Greetings to one and all on a wonderful Tuesday here in Sandy, Utah. As we all recover from another Christmas weekend, I have the opportunity to take the Loyal Subscribers' votes and reflect back on what was the Year in Review 2010. Topics to be discussed today: a moral victory for Utes fans, the Christmas recap, the frat boy, the bowler, the R.M., the Ticket, the graduate, and hopes for a better showing next year. On we go!
First and foremost, let me address the Utes' bowl game loss to the hated and most despised Boise State Broncos, 26-3 in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas. The Utes looked pretty good in the first quarter, leading 3-0 after practical domination of Boise in the first 15 minutes. However, the problem was that the Utes had the chance to really punch Kellen Moore right in his oversized teeth in the first quarter and couldn't do it. A missed field goal and a couple long plays called back for penalties prevented Utah from going up 13-0 or maybe even 17-0 early on - and after that, they could never put it back together, despite a pretty decent showing from the defense throughout the remainder of the game. The offense just couldn't get anything going, often punting after three to six plays. The defense played the Broncos pretty well, as I said, but the undoubtedly got fatigued after spending so much time on the field. Boise State punched it in a couple times and, though I never felt like the Utes were completely out of the game until there were only about five minutes left in the game, it was just too much for Utah. As if there any doubt they would do so, BYU fans immediately jumped on me on Facebook, telling me my team sucked, etc, etc, blah blah blah. Whatever. Bandwagon Boise fans. Bitter BYU fans. If a 10-win season is an indication of a sucky team, well... guilty as charged. I did learn two very important things from the Utes' loss, though: 1) My friends love to see my teams lose and 2) Boise State is not a national championship contender. We played like crap for three quarters and I thought we still had a chance to beat them. TCU would absolutely slaughter Boise State and Oregon and Auburn would beat either of those teams. If anything else, losing a relatively close game to Boise State was a moral victory for Utes fans.
Maybe next year. Oh wait. Nevermind.
As requested by my cousin, Esther, here is a recap of my Christmas. A-Town loves Christmas. It is easily my favorite holiday of the year - not only because of presents - because I love my family parties. I spent the 23rd with my mom's side of the family, singing Christmas carols, eating food, sharing jokes, and unveiling the newest edition of the Trans-Christensen Orchestra. On Christmas Eve, we went to a party for my dad's side of the family, which is traditionally a huge production. It's a lot of work and sometimes a bit of a hassle, but I love that party - and performing with my siblings as the Trans-Christensen Orchestra at that party is honestly one of the highlights of my year. I'll be posting a video of the XCO performance on Facebook today. Be sure to check it out. It's a good'n. We went home from the party on Christmas Eve and did our family rituals of playing "Jingle Bells," where we sing Christmas songs and bring presents out to the tree a few at a time. This was, in my opinion, easily the most rambunctious and crazy Jingle Bells of all-time, perhaps due to the fact that my entire family was together for Christmas for the first time in five years. It was really good to have everybody home, especially Austin, whose presence has been greatly missed (at least by me) for the past few years. Austin, Amy, Cody, and I slept in the family room that night after falling asleep to "Elf" at around 1:30 in the morning. As soon as I knew it, my alarm was going off at 5:45 in the morning and we all got up to open presents at 6 in the morning. Many people have asked if my siblings and I will ever get tired of waking up so early on Christmas Day and the answer, resoundingly, has been this - absolutely not. I think I was a good boy this year, based on the presents I got from Santa. But I think Santa may have treated me more as a recent college graduate than anything else, judging by the fact that I got a lot of spiffy clothes. Some might refer to them as "business casual." And so the job hunt begins. All in all, this was a good Christmas. As I tweeted a few days ago, I think the bad economy is largely to thank for the last few Christmases, which have been enormously toned back from some of the holidays my family has had in the past. That's not a bad thing, though. Every year when Christmas rolls around and my parents ask me what I want, I really don't have an answer for them most of the time. I don't really care what I get anymore because I know the economy has been rough on us and also because I have remembered that Christmas isn't about presents. It has given me the opportunity in the last couple years to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas and to spend some quality time with my family - and that's something that I am really grateful for.
And now it's the time that everyone in pretty much the entire world has waited for: The Year in Review for 2010. (I believe this segment was also previously referred to as the Top Five.) The following results are based on the votes you, the readers, placed on my blog site in the past seven days. I asked you to vote for the most memorable thing that happened to me in 2010 to crown the best events of the year, taking the throne from last year's champion, The Nose Wax, which was, apparently, the best thing that happened to me in 2009. Obviously, that shows what a crappy year 2009 was. Was 2010 any better? Let us find out together, hand in hand.
Fifth, Fourth, and Third places (in random, non-sequential order):
Aaron Joins a Fraternity - Five votes: Yes, yes. I became a frat boy in 2010, joining the Xi chapter of Sigma Gamma Chi at the University of Utah, the one and only LDS-sponsored fraternity in the entire world. Looking back, I really wish I would have joined at the beginning of my U of U experience, which, for two semesters, was filled with an almost non-existent social life. Going to school at a commuter school turned out to be incredibly difficult from a social standpoint, as many, if not most, of the students lived at home with their parents, detracting from a college lifestyle like the one I enjoyed at Snow College. Joining the fraternity introduced me to fifty new friends and gave me something to do every Thursday night... and it also boosted my radio listenership by four or five each week, too!
