Saying goodbye to Cade, the only way I know how

About this time today my wife Alene is attending the funeral of a very special young man. His name is CadeSnegirev and he is from Palmer, Alaska. Cade tragically passed away last week and it's shaken hi s family and his community to the core, as well as Alene, our son Caiden, myself, and many others that understand his importance to us. I've tried to stay busy this past week while she's been gone (she booked the next flight to Alaska she could when she heard the news) to keep my mind off what is going on because every time I look at a picture of Cade, I see Alene and all she represents: A wonderful smile, kindness, accountability, a sense of adventure, compassion.

Alene is Cade's birth mother. 15 (almost 16) years ago she made the brave decision to give him up for adoption when she was young and unable to provide him the life he deserved. She was able to select the family he went to and she selected the most wonderful parents you could possibly want, who raised him in a wonderful place on this earth. Over the first few years she was able to receive pictures, updates and letters on his life and she too was able to send letters to his family about her life and what she's doing. At about age 3 that communication ceased due to the adoption agencies policy.

Flash forward to 4 or so years ago and Alene received a message from her younger brother that a woman had contacted him via facebook asking if he had a sister that gave a child up for adoption. We immediately knew it was Cade's mother and had an insane sense of excitement. His mother, Lori Snegirev happened to have seen Alene's last name on a piece of paper somewhere in the office that she was finalizing the adoption (she wasn't supposed to see it) and remembered it all of these years, not really knowing if it was actually her last name or not.

Lori immediately gave us many updates and through facebook, we were able to see pictures of him and his life. It was such a great moment to connect for Alene and I was happy to be a part of the experience. Lori had made a visit out here (she is originally from Utah) to visit family and made it a point to visit us and let us meet Cade. I've heard him described as “quiet”, but always chuckling about something funny. He was polite, well-mannered, easy to talk to. Just everything you would want in a son.

Alene and I both knew that us meeting him did not mean that we were suddenly going to be a huge part of his life because he had parents and a huge family that loved him dearly. Still, we were so grateful for the experience and the opportunity to meet him and get to know him. Over the years we had been able to see him another time on a visit they made here again, plus watch him grow through the power of facebook.

Last winter we received our tax return and Alene immediately mentioned that she really wanted to use it to go to Alaska and visit them (they had given us an open invite). I was hesitant, only because of how expensive it was ($2500+ to fly there, and that was if you were lucky enough to get tickets that cheap). I had figured that Cade was going to be living here in a few years anyway when he goes to school (he had planned to go to BYU) and we would have plenty of time to visit him then. Eventually I caved and said I was down with the plan and told her to start watching for the cheapest fares. We booked for a trip last July and had a wonderful time.

When we arrived I was surprised how much taller he had grown and how much older he had seemed from the last time we had seen him (a year or so prior). He had a job working on farm, he played recreation soccer, he was involved with activities at church and scouts. He was just a great kid and we were so fortunate to spend a week with the Snegirev family.

We got to know his family better because they invited us to stay with them in their home. We were also introduced to his extended family, all of whom were so warm and kind to us on our visit and you could tell they provided so much love to Cade over his years growing up there in Alaska. His grandparents took him on a trip a year or so ago to Europe and the Holy lands, which Alene was so excited for him as she had spent time in Israel while in school.

I personally have to say that I really enjoyed spending time with his parents, Lori and William. They made me feel completely welcome and almost like family, despite me really not having any sort of physical connection to the situation. William and I got a long great and had several of the same interests. William and Cade did so many things together, including finishing their first marathon last year. They were heavily involved in scouting and did a bunch of high-adventure stuff. I really look up to William.

Lori is the sweetest person and you could tell that Cade loved her so much. He never hesitated to flash a smile her way (or anyone's way for that matter). I loved how she took things in stride with the large family she had and for the most part let Cade learn and grow and make decisions for himself.

We spent our time there going to various places, hiking and taking pictures. Cade was a great sport tagging along with us and showing us a good time. I kept thinking about how cool it was going to be to watch him grow up and to possibly forge a bit of a relationship with him, without interfering with the role his parents played (maybe more like an uncle).

Then tragedy struck. On Thursday, January 30^th I was on my way to work and I missed a phone call from William. I had his number in my phone from when we were there last and I had not talked to him since the trip so I thought it was odd. I listened to my voice mail and it was William in a shaky voice saying, “Tyler, this is William. I need you to call me. It's an Emergency.” My stomach cramped up and I could only think the worst: Something happened to Cade. I called him back and he didn't answer, but he called me back a minute or so later sobbing and trying to tell me that Cade was on life support and was brain dead and he had shot himself in the head. I started crying with him, it was the only thing I could do. I could not believe what I was hearing, almost like it was a bad dream. Cade was not the type of person that I would ever think would do something like that intentionally, in fact I never believed it. When we ended the call I immediately headed home to give the news to Alene. I'm so grateful William thought to call me first so I could get Alene in a situation where she could hear the news.

On my drive home I was in shock and I thought about how I was going to tell her. I came in the house and sat on the couch. When she came in the living room I asked her to sit down and. I told her there has been an accident and Cade is on life support. She immediately started crying un-controlably and all I could do was hold her. Waylon was in the room and started to worry so I grabbed him and ran downstairs to put a movie on for him. It seemed like the longest time from me getting him set up and and being able to run back up and console her again. She then asked how it happened and I had to tell her. She couldn't believe it either and it made her cry even harder. It was so confusing. I know there are kids that do this that have deep, dark secrets, but Cade really was a well-adjusted kid and just could not believe it. As of this time it is still being investigated and temporarily being ruled an accident.

Later that day Alene was able to talk to Lori a bit more about it. Alene, with the help of her father and his sky miles, was able to get a flight the next day and get to Anchorage so she could see him before they took him off life support. They ended up donating many of his organs to those in need including his heart, his liver, his pancreas, as well as some tissues they could use for testing. I've felt terrible that I could not be there to mourn with them, but one of us had to be with the kids.

Every time I see a picture of Cade, I break down. All I see is Alene and her holding him in her arms before she gave him up, her hopes and dreams for him to have a better life and at some point I'm comforted because he DID have a better life. He lived such a great life and his parents did such a wonderful job of providing everything she wanted for him.

I want to thank William and Lori from the bottom of my heart for allowing us in and especially making Alene feel so loved and welcome. You are both amazing people that I'll forever cherish our friendship.

I want to thank my wife Alene, for sharing her story about Cade on our first date. She trusted me enough to share something so intimate and I think that was the time I immediately fell in love with her. It was a sign to me that she was a strong woman and an honest woman, and someone who was willing to make the right decisions, even if they were hard decisions. She has been such a great mother to our children and I'll forever be grateful for the wonderful job she does. I'll also be grateful for how much she loves me and how hard she always strives to be close. I love you Alene and can't wait to have you back home with us. 

