Matthew's Musings

Housing update

2012-01-19T12:37:00.002-07:00

The bank's automatic processing unit came back with the same overpriced price on my house but now we are in a human review of my offer. I should know one way or the other by the end of this week or next.
I'll write more then!

Some milestones!

2011-12-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a few milestones that I've passed this week.

1. 2000 page views! Here's a shout out to all you loyal readers!

2. My first triple digit country outside the U.S. Way to go all you Russian readers, sitting at 102 right now! (Netherlands is close at 91)

3. My 10th loan over on Kiva! You can loan too, just $25 each loan and you get that back! Here's a link to check it out: Kiva loans!

4. Today was my 46th day in a row working out! It feels oh so good.

5. Today is my first day I've taken off work for no reason! Usually I have plans of some sort but since I still have 5 1/2 days to take off before the end of the year or I lose them I'm starting to be more free with them!

I'll keep it at 5 since that's a nice round number(figuratively!).

The Housing Hunt

2011-12-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Some might know that I am currently house hunting. Luckily for me house hunting is not like elk hunting where I don't ever see anything that I'm hunting for!
I've looked at a lot of houses and have put in offers on a few. One I almost had but the other side kept coming back unwilling to play the give and take game. All for the best though, I now have an offer that I'm excited about and that I think will go through. So in danger of being a bit premature I'm going to share some pictures!

This is the view from the street.

This is the downstairs living room and kitchen in the background.

This is the upstairs living room.

This is the upstairs Kitchen and dinning room.

And one of the best things about this house is the land it comes with! Just over an acre!

I should know one way or the other in a week or so. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I might be giving myself a house for Christmas! Merry Christmas to me!

My outside run

2011-12-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

So me and this guy at work (Steve, check out his blog!) have a competition. We are trying to see who will miss a day of working out first! It started with a bunch of people but really it's down to me and him. Today is day 40! Here's the day the power was out at the gym and I had to run outside in 25 degree weather!

<p>&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/59717168"&amp;gt;My First Run&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/?location=Bountiful, UT"&amp;gt;Find more Runs in Bountiful, UT&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; </p>
I highly recommend the imapmyrun app if you have a smart phone (it's on iPhone, not sure what else)
It can tell you your time, speed, distance and a bunch of other things all at intervals of your choosing!

Kiva.org

2011-10-12T09:18:00.003-06:00

I just made my seventh loan to people in third world countries! It makes me feel good! :) You can too! It's only $25 a loan! Click here to check it out!

New job and stuff

2011-04-10T22:22:00.003-06:00

Ha ha, I found this as a draft, I thought I finished this and posted it...oops!

So since the last time I posted on here I got promoted! I'm now the Co-Director of Customer Support. It's a pretty cool upgrade. The "not cool" part is that it seams like I'm working a lot more! I'm usually there until 5:30 or 6:00.

One of the good parts of the new job is not having to clock in and out! I got to sneak out a few minutes early last week to go horse riding. It was awesome! I haven't had too much time to go as of late. It was in the 60's and I went with a good friend. Nothing like getting a slight sunburn on April fools day!

My new position is going pretty good now. It took about a month for things to sift out and to get back to normal. Now I feel like I'm doing a good job.

In April, I took a motorcycle safety class with my brother. It was a ton of fun and way cool to get on a bike and start cruising. Now I've bought a 2008 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT. It's an awesome ride! I've had it for about a month and it's finally getting warm enough to ride almost every day. I'll get some picture posted for those who haven't seen it. I also give free rides for any interested!

Pass of all Passes

2011-03-05T10:10:00.005-07:00

So I bought this KSL deal. It's called the Pass of all Passes! It's unlimited 7 Peaks Water park pass plus a ticket to all these different games and stuff. I get to go to 4 Real Salt Lake Games, 4 Utah Grizzlies games, all of the Utah Blaze games and 6 Races at Rocky Mountain Raceway! All for $40!

Here's a calendar of all the activities:

Click here for my Google Calender I created.

I've already been to one Real Game this last Tuesday and we had great seats!

Real actually won too! 4-1 I think was the final score.

There was a penalty kick during the stoppage play and Real just kicked it in and game over! It was pretty sweet even for me who's not a huge fan of watching soccer.

Last night was the first Grizzlies game. When it was time to find out who was going everyone decided that they had other plans. I'll admit that I was a little bugged. I'm pretty sure the majority said they were coming on Friday and then when Friday rolls along they all have plans. It makes me want to just go buy a ticket before hand and take a date. That way I would have plans too! We will see. It ended up just being me and one other person and was pretty fun. We got seats on Row 7! It was my first ever live hockey game.

I'll keep the pictures coming of all the games and stuff we do.

Back in the Dating Scene!

2011-02-28T22:06:00.002-07:00

So my nieces stayed with us this last weekend and I have to recount a conversation I had with Tara on Sunday morning. Keep in mind that Tara is 7!

Tara's looking at me funny and says,

"I just can't figure it out."

"Figure what out?"

"Why you aren't married!"

I was surprised and taken back a little so I said,

"I'm just waiting for you to get older so we can get married!"

She looks at me in a disapproving way and says,

"We can't get married, we're family!"

I put out my bottom lip and acted like I was starting to cry.

"What? I've been waiting this whole time for you!" and then I walked down the hall to the bathroom. She followed me down to make sure I was ok and said to me in a calm and sympathetic voice,

"We can't get married cause we are already family."

It was hilarious! I don't know if my Sister-in-Law put her up to it or something but I guess this means that I have to start looking for someone to marry since I can't marry my 7 year old niece!

First Blog of the New Year!

2011-02-13T11:05:00.004-07:00

Wow! Two months go by quick!

Here's what you missed:

Christmas was good. I didn't get anything until the week after Christmas but it's still a great time of the year and I had fun!

I found out that I will be getting an office at work. We just have to wait until we hire a few more people. Work is great! Crazy but going really well.

I sprained my ankle the week that I was starting to train for a half marathon! It always happens like that. That was two weeks ago and I'm finally starting to be able to do stuff more then just walk! Here's a pic:

Two days after that I was waiting for a pump to get some gas and someone backed into me!

The bad news is I wasn't too concerned about my car because my ankle still hurt so I just had the guy write down his info and didn't look at it. When I did he had put his name, his policy number and a phone number. I tried to call the phone number and whomever it was said that it wasn't the guy I was looking for. So the next person that hits me better watch out. I'm taking all your info and calling the phone on the spot and taking a picture of your licence plate!

That pretty much catches you up with what's going on. I'm thinking about writing something about Valentines day but I might have to pass on that since it will be yet another V-day without a "special someone". I think this will make 31 consecutive years. Not something I'm too proud of.

Which brings me to my last subject. My boss who is also a Bishop, told me I should try something different when it comes to dating since everything I've tried hasn't worked out too well. He also said to ask people what I can improve about myself. So here goes nothing...If you do have something you think I could improve or do differently then please comment. My one request is you have to give me two ways to change. You can't just say I suck at blogging, but you also have to add two suggestions of how to improve that like have a day that you blog every week and set a reminder in your phones calendar so you can remember to blog. Also you can't post anonymously, at least put your name at the end!

Well till next time. Have a great day/week/Valentine's day!

ksl.com - Mormon Church joins other faiths in signing letter on marriage

2010-12-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would repost this as I fully agree with this letter!

Mormon Church joins other faiths in signing letter on marriage

Halloween!

2010-10-31T09:20:00.004-06:00

So Halloween is a fun time of the year, even for adults! It's the one time a year that you can wear whatever you want and people actually applaud you.

I was going to go all out this year but couldn't find the one thing that would make my costume...green tights that would fit a 6'4" guy! If you know of a place let me know cause I'll get this idea ready for next year! I've found them online but didn't have time to wait for shipping. So I had to fall back on what I had in my closet. I grabbed my chaps and my cowboy hat and picked up a Sheriff's star and off to my FHE party. The best comment all night was a girl that I don't know looks over and feels my chaps and says, "Whoa, those are like thick chaps.

They're like real ones!"

For my work dress up I wanted to go as Col. Sanders but due to lack of enthusiasm at work and me waking up late I grabbed my Pony Express shirt and vest and my cowboy hat again and off I went as a Pony Express rider.

I did find something that I'll use every year around this time. A Jello brain mold! Below is my very first brain!

It was a huge hit and actually tasted pretty good! I brought home half a brain and made my nieces promise to eat the "surprise dessert". They didn't really know what it was so it wasn't hard for them to eat it right up! They even asked for seconds and thirds - more then I can say than any of my coworkers!

