Travel With Nate

It may be time to let this go.

2011-12-12T16:16:00.001-07:00

Since I post so rarely, I am thinking that I may have to let this blog go. I have pretty much moved to Facebook and Twitter and so who knows.

I think that I may keep it up for the two or three people a week who visit my blog- probably by accident- and who may or may not be interested in the friends and family discount coupon code at http://sixnutrition.com/. Those are some amazing Vitamins for Men. Just saying.

Goldilocks or whatever

2010-08-24T09:42:00.003-06:00

If for some reason you were brought to this page by google and you were looking for the famous Filipino Bakery and Restaurant link through here- http://www.goldilocks-usa.com/ btw, if you are into Filipino food, that place rocks and I recommend you try it if you have the opportunity.

Now, the reason for the Goldilocks title is because of the the children's story. I would like to tell my version of the story called Goldilocks and how to tell that there might be bears in your neighborhood. Here it goes-Once upon a time there was a kid who took his family to Florida (not Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or the zoo) to live.

When they settled into their house the found a lot of wildlife in the area such as a billion squirrels, possums, armadillos, raccoons, deer, alligators, snakes, frogs, turtles and 20 different types of birds. The abundance of wildlife was welcoming.

One day a friend, who lived a few miles away, commented about how there were bears around and not to leave anything out in your garbage that might attract them (you know, wild Alaskan salmon, extra bear pheromones, a Pot of Honey).This kid thought that was cute, Poo bear might be hungry but c'mon his house was surrounded by a golf course that was surrounded by more houses which were surrounded by even more houses. Bears shmares.

Then one day when the kid was out riding his bike by his neighborhood he came across about a dozen of these signs on a 10 mile stretch of road.

So, of course the kid thought that was cute, maybe one day he could see one on his early morning bike rides through the country side.

Life was pretty good for the kid and the supposed bears...

But like all good stories (or maybe in this case weak stories), this one too, has a climax. And like Goldilocks who's third attempt at comfort was successful, the poor, unbelieving kid had a third warning about bears, this time from an elderly woman in the street.

About 7am yesterday, I -I mean the kid- went out for a quick run around the golf course. As I (seriously though, I give up on the third person attempt, everyone knows I am the happy little ignorant kid) came up to the entrance of our cul-de-sac I had to do a double take because there was a older lady walking towards the intersection waiving her hands like a crazy person. Because it was 7 am and that is old person walking time there were about 5 of us at the intersection and I just assumed the lady was calling out to one of her friends. Nope. she was telling all of us to now go down that road since there was a huge brown bear eating people garbage. On a side note, none of us were actually going to go down that road anyway since it doesn't really go anywhere cool.

Anyway, back to the story. I learned that there really are big bears in the neighborhood somewhere and that if a crazy lady is waving her arms in the air that you should take out your headphones so you can hear what she is yelling about.

THE END.

Back by Popular Demand (1 person asked)

2010-07-21T14:08:00.002-06:00

So it's been a year and some since my last post... I am not sure you can see a pattern here, but either way it's been a while for the two people that follow(ed) this old blog.

Here goes the apology for not having shared-

- and we are back.

So, in the last year I have directed any life changing event announcements to the family blog at http://stef--nate.blogspot.com/ if you don't have it bookmarked, do it, now. but to save anyone the trouble of having to peruse through hours and hours of photos and witty writing I will sum up the last 18 months or so.

Stef got laid off from XANGO in March,

We had a baby girl in April.

Stef got a job at Close to My Heart in Aug or Sept.

I had a lot of schooling to wrap up.

I told my boss at XANGO that I would like to move up after my MBA was done.

I got laid off a few weeks later.

I bought a road bike.

I got a job in Orlando that started in March.

I finished my MBA the last week if February.

We all moved to Sunny Central Florida

The girls all got sun tans.

Now we are having fun in the sun.

So, I may update this blog more this summer, but I may not.

If I get more than 3 comments by the end of this week from more than 2 people, I will update often; otherwise I make no promises.

19 weeks...

2009-03-17T18:07:00.002-06:00

Yes, thats how long its been since I last posted. I could sum these past few months up in one word.

BUSY.

I can't promise to blog much more and have been doing my updates mostly through facebook. Add me if you care to know what I am up to, otherwise I might post before October here. No promises.

Got to get back to work and school.

and then some

2008-11-19T07:26:00.005-07:00

So it's been a while since I last posted. 1-because I have been wicked busy with school, and 2- I have not traveled enough to update my travel log blog.

A few weeks ago we had a huge convention at work. I put in 98 hours in six days that week. I was so incredibly tired afterward but I enjoyed the work. I love being able to see a job through to the end. (I apologize for the short sentences, but I am tired) I realized last week how great of a team I have surrounding me and how fortunate/blessed I have been to be able to work with them all. They all worked just as hard as I did last week and I heard no complaints.

School is going OK. I hate my Stats class but I am learning a ton.

Oh and by the way, I am writing this update from Borneo. Yup, its a little island owned partially by Malaysia. I have been here a few days on a work trip. It's beautiful. I spent a few days in Bangkok before coming down here and it was pretty cool there too.

I miss Stef and Alice a ton. I can't think about it though because it bums me out.

Here are a few pics from Kota Kinabalu

Pretty cool sign. The stick figures are definitely European because they are both Speedo-ing it up.
This is where a ton of the people live.
A gratuitous pics of my back end. No idea how that ended up here...
We went wake boarding in Borneo!
Rock'n it in the South China Sea.
I'm tired. I'm out...

TeleGrams?

2008-10-13T17:21:00.002-06:00

I was proofing a thing for work today and I came across a paragraph where a customer could send a cancelation notice via telegram. Really?(best said like SNL weekend update)

Interesting facts.

Western Union stopped sending telegraphs in 2006 (about 26 years longer than I would have thought- at best 16).
iTelegram will still send a telegram to the US for almost $20, and deliver it in 2 to 4 business days!
You could send one to Mexico for 29.95 + .89 per word

Anyway, its been a while since I wrote and I thought this might cheer some people up.

-BTW I saw this before it went to print so it was not published and should not end up embarrasing any one person or department at the company (for those few co-workers who read this)-

2008-09-29T17:52:00.004-06:00

I was tagged a while ago so I ought to respond to this.

1. Did you date someone from your high school: Not since high school.

2. What kind of car did you drive? I borrowed the 79 ford ranger.

3. What is your most embarrassing moment in high school?: Never happened. No, really it never happened. I am telling you.

4. Were you a party animal?: Not particularly, no.

5. Were you considered a flirt?: Not particularly, unless you ask my wife, then definately.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?: Band and choir for a while. We did not have an orchestra.

7. Were you a nerd? : Definitely not!

8. Were you on any varsity teams?: Football and Track.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?: Never.

10. Can you still sing the fight song?: I don't remember it in the least bit. I think there was a hip hip hooray in there somewhere...

11. Who were your favorite teachers?: The ones I can remember but ought not list.

12. Where did you sit during lunch?: At home, hot lunches from mom.

13. School Mascot?: the LOBO (that's wolf in Spanish)

14. Did you go to homecoming and with who?: I did, at least three times and I can't remember who I went with (group dates)

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you?: Maybe, as long as I wouldn't have to give up what I have now.

16. What do you remember most about graduation?: Bret Longhurst made it a few months after breaking his back. That kid was a bad mutha.

17. Where did you go senior skip day?: What is that? Skip day?

18. Have you gained weight since then?: Yes, then back down to no.

19. Who was your prom date?: I went to a few and the groups all blurred. I am sure I went with a girlfriend once or twice...

20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?: Nope, its too late anyway.

21. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself?: Even though you are tired, stay awake during the sciences.

I think I am supposed to tag people, but don't know anyone really. instead, how about you just comment.

Work, School, Sleep, Workout, Work, School, Sleep...

2008-09-04T11:23:00.000-06:00

So the title gives a pretty good idea of what I have been doing, what I am currently doing, and what I plan on doing for the future 6 weeks.

I know its only 6 weeks of really tough classes and what not, I think I should see some light at the end of some kind of tunnel... maybe one day.

Either way, I think I need to share some cool things from what I have been doing.

Before the rush I played alot of http://fantasticcontraption.com/ its pretty addicting, but I think you can call it educational.

Google just launched thier own web browser called chrome. It's pretty cool. http://www.google.com/chrome It has been available for two days and already passed the Opera browser in terms of users. It is still in Beta mode so there may be a few bugs, but I think its pretty cool and you can install it in minutes without admin rights on your computer.

good times. see you all in six weeks.

One last Hurah!

2008-08-29T14:39:00.000-06:00

So school starts again next week for me and and since I am taking a Saturday class first block this will be the last Saturday to boat for the year I am afraid. Unless we take the boat to Powell for the Triathlon that no one seems to want to sign up with me for. Anyway, long weekend, boating, and barbecues. If you want to boat, let me know, we'll be out there.

Hungry, Huh?

2008-08-25T15:21:00.000-06:00

So for some reason I have had an insatiable appetite today. I worked out a little more than normal this morning, but I think I have become a nervous eater. Seriously, I'm eating a Jello pudding snack while writing this post. That's crazy...

Photos from Yellowstone (yes, they are late)

2008-08-22T14:09:00.000-06:00

Here are a few photos from our trip a few weeks ago to Yellowstone. I misplaced the camera and have not been able to post them.

We took the long way up and went through Bear Lake and stopped for some ice cream while Alice ran around and around.

She got tired and fell asleep as soon as we got back in the car
So did Roman
Stef and Daniela read the whole way up.
We stayed at a cabin in Island Park Idaho. It was a great rental and I would recommend it to anyone.
Alice loved playing with sticks and rocks and water.
We hiked her around in her new back pack carrier.
Nice Family Photo, huh?
Jon, Daniela, Roman and Marcus
I couldn't help but post this one.
Alice was surprisingly happy in her new carrier, as well as being confined so as to not fall into boiling water.
bum shot.
We poked a hole in the water bottle lids so Alice could drink from them but they would not spill. It was like a real sippy cup, but cheaper.
group photo

Alice loved spraying herself with the water, so I pitched in and helped too.
Family pic at Artist's Point
There was a moose that lived by our cabin and one afternoon we saw him in the river 50 yards from our door.
The next morning he walked right outside the door before the sun came up.
and he had a friend.

it was a great trip. next year, BC?

I need a buddy

2008-08-18T13:59:00.000-06:00

I think I would like to do this Triathlon. Does anyone else want to join me? Should be fun, and I only want to do the sprint/half. That means a 750m swim, 12 mile bike and 5k run. Do it. Do it.

Oct 18, 2008 Powell

Alice Update

2008-08-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

I know there are a lot of people who think they have cute kids. To them I say, "I'm sorry, my kids is cuter." Check her out.

She loves to sing, and eat the mic.
She washes the car with me.
Plays with the bubbles.
Look at that face.
She can get a little mischievous at times, like below where she dumped out all the soap for washing the car.
Then she ran away laughing.
She helped me clean up after though.

In case you missed it...

2008-07-29T15:49:00.000-06:00

So I need to start off this by saying that I really love my job. Most people would have inserted a but to end that sentence but I really do like my job. Yeah there are times when I feel frustrated with myself but I have a killer team who make me look really good and my boss and his boss and his boss and his bosses like my team; I can't complain.

