Series 65

I finally passed the Series 65 test! I failed it last time and learned that you actually have to study for tests. The series 65 is the investment advisor test. Up until this point I have been a normal, run of the mill, stock broker. Now I'm a licensed investment advisor. (I don't think its the route of finance I'm going to take but at least I get to keep my job for now!) To me this license is more of a gimcrack than anything.

Parenting

Jack has been sick over the past couple days. During that time we wouldn't let him go outside. He picked up on a new life skill. Yes, his reading and understanding became so advanced he is now reading Parenting magazines in preparation for when we attempt to raise him! Just watch the video and be amazed.

Okay, so the reading part was a little far fetched but how cool is it that he can blow his own nose now?

Jazz Vs Rockets Game 3 & 4

I didn't dare write anything about game 3 because of the embarrassing shooting the Jazz portrayed. The Jazz lost by a nail biter. Scola (Rockets) has really made this playoff experience intense.Game 4; big win and should have been a blow out. We were up by 9 with less than a minute when Houston hit 2 three's back to back. This series, though we are 3-1, has been very intense and down to the wire.

Hiking in Ogden

Just off of 30th street in Ogden is a trail head with many great hikes. We (Sarah, Sean, Jack) met Amber, RD, and Rylee Miller to go hiking on one of the many. We packed up the kiddies and started making our way up one of the trails. It was a cool day and being out in nature is always fun. On the way back Jack decided he was big enough to hike down himself. He grabbed our hands and had the time of his life walking himself down the mountain.

My New Do

So yesterday I went in to get my hair cut and colored. Sheree (the girl who does my hair) sat me down and asked the question - "how much are we cutting off?" I didn't reply. I had been having an internal struggle the whole day as to whether I should just trim my hair or go completely different. I was sick of feeling frumpy and wanted something new, but I couldn't decide if that meant going short. Well as you can see I went short...kind of a tribute back to my high school days. Hope you like it. But if you don't it doesn't matter because it is done!!

Grandma's Birthday Party

Here are some pictures from my Grandma Christensen's 85 Birthday Party!! We had a delicious dinner at The Lion House with a fun party afterward. It was great to see so many of the cousins!!

My Rides

I HATE traffic. I feel like it's such a waste of time and energy. Traffic is so bad here in Davis County the media has given it an official name. Davis County Bogdown. When I say bad, I'm not talking about LA where it takes 4 hours to go 30 miles, even at midnight. I'm talking an hour to an hour and a half both ways to Salt Lake City, which is 20 miles. I started riding mass transit when I started going to the University of Utah back in 2001. This was my ride to school and back.
I was able to get my homework done and take a nap on the way home. After graduating in 2003 I started my first real job working for Fidelity which is also downtown. We bought our first townhouse in Draper so I was able to start riding Trax into work.
I love Trax because no matter how bad the freeway was the rail always was the same pace everyday. I could study for the Series 7 stock broker license or read the newspaper. Then came a new job. I started at Zions Bank in 2005, which is also downtown but we moved back to Davis County. Farmington is where we built the new townhouse. Trax doesn't go to Davis County, but now I was able to take the express bus into work. A nice travel bus that hops right on the freeway, very comfortable.
Now, I know you are probably bored out of your mind or probably thinking does this have a point. Yes it does. You see, when I tell people I take mass transit most every place I go they think I'm a tree-hugger. Really, it's because I'm too tight with my money and my car hasn't had A/C for close to 5 years now (the new compressor and installation would cost close to $2k to fix). Most schools and places of employment give you free UTA transit passes. I figure I'm saving about $300 plus dollars a month plus my sanity riding the transit. I have been socking that away for when my 1994 Acura Vigor decides to die. I don't believe it's ready to go anytime soon. I do believe it is one of those cars that becomes annoyingly old and won't ever just quit. It never has had any big cost repairs needed. I've had to replace the tires and the windshield and the oil every now and then. When it does die I'm ready, Ferrari F360 here I come! UTA has now built an actual train called the Front Runner that opens tomorrow 04/26/2008 to the public. Luckily the train station is about a mile away from my house. Looks like I'll have a new ride.
Yes, I am excited that I am helping save the earth, it's an added bonus!

Jazz Beat Rockets Game 2

This game was a little too close for comfort. T-Mac brought his A game. It's no wonder people lionize him. Fortunately his teammates didn't follow. As we were watching the game I noticed that T-Mac wears low top shoes. I decided to make a call to his agent and trainer to let them know he's going to sprain his ankle (as my father always told me).

In response to previous post comments:

1. Dane - I want the Suns to beat the Spurs because I'm always so torn as to who to cheer for when Jazz play the Spurs. Seeing as though we went on our mission there and they are a winning team! And yes, the Spurs seem to destroy us in the playoffs. I love watching Nash play. So fluid. With Shaq Attack you should destroy all.

2. Josie - It's easy to win if you stack the team. Look at the Celtics, Lakers seem to follow suit. Wait a minute, the Lakers have always done that since Magic left. And yes, I am terrified of what the Lakers are capable of now. Good luck in your move back to Californee!

