The day I almost died

A few months ago, I had a co-worker fly in from out of the country. He needed a ride to the SLC airport, so I drove him. As we were driving (my co-worker) Rik mentioned how many gun stores we had passed on I-15.  We began talking about guns and he told me in his country they were not able to own guns AND he had never shot a gun. Ever!  However it was on his bucket list to do. I said we should go shooting the next time he was in town.

Rik was in Provo all this week for some training, so I invited him over for dinner and then to go Shotgun shooting.

Syd had indoor soccer training from 5pm to 6pm.  After soccer, Syd and I headed back to work to pick up Rik.   Dinner was amazing, as usual.  Then we headed off to the Gun Club to do some shooting. It's obviously January in Utah. 7:30pm, dark, snowy, and cold, but we were the only ones shooting, so it was great.

I borrowed two shotguns from my Dad.  One of the two guns is my favorite gun.  It is a break barrel single shot shotgun with  no padding.  Just a simple shotgun which happened to be my Grandpa Berger's.  I've been shooting this gun for years. Because there is no padding, when I shoot it, it always gives me little bruises on my left shoulder from the kick.   Matter of fact, when I was in Jr High school, I removed all the wood from the gun, sanded it down, stained it and added a clear coat and then put it back together.

I took the first shot with my Grandpa's gun.  I didn't even get to shoot at the first clay pigeon that was thrown, as the gun had a hard time pulling the external hammer back. (which was odd, as that had never happened to me).  After a few times of pulling the external hammer back, I pulled it back and it clicked into to place.  I yelled 'pull' and hit the clay pigeon dead center and it exploded into dust.  It felt good to shoot and hit the first thrown clay pigeon.  My next few shots were the same, I was on a roll. We took turns shooting, every other shot.

At about my 5th shot, I yelled 'pull', aimed and pulled the trigger.  I'm not sure I hit that one, because as soon as I pulled the trigger and the gun went off, I felt the barrel of the gun in my right hand fall to the right, while the stock in my left hand go the opposite way.  The gun was now in two different pieces.

I was shocked. This isn't supposed to happen. The metal cast just blew apart.  Even more shocking, was that I wasn't harmed.  I stood there for a few seconds (which felt like a few minutes) looking at the gun and replaying the event in my head.  After I realized the gun was beyond repair.  I went ahead and set the gun down and continued with the 2nd gun the rest of the night.

We each got about 20 shots in.  After a bit, Rik honed in his shooting skills and began hitting the clay pigeons. Impressive for his first time shooting, but then again he had a great teacher. :)

After shooting, I drove Rik back to his Provo hotel.  I forgot how much I really like shooting shotguns. I need to get out more.

4 little kisses

Counting calories isn't the most fun thing I've done, however it has given me awareness of what I consume. Pre-counting calories, I would have consumed most of  a bag of hershey kisses without thinking twice. Now any time I want to eat something, I check the MyFitnessPal app on my phone before eating it. This is especially true towards the end of the day. The MyFitnessPal app is becoming like my Money Management app.  I look at the MyFitnesspal app first to make sure I can 'purchase' those calories before I consume them.

One hershey kiss is 22 calories. Twenty-two yummy calories.

Each night I open the MyFitnessPal app in hopes of seeing at least 88 calories remaining for the day.  Most nights I have 88 calories remaining, so I go to my closet, take down the 330 piece bag of hershey kisses I got for Christmas (take out 4 hershey kisses) and then slowly eat them.

I've been able to stay under my calorie allotment for the last 2 weeks, except for one day, where I was just a few calories over, so for 5 minutes I walked up and down the stairs. Maybe a little extreme, but I wanted to be able to continue to achieve my goal of staying within my calorie allotment. .

When in doubt, Deni's right

At work we had a lunch meeting that talked about some of the changes in our benefits for the coming year. One of the changes is that the company will now reimburse up to $150 per year for "wellness/fitness" type things.  For example, they will pay for a gym membership or if fitness equipment, etc.

Since I've been watching what I eat and working out, I've wanted to be able to also monitor my heart rate during workouts.  After hearing my company would reimburse me for such a device, I did a few quick google searches and found the Garmin vivosmart HR, which looked like what I wanted.  I also remembered I had a $20 gift card to Best Buy that I wasn't sure what I would use it for.

I had been chatting with Deni about it all and she asked me on a date.  So we went to dinner and then headed to Best Buy to check out the Garmin.