One of the ways that I wanted to show my gratitude to my team was to take them boating on my dime. I wanted to get to know them and have some down time outside of work. It has been a fun experience. Here are a few pics from our outing.
It looks like I was barefooting behind the tube but my feet are out of the water all the way. less than a second or two after this I smacked myself pretty hard and had to call it a day.
Derrick took this pic while he was relaxing in the Cuddy Cabin of the Boat. BTW, we still need to name her, any ideas?

One of the other reasons I like my job was because we had a ROCKBAND competition and we performed at our work summer party in front of 1500 people or so. Granted, we were playing a video game, but we really got into it.
This was the band I was in. We placed 2nd and won 200 bucks.

If you are wondering where I am among these creepy punks, I have the mohawk.

I think one of the only reasons we came in second was because of our loyal fan base (made up mostly of Derricks fans, seriously look at that guy)
Check out how long my hair was, and I was really just getting used to my new hair cut.
Anytime I am out in public, the paparazzo takes advantage and takes these fuzzy pics. I do look like the kinda kids your mom always told you to stay away from though.
One of our Band's tricks was to switch the drummer and the bassist in the middle of the song, so I played drums for a while in one of our songs. tons-o-fun.
I know it looks like I am looking at Andrea here but I want people to check out the great job Melanee Raynes and Marcole Nebeker did on my Wing Tattoo. On a side note, Sharpies are only slightly permanent.
I would hope that there are a few people wondering if I still have the 8 inch spikes in my hair. I am partially disappointed that they were only there for 4 to 6 hours. New do pics will come later.

pics

2008-07-15T19:15:00.000-06:00

So its been a while since I said I would post pics, I feel a little bad about taking so long to post these.

Please enjoy.

First, Grand Cayman and for anyone who may not know where the Cayman Islands are at, look on the map here south of Cuba and west of Jamaica.

When in Cayman, one must do the Captain Morgan pose,
Whenever possible...
and see sea turtles...
and Hell...
Switching now to Europe two weeks ago. We saw the Anne Frank House,
Rode a bike in Amsterdam,
Posed on the I amsterdam sign,
hung out with the 3D version of the Night Watch,
and ate Indonesian.

In Brussels;
We ate chocolate, saw the old square,
Ate Belgian Waffles
Saw the Mannekin Piss pee beer (yeah, it really is called that),
hung out with some cool cats,
toured the Atomium
Saw the stock exchange and started taking the "myspace" self photo,
Now to Paris.

We went to the catacombs and ran into the Gay Pride Parade,
Check out the float, it may be a PG-13 rating picture if you look real close,
Derrick and I at the Pompadeu,

Sunset from the river cruise with Notre Dame in the back ground,The Eiffel tower at night,
The old opera house,
Me, Marcole and Andrea at the Moroccan restaurant,
They set us in a loft since there where about 9 of us, maybe 10,
The "myspace" photo of me at Versailles,
Cool fountain in Versailles,
Frog legs,
Helicopter prepping for our tour,
view of the tower from helicopter,
me and the tower,
Notre Dame,
Derrick and I at the Louvre,
us at the conciergeries,
Versailles!
And some soccer pics...
Me,
Me,
Me,
Me, looks like I ran into her, but that was all her running into me.
and our two teams.
Lastly, Wasatch Back Relay.
Just us kids, chillin' waiting for the runner,
Here we are after our first of three runs,
Moose!
It was hot, so I took my shirt off (second run)
eam photo after the finish line, I was the last runner (third leg of run)

Midnight Friday before bed

2008-06-27T16:33:00.001-06:00

So far in Paris I have:
1. Seen the Paris Hilton
2. Been Caught in Traffic
3. Seen the Place de Concorde
4. Stayed each night in one of the most expensive hotels in Paris
5. Seen the Eiffel Tower
6. Visited the Louvre
7. Had a crepe of three or four
8. Eaten Frog legs
9. Seen the Orangeries where Marie Antoinette was Prisoner
10. Seen Versailles
11. Ridden in a Helicopter around Paris
12. Seen Notre Dame
13. Bought some euro clothes
14. Spoken Spanish instead of French
15. Spoke Portuguese instead of French
16. Spoken English instead of French
17. Finally Spoken French
18. Took a River Cruise
19. Ate Lamb (2X)
20. Ate Moroccan Food
21. Saw the Opera House
22. Received a small cash gift from a really nice 500K.
23. Worked out without shoes
24. Took almost a gig of photos
25. Rode the Subway/Metro
26. Saw the Arc de Triumph
27. Realized my head looks really big in photos I take of myself.
28. Saw the Mona Lisa
29. Ate a baguette
30. Spent 4 hours in my Hotel Room doing homework
31. Spent 3 hours in a Starbucks doing homework
32. Bought a white Belt
33. Saw Victor Hugo's house
34. Wore a skinny tie
Mostly though, I missed my Wife and Daughter.

But its like the rest of you were here with me now that you have read my blog...
I promise photos when I get to where the internet is fast enough.

Wasatch Back, from Paris (said "perrie")

2008-06-23T11:26:00.000-06:00

In my last post I noted how I was feeling a little under the gun with all that is going on right now and I don't think too much has changed. Still feel really busy, still feel really tired and still have a few deadlines to meet.
So, first things first. I finished the Wasatch Back Marathon Relay. I know its not the Boston, or the St George, or even the Provo half, but it is a friggin sweet run and it beats the poop out of you. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this marathon I will proceed to inform you. It is a marathon relay, meaning that a team of people run the entire course. It is 180.5 miles long. There are 12 team members who get split up into two separate vehicles. There are 36 separate legs and each team member runs three of them over the course of 12 to about 40 hours. Our team was right at 30 hours. I ran the 12 leg, meaning legs 12, 24, and 36. Ruring the race you eat when you can, sleep when you can, and run when you are supposed to.
It is really tough, but really fun, at least thats what I am trying to convince my Quads.
I can't get the photos uploaded. if you have me on facebook, I added them there.
BTW I should be doing homework instead of this, but I thought people might want a quick update.

Crunch Time

2008-06-19T11:53:00.000-06:00

So you may have noticed I have not posted in a while, well, it's because it is getting to be crunch time.
In School I have four papers due next week, one of which is team project.
At work I am preparing to go to Europe for almost 10 days on Sunday morning.
Lastly, i am running the Wasatch Back Relay Marathon Friday and Saturday.
Yup, thats why its crunch time.
pics and stuff will follow when i have more time.
thanks for checking in on me.

Holy Cow.

2008-06-06T16:21:00.001-06:00

I have always known how amazing Jimmy was a musician but I never imagined anyone could do this. I can't believe I am seeing this for the first time now. Where have I been.

What I am listening to

2008-06-05T16:38:00.000-06:00

So I know I have not posted in a while so I thought I would post a video of what I have been listening to. I heard this song a while ago on a trailer for a new movie coming out and Derrick sent it over from Melanee today. This lady is a Sri Lankan rapper. Thats crazy.

BTW there is a http://srilankantube.com/ its awesome. actually, I have never watched it so I have no idea what it has on it.

This video is by a group/ guy named dan le sac VS scroobius pip

Isn't that a cool song?
Anyway. That's what I have been listening to.

Commercial Flashback

2008-05-27T10:24:00.000-06:00

So for some reason I remembered today about these old beer commercials that made no sense and were insanely funny. After talking to a few people about them, it seemed that many people were unaware of them.

I feel it is my duty to share them with the readers of my blog, yes, the whole dozen of you- even the ones in Croatia and Finland.

Disclaimer: In posting these I do not endorse the consumption of these drinks but find the commercials hilariously entertaining.

Where's the line?

2008-05-22T11:11:00.000-06:00

So I am unintentionally figuring out how well my body can cope with little sleep and loads of stressers. This is what I found out; 5 hours of sleep a night for three or four nights in a row is fine when coupled with a good workout, a near endless list of things to do and caffeine. I credit my ability to drive safely on the roads, write legibly and participate in my strategy class to a few of the following.

The first is sheer will to complete the most mundane tasks and mark them off my list. This keeps me going when on other days I may have stopped to rest and reevaluate what I am doing.

The second is AMP energy drinks. I have really enjoyed the new orange flavor, I think its called relaunch.
You may recall one of my first posts where I credited my survival in Europe to RedBull. This is on a much bigger scale.

The third is early morning soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A bunch of the guys from and formerly from work get together and play out on the pitch in Lehi at about 6:30am. Here are the teams.
You can see I am on Swayze FC. We have been playing for about a month now and just earlier this week did we receive our team assignments. I like my team, but I would prefer to pay foot free homage to Bacon instead of Swayze, mostly because HOT ROD.

Lastly, and maybe this should be first, the finish line. Sunday is the day of rest and Monday is the day for boating and celebrating Alice's birthday through a party with cupcakes.

BTW, I am really enjoying this crazy and hectic week, this post is not an expression of frustration but more an expression of awe and odd accomplishment.

Travel with Nate goes international!

2008-05-21T11:24:00.000-06:00

So last week I set up a Google web analytics account to track the daily views to my website and their timing and other really nifty stuff. In the course of reviewing these i found that there have been visits to my site from 14 different countries and that France spends the most time reading my web page. Granted, the US had way more visits in total but maybe we read faster. Who knows?

Anyway, here are the top four countries by time average time spent per visit.

1.	France	2	1.50	00:01:03	100.00%	50.00%
2.	Finland	1	2.00	00:00:58	100.00%	0.00%
3.	United States	76	1.20	00:00:31	39.47%	84.21%
4.	Brazil	2	1.50	00:00:17	100.00%	50.00%

Here are all the countries that have logged on and looked at my BLOG lately.

1.	United States	76
2.	Mexico	4
3.	Canada	4
4.	Germany	3
5.	France	2
6.	Brazil	2
7.	United Kingdom	2
8.	Argentina	1
9.	Colombia	1
10.	Netherlands	1
11.	Croatia	1
12.	Australia	1
13.	Finland	1
14.	Philippines	1

So, you are all being watched... No, I just kidding about being watched, Google just tells me which countries and states are checking my site out.
If you want to set this up for you own website, check this site out. http://www.google.com/analytics/

House Update.

2008-05-19T10:49:00.000-06:00

So we had a fun weekend with the new house. We fixed the sprinklers, cut down the dead pine tree, raked all the leaves in the side and back yard, had a plumber fix the pipes and tore out all the Sheetrock. check out Stef's post for more info.
Thanks to everyone that has helped so far, we have been insanely blessed to have friends and family like you all and we appreciate how willing you all are to help. We love you all. I will post more pics and info later.

p.s. Stef has found the joy of selling stuff on ksl.com and has made some room by selling all sorts of stuff.

Post Cinco de Mayo recap (tons of video)

2008-05-12T10:07:00.001-06:00

So the Annual Cinco De Mayo Hot Dog-a-thon went extremely well over the weekend. and i would like to showcase a few of the highlights, most of which, actually all of which involve the huge Elmo Pinata.

As you look through these photo's and videos you will notice there was a smudge on the camera lens that we only noticed afterward, so they all look old and fuzzy with our awesome 8 mega pixel camera.

I think the poor attempt to portray Elmo as a pinata was almost 4 feet tall.
Here is a view of a few of the attendees.

Roman vs Elmo

Maddie vs Elmo
Be sure to pay attention to around 24 seconds in for the projectile.

Alice vs Elmo

Jude vs Elmo

Chelsea vs Elmo

Derrick vs Elmo
The size of the bat may have been a bad idea.

Zach vs Elmo

Bill vs Elmo
Hands down, Bill inflicted the most pain on Elmo.

Maddie wanted to be Iron Man so she started to put on the Elmo boot.
You can see Jon winding Brandon up in the background.

