Whoops

Apparently I missed yesterday.   Whoops.

Day 15 video


I've liked Adele since she got way popular like a year or two ago, but I think she's so much better in an acoustic setting.

Old School

Day 14

DDL talking about what is quite possibly my favorite movie ever... in 1992

205# C&J fail

This was my first time trying 205# on a Clean and Jerk.  I hit 195# just before, but couldn't get 205#. 
I will get it soon.

Griffin House

via my friend Krystale

I love me some Star Wars

Day 11
This feels like a chore... I'll probably make it to day 30 and not post again for a long time... but then I find videos like this that make me laugh.  A lot.

How and why we read

I've been reading a little more lately... and I love it.

My video for day 10

Paul Harvey and Farmers

Day 9

I honor of Patricia's slow dance party tonight...

Day 8

I like this video:



typical BYU!

Yup

Hurt

This is probably my favorite performance from an "award" show - ever.

Helping others

Day 5

This is from the 1992 Olympics, and in light of some nasty stuff that happened today, I just want to think about the people who rush to help when bad stuff happens, and how I want to be that kind of person.

Search for Truth

“Mormonism is truth. … The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or … being … prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men.”

Sometimes I have questions of faith, but this idea always keeps me going.  One thing (among many) which I love about my religion is that we embrace ALL truth, regardless of source.

30 days of videos: Day 3

This video definitely falls into the "Huh???" category.  While the video is interesting, and kinda cool, what is even more interesting to me is that they got Kate Mara, a real actress, to be in it.  How'd they pull that off?  Do they (the director/producer/writer/actors) know Kate?  Know her agent?  She doesn't even have any lines ('course, nobody does...)  Anyway, here's the video of the day:

Day 2

So I'm doing this 30 days of video thing... and I thought about this new movie trailer I saw today that made me laugh. I think it looks good...

30 days of videos: Day 1

So its been a long time since I posted anything on the blog.  Part of this is caution: I don't want to say something inadvertently offensive, and it seems there are a lot of very uptight people that just need to relax.  Besides, if I'm going to offend someone, I mean to do it intentionally!

Another reason for the delay is just that "meh" feeling in life.  I work, workout, try to develop friendships/relationships... and time just flies by.  I have been trying to read more, trying to be more grateful for the blessings I have in my life, trying to express that gratitude to those who let me be part of their lives, and trying to come to grips with what I want to achieve with my life.  (You know, the same things everyone struggles with, regardless of marital status, children, job, etc.).

So here's something I've decided to do.  I'm going to post cheesy/inspirational/what?!? videos for 30 days.  If you want, you can watch them too.  I invite you to come with me on this adventure into my thoughts.

Day 1

Today's clip comes from Fast and Furious 3: Tokyo Drift.  This is actually the only Fast and Furious movie I haven't watched all of, but Han's a smart guy.

"Its trust and character I need around me.  Who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are."

"Life's simple: you make choices and you don't look back."
 

Punkin' Chunkin' 2012

Saturday I went to Punkin' Chunkin', the annual contest to find out who can toss a pumpkin the furthest.  It had been on my list of things to do for awhile, and yesterday I finally got to go.

Woke up early, drove out with some friends, and had breakfast at this great diner named Jimmy's.  Then we made it to the punkin' chunkin', where we got stuck in the mud (I wasn't driving, nor were we in my T-ruck), got pulled out by some cool dudes using a bobcat, then pushed some other guy out of the mud when he was driving too close to a pond.

The contest itself was cool, but we arrived too late for the catapults and trebuchets.  Instead, we got to see the big air cannons, which can propel the pumpkins close to a mile away.  It was cool watching them fly.

The weather, however, was not particularly cooperative.  It was cold, and the wind was blowing right in our faces.  I'd guess the windchill was mid-twenties, so after about 2 hours we were done.  I got a nice pumpkin funnel cake, then we drove back.  By the time we got home I was quite beat.  All in all a pretty sweet experience, and I hope to go back.

Back to Utah

My buddy Dave and I decided to head back to Provo, UT, for the BYU homecoming game a week ago.  I had been back to Utah since leaving 5 years ago - once for a quick family reunion in Park City, once to run the St. George marathon - but hadn't had much time for just hanging out, wandering around, doing fun things that I used to do.  Certainly not time for a BYU game at the Lavell Edwards Stadium.

So I flew in Thursday morning, drove around SLC for a bit, and went to lunch with some friends from L-3 I hadn't seen in forever.  Then I went hiking over by Lone Peak, but kept getting lost in the foothills before the true ascension began.  Someday... maybe.  But it did provide great views of the Draper temple.

I hung around with my sister Staci, taking her out for hot cocoa, dinner, and some groceries.  I also met up with Shanno Smith.  We drove up Mill Creek canyon in SLC.  I had been worried I wouldn't see any pretty leaves in Utah, but Shanno delivered, and Mill Creek was gorgeous.

Then I drove up Parley's to Park City, and past Kamas into the Uintas a bit, but some heavy rain made me say "Why am I doing this?" and turn around to go back to Provo.  Heber looked like it hadn't changed a bit since I last saw it 4 years ago.

I went to the BYU alumni center thinking they'd give me the inside scoop on Homecoming alumni activities - completely unhelpful.  They might get an email/letter sometime soon about the level of disappointment I feel.  Then I went and said "Hi" to Professor (Megan) Oka, who I hometaught at BYU a long time ago, and who was with me in Lubbock getting her PhD.

