Dad

Dad, you're never very far away,
In our thoughts and hearts you'll stay.
Yesterday leaves, tomorrow arrives,
But always you'll be in each of our lives.
love, Bryce

I wanted to make sure I had a copy of this little video online. There were a few problems I didn't get figured out when I compressed it so, sorry, the image is a little stretched.

Shoe Stories

Getting new shoes is an exciting event. Sometimes it takes a little while to break them in but that doesn't diminish the coolness of it. The only thing that makes getting new shoes any cooler is when you get the shoes for free. Not that it happens to me often, but I won a gift card to the Nike Outlet store several weeks ago and used it on some new shoes.
But what about the old shoes? When the time came to throw them out I was a little hesitant, no, even worse, I felt guilty. Those tattered and broken sneakers had served me well for the past five years. Yes, five years! No shoes have ever lasted that long for me. Well, then again when the sole cracks in half you should probably replace your shoes no matter how good they've been to you. But regardless of their declining utility it didn't feel right to just toss them aside so carelessly. So I took this picture......and then I threw them out.
How had this mysterious affection grown for those inanimate objects I simply used to adorn my feet? After all it wasn't the actual leather and laces that I would miss. It was what they had come to represent that almost made me give in to that pack-rat urge to save them. My shoes had become the embodiment of the memories I had made while wearing them. I looked at those sketchers as they flew into the dumpster and their life flashed before my eyes. I remembered vividly the day I picked them out with my grandma as a late present for my 18th birthday (It was my fault it was late. I had been too busy to go on our traditional birthday shopping trip sooner. Thanks Grandma!). I remembered the hikes, the dates, the auditions, the road trips, the everything we'd been on together. And just like that they were gone.
Well, life moves on. Changes is the one thing I seem to be able to count on these days. But, you know, change seems to add a little freshness to life. It keeps me on my toes, and teaches me things I had never before considered. Funny how something like shoes can make me think about that, don't you think?

Looky here

Somethings just make me smile. This was one of them. At Sarah and Trisha's place they have their washer and dryer conveniently on the main floor. But if that wasn't nice enough there is also a full body mirror on the back of the door to the laundry closet. Maybe it just me, but I think that's great! You can check yourself out and pick out an outfit as you pull your clothes from the dryer! Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Heriberto

About 2 weeks ago I met a woman named Blanca while I was working in the Chicago area. When she found out that I was from Utah she started telling me all about how she was living there and wanted to go back as soon as she sold her house in Illinois. She fell in love with the mountains it seems. She mentioned to me that her 17 year-old son was going to head back to Utah to go to school in Salt Lake since his dad was still living there. I almost blurted out that I'd give him a ride if he needed, but cut myself short because I thought it might be weird since I had only met her a couple of minutes before and I had never met her son. Anyway, I left and continued to knock doors in the neighborhood giving it no more thought.
The next day I found myself back on the same street, when I noticed that a little girl was following me around. She finally built up the courage, I guess, and came up to me to ask if I would come back to her house because her mom (Blanca) wanted to talk to me. When I got there Blanca came out and asked if I could give her son a ride to Utah on my way back to school. I said "yes" and realized that it had been a spiritual prompting the day before that I hadn't quite followed through with. I wasn't going to hesitate on this second opportunity. She told me her son's name was Heriberto, but that he went by Eddy.
Well, the day came to hop in my car and drive back to Utah and I still hadn't met Heriberto. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous (I had a dream one night that I pick him up, but then when we got onto the freeway he pulled a gun on me because he didn't want to go back to Utah and I had to drive him somewhere else instead). By the time I got to his house and helped put his luggage in my car my fears had been dispelled. He was just a nice little Mexican boy that was grateful to be getting a ride.
He wasn't very talkative, but I eventually discovered he spoke good English. I told him he was in charge of finding music to listen to on the ipod. He did a good job as the DJ and despite the lack of conversation for most of the trip he was good company and helped the drive go by faster. We had a good time getting 50 cent hot dogs in Des Moines, listening to Brian Reagan in Nebraska, and even going to church Sunday morning in Cheyenne. By the end of our journey he had really opened up and started telling me all about his family, things he had been through, and stuff he worried about. When I dropped him off at his dad's place, his dad's expression of gratitude in his face made me thankful I hadn't passed up the opportunity. I gave them my Book of Mormon I had in my backpack as something to remember me by and then went on my way. I walked away from my roadtrip with Eddy feeling like I had benifited the most from the experience. It definitely wasn't any kind of inposition to have him along, if anything it was an unanticipated blessing.

