Today is our little Ella-Bean’s 2nd birthday!  It’s funny we’ve been telling her about it for the past couple weeks and I don’t think she thought much of it.  She must know something is special about today because she’s extra happy and smiley.  Unfortunately, she has a Dr. vistit today and I believe she has to get a shot.  What kinda timing is that??!  We have had her present in our closet since before Christmas.  We saw a great deal on the Rose Petal Cottage so we bought it while Christmas shopping. Jenn was putting it together last night while I was doing homework and,  apparently, it was quite challenging as it took her a while. It is very cute but surprisingly small and comes with a little stove/oven.  She will love to play in it with her baby dolls.

We’re just going to do a little party tomorrow as we don’t want to overwhelm her.  Jenn is going to make cupcakes and a few friends, including her friend Charity, might be stopping by. I’ll try to upload a couple of pictures of her later today.

Happy Birthday Ella-Bean!!

Update: Here are some pics of Ella playing with her new cottage and a table and chair set she got from her grandparents.

I’m pretty excited with U2’s new album, No Line On the Horizon, coming out next week.  It’s been over 4 years since “Atomic Bomb” so us U2 fans are starved.  Being a U2.com subscriber, I’ve been able to listen to the entire album this week.  I’ve already listened to it twice and streaming it a third time as I type this.  It’s characteristic U2 stuff but with new and different sounds. My current favorite song on the album is called “Magnificent”.  The pulsing bassline reminds me of Joshua Tree tracks.  The title track is also quite good. Another awesome track is Breathe, which the band premiered live in Paris last night. The song is a real rock track that opens with Edge’s charged guitar and a piano and leads into Bono’s frantic lyrics.  Very cool sound!!  11 tracks and 53 minutes of awesome!

…that’s what the Times said this morning in big, bold letters. I have to admit I was elated to hear the news. While the M’s have had many great players leave over the years, when Griffey left it felt like he took a piece of me with him. Ever since, it’s been quite a roller-coaster of emotions with the repeated rumors and speculation of his return always resulting in disappointment.  Griffey has always been a player that I had a lot of respect for and is really the reason I was so interested in baseball and baseball card collecting as a kid. He has always kept things very simple, play hard and have fun. The skill he has been blessed with combined with his undeniable love for the game has always made him my favorite player to watch.  I am thrilled at the opportunity to watch him as a Mariner one more time.

I was thrilled to find out that Coldplay was coming back this summer after they skipped us during their last US tour.  In fact, when I first heard a local DJ mention they were coming to the Gorge several weeks back, I thought I was crazy as there was no news on their site or the venue’s for a couple weeks.  While I have been to a Coldplay show, I’ve never seen a show at the Gorge, so this will be pretty cool.  I saw them back in ‘05 at the new White River Ampitheater.  They were touring on their X & Y album which I pretty much played non-stop for months.  It was an excellent show.  While Viva la Vida is probably their biggest commercial hit, it’s not my favorite album but I’m still hyped to see them again.  The Gorge is supposed to be pretty nice.  It’ll be cool to see them with my dad and some friends, though we’re not all sitting together.

My response to Jonspach’s post.

What is this?
Well, you’re supposed to bold the things you’ve done so readers can find out how you’ve led an awesome life so far.

Here’s what I have done:
1. Started your own blog Ummm, yeah
2. Slept under the stars camping when I was a kid
3. Played in a band (Rock Band: start a band, rock the world)
4. Visited Hawaii(honeymoon 2000)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland(twice)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (Rockband again)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (7-eleven, egg-salad sandwich)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables every year
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort It was quite impressive…or so I remember.
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (To Victoria)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language HTML?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (more…)

Well, Nick and I were playing Wii Sports on Saturday and I started losing to him at baseball. I started joking that they would have to invoke the mercy rule and that’s just what happened! In fact, I started throwing some real nasty stuff at the end, 93MPH (my max on the Wii so far), screwballs, etc. and he responded by hitting back-to-back-to-back homeruns to win. He also beats me regularly in bowling but I usually still come out on top in golf. Also, I never realized how important it was to stretch before playing video games. You get a workout throwing those heaters. The boxing game is a real workout though.