This is who I am...

Day at the park

2011-05-15T09:28:00.000-06:00

Last week Alene and I decided to dust off the bikes and bike trailer and take Bailey for a little ride over to the park. It was nice to get out, although my head was burning like crazy (hot day).

Bailey has been wearing her princess dress every day since her easter pictures (hope to have those up soon)

She loves hanging and swinging from things

She likes climbing too

Ice cream truck came

Bailey and mommy were running away from the monster (Daddy)

San Rafael Reef March 2011

2011-03-27T17:19:00.000-06:00

Day 1

Day 2

Building a play house

2011-03-27T10:26:00.000-06:00

I built a play house and swing set for Bailey (and Caiden, even though he may be growing too old for these things). I drew up the plans myself. It's not quite done (still need to paint, add some paneling inside to cover the bare studs, paint, and get some furniture for the inside), but it's usable. I'm also probably going to re-do the ramp leading up to the deck.

Started off by measuring out placement for the posts

Cemented in the post holders and mounted the posts and joists

Started adding the sub floor

Added some cross bracing on the bottom so Bailey could dance on the top

Framing (note, for all of you contractors out there, I realize this is not to building code :-), no king plates or proper framing for windows and door ways, but this is just a playhouse).

Roof going on (I've never built my own pitched roof before)

Added T1-11 to the front and decided to just eventually paint over the OSB on the other sides. Also added cedar to the framing and made a fancy front door

Made sky lights on each side before I roofed it and covered the wood with galvanized metal

Started making the swing set (note the door I added to the play house in the background and the shutters)

Bailey loves her play house

Side note: My neighbor is building a TALL playhouse behind us. We both started building at the same time (almost on the same day) without knowing what each of us were up to. We eventually started to help each other out. His has some SERIOUS creativity (he built that slide out of 50 gallon drums). He's still working on it (this picture shows it without the stairs or railing), but he's worked his tail off on this one.

In case anyone missed it

2011-03-27T10:11:00.002-06:00

We're expecting a Baby this Fall. So excited.

Music project

2011-01-19T07:25:00.003-07:00

http://c.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZConnections.woa/wa/viewIMixes?iMixesPageType=1&id=415108150

(You'll have to copy and paste the link since for whatever reason it doesn't show up when I add link brackets)

If anyone has iTunes and cares to follow, I'm working on creating a "favorites" playlist from every year, starting with the 1950's. Since there wasn't a TON of Rock and Roll in the 50's (compared to the 60's until the present), I created a "1950's" category, then starting with 1960, I did a category from every year. I've compiled a list up until 1998 so far.

I think it's fascinating to me to see what songs I like from certain years. It's my goal to really listen to each year and even thin out my lists more. It also makes me wonder what I'm missing from each of those years.

In order for a song to make the list, it has to be a song that I personally like, it's not on the list just because it was a "hit" during that era.

Let me know if the link works and if you have iTunes, become my "ping" friend and maybe we can share playlist ideas.

My list is comprised of Rock and Roll, Soul, Pop, R&B, and Hip Hop/Rap. I think all of these genres pretty much define what I listen to. I do like Country too, but not enough to create a favorites list for every year. I'll likely just create a Country favorites from each decade.

If the link does not work, go to iTunes, then "Ping" in the tool bar on the left hand, then search my name "John Root" and I'll come right up. On the upper right corner you can sort the music by "name" and it will put the playlists in order from 1950's to present.

Oh how the mighty have fallen

2010-12-14T21:18:00.001-07:00

I suck at blogging. I was just looking at my blogging history:

2004: 47 Posts
2005: 115 Posts
2006: 88 Posts
2007: 89 Posts
2008: 131 Posts
2009: 74 Posts
2010: 12 Posts

I blame that stupid website facebook. Now I think I'll link this blog post on facebook.....I suck.

The best Ginger Beer out there

2010-12-01T23:01:00.001-07:00

I've been drinking this "Bundaberg" Australian Ginger Beer. By far the best, but it's also expensive. It leaves an awesome ginger after-taste, almost a burning sensation (good burn, not bad).

My favorite part of all though is the old styled cap.

The Dirty Dash

2010-09-26T18:24:00.002-06:00

Alene and I participated in a team 10k run this past weekend called The Dirty Dash. It consisted of us, her sister April, fellow running mate Kris, and our friend Matt. The last race I had run was the Salt Lake Marathon's 5k and after that race I had stopped running due to lack of time.

Alene told me about this race and asked if I would do it. At first I wasn't sure because I had started to get out of shape, but I really wanted to do something with Alene, so I committed to it. Alene was so good about keeping me on a training schedule and at times we were able to run together in order to keep to the schedule.

The day of the race came quicker than I thought it would. Saturday was hectic as it was because I had to be back home by noon to coach a football game. We all met up at Solider Hollow in Midway about an hour or so before our start time and just took in the atmosphere.

Group portrait before we started (Note: All pictures are credited to my brother in-law, William Church)

This race was not a relay, so we, as a team, were supposed to all run together and finish together. We started off going up a hill which was heavily watered, but really thick with weeds and mud. There had already been 3 heats that took off before us, so as you can imagine, it was pretty nasty by now. After that we worked our way mostly up hill into a back canyon, and then started working our way toward deer creek reservoir.

Our first major obstacle was various rows of hay bales that we had to either jump or climb over. Matt was pretty slick at being able to clear them completely with both legs tucked. I attempted a cartwheel, but it was more like a ball wheel as I wasn't really extending my legs.

After the hay bales, we hit the tough obstacles, which were 3 different sets of walls to climb over. Normally they would not be that difficult, but combined with being tired from having ran 3 miles, having a lot of people around, the wall being slick with mud, and the thick mud that existed 20' in front of the wall, it was much more difficult than it looked.

Tyler going over

Volunteers making sure it was plenty muddy

April going over

After we made it over the last wall, I took the opportunity to give Alene a little present on her neck

Kris with his game face on

From here we ventured down toward Deer Creek reservoir. On the 2nd half of the race we encountered about 100 various-sized tires to high-knee our way through. Everyone expected me to be able to teach proper form since I've coached football for so many years. What they didn't know is that I've never done the tires nor coached it in my life that that those drills are dramatized for movies and TV :-). After that we had a steep hill to slide down, then on through the swampy section of Deer Creek, which was disgusting. About a good 1/4 mile of swamp and black sludge to run through.

After that we hit our last mile and worked our way back to the water slides, which was a blast. There was 5 rows, so as a team we all ran and dove on, sliding down and dumping out into a big mud pit.

Alene and I getting out of the slide

April and Matt working their way up from the slide

The end was by far the dirtiest and nastiest, but so much fun. They had a large mud pit with about 3' deep of water. We had to crawl through the pit (could not stand up as they placed low-lieing ropes across it) to the other side, which was about 30' long. Plenty of great pictures.

The water was really cold for April and Alene, but I think my adrenaline kicked in and I didn't even feel it. I was doing the back stroke during this picture

Kris working his way through the mud

Alene and April half-way through

Alene and I toward the end

Coming out of the pit about to cross the finish line

Victory faces

Group shot

Muddy lovers

The race is a lot of fun and I'm definitely considering doing the shorter version this spring and possibly the 10k again next fall. It was fun just running along with great people, seeing all the hilarious costumes people wore, and carrying on conversation while running a race. Plus, I love getting dirty.

My trip to California

2010-06-24T08:11:00.000-06:00

Check out my other blog, which has pictures of my trip to Nor Cal last week.

Day 1/2

Day 3

Day 4/5

Book Review: Into Thin Air

2010-05-25T13:10:00.003-06:00

In last month's Outside magazine I read an article about a 13 year old boy from Southern California who was preparing to climb Mount Everest with his dad and step mother. I thought it was a fascinating article about a very motivated kid. His parents were heavily involved with his training, but they made it very clear that they were doing it to support him. Prior to his interest in summiting large mountains (which started at age 9), he was interested in being the next Steve Irwin, so they were fully supportive of him in that regard by surrounding him with opportunities to interact with all kinds of reptiles and animals. They said if tomorrow he wanted to be an NBA basketball player, they would be at the gym that day helping him train to attain that goal as well.

I'm getting off point, but I had to kind of give an idea of what prompted me to read this book.

I was talking to Alene about the article and how the author mentioned that Everest does so much damage to both your mind and body, that he wasn't sure it was a good idea for a kid to be doing it. Alene then started talking to me about reading "Into thin air" years ago and how she thought I would like it. She ordered it for me the next day and once I got it, I could not stop reading.

To summarize the book, it's about a group of 3 summit teams that got lost and stranded on the mountain during their descent in 1996. 8 people died and a few others suffered serious injuries.

The book took me on a journey that fascinated me and pulled me in much like the book "Lone Survivor" did. I don't read as much as I would like to, so when I read a book I make sure it's going to be a good book. I loved the accounts and history of those that had attempted to summit and those that did. I also felt like I gained more of an appreciation for anyone that attempts to summit Everest. The toll it takes on your body is so harsh. I thought we lived at a decent altitude, but knowing that the closest city from their basecamp was at the same level as the highest peak in Utah, it just blew me away.

I remember hiking to the summit of Timpanogos and while I was out of shape, I also noticed feeling a bit light-headed at the top at 11,749 feet. I wasn't sure if it was from being out of shape, or from the altitude. I can't imagine being almost twice as high in the air, which is where Everest is. I do remember the small joy of being up on that mountain and feeling like I had accomplished something against myself. Then I turned around and saw two younger kids and their parents and I didn't feel as special. It was still tough and I'm anxious to do Timp this year and maybe fit in Nebo, then attempt Kings Peak the next summer.

The author was very brutally honest about most of the situations that happened and about those he climbed with. He himself was a mountaineer and had spent a lot of his life on high mountain expeditions, but nothing close to the magnitude of Everest.

The book made me want to climb something higher. I'm not sure why though. Is it the macho man in me that wants to do it? Is it for bragging rights? I think ultimately its my competitive spirit. I've always been competitive in things I do, whether its arguing a point or playing a sport, but I've never been one of those that are so competitive that I whine or get in fights about things not going my way. Lately, with the running I've been doing, I've found a more challenging aspect of competition for me is competing against myself and I've been doing that with running. How scary and nuts it would be to see what you could do on a mountain like that.

I'm confident I would never do Everest because it costs a lot of money (about $40-$60k) and because it's too dangerous and I have people that depend on me. However, this book definitely motivated me to push myself a bit more and get out and see what I can do. It also taught me about not judging people for their actions in tough times. Some of the deaths could have easily been avoided, but it's not my place to point out faults and weaknesses of others. Nobody knows how they'll respond at that altitude (they say often times that your thought process diminishes to that of a 4-5 year old) and in those deathly circumstances.

It's a great book and a fast read and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Oh, by the way, I found out 2 days ago that the 13 year old boy made it to the summit and back safely.

I'm not a runner

2010-04-19T08:06:00.001-06:00

But I am a competitor (at least sometimes) and it felt good to compete in a race this past weekend. Alene has ran a few races in the past year and has really inspired me to give it a try. As I've documented here and there, I've been losing a lot more weight as of late (since November I've lost about 30 lbs). I've been able to maintain a somewhat regular work out plan and some of that included some running. So, I gave it a go and signed up for the 5k, worried that I would never be in shape enough to run a half marathon. I entered in the "clydesdale" division, which is for men over 200 lbs (my current weight fluctuates between 210 and 215 now).

Most of my training runs consisted of treadmill time. I've never been big on using the treadmill to really see how fast I can go; mostly just to burn fat by increasing the incline portion as high as it can go, then maintaining a brisk hiking pace. This typically helps burn fat. Once a week I'd give it a go and do a good 3 mile run. I had been disappointed as of late because my runs on the treadmill had resulted in HORRIBLE times and I was getting worried that I'd not be able to maintain the kind of pace I'd like to for the race.

As race day came closer, I just kind of gave it an "oh well" and didn't really worry about it too much. As the day approached, I got a little nervous, hoping I could run a better time than my earlier training times (initially when I'd run on the streets I could do 3 miles in a little over 26 minutes, but with my treadmill times slacking I kind of gave up hope on getting that). Alene had kept telling me that it won't matter come race day, you'll find something extra inside you that pushes you beyond what you think you can do. She was right.

She and I both arrived to the gateway (the finish line area) around 5:45am. I dropped her off at the trax station close by so she could get a ride up to her start line for the half marathon she was going to be doing. I hung around the gateway in the morning and just kind of took in the atmosphere and tried to psyche myself up and get my body stretched out enough to feel good about running. I have a really hard time getting my hips stretched out, so I was worried about that.

Here are a couple of pictures from the early morning start/finish line for us 5k runners.

As the race time got closer, I found my mother in-law (Merlene), brother and sister in-law (Sam and Alysha). Sam and Alysha had signed up for the race as well, so I was glad I had someone to start off with. With about 15 minutes to starting time, we decided to get in the race line. We were back about 150 yards from the starting line; there were a TON of people. Just as the race gun went off, you could see far ahead, heads bobbing as they started to take off. It was also then that I had to pee REALLY badly, and noticed a restroom hall just to my left. I told Sam and Alysha "sorry" and I ran inside to relieve myself. It must have been last-second jitters or something. I came out and just walked to the starting line because they have sensors on our bibs that don't start timing us until we hit the starting line. I pressed play on my 26 minute playlist on my ipod and started the run.

At first it was a mad-house just trying to weave in and out of people. A lot of the people were just doing a fun walk and had huge jog strollers and stuff like that. I found myself spending the first 1-1.5 miles just weaving in, out, and around other groups. It was kind of an awesome feeling knowing that I was passing up all of these people, even if they were walking/jogging (that's the competitor in me). As I got to the first mile, all of a sudden the crowd in front of me started cheering because the dude that was going to take first place was on his way back (the course was an up and back, so we were passing other runners on our way back). It was WAY impressive to see this dude on what looked almost like a sprint, heading back the other way so quickly. I couldn't help but cheer for him as well. He ended up finishing it averaging less than 5 minutes per mile!

The hardest part of the race was coming back up State Street. We ran down from south Temple to 300 south, kind of did a loop through the lower galivan center road, then back up 300 south to south temple again, so 3 blocks of up-hill running, which wasn't that bad. Again, it was liberating to be passing people going up hill and by this time we had thinned out from the walkers, to people that were mostly running. As I got to the top of State street, I knew it was all downhill from here and I really started to stride out. I had no idea how I was doing on time, but I could tell from my playlist I was doing pretty good. At this point not one person had passed me, but one dude began to kind of feel my presence and started to speed up. It kind of motivated me to speed up as well, and eventually I passed him too.

As we got closer to the gateway, I was so stoked. I rounded the corner to head up the main drive of the gateway and to the finish line. It was here that I had this burst of energy which was assisted by the following: The crescendo of the song "this too shall pass" by OK Go, the HUGE crowd of people lined up cheering you on, then off to the right I saw this sign with my name on it and I thought "hey, that's my name", then I saw my MIL, and my two nieces (Hanna and Abbey) holding a sign for me. It was an awesome feeling approaching that finish line and it was AMAZING to just feel all of your pain go away for that last 150 yard dash to the finish line. As soon as I crossed, all of a sudden all of the pain came back and I was hurting. They gave us water and sent us on our way to the racers hang-out area. Along that line they gave us stuff like bananas, chocolate milk, cookies, apples, etc.

I went back to find my family and ran into my mom, Caiden, and Bailey. I was happy to hear that they were able to see me finish as well (I didn't think they would be able to). It was at this point I had no idea where I had finished. They told me to just wait until the evening to find out on-line. I figured there were so many people out there, that I probably did good, but not good enough to place anywhere.

We waited around until it was time to watch for Alene. It was so cool to see her make that last dash down the main drag across the finish line as well. She was so focused and she SMASHED her previous time by about 10 minutes. So amazing and impressive to see that. She finished around 1:49.

Here is Alene and Bailey after her race. Bailey was not interested in wearing mommy's medal.

Here's Alene and I after our race

I was not able to hang around to see Alene's sister April finish the marathon because Caiden had a basketball game. April had overcome some serious obstacles in order to run this race and still did amazing (she did some serious damage to her leg about a month before the race after training for a LONG time).

