Giant California trip post

A few days after I graduated several weeks ago, my friend Ryan and I took a little drive on out to California to see our high school friend Ellen graduate from Occidental University in L.A. Ryan only had one request for the entire trip, which was to see the Grand Canyon, so we made a stop by there on our way which proved to be quite entertaining. Other places we went were to my dad's in Coto de Caza and then to Venice Beach where we stayed for 3 days with the Bogarts. The weather was amazing the entire time and everything went great, except for the part where I missed out on Vegas, Zion Park and Joshua Tree park because I had to fly home. Oh well, another day.
The amphitheater where graduation was held.
Ellen being handed her degree, the whole reason we went.
The Bogarts!
Ryan checking out his nails.
The sign coming in said "No smoking and NO BALLOONS allowed" These guys are way out of line, that balloon needs to go.
Sara, Ellen and I, three high school buds re-united in SoCal.
Venice Beach.
Claire.

Ryans first view of the Grand Canyon, just look at that smile!
Rediculous.

Our last piece of wood. We were trying to resolve other ways to obtain more, but there were so many park codes we had to start getting creative. We didn't end up with any more wood.
The squirrels didn't like people at all. Just look at this guy, he's mad.
Best Ludicrous Speed representation ever. Who says I don't have any love for our men's team?

Note Ryan ever so safely perched on out on that rock.

Me and my trusty bandana. I like to hold on to something when I hike, and the handlebars were perfect.

Man vs. cliff round 1
Man vs. Cliff round 2...to be continued.

8 am! Ready to go!
Ryan thinks he knows how to put up a tent, and somehow claims bragging rights to setting up his faster than mine. But I had already set mine up and almost finished cooking my dinner by the time he was done.
By the way, Rbill forgot to bring food, so he went to the Grand Canyon Store and got some chips and salsa. Smooth move.

Lifeguards/Baywatch?

So this weekend marked my 3rd year playing Ultimate, and my 4th time attending the memorial tournament Dan Gabor. Our team started out with the theme "Lifeguards," but by the time I got to the fields on Saturday it had transformed into "Baywatch." A great time over all and here are the few photos that were taken to record the event.
Kiddie pool filled with ice, beer, gin, tonic, limes, water, watermelon and pineapple=best idea ever.

I think I should be drinking out of this disc instead of apparently trying to eat it.
Well prepared.
Still the best idea ever.

Mid trip

This past week Rbill and I took a little driving trip on over to SoCal on occasion of Ellen's College Graduation from Occidental. On Friday I got to see my dad for the first time in a long time and realized we may look alike. Not a bad visit.

On my last day babysitting I took Ben gator golfing which proved quite relaxing. It was a beautiful day and we both totally made the hole in one on the 18th hole, resulting in a free game the next time we come. We're pretty bad ass at gator golf.
Ben running up to play.

We Graduated!

Pretty exciting, eh? But now what? Stevie and I, ready to chow down on some BBQing.
Will and I waiting to march into the Auditorium for commencement.
Where I spent the majority of my last semester studying, Arsaga's on Gregg.
And on my way out of Arsaga's one day, I came accross this hay spreader or something that spread hay evenly over grass seed. I mean, seeing as hay spreading is such a physically straining task, surely no man has that kind of ability and we needed to invent one of these guys.....

I feel a bit out of place

So this is the first weekend I've spent in Fayetteville in 7 weeks, and I must admit that it feels rather strange. And really the only reason I stayed here was because I had a final on Saturday at 1pm, otherwise I would have been gone again.

So two weekends ago Justin Leflar and I trucked it on up to Kansas City to enjoy a seder with the Kleinhenz/Meltzer's. It was a very educational experience and it was great to see Casey and Andrea again since I haven't seen them since they moved way away to Eugene. Highlight of the weekend just might have been the Boulevard Brewing Co. tour we took...I love beer.

Yum!

Casey and Justin.

It's that time of year

When I start taking photos of flowers and bugs and nature stuff again.

Free-stylin' cop.

Apparently this cop we ran into in the middle of no-where Mississippi used to play Ultimate when he was in college, and loves to freestyle. He knew all of scott browns moves.

Kitty

This post is dedicated to my cat Annie, who passed away a few weeks ago at an age of 15+. Fifteen years ago a woman my mom worked with found her abandoned on the street, and so we said we'd take her. She was a good cat, her breath was a bit smelly, but her fur was always soft.

In her old age. She was deaf and nearly blind.
Very confused.
Dominatrix. I put this as the full screen backdrop on one of the Foreign Language Computer Lab Computers in the fall of 2004...it stayed up the whole semester. Could you get any work done if this cat was staring at you tripple life size?

Jack has a baby!

From snake man...

...to baby man. April 7th, 2008 Sophia Jasmine Taylor was born to Jack and Sendy. 6 pounds, 6 ounces. Wowsers. I'm an aunt! Jack's a dad! Crazy! Pictured here is Jack holding his kiddo in the hospital.

Sophia!

By the way the clouds looked kinda cool here in fayetteville today.

Fools Fest 2008

So I trucked it on up to Lawrence, Kansas this past weekend to hang out for Fools Fest. I can't say I did much playing though seeing as I didn't go up with a team, but the 3 points I did play were awesome. The main event was Saturday night, when Kansas beat North Carolina and swarms of people packed into Mass st. in celebration. People were on rooftops, cars, signs, everywhere. The photos aren't really that aweful clear, but the point is to get a feel for what it was like to be there.

This is Kate. She is my old close buddy from Costa Rica, and she lives in Lawrence. I luckily got to see her briefly sunday, though unfortunately could not place the location of my camera, so instead here is a photo of her and I the last time we were saying our goodbye's a year ago rather than yesterday. Hopefully I'll be visiting her soon again.