FUN Facts (let’s have fun with these):

• She was in the Economics 305 class, when Ted gives his Architecture lecture. (ref. s05e01, “Definitions” )
• She was at the St. Patty’s day party where Ted was being a jerk and originally found the Yellow Umbrella (ref. s03e12 “No Tomorrow”)
• She is Cindy’s (Rachel Bilson) room mate (ref. s05e12 “Girls vs. Suits” )
• The mom now has her Yellow Umbrella back (ref. s05e12 “Girls vs. Suits” )
• He doesn’t wait days to call (ref. s04e21 “Three Days Rule” )
• Ted says he meets her the wedding from the Season 6 Premier. We know he is the best man at eh wedding and that it starts to rain and he forgot his umbrella. No mention of whose wedding, but it’s truly a big day. (ref. s06e01 “Big Days” )
• Ted has not met her before “Lucky Penny”. Ted says his destiny was to stay in NY because if he hadn’t he never would have met their mother, while showing a wedding glimpse. (ref. s02e15 “Lucky Penny”)

Theories:

• The bump girl. During “No Tomorrow” Ted goes to the St. Patty’s day party and happens to have shared look with a black haired girl he bumps into. We know from Ted that the mother was at the party and we assume that it was indeed her umbrella he picked up the next day (s05e12 “Girls vs. Suits” ). It’s definitely not impossible, however improbable that out of all the girl’s there it was EXACTLY her!.  Some fan’s feel she was a Red Herring in case the series was canceled, other feel it’s too obvious to be nothing. Either way, that’s all we know.
• Her name is Tracy. No one says it’s the girls he talks to at the end of Belly Full of Turkey, just the name that Ted mentions is significant. I know it’s a long shot but I still like the Tracy Theory. (ref. s01e09 “Belly Full of Turkey” )
• Ted’s Perfect Match is the Mother. Ted never actually meets his match in the Season 1 Episode “Milk” and coincidentally some of the qualities mentions are the same as Rachel’s roommate in “Girls vs. Suits”. With that in mind a lot of fans believe since we’ve never seen her then it could in fact be the match. Plus they blur our her face, so there’s that. (ref. s01e21 “Milk”, s05e12 “Girls vs. Suits” )
• The Kid’s aren’t Ted’s or Ted isn’t telling the story. First off, that’s just insane.  While I admire your creativity, there are too many reference to cite here.
• Coat check girl or Wendy the Waitress are the mother. Both these theories were started as “confirmed” jokes in interviews by the Creators of HIMYM.
• The Mother is Zoey’s Sister/step-daughter. This is a new one and not much info to go on. The only question I would ask has to do with age. The toy that Zoey had for the step daughter in Blitzgiving looked to be for a smaller child. The sister angle I’ve got nothing for. (ref. s06e10 “Blitzgiving” )

Notable Ladies:

The short version of this is that if Ted has met (knows them, etc..) they are not the mother since he meets her for the first time at the wedding shown in Big Days. Despite that, more for the fun of it, let’s run down a few gals.

• Robin. Robin is not the Mother. We learn this in the first episode and it is reconfirmed countless times in all  seasons. No matter how much people “want it to happen” It’s not let’s quit wasting space and thought on it. The kids even say “ Aunt Robin?” “I thought this was how you met mom.” (ref. s1e01 “Pilot”, and too many other to name)
• Victoria. She was great, most everyone loved Victoria and it would have been nice. A lot of fans want to see her back and while it hasn’t been a confirmed or denied, she isn’t the mother. Ted made it very clear how bad of an idea long distance was and the relationship came to a close (Ted: It didn’t work.) Also let this serve as a reminder…when it’s after 2 a.m., just go to sleep. (ref. s01e16 “Cupcake” )
• Stella. She is important to the story but the mother she is not. Stella left Ted at the altar and married her daughter’s father. There are several episodes that prove it’s not Stella, but topper for them all was the moment we say the possible flash forward with blonde kids. (ref. s04e05 “Shelter Island” )
• Natalie (Return of the Shirt), Dr. Sara O’Brein (Matchmaker), the Slutty Pumpkin, Trudy (Pineapple Incident & Third Wheel), Mary the Paralegal, Coat Check Girl (OK Awesome) … First off all of these girls were gorgeous so it’s a shame we don’t get to see them any more. Ted say they plainly were not about a few and if not they are all Pre-Lucky Penny.
• Karen. Ted’s College Girlfriend. Lilly and Marshall Hate her. She is a Grinch! She fails the Front Porch Test (s04e17) and the kids look nothing like her.
• Cindy. While she was in Econ 305, Ted made it very clear she was the roommate of the future mom, not the mother. 
• Wendy the Waitress. I just wanted to mention her again because Charlene Amoia is awesome. True Story
• Zoey. He has met her way before the wedding in Big Days, and while she might be important to the story that alone should exclude her. Further more, she’s blonde and remember the possible future scene with Stella from Shelter Island? Want more? She met Ted before the Wedding and She was not Cindy’s roommate, I also would bet she wasn’t in the economics class.

