eric m.

fail

2011-01-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

well it has been 42 days since my last photo. oh, i'm still taking them. i just can't find the time to upload them. it doesn't take long, so that's not an excuse. i just have trouble finding the time. i keep telling myself i will upload all the photos i've taken over the past 42 days but it just isn't happening. so i am apologizing and hopefully i will post something worth reading soon. if not, i'm sure there is plenty of other stuff on the internet to keep you occupied.

happy new year everyone.

December 12 : Do a 180

2010-12-13T20:33:00.001-07:00

A lot of times around the new year we talk about "doing a 180" and turning some aspect of our lives around.

That's great, but sometimes you have to do a real 180. Like when there is fresh snow on the ground and no one is around. Winter can be fun sometimes.

December 11 : Winter of Our Discontent

2010-12-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

New series at church tonight. Stage looks cool. Looks very cool on video too. You can check it out yourself at www.freshlifechurch.org

December 10 : The Icicle

2010-12-11T18:57:00.001-07:00

Did I mention that this thing is over 5 feet long now?

December 9 : Quality Components

2010-12-11T18:42:00.001-07:00

I had to open up a sound board today to replace a noisy fan in a power supply. I used to repair electronics as a profession, so it was exciting to take a peek into this device to see what sorts of parts are inside.

This is a mid level Allen & Heath sound board and I was happy to see that each of the channel strips are replaceable, should one fail. It is relatively an easy process from the looks of it.

Overall, it was a joy to see how well this unit had been constructed. Is that a weird thing to say? Not really. Quality matters. What's on the outside is important but the insides are even more important. The same could be said for humans.

How are your insides? If a part of you is broken or damaged inside, maybe you should remove it and replace it with a brand new component. Not physically of course. Performing surgery on yourself is dangerous and could result in death.

Once you remove the problem, you will be amazed at how you ever lived like that.

December 8 : Robbie Seay Band

2010-12-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Skull Church tonight was visited by Robbie Seay and his band. They were great, and the crowd seemed to really enjoy their set which lasted over an hour. It was filled with heartfelt songs, with everything from songs he wrote in his bathroom to classic hymns performed in a modern fashion.

After the show, the boys were excited to learn that Robbie is left handed like they both are (fun fact: I am also left handed). Also the drummer, Tank, is left handed. What are the odds? (over 100,000:1 actually)

A great night that I am honored to be a part of. In other news, I was sick with cold symptoms all day Wednesday so it was rough getting everything set up in time; but everything went well in the end so I can't complain.

December 7 : Mini Starbucks

2010-12-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

My wife has these cool Starbucks miniatures that she brings out at Christmas time.

December 6 : Little Tree

2010-12-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

I decorated our second tree with 28 little ornaments. I think it turned out pretty nice.

December 5 : Put the lights on the tree

2010-12-05T21:38:00.001-07:00

It's slow going, but we are slowly getting the tree prepared for Christmas festivities. 800 lights on it currently.

December 4 : Snowshoeing

2010-12-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today was family snowshoe day.

We all had a great time. The weather was beautiful. We had the most fun going down the hill at Lone Pine after we reached the top and looked out at the wintery town of Kalispell.

December 2 : City Lights

2010-12-03T01:33:00.001-07:00

Kalispell, MT

Trust me, I use the term 'city' lightly.

December 1 : Late night shopping

2010-12-03T01:24:00.001-07:00

Where is everyone?

November 30 : Snowshoes

2010-12-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

On monday afternoon we went snowshoeing at Lone Pine state park. It was very fun and good exercise.

November 29 : Percy and friends

2010-11-29T11:10:00.001-07:00

My beloved decoy bird, Percy, is on clearance for just $1.50. Which lucky children will wake up Christmas morning to find him in their stocking?

November 28 : Icicles

2010-11-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

These icicles hanging from my roof are the real deal.

November 27 : The Sims

2010-11-28T14:39:00.001-07:00

I know this isn't a photograph but its something i am doing so i thought I would post it. I bought this game for my phone called the Sims 3 ambitions. Its pretty cool. I am currently a rockstar.

November 26 : Snow Car

2010-11-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

I love my car in the winter. Drives through snow and over ice and is very fun to drive.

November 25 : A White Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

November 24 : Sennheiser

2010-11-24T20:20:00.001-07:00

Skull Church tonight was great. New series started about John the Baptist.

Just tonight we started using new wireless microphone and monitor systems and they sounded very good. I'm so happy with this company and my only regret is taking so long to start using them.

November 23 : Frozen World

2010-11-23T19:51:00.001-07:00

It's so cold today. Currently 1.4 degrees F on my home thermometer. Snow and ice is everywhere and it is miserable to be outside. The only unusual thing: it's not even thanksgiving yet. This sort of weather is not common at all. I can only imagine what January will be like.

