Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve we had lunch with my parents and then left about 2:30 pm to spend the rest of the afternoon as a family. We had planned to go see a Nativity in Salem, but I was hoping it would snow before we left.  It had been raining for most of the day and the weather forecast was predicting it was going to start snowing about 8 or 9 pm.  It never did started snowing, so we went out snowless to see the Nativity.  After the Nativity, we drove home and did our normal opening our new pajamas and reading of the Christmas Story from the Bible.

I usually take pictures of the kids Christmas Eve, but noticed these two ornaments from 2005 with the kids school pictures from that year.  Times have sure changed. My kids aren't little anymore.

 

Sydney is now taller than Deni and if she grows any more will outgrown Ryan and myself.  I was lucky to grab this picture of her Christmas Eve 2016. She is beautiful. 

As the kids were getting ready to head to bed Ryan says,  "I'm a teenager but Christmas morning brings out the inner 8 year older in me."

Merry Christmas from my cat to yours

First of all, I'm not a cat person. But if I was, I'd probably wear a sweater like this and get pictures of me and my cat each holiday. (I actually wouldn't).  Either way, this picture is pretty funny. 

An unnamed friend thought it would be funny to take my head off of a picture from Facebook and then Photoshop it onto this picture.  Good job unnamed friend.  You even fooled my mom. 

"you're Texan, by marriage"

Ryan, Deni and I were hanging out re-watching an RSL game this evening. There was a player that had a huge Texas tattoo on his arm.  Deni looked up to see why the tattooed player had a Texas tattoo, and it turns out he was born in Texas.

I then said "... it's too bad I can't claim I was born in Texas"

Deni said ".. I was born in Texas"

then Ryan said "...Dad, that means you're Texan, by marriage."

The Impact of a Disease

Very rarely does Sydney like people knowing she is Type 1 Diabetic (T1D).  She quietly takes care of the disease.  Quietly doing finger pokes, counting carbs and riding the sugar highs and lows of this crazy disease without most noticing she's even doing it.  As a precaution, she wears a bracelet identifying she has this nasty disease, in case she ever goes low and passes out. Other than wearing the bracelet, you'd never know she is T1D.

As her parent,  I can't imagine the amount of stress and weight she carries knowing this disease will never go away. I wish I could take it away from her.  Unfortunately she has worry about this nasty disease 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the rest of her life.  I wish she could just be a kid and not worry about it.

Today Sydney and I went to the first RSL home game in Sandy, UT.  RSL was playing the Seattle Sounders.   The Seattle Sounders recently acquired a new player, Jordan Morris.  Jordan Morris is a name we've known for a while in our home.  Jordan Morris played soccer for Stanford University, as well as played on the US Men's International team as a college student. The US Men's International team is made up of the best of the best players from all of the Major League Soccer teams in the United States, and then there is this Jordan Morris, a 20 year old college student that is added to the team.  Pretty impressive.  Jordan Morris is also a Type 1 Diabetic. It's great to see athletes that are able to perform at the highest professional level, despite being Type 1 Diabetic. While Sydney hasn't personally told me this, watching and knowing someone like Jordan Morris also has T1D, has given her hope.

Jordan was diagnosed with T1D at age 9, the day after Christmas.  He's 21 now.  Jordan recently got a tattoo stating he was Type 1 Diabetic, kinda like Sydney's bracelet, but a little more permanent.

Back to the RSL game today.  Sydney was excited to see Jordan Morris play.  Even though he was on the opposite team, I think she was quietly cheering for him.  Luckily RSL won, but it was fun to watch a someone with the same disease as my daughter play professional soccer.

As soon as the RSL game was done, Sydney and I quickly left the stadium and headed to her Futsal game.  We had about 40 minutes until she played and without traffic it would take us about 35 minutes to get there.  We weren't sure we'd make it, but ran to our car in an attempt to make it before kick off.  As luck would have it, we were able to make it to the game a few minutes before it started and Sydney was able to make the first goal and help her team win.

Initials please

A few weeks ago, the Novell signs came off of the building, replaced with the Micro Focus name and logo. One of the N's was saved and painted Red to be hung up within the building as reminder to our Novell past.  

We had a quick meeting today and we were asked to stop by and sign the N.  

We were told the N was going to be out for the next few days for us to sign and because there was such a long line, I decided to wait.  Bad idea, when I came back a few hours later, there wasn't really much of a place for me to sign.  I think I found the only open spot and there was only enough room to get my initials signed, right in the middle of the N (and to the right of Carl Wells 1987.)  

