Genius with a "J"

Famous people just love me!

2009-06-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

So country music star, Joe Nichols swung in to see me the other day. Decided it was too hot, and left. But still posed for a picture.

Just another day.... with Stephen Colbert!

2009-06-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today at work I ran into Stephen Colbert. From Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report". He is one of my favorite comedians. Anyhow, he's flying to Iraq to do a series, and had a layover at my airport. So I went right in and started chatting with him. Hilariuos guy.

2009-06-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

K, picture description of the best of kuwait!

(TL) I found this cool plane with the propellers facing aft. I've never seen an aircraft like this.

(TM)Kuwait has these yellow iguana like lizards than run around like rats. Their called "Dub Dub's" becuase of the sound they make when you run them over. :)

(TR) This K9 took his job very seriously , I thought it was cool to see him in the front seat.

(ML) Sometimes you have to entertain yourself. Dirt Donuts work nicely.

(MM) no comment.

(MM) This sad soul was not wearing goggles during a sand storm and got sand in his eye.

(MR) Staying vigilent on the bus ride home.

(BL) A fine example of Kuwait's english translatiing abilities.

(BM) Taking advantage of free time and playing some desert volleyball.

(BL) Again a slow day, and a frisbee, invaluable object around here. Except for it was so hot the sun warped the plastic and it was like catching a burning paper plate. you had to reshape it after every throw.

Hurry up and Ku-Wait!

2009-05-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

So here are some pictures of Kuwait. I 'll describe them clockwise starting from the upward left. There is a Third Country National (TCN) that runs the poop truck at the airport and we've taken to calling him Frankenstien. You can figure out why. Next we have a picture of a goat in a truck, I found this amuzing. Next there is a dog outside the base that found itself a little home. Next is a small example of busy day at work, down from that is another example of the hard lifesyle we experiance in kuwait, girlscout cookies and freeze pops. I found this Fire Extinguisher on the Army side of the Airpot. It speaks for itself. the one in the center is of all the minot guys. More soon.

just a small life update.

2009-05-10T01:10:00.000-07:00

I GOT MARRIED! I realize this is slightly redundant considering everyone that reads this blog already knows this. But I wanted to put up some of the pictures! Thank you to everyone who could make it, and everyones good wishes. I will be putting up some kuwait pictures, soon.

Roadtrip Rampage

2009-03-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Rebecca came to see me last weekend, I had an awards banquet and she wanted to come. YAY! I won my category, and we enjoyed watching all the drunk officers.

Saturday was cold outside but warm indoors, so we slacklined in the hallway. tons of fun.

We did decide to fair the weather and went cross country skiing. That was also fun, I ski like a duck. If duck's ski'd

Oh, and WE GOT ENGAGED! YAY

Dodge or Die!

2009-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

So last friday, the the young adults had a dodge ball tournament. i took this oppurtunity to break out my soccer shorts from the second grade. (well pretty close) It was tons of fun even though the most cordinated team(on accident) lost. We then went to Buffalo wild wings and I did the Blazin Challenge. last time i do that. way to hot.

Mitchell, SD? Where is that?

2009-02-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

So I spent last week in Mitchell, SD with the American Red Cross at a Disaster Training Institute. Learned a lot with my 3 travel buddies. We combined our ages and discovered we have 211 years of combined life. Crazy? incidentally I only made up 22 years of the equation and was called " the kid". It was still really educating. We got to see a Building decorated with corn cobs. really cool. Spent our per diem on lots of interesting food, from mexican(yummy), to chinese (not so Yummy). I learned about disaster supervision, mass casualty disasters, accepting non- monetary donations, WMD disasters, got to drive the Emergency response vehicle. That was fun. Then took a very gnarly (spelling corrected by the amazing Rebecca D. Ricks) course on disaster assessment. was pretty wild. Lot's of fun, and lot's of driving!

The best christmas present ever!

2009-01-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

Absolutley great was the Christmas vacation I had. Started out in Idaho, then Utah, Colorado, back to Utah, then Idaho, and Home. I got to meet all of Rebecca's immediate family. (Great bunch. Really nice.) Did some swimming, some snowboarding, but mostly driving. All in all. great fun with great people.

Run Forest!

2009-01-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

So i had a couple races during the holidays. One was on thanksgiving it was in bismarck and it was 15 degrees outside. i ran a 21:40 which was not a PR but it was a lot colder than an other race. then 2 days later i ran a race in minot where i ran a 10:04 i run a lot slower in the cold, here is some footage from that race. I placed 4th over all.

