Thursday, March 31, 2011

Bones is Prego

'Bones' Star Emily Deschanel Is Pregnant

Emily Deschanel will soon be trading in bones for bottles.

The actress, who stars as forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan on FOX hit 'Bones,' is pregnant, PEOPLE reports.

Emily, the elder sister of actress Zooey Deschanel, is expecting her first child with husband David Hornsby, best known for his role as defrocked priest Matthew "Rickety Cricket" Mara on 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.'

Deschanel and Hornsby tied the knot in Pacific Palisades, Calif., in September 2010.

Their baby is due later this year.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Bicycle City

The Bicycle City. Trailer from Greg Sucharew on Vimeo.



What happens to an impoverished developing nation town when you flood it with 20,000 bicycles? You lift three times that number of people out of poverty. Pedals for Progress and founder David Schweidenback have been shipping used American bicycles to Rivas, Nicaragua for the last two decades and the transformation has been incredible.

Presidential Results

Haiti's presidential election results delayed by fraud

Fraud has forced Haiti's election council to delay results of a highly anticipated runoff intended to decide the next leader of the troubled Caribbean nation.

Results were supposed to have been announced Thursday. But the Provisional Election Council asked for four more days and will post preliminary results on Monday instead. Final results are not expected until April 16.

The agency said that "a high level of fraud and irregularities of various kinds has been detected in the tabulation of votes."

The election pitted former first lady Mirlande Manigat, 70, against bad-boy musician Michel Martelly, 50. The initial election in November ended in controversy when Jude Celestin, the government-backed candidate, placed second after Manigat.

Charges of massive vote-rigging and other irregularities surfaced, and protests erupted for days on the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities. In January, a vote review disqualified Celestin and prompted the runoff between Manigat and Martelly. Both candidates have expressed confidence in their showing.


The rest of the article here.

Car Accessories

Now that we got the new car (which Ryan is calling 'Azul'), we have to get the Michigan accessories that go along with it, right?! :) I was looking online and a few 'standard' ones caught my eye:

Auto Emblem:

Floor Mats:

Vinyl Decal:

AND THEN THIS - ARMagnet:

We just might need to add this to our Christmas list :)

Back On Track

10 Ways to Get Your Marriage Back on Track

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes happily ever after. End of story, right? Not quite… While it’s true that couples relax a bit after they think they’ve nabbed the matrimonial Holy Grail, the reality is that they may also find themselves dumbfounded if their fairytale starts slipping away. “Many people think that marriage is about marrying the right person, so when things go wrong, they automatically go to the ‘Crap, I accidentally married the wrong person’ place,” says Alisa Bowman, author of Project: Happily Ever After. “Although you do want to marry someone you are basically compatible with, marriage has a lot less to do with marrying the right person than it has to do with doing the right things with the person you married.” In other words, relationships are a constant work in progress. To keep the happy connection that made you say “I do” in the first place—or maybe even create a newer-and-improved version—try out these 10 tips to rehab your romance.

4. Use the three-sentence rule.
When you need to ask your partner for something that could be misconstrued as nagging, keep the request at three sentences—max. “The art of being assertive without coming off as aggressive lies in being succinct and using a warm tone of voice and body language,” says Bowman. “When you keep your requests to three sentences or fewer, it’s almost impossible to blame, use sarcasm or use put-downs.” It’s also a lot more likely that you’ll get your point across without losing your spouse’s attention. Make your request with a smile. Be sincere and encouraging. You might even rest your hand on his thigh as you say, “Honey, the house is a mess and I am exhausted. Could you help me clean this place up? I could really use your help.”


The rest of the article here.

Cesar Chavez Day

San Diego Celebrates Cesar Chavez Day

March 31 is a California state holiday

California is one of eight U.S. states that celebrates Cesar Chavez through an official holiday. Chavez, a Mexican American civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, passed away in 1993 and remains one of the most famous labor leaders and activists, as well as an icon for liberalism in general. In 2000, Governor Gray Davis made Cesar Chavez a state holiday in California, and many state government offices, community colleges and libraries are closed every March 31 in observance.

In San Diego, all county courts are closed on March 31, as well as city administrative offices, libraries, and Department of Motor Vehicles locations. Trash services will not be affected for the city of San Diego nor are most park hours. Balboa Park will be open, as will museums normally open on Thursdays within the park, but other public buildings within the park will be closed. Tecolote Nature Center and Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center will be closed, and city recreations centers and pools will be closed.

Parking meters will not be enforced within the city of San Diego. However, parking rules within the Port of San Diego and outlying cities vary.


The rest of the article here.

VanGogh

Who knew the Kook had such an appreciation for art. Here he is paying tribute to Van Gogh:


Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Winter in Monroe



The beauty of Monroe continues in the winter months. Lights and water and snow and cold and buildings and dancers.

