Cutest Comic

Cassie and I just love the Rose is Rose comic strip and this is one of my favorites!
You can find Rose is Rose on the internet at comics.com

My Technical Blog!

I have my technical blog up and running and I love it! I absolutely love WordPress now. I got really frustrated before because my hosting service had a link to install WordPress and it never worked so I got really frustrated a long time ago. I have since then uploaded the latest WordPress to my server and it runs and looks great! I really like how it runs compared to blogger. I still like blogger but I feel that WordPress is a bit more professional. I am really excited to put all of my geeky nerdy knowledge there that will hopefully allow me to provide for my family in the very near future.

Pedestrian death in Rexburg crosswalk

It is another mournful day at Rexburg, ID as another pedestrian has died and another is injured. Local news 8 and news channel 6 report on the incident. Rexburg is experiencing growing pains and it doesn't help that most of us are egotistical and self-absorbed. I am not just flying by the seat of my pants when I say this either. There is a reason why our country drives slower than other countries and still has more accidents and deaths than others. We have got to change our way of thinking. Driving a motor vehicle is a substantial and consequential PRIVILEGE. I am not singling any one out. I am the first to step up and say that I need to be more attentive and rush less. How did we become so self centered that we think it is OK to risk the lives of others around us to get to a destination 15 seconds faster or a minute? Is some body's life worth being on time? Are you willing to give up your life or your working hips and legs for some one who is a couple of minutes late for work or class? Think about it.

I sat and pondered for a few minutes about the anguish and turmoil such an accident would cause in my life from either side of an accident. Personally I don't think I could have the strength to bear the burden of taking an other's life, or loosing one close to me. Take a few moments the next time you go to start the car and see how it effects your driving.

Definition of drive: operate and control the direction and speed of a motor vehicle.
hmmmm... no where in that definition do I see the words texting, ipod, music, cell phone, or earphones. So I guess driving is called driving for a reason.... [sarcasm]
If you think you are one of those people who are good enough to drive and try to do something else you are wrong.

Please, from the bottom of my heart, drive carefully. Use your God given, state authorized privilege to drive wisely and make the world a better place starting with the one person you really have control over, yourself. You can make a difference!

Date night

Cassie and I had a fun time tonight grabbing a jamba juice and then
heading over to the Rex for a night of bowling. Cas did really well
and she bowled two strikes in a row on the last frame! Cassie totally
rocks! We were also able to get a lot of homework done but it still
wasn't enough. Arggg! We also saw the first snow of the season stick a
little bit.

Snow = Reduced traction = No motorcycle = Withdrawls for Michael

I am really sad the snow is going to be here in Rexburg already. I
just hope that the snow doesn't stay so I can get a few more days of
ridding in. I am going to have to figure out the best way to winterize
my bike. I am not sure it is a good idea to drain re fuel tank or not
because of rust issues. I will have to do some research. Untill then I
will keep ridding till the snow doesn't let me.

Sponge Bob?!

It seems that one of our pictures is getting some attention on Google images. Unfortunately it is not one of my own but a picture of sponge bob that is creating the buzz. On a post we put up over Memorial weekend I included a picture of sponge bob because Cassie watched "Sponge Bob the Movie" while we were driving. Last I checked the picture was about the 7th picture when "Sponge Bob" is searched for in Google images and has elicited almost 400 visits.

Blog from scratch

I know that not everyone will appreciate this but I am really excited about it so I am going to share it anyway. I am wanting to build basically a resume online by building up MichaelGrace.org I also wanted to create a blog tied to my site at blog.MichaelGrace.org Instead of customizing a blog from a free blog service like Blogger or WordPress I have decided to create my own blog completely from scratch.

I am really excited about the progress that I have made already. Working on this endevor has really helped me learn a lot about connecting databases to web pages throug php and developing dynamic web pages. I still have a great deal to learn, but I look forward to the challenge and the growth.

229?!!!!?!!

Wow! I can't believe that we have 229 blog posts since we have started. I must really like to ramble some times. I am excited to be able to take what I have written in this blog and turn it into a book using blurb.com. Cassie and I are also currently working on getting our book put together from our San Francisco trip and we are excited about that also.