Cade's obituary

Cade's memorial page

Photos of our trip to Alaska

A farm, near where he grew up

Hanging out on a boat at a local lake

11:30pm hike up at some old mines (it was still light out)

Hiking with him and his younger siblings to thunderbird falls

The boys, hanging with a grizzly bear

Hiking up "The Butte" with William, Alene, Cade, and Caiden

View of the place he lived from the Butte, Pioneer Peak in the center, and a glacier on the far left

Up at Alyeska ski resort

Ever the dare devil, Cade jumped into this FREEZING glacier fed lake up at Hatcher Pass

Zero posts in a year

I'm not sure if this personal blog will last. In a perfect world it would because I think the idea of "blogging" is more important than social networking, which I sadly spend most of my time "sharing" my life with. I intended to blog to share my thoughts/life with and hopefully create a type of journal that would go on forever for my family, children, grand children, great grand children, great-great grandchildren, great-great-great grandchildren, anthropologists (you get the picture) go back and see.

My blog has never been popular. Every now and then I would have a random one get an insane amount of hits because of the content, like this one, and that wasn't the intent of my blog anyway (to be popular), but I feel like I've failed myself.

I hope to get back into it, but I can't even promise myself that. Facebook is the easy way out because your history is technically stored and it's so much easier to share pictures, thoughts, etc.

I'm sad because I never even blogged about the new addition to our family (Waylon, born 10/10/11), but I shared it everywhere on Facebook. Crossing my fingers I can make this a more simple routine for me......

Desperation as a parent

Last week I received a phone call on my cell phone that was coming from "Blocked". I answered it and there was a voice I did not recognize on the other end, but I knew who it was. He was the father of a kid I used to coach a few years ago. I didn't recognize his voice because I had never heard him speak before. I had never heard him speak before because he doesn't speak english very well.

He and his family, which consist of a wife, 3 boys and a girl, are immigrants from Croatia. They moved here about 14 years ago to get away from all the war that had ravished their country. When I coached his son (who, by the way was a STUD athlete and a lot of fun to coach), he told me that his father doesn't have a job, or can't keep a job because he doesn't speak english. He seemed kind of upset about his father not working and I too have passed judgement on him, thinking if he's lived here for over 10 years, why hasn't he taken the opportunity to improve himself by learning english so he can get a job? His parents rarely came to games because they didn't have a car. Alene once picked them up and gave them a ride to our championship game, which I'm sure they appreciated.

It's been about 3 years since I'd seen his parents. He started off with small talk of some sort (in broken english) but eventually I realized he was calling me asking for money. At first I had no idea what he was asking because his english was so broken. I remember his son saying that his dad was embarrassed to talk because of how bad his english is. I can't imagine how hard it was for his dad to call me to ask for money. He kept saying, "Tax refund you paying back, tell wife". I eventually realized he was saying he would pay me back with his tax refund and he wanted me to ask my wife if we could loan him money. I told him I'd call him back in a bit and hung up.

I got off the phone and talked with Alene about it. At first I was a bit put off, thinking it was kind of weird, and worrying about if we loaned him money, would he pay us back? The amount wasn't astounding, but it was still be considered "a lot" of money for us. We don't have a ton of liquid savings (anything I really save is either in a retirement account, or Caiden and Bailey's education savings), but we had enough to cover what he was needing.

Alene and I thought about it a bit and the more we thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea to give it to him. In fact, we eventually came to the conclusion that if he didn't pay us back, we weren't going to worry about it. Eventually I started to think even more about telling him to NOT pay us back. I've been so blessed over the past year with a good job, my families health, my own health, and so many other things that there is no way I shouldn't pass up on an opportunity to show my appreciation for the blessings in my life. During a time when people are losing their jobs and lives are falling apart financially, mine is not and I should be thankful. I was determined to give him the money and tell him to not pay us back. I even pulled out an extra $20 to give to him.

I met him at my work the next day. He walked in and gave me a big hug and had a huge smile on his face. I put the cash in a sealed envelope with his name on it and gave it to him. I told him "don't pay us back" and repeated it in an many ways I could in order to get my point across to him. I told him to take care of his family and tell them hello for me. He smiled and nodded and said thank you. I still don't know if he understood what I was telling him, but I felt good about it and if he tries to pay us back, we won't accept it.

I have no idea what he needed the money for, but I kept thinking about how desperate he must have been. I remember him mentioning something about Christmas when he called me and I can only imagine that he was telling me they didn't have one. I've learned and realized that as a father you may not be a perfect one, but a real father would do anything he can for his family, including stepping out of his comfort zone. I look at it as paying him for teaching me a lesson about taking care of my family no matter how hard it is to step out of my comfort zone.

Thanks honey, for being willing to assist someone in need with me.

Losing weight, getting in shape

Sorry I don't blog as much as I used to. Just busy I guess.

So, it's been about a month since I've been working out on a consistent basis. So far, I'm loving the results. I've lost roughly 10-12 lbs, I have more energy, and I feel healthier, even though I have a long way to go.

I think my biggest advantage has been the ability to track my diet and everything I eat. I'm much more aware of what is going into my body. I use the web site: http://dailyburn.com which is a great, free option to track everything. I mainly focus on my daily intake of Calories (I try to stay between 1900-2300), Fat (45-75 grams a day), Protein (100-175 grams a day), and Carbs (200-275 per day). If I fall below any of those, I honestly don't care too much. Lately I've really been trying to get more Protein than anything because I feel a difference in my energy level through the day. My profile can be found here: Profile

I'm somewhat shy about talking about losing weight for two reason. Number one, I don't want to come off as some dude that is WAY too much into his image and I'm trying to keep up with "The Joneses"; and number two, I'm embarassed at how much weight I've put on since getting married. I'll shamefully admit I was about 200 lbs and I've ballooned up to about 240. I'm down to 228 so far and feeling so good.

So far my workouts have consisted of aerobic stuff with Alene at home (I've done workouts like "Bridal sculpt and burn", which prepares me for looking good on my wedding day and having all of my brides maids jealous of me, you too should try it), a combination of Elliptical/Treadmill at the gym, some weigh lifting, and abdominal workouts. I've also been taking suppliments to help. I take a great pre-workout suppliment that gives me a ton of energy to get me through my workout. My body is SO worn out when it wears off, but I can definitely feel the difference. I also take protein shakes post-workout. Lastly, I subscribe to Men's Health magazine and I got this kick-ass workout called the Spartan workout. The only thing you need for it is a pair of dumbells. It's fast-paced so you get some good cardio burn, and it focuses on a total body workout. My first day of doing it (last Saturday) KILLED my body and I couldn't walk for two days. I've done it a second time (yesterday) and the only sore spot on my body today is my Abs, which makes me feel that my body is used to it.

I have many reasons for wanting to be in shape and I'll start first with my wife. Alene has always been the epitome of someone in shape. Since the day I met her I was always impressed with her consistency in going to the gym and wanting to take care of her body. She doesn't go to the gym to compete with other women and try to look good. She goes to the gym because she likes how it makes her feel physically. I've also admired her for her ability to watch what she eats (most of the time anyway, if you ask her she'll tell you she's only eats junk food). She's always been very conscious about striving to eat healthy things. I feel so guilty because she feels like she's stooped to my level by eating more fatty things since she's married me. I'm such a pig.