Being a Mom

Jack has been sick for the last couple of days. So sad I know. I took him to the doctor this morning just in case and she assures me that he will be fine in a few days. I really hate it when he is sick because he is at an age where you really can't give him any medicine. A little Tylenol and that is it. So you have to sit back and watch while he can't breathe at night and coughs all night. But for me there is a silver lining. Yesterday while I was putting away the dishes I had leaned down to put something in a cupboard and Jack came over and gave my back a big hug. Then he just sort of rested his head there for awhile. When I tried to stand up he wouldn't let go. You see when Jack gets sick he gets very clingy and wants to be held as much as possible. Since I love to cuddle this is more than ok, to me it is one of the perks of being a mom! So even though after he finally let go of me and ran over and knocked his bowl of Kix everywhere (luckily they were still dry) I am still just as happy to be a mom.

Jazz Smash Rockets

Tonight the Jazz took it to T-Mac. This was a very exciting opener to the Jazz vs. Rockets playoff series. Utah Jazz led most the game but didn't really open the spread till Kyle Korver hit two 3-pointers back to back. After that AK47 gained more confidence in himself and pull out 21 points. Way to go Kirilenko.

On a side note, I'm so happy that KJAZZ has decided to work with channel 2 to bring the Jazz games in High Definition. Come on over and view it on the big screen.

And You, You Complete Me

I know what everyone is thinking,"shut up, just shut up...you had me at hello." I love movies. There is only one other person that I have met that likes movies as much or more than I do...I married her. Funny thing is, we know and remember completely different things about movies. For instance if we are at a restaurant looking at the menu I would suggest something for Sarah and undoubtedly she would turn it down to stick with what she knows. Being the funny guy I am, I generally would spit out a line like,"In 50 years don't you want to say you had the guts to get in the car." (this is an obvious line) Sometimes it takes her a couple minutes to pick out the movie but from there I receive a plethora of knowledge. You see, while I remember lines in every movie I watch (even just once). She can tell me who wrote it, who directed it, and little things like who they were thinking about having for the lead role and why they didn't get it. Sarah, the love of my life, completes me. Together we know more about any movie out there (except R rated) than even the "Academy." Well, maybe not, but you get the point. We watched Juno tonight. I'm sure either Sarah or I will be writing a review on it soon but there is one point in the movie where the father is giving love advice to his 16 year old daughter who has just lost hope in humanity. *In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your... That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.* That's Sarah, plus she is one terrific mother! I definitely lucked out.

Outside

Jack is 16 months old as of last week. He is a mover and a shaker. If he's awake he's doing something. Though Jack doesn't talk he understands us quite well. Especially the word OUTSIDE. We have resorted to spelling it because whenever he hears the word he runs to the front door and tries to reach the handle. If I don't follow immediately he will start to inveigle by grabbing my hand and stare at me with those huge puppy dog eyes.

What are some of his favorite activities:
1. tasting rocks and pebbles.
2. watching the other kids run around and scream.
3. having me help him walk over the parking curb again and again.
4. pointing (he once again shows his pointing skills in the bottom picture)
5. Jack loves to laugh at cars and birds.
6. run...run as far and as fast as his little legs will carry him (or until he sees another pebble to taste.)

Enjoy the pics.

Silly Stories

Whenever Sean or I are in on the computer Jack gets really jealous that we get to push all sorts of buttons, he is always trying to reach up and push them. Yesterday as I was sending off a few e-mails Jack kept trying to squeeze in a few q's, a's, then I notice that everything is in caps (the buttons he can reach). After the fifth time I decided that something needed to change, and I remembered that Sean has a box of old computer parts (of course we can't throw old cables and speakers away). I hoped that there would be an old keyboard that Jack could have and most likely destroy. There was. So I put it on the "foot rest" part of Sean's desk and set Jack in front of it. He would type while I was typing. It was great...now I just need to get him a mouse so he stops playing with that!!
For those of you who know Jack or have been around him for more than 5 minutes you know that he is a ball of energy. He runs everywhere instead of walking, he plays with every toy and non-toy in the house everyday. He is just everywhere. Lately there have been a couple nights where he hits a wall about a half an hour before bedtime. He has wound himself so much that he gets whiney and cranky. Since he isn't actually sleepy yet (I tried putting him down earlier and lets just say that did not work) I put on his favorite movie - Enchanted. It is funny to see him stop dead in his tracks when he hears the music starting. After a couple minutes he will sit in the chair and then a couple minutes more he will lay down. Then I know he is ready for his bottle and bed. So cute!!

Remember When

This picture was taken last year in St George (at the Pink Palace). We were there for General Conference weekend. I have a widget on my desktop that circulates through pictures on my hard drive and this one popped up and made me SMILE. This picture was taken 4/2/2007 so Jack would have been about 3 and a half months.

