????
????? ?????

Okay, that might be one of the funniest bits in Amazing Race history. When Jordan tried to talk with her mouth full and the show runners decided to use ?????? for the subtitle…I almost died laughing.

In face, this episode was fairly hilarious. After the first episode, I actually thought Brent and Caiti were smarter than they looked, but we’ve been proven wrong so far…they are perpetually stuck at the back of the pack.

This leg, when he spotted the airplanes over the battlefield, Brent goes “They have…flying things.”

OMG, if I had been drinking a Diet Coke at the time, it likely would have been sprayed all over the dog sitting at my feet.

Jeff and Jordan are my favorites though and I’m glad they are still around. They just make me laugh. Jordan was so hungry that she wanted to “shove the baguette in my throat”…although I thought the mouth would be a better place.

So at the beginning of the race when Joe and Heidi talked about how confident they were, I believe I whispered “foreshadow” to Jina.

You have to feel bad for them…getting U-Turned at a challenge like that was brutal. I have to give props to the Amazing Race for making this leg not only have a U-Turn, but also the Speed Bump. The challenges were hard and difficult and it was definitely set-up to help spur on some drama.

The detectives…suddenly the slow-witted, slow-moving, chubby law enforcement guys are the team to beat. Two first-place finishes in a row. They get hard-core and U-Turn Joe and Heidi.

Of course, when they told Phil they “represent law enforcement around the world”…I think some of those people might be a bit embarrassed at how hard it was for Louie to crawl through that battlefield.

And what about that whole thing? I dunno, but barbed wire, exploding streams of dirt and then low-diving airplanes…it seemed slightly dangerous to me.

Contest Update

So I forgot to include a U-Turn in the scoring system, but it’s essentially the same as a Yield, so the points will be the same. Plus 10 for Joe and Heidi, minus 10 for the cops. So those of you that had Joe/Heidi get a few extra points despite losing them.

Here are the updated standings:

• Kathy 45
• Tracy 42
• Tyler 42
• Dave 42
• Ryann 34
• Jina 29
• Nicky 24
• Melissa 22
• Mike 22
• Josie 21
• Heather 14
• Adrian 5

I couldn’t even tell you what happened other than Jeff and Jordan were LUCKILY saved by a non-elimination leg. I say luckily because they are one of my teams and I’d otherwise be completely out of this contest already. Not that I’m still in it really, I don’t think I have a chance.

But these teams…the Cowboys and the Cops…they’ve surprised me…I find this year to be abnormal in the way the teams are competing compared to how you saw them after the first episode. Usually you can pick out the good teams, but this bunch is sort of all over the place.

Contest Standings

It’s a three-horse race right now. Tyler and Dave are kind of stuck with each other because they have the exact same teams, but Tracy has a different one: Dan/Jordan while Tyler/Dave have Brent/Caiti.

• Tracy 37
• Tyler 37
• Dave 37
• Kathy 34
• Ryann 27
• Jina 25
• Melissa 19
• Mike 19
• Nicky 17
• Josie 15
• Heather 11
• Adrian 4

I was in Utah four days last week, got home on Friday night and left again Sunday evening and shall return on Friday. After that, the travel should end and become very spotty at best for awhile.

Jina was sick late last week and over the weekend, so mostly I took care of Lyla and Jina got to rest both days I was home. I was so glad to do it…she’s been taking care of everything at home and that can get old, tiresome and boring. Plus when you are sick…it’s brutal.

Lyla is so independent now, so stubborn…she’s a handful when she’s not feeling good or needs extra attention. Sometimes she’ll be on her own for hours, othertimes she demands so much from you. Been loving her temper tantrums of late where she dances for a few seconds before sucking in a ton of air and letting it out in a major crying fit of rage *grin*

But she’s also amazing right now too, this phase of her life is so great. A few weeks ago I taught her how to say “Rain” and now she pretty much knows WHEN to say it too. She brought Jina one of Jina’s slippers from the closet the other day, so Jina asked her to go get the other one. Off she went and returned with the matching slipper! Amazing right?

She can also reach the doorknobs in the house now…and is about an inch away from being able to open them on her own. Yikes.

There is so much more, but no time to write much else. Just a quick update while I’m on break up here in Salt Lake City. Hope you enjoy the pictures below!

