Joy In Suffering

We were visiting with some of Lisa's cousins today. Mark and Emily are really good friends of ours. (They were even spying on us while I was proposing to Lisa.) The conversation migrated towards having children. I come from a large family and I am extremely grateful that my parents didn't stop at seven. (I am the eighth of nine.) We talked about how difficult it must have been to raise so many children.
Then Lisa began talking about an experience that she had at church, a few weeks before Logan was born. She was sitting in church looking at the congregation. (She was the ward chorister.) She realized that every single person that was has ever been born owes it to a woman that went through pregnancy and labor to get them here. Obviously, I have never experienced the "joys" of labor and pregnancy, but I have experienced living and loving someone who was going through it.
Lisa's experience was difficult. As far as the pregnancy went, it was pretty uneventful. Don't get me wrong, she was uncomfortable quite a bit, but it wasn't extraordinary. When it came time to deliver, it was a different story. Our doctor was out of town, and there were several other women in labor at the hospital that night. When we arrived, (9:30 p.m.) we were greeted by a nurse that said she would be taking care of us. Lisa dilated quickly and it seemed like Logan was on the way. (12:15 a.m.) The epidural was given and we began pushing. The nurse was being very positive about the progress she was making, but after an hour and a half, she told us that Lisa could finally take a rest. A half an hour later, we resumed, and the nurse continued to say that we were making progress.
I could tell that things were not progressing, like the nurse said they were. After 45 more minutes, or so, of pushing, I told the nurse that I felt like we needed a doctor in the room. Lisa was exhausted. She was literally falling asleep between contractions. When the doctor came in, he checked Logan's positioning. He was posterior and the he offered us the option of doing an emergency c-section. Lisa wanted to finish what she had started, if that was possible. So two other doctors came in. One of them attached a vacuum to Logan's head and another pushed down on Lisa's stomach from above. The other doctor was standing by, just in case.

Suffice it to say, Logan was finally born (4:33 a.m.) and he was healthy and normal. I didn't have a good appreciation for what Lisa had gone through until several months later. Because of the circumstances of her delivery, her recovery was much longer than usual. I don't know if Logan will ever fully appreciate what his mom went through to bring him here. It is a sacrifice that only a mother could make. I am so grateful for Lisa and all of the sacrifices that she has made, and makes every day, for Logan and me. I know that through our suffering we can experience joy. Lisa is walking proof of this.

An American Idol Shocker!!!

I don't even want to attempt to do an entire American Idol review. I couldn't do it justice. If you want to be entertained by something like that, click here.

It wasn’t as shocking as the elimination of Michael Johns, but we didn’t imagine anyone except Brooke White, or Jason Castro would get the boot from American Idol this week.

Instead, Carly Smithson was shown the door.

Here is my theory on what has happened; At this point of the competition, every performer has their fan base. They couldn't make it this far without having a fairly good following. My wife is in love with Jason Castro, and even calls him her boyfriend. (Hopefully he is shorter than 5'10".) I am sure that there are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of teenage girls that are in love with those steely blue eyes. Brooke White has also been a solid performer. Her sincerity and ability to connect with the audience has won her the heart of all the mothers that tune in every Tuesday and Wednesday.

As soon as those fans saw their idols stuggle mightily, they hopped on the phone lines. They continued dialing for the entire two hours that the lines were open. They knew that Brooke and Jason were in trouble. They blistered their thumbs by punching the dial key hundreds of times last night.

Transversely, Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson were nothing short of perfect. They picked the perfect songs and delivered. Their fan base didn't feel the same urgency to vote. As a result, we had to say goodbye to Carly. While I don't think that she deserved to go from last week's performances; at this point, anyone can go any week.

Who will it be next time? Hopefully Castro is gone, so that I can take the number one spot as the man in Lisa's life again.

Test Your Awareness: Do The Test

Here is the new video for the week. Take the test, and let me know how you did. I failed it miserably when I took it. Make sure that you really concentrate; otherwise, you may fail too.

NBA Playoffs Round 1

I realize this is a day late, but I want to make my thoughts on the NBA playoffs known. I love the playoffs and these are shaping up to be the best in a very very very long time. The first round eastern conference matchups are not all that intriguing. However, the west is nuts.

Let’s get the (L)Eastern Conference out of the way quickly:

1. Boston vs. 8. Atlanta

The biggest question in this series is not who will win. It is will Atlanta even win a game? The next question is, will Atlanta even stay within 10 points in any of the games? I am looking for Boston to come out to make a huge statement early in these playoffs. The “Boston Three Party” (Garnett, Peirce and Allen) will want to serve notice to everyone else that they are the team to beat and that they can carry their regular season success to the post season. My prediction: Boston in 4

2. Detroit vs. 7. Philadelphia

Again, the big question is not who will win. Detroit should easily dominate this series. Big games from Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller could give the 76ers one victory. That just means that the Pistons will have to go home for game five, where they will be able to sit their starters for most of the fourth quarter, as they rest for round two. My prediction: Detroit in 5

