Got an extra 48 minutes?

Well it appears that my 48 minutes and 28 seconds standing in line to vote for Mitt Romney was wasted. Mitt Romney withdrew his bid for President of the United States yesterday.

I'm had hopes he would make it, but apparently it wasn't in the cards this time. So I started thinking what I could have done with the 48 minutes and 28 seconds instead of stand in line to vote.

Apparently I'm not the only one asking these types of questions

Is there magic in the number 48? Does this number hold any significance in your future success? Speaker Don Crowther suggests that there is. Here’s how it works… Set a timer for 48 minutes. Close out all distractions and work continuously for 48 minutes. When the timer goes off, get up and stretch, get a drink, use the restroom etc, in the following 12 minutes. Repeat as necessary.

Although it isn't 48 minutes, I saw a domino's pizza commercial last night that made me laugh about what to do with the 30 minutes while you wait for domino's pizza to be delivered.

Running stinks

Training update. I said for the month of February, I was going to bike and run on Tues/Thurs.

Today during lunch, I biked 20k, then ran 1 mile. For some people running is great, but for me, running stinks. I really hate running, but since I do triathlons, it kinda makes it a necessity.

After having a good 20k ride, it's an odd transition to running. If you've never tried it, it's hard to explain, other than your for the first minute or 2 your legs feel like lead. It's almost the same as when you jump on a trampoline, get off and then try to jump on the ground.

As I run, I have to play the mind game. Today I thought I'll run 1/2 a mile then walk the rest, but when I got to the half mile, I'd set a further point. I was finally at a mile, so I stopped. I could have kept going but I only have an hour for lunch and it takes me just over an hour to run and bike and then shower.

Growing up too fast

Wed night is busy for us. Since both of us are in YM/YW's, we end up dragging Ryan and Sydney to activities with us. It's funny, Ryan thinks he is 14. Sydney thinks she is a teenage girl and expects to be treated the same as the other girls at the activities.

Tonight after our activity, the youth were all in the gym playing basketball. Deni had a meeting to attend, so I had both kids. Ryan was attempting to play basketball with the deacons and teachers and Sydney was standing by the 3 young women in the middle of the gym as they talked. It made me laugh. Especially to see Sydney standing by the girls like she was "one" of them.

Earlier today, my mom called me today at work. I was on the other line so I didn't answer. She called right back about 30 seconds later so I thought that something might be wrong so I answered it. She had just heard that a friend of the family had lost her husband. He was 41 and it was very much unexpected.

Although it is very sad news, it is comforting to know that we have a Father in Heaven that knows us and we can turn to him in difficult times. It also made me thankful that Deni and I have acquired life insurance as well as gotten a trust setup. It's nice to know that if anything ever were to happen to one or both of us, our kids would be taken care of.

48 minutes 28 seconds for Mitt

I left for work around 7:15am. I had planned on stopping and voting before work so I could avoid long lines. As I got to the school we always vote at the parking lot was eeriely vacant. It was vacant as there was no voting setup at the school. I continued on to work and made a few calls while I drove and found out for some reason the voting had been moved to another school. No biggie, I'll vote after work.

During lunch I biked for 35 minutes (about 20k) and then walk/run for 1 mile. I decided that I'll do this for the month of February, then next month I'll bike for 40 minutes and walk/run 2 miles, etc.

As I was leaving work late about 5pm, a co-worker caught me and I ended up staying for 30 minutes talking to him. As I finally left, I remembered that I needed to vote. So I drove to the school and there were an unusual amount of cars there. Then I walked in and saw the line. I figured it would be 30 minutes for me to get through the line, however I started my watch to see how long it really was. 48 minutes and 28 seconds after getting in line, I signed my name in the voter registration book and got my fancy smart card to vote. I stuck the card in, Voted for Mitt Romney and pulled the card out about 20 seconds after I started. Living in Utah, my vote for Mitt probably doesn't count as much, but in my opinion he appears to be the best of the candidates. I'm not impressed with Huckabee or McCain, I guess we will have to wait and see.

Ouch

Last night as I left for a planning meeting for Youth Conference it was snowing yet again. I went out and started the car and proceeded to wipe off the snow off the car. As a side note, yes I have a garage, but it only fits one car because I'm lazy, but that's another story.