November 22 : Operation Christmas Child

2010-11-22T21:39:00.001-07:00

The boys had a great time picking out presents and putting together shoeboxes of gifts for less materialistic children in another part of the world. Each boy wrote a nice letter and included a photo of themselves as well. Of course we waited until the last minute to drop the boxes off, but better late than never. For more information, you can check out www.samaritanspurse.com

November 21 : Snowy Night

2010-11-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

7:30pm Sunday. Another beautiful cold snowy night. My outdoor thermometer is showing 17.1 degrees F.

These photos will be fun to look at next summer when it is fully bright and 80 degrees at the same time of day.

November 20 : Birthday Party

2010-11-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

Kevin had a birthday party at five guys. He received an xbox 360 as a gift. Many people were there. It was fun. That is Levi standing next to Kevin.

November 19 : Halo and Diapers

2010-11-19T21:31:00.001-07:00

Devan's wife is having a baby so his favorite uncle (Coy) threw him a diaper party to help offset the cost of diapers for the new baby. Also we are all playing Halo Reach which is a fun video game where you shoot people.

November 18 : Snowy Neighborhood

2010-11-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

November 17 : Winter Wonderland

2010-11-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

The snow is here and I like it.

November 16 : Radio Interview

2010-11-16T16:11:00.001-07:00

Levi and Josh do a radio interview for fresh life radio today. listen online anytime at www.freshliferadio.com

November 15 : Magic Asparagus

2010-11-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

November 14 : Technical things

2010-11-15T00:45:00.001-07:00

The tech team tends to the equipment as Levi prepares to make a special announcement concerning the new Whitefish satellite expansion campus.

November 13 : Five Guys

2010-11-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

The sad end of a delicious meal.

November 12 : Let it snow!

2010-11-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

There's no turning back now.

November 10 : Lights

2010-11-11T08:09:00.001-07:00

November 9 : Life is a highway

2010-11-09T19:44:00.001-07:00

November 8 : Doorknob

2010-11-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

They don't make them like this anymore.

November 7 : Soccer Playoffs

2010-11-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Not a very exciting picture, but this was a memorable game between the LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders as both teams try to advance to the next round.

November 6 : Knobs

2010-11-06T21:34:00.000-06:00

Each one has a purpose.

November 5 : Christmas Produce

2010-11-05T20:05:00.000-06:00

So it's the beginning of November and of course it's time for the fake Christmas tree to go up at Wal-Mart. But wait, who can think about Christmas when there is fresh produce looming in the distance?

November 4 : The Watch

2010-11-05T00:20:00.000-06:00

Most people who know me know that I love clocks and watches. I have no idea why. Well here is one of my absolute favorite timepieces. My brother gave this to me as a gift for being in his wedding and I always wear it on special occasions.

It is inspired by auto racing with real carbon fiber pieces and a cool analog stopwatch feature which takes the place of the second hand. Seconds are displayed in one of the smaller dials.

This is much nicer than the fake Rolex I used to wear. I think everyone should own at least one nice watch even if they don't wear it daily.

November 3 : Charlie Hall

2010-11-03T20:06:00.000-06:00

Musician Charlie Hall played a great concert at our church tonight. He is a great guy and excellent songwriter and I enjoyed mixing sound for him and his band. Definitely one of my favorite musical experiences of this year.

November 2 : Night Pumpkin

2010-11-03T00:23:00.000-06:00

Halloween is over but the pumpkins are still here. I will enjoy them while they last.

November 1 : The Vinyl Record

2010-11-01T20:36:00.000-06:00

To me, nothing can match the sound of a vinyl record. It is very old technology and it is a hassle to turn the record over every 10-20 minutes but it is worth it.

I love going to thrift stores looking for cool old records. I've found a few classics so far. And there is always eBay for the ones I really want.

Right now I am listening to a perfect copy of the debut Spyro Gyra album. No scratches. 25 cents at Salvation Army.

October 31 : Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T11:44:00.000-06:00

Time to dress up as your favorite movie characters from 2004 and walk around to strangers houses and ask for free candy. Unless you would rather drive to Seattle for the Sounders vs LA Galaxy playoff (soccer) game along with 36,000 screaming soccer fans.

Tough choice for a 10 year old Sounders fan.

October 30 : Fireplace

2010-10-30T07:42:00.000-06:00

They may be ceramic logs, but I assure you that the flames are real and keep me toasty warm on cold fall mornings.

October 29 : Percy

2010-10-29T15:09:00.000-06:00

This is Percy. I got him at Wal Mart in the hunting section. Apparently he is some sort of hunting assistant to help people kill and eat real birds. I would never eat Percy. He is lovable and is perched in various places around our house. Wherever his sturdy metal clip can hold him, he will perch there for a while and then move on.

Another reason I would never eat Percy is because he is made of plastic and I'm sure the taste would be nasty. Also he is hollow. But I do enjoy his company and I can't wait for him to meet Howard the Christmas bird when the holiday season draws nigh.

