Mike Hall: For Sale

Alright, so as you can guess I really am not a very good blogger. Nikki on the other hand, she’s incredible. She blogs about everything! She is the best at documenting. The cool thing about it is that someday our friends and family and even we will be able to look back at all of our adventures. It will be fan-freaking-tastic.
Alright so Nikki’s been bugging me to blog for a while now about my birthday and what an amazing wife I have. So here it is. Don’t the the title of this entry confuse you. I really do have crabs. Two of them to be exact! Nikki gave them to me for my birthday. That and something else that I’ll get to in a minute. So here is their introduction to the world wide web. Introducing…

So for those of you that aren’t Lost fans (even though everyone should be) Jack, Sawyer and Kate are all characters in this amazing show. Jack and Sawyer have been fighting over Kate for a long time now, for years. It’s crazy. So we figured these could be some good names for our crabs and fish. So there you have it! Meet the crabs and fish. But I have to mention that Nikki also gave me an incredible gift for my birthday.

Yep, she got me an Xbox 360 Elite. An Xbox you say? Yes! I know! Crazy eights, but she did. So if anyone wants to get on live and add me as a friend or maybe play some Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, my name is…Scatolax.

So for anyone that actually reads this, that’s my birthday crabby update, and to Nikki, here is my blog. Sorry it’s been so long but I’ve been busy! Once I graduate in April I hope to have more time to blog and do all this fun shtuffs. Enjoy!

Alright, alright. So I have been a major slackalacker as far as the blogging goes. But I’m now back. Yes back with a vengeance! Well sort of, I’m going to be as vengeful as I can. So take note! Oh and… this is going to be quite the blog post so I have to apologize in advance. It’s a long one!
Anyway, so Nikki and I… well… we’re married! I know hard to believe but it’s true! We’re married and couldn’t be happier or more in love. So for those of you that aren’t aware we got engaged on December 18th, 2008 and we were married on May 2nd, 2009. The day was absolutely magical. I really couldn’t have asked for a better, happier, greater day. We woke up around five and got all done up. Headed up to the Salt Lake LDS Temple. The ceremony was incredible. Thanks to my grandfather for marrying us. When it was all done we came outside into a quite literal torrential downpour. It was great. We ran around and snapped some pictures getting absolutely soaked. So that was fun.

After those heartwarming pictures were taken we had a little luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Luckily it wasn’t too far away. Once we got indoors we took some more pictures and headed to the top floor for the foood. It was delicious. Everyone took turns crying and telling stories about Nikki and I and our most embarrassing moments of all time. It was great. I have to admit though that Nikki got roasted a lot worse than I did. My poor wifey. Oh, and then my brother Matthew and my Aunt Yara sang a beautiful song for Nikki and I, thank you so much to them. I also have to say thank you to my parents especially my Mother for setting up the luncheon and making it such a great time for everyone especially Nikki and I. Anywho, that was the luncheon and here are some more pictures.