So there you have it, the most concise “Who could the mother be” list in existence. What say ye?

The BIG discussion from The How I Met Your mother Season 6 Premier entitled Big Days was pretty clear, who’s wedding was was Ted giving a toast at?

I mean it wasn’t Ted’s. And from what I’m hearing from twitter and the interweb, most speculate it was Robin or (and) Barney. With that said, here are some things to consider.

1. Ted is giving the toast, so he is more than likely the best man.
2. Marshall is wearing the same tux with the same boutonniere as Ted. So this leads us to think he is in the wedding as well.
3. It has been argued that Lily is wearing a bridesmaid dress. It’s an ugly one if you asked me, but I can see their point.
4. Barney & Robin are not seen in these future scenes. That’s gotta be by design. Either A. the HIMYM writers are trying to screw with our heads (which happens often) or B. They are involved and still inside.
5. A reader named Annie said this and I loved the point:
   

   Ted started to tell the story from the day he met Robin. And he said she would be important to the story.
   He met Robin, they dated but it didn’t work out. Then she dated Barney, but it wasn’t the “right time” for them. Ted met Stella, got left at the altar and that led him to be a professor, wich is why he met Cindy. He returned the yellow umbrella he had taken. Now Cindy’s roommate (the mother) has the yellow umbrella. Sometime in the future Barney and Robin will be ready to get in a real serious relationship and they end up getting married. Barney’s best friend is Ted, so he would be the best man. Ted is nervous because: a) it’s his friends wedding b) He never thought he would make a toast at Robin’s wedding.

6. Who else could it be?

I’ll add more to this as the conspiracy grows, but what do you think? Comments or the every so lovely poll below:

(PS, I reset teh votes to add Punchy… however pre glitter results showed Robin & Barney as teh clear favorites)

Ok How I Met Your Mother fans, it would seem there has always been a lot of speculation about the “butt load of motivational posters” in Barney Stinson’s Office. I actually get a question or comment related to this once a week or so… given the popularity of this topic I did some research, and feel it’s time now (before season 4 changes the wall again) the drop some knowledge. This post is only accurate through the end of Season 3, so feel free to comment and I’m sure there will be a revised post in the future.

You see, there is really not a simple question. For one thing, you never see all of them in one shot and when you do, you might catch a title but the catch phrase is a lot more difficult to see. The other, and more important issue is that they change from season to season! You may remember in my article about the Awesomeness Poster, that I posted this theory:

Finally… I feel the need to start a conspiracy theory. So what we know for sure is that the Awesomeness poster is first mentioned in Season 1 Episode 17 (Life Among the Gorillas) of HIMYM. And when it is mentioned Barney motions to either the back left corner of his office behind his desk. We also know that the poster makes it’s first “on screen” appearance in Season 3 Episode 1 (Wait For It…) (..stop waiting that was the name of the episode, sheesh) and at this time it is behind Barney’s desk to the right of the center of the room. So he just moved his posters around right? Wrong. ….

Let me point out a few things. First, in the area Barney pointed, the awesomeness poster is not there. Behind his desk there is no poster with the F-16 jet we saw in season 3 or the correct number of letters for the word “Awesomeness.” It can’t be on the wall to the left of Barney because as you can see there is just a huge set of windows. Was there even an awesomeness poster is Season 1…or just the mention of it.

… for more of the theory read the whole post

And to help prove my theory came shots from Season 3. But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Lets start with what’s on Barney’s office walls during Season 1 of How I Met Your Mother. What’s more I’ve tried to let you know where you can either buy or make your own from stock photos. Hope this helps.

