The McMurry Family

This Month's Books

2012-01-24T12:22:00.002-07:00

Liked it a lot!
The Penderwicks : a summer tale of four sisters
The moving finger
Towards zero
Cards on the table
Tumtum and Nutmeg
The Magician's Elephant

Liked it
James Herriot's favorite dog stories
The elevator family
The dollhouse murders
The lovesick salesman
Igraine the brave
Sinister Scenes

OK
Aliens on Vacation

Didn't like it
Apple Island, or, the truth about teachers
The Peterkin papers

Started but didn't feel like finishing
The best school year ever
The small bachelor
Forbidden Sea

Would use in an ESL reading class
The Penderwicks
The Magician's Elephant

Oh, Baxter!

2012-01-19T23:19:00.002-07:00

We had the canopy up for a few days, but had to take it down again:

This Month's Books

2012-01-04T11:30:00.002-07:00

Liked it a lot!
The children of Noisy Village
The girl in blue
Here lies the librarian
The hollow : a Hercule Poirot novel
After the funeral
Taken at the flood

Liked it
James Herriot's animal stories
Agatha Christie : the woman and her mysteries
Unearthly asylum
Meeow and the pots and pans -- this is a picture book. It is a story of a black and white cat like mine. I didn't like the story very much, but I liked the pictures a lot.

OK
The real James Herriot : a memoir of my father
A season of gifts

Would use in an ESL reading class
James Herriot's animal stories
The children of Noisy Village
The girl in blue
Here lies the librarian

This month's books

2011-12-14T21:52:00.002-07:00

Liked it a lot!
The Unexpected Guest
The Sittaford Mystery
Elephants Can Remember
Hickory Dickory Dock
The Hotel Under the Sand
The Search for Delicious
Fiendish Deeds

Liked it
Peter and the Starcatchers--I might have liked this more if I had been in more of a reading mood. It is actually pretty clever.

Would use in an ESL reading class
The Search for Delicious
The Hotel Under the Sand

This Week's Books

2011-11-26T14:35:00.002-07:00

Liked it a lot!
Crooked House
Destination Unknown
Ordeal by Innocence
James Herriot's Cat Stories

Started but wasn't interested in finishing:
The House on Hound Hill
The Ramsay scallop
Shakespeare's scribe
Frame-up on the Bowery
Wicked Will

I don't think I was in a reading mood.

Books I would use in an ESL reading class:
Maybe James Herriot's cat stories. But it is British English and British culture. And it is all about cats. So maybe not.

This Week's Books

2011-11-08T11:44:00.001-07:00

Liked it a lot!
The man in the brown suit
Why didn't they ask Evans
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller
And then there were none

Liked it
The fall of the amazing Zalindas

Ok
The stolen sapphire

Didn't like it
The case that time forgot

Funny comic

2011-10-25T21:17:00.002-06:00

from http://xkcd.com

2011-10-17T19:37:00.002-06:00

Liked it a lot!
Death in the clouds
The seven dials mystery
Understood Betsy

Liked it
Mr. Parker Pyne, detective
All-of-a-kind family
The Saturdays
The year of Miss Agnes

OK
The war with Grandpa
Tales of terror from the tunnel's mouth

Didn't like it
The sword in the tree
Utterly me, Clarice Bean
The monsters of Morley Manor

The Latest Book Report

2011-09-28T15:57:00.003-06:00

Liked it a lot!
Calico Captive
The Pale Horse
Murder is Easy
Death comes as the End

Liked it
Invincible Louisa
Sunset at Blandings
The Boxcar Children
The Willoughbys

OK
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins
Ramona's World
A Well-Timed Enchantment

Ben 1, Plumber 0

2011-09-24T22:06:00.000-06:00

We had Whipple Plumbing and Heating and air coming by to give us "free" "tune-ups." They aren't really free–they end up being about $20 each. They aren't really tune-ups–they are actually "let us come and tell you how we can charge you for things."

The furnace guy was great. He said, "I'd just keep using your furnace until it is too loud or not working."

The electrician said, "What's an electric tune-up? I don't know why my company has them." I agreed and he just asked me if I had any problems. I told him I didn't and asked a few questions.

The AC guy said, "Your filter is too small, here's a new one. Oh, and your air conditioner could go out any day. I wouldn't worry about it until it doesn't work.

The plumber came and everything was a problem. The work he quoted us would cost around $5000. One of the items on the list was a rebuild of our toilet tanks at $314 per toilet. The filler valve was a little loud in one, but after he left it was having lots of problems. It became unbearable but instead of calling the plumber, I spent $10 at the BJ plumbing and took less than 30 minutes to replace the items in the tank.

Ben 1, Plumber 0

That darn exploding TARDIS

2011-09-23T21:05:00.002-06:00

Ben thinks this needs no explanation...oh, Ben.

First, you have to watch Dr. Who--the eleventh doctor played by Matt Smith. Part of that story line is that the TARDIS (his time machine) explodes, and leaves a crack in time and space that is destroying the universe. You see the crack in many episodes. Eventually, he saves the day by flying the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS creating a second big bang. Awesome, right? Awesomely nerdy... But we do like Dr. Who. The new ones NOT the old ones.

Second, this picture is of a crack in the concrete of our bedroom floor that looks a lot like the Dr. Who crack. Ben was so tickled to discover the similarity that he called me in to the bedroom one afternoon.

Ben: "Hey, Alison! Come see this! It's awesome!"
Me: "What am I looking at?"
Ben: "That crack in out floor. Doesn't it look exactly like THE crack? I'm going to take a picture of it and put it on the blog."

See, it IS a funny post.

P.S. Ben's sonic screwdriver arrived yesterday...it's another Dr. Who thing.

2011-09-13T01:32:00.001-06:00

My mom made a great post on her blog about my Grandparents. I really have the best grandparents. Here are a few of my favorites. See more at http://mcmurryfamily.blogspot.com/.

Last weeks' books

2011-09-10T18:09:00.005-06:00

Liked it a lot!
Pure Dead Magic
Dead Man's Folly
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The House of Arden
Murder at the Vicarage
Murder on the Links
Sparkling Cyanide
The Far Side of the Loch

Liked it
The Spaghetti Detectives
Then there were Five
Thomas and the Dragon Queen
The Wish Giver
Pure Dead Wicked
Freddy Goes Camping
Pure Dead Batty
Midnight is a Place

OK
While Mrs. Coverlet was Away

Didn't like it
Pandora Gets Angry
Wolf Wanted
We the Children

Last week's books

2011-09-02T11:02:00.002-06:00

Liked it a lot!
Five Little Pigs
The Harlequin Tea Set

Liked it
The sixty-eight Rooms
The Big Four
The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows
Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: the Hidden Gallery
The Doll People
A Drowned Maiden's Hair

OK
The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan

Didn't like it
Eye of the Crow

Last week's books

2011-08-20T15:50:00.005-06:00

Liked it a lot!
Murder in Mesopotamia
Sad cypress : a Hercule Poirot novel
Double sin and other stories
The mysterious Benedict Society
Ramona and her mother

Liked it
The princess test
The fairy-tale detectives
More about Paddington
Little Darlings
A tale dark and Grimm
Thank you, Jeeves

OK
Modern fairies, dwarves, goblins, & other nasties
School of Fear

Last week's books

2011-08-12T19:09:00.002-06:00

Liked it a lot!:
Princess Academy
Toads and diamonds
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The underdog and other stories (Hercule Poirot short stories)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Dumb witness : a Hercule Poirot novel
Miss Marple : the complete short stories

(I really like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries.)

