Toyota Showdown

January 20, 2009 I flew to Seattle and met up with my bestie Rebecca for our 2009 road trip! We both love road trips and thought this would be the perfect time to go to California because there was going to be a race at Irwindale Speedway. We started driving and were tired as soon as we hit the road so we stopped and got some 5 hour energy! We figured if it worked for Steven Wallace then it would help us get to the boarder. We made it to the boarder about 4am and I was ready to crash but oh no Rebecca just wanted to get a little bit further so we would make it to Bakersfield in time for our dinner date!

After about two hours we woke up and started driving again. Wednesday was Travis's big 30 and we were having a surprise dinner at the Richardson's for him! Rachel flew in early after some small adjustments and then her and Eric came and got us from our hotel. We had some time to kill so Eric gave us a tour of Bako! He showed us where his friends lived, where his friends use to live, and where he wished he had friends living! Then Eric needed to go to the shop really quick and help the guys, obviously we couldn't go with him because Travis was their, so Eric left us at the gas station and we hid in the back! When Travis got to the Richardson's he was so surprised that Rachel was their and that we all kept it a secret for such a long time.

Thursday morning Rachel, Rebecca, and I got ready and headed to L.A. for the day. Rachel has never been to the Fashion District, so that was our destination for the afternoon. The fashion district is blocks and blocks of all different clothes, shoes, purses, and jewelry! If you find the right alley you can get designer articles and that was our goal! After shopping around for a couple hours we decided to go to Robertson Blvd and Rodeo drive. We pulled out Tom Tom to help us find Rodeo drive from where we were and Tom Tom took us to the ghetto of Rodeo! After our little adventure we met up with all the guys and had dinner then went back to the hotel and had a few drinks.

Friday we woke up and looked outside and saw that it was raining and didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon. Rebecca took me to the track and dropped me off then went back to the hotel and hung out with Rachel. They went shopping and lounged all day while I played in the rain and hung out with Shelby and made some new friends. The rain finally let up for a little bit and they dryed the track and got some practice in! When we got back to the hotel it was about midnight and we were hungry so we decided to hit In & Out Burger.

Saturday morning when I got up I was hoping it was a better day and by golly it wasn't same ole crap as the day before! So just like the day before Rebecca gave me a ride to the track and then went back, got ready, had breakfast with Rachel, then came to the track. Every time that it would stop raining and they would get the track dry enough it would start raining again. It was about lunch time and My dad asked if I wanted to go to Claim Jumpers since it would take about 3 hours to dry the track so we left. When we got back it was just in time for Camping World Qualifying and then some practice before the last chance race! The last chance race was ok compared to the crash fest they called the main event! Every one's "favorite driver" Ron Hornaday thought it would be a good idea to go out and wreck almost the entire field! Brilliant idea if you ask me IDIOT!!! After the race we went around and talked to some drivers and hung out til about 2:30am and then went back to the hotel.

Sunday we got up and hit the road because we had to be back to Seattle Airport by 5am Monday morning. We met up with Eric for lunch and then hit the road again! We were driving for a long time and when I would get bored I would hang out the sunroof and wave to random people! We rolled into Sea-Tac about 4am! Rebecca and I said our good byes and she went home and went to bed and I waited for my plane! It was another good road trip and we are already planning our next outing...VEGAS!!!!!

UFC 94: Pierre vs Penn

I have become very into MMA lately and have fallen in LOVE with it! Kristan and I watch all the UFC fights on Spike and have started watching the big fights on Pay Per View. When I first saw George that's when I knew I was going to be a life long fan! I mean jeeze have you seen that body!! When Kristan & I found out that he was going to fight we invited friends over and had a little party. They had a show that was Penn & Pierre training leading up to the big night and Kristan and I were all over it! Then the big day was finally here...

Saturday night January 31 2009 two of the world's best pound-for-pound fighters, Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn, squared off for the UFC World Welterweight Championship in one of the most highly anticipated fights in MMA history. St. Pierre, the reigning Welterweight champ, had defeated Penn by split decision in their only previous fight, and both fighters came in to UFC 94 looking to finish one another and keep the outcome out of the judges' hands. The Welterweight champ executed that game plan expertly right from the opening bell, aggressively shooting in for single-leg take downs throughout most of the first round and pinning Penn up against the cage in the clench when he failed to actually take him off his feet.

Sensing that he had Penn right where he wanted him, St. Pierre charged aggressively from his corner at the opening of the fourth round and pinned him in his own corner, quickly landing a strong leg kick and a superman punch before using a double-leg take down to put the challenger on his back. St. Pierre then worked feverishly in the ground-and-pound, dropping big left hand after big left hand on Penn's head as he feebly attempted to cover up, mixing in elbows and knees for good measure. Finally, after a brutal four-round beating, referee Herb Dean came to Penn's corner to ask if the Lightweight Champion could continue, and to solicit the advice of the ringside doctor. After a very brief conference in Penn's corner, Dean called a stop to the lopsided fight and declared St. Pierre the winner by TKO!!! I was so excited I threw my dog on the ground and started jumping up and down on the chair and screaming! He is by far the next pound-for-pound KING!!!!

