The Boat Show

So we've gotten a little backed up on posts recently due to midterms, projects and just overall disarray I think. So, despite the fact that the boat show was in February, I thought I'd post some pictures from it. It's an annual tradition for our family to head to all sorts of different expo extravaganzas! Weird I know, but the Friday night of nearly every "show" is considered college student date night, so we can get in for really cheap. This show was actually a little disappointing since they only brought the poor man's house boats....not even one of them had granite countertops! Can you believe that? ha ha. We actually could have bypassed like 90% of the show and not missed much. Like for instance....who buys a boat that is made 100% of diamond plate steel? Or, why would I still be interested in watching the wakeboard show when all the "pros" are out skiing (per the announcers comments since it had snowed a couple feet the day before) and instead watch who is likely his little brothers. By the way, the were definitely not pros, and sad as it may seem, there wasn't even any carnage... I know, I know, that shouldn't bring me happiness....tough!

We decided to find my mom a boat for kicks, and it turns out that she is only concerned with one thing....well, maybe two, but they're related.

1) Does it have a potty?
2) If so, can you actually fit in it to do your business?

You'd be suprised how many boats have number one, but neglect number two. Hence, Corey volunteered to be the ultimate tester.... makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Not only was there boats at the boat show, but there were attack dogs as well.....yes, I said attack dogs. Well, I typed it anyway, and then retyped it just for emphasis. So as random as it sounds, we had the privilege of watching a Belgian Malaneux (really sorry pooch about misspelling your breed), which happens to be the dog they use at the prison, nearly eat his trainer alive.

Maybe he just didn't approve of the dirty Jimmy Buffet Hawaiian shirt. I guess we'll never know.
We saw boats of all shapes and kinds, some with big bows and some with little bows. Some with pretty colors and some with PLAID.... what? Yes, and it's gotta be the most expensive boat there outside of a house boat. Plaid? Really? I know it has been in and out of fashion lately, but on the side of a boat? It never ceases to amaze me what "the industry" can convince people is good looking. It's got the Mastercraft name, so you can put whatever the heck on the side of it you want and people will eat it up. Lets not think about trying to sell a plaid boat 10 years from now....ah, but there's the secret. People who buy this boat don't own it for more than 3-4 years before they get a new one. On average they will use it for family outings 3-4 times per summer. So wow, 16 trips on the water....if only my cars could be traded out every 16 trips... Anyway, forget the fact that they have a HORRIBLE maintenance record, just like Range Rovers (I reference this because I saw one no more than one year old with 5 foot flames shooting out from the hood yesterday....again) and will cost you more than what people put into a house to buy and fix for 4 years. WOW, anyway, I love capitalism, truly, I do.

I took that picture so I could warn my loved ones away from the hype that is actually the Land Rover of boats. That wonderful status symbol that says 'I care more about appearances and a name than efficiency, reliability, and financial intelligence. But I have enough money, so what the hell?' ha ha, I joke, but really, it's the best way to confuse all around you as to how you got your money in the first place. Maybe they just do it for the joke?

In the end, we picked our boat of the show. Hands down it was the winner. So we took a picture in front of it to show it off. Well, and because when we remembered we wanted a picture we happened to be standing there. :-)

We had a newcomer to the group this year. Cindy, Rachel's younger sister, occasionally needs a break from her educational institution that turns out to drive thousands to anxiety attacks annually, BYU. So, she comes and stays with us for the weekend to get her fill of normal-dom (not a word I'm sure, but I'm working on getting a couple added to the dictionary) to set her on an even keel. She seemed to enjoy it, although I think it's more fun when you realize that we're there to hang out and see some cool things and collect as many books as possible, not to look at the price tags and actually contemplate buying them.

Anyway, I have a lot to again catch up on, so hopefully I'll get a couple more posts up soon. PS, If anyone knows how to do the little collage that the pictures can expand out of so that my blogs don't have to be 7.3 miles long, I'd love to know. Thanks!

Christmas Update Part Deux

Thought it would be nice to start things off with a little bit of Elvis....
It's so funny, they only look like German Shepherds about 10% of the time. I think it's because we're all so used to seeing police dogs and pictures of adults that we forget that they go through this really awkward phase in the middle......Anywho.....