Liked it:
Emily Arrow promises to do better this year
Ramona the pest
Beezus and Ramona
The Iron Ring

OK:
The clothes they stood up in

Didn't like it:
Masterpiece
Mary Poppins (This surprised me. Mary in the book is kind of mean.)

Last week's books

2011-08-12T19:04:00.002-06:00

Liked it a lot!
Sleeping murder
A pocket full of rye
Seven Daughters: Seven Sons
The wide-awake princess
Ring for Jeeves
The book of the maidservant

Liked it
Guinevere's gift
Ramona the brave
The dragon princess

OK
The whispering mountain
The swan maiden

Didn't like it
Happy birthday, Bad Kitty

2011-08-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

I like reading. A lot. I have many books at my house and I am always reading something. I also sometimes read books on the Internet at the Gutenberg Project. So I don’t know why it has taken me so long, but I finally renewed my Provo Library card. My new library card has a dinosaur reading a book on it.

I guess I just needed an excuse to actually go to the library. I tutor two little Korean girls twice a week. I have assigned a book for them to read, and so I took them to the library on Wednesday afternoon to get it. We had a lot of fun at the library together. They got some books and movies, and their homework book. And I got four books:

From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

This is the homework book for the Korean girls. The younger sister is starting 4^th grade in a few weeks. The older sister is starting 6^th grade. I chose this book from the 4^th grade reading list. It is a very funny story. A brother and sister run away from home to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The underdog and other stories (Hercule Poirot short stories)
Miss Marple : the complete short stories
Emily Arrow promises to do better this year

By Thursday night (yes, one day later) I had read all of them. I am a fast reader, and they were not very long books. But I needed new library books. So I asked a friend if she and her children would be interested in a trip to the library. And we went on Friday. Her little four year old girl, Addie, and I were a team. I helped her pick out some books and then she helped me pick out some books. She put them in my bag for me, and scanned them for me at checkout. She was a very good helper. I got nine books:

The clothes they stood up in (Addie picked this one for me because it was small and had an interesting picture on the cover. I wouldn't have gotten it otherwise.)

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Dumb witness : a Hercule Poirot novel

Ramona the pest

Beezus and Ramona

Masterpiece

Princess Academy

Toads and diamonds

Mary Poppins

Today is Sunday and I have already finished four and a half books. By tonight I will have finished at least one more, but probably two. By Monday, I should have read another one or two. Or maybe even three. Maybe I will finish them all this weekend. Am I a book junkie? Is this laziness? Naughtiness?

My friend, Rose, accuses me of reading “vapid” books.(For those of us who have forgotten our ACT/SAT vocabulary, vapid means uninspiring, boring, bland, dull, weak.) She says that these kinds of books don’t make me think. They don’t have deep meanings. They aren’t challenging in any way.

What do you think? Should we be reading to challenge ourselves or to escape into fantasy? Should we have to critique our books or just enjoy them?

A nice bike ride

2011-06-21T22:47:00.000-06:00

I went on a nice 8-9 mile ride today on my trike. It was fun. I'm a little sad that I didn't bring my GPS; I'm a big fan of GIS data. I went down to the lake. There was a detour on the trail. This detour was through a nice residential area. The roads all had bike lanes. It was quite pleasant.

The river was overflowing. The last mile going towards the lake had water right up to the trail. It looked to be 3-5 higher than normal. I stopped to take a picture, and I was attacked by mosquitos. Needless to say, that picture didn't turn out very well.

And does it not seem hard to you to have to go to bed by day?

2011-06-05T20:07:00.003-06:00

We got quite sick this weekend. With gastroenteritis. It wiped us out completely. We ended up spending the last three days in bed. I took maybe 4 naps yesterday and 2 today. Being sick is hard.

Ben had an especially hard time because the weather was gorgeous this weekend. Every time he woke up, he'd look out the window and pout.

"I wanted to go for a bike ride."
"Why can't it be rainy now and nice when I'm better?"
"We're not that sick--let's go for a walk!"

I had to point out we couldn't even eat solid food, bathe, or put on clean clothes, so we couldn't go play outside.

It reminded me of the poem Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson:

In winter I get up at night
and dress by yellow candlelight.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
the birds still hopping on the tree,
or hear the grown-up people's feet
still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Help me Win!

2011-03-31T23:59:00.000-06:00

Help me win! Watch this video:

I am participating in a competition in Instructional Design at BYU. The first part of the competition was pitching our product to a panel of judges. My team won! For the second part, whichever design team gets the most people to watch their pitch video wins an ipad. Please watch our video. I get 10 points for every unique state or country that views it and 1 point per person. Please tell your friends to watch it too. The deadline for the competition is April 7, 2011 at 11:59pm.

Fortunes

2011-03-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Alison and I went to Panda Express last Saturday. My fortune is the top one; Alison's is the bottom one. I guess my jokes will keep her alive for a long time.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:33:00.003-07:00

Follow the link for our Christmas Card!
2010 Christmas Card!

A great Christmas Yet!

2010-12-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

It's too early to tell what will be the best non-money/non-gift card gift this year, but I did get a pretty cool gift today. One of the Priests in the quorum came over to give me a gift. He wanted me to open it right there. I did and it was a beautiful pen. He proudly told me that he handcrafted it. It is a truly great gift! Thanks Cameron!

Laminate Flooring, 1 down and 2 to go

2010-12-24T16:19:00.002-07:00

I finally decided to be productive this break and put down laminate in one of our bedrooms. It was kind of fun and kind of not fun. My back and knees are killing me!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

2010-12-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

We woke up to the most snow I've seen us get at one time. I think it was like 12 inches!

My car had a spoiler this morning. It was made of snow!

It's nice that someone else shovels snow.

The Jenson Boys and I made a pretty killer snow fort! It was so much fun!

Here they are in the fort!

After that we came back to our house for dinner and saw the worlds largest snowman. Well at least Provo's largest one!

Ben and Wesley

2010-12-21T21:18:00.002-07:00

I love holding Wesley. He's a good little nephew.

What Andrew does to Baby Cat!

2010-12-21T21:15:00.001-07:00

Commissioning Niece & Nephew Art

2010-12-07T11:48:00.003-07:00

Looking at my sister's family blog this morning reminded me of a request I have been wanting to make of all our nieces and nephews.

On the Gasser blog, Carolyn posted about a picture Audrey drew. It is Audrey's idea of what the globe looks like. It is very cute and funny.

For several months now, I have been thinking I should ask all of our nieces and nephews to draw and send us some pictures. I feel like I need some art to decorate with, and since I have no children of my own to draw it for me, perhaps my nieces and nephews could do it. The pictures could be any size, any topic, any color.