MY MOMMA!

2008-10-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

So my parents visited last weekend, so Abba could ordain me an Elder. It was a great experience. Here we are with my parents, Rebecca's parents and, our friends the Feist's.

Making breakfast for my Mother and Abba.

Mom and Abba going apple picking at the Rick's Ranch. Welcome to Minot!

SLACKLINING!

Second-Hand Sweatsuits

2008-10-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

So, I just acquired a second hand sweatsuit. i couldn't be more excited, i ran around my building terrorizing in my sweaty style. Great fun.

The Saturday-a-Thon!

2008-09-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

So Saturday was busy. Friday night around 10 i decided to run a 5k the following morning in Bismarck (2 hours away) So armed with 4 hours of sleep and a bowl of oatmeal, Becky Dee and i headed off at 530ish. (someone forgot to set an alarm)

We got there with time to spare, and I placed 8th out of 200+ with a time of 21:35. (that's 2:01 off my last 5k in Kalispell in 2006. So I was pleased, and sore. Then Rebecca and her parents went to the temple and i prepared my talk for church on Sunday. That is now my favorite place to Read, write, talk about anything spiritual. Can't wait to go inside! We then went to Golden Corral and i un-did all the calorie burning from 4 hours before.

Becky and i went back up to Minot for the elders quorum activity. We did the Zip-line and played some ultimate Frisbee. then we went to Becky's house where she removed rope splinters. (those hurt) it was a long day.

This Morning I was blessed to give a talk in sacrament on the power of prayer, which was fitting since I left my talk at home and needed that power to make it through my talk. But the spirit definitely knew the program because it went well and i said what i fell was supposed to be said, was a good experience. No rest for the difficult to entertain.

I met Satan. And He's in the form of a smoke detector!

2008-09-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

I got home at 1230 with one thing on my mind. Sleep. unfortunately, my smoke alarm had other plans. it is beeping a high b flat every 15 seconds. i took it down. Unplugged it from the AC power, unplugged the 9V battery, and expected it to be silent. but no, apparently there is a capacitor in this vile creation that is keeping it charged for 5 hours. right now it's in my car. and I'm going to try and salvage the night. i hope it burns. Devil Device.

Johnny Appleseed and Sakakawea

2008-09-16T09:49:00.001-07:00

So, this last Friday, Al, Becky Dee, and I went apple picking on the Rick's Ranch. Then we made apple pie. it was so good. Al was overly excited. (he should be, it was mostly his doing.)
We also made A LOT of Mexican food. Es muy bueno. Rebecacita gracias por hacer para nosotros.
Saturday, we went out to Strawberry Lake for some canoeing. Becky said that Al and I were Lewis and Clark and she was Sakakawea ( that's Sakagawea for you Non North Dakotan folk.) it was a little brisk but still fun. Then Becky and I went out with some friends and watched a really dumb action flic that doesn't deserve mentioning.

"AHHH! A BECKY-NAPPING!"

2008-09-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

So Thursday afternoon, I snuck into the Rick's Ranch and stole Rebecca at banana point( I was fresh out of guns and I needed to use my bananas before they went bad).I threw a pillow case over her head and tried to sneak her out. Unfortunately, her mother wasn't cooperating, so I had to stab her with the banana. I took my spoils to the Y for some lap swimming, then we went to an Indie concert at the Red Carpet. It wasn't really our style so we got some cold pizza and smart waters and stopped by a used bookstore. Coincidentally, they were having an open mic night . So we stayed. I returned Rebecca home un-harmed.

Feliz cumpleanos a mi !......

2008-09-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

I would like to start out this Birthday blog by giving a visual to my physical transformation in the last 2 years. The first picture is Sep 06 2006, the next is Sep 06 2008. The only difference i see is the hair.

So the activities.....no no fun-tivities! started Friday when Becky and her mother and I went to a Mexican restaurant in town and the waiters surprisingly sang me a birthday song, gave me a sombrero, and rubbed fried ice cream on my face. I let Rebecca try some.

This Morning, Al and Chrissy and I made French Toast. Well, Al slept mostly (I put in too much cinnamon and milk, so mine were soggy and spicy.)

Becky made me Cupcake Birthday Cake. HHHMMMMM HHHHHMMMMM. I almost burned down my dorm room lighting it. but them Cupcakes sure are yummy. Then Al Becky Dee Krystal and I went to Lake Metigoshe State Park and went hiking. Al fell in to the muck crossing a log.

