Suit Up!

It's been around 2 decades since I last donned a suit. I haven't bought one since my mission and, well, I've been home for about 22 years! I've thought several times over the years that I really should have a suit but have just never loved myself in a suit when I'd try them on. So back in May I went shopping with some friends to University Mall. I mentioned that I wanted a suit and then my friends insisted that we go try some on. First we went to Macy's and spent some time trying on jackets. Nothing really was working. I joked about getting one at Nordstroms but thought they would be way to expensive for what I wanted to spend. When we got there I found that one of my old coworkers from ZCMI was the manager there. He was incredibly helpful. We found a few suits that fit well and he even told me when they would go on sale. Since I was in no rush (it had been 20 years) I decided to wait for the sale. I should have gone in immediately when the sale started because by the time I did go in, they had to have my suit shipped to me from Alaska! So a few weeks later after shipping and a few alterations, I have a suit! I wore it today for the first time. No special occasion really. Oh I guess I could say that I wore it to hear my mom talk in sacrament meeting. Below is a more full view of the suit -- BTW, that is not me below. ;)

Wake Boarding Success!

Three Saturdays ago I went out on Utah Lake with some friends. The idea was to go wake boarding. I love being out on the water in a boat but when it comes to water sports I've had little to no success. As a kid we had a boat but when my family was doing the bulk of their water skiing, I was too small for the skis. By the time I was interested in trying it out my siblings had all moved on to other activities and the boat was getting old. I do remember once (I was probably junior high age) that I went water skiing with some of my family and after many attempts I was finally able to get up.

Well I few decades later and I decided to challenge the belief that I just couldn't do it. I went in with a real positive attitude that this time I was going to do it no matter how long it took. Plus this was wake boarding, not water skiing. After watching two of my friends succeed at wake boarding, I realized it was my turn. I hopped in the water and gave it a full effort, maybe too much of an effort. They boat dragged me over and over as I struggled to get out of the water. After about 8 tries I was exhausted and decided that it wasn't going to happen. So I got in the boat and had some lunch instead. ;)

Well last Saturday I had the opportunity to try for a second time. I knew that I would get in and give it a try again but this time I was less hopeful than the first. Again after watching friends just pop up and board, I hopped in the water and gave it a good ol' try. I tried 3 or 4 times and then my instructor, Steve, decided this case was serious enough to get in the water with me. He had told me the previous week that he could get anyone up and he had a great track record. So with Steve in the water with me showing me exactly how the board should be in the water I was finally able to get up. In fact I got up twice with his help in the water. But then I was able to get up twice on my own. Yay! Next time I'm going to work on what to do once I'm up. ;)

Oh and we did some tubing too!

Y Not

After hiking Battle Creek Falls at few weeks ago with my friend, Lindsay, we both decided that we needed to hike to the "Y" since neither of us had ever done it. Friends kept on warning us that it was a steep hike that it would be hot and that we would be miserable, yada, yada, yada. I really was prepared for something awful at that point but really it was not that bad. The hike is just over one mile in length but also has a climb of about 675 vertical feet. I was definitely sweating but we just took it slow and tried to enjoy the scenery. At the top we sat for a while, chatted, and enjoyed the setting sun. The round trip took about two hour.

Following a calorie-burning hike, we decided to visit the ever delicious Station 22. Just in case you missed by first visit to Station 22, you can check it out by clicking here. This time I ordered the Freedom (French) Dip. It was pretty darn amazing. If you haven't checked Station 22 out yet, I highly recommend it.

Run, Don't Walk (to Station 22)

After getting my almost weekly massage from UCMT I was feeling hungry. My nephew, Nick, and his girlfriend had raved about at place in Provo near the old Los Hermanos restaurant called Station 22. Since I had time I talked my friend, Chris, into trying it out. Let me just say that I am not one of those guys who loves a greasy spoon, hole-in-the-wall, kind of place. The location was kind of screaming that that is exactly what it would be but I'm open-minded and willing to check out a place at least once. I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was super cool, very hip, and felt kind of big city. (Not that I really know what "big city" is.) Their menu wasn't large but the items all sounded unique and worth trying. I had heard that the Freedom (French) Dip was good as well as the fries. I don't think the Freedom Dip was available today so I asked the cashier what her favorites are. One that she suggested was the Memphis Fried Chicken Sandwich pictured above. It sounded tasty and added the fries and a soda to make it a meal. Here is what The Memphis is: a hand cut, battered, & fried chicken in the Memphis style, then glazed it with a spicy butter sauce, topped with fresh slaw, and served it on a ciabatta roll. Yum! They also had some cool free waters. One was very lime infused and the other was watermelon and some herb. They were both pretty refreshing and unusual. I highly recommend it. The prices are not bad but not super cheap either. I paid around $12 for what I ordered. See my photos below.

Me & My Monkey

Last weekend I went to Lagoon with several friends. You know how they have the people who will guess your weight or your age and if they are off by a certain amount then you win a prize? Well I have never tried it. Ever! And since people are generally guessing that I'm younger than I am, I decided to give it a whirl. I was a little nervous. What if she guesses my age, close to it, or even worse, older?! It was risky to my ego but I decided to go with it. I was pleasantly surprised when she guessed 34. I asked her if they taught them anything about guessing ages or weights. She said the only thing they told her is to guess 2 years older than she really thinks. So that means that she really thought I was 32! :)

Oh and as my prize, I got the monkey.

Matt Wertz & Toad the Wet Sprocket

Thursday night I went with my friend, Tam, to check out a concert at the Gallivan Center in SLC featuring Toad the Wet Sprocket with opening artist, Matt Wertz.I've seen Toad twice before and Glen Phillips (the lead singer of Toad) twice. We met up with my bud, Brad, his wife, Elizabeth, his oldest son, Cole, and Cole's girlfriend, Hillary. While I was excited to see Toad, I was more excited to see Matt, who I have only recently discovered. Both bands put on great shows and the weather was perfect despite of the rain drops. Tam and I scored Matt's new CD and got him to sign it. He even agreed to be photographed with us. Tam needed one of her own with just Matt! I think she has a bit of a crush. On the way home she talked about moving to Nashville, where Matt lives. Following the show we hit the downtown McDonalds "to eat yogurt and to watch the hookers." We got some ice cream but saw no hookers. It was a fun night. Check out the videos posted below.

Bag of Crap? Indeed!

This week I was excited to see that my Bag of Crap from Woot had finally arrived. I picked the bag up and it was fairly lightweight. So I thought it was really crap or maybe one of the legendary letters informing me of a much larger prize soon to come. I suspected it would be the first rather than the latter.

Woot did not disappoint. They did indeed deliver a bag of crap. Inside the box were the following items pictured above:

• Official Woot athletic red, white, and blue headband and wrist bands. One wrist band is missing from the photo because Chris is now emotionally attached to it :)
• An "As Seen on TV" UV Light Toothbrush Sanitizer. The best part is that it "kills H1N1 swine flu virus." That is one of my top concerns when brushing my teeth.
• A game called Fact or Crap Dare. It says its a "funsize" game. If its anything like a fun size Snickers, it's less fun than a full sized game.
• And last but not least is the Recycled Tote Bag. It's "Perfect for: Lunches, gift bags, carry alls, Fun!" We'll see how fun it really is.