To all our nieces and nephews (Cameron, Audrey, Megan, Claire, Riley, Asher, Kathryn, Hannah, Sadie, Wesley, Zach, and Connor), we love you and miss you lots!

A change in advent calendar plans

2010-11-30T17:57:00.006-07:00

A while ago, I posted about trying to make an advent calendar. I posted a picture of one that I was trying to copy. Shortly after that, I gave up on it. It just wasn't working out. I still wanted an advent calendar, and thought maybe I'd come back to the puzzle and finish it by next Christmas.

On our No-Church Sunday this week, a friend called me and asked if I'd like to spend the No-Church Sunday at her house making advent calendars out of felt. Of course, yes, that sounds great! She found this advent calendar and its free pattern on the Allsorts craft blog (http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2007/11/advent-calendar.html):

She made hers like the one pictured on the Allsorts website--white felt with red yarn and red buttons. But she the knitted the little numbers. And she had green and red ribbon that she was going to use for the ribbon in between each pocket.

I took my bin of felt...

--I hoard craft supplies. I get free stuff from people cleaning out their craft rooms. So I have a bin of felt, a bigger bin of small fabric scraps, a bin of yarn, a tin of embroidery floss, a tin of buttons, a box of ribbon, a box of thread, and some little boxes of beads. I did buy some of the things in my collection, but most of it is free stuff people got rid of. So I didn't have to buy anything for this project. I scrounged through my stuff and found things that would work.--

...Anyway, I looked through my felt scraps to see how much I had that would be big enough to use for this project. I decided on reds and pinks. I sewed the first one together. I used light pink embroidery floss. Then I cut out the number 1 from felt and sewed that on. Then I looked through my button box for a good button. I found a white button with shiny red and blue and green speckles. I sewed it on. Here is pocket #1:

I decided that it was very hard to sew numbers and buttons on after sewing up the pocket, so I spent the rest of the time at her house choosing buttons and sewing them on. Her two little boys were very happy to dump out my button box, sort the buttons, help me choose buttons, and squabble over which one had more buttons in his pile. After I came home, I spent the rest of the evening cutting out and sewing on the numbers. I cut each pocket's number(s) to match the button. Now I am in the process of sewing the pockets and stringing them together. I have finished #1 through #12. And here are some pictures:

I am using beads in between each pocket instead of ribbon. I tried ribbon, but it looked too cluttery and kind of took the focus off the cute buttons and numbers.

Here you can see #2's cute red and white button. And the beads in between the pockets.

#5 is one of my favorites. I like the fuchsia color and the burgundy button.

#6 has a cute flower button.

#8 is made out of some of my favorite felt. I think it is very old felt, because it is thick and the color is rich, and I cannot find anything like it anywhere to buy more! It is a maroon color. And the boys helped me pick a cute heart button to put on it.

I think the advent calendar looks good, and is way easier than the other one I was trying to make. Maybe I will make that one into a Christmas wall hanging that is not an advent calendar, since it was just the pockets I couldn't get to work.

So I recommend this pattern. You can go buy stuff, or use up scraps. Both ways turn out cute.

No Church Today

2010-11-28T08:18:00.003-07:00

Ben came home early from ward council. Very early. I was surprised and asked why he came home so early. He said, as they were sitting in ward council, the door opened and a councilor in the stake presidency peeked in. Then the door opened further to reveal the stake president. They reported that the west hallway was full of smoke, and the east hallway was starting to fill up with smoke. And they couldn't find the source of the smoke. And when they were wandering around looking for the source, breathing in the smoke, they started to feel sick. And that they were canceling church meetings for the day. After the door was opened, everyone in ward council could smell the smoke. So they finished the meeting right then, and went home to spread the word that church is canceled today.

I kind of want to go to the church to see what is going on. I wonder if it a full fire, or just smoking wires. I wonder if the high council and stake presidency are still monkeying around with it, or if they have called the fire department yet.

UPDATE:

Apparently the problem had something to do with ...the vent in the men's bathroom. What??? But how could that cause all the commotion? We're still hoping to hear more about this, because that reason is lame. But everything is back to normal at the church.

Carrot Pudding

2010-11-25T22:14:00.002-07:00

Carrot pudding is an Irvine family tradition for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many people think it sounds gross. American "pudding" is chocolate Jello pudding. This is a steamed British pudding. Similar to plum pudding and figgy pudding. It is kind of like cake. I googled to see where it came from.

Wikipedia says forms of pottage existed for a long time, but started becoming like modern British pudding in the 1400s. It continued to evolve to its modern form, and carrot pudding has been served in Ireland since the 1700s.

Plum pudding is the most common/popular, and it commonly called Christmas Pudding. However, the Practically Edible website says, "Steamed Carrot Pudding became popular in Canada at Christmases during the First World War as a substitute for Plum Pudding and all its rationed ingredients such as sugar. Many Canadian families, particularly on the West Coast, have never lost the preference for it at Christmas."

I wonder if my ancestors originally made plum pudding, but changed to carrots because of rationing, or if they have always been carrot pudding people. Whatever the case, carrot pudding is the absolute best dessert ever. Thank you, British/Irish/Scottish ancestors who brought the carrot pudding tradition to our family.

Carrot Pudding

This will be cooked in a steam bath in the oven. I used a large casserole dish with a lid and a 9x13 pan.

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grate 4 c. carrots and 4 c. apples (a total of 8 cups, yes it is a lot)
3. Boil a pot of water. Some of this water will go in the 9x13 pan.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together:

3 t. baking soda
4 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cloves
2 t. nutmeg
2 t. allspice

5. In another bowl, a large bowl, mix together:

2 c. butter
4 c. brown sugar

6. Add to the butter/sugar mixture:

4 beaten eggs
the 4 c. grated carrots
the 4 c. grated apples

7. To the butter, etc. mixture, add the dry ingredient mixture.
8. Then add:

4 t. vanilla
2 c. raisins
2 c. chopped nuts

9. Fill the 9x13 pan halfway with the hot, boiling water. Place the casserole dish in the 9x13 pan (make sure that the water doesn't overflow.)

10. Fill the casserole dish 2/3 of the way full of carrot pudding. As it cooks, it will expand, so don't fill it completely full. Don't worry if it does overflow; the 9x13 pan will catch the mess.

11. Put the lid on the dish, and put the entire contraption in the oven.

12. Cook it at 350 for 4 hours. Avoid checking it! When you open the oven, it disturbs the steam bath. If you have an oven light, you should keep an eye on it to make sure the water doesn't boil dry. If the contraption runs out of water, add more.

