Which Disney Prince are You?

Do you like taking online quizzes?

While I love trivia- and fact-based games, I don't take too many online quizzes.
I guess they just make me think of those magazines near the checkout of the grocery store.
Not exactly heady or intellectual stuff.

But sometimes they're fun.

Girls like to know which Disney princess they are. This is a fact of the universe.
I wouldn't have gone looking for this, but Emily sent me a link to this online quiz.
Apparently there's a corresponding male version of that quiz to see which Disney prince a guy is.

There are some pretty interesting Disney princes (and pseudo-princes) when you think about it.

Tarzan (not an official prince) is a beast. Sensitive and kind to all living creatures. Innocent and protective.
The Beast, aka Prince Adam, is literally a beast. But the opposite from Tarzan. Angry, violent, cynical.

Aladdin is a greedy criminal, albeit a good-hearted one. A sneaky orphan with a silver tongue.
Prince Charming is well, a prince. Not too chatty as I recall, but was a decent ballroom dancer.

Li Shang is by-the-book, almost to a fault. He's big and strong and keeps his long hair in a ponytail.
Flynn Rider lives without rules. More of a wily, dodgy type and lets his long hair flow freely.

Anyway... my results were:

I'm pretty happy with that description of Prince Phillip, and I hope it's a true description of me.
Brave, noble, willing to stand up for the ones I love. Softer side, and I do like a good smooch!

So guys, which prince are you? Or which one do you think your significant other is, ladies?

Also, if you gals want to find out, here is the quiz to see which Disney princess you are. Enjoy!

Read More

Mark Asper: Oregon Duck, Hero, Eagle Scout, Husband, Father, and...

Mormon.

Of course.

When I read the story this morning on Yahoo News about how an Oregon offensive lineman had saved a choking man's life, and credited his Scout masters and Eagle Scout training, I started to wonder.

When the story then mentioned he was the oldest guy on the team, and that he was married with two kids (both daughters, how cute!), alarms started going off in my head.

So I figured I'd check his Oregon player profile to see if I could get any more info. [Stalker-ish of me?]

When his profile included these tidbits, I determined he's likely a member of the LDS Church:

• Attended Bonneville High in Idaho Falls, ID. Not a slam dunk, but there are lots of Mo's in ID.
• Majoring in Spanish. That could mean a lot of things, until you factor in the next point.
• Redshirted the 2007 season "after being away from the game for a two-year religious mission commitment."

Bingo.

Lots of churches do mission trips, which is excellent and I wish more people had/took the opportunity to serve those in need around the world, including in the U.S., but the two-year part is usually a pretty straight-forward LDS giveaway.

So while I don't really have a horse in the Rose Bowl, I'll be cheering for Oregon's #79.

Not just because he's Mormon (as there are probably some LDS guys on the Wisconsin side, too), but because he's a great guy and a life-saving hero.

Read More

Venn Diagrams for Grown-Ups

Do you remember learning about Venn diagrams back in school?
I think it was initially a way to teach us the color wheel and how colors combine to create other colors.

Here are a couple grown-up versions, which I happen to think are quite humorous.

[Note: I claim no credit for these, as they were found on various sites from the interweb.]

Santa

Men

I sure hope I'm a nerd, or maybe dumb

Girls

Just FYI, that middle piece doesn't apply to girls my friends, family, or I date

Junk Touchers

Grandpa

Star Wars Villains

Firefly

I need to watch more Firefly; shame they cancelled it

Wish I could come up with something as clever as these.

Do you have a favorite, from this list or somewhere else?

Read More

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season!

We make this look good

Read More

Sesame Street Answers "How Does Santa Get In?"

Do you remember when the Sesame Street characters would ask kids to explain things?
I had forgotten about this, but just felt joy at coming across this video about how Santa gets into houses.

Kids are hilarious, and I'm definitely digging those clothes. Wish I had sweet vintage duds like theirs.

Read More

I've Seen Yew at the US Botanic Garden

There are no misspellings in that title. Keep reading and I'll prove it to you.

Since Emily and I both had the day off (thank you built-up vacation days), we decided to check out some holiday decorations in a little-visited DC locale prior to me taking Emily to the airport.

We took the metro in and saw the US Botanic Garden for the first time.
Kind of tragic since I've lived in the DC area over 4 years and this is my first visit there.

But the decorations made it well worth the wait.
Everything was made of plant materials, and they had both major DC historic buildings and a whole train area with small exhibits of animals/mythic creature habitats.
Sounds weird, but you'll get what I mean in the pictures.

The US Supreme Court

I fit right in with the Monkey Mansion, eh?

With the Mermaid piece

The Peacock Palace, for all the Peacock gals that read my blog

Yes, I'm talking to yew
OR
Here's lookin' at yew, kid

Yes, that is a plant called the "yew". There are several varieties, and they can be quite toxic. Just FYI, in case you thought eating some yew would be a good idea. Because it wouldn't be.

Taking time to stop and smell the orchids

Abe Lincoln looks pretty good made out of plant materials

So much detail on the National Capitol, even down to the statue in front

While it may have taken a long time to get to the US Botanic Garden, I'm very glad this was a first that Emily and I could share. Makes it extra special to see such a cool place that way.

So I encourage you to find some new places around where you live, and share them on your blog or Facebook after you go!

Read More

A Red Velvety Big Ben Night

No, this post is not about "Big Ben" Roethlisberger and his turnover-filled night against my 49ers.
Sorry to get your hopes up, sports fans.