October 28 : Fall Leaves

2010-10-28T20:58:00.003-06:00

It is impossible to capture the beauty of a million trees changing into their fall colors, each at their own pace. From light yellow to dark red, this really is the most colorful time of year. Many bright leaves litter the streets and until the first big snow comes, this time right now will remain the most beautiful part of the year in my opinion.

October 27 : Dollar Store

2010-10-27T18:01:00.000-06:00

Not a lot you can get for a dollar these days.

October 26 : Espresso

2010-10-26T20:25:00.000-06:00

This is how I make my morning coffee each morning. I know it isn't technically proper but it tastes delicious. Two shots of freshly ground coffee beans pulled on top of a small amount of hot water in my favorite cup with just the right amount of crema on top.

It's so tasty and gives me a good amount of caffeine to start my day off right. I actually prefer this to a Starbucks americano or even a doppio. My drink is somewhere between those two.

October 25 : Toaster

2010-10-25T12:58:00.000-06:00

One faithful friend I visit each morning is our brushed aluminum Cuisinart 4 slice toaster. Whether it's one slice of bread, a couple English muffins, or even a pop tart when I'm in a hurry - Randy never lets us down.

I do like to name my appliances, it's true. And Randolph is no exception (his friends call him Randy). It makes the toasting experience more personal and I like to think Randy is more than a few heating coils and four wide slots which are large enough to accommodate a bagel, yet not so big that small toaster pastries fall over, burning one side and leaving the other uncooked. This is thanks to an ingenious adjustable vertical toast holding mechanism. Randy's designers put much care and thought into designing every detail, from the clean styling to the custom presets for defrosting and reheating. It certainly was a labor of love, and I appreciate it daily.

It's been a great relationship so far. Randy cooks the toast and I eat it. Yet I can't help but hear that small voice in the back of my mind that is subtly reminding me that all great appliances must die someday; and I am certainly not looking forward to that inevitable day where I take Randy into the back yard and smash him into a million pieces with a large wooden bat once he has toasted his last slice. And it pains me to think of the care I will take to pick up each and every piece of plastic and metal after I have unexplainably destroyed him with reckless abandon and place them into an old shopping bag which will then be tossed into the trash where Randy will eventually be hauled away, buried and forever remain under the earth; part of the beautiful Montana landscape for the rest of time.

Thanks Randy. This blog entry is dedicated to you. May you never be forgotten.

October 24 : Fresh Life

2010-10-24T09:53:00.000-06:00

Today is missions Sunday. Josh and Levi sit down to talk about all the different ways we support mission causes around the world; specifically in the poorest areas of the earth.

October 23 : Old Bridge

2010-10-23T10:31:00.000-06:00

It's always the right time of year to visit an old bridge.

October 22 : My Synthesizers

2010-10-22T16:37:00.000-06:00

I miss playing them.

October 21 : Sunny Side Up

2010-10-21T09:24:00.001-06:00

A delicious and simple way to start off the day is with a single egg on toast. Classic.

October 20 : Barbed

2010-10-20T16:13:00.000-06:00

I am always fascinated to see barbed wire fences. I have no idea why this one exists in downtown Kalispell, MT, but there must be something worth protecting inside the barbed boundaries.

October 19 : Cafe

2010-10-19T09:38:00.000-06:00

One of the cool parts of downtown Kalispell.

October 18 : Chips

2010-10-18T18:38:00.000-06:00

Everyone loves tortilla chips.

October 17 : Carts

2010-10-17T19:02:00.000-06:00

Shopping carts for your convenience.

October 16 : Don't Walk

2010-10-16T15:55:00.001-06:00

Since I work on 2 campuses across the street from each other, I cross the street a lot. This red hand (shown here in black and white) is always slowing me down. But it's probably for the best.

October 15 : Downtown

2010-10-15T20:54:00.001-06:00

The weather is getting colder and I'm starting to really appreciate clear days when we have them. Today was beautiful and my only regret is not spending more time outside to enjoy it.

October 14 : Laundry Building

2010-10-14T22:00:00.000-06:00

On nice days I like to walk to the supermarket and grab some food for lunch. I often walk by this commercial linen laundry building. It's one of those cool buildings in town that I like to look at very closely as I walk by because it's so interesting for some reason.

October 13 : Skull Church

2010-10-13T19:33:00.000-06:00

Since June 2009, fresh life church has hosted Skull Church, a high energy church service. The band is loud, the atmosphere is cool, and the message is in your face.

I couldn't sum it up with one photo so here is a little collage from tonight's Skull Church.

Oct 12 : Office

2010-10-12T14:16:00.001-06:00

New carpet in my office. Smells good, looks great. I feel more productive already!

Oct 11 : Bridge

2010-10-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

Went for a walk this afternoon at Lone Pine state park. I always enjoy looking over the city. Construction on the Hwy 93 bypass is moving along nicely. I really like this bridge and I thought it would be a nice way to start off my photo challenge.

Here we go again.

