Update on New Tires

Well it seems that the new tires we got for Brianna's Toyota Camry are working in the snow. We had a pretty decent amount of snow and ice on the roads this morning and Brianna said she didn't have a problem getting around and actually passed another Toyota Camry that was sliding around.

This makes me glad that we don't have to worry about getting her another car. I'm sure that the car will still have trouble every now and again in the snow, but the fact that it does much better is good enough for me.

Thank You Good Year.

Little Dutch

Some pictures of me and our cat Dutch. He's been doing better since we switched him to only dry food with low protein in his diet. He doesn't like it and gets excited every time I put his water dish down because he's thinking it's wet food.

Every time I sit down on the floor like this he comes over and sits in my lap and purrs away.

Me and Dutch

That's uh...a nice crotch shot. Just focus on how cute Dutch is.

Cirque Dreams - Jungle Fantasy

Last night Brianna and I went to see what we thought was a Cirque Du Soliel performance, but what turned out to be a different company with a similar name. Anyway, it was a pretty good performance, a bit lamer then Cirque Du Soliel, but still pretty good. We got to see some contoursionists from Mongolia, some strong men, a cool balancing act and some other stuff. I added a video below from the morning news here in Denver that I watch every morning. I added this because it actually has the Violinist from the show. He was incredible and was easily the best part of the music and show. He also has a similar body figure to myself. It was worth going to see and we had really good seats and afterward we went to the Cheesecake Factory which made Brianna happy.

Valentine's Day Dinner

On Valentine's Day Brianna and I were invited to dinner over at Coy and Hannah's house with the rest of our small group. It was a really good time, though it seems everytime we eat dinner with the small group the conversation turns south really quick and we end up with bathroom humor. Not that I don't mind that, because I still find that funny. And I know what a "Tracer" is now. The meal was good and most of the dessert was good. There were some issues with the chocolate fountain and chocolate in the Crock Pot, but there was nothing we could do about that.

Brianna and I thank God that we found a good group of friends that love the lord and love talking about bodily functions. Here are a few pics that Brianna took.

Megan cleaning one of the pans.
Laura, super excited.
Oh, the fun I could have with this picture. I'll keep it clean and not say anything.
Laura and Craig...actually a pretty nice picture.
Jordan - Chillin like a Villain....and mixing doo doo in the pan (Actually, I think it was chocolate).

Rain

So it just occured to me this morning that I haven't seen it rain since October. Just snow. Interesting huh?

We'll give this a try

So since it started snowing back in October Brianna and I have found out something.....Toyota Camrys suck very bad in the snow. I believed Brianna about how bad they were because I saw first hand that she couldn't even make it into the garage with about a half inch of snow on the driveway. So I always made sure that when I got home, and it was snowing, that I would shovel the driveway so she could make it into the garage.

Well last week Brianna was oh so nice and told me that I could take her car to work one morning when it was snowing and she would take my All-Wheel Drive Rav4. So I set off in her Camry thinking it wouldn't be to bad. That was until I got stuck on one of the many hills around our house and couldn't make it up. So I sat there, wondering what I should do when I see a snow plow coming up the hill. I thought "Awesome, now I'll be ok." So the snow plow came up and pushed a wave of snow over the car and I was stuck even worse now. I finally waited for the cars behind me to pass and was able to drift backwards into where the plow had gone and make it up the hill.

Now the point of this story - I get to work and say to myself that there is no way it can be this bad. So I check the tires and sure enough, the tread is almost completly gone. 25,000 miles and those tires were done. Lousy Bridgestone pieces of trash. Never buy a Bridgestone tire, they super suck. I went this past Saturday and got them replaced with some nice Good Year Triple Treads that Consumer Report rated as one of the best All-Season tires in snow.

We'll get our first test with the new tires tomorrow morning when it is supposed to snow again. Hopefully these new tires will do better because Brianna and I were very close to buying a new car for her and I really don't want to do that.

Caucus and Voting

So I went my district Caucus last night and it was really interesting. I have never lived in a state that held a Caucus before, only primaries. First, there was a lot of people there. They had a room that was only supposed to fit 115 people (I know this because the fire sign was up for maximum amount of people in the room) but yet we crammed about 300 people into the room. Then they informed us that our vote really didn't matter and that the state delegates choose whomever they want to vote for. We just do a poll for the press so they know which way the state is leaning. So we did our highly scientific "secret ballot" which was me writing down Mike Huckabee on a Post-It-Note and putting it into a plastic cup that someone had just gulped down their water out of it so we could use it. Then I stood there as they counted and tallied up the votes. After that they were going to elect some county delegates, but it was about 100 degrees in there and there were mostly old people with bad gas voting so I rolled out. I think some 90 year old woman copped a feel too while I was squeezing past her.

So that was my Caucus experience. Brianna wasn't able to have the joy that I did as she had to teach a class last night. I think I will go back and try another one though. There was such a high turnout because of the race and I don't think that will happen in a non Presidential election year.

Super Tuesday

Hi All!! As many of you know Super Tuesday is coming up and a lot of our friends that read this blog live in states that will be voting.

