2012: A Year

Changing things up a bit on my countdown-mostly cause I didn't make 10 friends this year. (only sort of kidding)

10 Firsts

First time reporting for Jury Duty and it was quite the experience-January

Got First place in the Carr family March Madness tournament-see proof below

First time I joined a gym-then it lost money and I had to join Gold's-I only sorta feel like I sold my soul to the devil...

First time I snow skiied behind a truck-At Scott and Katy's wedding in Colorado. Andy took us out in his truck and we zoomed all over the YMCA ranch at night pulling people on skis and plastic tables.

First time I went to Europe-that included a lot of firsts!!

First time on a real train-the Eurostar is the only way to travel between London and Paris!

First time I got Netflix-I know this is lame, but it significantly changed my media usage.

First time I went through the temple-Columbia River Temple in March

First time I quit my job-end of November, a good decision

First time a sibling got married-Jillian married Mike on December 15th

9 Entertainment Decisions

Downton Abbey-I got on that train, and it's so addicting. I also have already watched season 3 because I know secret internet things and was able to stream it from the UK. Plus I like watching it with my mom.

Sherlock-the BBC series. My and my mom like this one too. She really likes the banter between Sherlock and Watson-and also has a little crush on Benedict. We also hate waiting between seasons and cannot wait to figure out the conclusion to the Reichenbach Fall!!

The Muppet Movie-watched this on the plane back from Europe. Jillian was singing it all the time on our trip,  "Life's a fillet o' fish! Yes, it is!" This was very nostalgic for me, and they did a really good job on it. 

The Jazz Singer-NEIL DIAMOND being Jewish, singing songs. It's all one could ask for.

White Nights-Mikahil Barishnykov and Gregory Hines dancing to save themselves from the KGB. Again-it's all one could ask for.

Once Upon a Time-tv show, me and my mom watch this one too. Caught the first season on Netflix. I like all the fairy tale characters hanging out together. The first season was really good, the second is decent. But I am afraid for the show because it's made by the same people who did Lost and I know that show got out of control. 

Dance Academy-found this one on the Netflix as well. A good teenage comedy-drama. And it's set in Australia at a Ballet Academy in Sydney. It's actually a well-written show, but since it's on an Australian channel I have to wait for it to be on Netflix. But it's got ballet too, and I like it. 

Moving Up Living Down-cd by Eric Hutchinson. I didn't like this one as much as his first one, but then I listened to it more and it's fabulous.

The Kings Speech-caught this one on the Netflix, it was weird that Helena Bohnam Carter wasn't crazy in this movie. I love Colin Firth. I'm glad he won the Oscar, he was superb.

I also watched the tv shows Jane by Design and Hart of Dixie on Netflix and I liked them both but they are both teen comedy dramas. (I'm 13, didn't you know?)

7 Books 

I read a buttload of books this year, these were among the cream o' the crop

Team of Rivals-the new Lincoln movie is based on this book, it is amazing and Lincoln is baller.

Left Neglected

The House at Riverton

Joan of Arc-Joan is baller too.

Jane Eyre-I liked it more than I thought I would

The Hiding Place-Corrie Ten Boom is baller as well

John Adams-baller founding father, I tried to watch the HBO miniseries and only got through the first two. It's good though. 

Ok a few more than 7

I reread my Betsy-Tacy series and loved, loved, loved it.

Elegy for Eddie-Jacqulin Winnespear is probably the best writer out of all the historical mystery series I read. Her books are more than just a silly murder mystery.

6 Trips

Colorado in March for Scott and Katy's wedding

Europe!-in May-London, Paris, Florence, and Rome

Oregon Coast-in June-saw the beach, saw the dock that washed ashore from the Japan tsunami, saw sea lions, ate ice cream, had a bonfire on the beach. We had nice sun one of the days which is weird for Oregon. 

Leavenworth-July-we went horseback riding and then I got some delicious ice cream, but we missed out on the gingerbread factory. 

