As if! It is so true!

So do you like ever have one of those days where you totally know that it's like a perfect hair day?
OMH I like totally had the most perfect of perfect hair days on Monday. I was like doing stuff around my house or whatever and it was like 7:00 at night and I happened to walk past a mirror and it was like Whoa! check out that hair! So of course to my husband I was like "look at how great my hair is today!" and he was like "uh-huh" or whatever, but I mean, he's like a guy so whatever, he doesn't get it.
But really, it was like SO totally soft and straight and clean. I mean it's almost always clean, but by the end of the day it's like never all straight and usually it only looks good, like really good, for the first hour of the day and or whatever and then it's like way blah for the rest of the day.
So like a day when it's perfect all day and I didn't even go to the salon or anything is like seriously one of the best days of my life, like ever!

What's in a name

Don't you think that names are so interesting?

My dad knew a guy whose name was Harry Pitts. I knew a girl who married a Skank (but what about a Harry Skank?). Burgoyne isn't too wierd - although now telemarketers can't pronouce either my first or last name.

On the day I got married my father-in-law took the time to tell me how important the Burgoyne name is and what a heritage I have to live up to.

Have you ever known someone who lived up to their name perfectly?

Mike and I gained a niece this weekend. Her parents were kind enough to give her the normal name of Isabelle. I wondered if she was the only Isabelle Burgoyne out there, and if not what did history have to reveal about her? So I did what any other person would do and I googled her. It was so much fun that I googled the names of my other neices and nephew too. Here's what I found:

Madelynne Burgoyne - No one else in history seems to have that name. (I knew she was one of a kind!)
Elijah Bell - if history repeats he will most likely be an anesthesiologist or a baptist pastor. (his fascination with things that hurt and kill turn to ways of healing and salvation?)
Hannah Burgoyne - born in Boston in 1713 and now has a facebook page (that I can access if I create an account, it's free and easy!).
Leah Bell - Studied art in Italy for years and now has her own studio on the east coast. (That might make her my favorite now).
Isabelle Burgoyne - only daughter of the revolutionary war general, scorned Adam O'Brian during their love affair. (Watch out for those Irish men!)

I know you're all going to go google your own names now, let me know what kind of heritage you have to follow! (There is no other Shaina Burgoyne, in case you were wondering. Guess I'll have to write history myself).

It's written in the stars

Today is the first day of the Gemini period in the zodiac calendar.
Here's a shout out to all my fellow twins:
(Especially Brigham Young, Marilyn Monroe, Alanis Morissette and my father-in-law Bill who were all born on the very best of the Gemini days - June 1st!)

We are*:
Adaptable and versatile
Communicative and witty
Intellectual and eloquent
Youthful and lively
Nervous and tense
Superficial and inconsistent
Cunning and inquisitive

We like:
Talking
Novelty and the unusual
Variety in life
Multiple projects all going at once
Reading


We dislike:
Feeling tied down
Being in a rut
Mental inaction
Being alone

*source: some astrology website I googled. I really didn't make it up, I promise. It's eerily accurate though.

I've been working on the railroad

Our weekend adventure was so great, it deserved a soundtrack! So feel free to hum aloud as you read! (You might have to be a little creative with the rhythym but I'm sure you can figure it out, you're smart enough).

I've been living in Utah, all my live long day.
But I've not seen all the landmarks that make this place so great.
So I took a little venture
with my husband dear
So we took a little venture
to see the history here!

Promontory Point! Promontory Point!
With the Golden Spi-i-ike!
Promontory Point! Promontory Point!
with the Golden Spike!

Someone's in the picture of history, someone's in the picture I kno-o-ow.
Someone's in the picture of history, it's great grandpa Grenville!
He's singing "fee-fi-fiddly-high-oh, tickets-fees-I'm-in-the-dough-oh! Fee-fi-fiddly-high-oh!" That's grandpa Grenville!