So this picture just popped up on the picture widget. This is me (Sean), I don't know how old I was (ask my mom) but looking at it (contrary to everyone's beliefs) Jack looks nothing like me! Ha Ha Ha.

Rope Swing Hike

We decided to do the Centerville rope swing hike today. AKA the river hike. Ryan Babinsky has been asking me for about 4 months to start hiking with him and I've put it off till now. We are ready for you now Ryan. It was a lot of fun and very salubrious. It is wonderful being outdoors, breathing fresh air, and carrying a 30 pound load up the mountain.

This is Jack on the way home from the hike. He fell asleep in about 23.2 seconds. For some reason he has been pretty attached to his binky lately.

Blessing Gabe

Sarah and I hosted the Gabe Godfrey Blessing at the Farmington Crossing clubhouse. Gabe is our newest nephew born of Matt and Melissa Godfrey. Here are some pictures and a fun story at the end.

Below is a picture of Callie immediately after taking a drink. This was taken in our townhouse after the blessing. The Kirk Godfrey family came to our home afterwords for some great conversation. Ever since I married into this family I have said,"I wish I had a camcorder right now, I could make millions." The drama that this family shares is priceless. Kirk Godfrey tells a story (fatherly advice to the men of the family) of his events leading up to the blessing. "Never ask your wife 'why are you wearing a duck hunting coat?' as you are going to an event like this." Never a dull moment.

178th Annual General Conference

As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf started the Saturday morning session of general conference Sarah, Jack and I sat and listened in our little home. Though we weren't in the conference center we still participated in the solemn assembly as we sustained our wonderful leaders. There was no doubt the spirit was strong as the names were read and we welcomed President Monson as the 16th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

President Uchtdorf has become very voluble in his short time with the quorum of the twelve. Elder D. Todd Christofferson was sustained as the newest apostle. We are excited for the great things he will do. Click on the link below to download the audio or video.

178th Annual General Conference

Solemn Assembly

At the next semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to be held during the first weekend in April, 2008, a special session, or solemn assembly, will convene. During this solemn assembly, and by the raise of the right hand, members of the Church will stand and signify their sustaining vote of the Lord's leaders and their willingness to heed their counsel and support them. This vote is not a means of showing popular support, but is an outward sign of inward commitment to follow the divinely called leaders. Follow the link to learn more about a "solemn assembly."

http://www.mormonwiki.com/Solemn_Assembly

Jack & Emma

This past weekend Sean, Jack and I hung out with our friends Matt, Sarah and Emma Hale. Emma had just celebrated her second birthday, amongst other things she received a slide. Jack and Emma played on it all night. At first Emma didn't know if she wanted Jack to play on it, but he didn't really give her a choice. Within a half an hour he went from needing assistance getting up and going down the slide to diving face first down the slide.



After they had completely worn themselves out we decided to let them relax(and hopefully fall asleep) while watching Enchanted. Which, by the way, is 1 of 2 movies that Jack will actually sit and watch.

Alpabet Tag

A-Attached or Single?
Attached

B-Best Friend?
Sean

C-Cake or pie?
Cake

D-Day of choice?
Friday

E-Essential Item?
Lotion

F-Favorite color?
Green!!!

G-Gummy bears or worms?
Bears

H-Home town?
Cottonwood Heights

I-Favorite indulgence?
Eating candy and cookies while watching Pride and Prejudice or any chick flick

J-January or July?
July

K-Kids?
1 so far, Jack who is almost 16 months old!!

L-Life isn't complete without?
Jack

M-Marriage date?
08/30/02

N-Number of brothers and sisters?
2 brothers, 1 sister, 2 brother-in-laws, and 3 sister-in-laws

O-Oranges or Apples?
Apples

P-Phobias?
Stacks of papers, books, toys, clothes - I feel like they are going to drown me. Plus the normal stuff like spiders crawling on you while your asleep, small spaces thanks to my brothers, dogs, snakes.......

Q-Quote?
"Why does Yogurt night have to be so difficult?"

R-Reasons to smile?
Jack, Sean, family, friends, reading blogs....so many more things....

S-Season of choice?
Autumn, I think it smells the best and I love being able to sleep with the windows open after a long HOT summer, and Halloween and the leaves, oh I could go on forever...

T-Tag 3 people:
Sarah, Megan M, Claire

U-Unknown fact about me?
I have a hitch hikers thumb, I LOVE watching the food network (especially Ace of Cakes), I hate paying with cash at the register it makes me flustered.

V-Vegetable?
Uhhh what is a vegetable?

W-Worst habit?
Yelling for Sean to "come here" then asking him what I was going to ask, then him saying could you not of just yelled that instead of "come here"? You think I would learn after 5 1/2 years of marriage he would prefer the question yelled, rather than him walking all the way to where I am for me to ask a simple, what movie do you want to watch.

X-Xray or Ultrasound?
Ultrasound (other than the fact your bladder is so full your going to wet your pants)

Y-Your favorite food?
Pizza, anything Italian, and of course anything sweet!!

Z-Zodiac sign: Taurus