Two favorite pastas and Jeff's Special Soup

I recommend the following without hesitation. The first is what we call "Brains." Italians know it as radiatore, but it looks like little brains as you can see in this picture. Today for lunch I had some cellentani, which is also known by its other name of "double jointed elbows." It has little ridges on it and it makes a mean pasta salad. It is swirly and delicious. Both taste great, also, in Jeff's Special Soup, or "Soup with Pastas." The recipe is as follows for those who are interested:

• A nice amount of pasta

• One can tomato soup (and one can of water)

• 2 T love;

• Cook everything properly.

• And for the top of each individual serving, a sprinkling of cheese.

We have this about once a week, and though the "recipe" came from my family, Jeff added the cheese and the love and gave it a name. Jeff Boyd even ate some the other day for a quick post Mt. Nebo hike lunch. Jeff's mom even let us make it in her kitchen once. Now it is YOUR turn. Let me know what you think.

Our week in review...

Well here is a new post, finally. In my defense we had a pretty busy Sunday evening seeing some of Jeff's family and we were busy on Monday also, so hence the delay. On to our adventure summaries:

On Wednesday Jeff celebrated the long-awaited occasion of his 24^th year of earthly existence. To begin the day, we ate pancakes and Jeff took his last macroeconomics test. Later we were able to cash in Jeff’s Tucano’s Birthday Club postcard which allowed us to get one of our meals for free at the famous Brazilian restaurant. Having saved up plenty of room in our tummies (and in the baby’s tummy) for all of the meat (especially sausage and garlic roasted beef) that a trip to Tucano’s affords us, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the birthday club members also receive a free birthday sundae. This hardly left room to eat Jeff’s birthday cake later, but luckily we had time to kill to work off some of our dinner.

After dinner Jeff opened his presents at a nearby park, where we also played a rousing game of Poohsticks, that Stacey won but that Jeff insists that he won. For the birthday activity we rented canoes and had a nice float down the Provo River for about an hour and half. We saw beavers building dams, cute baby ducks, and something that looked like an otter. (You already know of our fondness for Otters in Otter Pop form, but the one in the water was more cute than it was tasty.) When we got home we ate the cake Stacey made (complete with a drizzled chocolate star that you can see against my shirt!) and watched one of the DVDs Jeff got for his birthday: Rocky I. This was Stacey’s first time to see the Italian Stallion in action, and she hopes our son doesn’t take up boxing but she did enjoy the film.

Feel free to sing along with me in the video below! Thanks to Jeff's mom for the cake decorating stand, it is quite useful in blowing out candles we learned. Those same candles caused the chocolate drizzle decorations to melt a bit before we could eat them, but they looked cool nonetheless. Thursday

Thursday night we rode with Jeff, Michelle, and Lydia Boyd down to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant. It was fun. Our favorite quote from the one outspoken “anti” who made it more fun was: “I’m not taking questions now; I am busy preaching!!” Classic.

Friday

Friday night was spent in the Boyd’s backyard making a tasty dutch oven meal for six. We took two kinds of chicken, one barbecue (Grandma Hoopes’ recipe!) and the other was in a honey soy sauce. We also had potatoes and peach cobbler, as well as some fanta and root beer. It was really a nice night with the Boyds and the O’Connors.

Hearing Aids update

My new hearing aids have been ordered, and I get to pick them up and have my fitting on Monday afternoon. I am excited to have them and feel they will be right for me, but they give me 30 days to make sure. :) Soon to come: pictures of Jeff's birthday and our trip to the Manti pageant.

"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (is CB reading this?)

Perhaps the best way to tell about our adventure in the fine arts building at BYU would be to simply sing this musical's soundtrack aloud for you. Some of you might even have been lucky enough to already hear us do just that, but don't worry: we'll spare you for now if you're not familiar with it. Here we are in the basement of the HFAC looking fabulous in our fall color scheme. That's to remind everyone that the baby is due in the fall, even though I am obviously growing constantly, as you can see here. Seriously, if this were a video of us, you could see me growing. We'd like to thank the stray music stand that served as a tripod for us. Anyways, we really enjoyed the show this afternoon. The costumes, set, and props were all made to be larger than life, so it really did appear that the characters were little school kids. They got to dance around on giant Lego blocks and it even looked like fun. I think one of my favorite parts was when Schroeder led the cast in singing "Beethoven Day" and when Snoopy sang his famous "Suppertime" tune. Anytime they were exiting or entering the platform on the stage they scurried like little people in a hurry. All in all it was a great matinee, and we were able to get there in the nick of time (despite my doubts) once Jeff cleaned up at home after his ride (see below!). Memorable lines: Snoopy: "I feel every now and then like I gotta bite someone!" Lucy: "Snow comes up Charlie Brown; SNOW COMES UP!"

