Changes, Chickens, and the "List."

So, like many many things in my life, I decided that I need to start over with the design of my blog.  Not that it was altogether worthless before I made the decision to revise things, but I think changes were in order.  So in the coming weeks I will make some changes as I try to construct something that will be a bit more interesting.

Speaking of changes, there are several other things I'd like to start changing - the carpet in our house, the wallpaper on the kitchen walls, all the sprinklers in our yard, the garage, the fact that I don't exercise regularly...  Yes, I realize I have lots of work to do.  On top of it all I have had the really weird desire to get a variance from the homeowner's association, build a really solid chicken coop, and buy some chickens.

Why, you ask, would I want to do that?  I have no clue, except that it seems like it would be a lot of fun, it could give the kids an experience they've not had before, it would provide an opportunity for dad and kids to work on a project together, it'll give me an excuse to use power tools, and it would be fun to tell people that I need to go out to the backyard to get eggs because there are no more in the refrigerator.

I looked around for a few coop designs online and found a few that were doable.  Here is my favorite example:

That is a pretty good looking chicken coop.  It would be fun to build one and let the kids help with the planning, building, and maintaining.  I brought up the idea of chickens to the kids and it was very well received.  Since then, Hams has been after me to let him help knock on a few doors around the neighborhood to start a variance campaign.  We live in the county, so my only concern is about the neighborhood CC&R's that limit "livestock" on our property.  Obviously I looked to see if there were any definitions or loopholes that might permit me to proceed with this project without the hassle of someone else's approval.  In the end, the best thing to do is make sure this project is begun only after the neighbors all know what I am up to.

I admit that my one worry is the approval process.  If push comes to shove, I'll take Hams with me and ask him to cry a little bit so everyone will feel bad and give the green light to a few (very quiet) chickens.

I hesitated initially to disclose my new potential project (even to Kara) because it may end up on "the list."  Yes, I have a list of things that I would like to do - but which I recognize may not occur until the kids are grown and gone - if at all.  Still, Kara encourages me to dream - even if my ideas are completely nuts.

I suppose we'll see what happens.  I know Hams won't let me forget about it.  Hopefully this winter will be filled with blog posts updating our progress on the coop.

Someday I'll....

If you are like me, you have started many a sentence with that phrase.  It is fun to think of all of the things I will do someday! (read with sarcasm).  Someday I'll...start that exercise program.  Someday I'll...fix that drain in the shower.  Someday I'll...clean the garage.  Someday I'll...stop watching so much television.  Someday I'll...lose weight.  Ok, fine, so I've never actually said that I will someday lose weight, but you get my point.

In my last blog post I talked about my fourth quarter comeback.  If I am truly serious about all this stuff, it means I'll be using the above phrase a lot less often.  Kara was off to California for a few days so rather than being lazy (which is what I really wanted to do) I decided to crack the whip.  I actually did clean the garage yesterday and crossed off a few other items from my honey-do list, so I am off to a good start.  Still, my productive cleaning day, although fun to talk about, is not the point of this post.

For years now I have said "someday I'll pull out my banjo and start practicing again."  I have hauled that instrument from Utah, to Las Vegas, and now up to Northern Nevada but I hadn't played it more than a few licks in almost 16 years.  That is until a few weeks ago when Kara went to the music store and on a whim picked up a few new finger picks for me.  She came home and said that she thought it would be fun if I started playing more.  I agreed, and decided that "now" was as good a time as any to get going.

It has only been a short while since I began playing again, but since I have tried to put in at least 30 minutes of practice each day, I see a huge difference.  I am starting to remember the things I learned years ago, and the technique is really making a comeback.  My fingers don't hurt as much after playing, and a few tunes are really starting to come together.  I've even been working on a few old favorites like "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" and "Turkey in the Straw."

I am not saying I could stand up right now and give a competent performance...but I am having a lot of fun and can definitely see the benefits of giving up a bit of "lazy time" for something more productive (see THIS for a more inspired discussion of the concept).