(*applause*)
Thank You.
We really did have a great time watching the re-enactment of the spike, better than we expected. And it was cool to learn that my great grandpa was part of the ceremony! He's the one circled in the photo. The national parks brochure says he was the Cheif Engineer for the Union Pacific. Sounds pretty important to me.

"Shaina, I think I hear the train coming!"

Yeah, it's a real steam locomotive and yeah, we really got to see it speeding down the tracks, and yeah, it was cool.

This time I mean it

I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I can't take even more one day of it. All the whining and complaining, the feeling sorry and making up excuses. It's the same thing every day and of course it never changes because NO ONE MAKES IT CHANGE!
Well, baby get ready, because it's changing RIGHT NOW!

That's right. I'm done walking past the glass doors at work and noticing what has gradually worked over me. I'm done starting a program and giving up 2 weeks later. I'm done "taking a water break" after only 10 minutes of playing any sport or outside game. And I am most certainly done squeezing into those capri pants from High School until I can BUTTON THEM UP and BREATHE at the same time!

I bought the MP3 player ($20 at Overstock.com) and loaded it up with songs.
I bought the Hello Kitty digital watch with timer ($6 Target).
I found the training program (Google "couch to 5k")
And I set the goal: The Deseret Morning News Days of '47 5K run on July 24th.

I will train and I will run this race.

ARE YOU WITH ME?

GOOOAAAL!

Our little family is big on themes. And the theme of this weekend has been a soccer one. It started with a friday evening picnic and pick-up soccer game we had with Mike's sister, her husband, and their little ones. It ended with us going to the Real Salt Lake game (our local major league soccer team, pronounced Ree-al)and Mike splurging on good tickets because they were playing LA Galaxy with David Beckham.

(side note: at first we were a little skeptical about all the hype around Beckham, but after clearing a goal from the middle of nowhere and then a picture perfect free-kick goal, we too are now believers. If even if he is an arrogant brit who takes his shirt off and walks late onto the field because he can and if he has a high-pitched femmy voice. He still is one of the best in the game.)

Both nights we had a great time. And I noticed a few similarities and differences between the games:
* Both nights there were moments of unsportsmanship. One night yellow cards were given out, the other just good old time-outs on the blanket.
* Friday night, Eli (my 4yr old nephew), got upset that his team wasn't winning so he threw a tantrum and pushed another player down. Saturday, Donovan from LA did the exact same thing.
* Both nights I found myself cheering just a little for the other team because of really good plays they made.
* The MLS didn't really have the challenge of one of their players being 7 months pregnant, or of a toddler who kept picking up the goal and walking away with it.
* The family league didn't have a problem with cocky players, stupid refs or annoying fans.
* Both nights I ending the evening looking forward to the time (hopefully soon) when we get to do that again.


Proof that we were there with Beckham and #10 from Real, one of Mike's favorites, taking a nice one in the face.
(second side note: the best way to get tickets to Real is through KFC for a discount price or through a Happenings coupon book for an even better discount. And call us if you're going so we can join you!)

Vacation Report

For our Spring Break Vacation my family went to Ocala Florida. We visited Papa and Grandma Eleanor Openhowski. They were really nice. Everything in their house is green or pink or has flowers on it. We spent one day at Silver Springs where we got to go on TWO boat rides and the boats have glass on the bottom so you can see the fishes and stuff. We saw tons of alligators! It was cool. I was a little scared of the alligators, but Mike wasn’t, he's brave. The next day we went to Universal Studios, just Mike and me. It was pretty cool we went on some good rides and ate funnel cake. I really liked the Men in Black one and Mike liked the Mummy one. It was a good day, but I heard Mike said it was “highway robbery” when he paid for the ticket to get in. After that we went to eat at The Hard Rock Cafe. It’s one of my favorite places and Mike even let us order a chocolate milkshake to share! The rest of the time that we were there was spent watching tv or reading books or playing dominoes and stuff. And lots of sleeping in. I liked that. The best part of our Spring Break vacation was when Papa kissed me on top of the head before we went to "Palooloo Land”(that means bedtime). He said I wasn’t really part of the family before that, but he thought I was nice enough that he’d let me into the gang. I like Florida and can’t wait until we get to go back!

