Mt. Dew...Cheetos...I LOVE THAT STORY!!!

Final Post

2008-08-29T23:51:00.003-06:00

This will probably be my last post as tomorrow I will be getting married. For all future updates visit http://meridith-taylor.blogspot.com/ But I wanted to share a final thought about the love of my life.............

A little over a year and a half ago I felt as if my whole world had fallen apart. I was left torn, broken, and hurt beyond what I thought could ever be repaired. It was a hard lesson in life, but one I endured with hope and optimism. Yet life moved on. On one winter evening, I met the most intriguing, interesting, caring, stunningly beautiful woman I had ever met in my life. Never before had I ever felt so drawn to anyone, and the funny thing is, I didn't understand why. I hardly knew her, yet I felt I did. We had hardly spoken, yet I felt we had spent years conversing. But as time went on, I knew why I had felt that way that evening. Meridith has been the single biggest blessing in my life. My decision to marry her has been more impactful than any other event in my life. Tomorrow I will marry the woman of my dreams, and I couldn't have asked for a better companion. She blends with my family and friends so well. She is a wonderful mother to 3 wonderful children whom I love dearly. She is an excellent example of kindness and charity to all we seem to come in contact with. She has a unique ability to get along well with others and see the best in people....a gift not all are born with!! She has compassion on those that need it, and reminds me to do the same. She pushes me to be the very best I can be, and has helped me overcome so many obsticles in my life already. But most of all, she loves me for me. She see's through my imperfections and loves me anyway! I am so happy she is mine and that I am hers! I love you Meridith, Hailey, Bronson, and Madison!

A Single Man's Last Hoooraaah!!

2008-08-27T12:16:00.020-06:00

Wow, it takes effort to go that long without updating a blog! A few weeks ago I went on a trip with my dad and 9 others. We do this every year with a group of guys and its always a blast! This year we went down through southern Utah, into arizona, and colorado. My dad and I like to joke that we do SOME riding, and a lot of time shootin the breeze and kicking rocks at gas stations! I got made fun of my fair share because I bought a 2004 Honda Goldwing for the trip! I guess that officially makes me the old man of my buddies! Its all good though, cause I got the last laugh when I sold it the day after I got home for a killer profit! Good times had by all. Here's some pics!

Dad and I the first Morning in Torrey, UT

Riding through Capital Reef National Park
We took a ferry accross Lake Powell. The ferry was freakin huge!!

One of many rain storms we got caught in!

We stopped at the four corners area to stand in 4 states at the same time! Ask Jory where the real four corners is according to GPS!!!.....Haha...Inside Joke!

Ted and Chris sharing a moment on the John!

I had speakers built in to my helmet so I was able to listen to my iPod the whole trip!

Mesa Verde Indian Ruins near Cortez, CO

More of the ruins.

Cool view on along the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado.

On top of Independence Pass, CO Elevation 12,095 ft.

Independence Pass, CO

More of Indepence Pass, CO

On the way back my dad and I stopped in Vernal at the Dinosaur National Monument. If I have a piece of advice about that place, i'd tell you to save your money. They have closed down the area where you can look at the fossils, so basically you pay to walk into a dinky museum and a gift shop.

The redeeming value of the Dinosaur monument was this sweet dinosaur that is just outside of the gate! Saddle and all I got padre to climb on and give his best prehistoric cowboy impression!

My trusty Goldwing got the job done, and has me convinced that touring bikes are the only way to go out on the open road. I had an iPod hookup, am/fm radio w/ 6 disc CD changer, heated hand grips, a plush seat, and of course, reverse for backing up!! haha!!

Above everything else, its just good to spend some time with my Dad. We really haven't gotten the opportunity to do that all that much over the last several years so I love every moment I get to spend with him. He's been a huge support and wonderful example in my life. I'm stoked that we finally are going to get to live by each other again. So even though you have to constantly tell me to slow down on these trips, ..... thanks for building memories with me dad. You're the best!

It's Official!!!

2008-05-15T06:58:00.002-06:00

I'm only going to say that its official! Last night I proposed to Meridith! We are planning on getting married the weekend of August 29th! So thats about all I'm going to say about it, cause I don't want to steal her thunder! So go to Meridith's blog for details!....she should be posting pics shortly. I'm so stinking excited I can hardly stand it!

I confess......I LOVE HER!!!

2008-05-06T17:18:00.003-06:00

And the mystery woman is......................Meridith!! I have fallen in love with the most amazing woman I have ever met. I couldn't dream that life could ever be so wonderful, and I owe it all to Meridith. She is encouraging, uplifting, friendly, humble, and always seeks the good in all things. She is also an incredible friend, and an excellent Mother to her children. I'm so blessed to have her in my life! Now everyone join with me in Thanking Carrian Cheney for introducing us!!! We will be getting married this summer,....if of course she says yes!!...More details to come!!

Another New Bike

2008-03-27T22:00:00.007-06:00

Well, last weekend I sold my bike I bought a month ago. I decided that I'm just going to keep buying and selling these bikes to make a little money on the side. Saturday a kid drove down from Logan and bought my bike. As I walked into the house with cash in hand, Meridith said to me, "you're going to buy that one in LA, aren't you?"!! So sure enough, Sunday morning I hopped a plane to Burbank, CA. The kid I bought it from picked me up from the airport, and took me back to his place where the bike was, and in about an hour, I was headed to Las Vegas! I stayed the night in Vegas and rode the rest of the way home the next day! It was a long ride, but it was a ton of fun! So here it is, my new bike!!...Its a 2005 Yamaha Road Star Warrior Midnight.

I'M AN UNCLE!!!!.......again!!!

2008-03-02T15:29:00.002-07:00

Thursday morning Kami called me to tell me Nalani was going into labor and baby Cash was on his way. I left work a few hours later, and not too long later we were able to welcome teeny tiny little Cash into the world!...okay, just a little sarcasm on the whole tiny comment! He weighed in at 9lbs 14oz and is 19 inches long. Dude, its awesome, his fat little cheeks just rest on his chest, and he's the cutest little guy! Check out more pics and information on Nalani's Blog at http://nalanisnonsensenews.blogspot.com/

My New Ride

2008-02-20T17:57:00.012-07:00

For the last several weeks I have been combing through the internet trying to find just the right bike at just the right price. Call it a mid-bachelor chrisis if you want, but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do! So after many late nights searching, and many phone calls, I tracked down my new bike! Its a 2004 Yamaha Road Star Warrior! Now for you guys, its 1700cc's of raw fuel-injected goodness!......oh who am I kidding, no guys ever read these blogs....we all know if by any small chance they actually get on and look at these blogs, they only skim through the pictures!! The bike was surprisingly clean with not a single scratch on the paint.....and by the way....HOLY CRAP it's fast! This is actually my second one of this particular kind of motorcycle, so I'm pretty stoked! So here's to a great year of riding with my boys....and perhaps a few rides with the ladies as well!!

