Merry Christmas Everybody 2!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Old News!

Without a computer, I'm forced to trek up to campus while I am on break from school, just to update my blog. For you! So here is a quick, exciting rundown on everything I have been up to for the past few weeks.

My sister and me at the Jazz game!

FHE Christmas/Pajama party!

We cooked dinner and wore aprons like real men!

Presentation for my Proposal Writing class featuring Ben Dot Siler!

The best usher/program guy ever!

Camera Theifs!

Ryan Moeller! (My teacher!)

Krista and I took pictures of each other taking pictures!

Kelsha tried to get in the way! (She failed!)

Personal Friends!

I told you that was going to be exciting.

Gotta Crank This One

1 MV FYE

I have been meaning to put this song up for a long time. (couple weeks) It is pretty rad. If Domino's Pizza doesn't try and work this song into their next ad campaign, then I guess I must not know anything about life.

Hector and the Grinch

"By Hector! You're right! Christmas is right around the corner!"
-Max, who is from Australia and one of my favorite hotel guests

I'm not sure who Hector is, but Christmas is indeed around the corner. I like Christmas just fine, but I don't overlike it. Typically, I spend most of the holiday season grinching it up and doing my best to avoid Christmas music and holiday shopping until the last minute. Sunday afternoon, I was in the kitchen, wearing my new apron and cooking dinner, when I suddenly realized I was dancing to Christmas music. "What the heck?" I thought, "I must really like this stuff." And I do. So in tribute to that moment, here is the song that melted my grinch heart. There are some odd caricatures of Stevie Wonder and some inexplicable and excessive Muppets footage going on, but just roll with it. By Hector, it's Christmas.

Prepare Yourselves...

...for something BIG.

Nope, not that.

Not that either.

Something much bigger and much better.

It involves my computer and it's imminent destruction.

Stay tuned.

Family Photos

We are quite the cute bunch, right?

This location was the scene of our most awkward shots. I was always winking because the sun was in my eyes...

...and I got poo on my jeans.

Still cute.

The little brother, Ty.

Doing what we shoulda done a long time ago.

My three beautiful sisters. What happened to us dudes?

The little one, Pookie. (Nika)


Shalane, who just got back from her mission.


They r friends.

Bria, our favorite middle child

The old Red Devil himself.

We're not afraid to show that we like each other.

Today's Installment of a Strange Kid's Movie I Watched During Work at About 7:30 a.m. on HBO

The Aftermath

Here are the three reasons I have neglected the blogging world for the past five days:

Reason #1: My computer is...once again...not working.

"Wha...?" you say, "Your computer? Not working?" I know, I know, surprise of the century. Sunday night, I tried turning the thing on to check my fantasy scores and it did not turn on at all. I haven't had the time to really figure out what the problem is and I won't get the chance until later today. I can promise you this, if I can't figure out how to fix it, sledgehammer time will come. I'm not sure which one I want to happen more.

Reason #2: A crazy little thing called Thanksgiving food poisoning

One of the highlights of any Howard (my mom's side) family get togethers are my aunt Kritsana's egg rolls. She cooks at least a hundred at every family party and they are typically gone within an hour. They are delicious. They are awesome. They also should not be consumed ten at a time after sitting for two hours in your car. I spent the hours between midnight and four a.m. evacuating all egg rolls from my system. I set a new Cody Titmus record (at least in my adult life) for vomiting (twenty times, kids, twenty) and ended a two year streak of vomit-freeness since the Beto's incident of Winter '07. I didn't make matters much better by chugging VitaminWaters to get my liquids up and throwing my sugar levels way out of wack. So, if I have seemed a bit off the last few days, it is because I have been.

Reason #3: The last two weeks of school and my procrastinating heart

You can sympathize for me on being sick or having computer troubles, but don't feel bad for me on this one. I've put off projects, papers, and presentations for months and they are all coming down on me now. This is the time of year I make two or three trips to the library a day. It is the time of year I get pink eye and carpel tunnel from excess computer use. It is the time of year I am a little bit nicer to my teachers and more-studious classmates. Many times I thrive under the pressure and do great in these last few weeks. Other times, I become irritated and do funny things like, not turn in a final paper worth 30% of my grade. You just never know to expect.

