Last Sunday marked the sixth year that Heather and I have been married. I know it's not a HUGE landmark, however it has gotten me looking back to where those six years have gone. So I decided to go digging through memories that have been stuffed away into boxes and other plastic containers and tucked away in both high and low places.
For those of you who don't know I returned home from my mission December 21st 2001. I had no job, no car, and really no plans. When I got home my older brother Matt used to get onto LDS chat every day and flirt with girls. So since everyone was gone to work each day I decided to check out the chat room scene. Around January 6th I met a girl with the screen name of "TempleBound." After an hour or so of chatting with me she was overly annoyed but at the same time addicted to the dopeness that is Shane. Almost daily we would talk and soon the instant messaging and chatting wasn't sufficient and she had to hear my voice. The smooth sound of my voice vibrated the muscles in her heart a sufficient amount that the phone calls began happening on almost a daily basis. Soon after pictures and letters began being exchanged. Above is one of the first pictures Heather mailed to me.
My brother and I had both had the desire to make a trip to the Houston temple together. So we made tentative plans without any expectations other than a nice little visit to the temple. However all the phone calls and instant messaging created this uncontrollable desire in Heather to need to meet me in person. She became almost obsessed with the idea. So before I knew it she was coming up with plans on how to meet me at the temple. So above is the photo taken the first time we ever met in person. I think it was that moment when we first met in person at the temple when I knew I wanted to marry Heather...
So on went our relationship of nightly phone calls until odd hours of the night and Heather at this point basically addicted to Shane developed a master plan to have her dad bring her out to San Antonio to spend a weekend with me. So I told her when the next single adult church dance was going to happen. So Heather used that as an excuse to convince her father to drive 5 in a half hours to San Antonio. So above is a picture taken on what was essentially our first date. Which consisted of walking around the River Walk as I got us lost looking for the Alamo, and stopping to eat at Fudruckers before her Dad met back up with us to go back to the flat lands of Buna.
Now we fast forward ahead a couple months to the picture above which was taken in Buna, Texas after we were enganged to be married, but prior to her moving to San Antonio. There were a couple months where we took turns driving 5 hours to spend the weekend with one another.
Soon after Heather moved to San Antonio and we spent about 6 months together before the big wedding day came. Above is a picture from our wedding day.
Seriously this is one of the first "family" pictures we took, and it was soon after we moved to Cedar Park which was November 2006.
Above is the first professional family photo we took, and that was done last year before Christmas.
And now skip forward to our Christmas 2008 photo we took this year, and I think we have finally decided on making this annual picture a family tradition. So now with baby number 2 on the way and a new year approaching us in one minute. I look forward to many more wonderful years with my beautiful wife Heather, my adorable daughter Hannah, and whatever God decides to bring us in 2009!
Christmas of 1999, I was a senior in high school, and I spent a lot of time with a family, originally from Utah. We would play basketball together, watch basketball together, and we would constantly talk trash back and forth about basketball. Me being a Jordan disciple, and he being a die hard Utah Jazz fan we were able to have some very interesting discussions. So seeing as how Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dominated the 90's, he received the brunt of my creative trash talking abilities. So when Christmas came around, the year after Jordan beat the Jazz to win their 6th championship. He invited me to his house for a little get together, I decided to write up a nice little Christmas poem as a special token of our friendship, as his family was about to move back to Utah. I recently discovered this masterpiece in a dusty box of memories in my closet.
I looked outside on a cold winter day and everyone was happy I could say It was December six, all the good boys were out collecting sticks, for a nice fire. But in the mountains there lived an evil sire, who went by the name of Karl Malone. He had a face and a heart of stone. Destroying Christmas was his only wish, but Michael "Santa Clause" Jordan, well all his shots went swish.
Now Jordan and his little elves have kept Christmas for five years so there were no children to shed any tears. But Karl Malone wanted to hear the children moan. So once again they did meat for that sacred prize to put happiness or sadness in the children's eyes.
In game one Jordan hit fifty. The kids thought that was quite nifty. Game two he rang in sixty three The children all screamed yippee! Karl Malone did steal game three The children wondered, "How could it be?" He repeated his rage in game number four, but in game five Jordan did soar he even dunked it on Karl Malones head which put all the children safely to bed.
Now if Jordan put it away in game six Christmas would again be safely fixed. However in game six Malone put up quite a battle one after one his shots went in with a rattle.
With only minutes to spare there was little hope The children began to mope, but wait! Jordan comes from behind to get the steal, Malone thought, "This can't be real." Seconds there were but a few. Jordan hesitated before he took off to fly, as he dunks it in Karl Malones eye.
Yes Jordan did soar, and the crowd did indeed roar Christmas once again came and Malone still had no game and all the Bulls fans got presents, but coal went to all the silly Jazz peasants.