Brandon vs Elmo
(voted most entertaining)

Shelly vs Elmo
I think she peeked about halfway through.

Here is a shot of all the attendees

And lastly, here is Melissa taking the final blow to Elmo.

As you can see in the last video, Melissa took Elmos head clean off. So, to take advantage of the situation, Derrick put Elmo's one eyed head on top of his own and proceeded to scare the kiddies.

Yes, it's creepy...
Thanks to all who helped make the event a success.

Hot Dogs and a Piñata

2008-05-07T16:32:00.000-06:00

Hola Amigos,

It’s that time of year again and in staying true to history, we are holding our Annual Cinco de Mayo Hot Dog-a-thon. I know what you are all thinking… “But Cinco de Mayo already past, how is that even possible? Do you have a time machine?” The answer is no, there is no time machine and yes, Cinco de Mayo has passed; so this year we are calling it the Post Cinco de Mayo Hot Dog-a-thon.

Please come celebrate the heritage of half our family with loads of processed meat, tortilla chips and salsa, Mexican drinks and of course a Piñata.

When: Saturday the 10th of May (Mothers day in Mexico)

Where: La Casa Farnsworth in Orem, Utah

Why: Fun for everyone

If you can RSVP, it would be nice, but not necessary.

Lastly, here is a really bad joke to get you in the Mexican mood.

Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise was manufactured in England.
In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico.
But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. It hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.
The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were devastated at the loss.
Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as…
Sinko de Mayo.

Hope to see you Saturday.

Nate and Stef

Family in town over the weekend.

2008-04-28T14:04:00.001-06:00

So we had my family in town this weekend and it was a blast! Alice has not had this much fun in a while. She played outside, got a weird virus, learned she loved ham, ate Gramma Lita's 4 leche cake, and luckily did not get a sunburn.

Here she is with her cousin Ty.
This is a Paparazzi photo of me and her, it should be in US weekly.
Alice became curious when she saw the teeter totter.
I have never known her to see anyone on a teeter totter, but she figured out what it was for really quick all on her own.
... and she loved it.
I have at least a dozen photos where Alice or Roman are smiling at the camera, but none where they both are.

Roman was a great teacher for Alice.
Here is the video of her first Teeter Totter Ride.

Alice, Ty, and Roman on the Slide.
Riding the concrete deer.
And lastly for good measure here is Alice's strut.

The New Dance

2008-04-15T11:38:00.000-06:00

Bret and Amber were over last weekend and Bret took the time to teach Alice how to do a certain dance.
Be warned though, you will have this clip in your head all day, and it's totally worth it.

At first Alice was not showing that she could do it very well, but she soon grasped the idea and was dancing along.

After about half hour or so, she would do it completely on her own.

Alice, Alice, Alice

2008-04-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since we posted an Alice update.

Here are a few videos from this last week.

Alice had her Smith cousins come over on Wednesday and they had a blast and taught her to dance.

That laugh is so awesome.

Any Day Now

2008-04-07T11:08:00.000-06:00

I know that spring just started, but I really can't wait for summer.

The Cinco de Mayo Hotdogathon is coming. I think we may move it to be the 9th of Mayo.

I cant wait for tubing!

I can't wait for wake boarding!
I cant wait for just hainging out with friends on the beach. Maybe some camping.

I really can't wait for summer...

My Recent Music Kick

2008-04-04T14:23:00.000-06:00

I have been listening to the Mars Volta a lot recently. I never gave these guys a fair shake except for a couple songs like The Widow and Inertiatic. Last night, I was watching the MHD (Music in High Definition) channel and The Mars Volta was doing a live set. I was pretty amazed.
Check out this song, it is pretty catchy and unlike some of their weirder songs, its pretty chill.

If you want something a little heavier check out this video.

I feel bad for not having given the a proper chance 3 or 4 years ago when I first heard about them.
Also, the musical genius, the guitar player, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, looks like the love child of Napoleon Dynamite and his sidekick Pedro.

I knew it! But please don't think less of me.

2008-03-26T15:54:00.001-06:00

So last night I was watching American Idol (Yes I admit I watch the Idol, even though this my first season of watching it... what can I say, they had two weeks of Beatles or Lennon and McCartney) Anyway, so I was watching and this one kid, David Cook, and he did a version of Michael Jacksons Billie Jean and it was pretty cool... but I knew I had heard it before. So I did a little digging and found out I was not hallucinating, Chris Cornell had done a similar version. I knew it! I don't think anyone really paid attention to who's version or what not, but the judges liked the song.

Here is David Cook's version from last night.

So I can't not post the American Idol version without posting the Chris Cornell version, so here it is.

What I do.

2008-03-20T19:21:00.000-06:00

So there are a few opinions floating around about what I do. I would like to put these opinions or maybe better said theories to rest.
I manage a group of consultants or hight level customer service agents who work with the leaders at the network marketing company Stef and I work at.
Anyway. we do all sorts of different things for our leaders and I just want to set the record staight.

Also i thought i would post a picture of me doing an opportunity meeting in Phoenix.

BTW that is a mural with a horse in the background.

a time to post

2008-03-14T23:50:00.000-06:00

So, I have done a little traveling the last few weeks. I was in SoCal last weekend and had myself some In-n-Out and this week I have pretty much been everywhere.
This was my itinerary.

Nathan Farnsworth

Air
Delta Air Lines Flight: 1003
From: Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
Departs: Wed, Mar 12, 2008 11:20 AM
Departing Terminal 2*
To: Phoenix, AZ (PHX) - Sky Harbor Intl
Arrives: Wed, Mar 12, 2008 11:56 AM
Arriving Terminal 3*

Hotel
Comfort Suites
Comfort Suites Airport
Check In: Wed, Mar 12, 2008 05:24 PM
Check Out: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 05:24 PM

Air
Delta Air Lines Flight: 1202
From: Phoenix, AZ (PHX) - Sky Harbor Intl
Departs: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 06:30 AM
Departing Terminal 3*
To: Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
Arrives: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 09:14 AM
Arriving Terminal 2*

Air
Delta Air Lines Flight: 1053
From: Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
Departs: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 10:30 AM
Departing Terminal 2*
To: Chicago, IL (ORD) - O'Hare Intl
Arrives: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 02:46 PM
Arriving Terminal 3*

Hotel
Doubletree
Doubletree Ohare Rosemont
Check In: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 03:00 PM
Check Out: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 12:00 PM

Air
Delta Air Lines Flight: 5079
From: Chicago, IL (ORD) - O'Hare Intl
Departs: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 10:10 AM
Departing Terminal 3*
To: Cincinnati, OH (CVG)
Arrives: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 12:28 PM
Arriving Terminal 3*

Air
Delta Air Lines Flight: 5535
From: Cincinnati, OH (CVG)
Departs: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 01:00 PM
Departing Terminal 3*
To: San Antonio, TX (SAT)
Arrives: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 03:04 PM
Arriving Terminal 1*

Hotel
Doubletree
Doubletree San Antonio Airport
Check In: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 03:00 PM
Check Out: Sat, Mar 15, 2008 12:00 PM

Air
Southwest Airlines Flight: 2061
From: San Antonio, TX (SAT)
Departs: Sat, Mar 15, 2008 07:25 AM
Departing Terminal 1*
To: Houston, TX (HOU)
Arrives: Sat, Mar 15, 2008 08:15 AM

Hotel
Marriott
Marriott Hou Westchase
Check In: Sat, Mar 15, 2008 03:00 PM
Check Out: Sun, Mar 16, 2008 12:00 PM

Air
Delta Air Lines Flight: 4022
From: Houston, TX (IAH) - George Bush
Intercontinental
Departs: Sun, Mar 16, 2008 08:10 AM
Departing Terminal A*
To: Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
Arrives: Sun, Mar 16, 2008 10:28 AM
Arriving Terminal 2*

Now I know most people just scrolled through it and did the whole nodding of the head and mostly likely said wow to themselves, but if you look at it, you can see that I was on seven planes in about an hour less than 5 days.
I love what I do, but as I write this, I really miss my wife and daughter and am feeling pretty tired since I am going my 13th day straight of working. But, its better then not having a job...

Check this out

2008-03-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

Derrick sent this out to me and it blew me away. This guy is almost better then the Britain has talent cell-phone salesman opera guy.

Baby Steps

2008-03-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Since I knew I was going to be in LA all weekend doing Spanish City Meetings I knew I needed to document Alices new ability to walk before I left. Of course she is not walking around everywhere, yet, but she does a pretty good job so far. Here are a few videos of her awesomeness. Please be warned, she is only wearing a diaper because it was earlier this morning and she has a photo shoot that we didn't want her to get her clothes dirty for.

Check out her say WOW.

She can stop really well without falling, sometimes.

She walks on her tiptoes a ton.

I hope you enjoy these.

Nothing to See Here...

2008-02-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

No, really. As the Title properly indicates there is really nothing to see here. I have thought about posting a lot recently, but just as I get ready to, I realize my wife already said pretty much all I wanted to say. To some this might be an issue in a relationship, but those of you who know me, know I am a man of few words and it is a great source of happiness for me. If I could have her post all my thoughts, I would (maybe in the future I will have more to say and I can post unique and who knows, personal thoughts) . Until then, check out her blog. http://stef--nate.blogspot.com/

Stef, you are the best!

2008-02-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

So I have gotten a lot of people hassling me for not having posted for a while. To all of you (you know who you are), here you go. Congratulations. I have nothing new to post; I am still alive, I am still crazy busy at work, and I still have a wonderful family.
Here are photos of Alice playing on stairs with me.

2008-02-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is Stef...I am posting for Nate because its been awhile since he last posted, and I think I am stealing all of his material by hogging Alice-ism's.

Another day, another cute. All in a day's work for Alice.

BLOGIVERSARY

2008-01-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (yes, not today, because I forgot about it) was my first anniversary of being a blogger. Technically I think it is tomorrow because, Stef wrote the first posting on my blog and set up the whole thing. Now that i think about it, I guess its more of birthday then an anniversary.

Fun Run? Anyone

2008-01-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

So many of you may know that a few years ago I trained a little bit for and ended up running a relay marathon or marathon relay. I am no sure what the appropriate title is, but either way it was 178 miles or something from Logan to Park City via the mountains of the Wasatch range. Its called the Wasatch Back Relay.

Last year, because a) I was not invited, and b) it was pretty close to Alice's due date; I decided not to run. This year (I assume that quite a few people dropped out because I was invited/asked to run) I have decided to run it again.

So in the spirit of sharing and maybe even motivation to start training again, I have decided to post some of the 2006 XanGo Wasatch Back Relay Photos.

p.s. if anyone wants to train with me, let me know. Its going to be awesome!

Carrie Burt and I between legs of the race

This is most of my half of the team. There are twelve runners on each team and they divide up into 2 vans so that there are 6 people in each van.
Here is one of the views from an exchange point overlooking Heber Valley. I think my uncle Jim has a cabin really close to where this pic was taken.
Shaun Briscoe and I just chillaxin while we wait to run our second legs.
This is not a picture of me running, but in fact its Shaun again, because I didn't get any pictures of me running because I took all the pictures of the other runners. :(

So... After such inspiring photos... ready to run? or walk...

whatev...

2008-01-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

I figure it has been a while since; a) I have posted to my blog, b) taken pictures and c)I have had anything of interest to say to the world. So today, I figured I would try to do at least one of those things.