As I go through this phase, I hope to get back down to the weight I was at when we first married. If I can go any lower than that, that's fine, but I want to then focus on getting stronger. I also ponder other reasons I want to lose weight and get in shape. I'll list the positives, then the negatives:

POSITIVES

I'll feel better physically
I'll look better to Alene (even though she loves me for who I am)
I'll be able to do more kick-ass hikes with Alene
I'll set an example for my children that our health is important
Hopefully I'll live longer as a result
I'll have more energy and strength for doing things I love
More overall confidence in myself

NEGATIVES

I recently bought two pairs of jeans I LOVE and I'm already having to "cinch" them up; I'll have to buy a lot of new clothes
I'll be more apt to take my shirt off in public, forcing everyone to put on their sunglasses and shout "SASQUACH!"
No more "Thirds and Fourths" at the dinner table
No more excuses asking Alene to slow down on evening walks and using the "because I'm out of shape" excuse

I think the positives outweigh the negatives. I'm really feeling good about my progress so far.

One more thing that has recently inspired me is a section in Men's Health called "the belly-off club". They feature a person who has recently lost a lot of weight and all of them have had consistent means of doing it: Watching their diet and getting at least 3 days of exercise. One person I recently saw was 268 lbs (at 5'9") and is now down to 165 lbs. He did it all in 13 months. Pretty amazing.

I have so many other goals I want to accomplish, most of them with Alene. I hope to be able to run a 5K, and eventually a 1/2 Marathon with her (even though she hates running them). I want to do a Triathalon. I want to be competitive athletically as I was when I was in high school. I know it's not for everyone to be competitive, but for whatever reason it's something that drives me to compete, even if it's against myself. So far I've been doing a good job (relatively) on the treadmill. I can consistenly run 3 miles with no problems. My only issue is I run out of time and have to stop. I'm hoping to be able to eventually run 5 miles in 50 minutes or less.

So, here's to the new year and me getting slimmer. I'm really excited for this coming year because I have somewhat of a grip on my job now, and also have a lot of vacation time to use. I'm going to plan some great hikes and camping trips with Alene and hope to get a lot accomplished this coming year. I hope you all are looking forward to the future as much as I am.

Hi everybody

Just wanted to let everyone know I am around. With work and coaching Caiden's football team, I haven't had a ton of time to blog. I really miss doing it though.

So, if there actually is anyone out there that reads my blog, I apologize for letting all one of you down (Alene).

A few updates though:

Family: Ups and downs as always, but I love my family more than anything. Bailey is the cutest little girl in the world and I adore her dearly (even when she throws a tantrum). When I came home late from work tonight I kissed her on the cheek and she kept leaning in for kiss after kiss. Caiden is busy with football and doing well. He could be doing better in school, but we'll just have to stay on top of him. Alene just finished running in the "other" half marathon in Moab and beat her expected time by 10+ minutes!! HOLY CRAP!! She was amazing. We also had the amazing opportunity to meet Alene's son Cade and his wonderful mother Lori. We'll never forget that moment.

Football: I'm coaching Caiden's team as the defensive coordinator. We are currently undefeated at 8-0 and we have our last game of the regular season against a team we are tied for first place with. From there we will have the playoffs, which is two rounds. I keep a team blog with highlights from each week (click on the word "Football" above).

My job: It's going well. I finally have a grasp on what is expected of me, but there is so much more to do in regards to getting organized and having some structure. I REALLY wish I could have an assistant, even a part time one, but I doubt that will ever happen. I've been traveling a lot for work and with the winter coming on, hopefully it will slow down.

Outdoors: I suck in that respect. I have not gotten out for much outdoors stuff all year. Our schedules were pretty hectic this past spring/summer with Alene filling in for other people at work AND Caiden playing baseball. I really hope we can get out more next year. We have a great trip planned for our anniversary next year. Details to come in a few months. I'm so pissed that I failed to even get out mountain biking ONCE this whole year. I really suck.

Alene and I also went a few concerts here and there.

The football season should be over by November 14 if we make it to the championship game. After that we are taking a LONG awaited vacation to a (hopefully) warm place in San Diego, CA. It will be fun to vacation as a family and I look forward to it.

So, you can see my life is pretty boring. Sorry if I've disappointed.

I don't want to be "one of those guys"

Here I am, up at 5am. Consumed with work on my mind. I've never been this consumed in my life. I've been working at my job for 6 months now and I'm still not where I need to be as far as being organized and "in control" of my job. I know it sounds crazy, but there is so much work that goes into just getting organized. I have over 80 properties I manage and each one has it's own uniqueness. 16 of them are out of state, so they require me to manage them remotely without seeing them more than 3 times a year (I've seen them once in the past 6 months).

The most challenging and stressful part of my job is spending money. One would think that wouldn't be a problem, however there is a lot of pressure to spend our monthly budgeted money because if we don't spend it in that month, we lose it (we don't get to carry it over into the next month), so most of the time I feel like an accountant, trying to ensure I have jobs lined up for work to be performed to spend the money. Every month I have about $16k-$40k to figure out how to spend. If I don't spend it, I'm in serious trouble. There is the stress of ensuring the job gets done in that month and then making sure I have the invoice in my hand by the end of that month. The most frustrating part is that I can't spend this money on the most obvious needs for my property (carpet and furniture) because those expenses come out of a capital budget, which is always VERY thin. In fact, carpet is the lowest of priorities with regards to capital budgets, so those are seldom approved.

In addition to my monthly spending dillemas, I just went through our most stressful month (July) which is budgeting month. This is where I take my budget based on what I spent part of this year and what I have planned for the remaining year, and create a budget for EACH property with that money I have. It's extremely tedious and time consuming. I've been having dreams of being late with my budget or not having started it. I finally finished it on Sunday evening a few days ago and I was RELIEVED.

Don't get me wrong, I really do love my job, but the past 6 months have been a serious adjustment from working a previous job that was much more flexible and didn't have all the restraints on a budget that I have now. It's taken some adjusting, but I think I'm getting it. I never imagined a job in the same field taking 6 plus months to really get control over (and I'm really pushing a realistic goal now of 1 year to REALLY have control).

But here I am, the guy up at 5am and can't stop thinking about work. I woke up to go to the bathroom and I was DOG TIRED (still am), but I can't fall asleep, so I decide to blog. I could just go into work, but I have to take Caiden to his mom's and it's too early for that. So, I'll do my best not to be THAT guy (the one that gets to work by 6am and doesn't leave until 6 or 7pm). Being a hard worker is important, but time for my family and myself is even more important. I just wonder how long it will last.

I was in awe of my surroundings today

As I sat at Caiden's baseball game today, I was blown away by the view we have at his games. (click on the picture, then "all sizes" for a larger version)



Also, the clouds were out and full force today. VERY white and bright

Alene is amazing

Every night she puts bailey to sleep with the most beautiful songs only a mother could sing to her children. Alene thinks she has a horrible voice, but when I hear Alene sing, I hear the most beautiful voice coming from a mother who loves her child so much. I know Alene's voice is the most beautiful voice in the world to Bailey.