2010-10-11T12:56:00.001-06:00

Hello friends. I'm back! It has been one week short of a year since last I blogged for all you good people, and I have been thinking of ways to make it up to you.

My solution, for better or worse, is to try what many have attempted and few have succeeded at: my version of the 365 day challenge. That is, where you post one photograph each day for 365 consecutive days. To simplify things on my end, I will mainly be posting photos from my phone and all processing will be done in-phone. I will try to season the blog with bonus photos from my Canon 5D as time and motivation allows. I'll try to capture whatever interesting thing is happening in my life each day. And if nothing interesting happened, you'll get something random like a close up of a nail or something.

So there you go. I'm not going to make a separate blog page for this photo challenge. I'm hoping that this will motivate me to update the blog with some new stories and adventures from my life that you have come to know and love over the years, in addition to the photos.

It's been a great 2010 year, so much has happened and for the most part you can keep up with me by following me on twitter (@ericmelzer). Will this be the year I reach 2000 tweets? 'Follow' me to find out.

Thanks for your patience as I took a long leave of absence from my blog. I'm low tech - still on blogger, no fancy website/wordpress, etc - but hopefully the content will be worth checking out. I have noticed many (not all) of my blogger friends have slowed or stopped blogging in the year I've been away, so hopefully I can motivate them to pick it up again.

Remember to add http://ericmelzer.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default to your feed reader if you are too busy to come to the site to check my blogs (i don't blame you).

thanks.

soccer day

2009-10-17T18:57:00.001-06:00

I got to enjoy another soccer game this morning, only this time it was
very cold. Just over 30 degrees. But it was a good game and very
enjoyable. I snapped this photo on my phone of the boys in action.

I made up a word

2009-09-21T10:56:00.001-06:00

Today as I was trying to enjoy a peaceful quiet time in the morning on
my day off work, my quiet neighborhood was interrupted by the sound of
about 6 stupid neighborhood dogs. This happens often. One will start
barking like crazy because he saw a reflection of his tail in a window
or something and the other idiot dogs just have to join in.

However, today something special happened as I went to turn on some
music to drown out the barking; a word popped into my mind. I thought
to myself, "I'm so angervated". Angry and aggravated. Sometimes one
word isn't enough and you have to combine two. But wait, I'd also like
to throw in the word 'motivated', as in "motivated to eliminate the
source of the barking. Of course I would never do that, but one can
dream.

Well now the dogs have stopped and so has my angervation. Still,
hardly a day goes by when I don't get pushed to the point of scheming
a way of exacting revenge on those clueless canines for their
incessant daily bark-a-thons. I am not going to go into detail on that
because too many angervated pet lovers with no sense of humor read my
blog.

SLIDE FUN: THE VIDEO

2009-09-14T11:31:00.002-06:00

So many memories, so little time to blog. I apologize and will try to keep this thing updated as often as possible.

Yesterday I attended a birthday party and there was a deluxe bounce house with a slide! At first I ignored it since I am much too large to have anything to do with a bounce house. But with a little coaxing from my friends, I was sliding down that thing like it was my profession. I was excited to have something fun to record on my new phone and then to edit it all in iMovie. I had a lot of fun making this little movie and I hope you enjoy SLIDE FUN.

SLIDE FUN from eric melzer on Vimeo. Go to Vimeo to see the HD version.

What is happening?

2009-08-28T23:23:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, an apparently very tired gnome appeared on our door
step. All it does is sleep and nobody knows how it got there.... If it
could only talk! Does anyone know who is behind this madness?

Big Joes

2009-08-22T22:40:00.000-06:00

A bunch of pallet jacks just hanging out together at costco.

A real mouse problem

2009-08-20T18:08:00.000-06:00

Today I was attacked at work by these three evil HP mice. I had to
update 3 windows XP machines simultaneously and now I have a huge
headache. Even brand new they don't work that great. Eventually I got
it all completed but it wasn't pretty.

Mouse Conspiracy: Are you kidding me??

2009-08-19T22:36:00.005-06:00

I thought blogging was supposed to be a fun way to express to friends and family events happening in our lives with a twist of humor. Especially for Eric (the creative one). Unfortunately, his humor is offensive to some people (who knows who they are) and feel they must express their view point to retaliate against his creative efforts. Come on! Are you serious?

Eric is such an incredibly nice guy and unfortunately feels he needs to defend himself. I don't think he should. He's sweet, funny and has a big heart. So, to all of you who are out there in the blog world and insist on commenting on his "offensive" blogs; go ahead. He will read, digest, respond and continue to be a nice guy.

I, however, will continue to read, appreciate and comment on his clever, interesting and entertaining blogs. Thanks, Eric, for giving us bits and pieces of your life. Many of us really enjoy reading it and totally "get" your humor! :)

~Gayla

There's a mouse in our house.

