Thanksgiving + Cajun Fried Turkey

Well. I will be the first to admit, having a wife from San Diego isn't half bad, in fact, it's fantastic. Julie and I made the long trek down to San Diego last week and had quite a time. I was able to work from down there for a few days, which allowed us to leave the Friday before Thanksgiving so we had a whole week down there. And let me tell you, 70 degrees is real nice when 2 days earlier you were in DC at it was about 20 degrees and windy. I don't know that I would like to make a tradition of that drive, but it wasn't too bad as we split it in two, stopping over in St. George.

We had a wicked awesome week with Julie's family. I am not sure what it is to the nieces and nephews there, but apparently I am the crazy uncle that can be climbed on, jumped on, not let go of no matter what guy. I tell you what though those are some cute kids and it was great to get to know them all a little better.

Probably the highlight of the trip would be this:

        

      

and this...I had a hard time eating it, it was so mesmerizing

 

Yes that is a piece of Jell-O. Don't even ask how, cause I don't know. But it was awesome. Above is the famous Haslam Cajun Fried Turkey...all injected with southern spices. I have heard about this for over a year now. And although it was quite dangerous to cook, it lived up to all the hype. It was so tasty. You gotta try it sometime. Thanksgiving Turkey with a kick. We were lucky enough to spend the week with Julie's two older sisters and their families along with her parents. We had an awesome Thanksgiving. We have so much stuff to be grateful for, don't know how or why we got so lucky.

So we had a great week. Everything from this:

 

 

Balboa Park. This really cool area near downtown kind of like San Diego's version of the Mall in DC. Beauty buildings and a lot of really cool museums. To this:

 

Hash House a Go Go. Look at the size of Mark's french toast. We went to this awesome breakfast place where they had bigger portions than I have seen in my life. The plates weighed like 10 pounds are were about 18 inches wide - no exaggeration. Had some really good Hash (not the bad kind, the good kind). To this:

To the Hotel Del, an incredible spot. This was the day after Thanksgiving, and I was on a beach and warm. Kind of messed with my head a bit. I am used to snow and cold on that day. We randomly ran into Gordon there as he was checking in (he was there with his kids for the weekend).

Thanks so much to Haslams for hosting us, especially Tis and Dagan as we crashed at their house for a week. On our way home we decided to drive through LA so we could go to the Getty Museum. I love that place. Julie had never been there before so we decided it would be worth it to go out of our way a bit...and it was. I love that museum. The architecture of the museum is just about as cool as the art within it.

 

More nice weather in LA made it hard to begin the drive home. That pic of Julie sitting in a chair was this cool exhibit where you sit in the chair, and there is a camera on you and it superimposes you and the chair into the flatscreen in front of you to make you look like you are in a palace somewhere in Europe. Art is so interesting, and awfully creative at times. I am inspired to become more of an artist and a student of art. Julie is in an Art History class and is really into it so it was fun to hear what she knew about the stuff we saw.

We stopped in Vegas and stayed there on our way home to enjoy the end of our vacation. It only takes about 2 hours in Vegas to realize how weird that place is and how it is fun about once every 4 years. We are back home and back into school and work. I am really liking my new job, it is going to be a challenge, but nonetheless it is really exciting and an awesome company. Julie saw two people give birth today. Yikes.

I almost forgot the most important thing. It is the Christmas season! The music is playing non stop. It is so fun to be here with Julie celebrating our first Christmas as married peeps. Merry Christmas!!!!

sight.

Have you used lightroom? I started messing around with it the other day and thought i'd show a few of my masterpieces (ya right). That's what brought on the "sight" idea. The way we see things is incredible. If you don't know what building this is then you don't deserve to.

up close and in detail...

or out the window of a car driving through maine. If you had to enter one of them, which one would it be...my answer will be at the end of the post.

or at my alma-mater

or at the place I want to take Julie most. Lake Windermere

or a secret shot from my waist in one of the most beautiful architectural feats in Londy.