Here are my total results:

5k (3.2 miles)
24:39 (7:56 average for my mile)
2/37 for my entrance division (clydesdale; men over 200 lbs); I was 4 seconds away from first
15/97 for men my age group (30-34 years old)
83/597 among all male runners
103/1836 among all runners

I still don't consider myself a runner though. I think I'd like to do a half marathon, but I doubt I'd ever attempt a full marathon. The most satisfaction I get is knowing that I can push my body to do things that I thought were impossible and that I feel healthy as I do things.

Where I'm at.....

2010-02-17T14:00:00.001-07:00

Been a while since I've blogged. Since starting the diet back in early December, I'm feeling good. I've still got random flab here and there, but I'm feeling so much stronger and leaner. All of my pants don't fit, but I'm still not ready to go clothes shopping. It's kind of frustrating having to cinch the pants and kind of fold them over in order to put my belt on, but it's better than the alternative (getting fatter).

I'm down to about 220 now (I was as much as 245 at one point). I've still got another 20 lbs to go, then hoping to drop maybe even 10 more lbs after that. I've been able to consistently go to the gym, except for the past week.

I started getting this REALLY bad pain in my upper back/neck area. I've had it at times before, but then it would go away. This time it stayed. It's limited my ability to turn my head, to sit, stand, etc. It hurts so bad. I saw a chiropractor for a consultation on Friday of last week, but since he couldn't get the x-rays instantly developed (like most modern places can) he would have to wait until Monday to diagnose. He used an electrical stimulator on my back for about 10 minutes, which felt GREAT, but after about 5 minutes of being off it, the pain came back. I tried to tough out the pain, but I couldn't make it. On Saturday, at the last minute, I schedule a 1 hr massage and that too felt great as soon as I was done, but about 5 minutes later the pain came back again. I spent all day Sunday with an ice pack on my back and Monday I went into the Chiropractor to find I have a couple of pinched nerves in my neck.

I'm getting treatment with adjustments here and there. Some people say Chiropractors are more like witch doctors. I really don't know what to believe. I know they go to school for what they do and they seem to understand the body well. I really like to believe in the power of having strong mental focus on healing (or at least it being a part of your healing process). Chiropractors stress a lot of healthy living as a part of taking care of your back. I've had 3 adjustments so far and little by little it's feeling better, but I'm not 100% again. He said about 7 or so adjustments should help get rid of the pain.

This is the first time I've gone a week without working out. He said I can go back to working out, just stay away from high-impact stuff and any upper-body workouts. I can't wait to get back to the gym.

One thing that's kind of saved me more than my gym-going is my diet. I remember for the 4+ years we were married, seeing Alene track what she ate every day. I didn't think it was stupid, I just thought it was a pointless waste of time. Now I'm more maticulous than she is about it. My biggest gripe with it was the time it took to track everything. With the help of modern technology, it's really made it easier. My phone synchs with the web site I use, so I don't have to remember everything. I've tried to stay within a 2000 calorie diet and I think that is exactly what has helped me lose weight the most. When I think back, I used to consume at least 3000 calories a day, which is why I gained so much weight. The simple adage that if you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. I've been able to do it without starving myself, just watching more what I eat. Sodas are now Diet (but every now and then I'll have a regular one). I still eat ice cream in the evening (which I shouldn't either way), so I'm not 100% following the rules, but I'm still losing weight, which is good.

Life itself is moving along. I've now been at my current job for one year. I still feel like I have a ton to learn, but for the most part I have enough knowledge to get by. I rely on my boss for information on a weekly, if not daily basis at times. I'd like to get more independant enough so he can fully trust I can do my job. Work is funny because sometimes It's busy where it looks like a tornado hit my desk, then it's SLOW, but there is always something to be done, even when it's slow.

The family is doing well. Caiden has started seeing a counselor. We thought it would be good for him to have someone to talk to outside of the family, who could allow him to vent or talk about something without worrying about getting in trouble. We've also reluctantly started him on medication for ADHD treatment. I really don't like the idea of him being on medication and I've held out or plainly ignored the warning signs for years, but we felt it should be something we should try. So far he's showing pretty good improvement with being able to stay on task and for the most part is getting his work done in class, which is nice. I love my son so dearly and want so much for him to be happy and have a sense of where he belongs in this world and within our family.

Bailey is so sweet. I love her to DEATH. I've had the good fortune of having some days off (Federal holidays for bank employees) while Alene has worked and just spending time with her is a joy. She's really starting to become a little girl, with a preference for wearing her beaded necklaces. She used to just rip them off, but now she wears them a lot. Alene is still her number one person, as when she wakes up the first thing you hear is "MAMA!" She loves her mom so much. Alene does such a good job raising her and teaching her. There is no doubt in my mind that the wonderful little girl that Bailey is, is a direct result in the wonderful mothering Alene provides. Bailey also loves Caiden so much. The other day when we dropped him off at his mother's, she cried so badly because we left him there. She's really starting to notice and identify our family and that we belong together.

Alene and I are both ready for the spring to come. I wasn't too happy about ground hog day, but for now it appears that the prediction was just for the east-coasters. I'm dieing to get out and hike with Alene, especially now that I'm feeling in shape and know I can keep up with her. If we ever do something hard-core, she always kicks my trash and I feel bad that I have to ask her to slow down at times. I just wish we were able to work out more time together, as I'm sure most couples do. We are settled into a routine, which I know Alene hates, and I really don't mind, so it's hard to try to figure that out between the two of us. I still love Alene with all of my heart and I hope every day she knows it. I'm still not the best at showing it though. Something I need to keep working on. At times I day dream about quitting my job, moving somewhere far away and remote and being happy with her, then my phone rings and reminds me to get back to work. I've got to keep dreaming though.

We got a new keyboard for our laptop

2010-01-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Bailey had a habit of busting it out, then busting out the keys on the keyboard. About 10% of them were un-usable, so we ordered a new one. I was surprised at how easy it was to change out a laptop keyboard.

Anyway, I gave the old one to Bailey, and she finally was able to complete her masterpiece. I'm sure she had this intended all along.

I've been fortunate to be able to spend a bit more time with Bailey with Alene working the Sundance film festival. I love her so much. She is such a joy to be around, even when she gets moody or sassy. Last Friday I met Alene at the Children's Discovery center (at the Gateway, downtown SLC) and I was able to play with Bailey for a while. We had a great time.

She has all kinds of great expressions too, like this:

Bailey is a climber!

2010-01-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

My little 17 month old Bailey is so adventurous. I had the good fortune to spend half the day with her by myself while Alene worked (I work for a bank, so we had MLK day off). I had a lot of fun just playing with her for the day. We were downstairs and I left her in her room to play for a bit while I picked up some things in the family room. When I came back into her room, I found she had crawled into her crib! She was laughing and jumping up and down. She was so happy to be in there. I was blown away that this tiny little girl (she is a little small for her age) somehow figured out a way to get into her crib. She has a book shelf next to her crib, so she must have climbed up that, then on top of it, then into her crib.

It's so amazing to see our children grow up and develop their own personalities and take on traits from us. Bailey's sense of adventure is no doubt a direct trait from her mommy. I'm so excited every day to see Bailey and see the progress she makes as she grows. I love her so much.

A day of sledding with Bailey

2010-01-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

Desperation as a parent

2010-01-03T22:14:00.002-07:00

Last week I received a phone call on my cell phone that was coming from "Blocked". I answered it and there was a voice I did not recognize on the other end, but I knew who it was. He was the father of a kid I used to coach a few years ago. I didn't recognize his voice because I had never heard him speak before. I had never heard him speak before because he doesn't speak english very well.

He and his family, which consist of a wife, 3 boys and a girl, are immigrants from Croatia. They moved here about 14 years ago to get away from all the war that had ravished their country. When I coached his son (who, by the way was a STUD athlete and a lot of fun to coach), he told me that his father doesn't have a job, or can't keep a job because he doesn't speak english. He seemed kind of upset about his father not working and I too have passed judgement on him, thinking if he's lived here for over 10 years, why hasn't he taken the opportunity to improve himself by learning english so he can get a job? His parents rarely came to games because they didn't have a car. Alene once picked them up and gave them a ride to our championship game, which I'm sure they appreciated.

It's been about 3 years since I'd seen his parents. He started off with small talk of some sort (in broken english) but eventually I realized he was calling me asking for money. At first I had no idea what he was asking because his english was so broken. I remember his son saying that his dad was embarrassed to talk because of how bad his english is. I can't imagine how hard it was for his dad to call me to ask for money. He kept saying, "Tax refund you paying back, tell wife". I eventually realized he was saying he would pay me back with his tax refund and he wanted me to ask my wife if we could loan him money. I told him I'd call him back in a bit and hung up.

I got off the phone and talked with Alene about it. At first I was a bit put off, thinking it was kind of weird, and worrying about if we loaned him money, would he pay us back? The amount wasn't astounding, but it was still be considered "a lot" of money for us. We don't have a ton of liquid savings (anything I really save is either in a retirement account, or Caiden and Bailey's education savings), but we had enough to cover what he was needing.

Alene and I thought about it a bit and the more we thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea to give it to him. In fact, we eventually came to the conclusion that if he didn't pay us back, we weren't going to worry about it. Eventually I started to think even more about telling him to NOT pay us back. I've been so blessed over the past year with a good job, my families health, my own health, and so many other things that there is no way I shouldn't pass up on an opportunity to show my appreciation for the blessings in my life. During a time when people are losing their jobs and lives are falling apart financially, mine is not and I should be thankful. I was determined to give him the money and tell him to not pay us back. I even pulled out an extra $20 to give to him.

I met him at my work the next day. He walked in and gave me a big hug and had a huge smile on his face. I put the cash in a sealed envelope with his name on it and gave it to him. I told him "don't pay us back" and repeated it in an many ways I could in order to get my point across to him. I told him to take care of his family and tell them hello for me. He smiled and nodded and said thank you. I still don't know if he understood what I was telling him, but I felt good about it and if he tries to pay us back, we won't accept it.

I have no idea what he needed the money for, but I kept thinking about how desperate he must have been. I remember him mentioning something about Christmas when he called me and I can only imagine that he was telling me they didn't have one. I've learned and realized that as a father you may not be a perfect one, but a real father would do anything he can for his family, including stepping out of his comfort zone. I look at it as paying him for teaching me a lesson about taking care of my family no matter how hard it is to step out of my comfort zone.

Thanks honey, for being willing to assist someone in need with me.

Caiden's football collage from 2009

2010-01-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

One our team parents, Mindy Tuikolovatu, is a photographer specializing in portraits. The past two years she has done these AMAZING collages of our kids at no charge (she even prints it up on a huge poster-sized photo for each kid). If anyone is looking for a person to do a great portraits, please visit her web site at: http://www.photographybymindyt.com/

(Click HERE for large version)

(Click HERE for large version)

A day of sledding with Bailey

2010-01-01T17:20:00.003-07:00

Losing weight, getting in shape

2009-12-31T11:24:00.002-07:00

Sorry I don't blog as much as I used to. Just busy I guess.

So, it's been about a month since I've been working out on a consistent basis. So far, I'm loving the results. I've lost roughly 10-12 lbs, I have more energy, and I feel healthier, even though I have a long way to go.

I think my biggest advantage has been the ability to track my diet and everything I eat. I'm much more aware of what is going into my body. I use the web site: http://dailyburn.com which is a great, free option to track everything. I mainly focus on my daily intake of Calories (I try to stay between 1900-2300), Fat (45-75 grams a day), Protein (100-175 grams a day), and Carbs (200-275 per day). If I fall below any of those, I honestly don't care too much. Lately I've really been trying to get more Protein than anything because I feel a difference in my energy level through the day. My profile can be found here: Profile

I'm somewhat shy about talking about losing weight for two reason. Number one, I don't want to come off as some dude that is WAY too much into his image and I'm trying to keep up with "The Joneses"; and number two, I'm embarassed at how much weight I've put on since getting married. I'll shamefully admit I was about 200 lbs and I've ballooned up to about 240. I'm down to 228 so far and feeling so good.

So far my workouts have consisted of aerobic stuff with Alene at home (I've done workouts like "Bridal sculpt and burn", which prepares me for looking good on my wedding day and having all of my brides maids jealous of me, you too should try it), a combination of Elliptical/Treadmill at the gym, some weigh lifting, and abdominal workouts. I've also been taking suppliments to help. I take a great pre-workout suppliment that gives me a ton of energy to get me through my workout. My body is SO worn out when it wears off, but I can definitely feel the difference. I also take protein shakes post-workout. Lastly, I subscribe to Men's Health magazine and I got this kick-ass workout called the Spartan workout. The only thing you need for it is a pair of dumbells. It's fast-paced so you get some good cardio burn, and it focuses on a total body workout. My first day of doing it (last Saturday) KILLED my body and I couldn't walk for two days. I've done it a second time (yesterday) and the only sore spot on my body today is my Abs, which makes me feel that my body is used to it.

I have many reasons for wanting to be in shape and I'll start first with my wife. Alene has always been the epitome of someone in shape. Since the day I met her I was always impressed with her consistency in going to the gym and wanting to take care of her body. She doesn't go to the gym to compete with other women and try to look good. She goes to the gym because she likes how it makes her feel physically. I've also admired her for her ability to watch what she eats (most of the time anyway, if you ask her she'll tell you she's only eats junk food). She's always been very conscious about striving to eat healthy things. I feel so guilty because she feels like she's stooped to my level by eating more fatty things since she's married me. I'm such a pig.

As I go through this phase, I hope to get back down to the weight I was at when we first married. If I can go any lower than that, that's fine, but I want to then focus on getting stronger. I also ponder other reasons I want to lose weight and get in shape. I'll list the positives, then the negatives:

POSITIVES

I'll feel better physically
I'll look better to Alene (even though she loves me for who I am)
I'll be able to do more kick-ass hikes with Alene
I'll set an example for my children that our health is important
Hopefully I'll live longer as a result
I'll have more energy and strength for doing things I love
More overall confidence in myself

NEGATIVES

I recently bought two pairs of jeans I LOVE and I'm already having to "cinch" them up; I'll have to buy a lot of new clothes
I'll be more apt to take my shirt off in public, forcing everyone to put on their sunglasses and shout "SASQUACH!"
No more "Thirds and Fourths" at the dinner table
No more excuses asking Alene to slow down on evening walks and using the "because I'm out of shape" excuse

I think the positives outweigh the negatives. I'm really feeling good about my progress so far.

One more thing that has recently inspired me is a section in Men's Health called "the belly-off club". They feature a person who has recently lost a lot of weight and all of them have had consistent means of doing it: Watching their diet and getting at least 3 days of exercise. One person I recently saw was 268 lbs (at 5'9") and is now down to 165 lbs. He did it all in 13 months. Pretty amazing.

I have so many other goals I want to accomplish, most of them with Alene. I hope to be able to run a 5K, and eventually a 1/2 Marathon with her (even though she hates running them). I want to do a Triathalon. I want to be competitive athletically as I was when I was in high school. I know it's not for everyone to be competitive, but for whatever reason it's something that drives me to compete, even if it's against myself. So far I've been doing a good job (relatively) on the treadmill. I can consistenly run 3 miles with no problems. My only issue is I run out of time and have to stop. I'm hoping to be able to eventually run 5 miles in 50 minutes or less.

So, here's to the new year and me getting slimmer. I'm really excited for this coming year because I have somewhat of a grip on my job now, and also have a lot of vacation time to use. I'm going to plan some great hikes and camping trips with Alene and hope to get a lot accomplished this coming year. I hope you all are looking forward to the future as much as I am.

2009 Root Family year in review

2009-12-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a direct link. Much better viewed in full screen.

2009 Root Family year in review

Front yard

2009-12-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive

2009-12-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

I've been busy, as you all know, during the Fall. With it now being over, I hope to blog a bit more. I've mostly just been blogging about my son's football season. We finished the season 11-0 and won our championship game 46-12. What a blast to pay one of our best games last. It was even more exciting because we played it in the worst possible conditions (white-out blizzard).

