Capture the Flag

This evening was quite the adventure... Wednesday nights from 7-8:30, kids in my church get together for a "mutual" night. At first.. I didn't really understand why all the 13-18 year olds met every week... I guess it's an opportunity for the kids to get together in the middle of the week and experience something spiritual. It's also a time I suppose for them to get together so they stay out of trouble.  In my church, I am one of the advisers called to oversee these activities. I don't actually do anything but show up. I make it my responsibility to make sure everyone is doing what they should be doing and not getting into mischief.  I think we all can look at ourselves and remember what it was like to be at that age. All the curiosities and experimentation. As I remember that age, I try to make sure those experiments don't turn into too much "activity" if you know what I mean. Most of the time I don't have to worry too much about what they are doing... I sometimes just make sure everyone is playing fairly and having a good time.

Tonight I played capture the flag with 40 something teenagers. With all their attitudes and personalities.... The evening actually went pretty well and a fun time was had. Kids from the age of 13-18 were present and we were split randomly into two groups. Both boys and girls. One team wore green fabric tied around their wrist. Another team, Orange. Each team had their own flag with the same color as their wristband. Pretty basic. The rules were that if you were tagged, you went to "jail". and you could only be saved from "jail" if someone of your own team came and tagged you and you were free to walk back to your side.... again... all pretty basic rules of a classic capture the flag game.

Initially I was just there to watch the game and make sure nobody got hurt. After all, we were playing in someone's back yard which had lots and lots of rocks, trees and shrubs. I spent half the game walking around making sure everyone was safe. Then I saw that another adult had gotten into the game and was playing too. So... I thought.... what the hey.. why not play... I tied two orange wristbands on and went into stealth mode... As stealthy as one can be who is obviously not a kid and with a bright red shirt on.

I got pretty close to the flag on my first round over to the "enemies" side. But was tagged. I went to "jail" but didn't spend too terribly long over there. I got out and tried a different tactic. I tried walking again like nothing was going on... maybe they would think I was not playing and wouldn't tag me. Well... that worked for a bit but again I got tagged... jail.... out again...

My third time I tried to capture their flag I was way more successful. This time I got all the way to the point of coming into proximity of their "flag guard". It was now darker and much more difficult to even see their flag. I kept stalking around the guard. I couldn't find the flag. Again tagged out when I made a blitz into the guards territory. I was still having fun.. but was kind of bummed that I couldn't see the flag ANYWHERE. As I got to the jail area, I saw a girl run down the rocky, brush filled hill and finally jump over the line and land on "our" (my team) side. She landed hard on her feet  and it looked like it hurt... I could imagine that kind of landing resulting in a twisted ankle or something like that, but no. She raised her hand and exclaimed: "I got their flag!" I couldn't believe it.. my team won! I yelled "game over" really loud and we all celebrated. It was quite the experience. Some might wonder why it meant so much to me and why I would blog about it???

Why? I'll tell you why... I grew up in Washington state with friends all my age. However. I wasn't making the best kind of decisions. I didn't go to church... I didn't really find religion interesting or anything like that. I had a girlfriend at the time and I would frequently spend the night over her house. I didn't drink or do drugs, but my life revolved around 3 things: First- My girlfriend. Second- My close friends and Third - Work. When I was younger all I thought about was growing up and being responsible and having money. I would never had indulged in such frivolities as I did tonight. As I was playing the game tonight... I thought about that... I thought: I never did this sort of stuff as a kid.... I don't know that I would have wanted to do something like this at that age. (around 16-18) I mean... that's not to say that... I NEVER had fun as a teenager... but the good ole fashioned, clean fun of just running around playing outside.... I didn't often do.

