Olympic Dreams, Part II

Last weekend down at the Gateway they had a celebration for the tenth anniversary of the games.  We decided to go down.  It's as close as I ever got to the Salt Lake games.

Sam met Muhammad Ali.  How cool is that? He even dressed just like he did in 1996 when he lit the cauldron for the Atlanta games.

Speaking of Atlanta, Kerri Strug was there too, striking the pose from her famous vault to seal the gold medal for the US women's gymnastics team.

Okay, we also met a REAL gold medal winner.  2002's very own Jimmy Shea, who won a gold medal for the skeleton.  And yes, that's the actual gold medal we're touching! He was super nice.  He is a third generation winter olympian: his father, Jim Shea, Sr., competed in the 1964 games in Innsbruck in nordic combined and cross-country skiing, and his grandfather, Jack Shea, won two gold medals at the 1932 games in Lake Placid in speed skating.  Very cool to meet him.  I even said to Sam on the way in, "We probably won't see Shaun White, but we might get lucky and see Jim Shea!"

We also met another famous face from 2002: former Utah Governor and Cabinet Memeber Mike Leavitt.

Clearly, figure skating wasn't my thing.  Maybe bobsled.  Watch out Jamaica.

We're also in training for the Summer Olympics.  Sam definitely has the balance, posture, and extreme skinniness for the gymnastics team.

And I have the brute strength for the weightlifting team.

But I think I'll stick to wheelchair basketball.  This is the only shot I made.

Anyway, I enjoyed getting into the Olympic spirit the last little while. Only a few more months until London 2012!  In the meantime, enjoy this.  The choir sang it in this morning's broadcast.

Olympic Dreams

Salt Lake is currently celebrating the ten year anniversary of the 2002 Winter Olympics.  I love the Olympics, and I am still sad that the IOC didn't have the foresight to realize that I would be on a mission during the 2002 games.  But, it looks like Salt Lake is considering bidding for the Olympics again.  With that in mind, I made a trip to the Olympic Oval, site of the speed skating events at the 2002 games.  With the 2014 Winter Olympics being held in Sochi, Russia, I figure I have enough time to train and be ready to compete, and even speak fluently with the natives!

Hmmm.  On second thought, maybe I'd better shoot for 2022 or 2026, in Salt Lake.  It may take more time than I thought...

I'll tell you what though, this girl is ready to go.  If people beg, I might post some video that I have of her skating too, but I don't know if I want her competition to see quite yet.

All in all, a fun night at the Olympic Oval.  And the most exciting thing about the night was that I got to skate on the same ice as a great American hero...Stephen Colbert.

Six Years

Another year has gone by.  Seems crazy to think that we here at the Foggy Bottom Tribune have been blogging for six years.  Highlights from the last year:

1.  Worked at a law firm in Park City, and started a job at the Park City Attorney's Office.

2.  Admitted to the Utah Bar.

3.  Returned to the ski slopes.

4.  Sang the National Anthem for the Salt Lake Bees for the second time (after being bumped by the Maytag Man).

5.  Saw U2 in the greatest concert I've ever been to.

6.  Read a new book by David McCullough.

7.  Didn't leave the State of Utah.

8.  Became much more familiar with Farmington.

9.  Got an iPhone.

Historic Occassion

There are certain events in the history of the world that improved mankind forever.  The discovery of America.  The invention of the printing press.  Man walks on the moon.  Tuesday, January 3, 2012, was one of those historic days.  I photographed the event for posterity.

My iPhone 4S arrived.

Makes the old phone look pretty pitiful, doesn't it?

A new era has dawned.

Up House

I love the movie Up.  I think it may be my favorite Pixar movie.  So I was very excited when I found out that Bangerter Homes built a replica of the house from Up out in Herriman.  Yesterday Sam and I went out and took a tour on the last day they were available.  Here are some highlights:

Carl and Ellie are saving up for a trip to Paradise Falls!

Sam is all ready to go!

Adventure is out there!

I loved the chairs.  I heard that the people who bought the house aren't keeping the furniture.  I can understand that they wouldn't want all the furniture, but I really think they should keep these chairs.

Sam loved the kitchen, so we had to take a picture of her with the blue appliances.

I really loved the scene in the movie that shows Ellie straightening all of Carl's different ties before he goes to work, so I was excited to see this tie rack with all the old-school ties in Carl's room. So cool.

The staircase is missing the handicap access lift, but I love the photos on the wall.

I'm meeting Mr. Frederickson later.

We tried to recreate the Carl and Ellie mailbox photo, but I think we needed a better photographer.

I really really loved the house.  It felt like being at Disneyland and walking through Mickey's house in Toontown.  I am really glad we went before it was too late, and I know you might think I'm crazy, but I would love to live in this house.  For a few more photos of the house, check out my Facebook page.

Lesson Learned

I learned an important lesson last week.

Don't ask an old person to take your photo.

Much better.

Halloween 2011

I came to realization recently.  I blog, AND I post things on facebook.  Quite frequently, those two worlds collide.  Like today.  So I hope my readers don't mind.

Anyway, Halloween was this week.  While I don't normally dress up, I had an epiphany on Halloween morning about some really awesome costumes that Sam and I could wear: EFY Counselor and Participant!

Side hug!!!

The coordinators will not be happy if they see this photo.  I'll never work at EFY again!

It was a pretty fun night, but not super eventful.  We just went to the library at the U and handed out smarties to the students studying on Halloween. (Get it? Smarties? To help them get smart? Ha!)  We also dropped by the law school and I went and saw my photo on the wall, which I haven't see before.  Not a bad photo to have on the wall for forty years.  Then we went trick or treating to a friend's house.  Nothing fancy, but a lot of fun!