First Fridays

The first Friday of every month Rudy’s has a monthly event at A Cook's Paradise, featuring live music with local artists, wine and beer by the glass, specialty food tasting, and an opportunity to start your weekend off in a relaxed setting, downtown. My parents and I decided that we were going to go tanning, get a bite to eat and then head down their! We went to Dunkens Bar & Grill and got some dinner and everyone from Rudy’s started coming in and getting beers. We were getting ready to leave and head to Rudys then Brian the owner of pepsi walked in and we put together a few tables and stayed the rest of the night their! A few girls I went to high school with showed up and we had some beers together and caught up on things. I also fell in love with my new favorite beer Ace Pear Ale
After we were done at the bar we went to Perkins and got some Pie. Our waitress was pretty young and didn’t want to deal with all of us drunks. She was kind of rude so Brian being himself decided to hiss at her! From that moment on we all knew that we were getting spit on our pies!! We finally decided to call it a night and go home!!

New Years Eve

This New Years Eve we decided to stay home and throw a poker party! We invited everyone that works for us, our close friends, and some of our sponsors. We decorated the house, set up the tables, and got all the goodies ready for the night! Everyone started showing up around seven and the drinking began! We had one table of eight set up and played two rounds of poker! The rest of the us that weren’t playing poker were all talking and drinking the night away!
When it got close to midnight we all put our party hats on and got poppers and headed for the deck! Everyone had their phones out counting down and when it struck midnight we all shot them off, well all of us except my dad he decided he was going to shoot off his gun instead! After we all shot off our poppers we went back in and finished the poker game and called it a night!! 2009 is officially here!!

Another fresh new year is here

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear

To love and laugh and give!

Bear Cat 2008

Every year around Dec 19 & 20Jerome High and Twin Falls High host a huge wrestling tournament called Bear Cat. 17 teams from around Idaho and 2 from other states came for the chance to be champion in their weight division! After the first day was over Ashley, Christine, John, Matt, & I went out to dinner then went to Christine and Matt’s to watch movies and have a sleepover! Saturday we woke up early ate rice and started celebrating Ashley’s birthday and headed to the school to finish up the tournament!

After the tournament was over we went to the church and had dinner and then we went to the bowling alley for cosmic bowling! We had two lanes and then one of lanes kept eating our balls so they gave us more lanes. By the end of the night we had four lanes and we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off! That is how we celebrated Ashley’s 21st birthday!

Raider Nation 2008

Every year we go to California at least once for the Oakland Raiders games with Jim & Veronica Pettit! This year I talked Becky into coming with us Dec 12-14 because she was needing a break and I told her it would be a good time to get away for a few days!! We flew into Oakland were Becky was waiting for us and then we got our rental car and head to Prunetucky aka Prunedale. We called Jim when we were close and told him we just landed joking around with him and then pulled into their driveway. Once Veronica got home from work we decided we were going to have Mexican food for dinner and then we were going to play poker with Jim & Veronicas friends! Becky started drinking wine a little early and Jim was pouring some big glasses. Let’s just say two bottles of wine later Becky was feeling good and we were wondering the neighborhood after we were told not to!
Saturday after a rocky start we went to Monterey and went to all of the shops and got some cookies. The weather started getting bad so we got in the car and went to an old abandoned military camp! We walked/drove around looking at all of the buildings and found were a young girl was kidnapped and killed! After the crazy adventure we went back to the house and watch Don’t Forget the Lyrics and started cooking dinner. Everything was almost ready and it was time for the steaks. My dad volunteered to cook them since he “is king” of cooking steaks. He put the steaks on and came back into the house to watch a little more of the TV show. When he went back out to check them and flip them they were on FIRE!!! That’s right we looked over and all we could see was huge flames and him trying to move the steaks as they were on fire to!! We all laughed for hours about it and still to this day joke around about it!

Sunday we got up and went to this ma & pa restaurant for breakfast and then headed to Raider Nation!!! The weather wasn’t too bad until we got closer to Oakland. Becky and I went and found a place to get hot chocolate and went down to our seats. Once the game started it started pouring down rain. Oakland was getting their bums kicked so we left at half time and went to a nice steak house and had dinner before the airport! We looked on top of our game compared to everyone else in the restaurant! We had a long time at the airport before our flights left so we watched the other football game in the bar and shopped at the stores! After Becky and I said good bye to each other we started planning the next time we would get together…

RPM 2008

The RPM workshop happens every year in Reno Dec 3-7 followed by Speed weeks in Florida! It’s a big convention with a bunch of race promoters share expertise, experience and ideas, helping each other produce better entertainment and increase ticket sales and profit. This was my dads second year going and my first! I had so much fun listening to all the different promoters and their ideas!

We went to lunch and dinner every day with someone new and talked about what they did and what we did and compared ideas! Every night when we were done I would go back to my room and order chocolate cake and glass of milk to end my night! Saturday Night after all the workshops were done we went to an ice show that the hotel was hosting! We were four rows up and it ended up being really good!! After the ice show was over we walked out into the casino and watch the end of the De La Hoya fight! Sunday we went to the airport and headed home before our next big adventure to Oakland!!