Speaking of Our Website... (see Melina's Top 5 post below)

Once again i completely redid our website!! Over the weekend Jordan updated our Mac to Leopard and i am now using the Mac on a regular basis. I decided to create the website using the mac as it is alot easier to update. Check it all out and let me know what you think of it!!!

Top 5

Hello everyone!

I don't know if anyone really cares, but I have decided that I would like to post my "Top 5" favorite things of this week/month. These are the things that I really think are awesome right now, some of which help me get through the day without going wacky. :)

5) Passion tea made by Tazo...I always used to get the "Shaken Passion Tea Lemonade" from Starbucks, but now I have started drinking just the tea with a little sweet&low (much healthier) and it is so good! I have at least one cup a day and I love it. It is naturally caffiene free so I am not jumping off the walls, but I am not stuck with the bland taste of water...which gets boring after a while!

4) Our Christmas tree! I love our tree, and every year we get to pick out a new ornament. This year, Braeden got another cars ornament (big surprise!) I got a tinkerbell ornament where she is stuck in the keyhole in the dresser drawer, and we found santa on a scooter for Jason. It is a very cheerful addition to our living room and I love being able to see it every day! I dread when it is gone.

3)Wedding pictures! We just got our pictures from Jason's dad (my new dad) and they are so cute! Glen did a great job with them and they really help me remember how much fun we had at the wedding.

2) Our website! Jason does such a great job with this, and I really appreciate all the time he puts into it. He is always striving to make it better, and it shows. I brag about it all the time and make everyone look at it as often as possible! Thanks baby!

And the number one thing I love right now...

Being Mrs. Young! I love being married to Jason. I love being able to say that he is my husband, and being a step-mom. :) Or the "wicked stepmother"...whichever you prefer. I now love receiving bills and filling out forms because they have my new name and I get to check "Married" under marital status. I know it is a little silly, but Jason makes me really happy and I love our little family.

Well, that is it right now. I could actually probably come up with more, but I think a top 10 would be way too long! No one would stick around to read it, so I will just update my top 5 in future posts. Does anyone have their own top 5 they would like to share? I would love to hear them!!!

Mrs. Young! :)

Thanksgiving weekend

It is sad, but true, Thanksgiving is officially over. :( Jason, Braeden and I had a whirlwind weekend complete with three Thanksgivings, one birthday party, one wedding gift party, two football parties (Apple Cup and the Hawks), one flag football game, one shopping spree and one thousand games of guitar hero.

Our weekend started off on Wednesday night when we had Thanksgiving dinner with my mom (who made a non-traditional ham and scalloped potatoes dinner in anticipation of our turkey filled weekend - thanks mom!) which was fun, but too short because we had to leave early the next morning.

On Thursday we left about two hours late for Thanksgiving at the Young household, but still made it in time for dinner. We had a great time hanging out with the family and had a delicious dinner (thanks other mom!) On Friday, the family celebrated Caleb's (our nephew) first birthday party. He was a little confused by the wrapping paper and blowing out the candles, but he still had a lot of fun.

Due to time delays and our overpacked weekend, we had to leave the party early to head down to the Lambert's (or is it Lambet's :)) for our final Thanksgiving. I think there were about 35 people who came for dinner and it was a real blast. Seven and Braeden had lots of fun playing, they have both been missing each other, so they liked the chance to hang out and talk Cars for a few days. :) Adult Seven (Jordan) and Adult Braeden (Jason) also had lots of fun playing together (guitar hero, Mac's, iPhones, iTouch, and other techie stuff).

The weekend was too eventful for one blog, but I would just like to say that I actually enjoyed playing flag football, and next time I will score a touchdown! In this game I got close, but didn't quite make it.

I already miss the Lamberts. We always have a great time with them and they are all such great people. We really appreciate the hospitality we were shown, and thank you again for the wedding gifts. They were unexpected and greatly appreciated. We really love all of you and hope to see you again soon. Congratulations to Corky for running his marathon! I hope you did as well (or better) than you were hoping for! And nothing but good wishes for Jessica in the months ahead. We are thinking about you and support you in everything you are doing to defend the country.