Bowling Class - Five votes: In what turned out to be probably my favorite class of my stay at the U, I enrolled in a bowling class during my final, most tedious, and most difficult semester of school. Bowling quickly became an all-time favorite and was the only class I looked forward to every single day of school in my last 16 weeks of formal education. It took me about eight weeks to get a hang of things, but once I learned how to bowl (80% mental, 20% putting the ball in the right spot every time), I got freakin' good at bowling. On a consistent basis, I posted some of the highest scores in any of the four or five bowling classes that semester at the U and eventually polished my skills enough to beat my mom in our annual post-Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl with my highest score of the fall, an impressive 193.
Austin Comes Home From Mission - Five votes: When I got home from my mission in 2008, I had about six months with my younger brother, Austin, before he left for his mission to Santa Maria, Brazil. I don't remember much from those six months. It all went by pretty fast and Austin wasn't even home for about two of them as he finished up a semester of "school" (AKA partying) at Utah State. Essentially, I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with the big lug for four long years - and let me tell you, family parties just weren't as fun. Austin returned at the end of the summer in 2010 and we quickly got back to wreaking havoc at family functions and heckling everyone in sight. Austin and I have ruled the airwaves in Salt Lake City and Ephraim since his triumphant return as Austin took over my spot as Program Director at the KAGE at Snow, was a frequent caller and eventually the final guest on "The House that A-Town Built" at K-UTE. Austin has been my cohort on Twitter as we have both recently converted to the once-hated-and-ridiculed social networking site, and, well, it's just good to have the young fella back.
Touching, right?
Second Place:
"The Big Ticket 2" Premiere - Six votes: In 2005, Austin, Scott Aylett, Jon Davis, and JD Lloyd embarked with me on a path to immortality as we filmed a 30-minute-long mockumentary about an arguably fictional professional wrestling tag team called "The Big Ticket." After the cult success of the film, we always joked about making a sequel. We thought we had our chance in 2008 when Scott, Jon, JD, and I returned from our missions, so we made a short theatrical trailer, promoting the sequel's production and eventual release in "Summer 2008." Well, as college students are occasionally known to do, we procrastinated a bit too long and before we knew it, Austin was gone on his mission. Finally, in December 2009, we manned up and actually began filming in the early stages of what would end up being an exceptionally long six month period - but in the end, we released "The Big Ticket 2" on May 29, 2010, before a formally-dressed group of twenty people in the cultural hall of an LDS chapel - a group that included such names as Jonathan Blackham, the sisters formerly known as Nicki and Erica Mills, the future Mrs. JD Lloyd, Jason the Barbarian, and a cardboard cut-out of Austin. TBT2 was an absolute spectacle - an hour-and-eight-minute-long spectacle, further etching our semblances in the archives of professional wrestling lore. Truly, "The Big Ticket 2" is the crown jewel of my cinematic career. You can watch it in five short parts - free of charge, surprisingly - on Facebook. Think about it - you could watch one part a day and be done by the weekend. Seems like a big sacrifice, but hey, it will change your life, and I think that's worth a shot.
Best movie of all time.
First Place - 2010's best Sign of the Times:
Graduation From the University of Utah - Eight votes: As of Sunday morning at about 10:00, I am officially a college graduate! My lowest grade in my final semester of school was a B and that's good enough to put me through. My final semester was a total beast, sticking me with four of my toughest classes to date - the ones that I couldn't get into as a junior and had no choice but to take, but I buckled up and passed! I'm done! WOW! That's crazy. I guess it doesn't feel all too different at this point since everybody else is also on break right now, but I'm sure it will hit pretty hard in about a week and a half when everyone goes back to school and I'm still stuck at home playing Playstation in my pajamas. (Just kidding, Mom.) I am extremely lucky and grateful to have been able to get my Bachelor's Degree in just six semesters (three years) when it typically takes four years to do. I'm still not entirely sure how that happened, but I'm not going to question it. I'll happily be done now. I'm ready for a break. Many have suggested that I head to grad school at this point, but I just want a break. I've worked pretty hard to get this done and I want to take it easy for a bit and make some money. Grad school is a definite option for the future, but I don't want to think about it right now. I've got some other stuff to think about at this point, so we'll see what adventures await. There's not a whole lot more to say about it, but this absolutely sticks out as one of the greatest achievements in my life up to this point. I'm grateful to have done it, to have done it quickly, and to be able to put it behind me. On to the next great adventure.
School's out forever.
As is tradition in the Newsletter, I must award this week's Game Ball to the best Fantasy Football player and this week it goes to Matt Cassel, who completed 24 passes for 314 yards and 3 TD, giving the Red Devils a total of 60.56 fantasy points and propelling my father's team to a league-leading week. Unless something miraculous happens, it looks like that wily rascal, Austin, will be this year's champion, to which I say BOOOOOO!! That's not an official Boo Box mention. That will probably be next week. (*spits on ground in disgust*)
Hmmph.
The Shoutout of the Week goes to Esther, my cousin, who completely surprised me at the family Christmas party on Christmas Eve by expressing her interest in my Newsletter. I had no idea she even read it. So... thanks, Esther! You made my night. I hope all is well with your family and your little kiddos.
That's about it for this year. What say ye? It's hard to believe that this is the final Issue of 2010. This has been one of the fastest years I can remember. I remember totally hating 2009. I don't think anything good happened in 2009, other than my graduation from Snow College and my nose wax, and I remember hoping that 2010 would be a much better year. Well, it was a year, all right. It wasn't a bad year, by any means. Not bad at all, really. Things happened, but, other than the aforementioned events, it doesn't seem like anything crappy happened, but rather seems like nothing really happened at all in 2010. here's to 2011... a year in which something good will actually happen. (*raises a glass to toast the New Year*)
Until next Time,
Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!
Aaron
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