FHE Goes Bridial

For FHE this week the group went up Provo Canyon. The plan was just to enjoy being outside in the great weather. We were going to walk from Nunn's Park up to the base of Bridal Falls and back down. But once we got to the falls, we felt the need to hike. We weren't exactly prepared for that one. As you can see some of the girls were in skirts! It was fun anyways! We took a few photos, including an "engagement" photo for Jaree and me to help rumors in the ward. :) [And even though it looks like the outfits were coordinated, they were not!]

After the hike we came back to my house and had ice cream and cookies. (Left over from the b-day festivities.) And Jaree and Anna whipped up some Fillipino cuisine and spaghetti. (Someone was hungry, Jaree!)

I'm Looking But Don't Look at Me

Okay I'm 41 and single. I've been on plenty of singles/dating websites. Since I just had a birthday, one of these aforementioned websites (ldspromise.com) sent out an email notifying me that I can access their website freely for 7 days. I had forgotten that I even had an account with them but I thought, "what the heck?" and logged in. I had also forgotten that on this site the members can mark their profiles so that their photos are not displayed to their "matches" at all or that they are displayed only at some future time that they decide. This is a pet peeve of mine. Why on earth would anyone mark their photo to only be displayed after a certain amount of time?! Eventually I will have to see this person if there is going to be a relationship. Normally I prefer to go out with women without bags on their heads! And honestly showing a photo later is not going to increase their chances with me or anyone else. In fact, I immediately have just deleted these matches in the past.

I mean I always put my photo our there on my profile. Sure I choose one in which I think I look better than my average photos. But I do not consider myself some hot stud. It's just me. I just think it's fair that they know who they are talking to. And fortunately everyone finds different things attractive in different people. Or at least I'm still banking on that one.

So, does this make me vain? Am I missing something? I just don't get it.

Banff Mountain Festival FHE

For our single's FHE (Family Home Evening) this week we went up to Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah to watch several films from the Banff Mountain Festival World Tour. All the films were pretty good and entertaining. (The consensus was that only one of them, Red Gold, was a little long for the subject matter.) It was a fun time. Thanks to Molly for planning it. Here were the films we saw:

The Red Helmet
Mountain Town
Red Gold
Committed 2: Grit Kids
The Last Frontier— Papua New Guinea
Shikashika
Crux -- See the teaser below for my favorite of the films.
Under the Influence

Mom & Facebook

I'm starting to wonder if my mom works at Facebook. Click the image for a larger preview. See if you can figure out what I'm talking about.

A Sweet Night of Guitar Hero

So back during my work Christmas party I got a gift certificate for a season family pass to Thankgiving Point. In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a family of my own. So I traded it to another guy who was going to buy a family pass anyway. In return I got a gift certificate to Sundance. That was much better for me. But then I realized that my brother buys a season pass to the cross-country track at Sundance. So he bought my gift certificate and in exchange I bought Guitar Hero. Perfect!

Anyway, my friend, Lindsay kept on asking when she was going to get to come play my new game. So I thought why not make a party of it. Then I remembered that she is on a sugar fast. No sugar for two weeks. Ughh! So being the super supportive friend that I am, :) I decided to make it a theme for the evening. So you could bring snacks as long as they were sugar free. I provided diet sodas, almonds, sugar-free pudding, sugar-free jello, sugar-free cool whip, and pretzels. Some other friends brought a great veggie tray and dip and dried mangoes. The mangoes had sugar but we pretended.

We had a great time rocking late into the evening. I just hoped my neighbors enjoyed it as much as me. :)







Those attending: Me, Lindsay, Anna, Molly, Colette, Mitch, Rob, and Eric. Thanks for coming!

How Do You Give Yourself Ear Drops?

Last Friday my ear started to hurt. I was telling my mom about it. You know how moms like to inspect these things. So I let her check it over. She couldn't see anything wrong but suggested that maybe I had an earache. I haven't had one of those since I was a little kid. The thought would have never even crossed my mind. (Apparently!) After a few days of trying some herbal remedies and endurance, I decided to go to the doctor. And sure enough I have an ear infection causing the earache. So I was reading about the drops that have been prescribed for me to use. I have to get two drops in my left ear twice a day. Not only that but I need to make sure that the dropper doesn't touch my ear or else it will no longer be sterile and could introduce infection. So this is my big question: How do I (living alone) give myself ear drops twice a day without the dropper touching me ear? And how do I make sure that I get two drops? No really, how do I do that? Any ideas are more than welcome.

