Well, I've been writing children's books for the kindle and for Xander. I decided to sell the books for free (for a limited time) as a promotion. My book The True Story of Hope the Cat in its three days as a free book has sold 132 copies. Its sequel, Baby and Kitty-Best Friends has already sold 60 copies in its first day as a free book on Amazon.
For those of you who have picked up copies of my books for free, thank you for taking an interest in my work. Also, please write a review for the books on Amazon.com. Again, thank you very much and be expecting more promotions soon as well as new books.
Again, thank you very much.
Xander and Curtis
Our little men
Monday, April 9, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Writing Books
Well, it's been awhile since I've come on and done anything with the blog. This is mainly because I have been busy writing and independently publishing books this month with the kindle. My books are only available on the kindle, which makes it hard for anyone who doesn't have one to get a copy.
Pam and I co-wrote The True Story of Hope the Cat
I also wrote two other children's books that are now for sale including Oso Azul Quiere Jugar/Blue Bear Wants to Play and ABC Animal Rhymes.
I just finished a project this morning that is more for adult readers. It is about my experiences both in the church and in Mormon culture. This book won't be published until later on tonight. If you do a search on my name on amazon.com my books will come up.
Pam and I co-wrote The True Story of Hope the Cat
I also wrote two other children's books that are now for sale including Oso Azul Quiere Jugar/Blue Bear Wants to Play and ABC Animal Rhymes.
I just finished a project this morning that is more for adult readers. It is about my experiences both in the church and in Mormon culture. This book won't be published until later on tonight. If you do a search on my name on amazon.com my books will come up.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Xander the Music Lover
Xander loves music. In the womb he was angrily kick Pam if the band kids weren't playing well. Out of the womb he makes it obvious to us which songs he likes and which songs he doesn't like. Don't play ZZ Top to him, Beatles are fine.
He also really likes it when I sing to him. Tonight I sang to him over the phone since I am at a state wrestling competition. Pam said that the sound of my voice changed his whole mood and put him to sleep. I'm glad that I'm able to do something for my son despite being so far away from him right now.
He also really likes it when I sing to him. Tonight I sang to him over the phone since I am at a state wrestling competition. Pam said that the sound of my voice changed his whole mood and put him to sleep. I'm glad that I'm able to do something for my son despite being so far away from him right now.
Kitty's Got a New Trick
One particular night I got very confused because I started to go check on Xander because it sounded like he was waking up when I looked over and saw that Pam was already feeding him. At 2 AM it's kind of hard to process things and it took me awhile to figure it out.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Information on Xander
Xander likes to squirm and stick out his tongue. He is also very smart. When Pam talks about me he will look in my direction. He sleeps a lot so far, which makes him a very easy baby to handle. He really likes movement. He'll sleep through anything as long as you keep him moving.
He has a widow's peak, just like his mother. His eyes have already started to change color, we think they are going to be green. He has dark hair, with some blonde in it. He was born at 19 inches long and 7 pounds 9 ounces. He has cubby cheeks. Pam sees mostly my features when she looks at him, my chin, my ears, and so forth.
When he was in the womb everyone was telling us what a big baby he was going to be so we didn't bother with many newborn clothing. Now that he's here and so tiny we had to buy a lot of newborn things, much of which is too big for him! If only I had my camera with me I could upload some photos! Oh well. I'm looking forward to seeing him tonight after the competition. I'm so glad Pam brought him yesterday, that really put up my spirits.
The hospital warned us about depression when we left and said to look for it in me. I mentioned that I thought that only happened to the mother. "Oh, it happens to the father, when they have to go back to work." I'm not sure that really qualifies as depression. I leave home and miss my son, I come home and feel great being with my son. I've already read at least half a dozen books to him; he likes it when we read. I want to try to read him something everyday. When I don't have a book to read sometimes it calms him just to hear my voice, so I tell him Bible and Book of Mormon Stories.
He is so cute when we read to him or tell him stories. He knows by the sound of our voices when things are suspenseful. He knows when things are happy. He knows what emotions the characters are having by how we read the books. I know everyone says their baby is a genius and what not and it sounds corny. But when I watch his face as I read, I know that if nothing else, he knows the feeling of the story. Which is evidence of intelligence to me.
I love my wonderful and perfect baby boy.
He has a widow's peak, just like his mother. His eyes have already started to change color, we think they are going to be green. He has dark hair, with some blonde in it. He was born at 19 inches long and 7 pounds 9 ounces. He has cubby cheeks. Pam sees mostly my features when she looks at him, my chin, my ears, and so forth.