Here's my coaching blog in case you're interested in how our season went (highlight videos are from each game).

Coach Root

Just got a crazy snow storm here. I'm wanting a snow blower REALLY bad.

Work is going well. About 1.5 months and I'll have been on the job for a year now. I think I can hack this thing, I just wish my office was closer to home. Maybe someday.

I'm trying to get back in shape and have been working out with Alene for about 2 weeks so far now. I really hope we can keep it going. I've lost about 6 lbs so far. I honestly want to be down to about 185 lbs, but I know I need to take it in steps, so I'm wanting to lose 10 more lbs and get down to 220. Then 210, then 200, etc. I was 200 when I married Alene, so she at least deserves that :-).

I've got a few projects I want to work on during the winter (if I can find the time). I have a TON of my families old home movies that I want to get put onto a DVD for everyone. I also have a lot of footage from my friend Tim's film we did about 6 years ago that I want to upload and edit. My brother Russ had it all edited, then deleted it on his computer, thinking nobody cared about it. I still would like to get it finished to know we had it completed. Tim wasn't super happy with how it turned out, but I really think it's important for something like this to be finished regardless of quality, so I'm going to get it done.

Anyway, hoping to be able to enjoy the holidays and find time to get closer to my family. Caiden is having a hard time in the home, so I really want him to know we love him. Bailey is SO cute and I'm having fun watching her grow and learn.

That's about it for now.

The bumble bee

2009-11-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Bailey was a cute little bumble bee this year:

Creating a zombie football player

2009-11-02T07:13:00.001-07:00

Caiden wanted to be a zombie football player this year, so his uncle Russ was kind enough to provide the skills to turn him into one:

The zombie football player holding his bumble bee sister

Besides human flesh, zombies also like lots of candy and this zombie was very satisfied. Who knew?

Happy Birthday Caiden

2009-10-27T11:46:00.000-06:00

WOW! My son is 10 years old today. Definitely makes me feel old. Alene and I were talking just the other day about how close we are to him hitting his teenage years. At what age will he want to go to the movies with his friends? When will he have a girlfriend? He'll be driving in 6 years! Graduating high school in 8 (hopefully). We both know we just need to not worry about those things and enjoy all the moments we have now.

I'm very proud of Caiden. I love him to death and always will. He's MY son.

Love you buddy.

Hi everybody

2009-10-26T21:19:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know I am around. With work and coaching Caiden's football team, I haven't had a ton of time to blog. I really miss doing it though.

So, if there actually is anyone out there that reads my blog, I apologize for letting all one of you down (Alene).

A few updates though:

Family: Ups and downs as always, but I love my family more than anything. Bailey is the cutest little girl in the world and I adore her dearly (even when she throws a tantrum). When I came home late from work tonight I kissed her on the cheek and she kept leaning in for kiss after kiss. Caiden is busy with football and doing well. He could be doing better in school, but we'll just have to stay on top of him. Alene just finished running in the "other" half marathon in Moab and beat her expected time by 10+ minutes!! HOLY CRAP!! She was amazing. We also had the amazing opportunity to meet Alene's son Cade and his wonderful mother Lori. We'll never forget that moment.

Football: I'm coaching Caiden's team as the defensive coordinator. We are currently undefeated at 8-0 and we have our last game of the regular season against a team we are tied for first place with. From there we will have the playoffs, which is two rounds. I keep a team blog with highlights from each week (click on the word "Football" above).

My job: It's going well. I finally have a grasp on what is expected of me, but there is so much more to do in regards to getting organized and having some structure. I REALLY wish I could have an assistant, even a part time one, but I doubt that will ever happen. I've been traveling a lot for work and with the winter coming on, hopefully it will slow down.

Outdoors: I suck in that respect. I have not gotten out for much outdoors stuff all year. Our schedules were pretty hectic this past spring/summer with Alene filling in for other people at work AND Caiden playing baseball. I really hope we can get out more next year. We have a great trip planned for our anniversary next year. Details to come in a few months. I'm so pissed that I failed to even get out mountain biking ONCE this whole year. I really suck.

Alene and I also went a few concerts here and there.

The football season should be over by November 14 if we make it to the championship game. After that we are taking a LONG awaited vacation to a (hopefully) warm place in San Diego, CA. It will be fun to vacation as a family and I look forward to it.

So, you can see my life is pretty boring. Sorry if I've disappointed.

Hike up Farmington Canyon

2009-09-08T22:16:00.000-06:00

Check out this link to our outdoor adventures blog about our recent hike up Farmington Canyon.

Farmington Canyon

Conan O'Brian never fails

2009-09-08T16:38:00.001-06:00

Hick Johnson Space Cowboy

2009-08-25T21:46:00.002-06:00

This is a movie my brothers started working on back in 1999. They finally finished it 10 years later. It was filmed in CA and Utah.

Part 1

Part 2

Music review: Ugly Casanova

2009-08-23T10:34:00.003-06:00

WOW. Just got this album that was released in 2002. Ugly Casanova is a side band that Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock formed on the side, they only released on album, "Sharpen your Teeth".

Isaac used to tell a story about a man (who went by the name Ugly Casanova) that would follow them around on tour and play these songs backstage while they were all hanging out. He would abruptly leave then show up on another tour. The last time they saw him, he left behind these songs, which Isaac said he recorded in hopes that Ugly Casanova would come back.

The story is not real, but in some ways it is. If you have not listened to Modest Mouse, you're missing out. Isaac Brock is a genius. It took them YEARS before they were considered popular (they started back in 1993 and didn't really get serious radio play until around 2004's "Good News for People who Love Bad News" album). I still think their better albums are the earlier works, however the newer stuff they put out is still great and you can definitely hear how much they mature from album to album without losing the rawness that made them famous.

Back to Ugly Casanova.

I had heard about this side band, but never thought to look for the music. The other day I was looking for Modest Mouse's new EP on itunes and I happened upon the Ugly Casanova album. Just from listening to some of the samples, I was blown away and PISSED that I had been missing out.

My favorite songs from this album are in order (going to put Youtube videos/songs with them; don't know how long they'll last, so listen now and I apologize in advanced for some of the lame videos some of these people made with these songs):

Hotcha Girls

Parasites

Barnacles

So Long to the Holidays

Cat Faces

Smoke Like Ribbons

Things I don't remember

Kearns Gremlins

2009-08-19T10:27:00.000-06:00

Football season is upon us. I love being around this game and coaching it. For a long time I had dreamed of making an honest career out of coaching, but I think at my age and with my responsibilities, I'm best suited for being around my son and coaching FB with him. I'm actually having a blast. We have a great team and I'm really looking forward to the season.

I'm currently coaching the defense for our 9 year old "A" team. The great thing about this is that these kids, as long as they live in the area, will grow up playing together on the same team every year through high school (that is, of course, unless they get recruited away). The coaching staff we have is very knowledgeable and our parental support is amazing.

Caiden BARELY made weight to be able to play a "skill" position. He actually barely made weight a year ago, so it's kind of funny to think he has only gained a couple of pounds in a year, but he's definitely grown taller. He'll be playing TE and DE (or outside linebacker). He's made great improvements from last year and is doing a very good job. I'm very proud of him.

I don't want to be "one of those guys"

2009-08-04T06:43:00.003-06:00

Here I am, up at 5am. Consumed with work on my mind. I've never been this consumed in my life. I've been working at my job for 6 months now and I'm still not where I need to be as far as being organized and "in control" of my job. I know it sounds crazy, but there is so much work that goes into just getting organized. I have over 80 properties I manage and each one has it's own uniqueness. 16 of them are out of state, so they require me to manage them remotely without seeing them more than 3 times a year (I've seen them once in the past 6 months).

The most challenging and stressful part of my job is spending money. One would think that wouldn't be a problem, however there is a lot of pressure to spend our monthly budgeted money because if we don't spend it in that month, we lose it (we don't get to carry it over into the next month), so most of the time I feel like an accountant, trying to ensure I have jobs lined up for work to be performed to spend the money. Every month I have about $16k-$40k to figure out how to spend. If I don't spend it, I'm in serious trouble. There is the stress of ensuring the job gets done in that month and then making sure I have the invoice in my hand by the end of that month. The most frustrating part is that I can't spend this money on the most obvious needs for my property (carpet and furniture) because those expenses come out of a capital budget, which is always VERY thin. In fact, carpet is the lowest of priorities with regards to capital budgets, so those are seldom approved.

In addition to my monthly spending dillemas, I just went through our most stressful month (July) which is budgeting month. This is where I take my budget based on what I spent part of this year and what I have planned for the remaining year, and create a budget for EACH property with that money I have. It's extremely tedious and time consuming. I've been having dreams of being late with my budget or not having started it. I finally finished it on Sunday evening a few days ago and I was RELIEVED.

Don't get me wrong, I really do love my job, but the past 6 months have been a serious adjustment from working a previous job that was much more flexible and didn't have all the restraints on a budget that I have now. It's taken some adjusting, but I think I'm getting it. I never imagined a job in the same field taking 6 plus months to really get control over (and I'm really pushing a realistic goal now of 1 year to REALLY have control).

But here I am, the guy up at 5am and can't stop thinking about work. I woke up to go to the bathroom and I was DOG TIRED (still am), but I can't fall asleep, so I decide to blog. I could just go into work, but I have to take Caiden to his mom's and it's too early for that. So, I'll do my best not to be THAT guy (the one that gets to work by 6am and doesn't leave until 6 or 7pm). Being a hard worker is important, but time for my family and myself is even more important. I just wonder how long it will last.

Entering another dimension

2009-07-18T20:19:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Alene and Bailey went camping. I couldn't join them because I had to be at a football equipment check out Saturday morning, so toward the end of my work day, my brother Russ called me to invite me with him to a classic car show put on by Bo Huff.

I had learned about this guy a few months before. Russ is currently restoring, from the ground up, a 1951 Chevy 2-door hard top. He is pulling it apart piece by piece and fixing it up. It's very impressive to watch him as he progresses through it. Anyway, Russ told me about Bo Huff, who is one of those guys famous for re-storing cars, or for "chopping" cars. He is originally from East Carbon, UT (a small town outside of Price, which is a pretty small town itself). He has been restoring cars since his teens, moving to SLC, then LA, where his work really took off. He eventually moved back to Utah, where he continues to restore cars for people all over America.

So, with that said, I high-tailed it from work in order to head down to East Carbon, UT to check it out. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I used to LOVE going to classic car shows with my dad when I was younger and I've recently taken a liking to getting out and doing it more now. Someday I hope to be able to restore a car and cruise it to my death bed.

We arrived around 6:30pm and when we got there, we immediately felt out of place. I'd say about 90% of the people there were extremely hard-core. They truly lived the life of car choppers. Most had tatoos all over the place, most were drunk off their rears, and most looked like they would slit your throat if you looked at them wrong. I felt like I had jumped back to the 50's among a group of greasers. Now, I wasn't intimidated, because we found as we talked to everyone, they were all pretty nice. We saw Bo walking around talking to everyone. Russ had first met him while working security at the airport and talked to him for a bit. He saw Russ and said, "Whats up daddy?". Dude was cool as a cucumber, long white haired beard, white hair slicked back, sunglasses. People around there just absolutely worshiped him.

The town itself doesn't have a hotel (that I know of), so people were just camping out on the side of the streets or in their campers. A lot of the cars were very interesting and I wished I had brought my camera (these pictures are from Russ'). We were actually there a day before the official show, so we didn't see every car. That night they had a concert with two "rockabilly" bands playing. I was impressed with each band because they had their own niche.

The first band was Joey Fender and the 55's. This dude was very interesting and had a great way of playing a slide guitar while also helping out on drums (see video below). He also had a rock-star moment when he jumped off the stage and started playing his guitar in the crowd.

The second band was cool because it consisted of 3 brothers and some older guy on standup bass. The guitarist couldn't have been older than 17, the drummer had to be about 12-13, and the lead singer was about 9 years old. You couldn't really understand what he was singing (mostly original songs, with a cover of "walk this way"), but the kid MOVED like a frontman (with a guitar) and he had feeling in his voice as he sang. I felt like I was looking at a group of kids from the 50's. It was surreal.

Since the bands didn't start playing until 10pm, we didn't get home until about 1am. It was still a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to going back next year.

Russ outside of Bo Huff's shop

Some pictures of the various kinds of cars that were there. While some may not look finished, that is what was so cool about them is they are left like that on purpose. Kind of an "F-U" to the world that this is what they're doing with their car and it will smoke yours any day in a race-attitude.

This guy was from Montana. Funny as hell.

'50 Mercury. Love how they chop the top down on top of the cars

If I remember right, this car was pretty much hand-made, but had a Ford engine in it (even the body was fabricated by the owner)

Some of the rusty chopped up cars

This one sat there and burned out for about 20 seconds

One of Bo Huff's personal cars

Joey Fender and the 55's

Check out the slide guitar technique

The "brothers group" (can't remember their name, but they're from Springville, UT)

My little brother Russ is getting smarter

2009-07-16T20:10:00.002-06:00

30 years old and he can almost spell my name correctly.

Messing around at the drive in movies with my camera

2009-07-10T00:39:00.004-06:00

This isn't my good camera. This is the cheaper camera. We were watching Transformers 2, so I HAD to find something to do to kill the time. Got a couple of shots of an airplane flying behind the screen.

Tail lights

The boys

Silver Lake

2009-07-05T14:28:00.001-06:00

Check out our hike to Silver Lake on our outdoor adventures blog:

Sliver Lake

Golfing

2009-07-05T13:28:00.003-06:00

I went golfing with my brother Jeff and my brother in-laws Nate and Brock at Soldier Hollow. Check out this video I made from our trip:

"Do you like what you see?"

2009-07-05T11:58:00.003-06:00

My nephew Ian does this dance from the movie "Hot Rod" perfectly. My family has this obsession with watching totally dumb, yet funny movies over and over again and this is the end result of what happens to us.

Ian:

The original version from the movie:

Video of Bailey walking

2009-06-28T21:43:00.001-06:00

She's not full-on walking, crawling is still her choice of transportation, but we can trick her into walking every once in a while. She's doing so good and we're getting so excited for her.

Vis-a-Vis my progeny

2009-06-23T23:23:00.001-06:00

Tepenyanki 6.22.09

2009-06-23T23:17:00.000-06:00

Happy Fathers day

2009-06-21T11:34:00.005-06:00

I recently started reading David McCullough's book, "John Adams". Alene bought me the HBO min-series and I really liked it. I'm only on the 2nd chapter of the book, but one thing stuck out to me, probably by chance because it's fathers day. It was the section where it starts to describe his up-bringing and his parents. He starts off by talking about how much he loved his mother and respected her and when it got to his father, this is what he had to say:

There were scarcely words to express the depth of his gratitude for the kindness his father had shown him, the admiration he felt for his father's integrity. His father was "the honestest man" John Adams ever knew. "In wisdom, piety, benevolence, and charity in proportion to his education and sphere of life, I have never know his superior, " Adams would write long afterward, by which time he had come to know the most prominent men of the age on two sides of the Atlantic. His father was his idol. It was his father's honesty, his father's independent spirit and love of country, Adams said, that were his lifelong inspiration. (as written by David McCullough)

Now, I don't know if it's ego, or what, but there is something inside me that so badly wants my children (and my wife) to think of me in this manner. I don't think it's ego though. I think if they think of you in this manner, that you have done a good job as a father and that is what you want. Often times I feel like I've failed so much and I get down on myself. I won't say I give up, but it just seems like I can and never will be someone admired by my children or my wife due to my many faults. I'm often late to things, I don't follow up on punishments at times (or often), I don't fulfill all my obligations as a priesthood holder in the home (i.e. we don't study scriptures as a family or hold family home evening hardly at all). I just feel so inadequate and I wish I wasn't.

With that said, I cannot be more proud of my children and being a father has brought more joy in my life than anything else. Seeing my children happy and laughing and loving is something I live to see.

