Jellybelly Factory

Katie, Brian and I were talking the other night and decided we should go to the Jelly Belly Factory over Christmas break. It is a free tour, and gas is cheap enough where it would be worth the drive. Who's in?

Grandma Bond is still giving presents...

Over the Thanksgiving weekend the Bond girls got together at Aunt Besty's and went through Grandma Bond's jewelry.

It was funny to see HOW MUCH she had collected over the years and we wished she was there to tell us the stories of the pieces: "this one came from a garage sale, this one Bob ordered from a catalog, and this one..."

My camera decided that it was out of batteries so the only pictures I got were on my phone, so bare with me.

The next three pictures are of the 3 tables covered by the jewelry.


I think we all came away happy and some of the girls even grabbed some great stuff to make the jewelry Christmas trees like Uncle Allen used to make.

I got some great necklaces and earrings, but this ring my favorite!

Disneyworld

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Katie and I traveled to the far off land of Florida to experience the wide world of Disney. We went to 4 parks on 5 consecutive days and it was a blast. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Zach definitely feeling the effects of the happiest place on earth.

Kate and Andrew steering our dinosaur at Animal Kingdom.

Kate feeling the effects of a full day at a park.

Katie and I in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom. It was tinseled out for Christmas-time.

This was a big highlight for me. Ever since I was a kid I have always wanted to see the huge Epcot ball. Not only did we see it, we went inside of it. Hot dang.

Kevin, Kellie,Brian and Luke all enjoying the dinosaurs in Animal Kingdom

Christmas Lists

Would you guys be interested in posting Christmas lists here on the blog? Give me some feedback.

Happy Birthday Katie!!

Katie is now 23...and looking as good as ever! We had a raving dessert party tonight with a lot of friends from the ward, old apartments, and her major. Brian came down for the party as well. All in all, a great time. Here are some pics.

The birthday girl and her birthday cake.

The goods

Cake

I made this cake today.
It's Zebra Cake (you can see it in the picture on the paper) with chocoalte glaze. I think I will choose not to share what a mess I made with the glaze...

Boston Tease Party

Heres a few teaser shots from our weekend in Boston. I will post more and give full descriptions when I have a little bit more time!

Faneuil Hall

Bunker Hill Monument

The Old North Church

Paul Revere Statue near the Old North Church

Boston Creme Pie from Mike's Pastry

No description needed

Charlie's Sandwhich Shop in the South End

Fenway Park

Harvard University

The Future of Brian's Job

I'm looking forward to my job in the future (this is really funny):

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween

Today Emily and I went to the pumpkin patch and picked up some good looking pumpkins. Then we went to her house and carved them.

Here's the finished product.

All lit up.


Bonus pumpkin (it already had a face!):

Literal Music Videos

I think music videos should be like this.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Flier

This is a flier I made for Katie. The Student Dietetics Association is throwing a Halloween party. I liked it.

Garfield, with out Garfield

Sacramento or Bust!

We will be leaving for Sacramento tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning. I can't wait to see the Utah siblings!
Be prepared to party it up, Bond style!



...Oh yeah. Also, Lauren is getting married ;)

Ten Things You Can Do to Look Fantastic in Photos

I saw this article and thought I'd add (not that any of us need this kind of advise!)

Ten Things You Can Do to Look Fantastic in Photos

There are approximately a kajillion tricks, tips and gimmicks that are supposed to make you look great when the shutter clicks. Having combed through most of those, we’ve condensed it to the ones that actually work.

1. Dress Nice

If you know you’re going to be photographed, don’t wear horizontal stripes or crazy patterns. Opt for neutral colors over bright ones unless you are one hundred percent certain that color looks great on you.

2. Check the Mirror

Do a last-minute check of your face: cover up any pimples, put drops in your eyes if they’re red, and make sure you don’t have food in your teeth.

3. Don’t Shine

If you’ve been sweating or if your face is greasy, make sure to wipe your face. Use oil-blotting papers if you wear makeup, or blot with a slightly damp paper towel.

In a pinch, wipe your face with your sleeve before venturing in front of the camera.