When he was in the womb everyone was telling us what a big baby he was going to be so we didn't bother with many newborn clothing. Now that he's here and so tiny we had to buy a lot of newborn things, much of which is too big for him! If only I had my camera with me I could upload some photos! Oh well. I'm looking forward to seeing him tonight after the competition. I'm so glad Pam brought him yesterday, that really put up my spirits.
The hospital warned us about depression when we left and said to look for it in me. I mentioned that I thought that only happened to the mother. "Oh, it happens to the father, when they have to go back to work." I'm not sure that really qualifies as depression. I leave home and miss my son, I come home and feel great being with my son. I've already read at least half a dozen books to him; he likes it when we read. I want to try to read him something everyday. When I don't have a book to read sometimes it calms him just to hear my voice, so I tell him Bible and Book of Mormon Stories.
He is so cute when we read to him or tell him stories. He knows by the sound of our voices when things are suspenseful. He knows when things are happy. He knows what emotions the characters are having by how we read the books. I know everyone says their baby is a genius and what not and it sounds corny. But when I watch his face as I read, I know that if nothing else, he knows the feeling of the story. Which is evidence of intelligence to me.
I love my wonderful and perfect baby boy.
It's A New Day
I haven't written like I promised I would about the birth of my son. I also haven't posted pictures on this blog like I said I would. Sorry! You can find pictures of him and information on our family blog maynardhalfway.blogspot.com. Pam and I decided we wanted a blog as a family and she felt this blog was too me. So we changed her blog into our family blog. Go and check it out for pictures on Xander. Also, I will eventually get something up here. Between work, coaching, and being a Daddy (The most important of the three) I don't have a lot of free time anymore.
I'm in Holbrook right now at the Sectional Competition for 2A North in Arizona. None of my team has been eliminated as we go into the 2nd day of wrestling. All four of the boys I brought are wrestling for metals. We'll have to see what the new day brings. I only brought four because the other five members of the team were failing classes. Hopefully they too will have a new day and bring up their grades.
Pam and Jane gave me a wonderful surprise yesterday. They dropped by with Xander! My baby has been to a wrestling meet! He slept almost the whole time but it was still very special. I got to cuddle with my wife and hold my son at a meet. Earlier that day all I could think about was how I had never been so far away from Xander. I'm so glad Pam decided to come and see me and the boys in action. I also got to explain a lot of things to her about the sport.
I finally called my brother Keith after the 1st day of the match to congratulate him on his newborn son, born just eight days after Xander. I told him about how Xander had been at the match and he made a comment that we'll have to start teaching him how to wrestle.
I'm in Holbrook right now at the Sectional Competition for 2A North in Arizona. None of my team has been eliminated as we go into the 2nd day of wrestling. All four of the boys I brought are wrestling for metals. We'll have to see what the new day brings. I only brought four because the other five members of the team were failing classes. Hopefully they too will have a new day and bring up their grades.
Pam and Jane gave me a wonderful surprise yesterday. They dropped by with Xander! My baby has been to a wrestling meet! He slept almost the whole time but it was still very special. I got to cuddle with my wife and hold my son at a meet. Earlier that day all I could think about was how I had never been so far away from Xander. I'm so glad Pam decided to come and see me and the boys in action. I also got to explain a lot of things to her about the sport.
I finally called my brother Keith after the 1st day of the match to congratulate him on his newborn son, born just eight days after Xander. I told him about how Xander had been at the match and he made a comment that we'll have to start teaching him how to wrestle.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Last Few Days - The Xander Saga
So Xander isn't here yet, but oh buddy it has been a long couple of days getting to where we've gotten to.
So Pam's Mom was coming in today from Ohio to the Flagstaff Airport and landing at about noon. I was supposed to be in Page at a wrestling tournament. Pam was going to travel to Flagstaff alone and pick up Jane and Emma was going to be on call to pick me up if anything happened to Pam. That was the plan.
Pam is very close to having Xander and I wasn't comfortable going to Page. I presented the facts to the Principal and Vice Principal and they agreed with me and sent me on a quest to find a new chaperone to take my place. However they weren't interested in me going to Flagstaff before school got out. They felt that Pam and I should wait till 3:20 to go and pick up Mom, something that Pam wasn't willing to do. So the plan changed: Pam was going to Flagstaff to pick up Mom and Emma and I would follow after Super Saturday. When I told the Principal the new plan he looked really guilty.