Saturday was the game, and I spent the day wandering around BYU with Dave and his family.  We had amazing seats, and BYU played well through 3 quarters and a bit.  Being back there was a blast.  I went to dinner with Dave's family (Staci was on a date at the same restaurant - it was pretty funny), made a quick run over to Diego's Tacos, saw Josh and Erica Redding, and Saturday was over.

Sunday I woke up, checked outta my hotel, met Staci for church, said hi to my friend Kirtley, then went up the Alpine loop until the witching time, and I had to head back.  Dropped my sister off, told her not to be too promiscuous, and took off for the airport.

All told, a great trip.  Got to see friends, had time to bum around in Utah, breath the clear mountain air, see beautiful fall leaves, and realize how much I still love Utah.

Adventure of the Day: Mountain Biking near Strasburg, VA

Last Saturday T-Rav* and I took off and went mountain biking near Strasburg, VA. It was pretty amazing.

First of all, where is Strasburg?  Here it is:

It was about an hour drive from our homes here in Arlington.  We got out there with this idea, "Hey, lets go mountain biking..." and we were kinda thinking of going to West Virginia, but Trav had gone hiking in this area before so we decided to give it a shot.

First we stopped in at the nearby Front Royal visitor's center and asked where some good mountain biking could be had.  They gave us some directions, and we took off for the nearby National Forest.

So we're driving through this wooded area, see a couple parking lots/turnoffs, and finally pick this one.  We get out, get changed into our biking gear, say hi to this dude and his family in the parking lot, then start riding.  Basically we rode straight uphill on a fire road for 2-3 miles, then we hit this cool little trail that crossed some creeks.  Eventually, made it to the far side of the ridge, rode uphill a little more, then hit the Strasburg Reservoir.

We met this couple there, who told us that if we went up the fireroad it would eventually get us back to our car.  Well, it didn't.  We just kept going up, and up, and up.  Eventually I called uncle and we started pushing, at which point it got even steeper.  We finally got to 'the top' of the road at this old tower, and met a Philmont Scout Ranch t-shirt wearing BoyScout leader who told us which way to go. 

So we take off, and its a rough rough trail.  We basically carried our bikes for ~ 2 miles over boulders.  As we kept going uphill.  Oh, and it started to rain.  Finally, we started going downhill.

I don't, however, have Travis' balance, and fell several times.  I got ripped out of my seat by a root that grabbed by pedal.  My front tire locked up once on a rock and I went over the handle bars, resulting in the very first time ever that I've dented a bike helmet (I'm still debating if its bad enough to justify buying a new one).  Then, as we're creeping down the mountain, finally able to ride, we meet this hardcore mountain bike girl, who cruises by us like its just another day.  We'd been biking/hiking about 3 1/2 hours (12 miles ish) at this point, and were exhausted.  Still, she said we were almost there, and the trail got way better just ahead. She was right, although she sailed past us even when we were moving at a decent pace.

Back to the car, we downed some gatorade, got changed, and headed to Front Royal for some Roy Rodger's (a fast food chain we'd never heard of) and back to DC.

All told it was a pretty great trip, but it tore Travis and I up plenty.  I passed out for a couple hours when we got back, and found all sorts of cuts, bruises, etc. I hadn't known about.

A little competition

So on Saturday I participated in my first in-person Crossfit competition.  Back in February I had done a competition, but that was over the Internet kinda sorta.  This was in person against other guys that were physically present.

These kinda competitions are pretty frequent these days in Crossfit, but most of them are 2 day (Saturday-Sunday) events, and most of them are at least geared toward the 'best of the best'.  This was not.  It was supposed to be kinda an intro style event, and it was only on Saturday, so I was game to try it out.

It was up in Baltimore, and consisted of 3 events.  The first event was a 2000 meter row on a rowing machine.  The second was a maximum deadlift in 10 minutes.  The third event was as many rounds as you could do in 10 minutes of (10 burpees, 20 pullups, 30 situps, 40 kettlebell swings using a 53# kettlebell, 50 air squats, and 100 double unders on a jump rope).

My brother Matt, my sister-in-law Raquel, and my nephews drove up to Baltimore to watch me compete in the first 2 events, which was pretty cool.  Matt snagged some pretty cool photos/video of me competing.  Although I was nowhere near the top guys in the Row/Deadlift events, I hit personal bests in both, so I was pretty happy.

Here's a video my brother made of me on my final deadlift, setting a personal best of 365 pounds.  You'll see me give the 'I'm done' wave at the end right before the fist pump.  I figure, I set a PR, I'm calling it quits rather than going further and failing a lift.  Failing is where you can get hurt, and I think (especially in a competition) can be hard psychologically because it sets up a wall instead of a stepping stone later on.

The third event, I did the 20 pullups unbroken, slowed down a little on the KB swings, but then I couldn't get my jump rope going, and wasn't super happy about how I finished.

All told, it was a fun day.  I don't think I'll be doing too many of these in the future, mainly because they seem to focus on Saturday-Sunday competitions.  Also, I enjoy exercising to better myself, not necessarily to beat other people.  While sometimes its good to know where you are, and see what possibilities exist, I'm not sure I need it that often.