Sandcastle For Sale

There are times when it feels like strengthening my testimony and spirituality in my life is like building a sandcastle on the beach. The waves seem to drag chunks away almost as fast as I can pile wet sand on top. Building a sandcastle in the wake of ocean waves can go on for hours and hours with no, or relatively little, progress being made. Believe me, I try it almost every time I go to a beach. Most of my effort is exerted in regaining what is lost to an occasional large wave. This leads me to believe that sandcastle testimony building is not a wise endeavor (duh!). How, then, can a firm testimony be built on the beach of life among the waves of adversity and doubt so we can say like Jacob "wherefore, I [can] not be shaken." Jacob 7:5? We ought to take a look at how we approach the spiritual activities in our lives such as church attendance, scripture study, prayer, and fasting. Are we merely piling wet sand on our sandcastle testimony day after day? Or are we exerting the necessary effort to quarry stone and build on a bedrock foundation? (Hint: you don't find a bedrock foundation on the part of the beach where the world likes to play and sun-bathe) What it all boils down to is this: don't make do with a temporary sandcastle when a little extra effort and wisdom could be the difference in gaining a rock-solid fortress.

Ya wanna see a card trick?

I'm no magician by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have one card trick up my sleeve. I learned it from a friend at work, and I reserve it for those days of knocking doors when I need a little extra help putting a smile on my face. This is how it works:

Prospect: Sounds great, why don't you just give me your card and I'll think it over.
Me: Okay.
(Lesson one: if someone asks for your card when you come knocking on their door they don't plan on calling you. They just don't know how to say no.)
Me: Here you go.
(I reach into my pocket, pull out a baseball card and then hand it to them. Straight face. They take it. Wait a second... a quizzical expression comes across their face.)
Prospect: Uh? ...
Me: Oh, sorry.
(I reach out, take the card back, autograph it and then return it.)
Me: There you go.

Depending on their reaction to this there are a number of directions you take the trick. You can use it to redirect and continue the sale, or make a memorable exit from their doorstep. There was only one man I shared this trick with that didn't laugh at all. I still can't understand why he didn't get it. It had been more than a decade since I bought baseball cards, but let me tell you, that was the best dollar I ever spent on a pack of baseball cards (especially since it included a stick of gum)!

Just Get Out of Bed

I was reading in the Book of Mormon this morning and came across Jacob 3:11. I thought about the number of times sleep is associated with sin and hell in the scriptures. Personally I think it is a great parallel. Getting out of bed can be so hard sometimes, but you'd miss all the wonderful things in life if you never got out of bed.
At the moment the alarm goes off it is easy to be apathetic and procrastinate getting started, especially after growing accustomed to a warm soft bed all night long. Sleep fogs our vision and overshadows our resolve to take action and get things done. But didn't we come to this life to do, to experience, to live, to choose, to be challenged; not to be acted upon in an apathetic dream-like state as if we are just spectators of our lives sitting and eating popcorn in the movie theater of life.
Also, there is more of a correlation than we may think at times between the physical and spiritual aspects of our lives. So if we can't get out of bed in the morning and start living each day, we should be wary of drooping into the deep sleep of sin (you're guaranteed to be guilty of sins of omission if you spend all day in bed). I only say all this because I am guilty of it. However, I have also found it is easiest to get out of bed when I am excited about doing some activity in the morning, and when I have someone to do it with. Fellowship and enthusiasm about the gospel are so important to keeping us, and those around us, out of bed.

see also 2Ne. 1:13, 2Ne. 4:28, Alma 5:7, Alma 32:27