These Ones Go to 11

Well we're back into the swing of things here. I start school again tomorrow and Nicole has already been back at it for a week.

Firstly, I think I should mention that we had a fabulous holiday. We booked the computer room in the Shurtz family hotel in Enoch, UT for Christmas. Besides being cozy accomodations for Nicole and I and everyone else that needed computer access, we were also fortunate because, unlike all the other guests, we had internet in our room. Beyond the wonderful acuitriments, with 19 people from the Shurtz family there, we were happy just to have a room. We were scared that like Mary and Joseph, we were going to be sleeping out with the horse.

Christmas was a little different for me this year than it has been in the past because I was now responsible to shop for a wife. I am learning to force myself to walk through women's clothing sections and fabric stores. However, when Nicole is not with me and I'm walking by myself looking at women's pajama pants I still feel the need to tell everyone passing by, "these aren't for me," or "I thought my wife might like them." At the very least, I find myself scratching my face and shoulders a lot with my left hand so that people will hopefully at least notice my wedding band. Maybe I'm paranoid of what the other shoppers think of me...or maybe I'm scared that I might think, "this pink velour sweatsuit actually looks good."

Anyway, Christmas was a fun time. We played a lot of games, played in the snow and ate a lot of junk food. After Christmas, we got to head up to Provo for a couple more days and hang out and visit some people. It was a really good time. We had some wonderful food cooked for us by Jessica Morris. She is a phenomenal cook. We also got to see my grandparents a little more and some of our old friends.

On Wed. it was time to head home. So we packed up the Noonan's van and headed off toward Vegas. The trip down was uneventful except for the part where we got pulled over for not having lights on and James managed to convince the officer that even though he didn't have any sort of proof handy, he did have car insurance somewhere. To James', and more specifically Monica's credit, there was proof and it was even in the car in James' lap, he just overlooked it.

Well we safely arrived in Vegas. James had to fly out early the next morning, so he was staying the night in a hotel with Nicole's parents. We, however (after a brief nap), went right on to the airport to fly out at 12:40 on New Year's Day. Some may ask, why would you fly out on New Years; especially when you could be on the strip watching Robbie Kanevil jump the volcano at the Mirage? The answer to that is easy. We saved over $200 dollars flying on New Years and for those of you who are slow with numbers, that equals over 800 quarters and about 6,000 empty airport slot machine seats.

Actually, there was another benefit to flying on New Years at a ridiculous time. When we arrived at the airport, one of my worst fears was confirmed...we had packed too much Christmas booty. I had weighed the bags before we left for Las Vegas with the precisely instrumented "old scale that has a family of mice living in it that we keep somewhere down in the basement...are you sure it's not there...maybe it's outside under the deck" which is accurate to +/- 10 lbs. Anyway, I was sweating it out as we were trying to check into our flight. I wasn't sure what to do. I decided not to say anything about it and if challenged I would either 1. let her know that her scale must be flawed or 2. cry. Well, some of you might might have heard the phrase before that 'close' only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. Well friends, 'close' (defined as less than 8 lbs over in one bag and 7 in the other) also counts with Sheila the disguntled Jet Blue employee who is happy to stick it to the man for making her work on New Year's eve instead of watching Robbie Kanevil.

Since we've been home, things have been good. I've taken up playing on a city soccer league with a couple of guys from church. It's going pretty well. I'm playing defense which is a little different for me as I'm much more accustomed to mid-field. I am happy to note that I still have the endurance to play the entire game even though walking was painful for almost a week afterward. So far our record isn't too stellar, but I think once the team play more together and starts scoring more points than our opponents we'll start doing a lot better.

Nicole has started taking dance classes at a new studio. It's a little bit of a drive, but we enjoy the time together in the car and the studio is head an shoulders above the others in the area. So we feel it's worth the trip.

I also got to go biking again this week. If I haven't said so (I think I did in a previous post), but I love my bike; it goes to 11. I went to York River State park. It was a great place to ride. It's incredible to me that the trails I was riding on were battle grounds for both the Revolutionary and Civil wars.