After that we drove home and sadly did nothing for a couple hours. We cleaned off Nikki’s soaked, mud covered wedding dress and headed to Sun River Gardens to get everything set up for the reception. We got barely got everything set up in time. We couldn’t have done it without Whitney and Ashton’s help. They pretty much managed all of the food for us. So thanks a million to them. Also I have to say thanks a million to Nikki’s Aunt Linda for all of the beautiful flowers for the entire day. You see, Nikki has always wanted black roses for her wedding and Linda pulled it off beautifully. They all turned out amazazing! So after we stood in line for a year and a half we finally had to take a break and cut the cake, do the dances as well as the bouquet and garter toss. All went well and very smooth. Thank you thank you to everyone that helped us in anyway, especially all of Nikki’s bridesmaids. Thanks a million billion. So after all of the formalities we talked to a few more people and called it a night. We left the reception in a pretty sweet Hummer limo. No I know that a bunch of people out there are saying what? A Hummer? I know, I know. It’s not the most classy ride in the world and I have to admit that I was kind of bummed out when I found out that that was what it was. You see… I special ordered a 2009 Lincoln stretch but for some reason the limousine company thought that I would be impressed with the Hummer and I mean it was nice but I still think the Lincoln would have been nicer. I don’t know why but it seems like every time I order a limo it gets changed at the last minute for something that isn’t as good (my fellow fellas know what I mean). But it’s okay. And that’s enough about the limo. Okay okay, so then Nikki and I left the reception in some major style, psh… and after changing headed up to the Grand America Hotel to spend out first night together… psh again! No details for you other than that it was magically magnificent and amazing. Oh and very romantic. Let’s just say rose petals and chocolates a plenty, who’s-its and what’s-its galore. I love my wife Nikki more than anything. So that pretty much covers the wedding day! Here are some more pictures, this time of the reception. I also have to give a little shout out to Sam and Aubrey at Every Little Moment Photography. Thank you so very much! We love the pictures. Here you go…

Now we’re onto the honeymoon. Now Nikki’s dream honeymoon has always been to go to Cancún, Benito Juárez, Q Roo, Mexico. I know! What a perfect destination! It really was. I love Cancún. It’s always been my favorite tropical destination. I’ve been there a few times but it was a blast and a whole new experience to go with Nikki. We created so many great memories that we talk about everyday. If you want a play-by-play of the honeymoon and everything that we did you can check out Nikki’s blog. She kept track of everything that we did everyday we were there.

Nikki’s Blog
Honeymoon:
Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five | Day Six | Day Seven | Day Eight | Day Nine

Thank you wife. I love you. For those of you that have already read Nikki’s posts or if you’re just looking for the quick version here you go…

Day One:
We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. After that we checked out and took Nikki’s first taxi ride to the aeropuerto. We got on the plane and headed directly to Cancún. We landed and everything was so beautiful not to mention so so humid! I love the feeling and it was so great. Mmm… I want to go back. We checked into our hotel the beautiful JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa. It was so gorgeous. We were pretty tired so we just walked around the resort, ordered some room service and went to bed…

Day Two:
We pretty much just kept relaxing at the resort. We liked just taking it easy after the chaos of planning the wedding and finishing finals. So we hung out some more at the hotel. Spent a few hours undoing knots in Nikki’s hair and Went swimming out at the beach. Later that night we went out to a great (super spicy) Thai restaurant called Sasi Thai. We ate outside and watched the sunset. After that we went back to our room and had a great surprise of rose petals everywhere in our room, wink wink. It was quite romantic.

Day Three:
Kept relaxing. Scheduled a trip to a water snorkeling park adventure place called Xel-ha for the next day. Finally got the rest of the knots out of Nikki’s hair. Walked around a bit a got the lay of the land. Went to dinner a little Italian place called La Dulce Vita. Not the same as La Dulce Vita in Provo, Utah but still very good. They even had a pet crocodile or ‘cocodrilo’ that Nikki tried to feed pasta. Don’t worry all you cocodrilo lovers out there, she got yelled at for it.

Day Four:
We woke up pretty early for a change and took a bus to Xel-ha. Nikki learned how to snorkel or ‘esnórquel’. She actually loved it! Here’s a sad story. We had a waterproof camera that we took. We had so many cool pictures of us on it. You all should have seen the ones of Nikki in all of the esnórquel gear. It was hilarious but awesome. And… we lost the camera! I know! How could we! Trust me, we searched and called all of Mexico looking for it but never found it. It was so sad. But then after we got back from Xel-ha (so so burned because we had to use their stupid eco-friendly or ‘ecológica’ sunscreen) we found Lost! Yes that’s right I was able to watch my season finale of Lost right there in Cancún, Benito Juárez, Q Roo, Mexico!