The Internship

Ryan has been waiting on pins and needles for the last few weeks.  He applied for an internship through Advanced Learning Center, where Ryan takes college classes while he's in High School.  The deadline for the internship had come and past, however he hadn't heard anything.  It was driving him crazy.  And then he got the email. He had been accepted into the internship and he is 'working' in a Novell building that I worked in years ago.

His internship is twice a week for two hours each day for 10 weeks and instead of working on the company's products, he and his fellow teammates will be mentored by a few employees and allowed to work on a project of their choosing.  Ryan and his teammate chose to make a Role Playing Game (RPG).  They will be using and learning Python, AngularJS, and CSS to complete their project.

The nice thing about Ryan's internship being located on the Novell campus is that on the days he's at his internship, I stay an hour or so after work to bring him home. It was a little weird staying at work until 6pm today, as most people head out around 5pm, but it was nice and quiet while I waited for Ryan to be done.

Ryan was super excited when he came out this evening.  You would have thought he had won the lottery. I'm not sure I got a word in the whole way home. Ryan had a list of things he needed to brush up on by Thursday.

I lost a stone

On Dec 28, 2015, I began watching what I ate.  I also set out to exercise at least every weekday.  Now six weeks later, I weigh one stone less. (one stone = 14 pounds). Current weight: 163.7 lbs.  My pants are loose, I've had to go a notch in on my belt.  I can see a difference and  I can feel a difference.

I'm not sure why my weight is coming off  'easily' for me, but it has.  It hasn't been that easy, but it has been successful. I've been hungry, I've wanted to skip workouts, I've wanted to not drink Diet Soda, I've wanted to eat candy, I've wanted to have 2nd helpings of my favorite meals.  But I haven't done any of that. I've logged every meal (minus one meal this previous weekend at Chuck O Rama) that I've eaten for the last 52 days.  Everything. Including my 4 hershey kisses each night, assuming  I still have calories left.  6 weeks later, that 3lb bag of Hershey Kisses is almost gone.

When I work out  and I "earn" extra calories that I could eat, I don't.   I decided I wouldn't eat those calories.  Maybe after I hit my target and level off.

My goal is to lose about another nine to ten pounds by June 2016. That would put me at 11 stone or 154 lbs as my target weight.  We'll see how the last ten pounds goes.

Rage Invitational - Finalist

The championship game started at 11am. We had played and lost to this team on Saturday, 2-0. We shouldn't have lost that game and the girls were ready to win.  Before the game, as the coaches, we talk about how we had played the first game and what changes could be made. We made a few adjustments.

The game was a close one, better evenly matched this time around. We were tied 0-0 and then got a penalty called on us in our box. It was a Penalty kick. They scored 1-0.  It wasn't too much longer than another penalty was called in their box. Our turn to even the score with a penalty kick, which we did. 1-1.

The girls fought hard back and forth, but at the end of the game, we were still tied 1-1.  The girls were exhausted. This was there 4th game in as many days, with only Sunday as a rest day.  Since it was the final and there had to be a winner,  we went into two additional time 5 minute halfs. We were still tied after the two additional time 5 minute halfs. Which took us to 5 PK's.  Five for each team, alternating teams until there was a winner. They shot first, our keeper blocked it.  The sideline erupted. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. It was our turn to pull ahead with our shot, but our shot was also blocked as well. The game ended after the other team got 2 shots in.

Syd was one that had taken a PK and missed.   The goals were tiny and she kicked it high and wide. She was sad for a few minutes after the game, but ultimately was happy with how hard they had played. I was proud of how they played.

Immediately after the game, we drove into St George to be awarded 2nd place for our division, or as they called it "Finalist'. Waiting for our turn to receive our medals.

  Each girl (and coach) received a medal, which is around our necks. This was a great accomplishment for these girls and a great start to our Spring season.

Once we received our medals, we all parted ways.  We had already checked out of our condo. We were packed and ready to head home. But before we did, we went to Chuck O Rama for a celebratory lunch (by request from Syd). 

The drive home was hard. The traffic was horrible for most of the 250 miles home. But this was one of the best weekends we've had in a long time.

Petroglyphs in Santa Clara

After we had hiked the arrow, we checked in with the kids. They were doing fine, relaxing at the Condo.