When it is cooked, serve it with this sauce ladled on top of individual servings:

Spiced Sauce

1. Combine these ingredients in a saucepan:

1 c. sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 and 1/2 T. cornstarch
1 c. boiling water (if you make this at the same time as the pudding, you could use some of the boiling water from that)
2 T. butter

2. Cook it on medium heat until it is thick and clear.
3. Add 1 and 1/2 t. vanilla.
4. Serve over hot carrot pudding.

New Handbooks and Church Policies

2010-11-14T08:46:00.003-07:00

I hope everyone is as excited about these changes as I am! Of course they make sense, and we ask ourselves why we were doing it differently before. Of course the church auxiliaries are here to support the family, so more emphasis should be on families. Of course the concerns of each ward should be addressed by the ward council. So sensible. I firmly believe in following the Handbook as strictly as possible. For one thing, it makes organizing a ward easier. For another thing, we will be blessed for obedience. And most importantly, why do our own thing when the whole system has been revealed to our prophets and apostles and general church leaders?

Additional:

1. You can view Handbook 2 in its entirety at
https://new.lds.org/handbook/handbook-2-administering-the-church?lang=eng

2. The newlds.org's new Serving in the Church section has also been updated to reflect the new policies. Go check it out!

Shepherds' Pie & Sherlock

2010-11-08T20:04:00.004-07:00

I made Shepherds' Pie for dinner, and Ben liked it, even though it had celery in it. I've made shepherds' pie before that he didn't like very much, so I googled for British recipes for shepherds' pie, and found this one.

The meat and gravy filling:

chopped carrots & celery
onions
ground meat
1 T flour
1 c chicken stock
1 t. thyme
1 t. rosemary (ground)
1 pinch nutmeg
salt
pepper

The mashed potato crust:

mashed potatoes
butter

Put the meat & gravy mixture in a baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes. Brush with butter. Sprinkle on paprika. Bake until the crust is a little goldeny.

I didn't think it had enough gravy, and the potato crust didn't get very crust-like, but it was still good. Next time, more gravy and something different with the mashed potatoes.

In googling for British recipes, I found out that traditionally, in Britain, shepherds' pie is made with lamb. I guess that should be obvious...shepherds and sheep. But when it is made with beef it is called cottage pie. I don't really understand the connection there. I used ground turkey, so I am not sure what it would be called. The ancient Britons (or whoever invented shepherds' pie) didn't have turkeys, so I don't think there is a traditional name for it. Maybe all non-lamb pies are cottage pies?

Also, I watched the third episode of Sherlock today. It was good, but not as good as the first one. I thought they jumped into the Moriarty problem too quickly. Where do they go from here?

Advent Calendar

2010-11-07T08:32:00.003-07:00

I am working on sewing an advent calendar. Here is the picture/pattern that inspired me:

I am having trouble figuring out how to do the pockets (the presents are pockets). I am sure I will figure it out in time. Until then, I am very glad I have a seam ripper.

Leftover Pasta

2010-11-03T16:08:00.003-06:00

Ben doesn't really like eating leftovers. I tend to cook a lot at one time because I like having leftovers. But if I am the only one eating the leftovers, I get tired of it very quickly. Pasta is one of the biggest leftover problems. We usually run out of sauce before pasta, and then the pasta just sits in the fridge until I throw it away, and then Ben gets mad about wasting food. What a puzzle.

A month or so ago we had a ton of leftover pasta and no sauce. I googled what to do with leftover pasta. I found two great ideas: Pad thai and chow mein. I made both that week. Between the two dishes we used up all the pasta. Ben loved both of the meals. I did too. This week I made the chow mein again (with more leftover pasta). He still likes it and suggested we have it more often. Maybe some leftover-non-eaters at your house would like it too. Or you could make it for real without using leftovers.

The chow mein recipe I adapted came from http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chowmein/r/chowmein.htm.

The pad thai recipe I adapted came from Rachael Ray's website.

I looked through my kitchen to see what I had that I could use. Then I looked to see what I had that I could substitute. Then I made the dishes.

Here is my basic recipe for each: noodles, meat, vegetables, spices, and water.

Chow Mein

noodles (leftover pasta, or real asian noodles...whatever)
meat (once I used pork, and another time I used chicken)
vegetables (dried onion, once I used carrots and broccoli, the other time carrots and celery)
spices (garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, chicken bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, I don't have oyster sauce, so I didn't use it. But the second time I made it I used Worcestershire sauce instead of oyster sauce)
and water to replace chicken stock, I already put chicken bouillon in the spice mixture.

I mixed the spices in a bowl and set it aside. I actually measured the spices based on the recipe from that webpage.
I chopped the vegetables, put them in another bowl, and put them aside. I didn't measure the vegetables.
I cut up the meat, and cooked it in a large skillet. I didn't measure the meat.
When the meat was cooked, I added the onions, and cooked that for a few minutes.
Then I added the vegetables, water, and the spice mixture, put the lid on, and let it cook until the vegetables were done. At some point I took the lid off so that most of the liquid would cook off.
Then I took the pan off the heat and added the pasta, stirred it up, and served it for dinner. You do have to be careful to have a good balance between meat, vegetables, and pasta.

Ben complained about the broccoli, but ate it anyway. The sauce soaked into the broccoli tops so they tasted like sauce and not like broccoli.

Pad Thai

meat (chicken)
vegetables (carrots, celery, water chestnuts)
spices (peanut butter--I used chunky pb, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, cider vinegar)
water

I followed the same procedure as before. Ben complained about the celery, but ate it anyway. Broccoli, celery, and green beans are three things that Ben really hates. But I buy and cook them anyway.

Anyway, these are two good and easy dinners to make. The end.

Sherlock

2010-11-01T16:50:00.008-06:00

Ben keeps telling me I need to add to this blog, so I am. Here is what I am thinking about today: Sherlock.

It is a new BBC show adapting the Sherlock Holmes stories to modern London, done by the people that do Dr. Who. I think the actor they cast as Sherlock looks similar to Jeremy Brett, in some ways.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes:

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock and John

Holmes and Watson

The first episode was great! It is called A Study in Pink and closely resembles A Study in Scarlet, which is the first Holmes story. It has many of the familiar Holmes characters, and included a lot of humor. I really enjoyed it and think it is a great addition to the Holmes shows.

The second episode aired last night. It wasn't as good as the first one, but was still good. I think it was because it adapted elements from three Holmes stories (The Valley of Fear, The Adventure of the Dancing Men, and The Sign of Four) into one new story, and it didn't work as well as adapting one story to modern London. And it was directed by a different person. But I still liked it.

The third episode is on next Sunday. If you like the Sherlock Holmes stories and/or the other TV adaptations, I think you'll like this one too.

Trip to Moab

2010-10-17T19:58:00.000-06:00

This weekend, we took some of the young men to Moab. It was fun. After about 7.5 miles I was about to die.

Bartlett Wash Map and Elevation Profile

Slickrock Map and Elevation Profile

Bennie Creek and HDR at it's best!

2010-10-05T21:34:00.000-06:00

The lone priest, the other leader, my brother and I went and did the Bennie Creek Trail today for young mens. I took some photos. The HDR feature on the iphone is awesome! Check out these pairs of photos. The first one is with auto exposure. That's the typical picture taking mode. The second is the combination of three photos taken at different exposures. What do you think?

A Short Autumn Hike

2010-09-28T01:07:00.000-06:00

On September 11, 2010, I went mountain biking. I got hurt and lost the lock out switch on my front fork. I decided to spend an hour looking for it and take the time to take some great pictures. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did get some great pics.