There was another thing that started out as a terrible thing that became a blessing. In the district we are only allowed to take 3 days off at a time, any more than that and we need district approval. That was going to mean that I would have to return to Pinon on Monday, because of our car situation, and not be with Pam in the hospital. I contacted Wallen, our superintendent but heard nothing back. I was very distraught about the whole thing, but not as much as Pam was. Mr. Wallen came to the high school and was in the same conference room that I needed to go to! Mr. Wallen didn't even think about it or hesitate to give me four days of leave to be with Pam. That moment was truly wonderful and it changed our whole day for the better.
I got to school this morning worrying about Pam traveling alone and knowing that I was going to teach all day even though I had written sub plans for the day. I saw off the wrestling bus and wished my team luck in the tournament. I entered my classroom and discovered that I had a sub! I left the room and talked with Kim, an administrator, got permission to leave, ran out of the school and called Pam. Quickly I prepared the next week's lessons and got into the truck with Pam and left Pinon.
I really feel that Heavenly Father has been looking out for our family these last couple of days. He made it possible for me to be with Pam for her whole hospital stay with Xander and he made it possible for me to be with her as she travelled. Neither of these things looked likely 36 hours ago. I am very grateful for all that has been made possible for us.
So Pam's Mom was coming in today from Ohio to the Flagstaff Airport and landing at about noon. I was supposed to be in Page at a wrestling tournament. Pam was going to travel to Flagstaff alone and pick up Jane and Emma was going to be on call to pick me up if anything happened to Pam. That was the plan.
Pam is very close to having Xander and I wasn't comfortable going to Page. I presented the facts to the Principal and Vice Principal and they agreed with me and sent me on a quest to find a new chaperone to take my place. However they weren't interested in me going to Flagstaff before school got out. They felt that Pam and I should wait till 3:20 to go and pick up Mom, something that Pam wasn't willing to do. So the plan changed: Pam was going to Flagstaff to pick up Mom and Emma and I would follow after Super Saturday. When I told the Principal the new plan he looked really guilty.
There was another thing that started out as a terrible thing that became a blessing. In the district we are only allowed to take 3 days off at a time, any more than that and we need district approval. That was going to mean that I would have to return to Pinon on Monday, because of our car situation, and not be with Pam in the hospital. I contacted Wallen, our superintendent but heard nothing back. I was very distraught about the whole thing, but not as much as Pam was. Mr. Wallen came to the high school and was in the same conference room that I needed to go to! Mr. Wallen didn't even think about it or hesitate to give me four days of leave to be with Pam. That moment was truly wonderful and it changed our whole day for the better.
I got to school this morning worrying about Pam traveling alone and knowing that I was going to teach all day even though I had written sub plans for the day. I saw off the wrestling bus and wished my team luck in the tournament. I entered my classroom and discovered that I had a sub! I left the room and talked with Kim, an administrator, got permission to leave, ran out of the school and called Pam. Quickly I prepared the next week's lessons and got into the truck with Pam and left Pinon.
I really feel that Heavenly Father has been looking out for our family these last couple of days. He made it possible for me to be with Pam for her whole hospital stay with Xander and he made it possible for me to be with her as she travelled. Neither of these things looked likely 36 hours ago. I am very grateful for all that has been made possible for us.
Recent Movie Dates
So I've decided to stop talking about every movie Pam and I see together because by now I'm so far behind that it just isn't worth it. But there are some good movies we've seen recently.
New Year's Eve, our actual New Year's Eve wasn't great between me being sick and on New Year's Day throwing up and flooding our bathroom. So I decided to take Pam to the movie to sort of redo the moment. When they had the countdown in the movie I leaned in and kissed her as the ball dropped. The movie was entertaining with its several story lines.
War Horse, I think I've talked about this movie before. While it is unrealistic it is still a beautiful film that was extremely well done. It is based off a book that was written to honor the 9 million horses that died in WWI. Since it is supposed to represent so many horses the horse does change hands a lot and is used by the British, German, and French forces for different purposes.
We just got back from Red Tails. This movie not only told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen but also discussed the racial challenges that they faced and overcame. Red Tails is very well done, it represents the time period well and honors the men that flew the planes and protected the bombers, men who became some of the greatest pilots of all time.
New Year's Eve, our actual New Year's Eve wasn't great between me being sick and on New Year's Day throwing up and flooding our bathroom. So I decided to take Pam to the movie to sort of redo the moment. When they had the countdown in the movie I leaned in and kissed her as the ball dropped. The movie was entertaining with its several story lines.