I liked it in person, so decided to buy it.

As we were looking at them, Deni was laughing to herself.  Apparently sometime in my past, Deni mentioned how cool it would be to have a fitbit and I apparently said something not as supportive, or  possibly even negative, however I don't remember what was said. So we'll leave it at that.  :)

I've been eating a lot of my words lately. "Why would anyone want to wear a fitbit?" or   "I'll never count calories." The list goes on and on. Actually years ago,  I remember saying "Who would want to ride a bike for 12 miles?" and "Who would want to do triathlons?" - both things Deni did and I followed. I guess the moral of the story is that when in doubt, Deni is right. I'm slow and usually wrong.  I've come to accept that it takes me longer to come to the same 'right' conclusions as Deni. 

Personalized Real Salt Lake shirts

Last year RSL allowed Season ticket holders to submit pictures to be used to create the numbers on the players jerseys. The players wore these special jersey's during the month of August (2015).  They also allowed you to purchase a jersey and customize it by putting a name and number on the back.  For Christmas, both kids received their own personalized replica RSL jersey.

We didn't get to pick which numbers the kids pictures were on, however Sydney ended up on the 2,with Ryan ending up on the 6.  For Syd, that worked out great, as we were able to get the number she wears when she plays soccer.  Plus that is also the number for Aaron Maund.

For Ryan, we decided to use the 2 (where Syd is) and then the 6,  which is where his picture resides.  If you look in the redboxes, you'll see where the kids pictures are.   Ryan - #6. The pictures are tiny and you have to look really close to see them.

Sydney is on the #2.  Syd's picture is a little more noticeable.

We had a great time last year going to the games.  Although we only had 2 tickets, it was a great Christmas gift that kept on giving, all the way through October. We'd take turn going to games. Most times it was either Deni or I with one of the kids, however there were a few weeknight games that Deni and I made a date out of it and went together. RSL didn't have that great of a season, but it was fun to watch a lot of soccer.

We didn't give the kids Season Passes for 2016, however we did purchase them and are excited to be able to watch the games in person in 2016. There have been a few "it's too bad we didn't get tickets for this year" comments, so the kids will be really excited when they find out we bought a pair of Season Tickets for 2016 too. We're not sure how we're going to tell them yet.

My personal chef

The three most hated words in our house are 'What's for dinner?"

With the our recent shift to have lower calorie meals, I've tried to help find ideas.

So today I sent Deni a link to a blog with a possible dinner idea.  This is what the dinner idea looked like. Coconut Curry Shrimp, Green Beans with Brown Rice.

When I got home, Deni had created an almost EXACT replica of this meal.  I could have taken a picture and it would have looked almost identical, iron skillet an all.  It was amazingly yummy. It's nice having an amazing personal chef that can cook anything. Tasty and Low Calorie.

Tamale Sunday

I love Cafe Rio Pork Tamales, except they are only available on Thursday's, unless you have Deni. 

I have a Deni and she can make amazing meals.  Matter of fact, she often tells the story that when we were dating that I'd tell her I didn't want to go out to eat, but I would offer to buy all the  ingredients and she'd cook for us. First of all, that doesn't sound like me 20 years ago.  Second,  I think she is stretching the truth a little with that story, (it may have happened once) however if there is one thing that I know I like, it's Deni's cooking.  So if it actually did happen, it's only because she was a better cook than what we would have eaten at a restaurant that night. 

It's been a while since we've made homemade tamales.  And it's only Sunday (at least 4 days away from Tamale Thursday at Cafe Rio).

Deni got the pork prepared, masa made and corns husks soaking in water, then went to help Sydney with a 'parent project' that was due the first day back from Christmas Break.  On a side note, what kind of teacher gives a parent project over Christmas break that is due the day after 2 week break.  

Ryan and I stepped in to complete the Tamales.  I put the masa on the corn husk, added the pork, then gave it to Ryan to roll it and tie. We were a tamale making machine.  

We made about 30 tamales tonight and threw them in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes to cook. The best part of making Tamales is the kids won't eat them. I'm not sure why, because they are delicious. I had two tamales for dinner and we'll freeze the rest for other meals.  Ryan is turning into quite the cook, first making Lasagna and now Tamales.

That's what $10 buys these days

I'm going to have a hard time going back to work after close to a two week winter vacation.  I've enjoyed my time at home. I didn't accomplish much of anything, but I was home and enjoyed being around the family.

