The Lake Alice Adventure

Day 194

By now you should know that I am not much of a camper but I will venture into the wilderness every once in awhile. This time it was back when I was in 9th-10th grade and we went out as a Scout Troop to Lake Alice in Wyoming.

Now I was not much of a Scout either. I would rarely attend meetings but I thought this week sounded pretty fun so I decided to go. Most of the guys in my church ward were going and it did sound like a lot of fun.

The trip to Lake Alice seemed to take forever and we were all rowdy. I felt bad for Tavis's dad who volunteered to drive and come with. We must have drove him nuts. He was especially cranky when it came to all the road work. We would be driving maybe 2 miles an hour as they paved a new road. The heat was already unbearable but add fresh asphalt to the mix and we were getting all cranky.

But we finally got to Lake Alice and it was nice and cool. It was a real beautiful area. It was about a 2 mile hike to get to the lake so we had to carry our canoes the whole way. We left the canoes up there so we didn't have to drag them up to the lake everyday. Lake Alice was created by a massive landslide resulting in a lake that is three miles long and over 200 feet deep. Rumor has it that Lake Alice got its name from a little girl named Alice that drowned in the lake.

The first night didn't help my attitude about camping. It rained that night and day and unfortunately Damond and I put up our tent right in the middle of a depression so our tent and stuff was fully flooded. It took almost the whole night to get my pillow dry as I sat by the campfire. But as time went on I began to enjoy my time at Lake Alice.

One of the things we did was we made a homemade zip line. It worked really well and went down a rocky embankment down about thirty feet. We used a branch/log to hold on to while we zipped down until Dusty broke it. It wasn't his fault really, the rope burned through the wood and made it weak and he crashed down onto the rocks making a horrible wet thumping noise. His back was really scraped up.

But the thing I remember the most about this trip was the bear. Or the moose. Maybe it was just a deer. Or maybe it was Sasquatch or the Wendigo. We don't know what the heck that thing was.

We were up at the lake doing some fishing and it became quite dark. The leaders were back at camp and all of us scouts were up at the lake. It got so dark that we could barely see the shoreline as we canoed in. Suddenly up by the shore we saw this large black shadow moving toward the lake. And it stopped right where we come up onto shore! We couldn't tell what it was, the only thing we knew was that it was HUGE. We paddled closer and we shined our flashlights at it and then we caught its eyes. These yellow eyes that stared back at us. And each yellow eye was far apart from the other so this creature must have been huge. Tavis began to paddle closer saying "It's just a deer, it's just a deer!" and then he would suddenly change his mind and paddle right back out yelling, "That's a bear! That's gotta be a bear!" He repeated this a couple of more times. "Okay, I think it is a baby moose." And he would paddle in closer. And sure enough we would get closer and he would paddle back quickly, "That's a freaking bear!" Damond started to throw his fish guts at it which didn't make sense to me. He wanted to scare the creature away and if it was a bear, why would you throw fish at it, essentially feeding it?

Finally it left and we paddled to the shore and quickly got our stuff together. Tyler took the fish and said he would carry them for us and lead us down the trial. He would throw the fish at the bear (if we came across one) and we would then run. The rest of us scouts armed ourselves with paddles. And we ran almost the whole way home. I don't think I have ever gone 2 miles more quickly than I did that night. And we sang songs, anything to to be loud and get our minds off of being eaten by some horrible creature of the night. We got back to camp safely and the first thing our leaders asked us was why we carried the paddles back to camp.

By the time we came home I think everyone was tired of everyone else. Spending a week together was more than some could handle and our leaders were really happy to come home. I think they got tired of our endless chatter and pranks and doing stupid stuff. One of our leaders was getting frustrated with our trailer of canoes, he kept trying to line them up and was about to lose it. He couldn't tell from his rear view mirror if he was backing up correctly so he decided to roll down his window and look out himself. Tyler knew he was going to do this so he rolled down his window (he was sitting right behind him) and stuck his head out just as our leader looked back. Tyler scared the crap out of him and our leader was so mad. I don't think we dared talk or laugh for at least an hour after.