War Horse, I think I've talked about this movie before. While it is unrealistic it is still a beautiful film that was extremely well done. It is based off a book that was written to honor the 9 million horses that died in WWI. Since it is supposed to represent so many horses the horse does change hands a lot and is used by the British, German, and French forces for different purposes.
We just got back from Red Tails. This movie not only told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen but also discussed the racial challenges that they faced and overcame. Red Tails is very well done, it represents the time period well and honors the men that flew the planes and protected the bombers, men who became some of the greatest pilots of all time.
Oops Moments of 2011
This was another list that I did last year. I don't think this year's list will be as long or as funny but let's see what I have to work with. I really didn't make as many stupid mistakes as I did in 2010, so maybe I am getting a little wiser with age.
Dental Emergency
- The day before my wedding I lost half a tooth. This story begins in 1994 when my brother Keith knocked out half of one of my teeth by accident while we were playing hockey in Oregon. The dentists replaced what was lost with an artificial half tooth. An artificial half tooth that decided to come out the day before my wedding. I panicked and called Pam about my Dental Emergency. We talked about it and came to the conclusion that no one could really even tell in the first place that half the tooth was different and now that it was gone my smile hadn't changed much. Of course that was after I tried to rearrange the wedding so that the cameras wouldn't catch my new disfigurement.
Locked In at Wal-Mart
- In Delaware, Ohio Pam and I were staying at a hotel that shared a parking lot with Wal-Mart. So I went over there to the redbox or to pick things up a lot. One evening I went over there really late. I looked at the movies for a while and then went into the bathroom. When I emerged from the bathroom I discovered that the store had closed and that I had been locked in. There were no people in sight and I began to wonder how I was going to get home to see my wife, I did NOT want to spend the night in the store. I went to the doors and saw the sign that said to push in case of emergency. I decided that this was an emergency and I pushed gently. The door popped open and I exited. I stood outside the store for a while trying to figure out how to put the door back in and finally left it like that.
Fire in the Microwave!
- So I decided to help my wonderful and beautiful pregnant wife right, because I'm that kind of guy. I was reheated some food from Olive Garden for her. She didn't find out about my mistake until the next day. Along with the food that heated without incident I also heated up breadsticks. Breadsticks that caught fire! Breadsticks bags from Olive Garden have foil in them, they aren't microwave safe!
Blown Transmission
- Most of the moments are funny, there is nothing funny about this one though. The truck burned its own transmission fluid. At first we were thinking it was oil problems but the more I saw the fluid that was coming out of the truck the more convinced I became that it was transmission problems. Since I don't know much about cars people didn't listen to me and now the car sits on a curb - it won't even go into neutral. However by the time I started to figure things out it was already getting to a point where it was beyond saving. I wish we could have figured things out a bit sooner! Because of the cost my wife now wants to kill me, or blow up our trucks, whatever is easier.
Dental Emergency
- The day before my wedding I lost half a tooth. This story begins in 1994 when my brother Keith knocked out half of one of my teeth by accident while we were playing hockey in Oregon. The dentists replaced what was lost with an artificial half tooth. An artificial half tooth that decided to come out the day before my wedding. I panicked and called Pam about my Dental Emergency. We talked about it and came to the conclusion that no one could really even tell in the first place that half the tooth was different and now that it was gone my smile hadn't changed much. Of course that was after I tried to rearrange the wedding so that the cameras wouldn't catch my new disfigurement.
Locked In at Wal-Mart
- In Delaware, Ohio Pam and I were staying at a hotel that shared a parking lot with Wal-Mart. So I went over there to the redbox or to pick things up a lot. One evening I went over there really late. I looked at the movies for a while and then went into the bathroom. When I emerged from the bathroom I discovered that the store had closed and that I had been locked in. There were no people in sight and I began to wonder how I was going to get home to see my wife, I did NOT want to spend the night in the store. I went to the doors and saw the sign that said to push in case of emergency. I decided that this was an emergency and I pushed gently. The door popped open and I exited. I stood outside the store for a while trying to figure out how to put the door back in and finally left it like that.
Fire in the Microwave!
- So I decided to help my wonderful and beautiful pregnant wife right, because I'm that kind of guy. I was reheated some food from Olive Garden for her. She didn't find out about my mistake until the next day. Along with the food that heated without incident I also heated up breadsticks. Breadsticks that caught fire! Breadsticks bags from Olive Garden have foil in them, they aren't microwave safe!
