some free time
   

8 people I tag

Come on, you guys. You know I don't do that, but I'll have a little fun with it this time. I tag anyone I have met from the BYU 169th Ward who reads this blog. That's probably somewhere around 8 people.

Football

I have to say that I don't think there's been a much more satisfying weekend of football for me in quite a long time.

First of all, BYU absolutely rocked. Sabrina and I had contemplated buying scalper tickets because we figured this would be a great game. At least great as defined by Sabrina: A close game that BYU would pull out at the end. Boy are we (or at least Sabrina is) glad we didn't do that. The last time I saw BYU dominate a team that incredibly, it was Utah State. But last I checked, UCLA was first in the receiving votes category of the AP poll (roughly translating as #26 in the country), not a Utah State-type team. And honestly, I don't know that I have ever seen BYU dominate someone so thoroughly. Friday night, while hanging out with some friends, I jokingly said that I expected UCLA to be easier for BYU than Utah State was for Utah. I really didn't believe I would be correct. (Though Utah needed all 4 quarters to score 58, while BYU didn't score any points in the 4th.)

That leaves Wyoming lined up for BYU this week. I really don't want to be arrogant or anything, but I'm really struggling to see any situation in which Wyoming wins. BYU's offense will keep them in all their games this year, even if the defense is poor. Wyoming's been struggling with the likes of North Dakota. If BYU scores less than 40, Wyoming can have another "moral victory".

So, on to the rest of the MWC.

UNLV. I don't know what to say. Sabrina and I were watching the Utah game until after midnight because we had some friends over for the evening. We didn't check scores until then. When I saw the UNLV score I was convinced that somehow, somewhere, there had been a typographical error. UNLV knocking off ASU, the #15 team in the country? and it was an away game for UNLV as well? Naw, no way. Well, heck froze over last night. I have to say congrats to UNLV, and I'll actually give them a chance to beat BYU when the time comes. (Not a big chance, but they earned a lot of my respect last night)

New Mexico. Finally UNM played like I expected them to. At the beginning of the season I felt they should be contending to be in the top 3 of the MWC. Up to this point they hadn't shown much of the presence they had last year. But by knocking off Arizona @ Arizona was something that BYU didn't even do when they had the chance. Kudos to them.

Wyoming beat North Dakota State 16-13 on a game winning field goal with 4 seconds left. Good thing too, or that would have really given us an excuse to ask them to leave the MWC.

TCU smoked Stanford. Yay for another MWC team beating a Pac-10 team. TCU vs. BYU will be an intense game. I think BYU will win because it's on Thursday night. TCU hasn't won a Thursday night game since the illegal block Utah game in 2005. Karma has punished them ever since.

Air Force hung on against Houston. Our thoughts are with all those in Houston right now (especially since I have family there).

SDSU lost to San Jose. Well, at least it wasn't North Dakota State.

Utah beat Utah State. Soundly. Sabrina and I got into an interesting conversation over this game. When should certain calls during the game be considered "running the score up." I felt that the Utah fake punt when they were up 23-7 was in bad taste. Sabrina challenged that saying that this is a great opportunity for the U to practice things they actually might need later on. I also questioned the U leaving Brian Johnson in the game through the middle of the 4th quarter. Was the game really in doubt? Do you really want your star quarterback hanging in there, running the football on designed plays, when there's no chance that the other team can win? It would seem to me (trying to be unbiased, those it's most likely a futile effort) that especially with how much Brian Johnson has been roughed up during his career, they would want to pull him as early as possible to make sure he stayed safe. Any die hard Ute fans (aka Tyler) want to comment on that? No smack talk intended with this one, just your take on it.

Anyway, back to running up the score. I honestly felt bad for Utah State. I knew it would be a lop sided victory. I feel so bad for them because I remember the years when BYU wasn't good, it was painful to watch your team get whooped on every game. In some ways, I wish Utah didn't score that many points on them. Yet for some reason, I had absolutely no remorse over an even worse embarrassment for UCLA. Some how it just felt satisfying for BYU to dominate every single aspect of the game. Sabrina agrees with me on this one. Maybe it's different because UCLA has actually won a game this year. My best theory is that I'm tired of Pac-10 superiority talk, and seeing one of the "better" teams in the Pac-10 ground to a pulp spoke volumes to the world that BYU (and the MWC) is getting better. Much better.

Wedding Pictures

So, my sister got married a couple of weeks ago and I was the photographer for the day. You can see some of my favorites over at my photoblog. http://b-rett242.blogspot.com

Fall's in the Air

Fall is just about here. That means a lot of things. First, it means I have a whole summer of pictures to post which I am again too lazy to do at the moment. We have had a lot of fun and a lot of things going on. You'll have to wait for another time on that one.

Fall also means football season. We love football season in our household. Most of our Saturdays are spent watching college games, most notably the U and BYU. Neither of them disappointed this last weekend. We also really appreciate TiVo because that means we can spend a whole day in SLC (not originally in the plans, but you don't plan for things like bad traffic on a Saturday) and still not miss any of the action, only the commercials. It's a beautiful thing.