Utah for Bub's BYU graduation-August-btw, summer commencement is the way to go. A ton shorter and not as many people filling the towns restaurants.

Pullman, WA-to visit the Millers in October. My first time visiting Pullman and WSU. Although we did not get ice cream we did visit the bears and had fun at their ward Halloween party. 

Utah for Bub's wedding-December. I wore snowboots to Bub's wedding. Best decision ever. 

5 Friends

Brittney Davis

Dallin Shaw

Brigham Shaw

Meagan Mickelsen

Megan Lyon

Alexis Metcalf

4 Police encounters and little critters

Pulled over on the way to church for speeding-got a ticket

Pulled over late at night because cop said I ran a stop sign (I didn't), then asked if I were drinking (I wasn't), didn't get a ticket.

Pulled over on the way home from Leaveworth (around Quincy) for speeding. Cop was nice and didn't give me a ticket. 

Pulled over on the way home from Kennewick the day I quit my job, got a ticket, which made the day less exciting

Neighbors had the cops called on me, William and Bonnie, for sitting in his car in front of my house just talking at 10:30 at night. (It was really strange and random and my mom is now in a blood war with the neighbors).

Ran over a skunk on the way to Alexis' house in Feb. I used a whole can of Febreeze on the inside of my car. It's not like you can dip your car in tomato juice. My car smelled FOR-EV-VER. Don't run over a skunk if you can help it. 

Ran over a baby porcupine during glow in the dark Crank It Slow, I didn't see it but felt this huge bump under my wheel and then proceeded to freak out in case it was another skunk but it didn't smell. Someone who came behind me told me it was a baby porcupine, but I don't think I killed it. 

3 Concerts

Eric Hutchinson-in Spokane

Neil Diamond-in Seattle-My mom was fist pumping!!

Jason Mraz-the Gorge at George, WA

2 Olympic Games

London 2012 Olympics-were amazing and completely fulfilling and I didn't get enough.

London 2012 Paralympics-Because of Oscar Pistorius I became interested in the Paralympics. They are the same yet completely different than the Olympics and I loved every minute of them that I could get. Also, they made me not as sad that the Olympics were over. 

1 quarterlife crisis. I turned 25 and did not do well. So I went to Europe to feel better. Now I have accepted it just in time to think about turning 26 in a month. WTF?

Other Things of Note in 2012: I got released from Relief Soceity and put in activities committee. I planned an awesome Ettiquette Dinner in October that I had my mom talk at. People showed up dressed up and a lot of people came. I am proud of that one. I was a bridesmaid not once, but twice! Once for Nikita in June (I also threw her a bridal shower) and once for Bubby. I also did a buttload of work helping my mom for Bub's wedding and we are going to need about a month to recover from it. Many of my good friends moved away from the TC so life is a little less busy. My job was too ridiculous and my last two paychecks bounced so I said syonyara and had December off to help my mom with the wedding and Christmas. Stacey had a murder mystery dinner at the Hoyles for her Birthday and it was tons of fun. I wish we could do it again. I rented a Kayak on Labor Day with William and we had a good time paddling up the Colombia River. My peeps and I went to Benton City to watch fireworks this 4th of July and they were up close and personal. I had a blast planning and taking my trip to Europe and fell in love with London especially. I got a smart phone for Christmas and am now one of those people. 

The last four months of this year were honestly kind of hard on me. My job took its toll and I let a lot of things slide. I am looking forward to a new year, a new job and new fun times on the horizon. Let's have a lucky 2013!

the internet is dangerous

Clearly I need to do more with my life. But hey, I have an adopted panda and you don't.

reminding myself

Today, I got my eyes checked, donated blood and voted. How's that for accomplishment?! Booyah. 

I just wanted to write a note (mostly for myself) about meeting new people. I forgot that I liked doing that. When I donated my blood today my phlebotomist and I had a nice chat while he stabbed my arm and siphoned away my blood. We just chatted about this and that but he was friendly and it was easy. Do you ever feel like talking to someone you've never met before is easier than talking to someone you've known for a long time? I don't know if it's because they don't know a thing about you or if because you are unknown that you are still new and interesting, but sometimes it's refreshing.