Fix-it Ticket part II

2010-10-25T22:21:00.002-06:00

So I just wanted to update all two of you that read this...I did take care of my ticket. The window was fixed, Thanks Mom!, by the time I got back from Hunting. And She had bought the lights for the license plate light. It did take awhile for me to get a cop to sign off. I thought the Bountiful Police department had to be opened but I just called dispatch and waited 15 minutes for a cop to show up.

So then I went to the court today and after I emptied my pockets and took off my belt I got up to the window and handed the lady my signed ticket. She went and looked it up and then looked over at me and said, "Do you want to see the Judge for this?" I said no and she sat down at the computer and in a few minutes she came back and said that everything was taken care of and that they had waived everything. I was happy and went and bought some tires.

Fix-it Ticket

2010-10-20T18:32:00.002-06:00

So last week I was on my way to pick up some last minute camping supplies before we went hunting for a week. It was dark, around 9:30 and I got on the freeway. Before I knew it I was being pulled over! I checked my speedometer, the usual suspect, and was around 70. I pulled way over to the side and stopped my car. The officer came to the passenger side and asked, "Do you know your license plate lights are out?" Wow! Must have been a slow night!

While I was looking for my registration he noticed that my window had a crack on the bottom half of the windshield. I knew about this one but figured since I still have 6 months till my safety and emissions that I would be ok, plus the only part that was being blocked from my view was the hood of my car. Well guess what happened. I got a ticket. Not a regular one that you can pay online and be done with but a "Fix-it Ticket".

Now for those of us who have never got a Fix-it Ticket this is what it entails...

First you have to fix the problem. For me, a new windshield and a few light bulbs in the back. That's the easy part. Next you have to find a police officer and have him check to make sure everything is fixed. This is a little harder since most of us work during the same hours that the police station is open. If you can find an officer to sign off your next task is to take the signed ticket to court to present it to the Judge. If you didn't happen to find a cop without taking any PTO then forget going to court without taking any! See the Court is only open Monday through Thursday from 9-3. 9-3? Way to make this convenient guys! On top of that, you have to sign in between 7:45 and 8:30 otherwise you don't make the schedule that day. Oh and I forgot to mention that you only have 5-14 days to take care of all this! If you happen to make it this far the Judge in his infinite wisdom "may" choose to reduce your fine. May? That means for me, being a white male in the prime of life, I will be paying full price of my ticket plus had to pay for a new windshield and some bulbs, plus take time off to go sit in court! And if I don't make it in 14 days, you might ask? They issue a warrant and fine you the full amount. Way to make it easy on the working man!

On a more positive note...Camping was great! A week long of horse back ridding and no work is amazing! The horses are all about 1000 times better then they were last week!

Until next time!

Big Mac or Big pig?

2010-09-26T22:04:00.004-06:00

So I let my horse out today so I could clean his stall. Just looking at his stall you might wonder if he's a horse or a pig since his stall is filthy! But I let him out in our 100 by 100 foot arena. There was a sprinkler on in the neighbors yard that had overshot and made a mud hole on one edge of the arena. I watched my horse roll once in the dirt and thought he was done; he's usually a one and done guy when it comes to rolling. Anyway, when I get back from dumping the manure I look and he looks wet and a little different color. This is what he looked like once he dried out:

There had to be at least a half inch of dirt caked on him in some places. Luckily my brother had left all the bathing stuff out there so Big Mac got himself a free bath today!

Shotguns and horses

2010-09-13T21:26:00.002-06:00

Don't worry, there were no shotguns used on horses!

So this weekend was pretty fun. To start off I didn't work on Friday...probably the biggest reason it was fun :) Anyway, went to the State Horse Show and while I didn't have too many events to ride in, it was still fun to be around my horses and not to have to worry about much of anything. I realized that Big Mac is an amazing Pleasure horse and that the reason I wasn't riding at State in Pleasure was ALL my fault. If I only had rode him a little before it was time to show I would have easily placed. It's a hard lesson to learn but I've learnt it.

I've also learned to despise the phrase, "Well, there is always next year". This is what losers say to other losers (no offense intended to anyone who has said/heard this before). Every year when we don't place at State or don't ever make it to State someone says this. Well maybe there won't be a next year. Strange things happen and it's time to start winning! I'm going to take two lessons a week through the winter and that also gets me a riding pass to an indoor arena. So I'm hoping to make some strides when it comes to horses!

The other thing I learned at State, is to always grab the horn of the saddle if a horse rears! During the relay races a lady got her horse turned sideways and the horse coming around clipped the back end of her horse making the horse rear up. She did what anyone would do and tried to pull herself up with what was in her hands. Too bad it was the reins in her hands and it didn't pull her up, it pulled the horse over on top of her. She broke her femur and then both of her lower leg bones were sticking out at her ankle. She also broke her nose. It was not a pretty site!

Tonight for FHE we went Skeet Shooting! I've forgotten how much fun it is to shoot shotguns! There's some pictures on Facebook for those on there of me shooting. There's a real good one where you can see the pigeon blowing up after my shot! :)

Well that's enough for right now. Have a great week everyone!

1000

2010-09-06T22:42:00.001-06:00

So it's taken awhile but last week Matthew's Musings surpassed 1000 hits! I'd like to thank everyone for reading my thoughts and hope you enjoy more to come!

Google Voice

2010-08-30T21:49:00.003-06:00

So today I decided I would try out Google Voice. It's pretty cool so far. You can give out your number to anyone and then you can edit which phone you want it to go to. For me that's not the cool part seeing as I only have a cell phone. But it is cool that you can designate if you want to have that contact go to voicemail, and customize what the voicemail says or have it come through. I've always struggled with this cause I want a funny voicemail for friends and family but I've had professionalism inculcated into my head by John Shurtleff, so I have to have a professional sounding voicemail in case someone calls me for business.

Anyway, If you want to call me up on Google Voice, send me a text or something and I'll give you my number. Oh that's pretty cool too...you can text with your Google voice number too!

I'm going to try a new post format of short quick but more often posts. Let me know if you like or if you just want big long posts every three or four months! :)

Funny Shirt

2010-08-24T23:46:00.001-06:00

So I saw this shirt at the store and was sorely tempted to buy it...I resisted.

How Kylie and Talia get on their horses

2010-07-18T12:32:00.000-06:00

Kylie and Talia trying to get a saddle on!

2010-07-18T12:31:00.000-06:00

Good news, Bad news

2010-06-15T23:37:00.003-06:00

So yesterday I got a call from my Real Estate agent and he said,

"I have good news and bad news. Good news is that the Bank approved you for a loan! Bad news is the Bank did not approve the house for a loan."

I guess the guy trying to sell the house does not own the house. How it got through so far without us knowing about this is weird. I guess the title has shifted hands a few times and it looks a like a fraud so the bank wont touch it with a ten foot pole.

So I lost $8,000 yesterday and am back on the hunt.

Good news is we might get $1000 in earnest money cause they have to back out of the contract!

Ok, I lost out on $8,000 due to missing the tax credit. It was never mine but it could have been...

Exciting News!!!

2010-06-08T00:37:00.002-06:00

No I'm not getting married yet but this is pretty cool!

Check out this page...

http://www.eproptour.com/tour/play.htm?vid=941359

I'll write more later.

1 Year Anniversury

2010-04-05T18:08:00.002-06:00

As conference weekend has come and gone once more I can't believe how fast time has gone! One year ago yesterday I replaced the Mustang with my current Grand Prix! 30,000 miles later and one year older and many more gray hairs and I can happily say that I'm still happy with my purchase!

In other news, yet another girl that I dated has gotten engaged within a few short months of us breaking up! I'm not marketing myself...YET! It's weird how getting the news barely effects me now. The first time it happened was a big shocker but now it's like I almost expect it.

My job is going great! I was promoted to the team lead back at the beginning of the year and things haven't quited down since. My company has a very bright future and will more then likely double and maybe triple this year! If only I could say that me being team lead had something to do with it. We will be moving to a new building in a few short months! I'm super excited about the new space!

I'm currently listening to a book on my drives home. It's called "Switch!! How to change things when change is hard" I highly recommend it! It talks about so many things that's applicable to personal growth and also how to help others change! If you are a manager of some kind or want to be then I would definitely recommend it! It makes me excited about my drive home again and it's why I'm writing today!

Anyway, Hope all is well for everyone! Talk at you later!

“How Is It with Us?”