I often wonder if Caiden knows how dumb I really am. I remember growing up thinking that my dad was the smartest man alive. I'm not sure when that realization changed (no offense dad, neither of us will ever top Einstein), but I still have all the respect for my dad that I could ever have, and I especially respect him for his knowledge and wisdom. He's always been a good example to me that working hard and doing your best, even when nobody is looking, is important. He's taught me to have a sense of humor and try to make others laugh. He's taught me to love oldies music, especially the Beach Boys. Most important, he has taught me to have an un-conditional love for my family and to sacrifice anything he could for us.

I still have a fond memory of being about 10 years old, maybe 11, and being pretty aware that we did not have much money. I rode my bike down to my dad's car lot and asked him for $.50 for a candy bar at the store. I remember he just paused and looked me right in the eye and said, he wanted to give me so much more, but for now he would give me all the change in his pocket. He scooped in and pulled out WAY more than the $.50 I wanted and gave me a big hug. That really meant a lot to me and in some ways, made me feel really secure that my dad would never leave me wanting.

Here are some misc. pictures of my dad or me spending time with my dad.

The fisherman with his mustache

Helping me develop my love for swimming

Giving me a haircut, even if it appears I'm going to fall asleep

Pulling us on a sled - I can actually still remember this happening and not wanting it to end.

Taking us to car shows and putting a HUGE belt buckle on me

A little bit Country....

....and a little bit rock n roll

"Should I stay or should I go"

Going to more car shows

The knees are still holding up

The poser

A couple of pictures I love of mom and dad

(Their friends Gary and Sandy gave this one to me)

Dad's kids

Partly Cloudy

2009-06-11T06:38:00.002-06:00

My friend Tim shared this video on his blog, but I thought it was so great that I wanted to share it on mine. Hope you enjoy.

Partly Cloudy

See more like this on kontraband.com

And he gets beaned again

2009-06-06T15:45:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, Caiden get's beaned a lot. Today he was 2 for 2......getting beaned, not with hits.

# 1

# 2 - This one I guess counted as an RBI?? I don't know how they work those stats in baseball, but the bases were loaded and he got beaned.

It's cool that he can take one for the team, but the kid has to develop some reflexes.

Bailey

2009-06-06T09:48:00.002-06:00

She was hanging out with me by a tree at Caiden's game. What a cutie.

Bailey

2009-06-06T09:48:00.000-06:00

She was hanging out with me by a tree at Caiden's game. What a cutie.

Caiden and baseball

2009-06-06T09:39:00.003-06:00

This is Caiden's first year with the Kearns baseball program and somewhat his first year of fast pitch baseball. Two years ago he played in a league with 6-8 year olds that was fast pitch and he was of the younger kids, so he did not hit too well. They changed their rules the following year to do machine-pitch only and he had close to a .700 batting average. A lot of the kids in this league still struck out at the machine, but caiden could hit anything over the plate.

This year he's back to fast pitch and besides being walked, he has only gotten on base with a hit once or twice, but he's learning.

He also gets beaned a lot. This one had him beaned on his right elbow, BEHIND him.

Here is the marks left from the baseball on his elbow

Here is a video of him scoring a run off his teammates grand slam

Fence addition to the side of our house

2009-06-01T11:02:00.002-06:00

It had been a while since I had done a decent project at our house and knowing me, you know I have to have a project to do. I decided I was tired of all the weeds growing through our chain-linked fence on the side of the house and having to cut them down with my weed eater was becoming a pain. I started off my saturday with removing an old chain linked fence that ran right up against my neighbor's wood fence. Leaves were collecting in between the two and I like wood anyway, so I removed the old chain-linked fence. Someday I plan on adding cedar fence posts to this fence line, but that will be a while.

Once my neighbor's wood fence ended, there was a chain-linked fence that continued to the front of our houses. My plan was to remove this chain-linked fence and utilized the existing posts to hang my fence rails.

Here is a picture of where the old chain link fence ran against my neighbors wood fence (I had already removed the chain linked fence before taking the picture). Someday this will all be 6" cedar slats.

Here is a before picture of the rest of the fence, which is chain-linked and where I'm going to put in the cedar fence.

Here is a picture of my gate on the right side of my house. I am going to turn this into a cedar gate as well with a proper lock.

Here it is after building the gate. I used the old gate frame and bolted wood rails to it in order to screw my cedar slats to it. It worked perfect.

This is how I hung the rails. I just used 2x4 holders and some self-tapping hex-head screws to screw them into the posts, then mounted the 2x4's to the holders. Worked perfect.

The slats went up pretty quickly. I could have done it much quicker, but if you notice the old Camero in the background, it was actually hanging over onto my fence line so we had to dig the tires out and push it back about 6". Now I don't have to look at an old Camero either :-).

Before

After

Glad it was all done. I can't wait to finish off the rest of the yard. Most people love Vinyl fences and I can understand why (because they last long), but I love a more natural look and I don't mind having to stain the fence every 2-3 years.

I was in awe of my surroundings today

2009-05-30T21:53:00.003-06:00

As I sat at Caiden's baseball game today, I was blown away by the view we have at his games. (click on the picture, then "all sizes" for a larger version)

Also, the clouds were out and full force today. VERY white and bright

Bailey is learning

2009-05-30T21:43:00.001-06:00

She has finally started to reject her veggies. We knew it was only time. Alene was very good about starting her off with eating just veggies and rice, then introducing fruits, however now she will only eat the rice and fruits.

She knows how to tell us "no" now.

Alene is amazing

2009-05-26T20:57:00.001-06:00

Every night she puts bailey to sleep with the most beautiful songs only a mother could sing to her children. Alene thinks she has a horrible voice, but when I hear Alene sing, I hear the most beautiful voice coming from a mother who loves her child so much. I know Alene's voice is the most beautiful voice in the world to Bailey.

I love this picture of Bailey hanging out in mommy's lap.

San Rafael Swell camping trip

2009-05-25T00:33:00.003-06:00

Be sure to check out these posts from our most recent trip to the San Rafael Swell. We had a great time, despite the rain sending us home a day early.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

UVU Car show at Thanksgiving point

2009-05-17T22:44:00.005-06:00

When I was growing up my dad and mom would always take us to classic car shows. I developed a love for old cars when I was young but it has been a while since I've really been into older cars. Recently my brother purchased an old '51 Chevy and is restoring it from the ground up. He's literally taking it all apart (the engine, the frame, drive shaft, etc.) and re-building it. He bought a sand blaster and has been blasting the engine compartment and frame back to it's original finish. He has the engine torn apart and getting re-machined. He bought a HUGE compressor (the kind you have to bolt down to the ground) and paint gun and plans on painting it in his garage.

Anyway, I'm kind of getting back into those older cars and a lot of great memories have re-surfaced from my youth. I remember just being enamored with older cars and just loving going to "Auto-Rama" with my dad and brothers every year. This year was just as great as me, my dad, my brother's Russ, Jeff, and Billy, and my brother in-law Nate all went. I took a few pictures of my favorite cars.

I don't know what kind of car this was, but it looks like they dipped the body in some sort of copper finish. It was amazing and you could see yourself in the reflection.

(L-R) Russ in the black shirt, my dad, Jeff, me, Billy

This old buick was like something out of Mad Max. It had a converted diesel engine in it and it was LOUD. Loved it.

'69 Chevy Camero - my dream classic car (except I want one in black)

This is the first car my dad owned when he was 15/16

I was tempted to take it all off.

Growing up my parents bought Russ and I one of these mini-bikes. We LOVED it. It looked just like this.

Evidence

Jeff found this old Russian motorcycle in the swap meet section and is in the process of buying it.

We had a great time and I can't wait to go back.

Week in pictures

2009-05-17T09:05:00.002-06:00

I had a pretty busy week. I started of the week heading up to Idaho Falls for work. We recently aquired a failing bank that included 7 branches. I was part of a group that went around to inspect the buildings and evaluate their condition. I'll still be taking other trips to this area over the course of the next 6 months to set up contractor work on the maintenance and repairs for these properties, evaluating the existing lease contracts, etc.

I arrived at Idaho Falls on Monday night and met up that morning with another property manager from Boise and the project manager out of Minnnesota. We drove out to branches at Victor and Driggs, Idaho. Both branches were spectacular and from what our project manager said, the most beautiful branches we now own. They spared no expense at every detail (which is likely a part of the reason they went under). We then went over the Teton mountains (which were beautiful) and into Jackson, Wyoming to inspect another beautiful branch. From there we headed back to Idaho Falls and I high-tailed it back to SLC that evening.

On Wednesday afternoon I drove down to Grand Junction, Colorado. I am taking over 10 additional properties along the Colorado western slope from Grand Junction down to Telluride. I met up with my boss and the out-going property manager Thursday morning and we did a tour of 7 of my properties on the way down to Telluride. We ate dinner in Telluride and then got a hotel about 15 miles outside the town. This hotel was VERY nice and cheap considering the area ($105/night). The next day we went back into Telluride to tour 2 branches, then headed out in the middle of nowhere to Norwood to tour the last branch. My boss brought me back to Grand Junction to get my rental car and I sped on back to Utah.

Along the way I stopped at a cool "ghost town" called Thompson Springs, UT. I use the term Ghost town loosely because there were still residents there (mostly in random trailers), but the town itself was either boarded up, or vandalized. The town itself once sat on the old Highway 50, which was the main road on your way from Utah to Colorado. Then I-70 was built and this town obviously died off from lack of business. It kind of reminded me of the cartoon "Cars", however this was a much scarier place as the locals obviously stared at me, an outsider, with a bit of bitter curiosity.

Below are some pictures from my trip. I don't really have much from the Idaho trip.

This is one of my branches in Grand Junction (my largest as it's over 50k sf). I liked it because of how the mirrored exterior reflects the sky so well. In fact, it's so good that we have common issues with birds flying into the building.

Driving toward Telluride

At the end of Telluride is a road that switches back up to the peak of this mountain and drops down into another highway. It's a single-lane road for half the way up to the top, however it's a two-way road up to Tesla's old power plant (which is now a wedding/reception castle).

Close up of the castle

Close up of a water fall

Looking back toward Telluride

Notice I didn't get any pictures of the actual town. I was in a hurry :-).

Thompson Springs, UT

Old Highway 50 with I-70 running parallel (look on the right for some faint vehicles) looking East

Looking West

Thompson Springs Motel. This place must have been the place to stay at one point. All the rooms had doors kicked in and they were all destroyed.

Across the street you have these 3 dead buildings

An old railroad stop??

The only active business around

Tepanyaki

2009-05-17T09:02:00.002-06:00

(No, this is not a futuristic picture of Alene and I)

Alene and I went to Tepanyaki for the first time last night for our Anniversary date. I LOVE that place and can't wait to go back. I was so glad Alene was able to eat some sushi. I, of course, got a beef dish.

I'm finally done with my Associates Degree

2009-05-13T22:15:00.002-06:00

Honestly, I feel like it's a huge accomplishment for me, but at the same time I'm embarassed to blog about it.

I started school 9 years ago at the University of Phoenix. I was able to finish 5 classes there and then my divorce forced me to put school on hold a couple of years. I had to work a part time job at night to make ends meet and on the nights I wasn't working, I had Caiden. Eventually I got caught up financially and was considering my options. My friends at work had all done the SLCC thing and encouraged me to give it a try.

I started off taking a mix of 2 on-campus classes and 2 on-line classes. My first semester I finished with 3 A's and a B. I thought I was a genius and that I'd be done with the JC thing in no time.

Then I got lazy.

I'm still lazy.

The on-line classes were super easy, but I can be a natural procrastinator, so sometimes I didn't do so well. Eventually the classes I could take became on-campus only, so it was harder to fit in more than 2 classes a semester. Then I started coaching football, so school was out during the fall, which left only Spring/Summer to take classes. I skipped a few of those Summer/Spring semesters here and there....

But, here I am. I had one class left this past semester (Math 1030). In order to take this class I had to get a "C" or better in Math 1010. I had a C-. I lied to my teacher that I did have a "C", but I coudln't register on-line because it had been over 2 semesters since I took Math 1010 (I lied again, it had been 2 years). I promised him I would take this class very serious and he won't have a problem with me. He added me to his class manually. I finished his class this semester with an "A".

I'm very proud of that grade. I've also struggled with Math. Sure, when I pay attention I "get it", but I forget it quite quickly and I still find it one of the most boring topics I've ever taken in school.

So here I am now....I'm not sure when I want to start my bachelors degree and what I want to major in. I was so slow to finish my associates because I had a career field already established. I'm making decent enough money to support my family and I really like my job and the "sky is the limit" with my career (no dead ends). I know that if I want to advance to executive-type levels, I at least need to have my degree, but now I'm not sure what to do.

At first I was going to get my degree in History, get accredited as a teacher and teach high school history. Well, that can't support a family, but I still thought I could get my degree in History, retire early, and teach (and maybe it's a possibility), but I'm really thinking to lean toward something oriented to my field of work. Decisions, Decisions. Still, it's great to know that the sky is the limit and I have control over my future.

Jack Kemp said it best about this election

2009-05-03T11:42:00.001-06:00

While I disagree with a lot of Obama's policies, Jack Kemp (RIP) made some great points about this election of Obama.

A Letter to my Grandchildren

Honey BBQ chicken breast & Grilled Pears w/ vanilla mascarpone sauce

2009-04-26T20:27:00.004-06:00

This is not a food blog, but I am a big fan of food. I read my friend Josh's & his wife's blog here and they are cooking freaks. I like to cook, but today's credit goes to Alene.

I've been VERY busy with work since Friday, putting in 12 hour days friday/saturday and having to go into work today for a few hours as well. Alene had this free grilling pamphlet from Wild Oats that she had been wanting to try out a few things from. This stuff was AMAZING. The BBQ sauce really candied up to the chicken breast well and the pears were surprisingly good. One thing I learned from this about chicken is that you don't add the BBQ sauce until the end of cooking them (I'm embarrassed to admit I never knew that). I was always big on marinating my chicken in the sauce for a while, but the booklet said that it makes the sauce burn, rather than candy up to the meat. While I was working Alene prepared the chicken, the sauces and the pears and all I had to do was grill when I walked in.

The pears were amazing too. You cut them in half and scoop out the insides, then you grill them with this great butter/honey/cinnamon sauce. Then you grill them and when they come off the grill, you top them with some amazing mascarpone.

Here are a few more pictures and the recipe (if anyone is interested).

The honey BBQ sauce (There was WAY too much left over, so we'll use it for future BBQing; likely enough for 10 chicken breasts really)

RECIPES

Honey BBQ chicken

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups of ketchup
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp chile powder
1 tbsp black pepper
6 chicken breast halves, bone-in & skin on (we just did regular skinless chicken breasts)
1 tbsp coarse kosher salt
1/2 tbsp black pepper

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the next seven ingredients. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook slowly for 20 minutes; until the sauce thickens. Prepare a medium-hot fire on the grill. Mix salt and pepper together. Sprinkle over chicken breasts and under the skin. grill chicken about 10 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Reserve 1 cup BBQ sauce (There was PLENTY, so not sure what the reserve is for). Brush chicken lightly with remaining sauce and cook for 2 minutes each side.

Grilled pears with vanilla mascarpone

6 ripe but firm pears, halved and cored
4 tbsp un-salted butter
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz mascarpone cheese (we used ricotta cheese because we couldn't find mascarpone)
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp honey
1 pint fresh raspberries (I don't like raspberries, so Alene didn't add any for this. I feel bad because I know she likes them)

Prepare a medium-hot fire in the grill. Slice vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out seeds' stir into mascarpone. Mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract and honey. Chill until needed. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in cinnamon, sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Brush over pears. Place pears cut side down on grill. Grill 4 minutes per side (we ended up doing about 5 minutes per side). Remove and spoon a dollop of mascarpone onto each pear. Garnish with rasperries or cherry sauce.

It's about TIME!!!

2009-04-12T22:52:00.003-06:00

Why do we waste so much time with these guys? What I don't get is that we had snipers on these guys for days and at any time we could have taken them out. Why wait this long? Why show all the other would-be pirates that they too can hijack a ship, hope for millions in ransom, and they can stick it out for a while while we hand deliver them food and supplies?