I love this picture of Bailey hanging out in mommy's lap.

I'm finally done with my Associates Degree

Honestly, I feel like it's a huge accomplishment for me, but at the same time I'm embarassed to blog about it.

I started school 9 years ago at the University of Phoenix. I was able to finish 5 classes there and then my divorce forced me to put school on hold a couple of years. I had to work a part time job at night to make ends meet and on the nights I wasn't working, I had Caiden. Eventually I got caught up financially and was considering my options. My friends at work had all done the SLCC thing and encouraged me to give it a try.

I started off taking a mix of 2 on-campus classes and 2 on-line classes. My first semester I finished with 3 A's and a B. I thought I was a genius and that I'd be done with the JC thing in no time.

Then I got lazy.

I'm still lazy.

The on-line classes were super easy, but I can be a natural procrastinator, so sometimes I didn't do so well. Eventually the classes I could take became on-campus only, so it was harder to fit in more than 2 classes a semester. Then I started coaching football, so school was out during the fall, which left only Spring/Summer to take classes. I skipped a few of those Summer/Spring semesters here and there....

But, here I am. I had one class left this past semester (Math 1030). In order to take this class I had to get a "C" or better in Math 1010. I had a C-. I lied to my teacher that I did have a "C", but I coudln't register on-line because it had been over 2 semesters since I took Math 1010 (I lied again, it had been 2 years). I promised him I would take this class very serious and he won't have a problem with me. He added me to his class manually. I finished his class this semester with an "A".

I'm very proud of that grade. I've also struggled with Math. Sure, when I pay attention I "get it", but I forget it quite quickly and I still find it one of the most boring topics I've ever taken in school.

So here I am now....I'm not sure when I want to start my bachelors degree and what I want to major in. I was so slow to finish my associates because I had a career field already established. I'm making decent enough money to support my family and I really like my job and the "sky is the limit" with my career (no dead ends). I know that if I want to advance to executive-type levels, I at least need to have my degree, but now I'm not sure what to do.

At first I was going to get my degree in History, get accredited as a teacher and teach high school history. Well, that can't support a family, but I still thought I could get my degree in History, retire early, and teach (and maybe it's a possibility), but I'm really thinking to lean toward something oriented to my field of work. Decisions, Decisions. Still, it's great to know that the sky is the limit and I have control over my future.

Endurance.....

.....so, to the month, it's been 10 years since I started in the field I'm currently working in. I had moved to Utah in July of 1998. I saved around $1200 to come here and "live" off of until I could find a job. I lived in my Aunt's basement while looking for a job and a more permanent place to stay. I spent the first month living here not really sure what I wanted to do for work. I had done mostly manual labor stuff, but I really wanted to get out of that line of work and be "someone important" if that makes any sense. I wanted to start looking into business-type stuff, but I had no idea where to start.

As Alene and I sat in the hot tub last night, we were talking about experience with job interviewing. I found it kind of funny that I hadn't considered the fact that there was such a thing as "experience gained" while interviewing for a job. I just assumed you go in, you answer questions, then you leave. I've recently learned that there is a preparation side to it all and that basically every company asks the same questions.

When I moved here, I did interview for a phone customer service job with a credit card company. It was pretty cool and exciting to be a part of that company because they were growing so quickly and everyone was being promoted right and left. I started in late August of 1998. A part of our job requirement was to "sell" products at the end of the call (stuff to add on to your credit card like insurance and other scams). One month I was one of the top 3 in our whole site (close to 800 people) in add-on sales and I just figured it was only time before I'd be promoted to a team assistant, then maybe a team supervisor and the sky was the limit.

However, after about 2.5 months or so I started to dread the life of coming in and sitting at your computer for 8 hours, being tied down to a phone. I noticed a job posting for "facilities coordinator" for our company. I figured it wouldn't hurt to inquire. I asked the manager about the position and he said it covered a broad-range of things like simply helping to set up a meeting, to helping with managing a construction project. I was intrigued at the time because I could tell it was a job that required knowledge and ability to do manual labor, but it wasn't necessarily a part of the job.

I applied, interviewed, and was turned down for the job (they hired a GIRL of all people :) ). I had given up on that idea pretty quickly. I just figured the manager didn't like me. A month or so goes by and it's December. I'm getting really tired of the phone job and my stats start slacking really bad. late December rolls around and I'm walking to my car. The girl they hired over me stops me in the parking lot and said they were opening up another position to add to the department and she though I should re-apply. I was stoked that she would go to that length to tell me about it. We hadn't said more than 2 words to each other prior to that. I interviewed for the job and close to New Years Day, I was told I was accepted. It even came with a plus 10% raise (I went from a whopping $9/hr to $10/hr). I started just after New Years in 1999.

I worked my tail off that whole year. I eventually found out the girl that was hired before me was hired because of her skill-set with security (she was an Army reservist and had some background in security stuff), so that was her main responsibility within the department. I was the "manual labor" guy, but it wasn't too bad or dirty for me. Still, I wanted to prove myself capable and by the end of the summer our department added many more people and we needed to create a manager position as kind of a go-between between the coordinators and my boss, who had other responsibilities within the bank. My boss said I should apply. I did and I was promoted to manager over the team of coordinators. The promotion came with a 25% raise. I was so excited and felt like I had "made it" in some ways over the course of the year I had lived in Utah.

Things were going really well. Just after that Caiden was born, but I was having serious marriage issues already and that was soon affecting my job performance in some ways. I was sometimes late to work (my boss was pretty adamant on being on time to the minute). I maintained my job still and I continued to learn a lot though.

Eventually I started to consider school and what to do with my life. My boss had started off at a community college, then transferred his credits to the University of Phoenix. I thought the idea of school being one night a week for 4 hrs, then another night a week with your study group as a pretty neat thing for your schedule. I went there and applied and started pretty quickly.

I was going to be a business major. I wasn't quite sure which area, but I was considering Business Administration (which is what my boss had done). After 4-5 classes though, my marriage broke apart and I took a hiatus from school. I had to get a second job to make ends meet on my own. I had kind of given up on school and had no idea when I would return. After a while my boss had left the company, so I was kind of "given" his job with all the additional responsibility and no pay increase. In fact, things got so bad for the company that I went 2 years without a pay raise.

In the Summer of 2002 I had figured out a way for me to be able to go back to school. By then I started considering what I really loved and decided I wanted to major in History and teach. My friends at work convinced me to enroll at SLCC and get my associates there. My good friend Damon had just finished his there and was going to Weber State to get his degree in Criminal Justice. He said SLCC was easy because it was close by and fairly cheap compared to a university. I enrolled there and started off going full-time. I was able to xfer 15 credits from my university of Phoenix days and I was excited about being able to finish off my Associates Degree, then decide what to do from there.

