already!?!

so i wore my new warm-up pants for my run this morning. it wasn't that cold, but it had been raining during the night, so i thought i would try them out. this really has nothing to do with the pants, but the weather. this will be my first winter as a person who regularly exercises outdoors, and i'm not sure i'm ready.

when i started working out, it was winter, but i was in the basement on the treadmill. after a summer running or riding my bike outside, i don't think i can go back to the treadmill or stationary cycle. maybe if it's a bad storm, or deep snow... and hopefully not for more than a couple of days in a row. it seems crazy, since i never considered myself the "active" type, but i'm trying to find the right kind of gear so i can keep running and riding outdoors during the utah winter. this is all the more odd when you consider that i'm not a cold-weather person to start with. i hate winter. give me one week of snow, then bring on spring... (i know, get out of utah. sorry, it's where the job is...)

so anyway, back to this morning. i had a very pleasant run despite the mid 40's temps. the real slap in the face came as i was driving to the bus (when it was light enough to see), snow on the mountains. just a short-lived dusting, but still the first, undeniable sign that winter is looming, already!

my favorite decade

yesterday marked a major milestone. ten years ago, meemer and i were married. it has been remarkable. i honestly can’t believe how much my life has changed, for the better.

i had a good childhood, and i thoroughly enjoyed high school and college. i learned and grew and changed. i learned and developed even more during the two years i spent in japan serving a mission. i have even been developed and learned a lot through my career.

nothing can compare, however, with marriage. having kids certainly ups the ante, but it’s still the marriage that, as the foundation of it all, has the greatest impact. i have grown, changed, and learned more than even i am aware of. i like to think it has been for the better, even though i am painfully aware of how far i have yet to go.

a quick background… i was finishing my degree at school, and working in a decent full-time job. i was almost 25 and felt like i was beginning to stagnate. i know that sounds strange, 25 is, after all, very young. (but i do live in utah, and was therefore something of a freak.) my friends were getting married left, right, and center. they were still very kind to me, but i was feeling very much the third wheel. plus they seemed to have something that i didn’t. something indescribable.

the final for one of my last classes was to direct a scene. the scene i was directing happened to feature an all female cast. (i know, rough for me…) you guessed it, that is where i met meemer. well to keep this post short(er) and on task, some weeks after my final, i managed to ask her out. over the course of a short but intense courtship, we were engaged and then married just seven months after our first date.

we have been through 3 houses, 2 apartments, 7 vehicles, 5 olymics, 9 pets (excluding innumerable fish), 4 family funerals, 6 different jobs, 8 leaks/floods, 2 car accidents, 2 misdemeanors (pled down from 6), and of course 3 children.

i have grown to love meemer more each year since we were wed, and i was crazy about her then! she is beautiful, strong, smart, kind, and fun. she is as selfless as they come. she sacrifices more for, and gives more to me and our boys than we deserve. she is the most amazing person i know, and i marvel that i am privileged to be her husband!

so when the kids and all that goes with them precludes any special anniversary plans, it was still a great day for me. the time has flown by. in some ways, i can’t believe it has only been ten years. in other ways, it has been nearly a third of my life, and by far the best part of my life!

so, to meemer i say, thank you. sincerely. i owe you more than anyone knows, and i am more grateful for all you have given me, than i am able to adequately express. despite how poor i have become at showing you, you remain my princess. i love you more than ever, and more than anything!

we should all have so much fun!

my four-year-old is intense. when he's happy, he is ecstatic. when he is mad, he is frightening (but he gets over it quickly). he is all go, all the time. he never stops moving, or speaking. he hums his own soundtrack to go along with his day. if it isn't fun, he isn't interested. luckily, he naturally has fun, or makes his own fun in just about any situation you can think of.

recently, he has started his first sport. he has fun playing soccer. if you have seen 4 and 5 year olds play soccer, you probably wonder, like me, "how fun could it be?" well if you have as much fun as my boy, it doesn't matter what you're doing.

some of that is captured in this video. i wanted not only to show how much fun he has, but also to showcase the oft-overlooked middle child. he is a handful, but he is so much fun! he is cute, outgoing, and more than happy to share his joy with you.



can you see why we love him so?