While I was in Oregon, I stayed with Maile and Nate and Dad came down too. We had so much fun catching up and I was even able to have a little shadow named Quinn! I love my nephews so dang much, they are a riot! I helped Dad and Nate put in 12 new can lights and 3 new pendant lights in their kitchen. It was a fun project and Maile was pretty darn excited when we got all done!

I stole this off Maile's Blog cause I love this picture of Quinn and Cannon and I!

Us guys doing electrical work.

Dad and Cannon

Okay, and last, since I am a guy, I have to brag about my new speakers that Nate hooked me up with! My brother-in-law Nathan Thomas is an attorney and COO for a high end speaker company in Oregon called Aperion Audio. http://www.aperionaudio.com/ I got two new tower speakers, a new center channel, and a new Subwoofer! They sound freaking amazing! Thanks Nate!!

They come boxed with foam, and in these purple velvet bags to protect the finish!

Superbowl Sunday!!

2008-02-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we went out to Lani and Craig Martineau's house for our annual superbowl party. It was kind of a small party this year, but we still managed to have a good time! We missed those that weren't there this year but it was fun having a little bit of a smaller crowd this year so we all could relax a little more!

Gotta love all the tasty lo-cal dips.

Me and my friend Meridith. Her daughter Hailey took this pic...she's 4 years old, so its a little shakey and blurry!

Lani looks mischevious, and Peyton looks a little less than impressed!

Luke has a habbit of taking pics on my camera when I leave it laying around!!!

It was a lazy day, and we loved it!

Silly animals!

2008-01-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I was up in Morgan, UT wiring a house for the owners of Roberts Crafts. I was part of a crew of 6 guys. While we were up there, we ended up making friends with a little squirrel. We started by feeding him some chips and random food that we had in our lunches. Soon on of our guys was grabing a tool out of our trailer when he saw the squirrel run by with a whole slice of pizza in its mouth! He then saw it trying to drag the slice of pepparoni up a tree!! We were all laughing so hard when we heard that! Here's a shot of our friend....

The funny thing is, that the week i left for Hawaii, the fun really started....We have a 19 year old apprentice named Ben. He is a short tiny little guy who could seriously pass the sacrament and look like the newbie!! The guys were eating lunch one day when our little friend showed up looking for food. Ben for some reason thought it would be funny to chase this poor squirrel down. As he dissapeared out of sight down a hill from where the guys were standing, the all suddenly heard Ben screaming bloody murder. The tossed down their lunches and ran to the top of the hill to see Ben with a death grip on his leg screaming.."please little squirrel, don't bite me!!!..I'm sorry, but please don't bite me!!" As they watched in disbelief, they realized that the squirrel had somehow managed to run up his pant leg! Ben was trying to prevent it from getting any further up his leg, thus taking and hiding the wrong kind of nuts!!!!! Of course the guys weren't going to help him, but all started to pull out their camera phones and starting taking pictures instead of helping! With friends like that, who needs enemies, right?! I had to share that story, cause I was seriously dying laughing when I heard it!

This year has been really cold and really snowy. I have noticed more deer and elk down lower this year than any year I can remember. Last week my buddy Jesse and I were out in Saratoga Springs just west of Lehi doing a service call when we saw this heard of 29 Antelope bedded down in this field. It was quite the sight, especially considering they were within a few hundred yards of the busiest intersection of that whole area. I thought it was cool so I took a picture.

Final Hawaii Pics!

2008-01-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a few final photos of Hawaii.....mostly because its cold as crud here and i'm sick of blizzards and wishing I were on sunny beaches again! Here's a few last shots that I took with my Canon 10D.

I took this photo the first night I was there from the Ko ohlina resort that we stayed at.

And for Luke...It was taken at 1:30am f/3.5 30 sec ISO 200.

Looking down toward the North Shore from the temple grounds. My dad and I took this photo Christmas eve. My padre is my favorite photo partner...we always have a blast chatin and killin time!! This was a great way to spend Christmas eve!

Moon behind a palm tree.

The day I left.....hey...at least a storm was rollin' in!!

An Evening at the PCC

2007-12-29T21:54:00.001-07:00

Friday night we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is divided up into several areas that each represent one of the islands of Polynesia. We spent time at each of them watching the demonstrations, and went to the big show at the end. It was pretty rad, and along with several pictures that I took, I took a few videos too! This is my first attempt at posting videos, so we'll see how this goes!!

These are some Tahitian dancers.....I cant believe how they shake their moneymakers!

This dude was crazy, and so much fun to watch!

Pretty cool Hula Dance.

More Fire Dancers!

Nate and I decided that every woman should learn how to do this!!

Laie, Hawaii Temple

2007-12-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

This morning I took a stroll by myself to the Temple grounds for some peace and quiet! The house we are staying in is only about 1 1/2 blocks from the Temple. I took along my camera and took some pics.

Front view.

Turning around from the picture above, this is the view of the street leading up to the temple. At the end of this street off in the distance is a small temple garden on the beach of the North Shore. If you look close, the first left hand turn off this street is the street we are staying on. You can see the Temple lights at night from our living room!

Standing up by the temple overlooking the front grounds.

Gardens behind the Temple. There are some cool vines hanging down everywhere!

I also took some pics of some various plants and flowers on the grounds. Kind of my ode to Uncle Carl!! Here they are!

Kolekole Pass

2007-12-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

Today we set out for the Scholfield Barracks to pick up Ben from work. After we grabbed a quick bite at the PX, we headed out for a place called Kolekole Pass. It is property that is owned by the US Navy, and is only accessable if you have Military escort. It just so happens that my Brother-in-law Ben (Kami's Husband) is in the Army. It was a beautiful pass, and a really fun drive. The only other thing we did today was go to a small beach town on the North Shore and walk around at the shops. It was a lot of fun even though it kind of drizzled all day!....don't feel too bad for me....it was still 74 degrees outside!