Blown Transmission
- Most of the moments are funny, there is nothing funny about this one though. The truck burned its own transmission fluid. At first we were thinking it was oil problems but the more I saw the fluid that was coming out of the truck the more convinced I became that it was transmission problems. Since I don't know much about cars people didn't listen to me and now the car sits on a curb - it won't even go into neutral. However by the time I started to figure things out it was already getting to a point where it was beyond saving. I wish we could have figured things out a bit sooner! Because of the cost my wife now wants to kill me, or blow up our trucks, whatever is easier.
Friday, January 6, 2012
27 Years
I've just written the Top Moments of 2011 posting and I've read over the Top Moments of 2010 posting. It has made me think a little bit about the top moments of life, especially since tomorrow morning at around 2 I will turn 27 years old!
2011
Marrying the love of my life who is the most intelligent, beautiful, and wonderful woman
Finding out I was having a son with that woman
Having a Honeymoon with her
2010
Graduating from college
Getting my first job in my career
Finding Pam!!!
Falling in love with Pam
Getting Engaged to Pam
Being with Pam
2007 - 2009
College Years
Hawaii Trip
(Sometimes these felt like the between years that I was just trying to get through. Sometimes they felt like adventures, especially with all the women I was dating. Mostly though I loved college, I loved being in class and learning with the people I was there with. Would I redo High School, Middle School or Elementary - Never in a million years; would I redo college? In a heartbeat, you bet I would.)
2006
Getting home from my mission
Restarting college
Dating again (I hadn't been on one in two years)
2005
Becoming a Senior Companion
Becoming a District Leader
Having the opportunity to take younger Elders under my wing
Helping other Elders with their problems
Getting more Spanish mastered
Helping people come to Christ
2004
Entering the MTC on my birthday
Struggling with Spanish
Bringing people to Christ through baptism
2003
Going through the Temple for my Endowment
Getting my Mission Call
Graduation from High School
Eagle Court of Honor
2001
Turning 16, it was finally time to start dating
2000
Working at Camp New Fork
Getting my first college credits while still in High School
Well, it's now just past midnight which means it's now my birthday. I have to wake up early for a wrestling tournament that I am coaching for. In 2000 that's also where I spent my birthday, at a wrestling tournament, the person misheard and announced that I had turned 50. Oh well, this is as good a place as any to stop. I count about thirty things with almost a third of them happening in the last two years. Wow, the last couple of years really have been crammed full of stuff.
Pam, if you're reading this, I love you.
Later everybody. If you see me wish me Happy Birthday!
2011
Marrying the love of my life who is the most intelligent, beautiful, and wonderful woman
Finding out I was having a son with that woman
Having a Honeymoon with her
2010
Graduating from college
Getting my first job in my career
Finding Pam!!!
Falling in love with Pam
Getting Engaged to Pam
Being with Pam
2007 - 2009
College Years
Hawaii Trip
(Sometimes these felt like the between years that I was just trying to get through. Sometimes they felt like adventures, especially with all the women I was dating. Mostly though I loved college, I loved being in class and learning with the people I was there with. Would I redo High School, Middle School or Elementary - Never in a million years; would I redo college? In a heartbeat, you bet I would.)
2006
Getting home from my mission
Restarting college
Dating again (I hadn't been on one in two years)
2005
Becoming a Senior Companion
Becoming a District Leader
Having the opportunity to take younger Elders under my wing
Helping other Elders with their problems
Getting more Spanish mastered
Helping people come to Christ
2004
Entering the MTC on my birthday
Struggling with Spanish
Bringing people to Christ through baptism
2003
Going through the Temple for my Endowment
Getting my Mission Call
Graduation from High School
Eagle Court of Honor
2001
Turning 16, it was finally time to start dating
2000
Working at Camp New Fork
Getting my first college credits while still in High School
Well, it's now just past midnight which means it's now my birthday. I have to wake up early for a wrestling tournament that I am coaching for. In 2000 that's also where I spent my birthday, at a wrestling tournament, the person misheard and announced that I had turned 50. Oh well, this is as good a place as any to stop. I count about thirty things with almost a third of them happening in the last two years. Wow, the last couple of years really have been crammed full of stuff.
Pam, if you're reading this, I love you.
Later everybody. If you see me wish me Happy Birthday!
Top Moments of 2011
It's that time of year again. A time for resolutions and reflections on the past year. I'm going to go ahead and take a look at the milestones I've pasted in 2011. Like last year I'm not going to rank them so much as go chronologically. However, this year I do have three milestones that are by far more important than the rest and I've ranked those.