Jets @ Cardinals

Day 193

Yesterday I mentioned that I once traveled to Arizona to catch my favorite football team, the New York Jets play. It was during Thanksgiving weekend of 11/28/04. We went down and had Thanksgiving with Kristy's parents and then headed to Arizona for the weekend.

Kristy's parents gave us a ride to the airport while Logan stayed with his grandparents for the weekend. I was glad to be leaving such cold, cold weather and into some sun.

Now let me tell you something. I am not much of a flyer and that is because I have flown only a few times. I don't like heights at all so that doesn't help either. But once we are in the air I am comfortable and can enjoy the short flight down to Glendale/Phoenix. We got close to the airport and Kristy and I were looking out the window (she had the window seat) and we were looking at the beautiful scenery. Suddenly the airplane lurched to the left turning into the airport. And Kristy and I jumped back. I crashed right into the guy next to me! I know that there was no way that I could break the glass window, let alone somehow fit through that tiny window. But seeing the ground suddenly down from us really unnerved us. The guy next to me laughed and so did his family that was sitting across the way. Like I said, I am not much of a flyer. But was really neat is that we saw the Grand Canyon from the air!

We got off the airport and called our hotel and they came and picked us up promptly. The first thing I noticed was that it was nice and warm. Which was funny since the first thing our driver said to us was that she apologized that it was so cold. It was about ten degrees cooler than normal but that was about twenty degrees warmer than where we came from. The driver was nice and we had a nice chat about the area. We rested a little bit in the hotel and then we decided to walk around the town. And I am glad we did, we walked right into a parade. The city was celebrating something (I cannot remember) and all the stores were open and the streets were closed down to traffic and the streets were filled with people. We got something to eat and came back to the hotel.

The morning of the game we went down and ate breakfast at the restaurant at the hotel. It seemed like everyone that was staying at the hotel were Jet fans since everybody that came to eat breakfast had Jets stuff on. I felt like I was at a family reunion. I may not know these people's names but they were family since they were Jet fans. We went back to our room and got ready and I was mad that I forgot my Jets cap. My hair (yeah, I had hair back in 2004) was horrible and I needed a hat. So we went to a sporting store and I bought a green hat that was as ugly as it was cheap.

We look so pale in this picture. Lack of sleep and lack of sun!

Then we walked to Sun Devil Stadium and I think the green out shined the red. We sat with a bunch of Arizona people who were extremely friendly even though Kristy and I were both decked out in Jets gear. The elderly couple who sat beside us thought we were from New York and I think they were disappointed that we were only from Utah. In front of us came some guys that were from New York. They were decked out in old Jets stuff and they immediately spoke with us when they saw we were Jet fans. They were also surprised that we were from Utah but I told them I lived in New York for a couple of years. It was a father with his dad and son. Three generations of Jets fans. They told us stories of visiting the Jets play in other arenas and the dad told us he got his nose broken when he saw the Jets play in Miami. It was nice to have them since we were surrounded by Arizona fans.

This was a pic right from our seats.

The game was not as exciting as I hoped it would be but we came out with a win 13-3. It was a joy to see some of my favorite Jets in Curtis Martin and Wayne Cherbet play. And our seats were fantastic. We were very close to the field, in fact the replay camera was stationed right in front of us.

We could hear the coach and players (we were on the Cardinal sidelines) yell to the players on the field. Early in the game Emmit Smith got injured and came off the field right in front of us. The guy behind me yelled out to him and Emmitt heard and gave him a thumbs up. The only big play was the touchdown throw from Quincy Carter (Pennington was injured) to Santana Moss. It happened on the other end and we couldn't tell if he caught it or not. I looked and saw that he had the ball in his hand so I raised my hands signalling a touchdown and yelled "TOUCHDOWN!" much to the chagrin of most of our neighbors. The guys in front of me turned and we all high-fived each other! We were the only ones cheering loudly for our team on that side of the field. It was cool to see players like Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald (his rookie season) play as well.

