Song of the day.....

Katy Perry - The One That Got Away
O.K. So this one needs a bit of an explanation. Let me start by saying i am not a big Katy Perry fan, i am normally the first to say how annoying she is and this song in its normal "pop" format is your usual teeny bopper dribble - but at the AMA awards this year she played this all stripped back and acoustic. From that moment on i have looked at this song differently - its actually quite cool. I just wish other artists would realise that there is something about pop music without being over produced!!

The Lady has a sense of humour!!

 Every year Kathy gives gifts that give me a bit of a kick out of them. Here are this years efforts.........Tshirt speaks itself and the CD is A George Strait Greatest Hits......you know, seeing as though i am his No. 1 Fan!!

Thorn in my side.....

Every year i have the same complaint at this time of year and every year i coplai to the mother in law, only to be told to suck it up!! I can not understand the American work Ethic at this time of year. Coming from a country that uses this time of year to enjoy some down time and recharge the batteries it does my head in that for christmas we are given 1 day of holiday, christmas day. I have always felt that it detracts from the festive season. Every year christmas just feels like any other public holiday.

I guess i shouldnt be suprised. Throughout the year i am given 3 sick days (compared to 10 at my last job in oz). I mean seriously, 3 days?? You get sick one time and there goes your entire years worth. In Australia we are given 4 weeks holiday per year but over here its only 1 week....what can you possibly do with only 1 weeks vacation??

I just dont understand what they get out of life if they are expected to work all year long with nothing in sight to look forward to and have to back it up year after year. I know in Australia just about everyone looks forward to their summer break....they just dont know what they are missing out on over here............

(Are you shaking your head right now Kathy??)

Jerry World A.K.A Cowboys Stadium

 Will i ever make it here?? When we flew to Cancun we flew into Dallas and i had my face hard pressed against the window trying to spot Cowboys stadium but had no luck. On the way back we flew in at night and it was right there outside my window. We probably flew about twice the distance from what the picture above shows but there was no missing it - it was Huge and lit up, i was so happy!! Will i ever get to see a game live??

Finally..........Spotify!!

My dreams have been answered!! For the longest times i have said that if i was tech savvy i would have created a website like facebook for music. Myspace had the right idea but the worng implementation. Introducing Spotify. There is now a website you can go to for all of your free music. Sure there have been a few around for a while but most of them would only allow you to losten to a few songs of a particular artist, rather it sould give you a radio station based on the artist of choice. Enter Spotify - you can now listen to just about any cd at full length. Its like facebook meets itunes with an extensive library for free. I have no idea how a site like this canpass for free, but i am not going to argue. Its here and its free and I AM EXCITED!! Just ask my brother - i have been on him for 2 weeks now to get it!! With smart phones and the app you can also have aninfinite amount of music with you where ever you go.

Makes you wonder where this will take the usic industry. I am almost positive that as facebook did this will reshape the way we consume our music and i am not sure how i feel about that as i am one who likes to have the cd in my hand (which has become harder the older i get as my $$ has to go toward other areas). Already there are many aspects of this program - making sharing music easy all you have to do is connect to facebook and all you have to do is drag and drop, there are a few apps out that allows you to browse sites to consume playlists and news.

All i can sy is that it is about timeand i can not wait to see where this goes. Possibilities are endless!!

Last FM.............

Since June ! 2008 I have been using an online muisic program to find new bands, listen to music butmost importantly tracking my music usage (which has been a little mia in the last 9 months since my ipod has started to play up). I just noticed that on my profile i have had 48420 tracks listened to (thats on,y on ,y ipod or computer - so basically not counting the last 9 months). That equates to approx. 16140 tracks a year, 310 a weekand 44 a day....pretty crazy considering it would be alot higher if i had the ability to track the past 9 months.

Song of the day.....

The Sundays - Wild Horses
Not the original, but this is the first version i heard of the song..........still kicks ass!!

Almost Perfect..........

Well we have been back from Cancun now for 4 days and the trip is fast becoming a distant memory. Things were so hectic when we returned as we had to drive to Ephraim to pick up the girls, go the the Nielson family christmas party and restock the house. The first day back to work was a huge shock to the system and lets not even get into the weather (it went from a perfect 80f to 15f when we arrived back home).

I am so glad that we went but wish that we had have stayed for an extra day or two. I think this is probably one of my most favourite holidays i have ever been on - if not top of the charts. We were a little worried about the weather in the week leading up as all weather reports listed rain for each day but it only rained for 45 minutes immediately after arriving at the resort.

Its been such a long time since Ash and I have had the opportunity to relax together and that was pretty much all we did. It was the most relaxed i have been in for as long as i can remember. I think part of that was due to the fact that it was all inclusive so we did not have to worry about where the funds were going. We went to see Chichen Itza, something I have wanted to do for a long time. We met a bunch of really cool people. I had actually forgotten how much i miss that aspect of being social and we played in all sorts of activities put on by the resort (good times). Not to mention the friendly employees who are constantly checking to see if they can get you anything

Eventhough we werent able to sleep in for as long as i would have liked (apparently 8am is now my threshold rather than 8pm), but a typical day went a little something like this. Out of bed by 8, eat breakfast, hit the pool by 9:30, Eat lunch, back to the pool, sun goes down behind the building by 1:30 so we would have to then hit the beach for anotherhour and a half, retreat to room for afternoon siesta, head down to the bar for pre dinner drinks, Dinner and then head to the bar for socialising (or as Ash and I liked to partake in people watching - who could ever forget some of our favourites: Fat guy, Pink shirt guy, Malibu barbies, Tall awkward skinny girl and her friend), and then back to the room for bed so that we could repeat it the following day!!