I often think about the things I did as a kid. And I did in fact have plenty of experiences playing outside and getting dirty and all that.... But at about 15-16... I was already working and I cut myself short by deciding to go to work. Nobody ever forced me to go to work... Nobody said I needed money. But I decided that. And I look back now as an adult and think: I wish I knew what I was missing. The church I go to is so amazing and nothing like any... ANY other church I've ever been to. And perhaps I wouldn't have wanted anything to do with the church when I was 15-16 years old. But I do realize that I missed out... severely... But luckily I am getting opportunities to have fun and play again. I'm getting what I had missed out on... and honestly... it's humbled me in a way that I am thankful for. I mean.. I believe I am the person I am today because of the choices I made growing up. I could have been a lot worse.. and I could be an entirely different person, in a bad way... I know I'm a good person.. and I'm grateful for what I've gone through and what kind of person I am because of those decisions. Though tonight.. was so fun... and without the calling I have in church, and without knowing the exact reason why we even have a mutual night.... I know that someone knows my heart and the desires of it... and has helped me with getting that opportunity... the opportunity to play, yell, play tag and act like a 16 year old....... Even if I am 27 now....

Mother's Day

Well Ok :) three written blogs in about a month... could be worse...

Today was pretty great :) I woke up today a bit earlier than I normally wake up and got ready for church. My mom decided to come to church with my wife and I for mother's day. I was actually pretty surprised that she wanted to come. She told me that, since it was mother's day, that she would make me happy by coming to church... which.... doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me, but... oh well.... I should be making HER happy today. She came over about an hour before church started. When she arrived I just finished making chocolate chip waffles. She came in and I set down a plate before her and she was pretty thrilled about that. :)

We ate and chat for a bit and we all got in the car to drive to church. We got there and sat down and had a pretty decent seat for church sacrament meeting. Or so I thought...

My mom commented on this after church but I thought this for most of the sacrament meeting of church.  We could barely hear the speakers talking, even though they were amplified with a microphone. We had sat in the row in front of about two rows of children and their families... Today was a particularly noisy and fussy day for these children.  We took our sacrament and listened to our speakers. Two speakers were freshly off their mission. The talks were pretty good, and one in particular rang true to my wife, Shannon.

We attended our second hour meeting which was our Gospel Principle class. This class consists of learning the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think my mom enjoyed that class and it was very informative and a lot of people chimed in at the right times to share thoughts and answer questions the instructor asked. It was interesting to hear my mom tell me why she didn't go to church anymore. She whispered in my ear at a part in the lesson about revelation. Most churches believe that heaven is closed off and that we do not receive revelation from God or Heaven anymore. Well The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints DOES believe that. We believe that God has many more things to teach us and that he does speak to us. Most churches believe that The Holy Bible is the only way we can learn of God. But I believe there is more.


Anyway....

Not to get all preachy on this site. Just something that happened. I'm very happy that my mom came to spend the day with me. It was a nice change.

Speaking of Change:  Tomorrow... (Monday) I will be putting in a transfer to go back to Texas. After my last blog entry.... I think it's easy to see why. I also believe that Texas will have many more opportunities for me and my wife. Anyway... that's the news of the day... aaaannnddd.... I'm not spell checking, or proofreading... so I hope this reads ok. :)

Keep on Keepin' On

Well....

The goal is to blog 10 times in 30 days.. this is my second post in 10 days.. at this rate... I'll post 3 blogs in a month.... Ah well... I guess a goal is supposed to make you reach and stretch and grow... whether or not you have accomplished that goal is irrelevant at the end, the important thing is that you grew... right?

Anyway.. I don't feel like much has happened in 10 days... nothing important that I remember anyway...
Work has been a challenge for me lately... I'm struggling to make tasks for myself and find my self hmming and hawing about what I need to do... I'm working on that, but it just feels like... well... like I don't really know what to do... that is pretty weird to say... especially in my position. But I think I'm ready for a change... I don't know what that means for me though... Does it mean I need a change of scene? Do I need to move away from this negative town? I say negative because there are tons of elderly people in this community and it begins to wear down on you after some time... The elderly have a sense of entitlement around here and the energy is OLD... which is kind of funny though since I've seen on many occasions, men and women (indoors) wearing fancy new designer sunglasses... which just makes me roll my eyes... I guess it seems... even Senior citizens can wear things that make them look.... hmmm... prick-like...?

