Megruth

I'm not sure how many of you all know (actually, I'm sure you all know since I'm pretty sure my readers are still all within the family unit), but I have a wonderful sister-in-law named Megan.

I'll start out with a little history about Megan and I. Once upon a time, my brother Luke IMed me informing me of the Spice Girls reunion tour. I got very excited, and he told me that they would be going to New York, and that if I wanted, that I should go see it with him and Megan. Now for those of you who don't know Luke (once again, I'm almost positive you all do), it was a big deal that he mentioned a girl. In fact, it was probably the first time in my life I had ever heard him talk about going somewhere with a girl. So of course I drilled him about her, trying to embarrass him by saying she was his girlfriend and that he loved her, but lo and behold, he did not deny any of this! I was astonished! From that moment on, I knew I'd love Megan. Anyone who can get Luke to willingly go to a Spice Girls concert is a keeper in this family.



So anyways, on to the good stuff. Megan is an AMAZING photographer. Fact, not opinion. She does not do the point and shoot stuff that I see in most wedding photographs, but rather takes a creative spin on each shot, capturing the best moments of each wedding/event. I've decided to share some of my favorite photographs she's taken, and you can see even more here.

Top 5 Problems with the Chinese Gymnasts

My first installment of the infamous "Top 5."
So here we go.

5. The Uneven Bars: Granted this was not the fault of the Chinese, I'm still adding it to my top 5 because it irks me. So in my opinion, Nastia's routine was slightly better than the Chinese girl's, but of course I'm going to be a little biased. So that aside, they tied, good for them! So they both get the gold right?! WRONG! Before I say my complaint, I need to explain a little bit about Gymnastics scoring. So there are 6 judges that submit an execution score (the perfect ten part of the 2 part score), and the highes and the lowest scores are automatically thrown out. Fair enough, this helps eliminate bias. The remaining 4 scores are then averaged, giving the final score. Well in the new rules, in the case of a tie, the next lowest judge score is thrown out, leaving only 3 judges to determine the score of a gymnast. JUST 3!!! How are you supposed to get a good real estimate with just 3 people's scores? You're not. In my opinion, they should have added back in the highest and lowest scores in the case of a tie, thus leaving the score up to a whopping 6 people. But even more than that, they should have just given them both the gold, they both did an amazing routine! That's how they do it in other sports! (This reminds me of my days as a gymnast. I tied a girl for first on my floor routine with a 9.8, but since they didn't have enough ribbons, I got bumped down to a red fancy ribbon that they give the 2nd place people since this girl had a higher all-around score. It crushed my poor 10-year old self.)

4. The Little Girl's Floor Routine: I don't know her name, but I'm sure even if I did I wouldn't know how to spell it, but the little Chinese Girl who got the bronze all-around medal, her floor routine made me want to puke! The commentators kept telling us, oh! Look how she just pulls the audience into her routine! Well personally I thought it was too cheesy, fake, and truthfully, all-out creepy! I had to skip through it a couple times because it weirded me out so much. It definitely didn't have the grace and spunk of Shawn Johnson's routine, but I guess for a 12 year old, that's the best she could do.

3. Balance Beam: Did anyone else feel like the judges must have watched a different balance beam routine for Chung whatever? She had a bazillion (that's an exact number) balance checks and bad form. Sure she did not put an American gymnast out of medal contention, but she took the spot of some other more deserving gymnast. Her score was WAY too high.

2. The Vault: On the event vault finals, the leading Chinese gymnast FELL oh her landing. Not just stepped, not even hopped. Full out fell on her rumpsky! And she still medaled knocking Alicia out?! Sure her start value was higher, but I'm pretty sure Sacramone could have done that vault just as horribly as she did! I mean come on, how hard is it to fall? And if the fall wasn't enough, let's add in the fact that her shoulders weren't squared to the vault when mounting, her hands hit the table at different times, and her legs were off in the flips! The only good that came out of this one was listening to Bela give those judges a piece of his mind!

1. The Age Controversy: I'm not sure how familiar people are with Olympic Gymnastics, but recently they have placed an age restriction on the girls competing, stating that they have to be turning 16 the year of the Olympics to compete. Competing at a younger age gives the gymnasts a huge advantage as they have smaller bodies that are easier to flip around, and have usually not hit a devastating growth spurt to throw them off balance. Well, that little Chinese girl has lost a tooth . . . a baby tooth! And you're trying to tell me she's 16?! They should be stripped of their medals and try again when they grow some hips.

Ring My Bela!

I love this man

I don't know whether it's because of his always enthusiastic allegations against the Chinese or his crazy Romanian smile, but this guy knows how to make me laugh. And little did you guys know, he helped start up the gym I went to as a little girl. Yup, I'm famous.

