My Mom

This doesn’t happen often for me, but right now i really don't know what to say. I have so many different things running though my head and i really don't know where to start. Today is my mom's birthday and what better day to brag about her then on her very own day, personally picked out by her. There is no combination of words to explain my Mom. She has done more and sacrificed more for me then i can ever imagine, and she rarely got a thank you for it. She has bent over backwards for her family, moving away from friends and family to support her husband. My mom would spend hours and hours sitting in the freezing cold and blistering hot, to watch me play sports, coming to every high school football game even when she knew i would never actually get in the game. Planning family trips that she knew we would all love, but what she loved was just a chance to spend time with all of us together.


You know you have a great mom when your friends call her mom as well. I have heard countless times from my friends how awesome my mom is and "Your mom knows more interesting information then anyone I’ve ever met". Very few people get the opportunity to have such an inspirational person in their life, and i know for a fact my mother’s personality has rubbed off on me, and has given me all of the opportunities to be successful in life.
They say that a young boy will look to marry a woman that most resembles his mother, and i feel that is true. Many of the things i love abut my wife are things i love about my mother.


I love you very much Mom, thank you for everything you’ve done for me.

Go Dodgers!

So I’m turning 25 on October 11^th. It’s not even October yet, and this has already been the best birthday I’ve ever had. Last week Rachel hands me a little bag full of folded up papers and yells “Happy Birthday!”. The first one I open is two plane tickets to Denver, the second was a one night stay at the Sheraton, and the last was two tickets to see the Los Angeles Dodgers play the Colorado Rockies. I could hardly believe it. I have never been given a whole trip for my birthday let alone tickets to see my favorite sport team of all time play.  Rachel and I planned on going to spring training to see them at the beginning of the year, but couldn’t because we were just married and getting moved into our new house, so I didn’t think I would get a chance to see them play this year. Rachel did such an excellent job planning the trip, even getting my shifts covered at work. She did all of this without me even getting a hint of what was to come. So Monday morning we were off to Denver we regrouped in our hotel room, and headed out for a walk down 16^th street to find some food. It is tradition for Rachel and I to eat at breweries when we leave the state, so the first one we saw was a place called Rock Bottom Brewery. We ordered our usual wings and burgers and it was the best wings we’ve ever had. I say it a lot but these were really the best ones ever! We then took a walk down the river walk in Denver until we saw an aquarium. We decided to give it a try and it was actually really cool. They had Sharks, Turtles, Stingrays, Tigers, pretty much everything under the sea plus Tigers. After the aquarium we went to the hotel room to have a few beers before the game and they were not just any beer it was “Coors Lights”. We took a free shuttle to the game and enjoyed all the people harassing us for our Dodger Blue attire. Rachel has never been to a pro baseball game, and I have never been to Coors Field so it was a first for both of us. The stadium was awesome, so big and so crisp. Words can’t explain what a Major League baseball stadium looks and feels like; it’s just something you have to experience. I have been to every type of pro sport event and baseball is by far the most unique experience you can find. It was awesome seeing the players I brag about on a regular basis and it was even better to see them kill the Rockies and set the tone for the rest of the night. Rachel and I have some friends who live in Bolder, so they drove down for a few beers and to catch up. All in all it was a great trip and I would not have changed a thing. Rachel always has the best ideas for things like this and is the best wife in the world.

Hit the issue spot on

I found this little article that a doctor wrote to the White House regarding our health care issues.  He couldn't be more spot on.  Found this wonderful

Dr. Roger Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis"..

It's worth a quick read:


Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.


While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture" a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD 

Nature Pictures

I found these awesome pictures.  It's this guy that creates art in nature and then let's the natural elements destroy them.  But we get pictures of all this cool stuff before it's blown away.  Enjoy!  Happy Friday!

It's amazing to me what people can do that are talented.  I will never have talent like this.  I'm proud of myself when I hang a picture, well supervise hanging a picture.  Evan is very good at the actual hanging part.  Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Coffee Drinkers

Evan and I don't drink coffee.  But the irony is I love little things that have to do with coffee.  From the mugs, to the smell, and the cute coffee makers you can buy.  I remember being little and waking up to the smell of coffee when my grandparents would be in town and everyone hovered over their mug, slowly waking up.  Evan and I won't ever have those memories for our (very far down the road 5+ years) children.  They will have memories of water, milk, or orange juice.  Not near as exciting.  My Mom always likes to tell me that I like frilly, or fru fru coffee.  i.e. Starbucks.  Yes it's not real coffee and it's highly fattening with who knows what they put in it.  But going back to my point, here is the most adorable design for coffee mugs.  I would totally do this if I drank coffee.  It's ingenius and pleasing to the eye and extremely unique which is why I love it.