The only regret that I have about the game is that I missed a big photo opportunity. Curtis Martin and Emmitt Smith knocked helmets together as they greeted each other before the game in the endzone and by the time I got the camera out they had already moved on. But at least I got a picture of Cherbet and Martin running past us.

The game was a lot of fun and by the end the only people left in the stadium were Jets fans. Vilma even led a Jets chant on the other side of the field. After the game and high fives and fist bumps we went back to the hotel and looked for a place to go out and eat.

The next day we went out and toured some of the more scenic areas and went to lunch at this Italian Deli which had phenomenal food.

Then we got a ride to the airport and came back to the snow and cold. Logan was not all excited to see us either which disappointed Kristy. But it was a fun trip and I would love to catch another Jets game at some point in time. They do play the Lions this year so maybe I should talk with Steve.

Hmmm.....

Did I Scare You?

Day 192

One of my favorite past times is scaring the holy hell out of people. I don't know why I love to do it but I must have learned it early on in my life. I used to love to scare my dad and my sister Jennifer a lot. I will have to blog about the time I scared my sister really good.

Just the other night I was in the computer room working and Kristy was about to go to bed. I had to go to the bathroom so I thought I better get upstairs before she did. She was still downstairs and I knew that if I ran full speed into the living room it would frighten her. And sure enough, I took off from the computer and ran right past her and it did scare her. She even lifted her leg up like they do in those cartoons.

Impromptu scares are the greatest. But sometimes if you do a little planning you can come up with a fantastic frightfest! I remember one time fondly where I totally scared the crap out of my soon-to-be-sister-in-law Raelene.

It was Thanksgiving weekend and Kristy and I were staying at Kristy's mom's house. We were flying out to Arizona to see the New York Jets play (that will be another blog post later) and we were just hanging around. Eric's girlfriend came over and they planned on watching a movie in his room. They invited me to watch the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I decided to watch it along with them. It got pretty hot in his room so Eric opened his window and I saw an opportunity.

I embarrassingly asked if they could pause the movie so I could use the bathroom. They did and I left the bedroom and ran into Kristy. I quickly told her to go into the bathroom and turn and make some noises. While she did that I slipped outside and ran into the backyard. I started to giggle as I was about to jump up into the window. I took a deep breath and composed myself and hopped up and struck the window with my hand and screamed.

And then I heard a horrible scream and I knew I scared the crap out of Raelene. It was one of those screams that you hear in those types of movies. I hurried back inside just as Kristy was flushing the toilet. I walked back into the bedroom acting like nothing happened. I asked why she was screaming and I got slugged hard in my arm.

But it was so worth it.

From the Soap Box: Condescending People

Day 191

I had an experience the other day that really irritated me. I was at church going into a Sunday School class and recently I have found the whole classroom experience to be difficult. I am not the type of person that participates, I am the type of person that likes to sit and listen and learn that way. And if I have something to share, I will but that is not the norm. The teacher of this class likes a lot of participation to the point where it seems like she demands it. It is like there is an unwritten rule that says "if you are in my class you HAVE to participate."  Not a fan of that.

Luckily for the last couple of weeks I have been able to handle it. But yesterday I just couldn't take it. Before the class even began she looked around and began to ask people if they brought in their scriptures and if they didn't she would send someone to go get some. I don't mind that she asked but what I did mind was the way she was asking. She was asking over and over and began to ask people personally if they had their scriptures with them. Then she asked if the class would sit closer in the center so it would help her teach her lesson. I said "No, I'm good here." and she made it a BIG deal that everyone should sit in the center. It is not like I am in a lecture hall or anything. I am in a normal sized classroom.

So I got up and instead of sitting in the middle, I left instead.