Anyway, life is good.

two hot chocolates and a baby please--make it virgin

This week Nicole and I entered a new social realm...that's right, celebrity status.  Saturday was the annual Hampton City Holly-daze parade.  The Hampton city ward's entry was a float depicting the Nativity scene.  We were asked last week to play the parts of Mary and Joseph on the float.  I was of course chosen for my superb ability to grow facial hair.  Since the early age of 17, I have progressed from shaving every other week to every other day.  However, in about a week, with some extra effort and concentration and a slight diet change, I was able to produce this beauty.

Nicole, on my left, made an excellent Mary.  The parade was on Sat evening.  It was actually fairly cold.  We were able to hide our excess layers under our ultra-frumpy robes that we wore.    We were joined on the float by the three wise men, two shephards, and a little angel.  Thankfully with the added help of some hand warmers and some hot chocolate from our thermos we were able to keep warm.

During the parade things went well; Nicole knelt on the float and I knelt behind her.  I spent most of the time trying to look pious and waving and pointing at the crowd while shouting things like "Merry Christmas,"  "Great to see you," and "How you doin'?"  I must say, that being famous is a lot of fun, but it's a lot of hard work.

Also this weekend, we went up with the youth from our ward to DC again to see the lights at the DC temple.  It's no Temple Square, but 450,000 lights is still extremely impressive.  On an environmental note, all of the lights on display this year were LED instead of incandescent.  I am behind this move 100%.  Although these bulbs consume less power than traditional ones, they put out a great deal of light.  So much in fact, that when you're close up and your pupils are already dilated because it's dark outside, you can smell your retina's burning.  It's kind of like looking at thousands of little laser pointers all at once.  

We were also fortunate because Nicole was able to come along as well, which was great.  On the way up, everyone stopped at a place called 5 Guys.  5 Guys is a my favorite place to get a burger.  It's like the In and Out of the East Coast, but much tastier.  We then stayed the night again at my brother's.  On Saturday morning we went out to eat and had some great French toast with cinnamon sugar and almonds.  It was so good.  Anyway, here are some pictures of our trip.

A peek inside my soul

As many of you may recall, a while back on this blog, I mentioned a certain Porsche video that I saw as a youth that permanently altered my way of thinking. Laugh if you want, but this video has a very special place in my heart. Anyway, after literally years of searching, I have finally found it online. I should note a small correction that the commercial is actually for the 1995 911 993.

Without further ado, here it is for your viewing pleasure. I would recommend that you have a box of tissues nearby as you watch it.

We drove 32 hours to Black Friday, and all I got was this lousy ice scraper

Well it's been about two weeks since I posted last, and I know that there's at least a solid 1-2 people who might or might not be wondering what has been going on with us. I will attempt to fill you in.

First and foremost, I should mention that we had an excellent Black Friday. This year we decided to go the Champaign, IL Walmart for to do our Black Friday shopping. Conveniently, Nicole's brother and sister live in Champaign, so we decided to stay with them where we were also joined by my family. The drive out was good. I picked Nicole up right at work and we immediately set off. 12 hours later, we arrived at our destination. I would like to mention that I am grateful for energy drinks--I was wide awake all the way there.

To kill time while we waited for Walmart to open, we celebrated Thanksgiving. As per tradition, on Thursday morning, I went with Nicole's brother-in-law to play football. I scored four touchdowns and had a handful of interceptions (I also threw about six interceptions). Anyway, needless to say, all that awesomeness isn't cheap. As any of my professional athlete colleagues will attest, dedicating your life, or at least one day a year of it, to excellence in a demanding sport such as 4 on 4 two hand touch football extracts a heavy physical toll. My body was stiff for the next four days and my stride was reduced from 'confident twenty-something' to 'nursing home patient shuffle'. Thankfully, over the holiday, I was able to focus on my recovery by eating and sleeping and eating a lot.

The food at Thanksgiving is always some of my favorite and, as always, was very good and very plentiful. Nicole and helped prepare the turkey.

On Black Friday, we got together with the rest of America, loaded up in a minivan, and went to Walmart. We arrived at 9 am or so and found lots of people. We spent a little time walking around and marvelled at Walmart's generosity for putting things on sale for so cheap. As we got to the checkout I was definitely in the Christmas spirit. In the checkout line, we waited and watched our cashier scan items one at a time as slowly as possible for the three customers ahead of us. However, I almost didn't notice the half hour go by because I was so full of Christmas cheer. It wasn't until he finsihed with the lady in front of us, turned off his light, and said "Sorry, I'm closed," that the little light of 'Christmas joy' and 'peace on earth' went out. Anyway, another register line and a few choice words later, Nicole walked and I shuffled out of Walmart. We also made stops at Circuit City and the mall. All in all, we made some very good purchases; unfortunately, due to the sensitive nature of the season and our readership, the only deal I can tell you about was the really great ice scraper we bought at Walmart.