View from the first vantage point on the Kolekole Pass.

If you look close you can see the road that hugs the mountain.

Ben and I on top of the pass.

Punch Bowl & Hanauma Bay

2007-12-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

Today we set our glorious Red minivan sail to head first to a monument nicknamed Punch Bowl. It is a large monument set up on a hill side that pays tribute to All fallen service men and women. On the walls there were large murals of all the war strategies and events as they transpired. It was very humbling to see all the names and to take in the views.

Looking up the Memorial.

Close up of the main focal point of the Memorial.

Looking down from the top of the Memorial.

Next we drove all over Honolulu looking for some damn Hawaiian BBQ place that was closed once we got there. Holy crap I was so hungry and honery by the time we got to a place that was open I thought I would scream! Of course I couldn't pronounce anything on the dang menu, so I asked for the combo.....hmmm....this is what I ended up with! It consisted of salt, salty, and ungodly amounts of salt!!!!

Hmmm........not so delicious!

Next, we headed over to Hanauma Bay for some beach time. It is a bay that is believed to have been created by a Volcano, which eventually eroded into an opening to the sea. Today, it is full of sea life and an active reef in fairly shallow waters. There are hundreds of varieties of fish as well as endangered Sea turtles seen regularly in the Bay. Nate, Ben, Maile, and I all snorkeled. It was my first time snorkeling, and it was so much fun. I saw some incredible fish, and I'm really ready to go get scuba certified now so that I can go into deeper waters to explore!

Headed out for the first time!

Mom and Dad coming to get in on the mix.

Here's a view of the bay from the shoreline.

Looking over the whole bay. Notice the flip flops?!! Another successful day of no shoes!

The last thing we did today was stop at a place called the Blow Hole. It is a hole in the rock, that when the waves crash into the rocks, it forces water up through the rock and it blows out like a whales blow hole! It was really pretty, as were the surrounding beaches! I know, I know....Shocker!!

Water shooting out...thus the name!

I want this as my backyard!

All this running around wore padre right out! Gotta love that gaping mouth! Another successful day in the Hawaiian islands!!

Christmas on the Beach!

2007-12-26T02:11:00.000-07:00

I am a firm believer that every Christmas should be spent on a tropical Island!! This morning I woke up to Quinn screaming at all the toys Santa had left he and Cannon! It was so much fun to re-live Christmas through the kids. I had almost forgotten how much fun it was to lay awake at night just wishing the hours would pass. I would roll over and look at the clock every 5 minutes wondering if it were time to get up yet. I would force myself to not look at the clock for what seemed to be hours, only to roll over again and realize that only 15 minutes had passed! That was sooo much fun! Well, we were able to make it through only the first few presents before I opened one from Maile that stole Quinn's attention for about 10 minutes. It was a Whoopee Cushion! He and I made sure that we tricked every person in the room before opening presents could resume. I got quite a kick out of this present as you can see by this picture!

When that was all over, present opening resumed, and I think we all made out like bandits! Later today I promised Quinn we would go swimming. Maile, Nate, Quinn, Cannon, Ben, and I all headed out to the beach and had some fun for a few hours.

Boogie Boarding on Christmas......yeah baby, yeah!!

This was the view looking down the beach from where we were sitting.....sooooo dreamy!!

So I saw Nate catch a good size wave as these girls were walking up the beach...I could see it all taking shape and I got all giddy!..Just as his firm physique came scooting up the sand on the boogie board, these girls had to all but jump out of his way before he took them out at the feet! The greatest thing is the non-chalant look on his face...and his cool tone as he said "Hey there....how ya doin??"!!! I was laughing sooo freaking hard. Gotta love an Oram family vacation!

Another sucessful day of no shoes!

Quinn shaking his little booty in taunt to the waves!

Maile and Cannon were there to either cheer us on or laugh at us, i'm still not sure which!

I'm laughing cause Ben has no idea i just pee'd.......wait a minute...maybe he did too....hmmm...thats freakin sick!

Another beach we stopped at. I love this place. Nate and I decided that we could definitely quit our jobs and move here. We decided we could live on coconuts and wild chickens!...we have now coined the phrase "its coconut and chicken baby"!!

Christmas Eve at the Polynesian Cultural Center

2007-12-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight the fam went to the Polynesian Cultural Center to watch some quality entertainment before we came back for dinner and to wait for Santa Claus!! Okay, I have to admit, I was a little pecimistic when we sat down and started to listen to the first group......come on now..just look at this...

This is either proof that old ladies wearing moo-moo's like guitar hero too, or it could possibly be the bass player for the first act we saw tonight!! The best part is, when she wasn't jamin on the bass, she was up front hula dancing for us!! I thought I was going to die I was laughing so hard at this!!

Even Cannon was so bored he was drooling all over himself!

The final group however was wonderful to listen to, and they sang some great songs. They did sing a version of my favorite Christmas song "O Holy Night", and made up for the humor of the previous group. It was actually a lot of fun, and I'm excited for this upcoming Friday when we will go back to the PCC to see all the shows.

Pearl Harbor

2007-12-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

This morning Ben, Dad, Nate, Quinn, and I all went to Pearl Harbor. We all got headphones and were able to do a self guided tour through the museum, the grounds, and eventually to the USS Arizona monument. It was extrememly humbling to listen to the stories, and take in the sights of those events that transpired Dec. 7, 1941. The highlight was definitely taking the Navy boat across the Harbor to the USS Arizona Memorial spot. Here are a few photos of the things we saw.

Padre and I

This is looking out across the Harbor where all the Naval ships were attacked.

Santa stopped by to remeber the fallen servicemen!

This surface to air anti-aircraft gun shoots 120 two pound shells a minute!!

A one man suicide torpedo used by the Japanese. They carried a 3000lb warhead, and although there was an escape hatch in the top, of the 114 of these used, not a single pilot is known to have used the escape hatch. Crazy a** Japanese!! Nate and I came to the conclusion that you could never talk an american into this type of warfare!!

This is the Anchor to the USS Arizona. It weighs over 20,000lbs, and because of the explosion of the armor piercing bomb dropped on the Arizona's deck, this anchor was blown more than 200 feet from the destroyer!!

