The Year In Photos

2009 has come and gone. It's been a very eventful year and we squeezed in quite a bit. From Snowshoeing and Graduation to chicken fights and marriages to New York and Hawaii...'09 will be remembered!

Have a look at the best photos of the year!

Avatar

I am a movie buff. Plain and simple.

However, that doesn't mean that I love every movie that passes by on a wagon. On the contrary, my love has given me a critics eye that allows me to distinguish the muck from the marvelous.

Movies are meant to entertain, inspire and show us a world that is different from our own. Allow us to forget our worries and get lost in the story.

Avatar does just that.

Before I saw this movie, I didn't know too much about it. I knew the very basic plot behind it but that's all. It's the first film James Cameron has done since Titanic so, I figured it was worth it.

It was amazing! It's over 2 1/2 hours long but unlike other long movies, it didn't feel like it. I was so caught up in the amazing world that Cameron had created that I didn't want it to end!

It takes place in 2154 when Earth is drying up and needs a precious resource that is light years away in space. A coalition of scientists and mercenaries are hired to obtain the substance. The humans attempt to infiltrate the indigenous people on the planet by using Avatars, a genetically-grown body made up of human and the native DNA...

Here, have a look at the trailer...



Sure, the movie is make-believe and sci-fi and all that. But, if you can accept that you are at the movies and not watching CNN then you will love this show! It has a very gripping story and the special effects are unlike anything you have ever seen before. In a time when Hollywood is popping out horrible movies like Zombieland and New Moon, Avatar is a breath of fresh air.

It's the best movie I have seen in a long time and give you the Sanchez Guarantee that you will like it, and we all know that the S.G. is as good as gold!

...The Latest...

So, I have been busy at work for the Jazz as of late.

I'm interning for the Jazz in the game operations dept. In a nutshell, I coordinate everything that happens at a game. Contests, promotions, dancers, give-aways, performers, videos, all of it. It's a great job and I can't believe how lucky I am when I work. I never want it to end!

This is me at a game wearing the famed headset.

I also have another job with the Jazz. I write blogs for the Jazz's website, jazzbots.com. It's great and I have a platform to express my opinions/views and it's sweet. Most people think writing for the blog is in conjunction with my internship but the jobs are completely unrelated and I landed them in different ways.


This is the jazzbots team. I'm the tall one in the middle.

In fact, what's to follow will be submitted as a blog for jazzbots.

I have been writing a string of blogs that have to do with my experiences as an intern. This is some of my experiences and observations that I've had thus far...

*First and foremost I want the world to know that I love my job and can't believe that I get the honor of working so closely with the world's greatest athletes.

*The majority of the team is so nice and will always stop what they're doing for a quick chat.

*C.J. Miles works extremely hard and I see him run line-drills by himself before every game.

*Baron Davis' beard is real. I overheard a conversation in which Marcus Camby accused him of using rogaine on his face. Baron playfully declined.

*Shane Battier is a really good guy. He took a break from shooting around before a game and sat next to me. We talked for a good 5 minutes about Utah, Duke, and how much he loves soccer.

*Ronnie Brewer is humble. I asked him what his favorite part about playing in the NBA is and he said how nice everyone is. Something like, "I'm just a kid from Arkansas..."

*My job is to coordinate all the promos, contests, performers, etc during timeouts. As a fan, it looks like everything goes off perfectly and it's so well-done. That may be the case but you'll never believe how often things come together at the last second. For example...during the Indiana Pacers game on 12/4, I was running a contest on the court during a timeout and once it was over, I had to sprint to the ticket lobby to meet the people from tucano's who would be giving food away to a lucky section during the very next timeout. We barely got them to the portal with about 3 seconds to spare.

*Dwight Howard really does have the broadest shoulders this world has ever seen.

*My favorite part is always standing on the court during the national anthem and introductions. Goosebumps.

*Memo Okur is the best dressed player on the team. He always color coordinates his sweaters with his sneakers.

*Carlos Boozer is easily the funniest player on the team and is always cracking jokes.

*I know the true identity of the Jazz Bear. I will say this...he's a good guy and a little crazy.