I couldn't think of anything of interest to say to the world, so I decided to take a picture. After I took a picture, I realized that it did no good unless I shared that picture with the world through this wonderful blog so I again figured I could do two of the three things I had not done recently.

a) Blog Post. Check.

b) Picture. Check.

c) Interesting thing to say. No check.

Unfortunately, the picture I took looked like crap so even though I took one, it was not worth posting, and you would think that after writing 150 words I might have had something of interest to say, but nope, still uninteresting.

I would say I am sorry for wasting the time of whoever reads, but hopefully now you may have something of interest to say about it and if you need to post you can use it as something of no to moderate interest.

Insincerely,
Nate

p.s.
check out http://www.whiskeymilitia.com/ great idea. one product at a time, always new products, really cheap.

Holiday Update

2007-12-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

I took my Dept tubing the week before Christmas and Adam Blake took a few pics and sent them over. I think I treat my team pretty good and I think they work hard and deserve the rewards.

Hari, Junell, Adam, Lisa and Me
There was a tow rope that tugged you up the hill so that you did not have to hike up it.
Its hard to tell here, but we got going pretty fast.
This is the only part that you had to tow your tube. It is definitely the most relaxed tubing you can do.

Back to Mazatlan though.

Amber and my Mom took some killer photos that I thought I would post.

That's me in in middle, check out the spray!
My hair was CRAZY. I didn't comb it all week.
I did finally get a skim-boarding photo.

My crack.
Typical Stef/Nate/Alice photo.

Alice had her First Christmas when we got back from Mazatlan. She got a Tickle-me-Elmo from Stef and this cool little Walker/Rider from me.

Mazatlan for Christmas

2007-12-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

So since its been weeks since I last posted, here comes the big one.

This picture has nothing to do with Christmas but I thought it was so funny. Its Alice sleeping, you can see here head pressed up against the crib bedding and her head tipped up almost propped up on it. We took the picture on the video monitor we have at home.

We went to Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico for Christmas this is now Alice's third through fifth plane ride outside of the womb. and she is a real trooper, as you can tell below. We rented a condo in Mexico for the week and it was completely tile floors so Alice did not do a lot of crawling so we tried to get her to watch TV but she could only focus for less than a minute and then was doing something else. She is hanging out with her cousin Elijah here below.
Alice got her first shoulder ride in Mexico and loves them now.
She hung out on the beach like a champ and showed off her behind.
She was not too sure what to think of sand.
Then she fell in love with it.
She played with it and grabbed fists of it. Then, she ate it.
So we had to bath her in the sink. She loves water. (when its warm)
We were all tuckered out so we took a nap
Ii think we slept two hours like this.
Alice hung out in Ian's F-350 and looks like she got drunk.
Then she zoned out with her Aunt Jennie
...and the next morning was a little cranky, but like always, cute.
Alice learned to hold her own bottle, which is awesome by the way.
The she learned to taunt others (this will come in handy when she is flirting)
We took a family photo and I was surprised we were all smiling (referring to the Christmas card photos where at least one of us is not in all the pics) I hope no one ever hits Alice while she is making this face and it then sticks forever. She looks like a completely different kid here.
The whole Ken Farnsworth Family Reunion Photo Christmas 2007
Abuelita and Alice (notice the matching outfits)
Lita, Grampa and Alice playing at the beach.
I built this sand castle and then Alice wanted to play in it.
Alice made herself right at home in my sandcastle.
This is Alice's first time in the ocean. Check out the video below too.

I could not find a picture of me boogie-boarding or skim-boarding so here is one of Bret.

This is where Bret, Amber, Stef, Alice, and I stayed. It was pretty nice.
I call this photo my stalker Paparazzi photo.
and there were sea turtles hatching so we took some pics and a video below.

Lastly, I had to take a photo of my Mexican daughter. She is so friggin cute and happy.

Hockey!

2007-12-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

So growing up in Mexico, hockey was not a huge sport. I think I went to my first ever hockey game here in Utah about 2 or maybe 3 years ago. It was pretty cool, thousands of fans, lots of kids, lots of fights and a great food.

Earlier this year, while in Sweden, I went to a hockey game and it was insane. All the tickets had sold out, everyone around came out and we all had a killer time. If you missed that post, here is a link to it (hockey in Sweden).

Last night, Dave and I went to the Grizzlies game at the E-Center. It was pretty fun, but not in the thousands of people screaming and yelling sort of way. It was more fun in the hanging out with a few good friends and watching some guys skate around sort of way.

There may have been a few thousand people at the E-Center last night. you can see in the picture below that the seats behind Dave were pretty empty. Just to show you how bad they want to get people to the games, they were selling student season tickets for 50 dollars.

We had box tickets to the game that XanGo won somehow, but there was no food in the suite so we had Pizza Hut and Churros.

Thanksgiving Recap

2007-11-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Before I get into how awesome Thanksgiving was, I need to tell everyone about the over-nighter to Las Vegas on the 17th of November. It was fun.

Alice enjoyed the 5 hours in the car seat at the back of the Navigator with Stefanie or David.

This is half of us in the Lincoln Land Yacht Stef took the picture and that's my hair driving.

This photo shows everyone who went to Vegas with the intention of seeing Barry "the immortal" Manilow. if you notice, Bret Sykes, Alice and Me are not in the picture.
This may be the happiest Derrick will ever be.
Obviously, Stef went nuts.
Now on to Thanksgiving.

Alice has started to smile at absolutely everything, but here she is just rocking out to the new Led Zeppelin DVD, Mothership.

We started feeding Alice rice cereal this week, her first attempt was not too successful.
Alice got a cool pink sweater in Vegas at the H&M but she has a hard time focusing while we try to pose her in it.
There was a nasty bug or something going around and there was alot of up-chucking going around. Jon got covered her by Roman.
Here is our second try at feeding Alice. She was a little more accepting.

Bragging Post

2007-11-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, this is a quick post in which I am just going to brag. I have been very blessed as of late and I know its not the most humble thing to do, but I want to show off a few of my recent accomplishments.

I recently purchased a new car, well its new to me at least. Its a 2003 Cadillac CTS, and she is a beaut.

I think I work with the coolest bunch of kids I know. These are my Elite Service Reps

Left to Right
Luigi, Brad, Nate, Beixy, Lisa, Rob, Betty, Brandon, Zach, Matt, Vivianne, Mike, Amanda, Derrick, Junell, Brian, Laarni, Hari, Kelly, Shaun, Adam

What a cool car.

2007-11-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

More Alice Halloween pics

2007-11-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Shar in XanGo's PR dept for these.

Video Update

2007-11-02T14:54:00.000-06:00

This is awesome! I would do anything for that giggle. Here below is David getting a pretty good roll out of her.

Here is my Halloween Costume. It is better in video so that you can see how I get in character

Halloween Pictures

2007-11-02T14:33:00.001-06:00

So they say, "when it rains, it ours" mostly in reference to bad things, but today it is pouring pictures of Halloween.

Here is Roman and Alice
Alice and Chance
Alice was more content with her binky than without it as you can see above and below.
Alice as the White Rabbit
It got pretty hot so she became WT Alice the Bunny Look at those eyes! She was way happier when she was out of the really hot rabbit suit.
Dannielle and Brian's Costume

This is what Alice felt like most of the day in the rabbit outfit.

Maddie, Jude and Alice.
Robs little boy Jude
Rob and Melissa, Jude and Maddie.
Alice and her new freind wise crackin' jack.

Alice and me in our post Halloween costumes
This is what most kids do with the fluffy bunny ears Alice was wearing.

Just a teaser.

2007-11-01T12:54:00.000-06:00

I really love Halloween. Here is a teaser for what to expect as soon as i download the pics from my camera.

Alice is so Cute

2007-10-05T14:18:00.000-06:00

God Bless America

2007-09-24T11:19:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I watched a show called Jesus Camp, about the religious right and some Evangelical Christians. It was pretty well done , but you knew by the end that there was quite the agenda against them by the producers. It was not as blatant as a Micheal Moore film, but it was almost as bias. Anyway, I have been a little more aware lately of the fact that these Evangelicals are everywhere and even though most are just completely normal there are a few that get a little crazy.

This brings me to the next portion of an equation playing out in my mind. This weekend at work, we launched our new back office and our new in house utility software thingy. I know there is a correct term for it, but I at this point have not learned it and now that it is up and running, I doubt I will. This conversion process has been months in the planning and seems to be going well so far. One of the changes was the actual web address for the log in for our distributors it was https://go.xango.net/ and it changed to http://www.myxango.com/. IT was aware this would make some people confused but to remedy that, they added links to the old page showing where the new page is at. They did this by country and used flags to show which countries were represented.

Anyway... we got this letter from a distributor that brings together my two earlier points quite well. I hope you enjoy it.

BTW, I have withheld the senders name because I doubt they wanted this published to the whole world via the Internet.

Ya know, I seldom complain, and never responded to a complaint. However BEFORE even logging in, I'm a bit sadden. WHY would our country flag be last? With XanGo originating in the US, I would think that would not only be first but stand out. Without question...all the other countries are no doubt grateful for our Joe Morton and the opportunity he's made available to all. First glance, this makes "us" look so obsolete.

I'm sorry to unload, especially first thing on a Monday morning. However, I guess I'm getting to that point..... things are changing SO much............we can't pray when & where we want, we have to teach Spanish in schools and on and on.

Guess I'll go back and see the wonderful new office that XanGo has provided. I'm proud of my God, my country and XanGo.

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Quote/Tip of the Day

2007-09-20T16:06:00.000-06:00

I get a few different daily or weekly emails from all sorts of different backgrounds and for all sorts of reasons. Recently there was one sent through that is one of the coolest I have seen yet and so I had to include it for your pleasure.

******
"Dogs bark at what
they don't understand."

Heraclitus,
Ancient Greek philosopher

******

Awesome, isn't it?

Bumping Shoulders with Park City Big Wigs

2007-09-18T13:59:00.000-06:00

So last Saturday evening, Stefanie and I were invited to go to a Charity Event that XanGo purchased a table at up in Park City. I guess XanGo also sponsors different programs at this particular charity but I am not sure which exactly.

Anyway, there we were with the Mayor, some rich almost celebrities, and of course some people-like us- who had these seats at various tables given to them by their companies because no one else really wanted the get the chicken and rice pilaf.

Kurt Bestor was the MC for the evening, not as cool as Donny Osmond or Michael Bolton, but he was almost funny and of course he wore a black velvet jacket. In case you were wondering, the fact that he MC'd a charitable event moved him up a notch in my book, the velvet jacket cost him at least three spots. He won an Emmy, that's up a point or two; it was for the ABC coverage of the Winter Olympics (that's like putting Gandhi up against Bill Clinton in a morality contest, you can't beat the Olympics) down three notches. Overall, Bestor is down pretty bad, mostly because I was fairly ignorant to his accomplishments and their true meanings.

Whats a posting without pictures; So here you go.

Me, Stef, Julie and Marc Walker (international managing director at XanGo)
Carolyn Anderson (XanGo Goodness coordinator at XanGo -charity contact-) Stef and Lauren Rayner (maybe that's her name) from the National Ability Center (NAC) CJ, Stef and Yours Truly. We really look good. I should dress up more often...

Stef wanted me to post this conversation.

Stef-Make sure to mention on the blog that I look terrified in the pictures, like a gorgeous deer caught in the headlights of a redneck truck.

CJ-Stef, you look amazing! What are you talking about!

Stef-Stop, stop...not as good as Kurt...

CJ-Well, K’s hair and jacket are quite hard to beat...