The Lights: Look How They Shine for You

Thursday night several friends and I piled into my car and drove to Salt Lake City to visit Temple Square. After getting a little nourishment at Olive Garden we walked a few blocks to see the sights. Downtown was all a buzz with The Nutcracker, a Jazz game, the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert, and surely other festivities.

Temple square was pretty and the weather was pretty nice. Even though snow would have made it pretty, it was also nice to not have to deal with that. We wandered around Temple Square and the Main Street Plaza seeing the nativities from around the world, the luminaries, and all the lights. And after lots of photos we headed over to the cafe in the Joseph Smith building for some hot chocolate and to warm up. After downing the big hot chocolate, the walk to the car was anything but cold. It was a great evening. Thanks for the idea Linds!

FHE - Rock Band

This week we had family home evening at my house because the guy who was supposed to host it had a hot date. (At our age, that's a legit excuse.) So I had to come up with something quick. Rock Band always seems to be a crowd pleaser and Nick was generous enough to let me borrow his system and the game. (Thanks Nick!) Rock Band at FHE was a hit. We had 14 people as opposed to the normal 6 to 8. We had a few new people visiting FHE for the first time. It's always great to meet new people. The more the merrier, right? And of course there were drinks and snacks. Can't forget those. Here's some of the action photos.

St. George Singles Weekend

Last weekend I got to spend several days with a few other single friends in St. George. My friend, Lindsay, planned the whole thing. She's amazing. It was a little out of character for me to go but I decided that I should go and that it would really be fun. I was right. I had a great time. Fortunately Lindsay had access to a vacation home in which we stayed. It's a 3 bedroom house with several couches and air mattresses. There were 7 of us that stayed at the house: 4 girls and 3 guys. Plus another friend stayed near by and came over a break breakfast out and a hike. We did a little eating out. Okay, that was a lie. We did a lot of eating out: Famous Dave's, Bear Paw, and Ruby River. There was some hot-tubbing, lots or movies, some card playing, and lots of Arrested Development. We all went away anxious for the next trip. Good times!

Boys Stink!

I was recently at a gathering of several single adults. (Some of you reading this may have even been there.) It was a fun time and there was lots of laughs. I definitely had a good time. Afterwards though I got to thinking about something that was said somewhat in jest while there. Before I mention what was said, I just want to let you know that I'm not offended by the statement and actually generally agree with it. It might be I was not offended because I don't feel that I represent the stereotype presented.

Anyway back to the story. It was a mixed crowd with several guys and several girls. One of the girls mentioned that boys stink. Not figuratively. Literally. I don't disagree with her assessment and in fact sometimes I do stink. I dare say some boys always stink. And when I do stink I'll be the first to admit it. But for the most part I don't stink. Anyway, I was just thinking, what if I would have said that girls stink? Or better yet, if I girls were stupid, vain, or conceited? Would that have been okay? I doubt that it would have been as well received as "boys stink." All the guys there just kind of laugh and say "yeah, whatever."

It seems though in our society today that it is more acceptable all the time to belittle men in the same way that if directed towards women most would call sexist.

It reminded me of my last trip to Hawaii. On the island of Maui, we found a little shop called David and Goliath. It had lots of funny stuff and a lot that was maybe not so funny and some stuff that was just gross. But I bring this up because they had one particular line of t-shirts, magnets, cards, posters, etc that emphasized that boys are inferior to girls. Are these products meant to boost girl's self-esteem? If so I'm afraid that they are going about it the wrong way.

I am curious to see what you have to say. So tell me if you think this harmless and there is nothing to worry about, or if this is something that should not be accepted.

40 and Still Single?

So it's been a while since I last blogged. But today is a big milestone for me -- I turned the big 4 0 today. Really it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Another day, another month, another year... No big deal, right? But then Facebook decided to taunt me over and over with a barrage of singles ads. All targeted at "40s and over." Give me a break! I am barely 40. And really is there a special draw to make me click on one of these ads. I gotta tell you I'm more likely to click on the "Sexy Singles" ad.