Friday, we played games with the family. I won at Settler's of Katan; which I have never done before. Settler's is fun game that is a sort of a cross between Monopoly and Risk, but in the same spirit allows you to win through ruthelessness and being oportunistic. For example, as I was wondering what resources were in the game, the following took place:

Matthew's Sister: I'll trade you three grain.
Matthew: You have three grain?
Matthew's Sister: Yes
Matthew: Good. I'll play my monopoly card. I'd like all the grain please. (evil laugh)

While playing together, we enjoyed a lot of good snacks. My favorite was the Parmesan and Roasted Red Pepper cracker spread. Some may ask, "isn't it wrong for one person to eat half a pound of cream cheese spread and a box of Wheat Thins in an hour?" Maybe.

Anyway, to cap off an already excellent weekend of excess and indulgences, Sat. we went to Springfield to see some old friends and have a fat night. Fat night is a Cragun family tradition that now involves multiple deep fat fryers, two gallons of cooking oil, and anything you have ever thought of that has been fried. This time we did mostly classiscs such as shrimp and onion rings, as well as some new fare such as green beans.

When Sunday came, it was time for us to head back. In order to give ourselves plenty of time, we left at six o' clock. As punishment for driving on Sunday instead of going to church we were given 20 hours of misery to feel guilty and repent. When we went out to the car on Sun. morning, we found that two-three inches of snow had fallen on the ground. It made for very sloppy conditions. At Indianapolis, the snow changed to rain and continued to rain to Columbus. Columbus to West VA was decent, however, once in West VA, the rain started to stick and freeze again. Then traffic started backing up outside of DC. We spent about an hour sitting outside of DC. We dropped Eric off in DC and got to take a break at his house for about half an hour. That left us with the remaining trip from DC to Hampton. Things actually went fairly smoothly until we go to Fredricksburg. Unfortunately, there was an accident in Richmond and I-95 was backed up 30 miles to Fredricksburg. After two and a half hours of stop and go traffic, we finally made it to Richmond. From there the traffic cleared up and we made it home at 1:00 am. Fortunately Nicole could sleep most of the way because she had to work early the next morning. All said and done, having the opportunity to be with family for a few great days made it worth it.

Since then, school has been winding down for me. I had one final and have one more this coming week; then I'll be all done until next semester. Work has had it's ups and downs for Nicole, but the week finished on a great upswing which was nice.

On Monday, for family home evening, we got our Christmas tree. Because we were pressed for time, we went to Walmart. To display there selection of trees, they tie a rope to them and hang them from the ceiling like dear carcasses after a hunt that are about to be gutted. We walked around and found a really nice one. It's actually flat on the back, but that worked out great because it means it sits closer to our wall.


On Friday, we went to downtown Newport News where we saw the Holly-daze fireworks show. It was actually very good. The setting was nice because the display was low to the ground at a small pond in the middle of the downtown. On top of that, it was surrounded by buildings so the results were a great display that echoed enough to knock your fillings loose. I must say that NN put on a great show, and if I wasn't worried about being stabbed or shot, I might consider living there.

Anyway, Christmas season is in full swing in the Cragun household, and it's shaping up to be very merry with lots of Yule Tide cheer.

Making Room for One More!!!!!! (Goodbye Den)

So, I know that there are many out there that are as excited about the news as we are. I know some of you already know, but I thought it would be best to make some sort of formal announcement to let people know that it's ok to talk about it and such. Our family has been blessed by the addition of a Felt bicycle. The delivery came at 11:36 am on Tuesday and weighs 24 lbs 12 oz. It hasn't even been a week, and I've already come to love it so much. I will admit though, it has been a challenge to make room for the addition in our house. Thankfully we were able to slide the kitchen table over far enough in it's nook to make enough room for it to fit nicely.