It was Valentine's day and we had a great time hiking to the arrow so we thought we'd try to find some petroglyphs that I had had read about near Santa Clara, UT.  The trail we were looking for was called the Tempi'po'op trail.  Tempi'po'op is pronounced 'tumpee poo oop', which means 'rock writing' in Southern Paiute. We plugged the coordinates into our phones and began driving.

We found the trail, although it's not marked with a name, as I would have thought. However there were about 10 cars at the trailhead.

The hike into the petroglyphs was about 15 minutes and very easy hike.  The trail ends at these boulders. It didn't look too special from the top.  People were climbing in an out of the boulders.  So we went down and then there we were. I would have never known there were petroglyphs there.  These are some of the most amazing things I've seen.

You could walk right up to them and touch them. They were amazing.

Deni demonstrating the size of this 'bear claw'

All throughout this area were boulder size rocks that had ancient drawings on them.  Ryan says the guy on the right has a tail. I'm not sure that's a tail. 

We spent about 15 minutes walking around and looking at these amazing drawings.  This is something that everyone that goes through St George should see. As we were leaving, we talked about wanting to bring the kids back tomorrow after Syd's last game. 

The Arrow

A few years back, a friend posted a picture of gigantic cement arrows created across the United States during the 1920's and 1930's.  The arrows, along with their corresponding small buildings and beacon towers, were called Airway Beacons and were used as a transcontinental airway system.

There was one remaining outside of St George, UT.  We had tried to find it once before, however I hadn't used Google Maps to my advantage and  we were unable to located it.  But this time, I knew where it was located and found the trail that led to the cement arrow. The kids wanted to stay at 'home' and rest, so Deni and I headed out to find the arrow.

A little bit of history on the arrows.  They were funded by the United States Congress in 1923.  The first segment of arrows and beacons were built between Chicago and Wyoming.  The giant arrows (and corresponding beacons) enabled aircraft to depart from either coast in the daytime and follow the lighted airway by nightfall.   The lighted airfields were set up every 15 - 20 miles.  The first nighttime airmail flights began in July 1924.  By eliminating the transfer of mail to rail cars at night, the coast to coast delivery time for airmail was reduced by two business days.

By 1927, the lighted airway was completed between New York and Salt Lake City, Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Los Angeles to San Francisco, New York to Atlanta and Chicago to Dallas.  A total of 4121 miles in total. By 1933, the Transcontinental Airway System totaled about 1500 beacons.

These Airway Beacons were a substantial navigation aid in an era prior to the development of radio navigation.   Along with the gigantic cement arrows, were twenty four inch diameter rotating beacons, mounted on a 53-foot high tower.  The beacons were five million candlepower and rotated at six times a minute.

During WWII, many of the arrow markings were removed to prevent from aiding any potential enemy bombers in navigation.  However one exists outside St George, UT and I wanted to go to it.

Little did I know that up on top of a bluff, right next to where we played our first tournament game, was one of these arrows.  As we drove to the trail, the roads and surroundings seemed awfully familiar and then I realized that we had played our first game just around the corner. (see the Bluff in background of this picture from our first game - look in the top left of the pic below).

When I looked at the trail on Google Maps, I didn't realize it was on top of a bluff.  I looked at the satellite view and saw a few switchbacks, but didn't think it was on top of a bluff.  The good news was a woman that was most likely 8 months pregnant was coming down from the trail.  The trail was only about 1 mile up, so we headed up the trail.  It took us a little less than 20 minutes to get up on top.  It was fun to finally find it.  There was a log book, but the pen was dead, so we didn't get to login and note we had been there.

Deni standing on the arrow, pointing toward Salt Lake City.

We had an amazing view from up top. We spent a few minutes looking around, taking a few pictures  and then headed back down. 

Soccer Tournament in St George

In June or July we booked a Condo for an upcoming Soccer Tournament for Sydney St George, UT.

The previous time we went down to St George for a tournament, we stayed in a hotel, ate out most, if not all meals, and didn't really enjoy the trip all that much.  It was nice to get out of a cold northern Utah winter for a few days, however it wasn't the best experience we've had and it definitely didn't live up to all the hype we had heard.  We were 'lucky' enough to have early games that year and the other teams staying above us must have had later games (and no adult supervision) as they were running up and down the stairs yelling at all hours of the night. We didn't sleep well. We didn't look forward to going back to our hotel.

This time was going to be different.  As soon as we decided as a team we were going to be going to the Tournament, we rented a Condo for the 4 days.