Well, that is the update. If you don't hear from me in the next few days I am either stuck in the library labyrinth, mercilessly beating my computer into pieces, or lying dead in a gutter from eggrollio sugarinfectomyheadocanceritis.

"Turkey"

This morning, I was manning my front desk post at the hotel when the UPS guy walked in. I see him on almost a daily basis and although is never rude, he just seems a little displeased with life. I asked him if he was ready for Thanksgiving to which he responded, "No. It's just like any other holiday. Another wasted day." Well, Mr. Cry-Cry Grumpy Head, I think we have a problem here. Thanksgiving is awesome. It is the perfect non-biased, non-threatening holiday. It's all about family and the food rocks. So to my Pessimistic little friend, I dedicate this video. It's a happy little beam of Thanksgiving love wrapped in a baby's laughter and a kitten's tears. It also happens to be my favorite game show moment of all time. Feast...

Thanksgiving Craft Day

Yesterday, Jake and I wanted to make something nice, memorable, and awesome for the apartment of girls that we home teach. Let's just say that we pulled that off and then some. Jake found the recipe for Oreo Turkeys which require Double Stuff Oreos, mini-Reese's, candy corn, malt balls, and white, orange and black gel frosting. The process started out slow, as I got frustrated breaking a few cookies and a couple Reese's. (Mark obliged to eat the mess-ups) But once we got the hang of it, we were able to make ten of these cute little turkeys in under an hour! We had a lot of fun making them and the girls loved them. I think we have earned some major points toward being the best home teachers ever.

Irish Fun

I found this fun little song while I was skimming Kanye West's blog earlier today. The band is Two Door Cinema Club and they are from Ireland. Their MySpace page lists their musical influences as Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Wolf Parade, and Garth Brooks. lol.

Two Door Cinema Club I Can Talk

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB MySpace Music Videos

Random Thoughts

First of all, I would like to apologize for my last post. I put all of those pictures on there with the intentions of adding some cute descriptions and stories, but it never materialized. I could add them now, but I think I will just leave things as is. It will teach me a lesson to never publish an unfinished post. I won't let that happen again (probably)...That post was intended to be part of a larger series called "Week of Concerts" as I was planning on attended three different concerts last week. Sadly, Week of Concerts turned into Week of Concert when Elton John and Billy Joel got sick and Dear and the Headlights cancelled. The one concert I did attend was amazing...My plans on graduating in May might be pushed back a few months as I am diligently laboring to fail my rhetoric class. It will probably now be a summer graduation, but who really knows at this point? Anything can happen...One of my worst feelings is when I show up to work at 7 a.m. and turn on ESPN to find The Sports Reporters is on. This show single handedly makes one of the most naturally exciting things (sports) boring. It is the equivilant of being a kid and hoping to watch Simpsons only to find that the President has taken over every channel. Heart breaking...Speaking of sports, watching Real Salt Lake win the championship last night on penalty kicks was pure joy. I've never seen them play before yet I was still jumping up and down yelling like I was their biggest fan. It has to rank as one of my best sports memories in the non-Jazz/Utes/49ers category. Congrats to them...Thanksgiving is next week. Best holiday out there in my book. Love it.

Tuesday Night

:(

This morning a received a text message from my best friend, Marcus, that made me happy and also very, very sad. It read "I GOT THE JOB IN VIRGINIA!!" Obviously, he is pretty thrilled about his new job which will take him 2,000 miles away on a government internship. I am too. It is a great opportunity that could set him up for life if things work out the way they should. But he is going to be gone in a few months and that part really sucks.

Sure we have been separated before, when I was gone on my mission for two years, and we haven't even lived in the same city since we graduated from high school six years ago. But, there is something that feels a little more permanent about this time.