This bike is very different from my last bike. My last bike was a normal full-suspension mountain bike and was quite burly. This bike is a hardtail single-speed 29er. The key differences are:

1. It's a hardtail--which means it doesn't have a shock in the back. This makes my behind much more sore after the rides, but the bike is much more responsive out of the saddle. It also makes it lighter.
   
2. It's a 29er--this means it has larger diameter tires which mean decreased rolling resistance to everything including roots.
3. It's a single speed--this means just one gear. The bike is very simple and also lighter because of the absence of all the drive train components.

I went for my first ride on Thursday afternoon. I took it out to Hardwood Mills park. It was a great feeling to ride again. The bike is very well suited to the terrain here; my last bike would have been overkill. The bike handles very well and it always feels like it is in the right gear. Also, I must say the 29" wheels are a pleasure. It's a lot of fun to just roll over the top of everything monster-truck style. I love it.

In other great news, Nicole and I spoke in church today on gratitude. Nicole did an excellent job. I kept thinking about how articulate and educated she sounded as she spoke. I keep realizing more and more what a deal I got as our marriage progresses. Yesterday afternoon I sat down to write my talk and told Nicole I would have it knocked out in 30 min. Four hours later I finished. It was just one of those things that the more and more I read, the more and more I wanted to know.

I did get a break in the middle of my talk writing though when we went to the ward activity. It was a great activity that ended up very well. However, at the outset we weren't sure when to show up. We were told by three different sources that the activity started at 5:00, 6:00, and 6:30. We guessed 5:00 and so did 75% of the ward. The rest came trickling in throughout the evening. The activity was a pot luck. Everyone was supposed to make something with their food storage and bring the item and their recipe.
About 4:00, Nicole and I decided we should start cooking something for the activity. Much to our surprise, we found that the only thing beside Cup o' Noodles that was in our food storage that we could turn into a decent side dish was Stove Top Suffing. So that's what we made. And, as instructed, we displayed the recipe for everyone to see (I followed all three steps meticulously). Now some may laugh and point the finger of scorn at our simply prepared dish, but, as I predicted it was one of the first items gone at the pot luck--I didn't even get any. There's no way anyone can turn down Stove Top. Also, I would like to note that at the activity, we took receipt of more items for our food storage that we had on order. We now have 6 gallons of water and 25 lbs of canned flour. I know it's not much yet, but don't you worry, we'll have our proverbial bomb shelter stocked in no time. Now, if only we could find a place to put it all.

That Rascally Voldemort (AKA Tom Riddle)

So I know all of you are dying to know the end to Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secret's (I realize that this only applies to about 10 people in the world besides those who are illiterate, and those who are both illiterate and blind and can't watch the movies.) So although I now know who opened the Chamber of Secrets to kill all the mudbloods, I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you nine--you are just going to have to read it for yourselves. Nicole and I just finished book two of the Harry Potter saga. When we were first married, Nicole couldn't believe that I had never read any of the Harry Potter books. So in order to culture me, we have taken to reading the books out loud as we drive. We tend to spend quite a bit of time in the car together dropping each other off and picking each other up. I will concede that the books are well written and interesting, and I actually have caught myself thinking about them besides when we are reading them. In fact I look forward to the time we spend together reading and it makes the time in the car go by much faster. My only regret is that I didn't get on the whole Harry Potter bandwagon earlier. I never got to enjoy going to Barnes and Noble at 8am dressed up in a Dumbledore costume I sewed myself making jokes about 'how dumb muggles can be' and waiting in line until midnight to get my book three, book four, book five, book six, or book seven.

Beyond Harry Potter, this has really been a great week. Thursday we got to go rock climbing at a gym in Virginia beach with two of our friends Chuck and Quincy. It was a great time. Climbing is great because it helps you find muscles to strengthen that you don't normally use--then it reminds you the rest of the week about how weak you really are and how you should really consider using those muscles more often--dually noted.

On Saturday, we got to go to the Washington, DC temple to see two of our friends be sealed for eternity. It was a great experience. It reminded me of how lucky I am to be married to such an incredible woman and how grateful I am that we can be together forever. On the way home from DC, we went to Golden Corral to celebrate. It has been a long while since I have been to an all you can eat buffet. I used to be quite good at eating; however, much to my surprise, I had two plates, and a little dessert, and I was done. I filled up fast--I'm no longer the 'Great White Kobayashi of the North' that I used to be. However, I still did manage to get in steak, fried chicken, prime rib, shrimp and a taco.