Or the spot where Julie said yes.

or one of earth's greatest mysteries

or in the land where it all began

or through the art of the self timer

the eye and the camera and a computer can do some pretty amazing things. sight is an incredible thing. so notice what is around you and try to see it in a new way. i'd go in the the one on the right second from the top. and only in my dreams did i go to Columbia.

Cruisin with my Broskis

So Mom and Dad were awesome enough to take me and the brothers on an awesome cruise. It was so fun to be there with my 4 brothers and my parents. I don't know the last time the 5 of us were all together at the same time. These are pics from Cozumel where we rented scooters and drove all over the island. Tal was with us in spirit as he met up with us there in Cozumel.

Here's Josh with his camera strapped in tightly (which was a good thing cause there were some unexpected bumps.

Here's Noah showing some leg. These little things were pretty fast.

I almost fell off my scooter trying to take these pics while going...so I hope you can appreciate them.

We all drove along in a little caravan. All following behind mom and dad who opted for one of these instead of the scooters. Dad is obsessed with these things. I drove it too. Pretty fast little pups. I hope he really gets one.Here we are with Pops after formal dinner night. The food was so dang good. We went through a lot of food at our table each night. Had to try at least 2 or 3 of everything...appetizers, dessert, and entrees.

And with our Beautiful Mom. What a lady she is to put up with 6 guy for a week. It was so fun to sit there for hours at dinner or lunch or on the deck, or wherever to have really in depth conversations and discussions about everything from the economy to politics, to hopes and dreams. I have some great brothers as role models. It was awesome to get their take on life and how they do things.

Here is something I had to show people. Every night the room steward left these animals on our beds made out of towels. We had a good laugh about this seductively posed puppy.

Here we are at Chichen Itza. These incredible Mayan ruins. 7 square miles of pyramids and ruins. Some for the 5th century AD and the newer part from the 10th century AD. These explorers went out in the 1850s in search of what was a legend of an old city. And happened onto these incredible ruins that had been buried in the jungle. (Notice the pyramid shape of our heights as well).

We had a grand old time. Even though we weren't able to go to Roatan Island in Honduras b/c of a political uprising, or to Belize because of a big old tropical storm. We had a whole lot of fun scuba diving in Cayman, and a trip to the Turtle farm (see video of mom below). In Cozumel on scooters and snorkeling, and in Progreso (a replacement site for the places we couldn't go) at Chichen Itza. Or on the "fun days at sea" as they called them, eating up a storm. Cruises are also a great motivator to get in and stay in shape as there are some gigantic people lumbering around. Other highlights were watching some awesome Red Sox games on the boat, only to be let down in game 7 after we got off the boat (luck ran out), the waterslide, having fun with drunk people. Thanks mom and dad, that was a trip to remember!

Here are a few more pics for the fam and my bro's wives cause I know no one else will post pics (except maybe Josh). And one more, can't forget this awesome little room we packed into. The beds folded out of the ceiling. It was sweet!

Mom Likes Turtles.

life

so i just realized it has been a while since i have written on here. and it really has. i mean if i am a blogger i need to keep up with my sisters who blog like 8 times a day. just kidding, their blogs are awesome. anyway. life is good for me and jules. i've been trying long and hard to deny the fact that we moved back to utah, provo nonetheless, but i have come to grasps with it and it is going to be a great year. julie is finishing nursing school this year, and so we'll be here until next june, from there, who knows.

i am in new york city right now, and being here is really making me feel that we need to move back here. we just had a little taste of it as we lived here this summer, but this place there is just a feeling about it that is so...well hard to describe. there is just a great energy about this place. i am here helping noah with some dinners he is hosting this week for work. imagine learning sent me out here to help him, can't complain about that other than the fact that julie isn't here. all the brothers and my parents got to go on a cruise last week in the carribean so i have only seen julie for about 24 hours in the last 12 days and it is killing me. she is an amazing girl. it is weird to go from being with someone so much for so long, and then not to see her at all. it is killing me. it really makes me love and appreciate her more though, so in some ways it has been good, still though, i don't plan on doing it again any time soon.

well, that should do for now, i will put some pics on of our apt and the cruise and some other stuff when i get home. this world is an amazing place. think of all it has to offer, think of how much of it you haven't seen. set a goal and go to the place.

the jazz start in less than a week. i am so bloody excited. julie's even excited. talk about progress. this is the year. if you don't believe me then do me a favor and give yourself a nice big slap in the face.