I try my best to see them as children of God... just like myself... with their own personalities and such... but with the (again) sense of entitlement attitude... it's hard to see past that and be friendly...

People here seem to never smile, or have a sense of humor... I guess that comes from... well... ya know, I don't really know what that comes from..? It's quite annoying to me though... Maybe I joke around too much, but recently I've been watching YouTube videos of this show called: Just for laughs- Gags... it's a hidden camera show where they pull pranks on the unsuspecting... and... its really quite fun! The people who get pranked always have a good laugh and big smiles on the show... that being said... I'm not one to pull elaborate pranks off by myself... no doubt I would LOVE to do that and have fun, but... I just never really did anything like that... but from time to time I like to mess with people... just for a laugh... for instance. I had a root canal done a couple of weeks ago and afterward I went to get a shake from Jack in the Box. I went through the drive thru and ordered my shake. My shake was handed to me in exchange for my payment (card). The shake looked great, with whip cream on top and a cherry placed on top of that... I quickly took the cherry and bit off the fruit from the stem... while enjoying it I decided to "mess" with the cashier who was handing me my receipt and card back... I held out my stem and said.. I only got a stem but no cherry...... she asked... Really??... Naw, just kidding... (Now...I thought they would smile and maybe laugh because they were younger than me... perhaps more carefree and fun... and would appreciate a break in the monotony) Oh... she said flatly and kind of rolled her eyes and looked annoyed and closed the window...

Wow....I guess people just don't like to have fun... I guess maybe I joke around too much... I don't really know.... Anyway... annoying...

Anyway... I know I'm ready to move back to TX.... I'm tired of this place.... the scenery is beautiful... however, It doesn't make me as happy as TX does when it comes to good ol' Southern Hospitality and friendliness.... Well... thats all for today.... enough of a vent.... I need to write more...

someone.... keep me on track.. :)

First off...

This is my first and last attempt to create a blog. If it doesn't work out, who cares? If I ever want to go back to it, the page will still be here. But who knows.. it might really take off.


***Just as a note to readers out there: for some reason, I like to type ... instead of commas or just a single period at the end of my sentences. I don't really know why I do that but, it is what it is...***


In my attempt to keep a journal, I am going to try to write here as often as I can. It wont always be long, nor profound... But I hope I can keep with it. My goal will be to write ten entries in 30 days.


My writing wont always be about me. I imagine that I will write what ever comes to my mind. And my grammar needs work, so if you feel like being a Nazi... feel free to correct away.


Today was so very lazy. I slept in late and then got up and watched a bit of stuff on Netflix and then took a nap.. I know... how freakin' lazy can one get? Then I finally took a shower and went to mutual night at church. I am the Priest's quorum adviser for my ward at church, so once a week I get to go to church and kind of hang out with the teens in my ward. After that I drove back home and had dinner and then searched google for some kind of recipe. I was given elk meat as a gift from someone and I decided to make elk burgers. So I searched google for about 30 minutes for a nice recipe... I never found one. Most recipes were for meals made with elk meat... but never elk burgers... oh well... I made what I thought would be good... I mixed ingredients in and made some patties. I cooked them on the skillet and tried one... yes... after I already ate dinner.... AND....... meh. I thought it was ok... not something I'd want to eat everyday... I like to buy the organic ground beef at Costco and make things out of that.. I am trying to eat better.... which always seems to be a struggle. I guess that's why I was sort of eager to try the elk burgers since.. well... they are wild and "organic". Anyway.. Now I'm here after about an hour of mucking around the Internet, I'm writing... and that's about all I'm gonna do today... until next post..... Tee tee why elle...