I recieved an email earlier today from Bob Banta, of the American Statesman asking me to call him to answer some questions about Brandon. I pointed him in the direction of two closer friends instead. I contacted Bob at around 6:30 pm to find out that he had just finished writing the story and thanked me for my help. I asked him to email me the article when it went live. If you're interested here it is:
My friend Eric called me yesterday afternoon offering up four Longhorns basketball tickets on the 9th row. They were playing Texas Southern (whom I've never even heard of & still have no clue where the school is even located). So I called up one of my friends to see if he wanted to join me, and he ended up bringing his brother and his four year old son. We were supposed to meet at 6:15 at the Round Rock stake center, but he didn't show up till after 6:30. Then we had to drive down to 360 and Bee Caves to Eric Mott's office to pick up the tickets then on to the game which started at 7:00. So we didn't end up making it to our seats until half time where the Longhorns had a one point lead.
The game ended up being pretty good, and the seats where GREAT, right down on the 10th row in the corner. That's the closest I've ever sat to any basketball game other than a Highschool game. Also the first time seeing the Longhorns play in person.
A.J. Abrams had 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, but it was Pittman who provided the much-needed spark for the Longhorns (9-1).
A.J. Abrams was quite impressive to me, even though I only saw him play half the game, it was impressive to see this 5'7 or 5'8 dude weaving in and around guys working to get open, and he would go long periods of time without touching the ball and then as soon as the defense gave him any daylight the ball was dropping straight through the net. I only saw him miss 2 shots, and one of them it seemed like he never really wanted to shoot it in the first place.
I actually brought my camera with me and accidentally left it in the car because we were running late. Hopefully Eric Mott will think of me again next time he doesn't want to use his tickets.
William Brandon Vaughn
Sadly my day ended NOT so well. I got a phone call around 11:00 at night from a guy I play basketball with on Wed nights. He informed me that another friend of mine who I also play ball with on Wed nights died in a car accident last night. I believe he was only 19 years old, maybe 20. I didn't know very many personal details about him. I only really spent time with him on the basketball court, and most of our conversations revolved around basketball. I didn't even know his last name, but you know how some people just radiate goodness. Well that was Brandon, he was just an all around good dude. Seriously, I've been playing with him for about 2 years almost, and he was one of my favorite people that showed up each and every week. It was shocking news, and I just feel bad that I wasn't able to know Brandon better than I did. My heart goes out to his parents, especially his mom, and all of his friends. The world lost one of the good guys last night...
**UPDATE** I've talked to some more people and found out some more info, and I also learned his full name. I then was able to find some stories about the accident online.
"Two teenage boys were killed in a collision in Bastrop County Tuesday afternoon.
"According to police, William Brandon Vaughn, 19, and James Jackson, 18, both of Round Rock were traveling in a 2002 Ford Focus heading north on Highway 95 about 5 miles south of Elgin.
"The driver was passing other vehicles that were on the shoulder, when he lost control of the vehicle. The car then slid into oncoming traffic, hitting a 1996 Ford Explorer. The two occupants of the Ford Explorer received non-life-threatening injuries.
"Users of all current versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser might be vulnerable to having their computers hijacked because of a serious security hole in the software that had yet to be fixed Monday."
"The flaw lets criminals commandeer victims' machines merely by tricking them into visiting Web sites tainted with malicious programming code. As many as 10,000 sites have been compromised since last week to exploit the browser flaw, according to antivirus software maker Trend Micro Inc.."
"Many security experts, meanwhile, are urging Internet Explorer users to use another browser until a patch is released."
So why not make the switch to a smarter more efficient Internet Browser today?
P.S.-- Click the title to hop on over to the entire article.
Today I recorded a small conversation with Hannah. Also you can check out her new hair cut. Heather had someone come by our house last night and cut it. I prefer it going down to her shoulders, but she is happy with it, and Heather likes it... so whatever.
This is old, from like Aug or Sept, but I wanted to share it anyways. Hannah loves to ride her scooter! She takes it with her almost everywhere we go. Here she is in action with one of her friends that lives in our complex.
"We asked the same question and it took us somewhere new. Gone were the lazy days of summer. A cool breeze swept the streets with leaves under foot and the familiar hustle of the city…welcome to autumn in New York."
So Heather was super sweet and nice and bought me the new Killers album last week, and I've been listening to it while I work and in my car while I drive. There's this song that I REALLY like on the album but I have no clue what it really means. So I was going to ask the infinite abyss of the interweb for help. I don't want anyone trying to tell me it is about him getting abducted by aliens either. Cause I'm not buying into any of that silly non sense. I'm especially interested in the chorus which is intriguing to me. If your interested in hearing the album just email me.