Isn't this amazing?  A picture frame to hold the mugs.  Plus it helps that everything looks so clean and fresh with all the white.  I love rooms on design sites that are white with butcher block counters.  Dream kitchen hello. Like this one here.  

I love the white and the old look to it and I love love love the butcher block counter tops.  Everything looks so inviting and clean about it.  It belongs somewhere on the East coast though in one of those Cap Cod homes though.  I can't see something that bright in my home, well maybe down the road after our townhome.  Just thought I would share amazing ideas!!

Wax On, Wax Off

Seen the karate kid?  Well I finally understood why that's a punishment like in the movie.  I don't wax cars, I just don't.  My Dad didn't teach me, because I bet he knew I would do it for like 5 minutes and walk away because it is stupid.  Evan convinced me what a wonderful idea is was to wax my car.  Well needless to say, I got half way around my car and then started voicing my rights as an American and how this is slave labor.  Evan tried to salvage the project by trying to convince me how great the car will look.  But it didn't work so well.  I switched careers and decided to be a window washer instead, which was a great choice.  I think we make a great team.

Other then waxing cars on a Sunday night this weekend was fun.  Friday we finally tried the infamous Cotton Bottom garlic burgers.  It's really a nice little place with a patio, and with good friends makes for a wonderful night.  Saturday we had Evan's recovery day for his work.  Unfortunately we were told the wrong time but my Mom, Dad, and myself made the best of a beautiful day downtown and wandered the farmers market, which by the way is really cool.  I haven't ever been and it's a nice place to go, fresh vegetables and fruits and artwork and it's all supporting local.  Which is huge these days with Walmart and chain stores taking over the world.  After, we all went for some Greek food.  Later that day we had Anna and Brandon's rehearsal wedding dinner.  They are an adorable couple and they get married in 4 days, Congrats guys!  Sunday was killer, we hung more pictures, I got hands down the coolest ski pants in the world and went to lunch with my parents.  Overall I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  It's great downtown too, you can take your dogs everywhere and Alta was a huge hit.  My Dad and Evan were joking that they should go pick up chicks with Alta because SO many people stopped to pet her and saying how adorable she is.  Well homeless dogs are the cutest dogs!  Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

Also, as a side note Courtney is engaged!!!  Our whole family is beyond excited and she is so happy and I'm stoked to have a brother in law as well!  They have been dating for 6 years, so he has been in the family for awhile anyways, but we are all just as excited for him to be in forever!  Congrats Court and Brandon!

Here are both families after they got engaged.  

45 days and counting to opening of the resorts!

It runs in the family.....

I think family habits are funny.  Everyone, whether you care to admit it or not, normally you act like either your Mom or Dad.  You learn certain habits from them that you do without knowing.  For instance, my Mom has the weirdest eating habits.  She pairs weird things together because she wants to eat certain foods that satisfy a craving.  Weird that I would get the exact same habit.  My sister for sure does it the most out of all 3 of us, but I find it entertaining for people to watch us at either a lunch, dinner, etc and watch how the 3 of us eat.  My sister is fine mixing everything together, my Mom is in between, and I will not, repeat, will not mix my food.  That's nasty plain and simple.  But you will see us at a restaurant splitting entrees and agreeing who will order what so we can all eat off each others plate.  It's actually really funny to watch.  I think Evan has come to terms with the weird things I do that have been passed down through the family.  He doesn't even notice the weird things I order anymore, because he knows it's rather tame when I'm by myself rather then when I'm with my Mom and sister.
Last week was a perfect example of what weirdos my Mom and I are.  I wanted brushetta from Red Rock.  If you haven't had it, I HIGHLY recommend it.  Well Evan was having a boys trip for the night so my Mom decided to come over and she was having the taste for sushi.  Go figure that sushi sounded delicious as well.  (As a side note, before anyone who reads this blog doesn't like sushi and is making that ewwww noise, go try it before you make your opinions) So yes, we had sushi and brushetta.  Is that a normal combination, no.  Is it a normal combination at my house, of course it is!!  I think family is so important and I love hanging out with my family every chance I get.  So thanks Mom for the great traits you passed down!!  Even though they are weird 90% of the time they still make sense to me. :)