My Bike Ride

So, this morning at about 7:00, I left to bike to my Uncle Rex's house that is right outside of Heber Ut. It is about 36 miles up there, and I was excited. I figured I could get there in 3 hours, chat for a while, and be back by 1:30 or so, in time to go to "Your a Good Man, Charlie Brown" at 2:00. Well, I was wrong. It took me about 4 hours to get to his house. The last 4 or 5 miles, you gain A LOT of elevation, and I was off my bike walking it for a good little ways. But I got there. At that point, it was 11. We chatted for about an hour, and then I realized I would have to be fetched. I rode a little bit of the way home, about 9 miles, and then Stacey picked me up, so instead of the 70 miles I had planned on, I got in only 45. The worst part is, I got in the least fun miles, the ones where I climb the 3500 vertical feet up to Rexes house. Here is my route. I dont think mapmyrun.com does a very good job with the distance, but you can see where I went.

This Morning

This morning I hiked the Y. Last time I did it, I took about 40 minutes. This time I did it, I took exactly 39 minutes. (Now that I think of it, about 40 minutes and 39 minutes are about the same, but I still like to think I got quicker.) Anyways, it was a fun little jaunt, and allowed me to practice using my sweet Wal-Mart trekking poles

What is interesting is that as I write this, it is almost as if someone were going to read it. Well, even if not, oh well.

A short jog.

So, this morning I went jogging, and here is how I went. It took me a little under a half hour, and was a good time. Yipeeeee.

General comments and thoughts.

So this Friday night Stacey and I had the unique and wonderful blessing of babysitting the entire Carter Crew, minus the mother and father. It was a fun time, and we did some fun things. I started out my adventure there by first doing some wrestling. This abruptly ended when Dallin’s nose started bleeding, pouring blood out as if he were a bleeding stuck pig. We got that all settled, and started doing the showcase activity of the night: making a piñata. Now, I have a special affinity for piñatas, having been the president and founder of a world renowned charitable organization that seeks to promote the general welfare of piñatas: STOOP. However, that is a story for another day. We started making the piñata, and decided that while Stacey and I were having a good time, the kids were not. Dallin and Taylor refused to touch the paste, Anna and Ryan were board after putting two or three strips on, and so Stacey and I got to finish the piñata by ourselves. So, it was a failure of an activity, although Stacey couldn't remember the last time she'd made one before, so it was a good time. Here I am, showcasing our finished, but not dry, piñata. So, after that, we watched Happy Feet, a show that I was terribly disappointed in for its anti-religion, anti-establishment, new-morality liberal theme. Further, I didn’t even find it terribly entertaining. The kids, however, liked it, so that was good. We put them to bed, Ryan with the light on, Taylor and Dallin sleeping together, and Anna and Rachel in their hyper pink room. And with that, our babysitting was over. So, that was fun. On another note, I conducted in sacrament meeting for the first time today. It was alright. The first part of the meeting, the microphone was off, but it was probably better since no one really wanted to listen to me anyways. I have started working on a research project this last week collecting data with a PhD student at the University of Washington. We are evaluating the usefulness of different proxys for pro-forma earnings announcements, so that is fun. It is not curing cancer, but it is exciting as far as accounting research goes. And, in the end, it could have an impact for how companies, including those producing cancer drugs, report their earnings, acquire capital in the equity markets, and continue operating, so, it is important stuff. It should be a great experience for me. I also am continuing my work on an empirical evaluation of RateMyProfesssor.com, which has been pretty interesting, and we are preparing to send to a journal probably within the month. So, that is all.

Hearing Aids

On Wednesday last week Jeff and I went to the audiologist to find out some more about whether or not my hearing aids that I have currently were fixable. We decided that it would be better to put money into brand new ones. So the question now is how much can we spend, and what kind should we invest in. What I had before is pictured second from the left of this diagram borrowed from a website, but I am considering getting a pair like those on the far right. My hearing loss is not severe, so that is something we take into consideration also, but I am wondering if I have some open behind the ear aids that our baby will grab at them, which I could probably be careful with but who knows. Please make a comment to tell me what you think about my options! Thanks!

It's a boy!

Well I figured I should at least make another post since it's been almost two weeks. I don't have anything of note to report except that I am growing every day and this week I have felt HUGE. Despite my clothes getting tighter, I do like being pregnant and knowing that our little guy is growing well inside of me, so as a tribute to our son I thought I'd put some of his most recent photos up. Probably anyone reading this has already seen them, but here he is again in all his amniotic glory!

Projected Post-Pop Photos

So, when she's pregnant, a woman’s bellybutton will often pop out, making someone that usually has an innie have an outie. For Stacey, this has yet to happen. However, we wait in eager anticipation that it will happen, and have made the following projection for what Stacey may look like post-pop.