That Fall, however, it was announced that my company we worked for was going to close up shop here in Utah. They laid everyone off, but gave us a good 6 weeks notice as to when the last day would be (it could have been worse, like some companies that just put a lock on the door with a note saying "good luck"). They gave us all 8 weeks severance, paid out our vacation AND, if we had accrued any sabbatical pay (they offered a paid sabbatical) they paid that out too. Here was the great part though: A new company was interested in buying a portion of our business and setting up in the same building, although on a smaller scale (one floor as opposed to 5 floors). They needed a facility manager, but that would be it (no coordinators or people working under me). I interviewed with my current boss and was offered the job at my same pay. From there I grew into my position more and learned a ton. It's been 7 great years and as I stated in my previous post, I'm moving onto a new job, but I really am going to miss this job and those I work with.

I'm getting off track (this post was supposed to be about school). Over the first few semesters at SLCC, with full-time school, work changes, and having Caiden part of the time, I burned myself out pretty quickly. Along the way I failed 3-4 classes, didn't go at all during some semesters, re-took the failed classes, and here I am, almost 7 years later, finally taking my last class at SLCC. I know it sounds lame to know that it took me 7 years to get a stupid Associates, but I'm still going to be proud of it. I know I could have done better, but I should be able to pull off close to a 3.0 GPA when it's all said and done. That is better than what I finished with in high school (closer to a 2.5 while taking non-challenging classes), so despite failing classes and re-taking them, I know I've actually applied myself on a higher level.

The last class I'm taking is Math 1030. I just don't like Math and I'm trying my best to endure it. So far I'm staying on task, although I did miss one class because I just "forgot" I had class. My classes are on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8:30pm to 10pm, so it's easy to forget when you have a class that late. Google Calendar and their SMS reminders are a great thing now :).

I'm really not sure where I'm going to go from here. I do think it's important to further your education as much as possible and as much as needed. In my field of work, there are always things that would be good to learn and know about. I'm going to give a lot of attention to my new job, then this summer sometime, explore areas of my job where education could help it and maybe finish off my bachelors in that area. I still want to teach History someday, but I think that will be more for my retirement years, or at least my near-retirement years. I'm not in a rush to get all that taken care of. Right now I'm just excited for this new phase in my life and my career and I'm going to make the most of it.

So, I'm starting a new job

It's all happened pretty quickly too....kind of.

Last year during the spring when it was getting close to Alene quitting her job and us having a baby, I had started to kind of think about how we were going to live financially without Alene's income. On paper, we were able to pay the mortgage and the bills, but there was nothing left over for stuff like food, gas, and living expenses. When we sold our old home we paid off ALL our credit cards and both loans we had on our cars. The only debt payments we had left over was our Student loans and our mortgage, so that felt somewhat good. Still, it wasn't going to work.

Luckily we put some money in savings to keep us afloat for at least 4 months or so, but come January our savings pretty much dwindled down to $1000, which had us scared.

Alene knew all along, or at least we were pretty sure that her old job wanted her to come back and work part time, so we knew that was an option. She makes pretty good money there, so it was better than me working a menial pt job at $10 an hour somewhere.

So, back to last spring...as I'm pondering what I'm going to do, I am referred to this job with one of the largest banks in America, that pretty much fits the description of what I do, but with more responsibility. I was stoked for it. I applied and received a phone call to interview in person, with the supervisor of this area. The job consists of basically managing 60+ properties for this bank throughout the state of Utah. My boss is located in another state, so it's a self-managed position (for the most part). The interview went really well and after that I had phone interviews with her boss and with a person from HR. They told me I was a final candidate and I was feeling pretty good......then....nothing.

I waited a month and finally e-mailed her. She said they were still waiting. I continued to email once a month to inquire about it and she continued to tell me they were still deciding. Finally November came (6 months) and I asked how things were going and whether I was still a candidate or not. She told me that I had a great interview and I was definitely qualified, but they decided to "go in a different direction". I was fine with it and moved on.

December came, money was getting slim, so I started looking around a lot for part time jobs. Alene wasn't quite sure what her company was going to do. We thought there was a slim chance they wouldn't want her so we wanted to be prepared for me to work a second job. Luckily they still wanted her and we arranged so that she would work a couple of nights a week, which would require us to leave bailey with a sitter for just a couple of hours a week as well until I could pick her up after work.

So a few weeks ago I get a phone call from a gentleman from this same company I had interviewed with stating that he understood I had applied for the job and asked if I was still interested. I said I was but explained to him that I was already turned down for the job. He said they have decided they do need to fill the position and he wanted to interview me. He flew out here and I learned he has just taken over the region and would be my boss. The interview lasted 2.5 hrs and I thought it went really well. In the mean time, I told my boss about my intentions of interviewing and she was really supportive, which was really nice. Within a couple of days of interviewing I get a phone call to do an interview with another person in the same position as my future boss. That phone interview went really well also (as I was told by the lady I interviewed with).

A couple of hours later I get a phone call from my future boss with a great offer (over 20% more than I make right now and in the interview I had asked for something in the range of 10%-15% more than what I was making so they maxed out what I wanted). I told him I needed the weekend to think it over, then I would call him back.

Everything happened so quickly and I wanted to be sure this was what I wanted to do. I didn't want to do this "just for the money" as much as we needed it. The job itself seemed like a no-brainer to take because it truly was the "next step" in my career field. At my current job, I'm VERY self-managed with a flexible schedule enough to allow me to take time off during the day (if needed) for school, or a family event. My boss doesn't micro-manage and during the fall, she allows me to leave work a little earlier so I can coach HS football. It's all great, but I've been doing it for 10+ years and there is no chance of me being able to get promoted.

With this current job I will still have a lot of that kind of flexibility, but I get the feeling I will be more closely managed, which isn't a bad thing. I won't be able to coach HS football (which I really had to think strongly about over the weekend), but I know I can still coach Caiden's teams, which is probably most important anyway. I spent the entire weekend pondering it. I could not get it off my mind. As the weekend grew to an end, I felt better and better about this job. It's a job that is a step up in responsibility and experience. It's something I need to advance my career. I know it's right for me, even if I have to give up some perks from my old job.

The only other downside to this is the vacation time, which is still OK by me. I'll be getting 3 weeks paid instead of 4, but I get 6 paid sick days on top of that, so it pretty much evens out (as long as I get sick of course). Lastly, since I'm starting off new, they pro-rate the vacation time, which only leaves me with 8 days for the full year after I start. That sucks, but in the long run it will be worth it.

I'm feeling better and better about this as it gets nearer. I'll miss my old job, but I look forward to the responsibility and experience I'll get from my new job. I am a person that doesn't like to jump from one job to the next. I like consistency and I really hope to put in some good years with this company. They are a very stable company that is doing good compared to most banks. My loyalty at my job has always lied first with those I work closely with and I anticipate it will be this way with my new company.

Mostly, I'm happy that I know that if Alene wanted to quit her job, she could and we would live just fine off my paycheck. Right now we have decided for her to keep her job so we can put a lot of money toward our student loans. When she is ready to have another baby (we don't know when, but we know we'll want another one) she will quit her job and we on her not have to worry about working again. Her job consists of a few nights a week, and a Saturday every once in a while. So long as either of us can be with the kids, or that they have to have little time with a sitter, we feel good about it. We are getting out of that student loan debt and saving money at the same time.