Most probably know what is coming next, but I am hoping that you do go and vote and that you will consider Mike Huckabee. A lot of news sources aren't even counting him in polls anymore but he is still has a small shot at the upset. I know it's not likely, but something is better then nothing.

Anyway, if you don't know much about him go and check out his website -

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

If you like what you see and read please consider voting for him this Tuesday. I know I will be.

Matt Grace

P.S. And if you aren't going to vote for him, the Primaries are being held on Wednesday in your State.

Braving Freezing Temps for My Wife

Surmounting treacherous icy pavement and a windchill factor dipping as low as 19 degrees Fahrenheit, I survived a real-life battle with the elements Friday when I successfully completed a harrowing four-and-a-half-minute journey across the desolate, frozen parking lot of an area King Soopers Grocery Store.

With night coming and temperatures dropping rapidly, I was forced to leave my wife, Brianna, at the entrance of the supermarket and valiantly set out on my own to retrieve our Toyota. Before leaving, I solemnly vowed that I would return for my wife as soon as I possibly could.

Recuperating at home following my struggle with nature's fury, I recounted the look in my wife's eyes at the moment I set out across the barren rows of the parking lot.

I could see that she was concerned, but I wasn't about to let Brianna go out there, as I sit blanket-wrapped now from the safety of my living room couch recounting this story between sips of hot chocolate. You see Brianna had left her hat at home.

Shivering from the brutal winds, my heart full of determination, I encountered the first setback on my grueling 75-meter trek when a sudden gust of wind blew freezing cold snow off an SUV and down my collar, nearly causing me to lose my footing on the slippery pavement. Due to the restrictive nature of my bulky cold-weather gear, several tense seconds passed before I was able to brush the snow out of my jacket and soldier on.

My next hardship came when I was forced to guide the wheels of my shopping cart through the increasingly slushy terrain. I was eventually left with no choice but to abandon the cart and carry nearly seven pounds of groceries in hand for the remainder of the journey, slogging past the lifeless, long-abandoned carts of those who had attempted the perilous journey before me.
I remember thinking, "If I stay out here much longer, I'm going to freeze to death." It was that cold.

Because the strain of my journey at times caused me to doubt whether I would ever find the car, I was forced to look inward—drawing strength from past experiences in which I successfully overcame similar extreme conditions. I'm no stranger to long waits on hold for customer service or scaling the heights of the attic stairs with nothing but a box of Christmas decorations. I even remember one traumatic ordeal in which I was locked out of my own home during a violent rainstorm for a full 12 minutes before Brianna heard me knocking.

However, even with all of my experience, nothing could have prepared me for what was in store next.

I thought I saw my car, but it was a different Toyota about seven spaces up. Upon seeing the similar Toyota, I made the near-tragic mistake of removing one of my gloves in order to retrieve my keys and accidentally dropped it beneath the misidentified vehicle.

With my visibility limited by blowing snow and the fast-approaching dusk, I was forced to leave the glove behind. Summoning all my strength, I quickly reoriented myself, using the brightly lit Blockbuster Video store to the right of the supermarket as a guide, and steadily made my way in the general direction of the car.

After one-and-a-half-tense minutes I made the ingenious tactical decision to set down my shopping bags and blow vigorously into my unprotected fingers, providing me with just enough warmth to retrieve my bags and continue on.

Those final twenty feet were the hardest of the journey. That last thirty seconds felt like an eternity out there.

Chilled to the core, I at last reached the car safety and collapsed exhausted behind the wheel. My survival instincts kicking in, I swiftly put the key into the ignition, turned the heat up full blast, hit the defrost button, and waited for the car to warm up. I then set about recouping my energies before undertaking my only remaining task: retrieving my ice scraper from the glove compartment and leaving the car one final time to begin the painstaking and risky process of removing the thick layer of ice from the car windows.

Shaken but wiser after the ordeal, I'm just glad to be home again, but if nothing else, I have learned a valuable life lesson I will not likely forget.

I don't think I've ever been so cold in my life and I'm parking much closer next time—even if I have to circle that parking lot several times to find a space.

Wait....Where is Brianna???

(Taken from the Onion and rewrote to amuse you...hopefully it worked)

Being Good Financial Something Somethings...Yeah

So I'll admit, Brianna and myself have not been very good with our finances in the past. We would go out and eat all the time and bought whatever we wanted when we wanted it. When we moved out here to Colorado though, things changed. We looked at our finances and realized that we couldn't keep doing what we were doing or else we would be Moochie McMoochers when we got older. So we have started to be very tight with our finances and watching everything that goes out and where it goes to. I have definitely learned one thing with this -

It's stinking hard to watch the finances.

I come to find out that "I want", and I want all the time. I find my mind justifying things that I want and it is really hard to say no. No to running in and getting some snackage at the gas station, or picking up that DVD at Best Buy, or buying that video game at Target. It's like I crave shopping sometimes even when I don't need anything. I take lunch with me to work and I sit there justifying how I can go out to eat even though I brought a lunch. I'll admit that once I eat the lunch I brought and not go out to buy food I feel good, but still, I'm craving that WingStop or Jimmy Johns.

So anyway, it's super hard and I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever figure this out. If there is anyone else out there struggling to save I feel your pain.