This is the 3rd Gun Turret of the sunken USS Arizona

The names of the servicemen that lost their lives onboard the Arizona.

I'm not sure if Quinn even understood anything that they were talking about on his headset, but he sure seemed to be having a good time playing on all the decomissioned equipment!

All the boys getting ready to go to the USS Arizona memorial.

Flip Flop Winter

2007-12-25T02:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, let it be said....I have been here since Thursday, and I have worn shoes about 3 hours since arriving. The rest of the time its just been me and my trusty flip flops!!

Its a Hawaiian Christmas!!

2007-12-24T02:58:00.000-07:00

Its hard to feel bad about leaving sub-freezing weather when you realize that in just a few short hours you will be basking on an 84 degree island!! The only care of Utah that I brought with me was the Pneumonia I picked up in Morgan the week prior to my arrival to Oahu! The last week and a half at home were spent in weather that ranged from -2 to 14 degrees. It was bitter cold, but now I'm in Sunny Oahu and I couldn't feel better! The day I arrived, Kami and Ben greeted me at the airport with this beautiful Lei!

It was really fun to see them again, and I was glad she brought me the flowers, cause I felt so ripped off when I got off the plane and there were no hot hula girls putting flowers on us!!

The first night I stayed with my mom at the J.W. Marriott Ihilani Resort. Yeah, it was pretty ghetto! Our Lanai faced the ocean, and my mom woke me up at 6am so I could enjoy the Sunrise with her. We sat and chatted for about an hour as the sun rose, and I'd have to say, it was a lot of fun spending that time with her. She's pretty rad! Here's a few pics I snapped from our Lanai.

The tree in the Lobby was amazing! Here it is!

The other day Ben came home from work, and they had given him 2 tickets to the Hawaii Bowl. So today, he and I went over to the UH stadium and watched East Carolina humiliate Boise State. Our seats were kind of crappy, so we just walked down front like we knew what we were doing, and ended up sitting on the 40 yard line of Boise States side, 16 rows off the field! It was a lot of fun, and the half time show was complete with Hula and Fire dancers!!

These are my adventures thus far! I have taken some landscape photos, but I didn't bring my memory card reader for my other camera, so I'll probably just post all my "artsy" shots when I get home in a week. I'm pretty ready to quit my job and move over here though! Aloha, and Mele Kalikimaka!!

Catching up........

2007-11-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, so its been almost two months since my last post so I thought I'd take a quick moment to spotlight some things that have been going on! First of all, a few months ago I went and saw one of my favorite singers Aaron Lewis from a band called Staind. He played an all acoustic show and covered several bands like Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc. He was freaking amazing, and my buddy Clancy and I that went together have already bought tickets to go see him again in Reno in January!! Its gonna kick some serious butt!

I also forgot to blog in September the fact that Amy invited me to go to a music festival at Thanksgiving Point. We saw several bands play, and the Headliner was another of my favorite bands called Dashboard Confessional. Below is the only shot I could get to turn out! Another band that played that night is called The Format, and they have become a favorite of mine as well. The song that plays on my blog is a Format song called Dog Problems!

And last, I went home to Seattle for Thanksgiving this last week. It was really nice and sunny the whole time I was home which is very unusual for this time of year! But it was only in the upper 30's the whole weekend, and with the humidity, it was stinking cold! Here's some travelogue pics!

This was taken from Kerrey Park on Queen Anne Hill. This is my favorite vantage point of Seattle!!

Just bein a dork as always!!

Down at the Pier

Watching the Bainbridge Fairy coming in.

2007-10-06T15:30:00.000-06:00

I've been herassesd by several people now that I am past due for a blog update! I've had a fun and crazy month. School has started back, and I'm excited to get through this year, cause then I will be eligible to get my Residential Journeyman license! The biggest event of this month however has been my little fender bender in my truck! The picture may not look like much damage happened, but the estimate for repair was over $10,000!!!! Between the airbags deploying, and the cracked engine block, the old Ford is done for. I must however admit that it didn't really break my heart.....first......its a Ford!!....second, it was expensive to insure, and third, and most important, at 13 miles a gallon, I was on first name basis with several gas station attendants.....argggghhhh!!!! So after much deliberation and consideration, I went with a bright, shiny 1992 Toyota Camry!! Haha, Come on now....I think nothing screams family man like a good old 4 door sedan!! I've decided my new pick up line for Happy Valley girls is going to be, "Hey baby, I got room for a couple car seats in this bad boy"!!! Let me tell you some of my favorite features of my fine new automobile!....First, no A/C....okay, no problem..its getting kind of cold here....but wait, .....no Heater...hmmm, that could get old quick this time of year...also, It has a sunroof that doesn't open, and my window switch is falling out of my door, which is to be expected since I paid extra for that feature!!, but dont worry, cause it has a fresh Maaco paint job on it!!! Its a tight ride, i'm here to tell ya! But the insurance is cheap, its paid for, and It gets 24-30 miles per gallon.....So between my new ride and my new no Mt. Dew diet, Maverik is really feeling an economic impact!! Okay, enough of that, here's the pics!

Before

After!!

A New Companion.........

2007-08-27T22:11:00.000-06:00

Okay, enough already, I'm not posting another picture of another random date!...although I did trade in my old flame for a newer, sexier, younger model!! Do you hear that sound thats playing?? Thats the sound of young love!! This weekend, Chris found a smokin deal on a 2004 Honda VTX 1300C, and when I saw it, it was love at first sight! So after some finageling, I talked it out of him, and now I have a new leading lady! The color is a Burnt Orange with metallic in it. I'll have to take some pics during the day when I get it all shined up, but I couldn't wait to post it, so thus, the night shots! Last night when Tiffany and I went for a ride she said to me, "What girl in her right mind wouldn't want her man to have a bike?" Good question Tiffany, and......what do ya say to that??

Heeellllloooo sexy new machine!!

The old 2001 Suzuki Volusia 800

Maddy's New Home!

