Thursday, July 31, 2008

Video Update

Follow this link to watch the video of the boy who got Chad Johnson's shoes. The video is in the top right hand corner titled "Chad Makes A New Friend".

I love that Chad implores the boy's future help on the team because "he needs help". Out of the mouths of babes.

NOTE: You can even see my mom and dad in the background. This video comes from Channel 9 in Cincy (which is where my brother works when he's not out of the country).

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Chad Johnson=A Notch Up In My Book

So, tonight I went back up to the Bengals training camp (no surprise there) with my mom, dad, Em, and Chris, and Mark to watch more practice. Now, during the offseason I was not happy with Chad Johnson. I felt he was being selfish and whiny. I still recognized him as a great player, but I was very put off by his attitude.

However, tonight at camp a young boy (about 5 years old) yelled "Chad, I love you!". Chad turned around and replied "You do?" then motioned for the boy to come to him. He lifted him over the fence. Chad was gone with the boy for at least 40 minutes or so. When they returned the boy had one of Chad's shoes in each hand with Chad's signature on each shoe.

Now, I do have to say that watching the joy on that child's face really brought my view of Chad up. I personally got to see him show selflessness and it was refreshing.

Geoff Hobson from Bengals.com writes:

"Wide receiver Chad Johnson (ankle) joined in the past-practice sprints and seemed to go at a decent pace. He was taped, but not in pads, when he gave the crowd of about 400 some excitement when he plucked five-year-old Bryce Short of Lexington, Ky., wearing a No. 85 jersey, and took him along for some rehab work on another field. When Bryce showed up back on the big field, he waved a pair of autographed CJ shoes."

After practice, players were signing autographs (apparently it was autograph night). I sat and watched others get autographs 2 nights ago and I planned to do the same until I saw Shayne Graham autographing near my seat. I decided I'd see if I could get an autograph and I was surprised at how easy it was. The players almost seemed happy to autograph my little $1 "Camp Journal".

I got autographs from Shayne Graham, DeDe Dorsey, Ben Utecht (got to tell him I'd be looking to draft him for my fantasy league to which another player said "Why? He won't get you any points."), Antwon Burton, James Johnson, Stacy Andrews, Daniel Coats, James Blair, rookie Jerome Simpson, and none other than Chad Johnson himself.

Overall, a great night.

Daniel's South American Expedition


My brother, Daniel, is currently in Ecuador and will be there for the next 3 weeks.

He is doing an internship with a Christian TV station that is owned by a good family friend, Bill McDonald. Bill is showing Daniel everything there is to see while in Ecuador including Quito, the jungle, and the Galapagos Islands while he's there. I'm so excited Daniel is finally able to visit Ecuador.

He is chronicling it at a blog site that he has created specifically for his trip. You can read up on his adventures at http://danieldurick.blogspot.com/ including his first consumption of guinea pig (shown above).

Check it out!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

RIP Goose

As I mentioned before, Guinness got a new toy goose.

Goose is now dead.

Cause of death: decapitation.

Bengals Are In Town

Yesterday, the Bengals had their 1st two practices here in town. While I didn't go to the morning practice (I'm still enjoying sleeping in during this last week of summer), I did go to the evening practice. My parents came up with Darlene and we ate at my favorite mexican restaurant, Mi Casita, before walking up to camp.

Everyone was there with the exception of Keith Rivers (contract negotiations) and Antwan Odom (sprained foot in 1st practice). Contrary to some belief, Chad was there but was not actually in uniform because of his ankle. I even got to see Jordan Palmer (Carson's baby bro) who looks, stands, and throws just like Carson.

My opinion of people to watch this year:
Joseph is going to be a great help in the defense, rookie WR Jerome Simpson and WR Marcus Maxwell (I really like him for some reason), Rudi looked great (he's bulked up, hamstring is healed, and he REALLY worked on his legs in the offseason), and the defense in general under Zimmer's leadership.
Chad and Joseph talking to new defense coach, Mike Zimmer
Dad, Mom, and Darlene all showing their true colors: orange and black
(We're slowly pulling Darlene over to the dark side)
Offensive play (you can see Housh closest to the camera on the left side of the picture)

I plan on going back to watch tomorrow night's practice as well if anyone wants to join me!

Friday, July 25, 2008

New Toy

Guinness got a new toy goose that he runs through the house with shaking violently. I thought it was so funny and had to tape him.

You can tell that he's healed well from all his surgeries this summer. Here he is being his goofy self.

Enjoy!

3 Days...

Only 3 more days until the Bengals open for their summer training camp which just so happens to be within walking distance of my house.

I am so excited! Each year I get more and more excited about the football season starting and this year is no exception. Things here in Georgetown are turning orange and black. The hotels are filling up. The stores are filled to the brim with Bengals apparel. I've even seen a billboard in Lexington on New Circle Rd. I'm ready to pull out my jersey!