2010-03-01T21:43:00.002-07:00

So I know it's been a long time but I'm over it and if you're reading this you're probably more excited then looking to chastise me! :D Anyway, I wanted to post something a little more religious tonight.

Last month for the home teaching lesson President Monson talked about being spiritually prepared. Then tonight I read a great talk by Elder Ballard that he gave back in Conference in 2000. He talked about what needs our personal attention the most. He said; "the most important thing every one of us can do is to examine our own commitment and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must carefully guard against spiritual apathy and work to maintain the full measure of our loving loyalty to the Lord."

This is almost the same thing that Pres. Monson talked about in the HT Lesson. He said that we should each ask ourselves: "Am I what I want to be? Am I closer to the Savior today than I was yesterday? Will I be closer yet tomorrow? Do I have the courage to change for the better?"

These two articles tie into a lot of what I've been thinking and feeling the last few months. We sang a song in church the second or third week of this year. It's one that I had sang many times but I noticed something different about it this time. It's "I Need Thee Every Hour". For my whole life I focused on the verses and how important it is to be close to the Savior. When I sang it this time the very last line of the chorus stuck out to me: "I come to thee!". I had missed the meaning of the song my whole life. Yes it's true that we need Him every hour and temptations lose their power and life is vain without Him there but the most important thing is that He is always willing to be there and always want to be there. It is our choice however to come to Him. We must avoid spiritual apathy as Elder Ballard puts it and actually come to Him.

So I've made a commitment that I will try to come closer to the Savior every day and find the courage to change for the better.

Anyway, I'll get an update soon about life and stuff but I wanted to put that out there for anyone who still reads. (Thanks "Bear" or Mary for being my one and only follower!)

College Football!!!

2009-09-13T21:05:00.003-06:00

It's the most wonderful time, of the year!

I love football season! There's not a better time all year long.

This year has already been amazing and I'm holding my breath for something truly amazing to happen. There is a possibility, however small it might be, that my BYU Cougars could play for a National Championship again! I know there are still 10 games left but after the first two games we are ranked 7th in the AP poll and 9th in the Coaches poll and there is a possibility that we could make it in there!

The thing that I'm most worried about is the Cougars always seem to crush my hopes and dreams. It's like when everything is going perfect and then you're told that you have to move your horses by the first of May and all your dreams start to crash down. I was alive during the 1984 Championship season but I don't remember it. But we can still dream can't we! Here's to another National Championship, 25 years after our last one...lets not wait this long again!

More blogs to come

2009-09-02T23:18:00.003-06:00

Wow! It's already been a long, long time, hasn't it?

I've been thinking of a good post that I'll have to write soon. It's been something that I've been thinking about for a while now. It's a little philosophical for this late but if anyone still reads this then get ready! I promise something before the end of September(I'm giving myself a few extra weeks just so I feel really good about myself when I get this thought through over the weekend!)

For now enjoy a deep thought:

"If I was being executed by injection, I'd clean up my cell real neat. Then, when they came to get me, I'd say, 'Injection I thought you said inspection'. cThey'd probably feel real bad, and maybe I could get out of it."

Super activity or a trip back east?

2009-05-31T09:52:00.002-06:00

So I'm trying to decide if I should go to my Ward's Super Activity or head back East. Right now I've already got Friday off for the super activity but I could take Thursday off too and have a sweet trip back east to visit friends in DC, see my brothers house or go to Disney World!
The super activity is to Flaming Gorge with waterskiing, rafting, camping and hanging out with a ton of friends. I always have fun at my wards super activities.
Back East, DC would be awesome. I have a friend who I could stay with and see the sites and enjoy DC. My little brother in North Carolina also has a place for me to stay. He just bought a new house and has invited me back there to hang out. Lastly I have a friend at Disney World that says she can get me tickets to the Park. I've never been to Disney World but I hear it's awesome! I've only been to Disney land once and it was fun so I can only imagine it's that much better!

I hate decissions where I know both options would be awesome!

The New Car!

2009-05-22T22:29:00.003-06:00

Alright! The story you've all been waiting for. I've waited for the anticipation to build among the few faithful readers, the story of me buying my new car.

First to preface my story need to say that my brother Jared had just gone through buying a car so he was the skilled professional who helped me.
It was the Saturday after the car fire, only two days had passed since I had lost "The Beast". Jared and I set out around 9 am to look at cars. We visited a few dealers and I sat in one or two cars but nothing really felt right. Around 11 we stopped at a dealer where my brothers friend worked. They were all over the lot showing me everything. We finally decided to take a Pontiac G6 for a test drive and we were hungry (we had spent almost two hours looking at cars!) We test drove it and I liked it; it was a fun car, a 2006 and had about 80k on it. They were asking $12,000 for it but had said they could get it down to $10,000 since Jared knew the manager. I said at lunch that I couldn't go above $7500 and when we told that to them when we returned they immediately said they would do it for $8000, which I said no to. We left for Salt Lake to the Auto Mall. Now at this time we were getting tired but my brother said that he hadn't seen the car that I was going to buy yet. The G6 is important in my story so just tuck that away right now!
After going around almost all the dealerships at the Auto Mall we were tired. It was around 4:30 and we decided to call it a day and head home. As we were driving down the road we saw a sign outside of the Riverton Hyundai show that said they had cars starting at $3995 so we thought we could swing in and have them show us the cheapies. We went inside and no one approached us. This was odd since everywhere else we went we could barely make it out of our car before someone was on us. Finally we went to the front desk and asked for some help. They called over a salesman but he said he was with someone else so they called someone from across the street to come help us. As Chris walked up to us their was something a little strange about him. When he said hello and that is name was Chris the gaydar went off. Nevertheless we asked to see his $4000 cars. We jumped in a car and drove to the other lot and couldn't find any of them but we stopped and he showed me a VW Bug. It was new and it was blue but I just couldn't imagine myself in a bug so told him no. We got back in the car and was turning around when another salesman called out to Chris. The talked with each other and Chris asked where the car we wanted to see was and turns out it was sold but we found out that the same car my brother had just bought was just taken in. This peaked our interests and decided to take a look at the newly acquired vehicles.
We drove around the back lot but with no luck of finding the car and decided to call it a day. As we were leaving the lot my brother asks, "Hey, what about that Grand Prix?" We stopped and jumped out and my brother asked him how the Pontiac line runs, Grand Prix to G6 or the other way around. When Chris said it starts with G5, G6, Grand AM, Grand Prix my brother interrupts him and says for $6500 we'll drive off the lot today!
I was a little shocked but didn't have any objections. Chris got all giddy and said we should test drive it first so as he ran in to get the keys I pulled out my iPhone and searched for the blue book price. High blue book was $12,000 to low blue book of $9500! We got in and drove it for awhile the whole time Chris was in the back seat giggling away. When we got back we told him again and again that we would take it for $6500 as is and drive it off the lot today. We went inside to work the deal.
We sat down and he went to talk with the guy in the glass office and came back with his paper. He said, "Ok the car is priced at $11,900 so if you can just sign on the line and we will start the paperwork!" We both looked at him in amazement and asked what happened to our $6500 deal. He laughed and said that he had to offer it to us at that price, crossed it off and wrote down $6500 as is and had me initial it. He went back to the glass office. When he left Jared and I discussed how funny it would be if when he came back with his counter-offer if we got up and went to the break room, which was also a glass room. He came back and said that he hadn't known that the car had already gone through the shop and had its oil changed and so forth so, so he counter-offered at $8900. We both acted shocked and asked him what happened to our $6500? His response was that it was in the middle of the two and with all the work that had been done inspecting it and doing the oil change and also offered us three free oil changes and a 30 day exchange but we both stood up and said we needed to discuss it. He was a bit shocked at us but laughed as we said we needed out glass office to talk in.
I sat down in a chair and pulled up another car site and found that the high end trade in was $6500! I was amazed that we had hit it right on the nose! I said I would go up to $7000 for all the work they had done and that they didn't need to give us the exchange and oil changes. I explained to him once we came back that IF they paid top dollar for it, which we all know they didn't, then I would add on the expenses for doing their oil change and inspections and so forth then we would bump up our offer to $7000, final offer. He wrote it down and had me initial it again and left for the glass office.
As he came back to us he didn't come straight to us but went and got a folder first. We knew we had it! He came back and said very seriously, "Well, it's been great doing business with you but we just couldn't do it...", then after pausing he said in the most gay voice that I could imitate, "Just Kidding! Congratulations on your new car!!!"

Well, sorry for the long post but it's a great story! There was a lot of details that I left out but you get the point. It's amazing what you can negotiate while buying a car. It's such a fun experience that I would recommend it to anyone!