2007-08-23T21:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, I think I'm over it enough to finally talk about it! About a month ago I came to the realization that my dog Maddy just wasn't living the life that she deserved. I have become extremely preoccupied with living life and not spending enough time with her. When I was married it was really easy cause Karena worked all the time, and when I came home from work or school, I could just play with her and spend time with her. But I have come to the realization that I wasn't spending any time with her, and she lived her life cooped up in her kennel. So I decided that as friendly as she is, it was time to find her a home with plenty of children to play with, and a yard to run around in. So I posted an add on KSL.com and about a half hour later I had found a family to take her!! She now lives in Spanish Fork with a great family of 3 children and a big fenced yard. It was bitter-sweet, but I know she's much happier! So here's to Maddy!!

I'm a model ya know what i mean.............

2007-08-13T22:23:00.000-06:00

So my cousin Kim brought this picture to the reunion and gave it to me, and I thought I was going to die laughing! So here's the setup.....It was 1985, White Nike's were still cool, as were Wranglers (In Idaho anyway!).....or maybe they were Sears "Toughskins" jeans......oh, but wait, at least the popped collar has made its way back!! So my cousin Kim worked at one of the stores in the mall, and they were doing a back to school fashion show...so at the ripe age of 7, I began my modeling career! But havn't been able to book a gig since!!...alright peeps...laugh it up!!!

Grandpa Oram turns 89!

2007-08-12T23:45:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a short weekend trip to Idaho to have a small family reunion and to celebrate Grandpa Oram's 89th B-Day!! It was so much fun to see the family again. Although I must admit, that the older I get, it seems the less I know who belongs to who! In fact, my Cousin Kathy totally busted me out on it, cause I was trying to get some little kid out of a photo I was trying to shoot, and she told me, "ya know, Cody, If you knew their names it would make it a lot easier!" Oh well, what do ya do, right?! Anyhow, we had a great time, and I was able to get family pics of I think every family there....so here are some highlight of the weekend.....

Okay, first things first.....Jed and I never know when to quit teasing each other.....but I'll admit, it usually ends by me burning Jed so bad all he can do is smack me around a little!!

Grandpa is quite the character!!...Dude, you gotta expand this one and check out his nifty napkin holder!!! Believe it or not, he may be old, but he can sure still bark orders from this position!!

I love the look in Jed's face!!!

I sure love my little nephew Quinn...he's such a cute kid!

Here's the whole fam damily!! Our family now spans 5 generations!!

Us kids with mom and dad.

The two that started it all. Happy 89th Grandpa Oram!

A night at the mall

2007-08-10T20:11:00.000-06:00

Monday night, Tiffany, Gavin, and I met up with Nalani & Jed, and our friends Cade & Carriann, and their daughter Peyton. We ate at the good old California Pizza Kitchen! (Thanks for the hookup Shandi!!) After dinner, Tiffany and I took Gavin down to the play area. They have a big treehouse playground in the middle of the mall, and Gavin sure did eat it up! I loved a few of the pics I took! I had a funny experience carrying Gavin back to the car... Tiffany ordered him a kids root beer, most of which ended up on my shirt via a soaked diaper. As I carried him back to the car I kept thinking to myself...my stomach feels wet.....hmmmmm....what can ya do but laugh!

It took some careful study from the bottom of the slide for Gavin to get his courage up to go all the way to the top and try what the other little kids were doing!

One foot at a time....slowly but surely....you can do it kiddo!!!

Okay....he finally has the courage.......

Whew....we made if safe and sound!! I was really getting a chuckle out of this whole sequence of events, and I guess I had forgotten how intimidating something like this can be to a kid! Its been so fun though to be around this little guy. He's really opened my eyes and brought a lot of perspective to many things. Crazy how that works!.....oh yeah.....and just for good measure, ...........Tiffany got ahold of my camera and just had to show off her amazing pedicure!!

Squaw Peak

2007-08-05T22:54:00.000-06:00

Today I went over to Tiffany's house after church for dinner. She had made Cincinnati Chili, and it was freakin tasty! She also makes some dang good peach cobbler! Anyhow, we played some cards with her parents. They are great people, and a lot of fun. Her dad is an Athletic Director at BYU and her mom is an MA at a Doctors office. Tiffany's little boy Gavin is 1 1/2 and he is sooo into climbing anything and everything! I got a good chuckle watching him climb all over everything and getting into everything! Definitely mischievous! Anyhow, later on we went for a ride up Squaw Peak to watch the sunset. It was tons of fun, and she hasn't told me to stop calling her, so I guess our "friendship" is still progressing!!

Looks like she chopped her hair, but its just in a pony tail!

The Sunset was amazing tonight! Looking West over Utah Lake.

Silver Lake Creek

2007-08-05T00:03:00.000-06:00

This afternoon Luke Isley and I drove up American Fork Canyon, up Tibble Fork, and eventually to Silver Lake. A mile or so past Silver Lake is the creek that feeds silver lake. We got out of my truck and hiked through the brush to get to the creek, and into some spots to take some photos. We hiked maybe a quarter mile up the creek bed photographing. We gave ourselfves the assignment of water. It was really pretty up there, and I'd love to go back up both in fall for the color, and in spring to get more water! Anyhow, these are a few images I captured.

Luke and I in the Creek Bed.

TOBY KEITH!!!

2007-08-04T01:11:00.000-06:00

I went to lunch today with Amy and Melissa, and was informed that i'd be attending the Toby Keith concert tonight....okay, okay, i actually begged until they gave in and agreed to take me! So it ended up being Melissa, Jeanette, Amy, Chari, Sam, and I. It was a fun filled night of music, drunks, and hoochy mammas with not nearly enough clothes on! What more could ya ask for, right??!! Toby put on a great show, and aside from the $8.00 Hot dog/Drink combo, I can't complain! Heck, we even saw a girl poppin a sqwat under her boyfriends truck after the concert! Haha, gotta love the good ole country crowd!

Great shot of the girls!

Chari & Sam (or as the kids will soon call him..... Officer Sorensen)!!

The gang!!

The Man!!

His flippin sweet setup...notice the Ford Super Duty grill behind him!

A night well spent!!

A Ride Up The Canyon!

2007-07-31T00:11:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I have many things I need to update on my blog, but I'll start with my favorite as of late!..A while back a met a girl named Tiffany, and she's a freakin blast! We've become good "Friends" quickly and she's a stinkin laugh a minute. She's 24, also divorced, and has the cutest little 18 month old boy named Gavin. We've had some fun times together already, and tonight we went on a motorcycle ride up and over the Alpine Loop. I thought maybe by bringing her over to meet Nalani, Maile, Kami, and Mom in one shot one of two things would happen:

1. They'd tell me to kick her to the curb......or

2. She'd kick me to the curb in fear of my sisters.......

Well...neither one has happened, so i guess so far so good!