I know, real mature of me to just get up and leave right? But it is my choice that I am attending that class. I am there to learn and not to be bossed around like I am some sort of child. I am an adult. I will act like an adult in the class. Does it really matter where I sit? And does it really assist you in teaching if I am sitting in one seat over another? Next time I am very tempted to ask the teacher if I can have a sticker next week because I am sitting in the middle.

That just makes me want to scream!

That is a HUGE pet peeve to me. Don't treat me like a child. I know what is expected of me and I can be trusted to handle myself. I understand that she just wants to have a good class but she is going about it the wrong way.

This was a big reason why I left my last job too. Only it was several people that took it upon themselves to be my parents.

If you want me to act like a child I can do that. But if you want me to respect you than treat me like you would yourself. Don't be condescending to me and to others. That is a sign of disrespect.

Happy Mother's Day!

Day 190

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I am blessed to have not just one but a multitude of mothers help and guide me throughout my life and I know that my life would not be the same without their loving influence. So I thought it would be fun to look back through my life and celebrate those mothers that have been a part of my life and share some small memories.

Of course my mom has been the biggest motherly influence in my life. But that shouldn't surprise anyone, I am talking about one of the best moms in the world. There was a time in my life when it was just the two of us and I wouldn't give that up for anything. My mom has always supported me in whatever I was doing and the best part is that she knew me personally and knew how to respond to me. My mom never pushed me into anything and that is because she knew I would not respond positively to that. My mom and I are a lot alike and it is great that I have someone that I can talk to that understands me. I have many fond memories of my mom which I covered already with her birthday post last December.

But one memory that I would like to share was going on road trips with her. We both basically liked the same music (but I was not a fan of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons but it was her car) and we used to hit the road and sing along with Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Styx, Traveling Wilbury's and the Fat Boys while cruising. I remember one trip we took to Rigby to visit Aunt Julie and the Case family. The drive is not that far but this trip was a little harrowing. It was snowing like nothing else and it was coming down pretty hard and fast. At first we didn't mind since my mom is an excellent driver and was used to winter driving. The roads were clear for the moment so we drove on. But the closer we got to Rigby the worse it got. Soon the roads were starting to collect snow and then soon after that we were all driving in one lane and you could barely see the tire tracks of the traffic ahead. At one point we were not driving very fast at all but my mom remained calm and said, "We will just follow the big rig ahead of us and we'll be alright." And then that truck disappeared and we started to panic. Well, I started to panic, if mom was panicking I would have no idea. She remained cool and calm. A few minutes later we caught up to that truck. It had jack-knifed and had crashed off the side of the road. We both looked at each other and we realized that we were too far to turn around and we were on our own. So my mom asked me to watch for road signs because we were getting close to Rigby. I took this assignment seriously. Whenever any sign came into view I yelled it out. "THIS SIGN SAYS MILE 328 SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT!"

I am surprised that my mom stayed so cool without reaching over and smacking me to shut me up. But then she couldn't afford to take one hand off the wheel. I guess I am lucky. But that shows you what kind of mom I have. One that takes matters into her own hands if needed and leads silently and calmly. I hope I learned this quality from her. Thanks mom! I love and appreciate all that you have done for me and my family.

But my mom didn't do it alone. Whenever I was away I had other moms to help look out for me.

I was fortunate to live with my Grandma Anhder for about nine months before my mom and I moved into our own home. Grandma always had some sort of snack for me when I came home and always wanted to know how my day at school was. She never complained about me listening to my music loudly downstairs and always supported me in what I did. It must have been hard to have my mom and I live with them but I would have never known. They accepted and loved me for who I was and that was enough. Grandma wrote me weekly while I was on my mission in New York. I could always count on a letter from her.

