Princess picks the Giants

Ok, so I saw this on the news, and came across several articles about this. Princess, a New Jersey camel, has picked the Giants to win the Super Bowl. Last year, she predicted the Super Bowl win, and apparently, her record this season hasn't been that bad! Below, I have Pasted the article from ESPN. I think Princess is a smart girl. I think James would agree.

LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- The New York Giants have what it takes to get them over the hump in next week's Super Bowl.
At least, that's according to a pigskin-picking camel named Princess who has chosen Big Blue to triumph over the New England Patriots.
Her picks are nothing to spit at: Princess, who once belonged to heiress Doris Duke, went 11-6 during the regular season and is 8-out-of-10 in the playoffs this year. Her prowess is equal to that of some of the most famous forecasters.
"I can't explain it, but her predictions, more often than not, are right on the money," said John Bergmann, general manager of Popcorn Park Zoo, the southern New Jersey facility for elderly, abused or unwanted animals where Princess has lived since 2004. "I'm hoping she's right this time because I'm a Giants fan."
Princess' prognostication skills flow from her love of graham crackers. Bergmann will choose a game at random during the regular season, place a cracker in each hand, and use a permanent marker to scrawl the name of a competing team on each hand.
Whichever hand Princess nibbles from is her "pick" for that week.
Her regular season mark of 11-6 comes out to a .647 winning percentage. (Since she never quite got the hang of points spreads, Princess picks the games straight-up, just choosing the winner.)
By comparison, Dave Goldberg, the Associated Press football writer who makes NFL picks each weekend, posted a .664 regular season percentage.
ESPN's Ron Jaworski, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, had a .688 mark, but Princess topped Mike Golic, another former Eagle on ESPN, who came in at .584.
And in the interest of full disclosure, the camel also topped Wayne Parry (author of this story), whose score in a New Jersey Statehouse football pool came in at .640.
Princess started out picking games for a local radio station in the 2006 season. But when the station didn't bring her back for 2007, Bergmann kept the tradition alive.
It's the least he could do for an animal that was once the personal pet of heiress Doris Duke, the only child of tobacco and electric energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke.
Doria Duke raised Princess and her sister Babe from youngsters, Bergmann said.
The pair had their own barn and were taken on summer vacation to Duke's Rhode Island estate, he added. If weather became inclement, they were put up in the solarium, he said.
After Duke's death in 1993, the camels stayed on her estate in Hillsborough. Babe died several years ago, leaving just Princess.
When Princess' caretaker was about to retire, the estate offered Princess to Popcorn Park Zoo, which took her in.
Her picks haven't always been perfect, though.
"She actually picked the Giants a lot when they were losing, including opening day against Dallas," Bergmann said, referring to a 45-35 loss.
But take heart, Giants fans: Princess knows a Manning-led champion when she sees one. She chose Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to win last year's Super Bowl.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

Lucy Loo

We have a new baby. Her name is Lucy. She is an eight week old Cockapoo. My Dad and I picked her up yesterday. She is the sweetest little thing you will ever see. She has the cutest personality. She likes to sit on your shoulder or behind your neck.

Here she is on James' shoulder.
She got tired a few minutes later...
And she was gone. She is a handful! This little dog demands so much attention! She cried all night last night and I am not looking forward to tonight. I have to constantly watch her to avoid her "messes" and catch her in the act so I can train her properly. All of the stress and frustration is going to take a lot of patience, but it is all worth it when you see that little face. I know she is going to be a good dog, it is just going to take some time. I love Lucy!

Britney Cookies

Ok, so for Christmas, the Petersens (OOPS! I mean Santa) gave us a KitchenAid. I am OBSESSED with it! I am basically always looking for an excuse to use it. I love this thing - and there are so many amazing attachments. James knows what he can give me as gifts for the next few years! So, Sunday, I was craving some time with my black, shiny friend, so I decided to whip up some cookies. Not just any old cookies, but Britney cookies as we like to call them. They are the peanut butter kind with the chocolate kiss in the center. Britney has perfected these cookies and makes the best ones. This was my first attempt - not too bad, but not like Brit's.

Here is the result. They were pretty good, but I enjoyed using the KitchenAid more!

U23D

We went, we saw, tears were shed, it was fantastic! James took me to see U23D on Saturday. I was so excited that I was listening to U2 all day and driving James nuts with all my excited outbursts counting down the hours until showtime. He was very sweet by acting excited too, although I do believe that James rather enjoyed it himself! It was way better than I ever expected and I think that any and everyone would enjoy it. I must say that Bono never ceases to amaze me with his vocal ability. One of my favorite performances, strangely, was 'New Years Day.' Of course, it would be a crime not to mention how amazing the Pavoratti part was on 'Miss Sarajevo.' I could go on and on...This is me in my post-show glow. That guy wasn't kind enough to move, but whatever. Bono for President!

