I'm losing my mind

At least sometimes I am. This morning as I drove to work, I all of a sudden had a quick thought: "Am I wearing my pants?"

Seriously, I get moving so quickly, one of these days I think I'm going to forget to get dressed and just leave for work.

In case anyone was wondering, yes I was wearing my pants. It was just one of those things that reminded me of that funny dream we all have where we show up to work or school completely naked. I fear that becoming a reality for me someday.

My stoke factor

Getting married. Seriously, most in their lives talk about how "stressful" that period is in their lives. Al the changes, commitments, etc. None of that has scared me, nor has it stressed me. Alene and I are both 100% in agreement on how things should go. It's like we share one brain. In fact, she had a dream about me rescuing her from her network cable that had turned into a snake. That same night I had a dream about how she wanted me to catch a snake. I remember I could see myself over and over in my dream, grabbing the snake by the, ummmm, neck section? Then I remember in my dream, the feeling of the snake wrapping the rest of his body around my arm as I held him by the neck. It was cool.

Anyway, I'm stoked about my sisters wedding comeing up. This is a highly stressful week coming up, but I think I'll pull through. I have a couple of large assignments due, of the which one of them I'm avoiding (taking a break really) by posting some thoughts here. My sister is getting married this thursday. I'm taking the day off from work to be there (obviously) but to also help out the family with anything they need. I'm stoked.

I've been bored with music (as I've previously said) and almost don't care for music as of late. Silence has been really good for me. Not that I hate music, but I've just found that its nice to have some good silence to yourself. I used to be the type that HAD to have music playing in the car or I'd go insane. Lately I've found myself going to work and somehow my body avoids the habit of reaching under my seat for my stereo face to attach itself to the rest of the stereo and play some music. I just ride to work and listen to either my own thoughts, or humm along with the sound of my tires on the pavement.

Speaking of, I'm stoked for my new tires. I just got 4 new tires for my new truck that I stole from Tim. The truck actually had 3 bad tires and one of the tires, which was about 8 months old, was still pretty good so the dude at Discount Tire placed it on my spare for free. Now I actually have 5 good tires. That's pretty cool.

Speaking of again....My truck. I can't tell Tim enough how manly I feel to have a truck. It may not be a big "penis" truck (one which is big enough to fit all your horses, tack, and family in the front cab and requires a ladder to get into), it's a good 4x4 truck that will be fun to have when I go out and about in the local mountains.

Speak of out and about in the mountains. I'm going camping this week and I can't be more stoked. It has been FOREVER since I've been camping. I moved here with the intention of doing a TON of outdoors stuff. I used to camp a lot when I lived in Nor Cal, and I'm even closer to good camping here in Utah, but for some reason I've only been camping about 3 times in the 6 years I've lived here. Alene (my fiance), Caiden (my son), April, Bill, Lanik (Alene's sister and her family), and a bunch of Bills friends whom I don't know are all going camping this weekend for Bill's birthday. It's going to be done down in the San Rafael Swell area of Utah. It stretches from a town called Price, down to the infamous Moab. I've never done desert or red-rock camping, so this should be interesting. I'm bringing my mountain bike along, just in case I find a place to ride. Should be fun. I've never taken Caiden camping either, so he's stoked about it as well. It's funny because he has never actually been camping, but he still gets excited for it.

Anyway, thats about it for now. I'm just so happy in my life and I have a lot of it to thank Alene for. I honestly feel I am the luckiest man on this earth. She is so smart, amazing, and beautiful. She's my friend and someone I enjoy constant companionship with, but at the same time I'm crazily attracted to her. It's a good combination :-). Needless to say: I'm lucky.

Peace be with you.

A good article on what every coach SHOULD do

This coach had his team 2 wins away from a state title in California, but he decided to bench his star player for failing to maintain a 3.0 GPA. Kids only have to have a 2.0 to stay eligible, but this coach sets the standard higher. Good for him.

Good Article Link

Finished pictures of Kitchen/Bath remodel

This was a remodel project I did for my ex in-laws. It was a pretty big project that consisted of ripping out everything down to the bare walls and floors and starting from scratch. It took me about 6 weeks to complete, all usually done in the evenings.

Kitchen before


Kitchen after


Kitchen before


Kitchen after




Bathroom before


Bathroom after

Life is good

I'm a little stressed over school and trying to catch up, but for the most part I have nothing to complain about. Ultimately if I fail a class, it's not THAT big of a deal in the grand scheme of things....OK, I don't think I'll fail, but you know, perform below what I usually can attain. Anyway, I had thought about doing a minor in phsychology: No thanks. Not as interesting as I thought I'd find it. OK, it's a bit interesting, but nothing I'd get excited over like I do with History. I'm thinking of doing a double-major in some kind of Physical Education as well. Maybe a triple major in Special Education (to get my foot in the door). Who knows. I still have time to sort all that out.