It started with a low light Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed And then they took my blood type It left a strange impression in my head You know that I was hoping That I could leave this starcrossed world behind But when they cut me open I guess I changed my mind And you know I might Have just flown too far from the floor this time Cause they calling me by my name And the zipping white light beams Disregarding the bombs and satellites
That was the turning point That was one lonely night
The starmaker says it ain't so bad The dreammaker's gonna make you mad The spaceman says everybody look down! It's all in your mind
Now I'm back at home and I’m looking forward to this life I live You know it's going to harm me So hesitation to this life I give You think you might cross over You're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea You better look it over Before you make that leap
And you know I'm fine, but I hear those voices at night Sometimes, they justify my claim And the public don’t dwell on my transmission Cause It wasn’t televised
But it was the turning point O what a lonely night
The starmaker says it ain't so bad The dreammaker's gonna make you mad The spaceman says everybody look down! It's all in your mind
The starmaker says it ain't so bad The dreammakers's gonna make you mad The spaceman says everybody look down! It's all in your mind
My global position systems are vocally addressed They said the nile used to run from east to west They said the nile used to run… from east to west
And you know I'm fine, but I hear those voices at night Sometimes...
The starmaker says it ain't so bad The dreammaker's gonna make you mad The spaceman says everybody look down! It's all in your mind
The starmaker says it ain't so bad The dreammaker's gonna make you mad The spaceman says everybody look down! It's all in your mind
**MY THOUGHTS** I think he is talking about something that happened to him in his life, something where he was he made a decision to change his life. Then he makes mention to how sometimes he is tempted to go back to his old ways, and aren't we all. Maybe that's why I enjoy this song so much. I can remember when my father passed away it was a turning point in my life, and it changed me. Infact the day of his death I could describe it as an alien abduction as well. I think the Starmaker is like God telling you it ain't so bad, and the dreammaker is gonna make you mad cause in most cases dreams don't ever come true, at least not how you dreamt them to be, and the spaceman is like the natural man trying to deceive you, telling you it's all in your mind.
I received some devastating news today, just about as devastating as when I found out Arrested Development was going to be canceled. It seems like every time their is a television show that actually is quite superb with it's story telling abilities as Pushing Daisies is, and Arrested Development was they kick it off!
Pushing Daisies is by far my all time favorite show on TV right now. The stories are well written and well thought up, the set designs, and costumes are imaginative, and the acting is stellar. Now it will end without any closure at all. I'm searching the infinite abyss we call the interweb via google for any sort of way to try and help save the show, but I am beginning to realize that all hope is lost.
Saturday we took our family portrait for the year. We are trying to make this a tradition in the Guymon household. Portrait Innovation has a good package for $9.99. We always end up spending more cause they take such good pictures it's hard to chose only one pose. So anyways here's the picture we chose for the 9.99 package. Although Hannah looks happy in the photo, it was not so much the case, she was not too into taking photos, well really she was all the way up until the point that they actually called our name and pulled out the camera. Some how we still managed to get several good pictures to chose from. The best part is you leave with your pictures. They print them off right after you pay.
We walked out of Picture Innovations at 11:00, and Spicy Pickle was calling out names, it's hard to say no to Mesquite Turkey on Ciabatta bread with tomatoes, lettuce, avocados, and swiss cheese. So being that it is right next door, we walked right in the door and partook in the goodness. However we got home and the bread that was holding together the sweet goodness was not ciabatta, and it kind of ruined the experience, and didn't kill the craving...
After the not so fulfilling sandwich Heather was dividing up the pictures and gathered the pictures going to my mom, and my family, and she came into the bedroom and said, "Why don't we go see your mom today."
Of course I was down, so we asked Hannah, and she was excited about the idea, so we threw a few things together jumped in our Kia Sedona, and made the 1.5 hour venture down to good ol' San Antone to sneak attack my mom (I never told her we were coming).
In my opinion as far as following the election online CNN.com's website proved to be simple to use and read, the information and tools were simplistic yet innovative, and aesthetically pleasing. Take a look at the screen capture (click on it to enlarge) that I took at around 10:30 (CST). You can see how beautifully they present the information. I really loved the interactive map, which allowed you to roll your mouse over any state to be able to see what percentage of votes each person was receiving or did receive. It also used colors to show who was winning each state.
The picture above (click on it to enlarge) shows the black banner that was located at the top of the screen which presented a live scoring of the votes and also gave the needed information for the uneducated like myself by telling what the "magic" number was that each candidate was trying to get to first.
This screen capture above (click on it to enlarge) shows the main content area of their site, and the different interactive charts that they utilized to simplify the experience making it very easy & clear to obtain the information I was needing.
This was the first year I ever followed the election online, and I checked out a few other news sites as well, and CNN proved to be the best in my opinion, so I am definitely sure that in the future I will be tuning into CNN.com for my up-to-date election coverage.