I had a ton of mothers in my family to help me out and encourage me. My aunts were always interested in what I was doing and always had words of encouragement. My Aunt Julie has always supported me and I have always felt that I was special and one of her favorite nephews. I remember one time she was visiting from Colorado and her and my mom were going to visit Great-Grandma Maughan and Aunt Julie invited me to go along. I didn't expect to go at all and I was pleased and proud that she wanted me to come along and share that time with them. My Aunt Margo has always supported my love for art and always encouraged me to practice my talent. No matter what, I can always count on getting a homemade birthday card from her. It is such a small gesture but one that makes a huge difference. My Aunt Barbara has always taken interest in me and what I am up to. She wrote me while I was serving my mission and got her kids to send me letters as well. Again, a small gesture that really cheered and lifted me up. Those cards and letters meant a lot. Aunt Lesa helped me out a ton of times while I was in high school. I remember she got me a leather jacket to use (it was her brother's) so I could look good at a 50's dance. If I ever needed anything she was a call away.

My friend's moms helped me stay on the straight and narrow while growing up and helped right up till I got married. My friend Damond's mom was always asking about me when I would go over to her house. And it wasn't just chit-chat either. She would sometimes sit down with Damond and I and talk. She helped with planning dates and always told me what she thought of my date when she would get to meet them. What I appreciated about her the most was that her home was open to me. I felt like I was family and I felt like she treated me as family. She made sure I was fed and there were a couple of occasions that she would correct me if she felt I was not acting the way I should. My friends Joel and Lared had moms like this. Joel's mom made sure that I was going to USU (when I got off my mission) by telling me to get an education and that it was okay to stay single for awhile. She also would see me around town and would stop to chat instead of either waving or ignoring me completely. I was always impressed that she remembered me since I was not at her home a lot. Lared's mom also made sure that I was going down the right path. I remember one night Lared and I returned to his house and we had these toy guns that shot plastic discs. We crashed into his home and shot everyone we saw while they were kneeling down together in prayer. I about died from embarrassment so I took off. Then I heard his mom say "You better get back here Matt. We just started and I expect you to kneel with us!" So I did. Afterwards she really took it to both Lared and I about respect and reverence.

On my LDS mission I made a lot of friends and close relationships but I also had a few moms there to take care of me. I had other people watching over me that I became very close to but that was more friendship than anything else. But some were mothers first and friends second. Mama Lopez, Nicole, Beverly, Judy, Sister Child and Maria were ones that offered me a mother's shoulder for help. It was nice having so many moms in New York when I was so far away from mine.

Now I am blessed to have another mom in my life aside from my own. Kristy's mom Colleen takes care of me like I was one of her own. I hear horror stories from friends about not getting along with in-laws. Some of my friends cannot believe that I call my mother-in-law "mom" and not by Colleen (unless I am trying to get her attention!). But I am glad that I have this mom in my life. She always willing to help and does so much for me and my family. She is a hoot to be around too! I remember one time we went to a movie and she came with us. We went and saw Minority Report and during the previews we saw one about a comedy and the preview showed them making fun of this person who had a mole and they kept saying "mole" to this person. Mom thought it wasn't nice (even though she was laughing) and said we shouldn't make fun of people with moles. Such a mother thing to say right? But then halfway through the movie some actor came on screen that had a mole and suddenly we hear Colleen blurt out "Mole!" as she pointed to the screen. We all cracked up. The best thing about Colleen is that she has taught her children well. Kristy is a lot like her and that is not a bad thing at all.

Even though Kristy is not my mom, she is a great mom to my son Logan. She is always willing to help and play with Logan. She has much more patience with him than I do. And she can laugh at all the dorky things he does.

I am blessed with having my mom, Colleen and Kristy as mothers in my life now and I have been blessed all my life with having excellent moms.

Thanks Mom(s)!

I want to wish every mom out there a Happy Mother's Day! You guys definitely deserve more than one day as recognition. But if we men gave you another day, the world would go to pot!

Mr. Roboto plays Soccer

Day 189

Short blog today. Kristy and I were up super late last night watching a marathon of Office episodes and we have a ton of stuff to do.

That is Logan sitting on a soccer game cheering on his teammates. When Cade scored he gave a thumbs up in appreciation.