Just so there is no misunderstanding, here is Kurt with Marc (far LEFT) and Dianne(XanGo Web team) and Brett her husband (far RIGHT)

Cutest Kid Ever

2007-09-14T12:34:00.000-06:00

I know I am going to offend some people out there by saying that hands down Alice is the cutest baby around. if you are offended, don't really apologize, but my sympathies are with you for having, at best, the second cutest baby around. We can't all be #1.

This is her new trick, foot in mouth. (above)

Effabilty

2007-09-13T11:57:00.000-06:00

Today I heard someone use the word ineffable. It is a pretty easy term to understand, not often used, but easy to use; it means unexplainable, or indescribable.
Better than that, was when they took that to the next level and said "effing the ineffable."

I want to put that on a shirt.

Think about it.

I eff the ineffable.

That is how I will make my millions. Effing things, you know describing them.

Things that I will try to eff that people think are ineffable.

Why is Waldo always hiding?

What does Rosebud really represent?

Why does Dan Brown write such horrible novels that are so popular?

How can 42 really be the answer to everything?

Why do they sell hotdogs in packages of 10 and hotdog buns in packages of 8?

Millions people. Millions.

Miscommunication/Misunderstandings

2007-09-11T17:17:00.000-06:00

So it has been pretty busy here at work the last few weeks. Every month my department has to go through and make sure that 400 leaders are qualifying at their respective 400 ranks. This takes about 6 business days and its tons of work. I think I have a great bunch of people in my department that get this done in a pretty organized fashion.

This month the was some miscommunication/misunderstandings and there were a few people that didn't get their leaders qualified in time. It happens. Granted it can happen easier and more often if you don't get enough sleep consistently, do drugs, drink excessively, party often during the week, or just don't come to work on time-- not saying that any of my employees do any of this-- but you can see how it would be harder to do your job.

Anyway, this post is not to complain about my group of employees, like I said earlier, they do a great job. This post is to complain about miscommunication/misunderstandings that happen at work all the time. It seems that lately there has been an excessive amount of ass in the assumptions going around and it has caused miscommunication/misunderstandings that have caused me headaches and assumption pains.

So, to rant, I would like to list my pet peeves of office miscommunication/misunderstandings.

1. Assuming you know what the acronym or large word means. Just because you have a GED doesn't mean you can guess what PL, PO, and POP mean. WTH?

2. If you don't know what the acronym is, ask. If you don't know what an acronym is. Quit. Save us all some trouble, go get your GED then we can talk.

3. Before you start talking about what someone may or may not have done (assuming again that this is work related, not just gossip) ASK --not an acronym, it just needs the emphasis--. Specifically, ask them. That's one of the great things about this business world we live in; phones, email, and even fax machines.

4. Even though you cannot override or disregard a senior staff member for mostly etiquette reasons, it is appropriate to question their judgement in certain circumstances, and never behind their back.

5. If I take the time to write, say, or even sing something, it probably means I care about it somewhat. So, etiquette says its worth responding to, preferably in the same manner as it was asked.

6. This list could go on all day, but I have to get back to work; I just needed to vent. Please feel free to add your own to my list.

Always remember:
All characters and situations appearing in this posting may be fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Labor Day Extravaganza

2007-09-07T13:40:00.000-06:00

Labor Day was awesome. We spent Sunday night at the Raynes Cabin (really its just a house on 2nd west in Heber, but it sounds cooler if you call it a cabin). We played a killer game of apples to apples, got up early on Monday and after loading the boat and eating at McD's, we drove to Starvation Reservoir.

Here we at at McD's in Heber.
Alex Gerber, Me, Stefanie, and Dave's Girlfriend Sydney.
Brett Sykes, Melanee Raynes, Daniela Raynes, Jon Raynes, Roman is hiding, and Derrick Raynes.

Brett is not a big fan of boats, but we got him out on the Bayliner this weekend and somehow we snapped this picture for the few seconds he was on the tube.
Roman was a wild man! and, he learned to swim the hard way this weekend.
We set up shop here to keep out of the sun.
Melanee was dedicated driver all day. It was awesome; I got to relax and had someone else do all the hard work.
Here is proof that Brett really got in the boat.

Alice had fun in the heat, but her allergies started acting up afterwards.
Since its my blog, I have to have a picture of myself doing something cool. That's me on the knee board standing up surfing the wake.
Here is Jon wake boarding . Dave did not get any flattering pictures. Sorry Dave.

just a picture update

2007-09-06T16:30:00.000-06:00

This is Alice in the Bumbo. She obviously loves it.
She has recently found her hands and love playing with them, and her feet too. Luckily she has not made the toes in the mouth connection.
She likes walks a ton still.
Stef told me that we had a BabyBjörn but then she pulled out this thing, the snugli or something. It's not as trendy as the BabyBjörn but her Sister Denise ( hopefully that's the right sister) gave it to us. Thanks. Truly, Alice loves it. She drools all over herself because she loves it so much. I am not really sure if Alice is looking at her new IKEA sunshine and stars mobile, or if she is still just a little camera shy.

Burger Accomplishments

2007-08-29T13:31:00.000-06:00

I was thinking back to all the many Burger Accomplishments I have had in my life. I have had some really good ones and today I added another to the list, The Barnyard from Wendy's!

The cashier was unsure as to what the Barnyard was exactly but very willing to accommodate the request but she had to have her manager build it out. Essentially it is this. Take a Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich, add a 4oz patty with American cheese, and then add Bacon and the normal condiment and fixings. Tack on a fry and soda and you have the Barnyard in a combo.

This is an up close view of my particular Barnyard.

As you can guess, it's not the tastiest burger out there, but wow it made you feel manly while eating it.

To list some of the other burger accomplishments I have had, I have created a list, with no particular order, rhyme, or reason.

1. Carl's Jr's Six Dollar Burger (pretty much anyway they can make it).

2. Carl's Jr's Double Six Dollar Burger.

3. The Ranch Burger at JCW's

4. The Baconator at Wendy's

5. The Barnyard at Wendy's

6.White Castle (didn't like them but they are famous)

7. Hamburgesas on the street in Mexico

I am sure that I could think if more, but I got tired. I bet its from all the protein.

Halloween already? WTH?

2007-08-27T11:22:00.000-06:00

OK, so its August, almost September if you want to think that way. But either way, Halloween is at least 60 days away. at least. I don't have a countdown timer but I am sure someone, who like my wife love this holiday more that Christmas does. If you know of one, let me know and i will be sure to shoot it over to her.

Anyway, I got an IM from her saying that she had heard from someone that costumes would run out soon, so if you don't get you children's costumes early, you would not have much of a selection. I don't buy it; but since i am REALLY excited to get little Alice into a cool little outfit, I am giving in and will, as soon as we find something worthwhile, be purchasing a Halloween costume.

I personally think it is a marketing ploy exploited by toy and costume manufacturers at the expense of the Chinese due to the Lead incidents as of late, and that the US because we are lead around so easy by marketers and their ingenious gimmicks; we will all buy costumes early. At least as long as this rumor can take hold and flourish; something that I am slightly ashamed of perpetuating.

So, if anyone has any good ideas for a cute Halloween costume. Let me know.

This is what Stef and I were last year, I was supposed to be Jack from the Nightmare before Christmas and Stef was a Pregnant Britney Spears.
This is what I want to be this year. Me, as a Simpson. If you have not done this yet, check it out at http://simpsonizeme.com/#

Family Vacation (18 pictures and 2 videos)

2007-08-22T09:28:00.000-06:00

So last week and through the weekend Stef Alice and I went on a Family Vacation. We flew into San Fransisco, rented a car and took 4 days to drive up the coast to Portland. We had a BLAST! Here are some pictures and video of some of the fun.

First off, Alice smiles on command at almost any moment, except when you have a camera in her face. we must have at least 40 pictures of her not smiling for everyone that she is. She takes after her dad there I guess. Below here she looks pretty tired, but in reality she is just trying no to smile. She was so well behaved the whole trip.

We took a few pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge but this was the coolest, at least I think so. About 3o miles north of San Fransisco you can get on this small two lane highway piece of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH if your cool) and it is insanely windy, but definitely worth the view.
Alice spent about half the trip with her pacifier in her mouth and either sleeping or at least in a sleep apparent state. Notice, there is still no smile. That might not count though because the obvious fact that she is not awake to smile, but I would argue that she still smiles in her sleep and still is camera shy in her sleep.
Here is a cool little beach in northern California. check out how the trees are growing because of the wind off the coast. One of the coolest thing is have ever done. Drive through a tree! I always thought it would be cool to do this and we finally go the chance. I always thought it was in Redwood National forest, but its not, its is some tiny town where the 101 and PCH meet called Legget. http://www.drivethrutree.com/

Below is really me driving through the tree. Best 5 dollars I have ever spent. Thanks to Stefanie, we have a picture of it. She walked through.
This was just one of many typical beaches and views along the trip. MIND BLOWING. It was really cool.
A cool Bridge in Oregon.

Here is a picture of our rental car. I had reserved a Ford Fusion (or similar) and we got a pretty cool Dodge Magnum. Alice slept pretty good in it, especially compared to our Navigator. Who knows why.

Stef tried everything to get Alice to smile. Here are a few of the attempts on video. I think Alice is going to be a talker; that, she does not get from me.

Still no smile from Alice. It's almost there under the burp rag she fell in love with.

The Raynes' Grandparents owned a lake cabin in Florence (dune city) Oregon for the last 40 or 50 years, it now belongs to one of the daughters, Libby, who let us stay there one night. here is a shot of the their dock and the lake it sits on.
We went looking for a place called the Devil's Elbow because it has a cool lighthouse and I am not sure if we ever found it, but we saw this one right near where it should have been. We may have missed it because everything around there is named Devils something.
There are a ton of Sea Lions around Florence as well, but since we weren't hanging out on the beach the whole time we only saw this one. you can see it in between the wave coming in and the surf
Finally, a picture of her smiling.
The Best Cheddar in the world, Tillamook, made in Tillamook, Oregon.
Here is a video of us driving through the forest. there are so many trees and it is extremely green. Along with that came the cold though. Highs around 65 on a sunny summer day.

This looks like our rental car parked next to a train that we took a ride on, but it is not. It's also not a train we took a ride on. Maybe next time. Too cold, too rainy that day.

One last picture of the scenery in Northern Oregon almost to Astoria.

So in summary, we had a fun trip and if there is anyone who has ever thought of taking this trip; it is definitely worth it. It may even be fun on a bike. They have a bike lane that runs the whole length of Oregon. I could see a man trip in there somewhere.

Man-Trip Postponed

2007-08-13T14:26:00.000-06:00

There are a few of you out there in Cyber-land who knew about the planned Man-Trip. We were going to start an annual trip where we would hang out somewhere cool. The qualifications to go where 1) you had to be a man 2) you had to be related to a man. This is fairly reminiscent to a few years ago when every Friday was Man-lunch. Same basic criteria, except nobody could order a Salad.
The first Man-Trip was scheduled to hike Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48. As the title of the post implies though, this trip has been postponed. Although we have a Havasupai trip planned for next year, we still needed a trip this year. So, fishing at Strawberry Res some weekend in September took the largest amount of votes for runner up in the Man-Trip vote. I may need to get a bumper sticker that reads "I'd rather be fishing"
Anyway, to get to the point of this all. Instead of going to Whitney (the mountain not some lady) Stefanie and I are taking little Alice and going on our own trip. Wednesday we fly to San Fransisco and the we are driving over the course of four days to Portland and then Flying back home on Sunday. I am really excited about it all. The only problem is we can't stay too long in San Fransisco so we need to do as much as possible in about 24 hours as we can. Any ideas out there? We'll have a car but we need to do at the least; cable car ride, hit the Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli chocolate anything, and the Golden Gate.
What else is an absolutely necessary? Sourdough? Seafood?

