Things I've Done or Haven't Done

Bold the things you have done... [comment if you wish...]

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band [Marching, Concert, Symphony, Pep]
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty [floated past]
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked [on my mission]
Taken a sick day when you're not ill [kids were sick]
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Run a Marathon
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language [spanish]
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo's David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling [snorkeling]
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business [eCarters.com]
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout Cookies
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy [I still have pinewood derby cars in my treasure box]
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House [just the outside]
Killed and prepared an animal for eating [fish]
Had chickenpox
Saved someone's life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous [Glenn Beck]
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby [not me but my wife]
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee [wasp]
Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Exciting game

Andy notified me that there was a Bruin basketball game last night and asked if we could go. I found out that this was a "do or die" game for the Bruins to go to State. We threw on our coats and ran out the door. Before we left, I decided to try out my new MP3 player that had a built in FM radio tuner. Maybe I could listen to the play by play while watching the game.



I tracked down MIX 103 for the game and got a really good signal. As we entered the building I looked over at the announcers table to see if I could spot the "caller". He had a headset on and was stationed just below the upper deck of the gym. I decided to find a seat on the opposite side of the gym where there weren't as many people.




We sat and watched the game as the Twin Falls Bruins pulled ahead to create a cushion of 10 points. As we entered half time the announcer on the radio made a comment that he was having trouble staying connected to the radio station by cell phone. He mentioned that his cell phone was running low on battery and he wasn't sure how much of the game he could call. I thought it was interesting that he was using a cell phone.

As we entered the final minutes, the announcer started to get very anxious, his cell phone was dieing and I could see from across the gym that he was frantically searching for someone that had a cell phone. The radio station then went to commercial because the connection had been lost. I thought for sure that someone else in the gym would notice that he needed help. I sat for a few seconds waiting to see what would happen. After seeing the frustration and the announcer almost giving up on calling the final minutes of the game I quickly turned to Andy to see if he had his cell phone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and I asked, "is your phone charged?". He checked and nodded that it was. I said, "are you sure it is fully charged?" He said yes and showed me the bars on the phone. I then told him to run the phone over to the radio announcer on the other side of the gym. He looked at me like I was crazy. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "here, you take it over." So, I grabbed his phone and ran down the steps and up the other side of the gym. I reached through the fence on the upper deck and held the cell phone and asked if he needed a cell phone.



He looked up, saw the phone and grabbed it out of my hand looking for the microphone jack. He quickly found it and plugged in his headset. There was less than 3 minutes on the clock and they were completely off the air. I could tell he was in a hurry as he quickly tried to figure out how to dial the radio station number. After a couple of attempts he got connected and once again began calling the game. He gave me a big thumbs up after reconnecting with the station. Andy and I returned to our seats to enjoy the rest of the game.

The Bruins won the game by 10 points and secured their spot at a birth at the State Tournament. Andy and I returned to the announcers table after the game to pick up his phone. After they had done the interview with the coach, he was very kind to mention that we had saved the program by letting him use our cell phone.

I found out after the game that the announcer is the husband of Kate's first grade teacher. I also found out that most of the games that are called on MIX 103 are done by cell phone.

Needless to say, it was an exciting game in many different ways.

full length movie? "Just In Time"

This week, I decided to try my hand at a full length, (ok, not full length) movie. We've named it "Just in Time". I created the script, chose my actors and went for it. I tried to add some comedy and drama. You will notice that both of my actors have a hard time not looking at the camera. You might also see them smiling when they really should be smiling. However, they were good sports and allowed me to do my stuff. I'm actually pretty pleased at how it turned out. I learned quite a bit and will use some different techniques for my next movie. Enjoy the show.

Ski Trip

I went with Andy's 6th grade class to Pomerelle ski resort this Wednesday for a ski trip. We received some free ski classes before they let us loose on the mountain. After getting used to my borrowed skis, from my brother Blake, I took my chances on the man made jumps.




Ok, so my jumps are REALLY, REALLY LAME but that is all of the courage I could muster up for the jump. Maybe I'll take it faster next time, which will probably be in a few years when Savanna has her 6th grade ski trip.

The last jumper is Andy. Andy did very good for his second or third time skiing. He was even brave enough to take the jumps.

The weather was perfect. There was 2 feet of new snow and the lines were short. It was just a great day to be skiing.

Carter News Brief

We had some time Sunday afternoon to put together a Carter News Brief. I hope you enjoy the reports.



I think we have some great potential news anchors in our family.

Coby wins a Scholarship

Coby received a scholarship last week from Zion’s Bank. Each quarter, Zion’s bank gives a 100 dollar scholarship to one student that participates in the “Pays for A’s” program. Coby was the winner this quarter so the Bank Manager presented him with the scholarship over at Oleary Junior High. The Principal and Vice Principal were also in attendance and congratulated him for his hard work at getting straight A’s. Coby will be saving this scholarship money to help pay for his college tuition. Nice Job Coby.

Here is the video of the event. It isn't very loud so you may need to turn up your speakers.

Politics

You have probably all been bombarded with the political rhetoric that is being presented on all of the talk radio stations and TV news channels. You may even feel animated to the point that you need to contact your representatives in the US Senate and House of Representatives. I definitely have felt the need to voice my opinion, so, I tracked down the Idaho state representatives and have emailed them my concerns about the "stimulus package" and about the other things happening in Washington D.C.

If you are having trouble finding a way to email them, I'll make it easy for you. Here are the links to their websites.

Senator James Risch
Senator Mike Crapo
Congressman Mike Simpson
Congressman Walt Minnick

So, if you want to contact your IDAHO representatives, click on the links and send them your opinion.

DMJ

In these uncertain times, we (a couple of guys that really like funny jokes) have discovered that we haven't been receiving as many humorous anecdotes, stories and one-liners in our email inbox's. We have studied and researched with almost unanimous scientific consensus, that the economy is causing this huge dip in the amount of jokes being forwarded around the internet. Therefore, in an effort to increase mirth and joviality, we are applying for a 5 million dollar grant to be added to the stimulus package to get the jokes flowing again in cyberspace.

In an attempt to get our humor and economy stimulated, we have decided to form an agency that will have a dual purpose. Purpose #1 will be to create new jobs by employing people to forward funny emails and stimulate a very depressed economy. This will generate a net, 2 new jobs. Purpose #2 will be to forward and create as many funny emails as possible to simulate a very depressed national funny bone. I think we can all agree that the country is not just in a humor recession, but a full fledged hilarious DEPRESSION. To get us out of this depression, we are requesting that our agency be added to the stimulus package that President Obama has been encouraging lawmakers to pass.

This new department will officially be called, “The Department of Mirth and Joviality” (DMJ for short). Our motto will be: "If it isn't funny, you're not allowed to do it!"



Please urge your Senators and Congressman to support this addition to the stimulate package. We will all be much happier and jovial when the package is approved. We promise that you will immediately see more funny jokes flowing into your email boxes which will raise the level of humor in our nation.