I love my friends. But maybe I've been around my current ones too long. We're very comfortable but things are also a little stagnant. There's little discovery anymore since we know each other pretty well. It's possible I've gotten to comfortable and don't have to exercise the "meet new people" muscles very often. Which is probably not a good thing. 

I need to remind myself that it's nice to meet new people and I like to do that for the most part. 

i got to get this off my chest

Last weekend the General Authorities announced there would be a change in the age requirement for Young Women to serve a mission for the LDS church. It used to be 21. Now they lowered the age to 19. The men can now go at age 18 if they have a high school diploma or equivalent. I've heard a few reactions and now this is my reaction to those reactions. First off, I think it's great. I think a lot more girls will serve missions that may not have. Partly because if they were to mature to the ripe old age of 21 some would be married and thus ineligible to serve a mission. It may make life planning easier-I don't know, like going on a mission after a year of college instead of after three. It's great, it really is. Personally, I am having a hard time with some people's reactions. From Facebook, friends, blogs, feedback from my sister who is currently at BYU, I've heard several things. How the marriage age at BYU is going to increase because all the girls will be on missions, how Liberty Square (a place known for marriages and housing straight out of the dorm girls {I know, I lived there}) is going to be vacant next year, how there will be less dating in the dorms at BYU, whether there will be any boys at all in the dorms, how they can't make that joke about ugly girls going on missions because they couldn't get married because all the girls will be going on missions, yadda yadda yadda. I think this will be a very interesting cultural change for things down there. I'm not sure if the marriage age will increase, maybe the number of marriages will decline because girls aren't getting married as young because they will be out on missions during an age when many girls become married. It will be quite interesting. There are many blessings that come from serving a mission and it's great that all these people are excited about these changes.

However, I am having a bad reaction to some of the things I am hearing. Women who are upset because they would have served a mission had the age been lower at the time they were contemplating service but by the time they were 21 they were married or on the way to marriage. They feel cheated somehow. This really hurts me. A lot. I am a 25 year old single female. A BYU graduate who did not earn her "MRS" degree. I have been in the "singles" system for 7 years now and have endured a lot. It just gets harder as you get older. But to hear these women complaining that something is "unfair" or "too late" is unfeeling. How can they say that? Especially to their husbands? But think about all the single women in the church who have longed and ached for the blessings of a temple marriage-and these women are complaining they didn't get to serve a mission. Well, me not being married, I don't know how it would feel to have to make that choice. But obviously all these women had a choice at one point in their life. And they made it. Missions are wonderful. Marriage is too. I'm sure it was gut wrenching for those who had to decide. But to say you feel cheated? You made a decision base on your options and knowledge available to you at the time. How do you know that if you had gone on a mission that you'd still have the same marriage opportunities? You cannot go back so please, please do not regret your decision to get married.  This change has come, now, in the year 2012. It cannot retroactively change the past, but it will have a huge impact on the future. 

I read some comments on a blog that were sad. How one girl was sad she didn't go on a mission because she always felt she was not on the same level spiritually as her husband, and how she always deferred to him because he had served a mission and knew so much more than she did. I just felt sad for her. Going on a mission is not a prerequisite to gospel knowledge. Women and men who do not serve missions have just as much room to grow as people who do. Just because someone has served a mission does not guarantee a lifetime of righteousness or imply any kind of superiority. From a young age my mother taught me something that was very important to her that she learned from President Kimball-that women could be just as scholarly in the gospel as men. And she has striven to make this a part of her life. Yes, it is weird to be in Sunday School and hear all the "On my mission" comments. Especially when you are in a ward as a 19 year old girl with a bunch of 21 year old return missionaries. But then you get over it. 