2009-08-18T18:49:00.006-06:00

Here's a story about a squeaky little problem we've had lately. A small rodent has been getting into our food pantry and nibbling on our kibbles. Mostly, fritos, protein powder and other baked goods. So we had to throw out some food for fear of contamination.

Mouse - 1
Eric - 0

So being the man of the house I decided to set a trap and solve this problem. I put some peanut butter on an old fashioned mouse trap and we waited. The next day, the peanut butter was just about all gone, but the trap was still armed.

Mouse - 2
Eric - 0

So now it's getting serious. I went and bought some glue traps at target. I like those better than the poison because then I can see the evidence. I told Gayla and the boys I was going to interrogate the mouse jack bauer/sayid jarrah style if I caught him, and I was going to get answers. All you need for a mouse interrogation is a cheese grater, nail clippers and possibly a potato peeler if things really get out of hand.

Fortunately it never came to that.

I set 4 glue traps with the help of my lovely assistant and finally after 2 days he showed up to sample one of the delicious morsels placed near the gluey death trap.

The normally wiley rodent

found his little legs buried into the glue like it was quicksand, and he tried to make

his escape. He scooted himself and the entire glue tray under the pantry door and into the kitchen, but as he did so, he found his mousy little body just burying itself deeper and deeper into the glue.

And that is as far as he got.

The glue has an anesthetic chemical that numbs the animal, so all he could do is squeak, as his usually speedy, nimble body was locked fast in place. I can imagine the numbing sensation that swept his body felt very soothing, and he was most likely experiencing some sort of chemically induced high, or at least a form of rodent lethargy which is rarely experienced outside of the incredibly dull capybara, (which as everyone knows is the world's largest rodent).

As the little guy found himself drifting deeper and deeper into mouse nirvana, it must have been a really sight to see several large humans hovering over him, never touching but looking closely. normally mice stay well away from humans and only dare enter their living quarters under cover of darkness or silence. this may have been one of the mouse's rare encounters with the human species, and if he wasn't smack dab in the middle of a little mousey acid trip, he probably would have thought the whole situation to be rather odd.

I decided not to kill the poor little thing, but instead I released him into the cruel world where he would have to fend for himself.

Where the mouse is now, I do not know. I have a clean conscious and that is the end of my story.

I do have 2 final thoughts on this whole situation. The first is after going through this whole ordeal, I do believe that is was not a squirrel in my car back in 2007, but rather a mouse. Perhaps a distant cousin of the little buddy we caught today, or maybe not even the same species. No one will ever know.

Second, if i've learned one thing from this experience that I can use to help others it is this: If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw. When he’s finished, he’ll ask for a napkin. Then he will want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milk mustache. When he looks into the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim. So he will probably ask for a pair of nail scissors. When he’s finished giving himself a trim, he’ll want a broom to sweep up. He’ll start sweeping. He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house. He may even end up washing the floors as well! When he’s done, he’ll probably want to take a nap. You will have to fix a little box for him with a blanket and a pillow. He’ll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times. He’ll probably ask you to read him a story. So you’ll read him one from one of your books, and he’ll ask to see the pictures. When he looks at the pictures, he’ll get so excited he’ll want to draw one of his own. He’ll ask for paper and crayons. He’ll draw a picture. When the picture is finished, he’ll want to sign his name with a pen. Then he’ll want to hang his picture on your refrigerator. Which means he will need…scotch tape. He’ll hang up his drawing and stand back to look at it. Looking at the refrigerator will remind him that he’s thirsty so…he’ll ask for a glass of milk. And chances are if he asks for a glass of milk, he’s going to want a cookie to go with it.

Ugh...what a waste of time. Just catch him in a glue trap and be done with it!

Eric and the giant fruit pizza

2009-08-11T20:23:00.000-06:00

Today Eric and I had some friends over and so I made one of my famous
fruit pizzas. This one was special though because Eric decorated it
using his awesome design skills. Here he is, showing it off for you.
Yum-o!

Glam Gardener

2009-08-09T22:08:00.001-06:00

I caught Eric using his dress gloves to pull weeds in the front yard.
He says if you have to garden, you may as well do it in style.

morning video

2009-08-06T17:10:00.000-06:00

this morning, i helped kevin and devan record a little video with levi for the new fresh life website, (coming soon). we wanted to have the best lighting and least traffic possible, so i woke up 3 hours earlier than i usually do and we all drove up to whitefish to set up our equipment. this is the first time we've shot a video like this with 2 cameras and a wireless microphone setup. kevin is using a new DSLR camera with video recording capabilities and devan was manning our panasonic HPX camera. the overcast skies made for perfect recording conditions. look for the "what now?" video on freshlifechurch.org when version 2.0 launches sometime in the near future!

You can't win them all.

2009-08-03T11:48:00.000-06:00

Some mornings I like to make breakfast for the boys when Gayla goes to
work and leaves me to tend to them. Instead of shoving raw oats down
their throat (as used to be customary in the old country), I like to
cook them whatever they want, within reason.

