Roller Derbies and Bow Ties

Life has been crazy this month and the only reason I have had time to stop and update this blog is because my CEO decided we all needed a break and gave us the day off. I still had to go in for a half day but it means I get to take another half-day next week for my trip to Colorado.

I don't even know when things happen but at some point since my last post I went to a roller derby match and it was the most amazing thing. My sister invited me and two of my friends to join her and we went in completely blind. I remarked as we entered that I had no idea what was going to happen but I knew I was in the right place, grinning ear to ear. We really had no idea what was going on until I looked up the basic rules online and after that we could see the techniques for what they were and it was magical. We may buy season passes.

I suppose I should also mention that I added four more bow ties to my collection bringing my total to 12. My sister told me I am becoming obsessed and my response was how I wanted to eventually have a different bow tie for every week of the year. Oh and yes, the last one on the right is black, silver, and sequins--I will look fabulous.

I will leave you with this drawing by Mirielle; she sketches everyone who speaks in Sacrament and I usually text her for a copy of my picture as soon as I sit down. Yes, I trimmed by beard since then.

The Rest of February

First off, as an update from my last post I did finally receive an apron! Since my original Secret Santa dropped out someone else volunteered to give me an apron to keep it fun. I was very appreciative of the gift but I admin that I gave it away to my cousin a couple hours after opening it; just not my style.

I realized I hadn't posted on this blog in a couple of weeks and had to consult my daily journal to see if I did anything worth mentioning. My journal has been going every day for almost a year now with additions from journal fragments I found among my childhood things and, for your information, on October 25, 1993 "I riedd my Bike arand the bak. And paled vadeo games. I want to Crahe."

I don't have a strong narrative for this post but here are some snapshots:

As single people on Valentine's a few of us crashed a dance party hosted by some family wards.

I got a haircut!

I have a few trips planned in March so hopefully I've have some real stories for you! If not I can just post more of my childhood journal entries and call it good.We'll avoid the high school years though, no one needs daily updates on who my crushes were.

Reddit Apron Exchange

As I mentioned in a previous post I signed up for an internet exchange of aprons, here is my followup.You may recognize the design I sketched out for a previous post. I had to make a few modifications but overall it turned out really nice!

Left: My original design posted to this blog a few weeks ago.

Right: My modified fabric selections. It was the first time I had to go into a store to buy coordinating fabric and the selection was overwhelming.

Left: Front panel assembled with the pocket. I varied the strips from 2-4" for aesthetics upon the suggestions of many and I'm glad I did.

Right: Finished product, after taking this picture I was really tempted to keep the apron and mail a pre-made apron but I figure I can always make another one.

Unfortunately my Secret Santa seems to have forgotten to send me an apron which saddened me until today when I received this picture from Elize, my giftee:

"My secret Santa has send me a apron made by herself! I will cherish the gift and use it on festive days!"

I'm not even mad that she called me a girl; that is the cutest little old lady. Hopefully my apron is still on its way but if not it's neat enough that one of my creations will be loved in a tiny house in Enkhuizen, Netherlands.

RootsTech

As head of the company's customer service I had the privilege to represent us at RootsTech, the big family history conference in Salt Lake City. It made for a long weekend but it was a fun experience pitching our product to hundreds of people and really feel like an integral part of the machine.

Me, Mirielle, Michael, Jason, Alex, Richard

It was a fairly mundane task repeating the same spiel about our product to everyone and by the third day I gave up on sounding fresh and sounded like a real salesperson. I never thought I'd be able to sell anything but I'm sure I made quite a few over the weekend. Honestly though the best part about the whole event was the chance to take the train up to Salt Lake each day, the city has such a different feel when you're there for work. We only had 20 minute lunch breaks so each day I had the same concessions burrito each day that may have had dog meat in it.

On our final day the team was getting obviously a little sick of the conference and over the course of the day we invented a dance and song for our company--imagine a t-rex dancing and singing the tune of Kokomo.

I'm happy its over, but I will miss the train.

Evee the Dog

Yesterday we took our family dog, Evee, to the vet to be put to sleep. I wasn't convinced it was merited but it came to be. After spending a few moments with her after work my mother, sister, and I loaded up in the car and headed off to see Doctor Erickson.

While waiting for the event we took turns holding her and exchanged stories. When she blatantly peed in front of everyone, how she ran away all the time, or time she got scared so bad she literally released her bowls.

I held her for her final moments and as the doctor injected the concentrated sedative I felt Evee's heart beat until it stopped, her body quivered, and she was gone. As I laid her lifeless body onto the table it felt wrong, her entirety was limp and it was obvious that she was no longer our dog.

It was at that moment that the full force of her death hit me. I can't say I cried but I teared up as I reflected on her companionship to myself and my family. I rested my hand on her hip and said a prayer.

She hated to be held.

Winter in Utah

I have lived in Utah for the past nine years and the only winter sport I had participated in was sledding. This has caused me to be incorrectly classified as "not an outdoorsy guy" when really the only thing I don't like about the outdoors is sleeping on the ground. 

My resume has finally gained some Winter experience with some snowshoeing. I took one picture but it was unflattering to everyone involved.

Sarah's ward took us up the canyon which was a perfect time to try it since most people there probably wouldn't have any idea what they were doing just like me. It was quite easier then I expected and since I was one of the few people to wear waterproof boots I got to walk people across log bridges like that pioneer guy in 17 Miracles (only without the death part).

This picture isn't from New Years, we just really like 2014.

Winters in Utah have actually become a hot-button issue with the increasingly severe inversion. It occasionally gets so bad that I start feeling sick and light headed if I'm outside for too long. So we did what countless other movements have done, we marched on the Capital.

It was my first rally and Sarah and I went woefully unprepared. Volunteers were kind enough to give us some great masks to wear and some pre-printed signed to wave at the speakers. We yelled, sang, and some guy even got arrested in true democratic fashion. Ultimately I felt the message was a little muddled but it was a fun experience--next time I'm bringing a chair.

Since we were already in Salt Lake City, Sarah and I spent the rest of the day walking around town. The Leonardo Museum had an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls which was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the historical context of the bible.

In unrelated news, some of you may remember I did a Secret Santa exchange for Christmas with about 100,000 other people in which I netted the plant which now sits on my desk at work. I am doing it again only this time its just an apron exchange. My match is in the Netherlands and this is the quilted design I'm thinking of, the back would be all black which I just realized would make it reversible.

This will be the inaugural project on my sewing machine from my parents! I'm eager to see what apron I get and where from. I have a month to finish this.

Twenty-eight

Its the mark of a great celebration if you can walk away with zero pictures or maybe it just shows how spoiled I was from my trip to the East Coast where my friend Jon supplied all my pictures.

I swear people came!

My party ended up going on without any problems and unlike last year where I was stuck making waffles all night I was able to walk around and converse with everyone and even play some games. Both soups were a big hit, Mirielle was kind enough to provide the bread, and other treats were brought to share among my thirty something guests. At one point it was suggested that one could eat blueberries by picking them up with your nostril and letting them drop into your mouth. This was a joke but upon mentioning it my coworker immediately did it.

For those who were asking, this post contains a loose recipe of the soup I made.

My birthday continued to be its rightful celebration for the next several days including a family party on Sunday, a date with Sarah on my actual birthday, and my birthday dinner made by my mother on Tuesday. I would outline more detail but I without pictures even I wouldn't read it.

I'm twenty-eight now!

Would you like to read more about my holiday back East? Check out my friends' blog for pictures of their kids and sometimes even me.