So until next time, remember, never pay sticker price!

The death of a legend

2009-04-18T10:48:00.006-06:00

Two weeks ago I was feeling fine, my car had passed safety and emissions and I had gotten another year with my Mustang. I didn't care that the fender was smashed up from an old accident or that the mirror on the passengers side was knocked out and had one of those round convex, or concave I can never remember, mirrors in place of the real mirror. What I cared about was getting almost 29 mpg and feeling like I was cool cause I had a sports car! I had noticed the heat gauge would sometimes heat up but most of the time that just meant that I needed to add anti-freeze. I figured that there was a leak somewhere so I bought some leak stop and poured it in and kept on driving adding when needed.

On my way to work on April 2nd I was cruisin along feeling good thinking I was going to make it to work a few minutes early. I had just passed 123000 South and heading up the point of the mountain when I saw my heat gauge shoot to the right further then I ever imagined it could go! I immediately started to move to the right to pull off the freeway thinking I would have to add a ton of antifreeze. As I moved over suddenly a ton of white smoke/steam came bellowing out the back of my car. I was at the 146th exit so I pulled off immediately. As I neared the bottom of the ramp smoke started to come into the car through the vent so I turned off the heater, turned the corner into a park and ride parking lot and then I could have sworn I saw flames shooting out from under the hood!

As I came to a stop, constant flames came from the air intake and a few corners of the hood. As I stopped another car came swerving to a stop and we both got out of our cars. He asked if I wanted to call the cops and fire department. I said of coarse! As we were getting out another guy from NAPA auto parts pulled over in his truck and pulled out a fire extinguisher and came running over. I popped the hood and got ready to open it for him when he was ready. As I lifted the hood flames hit my hands for a moment and then he was spraying everywhere. While this was a good thing for the car it wasn't so good for me. The wind was blowing very hard that morning and was blowing the fire retardant right into me. All I could do was duck my head into my chest to try to breath clean air. He got most of the fire out before his extinguisher ran out but there was still flames left in the lining of the hood. We decided to pull out the lining and stomp out the fire.

As we pulled our the insulation we hit the hood prop and the hood came slamming down on the prop. We stomped out the fire and turned back to the car. There was still a little flicker coming from under there so the first guy who called the cops called his work and had them run up with another extinguisher. I ran around to pop the hood again but found that the release was stuck. I got out and tried to unjam the hood and went back around to the release. As I pulled I must have had a lot of adrenalin cause as I pulled I pulled the lever right out busting the cable that ran to the hood!

The reinforcements had arrived with more fire extinguishers and we decided to blast it through the air intake vents. We finally got it out but not before a hole had been burned straight through the hood!

Once all the action was over the cops finally showed up and radioed the fire department and told them exactly where we were. They showed up a few minutes and I showed them the hood release pulley and told them the story. They told me, "Well we can get it open it just won't be pretty!" I gave them the OK and luckily they didn't pull out the jaws of life but they got it open fairly easily.

As much as I can figure as I was driving the water pump busted and that's what caused the steam to shoot out from out the back. Then something shorted out due to the heat and caused a spark to jump up into the hood liner and there the fire started.

I'll post the story of the car buying experience tomorrow. It's a good one!

Pain in the...

2009-02-08T21:36:00.002-07:00

It's been a crazy week! I was asked to help out with the Young Ambassador show. I've now done a show in the de Jong with they YA's for 8 straight years! I've always felt excepted until this year. I talked with Bart about "growing older" with the YA's. He said that there are certain ages where you are excepted and certain ages you are not. This was definitely one of those not excepted years. Part of the problem may have been I wasn't introduced until the last show. But non the less I had fun.
I got to be the counterweight for Elphaba! I also got to be the enforcer, again adding to my non exceptance. For the first time in my time with the YA's they opened the "Star Dressing Room". Everyone was told to keep out except for directors. I noticed a bunch of people going in and out and had to put a stop to it. Surprisingly I was challenged by a few of the Young whippersnappers. Oh well, as John Shurtleff would say, "I've been hated by much better people before they came along!"
On Saturday we got the truck loaded and as I was crawling out between the costumes I tweaked my back. Not fun at all. I didn't help unload as it was slowly getting more and more stiff. When I went to bed I fell asleep on my back. I woke up half way through the night and though I might be more comfortable on my stomach. It hurt really bad but I thought I just need to get it stretched out. After about 5 min. I decided to just try to go back to sleep on my back. But I had stretched out my back that it was painful to roll any direction now. Not a fun night. So when I woke up I found all my pain killers that I got from my back surgery time. So I went to Church "high" on Hydrocodine and some IBprofin and Tylenol. It was a dreamy meeting!
Anyway, my back is feeling much better now and I'm hoping tomorrow will be another step in the all better direction.

The Shave

2009-01-25T22:10:00.008-07:00

I lost it on Tuesday! I would write more about it but I just walked a mile home in the snow since the plows are trying to keep the Sabath day holy, I guess.

So let me know which one you like the best and maybe I can grow it out like that!

Clinton Anderson

2009-01-18T22:27:00.004-07:00

So I just got back from a Clinton Anderson tour and it was amazing! I've seen a lot of his DVD's so there wasn't much new information but it has motivated me a lot!

For those of you who don't know who Clinton is, he is a world renowned horse trainer. He has won the best horse trainer in the world title a couple of times. Anyway, to get to see him live and see that horses can be trained and become very nice to be around was exciting. The other thing I really liked was that I felt like I could have fixed some of the "problem horses" that they brought in.

He also said somethings that I thought apply to all of us, horse people and non alike! The first is that to change ourselves we first have to change our attitude. If only we all realized this when we mad our New Year's Resolutions a few weeks ago, me included. No it's important that we push ourselves with goals and such but it's also important that we'll fail in our goals unless we first change our attitudes about whatever our goals are about.

The second saying was that success is just around the corner, we just need to walk a few more steps to reach it. This reminds me of something my freshman Book of Mormon teacher taught me. He always said that in astronomy that you can see the farthest on the darkest nights and said in our darkest moments if we look we can see the farthest. I've had those moments where everything seems like it's against you and you don't know what to do. If we turn towards the Lord then he can show us things that we might never had noticed during our time of plenty so to speak.

Wow, I wasn't planning on going Churchy but I guess that's what happens.

Anyway, I think this is going to be the last week of the Christmas beard. I'm helping out the YA's on Saturday and I'm sure that John won't let me go if I don't shave. It's been a lot of fun having the beard! So many people have said they really like it and a few have said I need to shave, but there will always be those trying to kill the buzz! Don't worry though, I'm planning on shaving in increments and taking pictures in between!

So until next time - peace!

New Year, New resolve

2009-01-11T13:24:00.005-07:00

Ok so it's been awhile, I get it. I've been on tour with the Forgotten Carols and I'm claiming that is the reason I've stopped blogging. Oh well!

I feel as though I should apologize for leaving my last post up there. It was a bit bitter, ok so maybe a lot but hey, I'm a 28 year old single Mormon guy, cut me some slack. Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better and am working on being better. So with the new years comes new year resolutions. Now I use to be against resolutions cause I think you should make goals when you need to and not wait till some designated date to improve yourself. But there is something about a new year that makes me want to make a goal. And the best way to keep your goals is tell others so they keep you accountable. So here we go in no particular order.

I want to ride my horse more. This one steams from me not riding from October to January. I figure once a week is a good goal. I might have to up it come springtime but for the winter once a week would be very good. I've bought some flannel lined jeans and some other cold weather gear so I can go ride down the back road.

Ok, next is to work out more and win this years contest between my brothers. Last year if you remember we had a contest for best in shape. Well we didn't really follow through on that one but this year I feel will be different. We've changed the events to be Push ups, Pull ups, Standing Long Jump, Vertical Leap and a swimming event. This way everything can be done at the reunion and doesn't require a gym. I've got me a pull up bar and have already double the number of pull ups I could do!

Next contains a few different things but can be grouped into Church activity. I've already felt the pulls to go inactive and know that at my age a lot of single guys go inactive. I want to go to FHE every week. I know it sounds simple but lots of things pull you away so it's something to strive for. My ward is also doing a Book of Mormon Challenge again where they would like us to read cover to cover before the super activity in June. I also want to go to the temple more regularly. Once a month is the usual so I'll go for that.