Gettin Ready for the big ride!

Once at the top, I couldn't help but cackle at the sight of Tiff so concerned with helmet hair and looking just so, for all the people that weren't even up there to see her!!!...Oh how vain!!

And of course a quick potty break before we could take any pictures.

That setting the camera on the fencepost thing never seems to work out right, so ya might as well laugh about it, right??!!

Strike a pose Tiffany, ham it up!

Tiffany kept heckling me..."Come on Mr. Cameraman, don't ya know how to use that thing?" So this was my simple response to her taking over the photography!

And Tiffany requested I put this up, its her favorite!

Grandma & Grandpa Oram

2007-07-15T00:46:00.000-06:00

Thursday night I went up to Blackfoot to shoot a wedding Friday morning at the Idaho Falls Temple. I called ahead and booked a room at the Oram Inn...AKA Grandma and Grandpa's place. I had a lot of fun chatting with Grandma, cuz we all know Grandpa cant get a word in edgewise!! J/K Okay, really its true, but thats why we all love her so. And not to worry kids, she made a nice big breakfast before my big day of work! Anyhow, I snapped this pic with my point and shoot, and touched it up a little in photoshop. Fun visit!

4-Wheelin' in Victor, ID

2007-07-15T00:22:00.000-06:00

After the wedding I shot in Idaho Falls and Blackfoot this weekend, I went and stayed the night at Charlie Messerli's home. He, his wife, and their 3 kids live in Rexburg. On Saturday morning, I woke up to Cody (Charlie's 4 year old) patting me on the Cheek saying, "Wake up Cody, time to watch cartoons"! So being the good Uncle I am, (afterall, he is my namesake) I cuddled up to him and watched some transformers! Good times! Charlie and I left later that morning for Victor, ID which is over by the Wyoming Border off Highway 33. We parked at Charlie's cousin's home that is at the base of the Mountain range and unloaded our 4-wheelers there. Jason, the cousin, got his quad out and took us for an amazing ride up through the mountains that are on the South end of that valley. It was a really fun ride, and of course, I took some pics!!

Getting Ready to unload

Takin a rest at the top

This is the view from the top, overlooking Victor, ID facing North

This is us starting down the mountain and facing west, there were some cool meadows up high.

A Clean Shave!!!

2007-07-11T18:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I got a new position at work. I'm all done estimating, and now i've moved into the service department to help with dispatching and scheduling our technicians. I'll also be in the field helping from time to time, so it should be a whole new challenge! As part of dealing with homeowners more now, our service technicians and staff are required to be completely clean cut. So the owner asked me yesterday to shave off my goatee! Dude, i've had that little champ for about 6 years now, so it was rather traumatizing!! I hate not having it! But I did have one of my office girls tell me I looked younger, so maybe its a good thing! Anyhow, here's the before and after pics!

Before!

And after!

Ya learn somethin' new everyday!

2007-07-09T22:12:00.000-06:00

Those who know me well, know that I keep a stack of magazines in the bathroom for a very good reason......I like to read.....why else??!! Okay, so today I was reading a cool article on photoshop, and read about a new technique I hadn't tried yet. It is a technique used by professionals to create a "Dreamy" feel to a photo. This technique in film was called the "Orton Effect" and took a skilled person a very long time to produce a single image. Now with the magic of photoshop it takes less than a minute! We have it so easy with computers!! I played with an old image of Maile's son Canon. I used an image that I already quite liked, so I thought I would show you all the before and after just for the fun of it!! Go ahead people, i'm open for critique!!

P.S. Does anyone know why my pics wont expand when you click on them??

Here's the before

And after!

A Manti Wedding

2007-07-07T22:29:00.000-06:00

Today i went down to Manti, to shoot my first wedding at that temple. I really love the Manti Temple, it is so majestic the way it sits up on the hill. After the wedding I dinked around for a few hours before heading to Mayfield for the Reception, which was held at Town Hall! I seriously had forgotten how fun it can be to be in a small town, so I took some pics to shed some light on my day!

This is Mayfield Main Street. I swear....i'm not even kidding!!

This is the Mayfield 24th of July Event Calander...any takers to go with me???

Seriously...does anyone really want me to elaborate on this one???!!!!

Okay, now that i've poked a little fun at Mayfield, here's the scene as I was leaving town.

As a funny side note, as I ran into my old college roomate at the temple and found out he is really good friends with the groom. His name is "Chewy", but few call him by his birth name of Brian Call! It was a lot of fun to see him after 6 years. He lives in Rexburg with his wife.

This is my friend Katie King "The Bride"!!

And here is the happy couple Katie and Chad Westover! They are so much fun together, and Chad couldn't be half bad cause he rides an '05 Yamaha Roadstar Warrior! I texted Nalani after watching how cute they are together and told her I didn't know whether I should be hopeful or suicidal!! haha!! J/K!

A day as an Electrical Estimator

2007-07-06T22:33:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I thought I would blog what I do for work everyday. The idea came to me one day as I was driving around looking for more jobs to keep my guys busy. So here it goes!!

Okay, first of all, this is what I look at A LOT during the day...how exciting eh? Nothing better than the inside of a company truck..but hey, its got A/C, a CD player, and NAV...so im all good!

The next important step to being an effective electrical estimator is to keep yourself plenty hydrated with frothy Mt. Dew beverages! I forgot to mention in the last caption that my truck comes standard with 2 cup holders! One for my current beverage, and one for a future beverage!

Miniature ponies have nothing to do with electrical estimating, but they sure are rad!!

If you like to read blueprints, you might be cut out for this line of work, cause I stare at a lot of them, and sometimes the architects even get it right! Hmmm, paper with lots of symbols...exciting, I know!!

Every once in a while I come across a contractor that wants a fully customized electrical and lighting design. So I walk through the house, design things the way I think they should look, and then try to convince the contractor that he needs to spend another $10,000 to make it happen! Not an easy sell when they all want to work with a $500 budget!

I hope you have enjoyed a day on my job......stick to yours, i'm sure its more exciting!!