3. Orlando vs. 6. Toronto

I don’t think that this series is going to be as interesting as people have made it out to be. I think that Orlando underperformed in the regular season, but they were playing a little better during the home stretch. Dwight Schrute Howard is going to abuse Chris Bosh down low. Hedo “Should have been an all-star” Turkoglu will also have a huge series. Orland will continue the theme thus far in the East and finish the Raptors off early. My prediction: Orlando in 5

4. Cleveland vs. 5. Washington

FINALLY an Eastern Conference matchup that is not sleep inducing. Anytime that Lebron “The King” James takes the court, you can’t help but be interested. The Wizard have almost their entire season without “Nacho”, “Hibachi”, “The East Coast Assasin”, “The Jester”, “Gil”, or “Agent Zero”. Whatever you want to call him Gilbert Arenas is good. His mouth running will wake up the Cavs though and they will bring it to the Wizards from the first tip off. Due to injuries to key players all season, the Wizards are quite a bit better than their record shows. My prediction: Cavs in 6

Now to the Western Conference:

1. L.A. Lakers vs. 8. Denver

This matchup is intriguing to me, because it combines the two teams that I hate the most in the NBA. The Nuggets are the new Portland “Jailblazers”. Crymelo can’t keep his butt out of prison and the rest of the team looks like they could belong in a police lineup of some sort. The Lakers are by far the smuggest team in the NBA. Anyone with a soul hates Kobe. (Sorry Lakers fans, you don’t have souls.) As for this series, the Lakers will skate on through. The Nuggets are good enough to win, but to volatile to be consistent. Kobe will finally get out of the first round since he forced Shaq out of town. My prediction: Lakers in 5

2. New Orleans vs. 7. Dallas

Dallas got bumped out of the playoffs as the one seed last season by the Warriors. This season, Dallas has the opportunity to pass the favor along to the Hornets. (I realize that 2 vs. 7 isn’t quite the same a 1 vs. 8.) Not many people are giving the Hornets much respect in these playoffs because of their lack of playoff experience. Chris Paul is the real deal and he has brought the team to a new level. The question is, can he continue the success in the playoffs? Deron Williams did it last season, so there is no reason to believe that Paul is incapable of doing the same. Jason Kidd gives the Mavericks extra experience in the playoffs. They hope that experience will win out and that trading half of their team to get Kidd will pan out. Jason Kidd has had a hard time guarding the up-and-coming point guards. I think that he will continue to prove ineffective of the defensive end, but this will be a close one. My prediction: New Orleans in 7

3. San Antonio vs. Phoenix

I thought that this would be, by far, the best opening round matchup. Last night’s game would have made me look like a genius, if I had posted this one day earlier. Clutch three pointers by Michael Finely, Steve Nash and freaking Tim Duncan sent the game to double overtime where it took a game winning layup from Manu Ginobli to close the game. Shaq’s addition was supposed to slow down Timmy D, but he was still able to go for 40 points and 15 rebounds. Like Mike D’Antoni said after the game, “If there are six more games like this one, then someone is getting their money’s worth”. I expect both teams to continue punching each other in the mouth until the end. Even with the Spurs taking the first game, I still have the feeling that this is finally the Suns’ year to throw this monkey off their back. It will come down to a game seven, but this time the Suns will dig deeper and throw off the defending champs. I realize this prediction could make me look bad, but… My prediction: Suns in 7

4. Utah vs. Houston

The Jazz got lucky to draw the Rockets as their opening opponent. Not only is Yao Ming out with a fractured foot, but Rafer Alston is out for at least the first two games. Tracy “The Sleepy Eyed Assassin” McGrady has been to the playoffs six times before, but he has yet advance any further than the first round. Without much of a supporting cast, it looks like he will soon be 0 for 7. The Jazz are just too much for them to handle, without Yao. Carlos Boozer can take it to the hole just about whenever he wants. Deron Williams will majorly outperform anyone that the Rockets match him up with. Memo has also learned how to take it inside. The rest of the supporting cast will overwhelm the Rockets depleted bench. As a Jazz fan, I am excited by the fact that the Jazz should make it to the next round, but I would have liked to see them beat someone that they weren’t necessarily supposed to beat. I guess they will have to save that for the second round matchup with the Lakers. It may be the homer in me, but I don’t see the Rockets being able to win any of these games. Prediction: Utah in 4

Feel free to post your comments and tell me how crazy I am. I will do this for the upcoming rounds as well. I think that this is one of the most exciting NBA Playoffs that I can remember. Who knows what will really happen?

Video of the Week

This is my favorite version of Singing In The Rain. I have no idea how they did some of it. I'm sure it's just computer wizardry at its best. Somebody make sure that mom sees this.

Advice Needed

Lately, I have been thinking about finishing my college education. My current profession doesn't require that I have a bachelor’s degree and I feel like I have been doing just fine without it. I know that nothing but good can come from getting it finished up and having a degree in my hand. I already have my associate’s degree in business.

My question isn't whether or not I should do it; it is how I should go about it. The way I look at it, there are three options. I could go to a traditional college or university. The downside of that would be that it would take a lot of time, and a lot of travel. This is probably the least attractive of the options to me, because I am a full time provider for my family, and I don't feel this option gives me the flexibility that I would need.