While it is not 'our home', it was a nice home away from home. 1000% better than a hotel, for not much more cost wise. We had a kitchen, living room, tv, wifi, etc. Everything we needed to be able to relax in between games.

Today we had 2 games. One at 9:30am and the second at 6:30pm.

We lost the first game. 2-0, however the team was not better than us. We had a few mistakes that cost us a few goals, but nothing we can't correct if we play them again. After that game, we went back to the Condo for a little down time.

Ryan most likely watching some educational YouTube videos.

Sydney resting/watching TV and Deni enjoying a moment on the couch. 

The kids even had time for a quick swim in between games. Ryan wasn't sure the water was warm enough, but he went along because his sister wanted him to. They both had fun in the pool for about 30 minutes.

The evening game for us was do or die. If we didn't win, we couldn't move on to the Championship game. If we won, we'd be tied with another team for 2nd place, but we could pull ahead if they had lost their game played about the same time as us.

The sun went down behind the mountains about 6:15, our game was at 6:30.  We were going to play under the lights. Earlier in the day, I went and scouted the team to see if we could get an advantage.  One thing I realized while watching the team play was they did not deviate from their kick offs.  I shared the information with Syd and the other girl starting as Strikers. The opposing team kicked off first and they played the exact same kick off as they did earlier in the day and since I had shared that with the girls, we were off to a fast start with Sydney looking like she read the play and almost stole the ball on the kickoff.  That set the tone of the game. Our girls played hard and played better than they had in any previous games. In the first half, we scored. 1-0. Our sideline erupted. We were excited.



At halftime, we explained the situation (about needing a win and possibly 3 goals to move us into the Championship game.)  The girls were excited and played to win. Shortly into the second half, we scored again.  It was now 2-0.  I saw Sydney play like she's never played before.  At one point, while dribbling up the side she got double teamed and with no one to pass to, she stopped, possessed the ball, and waited for an opening. When the opening came, she did a self pass and ran around the defender. It was impressive to watch.  The final score was 2-0.

Throughout the game all of the coaches would pull out their phones and refresh the results hoping to see what had happened at the earlier game (which was about an hour before us). The results had not been posted.

We ended the game with a 2-0 win.  It was a great game and a great win.

We packed up and headed for some dinner and we got the text from Syd's Coach.  The other team's results had been posted. They had lost and which meant we were in 2nd place and going to play in the Championship game.   And now we wait.  The final game is on Monday at 11am.

No hovering mom here

As we headed to St George, UT for Syd's soccer tournament, we let the kids pack themselves.  They both knew how long we'd be in St George (4 days). They also knew the temperature in St George (daytime highs in the 70's vs  daytime highs in the 20's at our house).  They knew we were going to attend church on Sunday and go to the St George Temple.

Sydney brought jeans, shorts, dress clothes and pretty much brought what she needed to have a great weekend.  I did double check to make sure she had both soccer uniforms, including socks, shin guards, and shoes.  I knew if she didn't have those things, she wouldn't get to play.

Ryan on the other hand - didn't bring any shorts.  Did I mention the daytime highs are 70 degrees!  He assumed that Google and the weather reports were inaccurate. (He now knows better.)  He also forgot his church shoes (even though I handed him church socks). So Ryan got to wear his tennis shoes with his suit tonight to the St George Temple.

For a while tonight at the St George temple, a gentleman watched Ryan and laughed to himself about Ryan's choice of shoes.  Deni saw the gentlemen smiling and proceeded to let the gentleman know "that's what happens when you travel and  let your teenagers pack for themselves."  He replied by saying that it's good for him to not have a hovering mom.  He also said he had taken his son hunting and his son didn't pack a jacket. "He almost froze to death. He won't do that again."

As normal, we teased Ryan. We're hoping that he'll remember his sunday shoes next time.

One of the dads had set up a time for anyone interested to go to the St George Temple.  About half of the team showed up.

Bayleigh, Audrey and Syd waiting for the others to show up.

Bad (B)ASS

Over the last month or so, Ryan has taken an interest in my acoustic guitar. I've taught him the basic chords (the few I know) and he's been practicing.   He gets better every day.

Ryan also loves the Spanish version of  "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias and it just so happens that this song is easy to play (G, C, Em, and D). He's been working on this song, and "Every Rose has it's Thorn" by Poison. (another easy song to play on the acoustic guitar.)

