Playing in the snow (Ode to my sweet clothes)

I do love to play in the snow. I love the beautiful snow on the trees. I love laying on my back and letting the snow fall in my mouth. I especially love somersaulting in the snow (If you have never seen me somersault then you really missing out). While I think I have always loved playing in the snow I don't think I realized just how great it can be when you have the proper clothing.

I used to wear layers of clothes in order to put barriers between me and the snow, but the snow would eventually soak through and I would have to be done with my playing. However, a year ago I made a series of important purchases. I bought everything that I needed to be completely waterproofed and warm from head to toe. This week when I went to play in the snow I was able to lay on my back and let the snow fall in. I just lay there with my eyes closed listening to Florence and the Machine and enjoying the falling snow. The best part is that I got up when I was done enjoying the moment and not because I was cold.

This was a super pretty tree on my full moon hike. 

It is very out of place, but it looks like a small Christmas Tree.

I have spent this last week walking through the snow, testing the ice of the nearby pond, hiking solo at night, running through the trees in the moon light, and hot tubbing in the cold. One thing that all my adventures have in common during the winter is that I am always very warm. There are so many people who tell me that I shouldn't go camping or hiking in the snow because it's too cold. In fact I have been called crazy by more people than I can count. There is a simple concept that I have been trying to help people understand--You can control your own environment.

I found a sweet icicle on my run and practiced my sword fighting techniques while running 

I have learned that it doesn't matter how cold it is outside, it matters how cold it is against my skin. If I can stay dry and wear the right amount on layers then I am always warm. So those of you who are afraid of the cold or the winter remember that it is possible to stay warm in any situation. If you need any tips feel free to let me know. I have had a couple of friends recently put me in charge of helping them purchase a warm winter jacket so that they don't have to be so cold all the time. It is all about controlling your own environment. It is possible to stay warm.

Adventure Possibilities in 2014

I have been on several good adventures in the last couple weeks, including a good full moon hike, a great full moon run with a sword-like icicle and some quality hot tubbing in the snow. However my best story from the last couple of weeks involves adventure possibilities for 2014. It all starts when my friend Jeff had an interesting facebook post. (not my bff Jeff, but another friend Jeff)

Jeff works for Jet Blue and therefore has some pretty sweet flying perks. He flies for free, but he also gets to have someone else fly for free with him. I guess it is supposed to be some sort of spousal benefit, but since he doesn't have a spouse he needed to find someone else to fly for free. He can change that person every 12 months and it is coming time when he can change his travel buddy. Naturally he posted on facebook that anyone could try and convince him to be his travel buddy.

When I first saw the post the first thought I had was, "Some girl is going to get super lucky to be able to fly for free for a year." But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be a mistake for him to choose a girl. If he was dating the girl that would be cool, but even then can be iffy depending on how long the relationship lasted. If he wasn't dating the girl then that would mean he would get to here how she liked other guys on their trips together. Or maybe he could hear how great her boyfriend was, which really would just mean that they proly wouldn't be travel buddies anymore, they would just travel separately. 

Once I realized it would be a mistake for him to choose a girl I knew I had a good chance. In his facebook post he mentioned that when we tried to convince him we could use things like hotel benefits to sway his opinion. Recently my parents bought into a resort benefits program that their children can also take advantage of. It means that I can stay at a whole bunch of resorts all over for super cheap. I knew this would be almost too much for Jeff to pass up.

I then realized that my best evidence was that I was a great wingman and adventure buddy. I have proved over and over again that I can back a guy up in any situation. I also am adventurer at heart. If Jeff chooses me as an adventure buddy this year he will go on more adventures than he has ever been on. He will also go on different adventures. He will get a chance to see someone of the most beautiful parts of nature. He will get invited on some great trips that will be hard to pass up.

Once I realized all this and made my case to Jeff I was much more optimistic that he would choose me to be his travel buddy for this next year. Of course there have been several other people who have made a good pitch to him also. I realize that it may still be a long shot, but my adventures in 2014 just might be the best of my life if I can just be Jeff's travel buddy. If any of you readers of this blog feel that I have been a good adventure buddy feel free to comment on why. I will make sure that Jeff reads this blog with the comment section. 

Old Books and Old Friends

I have been to many parties recently where I have run into old friends. It seems the question I keep getting from my friends is:

 “What’s new?”

 They could just be making conversation, but I think they often want to know how my life has changed since they have last seen me. The answer that I have been giving is:

 “Honestly, not much. I still have the same job, I still go on lots of adventures and I still chill with quality peeps.”

 This is me on an adventure last Saturday with some old friends

The more I have thought about though, the more I realize that I have added a couple of things to my life the last six months or so. The first, which will not be address in this blog, is online deal shopping. The second is my discovery of audiobooks and becoming rededicated to reading.

