Your Opinion Please

When is comes to picking out what movie to watch, we usually narrow it down to 2 or 3 choices: Guy Film, Chic Flick, or Other. The breakdown of desire to watch a certain genre is almost always like this:

Mike - Guy Film 80% Other 16% Chic Flick 6%
Shaina - Guy Film 22% Other 3% Chic Flick 75%

And since Shaina's desire to see a guy film is never her top choice,but it is greater than Mike's desire to see a chic flick, that's what they watch 90% of the time. (8% of the time Mike is willing to see a chic flick but not because of the movie, he has alterior motives for after movie, and 2% of the time there is no guy film or chic flick worth watching at the time so they watch whatever is on the channel that they already have the tv set to).

There is some insight into why Mike has such a disdain for Chic Flicks. Many of them, he argues, contain a plot line where one character (usually the woman), despite good intentions, does bad things, specifically lying, that advance her relationship with someone she is interested in.

Examples:
While You Were Sleeping: Lucy lies about her connection to Peter because she doesn't want to hurt the family's feelings, but this lie helps her get closer to Jack.
Beau Jest: Sarah lies to her family about Dave and Chris to protect their feelings, but this lie helps her get closer to Dave.
Sabrina: Lionus lies to Sabrina about everything to proect the family fortune, but this lie helps him get close to her.

It is this underlying theme of deception for affection that most bothers Mike, and fuels his dislike of Chic Flicks.

We would like to hear other's thoughts on these related questions:

1. Why does lying to win hearts seem like such a common thread?
2. What guy films have this same thread in them, but we don't notice it because of all the explosions, chases, and deaths?

Please Respond!

On the job hunt??

Our trip to Denver was great! As much fun as we thought it would be. What we didn't expect was how being there would boost our resumes too! Here are some of the skill sets we picked up and defining characteristics we noticed during our time away:

Education:
- Completed a 20 minute course by Maddy on the foods we eat, visual aids provided by the Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.
- Attended an exclusive exhibit on Renaissance Art, successfully enjoying the displays despite having Hannah call out our names every few minutes just to make sure we were still in the room.
- Had an exclusive one one one training session on why Mormons are the best parents (their kids are never misbehaved) and why it is wrong to cheat on your husband or be rude to your mother-in-law. Presented by the random old lady in JoAnn's Fabric Store.

Experience:
- Survived a morning on Lookout Mountain by following deer tracks until we spotted a doe, and making a waterproof shelter out of logs and pine needles big enough for 2 toddlers to fit into.
- Provided counsel, advice, and text message deciphering to Ben, a single adult in the area, as he navigated his next move with "Highlands Ranch Girl."

Skills:
- Mike was proven to be the best "play horse" in the region, especially noted for his extensive portfolio including "dead horse, sick horse, and run away horse."
- Shaina is proficient in selecting all the wrong fabrics for completing a quilt, confirming that the quilter's first choice was the right one.
- Mike has high but volatile bowling scores.
- Shaina bowls a consistent 94 every game.
- Tested "Excellent" in swing pushing, the Ball in the Bucket Challenge, and putting together tricky hard princess puzzles.


Weaknesses:
- Statistically unable to win at group games, most notably hand and foot.
- Our departure may cause temporary crying and even the wetting of oneself. Time for full recovery is less than a day.
- Tendency to forget to take the camera on significant outings or put batteries in it resulting in a lack of fun pictures to post on the blog.

Now we're back to our boring work and school routines. But now that our resume is a little more impressive maybe we can find jobs that make us feel less inclined to desperately run away so much.

A word from our sponsors

I promise to write about our weekend in Denver later. But in the meantime, if you are in the Salt Lake area and need an idea for something to do this weekend, here's a suggestion or two:

Art:
A local artist (who happens to be one of our favorite cousins!) is opening an exhibit of some of her most recent works. It's a small exhibit in the back of a hair salon, but don't think that means that the quality of work on display will be anything less than what you'd find at a studio showing in NY. You gotta start somewhere.