The last has to do with Money. I really need to be more financially responsible. I want to track what I do with my money. I also want to just put away 10% of everything. So 10 to the Lord, 10 to savings leaving me with 80% to be responsible with. Along with this I really need to get my own place(unless my parents go on another mission...ha ha ha!) I've been looking a lot lately at homes and apartments and Condos and such. The biggest problem there is my horse. I either have to take him with me or move close by where he's at.

There you have it. Ask me about these goals and make sure I'm doing it. Also if you want to tell me your goals then I'll ask you about them too! That way we all can improve ourselves.

Anyways, here's to a fine 2009!

Oh and I need to add that today is my second anniversary of horse ownership! It's been a great two years Big Mac! Here's to many more!

The perfect music!

2008-09-30T23:19:00.003-06:00

Ok, for all you readers out there,
I found the perfect music for my last post!

I hope you enjoy!

Ramblings of a 28 year old Single Mormon Man

2008-09-22T22:25:00.002-06:00

On the eve of the wedding of two really good friends I find myself reflecting on life. Life is most defiantly something that you least expect it to be. As I sit here, the last of my good friends from High School who is still single I can't help but think that in High School it was I who was thought to be the first one married. Now I have friends with two kids! I keep moving on to other single friends but they keep getting married. I guess the moral of this story is any guy that wants to get married should come be my friend and it'll happen. I've also had a good streak at dating girls who then immediately get married after dating me. This I've known about for some time now too so girls if you want to get married then come and date me :)

My second thought is that of time. What happens to it? I think to myself (cause everyone else is married) that there are 6 days in the week, leaving out Sunday as a "day of rest". Now most of us work so during 5 of those days we are at work but we have evenings. This is how my week goes most of the time...
Monday - FHE, there is some time left over here for example today I did my laundry!
Tuesday - Should be at the Family History Center since I'm over that committee, Institute is that night and now we are doing visits as a EQ presidency.
Wednesday - I claim this as my night to go ride my horse but usually have to plan HT here or other activities.
Thursday - Here we have ward visits which I should go to but we also have our EQ presidency meetings here too.
Friday - Date night, which usually turns into some sort of Ward Activity or group party or something else.
Saturday seems like it should be available to do what I want to right? But it never happens. Luckily since I have season tickets to the most Awesomeness College Football Team in the Nation, then I rearrange things to be free for these(although get in trouble cause I don't make it to all the parties).

Wow! So I apologize for this post but I think I'm just frustrated with dating and the such. It seems like I can never find a girl who likes me AND I like her. I've had many a girl express interest in me, i.e. the girl who told me if I asked her for a date she would say August after knowing each other for about two weeks! And I've liked a lot of girls but am always turned down nicely. I guess when both like each other then you get married so obviously it hasn't happened for me yet.
Anywho, though I would post cause I haven't in a really long time. But now at least you should sort of understand. Oh and the last thing is the EQ pres. just got engaged so I'm on the short list and really don't want to be. Oh well, I've got to seek the kingdom of God first and then...Jacob 2:18-19!

District Horse Show

2008-08-03T19:52:00.006-06:00

Wow! Where did July go?
Parents came home and are gone again...to Chicago this time.
Went to Bear Lake for a week for the Reunion...Awesome (pictures later maybe)
Got called as 1st councilor in the Elders Quorum...explains why I don't have any more time!

Anyway, I do want to post about the District horse show I was in Yesterday and Friday. It was a ton of fun! I've never been to a horse show let alone competed in one so it was a great experience.

My first event, and only one on Friday, was the Pony Express. The Pony Express is a relay where your horse is unsaddled and there is a saddle in a circle out in the arena. You must lead your horse to the circle, put the saddle on, ride around a barrel at the end of the arena and come back, take the saddle off and then lead your horse back across the starting line. There are five people on one team. It took our team just under 5 min. for all five of us to go. We totally smoked everyone! The bad news was that after all the events were over with then the people in charge talked it over and said we were disqualified. Them talking it over is illegal so we should have won, but we didn't protest because we moved on to Region just because there weren't enough teams to go. The other event that I helped with was the ribbon pull. This is a race to see who can pull a ribbon off of a steers back the fastest. I was running the chutes to let the cows out. Well you have to move the steers to the front of the chute to get them to come out right and to get them to the front you grab their tails and pull the tails forward, and this gets them to move forward. Well I went to grab one of them by the tail and little did I know it had just crapped all over its tail! It was nasty!
So Saturday morning came bright and early. I was up at 5 so we could get everything ready and get there on time. This is on the ride up, my sister-in-law was caught taking a little nap!
When we got there I was informed that I was in the Potato Race! I was just an alternate but someone dropped out so I was in. In the potato race there are two barrels, one on each side of the arena. One has 12 potatoes in it and the other is empty. You ride your horse to the first one and stab a potato with this lance you have in your hand, you then ride back to the second barrel and fling the potato back into the barrel and then cross the finish line and hand off the lance to the next person in line. Well I had never done this in a cowboy hat and my horse was being stupid so we missed the potato and had to go back to pick it up. Luckily we still placed forth which is good enough to move on to region!
The last event I did is called Wild Cow Milking! This was a ton of fun. The release a bunch of wild momma cows out into the arena. Then there are two guys on a team. The first one is on horseback and has to rope one of the cows. The second guy runs up and has to "mug" the cow, which basically means he has to manhandle the cow while the first guy comes and tries to milk the cow. He just has to get enough for a drop of milk to run out of the bottle. Well I was the mugger and my brother the roper/milker. It took us about a minute and a forty five seconds to rope the cow and then we got it mugged and milked in about ten, only to run down to the circle and before we could turn the bottle and dump out the milk the time had expired. Luckily only two teams actually posted a time so they are letting us move on to region! Oh and I should mention that our cow had horns about a foot and a half long, and she wanted to use them against me!
Overall the two days was a ton of fun! I invite everyone to come to Region on Aug. 22-23 in Logan to see me wrestle a huge milk cow that has never been milked before! We will also be competing in a club drill event where we will all be wearing the same matching outfit.
I should mention, that if you see a cowboy with his hat tipped down....it means he's looking for a fight!
And if you see a cowboy with his hat tipped up...then you've got a happy cowboy!

7 Days

2008-06-30T23:29:00.003-06:00

So seven days from right now, my parents will have returned from a year and a half mission! It feels like it's been about 8 months now but nope, try 18! It will be good to have them home but with it comes changes. It will be different living under my parent's roof again (yes I know I've been living in their house, but it's different). So who knows I might be ready to move out in a month or two.

I also have a new calling. I'm not at liberty to say what it is but if you come to my ward on Sunday than you might find out. I will miss my old calling. I loved serving as a Ward Clerk. I believe it is one of the best callings in the Church! Almost no other calling has a definitive end of what is required! Once all the paperwork is done then there is nothing more to do! I guess I brought this on myself though. I've been in this ward for almost two years now...the longest I've been in one ward since my home ward back before I was 18! Crazy!

Anyway these are my random thoughts on this last day of June, my last Monday night without parents in the same country, the last night I hopefully sleep without installing the AC unit from the basement!

What would you do?

2008-06-26T00:03:00.003-06:00

As some might know, my parents get home in a week and a half, July 7th to be exact. At that time I will be once again, living with my parents. So I have some options I could pursue. First is change nothing, stay living here and just keep on keeping on. Next I could purchase a place down south closer to work. Now comes the real questions, should I buy a motorcycle? This option would most likely be for living in Bountiful to save on gas money but could be for anything cause I've always wanted to have a motorcycle.
So here it is, your chance to have a word in what I should do.

*I reserve the right to not take any advice or follow the majority on any issue.
**By commenting you will be entered into a drawing for $1,000,000
***No actual money will be rewarded

Gain of money...Loss of time

2008-06-08T22:51:00.002-06:00

So today I went to my brothers place in Farmington. We had spaghetti for dinner and then went outside to enjoy the nice afternoon. I decided to go pay my horse a visit. It had been over a week since I'd gone riding. I walked into the pasture and my horse saw me and walked right up to me. I petted him and looked him over for any scratches or wounds of any kind, and then walked back to the gate. He followed me over there and seemed to be saying, "Please let me out or stay for a while and do something with me!"
I couldn't resist. I grabbed his halter and lead and put it on. He nearly ran over to some flat ground, excited that someone was going to do something with him. After making sure he was thinking and wasn't going to do something stupid, I jumped on his back and rode bareback for awhile. Then I climbed off and started walking toward the gate. He followed, trying his best to show how good he was so I could stick around.
I felt horrible that I hadn't been riding or even coming over to see him. I realized I was stuck in the rat race! It sucks! There is a scale for most of us in life, on one side there is an excess of time, on the other is money. Unfortunately one cannot have both, or so it seems. I had been living favoring the time side and life was good. Now that I've shifted toward the money side I want to find a way to have both. Maybe it's greed, but I think of it as working smarter not harder. There has to be a way to make money work for you so you can enjoy time and still have money coming in. I'm not doing it now and it's driving me to figure out how to live the good life.