Then we went to dinner with my friends.(left to right; Rob, Al, Becky, Me, Chrissy, Dan, Stephanie, Krystal, Darling, Alex.)

Then Krystal, Al, Becky, and I went to the Rick's Ranch, played pool, watched I.Q. and let off fire works. it was all good fun. Thanks everyone for a great birthday.

Getting "DOWN and DIRTY!!"

2008-09-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

So Becky had the urge to get all soggy today, so we set out on a trek of Ricks Ranch. We chased some deer, turkey's, found a frog and a farm vehicle graveyard. All while it was raining. Then we did some gardening, and ate our spoils. Very wet, but very fun.

Yay for 4 Day weekends!

2008-09-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

So the Labor Day Weekend is coming to a close and I am sad. I tried to stay as busy as possible, because lately I have enjoyed the active life and I'm not ready to surrender to the boredom that is Minot quite yet.

Thursday night, Chrissy and I set up our hammocks and fed the mosquitoes (as you can see, one was feasting during our picture.)

Friday morning i was awoken by Chrissy and Al who decided to join me in my wee little bed. Al and I went Halfsies on 20 lbs of peaches which we then "jam"-ed, "smoothied", and just ate all 20 lbs. That was fun.

Saturday we went out to Rice Lake and went swimming and had a little Subway picnic. Al needed some motivation to get wet, so being the good friend that I am. I gave him that motivation. I felt quite confident afterwords.

Sunday Al and I went to church, and Chrissy, Al and, I went to Family Home Evening. I won Apples to Apples for the first time EVER!

Monday started out slow but I soon became determined to get out. I decided on a trek to the International Peace Gardens about 90 miles north. It's a Garden that sits on both Canada and the U.S. Symbolizing our war-less relationship, and the largest un-fortified national Border in the world. But no one would bite. So I went by myself, the weather was less than peaceful, and it never stopped raining. But, it was quite tranquil and I enjoyed the solitude. I also saw the World's largest man made turtle. crazy!

The road trip to end all road trips!

2008-08-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

So, The following tale takes place between Friday the 22nd of August and the 27th of August. This is a tale music, adventure, disappointment, family bonds, extra long runs and super awesome culinary encounters.

Alright, so the first day of our awesome trek started with me having to pick which road to take.....how i do like picking.

I picked Rebecca up Friday night in Rexburg. After going to the local county fair, and sneaking some of her surplus belongings past a large guard dog named Magnum, we headed to Idaho Falls for some much needed rest.

Saturday we went up to Hiese Canyon with my sister and her five kids. We did a little climbing, both of us suffered from post "gravity realizing experience" jitters. My Nephew and my sister both got a turn also. We then went to the Reservoir and did a little cliff jumping. Then off to Salt lake we went!

Sunday we went to the Spanish speaking branch. Fue divertido, pero me ha confundido con facilidad. Rebecca me ayudo a cabo. Had explosive homemade root beer with the fam, put way too many people on a hammock, and crashed under the stars.

Monday was the Jack Johnson Concert, great fun great music. 5 minutes into the concert we started to smell an interesting odor. it wasn't me. (even though i am on this Tex-Mex kick) but it soon became apparent that we had some converted Rastafarian's in the stands.

Tuesday we went for a walk with my grandpa, than we went for what was supposed to be a short run, but i got us lost. so we wondered around and hopped a few fences. Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning, i cant remember which) we headed out to Jackson Hole, WY, after visiting with my much younger twin.(my nephew Oliver seems to have received the good lucks from ........ well, you figure it out :)

Wednesday afternoon we met up with some of Becky's friends and did some slack lining in the park, and hit up a local restaurant where one of us had pizza with peaches on it. odd. We crashed at Becky's friend Justin's place on his crash pad.

Thursday we joined Jo and Kory to climb Deception Peak in the Grand Teton's ( which I'm told in french translates to a colorful synonym of "Big Breast") We headed out for our 8 hour hike, everything went smoothly, we did have a run in with some thuggish wasps about the time Jo started eating her sandwich. After Amphitheater Lake, which was our way point. we got a little disoriented, good thing Becky Dee had a map of the range on her bandanna. we ended up turning our fairly easy hike into a little adventure, traversing cliffs, bouldering alongside drop offs and snow chutes. but eventually we found the trail again and we we off to the summit. We got there around 530 and man was it windy, i lost my hat,(found it later though) we wasted no time coming down. went and got these Gi-normous! nachos from the signal mountain lodge and then went to another lodge and bummed their Internet. we then headed out to west Yellowstone. and slept in the car at a truck pull out..... crazy!