Oh yeah, here are some more Alice Pics.

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

2007-08-06T10:09:00.000-06:00

So it's Monday morning and I got back last night from Australia. I spent three nights there, so I totally got used to the time change the last night I was there. It was Awesome!

So on the way back home from Hayman, it was like Planes, Trains & Automobiles. I got up at 5 am to pack, dress, and get my bag ready for the porter to pick up about 5:45 ( they don't let you pack your own bags on Hayman). Had Breakfast at 6, hopped on a Golf Cart Train to get to the boat (they call it a Luxury Yacht cause it was worth about 5 mil). Took the boat to the Airport, the plane to Sydney's Domestic Terminal- which by the way, is more than a mile from the International Terminal with and you have to use public transportation to get between them- underground/subway/train to the United Flight to San Fransisco, then a plane to SLC and finally the Navigator the rest of the way home (slightly run-on sentence)

Anyway, what is a post without pictures? Her are the last of my Australia highlights.

When you have travelled halfway around the world, you have to take your own picture in front of anything. You usually have to get your arm in the shot too, but I somehow missed it. Nice hair though, huh?

We saw a humpback whale while on a two hour cruise sightseeing around the Islands and the best shot I have of it, is this blurry one of his tail. I call it my Loch Ness Monster photo. Get it? Nessie, our our underwater ally.

Napoleon Dynamite: "Last week, Japanese scientists explaced... placed explosive detonators at the bottom of Lake Loch Ness to blow Nessie out of the water. Sir Cort Godfrey of the Nessie Alliance summoned the help of Scotland's local wizards to cast a protective spell over the lake and its local residents and all those who seek for the peaceful existence of our underwater ally. "

This is not me snorkeling below, but you can imagine it is me, only I am more tan, and had cool white board shorts, and longer hair. And more handsome. Oh, and more humble.

Somehow on this private island resort they had a 1967 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II. It was cool. I doubt that there were more than 4 or 5 miles or paved roads on this island but they still had this cool car. Since Gordon is a VIP they broke it out and took us for a ride.

Here is a clip from inside the car.

This is a picture of the sunrise on Sunday morning from the back of our "luxury yacht".

These birds were everywhere. They stand completely still until you are a few feet from them and then they just flip out and fly away.

This is a picture of the "luxury yacht". It was pretty nice I guess.
Check out how calm the water was. Its not open water, completely, but it's still the ocean.
There were a ton of these private sail boats and catamarans that would just cruise from one island to another. That would be fun. One day.
I realize as I am getting to the end of this post, that this is not the coolest picture to end on, but too bad. This is a pretty cool shot of a group of Islands and a light house, I think.

Lastly, if there is anyone who would like to rent a sailboat and travel the islands, this is the link for you. http://www.rentayacht.com.au/

I think there are a few other sites for almost anywhere in the world you want to sail.

I say Caribbean, Summer of 2010!

Ch-Ch-Changes (Time Zone Changes)

2007-08-02T01:52:00.000-06:00

Good Morning World! or maybe, Good Evening!
I feel really lost as to what time it is exactly. My caffeine filled mind says really late, almost to the point of being early, but my Utah body clock says its only 2 am, and my eyes see the sun just starting to set and tell me its almost 6pm. Let me tell you why...
It all started two days ago in Salt Lake. I sole the Falcon (finally) to some guy in Lehi so he asked me to drive it up to his house before he went to work. I happily agreed because, as much as I loved that car, it was time to go. So i had to get up just after 5 am MST to make it to his house by 6am so that he could be to work by 7am. So July 31st was a long day to start out with, then at 5 I went to the Airport to hop on a flight to LAX. By 10pm PST I was eating a two cheeseburger meal and fries in Los Angeles. At about 11 we hopped on a bigger plane and headed to Sydney (14 almost 15 hour flight) landing at 6 almost 7am AEST. We landed, took a train to the domestic terminal, ditch our bags and head into town for a few hours because we have a 5 or 6 hour layover. I would do the math on that and tell you how long it was, but my brain would never forgive me.
We had breakfast at some place on the Harbour next to the Opera House and then went back to the airport to head to Hamilton Island Regional Airport (2 1/2 hour flight). From there we hopped on a ferry, they called it a luxury transport boat, and took an hour long ride to Hayman Island. Its now 2 am MST two days after I started this trip!

Here are some photos. You can see the Opera house and the AMP Tower

A view from the Airport on Hamilton Island
Wow, I am really tired but still look good!

It is really pretty here.

Easter Eggs

2007-07-30T13:53:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things is finding hidden messages or features on things like DVD's or websites. I think my first run in with this type of thing was the secret song on Nirvana's Nevermind Album.

I wish there were more Easter Eggs out there. School_work and Work_work would be so much better if there were more Easter Eggs out there. If I had a website, I would put all sorts of Easter Eggs, I would put links to movies , or to cool pass the time websites , or even to other peoples blogs that I check up on, at least once in a while.

Some times Easter eggs can be tricky. You can think you are getting one thing but end up getting something else. That's why you always need to look at the address of the link on the bottom of your browser before clicking and following the link.

This is a picture of Alex Jesaulenko, he is the husband of one of our 200K Premiers in Australia. He is credited with having one of the greatest spekies in all footie history. This picture does not do it justice.
Here is another picture of Alice. What post is good without one?
The Dramatic Chipmunk, but it really is a Prairie Dog.
And lastly, my golf team from this years company golf tournament.

Electric Cars

2007-07-26T11:08:00.000-06:00

So my brother-in-law Jon got me thinking about Hybrids and electric cars this weekend and I started doing some investigating. Turns out there is a guy that does conversions here in Utah.
He bought batteries from some other guy at Sam's Club not too long ago and because buying 12 golf cart batteries at once is odd at a Sam's club they started talking about electric cars. The guy buying the batteries converts old bugs and old Honda's mostly, and they look kinda WT. So the guy selling the batteries decided to convert his own and went out and found an old Karmann Ghia, fixed it up, pulled the engine and replaced it with an electric motor and 9 8V batteries.
Jon, Bret and I went to test drive it last night. It was pretty cool looking but only had a range of about 20 miles.

Here is the whole motor and battery set up. No gas, how cool is that?

If anyone is interested in Electric cars I have provided some cool links that I have come across in the last few days.

The name is funny, but its a pretty good site. http://www.electric-cars-are-for-girls.com/build-your-own.html

This is the coolest electric car out there http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php.

http://www.evporsche.com/ The name says it all.

These guys are crazy and kinda freak me out http://www.grassrootsev.com/index.htm.

If you decide to build your own, these guys can hook you up with parts http://www.beepscom.com/.

This is the guy who does conversions here in Utah http://www.preparedness1.com/electric_vehicles.htm

Here is an EV classifieds http://www.austinev.org/evtradinpost/

Has it really been almost a week?

2007-07-25T11:22:00.000-06:00

So I wanted to post last Friday after I got back from Mexico, but I forgot my camera with pics at my house because it was charging. Last Thursday was a tiring travel day back from Mexico, but it was cool for this reason:
This was the view from the Hotel executive room/area where we had breakfast.

Since there were no direct flights to SLC from Mexico City we had a 3 hour lay-over in Puerto Vallarta. Since the Vallarta Airport is fairly close to the city, we went into town to get a meal before our flight home. There was some guy doing sand sculptures and I thought this was a pretty cool one.
We had lunch at a restaurant across the street from the Beach called Chatas and we had some company.
This picture was supposed to show how fun it was to have lunch on the beach in Vallarta while on a business trip, but it mostly looks like like I am scared of Brooks, who by the way looks pretty mean here. My hands are on the table, not on his lap, just in case someone was wondering.
On the plane ride home, as we were starting our descent into SLC, I snapped a pic of this fire. Its crazy, I think its just behind Nephi UT, but I am not sure. On a separate note, Stef has a sister, who has a sister-in-law, who does kids photography and wanted to take Alice's picture, here are a few. To see them all click here.
She is so cute, even when she is about to cry.
If there was anyone who wondered what I was doing in Mexico last week, this picture doesn't really explain it, but it makes it look like we had fun there. Just for the record though, I went as a translator.

Lastly, another YouTube video i got from Derrick. this is so funny. I guess the word is that the Warden taught all the inmates to do this whole routine. defiantly worth the time.

Enjoy.

Mexico City Part Deux

2007-07-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

So once again I made it down to Mexico City and there are a couple things that have gone really well on the trip. First, the trip down was comfortable becuase we all got upgraded to first class (bigger chairs, more leg room, all the drinks and snacks you could want, and if you want anything they jump on it quick). Now most airline food is quite predictable, you know the " would you like the chicken or the pasta?" but for some reason they had the best food I had ever had on a plane. Dainon better described it here.

So we had a fairly busy schedule on wed at the interviews and photo shoot, but as always, we had some really good food. Lebanese? it was awesome. we also went to my favorite restaurant in the world pretty much and had a little mariachi action going on behind us.

If you dont recognize the song, click here to hear a clip of another version of it on amazon.

And of course with being gone for a few days, I really miss the Wife and Alice so if anyone else does too, here is a clip of Alice wanting to talk to us.

So much to do, so little time, so many distractions...

2007-07-16T14:32:00.000-06:00

With so many things happening in the next month I am surprised I have time to do anything but work and sleep. Yet somehow I am always finding ways to blow time that I don't have. i just wanted to share a few of them with you all.

If you Google "the answer to life, the universe, and everything" you can actually know the answer to the ultimate question of life.

Stef has had hair extensions a few times in the last few years and I think they are a pretty cool idea for easy hair changes. I never thought that hair extensions were a huge deal, but in Bolivia it may keep you from being a real "Cholita". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19762790/?GT1=10150

Lastly, if you have a few minutes and want to kill some zombies... http://www.armorgames.com/games/thelaststand_popup.html. This is a really cool flash game where you have to survive by shooting zombies at night

Celebrity look a-likes

2007-07-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

I think at one point each of us has been told we look like a certain celebrity. I had a stage where I had the Tom Cruise profile. Thank goodness that past.

Stefanie gets the, " you look like Gina Davis" a lot. People always forget how cool she was in The Long Kiss Goodnight though.

I have not had any Celebrity look alike moments yet with Alice, at least anything worth mentioning, but today Derrick sent me this picture and I pray that my children never have a moment like this.

Does this cute little girl remind you of anyone?

Chris, your awesome, we miss you, RIP.

Opera and Board Shorts

2007-07-09T13:49:00.000-06:00

I love my little girl Alice. I love her more when she sleeps well. I really am not complaining; Stef, my amazing wife, is the biggest loser of sleep. I am not sure how she does it. She always takes Alice into the other room at night if she gets loud; and lets me sleep if I have a big day at work planned or something. She does this all on her own though, I never ask. I am really lucky.

Lately, Alice has been a little more attentive. I guess she can see almost 10 feet now and is starting to recognize voices. She spends her awake time looking, eating, and sometimes talking. sometimes though she shows us her opera singer lungs. She is going to be bigger than Pavarotti (not is size but in fame)
Here is a pic of her belting out 'O Sole Mio) Check out Alice's boogers, we cleaned them shortly after this pic was taken.

