I forgot, I'm famous!

So, about 6 months ago I was in the WILK for a Special Olympics meeting when some random guys walked up and asked if I'd be in an advertisement for them... I couldn't quickly think of a reason to say no, so I let them pose me and take my picture...

Recently, I made a friend, Trevor, who, it turns out, was a part of that project and recognized me... and was nice enough to send me a picture of the ad.



Crazy, huh?

Mati sent this to me...

Football in the south is an interesting beast. It's not a game, it's not a pastime...it's a way of life. It's a mixed drink of family, religion, politics and pageantry, spiked with shots of antagonism, arrogance and pride. .

Critics label our view of college football as naive and tendentious. Our response? We couldn't agree more. Southerners revel in regional bias and why shouldn't we? In the south, we transform a vast picnic area into The Grove. We see a stadium on the river and bring a Navy. We take a plain desert stone and make it magic. We have The Chop, The Chomp and The Ramblin' Wreck. We root for the same team as our dad, the same team as his dad and say "to hell" with the team of your dad's dad. We call players by their first names, anyone on the athletic staff "coach," and--to the ...(tharr be more)chagrin of media pundits and those who just don't understand--we say "we".

Down here, you're not born a boy or a girl, you're born a Bulldog or Gator. Down here, football is just as entrenched in our culture as Jesus, sweet tea and barbeque sandwiches. We say "Yes Ma'm" and "No Sir", but we also say "Roll Tide", "War Eagle" and "Go Dawgs". Down here, "two plus two equals third down and six".

The players, the coaches and the rivalries are captivating here in the south. Florida-Georgia weekend causes more people to call in sick on Monday morning than the stomach flu and strept throat, Alabama-Auburn divides households, neighborhoods and the entire state, and The Egg Bowl is a true late November fixture. The storylines are just as alluring. Think "The Choke at Doak," "Lindsay Scott!!" or the 1961 Clemson-South Carolina game where a group of USC students inpersonated the Tiger football team in pre-game warm-ups, catering to the crowd and the band before flopping all over the field and mocking Clemson's agricultural background with milking hand-motions.

Though the press tries to hype the last week in the regular season as rivalry week, every week is rivalry week in the south.

Something down here makes this game different. College football has a legitimate influence on state government, a major affect on commerce and local economies and is the lifeblood and pulse of God's country.

Perhaps former Tennessee Volunteer radio personality George Mooney put it best.

"Southerners are proud of their football heritage, their schools, and their teams. And they share a deep pride that goes with being from the South," he said.

It's a match made, and currently outplayed, in heaven.

You know what I love most of all?

My sister, Mati, of course!
<3

I love risking my life

My family is awesome. Seriously, they’re the best. Over the summer, we had a reunion up in Island Park, Idaho, where we rented out a giant cabin and all my dad’s siblings came up with their families. Two weeks of adventuring included float trips (with a fleet of kayaks, canoes, rafts, and dear Cory in a fishing tube), historical sites, fishing, hiking, games, karaoke, bonfires, Jackson Hole, wildlife, food, and, much to my delight, white-water rafting. The first day, some of the adults and the bigger kids went to Gallatin and went with Montana White Water company. Way fun. So much fun, in fact, that we decided to do another run, a few days later, minus the guides and equipment and adding all the little kids. (It’s a Kappel thing, don’t worry about it)

Too bad we didn’t get pictures of the Kappel run.

My summer = one constant adventure

See here's the thing. My life is ridiculously epic. And summer 2010 was pretty much the pinnacle of all epic-ness.

Hannah came down for the 4th of July, and she, Annie, and I participated in the Critical Mass as Team America. So. Much. Fun.





One of our new favorite loves is rock climbing... day or night.







We basically just love being outdoors. Sometimes, we'd do spontaneous and random hikes. This day, we got caught in the rain, and after hiding out in a little cave for a bit, decided to just run down the canyon in the rain to the car. Love our lives.



Another of our favorites is the rope swing down in Mona, Utah. With ladders and platforms at all different levels, there's fun for everyone.





Speaking of water, Annie and I both seem to live in and for it. Both having worked as lifeguards (we actually met at Seven Peaks) we just can't seem to stay away... and swimming at night is the best.





We also organized a group of people to float down the (painfully freezing cold) Provo River.



So have I mentioned that I have the most awesome friends? We went down to some caves in Nevada to explore (that's actually where Kip and I met, kind of) and just had a blast.



Welcome to my life... every day an adventure.

Saggital plane, geometric plane, air plane

So I’m really good at talking to strangers. I think it’s my complete lack of inhibition and/or social skills. Whatever. So I’m in this courtyard at a random apartment complex, and I start talking to this guy. Turns out he’s a pilot, and next thing you know we’re setting up a time for he, Annie, and myself to go for a ride. We show up that morning, and he tells me to get into the pilot’s seat.

That’s right, add flying a plane to my repertoire.