Speaking of benefits, perhaps my practice sessions will soon permit me to play something like this:

Well, maybe someday.  :)

"Difficult Things," an Unusual Saturday, and a Proud Father

I haven’t posted for a while and I can tell this one is going to include some lengthy rambling.  Just thought I would give you all fair warning.

Difficult Things:

General Conference always makes me reflect and consider the innumerable things upon which I should be working toward improvement.  In an outright theft of a fellow blogger’s excellent insight, and in honor of the BYU football team’s AMAZING fourth quarter comeback this past weekend, I figured I would make a list of things I find difficult and haven’t yet mastered.  Perhaps I can mount my own personal “fourth quarter comeback”

I am making this “Difficult Things” list public in the (unreasonable) hope that they will become easier if other people see them:

#1.   Exercising on a regular basis.  No matter how many times I plan to do this, something always comes up.   I don’t even mind the actual work involved, I just can’t seem to get it worked into my schedule!

#2.   Completing home improvement projects – also known as my “honey-do list.”  I can’t even begin to identify all the items on this list.  It is so ridiculously large that it will require a separate blog post.

#3.   Balancing office responsibilities, church callings, and family.  I’ve seen others worried about balance so I assume this eternal struggle is something I’ll not easily overcome.

#4.   Setting goals for myself and getting past the “Ready, Set” part.  Yeah, that’s right.  I set goals, and they don’t get done.  I hate that.  No, I mean I REALLY hate that.

#5.   Not procrastinating.  It is hard for me to not procrastinate (e.g. see #2 above).

One of the important truths parents try teach children is that "we need to work hard even when we don't want to do it."  We remind them that the reward is well worth the effort, and failure to work hard makes life much more challenging and even dangerous.  Consider the story about the three little pigs.  In that tale, it is plain that mediocrity and apathy are not attributes one should cultivate if they value success and safety.

What those children's stories don't illustrate is that the process of working hard in the face of difficulty is a lifetime battle.  In last night's Priesthood Session of LDS general conference, President Eyring counseled us to form a habit of pushing through fear and fatigue so that we can keep working even when others would stop and rest.  This topic hits home for me lately because life has been so absolutely and thoroughly busy.  Sometimes I would like to just throw everything into the "wait-a-while file" and go on a month-long vacation.  Heck, I'd even take a day (or several) of sitting on the couch and watching ESPN Sports Center...but I realize I have things to do, meetings to attend, talks to prepare, home improvement projects to complete, and children to look after.

Anyway, back to the point.  As with every General Conference weekend I have a long list of things I need to be working on over the coming months.  To use the sports analogy, my team just started the fourth quarter (figuratively and literally) and I just looked at the scoreboard.  I am WAY behind.  If I am to win this game, I am going to need a fourth quarter comeback.  Thankfully I have a supportive family and a loving wife on my team.

Ready, Set….

Unusual Saturday:

Speaking of difficult things…  Yesterday was Saturday and I woke up at about 5:00 a.m.  For a Saturday this isn't unusual since I normally wake up really early.  But what was unusual is that, this Saturday, I didn't go back to sleep.  I got up, showered, and had a healthy breakfast of peanut butter toast, a granola bar, and a bottle of water.  I loaded up my road bike and drove to the Churchill County fairgrounds to participate in the No Hill Hundred event.  This is a fun event sponsored by the local road biking club and it attracts hundreds of serious road bike enthusiasts from all over the Western United States.  I rode in the No Hill Hundred two years ago with some of my family, but I missed last year. 

It was a chilly 49 degrees when I left the driveway at home and I must admit that as I was preparing to leave I considered climbing back into bed.  In the end I am glad I didn’t.  The bike route actually went right by our neighborhood so I called Kara and she asked if she had enough time to run out and get a picture as I rode by.  Here are a few she snapped:

The bike route is a total of 100 miles through the county, but they have options for a 60 mile and the shorter 30 mile ride.  I only did 34 miles because I needed to get to Hamilton’s Soccer game, and because we needed to watch General Conference as a family.