Scheduled Outage

Have You Seen Me?

Michael Burgoyne was last reported seen on the campus of BYU last week moving from computer lab to computer lab as they were each being shut down for the night. His wife says she misses him and wants him to come home soon. She thought finals were tough when she was still a student, but now thinks this is much worse.

Baby Hogs

Both of my sisters-in-law are expecting babies this year. I also have cousins on both sides of my family that are pregnant. Of the 15 "friends" with blog links listed on this page, 8 of them have either had a baby in the past year, or will have one before the end of the year. And then I got an email from a old co-worker this morning announcing to our office that she's expecting her 2nd child.
Ok, so what, right? I mean it makes sense that most people around my age are in the child-bearing stage of their life. And I am happy for them and their little bundles.
But Mike and I were talking this morning about how we're living in the last days. Who knows how much longer this world is even going to exist.
What if they are sending down the last shift of the entire human population right now? What if they run out of babies to send down before we're ready to have one?

So to all my reproducing friends out there I say:
Dudes, save some for the rest of us, ok?

The Big Day

He looks forward to it all year long. For a week leading up to it he couldn't help but check the weather reports as often as possible. When Sunday morning finally arrived he got out of his bed early, full of anticipation, and looked out the window... a few light clouds and lots of sunshine, perfect! All other activities of the day were mere formalities to be endured. When evening came, the dinner table was set and the family gathered around it. Amidst the chatter and commotion of plates being passed and food being dished it was likely that no one else even noticed the significance of the moment. But he did. One small tear gently rolled down Mike's cheek as he took the first bite of that perfectly browned and seasoned, tender and succulent morsel of sirloin steak.

BBQ Season had begun.

In Memoriam

Friends and Family, it was 18 years ago today that Riley Haymes Groves entered this experience we call life.

As he passes from boy to man today (at least in his ability to be drafted to war, buy cigarettes, and be tried as an adult for crimes) it is appropriate to look back on his now vanished childhood. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

- The day he was born when mom and dad called to tell us it was a boy (before ultrasounds were standard) the sisters were all very excited, and the older brother just said "I guess that's OK, but now I'll have to share a room with it."

- As a tot his eyes were so big compared to the rest of his head we called him Headlights.

- As a toddler we could say any words in the right tone of "who wants to go do this?" and he would excitedly yell "ME!" Mom didn't buy it for passing off chores on to him though.

- When he was 6 his sisters made him get married to the 7 year old girl across the street. It was a beautiful garden wedding.

- When he was 8 a friend of his and him went all around the neighborhood selling their autographs. They figured when they both became professional baseball players later in life those signatures would be worth millions.

- When he was 10 we could get him to do anything we wanted by threatening to have his older brother put him in the "Allan Tangler" wrestling hold. He tried to counter-threaten with the "Riley Wrangler" but it was just like the Allan Tangler and we were all bigger than him.

- When he was 14 he tried to slam dunk a Nerf ball into the basket on his door but hit his chin on the door instead and needed stitches.

- When he was 17 he tried to show up his brother and brothers-in-law in a basketball game but broke mom's plant pot in the driveway instead.

Now all of those silly, childish, and a little bit embarrassing things are behind him as he moves into adulthood (especially breaking mom's pot last week, thank goodness.) And we mourn the passing of time as the baby of our family is now all grown up!

Happy Birthday Riley!

Please leave any memories you have of Riley, if you've ever met him that is. Or you can just make up a memory too, that's cool.

Cake in a bowl in a ball?

This week on the Discovery Channel: Great Inventions that Someone Else Got Rich From.

Tonight we bring you a story about "could have been". Many of the world's best products and companies started with pure luck or mistake, and someone smart enough and brave enough to perfect the idea and take it to the general public. But what of those who had the luck but never made something out of it?