Why not SHOW these would-be pirates how they will be treated EVERY TIME they decide to hijack a ship. There is no necessary trial for them. There is not chance they were innocent. TAKE THEM OUT. I know it's a life, but there are far more valuable lives of those that choose to NOT be pirates (i.e. the captain and every other vessel that's been taken over).

Click here for the story

All babies look the same....

2009-04-05T23:26:00.002-06:00

That's a bunch of BS. I love Bailey to death. I love spending time with her. I love that she loves her mommy so much (and more than me, but it's OK). I was able to spend a good portion of Saturday with her while Alene was at work. She is so beautiful and amazing. I was just looking at pictures from her birth. The thing that is great is that even as a new baby I can recognize so many prominent features of my darling little girl. Especially her "crying" face, as little as she cries.

I loved spending the time with her and playing with her. I love her HUGE grin she gives off. I cannot imagine the void I'd have without her in my life. My baby girl is growing so fast too. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING she can. She's playful and witty. She wants to try everything. She is so aware of everything. Today Alene and I were in the back yard playing catch with a football and she would follow that ball in the air back and forth to each of us. She stared with total curiosity, but was able to follow every throw back and forth. It was so cute.

Also, she's good at peekaboo in case you missed it, click HERE.

I will recognize this sleeping face for the rest of my days.

Daddy loves you Bailey.

Weekend camping trip to the San Rafael Swell

2009-03-30T19:33:00.002-06:00

Check out my daily reports here:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Bill's Photos

2009-03-22T22:13:00.002-06:00

Check out a couple of pictures Bill took on our recent trip to the Moab area.

Bill's pictures

Arches: Day 2

2009-03-22T19:16:00.000-06:00

Check out my post on Arches: Day 2

Arches

Arches:Day 1

2009-03-22T07:45:00.002-06:00

Check out my blog on Arches:

Arches

Hunters Canyon

2009-03-22T07:27:00.000-06:00

Check out our blog about Hunters Canyon:

Hunters Canyon

The Moab half marathon

2009-03-21T12:01:00.006-06:00

Alene ran in the "almost half-half marathon" which was a 5 mile run. She did great, finishing better than she expected at 43:44 (that's 8:45 average over the 5 miles).

She finished in 50th place out of 479. She finished # 9 in her age group and number 138 combined men/women (out of 786).

Bailey and I parked on 100 S. in moab and walked the 5 blocks up to the park where the finish line is to wait for her. I was so proud seeing her running across the finish line.

Here are some pictures:

Bailey and I walking to the park where the finish line is

The finish line

Bailey wasn't sure about the swing

Bailey got really happy when I told her mommy was almost there

Alene crossing the finish line

She was thirsty

Bailey was tired and fell asleep in the Kelty pack as we walked to the car. Alene carried her the rest of the way.

This guy liked dancing

Focus

2009-03-18T07:23:00.003-06:00

Man, when you're busy with work, there isn't much to blog about other than "I'm busy with work". Nothing too exciting although I continue to be amazed at how lucky I am to have a wonderful wife, a great son, and the cutest daughter in the world.

Having a job that you spend all day at makes you appreciate so much more I think. I seem more focused in some aspects. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I have less time, so I try to make the most of it? I mean, I still waste time playing Call of Duty 4 here and there, but not as much as before. I think by shooting enemy players, it allows me to blow off a bit of steam. I would highly recommend this game to the postal service.

What I'm really talking about is my focus on my "one" class I'm taking. Normally I don't put a lot of effort into my schooling. I take the classes and if I can come out with a B, I'm pretty happy. Right now I'm pulling an A in my math class, which is the subject I hate the most. I actually do spend the required 2-4 hrs a week on the homework. I actually do study for the tests. I've only missed one class and that was the second class of the semester because I just plain forgot about it. I'm just kind of surprised with myself so far. I have 2 more exams and a final project before this class is over. It would be pretty amazing if I could pull off an A. If I were to, I'd actually finish my associates with a 3.0 gpa, which is pretty amazing considering how little effort I put into school.

With that said, it's spring break and I'm partying like a rock star. I have my groupie (my wife) and my roadie (caiden) and my business partner (bailey) all with me. For this week off Caiden has started baseball, which is much more competitive, so they practice 3 days a week. It's put a kink in our schedule, but we'll deal with it. It's not easy. At the end of this week my groupie, my business partner, (the roadie will be with his mom) are going to Moab. Alene is going to be running in the "almost-half of a half marathon", then we are going to try to do something fun and outdoorsy. It's been too friggin' long. The weekend after that we're going camping to the San Rafael Swell, then two weekends after that we're going back to the swell. We're going to try to fit in as many camping trips as we can.

OK. Time to focus and get ready for work!

Bailey's head tilt

2009-02-27T20:23:00.001-07:00

She's so funny. We noticed her doing this a week or so ago. Now when I do it, she'll copy me and do it over and over. While I'm holding the camera, I'm tilting my head to the side and she copies me.

Caiden's letter to Henry

2009-02-27T19:55:00.001-07:00

As noted in this post, Caiden's Hamster Henry passed away. He wrote this letter before burying him.

Caiden's a cub scout

2009-02-27T19:51:00.004-07:00

I know he's 9 years old, but he finally got his bobcat and is about to earn his Bear. I really feel badly that I don't spend more time with him on scouts and helping him advance. Alene does such a great job as our ward den leader. She wants so badly to see the boys advance and get's so frustrated when the parents just don't seem to care. She sends the kids home with a list of things to do with their families, only to see them not completed. That can be frustrating for sure.

I really hope Caiden takes to scouting. I loved it when I was younger and I advanced pretty quickly. I was a life scout by the time I was 14 and only 6-7 merit badges away from my Eagle, but I got involved in sports and considered scouts "nerdy" after that. I hope Caiden doesn't take that approach and I'll do my best to encourage him to finish.

Went to Sundance last weekend

2009-02-27T19:10:00.002-07:00

Check out the latest on my outdoor adventures blog:

Sundance

R.I.P.

2009-02-14T17:55:00.005-07:00

Henry Root
Fall 2007 - February 12, 2009

You will be missed....

So, this last Thursday I had put in a long day at work and had came home in time to grab something to eat, study for my math exam and head out the door. Just as I was getting ready to leave, Alene was getting Bailey down for bed and Caiden came up to me with a concerned look on his face. He said he was checking on Henry (as he does nightly before bed) and he said Henry was not moving or responding to anything. He also said, "and I can't see his head".

I was already late for my exam, but I ran down there with him to check. Sure enough Henry was stiff as a board and Caiden was right, you couldn't see his head because it was burried in his little bedding. I think Caiden thought his head had fallen off and that's how he died. This was the first time I had had to deal with the death of an animal with Caiden. I looked down at him and just told him I'm so sorry, but Henry has passed away. Caiden started to cry and asked how he died. I just told him that hamsters don't live more than 2 years, so Henry must have been really old and in pain, so he's better now.

It was tough. I gave Caiden a big hug, then told him Alene would be down in a bit. She finished consoling him and talked about how they could bury him, etc.

When I got back from my math exam, my brother Russ was over and he gave ideas about having a 6-gun salute for Henry, and even possibly laying an American flag over his body. We were cracking up at Russ' suggestions, but still felt bad for Caiden.

Rest in peace Henry.

Here is a letter Caiden wrote to him: Caiden's letter

Here are a few more pictures of our beloved Henry.

This was a memorable incident

Tired

2009-02-12T00:10:00.003-07:00

I'm whining like a baby, but I'm tired.

I worked 10 hrs today, which most people actually do every day. I normally wouldn't be tired after working 10 hrs, but considering my brain is trying to absorb a TON of information, it makes me ten times more worn out.

I'm excited for my new job, but it's definitely 10 times harder than I thought it would be. There are so many intricate and dynamic things about watching how much we spend, making the right decisions, reading leases/contracts, dealing with our customer requests, etc. Just a ton to learn.

Some of the stuff I'm getting, while some of the stuff I get about 1/2 of, and some of the stuff I'm completely lost on.

My boss is leaving town to go home for the weekend on Friday, so I will have that day to try to get organized and come up with a clean list of questions about everything he's taught me.

This is still a tough transition. I've gone from a job where I could roll in between 8am and 10am, and take off between 3pm and 5pm, all while I'm wearing jeans, a tee shirt, and my Keens. This job requires me to wear a shirt and tie, suit coat, be in the office before 8am and stick around until 5-6. Lunches have been about 20-30 minutes, then it's back to work.

I'm totally confident I can get into a "groove", but it's going to take a while. My biggest deal of stress comes from the fact that I DON'T want to make a mistake, even though my boss even expects me to. I just don't want to and it stresses the crap out of me just thinking about it.

Add to all of this, my ONE math class I'm taking, but it usually requires 4 sections of homework every week (roughly 10-15 questions per section) and each question has long formulas (interest savings, compound interest, etc.) and may day went like this: 6:30am, wake up; 7:15am, leave for work; 8am-6pm, work; 6:30-8:30pm, eat, try to get a few personal things done and pay attention to my family; 8:30-9:30, watch Lost while trying to do homework (I only did 2 questions during Lost because I had to read the friggin' sub-titles); 9:30pm to midnight, do my homework and study for exam tomorrow.

So I'm tired and I should be in bed, but I'm writing this while I brush my teeth.....oh yeah, I'm also sick (sore throat, sinus problems).

Bailey can TALK!!!!

2009-02-09T06:44:00.001-07:00

I swear she's trying to say "momma". She's been saying it the past few days now and will repeat it when I say it. Alene said she read that it will sound like she's saying it, but she doesn't mean it as a reference to her mommy, it's just a sound she makes.

I really don't care what professionals say :-). My daughter loves her mommy and she IS saying "momma" :-).

Whoops, forgot to add one car

2009-02-08T16:51:00.003-07:00

As I referenced at the bottom of this post, if I were a millionaire, I'd also have a 1969 Chevy Camero SS:

Saying goodbye to my old job

2009-02-06T18:56:00.005-07:00

So, as I referenced in this post I am no longer employed by CompuCredit and I will be starting a new job with US Bank on Monday. I'm really anxious/nervous/excited to be starting this new job.

Anyway, with it being my last day today, I was actually busier than I've been in a long time. It's like moving out of a house, but I actually didn't have much to take with me (just a box full of stuff). Since we didn't have anyone hired to fill my job yet, I spent this week typing up a 15 page "manual" on how to perform my job. I finished it this morning, then spent part of the day just taking care of any last-minute things that needed to be fixed.

A few of my co-workers pitched in and bought me lunch today and they also had a card made for me, which was signed by a lot of people. I thought it was all so thoughtful.

I ended up working later than I have in a LONG time on a Friday. In fact, I ended up working an hour past the time we closed! I was trying to get a bunch of files moved for the next person taking over the job, but it was taking FOREVER.

Finally I decided to bag it. I sent an email to the IT guy telling him that it needs to be finished. I then de-activated my own badge (I was the person that created and deactivated keycard badges for access to the building). I did a little glance around my area, waited to see if I'd shed a tear or feel bad (I didn't) then I walked out of the building.

It was kind of odd. I've driven to this place for over 10 years. I started off working here as a phone "sales and service" representative for Providian Financial (which has since folded as a company). Here is a cool picture of me doing what I did. I had 40 "sales" in one week, so my boss took my picture and posted it somewhere:

After 3.5 months of that phone stuff, I couldn't stand it and as I stated earlier, I applied for a Facilities coordinator job. I didn't get it the first time, but I got it the second time. I worked my butt off, but had a lot of fun. Eventually I was promoted to a manager position and I had some great people join my staff and as co-workers.

When I was a manager, I had my own private cubicle. Someone at work took my picture (I think it was Damon) and made my hair look funny:

Damon was the one that made things interesting. Sometimes he would be sitting at his desk and then start grabbing wads of scotch tape off the dispenser and taping them to his face, distorting his eyes, nose, mouth, etc. then turn around and look at us as if it was totally normal. Other times you would hear a loud "bang" in his office and you would run in there and he would be on the floor. He was famous for falling over in his chair. One time he made cool masks for me and him and we took this picture:

Yes, that was work :).

Eventually Providian closed their operations here and I was fortunate to get a job with CompuCredit. I learned a ton and had some great times on visits out to Atlanta to spend time with my co-workers. One time we toured the CNN building and we all got this photo-op with Mr. Ted Turner himself:

Another time we went on a tour of the Atlanta Braves stadium, which was a lot of fun. We got to go in the locker room and in the dugouts too:

On another visit we went Striper (Bass) fishing on Lake Lanier with some of the guys in my department. That was a lot of fun.

Other times our site manager's boss would come out and he'd invite us all to go Skiing with him. Those were fun times too:

Am I sad I'm leaving this job? I'm not sure, but I know one thing is that I'll have great memories of working in the same building for 10+ years. I know it's not common to find people that have worked at one place that long, so I think I kind of wear it like a badge of honor. I hope to make my next job last just as long, if not longer.

My only worry now is that I don't drive to my old work on Monday out of habit.

Endurance.....

2009-02-03T06:26:00.003-07:00

.....so, to the month, it's been 10 years since I started in the field I'm currently working in. I had moved to Utah in July of 1998. I saved around $1200 to come here and "live" off of until I could find a job. I lived in my Aunt's basement while looking for a job and a more permanent place to stay. I spent the first month living here not really sure what I wanted to do for work. I had done mostly manual labor stuff, but I really wanted to get out of that line of work and be "someone important" if that makes any sense. I wanted to start looking into business-type stuff, but I had no idea where to start.

As Alene and I sat in the hot tub last night, we were talking about experience with job interviewing. I found it kind of funny that I hadn't considered the fact that there was such a thing as "experience gained" while interviewing for a job. I just assumed you go in, you answer questions, then you leave. I've recently learned that there is a preparation side to it all and that basically every company asks the same questions.

When I moved here, I did interview for a phone customer service job with a credit card company. It was pretty cool and exciting to be a part of that company because they were growing so quickly and everyone was being promoted right and left. I started in late August of 1998. A part of our job requirement was to "sell" products at the end of the call (stuff to add on to your credit card like insurance and other scams). One month I was one of the top 3 in our whole site (close to 800 people) in add-on sales and I just figured it was only time before I'd be promoted to a team assistant, then maybe a team supervisor and the sky was the limit.

However, after about 2.5 months or so I started to dread the life of coming in and sitting at your computer for 8 hours, being tied down to a phone. I noticed a job posting for "facilities coordinator" for our company. I figured it wouldn't hurt to inquire. I asked the manager about the position and he said it covered a broad-range of things like simply helping to set up a meeting, to helping with managing a construction project. I was intrigued at the time because I could tell it was a job that required knowledge and ability to do manual labor, but it wasn't necessarily a part of the job.

I applied, interviewed, and was turned down for the job (they hired a GIRL of all people :) ). I had given up on that idea pretty quickly. I just figured the manager didn't like me. A month or so goes by and it's December. I'm getting really tired of the phone job and my stats start slacking really bad. late December rolls around and I'm walking to my car. The girl they hired over me stops me in the parking lot and said they were opening up another position to add to the department and she though I should re-apply. I was stoked that she would go to that length to tell me about it. We hadn't said more than 2 words to each other prior to that. I interviewed for the job and close to New Years Day, I was told I was accepted. It even came with a plus 10% raise (I went from a whopping $9/hr to $10/hr). I started just after New Years in 1999.

I worked my tail off that whole year. I eventually found out the girl that was hired before me was hired because of her skill-set with security (she was an Army reservist and had some background in security stuff), so that was her main responsibility within the department. I was the "manual labor" guy, but it wasn't too bad or dirty for me. Still, I wanted to prove myself capable and by the end of the summer our department added many more people and we needed to create a manager position as kind of a go-between between the coordinators and my boss, who had other responsibilities within the bank. My boss said I should apply. I did and I was promoted to manager over the team of coordinators. The promotion came with a 25% raise. I was so excited and felt like I had "made it" in some ways over the course of the year I had lived in Utah.

Things were going really well. Just after that Caiden was born, but I was having serious marriage issues already and that was soon affecting my job performance in some ways. I was sometimes late to work (my boss was pretty adamant on being on time to the minute). I maintained my job still and I continued to learn a lot though.