Day Five:
We slept in and ventured even further in the heart of Cancun or ‘Cancún’ to a little breakfast place called Vips. We made friends with the waitresses even though we don’t speak any Spanish or ‘Español’ and figured out the rest of the bus system. We went down to the market or ‘mercado’ and got Nikki bombarded or ‘bombardearon’ by all of the merchants. I told them all that she was the boss and had all the money. Hey! I figured it would be a good learning experience for her! She hated it, doesn’t like having a million hot (in a bad way), sweaty men follow her around. But she did manage to haggle a little and buy a nice hammock for us! Way to go babe! I’m so proud!

Day Six:
Now this was a fun day! We went to Chichen Itza! We took a long bus ride to the ruins and had a great tour guide that taught us a ton! We took a bunch of pictures then went to an authentic lunch that turned out to be really good. After that went to a sink hole where people could go swimming. It was pretty cool to see, I wish that we would have brought our swim suits but we forgot them… sadness was all around us. Oh and it was during the long bus rides that I found out that Mexico is the place to play ‘Slug Bug’ and Nikki is horrible at it when she is tired. Just so you all know.

Day Seven:
We woke up and decided to go do some shopping and see if Nikki’s movie ‘Wolverine’ might be playing. We went over to a nearby mall and walked around for a while. After that we found out that the world was closed because of the Swine Flu (H1N1 for you technicals). So we went to Planet Hollywood. Nikki loved seeing all the movie props and everything. They had some stuff from Empire Records (Nikki’s favorite movie) and she was so excited to see all of that. A couple things that I thought were pretty cool was that they had the Ferrari from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the sunglasses from Blues Brothers.

Day Eight:
Happy Mothers Day! We woke up way to early so that we could go out to the beach and look for shells. Nikki found some really cool ones and they are now proudly displayed in our bathroom. Come over whenever to take a look at the treasures! We called out mothers to wish them a happy day. We also got to talk to my sister Sharolee on her mission in Lithuania! So great to hear from her! Then we ate breakfast again at Vips downtown. I might have taken Nikki on a round about way downtown that would have been a shortcut if it had worked how I had planned it. But no, we got lost and it was all my fault. We were sweating like crazy and so so hot. Nikki was pretty mad at me but then I bought her a flower for Mother’s Day from an old elderly old woman on the street and she started to forgive me. Ha! Yea right! She was so mad for a good hour or two after that.

Day Nine:
We woke up even earlier on this day to go and look for shells. Yep, three in the morning! Nikki is hardcore when it comes to her shell searching. But we found a few more. Then we went back to bed and later on woke up to start packing. We went to Vips one last time and then came back to the resort. Nikki started to feel sick from the Indian food that we ate the night before. Don’t ever eat Mexican Indian food! It’ll getcha! But after that we went back to the airport and headed home!

Overall the wedding and honeymoon was so fantastic! This little (haha, yea right, huge) blog post really doesn’t do it justice. We had so much fun together and we’ll never forget it. We love being married and couldn’t be happier. Thanks again to all of you that celebrated with us and thank you all for your wonderful wedding wishes and gifts. We couldn’t have asked for everything to go better. We love you all. Stay tuned for vicious vengeful or ‘vicioso vengativo’ updates in the future. Thanks for reading if you did!

Everyone who has ever been to the Festival of Colors know what an amazing, amazingly fun, and amazingingly amazing experience it is! Nikki and I went once again this year and once again we loved it. It’s always a plus to go with amazing friends. It’s crazy how the color fest has grow over the years. When Nikki and I first went we thought that there were quite a few people then! The estimated fifteen thousand that were there last Saturday was incredible! In fact, it was almost too incredible. We didn’t have as much room to move and dance about as we would have liked to but hey, it was still beyond fun. Check out the slideshow and comment if you like…

Every year there are tons of great images and video that comes from the color fest. As I find those great images and videos I’ll update the links below. Enjoy!

Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple: Website
801 Creative: Gallery Website Blog
Flickr: Search
YouTube: Search

Yes I know I haven’t written in a while. Thought I’d just check in and tell all my blogger buddies that I haven’t forgot to update I’ve just been extra busy. School is going well, this semester is slowly coming to an end and I can’t wait. Nikki and I are busy planning the wedding. Everything is pretty much done. We did out invitations yesterday and then after that the only thing that we really have left to do is pictures. Crazy I know, Nikki is on the ball. She has it all planned, I’m proud of her. Way to go babe! Anyway, I’ll try to make some time this next week to update some more. Enjoy!

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Lost
2. Arrested Development
3. Flight of the Conchords
4. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
5. The Office
6. Fringe
7. House
8. Battlestar Galactica

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept In.
2. Washed and detailed mine and Nikki’s cars.
3. Got the tuxedos figured out for the wedding.
4. Watched some Battlestar Galactica.
5. Dinner at Iggy’s.
6. Cleaned my room.
7. Watched more Battlestar Galactica. Yep, we’re addicted.
8. Ate some of Phil’s homemade peppermint shake!

8 Things I Look Forward to:
1. Getting married to my beautiful fiance!
2. Honeymoon!
3. School to end.
4. Summer!
5. Money.
6. Finishing Battlestar Galactica.
7. Graduating.
8. Buying a house.

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Macaroni Grill
2. Bucca Di Beppo
3. Tucanos Brazilian Grill
4. Yapona
5. Red Mango
6. Thai Chili Gardens
7. Ruth’s Chris
8. P.F. Changs

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. Money.
2. Dog.
3. Motorcycle.
4. House.
5. New iMac.
6. Get in better shape.
7. Phil Hudson.
8. Write a screenplay/book.

8 Favorite Movies:
1. James Bond
2. Star Wars
3. Casablanca
4. The Man Who Knew Too Little
5. 300
6. The Godfather
7. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
8. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

1. Do you like bleu cheese? Ture!

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Negativo.

3. Do you own a gun? Negativiivo. But my fiance does!

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic’? None, I don’t like flavor.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not so much.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Mmm… deliciously good times with Payden in New York City.

7. Favorite Christmas song? Oooo, tough one! I don’t know. I love so many. I’ll say Mele Kalikimaka for now.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Juice

9. Can you do push ups? Yes I can.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? Don’t have one yet. I know it will end up being my wedding ring though.

11. Favorite hobby? Snowboarding.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? Nope I don’t, I have A.D.H.D. Big difference!

13. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself? Hmm, I think my brains. They’re just too much for anyone to handle!

14. Middle name? Wayne

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. This class is boring. What am I going to do about my internship? And what in the world is Nikki giving me for my birthday!?

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, Coca-Cola, Orange Juice

17. Current worry right now? If I’m going to have a job after February.

18. Current hate right now? Annoying classmates that all have to ask me for help.

19. Favorite place to be? Relaxing with my lady friend.

21. How old are you? 23 on Wednesday! Crazy…

22. Name three people who will complete this? No clues.

23. Do you own slippers? Sure do, they smell delicious.

24. What color shirt are you wearing? Green.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Heo no.

26. Can you whistle? Yesh.

27. Favorite color? Black and Blue

28. Would you be a pirate? Ture! So here’s a joke I came up with yesterday… What state do most pirates want to live in? Give up? Okay, Arghkansas. Hahaha.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Opera.

30. Favorite girl’s name? Peyton Tajma Hall

31. Favorite boy’s name? Wyatt Michael Hall

32. Last thing that made you laugh? Nikki’s answer to this question.

33. Best bed sheets as a child? Ninja Turtles!

34. Worst injury you’ve ever had? Broke my collar bone once.

35. Do you love where you live? I love it because its the closest to Nikki I can be.

36. How many TVs do you have in your house? Four.

37. Who is your loudest friend? Payden.

38. What is your favorite game to play? Gorsh, I don’t know.

39. Does someone have a crush on you? Nikki does.

40. What is your favorite book? Brotherhood of the Rose.

41. What is your favorite candy? Sour Patch Kids?

42. Favorite Sports Team? Utah Jazz

43. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Shleepy shleepy!

44. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Ugh, I don’t want to go to school today.

Well it’s time to start school once again. I’m still going to UVU and I really am loving it! It is such a fantastic place. I’m pretty excited for this semester because I don’t have to worry about any ‘required’ classes. Yep yep yep, I get to just take a bunch of classes that I want to. So… I’m taking Web Design, Digital Photography, Project Management and Introduction to Writing for the Stage and Screen. Oh and an internship course for work credit. So all in all I’ll have sixteen credits this semester. Pretty exciting. I start on Wednesday. Wish me luck! Now I just have to try and find all of my books for cheap as can be.

Oh! I’ve had this for a while just thought I would upload it…
For all of you fellow designers out there that have ever looked for vector images of UVU’s logos I have a belated Christmas present for you! I have them compiled for you. Just click your preference below to download. Enjoy!

AI | EPS | PDF

Yes, yes indeed. You heard correct. Yes that’s right. Yep, I’m engaged. I know I know, you thought it would never happen. You all said that I would never find someone that could handle the many mysterious ways of Mike but wait wait wait wait! I haver! Yes that’s right. I’m finally engaged to Nikki Parry. My best friend and true love. Now sit back, relax, but keep your eyes open and enjoy the story…

Think of Aladdin… “It begins on a dark night! Where a dark man waits… with a dark purpose…”
Okay okay so there isn’t a dark man or a dark purpose but there is a dark night. Nikki and I had been planning on going up to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake for a few weeks now (clever planning on my part, thank you mucho mucho). So I have her convinced that we will go up to Temple Square, enjoy the lights and celebrate the fact that school is over for the semester. So, sure enough we make our way up and everything is going well. I have talked to her father, went extremely well, I have the ring in my pocket, and I am with and in love with the girl of my dreams. We park and start walking. I soon realized that I couldn’t zip up my coat or the box the ring is in would bulge too much. Now, I’m okay with a little bulge here and there but it really was bulging too much. Trust me… too much, it was totally obvious. I’m lucky that she didn’t see it. Anyway, we walk into Temple Square and we slowing make our way around the temple. I offered to take a tour but Nikki said no, thank goodness, and we kept walking. Nikki was kind enough to give me her personal tour which turned out to be very informative. For those of you that didn’t know, the Salt Lake Temple was not built in 1853 but rather in 1803! I know crazy huh! Who would have known that the church could have been wrong about this fact for so many years. It’s a good thing I have Nikki to keep me on track. Love you babe!
Gawsh, I’m sorry, I’m really starting to ramble here. So… then we walked over in front of the reflection pond in front of the temple and walked away from the crowds a bit onto the snow covered opening in between the church office building and the Joseph Smith Memorial building. See Figure A.

We hugged for a minute or two trying to keep warm and I told her how much I love her. I told her that I didn’t think she really knew how much I loved her and, sure enough, got down on one knee and pulled the ring out of my coat pocket. Oh I wish that everyone in the world could have seen Nikki’s face. Oh me oh my, it was incredible. She was holding her breath and he eyes just got bigger and bigger, now I mean those beautiful green eyes were huge! And then it started getting wierd. She started crying, which I figured she would do, but then started laughing too! Yep, it was full on crying laughter. That and she still wasn’t breathing. But I finished my little spiel about how much I love her and how I want to spend eternity with her and boom. That was it. She said “I will” and then “yes” and everything was perfect. The cheering from the people around us on the walk ways and in front of the temple made it even more fun. It was so perfect. We hugged and kissed and she cried. It was so great. I have never been so happy in my life. I am so lucky to have not only found Nikki but to have her love me in return. I truly am the luckiest.