The catalyst for all of this is actually an interesting one. At work I changed teams where I take phone calls half the day and the other half of the day I respond to instant message chats. Doing the chats is way better than the phones for several reasons. First, it is considerably less emotional taxing. Second, it isn’t nearly as busy. Most importantly, it doesn't require much concentration or my ears so I can listen to what I want.

Naturally when I started on this team I started watching everything on Netflix.  Then I ran out of good things to watch on Netflix. It turns out there aren't very many good movies on there and I didn't want to start anymore TV series. Eventually my old roommate changed his Netflix password, so then I had considerable amounts of downtime to fill. So I started reading. I have always loved reading. I definitely read in waves though. I go several months without reading then I will read a whole bunch in a few weeks. The big problem with reading was that I kept having to find my place and it is a little tedious. So, naturally I turned to the library for solutions.

I have listened to about 30 – 40 audiobooks since then. I have also read about 10 regular books (you know, the ones with words on pages). Since I started going through so many books I have decided that for every two new books I read I will read an old one. I have reread some favorites from childhood in addition to greats that I have enjoyed in the past few years.  I have also tried to add several non-fiction books into the mix to make sure that I was learning new things. It has been a great ride.

In my life I have always love new things, I think most of us do.  However, the lesson that I have learned once again is best put by this saying, “Make new friends but keep the old ones; one is silver and the other's gold”. I have always tried to reserve my Sunday evenings for keeping in touch with old friends. Sometimes I drop a friend’s apartment if I haven’t seen them in a while, or I will call an old friend on the phone. It is always good to keep in touch with old friends.

I have learned similar lessons about books. Reading a new book is fun and exciting, just like new friends. But reading an old book is like a warm blanket, it makes you feel content and happy. It is well worth devoting time to feeling feelings that made me feel alive as a youth, or enjoying a ride with a beloved character who feels just like an old friend.  I have recently once again joined my good friends on an adventure that I have never forgotten. Friends such as:  Ender and Bean, Theo and Mickle, Rina and Isi, Jack Ryan and John Kelly, Harry and Hermione. These old friends from old books have kept me occupied this autumn.

I love old friends and old books, but the more time I spend with both, the more I wonder; is there really a difference?

This is part of my birthday adventure when I listened to "Forest Born" again.

I do love my adventures with Rina-girl.

Running in the Snow

I realized recently that there are several things that I enjoy doing that have a high activation energy, and so I don’t do them very often. I love to run, I love how it makes me feel. The feeling of the wind past my face and the freedom of being outside in nature is great, running is wonderful. Something else that I have enjoyed doing in the past is writing. I’m not a great writer, I much prefer speaking to writing. However, writing is something that I enjoy that I haven’t done for a long time. So here I am writing again about my run today.

Today is my day off and so I felt there were some things that I needed to do. I’m not like other people who run ‘errands’ on their day off. I rarely, if ever, have errands to run except for going to the library (if that counts). I started the day by finishing reading “Ender’s Game” for the 6^th or 7^th time (I don’t really keep track). I then decided I needed to do something active. I’m not the kind of person who exercises for my physical wellbeing, though I certainly see those benefits. I exercise for my emotional health more than anything else. I like how I feel inside when I run, hike, swim or any other physical activity.

So I decided to go running today. It snowed a bit this week here in the valley and I haven’t spent much quality time out in the beautiful snow yet. So I put on my running shoes and started running. I run almost the same route every time, which I realize would get boring if I ran with any frequency. I always run through the trees near my apartment. I love to run through the trails and by the ponds. My route often takes me to duck under branches and dodge around trees. It is great being out there. My favorite pond was frozen over with some amazing ice crystal designs, so I took a couple of pics to share with you.

Here is my favorite pond, I visit it often

I do love the ice crystals on the pond, they're great

While I was on my run I wondered why I don’t run more often. I go on a lot of adventures, some involve hiking and others don’t get my heart rate up as much. I think exercise is one of those things that takes discipline because it never sounds fun when I am thinking about it, but it always turns out great for me in the long run. There are a lot of others things like that in my life. I am working on adopting more of them into my schedule to try and make a regular part of my life.

My Brother, the State Champion

This year I had a great opportunity to coach a championship lacrosse team. I coached for Orem High where my brother Dave is caption of the defense. I actually didn't start coaching at the beggining of the year. I went to his first couple home games and sat on the sideline and cheered and tried not to give too much advice. After a few games the team was having a losing season again. My mom told me that my brother had never been on a team with a winning season. It was then that I decided to try and help out with the team.

My brother Pete was helping coach the defense, and my speciallty was in offense and face-offs, so I decided to see if I could help the offensive players. I started going to practice and the games. I focused on the three attack players and the face-off specialist. I spent quite a bit of time figuring out the strengths of each of these players. I then felt that I understood each of them well enough to help them become better. So I went to work.