Eventually I started to consider school and what to do with my life. My boss had started off at a community college, then transferred his credits to the University of Phoenix. I thought the idea of school being one night a week for 4 hrs, then another night a week with your study group as a pretty neat thing for your schedule. I went there and applied and started pretty quickly.

I was going to be a business major. I wasn't quite sure which area, but I was considering Business Administration (which is what my boss had done). After 4-5 classes though, my marriage broke apart and I took a hiatus from school. I had to get a second job to make ends meet on my own. I had kind of given up on school and had no idea when I would return. After a while my boss had left the company, so I was kind of "given" his job with all the additional responsibility and no pay increase. In fact, things got so bad for the company that I went 2 years without a pay raise.

In the Summer of 2002 I had figured out a way for me to be able to go back to school. By then I started considering what I really loved and decided I wanted to major in History and teach. My friends at work convinced me to enroll at SLCC and get my associates there. My good friend Damon had just finished his there and was going to Weber State to get his degree in Criminal Justice. He said SLCC was easy because it was close by and fairly cheap compared to a university. I enrolled there and started off going full-time. I was able to xfer 15 credits from my university of Phoenix days and I was excited about being able to finish off my Associates Degree, then decide what to do from there.

That Fall, however, it was announced that my company we worked for was going to close up shop here in Utah. They laid everyone off, but gave us a good 6 weeks notice as to when the last day would be (it could have been worse, like some companies that just put a lock on the door with a note saying "good luck"). They gave us all 8 weeks severance, paid out our vacation AND, if we had accrued any sabbatical pay (they offered a paid sabbatical) they paid that out too. Here was the great part though: A new company was interested in buying a portion of our business and setting up in the same building, although on a smaller scale (one floor as opposed to 5 floors). They needed a facility manager, but that would be it (no coordinators or people working under me). I interviewed with my current boss and was offered the job at my same pay. From there I grew into my position more and learned a ton. It's been 7 great years and as I stated in my previous post, I'm moving onto a new job, but I really am going to miss this job and those I work with.

I'm getting off track (this post was supposed to be about school). Over the first few semesters at SLCC, with full-time school, work changes, and having Caiden part of the time, I burned myself out pretty quickly. Along the way I failed 3-4 classes, didn't go at all during some semesters, re-took the failed classes, and here I am, almost 7 years later, finally taking my last class at SLCC. I know it sounds lame to know that it took me 7 years to get a stupid Associates, but I'm still going to be proud of it. I know I could have done better, but I should be able to pull off close to a 3.0 GPA when it's all said and done. That is better than what I finished with in high school (closer to a 2.5 while taking non-challenging classes), so despite failing classes and re-taking them, I know I've actually applied myself on a higher level.

The last class I'm taking is Math 1030. I just don't like Math and I'm trying my best to endure it. So far I'm staying on task, although I did miss one class because I just "forgot" I had class. My classes are on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8:30pm to 10pm, so it's easy to forget when you have a class that late. Google Calendar and their SMS reminders are a great thing now :).

I'm really not sure where I'm going to go from here. I do think it's important to further your education as much as possible and as much as needed. In my field of work, there are always things that would be good to learn and know about. I'm going to give a lot of attention to my new job, then this summer sometime, explore areas of my job where education could help it and maybe finish off my bachelors in that area. I still want to teach History someday, but I think that will be more for my retirement years, or at least my near-retirement years. I'm not in a rush to get all that taken care of. Right now I'm just excited for this new phase in my life and my career and I'm going to make the most of it.

Caiden's getting good grades

2009-01-31T16:33:00.002-07:00

His mid-term report card had 4 A's and 1 B. He's doing really well in school and we're very proud of him.

Vehicles I've owned

2009-01-31T13:48:00.005-07:00

In my 16+ years of driving, with an additional 3-4 pre-driving age, I have amassed a large amount of vehicles over the years. Maybe not large, but larger than I would have thought. Also, I think amassed means you own currently, so maybe that's the wrong word.

My mom first taught me how to drive when I was 9 years old. From there she would allow me to drive the car home down our 200 yard long dirt road driveway to our house. By the time I was 13-14 and had a job, I would drive my car to work, which was in town and I could escape the cops knowing by taking back streets.

Soon enough I started getting risky and driving home on main roads. One day I was pulling out of work at Dusk without my headlights on. As I passed a sheriff I noticed they were off, so I turned them on. He immediately did a 180 and pulled me over. I was SCARED to death. I thought I would go to jail or something like that. Keep in mind that this was just after my getting arrested for something my friends and I got in trouble for a few months earlier (had to do with stolen property).

So, the sheriff was actually really cool. He first asked for my license and registration (I looked old enough to be 16). I told him I didn't have a license and that I was 14 (maybe 15?). He kind of got that "oh no" look. I explained that I was only driving from work to home and my parents were aware of it. He arranged to call my dad and had my dad come pick me up. He kind of gave my dad the "you know you shouldn't do that" routine and my dad said said he understood.

But the next day at work I drove to work again. On the back streets of course.

That's enough about my driving though. I started this post to list all the vehicles I've owned over the years.

My vehicle ownership all started with my interest in cars in general. My parents owned a used car dealership while I was younger and my dad & mom have always had a fondness for classic cars. I worked from around age 9-12 and earned enough money to "buy in" partially on a "classic" car. My dad found a used 1956 Chevy Station wagon. Now, when you hear the word "station wagon" you think some large family vehicle. However, I was really into classic cars and loved the idea of lowering my cars. My dad said we could take this wagon and have it lowered and it would look pretty cool. I was on board, but over time we realized that it was going to be really expensive to try to fix this car up, so we sold it and bought a truck.

Here is a picture of what my wagon looked like. We had had it painted like this, but the interior still needed to be completely re-done.

My next vehicle (this was when I was around 13) was a 1984 Chevy s10 pickup. It was a stick-shift and this is the truck I drove a lot to and from work (and the one I was pulled over in). This is not an original picture of my truck, but mine looked like this

Just before I turned 16 and got my license, my parents helped me get a more economical car in this 1983 Toyota Celica. Mine looked just like this, but it was red. I got 3 tickets in this car in the first year of having my license. I drove it until it started having over-heating problems and sold it for next to nothing because it wasn't running (probably cracked the head from driving it so hot).

My parents and I then bought a 1977 Chevy Camero for really cheap (like $600). It was an impounded vehicle and nobody claimed it after 30 days, so we bought it from the towing yard. I loved this car because it was a V-8 (pretty good power) and it was built the year I was born. I took it on a road trip before my Sr year to San Diego with my friend Brian. We were gone a whole week and it was a blast (even though it ate up gas so much, but gas was cheap then). I can't remember why we got rid of the car. I think someone offered my dad a good amount of money for it, so he took it. (this is an original picture of my Camero)

We then bought a nice 1986 Chevy El Camino. I know everyone laughs at these cars, but I actually really like them. I don't know if they're classified as trucks or not, but they are basically like a small truck. Mine was gold with silver-spoked rims. The cool thing about these was that there was a ton of storage behind the back seat. My friends and I would go to the drive-in and hide people behind the seats, only paying for the two of us.

I remember when we were going the first time and Roman didn't want to look gay, with two men driving up to a drive-in movie, so he asked the cashier if we had seen a couple of girls in a green toyota and that one of them had nappy hair. The cashier said no, then Roman made it a point to say, "well, we're supposed to meet them here" just so he could clear up the fact with the cashier that we weren't gay. I was laughing so hard inside and the people behind the seat were doing everything they could to contain their own laughter.

Russ took this car over when I bought my next car. (this is not an original picture)

When I was 18, just after graduating HS my dad and I stopped by a used car lot of a friend of his. My dad was out of the used car business, but had lots of friends still in it. We found this perfect 1986 Honda Accord for around $3500. I was stoked. I had a full time job then (doing landscaping for my dad) so I could afford the payment. I had a 3 year loan at $150 a month.

This car was really nice and ran so well, despite me buying it with close to 200k miles on it. I drove it for 3+ years until I moved to Utah in 1998. I decided I wanted a 4x4, so I sold this car. It had over 300k miles on it and still ran great. I think I got around $1500 for it. (this is not an actual photo of mine, but mine looked just like this one, same color, same rims, etc.)

I then bought my first 4x4 in a 1993 Jeep Cherokee. I really liked this vehicle, but over time it started to have a few problems here and there. I never did any major suspension work on it, but it was fun to have when you could use the 4 wheel drive. I ended up selling it to my brother Jeff when he got off his mission. (this is an actual picture of it)

While I owned the Jeep, I also owned a 1995 Plymouth Neon. I needed a good car that was good on gas. This car did pretty good. Over time it began to wear down though. I remember one time me and 5 dudes drove it to the BYU vs. Cal Berkley game in CA. On our way there we stopped and met up with my best friend Roman in Sacramento. From there I rode with Roman in his truck while my friends drove the car. About 30 minutes outside Sacramento we noticed they started exiting and we were not able to exit. We took the next exit, looped around and drove back to their exit. We found the car had blown a head gasket and did something to where one of the cylinders wouldn't work. I remember how horrible it was because it was the only mode of transportation in getting back to Utah. However we were extremely lucky with the time of day and the fact that Roman had a truck.

It was 4pm on a Friday afternoon. All garages, for the most part, close for the weekend. We towed the car with Roman's truck into town and found a garage. The guys were just getting ready to close up shop. We begged them to get it fixed for us on Saturday. I offered to pay them cash and bought them a case of Budweiser as an additional incentive. They agreed. We then piled all our stuff and my 4 friends in the back of Roman's truck and drove to Oakland for our hotel.

The next day Roman and I drove back to Davis (about 1.5 hrs) to pay the guy and get the keys. The only issue was that they only fixed the head gasket problem; the car could only run on 3 cylinders (it would have taken longer and an extra $1500 to fix that cylinder problem). They said I could make it back to Utah, as long as I was really careful. So, Roman and I drove the truck back to the game, watched BYU destroy Cal, then went back to the car to attempt to drive it home. We drove ALL THE WAY home with 5 guys and 3 cylinders. We ate up a TON of gas doing it too. I still can't believe I didn't have a nervous break-down over this.

I ended up having the clutch go out on it, so I sold it to my mail carriers husband for $500. (this is an original picture)

I then bought my friend Tim's 1997 Nissan Pickup. This was a good truck and I loved driving it, but there wasn't much room in it when Alene, Caiden, and I wanted to go camping. I had it about a year before I sold it and bought my 2002 Dodge Dakota. (this is an original picture)

When I married Alene, I guess I "inherited" her Ford Focus, or from then on the cars were "ours". This was good car too, despite the side mirrors constantly falling off due to either Alene, or me hitting them on something. We took it on a road trip to Zion and to Montana and glacier NP. We sold it when we bought our Subaru. (this is an original picture)

We bought this 2002 Dodge Dakota and still own it. We've been trying to sell it, but I honestly have not been very good about marketing it. With the gas prices acting the way they are, and lending being hard to find, it's really hurt our chances of selling this for what we would like to get for it. It's a very good truck. I like how roomy it is, but it still has room for a truck bed. The back seats have the same amount of space you would find in any SUV. (this is an original photo)

We bought the Outback about a year after buying the truck. This is a 2002 Subaru Outback. It's nice because it has all-wheel drive, so it is pretty good in snowy and wet weather. Alene drove it a lot back and forth to Park City when she was working up there. We also took it on a drive down to the Robbers Roost area to go to Horseshoe Canyon. It's still a very good car for us, but the only down side is with having a baby, getting the car seat in and out of it. The head room is so short and makes it really hard. (this is an original photo)

Last May I wanted a bigger truck, something with more room in the bed and something a bit more powerful than the dodge. While the dodge is a V-8, it just doesn't quite have the power that a Chevy V-8 has. This is a 1997 Chevy 1500. I love this truck. The only thing I don't like is the rear seats are more cramped and it's only a 3-door, as opposed to the 4-door that the Dodge is. I'm pretty sure I'll have this truck for a long time. (this is an original photo)

I also bought this 1978 Honda 400 street bike a couple of years ago for $800. It's fun to ride around, but it's not quite powerful as I'd like to feel safe on the freeway (although I do take it on the freeway from time to time). It's still fun to have on a summer night and going for a ride with Alene. (this is an original photo)

I really like cars. I have to watch myself when I start thinking about them, because then I begin to covet. I think if I were a millionaire, I'd own a nice truck, a Jeep Wrangler, a Harley Davidson Sportster, probably a BMW (I've test driven many and I LOVE them), a 1969 Chevy Camero SS, and probably some sort of family SUV.

Anyway, since I won't be a millionaire, the cars I have will suffice and I will stop coveting.

When Bailey has hair........

2009-01-30T20:43:00.002-07:00

.....she is going to be sooooo pretty :-).

Obviously this is not to say that she's not pretty already :-).

So, I'm starting a new job

2009-01-30T13:57:00.005-07:00

It's all happened pretty quickly too....kind of.

Last year during the spring when it was getting close to Alene quitting her job and us having a baby, I had started to kind of think about how we were going to live financially without Alene's income. On paper, we were able to pay the mortgage and the bills, but there was nothing left over for stuff like food, gas, and living expenses. When we sold our old home we paid off ALL our credit cards and both loans we had on our cars. The only debt payments we had left over was our Student loans and our mortgage, so that felt somewhat good. Still, it wasn't going to work.

Luckily we put some money in savings to keep us afloat for at least 4 months or so, but come January our savings pretty much dwindled down to $1000, which had us scared.

Alene knew all along, or at least we were pretty sure that her old job wanted her to come back and work part time, so we knew that was an option. She makes pretty good money there, so it was better than me working a menial pt job at $10 an hour somewhere.

So, back to last spring...as I'm pondering what I'm going to do, I am referred to this job with one of the largest banks in America, that pretty much fits the description of what I do, but with more responsibility. I was stoked for it. I applied and received a phone call to interview in person, with the supervisor of this area. The job consists of basically managing 60+ properties for this bank throughout the state of Utah. My boss is located in another state, so it's a self-managed position (for the most part). The interview went really well and after that I had phone interviews with her boss and with a person from HR. They told me I was a final candidate and I was feeling pretty good......then....nothing.

I waited a month and finally e-mailed her. She said they were still waiting. I continued to email once a month to inquire about it and she continued to tell me they were still deciding. Finally November came (6 months) and I asked how things were going and whether I was still a candidate or not. She told me that I had a great interview and I was definitely qualified, but they decided to "go in a different direction". I was fine with it and moved on.

December came, money was getting slim, so I started looking around a lot for part time jobs. Alene wasn't quite sure what her company was going to do. We thought there was a slim chance they wouldn't want her so we wanted to be prepared for me to work a second job. Luckily they still wanted her and we arranged so that she would work a couple of nights a week, which would require us to leave bailey with a sitter for just a couple of hours a week as well until I could pick her up after work.

So a few weeks ago I get a phone call from a gentleman from this same company I had interviewed with stating that he understood I had applied for the job and asked if I was still interested. I said I was but explained to him that I was already turned down for the job. He said they have decided they do need to fill the position and he wanted to interview me. He flew out here and I learned he has just taken over the region and would be my boss. The interview lasted 2.5 hrs and I thought it went really well. In the mean time, I told my boss about my intentions of interviewing and she was really supportive, which was really nice. Within a couple of days of interviewing I get a phone call to do an interview with another person in the same position as my future boss. That phone interview went really well also (as I was told by the lady I interviewed with).

A couple of hours later I get a phone call from my future boss with a great offer (over 20% more than I make right now and in the interview I had asked for something in the range of 10%-15% more than what I was making so they maxed out what I wanted). I told him I needed the weekend to think it over, then I would call him back.

Everything happened so quickly and I wanted to be sure this was what I wanted to do. I didn't want to do this "just for the money" as much as we needed it. The job itself seemed like a no-brainer to take because it truly was the "next step" in my career field. At my current job, I'm VERY self-managed with a flexible schedule enough to allow me to take time off during the day (if needed) for school, or a family event. My boss doesn't micro-manage and during the fall, she allows me to leave work a little earlier so I can coach HS football. It's all great, but I've been doing it for 10+ years and there is no chance of me being able to get promoted.