Happy Turkey Day (or weekend) everyone! How many days until Christmas? :)

Melina

I officially have joined a gym. Thats right...one of the most lazy people around...has signed up to get in shape. Just across the street from my work there was a new gym that opened up about a month ago. Melina has had a membership to 24 hour fitness and has been trying to get me to go for a while...but i just wasnt feeling it. 24 hour fitness is just weights and machines and wasnt really interested in driving 10 miles away just to run on a machine. But on Saturday i decided it might help me not be so tired if i started to exercise. On my lunch i headed up to the new gym and took a tour. I liked it so much that i signed up for a membership later that evening. Melina came too and even tho she already has a gym membership, she signed up too. Not only is it new...it has alot more than just machines and weights. And its close to work so its really convenient to use and having us both belong there...it will keep us motivated to go.

Now it still does have all the machines and free weights that any other club would have...but it has much more too. One of the main things that sold me is the full court basketball court. Ive already been up there and ran a few games. I used to play everyday in high school so its nice to start playing a little again. Also...at most of the machines...they have their own personal tv's. These tvs you can change to any channel and watch what you want. it even has a headphone jack that you can plug into. Today before work...i used the elliptical for 2 miles and then bike for another mile...all while watching the Price is Right. It also has two pools...a lap pool...and a family pool that i can take Braeden to at anytime for free. We went two nights ago and he loved it. In the locker room it has personal showers with shampoo, conditioner and body wash in each one. They offer towel service too. And on top of all that...they have plasmas everywhere..including off the lobby in a separate area that has couches and a fireplace to sit down and watch. they even have a sitting area with a plasma in each locker room. Oh and did i mention...they have pool tables, a Foosball table...and two plasmas that are hooked up with Nintendo Wii's. Needless to say...its awesome! Hopefully i can get in better shape...have fun...and not be so tired during the day.

Ouch!

Ok Jordan.... Here is your belated update. (and the one for those who have no idea what happened)

So Oregon (the University of Oregon Ducks) started the season unranked and pretty much werent expected to do much. They started out good last year...but then lost their last 4 games and many experts thought it would carry over to this year. They ended up going on a big run to start this season... and even tho they had one loss early in the year...they made it all the way up to being ranked 2nd in the whole country! Which normally is a great thing...but this year has kind of been a jinx of sort. Four other previously 2nd ranked teams this year...had lost to unranked teams. And thats what happened to the Ducks. And there is more...but i will get into that a little later.

The Ducks were named 2nd in the Nation last Sunday in the new weekly polls...and they played Arizona on Thursday. This was a nationally televised game on ESPN for their "Thursday Night Football.'' This was the first time they were ever on thursday night football as they usually only play on Saturday. Their Quarterback (Dennis Dixon) was having a huge year and was actually the front runner for the heisman trophy. (that is the award that goes to the best player in all of college football) He had led his team to a great season and his numbers were awesome. A couple weeks ago he tweaked his knee in a game but since the team had the next week off...he had 11 days to rest it. All week in practice he felt fine and on the first 2 drives of the Arizona game this week...he torched the Wildcats as he drove the ball the length of the field twice. But then on the 3rd possession....when trying to make a cutback...his previously injured knee gave way and he went down. Immediately in tears...he was helped to the sidelines and declared out of the game. And to reflect on my previous statement of there being more....he has to have surgery on that knee and will be out for the rest of the year. His team went on to lose the game (even tho they fought a hard 4th qtr and could have won the game) and they have fallen out of contention for a National Championship. And...with him now out...his chances for the heisman trophy have gone by the wayside as well. A sad ending to what could have been a huge year in Eugene and all of Oregon. It even hurts up here in Seattle as I was pulling for them as well!

Finally!!!

So with Shaun out do to injury the hawks went to an air attack last night against the 49ers...and boy did it work. Holmgren said before the game he was going to pass the ball alot...and he kept his word as the hawks passed 11 times in the first 13 plays of the game. Hasselbeck looked good all night hitting 8 different receivers! Statistically Matt is having the best year of his career (even tho its getting overshadowed by the inconsistant play of his team) and last night he looked ever bit the part of one of the leagues top quarterbacks. And not only did he look good...the WHOLE team looked good. For the first time since our Superbowl run 2 years ago...we looked like a confident, dominating team. Granted it was against the leagues worst team...but it is a sight for sore eyes for hawks fans. Expect them to stick to this "pass first" style of offense. We run the "West Coast Offense" and this is the true execution of that offense. We will still run the ball (Morris ran for 89 yards and a TD last night) but it wont be forced just for the sake of running. Buckle up for what hopes to be a great last half of the season!



Did you know that Matt has thrown TDs to 8 different players this year???