No More Tech - On This Blog

I really enjoy the technology that God has blessed this world with. While I enjoy it and find it absorbing I understand that most of my family that fallows our blog doesn't want to wade through a bunch of code and jiberish every time they visit our blog so I am moving all of me tech stuff to another temporary blog at http://geek.michaelgrace.org until I get my official blog up and running at http://geek.michaelgrace.org. It as all part of building up my name for the future. I have michaelgrace.org and I am thinking about getting michaelgrace.info

Rexburg Hazmat Visits BYUI (Ricks)

Recently as I was leaving class one day from BYU-Idaho (Ricks) I noticed the local hazmat firetruck with their hoses running over to the current construction. I don't know why they were there but it was interesting to learn that we even have a hazmat team in this area.

Best Bean Salad

My last post reminds me of a bean salad that I had recently. Before I tell about this salad I need to preface it with some backstory. Before I had this magnificent bean salad I had never before partaken of a bean salad nor knew that such a thing existed. Growing up my mom would help teach us that salads were fun to eat and tasty and so as a result sometimes for a late stack my mom and I would bust out the salad and the saltine crackers or chips and smash up the chips or crackers and then sprinkle on the ranch dressing.



So, I really enjoy salads and I have my mom to thank for that. I also would make what I call the "Man Salad" while I was single in college. I called it the man salad because it wasn't a pansy salad like most are but it was about 40% meat 40% salad and then 20% beans, dressing, crutons, chips, cheese, and more. I really filled a large plate and it was really a lot of fun making the salads. They tasted really good and they were easy to make. So, I guess you could say I have a soft spot for salads.

Back to the incredible bean salad. This bean salad was introduced to me by Tammy Sluder. I am still working on getting the recipie but I am sure I will get it because it is too good not to get. This bean salad has great taste and it can be really filling. According to Tammy it is really easy and quick to make. I am definately going to add it to my list of favorites alongside Gwen's moist chocolate cake.

Gwen and Dee worked really hard today on their canning of applesauce. I love how the entire house fills with the smell of apples and cinnamon and canning. It has been really nice for Gwen to have such a large stove top with 6 full sized gas burners. When we get all of them going the kitchen really warms up fast. Gwen also recently got the huge shiny stainless steel pot that you can see below and it has been soo much fun to use. It can hold a monster load of food and it as great!


I was privileged to be able to try some of the applesauce and it was magnificent. Hot off the stove, chunky, just the right amount of cinnamon, and cooked with love. You can't see it but in the back left corner burner behind the black and white speckled pot is an iron skillet that I cooked my banana pancakes on. Thanks to my wonderful mother I am privy to the great savory taste off banana pancakes. Gwen also relayed to me that apple pancakes are really good to so I am going to be trying those in the near future.

Painting with light

My awesome dad told me about this paint with light technique. I had tried it before when I was in Japan but never got a chance to really try it out. I had fun taking these pictures. I had my 2 coats on, gloves, hat, and I was running around with my home made light saber. I am sure I would have looked very funny to any passerby that happened to catch a glimpse of what I was doing.



Anyway, It was a lot of fun and I am excited to try out a few different ideas next time I use this technique. It is hard to do this using a digital camera though because the battery dies soo quickly. The light sensor sucks up electricity the entire time that the shutter is open so, when the shutter is open for 30 seconds at a time it really wears on the battery.



I took about 30 different pictures at 30 seconds each and it took my D200 battery from full to less than half and I usually go through a batter every few weeks depending on how much I use the camera. This is really fun technique to try and if you do I would love to see what you did. I am always looking for more ideas.



When I first started my flash light was to wide so I created a home made light saber by wraping newspaper around the end of the flash light and then rubber banding it tight. I then cut out a spot for the switch so I could turn it off. It really helped focus the light more.

ZOOM ZOOM!!

Night Photos

Since school has started up again I have not had a chance to relax a bit and do some photography so when I got some free time today I thought I would revisit an old hobby and take some night pictures (since the sun was gone). It was fun and some of them turned out nice. It is a bit harder to get good night pictures because it is dark for one thing. Being so dark makes it hard to focus but I really enjoy the way light shows up on the pictures. All of these photos were taken with a 30 second shutter speed.

Cassie, the incredible!

Cassie has really been working hard lately and has been able to create
these two beautiful pillows. It was so much fun to see how excited
cassie was when the pillows were done and when we saw how nice they
looked in our room she got even more excited. I believe it is a
wonderful thing to be able to create from fabric and thread. Cassie is
really an incredible artist no matter what she is doing. Whether it is
pillows or paintings or even dinner, Cas is amazing and I love her
very much. I love beautifying our home with her beautiful creations.

Motorcycles!

A nice picture of my bike parked next to Jed's yellow rocket. It has
been really nice to be able to park re bike so close to all of my
classes. Plus I just really enjoy riding my motorcycle.