4th of July Ride!!

2007-07-05T17:38:00.000-06:00

So I got up bright and early the morning of the 4th and left my house at 6:45am to go meet up with a group of riders from Chris Cameron's ward to go for a long motorcycle ride. We left Chris' neighborhood about 7:30am and headed up and over Suncrest which runs from Lehi up and over the point of the mountain down into Draper. We then hugged the Wasatch range from Draper up through Sandy and up to Parley's Canyon. We rode up to Park City and arrived about 8:30am. Oh yeah, by the way.....BRRRRRRR!!!! It may be July, but that doesn't mean it was warm by any means!! We then went up through Kamas, into the Uintas and up to Mirror Lake. WOW! What a beautiful ride! It was a lot of fun, and I didn't get back until about 12:30pm. My lower back and even lower back side are only a little sore! Only 13 more days until the big motorcycle trip!!!!!!

Getting ready for the ride!

Headin out!!

Mirror Lake

Steve Wiser giving us infinite wisdom...aka B.S.!!!

This one is for Nalani...and she knows why!!

For some reason this is a common sight on our rides!! If we spent have as much time riding as we do shootin the bull at gas stations, we could cover 3 times the ground!!!

Orem Summerfest 2007

2007-06-10T00:35:00.000-06:00

I kinda got persueded into going to Orem's Summerfest 2007 with Melissa tonight. She promised me that it would be a grand ole fireworks show, and I gotta admit....it was pretty fun to go people watch!! Here's some pics!

Here's the amazing fireworks!! Not too shabby for our little city!

Missy and I on Center St. in Orem

Uncle Carl would definitely say the fireworks were a ten, cause pieces of the mortor shells were falling down on us the whole show!!! Made for a good laugh, but hard to look into the sky without some safety goggles!!

Chris and Jen have a baby!!!

2007-06-09T23:16:00.000-06:00

A long time ago, I set my good friend Chris Cameron up with my good friend Jennifer Coates, and they've lived happily ever after!! They got married a few years ago, and last night they welcomed a 7lb 9oz baby boy to the world!! His name shoulda been Cody!!,,, but they went with Chase Victor Cameron instead. Here is a few pics of my visit to the hospital today. I told them that my only request is that he call me Uncle Cody! He is a cute little sucker and definitely has the Coates cheeks and chin!

Recent Works

2007-06-08T23:20:00.000-06:00

I guess I just wanted to show a couple of recent photo shoots that I have done. The brides name is Kristi Moysh. She is the sister of a mission friend of mine, Nikki Moysh. They are from good ole Blackfoot! The other girl is Leah Chambers. These are a few of her Senior Portraits that I did. She is Courtney's sister. They're open for critique!!!

Motorcycle Season!!!

2007-06-05T23:22:00.000-06:00

The weather has warmed up and that could only mean one thing...................SUNDAY AFTERNOON MOTORCYCLE RIDES!!!!!!!! I have been so excited this year to get back into riding with the guys. We've all enjoyed some fun rides already this season with many, many more to come!! The first week we met at Steve Wiser's home, the father of a friend Justin, and he made us breakfast before our ride. We then rode south to Nephi, up and over the Mt. Nebo loop. That puts you out in Payson, and then back to Orem. This last week was a much shorter ride, up and over the Mt Timpanogos Alpine loop. Good times had by all. We figure we all gotta get a little time in the saddle before our big trip at the end of July!! Too bad padre isn't here to ride with me!! Here's some pics I took on my camera phone.

Bonneville Speedway

2007-05-31T21:21:00.001-06:00

Last weekend my mission buddy Luke Isley and I went out on another photo adventure! We went out to western Utah to the Bonneville Salt Flats and Speedway. Not only is this a mecca for speed records to be made, but its a great place to shoot photographs as well. And if any of you have seen the new Pirates movie, when Jack Sparrow is introduced into the movie, the scene was shot out there on the flats!! Anyhow, it was a lot of fun, and we stayed out there about four hours so we could be there for sunset. Here is some stuff I came home with!

Lukester and I on the Speedway!

This one's for the ladies!!!

This is where the speedway starts. The straigtaway drag strip is 10 miles in length. The current speed record for this track is 630.389 mph in a rocket powered car!!!

Here is a photo of the surface of the Salt Flats at sunset. I was facing north. It looks like it would be extremely dry and hard, but it is actually fairly soft underneath your feet, and when I laid down to take this shot, I found out it was pretty darn wet too!!

It was pretty fun to see the moon start creeping out. It was kinda cool to see the moon come through the clouds, and the colors left over from sunset. This is facing South.

And finally, the stars came out and I took this last shot before we packed up and went home. This was a 3 minute exposure! Good times!

Bye Bye BMW!!

2007-05-31T21:10:00.000-06:00

I definitely think its time for an update! A few weeks ago I said goodbye to a very fun and favorite toy I had been borrowing from my dad!

I had planned on leaving my house about 3:30 in hopes to miss the worst of the SLC traffic. I ended up getting roped into helping my boss and didn't end up leaving Orem until about 5pm. It was a friday night, so you can only imagine what traffic was like!! YUK!! Worst part is, that put me in gridlocked traffic from north salt lake to Ogden...my least favorite stretch of I-15 for several reasons!! Once North of Ogden I was able to kick it up to about 80mph and kept it there for the rest of the trip. The sunset was beautiful, and I made it to Boise safe and sound at about 11pm. I met dad at the airport the next morning and had breakfast with him and flew home. His return trip was not so enjoyable....but for the sake of stirring the pile with mom, I think i'll leave it at that! (email richard.oram@grange.com for details!!)

For those of you who have not experienced a sunset on a motorcycle on a 85 degree night, I tried to capture what is so great about it!! Kinda crummy pics, but I think you get the picture!!

No wait.......that's baby dookie!!

2007-04-24T21:55:00.000-06:00

So tonight Nalani and I went to dinner at Shoots with the couple that lives below us. Their names are Cade and Carrian. They have a little 1 year old daughter named Peyton. About half way through dinner Carrian dropped something below Peyton's seat and when we all looked down to get it, we saw a huge ole pile of baby dukie on the floor! Peyton had total explosive doo doo and it was all over the place.......SICK!!!! haha! Cade and I had a good laugh, but Carrian gave some good scowls and it took her and Nalani to finish the clean up! How fun for them! Hope Carrian can laugh about it soon! They are moving Thursday to Las Vegas for the summer. We're gonna miss them tons. They're real fun people. Here's a pic of Cade and I that Nalani took at dinner.