4. Stand Up Right

Slouching makes you look nonchalant, but it also makes you look short and/or dumpy.

Place one foot behind the other, and lean back just a little bit. You’ll still look relaxed, but you’ll also look tall.

5. Twist It Up

Stand facing slightly away from the camera, then twist at the waist to face the camera. Make it subtle- if you overdo it you’ll look like a stray from a beauty pageant.

6. Stretch Your Neck

Turn your head slightly away from the camera, extend your neck, then tilt your head down. Your face will look thinner and you won’t have a double chin.

7. Flee the Flash

Avoid the unforgiving bare flash at all costs. If you can’t get around it, search your pockets for a translucent candy or gum wrapper and put it over the flash to diffuse it.

8. Choose Your Light

If you can choose when and where you’ll be photographed, pick an outdoor shoot in the morning or late afternoon. The light is more flattering at those times.

If you have to be photographed in the middle of the day, stand in the shade.

9. Watch Where You Stand

An interesting background will make you look more interesting too. Choose a pretty outdoor scene to stand in front of, or look for a wall with interesting texture or colors. Avoid standing in front of plain or drab backgrounds.

Of course, if you can’t find a pretty location, you can always stand next to someone ugly. You’ll look great by comparison. (Just kidding. Or are we?)

10. Meditate for a Moment

Ask the photographer to count to three before taking the picture. Close your eyes and breathe in. Then, just before the shutter clicks, breathe out, open your eyes and smile. Your face will look relaxed and your smile will be real.

http://photojojo.com/content/guides/how-to-look-good-in-pictures/

Slap a Cougar

No, this isn't a comment on U of U's chances for next month's Holy War.

A colleague at Backpacker.com sent me this news story this morning and I thought it was hysterical:

"Last week, a grandmother in Northern California awoke to the screaming of her cat from beneath her bed and what appeared to be a large dog trying to get at it. "I was half asleep and first I though it was a big dog, trying to get under the bed, and I whacked him on the rear end, like, 'You're not getting my baby,' " (Jane) Chanteau said. The offending animal turned out to be a 4 foot-long mountain lion who'd broken into the house through a glass door hoping to make a meal of the family pet. After wandering around confused for a few minutes, the cougar made its way out of the house and dashed away into the nearby woods. Bearli the cat survived with a minor puncture wound and likely severe mental trauma."

Article

whats the odds

So... my boss just called to tell me I just won a raffle in my company...

My choice was an itunes gift certificate (I never use itunes) or an Echelon bag! I chose the bag! Mostly b/c I'm slightly embarrassed that I won. Its a pretty nice bag though...

ouwww, that huwrts

Today was flu shot day at work. They are free and I don't want to get the flu so I was the first to sign-up. I watched him do it, it didn't hurt going in... but...It hurts now

I'm really not a big baby, but man, I forget what your arm does afterwords. Its all sore and heavy and I pick up the phone like a girly man!

Utah Mountains in the Fall

Hey, I can post now. (Thanks Stacey!)

Life's been pretty busy with work and haven't made enough progress with the house, but I did get a chance to run up to the hills last Sunday to catch the changing of the leaves on camera.

Wouldn't you know, as soon as I got up to Silver Lake a huge raincloud came into the area and just sat there ruining the light :) but I did get a few shots. I need to reprocess them because they got a little blurry when I lightened them, but you can check them out: http://tinyurl.com/5xcy7w

A cool thing I saw (but couldn't bring myself to take a picture) was a military funeral going on in the woods. They were scattering someone's ashes and they had probably 50 people, a big white tarp spread out, a table full of champagne and glasses, tons of pictures, and a bugler for taps. Looked really cool, a very neat send off.

Squaw Peak

Katie and I went to Squaw Peak after conference today. It was really beautiful. That is all, folks.

I updated Completely Consumptual.


completelyconsumptual.blogspot.com

Need Opinions or Justification

This is the Blitz form Verizon Wireless.

I REALLY REALLY want this phone.