Today on the way to church we had a rough bout with nature. When we were almost at the church, we were driving about 40 down Mercury boulevard when I heard what sounded like rocks hitting the windsheild. It wasn't rocks, it was droppings from some unknown bird between the size of a California Condor and WWII fighter plane. Needless to say the windshield was covered in feces. We turned on the windshield wipers which only made matters worse until after we used up almost all of our windshield washer fluid. Regardless, I have to say we deserved it.

You see earlier in the same car ride, immediately after leaving our apartment we turned right on Kecoughtan ('kick-a-tan') Road. As we turned right, we saw this:

Memorial to the squirrel we crushed on the way to church

This squirrel was on the side of the road just gathering nuts into a basket to take home to his children. I thought to myself, 'That's cute. Hope he doesn't run out under the car.' Then, of course, against my better judgement he ran right under the car. Rear passenger tire caught him square and that was it. Anyway, I was sad, but aparently not sad enough because we got taken to town by the aforementioned mystery bird.

4th Grade Political Science

Well, the elections are finally over. And even those who weren't satisfied with the result have to admit, at least all the ads have stopped and we can get on with life. However, because it was such an important week in our nations history, Nicole decided to teach the students about how politics really works. This week, Nicole started a new program with her students. Similar to a politician the students receive rewards (poker chips=$$$) for things that most would consider 'responsible behavior' or 'common-decency.' The chips are handed out for such things as turning in assignments, listening in class, or helping another student. Chips are then redeemed at the end of the week in the class store. Items in the store range anywhere from candy to Hotwheels cars to slightly larger toys. Some call it 'a behavior plan' some call it 'bribery,' but regardless, it works and everyone is happier.

In other news, I got a new wrench set this week. And not just any wrench set, a ratcheting wrench set. Built like regular box end wrenches with a ratcheting end, they are magical little devices that allow you to perform work in very small areas where space is very limited. Lucky for me I had just such a job. Of late, our car developed a small whine, which turned into a squeal, which turned into the blood-curdling death cry of a rabbit as it is skinned alive loud enough to wake up everyone in a three block radius as we leave each morning at 7 am--certainly loud enough that we couldn't carry on a conversation while it was happening. It turns out that the culprit was the serpentine belt on the alternator. On a Japeneese car (we drive a Mazda) changing the belt is a simple process of loosening four bolts that are conveniently located at the bottom of the engine between the firewall and the block and easily loosened by the same types of people who can fold their entire body into a piece of carry-on luggage. Enter the magic wrenches. We were able to complete the whole operation last night in a little over an hour using only two wrenches and less than a dozen cuss words. Using standard wrenches that had to be repositioned every eighth of a turn, we easily would still be there right now. For those reading this that are not interested in tools or auto repair, thank you for allowing me this indulgence as I glory in the best purchase of the week (and I had a lot of good ones this week.) Also, it will make a great gift for your husband or auto mechanic at X-mas.

Also this week, I went on my first scout camping trip as a leader. I will admit that at first I wasn't too excited about going. It has been raining here essentially non-stop for the last two weeks. All I could see was myself being wet and cold for two days. I imagine that these same thoughts often crossed the minds of the leaders I had as a youth which make me even more grateful for their sacrifices. However, I went and it actually turned out well. My scout did great; it was his first camping trip. (As a note 'scout' is intentionally not plural as I only have one.) Being that he had never been before we spent our time going over good Boy Scout classics such as building a fire that will light with only one match, how not to remove your fingers while using a pocket knife and what to do if you do, setting up tents, and knot-tying. We were quite successful. He had a good time, and best of all, the sun was out and Friday night was warm. Additionally I got to spend some time with the one of the other scout masters who is becoming a really good friend of mine.

I know I've said it before, but Virginia is really beautiful. The countriside here is absolutely gorgeous. I got up early before the boys were up on Sat. morning and went for a little walk down a small road near our campsite. Here are a some pictures. Also included are some photos that Nicole and I took this evening when we drove out to walk along one of the piers.

The James River

Nicole and I at the Pier

The James River Bridge

Sunrise at the campout

Fall on the camping trip