So here I am, in Sunday bests standing out in the snow wiping the snow off of my car when WHAM!!! I slipped and fell right on my face. Obviously it was unexpected, but I usually have a great sense of balance and can catch myself in these types of situations. Not this time. Apparently I used my right hand to stop my body from pounding into the cement as when I got up, it hurt pretty bad. Other than having snow all over my Sunday clothes, I was fine, except for the pain in my right wrist. It's not broken, but sure does hurt quite a bit. The joys of getting older.

About a week ago, Deni mentioned that it would be good if Ryan had read the Book of Mormon prior to his Baptism in the summer and that it would be a good idea that we started reading together as a family. I'm usually up and to work before the kids get out of bed, so we decided that we would try to do it each night around 7pm. The kids have enjoyed reading so far. Ryan, even though in 2nd grade, he is an excellent reader. There aren't too many words we have to help him with. I'm not sure where he gets the desire to read so much, but he has always been the child that would sit on your lap and listen until you stopped reading. Sydney doesn't read yet, but she likes to participate too, so we read into her ear and she usually spits out the same words we whispered into her ears. Her attention span is about 3 verses, but we at least have her for 3 verses. So far we've made it through 9 chapters, only about 300 to go.

I swam again today. Today was the first time I had swam after Deni and I's lesson last Friday. It's so much easier to swim without proper technique. I attempted to swim, breathing on every 3rd stroke. Until last Friday, I would breathe every other stroke. I'm not quite used to coming up on my right side and I noticed that I'd hold my breath, instead of blowing out my air in the water as I tried to use the better technique. I guess I'm focusing too hard. It's very difficult to exhale and inhale in the short second that your mouth comes above water. You either end up getting a mouth full of water or less than the needed amount of air. I guess that is why I swim three times a week so I can practice it.

Date with my daughter = Priceless

We attended Evan Williams baptism today in Lindon, UT. Evan is the son of Ben Williams, a friend of mine from my freshman year at BYU. Evan's baptism reminded of a few things. First, it reminded me that Ben Williams is old. I guess that means that I'm getting old too as Ryan is 7 and we will be doing the baptism thing later this summer. The second thing it reminded me of was the church MUST be true. There were a set of missionaries at the baptism that cover that ward. Who other than God himself would have thought that sending out 19 year old immature boys to spread the "good news" would be a wise thing. For the record, at 19, I was much more mature than the missionaries these days.

After the baptism, we went to the Williams home to do the customary brunch with friends and family and while we were there we also watched the Funeral of President Gorden B. Hinckley. We had a great time visiting with Ben and his family. Ryan and Evan play so well together you would think that they lived next door to each other for years.

Tonight was our date night. I took Sydney out on a date with Dad. We started out the night by stopping at McDonalds to pick up a quick bite to eat as we headed to Provo for a movie. On the drive to Provo Sydney told me she was going to be a cheerleader and that "when I come back alive" I can come see here be a cheerleader (referring to her being a BYU cougarette). I told her that I wasn't that old and that I would be alive when she went to college.

She also started singing too. She same the Primary song, "I Love to see the Temple" She said, "I love to see the Temple, I'm going in someday." (real lyrics - "I love to see the Temple, I'm going there someday..."

We got to Movies 8 in Provo about 6:40pm and got our tickets to see the "Bee Movie" starting at 7:05pm. It was a pretty good movie, but it had way too much adult humor in it. I laughed quite a few times, and I'd look over and Sydney would have a blank look on her face. I wouldn't have wanted to pay full price to see it, but for $1.50 a ticket, it was a deal. On the way home we stopped and got a little ice cream. I thought Sydney was asleep but as soon as I asked her if she wanted an ice cream, she immediately perked back up and said she was awake and would like to have some ice cream.

It's been nice to have individual dates with the kids. It's a time where I can give my whole attention to my child and talk to them about whatever is on there mind. Deni and I sure have enjoyed spending time with the kids this way. It seems we always have some fun story to tell by the end of the night.