I only wish I could have talked someone else into riding with me.  Kara didn’t want to go with me because she hasn’t been out on the bike for a long time – shoe clips can be intimidating.  I am really sore today but I am so glad I rode in the event.  I think this ride was a good start to my “exercising” goal comeback……no?  Perhaps next year I can get some others to ride with me.

Proud Father

After check-in and distribution of event jerseys, the No Hill Hundred ride started at 7:00 a.m.  I wanted to be done just before 9:00 so I could make it to Hamilton’s soccer game.  I completed my portion of the No Hill in two hours, so I was only about 10 minutes late to the game.  Since Kara had taken pictures of me riding by the house earlier that day, she brought her camera to the Soccer game and snapped more pics.  She caught me walking across the grass just after the game started.

Still, I am super glad she brought the camera because these other pictures capture Hamilton in his true element.  He is competitive, loves soccer and has a talent for the sport.

Just about the time I arrived, he managed a good takeaway. . .

And took off toward the goal. . .

Final score was 8 to 3, and Ham's was pretty tired.  Here's a good one of him walking back to the car.

Hamilton’s team is undefeated this year (a fact he likes to mention to everyone) so it has been a fun year for him.  Their success has provided Kara and I with a good opportunity to talk about good sportsmanship so Hamilton doesn’t get carried away with the “winning” part of the game.  It is fun to see him learning and growing.  I am as proud of Hamilton as I could possibly be.  I look forward to the years ahead.

New Backpacking Gear

After my last post I did something that I should regret, but honestly...I don't.  I went online and engaged in a relatively unrestrained shopping spree.  Now wait just a second...  Lest you start wondering about whether your image of my strapping masculinity is misplaced, I disclose here that my spree was for new backpacking gear.  Indeed, such a spree is arguably the most manly shopping spree known to exist. Yep, I just said "strapping masculinity."

Not only that, but for this blog post I planned the outright theft of an idea I saw on another blog (ok, it was Kara's blog).  I will bore all but the most hardened of outdoor enthusiasts with this blog post, but I thought I would show everyone the pictures of my new loot.

I knew that we were heading to the Redwoods on vacation this past month (see Kara's forthcoming blog post for a report on that trip).  Since the Redwood National Park gets an average rainfall of 66 inches per year, I figured gaiters would be a good gear addition.  I have wanted these for several years because when I go fly fishing in the Uintas, the willows that line all of the stream banks are always extremely wet (see picture on my immediately preceding blog post).  With my new gaiters, I won't end up with soaked pants.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, I didn't have to wear them during our trip to the Redwoods since it was really good weather.  At least I'll have them for my Uinta trip this year.

I know a belt doesn't always qualify as "backpacking gear", but I desperately needed a new one, and since I fell in love with the selection at R.E.I., I grabbed one...figuratively speaking.  I did wear it on our hikes through the Redwoods, so that is another reason I am justified in posting about the lowly belt.

Now, before I purchased this next item, I knew full well that Kara would make fun.  She did, and I have no doubt I may hear some additional jeers.  Still all of that emotional trauma simply receded into the background when I tried them out on the trail.  Simply put, I don't care what anyone says about them, they are absolutely awesome!  In common trail parlance, they are properly called Trekking Poles.  Check these baby's out!

Seriously, these Trekking Poles are miraculous.  During lots of other backpacking trips my hands will often become swollen and the blood circulation in my arms is less than ideal (for obvious reasons).  When carrying a heavier pack, my arms have sometimes gone slightly numb.  It really hasn't ever been a huge problem, but with these Trekking Poles, I walked 20 miles in the Redwood forest with nary an issue!  Not only that, but the poles also take a good deal of stress off the legs and allowed me to walk faster and farther.  No sore legs for me!  I am now a true believer.  I heard the stories from other avid backpackers, but I had no idea what I was missing.  In my opinion I think a conservative estimate is that these could add at least 5 miles to each backpacking day.  Not kidding.  By way of subscript, the picture above was taken at Patrick's Point State Park in California on our last day of Spring Break.