During the next few games I had several frustrations with the team, but I also had several victories. I was able to make comments that I felt really made a difference and helped the offensense score more goals. The team started to improve quite a bit, but I still felt that they were missing something. Then for the last regular season game they played an undefeated team. I thought they stood a chance at winning, but it was going to be rough. I was out of town for the game so I didn't see it, but Orem won 18-6. I was shocked. When I came back and went to practice the attitude had changed. They no longer were just there to win a couple of games, they wanted so much more. I wasn't sure how deep there commitment was yet. Then a seemingly insignificant thing happened that I think showed quite a bit.

The coach was announcing at practice which players had been voted all conference. He started by saying that there was one disappointment. He said that since there were so many players from our team that won he thinks that made so one player didn't make it. He said that my brother dave missed it by one vote. My brother promptly responded that it doesn't matter. He said, "Just take state. Just win state, that is all I need. I don't need any recognition, just win state." The thing that surprised me so much is that he meant it. He really didn't need anyone to tell him he was good, he was so focused on the team winning state that personal regonition didn't matter at all. It was then that I realized that my brother was so focused on winning the state championship that I knew if that attitude would spread to enough of the team then they could do it.

I soon found that it seemed that most of the starting players seemed to have caught some of this attitude. (I am not saying that it started with Dave, there were definetly a couple of other players that I thought had developed this attitude earlier in the season just as my brother had.) Soon most of the team was on fire. The tournament started with an easy game, but the team took it seriuosly and had a blowout victory. The next game was a tough one, but was well fought and won. Then came the team that Orem had previously beat 18-6. It wasn't as easy this time, but the team pulled out a 7-5 victory to put them into the championship game.

Then came time for the championship game. My brother was so focused. He worked so hard and went over and over in his mind how the defense was going to play. He made sure he set a good example for the defense and then he made encouraging and helpful comments to help his teammates improve. All season long he took personal responsibility for ever point that scored on his defense. Yet every time the defense played well he was quick with praise for his fellow teammates and for my brother Pete the coach of the defense. It was so great to see my youngest brother become a great leader. He was someone who could lead his team to a victory. He was someone who was focused enough that I believed that it could happen.

The championship game started out the same way every game started, with the other team scoring first. I was definitely nervous, but I trusted my guys on offense and I knew my brother Dave was going to make sure the defense held their end of the field. I reviewed with each player on the offensive end what their job was and how they would score. Then it happened. We scored. Then we scored again, and again. I usually don't cheer at sporting events, but I was screaming from the coaches box every time we scored. I needed my guys to know that they were playing it perfect. Each one of them was doing their job. At the half the score was 9-2 for Orem High. I walked around and gave encouragement to the whole team, because they were all playing so well. They pulled through to the end of the game winning 15-9.



When the final whistle blew and the team stormed the field along with a mass of fans I had such an incredible feeling. They had done it. There had been some mistakes along the way, but that day Orem High showed that they had the best lacrosse team in the state. It felt so good to be a part of that amazing experience. The energy from the crowd was so incredible. The celebration that followed was as diverse as it was powerful. Some yelled at the top of their lungs (my bro Dave) some had huge smiles on their faces, others were very teary eyed. Whatever the method of celebrating the victory the message was the same--"We did it!"

That is a day that I will not soon forget. Nor will I forget the countless practices that my brother worked his hardest and encouraged others to do the same. I will always remember how several people on the team stepped up and decided that this year was their year. It was great to see so many people grow so much this year on that team. I especially will always remember my brother Dave. This was not just the year that he became a state champion, this was the year that he became a great leader. I hope he can continue to be a great leader throughout the rest of his life. Dave--congratulations, I am so proud of you.

Pictures

As many of my readers know, I don't take a lot of pictures. My blog is one of text rather than full of photos. Several people have questioned me about this policy on not taking pictures and I realize I have many reasons that I don't take pictures, but recently I have realized another reason. Let me discuss this reason along with my day yesterday.

Last night I was on a beautiful full moon hike with a beautiful girl. We got to the top of my favorite cliff up Dry Canyon and the view was incredible. The girl I was with said it was an amazing view then quickly followed it up by say, "I can't believe that you don't take pictures!" I was kind of taken aback by this statement. I had told her a few days before some reasons that I don't take many pictures, but it was interesting that upon being confronted with an amazing view the first thing on her mind was why I didn't take pictures.

I have several small reasons that I don't take pictures and so none of the reasons stands alone as being convincing, but I want to speak about one reason that I gave my friend on the night hike. I try and spend a lot of time in the outdoors and see beautiful sights often. Pictures can be good to help remind me of a particular occasion or to show others how I do awesome things. However, I want to keep a store of beautiful images in my mind from all the wonderful views that I have seen. Because I don't have a camera that takes good pictures, I spend extra time trying to experience each view. I try and soak it up and remember it, I try and remember the smell the feel, the temperature, the colors, the emotions, and the place. I love remembering such images in my mind and reliving them. I know that I could still do this if I had a camera, but think the mindset is different. People who have a camera on a hike are often looking for a good shot or a good view. I am looking for experiences to have and images to remember. In short, I am too busy experiencing the out-of-doors to spend much time capturing a pathetic copy in picture form.