Today Eli wanted scambled eggs and pancakes and Quinten wanted an
omelette and pancakes. Easy. I got a little sassy with eli's pancakes
and put nerds candy in them. Every boy's dream, right? Yeah he thought
so too - and then he ate them. His first comment was that it tasted
like cake.

But soon the excitement of it all wore off and he declared the
pancakes disgusting. I agreed, but by that time he had already wolfed
down 2 of the foul flapjacks and announced that he was full. Also I
burned quinten's pancakes a little but overall they really liked their
eggs. Win.

Eli and I agreed that I would never make nerds pancakes again, and if
anyone asks I will deny that such a thing even exists. The end.

This is Eric by the way. You can tell at the bottom of each post who
wrote the blog. Sorry for all those who were confused by the last one.
Gayla hasn't posted yet but she will soon!

The bike ride

2009-08-01T15:31:00.001-06:00

Today it is a warm summer day so the boys and I decided to burn some
calories and take a little ride around the neighborhood. I taught them
a fun game called ding dong ditch. Only for friends houses though. We
got the trammels and jakes house real good. I'm trying to teach these
kids how to be real Americans. Next week I will teach them how to re-
string a banjo. Anyway, we cruised to lone pine state park to check it
out but then they got tired so we went back to home base.

It was a lot of fun but they were exhausted. But not too exhausted to
eat bowls of ice cream. Then they watered the cherry seeds they
planted in the backyard.

The things people do for fun

2009-07-29T11:18:00.001-06:00

Here is a story. These two clowns drove back and forth down my street
yesterday honking and trying to get my attention. I didn't hear them
because I was inside with music on. Eventually they asked a little kid
to ring my doorbell and I went out to discover this motorized circus
act. Were they practicing for the X games, or just out having a good
time? Perhaps we will never know.

At least they were wearing head protection (sort of).

11:11

2009-07-21T11:11:00.000-06:00

Since everyone is going crazy over a particular time of the day, here
is a tribute. Also a tribute to Billy mays which happens to be my
wallpaper at the moment.

Hello World!

2009-07-20T23:11:00.001-06:00

The time has finally come. Eric has granted me access to his blog, which although amazing, has been a little slow lately. I have come to dust off the cobwebs and breathe new life into this thing. I plan to blog about all the crazy and interesting things happening in and around my life.

This is my first time blogging, but I'm excited about its potential.

Singstar Coldplay

2009-07-20T22:08:00.004-06:00

no blogs from me for a while, this has got to change. a lot has been happening though. i am married and have been so busy but having a great time and it's always so fun in summertime here in montana. this is my third summer and i can't get enough of the sun and the clear skies.

since i got married on june 12th, i have had to think of not only myself but my beautiful wife as well. and that includes video games. so i got her a present. it is called singstar and it is so much fun. basically, you have 2 microphones and you sing to a music video. the game judges you on pitch and timing and it's so fun to play in battle mode or duet. there is also a pass the mic party mode for 8 people to play at once. we have downloaded a bunch of our favorite songs from the online store and hope to have a singstar party in the near future. and just for her, i got her the ABBA version of singstar with 25 different ABBA hits. i am not very good at them but i try to back her up on the duets so she doesn't have to sing alone. it's actually much more fun than i thought it would be. here is a quick shot i took of us singing "Violent Hill" by Coldplay.

Life in Maui

2009-06-16T18:20:00.000-06:00

Well here it is Tuesday already and we have done several fun things
but also had plenty of time to relax and enjoy time away from our
everyday lives.

Yesterday we went on a very fun snorkeling excursion to the molekai
crater and met some fun people. Later we went to BJs in Lahaina for
delicious pizza and a short stroll downtown. It's quite an active
place but shuts down around 10pm. It gets dark here very early so we
have been going to bed and waking up much earlier than normal. It's
nice.

Today we went on the Maui Gold pineapple tour. I was hesitant at first
but I am very glad we did it. Our tourguide Steve was very informative
and fun. We got to pick pineapples to take home and he cut different
pineapples up for us to taste right in the fields. They are the most
delicious pineapples I've ever had. To top it off, the road we took to
get to the pineapple fields was beautiful and we found some great
snorkeling spots with clear water and white sand beaches.

Now it's time for a nap. Aloha from Hawaii. Wish you were here.

Starbucks Kona

2009-06-14T01:42:00.001-06:00

See blog below. 100% kona coffee. $45 per pound. Fortunately we only
purchased 1/2 a pound. We will try it soon and publish the results.

The adventures of Kona Coffee

2009-06-14T01:38:00.000-06:00

Wow, Maui is very beautiful. I have been here one time before a few
years ago but it was overcast and I was alone on business. This time
is different. Gayla and I are enjoying the sights and tastes of Maui
including mahi mahi tacos and kona coffee.