I'm open for suggestions!

Memorial Day Thoughts

2008-05-26T10:58:00.001-06:00

On this memorial day, I'm grateful for all those who have fought and are fighting for our freedoms. I personally have two good friends serving. It worries me for their safety but I am eternally grateful that they, and all the other men and women of the military, are willing to risk their lives to protect my life, my freedoms and my home. So here's a shout out to Scott Lalliss and Justin Porter!
Because of these freedoms I enjoy, I have gotten a new job! I begin work tomorrow, May 26, 2008. Over one year since I've had a steady income. It will be difficult to go back to an 8 hour, 5 days a week job, but it will be really nice to have a good income, health and dental and a 401k. The company is called Smile Reminder. You can check them out at Smile Reminder. They are a company that works with doctor and dentist offices. They have software that they can send text messages and emails for reminders for appointments and birthdays and other advertisements. I will be customer support and training and technical support. They also have good room for advancement. I'm hoping to become the photoshop guy but I'll have to see.
My parents come home in about 6 weeks, July 7th. So now I'm trying to prepare the yard for their return. My problem has been that last year we let the yard go so it's a lot of work. I'm open to all volunteers or service projects. There's lots of weeding and trimming and fixing sprinklers and many many more things. My new job is a blessing but a curse when it comes to this work. Blessing cause I can pay for repairs and fertilizer and other supplies but now I have little time to work. Oh well I guess I'll have to do what most people do all the time.
I've been recruited to the Institute fireside committee. My friend Steph is in charge and asked me to help with the technical side of firesides. I've been to the Institute about 10 times so it will be interesting to go and learn the layout of the building. The committee members all seem to be cool. We will be working closely over the next year so it should be fun.

Well that's about it...if there is still anyone reading after this long post I thank you and hope you come back.

Muzak!

2008-05-19T12:18:00.002-06:00

Ok I know that everyone else has music on their blog these days so it's about time I add my own! These are just a few of my favs. It changes with what kind of mood I'm in so I might add more later. Enjoy these for now!

The Kitten rescue

2008-05-07T10:36:00.006-06:00

Ok, here are the rescue pictures of those dang kitty cats! I could hear them but couldn't find them anywhere on the porch. I would walk outside and here a faint sound that I could swear was coming from the little roof overhang. And it seamed like they would meow louder when I would hit the roof. So I went to work...and got this!

When the board came off I could see something up there...

I got three of them but I think the mom was still moving the last one, either to or away from this spot.

I caged them up in an old bird cage my dad had for racing pigeons. It worked well, for a few days. I would feed them with a little bottle and some formula I bought at a store. Than one morning I came out to feed and the cage was on the ground and one kitty was missing! I figured that the cage had been tipped and the kitty climbed out of the little slats at the top, so I put the cage on the ground and covered it with a board. The next day I came out and the board was off and the cage was still flat but I was missing another kitty. The next day the last kitty was gone. Lost all three to the cat. Talk about dedication to your kitties! I've gone back to chasing the cats away even using my Taiwan hand gun on them (a Taiwan gun is not a real gun but rather a spring loaded pellet gun that we use to shoot each other with on P-day, nothing that would kill a cat). So that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Horses and stuff

2008-05-01T22:47:00.002-06:00

Ok, I know it's been quite a while since I've posted. I apologize! As for those who want to know about the kittens, they are gone. I found them in our attic and caged them and began feeding them. That lasted less then a week. The mom found them and then pulled them out one by one. Since then I haven't seen them. I want to post a picture of where I found them but it will have to wait.
The big news is my brother's neighbor is letting us use her pasture for the horses. We just had to build a fence and then keep it watered this summer. We finished the fence yesterday and let the horses go. They ran down and back a few times and one time, on the way back, my brothers horse looked back at the other two horses and forgot there was a fence and went most of the way through it before turning back. We laughed, it was funny!
Today we let them out again and when we came to get them at sunset we walked down 3/4 of the pasture and instead of running away from us they looked at us. We started smooching and my horse almost ran up to me. It was awesome. So we decided to climb up and ride back, bareback! It was much better than the last time I rode bareback. Last time Big Mac decided he had had enough of the outdoors and wanted back in his stall. So he jumped sideways and left me there. Luckily I hung on and dirt skied behind him until I regained my feet and proceeded to show him who was boss. Anyway, I'm still amazed that my horse would come to me when I smooched at him...maybe I should start smooching at women and see if they come over, that way I would know if they loved me like my horse loves me! :) Ok, maybe not.
That's about it. I'm going to try to post some pictures another day, but I'm going to Bear Lake tomorrow and we leave early so I've got to get to bed.

Thanks for reading!

Kittens

2008-03-19T17:49:00.009-06:00

Ok first I just have to say that after my last post all of those forwards were replaced with a note from Facebook saying that they could contain harmful things. Anyway on to the good stuff.

Over the winter we have noticed a couple of cats hanging around our place. Usually on the back porch and in the carport. So we would chase them off, we being more of a dog family than a cat family. Today I was outside and I hear a faint meowing from somewhere. I try to get my bearings on the sound and it stops. I start meowing and get a response back. Slowly I find the meowing coming from some bee boxes that we have stacked on the back patio. Thinking of a recent story of a cat falling between the wall and sliding down to the basement I go to explore...

I move the box of the top and can hear a louder more audible meow so I take a look inside...

Four little kittens at the bottom of the stack of bee boxes! So I did what any curious boy would do...I picked them up and set them in the grass so they could enjoy the sunshine!

So the question of the day is what should I do with these four little guys? I've never been a cat guy, I have always loved dogs so I don't know much about them. I did read that you can train a cat to use the toilet, which would be awesome to train a cat just for the amusement of watching a cat jump up on a toilet and do his business. Anyway, if you are a cat lover and want one let me know. Also let me know what you think about me keeping one. Here are some closeups of each one. Enjoy!

Diffidence

2008-03-12T21:54:00.003-06:00

OK so maybe I'm just sick of getting all the "fun wall" posts from people but I have to comment on this. I have received so many stupid posts that go something like this:

" hit forward and then you can see who looks at your profile the most..."

Now maybe you wouldn't notice this right of the bat but before this statement said that to view the person who views your profile the most you need to hit Alt + F4. For anyone that doesn't know what Alt F4 does I suggest you open a random window, any old window, maybe another internet window or a Word document or something. It really doesn't matter because Alt F4 does one thing and one thing only in a Windows operating system...it closes the window that is open. Thus if you don't have a pop-up blocker and suddenly get a ton of windows opening up than you can counter that by repeatedly hitting Alt and F4 at the same time. Other uses is you are too lazy to click on the red "X" in the top right corner. There are many useful uses for this function. One of the many useful functions is NOT, I repeat NOT to tell you who views your profile the most!
I don't really understand the appeal of this in the first place. I do not care who looks at my profile! If I did than I would make it so you can't see it unless I specifically allow you to. The only reason I could think of is Diffidence, or if you haven't looked this up yet, a lack of self-confidence. I don't know, maybe it is different for girls to see what guy is interested in them and always checking you out? Perhaps but I for one do not care! You can look all you want, and please comment and leave a little note. I know who my friends are by their posts on my wall or comments on my blog. The rest of you I hope you have enjoyed looking at my life.

Sorry if this was a rant, but I really don't like little things on facebook, like the idea to forward stuff on, or invite everyone to become a part of a group cause I made a bet that I could get "X" amount of people to join.

Also I did not mean to offend so I'm sorry if you love doing these things, just don't include me on your forwards, Thank you.

My dive into the Woman's recherche psyche!

2008-03-03T08:07:00.005-07:00

Ok, Now that I've word of the day I can explain. This last week I've had a dive into the complexities which is known as the woman's psyche. How you may ask...it all started on Saturday, February 23, 2008. I was feeding the horses over at my brothers house and came in after the morning feeding. My niece was there and she was reading The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. I had heard of these books and the odd attraction women had to it. Most of the girls I knew had read them got sucked in and finished all three in about as many days. As my niece was on the second book and the first book was sitting on the table I thought that I could sit down and read a few chapters to see what all the fuss was about.