I do try and to my best to experience life to the fullest and remember those experiences. I think I will record some thoughts and experiences from my day yesterday to help me remember and help you to understand what I am busy doing.

I woke up way to early in a tent next to two of my best friends. We enjoyed some time around the fire. Chatted for a while then packed up and headed out. I had enough time to shower before I went to help coach my brother's lacrosse team. It was the quarter-final game in the state tournament and it was close all game long. In the end, Orem pulled out a victory and advanced to the semi-finals. I think they have a really good chance at taking state this year.

I then went and shoveled some horrible smelling compost for my parents. I could only help for a few minutes because I was going rock climbing with my rock climbing buddy (everybody needs a rock climbing buddy). We hiked up Rock Canyon a little ways and set up the rope on the tallest wall that I have ever done. It was a different sort of climb, but it was still challenging. It was scary to look down after I was more than half way to the top, but I kept on going. After we each climbed that wall we went to an easier wall so that I could practice speed. I was able to get to the top much quicker by taking chances and just forcing my way up even though I didn't know if there was a good hand hold up farther. After I did that a couple times we moved to a wall nearby that had a super hard part. Brian tried it and fell three or four times before he got past the obstacle, and when he came down he said, "I don't think that you can do it, not in your Chacos anyway." (I don't have rock climbing shoes so I climb in my Chacos which are sandals.) So naturally I needed to climb the wall. I did fall three or four times at the obstacle and by the time I reached the top I was bleeding from every appendage, but it was so worth it. It was my best day rock climbing ever.

After a much needed nap I went to my old ward's opening social BBQ. I enjoyed chatting with old friends, playing ultimate and, of course, a sweet BBQ. I then went to my new ward's opening social and enjoyed meeting new people and participating in the random activities. I also enjoyed exploring the park, because I hadn't been there in a long time and it is such a good park. After my ward activity I was really worn out, so my roommate Jason and I decided that we should spend a few minutes defending the world from alien attack. After killing several aliens some girls dropped by to visit us, so we put away childish things. We decided that a dance party needed to happen. So we were dancing it up when more people dropped by. It soon became a great event. I had to cut it relatively short because last night was a full moon and I never miss going on a full moon hike when there is a full moon.

So, like I said at the beginning. I went on a beautiful full moon hike with a beautiful girl. We had a great time spending time together and had so much fun chatting and enjoying the views. Overall yesterday was a great day, one to be remembered. I don't have a single picture taken from a camera from yesterday, but I can say that I have many wonderful images in my brain that are coupled with emotion and other senses that helped me remember what a great day it was. I hope I can keep adding to the store of wonderful memories so I always can have an amazing view if I just close my eyes and remember.

No Man is an Island

Yesterday was my Grandmother’s funeral. This is my second grandmother to die this year. I am now officially out of grandmothers. I had several good thoughts at the funeral in January which I already wrote about. This funeral I had very different thoughts, but still very important to my life. The thought that kept going through my mind during the viewing and the funeral is the impact that my Grandma Williams had on this world. She is a very small woman--she may have been less than 5 feet when she died. She may have been small, but she had a huge impact on hundreds of lives.

It was repeated several times that she was a piano teacher for more than 70 years. I can’t imagine doing anything consistently for that long. She directed orchestras, bands and choirs all over the country. I just kept thinking of all the good that she did because of her love for music. She helped so many to learn how to play and love music. Music was her passion that she spread to so many.

In addition to her love for music affecting so many, I also thought about her love for the gospel. She raised her family in a small town in northern Michigan. There was a small branch of the church that had an organ but no one to play it. The branch president told the missionaries to go and baptize an organ player. Two weeks later my grandma started coming to church to play the organ for the branch. Her decision to join the church has helped so many people live happier lives. Her ripple effect is felt by so many and will continue through generations to come.

Her humor will be remembered for a long time also. Even with her failing health she always had a joke. She enjoyed a good prank every now and then also. Her last thing she said to a non-family member before she passed away was a joke to her doctor. She always liked to keep people on their toes.

I have had some time to think about how she affected me in my life. She always made me think that I shouldn’t take life to seriously. She always had a simple solution for every problem, whether it was a good solution or not. She led a very simple life and she truly enjoyed it. She has helped me to understand that I can have a great impact on the lives of others. I hope that I can always remember that I am affected by others and I affect others in turn. I hope that I can live my life so that others are better because I am around them, because after all, no man is an island.