My Week in Review

So, I have had several interesting experiences this week, and all week I have been planning on making a new entry, but just did not get around to it. SO, here it is, all at once. Rather than go in any chronological order, I will just list different events, and discuss them. Biking on Monday On Monday I went bike riding. I am trying to get ready for David’s little trip in July, where, sandwiched between biking the Grand Canyon and summitting Arizona’s high point, Mt Humphrys, we will bike 80 miles. I have been trying to go on longer rides, and while thus far they have not seemed too difficult, I do find it hard to find time to go. This Monday morning, I biked about 34 miles, and it was fun. I biked from Utah Lake, up to Vivian park in Provo Canyon, and back, the entire length of the Provo River Trail, plus a few side trips. I saw a lot of interesting people on the trail, and it was a good time. (Incidentally, I felt pretty good about the ride and the distance, until I heard David rode 120 miles Saturday. Wow). So, after I rode my bike, I decided I wanted new pedals for my bike. So, on Monday, I went ahead with what I had planned on doing for a while, and I bought some clip less pedals from an online store, spending more than double what I paid for the bike on the pedals and the shoes. They are actually a birthday gift, so, thank you to those who purchased them for me. New Pedals I got the pedals on Thursday, I set the shoes up Thursday night ,and then Friday had the pedals put on. Here is a picture of my on my bike with my pedals and shoes. I was riding around my parking lot, when a little Hispanic boy, about 7, comes up and asks if I want to play a game. I said that I did, and he rode his bike around and said we would play “Red Light Green Light”, the game where there is someone directing, and you go when they say green light, and stop when they say red light. His sister (5) would be the caller, and before we started, he said he had to go get another bike. I waited, and he came back with a bike that he said had only one problem, “it doesn’t have any brakes, so I cant stop very well.” So, we played Red Light Green Light, and with the help of his bike, he won. Go figure. We then had a race, which he also won by cheating. He is a funny kid I have played with a little before, speaking in an amalgamation of English and Spanish. (we kind of live in an area where a lot of immigrants live. The other day a lady knocked on our door and asked in Spanish if I spoke Spanish, and I said I did. She then asked in Spanish, “Do you want to buy some things made out of gold”—not very specific. I didn’t want to buy any. Speaking Spanish in our neighborhood is helpful.) Laptop Fixen Then, on Thursday I also got a new hard drive for my laptop, and was able to change it out and got most everything back on my computer, pretty much all the programs except for Office. Unfortunately, Office is the only reason I have a computer. So, we are working on that. I got an Office 2000 copy, but might have to break down and by a copy of Office 2007. Here is a picture of me changing the hard drive.

Stewart Falls We also hiked up to Stewart Falls on Saturday night with two friends of ours, Tyler and Erin. We always appreciate the few people who are tolerant enough to hang around us. It is a pleasant little jaunt, about 4 miles round trip, and it was pleasant. We made ice cream up at the falls, and ate it up there as well, and then walked back in the dark, aided by artificial lights. Here are some pictures.

More of Squaw Peak

So, one would three posting on this little hike would be enough, but, now that I have my laptop back, I can stitch pictures together, so here are a few more from Squaw Peak.

Mountain Biking Also, on Saturday morning I went mountain biking with a friend of mine. He is pretty aggressive and in shape, and well, I am not. It was fun. We went on the Bonneville Shoreline trail for maybe a mile, then gave up the mountain biking, and rode down to Utah Lake and back, covering about 18 miles. It was fun. I tipped over a couple times and toppled as I was getting used to my foot being mechanically attached to my pedal, but it was fun.

The end.

Changing of E-mail--Thoughts

A long, long time ago, right after Al Gore invented the Internet, my family got a Juno CD and installed Juno on our computer. This allowed us to dial up to the Internet, send and receive e-mails, and then disconnect. It was free, and it was my first exposure to e-mail. I signed up for the account jlamro AT juno DOT com. I loved it. However, not too long went by until we got the real Internet. I logged onto hotmail, and signed up for a free account, jlamro AT hotmail DOT com. It was this account that I used until my mission, and that I resigned up for right after my mission. The first e-mail that I have record of receiving at jlamro AT hotmail DOT com after my mission was from Stacey Lea McKoy, who would, almost a year later, become my wife. But, hotmail has been going down hill. Their banner ads are horrible, their options are few, there is no chat internal to the system, they provide little service space, their searching is horrid, and I simply don't like it. So, a while back, I signed up for jeffrey.hoopes AT gmail DOT com, which I still use. I maintained jlamro AT hotmail, but didn't like it, whenever I handed out my e-mail address, it was at gmail. Today, I went on to BYUs site, and changed my official e-mail to my Gmail account. It was hard, but, I did it. It is an ending to an era, that era of an innocent child, newly introduced to the Internet, grateful that the same username he had on juno was still available on hotmail. They were good days, but, they are over. Sniff. Sniff.