I feel very blessed. Some may say I'm lucky, but I honestly feel blessed. I have a good wife, two wonderful kids, and the future looks bright for my career. I don't have much I should complain about, and if anyone hears me doing it, tell me to shut up.

Miracle in the Andes

Alene has always talked to me about this book and I knew I would read it, I just wasn't sure when. We borrowed it from her sister April and I read it pretty quickly. The movie Alive was not based off this book (it was based off another book taken from stories of all 17 survivors) but this book is told from Nando's perspective.

The book is the account of one of the two rugby players that hiked out of the Andes to find help for him and his teammates. They spent 72 days in the Andes with nothing to eat and little to drink. One would think that being surrounded by snow would be a blessing, but after eating snow for a day or so, it has so many damaging things to your lips, mouth, and throat (blisters for one) and it keeps your body temp very cool, which is not a good thing. Melting it was also hard because it was always cold and they did not have anything to burn to make a fire.

I could not control my tears in so many parts. Nando Parrado has a way with words that really tug at your hearts and make you feel what he was feeling, or make you think that you would feel the same way in the situation he and the others were faced with.

Some of my favorite parts had to do with the discussion of religion and God. Most of the guys on the plane continued to talk about how they were spared their lives because of the grace of God, while Nando was the only one (at least most of the time) that actually lost family members (his mother and sister) in the crash, so he was very bitter and had a hard time believing in God at all. He also had many discussions with a teammate who was confined to a hammock because of broken legs. This teammate was a known Socialist and was against any sort of organized religion, but he was also very spiritual and talked constantly about God and how close he feels to God in that situation.

There are so many great examples in this story that would help with building a stronger family, or encouraging those around you to work together.

The only part that rubbed me the wrong way was Nando's post-crash life and how he kind of became a playboy because of all the attention he received. He seemed like a guy that was pretty much given everything he wanted in life (a life of privlige in private schooling, college, without having to work much), to this horrible crash (something I could never fathom myself making it through), then living life for a while as if he was "owed" it to have fun. He talks about this time in a negative manner though, so I guess it's easy for me to judge without being in his shoes. Like I said, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Nando is still someone I would consider a "hero" and I don't have a lot of those.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a quick read and has so many great learning points about our life, how precious it is and about what's most important to us. It also talked about how close we all are to death and if we could just realize that, we would love our lives so much more.

As I was doing some additional research, I found this video done by ESPN's "Outside the lines'. It's long (about 10 minutes), but the end had me choked up.



Alene and I just bought the movie (Alive) and we will be watching it soon. I've seen it once before, but don't remember much from it at all. I'm excited to see it now.

My wife's husband

I sometimes think that my wife's should-be husband was born about 40 or so years too young. He's the guy she referred to in this post and I've had the honor of meeting the guy a couple of times. Once at our wedding reception when he told me very bluntly that I better take care of Alene. The second was on a trip to Portland Alene and I took.

When I first met Alene, she told me about her belief in God and how this man and his wife helped Alene understand what it meant to be a true Christian and one that is loving, forgiving, and tolerant toward others. She said previous to that she had never understood it until living with them.

When she spoke of H, her eyes would always light up and she would smile about how great of a husband, father, and grandfather he was. She was so impressed with the life he lived in both the military and as a teacher in Alaska. She said he worked so hard to support his family and was everything to his grandchildren (who helped raise). He was devoted to his family and his church and in retirement, volunteered at his grand children's school.

The way she talks about him is the way I would want her to think about me. I think any man would want his wife to feel the same way about him in the way Alene talks about this man.

When I hear her talk about him, I reflect on myself. I think of the people that I want to emulate and be like and I'll always say it's my own father. I want nothing more than to let him know he is and was a great influence on my life. With that said, I feel like I'm half the man he and H are and I've got a lot to catch up on. I'm 31 years old, I still have not finished school, and I don't spend enough quality time with both my wife and my family. I kind of suck, but I know I can do better.

I didn't want to ruin this post on a down note. H was great to spend time with and he reminded me VERY much of my own father, who is loving, tolerant (VERY tolerant from the crap I did as a teenager), and forgiving. He also worked VERY hard for his family (and continues to). These are both great men that I would use as an example to anyone I met as to how to be a man. I love my wife very much and I want to be a better husband and father so she could so proudly think of me the same way she thinks of H.

What makes a Hero? What makes us believe?

I just finished reading the book "In the company of Hero's" by Michael Durant, who was the famous Blackhawk night stalker pilot that was shot down in mogadishu and held captive for 11 days before getting released. First, I cannot fathom going through what he did. He was a brave person alone for just surviving what he went through. However, he brought up some interesting points in his book.

He said that growing up he was a Catholic and attended church every sunday with his family. Once he moved out of the house after graduating high school and joining the military, he said he stopped going, but would on occasion ask for a prayer from a non-denominational preacher on the base.

During his captivity, one of the greatest things that was delivered to him was a tiny Holy Bible. It was great in two-fold. The first was that he used it to secretly keep a journal of everything that happened to him from the crash, to the present. He wrote in any areas of blank space in the bible. Second though, he actually started to read the bible and he conjured up a point that is often said: "There are no atheists in fox holes", which meant that even a non-believer will begin to pray to God when faced with their own mortality.

He didn't always consider himself a non-believer, but going through what he went through seemed to bring him closer to God in many ways. From his time after his captivity, he swore his devotion to making God a priority in his life and it has been that way since.

One of the other cool things from his book was the story of the two Delta Snipers I've spoken about before (Gary Gordon and Randy Shugart), who knowing that they would be stepping into a death pit, begged to be released on the ground from a hovering Blackhawk so they could provide support to Durants fallen chopper and crew. I'm still blown away at Durants recount of how they were both so very calm, despite bullets flying around them and people getting closer and closer. Even when he heard Gordon yell, "I'm hit" , it wasn't a shreak, it was matter-of-factly as if to say "dang"as if he was annoyed. These guys were extremely brave and both obviously earned their post-humous Medals of Honor.

But something interesting Mike Durant found. Upon his arrival home and his rehabilitation, he was asked to come to Gary Gordon's hometown in Maine to speak at a memorial for Gary. When he arrived in the town, he stopped by the local library to check out a book on the Medal of Honor so he could do a little research. He noticed it seemed the book was pretty old, but had not been used much. As he looked at the check-out card, he noticed that years ago, a person by the name of Gary Gordon checked out the book. I'm not sure if he did research or what, but he claimed it was Gary who had checked it out last, when he was a teenager.

So that begged the question, what makes a hero? I believe that heros are born and are within some of us and we just don't know it. Guys that join the military, and especially those that are hard-core committed, say like a Gordon or a Shugart, are people think that have what it takes to be a hero. They're calm under pressure and they think clearly. They have something inside of them that is selfless and proud.