I dont believe that the perfect holiday exist but this was as close as it can get. I would have liked to have had an extra few days and wish that we had have gone out to 1 of the clubs with the resort instead of opting out for the resort club. I dont think i complained about one thing the entire trip. It was so good to get to reconnect with the beautiful wife without the two rugrats to interfere.

Seriously the most relaxing time ever!! I would do it all over again...............

And the fight begins..........

Every year at about this time i run into the same problem.......I like to call it the Gauntlet. When i first arrived in America I was told about how in winter there is not a whole lot of anything to do and once Thanksgiving rolls around people tend to consume more food during the "Festive Season". Each year it seems to get worse and with all of the extra distractions this year im finding myself in a battle yet again!!

After all of my hard work to get back into shape over Summer i am determined not to let it all slip by but i am finding it extremely hard to get my motivation to gt back into the gym after mexico. Ever since Thanksgiving i had not been as consistent with my workout and nutrition and then in the lead up to Mexico it really got the better of me. I have 10 days to go till January 1st and then its pedal to the medal but till that date i am sure i will continue to struggle with work, Gym, the cold & the nutrition!!

Lyric on my mind......

For a while now i have really enjoyed listening to the song Breaking Benjamin - What Lies Beneath but never really listened to the lyrical content other than the chorus. Such a awesome song.....

Take a breath
Hold it in
Start a fight
You won't win
Had enough
Let's begin
Nevermind
I don't care

All in all
You're no good
You don't cry
Like you should
Let it go
If you could
When love dies in the end

So I'll find what lies beneath
Your sick twisted smile
As I lie underneath
Your cold jaded eyes
Now you turn the tide on me
'Cause you're so unkind
I will always be here
For the rest of my life

Here we go
Does it hurt
Say goodbye
to this world
I will not
Be undone
Come to life
It gets worse

All in all
You're no good
You don't cry
Like you should
I'll be gone
when you fall
Your sad life
Says it all

So I'll find what lies beneath
Your sick twisted smile
As I lie underneath
Your cold jaded eyes
Now you turn the tide on me
'Cause you're so unkind
I will always be here
For the rest of my life

Don't carry me under
You're the devil in disguise
God sing for the hopeless
I'm the one you left behind

So I'll find what lies beneath
Your sick twisted smile
As I lie underneath
Your cold jaded eyes
Now you turn the tide on me
'Cause you're so unkind
I will always be here
For the rest of my life

Songs of the week........

B.O.B Ftg Lil Wayne - Strange Clouds

Snoop Dogg& Wiz Khalifa Ftg Bruno Mars - Young, Wild & Free

The date is set!!

Got home the day before leaving for Cancun and there was a flier for the Half Marathon i am planning on running so now it takes place on the fridge as a daily reminder of what i need to do......July 28th 2012, get it done!! (May 19th for the Tri)..........

The Picture.....

 Last week before we headed off to Cancun we had my work xmas party and we were all asked to bring a white elephant gift. Ash and I thought about it for a while and decided that it would be funny to blow up an 8x10  of me and sign it. The funny thing about white elephant gifts is that it is an annonymous exchange but obviously mine was a no brainer. Originally a guys wife got it and was like WTF do i do with this, but they have a rule that if someone who is without a gift wants to pick that instead of one for the pile or someone who has had their present taken out of their hands they pick again. The guy i sit next to had his taken off him and he went straight for my picture........oh i got to have Owen!!

So when i return from Cancun today i see this on my desk facing him. It had been there for a week awaiting my return and still remained by the end of work!! HAHA CLASSIC!!

North Melbourne Spirit!!

Hand Stands @ Chichen Itza

This was 1 of the most random moments of the trip. We turned the corner just prior to leaving Chichen Itza and we saw this guy trying to do hand stands in front of the pyramid. Ash couldnt believe how bad his form was so i told her that she should go show him how its done. After somce convincing, the conversation started " Umm - excuse me Mr, may i ask you what you are trying to accomplish here??" Then the rest you are able to hear. We cant decide if this guy was for real or if he wasnt quite all there. Either way he was having an awesome time. After a few pointers from Ash his ability quickly increased.........

Walking Baby

We finally have a walking baby on our hands!!

Box on

I wonder if i will ever support a team that is not constantly in debt or will this be the reason that they can no longer be around??

Ava's Xmas Dance 11

Its a BIG Ad

haha - love it.....the ad isnt bad either!!

Pics of the week.......

 Thanksgiving in E-Town

 Feast time

 Racquetball at Snow College A.C.

 Most random gym ever

 Got to get me one of these

New Do - well half way onto the new do. Had to cut it so it would grow in!!

Long time coming....

10 days till we head to Cancun and it can not come soon enough. Its been 2.5 yrs since my last real vacation and i am in need of a break from work and get away to clear my head as it has recently become filled with too many things...............