Friday we headed up to Glacier but my work called and told me i had to come back. so we turned around and headed back to Minot. a few hours later we found out that i didn't have to go back and we were saddened. so we took out time on the way back to stop at the border. We also did some late night scripture reading! great idea becky dee!

The last day of our official road trip was Saturday, we drug our feet a lot,. stopped at a Mexican restaurant, then went to the Cemetery in Sawyer.( we just stumbled upon it.) and enjoyed some Sarsaparilla in Velva, ND, finally we took the home stretch to Becky's house and made dinner. oh and smoothies!

So that's our tale. it was a blast and I'm ready to go out again. hope everyone is well.

Another hard day in the air force.

2008-07-21T20:01:00.001-07:00

Don't we all hate Mondays? so Al and Chrissy and i decided to invest in a kiddy size pool to survive the blistering heat of Minot. it was pretty darn cold but we got used to it. tomorrow i have to play war for a week. i'm not too excited. wish me luck.

Enjoying the short summer

2008-07-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

Chrissy and i went out in the hammocks to enjoy the summer weather again. still waiting for it to break 93. I decided i wanted to monkey around. so i climbed the tree and started to do my best primate sounds. Chrissy went bananas.

My friend brent is here!

2008-07-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

So my old roommate Brent is here to visit me. Chrissy and Brent and I went to Roosevelt park and did some slack lining. Man was i out of practice. I could hardly start. but we had fun. Brent is in the background. we had fun, more to come.

Just hangin around!

2008-06-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Chrissy and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful day....... so we brought out our hammocks and set them up in the only grove of trees in Minot. Had ourselves a nice nap and now were off to enjoy the town!

Huray for Laura!

2008-06-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Laura graduated from ALS today! She invited me to hang out with her supervisors and eat chicken marsala. ( i forgot my U.S. insignia, so i had to duck out before anybody caught me.)

I might be uncovering an addiction........

2008-06-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

So Al and I needed to fill some time after Institute last night, and he had his golf clubs with him. So......... We bought some golf balls at walmart, and then went behind walmart and hit them into a field. The weather started to act up ( as you can see by the ominous clouds in the background.) Seconds after i drove my last ball, i hear Al exclaim " Ow! is it hailing?" so we bolted to his car and headed off to see king fu panda with our friends from institute. (sorry about the blurry picture. Al's a golfer not a photographer:)

Girls love a man with a farmer tan!

2008-06-18T15:56:00.001-07:00

Chrissy and I went swimming today! It was fun, the water was kind of dirty and the kids were rowdy, but hay, it's a pool. they get a little leeway. So I went back to my roots as a swim instructor and helped Chrissy with her breathing technique. Then we rode down the slid, caught up on our tans, and headed to get some buffalo wings. Was a decent day.

The Back Nine.

2008-06-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Chrissy and Christopher set off after work to accomplish 9 holes of golf. (I've Golfed more in the last 4 weeks than my entire life.) I didn't have any amazing holes this time though, or amazing outfits for that matter. We had a good time though. We played Dak-Rat Polo, and did golf cart donuts.

My little Twinkle Muffin!

2008-06-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

So Chrissy and I decided to have a nostalgic trip back to childhood with a midday snack of Oreo cookies and milk. MMMMM. mmmmm. Then she displayed her lady like demeanor by fumigating my dorm room with offensive hints of what she had for lunch. Then she wrestled for control of the keyboard becuase she saw what I was typing. But, I overcame, and am now publicly stating that girls do in fact fart. Sorry Danderson. You've got to be wrong eventually. Ciao!

2008-06-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

So Al-mond joy calls me and says "what are you doing in five minutes?" i replied"whatever your about to tell me i'm doing" so five minutes later Al-len wrench shows up in my parking lot and starts putting rock band stuff on top of his car. so this is a picture of us rocking out on Al-bertaco's Datson.

Bye Bye Chantae- Tae!

2008-06-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got together with all my favorite girls. The occasion? Chantae (2nd from left) is going to Washington d.c. to be a flight attendant for the vice president! cool huh? we had fun dancing and laughing. good times.

Who wants to teach a 90 minute lesson on The Atonement? OOH OOH Pick me!

