So that last post obviously flopped. Not too many Pinewood Derby aficionados checking our blog, I guess. So here's a picture of Eater X.

In the world of competitive eating, he's not close to being the best, but isn't that nickname cool? It's right up there with The Black Widow.

If you were a competitive eater, what would your nickname be? Mine would be Gastronomus Maximus. I think I'd pass on the face paint though. Unless it was eating-enhancement face paint.

Pinewood Derby

Last night our Elders' Quorum had a Pinewood Derby. I was pretty excited about the whole thing. I spent a little more than an hour one night this week plotting out what I would make with my block of wood and making very rough cuts with an enormous wood saw by hand on our living room floor, since it was too cold to do it outside. I don't recommend cutting a 2"x1.5" piece of wood this way. Then, I made the next cuts with a jigsaw borrowed from a friend, a utility knife, a drill, and again, a hand saw. I drilled holes in the bottom to put some lead weights in, and accidentally drilled straight through the car, covering the hole with one of the convenient number stickers that came with the car. Here's what I had:

So when I got to the Derby, I weighed my car, and it came in at about half the weight allowed. So, I borrowed a couple weights off of one of the Elders (yes, the Elders were there, with pretty sweet cars too), attached some more weights to the top, and here's the final, intimidating product:

Sadly, after probably 4 hours of working on my car, it came in sixth. It at least got into the final round, but took last out of those cars. And it did better than others that obviously took even more time to create. Of course, what made it disappointing was that a guy who took his unpainted wood block, whittled down the front corners, and taped quarters on the back came in fourth. I want my Saturday back. Here's a picture of the competition, with the winning three cars closest in the foreground:

The Batmobile is an Elder's car. I guess some Elders lift weights with bagfuls of the Book of Mormon, and some make Pinewood Derby cars. To each his own.

If you have any winning Pinewood Derby strategies, please post them for next time around. Happy derbying.

Well, I just got tagged for the first time ever so I guess I'll give it a go. Plus, I don't really have anything else too exciting to write about! Here it goes...

10 years ago I was...
In 8th grade and pretty much the most random dresser ever - bright orange bell bottoms, HUGE baggy pants, power ranger t-shirts, you name it. I was also voted "Most Likely to Make a Fashion Statement" by my peers. At the time I was pretty excited. Looking back, I think they were mocking me and my lack of fashion sense.

If I were suddenly a billionaire...
I would pay off our student loans! That would be awesome. And I would travel to every continent other than Antarctica. I would also give money to friends/family/others. I would also buy a bongo drum. I've been asking for a bongo drum for years but everyone other than me thinks that's a bad idea. I don't know why. I've got killer rhythm.

Things on my to do list today...
Not much. We don't do much on Sunday aside from church. I'd like to write in the baby's journal I'm keeping. And make sure I've read the Sunday School lesson for next week. And eat ice cream. That's always a top priority.

3 bad habits...
Like Betsy, who tagged me, I watch too much TV.
I used to totally gnaw off my finger nails. I stopped doing it my first year of college but then I started again! After being embarrassed to go get manicures over the summer w/ ladies from Dan's internship, I decided it was time to quit. Since then, I've been pretty good about not biting them. Today, they look fantastic if I do say so myself.
Surfing the internet when I should be doing more productive things.

Places I've lived...
Oak Park, California
Earlysville, Virginia
Provo, Utah

5 Jobs I've had...
Hostess at a local restaurant
Cashier/bagger at local grocery store
MTC CAFETERIA! BEST JOB EVER! (Thanks, Britt)
Night office manager of student apartment complex (Thanks again, Britt!)
Outreach Coordinator for nonprofit

5 Things about me...
I love Dan!
I got kissed by Franki Valli when I was 14 and it was the best day of my life until I got married.
Try not to be jealous.

I can't think of anything else right now and Dan wants to play Boggle so maybe I'll add some more later. If you're still reading this, you rock!

The Best of Both Worlds

In an effort to help us cease speculation about the future appearance of our little one, my brother Ryan put together this picture using bits and pieces from both me and Dan's absolute best attributes. Isn't he thoughtful? So, we'd like to introduce you to the munchkin in my belly:Look out, world!

Houston, we have a...

Today we had our "big" ultrasound. Other than waiting in the waiting room for OVER THIRTY MINUTES past when the appointment was supposed to start, the appointment was really cool. The ultrasound technician was really thorough checking out baby bean and making sure that all of its parts are in working order. We got to see all kinds of its organs and things. We liked when she turned on this thing that lets you see the blood flow in and out of the umbilical cord. At one point, she was looking at the stomach and Dan and I both thought we caught a glimpse of something. Sure enough, later in the ultrasound we found out that we're having a baby boy! Dan had a feeling that it was going to be a boy. He was right. I guess it's a manly intuition. At first, the baby was being pretty modest and wouldn't let her get a good look, but later on the proof was undeniable. Yay! We're having a little Dan. Of course, we had all kinds of girls names that we liked. Guess we'll have to save those for later. Unless we want to name our son Naomi... We have only a few boys names that we can both tolerate. If you have any suggestions, send them our way!
Also, to get a glimpse of what 50% of our little one might look like, here's a picture of Dan at 8 months. He's a dollface.

That's right. Try not to be jealous! I have hereby been declared a VIT by Ben & Jerry's. "What does this mean?" you ask. Free ice cream? Free deals? Fame and fortune? Say as to what flavors should become a part of the Ben & Jerry's legacy? Oh, no, my friends. I'll tell you.

Being a VIT means that each Tuesday in February, from 5-7 p.m., I can go to B&J's and get a free sample of a new flavors. Sounds good, right? Well, come to find out this free sample is 1 ounce. 1 stinkin' ounce. But the good news is that I can bring friends if I do decide to go all the way to Ben and Jerry's for 1 tiny ounce of ice cream goodness. If you're interested, this week it's cake batter. Let me know if you want to go. Actually, Tuesday might be a good day since it's supposed to be 70 degrees!

And in other news, we should hopefully know if we're having a boy or girl TOMORROW!