Special thanks to the dancers of the River Raisin Ballet Company.

Monroe, Michigan. The river is called RIVER RAISIN that flowed into Lake Erie. The river was named by French settlers because of the wild grapes that grew along the river. French name for grape is "Raisin".

Pilot Hailed Hero

Pilot hailed as hero

Police officials have confirmed that the pilot of the single-engine plane that crashed and bursts into a ball of flames in a soccer field at Munson Park was LaSalle resident Rick Howell who was coming home from a business trip in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Howell and his two passengers died in the crash shortly after 4 p.m. The passengers reportedly were a salesman and an engineer from Toledo.

The bodies off all three victims have been removed from the wreckage, which will remain in the field until federal officials arrive from Chicago in the morning.

Mr. Howell, who was in his 50s, often flew his plane on business trips. He is survived by his wife and grown children.

Witnesses, meanwhile, are calling him a hero for his ability to avoid the tennis courts, the Playscape, which was full of children, and houses in the nearby neighborhood.


The rest of the article here.

Equipment Arrives

Today the brewing equipment arrived at the Cheboygan Brewing Company! There are a few pictures online (on their Facebook page). Right now the McClurgs are down in Florida, so they are missing the actual install, but will be back soon to see it all. We are pumped to plan a trip back to be able to see it all in person!! YAY!!







Looks shiny, huh?!

Ice Cream Man

My brother, Kyle, got a job!! WHOO HOO!! Today he started at Frostbite Company. I was REALLY hoping that he was going to be an ACTUAL Ice Cream Man (like with the creeper van and everything), but it looks like he will actually be working in the factory. I think they either manufacturer or distribute ice cream - hopefully he can be a taste tester, hehe. And hey, a job is a job, especially in this economy and in Michigan!

CONGRATS KY!!

Swim Lessons

YAY! Here is a picture of my madre and I at one of my first official swim lessons. They threw me in the water from a pretty young age :) I think that I was probably 6-12 months here. At the local YMCA - of course!!

Monday, March 28, 2011

A2 Project Update - Debt Free!

Friends of New Life Church,

As Steve Hayes said in his previous A2 Project Update letter, we have been anticipating the day of being debt-free from our 4-million dollar building project. I am happy to share with all of you that we are officially DEBT FREE now! We praise God for His provision through each of you - we have much to celebrate and praise Him for!

In the spirit of celebration, New Life Church will be hosting a "Jubilee" celebration event over the course of three nights. We would love to have you join us for one, two, or all three of these evenings to celebrate all that God has done in providing a permanent home for us here on the campus at the University of Michigan.

Below are the details of our Jubilee celebration:

**Day One: Saturday, April 2 at 7pm - New Life's band will play worship music and Steve Hayes will retell the first part of the A2 Project Story
**Day Two: Sunday, April 3 at 7pm - the New Life band will release its new worship CD "Great is Your Love" this evening by playing an extended worship set (our main worship night)
**Day Three: Monday, April 4 at 7pm - New Life's band will play worship music and Steve Hayes will retell the second party of the A2 Project Story
For full details on the event, please go to this link: http://www.nlcweb.org/node/831

Please come and join us as we celebrate and praise God for all He has done to provide for us!

Laboring with you,
-Kevin Rogan (and the entire New Life Church staff team)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Jumping Dog

When Ryan and I were down at Balboa Park yesterday, we ran out of space on our camera card (we haven't deleted any of the photos from since we got it over Christmas). Anyway, Ryan started to go through and delete some of them and we realized we hadn't shown anyone them, so I had to post a couple. From the time stamp on this series, it was back on January 16th. We had gone down to the Harbor so that Ryan could test out the camera. We cam across a JUMPING DOG! What a perfect way to test the sports, multi-burst option (PS I am pretty sure those aren't the 'real/ technical' terms :) ) of the camera.





Saturday SD

Yesterday Ryan and I decided to trek on down to San Diego. We want to go last weekend, but the weather didn't cooperate with us. By about 10 it was still sunny (just a little chilly), so we decided to head down. First we had to go to the library so I could print a 2-for-1 coupon for Balboa Park that I had found. The main reason we were going down was to see the Japanese Friendship Garden. Last weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival that we wanted to go to. I was hoping that they were still in bloom, but most of the flowers had already fallen off.

We still had fun walking around the garden (and Ryan took lots of pictures). Then we walked around some more of Balboa (and took more pictures).

After that we headed down to Little Italy to get some lunch at the restaurant that Ryan and I had our rehearsal dinner at, Cafe Zucchero.

The service was craptastic, but hey, they food was yummy like always. We walked around Little Italy for a while, mainly because Ryan wanted to find this place called Architectural Salvage of San Diego.