Logan had his soccer game early this afternoon (which they won) but I don't think Logan's heart was in the game. He acted like his leg was killing him and his arm was hurting but when we would ask him he would say everything was fine. Logan just lacks the killer instinct to go after that ball. Still he has fun and that is what counts.

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo. Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto!

Now we have to go and run and get some groceries and get Mother's Day all set up. We came home for lunch and I was in the kitchen consolidating all the boxes of Mountain Dew when Logan put some boxes on his feet and acted like a robot. I was hoping he was going to get all Mr. Roboto on us but he was too shy.

List-Mania: I Love Villains

Day 188

"The key to being a great good guy is being able to work with a GREAT bad guy."

    -Bret Hart-

I have always loved the villains. Villains are what makes the story. Whether it is a villain that redeems himself like Darth Vader or it is a villain that is just stone cold EVIL. Even when I was a kid, I loved villains. When I played Star Wars with my friends, I was the Empire. When I played G.I. Joe, I was Cobra. My favorite wrestlers are the heels, the ones that are bad like Ric Flair. Don't get me wrong, I like the good guys too but I find the bad guys all that much more interesting.

As a writer, I find writing the villains the most fun and productive. When I wrote my novel last year, I had the most fun writing Bailey and Lester (two of my main villains).

Zartan, Ming the Merciless, Soundwave, Professor Snape, Ozymandias, Dr. Doom, Mr. Sinister, Count Dooku, Green Goblin, Joker, Baltar, Kurgen, Bullseye, Mr. Freeze, Boba Fett, Plutonian, Ursula, Lex Luthor...   ...You get the picture, the list of interesting villains is far more impressive than the heroes.

So here are my favorite villains of all time!

5) Benjamin Linus
He is one of the biggest reasons why I love the TV show Lost. He leads through intimidation and he leads by manipulation. He uses everything as a way to further his own agenda. He is not afraid to take matters into his own hands no matter how horrific the act may be. Even when he is defeated and captured he never stops manipulating things and trying to exploit others.

4) Scar
Having a family member betray the family is a villain staple. And Scar is the best one at it. He is not the strongest lion out there but he is by far the most sly. He teams up with his own enemies to further his cause and sets up a trap to kill his brother the King while pinning the blame on his own nephew. At first Scar looks like the hero saving the King from being trampled but then Scar sinks his claws into him and tosses him into the stampede. So not only does Scar succeed in killing his brother but that is the last thing his brother knows is that he was betrayed. And not only that but he puts the blame on his nephew and guilts him into leaving the Pridelands forever. Talk about being stone cold evil!

3) Magneto
It is hard to classify Magneto as a villain since his actions seem justified. He is a Holocaust survivor and doesn't want his fellow mutants to go through the horrors he faced when he was younger. He wants mutants to take over the world, in his eyes the only way mutants can live in peace. He is willing to sacrifice himself for his cause. But what makes him a great villain is that he is willing to sacrifice anyone to further his cause even his own kind! His actions have killed thousands and even in death can become a martyr for his cause. I have often wondered (since I am a geek) which side I would side with. Is Magneto right? Is mutantkind the next step in evolution and if so why should mutants care about normal people?

2) The Emperor
Star Wars is full of great villains but I find Emperor Palpatine the most vile and evil and that is because he doesn't feel the need to get his hands dirty. He slowly puts a plan in motion and is insanely patient waiting until his plans come to fruition. While he is a master of the Dark Side of the Force and can whip a lightsaber with the best of them, he calmly uses his words instead. It was his words that swayed Anakin, it was his words that swayed voters to put power right into his hands.

1) Dracula
He has you under his spell and you don't even know it until it is too late. He uses his charm and intelligence to seduce his way. But what makes him my favorite villain is that he is truly a monster in sheep's clothing. He is classy and takes care of his business in an orderly conduct. You would never guess that he is hiding a horrible secret. After you strip away his cold and calculating personality it reveals something that no longer acts human but his true nature is primal and animalistic. And by the time you figure that out, it is too late.

Who am I kidding? My favorite villain is really Mr. Burns.