The second option would be to go to a school like the University of Phoenix. They cater to working people, and most of their classes are at night, or online. The main downside to this option is that it costs a lot of money, and will take me away nights. It also has a lot of required group work, from what I understand.

The third option is to go through an online university. A school that I am looking at is Western Governors’ University. It is an accredited school that offers all of the classes 100% online. They will accept my associate’s degree as transfer credits. It is a competency based program, which means that if you are able to show that you are already competent in certain areas, that you will not be required to do the busy work that other places still require. There is a flat rate for every six month semester and you can complete as many classes in those six months as you are able to do. I love the flexibility of this option, and the ability to finish more quickly than the other two options. My main concern with this option is that the school doesn't have any name recognition. I'm not sure if going this route might not be very effective, should I find myself looking for a job in the future.

Do you guys have any suggestions, or ideas that I may be looking over? I am fairly certain that I will be completing my education; I am just trying to make the best decision, while considering as many factors as I can. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Lambert the Sheepish Lion

I have decided to begin posting my weekly videos in this section, rather than the bar on the side. This way, they won't disappear when they are replaced.

This week's video is a childhood memory of mine. It is a little long, so watch it when you have a minute. It is a Disney Classic, and everyone in my family can sing it. Lambert is a sheepish lion that was delivered to the wrong parents by a stork. Does nature or nurture win out with this beast? The only way to find out is to watch.

If you want to see my past videos, just follow the links. In the future, my videos shouldn't disappear when a new video is posted.

Harry Potter Puppets - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-YcBVEnLT8

Why I Love My Wife

I met Lisa on the first day of high school. She had moved into the school boundaries during the summer, and we had 7th period history together. On the first day of school, I saw her looking at me a few times. I couldn't figure out why this strikingly beautiful girl kept looking at me. She had bright blue eyes that burned into my memory the first time that I saw her. Being the mature 15 year old that I was, the most flirtatious thing that I could think up was, "Quit looking at me". To make a long story short, we soon became friends. It took me a while to build up the nerve to ask her out, but I finally did. We dated for part of our junior year. I even took her to Junior Prom. We were as in love as two high school kids could be.

Soon after Junior Prom, we were both called to be on the Seminary Council. At Alta High School, they have a rule the council members are not even allowed to go on a single date with any else on council. We were instructed that Lisa and I needed to be even more careful and avoid even the appearance of dating, because others knew that we liked each other already. We had several class together our senior year and spent several hours together every day because of that. After a while, we began to be annoyed by the other person's presence, because it was always awkward to be around each other. By the end of our senior year, we really didn't like each other at all. We both went our separate ways, never to talk again, if either of us had anything to say about it.

To make an even longer story shorter, Lisa and I found each other again three years after our graduation. I had returned from my mission, and Lisa had turned down three marriage proposals. Through serendipity, we began dating again on November 1st, and we were engaged to be married on December 5th of the same year. We were married two months later on February, 7 2004.

I am so grateful that she married me. She is so good to our little boy. I have never seen a child love a parent more that Logan loves Lisa. She is able to console him when he is seemingly inconsolable. She seems to always know what he needs, and when to give it to him. I am so glad that I can go to work every day, and never ever worry about Logan's safety or development. I know that Lisa puts her heart and soul into helping him grow and learn. I love her for that. She is so thoughtful. If you check out her blog, www.ateachermama.blogspot.com, you will see what I mean. She is always planning for things that we might need. She loves to share her ideas with other people. She serves everyone she can and loves them unconditionally. People love to be around her and they listen to what she has to say. She is a great cook and is always willing to whip something tasty up. She is patient. (Even though she won't agree with me on that one.) She is able to accept me as I am, but is able to help me strive to be a better person. I am so grateful to have her in my life.

Tag From Lisa

4 Jobs I've Had
1. Supreme Automotive Delivery Boy
2. Server at Mimi’s Cafe
3. Lovesac Salesman
4. Realtor (I’ve had a few more jobs than four)

4 Movies I've Watched More than Once
1. X-men (All three of them)
2. What About Bob
3. The Man Who Knew Too Little
4. The Mask of Zorro

4 Places I've Lived
1. Utah
2. Brazil
3. California
4. Norway (I spent a month and a half there, so it counts.)

4 TV Shows I Watch
1. American Idol
2. The Office
3. Seinfeld
4. Jazz Games

4 Places I've Been
1. Mexican Riviera
2. The Caribbean
3. Fiji
4. Tijuana (The Happiest Place on Earth)

4 of my Favorite Foods
1. Funeral Potatoes and Ham
2. Shrimp
3. Winger’s Sticky Fingers
4. Brazilian Churrascos

4 Places I'd Rather Be
1. Brazil
2. Norway
3. Star Valley Wyoming
4. New York City (I spent one day there, but it wasn’t enough.)

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to this Year
1. Watching Logan keep learning new things
2. Playing basketball in a league with my brother in law. (John)
3. Playing Softball with my wife’s cousins
4. Fireworks on the 24th of July in Midway

4 People I Tag
1. Anyone who reads this blog. That might end up tagging two people. :-D