This post is about my mini-date date last night with Emily.

After living in the DC area for over 6 months, the wonders of Dairy Godmother custard still hadn't crossed Emily's lips, so it was time for her experience it. We were lucky to have the extra bonus of yesterday's flavor being red velvet. Definitely the right night for a first timer.

Imagine the famous cupcakes, but in creamy custard form. It's as heavenly as you're imagining.

Next was time to let the creative juices flow. My roommates were in the midst of making gingerbread houses, so Emily and I joined in. After the developer's funding dried up on her townhouse project (and it was subsequently demolished to avoid becoming slums and crack houses), Emily was brought on early as a consultant (and not-much-later as co-owner) in the gingerbread Big Ben re-creation.

Everyone did a great job, and I was impressed by the multiple genres and styles built by our group.

Yay for gingerbread houses and another chance to give that lesser-utilized (by me, anyway) right brain some exercise in conjunction with its left brain counterpart!

Read More

This Party Makes Ugly Look Hot

How do you know it's the holidays? Well, a lot of ways.

But one of the most fun ways is when you attend an ugly sweater party.

My friends threw one as the capstone on our 12 Days of Christmas festivities for this year, so we had to make an appearance. Two of our gracious hostesses, Domineau and Milan (super-cool names, huh?), wrote blogposts about the party, which you can read here and here, respectively.

Earlier in the day, I'd stopped at Goodwill to buy some sweaters, as well as a dollar store for some cheesy decorations. After a good wash and dry (remember: Goodwill), Emily and I went over to my friend Camille's and we all hot-glued the bows, bells, trees, and trimming onto our sweaters.

That's how these beauties were created.

If you thought ours were the only ugly sweaters in attendance, you thought wrong.

Plenty of people were rocking sweaters that would make your 70 year-old 3rd grade teacher cringe.

Impressive work on the backside

Clearly Chris is ashamed for his lack of ugly sweater

Double your ugly sweater, double your fun

Ugly sweater vests: sleeveless, tacky triumphs

If this post and Domineau's haven't satisfied your love of ugly sweaters, check out my friend Marcus' ugly sweater party post for the 7th Annual Neck 'n' Nog.

Tis the season, and it makes me so happy. Do you have a favorite ugly sweater?

Read More

Phil's Fancy Toy Party

I'm used to seeing all my running friends in grubbies and sweaty and gross. That's the normal.

Lucky for us, Phil threw a toy-gathering party, and formal attire was strongly encouraged.

Check out how good we look!

With Phil, the evening's excellent host

  

 

Oh yeah, we clean up well. Plus, the kids got a bunch of toys for Christmas. Thanks, Phil!

Read More

Amazing Fake Punt

How did I miss this old NFL highlight? It's from 2009, but I just saw it today.

Blew. My. Mind.

Have a look.

Isn't that amazing?
So many great things about it.

Here are a few that come to mind:

1. The punter gets a moment of glory and even scores a touchdown. Generally, punters only get noticed for muffing kicks and getting blocked. Or for botching fake punt attempts due to clumsiness.
2. Those uniforms. Classic. Wish they'd go back to them.
3. Inventive and daring. Who comes up with this?!? A guy going in motion, then sweeping around the back? If that defender hits the punter, this could easily be a touchdown the other way. Makes it even more impressive due to the risk.
4. Ball-handling skills. Not until the close-up view at the 2:00 mark could I even tell what the punter did with the ball. Great job of putting it behind his back at the last second and not dropping it.

Ah, how I love trick plays in football.

And even more when they actually work.

Read More

I Love Tattoos, Just Not on Me

Have you ever thought of getting a tattoo? Do you already have one?
While I don't have one, I've thought about getting one on multiple occasions.
No, I wouldn't get a tribal armband, or a Fred Flintstone, or anything like that (though I don't begrudge those who do get such symbols/characters, as long as it has some personal meaning).

Great detail and I imagine it has a deep, personal background story

I actually think this is really cool idea (after you're married, of course)

Many of my feelings for tattoos are similar to this person's, actually.
Pain is a deterrent, but I have a pretty good tolerance. Plus, it'd be temporary.
As cool as a tattoo would be, I don't know that I'm passionate enough about something to get one.
And maybe I'm already too old to start getting tattoos.

For years, there have been two tattoos that I've actually considered beyond the "that looks rad" stage.
I'd only get one, and the selected tattoo would have been located either on the upper arm or on my calf. Not sure how I'd decide the spot, but, in my mind and for me, those would be the only acceptable places.

1. Superman symbol: He stands for so many good things and is definitely my favorite superhero. Sadly, I don't think it'd be personal enough. Plus, I already have a Superman ring that my mom sent me for Easter during my mission. So if I want to rock his style, I can wear that.
2. Ironman logo: This would have more meaning for me. When I was 19, I set a goal to complete a full Ironman event before I was 30. It was tough, but I trained for and completed the St George Ironman in May 2010. So why didn't I get the tattoo? I don't know; I guess I just felt like so many people had this one, and I don't want triathlon and/or the Ironman to define me my whole life.

Potential tattoo #1

Potential tattoo #2

Pretty much, you don't need to worry, Mom. I don't plan on ever getting a tattoo.

And I know that line just allowed you to stop holding your breath and let out a big sigh of relief.

For those of you who are considering getting one (or another, as the case may be), or those who may just be curious in learning more about tattoos in general, here is a helpful graphic.

But I still think they look pretty awesome sometimes.

Read More