Silly Baby Cat

2010-09-24T20:57:00.000-06:00

So, Beatrice, or better known as Baby, likes to watch TV. Usually she starts watching and then gets really bored. Today, Alison put in "That Darn Cat" to watch. All the meowing and growling got her all interested in the show. She couldn't take her eyes off the screen.

Squaw Peak+Bonneville Shoreline+Provo River

2010-09-11T15:25:00.000-06:00

Aaron, Ron, Thomas, Jesse and I went mountain biking today it was a lot of fun.

A Highlight of the High Adventure - The Fin

2010-09-09T22:36:00.000-06:00

High Adventure Videos

2010-09-09T21:18:00.000-06:00

Some High Adventure Pics

2010-09-09T21:14:00.000-06:00

I still haven't gotten photos from others, but here are some of mine.

High Adventure

2010-08-15T19:16:00.000-06:00

High Adventure was great! I had loads of fun and I think the young men and other leaders did too. I'll post some pictures later, but for now, here are the maps of our trails. My gps did something wierd, so I had to use other profiles for the maps. Here they are.

Day 1: Cassidy-Lossee

This was a horrible trail, kind of. The uphill and flat parts were great. The views from the peak were incredible. Going down was not so fun. It was in a dry wash. The terrain was slippery and full of gravel. I had only gotten three hours of sleep the night before and was so tired. I fell several times more than anyone else and was the slowest downhiller, which is not normal (my weight gives me some pretty good speed downhill). On one fall I landed on my handlebars with all my weight and some momentum. I'm still not sure how it happened, but if my handlebar had been a spear it would have gone right through me. I think I have two bruised ribs. Alison wants me to go to the doctor tomorrow to make sure that they are not cracked or broken.

Day 2: Thunder Mountain

This trail was awesome. We climbed up a long paved pathway that was designed for cycling. We then went through some beautiful terrain at a slight incline. We rolled up and down through ravines. It was great. We stopped for lunch at the top and then headed down. The highlights were the fin, and the last downhill push. I'll have to post some pictures soon. I was so relieved after doing this one because after the first ride, I had no confidence in my ability as a mountain biker. But, it really was the three hours of sleep I had gotten. This trail was great and I had no crashes. We did have a father and son duo that crashed on this one though.

Day 3: Bunker Creek

This was a very cool downhill trail. We started at the top of Brian Head at an elevation of a little more than 11,000. We descended to around 8,000. We actually tool a wrong path. It's not marked on here since my gps data got messed up. I really enjoyed this intermediate-technical. There were a few advanced places that were especially fun. I was able to stay at or near the front for the majority of the ride because it was downhill, where I feel I shine (not because it is less aerobic work, but because I have the weight to go faster and the confidence to not slow down too much). I believe my max speed was around 27 mph.

Sleeping Baxter

2010-08-01T23:10:00.001-06:00

This is Baxter after I leave for work in the morning. He takes my spot in bed, and he sleeps like a human with his head on the pillow. Please note that we did not put him in this position. We just put the sheet over him to keep him from getting too cold.

If he can't get comfortable in bed, he finds other interesting places to sleep. Like this bucket. He is a little too big to fit comfortably.

My Parents Ride the Trike!

2010-08-01T23:06:00.000-06:00

My parents went to Idaho to see Matthew's graduation. Congratulations Matubal! While they were up there, they came down and spent some time with Alison and me. It was fun. They got to ride the trike. Me thinks they liked it.

Timpooneke Trail +

2010-08-01T22:54:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, we had a crazy adventure. We did some really tough trails. I thought we were going to do a shorter loop, but I was so very wrong.

This is the first time in a very long time, that I actually envisioned myself passing out and waking up on a helicopter flying me to safety. It really drained me. The whole time I kept thinking that the trail was longer than it was, so that made it even more difficult. At 7.5 miles, I ran out of water and I thought we had 4.5 more miles to go. Fortunately I was back at 8.5 miles. Here's the maps and elevation profile along with some pictures.

Sundance

2010-08-01T22:43:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, Ron and I spent $14 for lift tickets to do some mountain biking at sundance. It was fun. Most of the trails were alright. The last one was spectacular though. It the longer trail on the right. Absolutely spectacular!

You can definetly see the times we were on the lifts.

Here's some pics from Archie's Loop.

Wardsworth Creek

2010-07-24T16:28:00.000-06:00

Today we went up Hobble Creek Canyon and did the Wardworth Creek trail. We didn't actually do it all though. We started late because we had a ward breakfast, and had to be back by one.

Big Springs Hollow

2010-07-24T16:26:00.000-06:00

We did the Big Springs Hollow Ride again this week. This time I took my GPS so I could get some data.
Here is the google earth path:

And the elevation profile:

Provo Canyon Raceway

2010-07-18T17:57:00.000-06:00

I don't have any really great pictures of this bike trail. It is loads of fun. Here is the google earth image of the trail:

Coming down the gravel road, either user error or bike error resulted in some nasty road rash. I hesitated on putting this picture up, but you can look at it if you want to. No one is making you look at it.

Rock Canyon Trail

2010-07-18T17:46:00.000-06:00

One day after doing the Lambert Park ride, Ron, Jesse and I decided we wanted some intense downhill. We used two cars so that we could have a shuttle. The shuttling took the longest. We went up a little higher than the rock canyon campground and then went down to the trail. Here's a picture of where we started from. We would go from there, all the way down to the valley.

Here's the google map image of our path:

And here is the elevation profile. Ignore the first part. That was my gps adjusting to new elevation:

Lambert Park

2010-07-18T17:25:00.000-06:00

Lambert Park is a great place to go mountain biking. I could go there everyday and be happy for the rest of my life. It's a series of single track trails that are just loads of fun. We learned, however, that walmart bikes are not the best companions on these trips.

Besides this catastrophe, one of the fathers that accompanied us had to go to the emergency room. He did one part of the trail and wiped out. He got 13 stitches and had some crushed ligaments. Here's a picture of the trail. It doesn't look too bad, does it? You can see the little rock ramps.

This trail is actually a lot of fun. We went back and did it. Here's some video of this part of the trail. It's called ruin.

Here's our path on Google Earth:

Deer Creek Trail

2010-07-18T16:33:00.001-06:00

This is probably one of the first trails that I took my camera. In this case it was my new iphone. The Deer Creek is a 7 mile double track path along the deer creek resevoir. It was rather pleasant in the evening because the mountains created some shade. One you finish the 7 miles, you turn around and go back.

Here is a picture of the boys:

Probably the most exciting part of the trip was our encounter with a rattlesnake. I got it on video:

This was an easy but fun ride. Here's a video overlooking the lake:

Here's a map of the trail thanks to utahmountainbiking.com.

Mountain Biking

2010-07-18T16:12:00.000-06:00

This summer we are going on a little mountain biking trek with the young men. We've been training for this by doing two rides a week. It has been fun. At first, I was borrowing Travis Roundy's bike. He's in the MTC preparing to go to Portugal. I was grateful that he let me use his bike but fearful that I might break it. So, I bought my own bike. I decided on a specialized rockhopper. The store I bought it from graciously took $100 off the already discounted price. It's a cool bike. I had to replace the shifters with grip shifters because shifting was difficult with my stubby thumbs. I hate grips shifts, but didn't see any other option.