He was looking for some wood block type faces or other things of the like. We didn't find anything to buy, but it was still a cool little shop - with plenty of old doors, doornobs, sinks, grates, etc. After that we decided to head back home. On the way I told Ryan that we should stop at the Bali Hai, where we got married, seeing as we had just been to the restaurant we had our rehearsal dinner at.

We stopped by for a quick geo cache and some pictures (see the post below if you haven't read it yet about the changes they have made in the past few years there).


We had a fun-filled, full day down in San Diego --- what did you do yesterday?

PS The rest of the pictures can be found here

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Wedding Venue

Today Ryan and I went down to San Diego... More on the day later... But for now, I must tell you a sad story... Where we got married all changed...



I know most of you didn't attend the wedding, so this post is mostly for my mom and dad :) We pulled up, got out of the car, did a geo cache and noticed THE WHOLE BACK PATIO AND OUTDOOR AREA are different... Mostly just sidewalk now... No greenery, gates, bridges, etc...

Below are a few pictures that show it 2.5 years ago...





Friday, March 25, 2011

Pick a Purse

I need help. I am in the market for a new purse. I have been without one for a WHILE and would really like one. I think I am leaning towards the 'hobo - sling' type bag. I have found a few cute ones on Etsy.com but need help deciding :)

Black/ White/ Elephants



or

Turquoise



Feel free to check out their Etsy pages for more pictures and details (i.e. the black and white ones, the little 'floral' part is actually smaller elephants - which I know makes Tami vote for that one :) ). Or have you found some different cute ones you would suggest?!

Hani Surfboards

Sneak Peak of the Promised Land movie that some of our friends are working on:

Hani Surfboards from Russell Brownley on Vimeo.



This is an excerpt from a recent trip to Israel focusing on Tel Aviv shaper Hani Ovadia... Just a look into the daily life of an Israeli surfboard builder and some of the locals and visitors that ride his boards.

The footage is part of an upcoming documentary that I am shooting in which Hani will be featured along side some of Israels surfing personalities.

Like I said, this is just a quick edit to see how some of the footage works together.

Surfers Featured:
Oran Weiss
Todd Morehead

Shot on:
Canon 7D with the following lenses:
Canon 24-100m F4
Tokina 11-16mm F2.8
Zeiss 85mm F1.8
Sigma 24mm F1.4

Glidecam Jib
Manfrotto Magic Arm
Glidetrack Slider

Panasonic HVX200 w/ Del Mar Housing Projects Housing

Minor Color Grade with Magic Bullet Looks

Music: Orilla Opry, "Silent Films"

The Zoo made the list :)

15 places kids should see by age 15

It took us hours of heated debate, weeks of research, and years of experience to whittle down America's monuments to a definitive list of 15 musts for anyone under 15. Not only are these attractions fun and (shhhh) educational, they're especially magical through the eyes of a child.

Two years ago, Budget Travel picked 15 American landmarks every kid should see, from Ellis Island to Redwood National Park. The new and improved 2011 lineup takes that challenge even further, by highlighting how our country's top sights cater to kids' abbreviated attention spans. From roasting marshmallows around a campfire to playing dress-up at Monticello, these cool, interactive activities ensure that the younger set will enjoy these must-see spots as much as their parents do.

San Diego Zoo - California

With more than 4,000 rare and endangered animals representing 800-plus species and subspecies, the San Diego Zoo is one of the most diverse in America. But its coolest attraction -- literally -- is the Polar Bear Plunge, which reopened last March after a $1 million makeover.

Aside from permanent polar residents Kalluk, Chinook, and Tatqiq, new features include a snow den you can burrow into (the snug space mimics where female bears birth their cubs); a helicopter used on actual Arctic explorations that invites climbers into the cockpit; and the Experience Wall, where zookeepers open the glass panels surrounding the bears' habitat, letting them sniff at visitors through wire mesh. Ages 12 and up, $40; 3--11, $30. sandiegozoo.org


Check out the rest of the list here.

Mr Ferrell?!

Even if it isn't his for real successor, I still like it!

The Office First Look: Meet the New Boss!

Following Thursday’s hilarious and swoon-worthy proposal-themed episode of The Office, viewers were treated to a first look at Will Ferrell’s April 14 debut as the new Big Cheese in Scranton.

One important disclaimer: Although the voiceover introduces Ferrell as Michael Scott’s successor, keep in mind that the funny guy is only slated to stick around for four episodes — presumably to ease the transition between Colorado-bound Michael and his real (and still top-secret) heir apparent.