January 1st - Bringing in the New Year with Pam. For the first time we had someone to kiss when the New Year happened. So we made out for New Year's in every time zone of the United States except for Hawaii since it was getting kind of late. It was a really romantic time. Unlike this year when I was sick and puked January 1st.
February was temple month. I was able to go with the Huxholds to Snowflake and then I was also able to go several times to Mesa. It was wonderful.
April had lots of things that happened. Not all of them necessarily milestones, but certainly highlights to the year that made it special for me.
There was touring Nauvoo with my family. I did this twice. Once with the Larsens and Johansens who I hadn't seen in a long time and once with my wife after having just married her.
A night of Epic Winning with my brothers who gave me an awesome bachelor party.
April 23rd by far outranks everything else this year. I married Pam. My Aunt Linda remarked that she had never seen me so happy before. It was an incredible moment when I saw Pam in her wedding dress for the first time. Our first kiss as man and wife was so intense that people had to break us up. It was an amazing day.
The next milestone is another ranked one. Getting Married was number one and coming in at number three was the Honeymoon! Driving through the wonderful state of Illinois and then flying down to Mexico! It was truly incredible!
Our trip to Chitzen Itza was very scenic. It was truly amazing to be at the sight of one of the New Ancient Wonders of the World. (Yes the title is a little confusing, but the original list of seven ancient wonders was made by the Greeks and therefore doesn't include things like the ruins that I saw or even the Great Wall of China.)
Xcaret was AMAZING! So many animals! And the night show was fantastic. This is most definitely a world class resort with world class entertainment.
And that was April. Lots and lots of fun.
May was a very important month for Pam and I. Soon after our honeymoon Pam started taking pregnancy tests to confirm what we already pretty much knew. Finding out that I was going to be a parent was the second most important milestone to me this year. It's hard to rank any of them. But my wedding, my child, and my honeymoon are the three events that mean the most to me.
June 4th We got to see a baptism and celebrate our marriage with family and friends in Utah. By this time it was already official that Pam was having a baby.
June 5th This day wasn't such a good day for me, but it was still very special. My grandmother had a stroke and as I gave her a blessing I once again felt that my Grandpa Maynard was there. As I struggled to give her a blessing, a blessing that told her that she wasn't going to recover, she lifted her hand and touched mine. Like I said, not necessarily a good day, but a special and spiritual one.
It was on that same trip to Utah that I got worried about Pam and the baby and took them to the hospital, where.... We had our first ultrasound! Xander has certainly grown a lot since then and I'm looking forward to the next ultrasound that we are going to have! At the last one he weighed in at 4.3 pounds!
June 16th It was the first time that I got to spend time with my wife on her birthday! We went to two movies that night, X-Men First Class and Green Lantern. Pam's Mom was also there.
I'm not sure when this event happened but we did baptisms for the dead with Pam and it was wonderful.
In July we met Hope the Squirrel also known as the Rez Cat as well as his brother Chance who didn't make it. Hope has been a fun addition to our family.
August I started my second year as a teacher. I feel very happy that I have a job in the profession that I was educated for and that I do something that I love. Everyday is not loved equally by any means and some days I don't even love it at all; but I am happy to be a part of this great and noble profession.
October was a month of anniversaries. It had the anniversary of when I started dating Pam officially, when I started to realize that I loved Pam and was also the anniversary of asking Pam to marry me! We don't seem to waste much time in our relationship. We also got to make our special chili for the chili cook off again. It was yummy.
October 31st I had way too much fun as Pam puts it. She put me to work in a Haunted House and yes, perhaps I did have a little too much fun but it's a Haunted House and I was the finale, I had to make it worth it for the kids to come all that way! Not a milestone by any means but certainly a highlight.
November, my second trip to Ohio, much better than my first one. Was expensive to get there. I got to spend time with my wife's family and even go Israeli Folk Dancing! Thanksgiving was a little rough because I got sick for most of it and Pam missed her family prayer, but all and all a great trip.
December 21st Pam's Endowment. After such an epic struggle to get her the right endowment with the right information on it we were able to participate in the beautiful ceremony. The trip to Utah had lots of highlights but this one by far was the most important and special to me. There I was in the temple and Pam was right there with me! What a feeling it was!
Christmas Eve in Stone and Christmas in Smithfield! The Christmas play, always a treat. Sean said the way I held the doll baby Jesus was creepy since it's not a real baby. I say one it's called good acting and two pretty soon I'm going to have a real baby to hold so what's wrong with a little practice?