Fall also means I am in the mood to cook and bake again. I can stand to turn the oven on again. There are also a ton of fresh fruit and veggies popping up everywhere, so we have been eating of a lot of delicious fresh produce - so wonderful!

Finally, fall every four years means the presidential campaign is in full swing (as if it hasn't been for last year and a half). Anyone who's been reading this blog for any period of time will know I am far from impressed by any of our mainstream choices. I read this great editorial this morning from the Chicago Tribune. It sums up my feelings pretty well.

Despite the maddening political situation in our country, life is grand. I am ready to welcome in autumn, so HAPPY FALL, EVERYONE!

Football Week 2

28-27

Well, for yet another week, BYU underperformed (or at least I hope so).

As a BYU fan, I look at the numbers and have a hard time wondering how BYU didn't win by 2-3 touchdowns. BYU converted every single 3rd down they faced in the second half, and all but 2 in the first half. That's an 85.7% completion rate. Max Hall went 30 for 41 and a pass efficiency rating of 161ish. Harvey Unga looked like he could run anywhere he wanted any time he touched the ball, and finished with 136 yards on 23 carries. Dennis Pitta (pronounced pee-ta according to the announcers) had another monster game and is still the leading receiver in the country. Remind me again why BYU almost lost? Oh right, turnovers.

Harvey Unga fumbled the ball at the goal line which would have given BYU another touchdown. Max Hall threw a pick as they were marching down the field at the end of the first half. That cost them at least 3 more points. On the other side, Tafuna missed an easy pick, which led to a third down conversion for the Huskies. I believe they scored that series. Another 7+ point swing. My prediction was if BYU held on to the ball, they would roll, and I think they would have.

The defense is quite porous right now. Fortunately Jake Locher can't throw the ball consistently or else BYU would have lost this game. They might have lost this game if the Washington receivers could have held onto the ball. But that wasn't the way things shook out. Now BYU's defense has another week to mature and practice up. Next week will be a great test. UCLA came off a stunning upset of Tennessee which vaulted them into the top 25. They'll probably drop out of the top 25 next week after BYU smashes them. Just a hunch.

And finally, on to the most controversial part of the game, the Jake Locher celebration penalty. Funny how we as people feel about selectively enforcing rules. If the rule shouldn't be enforced, it shouldn't be a rule. The NCAA has made a point this year of telling its refs to call excessive celebration penalties. I could cite the exact rule, but many already have. It states that the ball cannot be thrown high in the air. Being the nerd that I am, I used my DVR to do a rough calculation of how high the ball went into the air. It had a hang time of 3-4 seconds. That's better than several of the punts in the Utah-UNLV game. So, we have a rule, and refs told to enforce it, and someone breaking the rule. Surprise, you have a flag.

Don't get me wrong though, I would be incredibly ticked if this had went the other way. No way I like this if I'm a Washington fan. Though that act didn't lose the game for them. The blocked extra point did. It's a 35 yard kick. Straight through the uprights. While not a kicker, I do know a bit about physics. The trajectory would have need to change in order to get it 35 yards, but we're not talking about a 50 yarder here. 35 yards should still be in the "gimme" range. People act as if the penalty forced Washington to miss. Washington has no one to hang this on but themselves. Bad calls happen all the time, especially when Pac-10 officials are involved. The difference between winning and losing is how well you deal with it (most of the time).

Football

Tis that time of year.

41-17

BYU emerged victorious at home once again. A few thoughts from the game:

- BYU's offense is incredibly potent. If a team tries to shut down one aspect of the offense, look for another area of the offense to have a stellar day. NIU focused in on shutting down Harvey Unga. It worked, sort of. Harvey only ended up with an OK day where Dennis Pitta became college football's leading receiver for a week. Pick your poison.

- NIU would probably hang with or beat half the teams in the MWC. I think that's kind of a sad statement. There's really a lot of distance between the top and the bottom of the MWC. With 85 scholarship athletes, I think you should be able to field a team that's better than a team with 67 scholarship athletes. I mean, look what USC gets with their 105 scholarships (including bribes, early pay offs by donors, etc...)

- If BYU holds on to the ball and takes it away once or twice at Washington, they will cruise to a victory.

- I have mixed feelings about the scheduling of lower division teams. I really think it was good for BYU to have some game speed experience going into the Pac-10 portion of its schedule. Really helped settle some nerves and highlighted some areas of focus for practice this week without it contributing to a loss.

- BYU has a LOT of good players on offense. I kept expecting people like O'neil Chambers and J.J. DiLuigi to get in on more plays, but there's so much talent ahead of them it's crazy.

- The defense is pretty good. We need more experience. I was a little disappointed we couldn't get more pressure on the quarterback (besides the fact that he had to leave the game 3 or 4 times). The pressure got there late. I think there was one, maybe two sacks. Our D-Line needs to get more of those, especially against teams like NIU, and in the future, CSU, UNLV, USU, etc...

Overall it was an enjoyable game to watch. BYU just has such an effective offensive machine when it's in sync. There were multiple 6 or 7 play, 70 yard drives that occured in less than 3 minutes, and that's with the new rules designed to speed play up. Anyway, onwards and upwards. Time to take out Washington.