With this current job I will still have a lot of that kind of flexibility, but I get the feeling I will be more closely managed, which isn't a bad thing. I won't be able to coach HS football (which I really had to think strongly about over the weekend), but I know I can still coach Caiden's teams, which is probably most important anyway. I spent the entire weekend pondering it. I could not get it off my mind. As the weekend grew to an end, I felt better and better about this job. It's a job that is a step up in responsibility and experience. It's something I need to advance my career. I know it's right for me, even if I have to give up some perks from my old job.

The only other downside to this is the vacation time, which is still OK by me. I'll be getting 3 weeks paid instead of 4, but I get 6 paid sick days on top of that, so it pretty much evens out (as long as I get sick of course). Lastly, since I'm starting off new, they pro-rate the vacation time, which only leaves me with 8 days for the full year after I start. That sucks, but in the long run it will be worth it.

I'm feeling better and better about this as it gets nearer. I'll miss my old job, but I look forward to the responsibility and experience I'll get from my new job. I am a person that doesn't like to jump from one job to the next. I like consistency and I really hope to put in some good years with this company. They are a very stable company that is doing good compared to most banks. My loyalty at my job has always lied first with those I work closely with and I anticipate it will be this way with my new company.

Mostly, I'm happy that I know that if Alene wanted to quit her job, she could and we would live just fine off my paycheck. Right now we have decided for her to keep her job so we can put a lot of money toward our student loans. When she is ready to have another baby (we don't know when, but we know we'll want another one) she will quit her job and we on her not have to worry about working again. Her job consists of a few nights a week, and a Saturday every once in a while. So long as either of us can be with the kids, or that they have to have little time with a sitter, we feel good about it. We are getting out of that student loan debt and saving money at the same time.

I feel very blessed. Some may say I'm lucky, but I honestly feel blessed. I have a good wife, two wonderful kids, and the future looks bright for my career. I don't have much I should complain about, and if anyone hears me doing it, tell me to shut up.

"I'm out of here"

2009-01-26T00:34:00.003-07:00

Bailey is starting to try to crawl now and after giving her a bath the other night, she tried to escape from Alene in the buff while getting lotioned up.

Mix CD's

2009-01-25T19:37:00.002-07:00

I found a Mix CD I made around 2003-2004. I was glad the thing still worked. I've found some CD's I've burned in the past that only play some of the songs.

Anyway, I find it interesting that I still enjoyed, for the most part, most of the songs on the CD. In fact, I still listen to a lot of those songs today.

I like to consider myself an open-minded person to new music, but I've always kind of complained about music today and how nothing good is coming out. Sure, there are some "hits" that I enjoy, but nothing earth-shattering with sound. Either it's just bands that are going for the "retro" sounds of the 70's or 80's, or it's just plain whiny garbage.

Who makes mix-CD's nowadays anyway???

My poor little girl...

2009-01-23T09:37:00.004-07:00

....and kind of "poor little us" (me and Alene). This is my darling baby girl. After weeks, which have lead to months, of trying to teach Bailey to sleep, we are at a loss. We (mostly Alene) have been so diligent in doing exactly as we have been told by friends, family, books, Dr's and nothing seems to have worked.

We have a "routine" for bed. She get's a bath at the same time, the lights are dimmed, and she get's the same lotion. Alene then sings her a song and reads her a book. We've done this without waivering for 6 weeks or so, but nothing has changed.

We tried to let Bailey cry, but after an hour and a half and sometimes two hours, sometimes she would finally fall asleep, but sometimes it was just too much. For whatever reason, you can hear her scream in our house no matter how far you get away from her. We don't sleep, and neither does she. It never really worked. We were very good about not picking her up and just letting her cry, but after weeks and weeks, it never changed.

We asked our pediatrician and the best responses we got were "she shouldn't be crying for more than an hour" and "just keep trying".

Now, like clock-work, Bailey goes to bed at 8-8:30pm and wakes up between 11pm and midnight. We are so beat that we've gotten back to the routine of just picking her up and rocking her back to sleep. She then wakes up about 3 hours later and is finally up for the day about 6-7am.

When we first started trying this, it was because she was "only" sleeping in 4 hour blocks, but now it's 3.

Everyone in the world has given us advice (and we truly are grateful for it), but nothing is working. This is very depressing and we just kind of don't care to get advice anymore, even though we appreciate it.

What's more, I'm just worried that once Bailey finally does learn to sleep (maybe when she's 1?) Alene and I will both likely be "conditioned" to wake up every 3 hours and it will be hard to sleep through the night ourselves.

We love our baby so much and we want for her to be happy and healthy. It's so hard to hear her cries and screams and frustrations at night and not know what to do, other than what we've been told NOT to do (rock her back to sleep).

Through all of this, I still cherish the times of being able to hold her little body, all wrapped up in her blanket in a dark room and just bounce and rock her. I'm always reminded that while it's very hard being a parent, I wouldn't trade it for the life of a non-parent. Sure, there are times I wish I could just go anywhere or do anything I wanted without thought to my children being affected, but there is something almost magical about being a parent that I cannot describe.

Miracle in the Andes

2009-01-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Alene has always talked to me about this book and I knew I would read it, I just wasn't sure when. We borrowed it from her sister April and I read it pretty quickly. The movie Alive was not based off this book (it was based off another book taken from stories of all 17 survivors) but this book is told from Nando's perspective.

The book is the account of one of the two rugby players that hiked out of the Andes to find help for him and his teammates. They spent 72 days in the Andes with nothing to eat and little to drink. One would think that being surrounded by snow would be a blessing, but after eating snow for a day or so, it has so many damaging things to your lips, mouth, and throat (blisters for one) and it keeps your body temp very cool, which is not a good thing. Melting it was also hard because it was always cold and they did not have anything to burn to make a fire.

I could not control my tears in so many parts. Nando Parrado has a way with words that really tug at your hearts and make you feel what he was feeling, or make you think that you would feel the same way in the situation he and the others were faced with.

Some of my favorite parts had to do with the discussion of religion and God. Most of the guys on the plane continued to talk about how they were spared their lives because of the grace of God, while Nando was the only one (at least most of the time) that actually lost family members (his mother and sister) in the crash, so he was very bitter and had a hard time believing in God at all. He also had many discussions with a teammate who was confined to a hammock because of broken legs. This teammate was a known Socialist and was against any sort of organized religion, but he was also very spiritual and talked constantly about God and how close he feels to God in that situation.

There are so many great examples in this story that would help with building a stronger family, or encouraging those around you to work together.

The only part that rubbed me the wrong way was Nando's post-crash life and how he kind of became a playboy because of all the attention he received. He seemed like a guy that was pretty much given everything he wanted in life (a life of privlige in private schooling, college, without having to work much), to this horrible crash (something I could never fathom myself making it through), then living life for a while as if he was "owed" it to have fun. He talks about this time in a negative manner though, so I guess it's easy for me to judge without being in his shoes. Like I said, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Nando is still someone I would consider a "hero" and I don't have a lot of those.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a quick read and has so many great learning points about our life, how precious it is and about what's most important to us. It also talked about how close we all are to death and if we could just realize that, we would love our lives so much more.

As I was doing some additional research, I found this video done by ESPN's "Outside the lines'. It's long (about 10 minutes), but the end had me choked up.

Alene and I just bought the movie (Alive) and we will be watching it soon. I've seen it once before, but don't remember much from it at all. I'm excited to see it now.

Obama's inauguration to cost close to $150 million

2009-01-18T00:52:00.003-07:00

HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE? Read the article:

Obama Inauguration to cost $150 million

Yes, I'm aware that $43 million of it was privately raised, but that is still a LOT of dough. The quote that gets me more peeved was stated by the president of his inauguration committee when asked if the general public will view the costs as excessive:

"That is probably not the way the country is going to be looking at it," said committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass. "It is not a celebration of an election. It is a celebration of our common values."

Common values? What? Like spending beyond our means? Over-spending??? I really don't understand that quote one bit.

Look, I'm one that firmly believes that once we elect a president, whether I voted for him or not, I have to support him and hope he leads our country in the right direction, but this grand entrance really pisses me off as an American Citizen and a tax payer. What pisses me off even more is that they're treating Obama like he's a friggin' rock star when he hasn't done squat yet. He has some big decisions to make soon. I really hope he makes the right ones.

Coaching with integrity

2009-01-13T07:54:00.003-07:00

On occasion I follow my local hometown newspaper, the sacramento bee, to see how some of the local HS sports teams are doing. Over the past few years Sacramento HS, which is considered an "inner city" school has had a coach named Derek Swafford, whom I've read articles on over the past few years. He took this school from shambles and made them into state contenders every year.

He started with setting ground rules and following them to a "T". There was one season where they were deep in the state playoffs and he benched their star player for missing a class. They lost a close game in which if their star player was playing, he could have been the X-factor in winning. The coach didn't waver in his decision and basically stated that they have other players on the team that could have and should have stepped up.

Well, he's at it again. I read this article in the bee and here is the short summary of what he did. Now, it's only early in the season for their team, so it's not the same as a playoff game, but it's so refreshing to see a coach actually stick to his rules.

Sac High suspends 10 players.

Sacramento High School boys basketball coach Derek Swafford confirmed that 10 players were suspended for Thursday's nonleague game at Fairfield for violating team and school rules.

"They did something stupid over the (Christmas) break that I didn't approve of," Swafford said. "It's a one-game deal. We've dealt with it and moved on."

Swafford brought three players up from the junior varsity to join the five remaining varsity players for the Fairfield game, which the No. 3 Dragons lost 74-53 to fall to 9-5. He said the suspended players will be reinstated for tonight's Metro Conference opener at Grant and will play against Skyline of Oakland in Saturday's Father Kelly Tribute at Jesuit.

Neither Swafford nor Sac High athletic director Justin Gatling would say what rules the players violated. But Gatling said those involved also were suspended from school Tuesday.

Gatling said the 10 players also were suspended for last Saturday's game at Reno High School, but that inclement weather also factored into the decision to forfeit the noon contest.

Some people have criticized him for being too harsh on these kids. They say his rules are way over the top compared to most other schools. I beg to differ. In this generation of "me-first", it's about time someone step up say that you will be rewarded for how hard you work and for the effort you put in and not rewarded for being an idiot.

I would like to hope that as a Head Coach of a program, I would act with the same integrity of this guy. I've always read nothing but good things about him. He's a great educator and from what I hear, a great coach.

Training a baby to learn to sleep

2009-01-11T07:31:00.006-07:00

Lately I've felt like Bailey, who we are "training" to get used to knowing when it's time to sleep......for a long time. It's not easy and Alene has honestly done most of the work. Alene is so good because she's so consistent and believes in staying focused on the task at hand, no matter how hard it is on her own sleep. She sacrifices so much for Bailey. I think most people would give in here and there and just bring their baby into bed with them, but Alene knows that it would mess up all the work we've been putting into getting Bailey used to sleeping.

Bailey still wakes up a few times every night and what we're trying is to just let her cry until she falls back asleep. It's very hard because that crying keeps us up too. If Bailey cries for over an hour, Alene will then go in and get her up, but she usually cries for 45 minutes to an hour, then falls back asleep. I'm so happy that Alene is so strict in this endavor and doesn't waver. She's a great mother.

So, getting to my point about feeling like Bailey. I haven't done any house "projects" for a good 3-4 weeks now. I've done some small stuff here and there (hanging a shelf, dinging around in the garage trying to pretend like I'm doing something), but it's been weird.

For most of the 10 years I lived in my old house, I was constantly working on some sort of "project". I'd take small breaks here and there and it wasn't always "constant", but there was always something to do. Then after I got married and it became even worse (not Alene's fault, it was my own because we had more money coming in I guess).
Just before getting married I tackled a kitchen/bath remodel (the largest "job" I've done for someone to date) for my ex in-laws. This took a lot out of me at that time.
I started off by putting laminate wood flooring in our front room.
Then, I built a playhouse for Caiden.
Then I did a tub/shower tile job.
Then we re-modeled our kitchen/dining area.
Then I built and tiled a shower for my parents.
Then we re-roofed the house.
Then I tiled the bathroom and back laundry room.
Then I painted our bedroom, Caiden's room, and our office area.
Then I moved all our extra stuff out of our house and into storage so it would look more sellable.
Then we sold the house and moved everything else.
Then we bought another house on our way out of town to Canyonlands.
Then we came back and I had this genius idea of expanding our own bedroom to make more room.
Then we went on a trip to Joes Valley just before Bailey was due and we came home to a flooded basement.
Then I spent the rest of summer/fall re-doing our basement AND adding a bookshelf unit.

Not to mention, over the course of completing all the projects I also coached FB during the fall, went on some great camping trips to Arches, Zion, Glacier, and Canyonlands National Parks. We also camped at Escalante, the San Rafael Swell, Robbers Roost, and the Uintas. We tried to fit in hikes here and there as best we could too.

Now it's done and I'm still busy, but I have this itch to work on something else. It drives my mind mad sometimes like I need to be doing a project, but then I have to just talk myself away from that ledge. It's really funny to think of, but sometimes it actually hurts. Like it's a drug. Like I have to "train" myself to not do a project, even though I look at the house and see stuff that could be done to make it nicer. I know it doesn't have to be done and I'm trying my best to just be patient.

Over the course of this time though, this work has taken a toll on my body. My back is constantly sore, more sore than it's ever been. I'm extremely tired all the time. But I'll live. I know I will. There are still things that we want to finish on the house that kind of eat at me. We bought paint for our front room and hallway, but I have yet to do that....but I'm being patient. I recently bought some material to build a lattice wall around our hot tub, so that will be another little project. For the most part though, it's nice to not feel somewhat burdened by it. My only problem is now wasting the free time I have and making it feel like I'm busy. However, this "free" time couldn't have come at a better time because I'm attempting to get back into school this week AND Alene has started her new job, so I'm pretty busy on Monday/Tuesday afternoons/evenings while she's at work.

The thing is, I wish I was strong enough to simplify my life. I wish I could easily choose one thing over the other. My biggest "vice" I would say in my life is my love of being around the game of football. When I'm not, it eats at me constantly. I first started coaching right out of high school and I found what I thought was my calling. I had dreams/aspirations to coach on the college level someday, but now that I decided to take the route of not teaching, I think it's a little more impossible than it ever was. Still, I have an extreme love of the sport.

My biggest thing I'm torn over is the fact that football is during some of the best times to be doing my "other" love, which is being outside camping and hiking (during the fall). Every year around this time I go through the same little feeling of "why am I doing this". I get this urge to just stop and drop football for good, but here is where it gets complicated: Caiden is now playing and loves it.

So, with Caiden playing, all his games are on Saturdays, which takes out every weekend. So even if I wasn't coaching, he would have games that he is obligated to be at. When it comes to sports, I've always tried to live by the "creed" if you will, that you always finish something you start. I would hate to go against that by telling him he wasn't going to be able to play in a game because "I" wanted to go camping. I think that would be selfish and even if I gave him an option to stay or go, I think it would make it hard on him.

Anyway, I'm currently mulling the fact of at least stopping coaching at the HS level. It takes so much time and energy. I think maybe it would be best if I just focused on coaching Caiden's team and leave it at that. If he keeps playing at the HS level, maybe I could help out there too. I just don't know.

Sorry this post may be so depressing. I know I sound like a whiny idiot to most of you, who are probably saying, "buck up and do what you know you're supposed to do". Well, that is the problem...still can't figure it out.

I hate the BCS

2009-01-07T12:28:00.003-07:00

and I'm not a fan of the Utah utes (being they're my favorite schools rival), but I respect the hell out of them. They are getting the shaft with not having a chance to officially be crowned "national champions".

If you hate the BCS, like I do, check out this article by former Sports Illustrated and current ESPN magazine columnist Rick Reilly:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656

Utah's dominating win really made a great argument for either the end of the BCS system, or allowing the Mountain West Conference to join. We deserve to be a part of the chance to earn more money based on our performance and for a chance to truly play for a national championship.

Read the article (not too long).

