The Big Fat Greek Christmas Party

Now I realize that it is no longer December.. and its barley still January. I also realize that it has been quite a long time since our last post but in our defense this one was pretty long.. and required a lot of detailing and work on both the writing and  picture placing front but with our further adue..( drum roll please)  this is the story of our Big Fat Greek Christmas Party!!!! 

It was Thursday night that  this all went down. Callie and I headed off to the party which was at Grand America, we didn't know what was in store for us but we figured the food would be good so we were down. neither of us really knew what was ment by a greek christmas party, but when we got there we were in for quite a ride! so here we go the play  by play action of what happened that night:

Phase one: finding the party.

the key to going to any party is first being able to actually find the party. seeing as none of us really know our way around the grand, this was the first adventure of the night. we ended up walking all over the hotel until we could find the people that we were looking for. but when we finally met up with reba and the rest of her party we were taken down the hallway and into the dining room. we had finilly made it to the party! whoot whoot!

 Phase two: the table situation.

when we got into the dining room we were taken to our tables. when we finaly got our seating situation figured out and sat down one of the first things we did was pull out the phone and take some pictures of us at the table!

and one with reba

and the super awesome napkin that was folded all fancy!

And they had these really cool candle holder things.. we got to take them home too! a.k.a. party favors

phase three: the food! (ahh my favorite part!!!)

 so seeing as how this was a greek party there are a few things that would be rather safe to assume 1) the food will be super yummy ( which it was) and 2) there will be lots of drinking (which there also was)

Our awesome Apple Juice!

"That was good lets get a closer one"

"alright now one more just to be safe"

*crazy Greek lady come on the mic and starts talking*
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH"
(to be honest I dont even know what she said but between her accent and the fact that we were trying to take a serious picture I totally lost it almost choked because I was laughing so hard)

The little chocolate balls were the best! it was like a rice crispie covered in cocoa...Delish! 

And look at how amazing this food looks!! To bad we didn't get more pictures but some of the stuff they had was a whole leg a lamb!! a pasta bar, a buffet with breads, salad, cheeses, and then some other man dishes like salmon, chicken and beef. They were all so amazing!!

Phase 4: The Raffle 

Reba being the super awesome person that she is bought everyone in her group some raffle tickets so that we could have a chance at winning something... little did we know that our "lucky tickets" would actually be super lucky!!  

turns out that our tickets won callie some pretty sweet wine glasses! 8 Red wine 8 White wine and 8 Champeign glasses.. not that anyone we were with knew the difference between the two but still it awesome. and for those of you out there who think we will never get any use out of those wine glasses? well we have news for you we will soon be having a party at which we will be drinking out of our glasses and having all sorts of sodas! 

But as you can probably guess callie was not the only one to strike it rich that night! But i did too! you know when you watch all those tv shows and they call a name out of the audiance and they yell our " You've won.. A BRAND NEW CAR!!!!"  well thats kinda like the moment that i had.. thats right every one i won a new car!! its a shinny new mercadies! you can even see for your self! 

OK so i might have left out the little fact that its a small tow car but still how cool it this!! we were both pretty shocked when we went to go claim our new prizes. over all it was a super fun night.. even some of the other people that were there wanted to take a spin in their new ride! 

Phase 5: The Photo Shoot 

this is exactly what it sounds like we went back to my house and took a ton of pictures! so here are a few of those! 

Newspaper

So I just thought that this was kind of cool. I'm in the newspaper about swimming! :)
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/tribpreps/53218114-190/team-state-swimming-murray.html.csp

me doing breastroke, funny that this one is in the paper cause  I'm not a breastroker 



Another random one of me! it was kind of awkward when he took this one 



Prep swimming: Training regime gets Murray back to winning ways

BY MARC BUCHANAN

Special to The Tribune

First published 3 hours ago January 3, 2012
Updated 3 hours ago January 3, 2012

Despite a strong swimming tradition — with eight state titles to its credit — the Murray swim team has recently fallen on hard times.

A 12-place finish at last season’s state meet didn’t sit well with the team and they wanted to do something about it.

“We have been really thinking about our tradition, it’s a big factor in what we do,” said junior McKenzie Pollei. “Everyone has more motivation this year to make it on the podium at state.”

To help the team achieve its dream of a state title, second year coach Amber Rogers instituted a ‘tear down’ program, a series of swimming sprints designed to help with endurance.

“The idea is to tear down muscles so they are used to swimming a lot and can swim for a long time,” said Rogers. “A few weeks before state, we stop the program and give muscles a chance to rest so they are in top shape for state.”

So far this season, the program appears to be working,. Twenty-four Murray swimmers show up in 15 events on the Utah top 50 list. Steven Long is the on the list in four events, the 50, 100, 200 and 500 meter freestyles.

“The past few years we have been getting to know each other and that has made a big difference in our success,” said Long. “In swimming, you build your success off of others pushing you, so it’s really helpful to have friends on the team that you can compete against and push each other to do your best.”

Long has been pushed this season by teammate Chris Ruben. Ruben, who also shows up on the Utah top 50 in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle, knows the tear down program has helped him drop time.

“Tear down is the worst month of your life, — it makes everything sore,” said Ruben. “It’s rough and hard but it’s good for you and we are better because of it.”

The Spartans last won a swimming state championship in 2006. Although Rogers knows that success won’t come overnight, she wants the program to get to the level that they enjoyed in the 1990s, when the school won three straight titles.

“Coming from Arizona, I didn’t know anything about Murray swimming and I have been very impressed with what I have learned,” said Rogers. “I want to get back to that standard and make a name for ourselves again. If we work really, really hard, I know we will.”