It was a romance novel in pretty much every sense of word. It was bearable though knowing that it had to get interesting because there are vampires involved. So I read on. Now I might loose some readers by giving my review of the book so if you are a huge fan than don't read on. It took about 350 pages before it got interesting. Up until that point the book was an easy read. Very well written but not much in the grasping department. I also found the way that Edward treated Bella very two faced. One moment he was rude and distracted and the next he was sweet and loving. But even when he was in a good mood than he still seemed to be mocking her and treating her lightly, always laughing at her when she was trying to be serious. All in all though it was a decent book. By nightfall I was almost finished and we had to make a run to Walmart so she could buy the third book so I could read the second. I finished in the morning and started the second.

The second book I was disillusioned by Bella. I was deeply disturbed by the way she acted after he so flippantly left her. I guess I just don't understand women (I know big shocker right!) The second book never really caught my interest but I read till the end. Sure there are a few pages toward the end that are intriguing but all and all it was not my kind of book. I love the way she rights and it's easy to read and get a very visual picture but I could not make myself read through the 300+ pages of the romance parts to get to the 100 or so pages of adventure.

My next experience came this last weekend. On Friday February 29, 2008 I drove up to Idaho Falls to help run sound for a Time Out for Women.

This was an amazing event. Even though the talks were geared towards women I still found little nuggets of truth that have changed me. It was also really fun to work with some talented LDS musicians. I have always been a fan of Jenny Oaks Baker and it was a pleasure to work with her and hear her play live. Kenneth Cope wasn't bad either, and the new group Mercy River was good, and it features a girl that I graduated high school with. All in all it made me realize that women have harder problems than I'll ever have. It also makes me want to be a better man so that when the day comes that one women will allow me to marry her than I will be the envy of the salons, Relief Society and noon hour restaurants :)

It's fun winning!

2008-02-22T11:57:00.003-07:00

Hurray for winning basketball games!!!

Last night my league basketball team won its second game of the season! The first one I was on tour. It makes us like 2-8 but we are starting to play better and everyone makes the playoffs so it's all good still. I scored 14 points out of 60 with two clutch free throws toward the end of the game. I also had this sweet fake drop step little baby hook with about three minutes to play! It was probably the sweetest move I've ever done!

2008-02-13T00:51:00.005-07:00

So I was thinking today and the thought came to me that I should set a goal to not watch TV for a week or something like that. It was a strange thought but really I think I waste a lot of time that I could use doing something productive instead. So I figure that I can start half way through this month and make it to the end of February watching no TV. Starting on SAD (Singles Awareness Day) I will not be watching TV. I reserve the right to watch movies and DVD's of horse training shows. It's probably just a dumb idea but what can it hurt!

2008-01-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a new year!!! I know I should have posted my resolutions a few weeks ago but at last I have not. I actually gave a talk in Church the last week in 2007 about resolutions and goal setting that was really good(or at least I thought so) I was going to post the talk because it gave some good goal setting techniques. The gist of it was the acronym "SMART": S-Specific; M-Measurable; A-Action Oriented(and Accountability); R-Realistic; T-Time and Resource Constrained.
I also talked about writing them down and then went on to talk about ways we can strengthen our testimonies during the new year based largely on a New Era article in the Question Answer section of the December issue. Some of the things were: Truly commit to study and ponder the scriptures, Make sure you are worthy to have the Holy Ghost with you at all times, Make sure you repent humbly even for little sins, Think about what your testimony is based on, and Bear your testimony often. It's actually a good little guide for goals. It was based on a talk by Elder Wirthlin in the 1992 Ensign called "Spiritual Bonfires of Testimony" which a highly recommend!

Ok now what I'm sure you all have been waiting for...my New Years Resolutions!!!

1. Work out at least three times a week
a. Be able to Bench my weight at least 10 times by July (I currently bench 130)
b. Be able to run a mile under 7 minutes
c. Regain the six pack I use to own
2. Read from the Scriptures Daily
3. Read at least one book a month(if you have good ones to recommend I'm listening, I've also joined Shelfari so you can see what I'm reading or what I have read, viewable to the right)
4. Buy a duplex or other multi-unit rental property by July
5. Work on my procrastinating bad habit!

So there you have it, you can pester me about these until I complete them. I've set some for half the year so perhaps I'll make more goals for the last half around my B-day.

Thanks for reading!!!

2007-12-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks be to Jason and Amy and Anonymous for still reading(and probably Mary Lynn). So the other day the Stage Manager of Forgotten Carols needed to talk to me and one other technician. He said, "I'm too busy with my real job so I won't be around much anymore(he really wasn't around much anyway), so could you guys step up to the plate and take over? Matt can you step in and be the Stage Manager, and Fred can you be on stage instead of running spot?" We both agreed, and he said our pay would reflect our new work! So I get a raise and the only thing more that I have to do is open the house and start the second act. So I guess I am now the Stage Manager of the Forgotten Carols! Pretty cool title!
The other cool thing in my life is that I will be running sound for Jericho Road today. Joe called me up and asked how my sound ears were, I said I've run sound for Living Legends before and he said that's enough for him. It's too bad that I'll be gone next week cause they are doing a lunch show for the First Presidency next week. It's funny how once you are in a line of work than the opportunities start opening up like none other. John also invited me on tour with the YA's for 10 day to Southern California, so we will see where this takes me for now.
I am still thinking about moving though. I have the East Coast or Seattle as suggestions so far. I think it would be way fun out East but still a little hesitant because I like living near family. Anyway, that's the update!

2007-11-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't think anyone reads this anymore but here's to getting the story out.
I'm working the Forgotten Carols this month and leave for tour tomorrow night. It should be fun but a little boring. I'm use to high flying big shows big cast Young Ambassadors and Living Legends. Now I get a six person cast with five technicians. It's a piece of cake! I really like the message though and for those who know the show I love the end part where Nurse Chamberlain sings "I cry when I take the tree down" and also her last song which I'm forgetting right now. I know I'll cry one of these times when I'm really into the show and nobody is watching :) I also play a small, very small role (so I guess there are 7 in the cast!) I come on at the beginning and start decorating this desk and then get yelled at twice and then leave. Pretty awesome I know but oh well it pays well.
Recently I've been thinking about moving. And I don't mean across town. With the money I make from the Carols tour and then maybe selling my horse I could move anywhere and survive for a few months. I'm thinking that this will get me out of my comfort zone and make me find a job. It could also help me get out of this no dating rut. I've tried but when I'm interested in a girl then I try to call her to ask her out and can never reach them. I don't know if it takes me too long to figure out that girls are actually cool and could be worth pursuing then they've already lost interest or what the problem is. It's frustrating though and just makes me mad most of the time. So moving would be good to get me out on my butt to get going. Where is the only question. I've though about D.C. I think it would be a lot of fun and I might be able to find a job where I actually use my degree! I've also thought about Helena, I know random, but I was up there with the Young Ambassadors and I like it there and the lady I stayed with says there are a lot of jobs up that way. It would be fun there. I'm pretty sure that if I do move I'll stay away from my siblings. Since I am everyones favorite then I wouldn't want to start rumors that I have chosen a favorite. So that eliminates Albuquerque, NM, Chicago, IL, Sacramento, CA and Utah. So given those choices I could go to quite a few different places. Anyway, probably won't happen but I've thought a lot about it so maybe it will, who knows.
If anyone is still reading then I know you are a true friend. Let me know what you think on where I should move to? It's getting late and I need some sleep. I'll keep this blog more updated or at least try to.

2007-10-22T00:25:00.000-06:00

So, um, I know that I'm a slacker when it comes to posting on my blog but ever since I renewed my love affair with Facebook I have done my blogging over there sort of. Check it out if you have Facebook if not then join and you can see new pictures of my latest camping/horse riding trip!

Sincerely,

Matthew

2007-07-27T11:33:00.000-06:00

I needed to post something...it's been awhile. So I stole this idea from Kelly and Scott.

So even though I hate getting these as emails...I guess I can fill this out to "catch up"
I might break the rule a few times :)

Only rule: you have to answer with one word.