After Christmas Pam and I did sealings with my parents and then our family had an early celebration for my 27th birthday!
All in all I'd say that I've had a great year. Looking forward to the treasured moments of 2012!
January 1st - Bringing in the New Year with Pam. For the first time we had someone to kiss when the New Year happened. So we made out for New Year's in every time zone of the United States except for Hawaii since it was getting kind of late. It was a really romantic time. Unlike this year when I was sick and puked January 1st.
February was temple month. I was able to go with the Huxholds to Snowflake and then I was also able to go several times to Mesa. It was wonderful.
April had lots of things that happened. Not all of them necessarily milestones, but certainly highlights to the year that made it special for me.
There was touring Nauvoo with my family. I did this twice. Once with the Larsens and Johansens who I hadn't seen in a long time and once with my wife after having just married her.
A night of Epic Winning with my brothers who gave me an awesome bachelor party.
April 23rd by far outranks everything else this year. I married Pam. My Aunt Linda remarked that she had never seen me so happy before. It was an incredible moment when I saw Pam in her wedding dress for the first time. Our first kiss as man and wife was so intense that people had to break us up. It was an amazing day.
The next milestone is another ranked one. Getting Married was number one and coming in at number three was the Honeymoon! Driving through the wonderful state of Illinois and then flying down to Mexico! It was truly incredible!
Our trip to Chitzen Itza was very scenic. It was truly amazing to be at the sight of one of the New Ancient Wonders of the World. (Yes the title is a little confusing, but the original list of seven ancient wonders was made by the Greeks and therefore doesn't include things like the ruins that I saw or even the Great Wall of China.)
Xcaret was AMAZING! So many animals! And the night show was fantastic. This is most definitely a world class resort with world class entertainment.
And that was April. Lots and lots of fun.
May was a very important month for Pam and I. Soon after our honeymoon Pam started taking pregnancy tests to confirm what we already pretty much knew. Finding out that I was going to be a parent was the second most important milestone to me this year. It's hard to rank any of them. But my wedding, my child, and my honeymoon are the three events that mean the most to me.
June 4th We got to see a baptism and celebrate our marriage with family and friends in Utah. By this time it was already official that Pam was having a baby.
June 5th This day wasn't such a good day for me, but it was still very special. My grandmother had a stroke and as I gave her a blessing I once again felt that my Grandpa Maynard was there. As I struggled to give her a blessing, a blessing that told her that she wasn't going to recover, she lifted her hand and touched mine. Like I said, not necessarily a good day, but a special and spiritual one.
It was on that same trip to Utah that I got worried about Pam and the baby and took them to the hospital, where.... We had our first ultrasound! Xander has certainly grown a lot since then and I'm looking forward to the next ultrasound that we are going to have! At the last one he weighed in at 4.3 pounds!
June 16th It was the first time that I got to spend time with my wife on her birthday! We went to two movies that night, X-Men First Class and Green Lantern. Pam's Mom was also there.
I'm not sure when this event happened but we did baptisms for the dead with Pam and it was wonderful.
In July we met Hope the Squirrel also known as the Rez Cat as well as his brother Chance who didn't make it. Hope has been a fun addition to our family.
August I started my second year as a teacher. I feel very happy that I have a job in the profession that I was educated for and that I do something that I love. Everyday is not loved equally by any means and some days I don't even love it at all; but I am happy to be a part of this great and noble profession.
October was a month of anniversaries. It had the anniversary of when I started dating Pam officially, when I started to realize that I loved Pam and was also the anniversary of asking Pam to marry me! We don't seem to waste much time in our relationship. We also got to make our special chili for the chili cook off again. It was yummy.
October 31st I had way too much fun as Pam puts it. She put me to work in a Haunted House and yes, perhaps I did have a little too much fun but it's a Haunted House and I was the finale, I had to make it worth it for the kids to come all that way! Not a milestone by any means but certainly a highlight.
November, my second trip to Ohio, much better than my first one. Was expensive to get there. I got to spend time with my wife's family and even go Israeli Folk Dancing! Thanksgiving was a little rough because I got sick for most of it and Pam missed her family prayer, but all and all a great trip.
December 21st Pam's Endowment. After such an epic struggle to get her the right endowment with the right information on it we were able to participate in the beautiful ceremony. The trip to Utah had lots of highlights but this one by far was the most important and special to me. There I was in the temple and Pam was right there with me! What a feeling it was!
