ONE YEAR!!!!!

Well, how time flies! I can't believe I have been married a year now. But like they say: Time flies when you're having fun. And what fun it is to wake up every morning next to the one that you love. Amanda is amazing and I couldn't ask for anyone better so I hope that she'll forgive me my little quirks and imperfections (I know, can you believe I have 'em? me quirky? haha). Anyways, the time has gone by so fast and I thought I'd share some pic's in review.






The day we were engaged
On the honeymoon, Amanda jumps for joy

Oakland Temple

Safari Trip
First Christmas
Snowfall in CA (Amanda's parents backyard in Fontana)
Space Rangers
??? fun with wedding deco, I guess
AE winter collection
Prep for the wedding
In Love.

Saturday fun/ REI vs. Bass Pro Shop

This month, because of a different school schedule, I have Saturday's off, so this Sat. Amanda & I went out and had some fun. I went to Barnes & Nobel and picked up a collected work of Charles Dickens (5 books) and a copy of Peter Pan for Amanda. Then, I picked up Amanda from work and we went and walked through Bass Pro Shop and then REI. We decided that Bass Pro Shop is more like an Amusement Park whilst REI is more practical for any outdoorsy type (specifically I wanted to look at climbing equipment; i.e. climbing shoes, harness, rope, etc.), Bass Pro Shop had none of the above and was mostly clothes and fluff with big scenery. REI had everything I was looking for and it was easy to find. Plus, REI had everything in easy to find sections that were much smaller with more useful stuff.
Then we came home and had a three hour nap (Nice!!) and went to the grocery store so that Amanda could make some Amazing Nachos:
They are made with chips from a latin supermarket (Superior Grocery Store) that are Lemon Guajillo chips (important first ingredient; if not available, then normal chips with Tony's seasoning and lemon, or other spice will suffice), then some grilled chicken (on the handy George Forman Grill), refried beans on every chip, and topped off with Tillamook medium chedder cheese, olives and sour cream.
Then, after that refreshing meal, we set ourselves to cleaning the apartment and a little reorganization. Amanda worked on the kitchen and dining room, and I helped on the dining room and worked on the living room. After the cleaning, we changed up our dining room area in order to free up some space. The table used to be in the middle of the area shown and the bookcase was against the wall on the left (under the clock). This is the result. Whoo, what a day.Before (above) and After (Below)

Critical Thinking

I am taking an organizational behavior class right now from a professor who has a PhD in the subject and I really am enjoying the class and her perspectives. In class yesterday she said something I think we could all apply. She said "Critical thinking is key to all learning," and went on to define Critical thinking as "the questioning of everything." This was something that I thought was neat and wanted to remember it and share it with you all. How many of us apply this in our learning/educations? How many times do Church members question that which is presented to them as "fact" from less than reliable sources? Now obviously, you have to have some foundation, hence the scripture in 1 Corinthians 3:11 "for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ," or Ephesians 2:20 "and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Or the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion, et al. One things I have learned from brothers-in-law TJ and Chris is this "question everything" attitude, while I don't do it as often as they do I'm trying to open my mind more and more. And you know what? as I do so, my testimony grows stronger! Imagine that! "You mean to say that flexing your brain will help you learn and grow?" Yes! In a Church where "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth" (D&C 93:36) and where agency is one of the principles upon which is built the entire cosmic multi-verse (see D&C 93:30-31) you would think the ability to practice critical thinking would be commonplace. Anyways, i just read TJ's post on his Mormon culture sins and was a little fired up.
How good are you at questioning new things presented to you? or, how good are you at critical thinking?
How do you react to cognitive dissonance? (where cognitive dissonance = the disparities between what you thought you knew as fact, and what the truth really is when presented to you).

COMIC CON!! (i.e. Nerd Alert)

This is going to be a long one...
Well it has come and past, the main event of the year...ok, maybe not the main event of the year, but definitely awesome. As you saw in the previous post, I bought a few things (At the end of the post I'll put what I bought down). I got to drive down to San Diego with my sister Nicole and talk to her. TJ and Chris had been going since Wed. night so they hung out till about 12:40 and then peaced out. And of course, my loving wife -not wanting me to be alone (we knew TJ and Chris weren't going to stay)-Amanda came with us as well!! So to best tell the story, I must use pictures:

My brothers and me browsing comics

Best Star Wars Character Ever

Kinda Blurry, but it's me!