We've been doing rides that are close by. Here are the ones that we have done:

Bonneville lakeshort trail (partial)
Big Spring
Provo Canyon Raceway (2)
Lambert Park (2)
Deer Creek Trail
Dry Creek
Rock Canyon
Squaw Peak Downhill (partial)

A good Video

2010-06-25T12:50:00.000-06:00

I wish I knew where this came from. I hope I am not violating copyright by posting it. It's a classic at our house.

Learning about video

2010-05-31T16:14:00.000-06:00

I did some cool learning about video this week. Check out my other blog for the posts.

DVD up-conversion
60hz, 120hz, 240hz, ???
Video encoding for Apple Devices

May Snow

2010-05-28T21:27:00.000-06:00

These aren't the best pictures, but we had a pretty intense snow storm on the 24th.

More pics

2010-05-21T21:45:00.000-06:00

Here's some pics from the good ol' DFW Metroplex area including the my parents home, the Fort Worth Zoo and my sisters home.

Trip to Texas

2010-05-21T20:59:00.000-06:00

Alison and I went to Texas last week to visit family. It was a lot of fun. We spent the first half in Houston with the Irvines and the second half in Dallas with the McMurrys. It was so fun to see everyone. We would really like to move half-way in between Dallas and Houston. Here are some pics from our trip to Galveston and then some pics from our trip to the zoo.

Harold B. Lee

2010-04-20T11:35:00.002-06:00

My mom sent me this quote. I like it!

"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave
beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and
hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom
God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where
life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of
the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored
above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the
Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the
world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I
have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we
understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living
in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.
I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the
greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is
the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite
whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through. ("Ye Are
the Light of the World", pp. 350-51)

Springtime

2010-04-19T12:42:00.000-06:00

Spring is finally here! I took some pictures today. You can click on them for the full image. They are formatted to work well on hi-def screens if you want some new wallpaper!

Conference in Boston

2010-03-29T23:31:00.000-06:00

This last week, I was in Boston at the annual TESOL conference. It was a good conference. I really enjoyed it. I didn't go with the intention to see lots of sites, so I didn't bring my camera. However, each night I was able to go and see a few things. These aren't my pictures; i just stole them from the Internet.
First, I loved the transit system. It was a good way to get to know Boston.

Second, I love Boston cream Pie. We went to the Parker House twice to get some good Boston Cream Pie. The Parker House is actually quite extraordinary. You can read about it on wikipedia.

Third, I got to see a lot of historic sites. They have a walking trail called the Freedom trail that you can follow around. I didn't get to walk all of it, but I got to see some cool sites. I saw most of them in the dark. I'm actually a pretty good conference attendee and only went out after around nine. Here is the Boston Tea Party museum. I only saw this from the bridge, but it was cool.

I also got to see Paul Revere's House.

Here is the site of the Boston Massacre. Just ignore the random guy in front. Like I said, i stole these pics from various sites on the Internet.

And here is the place where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written. Someone just told me what it was in passing and we didn't stop very long here. I will say that a tear almost came to my eye, but it froze before making it to the surface.

And here is a statue of a man whose name I am proud to share, Benjamin Franklin.

So, that's a wrap up of my touristy activities. If you want to know about the conference, I'll be posting some stuff on my professional blog at blog.benmcmurry.com.

To Exist is to Radiate!

2010-03-17T21:19:00.003-06:00

My friend and classmate, Tiffany, shared this great quote from President David O. McKay. I thought it was worth repeating.

“Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other man. He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this constant weakening or strengthening of others. Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying that it is an unconscious influence.

This radiation …comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. … Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate. To exist is to be the recipient of radiation.” (16 May 1948)

I'm loving my camera

2010-02-12T16:42:00.001-07:00

These aren't the best pictures in the world, but I had fun taking them. I took my GPS outside with me. When I came inside, I was able to sync the location with the photos. I think that you can click on any of the pictures and get some of this information. Anyway, I'm posting these more for me that for anyone else.

Finally! A cool use for Facebook

2010-02-07T12:37:00.003-07:00

This weekend I was invited to join a group on Facebook, and this is the first time I have been excited about something on Facebook. It is a group for all the descendants of Levi and Rhoda Brinkerhoff, who are my great grandparents. Members of the group post on the wall who they are and how they are related to Levi and Rhoda Brinkerhoff. And everyone can post pictures. That is the best part so far. I spent all morning looking at the pictures of my grandpa and his siblings.

Here is my favorite picture that I saw today. It is of grandpa's brothers. If I understand the stories correctly, the one on the right, Dono, was a POW for several years during WWII. Someone may have to confirm this.

First, I think Grandma Brinkerhoff should start a project scanning in all of her family photos and adding them to Facebook. Who is going to help her with that?

Second, I think there should be a group for the Irvine Family. Who should start it?

Cross Country Skiing

2010-02-06T15:31:00.002-07:00

I went cross country skiing today with the youth. It started out as a young men's activity, but many of them had conflicts. I invited a soon to be married couple from the ward as well as a Beehive whose brother was going and who also happens to be the Bishop's daughter. We had a blast! I got to use my camera and take some pictures. I found that landscape pics aren't half as fun as people ones. Here are a few of my favorite non-people photos.

And now, here are some of my favorite people pictures.

Bethany Wilde

Cameron Wilde

Taylon Mann

Ron Jenson

Alison's Lactose Free Lasagna

2010-02-06T15:19:00.004-07:00

I made some great lasagna today.

One of the things I have really missed is lasagna. I found soy cheese and soy yogurt and soy ice cream. But it has taken me a while to find a good non-dairy lasagna that actually tastes good. I made some before that was yucky. But this one turned out well!

I used non-boil lasagna noodles. I was skeptical, but they worked well.

I cooked ground turkey and seasoned it with Italian seasonings.

I grated carrots.

I chopped zuccini. Ben says I should have grated that too. He doesn't like vegetables. The carrots were too small to notice or pick out, and he says I should do that with other vegetables too.

I used one can of spaghetti sauce. I think I should have used two.

I used a whole block of soy mozzarella cheese. I probably could have used two.

And I used tofu in place of cottage cheese. I drained the water out of the tofu package. Then I used a fork to mash up the tofu. It worked great.

The picture Ben took with our new camera doesn't really do the lasagna justice. But it looks ok. And Ben got to play with the new camera.

Also, Ben calculated the calories in this: 252 per 3"x 3.25" serving.

A budding photographer?

2010-02-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

Some of our tax return went toward purchasing the cheapest DSLR I could find. I finally got my lens today and went and took some pictures. I thought I would share them with you.

Daylight at Night

2010-01-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures at around 10pm without a flash.