Christmas Eve in Stone and Christmas in Smithfield! The Christmas play, always a treat. Sean said the way I held the doll baby Jesus was creepy since it's not a real baby. I say one it's called good acting and two pretty soon I'm going to have a real baby to hold so what's wrong with a little practice?
After Christmas Pam and I did sealings with my parents and then our family had an early celebration for my 27th birthday!
All in all I'd say that I've had a great year. Looking forward to the treasured moments of 2012!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Taking a Look at the Blog
It seems like I've been writing about everywhere except Pinon lately. So, out of boredom, I decided to look up all my posts and determine Pinon vs non Pinon posts. I counted places that are in Navajo Nation as Pinon as well as Page, since it's in the area. Flagstaff and other places in Arizona I counted as outside of Pinon. I decided not to count anything from 2012 as that has just barely started. Here are the results...
So all in all my blog Out Here in Pinon is about my life in this place called Pinon. With quite a lot of detail about Utah, Mesa, Mexico, Nauvoo, Ohio, New Mexico, and other places.
| Month | Pinon | Not Pinon |
| September | 6 | 0 |
| November | 8 | 0 |
| December | 0 | 2 |
| January | 12 | 3 |
| Feburary | 15 | 7 |
| March | 6 | 9 |
| April | 12 | 12 |
| May | 2 | 0 |
| July | 12 | 10 |
| August | 13 | 0 |
| September | 6 | 0 |
| October | 13 | 2 |
| November | 4 | 9 |
| December | 2 | 5 |
| 111 | 59 |
So all in all my blog Out Here in Pinon is about my life in this place called Pinon. With quite a lot of detail about Utah, Mesa, Mexico, Nauvoo, Ohio, New Mexico, and other places.
New Years Eve, YUCK
2012 had a rough start. I was too sick to watch the countdown with my wife and then at 4:36 I got up and threw up. Down the drain went our romantic plans for that evening. Luckily I quickly recovered from whatever it was and was just fine by late Sunday night.
Christmas
It's hard to believe that we're already back in Pinon and back to work!
Pam really wanted to see a concert but we got into Utah a little too late to catch the major concerts. So I talked some young ladies into doing an impromptu concert. My nieces had fun singing for her and she really enjoyed it. On Christmas day we listened to a ward choir do a program and, it wasn't a stellar performance but they tried hard.
December 21st was a wonderful day. Pamela, after having SO many problems with her recommend was able to enter the Temple and have her endowments. It was a great moment for us. She felt a little overwhelmed after awhile. After Christmas she went with me and my parents and did sealings which was also very special.
Pam and I did a lot of fun things together in Utah. She loved her trip to the spa. I was so impressed with how much they helped her that next time we go to Logan I'm getting a massage too! We also had a great time bowling and playing pool.
Pam was incredible to me this Christmas, she got me the Kindle Fire! She described the gift and I like this a week later, "It's a miracle if he's ever separated from it." The pyramid of green wrapped gifts are all from me to Pam. I called it my pyramid of gifts. Pam and I SPOILED each other this Christmas. It was great. I love to spoil my wife.
Over Christmas break I was able to read two novels! Inheritance, which I read mainly out of a compulsion to finish the story and the newest Heroes of Olympus book the Son of Neptune. Son of Neptune was a good story but I really wished that he had spent more time on describing what was going on as I was reading it.
Pam really wanted to see a concert but we got into Utah a little too late to catch the major concerts. So I talked some young ladies into doing an impromptu concert. My nieces had fun singing for her and she really enjoyed it. On Christmas day we listened to a ward choir do a program and, it wasn't a stellar performance but they tried hard.
December 21st was a wonderful day. Pamela, after having SO many problems with her recommend was able to enter the Temple and have her endowments. It was a great moment for us. She felt a little overwhelmed after awhile. After Christmas she went with me and my parents and did sealings which was also very special.
Pam and I did a lot of fun things together in Utah. She loved her trip to the spa. I was so impressed with how much they helped her that next time we go to Logan I'm getting a massage too! We also had a great time bowling and playing pool.
Pam was incredible to me this Christmas, she got me the Kindle Fire! She described the gift and I like this a week later, "It's a miracle if he's ever separated from it." The pyramid of green wrapped gifts are all from me to Pam. I called it my pyramid of gifts. Pam and I SPOILED each other this Christmas. It was great. I love to spoil my wife.
Over Christmas break I was able to read two novels! Inheritance, which I read mainly out of a compulsion to finish the story and the newest Heroes of Olympus book the Son of Neptune. Son of Neptune was a good story but I really wished that he had spent more time on describing what was going on as I was reading it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)