Meet The Parents!!!

2007-04-23T01:43:00.000-06:00

Today I made it through another "meet the parents" session! I went up to Salt Lake to the Cottonwood Heights area and met Courtney's family. It was a lot of fun, and I'm happy to report there were no crazy mishaps! I think I even managed to make it through without sticking my foot in my mouth! Pretty good accomplishment for me I think! Courtney has 5 siblings and the group tonight included 2 spouses, 2 fiance's and 1 boyfriend! It was a houseful. They are quite the group and it was fun to see them tease each other like we do in our family! They even told family stories that I could best equate to the Cheetos story!! We also played Rummy and even though I've never played it before I still won! I hope that didn't put me on anyones bad side!! They are a fun bunch of people and it was good to get to know them.

This is our self-portrait after

we gorded ourselves at dinner!

Richies New Ride

2007-04-23T01:31:00.000-06:00

So over the last few months dad and I have been looking for a new bike for him. He had outgrown his V-Star and was ready for a touring bike. With our yearly motorcycle trip coming up, we figured now was as good a time as any. Last week I saw an ad on KSL for what I thought was the perfect deal at the perfect price. The next day I ran up to Syracuse with Chris Cameron and after some wheelin and dealin we were able to bring her home! I've pretty pretty stoked this last week riding the bike around. I'm only riding it of course to make sure its road worthy before I ride it up to Seattle in a few weeks!!! Anyhow, for the guys, here's the specs!!!:

2000 BMW K1200LT

Electronically Controlled Fuel injected 1200cc Engine

Heated Handgrips

Trip computer with Outside Temp, miles to empty, and Avg Speed

AM/FM Stereo with 6 Disc CD Changer and both Driver and Passenger Controls

Power adjustable Windshield

Locking Trunk and side bags

And on and on!!!!

Guitar Hero!!!

2007-04-23T00:55:00.000-06:00

So, if you havn't been anywhere near the coolest game on earth its time!! The game is Guitar Hero and its about the coolest game ever. You hold a guitar that is hooked up to the Xbox 360, and play the notes as they come on the screen. Then you are awarded points based on accuracy. Saturday night Courtney and I went out with Chris and Jen Cameron to dinner and then back to their place for a BATTLE ROYALE!! Okay, so mostly Chris and I played while Courtney and Jen laughed at us, but who cares...a good time was had by all!! So if you haven't played it, call me, I'll hook ya up!!!

First Date!

2007-04-19T22:38:00.000-06:00

I was going through my pics tonight and I found this pic of Courtney and I on the night we met. It was a fun night so I thought I'd post it!!

Chapter closed!

2007-04-19T21:51:00.000-06:00

So...first off, let me say, I decided to delete my last post because although it was meant as a joke, I kept hearing from some that it was a bit racey! Also, I want to say to the family that I am as of today, officially closing the Karena chapter in my book of life. I learned alot in those 4 and a half years, and experienced many emotions that have changed my life forever...some good, and some I wish to never experience again. However, my life is now moving on and I wish to open a new chapter. Looking back, I hope that I learn from what I've experienced and hope to not make the same mistakes. I'm so glad to have such rad family and friends. Thanks again for all you've done for me over the last several months. Now lets move on!!

Could it really be???...A BLOG UPDATE????!!!!

2007-04-16T22:51:00.000-06:00

Holy smokes, believe it or not, i was finally herassed enough this weekend that i've decided to update my blog!! Okay, first of all, let me introduce myself

I'M CODY, I'M A COUSIN...........shhhhhh......time to pray!!!!!

If you were in Seattle this weekend, what i said is freakin hilarious...if not...you missed out big time! Thanks Carrie for the new way to pick on you for years to come!

So many of you met a new "Friend" this weekend! Here we are:

Yeah, its true, Courtney is officially a trooper! She came in, dove right in, helped out, and even helped us clean up, all weekend. Here's a 10 rad things about Courtney that I like already...

1. She doesn't sit in the corner and moap

2. She asked my mom for cold cereal at dinner time and then laughed when mom didn't know what to say!

3. She hates cats

4. I left her in a room and she functioned socially.....whoa nelly!!

5. She laughed when we retold the cheetos story!!!!!

6. She got Quinn ready for bed and sang songs to him. Hmmm, impressive!

7. She still hates cats!

8. She's stoked about trying spending time with friends and family

9. She really doesn't like respiratory therapists!!! HAHA, had to throw that in!

10. She knows the proper pronounciation of the words: JEWELRY, SUPPOSED TO, And EDUCATION!!!!!

I'd have to say, all in all, we're off to a good start with that list of qualities! We have a lot of fun together and i'm excited to get to know her more...okay, enough said about that!

To all that couldn't be there, we missed ya! And i'm not sure the next time we will all be in Seattle together, if ever again, but it sure was a ton of fun. Thanks to all that helped out with the wedding and clean up, we appreciated it. Next cousins dinner i vote we take a second to get to know each other a little better....we'll go around the room and introduce ourselves....Carrie can start!!! HAha, i love it!

In the words of my favorite uncle Carl....DAMN DOG!!

2007-01-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Could somebody please tell me the difference between these two pictures?

If you answered "Maddy" you'd be wrong!!! The correct answer is a $35 donation to the Utah county animal shelter! Okay, I know I won't get any sympathy from Curtis and Shandy, but everyone else laugh it up!!

So it takes a little over a month of whining to Jed to finally convince him that its in Maddy's best interest to be here at our house instead of being lonely up in Cedar Hills. I finally move her here to the side of our house and the very next morning came out to an empty Kennel!! Long story short, she ended up wandering around at the grocery store around the corner where a conerned citizen opted to take her to the pound instead of reading her tag and calling the number! So $35 later I have my dog back. Thus the title.."DAMN DOG"!!

The best part of the story was having Nalani and Jed laugh at me that night when I told them that my life had turned into a big old Country song.......Lost my wife, lost my house, my dog ran away, and I aint got no job!!!! Good grief!!

All the worry, training, feeding, cleaning up poop, walking, and affection, all for this........

I'm not always convinced it's worth it!!