Maine Anybody

We had a beauty trip up to Boston, NH, and Maine on our way out of the East Coast. That place is so beautiful. We had a fun day in Boston and had dinner with Saydi and Jeff and co and walked the freedom trail. It is pretty cool how much history is in that city. We then drove up to New Hampshire and Maine and spent a couple of days there (went back to Boston in between as we were a bit late on booking the overpriced B&Bs. So Saydi was nice enough to let us stay in her B&B aka Cappy Cap while she was camping with her fam. I found myself taking pictures left and right. That place is about as picturesque as it gets. A church on every corner, beatiful beaches with dune grass and white sand, the beginnings of fall (colors) and boats.

His head fell off.

Quite the fire escape system. Can you see the reflection? There were a lot of cool pics, so I decided to do a couple slide shows. The first is Boston and NH and second is Maine. We are back in Utah now. Adjusting would be a good way to describe it. It is going to be a fun year though. Julie had a great first week of school, and we are now in the process of deciding just where to live... the next post will probably be about that. But for now, enjoy these pics below. Sox are going to win the AL East...mark my words.

Sunset on New York

This is one of the coolest sunsets that I have seen. You see red and orange a lot, but not so much purple and blue. It was significant of our summer in New York coming to an end. It was an absolutely incredible summer that we'll never forget. We'll never for 1409 York Avenue Apt. 2b. Even though it was short, it was our first home. It was where we began our marriage and started something incredible. It was awfully hard to leave as I had a bit of a lump in my throat...but we'll be back. Thanks to Julie who was willing to go with me this summer and thanks to Tal and Noah and Kristi for all the good times we had this summer. We're back in Utah now and Julie is back in school...we'll see what the next few weeks entail as far as where to live and what I will be doing for work.

We finished off the summer with a trip up to Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine. It was beautiful, with some foliage already occurring (the changing of the leaves). Pics of that to come.

US Open

It has always been a dream of mine to find myself at the US Open, and last night it came true. We were there and we saw some amazing matchese. In particular, this one between James Blake and Donald Young (the up and coming American). The match went 5 sets and ended at about 12:45 am. But that is what is awesome about the US Open they just keep playing and the fans stay pretty dang roudy. It was an amazing match between two of the quickest guys I have ever seen. Blake ended up winning 6-4 in the 5th, but I am telling you what watch out for Donald Young. I think he is my new favorite player. Just a 19 year old pup. This was Julie's induction to the world of pro tennis (live) and judging by her yelling and getting into it as much as me...I think she liked it.

So knowing the Eyre mentality, soon enough me, Julie, Tal, Noah, and Dad found ourselfs on the front row on the baseline, which are the best seats in the house. It got a little late for the wealthy folk that had the tickets, so we took advantage. We were sitting right on top of the players and had a beauty view. The match got better and better as we sat there. This was highlighted not only by the match, but by Dad getting on the jumbo tron while he was dancing and doing peace signs between games (peace signs, I tell you the guy is a born politician).

Here is Donald Young, an awesome 19 year old from Chicago that wears hit hat a little bit to the side (just watch a rap music video if you don't know what I am talking about). He played incredibly. The whole crowd was behind him as he made his run.

Noah and Tal have pulled this off before, but for me and Julie it was a first (the Open). It was inspiring to watch these guys play, makes me wish I would have done more to go further in tennis. Not like I would have played in the US Open but maybe in college. We got home about 2am, now we are getting ready to head out there again with Dad for the day session today...then tonight Dad and I are going to Red Sox v. Yankees...Can you have a better sports day, I mean seriously. More pics to come.