Season 1

During Season 1 there were 12 motivational posters. 10 Behind Barney’s desk and 2 on the wall next to his door. Given the way his office is laid out I don’t think there were more but I’m no Architect, though once I…ah, you don’t care so onward. As I mentioned earlier, despite the fact that Barney said there was an Awesomeness Poster in season 1, there is not one on the walls so it won’t count toward the “original 12″ this time. Some are sold already and some were probably made by some HIMYM peeps, I couldn’t find everything but I do consider this to be the definitive work on the subject. It has taken many hours of research and browsing posters, stock photos, websites, etc… so enjoy.

1. Courage – “True greatness comes when you’re tested. Theodore Roosevelt”

This one is relatively easy to find, if you click on the word courage above you’ll see one place to buy it. You’ll notice the courage poster in the most top and left position behind Barney’s desk with a picture of firefighters on it.

2. Challenge – “We either find a way or we make one”

Funny that it should say make one, because that’s probably where this one came from. I can’t seem to find it on any rock climbing or motivational sites. The stock photo is no where to be found either. I can tell that is what the poster says but that’s about it. If I find out otherwise this will be updated. If your stuck on having one, here are some alternatives that I can recommend, since it can’t be exact:

Challenge skiiing (wording not the same as above)
Challenge running (still different)
And if you want to make your own these look like stock photos that would work, The Climber 3, Leading, Freeclimbing , Climbing or Rockclimber. If you plan on buying a stock photo then read this for info on some free iStockphoto credits.

3. Opportunity – “You will always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

A cool little basketball motivational poster. It is to the left of the courage poster also larger in size. You can could find it, like the courage poster at allposters. However it is discontinued. Maybe they will bring it back soon until then try amazon: Opportunity Motivational Psoter

4. Teamwork – “The chain is only as strong as the weakest link”

Another homebrew poster. The stock photo can be found at iStockphoto (like the awesomeness poster stock photo) but the poster was probably made for the show and isn’t available online that I can find.

5. Perseverance – “Continuous effort is the key to unlocking your potential. sir Winston Churchill”

A few guys in a rowboat…seems a little too peaceful for Barney Stinson, but who am I to judge. This can be found at allposters also.

6. Perfection - “It is not good enough to win, everybody else should lose”

It either says everybody or everyone, but I’m pretty certain on the rest of it. For me, this is the coolest poster in the office. Put this one in the “not found” category too because it’s a no show online. The planes seem to be Boeing F/A – 18 Hornets from the Blue Angels. And from the literally thousands of photos of them, this photo called formation flying is the closest to the one in Barney’s office I could find. If you are into making your own I would use that, fighter jets, hornet shockwave or airplanes in formation. And now there is a version of the perfection poster available in the be awesome instead store! Want to use something else? I would love to see your version of the Perfection poster. Post it below or email me!

7. Lead with Vision -

….this is where things get fuzzy. Again, the photo has proven a better hide-and-go seek player than me.  Stock Photo found (thanks to stfan for the comment and work!) If I were going to make my own I would use Into the Sunset, but as for what it says I have no clue. The only “Lead with Vision” m.p. I could find used the catch phrase “Leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, not just on the bottom line.”, but it looked so corny I refuse to post it here.

Now stay with me on this poster a second. This poster has a strange characteristic the we begin to see in some of the upcoming posters. Notice the white banding over the catch phrase? Not sure if this was HIMYM staff made or a characteristic of a sold poster brand but I couldn’t find them anywhere online. Keep that in mind would you, I would love to know if there is an answer. Either way a version will be in the shop soon!

8. Conformity – “It’s the one who is different that gets left out in the cold.”

These little penguins are evasive. The conformity penguins poster has the only catch phrase read aloud on the show. Season 1′s “Life Among the Gorillas” is where we get this and the bulk of the poster views. Still can’t find the stock photo but people do seem to enjoy the fan version.

9. Strength - “What the mind can conceive, it can achieve” (thanks to NPHFan in the comments for the quote!)… I know it has columns (much like the Ted’s first Skyscraper), but I can’t exactly find them. Classical Columns and Pillars look close but if you are a stickler for detail you’ll notice it’s not exact. I’ll reserve my thought on made vs. bought but if you need a different quote for your own try: “Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” Otherwise, since Barney seems to have a thing for jet posters just try out this Strength poster.