A few weeks ago, Ryan mentioned he wanted to learn to play the bass guitar too.  I'm not exactly sure why the bass, but I don't mind encouraging him to do things he wants to do. About the same time he started thinking ahead to summer and the things he wanted to do and what they would cost.  EFY, drivers license, dating, out of state debate tournaments, etc.  Ryan figured out about how much money we would need to earn this summer to feed these priorities and is now trying to figure out how to earn the money.

He'll plan on doing some lawn mowing, as he's done in the past. He'll also work for Syd's Kettle Corn when we have events.  We might even seen Ryan with his first job this summer.  Time will tell.

After doing research and asking friends that play the bass, Ryan settled on a 5 String Bass made by Spector.  Flat black.  When Ryan goes in, he goes big.  This is what his bass looks like.  It's an impressive site.

He bought the bass it at a local music store, however it was not in stock, so he had to wait for a few days. It was supposed to get here on Tuesday.  Ryan cleared his schedule, it was going to be his bass all night.  Then the bad news, it wouldn't be here on Tuesday.  It was delayed to Thursday, possibly Friday. Then good news, it came Thursday.

While he's not exactly sure what he's doing yet, it will come in time.  Currently he's learning from YouTube and will also take a few bass guitar lessons. He has a little amp, but even better, he can plug his headphones into the amp, just like the piano. So far, the headphones have not been used and he's having fun getting used to the bass. 

  

My blue big toe

For Christmas, Sydney received a UV nail polish dryer.  She loves to paint her nails (or anyone else that will let her do their nails.) Usually that is Deni howevr on Sunday I thought it would be fun to let her paint my big toe nail whatever color she wanted.  Sydney chose bright blue.  After putting a few coats of fingernail polish on my toe, it went into her UV nail polish dryer.

I tend to forget my toe nail is blue, so when I take my sock off, it's a little bit of a surprise for half a second.   After my workout at the gym today, I went to get into the shower and took off my socks. An there it is, my big blue toe.  What a lovely set of toes!

Sydney, don't judge!

I overheard the following conversation from Sydney and Ryan:

Ryan: (Walking up the stairs) I hate it when I wake up late, now I'm not going to be tired tonight.

Sydney:  It's 1 o'clock! 

Ryan:  Sydney, don't judge!

This is supposed to be set in the future, but NASA is still using GoPro Hero 3's

After skipping the first indoor soccer season (due to us being in California for Ryan's surgery) Sydney is back to playing indoor soccer again, which means we have a game each Saturday. This year, they are playing in a Charter School on tile.  I'd rather she not play on tile, but there are not any other options.  Today her game was at 9:30am. They are still playing boys, so the competition is pretty tough.  I think the score today was 12 to 3 or something like that.  Sydney was able to score once and enjoyed that.  

As we left soccer, Ryan was driving. Deni pulled the 'I don't have my license, so I can't sit in the front to supervise Ryan' bit. So I was in the front seat with him.  He knew what city we were in and which city we needed to go to.  Ryan struggles knowing where he is and where to go most times, however we had just driven there an hour ago, so I figured it would be a good time to let him find his way home. As we approached I-15, Ryan was in a lane that would have taken him North (instead of South).  I didn't say a word but just watched and giggled to myself.  As the light turned green, he realized he was in the wrong lane and slowly made his way into the right lane. 

Of course, because Sydney scored a goal, she wanted ice cream. So Ryan pulled into Culver's and they both jumped out to get ice cream.  I'm not wasting calories on ice cream if I can have real food (like Cubby's tonight) 

After we got home, it began snowing and snowed for most of the day. The weatherman predicted anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of snow.  We got about 6 inches.  The good news is our snow blower is working again, which is nice as the snow was quite heavy today. 

Deni and I went on a dinner date to Cubby's. The roads were still pretty messy and slick.  Because the FJ is back wheel drive, we slipped and slid around most of the roads. I finally put it in 4 wheel drive to keep from sliding as much. The only thing I've ever eaten at Cubby's are Tri-tip Sandwich and Sweet Potato fries.  They are amazing and I can't see myself ordering anything different, EVER.

After dinner we came home, to watch a movie.  Sydney went to the neighbors so we decided to watch The Martian. We rented it off of Google Play (by the way, I'm pretty impressed with the ease of renting a movie from Google Play, as this was my first time.)  We had Ryan join us for the movie as he didn't have plans. We weren't into the movie a few minutes before Ryan says "....so this is supposed to be set in the future, but NASA is still using GoPro 3's ....really?"  He had a few other concerns with the 'science' Hollywood was portraying as he didn't feel it was accurate enough. Only Ryan. 

