Luray Caverns

Fried Eggs

Today the family and I had a memorable experience. We took a two hour drive to West Va to check out the famous Luray Caverns. The cavern has been highly commercialized and guided tours now run the show, but it was still an incredible sight. The caverns are adorned with massive stalagmites, stalactites and other geologic wonders. The most incredible sight was man made, but simply amazing. If you don't

These were Everywhere!

know it or not, each stalactite has a unique sound when tapped. So some genius thought it would a cool idea to make an organ that tapped stalactites of different sizes to produce various tones! There was also an amazing drip formation that took on the appearance of fried eggs. And a stalactite that formed from above while a stalagmite formed from below and the two fused together forming the infamous "bride and groom" statue. A glowing pool of water (may have been enhanced by light bulbs) called the wishing well where you could throw a coin and make a wish. Don't even ask to know what I wished for or else it won't come true and I really want it to happen. There were just so many amazing "rooms" and formations that you could spend hours down there examining them and still not noticing everything. It's the type of place that even if you worked there and guided tours everyday you would still notice something new each time! My only complaint about the tour was the fact that it was a tour and you were herded around like cattle from each room to the next. It would've been much more enjoyable to simply walk the caverns with your own small group and taking as much time as you like to see it all. All the same,  I would still highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in West Virginia or near the Shenandoah National Park (which by the way was closed...bummer).

Wishing Well

Bride and Groom

Christmas Dinner

My first ever trip to the east coast has been great so far. I've enjoyed lots of family time and tons of lounging. Just how I would picture my Christmas vacation, at least for a few days. I do wish I could be skiing the amazing Utah snow and hanging out with the family in the evenings. As you are all probably very interested in knowing what my favorite gift from Santa was....I will now indulge. Santa was generous enough to bring me a helmet cam (but only because I have been a very good boy this year) to film my many extreme outdoor activities so you and I can relive their amazing moments. Here is my first use of the camera and it's editing program. The video captures our Christmas blunder, the Southard family had it's very first Christmas dinner without meat! Hilarious and another great memory to add to the many great ones over the years. Another great memory that we made this year was dressing my Dad up as Santa and taking our annual family picture with him instead of that phony dick at the mall who smells like BO and doesn't care about anyone over the age of 14. Anyways, I'm super stoked about my newest toy! My blog is about to get a whole lot cooler if I can actually make the time to do a post from time to time. Hopefully some epic plowder riding ensues!

Plowder

Winter can be such an amazing time of the year and its totally weather dependent in my case. For most people snow storms mean more stress and hassle. But to me and my fellow powder whore's its a small price to pay to ride new snow. We get stoked seeing our cars covered in snow each morning as we head out the door for work. Albeit, we don't really enjoy having to work when there's fresh pow, but it still puts a smile on my face.

 This past week the entire west coast has been getting a ton of precipitation flowing in from the Pacific. Utah has been given an amazing early Christmas present. We have received over 50 inches of snow in the past week alone! Our snow pack has finally crested 100" and its still December! It's every snow shredders dream. Freshies, powtay, riding the white wave and plowder are some of my favorites of describing the new snow.

Unfortunately, but still excitingly enough I am leaving Utah and its amazing snow pack to visit my family in Virginia for the Holidays. I've never been back east and am curious as to why I have such a bias toward it, despite never having experienced its culture and landscape. For some reason I am repelled by the east. Maybe its the crowded cities and no significant mountains part. But, I'm being honest here, I love to snowboard and quite frankly, if your state doesn't cater to my pow pow cravings then I'm just not interested. Snow or not, I'm very happy to be visiting the fam and am anxious to see them. Hopefully I'll find a good way to distract myself from the plowder here in Utah while I'm MIA. Shred hard my friends and Merry Christmas!

Arsenal!!

Today is a massive day for English Football. My hatred for Man United once again comes boiling to the surface as we are set to battle with the Red Devils for first place in the EPL. It's time for Arsenal to step up their game against their biggest rivals and shine. We've had a rough go against United (and the other "title contenders") in the past few seasons, but I feel that this is our year to regain the crown. We are team full of belief, ability and most importantly maturity (finally!) to do something with that belief. We've been regarded as contenders in recent years solely because of our dominance in the early 2000's, but everyone knew we didn't really have the goods to bring home the EPL title. We've lacked that killer instinct that all the title winner's seem to possess. And by that I mean having other players step up when key players are injured, squeaking out wins with nitty gritty performances and taking care of the smaller teams. No one this season seems to be emulating these characteristics as all the big teams have faltered a few times this season already. It is likely that all the key men for these teams are still feeling the effects of the World Cup and battling with tired legs and niggling injuries (such as Fabregas's hamstring woes.)