Alice and I have been watching re-runs of the X-Files lately. I don't think she quite understands the symbiotic relationship Mulder and the Smoking Man have. One day she may even get a cool "I Want to Believe" poster. I hear they are hard to find though. Here are some of Alice's cousins and second cousins.
(L-R Elly, Gracie, Elijah, Kamea, Stef and Alice)
Here is one of the few pictures of Alice in a happy mood. Thanks for the pic Mom.
Lastly, we purchased a new tube for the boat a while ago, because the one we had sprung a leak, and we tried to fly it. this is what we have been able to do so far. This is my little brother Bret trying his luck at it and eventually he had his whole body out of the water. I think if we could get a handle in the middle of the tube, instead of having to hang on the back, we could get it to fly better.
Oh. FYI; its really easy to lose your shorts doing this.

Apologies, Congratulations, and More Pictures

2007-07-03T13:07:00.000-06:00

First of all I need to publicly apologize to my good friend Carrie Burt. I am sorry I left you hanging and did not make the DeerCreek Triathlon last Saturday. I heard you got 8th place! Congratulations.

Also, congratulations go out to Alison and Marshall Smith who over the weekend had their first baby boy, Chancelor Fielding Smith. You can check him out here, http://marshallandalison.blogspot.com/

This weekend we had all my family up for Alice's baby blessing and so there was a house full Farnsworth's. Most of us are pretty quiet, but my sisters oldest boy Ty is quite the talker. He can talk to anyone. He can talk for hours and never stay on the same topic for more than a minute, if that. Here is a picture of him behind Alice; Ian, my brother and his wife Shaina are the two others in the picture.

Here is Alice with her eyes open and happy, still a little bit of a rarity.

My Mom, Lauretta and little Alice. It was nice having them up to help and visit.

In preparation for Alice's imminent stardom, we have noticed she has been practicing warding off the paparazzi. I have enlisted the help of this Baldwin brother (who somehow has almost 80 movies under his belt) to help each of you as readers better understand what Alice will eventually go through.

So far, these are the most popular albeit slightly crude poses with the current pop stars and incarcerated heiresses.

Lastly, this is a truck I saw driving down the freeway the other day. I had to take a picture of it because i was completely dumbfounded by it. This semi is covered in plastic snakes, lizards, bats and spiders. I am not sure if they were going for a snakes on a plane theme, or maybe they liked reptiles, or maybe they were the victims of a new way of Trucker toilet papering.

Alice Announcements

2007-06-25T15:53:00.000-06:00

We are going to have Alice's Baby Blessing this Sunday, July 1st, at 9 am at our church. Let me know if you need a map of how to get there. We will be having a lite brunch afterward at our house.

Stef and I have tried hundreds of times to catch Alice smiling on photo, but to no avail. So still no real smile pics. One of these days. . .

So over the weekend we had a visit from our good friend Brett Sykes and his parents Phil and Betty. They gave us some awesome presents among them these five onesie creations by Brett. To see more of what he has done look on his web page http://www.brettsykes.com/

The fist in the air.

AC/DC Lettering and the bar code from Maggie on the Simpson's

For when she freaks out.
Her undeniable inherited trait, the Raynger.
Brett also penciled this for the wrapping. It was taken from a photo snapped by Derrick early on her first day here at the hospital.

Definitely daddy's daughter.

Laredo, Texas. Well,kind of... and tacos

2007-06-20T23:44:00.000-06:00

So I got up this morning at 4am to get ready for might flight to Laredo, TX. That was 20 hours ago for those who are counting, well, that's for those who are not counting too. Anyway, got up, sped to the airport, checked in, slept a few minutes somewhere between 15 and 34 thousand feet, landed in Dallas (the city not the ill fated TV show); and that's when the fun started. We (Dr Vaughn Johnson and I) took the tram to check in at gate B13 from A 35. Once there we found out that the flight had been cancelled and that they had us on the next flight to Laredo, tomorrow at 7:45 am, getting us there just in time to turn around and fly back at 9 something.

We decided to fly to McAllen, TX, rent a car and drive the 150 miles or so to Laredo. It sounded like a great time. We made it to McAllen fine, hopped in the rented Pontiac Vibe and booked it to Laredo. About 30 miles outside Laredo we entered Webb county; shortly thereafter we here an emergency broadcast with flash flood warnings for Webb county. When it rains, it pours.

Short story made long... Hold on. Scratch that. Reverse it. It is too late for the Readers Digest version.

The important part of this whole story is this. Tonight I did my first solo city meeting for XanGo. Yes, Dr. Johnson was there, but as a guest speaker. I did the whole opportunity meeting as both Jr and Sr companion and it went great, well at least that's what I thought and what the nice old XanGo distributor ladies told me afterward.

Now to wind down before I go to bed. Tacos in Texas are good, but the real taco king can still feel safe and sound on his throne on the streets in Mexico. You keep on keepin-on señor deliverer of taste and sometimes the revered Aztec chief's revenge. You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have not been found wanting. You have, as most will agree, maintained your status as El Rey Supremo de los Tacos Mundiales.

Happy Fathers Day (slightly late)

2007-06-18T10:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I celebrated my first fathers day. It was nice, I got up, fed Alice, burped her, watched some infomercials while Stef slept. Then I had a bowl of Trix with Winder Dairy whole milk and spent the rest of the day watching TNT man movies like I Spy and The Hunt for Red October.

Stef got me some cool Banana Republic cuff links and some cologne, both which are way cool.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how cool fathers day really is. We get to celebrate the guys that taught us how to be guys. I tried to contact my Dad yesterday, but because I am a little bit of a putz and never remember which phone to call of theirs, I never made a call. So today I am posting about how cool my dad is.

This is a picture of my Dad on his mission, the coolest cat ever, in a sweet suit and on a rockin bike. Based solely on this picture you can tell how he has influenced me to be the coolest kid on the block.

Thanks Dad.

Longest Posting Ever!

2007-06-14T11:37:00.000-06:00

I realize that I have not posted to the blog in far too long and that I do not want that to become a habit, so here at 34,000 feet I thought I would jot down an update for the few people who stop by and read this every once in a while.

Alice celebrated her 2 week birthday by going to see the Doctor on Monday and to get her two week check up. A few interesting things to note;
1. She was born 8lbs 11oz, and has gained almost a full pound in two weeks now as she is 9lbs 8 oz.
2. She is still 21 inches.
3. She is in the 75 percentile for both height and weight.
4. She is in the 0 percentile for head size. (She must have gotten that from me because Stef and her family have huge noggins.

So as I was thinking about this whole 0% head size thing, I really hoped that they round the percentages at least to the nearest 5 or 10. If they rounded the numbers to the nearest 5, it would mean that she has the same size head or larger than at least two other kids in a hundred. If they rounded to the nearest ten, those two kids become 4, but if they round to the nearest whole number, a 0% means that she has to be the smallest head of not 1 in a hundred, or even 1 in two hundred, that number would be .5% and be rounded up. She would have to be the 1 in three hundred, making it .33% and thus able to be rounded down. That’s a small head. Luckily it’s not 1 in a million. Either way, that little head of hers looks very proportionate, so I can’t complain.

Anyway, there have been quite a few people who for the different baby showers and what not have given cute little dresses, or onesies, or hats, or socks, or blankets… If I ever post a picture of an item you gave us and do not mention how cute it is and how grateful we are that you (insert your name here) gave us said item, please forgive me. I am more than willing to edit, amend, or repost the picture to give credit to you. Just let me know.

I did a meeting last night in New York; it was actually in Manhattan, 45th and Madison. It went really well, Dave Webb was the main presenter and he did a phenomenal job. We went out to eat at a restaurant called Asia de Cuba afterwards that was like nothing I had ever had before. They blended traditional Cuban foods with Chinese favorites. We had dishes like fried shredded duck lettuce wraps with a tamarind plum sauce, crab eggrolls, calamari and apple salad, plantain fried rice, stir fried pork and bananas. All the dishes were amazingly good and each was neither specifically Asian nor Cuban.

I hope some of this posting makes sense at all because I am writing it on three hours of sleep. Three hours is supposed to be a full REM cycle, but I am seriously doubting that right now. I can’t believe that I paid 500 dollars a night for my room. The bed was extremely comfortable and they had a pretty good selection of channels on the TV, but I got there about 5:30 in the afternoon, had a half hour or so to get ready for the meeting and then returned back after dinner around 12:30 maybe 12:45. I called for a wake up call around 1 so that I would not sleep through my 4:30 cell phone alarm and then promptly fell asleep. Since I am on a numbers kick; that means I paid more than 100 dollars an hour for time spent in my hotel room. That’s ridiculous.

Here is a video of the tiniest hotel room I have ever stayed in.

Firsts

2007-05-31T17:46:00.000-06:00

This week has been a week of firsts. We had our First baby, obvious unless you are new to this blog. We had our first baby all nighter, mostly because we weren't sure the hospital knew what they were doing when they sent us home with this brand new baby. Alice had her first car ride, crib nap, and bassinet nap.

So to commemorate these firsts, here are some pictures of them.
First Car/Car Seat ride.
First Bassinet nap.
First item of clothing worn (blankets don't count). Also, this may also qualify as her first pirate impersonation. Lets see...
one eye squeezed shut one eye staring down mercilessly, check;
mouth opened wide saying any elongated vowel followed by multiple R's , check;
one hand shaking for effect, check;
wearing a Lamb on clothing, no check.
So with 3 for 4, or 75%, its confirmed she is imitating a pirate. Hollywood here we come. She may be old enough to be in Pirates 13, I heard George Clooney wants a piece of that Pirate Booty.

More Alice Photos

2007-05-29T10:41:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Derrick for this video clip

Here are a few more photos of little Alice.

At the Hopsital with her Uncle Derrick Chubby Cheeks McGee.

ALICE ARRIVES!

2007-05-28T12:09:00.000-06:00

So Sunday morning at about 4:30 am, Stef started having some contractions. Nothing really progressed for a while so we went and hung out at the in laws house until about 5:30 or so. At that point we went to the hospital and the show got on its way. By midnight Alice had crowned and by 12:17 she was here and crying. 8lbs 11oz and 21".

Waiting...Still Waiting...More Waiting... It's Man-More-Real Weekend

2007-05-27T11:07:00.000-06:00

So you may have guessed the there is still no baby Alice. We are just waiting for her to come say hi and stay a while. to occupy ourselves in the meantime we have been having a Man-More-Real weekend. Kinda like Memorial but more manly. We went Boating, went to the Jazz Game last night, counted between contractions, you know, all the fun things.

Roman caught on really quick on how to drive.
I tried to surf the wake on the kneeboard.
Like father like son.

Seriously, this kid learned how to drive quickly.
Dave on the tube. (if you click on the photo you can see how big his smile is)
Jon had not been wake boarding in two years and he got out of the water on his first try.
And we capped the night off at the Jazz game. Somehow the Jazz won, Spurs lost and there where no Eva Longoria sightings.

Out with the Old in with the New.

2007-05-21T14:36:00.000-06:00

So, still no baby Alice. . .

We thought we would try to kick start the coming of the baby with the normal ways, caster oil, walking a bunch, spicy food, the stuff that got us into this mess originally (said in a very lovingly sarcastic tone), trampolines, and well since the Jet ski's were too small for our new family, we sold them.
In their memory i have posted the last pictures we took of them. please notice the brand new seat coverings Dave and I made for them last week.