Dinner at McDonalds = $5.47
Bee Movie Tickets = $3.00
Ice Cream = $1.32
Date with my daughter = Priceless

Swimming Lessons in February

I took the day off today. No really good reason other than it was Friday and I just needed to have a day off. Of course I got called by work anyways, the joys of having a cell phone. I should have turned it off, but I didn't. Then I felt guilty, so I called and talked to my co-worker for about 15 minutes.

Deni set up a "swimming lesson" from a friend of hers for both of us, so we headed to Provo to get some pointers on our swimming. Deni's friend, Jamie, is a pretty talented and accomplished Triathelete, so it was nice to get a few pointers on our swimming technique.

Jamie gave watched us swim and gave us pointers and drills to become better swimmers. Now I just have to practice and remember those drills. After our swim lesson, since Deni and I were kidless, we decided to go out to lunch together.

It was nice to be at home today.

Bowling, Lost Cell, and setting up a Trust

Last night was Young Men's. Deni didn't have Young Womens, which was great as she was able to stay home with the kids. It's not easy with both of us serving in the Young Men/Young Womens and both having separate activities each Wed night. We usually split the kids. I usually take Ryan and she takes Sydney, but it makes for a late night for them.

Back to my story. First of all, all my boys showed up for the activity (they were even on time), however my other leader didn't show up. He sounded like he was losing his voice on Sunday so I thought that maybe he was sick. I called him on his cell and got his voicemail. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have a rule (and I guess the church does too) that you should always have 2 deep leadership at all activities. So here I am with 4 boys, myself, my van, and an activity 15 miles away from home with no second leader.

I grabbed my cell phone and started calling around looking for a second leader. I first called the YM's President, Strike 1. Second I drove by another YM's leaders house and it was dark, Strike 2. I continued to drive until I get to the house of the leader that didn't show up and I sent one of the boys up to the door to see if he was home. Surprise, he is out of town and he never told me about it, Strike 3. It's now 7:15pm, we are suppose to be in Provo at 7:30pm for our activity. Next I call the father of one of the boys. He's unavailable. Strike 4. Finally in desperation, I start to drive out of my subdivision thinking that I had done my best and was going to have to break the rule and go alone.

As I drive out of the subdivision, I drove by our bishops house and notice his car was still there. Feeling a little guilty for making the decision to break the 2 deep leadership rule, I call our Bishop on his cell and ask if he could come with me. He had meetings at 8pm, therefore it would be impossible to get to Provo, have our activity and be back by 8pm. Strike 5. The Bishop gives me one more person to call. (2nd Counselor in the Bishopric and the only boy's father I hadn't called tonight.) Finally at 7:30pm, I find the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric is available to go with me, however he is at work and I need to pick him up in downtown Spanish Fork.

To make a Long story longer, I picked him up and we were on our way. Luckily the boys were too interested in some ipod or cell phone to notice we had been driving around looking for a 2nd leader for the last 30 minutes.

Our activity was to go to Fat Cats, a bowling alley in Provo, to take a tour. We got to the bowling alley, found the gentleman we were told to contact and asked for a tour. The tour was quite interesting. We got to go in the back of a bowling alley and he showed us how everything worked. Much more complicated than it looks from the front. The boys seemed to enjoy the tour and asked questions. We spent about 20 minutes looking around and asking questions before making the trip home.

Fast forward to this morning. I got to work and realized I didn't have my cell phone. I didn't think much about it, as I thought I had left it at home. Around noon, I called Deni and asked her to bring my cell phone with her as we were meeting later. She called it a few times and never heard it ringing in the house. She called it once more and someone answered it other than me. She asked the person on the phone if they had a phone that wasn't theirs and the guy said that someone had found it in the parking lot. Deni said the parking lot of....... The guy reply with the Parking lot of Fat Cats.

It appears that I dropped my cell phone somehow last night and someone turned it in.

When I went to get it today, I walked in and asked for it. The worked said, the Razr, I replied yes, the Razr. He said "nice phone" and then stood there like he didn't want to give it to me. Eventually he gave it to me and I was on my way.