ICECICLES!

We have had a lot of snow lately and it has been so cold! As a result, we have developed these icecicles outside ou front door. This one we were particularly impressed with.

Hanaumaneemaumamanana Bay

Aloha! James has been bugging me to get more honeymoon photos up here. He really wants everyone to see us parasailing and our awesome turtle. This is us on the parasailing boat. My combover rocks!

We love love LOVED parasailing! It was so quiet up in the sky. They dipped us in the water on our way back down. A lot less scary than anticipated.

This is our turtle. Yes, he is "ours." He wanted to come home with us and I promised to feed him lots of algae and whatever else he eats, but we decided it would be better for all parties if he stayed in Hanauma Bay. We miss him though.

I am a troll. We went down in this cage out in the middle of the ocean and swam with sharks. We even got a DVD documenting the whole adventure, but its not as exciting as it was in real life. One of those 'had to be there' moments, I guess.

Ok, for the finale...James did not want to go home and he was eager to tell all of America about it.

So, yes, we had a fabulous honeymoon and we can't wait to go back. We really liked the place we stayed and will probably return there in the future. Mahalo!

Prilly Crocker

I am kinda proud of myself. Yesterday, I made a carrot cake from scratch. I shredded all the carrots myself and even made the frosting. I have never made a cake from scratch before, it has always been out of the box and the frosting from a can. James was excited because carrot cake is his favorite. I think I was just looking for an excuse to use the cake plate. James did the honors of cutting it last night.

Today, the cake is gone. Don't get excited, we didn't eat it all ourselves...I sent the cake to James' sales team at Heritage Web. I hope they enjoyed it...better their thighs than mine; although a piece of it sounds really good right now...

Okay, so the biggest game of the year is on Sunday, and James is excited. I thought he was going to lose it during the Giants game last Sunday, and the game was a nail biter up until the end...he kept going out on the balcony and pacing and lifting weights during the commercials, but the Giants pulled it out! It is going to be pretty exciting since my brother Dave's girlfriend, Sarah, is a die-hard Packers fan. It should be a good game - I just hope there is snow like there was in Green Bay last game. GO GIANTS!

April is obsessed and you should be too

Happy 2008!

Ok, so we have been trying to get this up for about a month now, so there is a lot to update on to begin with! We are doing fabulous, loving married life and having fun adjusting to it. The wedding was AMAZING, it turned out better than we expected, and we thank you all for celebrating it with us! Please check out our slideshow for some photos, we will be posting more soon.

We went to Oahu, Hawaii, for our honeymoon - it was fantastic! We swam with sharks, sea turtles, went parasailing, ate lots of Lau Lau (James' favorite) and Laie Chop Suey. We were able to attend the Laie Temple and also go to PCC. We didn't want to come home!

We rented a convertible and we named her Penelope. She was lots of fun. James drove mostly, but when he didn't, he was taking pictures like this one.

After we returned from our honeymoon, we trekked up to Utah. Our Open House was on Tuesday, Nov. 20th, at my Uncle Vaughn and Aunt Joyce Clegg's home. It was so incredible. We were overwhelmed with the attendance. So many people worked so hardn and it turned out more than perfect. We are especially grateful to Grandma Seeta for coordinating all of it and taking pictures. We haven't gotten any pictures yet, but will post them when we get them. Everything was so fun and we recieved so many wonderful gifts (I promise thank-yous are on the way!!) but we do admit we were really glad to be done with all the rush and stress of wedding and just relax!

On December first, we enjoyed the first snow of the season. You would think that I didn't grow up with snow, and had never seen it again in my life - I've just been so used to 75 degree winters for the past seven years, I guess. We were both so excited about the snow that we went over to my dad's house to shovel it. James captured the moment on camera.

For Christmas, we went to Arizona and we loved it! The weather was fabulous and it was great to relax and spend time with family. We were voted to be Mary and Joseph in the Nativity at Seeta's house - it was James' first Webster Christmas Eve experience - he was overwhelmed a little, but throughout our whole visit, he kept saying "I love Christmas, it is so fun!" We are definitely blessed with awesome family and super fun holiday traditions.

We had so much fun exchanging our cousin gifts. I think our favorite was Quinci's reaction to the dress-up clothes we gave her. She was so funny! "So cute! Shoes! Pretty!" She was so excited for all of it, and it made our night.

We came home to a lot more snow and cold but we are excited for the new year. We have made lots of goals and are experiencing the challenges of keeping them. We both feel blessed to have each other as such a huge support. We both recieved the calling to teach Sunday School to the 16-17 year old class in our ward. We are excited to take on this calling and can't wait to teach the Book of Mormon this year!

We are very thankful to all of you for the amazing support you have been in our lives. We look forward to keeping in touch with all of you! Please check this blog frequently to see what we are up to! Also, please send us your comments, emails, etc. We Love you!!