Winter time drink carrier

2009-01-05T16:59:00.002-07:00

I bought a Red Bull at the store the other night, cracked it open to take a sip before I got in the car, then set it on the roof to load the groceries. I forgot about it, and realized it was there after I stopped by McDonalds to pick up a Redbox, so I decided to let it ride home and it did just fine and much cooler than it was before.

I highly suggest this for anyone that likes their drinks cold during the winter.

Snow Sledding

2009-01-03T18:31:00.004-07:00

Alene had a great idea to get us out of the house: Go sledding. We had a big dump of snow last night, so it seemed like a perfect time to go. A couple of miles away from our house is a park with a huge hill. I figured it would be crowded with people, and it was, but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

This was Bailey's first time sledding and at a snow activity, besides the stuff we've done with her in our own yard. She wasn't too sure what to make of it, mostly gave us a blank stare until she fell asleep.

Here are a few pictures and videos from the day:

Alene and Bailey rocking the sled (she only went about 20' up)

Alene and Caiden racing

Bailey not sure what to make of the white stuff, cold nose and cheeks

Alene and Caiden's race

Where is Caiden? Believe it or not, Caiden is mid-air behind the tube.

Here is the video of his jump

Me in mid-air

Here is the video of my jump

Bailey finally fell asleep

I tried my snowboard a couple of times, but it was not worth it (as expected), but I was able to catch about 12" of major air anyway.

Caiden and I raced and I got a HUGE pile of cold snow in my face going off the lip

When Bailey woke up, she was happy

New Years Eve 2008

2009-01-01T12:33:00.004-07:00

We said goodbye to 2008 with a Rock Band party. My brothers and sisters showed up dressed as 80's people, so I had to quickly improvise and join them.

We played Rock band for the first few hours, then headed outside for the "Snow Challenge" which consisted of laying in the snow as long as you could before you had to get in the hot tub. Alana won, but we think her swimsuit helped. All in all, it was a lot of fun.

Here is our Rock Band Video:

Here are some pictures from the night. You can see them all right here: New Years Eve Pictures

Rock Band

Jeff arrives

Amanda, Bailey, and I

Alana strikes a Rockers Pose

Jeff & Amanda

Krystal focuses on the task at hand

Taking a bow

Brock and Mandi

The all-80's team

Jeff & Mandi

Nate with his Terminator eye

Drumming takes a lot of concentration

Beastie Billy

Jeff "Robert Plant" Root

Snow Challenge

Here is the video:

We all laid down in the snow

Jeff beat me. I thought for sure the fattest guy could lay in the snow the longest, but I was wrong.

Nate was the first one in, followed by Billy, then me. Here I am just getting in.

Thumbs down to all the weak men we were that night

Krystal was next, then Alana soon followed and won. We'll have to do this again sometime.

1994 Ponderosa Bruins High School Football Team

2008-12-29T11:05:00.023-07:00

I've decided to compile information here from my Sr year of Football. Our team was good, we just under-performed in a few games to not make the playoffs. We lost a couple of games we should not have and we finished 4-6. The highlight of the year was our win over our Rival, Eldorado High School, 40-0.

As I do this, people may think I'm obsessed with my "high school days" and maybe I am in some ways, but I can't deny myself that they were fun times and I learned many valuable lessons in this great game of football. I now teach the game to other high school kids and I love learning of it and the many ways it can be used for good. The one thing I'll always remember is how confident it made me feel about myself. My story with my introduction to this game is not unique.

I played as a 10 or 11 year old, but didn't have a clue what I was doing. My dad loved watching football, but I was always more into basketball, but I sucked at that sport too (as I did at pretty much everything I tried). I tried out for the 7th and 8th grade flag teams, but was cut. Then one day in May of 1991, the head coach at Ponderosa called my house and invited me to come out for the freshman team. He said if I showed up every day that I would not be cut. I felt so honored to have THE head coach of the varsity team calling me to ask if I was going to come out to football. As if he had seen some un-seen potential in myself. Little did I know that he was a first-year coach and was calling EVERY incoming male 9th grader to encourage more numbers out. Even so, without me knowing, it made me feel special.

I played sparingly as a freshman, not having a clue what I was doing, but it built my confidence and lead me to a starting position as a Sophomore, most of my Jr year and all of my Sr year. I learned all 5 offensive line positions and I grew to really love the game, my team mates, and my coaches. It was a fun time, despite our team losing games we shouldn't have. I hope there are others I played with that look upon it at least somewhat the way I did.

I was fortunate enough to have been able to save all but one of the newspaper articles from that season.

1994 Game Summaries

Click on any link below to see the photocopied articles from every game this season. This will include pictures from the original newspaper articles. In order to read the article, you will need to click on the picture and it will "zoom" in.

Ponderosa Bruins 14 Oakmont Vikings 7 (@ Ponderosa)
I remember being really excited for this game. As freshman we were destroyed by this team and it continued as we were Sophomores too. Our Jr year we beat them, but this was the year we were to do it with our class in control. As the article says, Drew Shelstad's interception really sealed this game. We actually could have goose-egged them, but their one TD was scored earlier-on because on an identical play to the one Drew intercepted on, Drew stepped up to pick off the pass and slipped and fell, which left the WR wide open and gone for a TD. Other than that our defense played great and our offense did enough to win.

Ponderosa Bruins 13 McClatchy Lions 33 (@ McClatchy)
This one was ugly (as the score indicates). I remember us being able to run all over them, but we fumbled a ton in this game. As an offensive lineman, there is nothing more frustrating than having a RB fumble while you're blocking your guts out. There is also nothing more frustrating when a RB doesn't read your block too. However, I'm sure there is nothing more frustrating for a RB when nobody blocks for you :) (it goes both ways). I remember this team having ridiculous speed with a HUGE fullback and a super-quick tailback (he was an all-city type of player). It was a horrible feeling, but I think it made us focus for the next game...

Ponderosa Bruins 32 Tokay Tigers 13 (@ Tokay)
Tokay was supposed to be this big bad beast. They had a HUGE OL and a QB (Lenzi) who was big too and being recruited by a few colleges to play football. I remember our defense playing lights-out and our offense playing a solid game. I was most excited because in the 4th quarter my best friend Roman got to play running back a lot. I kept telling him to just follow me. He had two carries for 22 yards. Whenever we talk about our playing days, he says "I averaged 11 yards a carry one game" as a joke. We get some good laughs.

Ponderosa Bruins 21 Folsom Bulldogs 13 (@ Folsom)
This was another "statement" game for us. Folsom was pretty good and as a school, we had history with them. As a class, we had never played them, but they were new to our league and we knew they were a tough team. They had a great little league program, so these kids had played football a lot longer than we had.

Ponderosa Bruins 7 Placer Hillman 27 (@ Ponderosa)
Another horrible game. It was our homecoming game, which is the game we are supposed to come out and dominate. This team was another HUGE team (big OL, big RB's with speed, quick/tough QB). We got destroyed by them as freshmen and sophomores AND as Jr's. I hated playing them. I remember knowing their JR class went un-defeated as a JV team the prior year and they featured a 6'2" 235 lbs tailback (not a fullback). Dude was fast, but wasn't much trouble for us for some reason. Still, the most frustrating part of this game was the play of our offense as a whole. I remember our running game was not doing very well and the RB's were having a hard time reading our blocks. I remember the coach tearing into the OL after the game, ranting about how horrible we played, but then come Monday he apologized to all of us and said we actually blocked quite well and he laid into our RB's. I felt bad for them because I feel, as a whole, it's a team game. I think as a team were getting a big head at this time because we were 3-1 and had beaten a couple of teams we, as a class, had had a hard time beating in the past years and we figured Placer would be easy too.

Ponderosa Bruins 40 Eldorado Cougars 0 (@ Ponderosa)
Also a second and third article HERE and HERE What can you say about a major shut-out over your rival team? Eldorado was a long-standing rival to us and I remember we were really jealous as Freshmen because they had a little league feeder program, so most of their kids were well-versed in playing football. We got beat by them as Freshman, but we beat them as Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. It was a great feeling of just flat-out dominating this team. I remember Zach Hatch going crazy against them, rushing something like 10 times for 110 yards and also catching for around 70 or 80 yards. I also think I set a team record for most positions played in a game. I played all 5 offensive line positions in this game. It was a blast.

Ponderosa Bruins 21 Mesa Verde Mustangs 49 (@ Mesa Verde) Ugly, Ugly, Ugly. I thought for sure we were going to beat these guys. I remember playing them somewhat close as a JV team, and our Jr year we beat them pretty good, but they absolutely stomped us our Sr year. It would pretty much set the tone for the rest of the year. They had a RB that flat-out dominated us and they had a HUGE fullback who's name I remember pretty well: Shawn Thornton. His name is burned into my memory because I remember our teams "shared" a locker room with the only thing separating us was a chain-linked fence. After the game, this Thornton dude (who was 6'2" and 230 lbs of muscle) was mouthing off to us and then he turned around to walk away and dude had "THORNTON" tattooed all across his back in Olde English. I had NEVER seen a HS dude with a tattoo, let alone a HUGE one like that. I knew that dude was hard. Anyway, we were dominated and our coach really gave us a butt-chewing for this one.

Ponderosa Bruins vs. Oak Ridge Trojans (@ Oak Ridge)
This is the only game that I forgot to save the article on. I really wished I had it. I'm going to attempt to contact the Mountain Democrat and see if by chance they have archives, but I doubt it. I can't remember the score to this game, but we did lose by a few TD's. I remember this team having a HUGE line (one of which signed to play college FB at BYU) and too much speed for us to handle (typical). It sucked because Oak Ridge was also another Rival to us (our HS was situation between Eldorado and Oak Ridge, so they were both Rivals). Oak Ridge was pretty "revolutionary" at the time because they were the first of the "spread" type of offenses you see so commonly now days. They usually only had one RB and 3 WR's. We were so used to seeing power-type teams (I-formaiton, wing-t, double wing, etc.) that having to match up against a team with a spread mind-set was difficult. I think our score was something like 13-28

Ponderosa Bruins 23 Valley Vikings 27 (@ Ponderosa) Valley was a team on the rise. They had a lot of athletes on the team (two of which went on to play in the NFL) but as you can see from the score and the article, we took them down to the very end and almost pulled it off. This is the only game from my Sr year that I actually have film of and I love seeing the first play of the game, where I pull and block their all-section DE Jerry De Loach. This dude went on to play at Cal and then in the NFL, starting for the Houston Texans. They also had a Jr Lineback named Jeremiah Pharms, who went on to star as a LB with the Washington Huskies, then get drafted to the NFL, only to never play a down due to murder charges. This dude was pretty good too. They had some great RB's and DB's too, all of which went on to play college FB.

Ponderosa Bruins 6 Del Oro Golden Eagles 33 (@ Ponderosa)
This was our last game of the season. Del Oro was a dominate program, always finishing with only one loss, maybe two sometimes. Their QB was a Sophomore, who went on to play at Stanford, then in the NFL for a few years. He was a great athlete. He wasn't the big player in this game though, it was their RB Anthony Floor, who ran all over us. Del Oro also operated out of a "spread" set, which was so hard for us to defend. Their defense was really good too. If it wasn't for our Kicker being so good, we would have been shut out. Anthony Floor also went on to play college FB at Oregon State I believe. He wasn't the biggest guy, but he was stronger than an ox and so fast.

It sucked losing our final game at home and ending our season so lousily, but it still felt good for me on a personal level. There were so many times I questioned why I put in so much work, figuring in the end that I would not get anything out of it like a college scholarship. However, I learned so much more about commitment, about team work, about working hard and not worrying about the lime light (that's an offensive lineman's perspective), and about respecting authority. Quite a few of the guys on our team did not like our head coach. I learned to really love and respect him. I can only hope as a coach that I represent my mentors the way I was taught.

Here is the list for the All Sierra Foothill League team. These were the kids from the 3 high schools in our county only, so it did not show all the other kids from the other high schools out of our county.

All Sierra Foothill League

Here is an article by our school newspaper that talks about how our season is going. Notice the underlined section that mentions my brother Russ as a RB on the JV team and a game he had against Placer. Russ is by far the best athlete in our family, but he didn't care much for football. He was a dang good RB and LB though.

Paw Print

Here is the team picture of our Jr year as Varsity players: Junior Year

Here is the team picture from our JV year: JV Year

Here is the team picture from our Freshman year: Freshman Year

Here is my Sr, Jr, Sophomore, and Freshman pictures (respectively):

Sr

JR

Soph (JV)

Frosh

Here are a couple of "action" shots from my JV and Varsity years. I was a lineman, so the "action" shots aren't that cool.

JV

Varsity

Lastly, here is a picture of my two best friends and I from our Sr year

Roman, Tyler, & Brian

Playing with Ice

2008-12-27T14:17:00.002-07:00

I have some giant icicles hanging from my gutters that look like this:

I decided to break them off and have some fun with them in the front yard snow pile:

"Friday's Arms and Back....."

2008-12-26T23:35:00.004-07:00

I love that scene from Anchorman when Will Ferrel acts like he's just finishing his 1000th curl as his love interest enters the room. He goes on to explain how many curls he was doing, then his routine, "Friday's Arms and Back...."

With all the snow shoveling I've been doing, I definitely feel like Friday, today, was Arms and Back. I'm SORE. Alene and I spent a good amount of time this morning piling snow up and clearing ways to make it easier to get to the cars. It's crazy. I have not seen this much snow since I've lived here, but it does rival Christmas 2003 when I had so much snow I was able to build a tiny hill and a jump in my back yard:

The thing is, I had the energy for that then. Now I'm pooped after shoveling for 10 minutes. Most of it is the fact that I'm out of shape, but maybe I am getting older??? Alene mentioned to Caiden and his friend Alma that she saw an awesome snow fort in a yard down the street. I was nervous they were going to ask me to build them one. Not that I don't like the idea, but I was pooped about that time. Luckily I talked them into playing with their new Christmas toys downstairs.

Here are some pictures of our yard this morning. Since this time we've had another 3"-4" fall.

If you look closely, you can see me in the background using a snow blower. My neighbor offered to let me use it to get the really icy stuff at my driveway entrance

Note: Yes, I do know this is the norm for people up in Minnesota, Canada, and Alaska, but it's my own little Hell, so I'm going to rant about it.

Bailey likes Squirt

2008-12-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

We're starting her off on the hard stuff right away.

It's really coming down right now

2008-12-25T23:14:00.003-07:00

It's snowing pretty hard. This is the hardest snow I've seen since Christmas 2003. That was some crazy shiz. We went to Alene's parents for Christmas today and the drive home absolutely sucked. Super strong wind-gusts. Couldn't see the lines on the freeway for the lanes. Cars driving all over the place. It wouldn't be so bad if it were just me driving on the road, but you have all these other idiots that you have to watch out for.

The one thing I'm very thankful for is the truck. I have a 1/2 ton Chevy pickup that just grips the ground like no other. Driving on the freeway was really a cinch, but like I said it was the other drivers I had to worry about. Not once did I feel like the truck was out of control or about to lose control.

Here's a picture of the drive down (this is I-15 south-bound around Layton):

It ended up taking us close to two hours to drive from Roy to our home in taylorsville (usually takes about 45 minutes).

Christmas

2008-12-25T23:10:00.002-07:00

We had a good time today. We did not have Caiden until 1pm, so we waited for him to get here to open the presents. As we all guessed, Bailey enjoyed the wrapping paper far more than the presents. Alene enjoyed Bailey's presents more than Bailey did. Caiden proclaimed it the "best day ever".

Here are some pictures:

My Girls

2008-12-22T12:50:00.004-07:00

I cannot say enough how thankful I am for my "girls". Alene is a very wonderful mother. She is so amazing. She is more than I ever expected in a mother for my children. She wants so badly for their happiness.

One thing I love about her is that she makes it a point to give Bailey attention. Bailey loves her mother so much.

Bailey is everything to me. She is so sweet and fun. I love her to death. It's still surreal to think she is mine. She seems too perfect.

I love my girls so much. They're both so beautiful.

This is how I roll

2008-12-21T16:01:00.001-07:00

Russ and I went to the shooting range last week.