Ok, next I decided that since I have a good backpack for week-long and extended trips into the woods, I needed a day pack that I could take on shorter hikes.  When we went to the Redwoods we did lots of 5 and 6 mile hikes.  This pack worked perfectly.  It was extremely comfortable and I carried all the gear I needed - yes, including the bear spray.

Here is another picture of the pack.  Okay...the picture does show that I am wearing it, but you can't really see it that good.  I just liked this picture a lot.  I promised Kara I wouldn't do a blog post about the details of our Redwood trip...so I can't disclose where this picture was taken.

There could have been a few other things I placed in my "cart", but I can neither confirm nor deny this at the current time.  As far as my Cabin Fever sickness goes, I am recovering, but very, very slowly.  I have another hike planned for this weekend with the scouts, and I am looking forward to girl's camp in June where Kara and I will be leading the fourth year girls on a backpacking trip.  Although spring hasn't fully blossomed here in Fallon, I think I will be just fine...so long as I have an internet connection.  :)

Honest, I can't control it.

The fever, that is.  Cabin Fever.  I know, it is really getting old for all of you out there, but my case of cabin fever is getting soooooo bad.  I probably ought to see a professional.  I am starting to exhibit all the signs now...

1.  Internet searches for backpacking gear that I really don't need because I've already got one (or five).

2.  Scouting topographical maps and plotting trail routes along small brushy streams certain to be chock full of trout.

3.  Compiling gear lists (over and over).

4.  Rummaging through my closets to make sure I didn't misplace my hiking boots (oh yeah, I forgot I am already WEARING them).

5.  Wanting to throw my razor out the window into the neighbor's bushes so I can't find it for two weeks.

Seriously, don't be surprised when Kara posts pics on her blog with me wandering around in the backyard with my backpack strapped on, only to plunk down and start pitching the tent.

To make matters even that much worse, I just stumbled across this picture while organizing some of my computer files:

Yeah, I know.  I am willing to seek treatment.  Anyone want to take me to the emergency room?  I can have my backpack ready in like, five minutes.

Our Family Vacation

This fall, on a whim, we decided that we should stop talking about a vacation and actually DO something about it.  So with the help of some good friends we picked Disneyland, made reservations at the Grand Californian Hotel, scheduled flights with the airline, and started looking forward to the fun!  The time crawled s-l-o-w-l-y forward until the week finally arrived and we left for some of the most fun we have EVER had!

I had not been to Disneyland since I was 18 years old, and Kara hadn't been since she was 17 years old.  At that time California Adventure had not even been built!  We didn't quite know what to expect, but we had friends along too and they knew what they were doing (thank goodness!).  Anyway, rather than ramble on about how much fun we had, I figured I could post a few pics and show you the fun.

The kids were prepared with their books and yanked them out when we finally arrived at the gate to wait for our flight.  It was delayed a little bit so it was good we all had something to do.  We flew on Southwest and the flight was about an hour and fifteen minutes.  As we began our vacation I figured that at some point during the trip the kids would have some kind of meltdown on account of simple exhaustion or because they had eaten too much cotton-candy (heaven knows they tried!).  But I have got to hand it to these kids.  They are absolutely amazing.  The entire trip they were as good as gold.  Never complained about the walking, lines, or other stuff.  The above picture says it all.

They boys chose to sit together on the flight to Los Angeles.  Everyone was excited to get going because we were planning to get to the park as soon as we landed and were able to check in at the hotel.

Adia is sitting next to one of her friends from our ward (and school, etc.).  He and his family traveled with us.  They were actually the ones to suggest we should just throw caution to the wind and make the trip!  So glad they did and we all had a ton of fun together.