I guess in the end I have to say a few concluding points. Missions are a priesthood calling for men. They are a wonderful option for women who want to serve. There will still be women who choose not to serve for their own personal reasons. I think what everyone (including me) needs to remember and have faith in is that Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He knows our righteous desires. He has a plan for us. That may be to serve a mission, it may be marriage and a family, it may be something else. But we need to recognize and have faith that what we do and have done is part of our Heavenly Father's plan for us. 

Sorry for the rant. But I needed to vent. I would like to read your comments if you'd like to make them.

*This is based off of my life and my experiences. I have never felt pressure from "The Church" or my parents to become married just to be married and be righteous. It is a goal and desire of mine. But whether the reason it hasn't happened yet for me was because of my options, choices, independence, focus on other goals, naivete, lack of skill, or whatever, I never have felt like I was only worth something if I were married. I have a strong sense of self worth, thanks to my parents and have tried to live up to my own capabilities.*

bacon number

So I recently discovered something that allowed me to figure out my "Bacon Number." No, not the delicious pork product but the number associated with Kevin Bacon. Also known as the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon." The legend goes that every star in Hollywood can connect themselves to Kevin in 6 moves or less. He's starred in many movies with many people so I guess it's easy to trace. You can even google it now just by writing in a name and adding "bacon number" afterward. So I now give you my Bacon Number and its moves.

#1 I am Meagan. I am related to my Grandma. Grandma Carr

#2 I found out the other night that Grandma and Grandpa Carr used to get some kind of insurance through a Homer Gere in Syracuse, New York.

#3 Homer Gere is the father of Richard Gere

#4 Richard Gere-googled his "bacon number" and found that he was in the movie "Pretty Woman" with Julia Roberts

#5 Julia Roberts was in a movie with Kevin Bacon called Flatliners.

#6 Kevin Bacon

mmmmm Kevin Bacon

That makes my Bacon Number-6 and if you know me then your Bacon Number is at the most, 7. Fun, huh.

olympic withdrawal

The Olympics ended last night. I'm so sad. It's something that's filled up my entire free time for the past 16 days and now I'm sort of crashing after an Olympic high. I was so sad that there would be nothing to tune in to tonight. These Olympics were amazing. I was a tad worried they wouldn't be as dramatic as Beijing, but these games were wonderful in their own way. I am a huge fan and love absolutely everything about the Olympics. I even cry at the intense and dramatic moments. There were a lot of stories I loved, I'll have to think of them.

Two of my favorites were Oscar Pistorious and the German discus thrower who had the best gold medal celebration ever. I laughed so hard.

Uuuffff 4 more years till the next summer Olympics. I hope it goes by fast.

london day 10

day 10
Didn't see much tonight...
-Mustafina got gold in the uneven bars and didn't have to cry over a silver. Gosh, there's a lot of crying in women's gymnastics. Not like baseball, "there's no crying in baseball!" Gabby did not medal, but she's got two other golds so I think she'll be ok. And she has the balance beam to try again.
-The men's 400 m finals. Kirani James from Grenada won his country's first medal ever taking gold at age 19. He's the one who asked Oscar for his bib last night. They did a feature on him and he's such a great represenative for his sport and country. All he wants to do is bring attention to his country and not himself. He is a great sportsman and I think he'll be in future Olympics to come.
-Jen Suhr won gold in the pole vault for USA after she got silver in Beijing.
-My boy Sam Mikulak did great in his vault in the individual event final. He was so pleased with his second vault that he kissed the table. But he did not medal. I enjoyed his enthusiasm though, he was so excited to see the other top vaulters go and had to give the South Korean guy a hug after he did his tremendous vault. It was cool.
-I read that USA won a close game over Canada in women's soccer to advance to the final. Go ladies!