This above one was shot on Sunday afternoon a little before I left for the airport. This photo actually made Approver’s Choice on Wunderground.com! Was a fun shot…set the tripod, had 10 seconds to run ahead and pose…also was a bit tricky to get the clouds right. Had to actually combine two layers to get the foreground lit up and the clouds dark and ominous!

This is Lyla’s first time out in the rain on her own. She loves it…she just stood there and laughed a few times. I had to drag her inside from the cold.

Jina bought this tricycle quite a few years before Lyla was even conceived…as something just in case we had a kid someday. A few weekends ago, our friend’s daughter found it and rode around. We put Lyla on it and she loved it. On Sunday, she went out the frontdoor, into the garage and stood right next to it. Hint hint daddy!

As you can see, her feet are nowhere near the pedals…but she likes being pushed around on the thing. It’s amazing to me how old she looks here…growing up so fast.

Yesterday I was running out on an errand and she was waving to me from the kitchen window, and then when she realized I was leaving, I saw her face curl up into a cry. Oh man…that was tough.

But I had a great last few days with her…we hung out on Friday afternoon, spent some time together this weekend with friends and then this afternoon we went to the mall, played on the kiddie play area, saw the puppies at the store, drank some Diet Coke through a straw and chased birdies around.

She loves birds…she sees them and says “biiirdeeee!” Today she was like a little golden retriever chasing them around.

Here are some recent photos…this first one was taken just today while we were out playing. She just loved being able to sit in a chair.

Concentration…

Love those eyes

The tree well is the spot to be

Laughing at her buddy Hudson, visiting this weekend

My angel

Of course, not every challenge is going to involve roping a fake cow and riding a fake horse! I still love the “Western Theme” music playing in the background everytime the Cowboys do something good or…pretty much do ANYTHING.

Speaking of Carol and Brandy, no one picked them in our little contest and that’s proving to be a big mistake! Two top three finishes so far. However, they weren’t too happy with each other during the course of this leg, and a self-destruction might be in the near future.

I felt bad for Catie and Brent…must be awful to be suddenly get food poisoning during a race like this, but they got lucky with the bus trip not being until 8:30am and they succeeded in not being eliminated.

I liked the challenges this time around, they took some work and effort to get done, although the hidden treasure one proved a bit too difficult for most people.

Big fans of Jeff and Jordan, they are so funny. Jordan just starring at Phil at the end, pondering his face and why she can’t read it. Or Jeff commenting that they definitely should never reproduce. Hilarious.

The Contest!

Here are the standings so far…Adrian lost yet ANOTHER team, so he’s effectively TOAST, while those that picked the Cowboys are killing it right now.

Jina missed being tied for first with three others by losing Shawne and Monique, so she’ll have to fight to keep up.

• Tracy 24
• Tyler 24
• Dave 24
• Jina 23
• Kathy 10
• Nicky 10
• Heather 10
• Ryann 10
• Josie 9
• Melissa 6
• Mike 6
• Adrian 3

It’s happened before…Pop Critics spun off from A Mike Life, then Haboobing spun off (although it barely lasted a week) and now it’s time for Mike Olbinski Photography.

Why the new site? Well, the more and more I grow in my love for photography, the more I realize I want this to become something amazing for myself and my family. There is a lot of work and effort going into some of these photos and I want that to pay off somehow.

I’ve sold a couple of prints now and have heard from several other people that they’d like to buy some in the near future. That alone is enough for me to truly believe this may be more than just a few cool pictures I’m taking. I’m hoping that more and more people will like what I shoot and become fans.

For that reason, I’ve decided to separate my personal blog from my photography (other than family photos of course!) to help create a more professional image.

I now have a blog that uses the old them I had here, which you can find (and bookmark/sub to RSS) by visiting MikeOlbinski.com.

I’ve also set up a permanent photo gallery that comes complete with a shopping cart for e-commerce. You can find it by clicking right here. I’m sure you’ll bookmark it! Also you can subscribe to the RSS feed for it and get updates on the new photos I add to the gallery.

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of this hobby I’ve slowly discovered. It’s amazing how much passion I have for it. This spring I’m going stormchasing in the midwest in which I hope to capture some amazing clouds and storm structures, and then this summer during monsoon season here in Arizona I have a few day trips in mind to really capture the many stages of the thunderstorm season here in the desert.