Starting a Business

A few years back we bought the ryansbees.com internet domain.  At that time, Ryan wanted to have his own bee hive, harvest and sell all of the honey.  So we bought the domain, setup a little website and bought Ryan a package of honeybees. (At the time I already had beehives, but this was his own hive to make his own money.)  We quickly found that on a small scale, owning a bee hive is expensive, labor intensive and not really a good business for Ryan (or of us.)  While we still have the domain and a few bee hives,  98% of the honey we extract is kept for our family.  Beekeeping is a hobby, not a business for us.

For some time Deni and I had talked about how we could make more lasting memories with our kids.  We want to make memories like we made when we went to London for Ryan's Make a Wish trip.  The whole family enjoyed our travel abroad and we look forward to other future travels.  Ryan has even told us the next place he wants to travel to.  Spain.

Spain is a good goal and one I'd like to help make possible for him. The biggest problem is that Spain, or really all international travel, is fairly expensive especially when there are 4 of us traveling.

Over the years, Deni has talked about getting a side/night job to help pay for some of these 'extra' things, however I have always felt that it is far more important for Deni to be in our home with our kids while they are growing up. In my opinion, the benefits of having Deni in the home far outweigh any amount of money or international travel she would provide through working.

With that being said, we had also been kicking around the idea to start a small side business to help bring in a little extra.  A business that Deni could run while the kids were at school or on weekends when we could all chip in and help. This business would help us fund trips and other 'teenage' things, such as Syd playing on a competitive soccer league or Ryan going to California for a debate trip.  The 'teenage' things that cost hundreds of dollars that weren't really planned.   In Oct 2014 we were in Arizona at a corn maze with Deni's family. At the corn maze was a gentleman selling Kettle Corn.  He had some yummy Kettle corn and had quite the setup to make and sell it.  Deni got his contact information and we began wondering if starting a small Kettle Corn business of our own would be something we should do in Utah.

We thought about the possibility for a few months, then in early 2015, we decided to make the plunge and buy Kettle Corn equipment and start a Kettle Corn business.  We ordered the equipment and began planning for future events.

There were a lot of things we needed to do.  Pick a company name, register with the city and State. Get State and Federal Tax id numbers and the list goes on and on. It's much more than just making and selling Kettle Corn. Since we had 'Ryan's Bees' we thought we'd go with something related to Sydney.  And our new company was born: Syd's Kettle Corn, LLC

Once we had the Kettle Corn equipment ordered, we realized we also needed quite a bit more to actually be successful.  The equipment was delivered and it was massive.  We had seen videos and pictures of the equipment, however when it was sitting our garage, it was massive.  We needed a trailer to house our equipment and a truck to pull the trailer.  We bought a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer as well as a used 2008 FJ Cruiser to pull the trailer.  As we looked into the State/County regulations, we also found we had to have an enclosed tent since we were "cooking" food.  Popup's are relatively inexpensive, however popup's with 3 enclosed walls, in a custom color and our business name printed on all four sides, isn't so cheap.  We needed the tent to be legit, so we ordered it. In the beginning, we had a general idea of the things we needed to do and buy, however there was a lot of learning by discovery and getting started was pretty rough.

In Feb 2015, we signed up to be a food vendor for the week long city festival in July.   The booth fee $375.00.  That's a lot of Kettle Corn to sell to just pay the booth fee back, however we thought the only way we'd know if it was worth it was by trying it.  We learned a lot that week, what worked, what didn't. We made corrections as we went.  The days were long and hard work, but we were doing it as a family.  The kids worked 10 hour days, Deni and I worked longer than that.  We would let the kids sleep in and then ride their bikes down later as the festival was just a few miles away from our house.  All in all it was a long week but good for our brand new business.  We decided we'd come again next year.

Being in the city festival made a name for us as well as opened doors for us. We had people inquire if we would do weddings (which we did once this year.) We were later invited to the local Farmer's Market and another city event in the Fall.  All of these events we did as a family with the exception of one event.  We ended up hiring a young man from our neighborhood to help us for a few hours one day when we had a conflict with one of Syd's soccer games, but other than that we worked together.