*Patrick Ewing is a class-act. I was standing about 5 feet away the other night and he walked up to me stuck out his hand and said, "I'm Patrick, it's a pleasure to meet you." I was speechless and all I could do is smile and I think I got "likewise" out. Wow.

*Craig Bolerjack is just what you think he would be like. Funny, nice and just all around cool. I take every chance I get to talk to him about anything/everything.

*I work directly with the Jazz Dancers and they practice A LOT and are great dancers. They don't get the credit they deserve.

*I'm the guy that picks the contestants for the contests during timeouts and the whole experience is a good time. (I plan to post an entire blog about this soon.)

*I overheard Tony Parker and a Jazz fan have a conversation in French. I took two years of high school French, so I couldn't make out too much but it was more or less trash talking. and it was hilarious!

*Matt Bonner of the Spurs spends more time shooting before games than anyone I've ever seen.

*When the Kings were in town, I was standing near a group of Kings discussing the altitude in Utah. They wanted to know how high up the were and I leaned in and said "ya know how they say Denver is a mile high? Well, Utah is 3 miles." Each one of them believed me and Tyreke Evans gave me a look that can only be classified as horror.

*Wesley Matthews is the best thing to hit the Jazz in a long time. Not only is he a quality player but he's a quality human too. Always so polite and willing to help me or the marketing dept with anything.

I could go on forever and perhaps I'll do another observations post in the future.

It's in the Stars

The following is an article that I submitted to theonion.com

The Onion is a make-believe news organization that produces humorous news stories.

Thoughts???

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The state of Utah hadn't claimed a championship since Real Salt Lake won the Major League Soccer title on November 22, 2009.

Well, the wait is over.

On November 24, 2009 Donny Osmond became the 9th champion of the popular television show 'Dancing With the Stars.'

"We had all been craving a title since Real beat Beckham and his boys over 48 hours ago," said Utah Governor Gary Herbert. "The euphoria wore off and we needed something to get us back on that cloud, and thanks to Donny we're back."

Utah had witnessed hundreds of champions crowned in other states over the last 38 years since the Utah Stars won the ABA title, but Real stopped that drought by beating the L.A. Galaxy 5-4.

Utah was in a two-day party-state that had some saying it was the "Mardi Gras of the West." Fans celebrated by showering the team in hugs, confetti and photos, but it was short lived.

"I hadn't been asked for a photo in a couple months and all of the sudden everybody knows who I am," said Real midfielder Kyle Beckerman. "We were getting a lot of love for a couple days there, parades, free dinners but now, it's back to how it used to be. It's sad and it's all thanks to that Osmond."

Osmond, a Utah native, helped put family bands on the map back in the 1960's when his pearly whites lit up the Salt Lake skies. Osmond is a trained performer but nobody ever thought he could maneuver his way to the mirror ball.

"Ya know, this win can be blamed on three things: luck, hairspray and ultra-ruva bulbs," said Kelly Osborne, a runner-up to Osmond. "Donny is just so damned cute that the judges couldn't tell him no."

Whether it's luck or just pure skill Osmond has made Utah champions three times over and he thinks he has the secret as to why.

"This may sound funny but for Utah to win, it has to be in the stars and I'm thrilled to be a part of it," exclaimed Osmond. "First the Utah Stars, then Real beats the Galaxy and I win Dancing with the Stars. I'm just saying."

As far as Utah is concerned let's hope it doesn't take two days for their next champion to be crowned.

We Make Things Work

*Before you read this post, know that we do not have any formal training in moving furniture. Surprised?*

For the past six months we have been storing a bed in a nearby storage facility. At the time it seemed like storing our bed would be the best idea ever! It was a cheap rate and we wouldn't have to worry about it.

But, as time went on we discovered it would be nice to have that $68/month stay in our hands.

Luckily, and I emphasize luckily, my father has a spare bedroom in his apartment and was more than willing to let us keep our bed there.

So, on Saturday we took the Hansen Pathfinder down there and got it out of storage.