Marcus moved here from Indiana when we were in seventh grade and I was assigned to give him a tour of our middle school. The first thing I noticed about him was the San Francisco 49ers Trapper Keeper being held in his arms. Everything after that is history. For the last eleven years we have evolved from sleepovers and Nintendo 64 to rock concerts and road trips. We've seen Dylan, Clapton, and Aerosmith and have traveled to Vegas, San Fran, and the O.C (with hopefully a long-planned trip to Indiana to follow next year). We text each other nearly every day and I have taken enough trips to visit him in Ogden to drive all my Logan friends nuts.

He doesn't read this blog so I suppose I can say whatever I want about him. I really do love the guy as if he were my own brother and I am practically getting teary-eyed just writing this. February is still three months away but it will be here before I know it. I am going to miss you. dude.

Back in our younger days

Older and more hairy, but still rocking the same pose.

Go Back to the Fifties!

I have been listening to this band Camera Obscura a lot lately. They have some fun, happy songs that make me wish I lived in the 50's for some reason.

Guilty Pleasures

I like to portray myself as a connoisseur of underground music. I love finding new bands and sharing them with others gives me great pride. But I am not afraid to admit, I love mainstream pop divas. (Except Pink. Get out, you skud!) Most of you might be aware that I have a slight Rihanna infatuation. You also might have heard that I went to a Britney Spears concert and liked it. I have no reservations bumping some PCD, GaGa, or MJB on my iPod. But would it surprise you that I have a sweet spot for Mrs. Mariah Carey? (I'm guessing that it would not.) Just like the rest of these girls, (sans Rihanna) I don't dig on all her stuff. But when she is on, she is on. Obsessed? That song is the joint. Fantasy? Straight cash money. One Sweet Day? That song kicks all kinds of different butts. But the song that really waxes my car is her rendition of the Bad Finger/ Henry Nilsson song "Without You." Yes, it's a hopeless romantic love song. Yes, it's cheesy. I like it anyway. Remember the dude from Seinfeld that couldn't concentrate on anything when Desperado came on. That is me with this song. I have no choice but to emote. (PS- I think Desperado blows, but who am I to judge?) Girl belts it, ok? Now go ahead and watch it while I grab some tissues.



First of all, doesn't she look way different, yet prettier? Second, time to 'fess up, Paper Badgers! I know I am not alone here. What is your guiltiest pleasure song?

Dynamic Trio

Whenever I run out of my own creative ideas to post, I just put up a bunch of other people's videos. Today's feature matches the star power of Hall & Oates with the indeniable talents of the one and only Keyboard Cat. It's a match made in amazing heaven.

Come to Penn State!

This is a commercial for the Big Ten Network with all it's coaches in recruiting mode. The last scene is a flat-out gem.

CreepMazing 8

This is without a doubt the strangest thing I have ever put on here, but I love this song. So, please deal with it.

Recent Happenings

Here are a few shots from what my roomies and I have been up to lately:

We have always thought that Mark would look really good with a moustache and this is as close as we have come to seeing it.

We have begun a tradition of "seeding" which involves sitting in camping chairs and eating sunflower seeds. It's glorious. As you can tell, Stice is a fat glutton when it comes to seeding.

Marky Mark

Jake goes for the hands-free seeding. Show-off.

We also hit up a little T. Roadhouse for Stice's birthday.

We allowed a few other friends to join our TR fraternity for the night.

Whoever took this picture has apparently never heard of the concept of getting an entire face in a picture.

The birthday boy saddled up to celebrate Roadhouse-style.

Spencer and I went to the Sounds concert.

But the highlight of the week came last night, when we packed into Jake's car and had out late night munchies satisfied at Big J's. This event was monumental because Mark has been talking about this place incessantly since he moved into our apartment two months ago. We had to shut him up somehow.

Before we left, I bet Stice that he couldn't eat six crescent rolls in one sitting. He had to bring the last three on the road.

Of course the fatty ate them.

Every last one.

We made it there about ten minutes before the place closed.

Mark was all business. Jake was all pleasure.

I enjoyed my food too.

One satisified customer.

Fin.