I think that's all I saw. Sad.

london days 8 and 9

day 8
-last day of Michael Phelps' swan song. He takes gold in the 4x100 medley relay with Nathan Adrian, Brendan Hansen, and Matt Greivers helping USA win the race. FINA gave him a special award for his achievements in swimming. Although Phelps is not my favorite person in the world, you have to admit that no one has even come close to what he has achieved and it's likely we'll not see another like him for a long, long time. He is truly the Greatest of All Time.
-Serena Williams wins gold in women's tennis singles.
-Oscar Pistorius, a double leg amputee from South Africa, competes with able-bodied runners in the 400 m race and make it into the semi finals coming in second in his heat. I know there's been a lot of controversy about this guy, and I don't know how they draw the line in who can and cannot compete in the Olympics vs the Paraolympics, but I think it's a courageous thing this guy is doing. And if he can beat other full-bodied runners then more power to him. Some say he's at an advantage with his "cheetah blades," because his legs won't fatigue like others, but I've read about the differences in how he has to run, and he can't feel his feet so I don't think he has an advantage. It's very inspirational and what the Olympics is all about.

-Men's USA volleyball loses to Russian. Darn.
-Twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan take gold for USA in men's tennis doubles.
-Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price wins gold in the 100 m women's sprint

day 9
-McKayla Maroney takes silver on vault. She did not stick her second vault and actually sat on the ground. It says something for her score that she still got silver. She is amazing on the vault, too bad she couldn't do one like she did in team competition. It was near perfect. But she's got my respect.
-Oscar Pistorius competes in the semifinals and does not make it to the finals. Another runner asks to exchange bibs because he has respect for Oscar and commends him on what he did. I think it's great that the other runners are on board for what he is doing and not being all snarky about it. They interviewed Oscar after the race and he was so humble, his goal was to run against able-bodied men and make the semis and he made his goal. He was so proud to make his goal and thanked everyone for being supportive of what he was trying to achieve. The entire stadium was cheering him on and I think it was definitely something to remember. He could be on the South African team for the 4x400 relay.

-Misty and Kerri beat the Italians and are set to meet the good Chinese team in the semis.
-Usain Bolt takes gold in the 100 m. It was a final that had 3 Jamaicans, 3 USA and 2 others. My dad totally called that Bolt would take gold, get the Olympic Record but not the World Record, Yohan Blake would get silver and an American would get bronze. That's what happened. He ran it in 9.63, not the world record but still pretty darn fast. I'm glad they showed the race a few times because I almost missed what happened.

-why do they have to show the entire marathon on tv? No one wants to spend 2 1/2 hours watching that, you could show other stuff in between and check in on the race.
-Sonya Richards-Ross won gold in the women's 400 m race for Team USA.
-A Brit won silver on the pommel horse, tied for first but dropped to second on the tie breaker. That's too bad, mate.
-Andy Murray wins gold over Roger Federer in a repeat match of this years' Wimbledon with a different ending. The Brits are probably for sure going to go crazy.
-when does BMX start? that would be fun to watch.
-Venus and Serena take gold in women's tennis doubles
-I'm sorry but where the heck did NBC get Ryan Seacrest? He is not a newsman, not at all. He is a host. This is not the same thing. There is a huge difference between what he can do and what Bob Costas does. I'm glad they just relegate him to reading the twitter updates but seriously, he's not a sportscaster. And NBC, if you let Ryan take over from Bob in the future, I will cut you.

A quote from an article in my newspaper today on running: "The world's fastest men leave each foot on the track for about 0.08 seconds. That means they're on the ground  for less than four seconds of each race. The rest of the time they're flying." Awesome.

Neeeeed Sleeeeep.

london day 7

day 7
-the broadcast started off with a feature on the Magnificent 7 from the 1996 Olympics. It was all I wanted and more. They interviewed Kerri, Bela, Dominique, Shannon and another one, showed more footage of the actual even and how things went down and of course I cried when Kerri did the vault that won the gold. I love her comment that when Bela wanted her to go the medal ceremony her thought was that she would be up in front of people with no pants on!! Ha ha! I hope this available on the internet somewhere. Someone needs to make this into a movie, doesn't even have to be a good movie, I'm sure ABC family channel would show it. Just make it. Maybe they're waiting for enough time to pass or something, whatever. Just do it.
-Phelps wins his 21st medal in 100 m butterfly
-15 year old Katy Ledeky wins gold in 800 m freestyle, the youngest member of Team USA, blew the competition out of the water. How young is she!
-Missy Franklin wins gold in 200 m backstroke, third individual gold of the games
-Hoffa wins bronze for team USA in shot put
-I love Will Ferrel's enthusiasm for the Olympics and team USA