Why I Love Police Beat

2010-01-27T16:18:00.003-07:00

The BYU student newspaper includes a campus related police beat. It has always been my favorite part of the newspaper. Today it includes a great item that must be broadcast to the world:

Jan. 14 A female reported the theft of her Blackberry phone from the CANC. She logged into her phone account and tracked her phone via satellite; the image showed the phone was in Helaman Halls. The phone was located inside the boot she was wearing.

Ha ha ha ha. Stupid girl. It was in her own boot. Ha ha.

Is this a game?

2010-01-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

http://saybox.cmsbox.co.uk/games/award/

What does English sound like?

2010-01-21T15:20:00.002-07:00

Have you ever wondered what English sounds like to people who don't speak it? Well, go here: http://blog.benmcmurry.com/2010/01/21/what-english-sounds-like/.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T22:24:00.001-07:00

Here's our Christmas letter. Enjoy!

Strawberry Pie

2009-11-29T23:14:00.002-07:00

Today we made a great strawberry pie!

Ben bought the strawberries at Macey's on Wednesday. They were sort of an impulse buy, and we didn't have any particular plans for them. So they sat in the fridge until today.

We have a 1956 Betty Crocker's Cookbook with "South Davis Jr. High, Bountiful, UT" stamped inside the front cover. It must have been Grandma Irvine's from when she taught Home Ec. there. It is my favorite cookbook because everything in it is sooo good. Back then they used things like butter and more butter and all sorts of unhealthy things. It is a two crust pie:

Crust:
1 and 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup lard OR 1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp shortening
3 Tbsp water

Filling:

Mix together:
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Lightly mix with:
4 cups berries (fresh, washed, halved or quartered) You can use any berries the book says.

Pour mixture into pastry lined pie pan (uncooked crust).

Dot with 1 and 1/2 Tbsp of butter.

Place top crust on and cut slits in the top.

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, or "until the crust is nicely browned and juice begins to bubble through slits."

The juice bubbled over, so I recommend putting a cookie sheet under the pie while it is baking. Fortunately I learned this lesson when cooking cobbler, and my oven is not covered in burning strawberry juice.

I love strawberry pie, and this is one of the best I have had in a long time. I think the strawberry pies with strawberry jello and cold strawberries cannot compare at all with this kind of warm, gooey pie. The only problem is that we don't have any vanilla ice cream and it is Sunday so we couldn't go get any. Maybe tomorrow.

I also really love apple dumplings. Grandma Irvine made some once when we went to dinner at her house. They were lovely, and actually somewhat similar to this pie. Except with apples and in small, personal servings. This cookbook has a recipe for apple dumplings, which I am going to have to try one of these days. And I must make sure to get Grandma's recipe.

Anyway, a great strawberry pie that I recommend trying.

The 50-miler

2009-11-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

I did a 50 mile bike ride. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. I've decided that my next phone needs to have a 12 megapixel camera. I did, however, get some data from my GPS. Here are some images of the path.

We stopped next to this really nice orchard.

On the way down this giant hill, I topped out at about 40.5 mph. It was fun. Here's the elevation profile.

More Pictures from the Parade

2009-10-26T15:46:00.000-06:00

My good friend (and adopted Japanese sister) Rie had her husband take some pictures of me in the parade. If you don't know Rie, you should. She's in the TESOL MA program but is taking a class in my new Department. I'm also her mentor at the ELC as this is her first semester teaching. We laugh that I have all my classes with her, teach the same class as she does, share an office with her, that we were both randomly generated by a computer to be in the same group for a class project, and have almost the exact same computers and laptop bags. For this reason, we have decided to be sisters. ; )

Her husband is totally awesome too. He is a BYU student and a great Triathlete. I've decided that if I move to Asia, they have to be my neighbors. They are by far the coolest couple we've met this year!

And here are the pictures.

BYU Homecoming Parade

2009-10-25T21:12:00.000-06:00

I rode my trike in the BYU Homecoming Parade. It was fun! I was with a bunch of other tricyclist. I hope to get some more pictures from the event, but here you go in the mean time.

I love Fall!

2009-10-17T18:35:00.001-06:00

The trees in front of our place are the most beautiful I have seen since we have lived here. The colors are so vibrant. The sun reflects the color in the light that enters our house. It's like someone is shining a yellow light into my office. When you open the door in the morning, the stairwell is glowing yellow, orange and red. It's spectacular!

Nice Fall Day

2009-10-17T18:27:00.001-06:00

I took advantage of the nice whether and went on a good trike ride. I hadn't been able to ride for about 10 days. I got busy with a conference and then had a cold. I thought that I would still be able to do a lot, so I went 24 miles. I'l sore and tired now, but it was worth it. I had a lot of fun. Here's my video.

When at Vivian Park, the Heber Creeper was about to set out on another adventure. I think I got a good pic. I thought I had this awesome video of it taking off, but apparently I forgot to actually push the button to record.

I took a break when I got to Vivian Park, drank some water, ate a snack, and looked around. Can you see the hunters in this picture?

It's really hard to see here, but they were hunters with really orange reflective vests. At first I thought it was a fire. I zoomed in with my camera, and easily identified them.

It was a pretty good trip. I just need some trikin' buddies now!

A Fall Trike Ride

2009-10-01T22:09:00.001-06:00

I took a short ride up the canyon today. It was about 45 degrees when I left. It got a little cooler the further I went. Here are some pictures. The one with the gaurd rail is the top. The waterfalls are bridal veil falls.

My GPS has provided me with some good data. Here is the elevation profile. Note that this is both up and down. Also notice that the gps data goes a little crazy from the 5 to 7 mile marks. That's because I was going crazy fast.

Here is a picture with my path on google earth.

Trike Questions Answered

2009-09-23T23:02:00.000-06:00

I thought I could answer some questions that I've been getting about trikes.

Q: Can you go just as fast as you can on a traditional bike?
A: Yes. I can easily maintain 15-18mph. I've gotten up to 22mph on a flat road and 28mph downhill. Some of the guys at Utah Trikes said they get up to 40mph on flat roads. They can get up to 60mph downhill. I decided that once I can maintain 24mph for about 5 minutes, I'll look in to getting some upgrades. 24 mph is the theoretical max speed with my current setup. It requires me to have a 90rpm cadence.

Q: How are hills?
A: I find hills to be extremely easy. With a smaller drive wheel I have lower gear inches and can climb just about any hill. Plus, you can also get more "mashing" power because you have something to push off of. You don't have to simply rely on your own body weight.

Q: Is it a good workout?
A: Yes. I have found so far that I get a very good cardio workout. I can keep my heart rate low enough too if I want to hit a good fat burning pace. I feel a burn in my legs and even a little burn in my stomach. I don't think that it is as balanced of a muscular workout that you get on a traditional bike, but as far as a good workout for your heart and lungs, they're equal.

Q: How do you steer?
A: There are handles near the front tires. You move them back and forth to turn.

Q: Is it safe?
A: Yes. First, drivers seem to pay more attention to you because you are on a novelty bike. Second, I have a clearer view of road hazards.

Q: Do you feel cooler on this bike than on a normal one?
A: Yes. I am now the coolest guy ever. Well, all the kids I pass in the evening on the trail or around the neighborhood tell me how cool my bike is. So if they think it's cool, it must mean I'm cool. Right?