We learned a lot in year one. We decided early on we needed professional Tax help and hired a CPA to help us navigate the business and our taxes.  We paid our share of taxes and fees throughout the year, however a few things caught us off guard at the end of the year.  First was a "restaurant tax" at we owed.  The tax was 1% of our gross sales, however it was 1% we didn't know we would have to pay (oh and we're not a restaurant).  The second thing that caught us off guard at the end of 2015 was paying sale tax on the equipment we had purchased to use for our business (as it wasn't collected at the time of sale.)  We'll be ready for those expenses next year.

We started Syd's Kettle Corn to allow our family to be able to do some of the 'extra' things. In time it will provide those things, however one of the added benefits we saw this year was that it taught our kids how to work hard. It helped Ryan fundraise for his Eagle Project and have an amazing successful Eagle Project.   It has also given our kids a way to earn income they would not have been able to earn otherwise as young teenagers.  While the first year was a little rough, as expected, we hope to see Syd's Kettle Corn grow and help fund a trip to Spain by summer 2018.

I've been living a lie

When I got married in 1997, I think I weighed 135 lbs.  Over the years I've slowly gained weight.  Nothing too dramatic, but I've added pound by pound over the years.  My current Drivers License says I weigh 155 lbs. That's a lie. That may have been true in the year 2000 or maybe in 2005, however that is not true in 2015.

During the month of Dec 2015 it became apparent, I needed a change. My clothes, specifically my pants, were tight around the waist and it was uncomfortable.  I didn't want to buy bigger pants (partially because I don't want to own bigger pants and partially because I'd rather spend my money on other things).  The alternative? Diet and Exercise.  I began watching what I eat and exercising in hopes of my pants fitting like they did before.

The Weigh in: 
Dec 28, 2015: 177.7 (12 stone, 9)

On a side note, I'm not sure why we don't use the measurement of 'Stone' in the United States. It sounds way cooler than saying pounds. Plus no one knows how much you actually weigh without looking it up.

Fast forward to today.  It's been one month of counting EVERY calorie that has gone in my mouth.  I've exercised at least 5 days a week for 45 minutes or more. The last few weeks, I've been doing cardio for 45 minutes then lifting weights (alternating upper and lower body every other day) for another 15 minutes.

Today's Weigh in:
Jan 27, 2016:  166.6 (11 stone, 2)

I've lost 11.1 pounds in one month and about 2 inches in my waist. I'm feeling amazed about the results. I didn't do anything extreme.  I simply watched what I ate (portion control through counting calories) and exercised. I would check my phone before eating something to see how it would impact my remaining calories for the day. It's not a new concept to me as I do the same thing when spending money (check my phone app (YNAB) to see how the purchase will impact my future budget and spending.)  But it's working for me.  I've got a bit more to go, but well on my way.

 

Ronald McDonald Dinner

When Ryan started looking for an Eagle project, he thought of the organizations that had helped our family through the years. The organization that came to the top of the list was The Ronald McDonald House (RMH).  We have stayed in the RMH in Los Angeles, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, and most recently in Palo Alto, CA.  These 'homes'  have been a huge blessing to our family. To see what Eagle projects RMH had, we took Ryan to SLC and he inquired what he could do for an Eagle project. The answer was for him to provide a meal for the residents of the house for his Eagle project.

Ryan wasn't too excited with the idea of providing a meal as an Eagle project.  He thought it was too easy of an Eagle project. Matter of fact, he knew he didn't want to do that. He was thinking bigger.  As he thought more about his project, he thought it would be a better idea to provide Chromebooks to the Ronald McDonald House.  Many times when people stay in the Ronald McDonald House, bringing their laptop is the last thing they think about.  Those that have used the RMH for extended stays, it's nice to be able to keep in touch (chat, facebook, even video chat).  Ryan thought providing Chromebooks would help families stay in touch with those other family members which are at home.

Ryan has a Chromebook and uses it for school and keeping in touch with friends. It's almost become a necessity for him. Ryan set his sights on providing 5 Chromebooks (at about $200 per chromebook), with a stretch goal of providing 10.  Ryan got his Eagle project approved and began working to fundraise.   

As he began fundraising, it quickly became apparent that he was going to blow past his stretch goal.  In the end, Ryan raised enough money to buy THIRTY Chromebooks for the RMH.  Ryan sold Kettle Corn at our Farmer's Market, in front of Sam's Club and to those in neighborhood.  He also got some sizeable donations from friends, family, and even a few strangers.