We chanced upon a starbucks coffee shop where we noticed 100% kona
coffee, along with a few other kona blends only available in Hawaii.
Without asking the price, we had the barista grind up a bag so we
could enjoy freshly brewed coffee in our hotel room first thing in the
morning without going anywhere.

What we failed to realize is that 100% kona coffee is expensive at
starbucks. In fact, at $45 a pound it is the most expensive coffee
they sell that I am aware of, even more than the limited edition aged
coffees that come in a collector tin.

In any case, this had better be some delicious coffee.

(picture will be posted seperately, I accidentely deleted it after
typing all this on my phone).

Honeymoon

2009-06-13T06:48:00.001-06:00

Hello world! After a long hiatus I am back on the blog scene. The last
month has been especially crazy but now the dust is starting to settle
and I can relax.

Yesterday I was married to my beautiful ladyfriend Gayla and the
ceremony and reception were amazing. All our friends and my family
worked so hard to make it an event to remember forever.

So now Gayla and I are on our way to Maui thanks to a generous
honeymoon vacation from my parents. We plan on relaxing all week and
not worrying about anything.

Also I plan to bring Gayla on board as a blog contributor. She has
good insight and a fresh perspective on the world around her and I
feel she will be a valuable addition to my blogging adventures. More
on that as it develops.

Also I will try to blog more as we have new adventures so stay tuned!

Until next time, mahalo.

This is Montana golf.

2009-06-04T01:03:00.000-06:00

A spectator came out to watch me play today. Beautiful weather, and it
was a lot of fun as usual.

Golfing practice

2009-05-04T20:03:00.000-06:00

Today is my day off so coy and I met at buffalo hill golf course on
main street to do a little practicing. We started off with some ball
driving, had a fierce but rewarding time at the 9 hole putting range
(pictured), and then moved on to the chipping range where I need a lot
more practice. One day we will play a real game but golf is hard so I
at least want to get the basics down first.

We had a great time and I even went back by myself after dinner to
practice some more. It's very fun but also challenging. Whoever says
golf is boring has never tried it.

i hurt my head

2009-05-04T11:43:00.009-06:00

i obviously am behind on my blogs. i apologize but better late than never, i suppose. here is a story:

sometime around the end of march i had just concluded my final snowboarding trip for the season and i was feeling pretty good because i had gone all year without hurting myself or even falling hard. some people say that they don't go to church because skiing or some other outdoor sport is their religion but i believe the two go hand in hand as evidenced by the picture to the left.

i don't currently have health insurance and i am a paranoid person so not getting hurt is a big concern to me. here is where the story gets slightly less boring... without going into too many details, i somehow ran into a metal beam that cut the bridge of my nose and top of my forehead and it was bad enough that i needed to go to the emergency room to get stitches. also my nose broke. my face looked really bad for a while (i never took a picture when it was at its worst point) but overall the pain wasn't too bad.

it's healing up pretty good now but i still have a pretty crazy scar. i am putting some cream on it all the time that is supposed to minimize the scarring but i'm pretty sure it will be with me the rest of my life. there goes my modeling career. but it could have been a lot worse so i'm glad i am fine.

(photos by levi lusko, kevin guido)

devan and jenny

2009-05-04T11:04:00.007-06:00

i had the extreme privilege of photographing my good friends devan and jenn on april 6, 2009. these two are such a great couple and always fun to be around. the wedding party was great and i this was such a fun wedding to be a part of. i've shot several weddings over the last couple years, but this was the first one where all my close friends were there. also, i haven't posted a lot of personal stuff on the blog lately, but i'm getting married in june and my fiance was the maid of honor at this wedding so it was extra special for me.

i'm sure devan and jenn will be posting lots of my photos soon and i'll let you know where to find those when they put them up.

for now, here are some highlights of the wedding party, in random order. best wishes to devan and jenn flaherty and i wish them a lifetime of happy memories together.

The budget gourmet

2009-04-27T23:15:00.001-06:00

Tonight I just didn't feel like cooking. But I'm hungry and not in the
mood for ramen so I made these things. I call them "cheese and
crackers". Very tasty and easy to make. I washed them down with a tall
glass of water. Hunger eliminated, now I can sleep peacefully.

1 guy burgers and fries

2009-04-25T20:55:00.006-06:00

After church tonight I developed a hunger for food. I was alone but didn't waste money going out. I grilled some burgers and heated up some tasty fajita fries and I had a delicious dinner in under 10 minutes.

Grilling

2009-04-02T20:44:00.001-06:00

On a Thursday evening as the snow falls softly. Mmmm... bison burgers.

I got the grill at the thrift store for $20. Gayla is showing me her
award winning technique.

T-shirt fail

2009-03-14T00:27:00.001-06:00

Seen at Walgreens.

update.

2009-02-17T07:47:00.003-07:00

it's sad how i've neglected my little blog lately. i've just been so busy with a lot of changes and other things in my life. i am in the process of moving to a new house, planning a wedding (more on that later) and re-watching seasons 1-4 of LOST with some friends to top it all off. i don't usually post blogs without photos but i will make up for it when i get a chance. have a great week everyone!