Driving Test

Ryan and I still only have our motorcycle permits - not full licenses. The only thing that we really have to do to get fully licensed is to go take the driving test. We have heard it is pretty tough (and have actually practiced it a few times - which only discouraged me). You can also take a motorcycle safety course which allows you to skip the DMV driving test (which is I think the route I will take if we get a scooter again). We have been looking on the DMV website to make an appointment for Ryan to take the test for a while, but the appointments are always over a month out (and we are hoping to sell the scooter by then). Ryan asked me to see on Wednesday about setting up an appointment for him, so I did. It was his lucky day. Someone had just cancelled their appointment for Friday at 2:20pm (we both get off around 2pm on Fridays). I think it was probably because it is supposed to be rainy and they didn't want to risk failing because of the weather. Anyway, we scheduled the test and Ryan will be over there this afternoon trying to get his full license. (PS After I scheduled his appointment I tried to do one for me, and the next available appointment wasn't until April 29th, so I will be passing on taking it this time :) ).

Good luck babe!

PS Rain Rain GO AWAY. Ryan has his test today! (I saw something similar on a friend's Facebook page and had to steal it :) )

9 Months

I think I might be the only one, but every month when it is the 25th, I think about Christmas :) No, I don't think I am OBSESSED, I just think it is a healthy love (for the mood, the decorations, the happiness, the family times, etc). Well, last night I was looking at my calendar on my phone before I went to sleep and noticed today was the 25th. So that means 9 months till Christmas! Have you started your shopping yet?! :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Swell

So I think I TOTALLY forgot to post about this - how rude of me! I had mentioned a while back that Ryan was able to design some t-shirts for Reef and that they were going to be in the Fall/ Holiday 2011 line. (If you don't remember or didn't read about it then, check out my post here.) Anyway, Ry told me a few weeks ago (I KNOW, I AM BAD AT BLOGGING RIGHT NOW) that Swell picked up a couple of them - so you will be able to buy them online at Swell.com as well!! WHOO HOO!! Of course when they go up for sale online I will post the link (hopefully a little sooner than this one), but I thought I'd at least get you ready for it :)

A little about Swell:

About Swell / Here at SWELL, we're about shred sticks and styles that rip. Mashable lefts, and kits that are right. Dominating the line-up and, but most-importantly, killing it when it comes to surf lifestyle apparel & gear. / SWELL is committed to supporting the waves and beaches that support the surf lifestyle. From the switch to recycled packaging for SWELL branded merchandise, to offering products that support Surfrider and other eco-initiatives, we strive to do our very best in the fight for global greening.

Slacker


Oh my goodness. I was just looking through my blogs and realized I haven't posted since Saturday.... EEKS! I am such a blog slacker these days, huh?! Sorry to my faithful readers (i.e. Madre y Padre) out there. Nothing crazy to report, just haven't been doing much blogging lately. Hopefully this will change in the near future :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Sick Humor

Yep, I get it from my mama :)



Thanks for the ecard madre!

Top Story

I love it when Michigan is the TOP STORY in a good way :) Look what I saw when I was on ESPN.com this morning...



Fight Or Flight
Friday offered up a nice contrast between those who welcomed the burden of expectation, like the 4-0 Big Ten, and those who preferred the fetal position.


LET'S GO BLUE!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Luggage Tag

Vote for the luggage tag I made and I could win a free iPad! Will you take a minute and VOTE FOR MY FUNNY MUSTACHE PHOTO!!

Vote for Carlee
baggagelabel.klm.com
I have just created a free luggage tag master-piece! Please vote for me and help me win an Ipad. Thanks!

Click HERE and PLEASE vote for my tag :)

Go Blue!

Michigan catches fire to start second half in rout of Tennessee

For much of the past decade, Michigan has faded to the background in its state come March as rival Michigan State routinely made deep NCAA tournament runs.

Now the undersized but plucky Wolverines have the spotlight to themselves thanks to a dominant second half that sent coach Bruce Pearl and Tennessee to an early offseason of uncertainty.

Behind Zack Novak's 14 points, 10 rebounds and two 3-pointers in a decisive spurt to start the second half, Michigan routed listless Tennessee 75-45 on Friday in the second round of the West Regional.

A day after Michigan State was ousted by UCLA, the eighth-seeded Wolverines (21-13) collected only their second NCAA win since 1998 to earn a date with top-seeded Duke on Sunday.

"We're having so much fun we just want to keep it going," Novak said.


The rest of the article here.

The Abbey EP

Kevin is doing BIG things. He has started to record his album! Here is a link that has the live show that he played at The Abbey back in February. Make sure to check it out!!

Recorded live at The Abbey coffee lounge in Santa Cruz, CA
credits
released 17 March 2011
Vocals & Acoustic Guitar: Kevin Tudball
Piano, Mandolin, & Electric Guitar: Josh Burns
Piano on 'Snowed In': Marcea Ennamorato
Recording: Garrett Ifland