 Despite this, we still have a colossal match on our hands today! One that I look forward to every season. This one today is a little more significant to me this year because Arsenal have a great opportunity to take hold of the Premiere League title race and put some distance between themselves and their challengers at the top of the table. It's also meaningful because I have a little bet with Mr. Emory (who just happens to be a Man U fan) that if Arsenal beat Man U, then he has to come visit SLC (finally) within the next 6 months and vice versa if Man U are victorious today. This is big! See you soon EM!!

Prediction: It's going to be a tight one today. The game is at Old Trafford so obviously Man U have the advantage and will likely score. A win would be momentous and massive statement for Arsenal if we were to take all three points today. I don't think either team is willing to put caution to the wind and risk defeat at such a crucial point in the season. Man U is still undefeated this season, although they have tied almost half of their games thus far so chalk up another draw....1-1. Vidic to score off the corner first and Nasri with another piece of magic to level it up. Come on you GUNNERS and put Man U in the place like we did a few seasons ago....

Dexter

Tonight is the season finale of Dexter. It's an awfully grotesque show that has this unexplainable power to grab the attention of millions of Americans, luring them into watching a socially inept creature who lives a lie and tricks everyone into thinking he's a normal 9-5 daddy. In actuality he's a mass murderer of the earth's scum. It's a great show because it relates to people with violence and I'm just speaking for myself here, but I, in some sadistic way love to see Dexter killing evil men who committed heinous crimes they have gotten away with. Tonight we'll see Dexter take down another bad guy, but the real question is whether he is going to get away with all his murders and will he lose another love? My prediction is that Dexter is going to kill Jordan Chase, but in the end Lumen is going to take the fall for Dexter's murders and Deb is going to finally realize her brother is a killer, but she's going to accept him for what he is. And Boston boy is taking the fall for Dexter's murder of Liddy. Hmmmm. I'm getting a little antsy for this to play out. Dexter Dexter!

Holiday Bulge

"Don't dig your grave with your knife and fork:" -English Proverb (They are so wise)

It's officially the Holiday season and maybe I am a little tardy in acknowledging this, but I know it's in full swing when I start hearing Christmas Songs playing at work (uggh). The holiday season also signifies that time of year of when people just start baking copious amounts of sweet, rich foods and handing them out like they are kittens from a litter of 50! I don't quite understand the change that sweeps over us Americans during this time of year, but everyone seems to think that it's a great idea to add a layer or two to the winter coat of your family, friends and coworkers by sharing the gift of baking and delicious dishes. Just about everyday of work for the past two weeks there has been a basket of sweets sitting in the break room for all to indulge. Thanks!

Yummy in my Tummy!

In reality, we all need to think twice before we take that next cookie or piece of chocolate fudge during this time of year. Most of us aren't getting much exercise since the days are growing shorter and the temperature is hovering around freezing. Many leading sources believe that the average adult will gain 7 to 10 lbs over the Holiday Season! WTF! The sad part is that the people that put on this weight are the ones most likely to keep it as well. They'll tell themselves that their New Year's resolution is to lose 15lbs, but will quit their diet after two weeks and retain all that lovely extra cellulite that parties in all the wrong places on our bodies.

The dreaded "Belly Fat"

I love the holidays, don't get me wrong, but I find it quite depressing that for so many of us they signify a time to overindulge and neglect our health. This shit affects the rest of your life. It won't kill you to not try every dish at your next Christmas Party or not make 10 different dishes for your Christmas dinner for 5 people! Just take it back a notch.

Here are a few tips to keep that weight down during this wonderful time of the year:

1. Weigh yourself daily. Go ahead, don't turn a blind eye on your worst fear and step on that scale. Many of us "pretend" or try to convince ourselves we are staying the same weight by avoiding the scale. If you weigh yourself daily, it will be a constant reminder to keep the weight off.

2. Be aware of what you eat throughout the day. People "forget" they had four cookies at work and then eat four more later that same day. Try to be conscious of everything you are eating.

3. Always look for opportunities to move. Talk a brisk walk during a down time when spending time with family. If you have some spare time go for a jog or the gym instead of sitting in front of the computer or TV.

4. Learn to say "No" or "I'll pass." You don't have to say "yes" to everything.

5. Eat a little before you head out to that Christmas Party or Family gathering. Hunger can undo the best intentions.

6. Clear the table when finished eating. I always find myself picking at left over food at the table just because its there.

8. Alcohol has a lot of bad calories too. Keep that in mind.

7. Most importantly, Remember that the holidays are about friends, family and being thankful for them. --NOT FOOD--

Happy Holidays Everyone and remember to pray for snow!