The Punisher

Cool Superman banner at the DC "booth"

Statuette of a Tautaun being attacked by a Snow Monster

Boba Fett Figurine

General Grievous bust

Life size C-3PO and R2-D2

Apocalypse (from X-Men) bust

Sabretooth bust (also X-Men)

I believe this was supposed to be War Machine (from Iron Man)

Iron Man bust

Full-size Iron Man

Giant Lego Batman & Robin

and, the monster from Cloverfield statuette.

Well, what an awesome time I had at COMIC CON. Here's a breakdown of my treasures:
-New X-Men, vol. 1
-Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (signed by author)
-R.A. Salvatore's Exile and Sojourn
-X-Men: Deadly Genesis
-Ultimate Iron Man (by Orson Scott Card)
-The Hedge Knight (from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Ice book series
-Orson Scott Card's Red Prophet (Tales of Alvin Maker, vol. 1)
-Star Wars 30th Anniversary Vols. 2 & 3 (Jedi vs. Sith and Darth Maul respectively)
-Marvel 1602
-100 Bullets: Once Upon A Crime
-Frankenstein Poster, which follows as the last pic
If you made it this far than thanks for taking the time to view and read. I hope you enjoyed!

Coming Soon...

Comic-con was this Sunday (well, it was longer, but I couldn't get off work so Amanda & I just got to go Sunday) and here's a preview. I have more pics I will be posting within the next couple of days.

Drooling over Todd Lockwood art, by then I was out of money,
so I didn't get any. Why was I out of money...

And this is why I was out of money, also part of my b-day present. And don't worry, most of it was 60% off... more to come...

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, Friday the 25th was my birthday and here is a little photo journal of the events:

My newest Nephew: Caleb Derek ShelbyMy awesome present from Jodi, a print of a watercolor of
Boba Fett, best Star Wars Character everPresents, presents, presents...

The Cake!!!...

Getting ready....

Got 'em all...

Amanda got me Mario Kart

Some Mario Kart enjoymentA new CD from Cameron (Amanda's brother, my brother-in-law).
Flight of the Conchords rocks!!
(i.e. "She's hot like a Curry;" "binary solo: 0000001, 0000011,..." "did Steve tell you that...Steve;" "My name is the hiphopopotamus, my rhymes are bottomless............" etc.)

Anyways, my Birthday was awesome, thanks everyone who came to party, and for the company and gifts, and thanks work for the balloons and stuff. The cake was great and the homemade pizza was amazing. And the fun isn't over yet! Tomorrow Amanda and I are joining TJ and Chris for the last day of Comic-con in San Diego, whoo-hoo!!!!

New Movie Previews

OK, so there are some amazing movies coming out this year, everyone loved Iron Man, it was great. And everyone knows about Batman and has seen the preview so there is no need to post those, but here are some interesting movies you may not have seen the previews for:
James Bond in Quantum of Solace, Nov 7, 2008



Do I really need to explain the meaning of James Bond? One of the best franchises of all time!! Oh, as a side note the movie take place one hour after where the last Bond flick (Casino Royale) ended and Daniel Craig is returning as James Bond.

Next, The Day the Earth Stood Still:


This movie may need a little more explaining. It is a remake of a 1950s sci-fi classic. I won't give too much plot away because it looks like it diverges a little from the original plot (but not too much). Anyways, without knowing anything about the plot, one can see from the preview that it looks really, really good.

As for other good news:
-- X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes out May 1, 2009 with Hugh Jackman returning as the Wolverine and directed by Gavin Hood (who won the Academy Award for best foreign film in 2005 for "Totsi"). The screenplay will be done by David Benioff (who wrote the screenplays for "Troy" and "25th Hour"). Joining the cast are Gambit (played by Taylor Kitsch from TVs "Friday Night Lights"), Deadpool (by Ryan Reynolds), John Wraith (by Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am), Col. William Stryker (by DannyHuston), Kayla Silver Fox (by Lynn Collins), and of course Sabretooth (by Liev Schreiber).

--Thor for this film only the director has been announced, and it is Matthew Vaughn, the director of "Stardust," and "Layer Cake."

Anywho, that's it for me. Hope you're as excited about these films as I am. Other tidbits, in the works after Thor are movies about Captain America, and then an Avengers film that will link up Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America. Woo Hoo!!