And just because I love the excitement of the new season, I thought I'd share a video that I just love right now.
Here comes a good season!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Trinity Rose


As I mentioned months ago, my cousin, Andrea, and her husband were expecting. Well, Trinity Rose has arrived. Actually, this is a little late in posting because I have been on vacation.

Trinity had a very rough start to life. After delivery, she heart rate dropped and CPR was performed before she even got out her first little breath. She went 21 minutes without breathing on her own before God finally allowed her to breath on her own! She was rushed to the Columbus Children's Hospital. Amazingly, she didn't display any of the problems that most newborns do when going that long on oxygen. She was held for many more tests, monitoring, and lessons on how to eat (she had some trouble at the beginning). After 13 days and 2000 miles traveled by Andrea and Reid, Trinity was able to come home last Sunday.

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting our little miracle baby! She is an absolutely doll and she is the most cuddly little girl. She is very alert and is doing very well! Here's some more pictures of my mom and Andrea holding her.

Congrats are in Order


Due to my lack of internet access last week, I have been unable to formally congratulate Josh Hamilton on his record-breaking 1st round homeruns at the Derby last week. The whole Durick clan was circled around the TV cheering you on. What an accomplishment and congratulations! You deserve all the attention you are receiving!

There's No Place Like Home

I have had, by far, the best summer this year!

After many vacations though, it's nice to say that I'm home again. I loved every second of my vacations, but there's just something about getting settled back at home. I think after just a few more weeks of sleeping in, I might actually be ready to start up school again...

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Paradise at the Lake

Every year, I look forward to going to Land Between the Lakes with my family. We have stayed at the same cabin for many years now and it is shaping up to be the family's favorite week of the year. In years past we've gone the week of my birthday, but with school starting earlier and earlier, we are now going over my Dad's birthday!

I love spending every day on the lake, grilling out, riding bikes, playing cornhole, and playing cards/board games. We have a great time every year! I'll be without computer and I'll probably turn my cell phone off. Love it!

I'll be back Friday!

Have a great week!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

I Would Love to Do This!

OK, Patrick posted this on the Crossroads blog and I thought it was brilliant. I have added it to my blog for all of those people who may not frequent the Xroads site often (the link is on my sidebar). Take 4 minutes to watch it. I would love to do this!



Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Patrick wrote:

That was Matt Harding from the website, wherethehellismatt.com. Here's his story:

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do that dance. I'll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It's actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Savannah, Georgia

On our way down to Florida, Jen and I thought we should take the opportunity to go out of our way to eat at our favorite cook's town, Savannah, GA.

Jen and I both LOVE Paula Deen and we'd been looking for the chance to go eat at her restaurant, Lady and Sons. While the trip was about 5 hours out of the way, we were not deterred. We headed down late Friday night/early Saturday morning for the beautiful town of Savannah.

I'd never been to Savannah and let me tell you, it's as beautiful as they say it is. The oak trees with Spanish Moss added to the old time historic feel of the town. There was the notorious fountain in Forsyth Park and I absolutely fell in love with River Street. There were tons of shops and restaurants on the River. Turners Cove had some of the most beautiful condos I've ever seen.



There were lots of things to do and see in the city, but we didn't have a lot of time. We heard about a Paula Deen tour and just couldn't pass it up! This tour bus took us to all of Paula's favorite stores and landmarks in Paula's history.

We got to see Polk's Fresh Market where Paula still gets all of her produce for her restaurant. We also went to River Street Sweets where Paula gets sheets of marshmallow and caramel.

We also got to see the first Lady and Sons restaurant (just down the street from the new one on Congress St.), the chapel in Bethesda where Paula and Michael were married, and Jen and I even got to see Paula's house (which was beautiful on Turner's Creek).





On the tour, they even included lunch at Uncle Bubba's, the restaurant that Paula owns with her brother, Uncle Bubba. To our surprise, he even came out to visit with us and took pictures with us! He talked to us for a bit and was so down to earth.






Finally, the whole reason we came....to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons!

With our tour, we got vouchers for reservations to the restaurant (which normally has a 4 hour wait) and we chose to go for a Sunday lunch buffet. It was good as was to be expected. The buffet included her famous fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pinto beans, rice, creamed corn, sweet potatoes, greens, and more. We were also treated to hoecakes and cheesy garlic biscuits (one of my faves!). For dessert we got to choose between chocolate peanut butter gooey butter cakes, banana pudding, and THE BEST peach cobbler I've ever put in my mouth.




(As much as I'd like to say that's really Paula, I have to be honest and let you know that it's truly a cardboard cut-out).

Overall, completely worth the 5 hours out of the way! Savannah was, I can't say it enough, BEAUTIFUL! We had a great time!

Too Cute!



Here's a video of Jon and Kate plus 8.

I love it!