1. Where is your mobile phone? pocket

2. Relationship? nonexistent

3. Your hair? long

4. Work? none

5. Your sister(s)? gone

6. Your favorite thing? AC

7. Your dream last night? forgot

8. Your favorite drink? pop or soda

9. Your dream car? 65 Mustang

10. The room you're in? cleaner

11. Your shoes? dirty

12. Your fears? what fears!

13. What do you want to be in 10 years? married

14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? nieces

15. What are you not good at? spanish

16. Muffin? Costco

17. Wish list item? a job

18. Where you grew up? Bountiful

19. The last thing you did? showered

20. What are you wearing? jeans

21. What are you not wearing? make-up

22. Your pet? Big Mac

23. Your computer? Flash

24. Your life? awesome

25. Your mood? lackadaisical

26. Missing? a wife

27. What are you thinking about? horses

28. Your car? mustang

29. Your kitchen? messy

30. Your summer? laid-back

31. Your favorite color? BYU blue

32. Last time you laughed? afternoon

33. Last time you cried? forgot

34. School? BYU

35. Love? yes please

2007-04-30T14:18:00.001-06:00

For most of you, I have already told you that I will be going to China with the Young Ambassadors. Well that day has come. I leave today at 7:30ish. Things are crazy so that's all I'll write for now. Let me know if you want some crazy ninja stars or something. I'll have email almost everywhere, so send me a line.

Matthew

P.S. I had exclamation point there but the stupid thing won't post with them there. So imagine exclamation points where you wish :D

2007-04-17T01:34:00.000-06:00

So I got a phone call today telling me that if I don't update my blog then things could get nasty so I figured what the hay, So here it goes.

I've been asked to be the MC (the guys who talk between numbers) for the Young Ambassador show. Well one of four but they are buying me a tux with two different vests. I think they are going to give it to me afterwards. :D

After I get back from China, I leave in two weeks!, then I'll be heading to Nauvoo for about a month to help with Living Legends and also the pageant. It will be amazing I'm sure. And this time I'll be prepared for the sweltering heat and humidity.

If anyone was wondering about my parents then they are doing fine, from what I can tell. Last I heard my dad was called as the second counselor in the Mission presidency. So they get to travel around some. Pretty nice if you ask me.

Um...the remodeling is coming along. My room is painted and I'm sleeping here now, most of the time. I've also set up my "work station" :D and took a picture for you all to see.

You must look closely to see what are on the two computer screens, :D.

Well I hope that was worth the wait. I'll try to be more consistent but no promises with China coming up.

2007-03-14T00:14:00.000-06:00

Ok I got tagged by Kelly.

The rules of the game:

1. Find the nearest book to you.
2. Name the book and author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog.
6. Tag three other people.

Book: The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Page 123, fifth sentence:
Its walls were of clean stone, but they were mostly covered with green hanging mats and yellow curtains. The floor was flagged, and strewn with fresh green rushes. There were four deep mattresses, each piled with white blankets, laid on the floor along one side.

I tag Jason (because he is the only person who reads this), Amy S. and Raymond P.

2007-02-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well I survived my first 10-day tour of the year and actually it was a lot of fun. I sure got harrassed for wearing anything Young Ambassadors. I think they would rather have me stink then wear a YA shirt. Oh well, the Living Legends are great!!!

I got to stay with Nathan & Lynnette and Family in Sacramento and Kylie was even in the show! It was a good ole time staying up late and chatting. At the end of the tour I got to go up to Patricks Point, which is a beautiful place that overlooks the ocean. I didn't have much time but got some decent pictures.

My horse survived the withdrawls from me. Actually I let Amanda come and ride him. Unfortunatly he was not as good for her as he is for me and I was told quite a few stories about how high he jumped with her on him and stuff like that. I'm still deciding on a name so let me know what you all think (yes it is ok to comment on my site).

2007-01-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Ok funny story,

My brother, Jared, and I were framing his basement when Cassie my niece comes in and asks for our help. Turns out she ran over this huge rock and high centered her car. It was really funny and I happened to have some pictures :D

We got it off pretty easy, but it was still funny!

The other cool thing that happened last week was I bought a horse!!! It's fun to own a horse. He's huge! I'm trying to decide on a name so let me know what you think. Right now they have been calling him Big Mac, which I'm not opposed to. But I also thought of Big Red or Andre (the giant). My brother thought Peanut, but I told him we would have to call Rupurt(one of his horses) Butter, his other horse is named Honey, then when people asked us the name of our horses we could say Peanut, Butter and Honey. It would be funny. Anyway, I'm open to names. Tell me what you think!!!

More pictures of the horse will come but for now it's so cold I just ride and will take pictures when it warms up!

2007-01-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since my last post so I thought I would say some stuff. Plus I'm at work and really bored right now so this should pass some time.

New Years and Christmas was great! I really missed being a student for the first time. It kind of stinks to have to work the day after Christmas and the day after New Years. I kept thinking that it will be nice to be off for a few weeks. Oh well I guess that's how real life is.

Adam, my little brother, got married last Saturday making me the last member of my family to get married. I'm interested to see if he gets "noticed" now by others in my family. It seemed last year at the reunion that if you didn't have a ring on your finger then nobody listened to you. We shall see now that the baby of the family is married.

I'm looking at buying a horse! Tonight I'm going to an auction to buy a saddle and other equipment. I've been looking at a horse named Big Mac. He's huge!!! I really want to get him but he is a little overpriced for the training he's had. Jared thinks he might be too much work for me right now. I'm planning on taking some lessons on him and then I'll decide later.

My "New Years Resolutions": I don't really believe in New Years Resolutions because I think we should always be making goals. But to satisfy the curious I will comply. I want to read the Book of Mormon by April 1, just in time for Conference. I want to work out at least twice a week and try to get up to 200 lbs this year(I'm around 190 right now). I also want to take a class online or in the evenings to keep up scholastically and to further round my education. Those are about it for now.

Ok that's about all for now. Sorry no pics this time around but I am at work so it would be harder for me to find some pictures. Maybe later.

Peace out!

2006-11-26T22:14:00.001-07:00

Simply Amazing!!!


Oh how sweet it was. If you look carefully on the last play when John is scrambling then look on the front row clear down on the other end. I was the blue guy in the middle of the MUSS, all red around me and then me!!!

2006-11-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

So to go along with two posts on cougarblue I've decided I need to contribute. What they do is post captions like for the team that they are playing that week. They also post look alike pictures to make fun of the other team. So this being rivalry week and all I thought I would add. (in order to add to the site you have to have the pics up on the web, so this works perfectly!)

And then this dandy!

Utah mascot trying to blend in so he can be on the winning side of things this Saturday!

2006-10-28T22:30:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm behind again! I've started a temp job doing filing work. It's alright but not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life! I'm doing this now so I can tour with the Young Ambassadors in May. I think it's a good trade-off. Anyway, about a month and a half ago I did some hiking with my friend Mindy. We hiked a fun little trail that was very difficult (I was quite sore the next day) that ended at a beautiful lake. It was a great hike, great day and great memories for later. This was back before I shaved - I miss having a beard but now I can't grow one for another month. So here's the pics! Later!

2006-09-28T23:23:00.000-06:00

Well, It's official. As far as the walking part. I'M GRADUATED!!! Ok, so it happened over a month ago but what did you expect? I'm trying to get a job now and while it has looked like I would be starting as an Insurance Agent very quickly, things have started to change a bit. I was offered a possision with the Young Ambassadors to go to China next year. I have been told that they are thinking about making me the Technical Director for them on that tour! It would be amazing, but also a lot of responsibility. Needless to say it is an amazing oportunity that I'm feeling I can't pass up. But that throws kinks into my plans for Insurance. Which means I have to find a suitable job that will allow me to miss that much work. Ah the complexities of life, gotta love it. Well anyways I'm leaning towards killing my job with Farmers or at least putting it on long term hold, and trying to find something a little less permenent and a little more flexable. I'll keep you updated. Later!

2006-09-26T00:08:00.000-06:00

To Shave or not To Shave...

So I'm studying to be a Farmers Insurance Agent and I'm trying to decide to keep the beard or shave it for my picture tomorrow. I'm torn cause I like it but I'm not sure if it's "professional" or not. Stupid life decisions!!!

2006-07-25T17:19:00.000-06:00

Updates with pictures

Ok so it's been a while. So first things first, I had to shave so I could go to the first day of class...
It was a sad day and I only have 24 more days before I start growing it out again!

Here's the last first day of class for my BYU college experiance and unless I randomly decide to go to grad school then the last one ever for me!!!

2006-06-21T15:43:00.000-06:00

Well school is almost back in session and I have done nothing with myself but go horseback riding and play xbox with a weekly trip to BYU to see people. This pic is from my last trip to BYU where I hiked the Y. Anyway enjoy... more later

2006-04-24T15:07:00.000-06:00

Hey, Just thought I would try this out. This is me just testing out my new camera, it's a Sony W-7 and I like it! I'll post more later, it's finals week and I should be studying - oh well.