Top of the Food Chain

For Christmas, my family got Planet Earth.

No not this one...

THIS one:

Anyway, we've been watching it over this nice little Christmas break, and I must say, it's taught me several things. The *MOST important thing I've learned, is to be grateful that, as a human (albeit a weird one) I'm at the top of the food chain, for the most part. I'm so so thankful to not have to be like the skittish Impala,

living in constant fear of being eaten. I don't want to even THINK about how many ulcer that guy has.

Seriously though, can we please take a moment and be grateful for that? There isn't a great white shark in my neighborhood, ready to strike at any moment. There isn't a sluethy crocodile ready to snatch up one of my older relatives at the watering hole (and drown him for an HOUR before finally eating him). There isn't a pack of dogs, who creepily employ military strategies in taking down a little cousin. There isn't a bear rummaging around my habitat, trying to eat my sweet juicy flesh when all I want to do is return to my homeland to lay my EGGS!

Gosh. I'm grateful that my worries are, "What will happen at work/school today?" instead of "Will my natural predator obliterate me or one of my family members today?"

*The second most important thing is that now I'm afraid of sharks. Crud, like I need another phobia...

Big shoes to fill...

As you may or may not know, my family is, how you say, EXTREMELY talented in many ways. My dad and brother are both especially gifted in the area of photography. I bought a fantastic camera over the Summer, and had my first opportunity for some REAL photography this Christmas break! Yesterday morning, Andrew and I set out and drove up American Fork canyon, by our house. Andrew let me use his tripod, and I actually got some pretty nice shots! It was incredibly cold, so our journeyings were cut pretty short, but I had a lot of fun. These next few photos were my favorite of the day. I don't have photoshop on my computer, so I just used the editing capabilities built in to iPhoto, and was pleased with the results, given the somewhat-crude software.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Confused Geography

I like to do some shopping online. Holidays are a time to shop.

Based on these two facts, it's reasonable to assume that I've done some online shopping lately. One item in particular had a pretty interesting shipping route:

I'm not sure if you can see it, but it went from Phoenix to SLC to Orem to Provo and then to Highland. Meaning it passed Highland not once but TWICE before it ultimately arrived at my parents' house this afternoon. Weird. And inefficient.

Also, is it weird that it made it from Phoenix to SLC in less than 8 hours, but stayed in Orem for more than 24??

I'm not crying...

Click on this and be sad.