January 2009 (Summarized)

January was a busy month. I wished I had more time to write about each day and post it, but I figure that if I just write down the highlights, then I will actually post it. Each of these events probably deserves an entry of its own, but here is the summary.
Here we go!
Every year Valcom does a sales retreat. This year we went up to the homestead and stayed overnight. We got up in the morning and went snowmobiling all day. Michelle came and it was really fun for both of us. I love that Valcom is good to their employees. I can’t thank my bosses (Rich and Shaun) enough.
After snowmobiling we jumped in the car and came down to the BYU vs. Wake Forest basketball game. Brad and Jessica came with us. And my parents brought James. It was fun.
Each of my Sundays is similar. I get up at 6am, make the agenda for Bishopric meeting. Go to meetings at 7am and go until around 4pm (fight to stay awake in each meeting). Eat dinner and then I go to choir. I have been blessed with the opportunity to sing during one of the dedicatory sessions of the Draper Temple and I love the choir and the songs we are singing. The choir director is the best! I come home or go to game night and then come to bed.
FHE’s on Mondays. This month we did Human Foosball, Pie eating contest, and some Karaoke.
I had my 27th Birthday, and it landed on Temple night, so our ward went to the temple and then afterwards we went to the Bishop’s for refreshments. They gave me a birthday cake and it made my birthday special. My ward is the greatest. Michelle gave me a pair of Snowshoes. We will use them in February. My brother Josh got me some maps, and I really appreciate the gifts.
Wednesday nights the Bishop has interviews and he likes me to be there, so I sometimes do work and chat with people in the ward. We have such a great ward and I am blessed by the people that are in it.
I learned that it is free to ski at Alta, everyday from 3pm until 4:30 pm, so Michelle and I went 2 times this month. We took James this past Saturday and had a great time; you’ll see the pictures below. Michelle has learned quickly and soon will be tearing up the black diamonds. It was fun to have James with us too.
I took a customer snowboarding and I learned that I like to Ski a lot more than I like to snowboard. When I was brave enough, I would get going fast and then I would catch an edge and my head would hit the ground hard. I went on my first black diamond (snowboarding) and after a few lift rides I convinced my customer to go too, it was really steep and so after he fell once, he couldn’t get back up and so he slid down on his butt the whole way. It was hilarious, but I couldn’t laugh that much out loud because he is a great customer and it was my fault that I pressured him to go on it.
We had the opportunity to hear the Temple presidency speak and then we toured the new Draper Temple- it was a great experience. I think I will try and be a worker this year.
One of my customers goes to this chiropractor that claims he can cure my allergies. I started treatments this month. It is pretty crazy, but maybe it will work. It is worth trying.
Our stake had the opportunity to volunteer at the Draper Temple Open house. I was in charge of pushing some elderly people around the temple and coordinating elevator logistics (very challenging) and then at night I got to direct people back to the correct busses. It was seriously one of the best experiences ever. I had a blast.
I love to play games and so a couple nights this month, Michelle and I went over to play Ticket to Ride and Canasta with my parents. It was fun. Michelle won ticket to ride and my parents wasted us at Canasta.
Church basketball has started up again. We are 2 wins and 2 losses. We are struggling whether to play our best players and win or play all of us and lose. Personally, I’d prefer to have me sit out and have the team win, rather than being in the game and making us lose. Not everybody feels that way, so we had a team meeting to discuss if our purpose was to win or to play everybody equally. We’ll see how the next game goes. They just called Whitney to be our coach, and she has done a great job.
I decided to keep my eyes open for a new house, but I haven’t found any I am absolutely in love with or that I am sure I want to live in. We’ll see how the house search continues this month.
The last two times I have spoken in this ward, somebody from the Bishopric has called me up on Friday night and asked me to speak on Sunday. That happened this month. I spoke about the law of the harvest. It turned out ok. Michelle had to speak with the same little prep time and she did a great job.