I'm proud of those that choose to truly serve our country, not just get into it to get some schooling paid, or free room and board for a few years (although I'm still grateful for those people at least making a commitment to something), but those that believe in what America does, should, and could stand for. People bitch about our country (and I think most of it comes from within our borders), but I'd like to see someone point out to me a better country and how much greater they have it there. When they do, I'll tell them to pack their bags and get their ass over there and enjoy the rest of their days. I'm not going anywhere.

/rant

Thankful

On this day of thanksgiving, I want to post some of the things I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for my wife. She puts up with so much of my crap and I really owe her so much for it. She is beautiful in every way. I love so much that she is my partner and always will be. I am excited to live a life with her and hope to make it more adventurous for both of us.

I'm thankful for my children. They provide so much motivation for me to want to be a better person. I love them so much and am so excited to see them every day.

I'm thankful for all of my family. They mean so much to me and I hope to gain a better closeness with all of them.

I'm thankful for my faith in God. As much as I slip up so much and don't always represent being a true Christian, I believe in what I believe for a reason that is so deep and personal to me, I could not describe it in words and I know I will be forgiven as long as I strive to be a good person and do what is right.

I'm thankful for my friends.

I'm thankful for my health (so far) and I hope to stop taking it so much for granted.

I'm thankful for a job.

I'm thankful for this beautiful state I live in. It has so many things to offer if you are one that enjoys the outdoors.

I'm thankful for this great nation we live in. It may seem so bleak and screwed up for a lot of people, but in the end I cannot think of another place in this world I'd rather live than my country.

Lastly, I'm reading the book "In the Company of Heros" which was written by Michael Durant, who was the only surviving member of his Blackhawk crew in the story known as "Blackhawk down", which took place in Mogadishu back in 1993. In the crash he broke his back and leg and had his eye-socket broken by what he reluctantly recalls as one of his crew members body parts (likely an arm), which an angry mob swung at him after the crash. He was then rescued by the very militia they were fighting, from the angry mob and held captive for 11 days with little food and little medical care.

I had read the book Blackhawk Down, by Mark Bowden, and it was a great read, but it covered so many stories of that event. This one is great because it's more detailed about this one guys story. I'm not done with the book, but it describes his reaction to being rescued by these two heroes, Gary Gordon and Randy Shugart, two US Army Delta snipers who begged to be put on the ground so they could provide some protection for any possible survivors of Durants crash. It was a sure death sentence, but they didn't flinch at the idea.

I also finished a great book called "Lone Survivor", about a Navy seal's amazing tale of survival in the high mountains of Afghanistan.

Both of these books have been the quickest reads I've ever read. I cannot believe how quickly I read the Lone Surivior book (I think in a week?) and I've read 116 pages so far in 3 days.

I'm grateful for members of our military and those that serve honorably with the true resolve to defend our country and fight for freedom and safety for all those involved.

Busier than I thought I would be

So, I've been pretty busy since Bailey was born, especially with it being Football season. She came on the second day of two-a-days, which somehow made me only miss one practice (a morning session). Alene was so good about allowing me to run off and tend to those duties.

I'm so thankful that I have a job that provides paternity leave. I get 1 week off for every year I've been with the company. I've been with them for 10 years, so you do the math.

Before the basement flood, I imagined my paternity leave days being filled with mountain biking in the mornings and lounging around catching up on sleep. It's been the exact opposite, but I honestly wouldn't want it any other way.

Anyway, Coaching is going well. I call the offense for the team this year, which is a different thing for me, being that I've been a defensive coordinator for the past 6 years I've coached. Our team is 1-1. We lost our first game 12-18 due to some bad turnovers by our RB's (3 fumbles), however one of the RB's ended up rushing for 274 yards and 2 TD's. Our second game was fun because we were down 6-20 at halftime, but in the second half we were able to use 4 of our sophomores that play up on Varsity (they are only allowed to play 1/2 of the Soph game, so we picked the second half). We ended up coming from behind to win 34-27 with these guys helping us out. They all start on the Varsity right now, so you can say it's a little disadvantage, but they're all still legitimate sophomores, so no skin off our back. We have a huge rivalry game with Highland this week. We have 6 kids that formerly played at Highland in their little league program, so it will be fun to see how that pans out.


Here is what my average day is like:

7am (ish) get up and get Caiden up, showered, and help him pick out clothes for school. Make his lunch and get him some breakfast.

8am (ish), lounge around with Alene and Bailey. Check email, waste time surfing the net. Prepare stuff for football (re-do depth chart, plan practice for that day, make notes on things that need to be improved)

9/10am to 1pm (ish) Work on the basement and try to get it ready. So far I have all the rooms sheetrocked and ready for paint except for the laundry room (not a big area) and the main room, which IS a big area, but should be easy.

2pm, leave for practice. Try to stay sane dealing with 34, 15 year olds

5:30pm, leave practice and head to Caiden's practice (which I'm an assistant coach on his team) which has already started

6-7:30pm, help coach 21, 8-9 year olds, which is even harder than the 15 year olds.

A couple of times a week I don't work on the basement and just go into work. I have to check in a couple of times as well as be available via my cell phone and the email I get on it.

Friday's can be even crazier because I'm at practice from 2:30 to 5, then break for dinner, then at the Varsity game from 6pm to 10pm or so. Saturday's are filled with Caiden's FB games and BYU FB games. There isn't a weekend this fall that is available until the end of November. It's hectic, but I LOVE it.

Anyway, it is a blast, but I feel bad for the time Alene and I don't have. She is very good about it, but it is hard for her too. I know she wants to support me, but it isn't easy.

We were able to take some time out on Saturday night and go to a drive-in movie with Bailey. We had the truck bed all decked out and cozy. It was a ton of fun and I look forward to doing it again, and next time I'll remember to get pictures.

It's peanut butter jelly time

It's been a while since I've blogged. Mostly because I've been pretty busy, despite not having to work a lot since Bailey was born. She's just over 3 weeks old now and we're having fun just getting to know her more. Still, I thought I'd get more sleep than I'm getting, or more time for resting and naps and fun stuff like that. Even though Alene gets up with her every night (especially every 2-3 hours every night), I still wake up with her and don't really fall back asleep until Bailey stops crying, or sometimes I have so much on my mind I can't fall back asleep.

So, not as much sleep. Also, I'm coaching football, which takes a lot of time, but not just high school, I'm also an assistant on Caiden's team, so every day I'm gone from 2pm to close to 8pm coaching football. I still have to check into work a couple of times a week to get some stuff done there. AND, I'm trying to get our basement finished. I've got all the rooms mudded and almost ready for paint except for the main living room, where I have to take out our old heat stove and I'm replacing it with a gas fireplace.

Anyway, I really want to blog about Alene and how wonderful of a mother she has been. I honestly can't say enough about how great she is. When I whine about not getting enough sleep, I whine for both of us really, but more for her. She is the one getting up every 2-3 hours through out the night with Bailey, but here is the thing, she NEVER complains. Not one bit and she does it with an almost glee about her, like she's excited to take care of our baby. I could not ask for a better mother for our child. The thing is she could whine to me if she wanted to because she deserves it, but she never does. If it were me and I had to get up, I'd kind of be grumpy or something. Not her. She's amazing and we don't deserve her.