We were pretty sure we could transport the large furniture items in/on such a small SUV.
Me trying to stuff this thing in the back! We found out that the "Taco" method works best.
Manda wanted to take a quick rest once we got it inside. Silly girl.
We positioned the box spring on top and relied heavily on rope, rope and more rope to keep that thing up there and the mattress in there.

We had the rope inside with us. We each had one job on the way down to Dad's. Mine was to drive no faster than 31 mph and Manda's was to hold those ropes as tight as her little hands could.

Having rope in your face is actually really nice.

Need something moved? We're available!

My Knight in Shining Armor

This past weekend, I went with Jeff and Kristin to the BYU v. TCU game.

(For that story, see here)

But the real story begins on the way home from Provo.

I was excited because I had just gotten out of the traffic jam that had held me captive for the previous 35 minutes. Sure, I had Coldplay to keep me company but even Chris Martin's voice couldn't soothe my lonely heart.

I was nearly there, nearly home to my warm house and my lovely wife.

Then, something happened. Something that hadn't occurred in the previous five years but this something was always in my mind as a possibility.

My car (Vivian) started acting weird. I thought to myself, "wow, this lane is super bumpy." As I merged to the right, I noticed the bumpiness wasn't going away but getting worse. "Oh no. I think my stupid tire is flat!"

I quickly made my way over to the shoulder, put the hazard lights on and exited the vehicle. I indeed had a flat tire.

I was on the freeway in between 90 s. and 72 s. I'm not gonna lie, I was scared. I had changed plenty of tires before but never on the freeway. At 9pm on a Saturday night, the cars were a-plenty and zooming by at unlawful speeds. I didn't have more than 3-4 feet to work.

Before attempting anything, I found a bottle of fix-a-flat in my trunk and thought I'd give it a try.

I didn't want to be next to the car, (the fear of death will do that to you) so I hid in front of it while I emptied the fix-a-flat solution into my tire.

All that happened was the foamy liquid sprayed all over the tire and the road and a little got on me. I was so frustrated with it, I took the bottle and through it at the dividing wall that lines the freeway.

If things weren't bad enough, I didn't have a tire iron and only had a jack in my possession. I didn't want to be on the noisy highway anymore, so I quietly rolled my car at about 5 mph til I could exit.

I sat there in the parking lot of a Maverick gas station, and realized that RedBox is a very popular thing b/c at 10pm there was a constant line of people renting movies.

THEN...my Manda rolled in. She must have felt that I was in desperate need of a hug and a tire iron. She was a sight to behold and her white car (Maxine) looked exactly like a white stallion swooping in to save the day! She had with her the tools I needed to changed the lousy tire.

She followed me all the way home as we drove the backstreets of the Salt Lake valley. My donut tire was a trooper but there was no way I would let it go more than 40.

Manda saved more than my car that night...she saved my life. Thanks for being there sweet pea.

The End.

I See Weird Things

So, this past weekend I was at the gym and I saw something going on that I had never seen before.

I don't ask to see weird things but people insist on making me view their weird habits.

I was on the treadmill, watching football, and enjoying a good sweat.

Then I notice a tall, middle-aged man about 25 feet in front of me kicking into the air.

He didn't just kick once, it was a continual thing for over twenty minutes. It was very distracting and I didn't know what was going on.

Once my run was completed I casually made my way over to the vicinity of the man; only to find him watching tae-bo on a mini dvd player. He had it positioned on a weight machine and while he was in his own world, kicked and punched away in front of everyone to see.

I guess good for him for exercising.

Add it to the list.

That's a good Idea

The following is my second-ever post, just explaining where we got the idea for our blog name.

*Anyone that knows me, knows that I love to quote movies and television shows pretty much all the time. How'd I come up with the name to my blog you ask? Check it out! Oh...and I definitely recommend The Office to anyone and everyone...*

Quote of the Day

My father-in-law, Steve, and I were watching football last night. The Indianapolis Colts were destroying the Tennessee Titans...

Steve: "Boy, the Titans don't look anything like their Super Bowl team!"

Matt: "You mean, when they were in the Super Bowl 10 years ago? in '99?"

Steve: "Well....yeah....I guess you're right."