Deni and I again went hiking today. I recommended that we try the Spanish Fork Camping grounds up by the Gun Club. When we arrived at the lower gate, it was closed with a no trespassing sign.  I convinced Deni the sign was referring to the Gun Club and surely the trails on public land were open. As we hiked up, we got to the Spanish Fork Reservoir, we were met with another yet another gate and a "closed" sign.  We walked past that too. Finally there was one last gate we walked by, which said the camping sites were closed.  Others has been up there, as I could see the feet prints in the snow, so we continued on.  The snow wasn't as packed down as the trail is in Mapleton.  At times we'd sink 6 inches or more as we walked, but we pushed on anyway.  While the trails had been walked on recently with snow shoes, etc - the snow was soft and loose but we had a good hour hike.

Sydney was going crazy at home so Deni suggested that I take her out on a Daddy Daughter date. After lots of discussion, we decided we'd go to the nickel arcade in Springville. We got $10 in nickels, in two bags with $5 in each bag.  It was apparent that Sydney was there to obtain tickets which could be traded in for inexpensive toys and items . All the games she 'played' were put a few nickels in, if you landed in a certain space you'd get a ticket, or two, or five. I went for the more classic games like Frogger and Pac Man Pinball.

Sydney blew threw her $5 bag of nickels fairly quickly and then came to me while I had only used a handful of nickels playing actual arcade games. I split the rest of my nickels with her and she was off again to obtain more tickets.

She quickly ran out again, and asked if she could use some of her allowance to get more nickels, which I declined. With my remaining nickels, I challenged her to a game of Air Hockey. Even though she is smiling, my score was the 7 and she was the 4.  She had a really good come back and for a second, I thought I was going to lose. :)

Next she challenged me to one of the side by side car racing games.  She won the first game, but lost the second. Again, I took pictures of her losing, not winning.

Sydney checked in her tickets and had 598 tickets to spend at their store.  She got a glow in the dark mood ring, little ball and handful of candy.  That's what $10 buys these days. My guess is that the things she 'bought' with her tickets cost a couple of dollars at most. But, she enjoyed the time winning the tickets and I was glad to be able to spend some one on one time with her doing something she enjoyed to do.

After the Nickel Arcade, we went to Costco to pick up some photos Ryan is putting in his thank you cards for his Eagle Project. On top of Ryan's Eagle project of buying 30 Chromebooks for Ronald McDonald house, he's also providing a meal at the Ronald McDonald house.  While driving to Costco, I had a thought that Sydney should be in charge of making her world famous cupcakes as dessert.  We figured she need to make about 150 or more cupcakes, so while we were at Costco, we priced out all the ingredients she would need.  She is excited at the thought of baking in a commercial kitchen (at the Ronald McDonald House) and having Ryan's friends be her assistants in making cupcakes for dessert.  When we got home, Ryan agreed that it would be a great idea to have Sydney be in charge of dessert.

Deni and I have talked many times about how we want to prepare our kids for the real world. Mainly knowing how to cook, to work hard, to budget. To my surprise, when we got home Deni said that  Ryan had made Lasagna for dinner of us all by himself (with Deni watching over his sholder of course.) The lasagna was edible. Actually it was more than edible, it was amazing and yummy.  Two points to Deni for helping Ryan learn to cook yummy things.

To round out the day right, Deni and I went on a date to a movie in town. We saw The Intern.  It was a good movie.  I enjoyed laughing with my wife.  When we got home the kids were having a blast together.  Music was blaring and I believe we interrupted a heated dance off. A great end to a long winter vacation.

A 5 year haitus

I really enjoy looking back and re-reading things that have happened in my life on this blog. Except, I haven't written in 5 years.  Luckily, Deni captured some of those happenings.

How things have changed since I blogged last.  (Ryan was 10 and Sydney was 7.  Sad, I know.)

Ryan (15):  Over the Christmas break he had a surprise birthday party for one of his friends at our house.  He invited a number of young men and young women over for the surprise party. However only young women showed up.  Girl after girl showed up.  He finally came up stairs when there were 5 young women in the basement.  He looked at me and said, "I invited guys too, but I guess they aren't coming."  Tough life.  Ryan's got a great group of friends and is really becoming a social butterfly.   He's also driving now. He's a pretty good driver, but he still scares me most of the time. 

Syd's (12):  life mostly revolves around Soccer and Baking (cupcakes are her favorite). She's about an inch taller than Deni now too.  Syd is a beehive,  so most mutual nights are quiet around here without Ryan and Syd. 