For now I have a wedding to help my lovely fiance plan. We are kind of bummed because the place we wanted to do the reception at (Springville Art Museum) doesn't have the day available that we want (Thurs. May 12) so we are considering some other places. One is my parents back yard. It could work. We are both simple in that we don't want anything grand and we will NOT have a greeting line for guests.

Anyway, I need to brag about Alene for a second here. She is so amazing. I told her the other night that I never used to believe in "soul-mates". It wasn't that I was negative about the whole dating scene, it was more relating to my "realistic" outlook on life. I figured that I could find many different women out there that I could be compatible. While that may still be true, every day I'm more and more convinced that Alene is my soul-mate (and no, it's not said in the same way that Kip Dynamite says it). Alene is so good to me and I hope I can be even better toward her. She is so giving, so understanding, so perfect in every way I need. I can't say enough about her. She makes me so happy and excited about life.

One thing that just totally impresses me is her love for exploring. We went for a hike up Rock canyon in Provo today and there was this cave IN THE GROUND. Alene walks up to it, then with out giving it a second thought, begins to climb down into it. Then, there was this rock wall in another area, and she just walks up and starts climbing like 40' up, just to get a view of the lake. My jaw was dropped to the ground both times I witnessed this. I just love her want to adventure and see the world from a different perspective.

I'm a lucky man, that is for sure.

Another cool thing is that we neve argue, nor have we. This is kind of wierd for me. I mean, I'm sure we disagree on things/issues, but it has never turned into a big argument. Everything is cool.

I'm happy.

Anyway, I have been tired of school work, so I decided to come here and type some thoughts.

Oh yeah, if anyone out there is interested, my buddy Tim is starting a new blog called Gracefully Melting Away. It's basically him going on a diet and his thoughts. I dig the name. Check it out when you get a chance.

So I finally saw Wizard of Oz

played in synch with the MGM lion's 3rd roar and pushing "play" on Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the moon". It was definitely interesting and almost spooky at times. There is definitely evidence that could say it's all just a coincidence, however there were some parts that were just too spooky.

The Munchkin's spook me out enough as it is. "We represent, the lolly-pop guild. The lolly-pop guild. The lolly-pop guild. And in the name of the Lollypop Guild,
We wish to welcome you to Muchkinland."

Spooky.

Tony turned to Clarissa and said......

....."why is it that every time I scoot closer to you, you always scoot away?" Clarissa looked at Tony with large eyes and said, "Who the hell are you?" Tony said, "See, there you go again. You always act like you don't know who I am. I'm the man that loves you. I'm the man you love". Clarissa said, "POLICE!! HELP!"

The End

Items I would keep in my Nuclear fall-out shelter

Non-perishible food - Multiple kinds
Water tank - 100 gallons
Bed and bedding - Multiple
Extra clothes - Multiple
Macintosh computer - 1 (if it was a PC, I'd need about 3 of them)
"Back to Basics" book - 1 (these are great for learning how to divert water to create power, etc.)
water-powered generator - 1
batteries (C, D, and 9v) - Multiple
Flashlights - 5
Encyclopedia set - Volumes A-Z
History, Government, Economic and Military books - Multiple (never know when you have to create a new country; no math or science books because for some reason poeple seem to either know Math/science from birth, or don't. I don't, so I assume others will figure it out)
Bag of footballs, baseballs, and basketballs - Multiple
Chap-stick - 100 tubes
Guitar - 1
Piano - 1
Pens, Pencils, and paper - Multiple
Clams - Multiple (they will be my new nations form of currency)
Nuclear suit - 2 (in case my lovely wife and I want to take a nuclear stroll)
Board games - multiple
Guns - multiple (new country will likely need a military, as sad as that sounds)
Tools - Multiple
Garden tools - Multiple
Video camera - To capture those precious nuclear moments
Scriptures - Multiple
Printing press - 1
"Outdoor cooking" cookbook - 1
Set of dutch oven pots - 1
Matches - Multiple (call me lazy...)
Hand sanitizer - Multiple
Medecine basics - Multiple (ibuprofen, burn cream, bandaids, etc.)
Nails - Nails are nice to have around
Rope - Lot's of it (probably one of the most underrated items to keep in your shelter)

I better get packing.