Deni and I were on our way to meet with our "Lawyer". That sounds so official. Since the unexpected death of Deni's little sister, we have felt a greater need to get our estate in order by setting up a Family Trust, Will, Powers of Attorney, Power of Attorney for Health Care, Living Will, and documents about the Procedures that should be followed if we were to die. We met our Lawyer in Orem last week to give him some basic information and we went back today to pay him and get everything signed and officially put into our trust. The Lawyer is contacting all of our Accounts such as Bank Accounts, Life Insurance Policies, etc and transferring our assets into this newly created Trust. All in all, it cost us $510.00 to get it done, however it is worth having the peace of mind that our kids would be taken care of in the unlikely event of our death.

A Trust protects us in a number of ways.

1. Saves estate taxes by using two exemption amounts of $2 million each ($4 million total - now I just have to amass my $4 million)
2. Avoids Probate and saves time and money in transferring assets to our heirs.
3. Provides a written, documented plan for proper distribution of our assets. (this way Sydney and Ryan don't have to fight over anything.)

My life is pretty boring

I've decided that my life is pretty boring. I wake up, go to work, exercise during lunch, come home, day after day after day.

As a side note to my boring life, I rode 12.28 miles in 35 minutes today. Averaged 21 mph. I can't wait until the snow is gone so I can really get out and go riding. I love riding up Payson Canyon. Obviously, it is much more fun coming down than going up, but I love riding up/down that canyon. Payson canon also has my favorite camping spot in Utah, Maple Lake. I'm probably still at least 3 months away from being able to ride up there as we have so much snow and it just keeps coming.

Tonight we got at least another 2 inches with the weatherman saying a possibility of getting 5 to 10 inches overnight.

Habitat for Humanity Service Project

I volunteered to go to a Habitat for Humanity Service Project today with our Scouts.

The Young men in our ward are working on one of the last requirements needed for their Citizenship in the Community merit badge, which has a daunting 8 hr service project that benefits the community.

We decided we would break it up into at least 2 different projects. Project 1, was Habitat for Humanity. (I'm not sure what Project 2 will be, but I'm sure I'll be apart of it.)

We met at the church at 10:30am and got home around 3pm. Once we got to Habitat for Humanity we sat and listened to the mission of what Habitat for Humanity does for the community.

Here are some interesting facts that I didn't know.

Habitat for Humanity was started in 1976.

They build homes for people, however instead of giving them a free house, they make them work on the house, or if they don't have any skills to do so, they require them to come volunteer in their store. Once the house is complete, they still don't give them the house without payment, but rather give the person a 0 percent interest loan for the cost of the house. This way the people are more responsible with their new home. Hmm where have I heard these concepts before?

Last year in Utah county, there were 95 applicants for a home to be built by Habitat for Humanity. They were only able to build 5 due to resource constraints. (read money) The biggest constraint is the price of land.

Another interesting thing I learned was that Habitat partners are encouraged to donate a tenth of what they raise in support of house building in another country. The estimated average cost for building a house overseas is only $4,200. Compared to about $120,000 cost of a home in Utah County. It's amazing there is such a difference in cost.

After listening to an overview of what Habitat for Humanity was, we were given different assignments to help. During the 4+ hours at Habitat for Humanity, we cleaned out the store, arranged items and even removed stoves and refrigerators from a house to be resold at the store. Their store is like a DI or Goodwill for housing items.

While we were serving some of the boys helped an older gentleman with his purchased items to his car. This gentleman followed the boys back into the store, found the other leader I was with and said that he wasn't sure what group of boys we had there serving but he wanted to make a contribute to our group. The leader told him we were a Boy Scout troop and took his contribution (a few dollars) and thanked him. We then contributed right back to Habitat for Humanity.

Even though I was away from my family for such a long time on Saturday, it was a great experience and one I would do again.

A lot of the service projects I've done it the past have been helping friends and neighbors, which is great, however it was a good feeling to help Habitat for Humanity make a difference, even if it was only for 4 hours on a Saturday.

After I got home, we went to a BYU Basketball game at the Marriott Center. I can't really call it a game, as BYU won by 20 or so points, after they had their 3rd string guys in for the last quarter. The kids enjoyed being in the Marriott Center and seeing the game. The Marriott Center was pretty much full. After the game, we went to one of our favorite places to eat, Cafe Rio.