See more at www.rachelmaydodge.com

Entertainment:
A favorite play has made it to the big screen! It's a great little romantic comedy that seems to be getting good reviews. It was filmed mostly in Utah with most of the crew and production staff being local (a few friends and family members helped). It's being tested here before opening nationally. It's a chic flick, but not too cheesy or unbearable. And you know that a good chic flick can have good consequences later!

Check it out at www.beaujestmovie.com

*Mike and Shaina were not compensated for their publicity efforts of these two events. If Rachel May or the producers of Beau Jest would like to change that, please contact the Burgoynes immediately.

V Day in D town

Saturday, Lunchtime:

M: So what are you going to do the rest of the day?
S: I don’t know, laundry I guess. Probably watch some t.v. You?
M: Homework.
S: Boy are we exciting.
M: Our life kinda seems stuck in a rut doesn't it?
S: You’re just too busy with school full time and work full time. I'm too bored with just work and then nothing to do afterwards. But we’re trying to save money, so we can’t really go do anything anyway.
M: Yeah, I guess we’ll just have to stay in this rut for awhile longer and just endure it.


Later that day:
(Shaina, out of pure boredom, is taking a nap on the couch)
M: Wake up I have to ask you something!
S: What?
M: Do you want to go to Denver?
S: When?
M: Next week!
S: Really?
M: Yep, I found a deal online and we can use my frequent flyer miles. We’d stay with Will and Sarah. So we’d hardly have to pay for a thing!
S: Ummm..
M: C’mon! Let’s do something spontaneous. Let’s break out of our rut!
S: I'm a planner. I never do anything spontaneously. Ever. ……..oh what the heck let’s book it!

So, it looks like we’re taking a spur-of-the moment weekend trip to Denver.
We’re unpredictable!
Living life on the edge!
Giving in to our wild inhibitions!
Watch Out - there’s no telling what we’re going to do next!

Wow, what a rush. I feel a little light headed.

Tag #2

So I usually don't fill these out and pass them on when they come through my email, but I figured that with a blog it's different. It's more proactive on the readers' side to come and look at what I wrote instead of me filling up their email boxes. Plus I was a little flattered that I got tagged 2 times on the same day by different people! So if you don't like these kinds of things, I understand and won't be hurt if you skip past them. But if you're bored or want to learn something new about me read on!

1. What was the best thing you cooked last week?
I made some home made fried rice that was really good with some costco egg rolls.
2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who? Mike has already promised to take me on a cruise, to Hawaii and back to Italy so any combination of those with just my "traveling companion" Mike and me.
3. When was the last time you cried? Saturday, watching President Hinckley's funeral. His chair just looked so empty!
4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago?
1- I was a sophomore at West Jordan High School
2- I had my first kiss
3- I was enjoying life without braces or glasses (hence the first kiss I think)
4- I got my first promotion ever at work from cashier to shift manager
5- I was in my first car accident and got my first ticket!

5. Five things you were doing 5 years ago?
1- I was turning in my mission papers
2- Going on my first date with Mike
3- Working part time at the Creamery (I met Lavell Edwards, Merrill Bateman and Reno Mahe there!)
4- Hating everything Italian, especially the 202 language class I was in at BYU
5- Hanging out with the girls of Alta 312!!

6. Five things you were doing 1 year ago?
1- Planning the wedding
2- Working in the yard for the wedding
3- Saving all my money for the wedding
4- Working at the same place I'm at now doing the same thing I do now
5- Seeing Mike as much as possible

7. Seven of your favorite hobbies (in no order):
1- Playing Soccer
2- going to/participating in plays
3- camping
4- Playing card games
5- watching BYU football
6- sending letters and packages to people
7- Blogging

8. Five favorite foods:
1- Pasta
2- Chocolate Milk
3- Hot Chocolate
4- Chocolate Chip Cookies
5- Brownies

Five places you’ve been:
1- Italy and Sicily
2- Paris
3- New York
4- Mt. Rushmore
5- Yellowstone

10. Five favorite memories: (in no particular order)
1- When I knew I wanted to marry Mike
2- The day I married Mike (It really was perfect!)
3- Teaching Franca Cicciarelli and watching her get baptized and confirmed
4- Family vacations growing up
5- Mike's first Sunday Evening with my family