In addition to the fun trip to the land of magic, we decided to give the kids another surprise!  When we arrived in Los Angeles, the kids realized we didn't have a car and asked us how we would get to Disneyland. We told them at first we would just have to walk...and I was fairly surprised that they had no problem with this prospect!  I think they just wanted to get to the park a.s.a.p.  But no, we didn't make them walk.  We hired a limo to take all of us.  We didn't get any real good pictures of it but it is in the picture below (just past me and my bags).  Because of our large group, the cost ended up being the same as paying for a shuttle to the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel and it was stunningly beautiful.  We checked in quickly, and headed to our room.  We dropped our bags and then I happened to look out on the balcony - and was even more excited.  Our balcony looked right over the California Adventure park.  The World of Color water show takes place right out there (although not the best view), and you can see the California Screamin' rollercoaster which ended up being my very favorite ride.

Kara snapped this picture of the kids in the hotel lobby as I was busy checking in.  Within two days they had taken the tree down - they did it in the middle of the night.  Pretty amazing.  The hotel staff was excellent and helped us with even the small things.  I guess this is what one might expect from a hotel in the middle of Disneyland.

We finally did make it to the park at about 3:00 p.m.  We started trying to catch all the good rides we could.  The picture below shows Hams just ahead of us in front of the Tower of Terror.  This ride turned out to be quite popular for all of us.  I think we may have done this one more than any other ride (one day we found the line was down to 3 minutes so we did it twice in a row).  Incidentally, our smart phones saved our bacon.  I had downloaded an app on my phone that lists the current line wait times for each ride.  Between my phone and the others with the same app, we maneuvered the lines with some good success.

Here I am at the end of one of the streets in California Adventure.  Adia in the background looking like she is trying to be silly!

Here is Kara and B. together in line for California Screamin' on the first night.  Funny how we went to this magical place with so much to see but our focus was on our family and friends.  I guess that is why we go on vacation - family and friends!  Did I mention that we had fun on this vacation?

We spent a total of five days in the park and each one was even more fun than the day before, if that is even possible.  The first day (and thus the pics above) was spent in the California Adventure part of the park.  We made it into Disneyland the next day and then went back and forth (sometimes several times a day) between the two depending on what we wanted to do.  We all ate as much junk food as we could possibly find, walked a million miles every day, sat in the hot tub, swam in the pool, and slept like babies every night.  I'll let Kara post pictures from the rest of our time there (yes, we have hundreds).

The bottom line here is that we had so much fun it is probably not allowed!  We are all looking forward to our next vacation.  There is nothing quite like being with people you love and having the time of your life!  We would do it again in a heartbeat.  In fact, I think we WILL do it again.  :)

Planning Already

I mentioned in my previous post about how I really want to go backpacking right this very second.  My feeling became even more intense after Christmas when I received my present from Kara.  Yep.  The picture below shows my new sleeping bag.  It is filled with goose down and rated to NEGATIVE 20 degrees below zero!  The bag weighs only 3.5 lbs.  I am really happy about this one so I wanted to give a big shout out to Kara for a wonderful Christmas present.  She knows me better than I know myself.

Kara also gave me a pack cover that I can use to cover my gear when it is raining during the hike and while I am off fishing.  It is specially designed to fit my pack and won't get in the way while I am hiking.  Since it rains almost every day in the Uintas, this item will be particularly helpful.

Since I have the bag (and the fever - see previous post), I have been looking at other fun gear on the internet.  Nothing serious of course but it is always fun to browse.  I have never owned anything down-filled so I was looking at some jackets etc.  Patagonia has a down filled jacket they call a "sweater."  It is insanely expensive, but one can always wish....right?

At any rate, the Cecil family came into town for a visit this past weekend and while Matt was around we talked about possible dates for the backpacking trip this coming summer.  We decided to book the trip (tentatively) for the end of July, that way Matt can go too. These dates will need to be finalized in the next little while but I am confident we will have another fun excursion.  If anyone wants to go, you'd better speak up and let me know! For the past two years it was just OreoOrin and myself and we really miss everyone else tagging along.  WildHams will be going this year for the first time and he is already talking about it.  Final planning will commence forthwith!