I got home yesterday to Hannah telling me this sad story about how she wants to wear her Cinderella dress but that mom won't let her. So Heather over hearing corrected the story, so we told her to go ahead and put her Cinderella dress on. So she put it on, and she came out and I said, "Oh you look so pretty Hannah!"
Then she quickly corrected me and said, "Don't call me Hannah, call me Cinderella."
So then I corrected myself.
I then started to make myself a little something to eat and I sat down, and Hannah walked over to me and said, "Hi Prince, do you want to come to my room with me, and watch my movie, theirs lots of toys, you can bring your food, come on, it'll be lots of fun!"
(Also at some point after she called me Prince, and before we made it to her room, we danced together in the living room, and that was the original reason of going to her room, because she wanted to continue dancing in her room).
How can you say no to that? We were watching Big Bang Theory (I do have a DVR though), so it was kind of difficult, but she kept giving more and more features, letting me know I could sit on her bed and eat, and she even picked up my food and offered to carry it into her room for me. So I went along. So the rest of the night she continued calling me Prince, and I continued calling her Cinderella up until she said good night the The Prince, and I said good night to Cinderella.
The funnier part of the story, is she slept in the Cinderella dress, woke up and continued to call me Prince, when I left to work she gave me a hug and said, "Good bye Prince!"
Here's a sweet mix by DJ Earworm. Combining the Lyrics of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" and the music of Radiohead's "Reckoner." Head over to his website to download it if you'd like.
Every night for the past couple nights we say our family prayers, brush Hannah's teeth (kill the sugar bugs), and then I give her a piggy back ride to bed. Once we are in her room she immediately picks out one of her Disney princess books and asks me to read it to her. After I am done with the book she asks me to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (with hand motions) three or four times in a row. Then she will ask me to sing "Twinkle Little Star" at least once. After that she will either fall right to sleep, or continue playing in her bed until she goes to sleep.
Some nights I really don't feel like reading or singing the same songs, but I see her little face and she looks me straight in the eye, and she asks me in her cute little voice and I can't resist but doing her this little favor. I mean in all reality is the activity I would be doing instead of doing that any better? No way, because it would probably involve me laying on a couch watching some TV show I DVRed or a basketball game.
Speaking of that, it's about time for me to lace up the Nikes and head out to the church to play some basketball (as long as they don't kick us out).
For those of you who don't know I returned home from my mission December 21st 2001. I had no job, no car, and really no plans. When I got home my older brother Matt used to get onto LDS chat every day and flirt with girls. So since everyone was gone to work each day I decided to check out the chat room scene. Around January 6th I met a girl with the screen name of "TempleBound." After an hour or so of chatting with me she was overly annoyed but at the same time addicted to the dopeness that is Shane. Almost daily we would talk and soon the instant messaging and chatting wasn't sufficient and she had to hear my voice. The smooth sound of my voice vibrated the muscles in her heart a sufficient amount that the phone calls began happening on almost a daily basis. Soon after pictures and letters began being exchanged. Above is one of the first pictures Heather mailed to me.
My brother and I had both had the desire to make a trip to the Houston temple together. So we made tentative plans without any expectations other than a nice little visit to the temple. However all the phone calls and instant messaging created this uncontrollable desire in Heather to need to meet me in person. She became almost obsessed with the idea. So before I knew it she was coming up with plans on how to meet me at the temple. So above is the photo taken the first time we ever met in person. I think it was that moment when we first met in person at the temple when I knew I wanted to marry Heather...
So on went our relationship of nightly phone calls until odd hours of the night and Heather at this point basically addicted to Shane developed a master plan to have her dad bring her out to San Antonio to spend a weekend with me. So I told her when the next single adult church dance was going to happen. So Heather used that as an excuse to convince her father to drive 5 in a half hours to San Antonio. So above is a picture taken on what was essentially our first date. Which consisted of walking around the River Walk as I got us lost looking for the Alamo, and stopping to eat at Fudruckers before her Dad met back up with us to go back to the flat lands of Buna.
Now we fast forward ahead a couple months to the picture above which was taken in Buna, Texas after we were enganged to be married, but prior to her moving to San Antonio. There were a couple months where we took turns driving 5 hours to spend the weekend with one another.
Soon after Heather moved to San Antonio and we spent about 6 months together before the big wedding day came. Above is a picture from our wedding day.
Seriously this is one of the first "family" pictures we took, and it was soon after we moved to Cedar Park which was November 2006.
Above is the first professional family photo we took, and that was done last year before Christmas.
And now skip forward to our Christmas 2008 photo we took this year, and I think we have finally decided on making this annual picture a family tradition. So now with baby number 2 on the way and a new year approaching us in one minute. I look forward to many more wonderful years with my beautiful wife Heather, my adorable daughter Hannah, and whatever God decides to bring us in 2009!