Alright all.... I'm back. I don't know where the drive to get this whole thing caught up came from, but I figure I need to capitalize on it just the same. Not that I'll be able to document everything that's happened in our short married lives, but I can at least take a good stab at it. So, for anyone who reads this and finds it redundant....sorry....and tough beans. :-)

So Christmas was filled with fun, friends and family. Oh, and all the experiences that come with it. A lot of people came into town for Christmas, which made it really nice. Jim and Kathie came in from Baltimore, MD and it was great to catch up with them. They've really become digital friends. It's sad that we don't get to hang out anymore, no more football games, no more movie nights, no more backyard BBQs, but it's great to know that we can and do still stay in touch. When they came in for Christmas, we were able to steal a couple hours from their busy schedules to go out to dinner. We forced them to pose for some pictures since we just had gotten a camera and needed some practice using it!

It's always really good to catch up with old friends. It always makes me feel slightly disappointed because I wish we would have had BUSHELS of more fun before they left. Oh well, a PhD is only like what.....4 years away? Not to shabby. Actually, Rach and I brag about our friends the Gwilliams @ Johns Hopkins U all the time.

The next major group of visitors we had consisted of the number 2. Rachel's grandfather DeTar and his new beautiful young bride came into town for Christmas as they always do. They are from Tallahassee, Florida. Mr. DeTar was a professor of Biochemistry and a couple other things at Florida State U and so is always good for an academic discussion. PLUS, he's got great advice for students dealing with the bureaucracy that is higher education. Don't let those Deans and Profs push you around, you pay their electric bill....well....with the cost of tuition at most institutions, I think we also pay for their mortgage, the vacation cabin in Aspen's mortgage, the loan on the yacht, and maybe even that daily jaunt to the links for a quick, 4 hour long, break from us. HA HA, oh the life. Anyway, it's always great to see the Floridian Grandparents.

PS... Yes Rachel, I know you don't like this pic, but you're gonna have to take one for the team since it's actually the only one with both Grandpa and Carla in it that we have.... MUHU HA HA.

Oh, and one of the Jolley Family dog, Copper, just for kicks. Hey, he needs some spotlight too, right?

So I'm starting to see why it's necessary to just stay on top of this blog thing. Everyone of my posts is nearly a novel....a couple problems with that. I don't remember what I've already written about in this blog at the top, adding pictures is a pain since I have to copy and paste them into the right slots, I get so lazy by the bottom that I have no desire left to spell/grammar check, and it's time consuming..... OH well, I don't need to go to class today, I have very little school homework (although I have pounds of LSAT homework) so I might as well start a few more chapters today, eh?

We had the Poulsen family Christmas party as well along the way. As is tradition, we force the grandkids to be our little dolls and play nativity scene dress up....classic. I think this was a remarkable year though, not only did baby Jesus' head not get popped off, but I don't think there was even a fight over him at all! WOW..... That was definitely a first. I've included a couple pictures below of the whole wonderful fiasco.

And yes, Bryce still loves Harley....and I think Harley might even love him back, despite the squished look on his face....PS, I think he's just about half a second away from taking a big licking taste of Bryce's leftover food storage on his face.

Other than all that, it was just a standard, good white Christmas. If you haven't gathered it by now, yes, my family does love it's dogs.....some one has to take care of all the mutts in the world, right? One day, we'll have our little dog, cat, horse farm/family compound and then we won't have to be the neighborhood rednecks anymore....we can just be rednecks... HA HA.

A couple questions are answered in the above pictures... Yes, you can fit us all in a very small room with lots of other stuff in it, and Yes, you can get a family picture with 4 dogs in it that are 95% doing what you want them to. Maybe that's because they're well behaved, or maybe it's because every one of them is in some sort of pain, or looking at what they thought could be the next meal......the cat walking underneath the camera... I guess we'll never know, will we.

And yes.... I still have a hot wife that hasn't divorced me yet! In my defense, I warned her that this whole marriage things was FOR-E-VER, but she said yes, and now she's stuck forever!

One more thing, before this epic ends.... you never know when your picture is being taken anymore... I bet you're already on YouTube.....no? You don't think so? Well, I can take care of that then. Anyway, smile!