Ryan in August at the Farmer's Market

After the purchase of the Chromebooks on Amazon, the price came down a little and we reached out to Amazon and our Credit Card to recoup some of different in price, while they didn't refund the whole difference, they both provided some money back on the purchases.  The problem with recouping some of that cost, was that 100% of all the donated money needed to be spent before he could finalize and complete his Eagle. 

With about $130 in Amazon credit and about $280 in cash, Ryan looked back to how we could help the Ronald McDonald House.  While we were in Palo Alto last Nov, it was very nice to have meals provided.  After one meal in particular, they played bingo afterwards and 'winners' won games and/or toys.  Ryan decided to do something similar and buy games (Uno, Skipbo, Pass the Pigs, etc) as well as some books, like the Percy Jackson Series and donate them to RMH to use for the residents as they wanted to.   Amazon credit spent.  Next, spending the remaining cash. Ryan decided that it would be fun to also provide a meal. (he just didn't want that to be the ONLY thing he did). 

We signed up to provide a meal on a Friday night, but that ended up conflicting with a debate tournament of Ryan's, so we called and moved it to a Monday night.  Originally they asked us to prepare for 60 people, however about a week before our meal, RMH contacted us and said their room attendance was up and we should plan for 60-70 people for dinner. 

Ryan decided that we would have serve a Pasta Bar with multiple Pastas and Sauces, green salad and end with Sydney's signature cupcakes for dessert.  Pastas were:  Spaghetti, BowTie, and shells.  Sauces:  Red sauce, Red sauce w/ hamburger, Alfredo, and Creamy Pesto.  We went as a family to buy the ingredients at Macey's.  It was fun to see Ryan and Sydney carefully spend the remaining money, trying to 1.) get the right amount of ingredients and 2.) get the best price to maximize the amount of food they could provide.  Some things wouldn't fit in our refrigerator, so Deni had a few things she had to pick up the next day, but we were able to get the majority of the ingredients together.

Ryan invited some of his friends to come help us, however most weren't as committed to the idea when it came down to actually showing up and serving.  We originally planned on taking about 15 people (including our family), however we ended up only taking 10. (Three of Ryan's friends, one of Sydney's and my parents.)  10 in total, so we fit into two cars. 

We left right after school (about 3pm) and headed to Salt Lake City to prepare the meal.   

Familia y Amigos Berger

Ryan did a great job supervising and making sure we all had things to do.

Sydney and her friend got to working making Syd's famous Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes.

Frosting the cupcakes.  Syd looks like she could be a contestant on Cupcake Wars. 

When Ryan wasn't supervising, he helped the rest of us prepare the meal.

Dinner was to be served at 6pm.  We had just under 2 hours to get the meal ready and we used every minute of it.  We were busy, but it was fun experience.  One I'd like to do again.  Ryan's friends and Grandparents were a tremendous help.  We could not have done it without them.  (Thank you).

The friends that made dinner possible.

We immediately started cleaning up (about 7pm). Two hours later we finished cleaning up.   A few pictures and then an hour drive home.

We pulled into town about 10:30pm.  A late night for some of the kids on a school night, but it's an experience they will not forget.

Dinner (when Deni is away)

I'm pretty spoiled. Deni does 99.8% of the cooking for our family, however when she's gone (like she was tonight to a Debate tournament with Ryan) I have two choices. Make something or go hungry.  I didn't have any ideas for dinner, nor did Sydney.  Actually Sydney did have an idea but it was to go out for dinner.

Since I've been watching/counting calories, I've been amazed at how many calories are in common meal served in fast food restaurants. Counting calories has definitely opened my eyes.   For example, today at work we had our once a month team birthday celebration, complete with ice cream and cupcakes.  Jokingly I asked how many calories were in one cupcake.  The answer to my question was 760 calories. I thought he was joking, so I picked one up and ate it. It wasn't until later when I was trying to log my calories, I searched and found that ONE SINGLE CUPCAKE was 760 calories.

Back to what to have for dinner. When in doubt, use the Blendtec to make dinner. We decided to make homemade Jamba Juices, which technically isn't cooking, but we didn't go hungry.

My Homemade Jamba Juice Recipe: 

• 1 Yoplait Light Yogurt (I chose Strawberry/Banana yogurt) - 90 calories
• 1 small banana - 80 calories
• 1 Orange - 88 calories
• 1/2 cup blueberries - 43 calories
• 1 cup strawberries - 54 calories
• 2 heaping tablespoons of Protein powder - 80 calories

The recipe makes one almost overflowing quart jar (32 ounces) and by my calculations, it's about 435 calories.