Bailey is amazing too. I really can see the bond she is forming with Alene. When Alene talks, she just stares at her forever. Bailey loves here so much and obviously depends on her, but she's just so cute when she's mesmerized by her mommy talking to her. I love it too when Bailey cracks a little smile. She definitely has the beautiful smile that her mom has.

Caiden has been busy with football and school. He has games every Saturday and practices 3 nights a week. It's nice for him to be able to get up, get dressed, breakfast, make lunch (usually PB&J or a turkey sandwich), and have him walk off to school with the neighbors. A few kids on his team go to his school and are even in his class, so that's nice for him to start off a new school with kids he knows. The only tough part that I'm not sure how to deal with, is that he had an incident where he was chased home by a couple of bullies yesterday. I still don't know how to deal with that. My first obvious reaction is to tell him to stand his ground and fight them, but I know it's the wrong thing. We're going to see if anything happens again. If it does, we'll take action by contacting the school, but other than that, I hope the kids chasing him were just playing around and Caiden just took them too serious.

This is life though.

Down in the dumps

It's amazing what life throws at you from time to time. Alene, Caiden and I just took our last camping trip before the baby comes (and likely of the rest of the year because Football takes up pretty much from August to December) and we came home to an absolute disaster.

So, we left for Joes Valley on Saturday morning around 9:45am. We arrived back at home in SLC on Sunday around 5:30 and were greeted by our basement with this:












(Yes, that's a window well full of water)





I was stunned and I thought for sure this wasn't happening. You see, we've been VERY busy lately with the bedroom/closet remodel, birthing classes, family get-togethers and life in general. I had PROMISED Alene that once we did this last camping trip, all we had to do was just relax every night and get the baby's room ready. I really wanted so badly for Alene to be able to relax and have a stress-free birth (which is somewhat vital in doing a natural birth). So, yes, needless to say I was stunned and almost lost it. I could not believe what was ahead of us.

First of all, we had not finished un-packing, so all of our un-packed boxes were in the basement. In addition to this, we had purchased this new Ikea bookshelf that extended all the way to the floor. All the books on that level were destroyed, including my photo albums from when I was younger, my high school yearbooks, my coaching books and countless other things. Moving on, Alene's laptop was soaked in water AND all her papers from her school work, journals from her archaeology dig, my baby box, which included all my pictures from growing up, momentos, etc. all of it soaked and pretty much destroyed.

The good news is I have great family and great neighbors. I called my brother Russ and he and Billy (who was staying with us, but had to stay with Russ while we were gone), rushed over and helped us get a lot of the stuff out of the basement. The thing that was driving me nuts though was even though I'd bail the water out of the window well, I'd still get more water filling up. This told me for sure that it was a main water line break. I shut off the main water and it all stopped flowing in.

My next door neighbor (Allen) just recently retired from the Jordan water district and happened to have all the tools, parts, and know-how to get us fixed. Along with him were some great guys from our ward that dug down to the main (about 5' down), then they spent a good 4 hrs trying to get the threads lined up on the coupling part they put on. I felt so badly for them. Allen was sicker than a dog and bound and determined to get the pipe threads lined up. At one point he jumped out of the hole, ran home and puked. I told him he should stop now and I'd get someone out tomorrow. He insisted on one last shot at it and low and behold, he got it fixed. This was 11:30pm. I was so relieved I was going to be able to take a shower.


Neighbor fixing the water main break

Anyway, we also had the rest of the ward all over the place taking wet clothing and blankets over to their houses to wash and dry everything. I cannot express my thanks enough how great they were. If we had done this on our own, I would probably barely be getting that main line fixed as I type this. They were fantastic and I've never seen a ward respond so quickly to help (this, without me even asking for it). It was overwhelming at times because they were doing a lot of things we didn't want them to do, like lay out stuff to dry that we would have just junked anyway. But still, they wanted to help out and they were awesome. I still cannot believe how lucky we were to have them here helping out.





So, the damage is done. We had Utah Disaster Kleanup out that evening and for 5 hours they sucked up water and extracted the carpets along with tearing out the old padding. Those guys worked their tails off to get the job done too. Disaster Kleanup came out again today to remove the carpet (it's totaled) and they'll be out tomorrow to tear out 2' up from the bottom of the drywall. The insurance guy will be out on Wednesday to assess damage and cut us a check for all of it. I really hope it's an honest assessment.

This sucks but we're getting past it and just going to deal with it. I've got to try to look at the bright side and realize how lucky I was to have great neighbors. No way this would have happened at my old house.

Here is a video tour of the damage.

Honoring the Past

I'm very proud of my grandparents. My dad's father worked as a supervisor during WWII building cannons for the battle ships. I remember when we was younger (around 9 or 10 in fact, it's in my journal), going to the Sacramento Delta with my grandparents where there were two giant battle ships that were brought into port for show (they were obviously retired). My grandpa Root specifically pointed out the giant cannons on these guns and how he used to work in factories that built them. He was quite proud of the job he did, as was I.

Later on, I learned that my mom's dad "Grandpa Pete", was in the Army Air Corps when he was fresh out of high school and he fought in many battles during the war (Pacific), one of which he was shot twice. I was blown away that my grandpa pete had been a soldier in the war, that he actually saw battle.

On a particular visit with us, my mom asked if he would sit down and talk about his experience in the war and what he went through. My grandpa was always a very easy-going type and fun to be around (the dude is 85...or is it 86?? and he's still maintaining an acre plot filled with a garden, christmas trees, etc.) and it was odd to me to think that he was one of those soldiers you see in remake movies and TV shows; he just didn't seem to be that type.

Anyway, he went on to tell us that he had just served in a few battles in the pacific and was on leave in seattle it seemed? He said there was a cargo plane heading out to an un-marked island to drop supplies to some of the guys there. He said they needed some help, so he volunteered to go along. He said they made their landing, dropped the supplies, then as they took off, their plane was shot. He had to jump from the plane at a low altitude with his parachute. He said as he parachuted down, he was shot twice. He landed, ditched the chute, then hid in the brush for a couple of days until more help arrived.

He talked about it so matter-of-factly. I often wonder what details he left out, or what kind of fear he remembers having. What were his thoughts, laying in the brush after having been shot?

Anyway, my brother Russ is wanting to make some sort of documentary on my grandpa. In making it, he sent my mom with his uniform and a description of all the medals on it.

I'm so proud of my ancestors and grateful for the example they've set for me. They were raised in a tough time and I think they will always be remembered as Tom Brokaw calls them, the "Greatest Generation".

Click on the link above each picture that will take you to a link with descriptions of each medal attached to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/root_family/2627467282/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/root_family/2626658575/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/root_family/2626657561/

I had a bad dream last night

I dreamed that I went to pick up my motorcycle (which is in the shop) and the mechanic said I'm going to need a whole new engine that I'm better off just junking the bike.

My bike is older (1979) and I'm hoping to get it running good enough to just get around town and save on some gas, but come on.....Seriously though, I woke up feeling horrible about it.