Such is the story of Shaina and Becca, two college roommates. One weekend a group had gathered at their apartment and Shaina had the idea to bake a cake to help feed the mass. She grabbed a chocolate cake mix, threw in the oil and eggs and had it in the oven in no time.

When the timer sounded, Becca got up to help Shaina, unaware of what her actions would lead to.

The cake looked perfect as the girls pulled it from the oven. Becca suggested that they let it cool for a few minutes before serving it to everyone. Shaina tried to wait, but her impatience got the best of her. But as she tried to get the cake out of the pan, the whole thing crumbled into a mess on the counter. Becca, in a moment of inspiration, grabbed a large bowl and said "let's just put it in this and we'll eat it popcorn style!"

Cake-in-a-bowl, as the treat was dubbed, became a favorite among the girls and their friends. They even tried mixing in or dipping frosting and other variations. Unfortunately, that's where their ambition ran out. They never realized what potential their treat could have with just a few refinements.

Years later, at a St. Patrick's Day dinner, Shaina discovered Cake Balls. Someone had taken the Cake-in-a-bowl idea and perfected it by adding cream cheese and a chocolate coating.

Now there are millions of online recipes and someone else has even built an entire company around producing and selling Cake Balls.

As delicious as these confections are however, for Becca and Shaina they will always be a little bitter-sweet as they ask themselves, what part of the Cake Ball fortune could have been theirs?

C is for Chocolate

Hi. My name is Shaina Burgoyne and I'm a chocoholic.
I enjoy chocolate in almost all forms and textures. I like white chocolate, dark chocolate and milk chocolate. I like swiss, italian or even good ol' Hersheys. I've had chocolate with crushed red peppers in it and liked that too. Chocolat is one of my favorite movies (all about chocolate and Johnny Depp!). But of all the varities of chocolate out there, I am especially fond of the chocolate that I can drink, specifically Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Milk. This time of year is always a little sad for me, as the temperatures get warmer and the sun gets brighter, and I know that it's time to put my Hot Chocolate Mug back on the shelf until next October.
To mark this turn of the seasons, I found a story that teaches us the true meaning of hot chocolate.

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

Sentenced for 9 more months, no parole

We found out on Wednesday that it was time to renew our lease for our apartment and that we had to decide by Friday. So we listed the pros and cons of staying where we are or moving somewhere new. This morning we met with the landlord and renewed the lease until 12/31/2008/. So if you haven't visited us in our humble home yet, shame on you, but you still have time to make it up. And if you have visited us, you know it's worth coming again. And our address isn't changing, so all of you out-of-staters can still send us packages and letters!

But don't procrastinate! I'm hoping that by the next time the lease is up we'll have become ridiculously rich and run away to Hawaii. You can still visit us there.

Top Crossword Champs Set a New Record

Mike and Shaina Burgoyne set a new time record in the Online Crossword Challenge this week. The couple started competing as a team less than a year ago, but have shown great potential in the crossword world. They realized that potential Monday night as they completed the "Pedal to the Medal" puzzle in a record time of 6 minutes and 54 seconds.

"I think teamwork is really what brought us this victory," Shaina said in a press conference after the win, "I was at the keyboard, but Mike was watching the clock."

The Burgoynes say it is has become a tradition of theirs to do a crossword puzzle challenge almost every night. "Some games you feel like you're guessing on every letter, and then there are the ones like this where everything just goes right" Mike commented. Mike and Shaina hope that this current time record is broken again before long, and challenge any one else to try to break it before they do.

Winning Crosword Puzzle with record breaking time

Stay Tuned

Dear Readers,
I changed the background. That should be proof that I am still aware of my blogging duties. I apologize to those of you have been checking back once or even twice a day for the past six days only to find I haven't added anything new. I truly do understand how frustrating that is. I promise to post something new and exciting in the upcoming day or two, as soon as I can remember (or make up) something new and exciting that has happened in our life.
Until then, I appreciate your patience.

Best Regards,

Head Blogger

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.