“I Will!” -  The greatest words I’ve ever heard.

We left Temple Square, called out parents, sent out some texts. Updated Twitter. Everything went so beautifully. I am so happy that I was able to keep it an entire surprise for her. Nikki had no clue what so ever. I usually can’t keep things from her. She usually finds out. But luckily this day was different. I finally got one over on her. It was phenominal. We went and talked to her parents, mine and my family, her friends, her brothers, everyone. Texted everyone in our phones. Overall it was such a great evening and I thank Nikki so much for saying yes. You can see some pictures from that night on Facebook. Here is a quick picture of her ring. See Figure B. It’s gorgeous like her.

And to Nikki:
I love you girl. You are my best friend and my soul mate. I am so lucky to have you in my life and soon to be my wife! Crazy! I cannot wait, we will have so much fun. Our lives will never be the same but they are only getting better. I love you more than anything babe.

Thanks for reading if you did, if you didn’t well thanks for skimming. Nikki hasn’t proof read this yet so I’m sure some things are either missing or incorrect. Check back soon for more updates and I’m sure… corrections.

So, It’s been forever and a day since I last updated. I have been super ultra uber busy with school. Life is crazy but great. Check back in the next couple weeks (after finals are over). I promise that there will be some new entries and hopefully a new website at miwahall.com! Cross those fingers and wish me luck on finals! Enjoy!

According to Gizmodo, the following is a list “50 Skills Every Geek Should Have.” Now usually I’m not one to brag but I thought that this would be fun to see what all I have accomplished on this list. I’m torn as to whether I should be proud or sad… well… I’ll take proud. So have a look, here is how I measure up to Gizmodo’s standards. I hope some of you can find this interesting and to those of you that don’t (Nikki) well… you can just roll your eyes and stop reading now. Your welcome, you have been spared. Alright, on to the list, as I said before, I am proud to say I have achieved 41 out of these 50 various skills. Enjoy.

1. Install a hard drive in a laptop
2. Perform a clean OS install on a machine with two OSes
3. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone
4. Jailbreak an iPhone
5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable
6. Use BitTorrent and RSS to automatically download new shows from trackers
7. Use an A/V receiver to its fullest capability (every port is taken)
8. Calibrate an HDTV without the manual
9. Use a DSLR in full manual mode
10. Hack the encryption and mooch your neighbor’s Wi-Fi
11. Solder cleanly enough to get around a circuit board
12. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point
13. Shove the guts of a modern game console into a retro game console
14. Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat
15. Use Photoshop to imperceptibly doctor a photo
16. Abstain from buying extended warranties
17. Know where to buy cheap cables and accessories
18. Fix your parents’ computer over the phone without looking at a computer
19. Enter the Konami code
20. Comment on Gizmodo from your phone
21. Type quickly using T9 texting
22. Program a universal remote
23. Contribute code to the Linux kernel
24. Hide porn from your significant other
25. Avoid DRM on everything
26. Know how to back up your data to networked storage—and actually do it
27. Watch TV shows on the internet for free
28. Edit together digital video ripped from YouTube
29. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator
30. Reset expired trial software by messing with the registry
31. Hackintosh your PC
32. Download pre-release movies from Usenet
33. Hack the Wii to play homebrew games
34. Get around web content filters on public computers
35. Get into a Windows computer if you forgot your password
36. Securely erase your data so it can’t be recovered
37. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network
38. Build a fighting robot
39. Write your own Firefox plugins
40. Navigate and reorganize the files on your computer in DOS
41. Get something on the front page of Digg
42. Get through to executive customer service
43. Rip a CD to V0 quality MP3s
44. Rip a DVD to DivX
45. Build your own computer from parts
46. Swap out the hard drive in your DVR for a bigger one
47. Get an NES cartridge working again by blowing in it
48. Calibrate a 7.1 surround-sound system
49. Play downloaded games on a Nintendo DS
50. Talk about things that aren’t tech related