SUPER DEMO

2009-01-30T16:57:00.004-07:00

costco is out of hand. today i was there picking up some supplies and i chanced upon a cache of food sampling stations. there were over 25 of them in a small area! it was like a food worker's convention! here are some shots, you can see 9 ladies all in a row distributing their tasty treats.

i couldn't help myself. i tried smoked salmon, chips and guacamole, cream cheese bagel, bbq chicken sandwich, vitamin water and much more! wow, that was fun. i love this country!!

(yes i know it is because of the super bowl)

cheers to you

2009-01-21T00:01:00.006-07:00

once in a while, a product comes along so mind boggling, it is hard to tell if it is real or not. i saw this ad and thought it had to be a joke. so i went to the website listed on the ad, and to both my dismay and great pleasure simultaneously, it is real. i really wanted to say something clever about this but i think i'll let the advertisement speak for itself:

ok now watch it again. that's right. an entire cd of a guy talking over a large crowd of people cheering. the guy's voice is creepy everything about this cd scares me so much.

but wait, there's more! if you act now, you can get 3 custom affirmative metal puzzle pieces that say things like: "i am brave", "i am important", and "i am powerful".

my personal favorite? "i am abundance"

that's all. if anyone ends up ordering this (please don't), let me know.

Whopper Sacrifice

2009-01-19T16:19:00.001-07:00

That's right, I did it. I deleted 10 facebook friends to get a coupon
for a tasty whopper with over 70 grams of fat and almost 2000
calories. Mmmm.

I am now down to 45 friends and my goal is to get it to 30. Maybe some
day.

videos pertaining to snow related activities.

2008-12-31T21:15:00.004-07:00

here is an introduction to all the intricacies of whitefish mountain resort. what it's all about, the famous people who have skied there, and an in-depth discussion of the more than 145 activities available to snow seekers who come from all over the world:

if you made it through that video, take a gander at my full length history of big mountain, including fun facts, trivia, and plenty of minutiae to keep you entertained for hours:

unfortunately, the battery died on the camera both times i was being recorded and so the videos were not as in-depth as i intended them to be. but i think i have given you a good taste of the big mountain lifestyle.

finally, here is a little clip of me entertaining a small child by diving into a pile of snow:

Happy Holidays from Howard and Henrietta.

2008-12-26T21:24:00.002-07:00

Remember Howard, the Christmas bird? Read about him here and here.

This holiday season, Howard has a new friend. Her name is Henrietta and she is a red plush birdie from Starbucks. She started off low down on my Christmas tree this year but has eventaully made her way up towards the "star" of my Christmas tree - Howard. Can you blame her? Howard was cleaned before the holidays and his feathers are white as ever, glistening in glow of hundreds of small lights.

This no doubt has attracted Henrietta, and if i had any other fake bird ornaments, they would probably want to be near Howard as well. When I saw the way Henrietta was gazing longingly at Howard's left wing, I had to take a picture. You have to act fast with Christmas birds, especially the day after Christmas. One day they are on your tree, and the next, they fly away as not to be mistakenly thrown in the garbage with the outdated holiday evergreen.

What other adventures will Howard and now Henrietta find themselves being a part of? Only time will tell. And only my blog will have the inside scoop. So if you have any bird sense at all, you'll check back often for the latest regarding Howard and Henrietta and their feathery friendship.

winter blessings

2008-12-20T21:25:00.004-07:00

sometimes in the busyness of life we overlook some of life's little treasures...

snow time

2008-12-18T14:13:00.003-07:00

last night we had the first big snowfall of the year. probably over 8 inches overnight. it is so beautiful when the city is covered in a pure white blanket, but of course there are the hardships that come along with it as well. cars slipping all over the road, snow piled everywhere, having to warm up your car and scrape ice and snow off your windows, poor visibility, etc.

i am so fortunate to have what i believe to be the ultimate car for driving in a snowy place. my subaru legacy gt has low ground clearance, but that's ok because it can easily plow through deep snow. i have studded tires that grip to the road, and of course the full time all wheel drive makes the car twice as likely to gain traction than a front or rear wheel drive vehicle. and the low center of gravity actually keeps the car on the road better than an SUV or truck. braking is very good and i have to be very careful to give people behind me a lot of room to stop or they will run right into me.

i always wondered why there were so many subarus on the road here in montana and now i know why. here are some snowy pictures to enjoy, captured on my cell phone. i'll take more later with my real camera.

today, devan had the miserable task of clearing the snow off the awning. he did a great job though, and the flathead beacon even stopped by and snapped a photo of him working, and it might be in an upcoming issue.

funny story: as i was sweeping all the snow off my windshield so i could drive to work, i get an email from my brother. he took a picture of his car, covered with frost. i laughed because compared to the piles of snow everywhere here, a little frost seems like nothing. i guess in southern california things are different.