A Trike Video

2009-09-22T22:12:00.002-06:00

I've been having fun on my trike. Here's a cheesy video.

One Beautiful Evening

2009-09-18T20:45:00.000-06:00

I went for a lovely trike ride this evening. Storm clouds were looming, so I cut it short. I came home, took a shower and went to check my email. Outside the window it was very dark for 7pm. Then an opening in the clouds lit the mountain. It was awesome. I just wished that photography could better capture what I saw.

Quidditch for non-magic Folk

2009-09-10T11:15:00.002-06:00

I loved this:

A fun Update

2009-09-09T21:40:00.003-06:00

First of all, let me start by saying that I am hesitant in making this post. It involves a story of me spending a lot of money. I don't want any readers to think that we are really wealthy or that we are living outside of our means. The combination of having dual income and no kids lends itself to a little more time and money.

If you read this blog, you are all aware that I am in the process of trying to lose weight. I've done pretty good. Although no causal relationship can be determined between my eating of breakfast in the morning and ice cream at night with weight loss, there is at least a correlational relationship. Whenever I do these things I lose weight. I average 1lb each week. I would have lost 16 this summer but I gained 6 back during my vacations.

One reason for losing weight is that I am risk of heart disease. I'm obese and have some pretty bad cholesterol issues. A friend of ours just had a heart attack. He's 28!

Another thing that you may not know about me is that I have lots of pains. Even walking can cause excruciating pains in my hip, knees and thighs. Three years ago I would run in the morning. This worsened the situation greatly. Riding a traditional bike would cut circulation to my arms, but also irritate a nerve in my left elbow. Although you wouldn't think so, I also have a bony bum. Riding a bike would hinder circulation to my already pain stricken legs.

I really love being active. I like to play basketball. I love hiking, but the thing that usually slowed me down were these pains. Yes, I am not in outstanding shape, but I am in pretty good shape as far as my cardio and respiratory systems are concerned.

A few months ago, Jay (my father-in-law) and I went to check out some recumbent bikes. While there, we stumbled across recumbent trikes. I was not so excited to try them out. After sitting in one, I realized that this bike was very comfortable. The only pain I felt when riding it was the sweet pain of muscle building.

After much deliberation, we decided to purchase one of these pricey trikes. Don't ask me about the price. It makes me want to puke. It has been a great purchase so far. I've done two rides this week. I did 3 miles one day and 8 miles today. I'm not going to make any distance records, but the ride was great. After doing both rides, I have no more pain than I did before. I did not have to stop to walk off any pain while riding. I didn't have to push through the pain. All I focused on was pushing myself in getting a good workout. My legs burned, but the good burning. I was breathing hard, and it felt good.

So, please don't think we are rich or living outside our means. I just wanted to share with everyone how happy I am that it looks that I have found some fun exercise that doesn't cause me unnatural pain.

Feel free to enjoy the pictures below. Alison just had to take them. I bought me some good shoes and some white cycling shorts. (I can't where them solo yet!) You have to admit, I may be portly, but boy am I a handsome devil!

Summer Weight Loss Update

2009-09-05T21:54:00.002-06:00

Some of you may have known that I was working a little harder to lose weight this summer. After all is said and done, I lost 10 lbs. Let's see if I can do the same for the next 4 months.

Funny Comic

2009-08-24T22:10:00.004-06:00

Today's web comic on xkcd.com is pretty funny. Don't get me wrong, I like to help people with computer problems, so keep asking me. But, please chuckle as you read this comic!

Translation Party

2009-08-21T12:57:00.004-06:00

Our friends the McCollums introduced us the website translationparty.com. They say it is like playing the telephone game with Japanese translators. The website seeks to achieve "equilibrium" by translating a phrase from English to Japanese to English until it translates exactly the same way twice. I played with it this morning and got these funny translations:

First, started out with:
The small cats are sleeping on the big desk.
(They are both right here, sleeping on my desk, taking up all the desk space.)

After 5 translations ended up as:
The big cat kitten sleeping in a desk.

Baxter is definitely a big cat kitten, but there is no sleeping in a desk around here.

Next, started out with:
Yesterday's activity went well, except for the missing babysitters.
(This was on my mind because the most of the YW we asked to watch the children during yesterday's RS enrichment meeting never showed up.)

After 5 translations ended up as:
Sitting outside nocturnal unknown.

That one doesn't make any sense to me. Any ideas from you guys?

Next, sarted out with:
The Linguistics department secretary responded quickly to my email.
(Obviously, I have been emailing the department secretary lately.)

After 13 translations became:
Email, email, email is the language of my office.

That is kind of deep and philosophical.

One more. This time, I will show each step the translator makes.
Started out with:
To be or not to be, that is the question.

First translation: May not be a problem or
Second translation: Month and not 5 issues
Equilibrium reached: Instead of this month, 5 issues.

I don't really know were "month" came from. But I think Shakespeare would be interested in having his entire play translated. Definitely.

What funny translations!

One More Post with Kathryn

2009-08-06T01:29:00.003-06:00

These pictures were taken on my phone, so they aren't that great. The one with the cougar was at the BYU bookstore. The others ones were later that night. Kathryn wasn't too happy, but she was fine sitting with me.

Cats and Girls

2009-08-06T00:22:00.000-06:00

Monday morning the girls came back over for some fun. We went to the Bean museum and then to Cafe Rio. Before that though, we had some fun with the cats.

Pop at Emily's Reception

2009-08-06T00:21:00.000-06:00

Emily's Reception

2009-08-06T00:20:00.000-06:00

We went to my cousin Emily's wedding reception and got some more good photos of neices and G-Mom and Pop.

The Ebberts' Visit

2009-08-06T00:19:00.000-06:00

Here are some great pictures from when the Ebberts came. I sure do love those girls. The last picture is so great because Kathryn actually took the picture.

Day 3 - Farm Work

2009-08-06T00:08:00.004-06:00

On the third day, we decided to do some work. I don't really think it was real work though. It was lots of fun.

Day 2 - Bloomington Lake

2009-08-05T23:50:00.006-06:00

On the second day, we went to Bloomington Lake.

Here is Jay in a Meadow.

Here I am in the meadow.

Here we are at the beginning of the day.

Here is the beautiful lake.

This is a good view of us on the trail.

Day 1 - High Creek Trail

2009-08-05T22:45:00.001-06:00

Jay and I went on a nice little vacation last week. We went to his brother's home/ranch/farm in cache valley and had some fun. On the first day, we went on High Creek Trail. It was a lot of fun.

Here I am getting used to my horse . . . . Rosie. She was a good horse!

Here you can see Uncle Mark tying a saddle bag on Shotsy.

Here are Jay and I right before the trail.

Here is Uncle Mark taking a nap at lunch time.

Jay and I were admiring a pretty great waterfall.

Here I am in a meadow.

Fabric Dollhouses

2009-08-01T21:46:00.000-06:00

Here is the link to the pictures of fabric dollhouses: http://www.flickr.com/groups/lil_d/
The directions and pattern are on her blog--there is a link to her blog on the flickr page.