I am really hating my phone right now and need a new one. My phone only hold up to 50 texts before I have to clear it, and that is suuuper annoying/inconvenient! I get a new phone in February, but thats a long time with a yucky phone you don't like. IF i were to get this phone new it would only cost $70.

So my conundrum is $70 vs. 4 months. I have the $70, so thats not the issue. I just feel like a want a new start with everything in my life, and this is one of the new things I want (maybe I should talk to my councelor...)

OPINIONS NEEDED!!

Completely Consumptual

Keep your eyes and your mouth peeled for my new blog. Completely Consumptual. I have not yet posted, but will be soon.

Basically, it will be a blog dedicated towards food: what I eat, what I learn about food and nutrition, recipes that Katie and I try out, and places we go and eat!

completelyconsumptual.blogspot.com

West Coast, walk it out...

Johnny Cash ain't got nothing on me! I walked way more than just a line on Friday.

Friday, my friend Amanda and I planned to go to the mall to buy her roommate a birthday present.

I walked to ST and met her there at 2. Then we set off to walk to the bus stop by Nob Hill. It's not there anymore! So we walk down Santa Teresa to find the one in between Snell and Blossom. It's not there! I knew there was one in front of Apostles Lutheran. We get to the Santa Teresa/Blossom intersection and ask the crossing guard if it's still there.

Apparently there are no more bus stops on Santa Teresa that go to the mall! The guard told us there are only bus stops on Blossom Hill. So we walked all the way down Blossom and decided to take the light rail as it was 3. We took the light rail to the Ohlone-Chynoweth station and walked to the mall. We got to the mall at about 3:40.

We were in the mall until about 7 or so, and we walked back to the light rail station intending to take it down to the Snell station and taking the bus back. It ends up what I thought were quarters were actually nickels so I didn't have enough money to take the light rail, so luckily Melissa was able to pick us up. It's a good thing she did, as it ends up the bus doesn't go from the Snell station to ST, so we would have had to walk home.

What a day. It was way more walking then either of us had planned.

A weekly installment from K^2

Greeting everyone from the K^2 portion of the Bond family!!

Another week has passed in P-town and we were ready for the weekend! In Provo news, the weather has remained surprisingly warm, and BYU football has remained unsurprisingly awesome. The team had a bye week but should do well in the polls thanks for some great upsets this weekend. Go Oregon State! Go Ole Miss! (Go Michigan, shh).

We caught some of the game action last night while we were at Brian's house. We went over to watch the debate from Friday night and enjoyed a killer steak dinner fresh off of Brian's grill. It is fantastic living near Brian for the first time in over 5 years!

School still remains the main focus of our lives, but we did make it to a ward party on Friday night and to the Temple on Saturday morning. Going to the temple on a Saturday morning in Provo is like going to Cheesecake Factory on a Friday night in San Jose, but we were still able to make it into a session and it was a good one.

I took three trips to the testing center this week. I came out victorious with an A in Chemistry, and A in Nutritional Science and a 99.9% A in New Testament. I hope I can repeat this in the future, but Chemistry is already getting a bit tougher.

Katie is super busy with her classes. They have her going all over the place for various volunteering. On Friday she had to do biochemical testing in her Lab. Students had to come into the lab is an under hydrated state, an over hydrated state, a fasting state, or a fed state. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Katie was selected to be in a "fed" state so she had to consume 100g of Carbs before class at 8 am. Diabetics, do not try this at home! We went to Kneaders at 7am for their all you can eat french toast breakfast. Holy Moses!! When I say french toast, I am serious. This stuff is 4 inches thick of cinnamon bread topped with caramel syrup greatness and fresh whipped cream. All you can eat is a false advertisement because it was a rough time finishing just the first plate. That was all Katie needed to reach her 100g and we went off to school.

I have to give a presentation at work in our staff meeting this Thursday. I get to talk about photo archiving and where I see it going to in the future and how I can help everyone with their photo needs. It should be good. I found a new archiving program for free. It is Picasa 3 by Google. It is really fun.

Well, It is 12:15 on Sunday afternoon, we still have 2 hours before Church starts, but I think I will stop here and say, "'til next time."