Tag #1

What is your husband's name? Michael Adam Burgoyne
How long have you been together? Well our first date was in 2003 but we really started dating in April 2006.
How long did you date? 9 short months, engaged for 5 long months, and now have 9 good months behind us.
Who eats more? Mike. Not that I can't pack it in when I want, but he is a guy after all.
Who said I love you first? Mike drove to Salt Lake from Provo at 11:00pm because he HAD to tell me that before he left early the next morning for a 2 week trip back East. Sweet, huh?
Who is taller? Mike is taller than me, and I may be a little taller than one of my sisters, but that's about it for both of us.
Who has more speeding tickets? He has 1 from that stupid part of Provo where you can only drive 20 mph. I've wiggled my way out of any I could've gotten so far.
Who is smarter? I got better grades in school, but he kicks my butt in scrabble, so how can you tell?
Who is more sensitive? I call it sensitive, Mike calls it moody.
When there is a fight who usually wins? The few we've had have been no-one-can-win-so-we-both-have-to-deal-with-it kinds of fights.
Who does the laundry? I do all the laundry, Mike takes out all the trash. We're both happy.
Who does the dishes? Whoever gets sick of the dirty kitchen first.
Who sleeps on the right? Mike's on the right I'm on the left and we both like to sleep facing our appropriate walls. So unromantic.
Who pays the bills? we have some coming from my bank and some from his for now.
Who mows the lawn? Wouldn't it be nice to have a lawn!
Who drives when you are together? Mike.
Who is more stubborn? I call it sensitive, Mike calls it stubborn.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, but he was so nervous he asked my permission and it was a horribly awkward kiss. We've made up for it since.
Who asked who out first? He asked first and 3 years later he asked first again (with the help of Becca, I owe her one!)
Who proposed? He picked the ring, planned how to suprise me with it, planned the after party, and popped the question. But I said yes.
Who has more siblings? I win by one! Unless being a twin counts for something, because Mike is one. But they're not identical, so maybe it's not that special after all.

Umm, oops.

Sometimes Mike has to go out of town on business. Shaina doesn't usually mind (unless it's for 4 weekends in a row and they've only been married a month). In fact it's nice to be able to watch all the TLC and chic-flicks she wants. Last weekend it worked out especially well that Mike went to New Jersey when he did because he was able to treat his mom to dinner and see an old friend from High School.(Yes, his mom still lives in Pennsylvania, but you see in the East it takes a lot less than 5 hours to cross the state lines).
To keep Shaina from getting too lonely, her sister-in-law Becca came over Saturday afternoon with toddlers in tow for some quality food, crafts, and girl talk. It was a calm and pleasant weekend for everyone!
That is, of course, until Shaina woke up Sunday morning and found her kitchen floor covered in water. She opened the freezer and yep, the frozen veggies were just soggy veggies. Must have been the freezer that busted, she thought. She called the maintenance number for their apartment complex and the guy said with all the snow problems he was dealing with it would be a good day or two before he could replace the freezer. What was Shaina going to do with the food until then?
Aha! Her girls camp skills kicked in and she had the brilliant idea of putting everything in the snow on the porch to stay cold. So she moved everything she could from the freezer to the porch and went to church feeling resourceful and clever. Her pioneer ancestors would be proud.
Later that day her brother showed up so they could carpool to a family dinner. She grabbed her contribution to the meal out of the fridge and noticed that it didn't feel as cold as it should. The fridge must have busted too. So she added the milk, cheese, eggs and other perishables to the pile on the porch, packed more snow around them and was off. Late that night as Mike was back, she was showing him all that happened when he was gone and how smart she was to put everything in the snow. She opened the fridge and noticed something she hadn't seen before. The little knob for setting the temperature in the fridge was turned all the way to zero. An image from the night before flashed in her head: little Eli going around the kitchen pushing every button and turning every knob that he could find.
She turned the knob back to 4 and heard the buzz of the fridge kicking back on.
She spent the next half hour taking the food out of the snow and returning it to the fridge.
If she had checked that knob earlier, she sure could have saved herself a lot of trouble. That Shaina just ain't so bright sometimes.