Football Twilight Zone

I am so shocked about the Colts game on Sunday Night Football yesterday. All I can really say is "What happened..?" For those of you who did not see the game (consider yourselves lucky) it was the worst game in Peyton Manning history. He threw an unbelievable six (yes, that's right, I said SIX) interceptions and lost to the Chargers 23-21.

Remarkably, Peyton rallied the Colts and almost came back to win after a 23-0 score for much of the game. Unfortunately, in a 2005 playoff game throwback, our super clutch, never miss a kick under 30-yards kicker, Adam Vinatieri, missed a 29 yard kick by mere inches. Sadly, Adam Vinatieri and Peyton Manning both made the "Duds" section of the "Studs and Duds" review on ESPN this week. :(

Although the Colts have had a disappointing appearance the last two weeks, I do not blame Peyton or Adam. Vinatieri still has an awesome percentage (82.4%) and has the right to miss every once and a while. Hopefully this will not be a repeat of the Vanderjact fiasco. Peyton had a bad day, probably a hangover from last week's loss to the Patriots, and I think it is ok. I know my philosophies are not as well thought out as Jason's, I am new to the whole football fan thing, but I think they Colts will bounce back from these losses.

All I am trying to say, is that I would like to get out of this bizarro world football season and have my teams start winning! The Hawks and the Colts are better than they have played the past few weeks, and they need to start showing it. Hopefully, the Hawks will win tonight. I will cheer them on while wearing my brand new, pink Deon Branch jersey (yes, I said pink). You all love it. You know you do. (Thanks Jason!)

Love you all, hopefully my next post will be more exciting!

Myoung

What the heck???

...is going on with our Seahawks. I know the Cleavland Browns are an up and coming team that has had a potent offense over the last 5 weeks...but we should not have lost that game yesterday. Not just for the fact that we were winning 21 to 6...or that we couldnt get 1/2 yard to get a first down...but we are a better team than we have shown lately.

This kinda carries back to last year and I know it is a cliche...but we should be a better team than we are. We have way more talent than our Superbowl team a few years back...and we cut out the negative attitude players since then. So what is going on?

I thought alot about this over the last 24 hours (i know...im a nerd and have no life) and am trying to figure out why we seem to not play to our potential. I didnt want to look at stats or anything logical to explain this. Rather, i wanted to take a personal perspective and give my opinion on what is going on. First...its obvious that our running game SUCKS but I am starting to come to the conclusion that its not just Shaun's fault. Yesterday i examined our running plays and there really isnt much place for Shaun to go. Our offensive line is not only missing blocks...they are just plain out getting run over. Shaun has never been a back to run outside and get by people. His big chunk of yards is find the hole and explode thru it. But there truly isnt a hole to run thru this year. Morris hasnt really been effective this year either. But one thing im having a hard time understanding is why we keep playing him the majority of the game...when he already has a cast on his arm (which is obviously effecting him) and he has knee and leg injuries as well. As Melina said to me yesterday... why not rest him a game to help him get better.

Second...a more general perspective is...we just cant play consistant. And by that i mean...our offense, defense and special teams dont seem to play well at the same time. Our offense will suck but the defense will rock. And then our offense will roll and then the defense seems to play softer. (yesterday we didnt get to the quarterback once). And sometimes we get huge plays from our special teams...but then do nothing to capitalize on it. If all parts played well at the same time...i honestly think we would be "patriot like" team to beat. Not to say we would be as good as New England...but we have one of the best offenses and defenses in the league and would be tough to beat if both sides of the ball were playing good at the same time.

And third...which is the mosts intriguing...is play call. We have one of the best coaches in the league...yet we seem to keep making odd calls. I know Mike doesnt make all the calls now...but I would think he has influence in it. For example...three weeks ago when we are down two scores and need a field goal and a touchdown to tie (which probably wouldnt happen anyway) instead of kicking a fieldgoal on 4th down and getting one of the scores we needed...he opts to go for the touchdown. When that doesnt work...we then have NO shot at tying the game. And last night...with our running game being as atrocious as it is...when we need 1/2 a yard...why not do a quarterback sneak. Matt had just run for 9 yards and dove for the first...he obviously was playing hard and I think he could have muscled for 1/2 yard. There just seems to be a few times in the game where we have something going well and then we go away from it. Hopefully this can be worked out soon. We probably will still make the playoffs since our division sucks, but if we want to make it anywhere once the post season comes...we better start playing better and make smarter decisions.