If you have any questions or want more information, please email me or contact me with the comments below! Thanks so much!

We’ve spent a lot of time together this past weekend. I was gone last week for 2 days, but I didn’t see her from Tuesday morning until Friday afternoon. That Friday we went to the park for an hour or so and just walked around, her exploring, me documenting her exploration.

Most of these photos are from last Friday, but on Sunday we went out a few times chasing the storms and so the first and last pictures are from Sunday.

Ready to drive I think?

One of the best I’ve taken of her to-date.

I taught her the joy of peeling bark from a tree trunk. She loves it.

Picking up leaves.

Great smile on her face.

Flowers!

Really love this one…the wind was blowing.

More wind. This is looking down a drainage tunnel under a road.

My little stormchasing buddy/sweetheart!

(Note, every recap of mine will contain some mention of “such as” just for fun. Thanks Caiti!)

And speaking of Caiti…a good way to make people forget about that whole “the Iraq and such as” would be to STOP MENTIONING it. Every week she talks about how she’s going to prove to everyone that she’s smart. Well, if she was smart…she’d just BE smart, not talk it up.

So how ’bout them Cowboys???

The cool, calm and collected yee-haws quietly passed everyone and made it to first place. They barely worked up a sweat the entire leg. And they earned their very own THEME music??? How awesome is that??

I also figured out after last night that I’m the only person on the planet who didn’t know how many eggs were in a Baker’s Dozen. The wife thought it was a fact that you are born with, but not this guy apparently.

Those undercover detectives are going to have to figure out a way to get their old jobs back after completely missing the road block turn and going 19 miles out of their way.

The slow-motion condor flight was kind of funny. Also the censored cows peeing and crapping was hilarious.

Am I the only one surprised how dangerous it was for them to be milking those cows? They all came so slow to getting nailed in the head, I would just figure that was a bad thing?

The Contest!

So here we go…amazingly, NO ONE picked the Brandy/Carol team, but four of you did snatch up the Cowboys and got yourself some nice points this week.

Poor Adrian somehow must have lost his mind when he picked Jody and Shannon, so he’s already down a team. Sorry Adrian!

• Jina 12
• Tracy 12
• Tyler 12
• Dave 12
• Kathy 7
• Nicky 3
• Josie 3
• Melissa 3
• Mike 3
• Adrian 2

And what a crazy start. The Cowboys finished third! I mean, they were so far out of the race for most of the episode, they barely got any airtime until the last 10 minutes and BAM, they finish third! What drama!

Seriously, did we break a record for the number of penalties on a leg? Or at least, on leg 1? Two? Already?

I was certain Coach Steve and Allie would get a third penalty for PAINTING SOMEONE’S HOUSE WHO DIDN’T ASK FOR IT! OMG, too funny right?

I also am fairly certain I wont be able to tell the two brothers apart for the entire race…which is which and which is gay…I really don’t believe anyone else will either. Maybe it’s just me, but they look and sound A LOT alike.

Something to note…slowly the Amazing Race has become a competition between teams with a “slight” celebrity presence. My friend Bryan has tried out twice for the show, I have once, and he wanted to do it again.

But what chance do you have?

This race we have a Miss America contestant, a former NFL coach, two Big Brother contestants, one of which won a season, and a guy who looks a LOT like John Gosselin from John & Kate Plus 8. Seems like it’s pretty tough to make the “regular” roles.

Loved the way the race started with public transportation. Lots of action and scrambling.

How annoying would it be to get on that first flight and then have dang airplane mechanical problems! Argh!

Okay, enough talk about the race, it’s on to A Mike Life’s little contest, because I really need to start thinking about who I’m picking…seems like a tough task this year…not too many standouts.

THE CONTEST

The rules about the contest can be read by clicking right here.  However, I am changing up one thing:

- The tiebreaker will NOT be the finish city…too many people can find that out by searching the internet right now. We’ll instead count the number of Top 3 finishes for your entire race to break the tie. If there is STILL a tie, then two gift cards split!

Now, time to make your picks before next week’s episode.

Post the THREE teams you think will make it to the end in the comments below.

Good luck!