About a week ago I finally decided that I needed to begin being more careful with my calorie intake. It turns out that you can't eat what you want AND look like you want.  I don't like making new year's resolutions. Actually, when I've changed or tried to make health changes in years past, I typically have made them in in Oct/Nov, so my changes have become habit by the time New Year's comes around.  That didn't happen this year. 

By watching what I'm eating, I've learned a few things.   First, I've probably been eating at least twice what I should in a day. Second, my wife is wise beyond her years.  Over the years, she's tried to replace certains foods with healthier versions, however I resisted. Turns out, she was right. Wheat bread for White bread,  Brown rice for White rice, ...and the list could go on forever.  

For the past two days, Deni and I have driven to Mapleton to hike up to Whiting campground. Deni bought us Yaktrax last year but I didn't get much use out of them. Yaktrax are little booties that give you amazing traction when hiking or walking on snow or ice.  Just pull them over your existing shoes and hike. It takes us about 1 hour round trip and is an amazing hike. Today it was breezy, which combined with the teen temperatures made for a cold hike.  Two of my favorite people (pic taken on our hike today.)

Syd is growing up. Of course, she's trying to look taller than she is in this picture, but she's not too far off from me.

Yes, I watching calories

I never thought I'd have a need to diet, actually, I'm not going to use that word because that is not what I'm doing.  I'm watching what I eat or counting calories.

Up until I was about 35, I could eat what and when I wanted without having to worry about weight gain. Years ago when Shane was visiting Utah, he told me that turning 35 was bad, but turning 40 was even worse. I thought he was just trying to scare me, but as it turns out, he was pretty close with his predictions (as least with what happens to the Berger men's body at those ages).

My clothes haven't been fitting quite like they used to and I could tell that things had gotten a little out of control (not that three Dr Peppers a day is out of control).  It was finally time to watch what I eat.

Deni and I officially started counting calories on Monday December 28th. We measured ourselves and even did skinfold tests but we couldn't do the weigh in, as our bathroom scale had died a few weeks ago.   However we did buy a new scale on December 29th and did do our weigh ins the morning of December 30th.

I set out to eat 1640 calories a day and exercise daily.  I quickly realized that I was probably eating (and/or drinking) close to twice that amount of calories a day. At the time I didn't feel like I would over eat, and 3 Dr Peppers isn't that much (is it?), but it all adds up quickly, as I would soon find out.
Deni warned me that I'd be hungry when I started counting calories and I have been hungry most days, however she's been amazing at making great low calorie meals and making sure that we had the right things to eat.

Two of my favorite new Low Calorie Breakfast choices:

Eggs w/Ham and Onions - 203 calories
2 egg whites + 1 egg
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup of ham

or

Blueberry Oatmeal w/Vanilla Yogurt - 245 calories
2/3 cup blueberries
1/3 cup of quick oats
1 Yoplait Light Vanilla
(all mixed up)

Both are pretty quick and very tasty.

Ice fishing at Scofield

Last year I didn't get out ice fishing. Mainly because we had a warm winter and I'm not sure the ice was ever safe enough to be out on. 

Syd had been wanting to go ice fishing, so what did she do?  She did what any other teenager would do - she texted her Grandpa and asked "Are we going ice fishing tomorrow?"  It turns out we couldn't go "tomorrow", as we had plans but we planned it for a few days later. Who can say NO to a face like this? 

We went and fished on the East side of Scofield. There was between 8 and 10 inches of ice and the water was probably about 10 feet deep. It was very cold (high of 12F) but we were quite warm while we fished. We set up the ice tent, but didn't use it to fish with. Sydney and her cousin, Kennedy did go into the ten to warm up a few times, but other than that we fished out on the ice. 

 Grandpa Berger and Sydney fishing.  

We didn't catch many fish today.  Matter of fact, I caught two small trout, while my dad caught a Chub.  Usually, I like to get a fish on the line and then have Sydney reel it in, however both times I caught the fish Sydney was too far away or they bit my line a few feet from the top and the fish was through the hole before I could hand it over to her. 

We weren't successful at all until dad went to talk to the people next to us and they gave us a Chub fish to use for bait. In years past, the Utah Chub was introduced illegally to Scofield Lake and the DWR have since added more predatory fish that like to eat Chub.  Once we added Chub to our hooks, we started getting more hits. 

It wasn't a great day of fishing, but it was fun to be out on the ice again.