Since we were then left without any water diversion devices, we started looking for a boat. Needless to say, we got one. I was tempted to title this posting, "It's a Boat" and then say that the new addition to the Farnsworth residence was our new cuddie, but I thought I would spare everyone a little confusion.

Here are some pics of the new boat. we have yet to name her, so let us know what you think.

Private Jets and Cinco de Mayo

2007-05-07T16:41:00.000-06:00

Pinata!!!!! Jon is holding the Pinata and Adam Blake is swinging away.
This is Rob and Melissa Wilson's daughter Maddie.
Roman Raynes!

Derrick stikes out.
Melanee almost connects.

Corporate Jets rule! No security lines, no baggage claim, no peanuts or crackers, only pure unadulterated luxury.

TV takes up too much time!

2007-04-04T13:50:00.000-06:00

So in the last few weeks I have started training for the Triathlon Sprint on June 30th, and so I have been getting up at 5:30 every morning. This makes me pretty sleepy by 10:30 or so at night and so my normal 2 hours of TV watching has been cut drastically. So in lieu of this tiredness and my desire to share news with you all, I will include a link to acceptable.tv for your viewing pleasure. This may be rated somewhere in the TV14 area; nothing too strong

I got "tagged" the other day and I am still trying to figure out what that means since I only read a handful of blogs that have all already been tagged. Stay tuned.

Mexico City Pictures

2007-04-02T07:52:00.000-06:00

Mexico City is a pretty crowded place; 24 million people make this largest city in the world, at least in regards to population.

Here are a few snapshots of what Mexico City is like.

This is the most famous roundabout in Mexico City, El Angel de Libertad. The angel is on all the License Plates in the City.This is the Cathedral in the main square in Mexico City, it was built from the stones of the Aztec temple that sits just the the right of the picture. its hard to tell here, but the whole building is leaning to the right a little. Behind where I was taking this picture is the the Palacio Nacional, where the President works.

Below is a real treat, when we were out filming bottle shots with John Daily, we happened upon this group of Voladores, from Veracruz, who where doing this traditional Volador dance. Its pretty rad.

It looks like these guys are cruising, but it took them like 5 minutes to get down.

MEXICO CITY/ PHILOSPHY LESSON?

2007-03-30T07:15:00.000-06:00

I Love Mexico City! The traffic sucks, there are almost 24 million too many people, but I love them all, except the robbers, muggers and most of the drunks. The flight got in around 1:30 and two hours later we are at the hotel and by 4 I was 30 minutes into a great training workout for my triathlon in late June. But another day and another 3 or 4 am flight (Mountain Time). I just realized that I don’t think that I tell people here often enough that I love my job; even though I often complain while I am tired and miss my wife, I still love my job. I work with some great people both in Utah and those Distributors out in the field.

On the plane from Salt Lake to Atlanta on Tuesday, I sat next to a very professional looking lady who, after almost half an hour, realized that I was even sitting next to her. She instantly just started rattling of questions as if she were a reporter, more Dan Rather than Katie Couric though. But neither here nor there, after I had pretty thoroughly explained what I do, she asked me this, “What is it that you think helped XANGO grow so fast?”
I didn’t even have to think a second about it before I blurted out, “2 simple things. The first is a good tasting, consumable product that works. The second, which I think may be the most important , is the leadership both at corporate and in the Distributor Ranks.”

I share this story for, once again, two simple reasons. One, even though we are all human and we make each other mad, or make decisions that either our superiors -or if we are the superiors, our employees- don’t agree with, we still get along well with each other; if we respect each other. I think that is what attracted me to XANGO initially, and so when I think about the people I work with and for, I consider them those leaders that have helped me get to where I am and have afforded me this job that I love so much. Second, on our
way back from dinner, we ran into Estela Salinas, XANGO”S first 200K Premier in Mexico. She is seriously amazing and I personally credit her for turning Mexico into a big market for XANGO.
But I digress.
Back to Mexico City, great people, great food! I am pretty sure I have narrowed my top three favorite restaurants in the world to: -like Miss America the second runner up first (3rd place), the underground restaurant a block north of the Sheraton in Florence, Italy. Runner Up, Rice King/ PF Changs tie (depending on my mood and or size of my wallet). And my number one restaurant in the world: Villa Maria, on the corner of Homero and Galileo in Polanco, Mexico City, Mexico.

Here is a picture of my Tres Leches desert, both before and then after I inhaled it, as well as TJ, Betty, Sadie and myself with the wooden monk/hostess at the Villa Maria.

Twice? It's like BLOG Christmas

2007-03-28T21:27:00.000-06:00

So, its 11:30 pm Eastern Time and I have just finished my Seared Ahi Thai Tuna that I ordered from room service. I was thinking about the Angus Beef Marriott Burger, but thought I would regret it later when I try to fall asleep. Anyway, it was a tasty way to end a busy day. It kind of went like this, Lansing, MI 5:30am get up and pack to make it to the airport in time to check in, eat a quick breakfast (banana and orange juice) and fly to Cincinnati, arrive somewhere around 8:30. Walk to the next gate, arrive just in time to board and leave for Atlanta in the area of 10:30. Eat at Chili's (chips and cheese, and wings -you know man food), walk to next gate to board by 11:45 to leave for Newport News, VA. Arrive, collect bag, pick up rental car -that Dave Morton has to drive to the Richmond, VA airport tomorrow- arrive at hotel, respond to emails, and try to squish the rest of what an 8 hour work day would have been into a few hours, iron my shirt, get cleaned up for the meeting be to the room by 6:15 or so. I think I got the point across.
So, suffice it to say that I have no cool pictures of Lansing, Cincinnati, Atlanta, or Newport News. Sorry. Here are a few pictures of my hot wife and I last weekend at Bret and Amber's wedding though.

This looks like our original engagement photo.(above)

Baby Alice is in there somewhere (below)
I have to leave this quick post at that, because it is now a quarter to midnight and i have to get up and 4:30 or so to get to the airport in time to make a flight to Atlanta (again) and then to Mexico City. I hope to have pictures of that.

Who does number two work for?

2007-03-28T14:59:00.000-06:00

I know I promised two posts this week and because I am too close to being just over it I will post two today and we will call it even. What do you think? Ha, who cares, you don’t have a choice! It’s my blog and I will post as I want to, post as I want to (sung a la “Its My Party and I Will Cry if I Want To.”
So last weekend we (my beautiful baby making wife and I) went to Phoenix, Arizona for my youngest brothers wedding. This makes him the final Farnsworth sibling to get hitched. Congrats Chief!
I am quite sure he won’t be reading this anytime soon, but once he gets out of the “Holy Schmoly! What wonderful eternal commitment did I get myself into?” phase I am sure he will appreciate the fact that we are all proud of him and wish him the best in his new life. Which on a side note, is going to be here in Zion, home to most of my three or four readers (that number may or may not be inflated).
Well, so down to business. What people used to call just Phoenix/Mesa now seems to have spiraled in to Phoenix/Mesa/Tempe/Chandler/Glendale/Scottsdale/outskirts of St George. It’s huge! Seriously though, I am glad we rented a car. We were fortunate to get the new Chevy HHR, or as I like to call it, the Hummer Mini. It has the body of a prepubescent Hummer and Armored Car lovechild while the engine is feels more at home with Dirt Bikes and Volkswagen Bugs.
Here is a Picture. I am Hot, literally. It was warm until I rolled the windows down and snapped this digital gem.
Anyway, a little tidbit about Phoenix; Dave Mustaine, lead singer of the band Megadeth and formerly guitarist for Metallica, moved to Phoenix, not for the lifestyle that drives most Sunbirds from Canada and pretty much anywhere it snows, but for this lovely fact. He claims it is the closest place to hell he could find. That is of course something I heard on the radio a few years ago and am unable to confirm this in anyway, but I am sure he is preparing for eternity. Nice. High Five!

its been a long time...

2007-03-19T12:19:00.000-06:00

So I know its been almost a month since I last posted and so I will make a promise to all my faithful readers (you both know who you are)here and now; I will post at least twice this week and next week., maybe more if I am feeling generous.
I will include photos, and I will travel, until then, I think I may need to rename my blog to something more appropriate like, In-between Travels with Nate. We will see.

But as an FYI, we are selling our currently not working Flash Gordon Pinball Machine. It would be awesome if it worked, but unfortunately some circuit boards are fried.

Check this Bad Boy out!

We are also selling the Falcon, I will miss it, but I think its time for something new...

Well, I'll post again soon...

MOAB

2007-02-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is ancient Hebrew Scripture from the Book of Isaiah:
לבי למואב יזעק בריחה עד צער

The same verse in Latin:
cor meum ad Moab clamabit vectes

and in English it reads
My heart shall cry out for Moab
Isaiah 15:5

So, Stef and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and run down to Moab. It was AWESOME!
We drove down Friday after work and stayed at a cool little Bed and Breakfast called Cali Cochitta right of Main street. It was a great deal and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to stay hang out in Moab.
We did not go alone though, we went with Jon, Daniela and Roman (Stef's younger brother and his wife and son). The company was lively and warmly entertaining; the four of us get along incredibly well.

I have included a few pictures as a recap of our escapades.

Here is Roman hanging out in the Jeep at Hole in the Rock. -You have not lived until you have been to hole in the rock. - I wish I had been around when it was a diner and the owner was still carving out the sculpture of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the face of the rock above his home.

Jon Daniela and Roman on our short hike to Mesa Arch, where Stef and I are seated comfortably three or four hundred feet above the canyon floor behind us (you can't really see that in this picture though).

Stef and I (and baby Alice, I can't forget her) at the viewpoint above Monument Basin in Canyonlands National Park

This is at our lunch break, just before we broke out the PB&J and Doritos. and Donettes. and water.
This one is pretty self explanatory but just in case, its my beautiful wife and a canyon in the background.

Those are the La Sal Mountains from just off Highway 191.

Home Sweet Home

2007-02-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

So... I am back in Utah, back at home, and back to work. Well, I guess I am not back to work because I never really took a break from work. I was just working from different places for the past three weeks.
Monday started my fourth week of straight work. I decided to take Friday off and try to catch up. I am not sure if I am tired because of jet lag, or because I need a break. I guess both are completely acceptable answers.
Since I am back at home, I thought it would be appropriate to post a picture of the house before we bought it.

I will post pictures later of how it looks now.

mmm. cold cereal.
Dishes anyone?
Check out the four colors of paint.

LONDON

2007-02-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

This city is AWESOME! I wish I had more time to spend here. I think I caught as many of the sites as possible from the outside. I will have to see if I can spend some time inside them next time.
It is weird to think that this city and it's royalty controlled most of the world a few centuries ago.
Here I am at Piccadilly Circus, its the Time Square of London.

That's me in front of Buckingham Palace.

This is Westminster Abbey.

You can see the House of Parliament and Big Ben right behind that handsome young man.

This is the Tower of London.
This wall was built by the Romans.

Glasgow

2007-02-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

We went to bed last night in Swansea and it was pretty windy. It was easy to tell there was a storm moving in, but when we got up at 5:30 and hopped in the car, it was just a cold rain. By the time we hit the M4(a British freeway) there was about 3 inches of snow on the road. This continued on for most of the trip to the Bristol Airport. Our flight was delayed, but eventually we got out of Wales.

We made it into Scotland this afternoon and had little time to sight see, so there are no pictures to accompany this entry except for these two of the most famous Scots I could think of, and of course the flag above.

Please post a comment, if you feel either of these two deserve to not be part of the most famous Scots club.