True Life: My life as a Temp

So this summer I've had the bittersweet opportunity of working as a temp worker. For those of you who don't know what a temp is, a "temp" worker works for a temp office who then finds companies looking for temporary help during certain seasons or for a couple of months. The temp office then hires people like me out to these companies, and makes a few dollars an hour off of my working. Normally these jobs are nothing special, but they do pay a pretty penny for those of us who need more money than a retail job can offer, and you do normally get regular business hours which is nice. And overall I've been pretty well-pleased with my job this summer.

That is until this past week.

So for the past 2 months, I've been mostly just doing data entry and organization for this company I've been hired out to, and let me just tell you, it has been thrilling. <-- That my friends was a little taste of my sarcasm, fyi. I have literally been bored out of my mind, watching as my brain turned to mush, but I kept telling myself, well, it can only get better from here! WRONG! So I finished up all of the data entry and organization my boss wants me to do, and now he's having me address, stuff, and mail 5000 letters!! You heard me (or I guess read me) correctly, 5000! I have to look up 5000 addresses for 5000 companies and mail letters to 5000 people! Oh and get this, I have to lick the 5000 envelopes . . . with my tongue! Because this company isn't fancy enough for those envelope moisteners. Luckily I only have 2 weeks left so I'm doubting I'll even get through 2500 envelopes. Stupid temp job, I don't know if my tongue will ever heal.

Good news is that I have money in my bank! That's right Fergie, I don't have to get my broke booty home after all!

Gross!

Quote of the Day:


Ben: it's really nice to have friends outside the ward too.

Dating outside the ward is always better than from within.

It's like drinking from the pool you've peed in

A Little Monday Night Football

So last night I had the wonderful opportunity of attending one of the Patriots' pre-season practice sessions at Gillette Stadium. For those of you who don't know me, I have a deep passion for the sport of Football. Everything about it makes me giddy! My adrenaline starts pumping when I enter the stadiums and smell the fried goodness, see the face paint, watch the girls lead some cheers, hear the fans' chants and stompings shaking the rows and see my players all ready for some action.

I love football, and I always have. I chose to do cheerleading in 5th grade because I wanted to be there on the field with the boys, but would have lost all of my friends if I had done that as a player. I was the only girl to play touch football with the boys during recess in elementary school, and I was darn good a it! (What I've failed to mention is that my cootie shots were not in effect back then, so had any boy touched me they would have been infected from this deadly virus. As you might guess, I was always the first pick for this very reason) Later in high school, I played on my junior year's powder puff team as a Linebacker, and I shredded that field. By preventing the opposing grade from ever advancing more than half the field (like 25 yards, we were already playing on a field half the size of the standard fields), and "accidentally" tackling the senior running back when she tried illegally hiding her flags, I claimed the mvp title. I was even rewarded after a few of my plays with taunts of "She's a Mormon!" aimed towards the senior class.

It's clear, I was born to play football.

But alas, I am but a little girl, and although I held my own amongst my equals, I would be slaughtered by the 3 hundred pound men that play professionally today. Therefore, I am forced to take my place as a member of the team in the stands. Although I do favor the Patriots as my NFL team, my heart truly belongs to the men in blue and white over at Lavell's. And with Sorenson joining our team this year, you'd better believe we're going to go far! I can't wait for this fall! And you'll know exactly where to find me every game, snow, sleet or shine. Rise and Shout baby!




And my brother Luke also wanted me to mention how dreamy he thinks Tom Brady is. I suspect a little man-crush.

The Legend of Crystal Clear

After a few months of living my life vicariously through the blogs of family and friends, I have decided to enter the world that is "the blogosphere". Seeing as how I have a whopping two people who are even aware of my attempt at entering the blog world, this is my official welcome.



So, welcome Crystal!



As for my blog name: A few years ago I babysat a few families pretty regularly, and one day I learned that one of the little boys I babysat, about 6 years old (I think), told his aunt who I was pretty good friends with, that my name was Crystal Clear. He truly believed that that was indeed my name, and would ask for "Crystal Clear" to babysit whenever his parents went out. With the encouragement of said aunt, he also would address me personally as Crystal Clear, and that became the family's nickname for me. Where this boy concocted the notion that this was my real name remains a mystery to me to this day. And that my dear friends (that's right! All two of you! Maybe 3 if my brother tells his wife about this!) is the legend of Crystal Clear.



Now onto some real business. 50% of my two readers have asked that I do a post about a pair of moccasins I will be receiving at the end of the summer. These beautiful babies



are my extremely early birthday gift from my sister Michelle. So thank you Michelle, and remind me to thank you again in 4 months when real thanks is due. Most everyone knows I have a shoe fetish, and these genuine moccasins will be a first in my collection.

P.S. I am currently a science major, so any comments on my spelling or grammar in this or future posts I will deem null.