10. “the mystery poster”...I say mystery but it actually appears to be a second Teamwork poster. Skydivers in a circle holding hands (how sweet) this posters says, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. Henry Ford.” Since we already have 1 teamwork poster the title of this may be why it is hidden behind a wine rack. Feel free to compare the two and leave your thoughts:

Posters by the door:

11. Determination – … saying unknown… I do like “Climb as high as you can dream” like this determination poster. Which makes sense since it appears to to be a climber standing atop a cliff he just climbed. Here again we see that wonderful white bar over the catch phrase…making it that much harder to read from the views we have.

12. Focus – …still no bloody clue what it says… here we have a black and white photo of a cyclist riding … and it’s oddly enough out of focus. Other than the stock photo, I did find a focus poster, but it uses some inline skater instead of a cyclist…maybe that’s you but it didn’t seem too Barney. The quote does though.

Season 2

Very little is seen of Barney’s office in Season 2, from what I can see it looks the same as season 1 (see the beginning of “World’s Greatest Couple” if needed). So, Nothing much to see here, keep the line moving.

Season 3

In the “Wait for it” (ep. 1), you will notice the first visual of the Awesomeness Poster. It shows up behind Barney and between the “Challenge” and “Teamwork” Posters. Missing now is the “Perfection” poster that graced the wall so…err…perfectly? By the end of season 3 the “Teamwork” and “Awesomeness” Posters have switched places, but “Perfection” stays missing. There is good news though because now you can see a small wall by the windows with 2 new posters. This brings the total (through Season 3) to 15 posters total.

13. Awesomeness – “When I get sad, I stop being sad and be Awesome Instead. True Story. Barney Stinson”

This is the most famous and the one that everyone wants to own and know about. If you don’t know anything..or everything about it then take a few and read all you will ever want to know about the Awesomeness Poster.

14. Greatness – No picture is ever seen and the text is too blurry to read in everything I can find. I think the first word is “The” but don’t take that to the bank. The closest I could find was this Greatness poster, but the one Barney has is vertical not horizontal so no dice.

15. Discovery – Another white bar over the phrase, so no much clue what it say… probably something like “You can’t read this, ha, ha, ha.” I was hoping the stock photo would be at iStockphoto like some of the others, but alas it was not. I’m so sick of looking at poster and stock photos. Either way, winning the “close but no cigar” award for these is Régate Ajaccio 2007.

I know this list is not quite complete and where to buy or make several posters remains unknown. If you run across anything that would make this list more complete please post a comment here or email me using the contact page. Did you end up making your own? I would love to see them. For now I’m off to find an Advil.

Thanks and Be Awesome.

Personally though, I don’t like sneaking props on (though I have thought about some Jedi light sabers…) so we always try to use what we have, or lack thereof.  One of the earliest photos I can remember buying was from “Thunder Run” at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

We bought this not only because the little kids in row 3 started following us and became corrupted (see chubby stomach in the back), but also because we were happy to still have prefect abs. We’ll call this shot “the corruption of youth”.

Through the years I advanced my trade, this time including my wife on the shot. This time on the newly constructed “Goliath” at Six Flags Over Grorgia.

I really like this shot despite the face she look to be having too much fun to be believably strangling me. Still, I think this was the 10th time or so we rode it that day…not really sure how healthy that is but who cares…it was fun. We’ll call this one “what did I do?”

And most recently, I decided to return to Kings Island to get this very clever shot on “the Beast”!

Now to me, you know you’ve done something special when you return to the photo booth at the end of the day and the attendant say “I memorized your number, this is the best photo I’ve seen in a while!” This photo was only made better by the fact that everyone has their hands up for “the holdup”.

I’ve got more ideas and while I’m not so on board with the whole Souvenir Onride DVD’s yet, it might be fun to perform Hamlet or something while on some rides. Honestly, a great shot takes time and at least a little planning. Often you have to ride multiple time to get one that’s worth keeping. And I am curious, am I the only one who has this obsession with Roller coaster souvenir photos? Surely some of you out there in internet world have some awesome Roller Coaster photos. Nothing vulgar or tasteless, but something cool and creative that will make people laugh for a moment.

Got some photos? Leave us a link here or post them in my new flickr group for Roller Coaster Souvenir Photos.

May the games begin.