2008-06-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine 7 flashlights, 2 bow ties, 1 pair of atrocious glasses, 1 teacher with a sense of humor, and another with the gift of gab? THE BEST INSTITUTE LESSON EVER! Al and i got to teach institute on Wednesday. it was pretty awesome. Al did teach the bulk of the lesson though. thanks Alcatraz.

FORE!

2008-06-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz and i went golfing on an actual golf course last friday. Dawning the appropriate "garb" we hit the back nine. I "triple bogey'ed" on every hole except two. (your only allowed 3 strokes over par on every hole. this is called a triple bogey. not good.) the one hole in this picture is the only whole i par'ed up on. I had to hit it over a pond (in the back ground) then on to the green. then i sunk this beautiful 30 odd foot put. i was elated.

to septoplasty, or not to septoplasty? that is a stupid question.

2008-04-01T06:09:00.001-07:00

yesterday i had a septoplasty, which is where they straightened or removed a parts of the cartilage in my nose called my septum, so i can breath better through both nostrils. apparently my septum looked like an M. so its all but removed. at this point i regret my decision becuase it is like I'm stuck underwater. and my nose won't stop bleeding. but i get vicaden and verset. so it gets really fun sometimes.

I'M FAMOUS!

2008-03-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I was in a base story about the Minot AFB Honor Guard, Check it out!

Mango Go Go!

2008-03-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

i had mango today for the first time since i was 8 ( i think) it's fantastic. And Al kicked my butt at racquetball, (but my volleyball team won)

When you're bored in Minot.........

2008-03-08T23:17:00.000-08:00

So Al and I were struck with a peculiar thread of boredom tonight. so we drove to a field broke out the ol' 1 Wood and a bag of balls and took to it. then we chased a rabbit around base for 5 minutes in my jeep, its called Rabbit Safari. other than that. Good Saturday!

HAPPY LEAP DAY!

2008-03-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

So yesterday Al, and Kathryn and i had a leap day celebration, we made buffalo wings, some weird Jamaican dish (a combination of: ramen, canned corn beef, rice and beans....thanks al) and went bowling.... Kathryn won both games... it was hardcore.

Cool Ink.

2008-02-19T17:44:00.000-08:00

So Al and I went thrift store shopping for presidents day. He found a cool cup from an area in his mission that he is going to dignify as a pen holder. He came across the coolest recliner ever made its the color of a rotten pumpkin.

I bought some new mugs...... we were walking through the mall to say hi to Darling.... and I saw this guy with the coolest tattoo ever. i thought it was a joke, but it's a real tattoo.

then we went to subway and Al asked the sub girl to a movie. ( in all fairness. we both already knew her) and then Al, Darling and I played RockBand and the name of our band is Gadianton and the Robbers. ( don't even think of stealing that) overall, it was a good day off.
p.s. I played hearts and got a 3 YAY! ( I'm Sgt Bilko. I know its corny, but i play at work so i have to be inconspicuous.... hehe)

FARGO!

2008-02-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

So Al and I went to fargo to buy his car...... and while we were there we went to buffalo wild wings. (Fargo this time) i did the blazin challenge and got another shirt.... but this time i did it in 1:40. thats 36 seconds faster than yesterday. Im going to break the 1 minute barrier someday........

MORE WINGS!

2008-02-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

I did another wing challenge today..... I had to eat 12 Blazin Wings (OMG hOT!) from Buffalo Wild Wings in 6 minutes. i did it in 2:16! it was easy compared to my last wing related event. I got a shirt for this one, and my picture on the wall! yay!

Sold to the man in the front row!

2008-02-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

I went to an auction! A real live one.I won a piece of pottery. Its a bowl. and my new bowl and i will enjoy plenty of big helpings of cereal and such. It only cost me 3 dollars. i am ruthless with the bidding though. my only competition was my self. becuase i misunderstood the process. but hay! still won.

and i got German chocolate bread! I didn't bid on that. but it is still awesome. ( you can thank Al and myself for it being half gone.... it is gooood!)

My Mouth, My Mouth My Mouth is on FIRE!

2008-02-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

I just won 1st place in a Buffalo Wing eating contest. It was awesome. So painful, but still awesome. 7 people competed. Al, (in the blue and white baseball tee) and I had to beg everyone in the restaurant to compete. my mouth was on fire for an hour. they gave us milk after wards and Al was in so much pain he drank it even though he is lactose-intolerant. I got 25$. it wasn't really worth it. My friend is sick.... which is sad. i wish i had stayed home with her as opposed to subjecting my self to the pain of those devilishly hot wings.