Team USA takes over China in the medals count with 21 golds, 10 silver, and 12 bronze for a total of 43 medals so far, tomorrow is Super Saturday where they will hand out 25 golds. GO USA!

london day 6

Mary Lou, Carly, Nastia, and now Gabby!! Congrats to Gabby Douglas who won gold in women's all-around gymnastics!! She was amazing and totally deserved it. The Russians put up a good fight but Gabby did enough to keep first place. I feel bad for Aly who tied for third but then lost the tie-breaker and was out of medal. Soon we get to see some of these girls again on the individual events.

-team USA dominated day 6 and overtook China in the medals count
-20th medal for Michael Phelps in 100 m butterfly
-Rebecca Soni won gold in 200 m breastroke and got the WR again breaking 2:20
-team USA women 8 with coxwain rowing defended their gold and won again, great job!

london day 5

-men's diving, synchronized springboard win bronze, one of his pair in his 3rd Olympics to have a last chance of getting a medal
-Missy Franklin led a team of 4 women, Dana Volmer, Allison Schmitt and to win gold in a thrashing by USA in 4x200 m freestyle
-Nathan Adrian wins gold for USA in men's 100 m freestyle
-Team GB got their first golds, women's 2-man rowing, and Tour de France winner Brady Wiggins won the men's cycling time trial-(have you seen this guy, he totally looks British)
-Misty and Kerri drop a set for the first time ever in Olympic play, but they come back to win the match
-Danel Levya comes from a disappointing team finish on Monday and a deficit after a poor pommel horse routine to win individual bronze in men's gymnastics, way to go dude.

women's individual tomorrow night!

london day 4

Didn't see much variety tonight, but what a night!
-saw some diving, the Chinese won of course
-Allison Schmitt won gold in 200 m freestyle
-The Fab Five-Team USA, women's gymnastics. They are all my heroes. The team led going into the finals and it was theirs to lose, but unlike the men's team, they were able to pound it out. The girls started out on vault and gave three superb vaults. Jordan Wieber did an excellent vault and showed that her attitude was in the right place. McKayla Maroney is a superb vaulter, that's all she does for the team. She gets so much height and flings her body so well-it is amazing. Gabby gave great vaults too. Then came the uneven bars and the girls put up some solid scores, but Russia was still right behind them. The balance beam is the worst. I get so anxious when they perform their routines. Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, and Kyla Ross were so good on the balance beam and there were no huge mistakes to make me nervous for them. Then Jordan, Gabby and Aly were up on the floor exercise and all they needed was to do their routines fairly well. The Russians were the only ones behind them and they royally messed up on the floor. Aly was the last to go and you could see the relief in her face once she knew that he had it. The girls were so cute, crying and they were all so supportive of each other, but besides being cutesy gymnasts, you know they are top athletes of the world and came through in a clutch moment. And the parents, they are almost as fun to watch as the athletes. They get really into the routines and the emotion they feel for their kids. I definitely got a little teary watching the gymnastics. Bob was interviewing them and asked them their earliest Olympics memories (because they wouldn't be old enough to remember the Magnificent 7 in 1996) and they all said Carly Patterson in the 2004 Olympics. 2004! They are babies! Great job!

-Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever winning his 19th medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay, with Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, and Connor Dwyer. Now, I don't always think the best of Phelps because he is kind of a schmo, cocky, etc. But if you look at what Lochte is trying to replicate and cannot, and how Phelps himself is struggling in this Olympic then you realize how great of a thing he was able to do in 2008. 8 medals in one Olympics and they were all gold. I give Phelps credit for coming back, there is no way he could repeat that, nor would he want to try. I think he's just trying to see how much he can add on to his record. From his interviews it seems that he may not have trained as hard or as much, so I think he's just taking things as they come and enjoying all that comes his way. Michael Phelps is truly a great Olympian. Congrats.

london day 3

-mens sychronized diving, USA wins bronze, great job guys
-Matt Grevers won gold in the 100 m backstroke and Nick Thoman won silver giving USA a 1-2 finish
-Missy Franklin won gold in the 100 m backstroke and won a fan in me, she is 17, so nice and humble and a very talented swimmer AND she won 10 minutes after qualifying for a different race, so little time they let her warm down in the diving pool instead of having to walk out to the warm up pool and waste time. What a woman.

-mens USA gymnastics choked, they were supposed to be a medal contending team but lost it. Team GB got bronze and were so stoked, the place was rocking and Harry and Will were there to witness. Cheers to the home team! Also I have a small crush on USA gymnast Sam Mikulak....

-Misty and Kerri won their match and kept their winning streak alive
-women's USA volleyball beat a top seeded Brazil
-Lochte failed to medal in the 200 free, making what Phelps did in Beijing four years ago look that much more impressive
-Rebecca Soni won silver in the 100 breastroke, but lost to an impressive showing by a 15 year old Ruta Meilutyte from Lithuania, whom no one had heard of before, so they kept mispronouncing her name.

I think that was about what I saw. I really want team USA to grab gold in women's gymnastics tomorrow!!

london day 2

this schedule is killing me, they show stuff till the wee hours of the night, how am I supposed to keep a job?
-A word on results: I know that I am nine hours behind London and I could look all the results up online and know them already. But I care more about actually watching the sport and enjoying it rather than seeing who won. If you know everything before it happens then why watch it? It takes all the fun out of it.
-men's volleyball against Serbia? I hope they won, (they did) weren't looking as solid as the women
-two man rowing, team GB had a good showing
-men's beach volleyball, Dauhauser and the other guy are amazing, Phil's 6'9" frame helps a lot but he is good.

-US woman Kimberly Rhode got gold in skeet shooting. Yeah, girl.
-american duo got silver in women's sychronized diving, which looks so hard in my opinion. not only to have a good dive but do it exactly the same as someone else at the same time, gheez. Of course China won.
-swimming finals in a few events. Dana Volmer got gold and set a world record in the 100 m butterfly. Brendan Hansen got bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.

-Men's 4x100 relay, USA was the returning gold medalist after the dramatic showdown in 2008 where Phelps almost lost his chance for 8 golds. They had a good showing and were leading on the third leg, Cullen Jones was in the lead. Ryan Lochte had a good first 50 meters but the last French leg came back to overtake him and get revenge for his team from 2008.
-women's gymnastics. I love all the scrunchies, barettes and glitter! the USA team is very strong this year and  could take advantage that some normally strong teams aren't this year because of injury. I get so anxious when I watch the vault and balance beam. I just don't want them to get hurt or fall off. And of course I want them to do well. It's so interesting, these girls are so solid and tough, they do ridiculous things with their bodies. And then they get interviewed by Ryan Seacrest and are super giggly teenagers that want to meet all the other famous Olympians. Such a contrast. Like I said, very strong team this year. So much so that they had three members that could have made it to the All-Around, but each country can only have two qualify. It was a major heartbreak for Jordyn Wieber because she is the reigning world champ, but her teammates Gabby Douglas, and Alexandra Wiesman ended up scoring better than her. It stinks; on one hand, yeah, it's your fault you messed up or stepped out of bounds, etc. On the other, you may have a higher score than 20 other girls there, but because you didn't score higher than your teammate, you don't get to compete. Jordyn was so disappointed and crying, and they kept showing her on camera while they were interviewing her teammates!! Seriously! Let her go cry somewhere while she gets over her serious disappointment and not be in background. I felt so bad for her. But Team USA looks very good and I hope they win gold Tuesday night!