prophetic...

my last proposition 8 post, i promise...

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.' "This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as un-trendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

"A More Determined Discipleship", Ensign, Feb. 1979

can't get much clearer than that, can it?

prop 8

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness..." Isaiah 5:20

you would think that after several millenia of luring away souls, the adversary would make some adjustments to his gameplan. but by turning on the news, you can see that he is using the same tactics he's been using since the beginning. california's proposition 8 has been an unsettling demonstration of satan's power and influence.

i want to thank my friends, jim and kate (even though i don't think they even know my blog exists), for taking such an active and vocal stance in support of proposition 8. i commend them for their courage and dedication in rallying others in this battle. i'm ready to be called a bigot, a homophobe, intolerant, self-righteous, a sheep, and a prude. if people aren't placing these labels on me, then i probably need to make my way up a little closer to the front lines along with jim and kate.

thanks guys!

the business trip

why i enjoy the business trip:

• i like people calling me sir when i check into a hotel
• i like eating in restaurants
• i like having my company pay for my meals
• i like being able to break wind in bed with absolutely no repercussions
• i like having the air conditioning on full blast all through the night
• i like earning hotel rewards points
• i like collecting magnets and decks of playing cards from different places
• i like black-out curtains
• i like first-class
• i like going to grocery stores and buying weird cheeses that i'd never buy at home because they're way too expensive
• i like watching sports over a meal at a bar and chatting up strangers
• i like leaving the seat up

why i don't like the business trip:

• i have no idea where that remote has been
• i don't like hotel shuttles
• i hate the middle seat in an airplane
• "how many are in your party?"--"um... just one."
• the office isn't as funny when you're watching it alone
• no bed-time family prayers
• i hate packing my suitcase before i leave
• i really hate packing my dirty clothes back into the suitcase when i'm getting ready to go back home
• it's almost impossible to find the right water temperature in a hotel shower
• it's really embarrassing to call the front desk to have a plunger brought to your room
• due to the nature of my business, the people i'm meeting are generally happy to see me leave
• i have never gotten a good night's sleep without mary (awww... sappy, but true)

anybody else travel for business? am i missing anything?

let the cat die

i can't remember exactly when it was, but maybe a week- 10 days ago i was walking to the trax station to catch the train to work. as i approached the platform, there were two ladies freaking out, pointing down at the tracks. i got closer and saw that there was a cat stuck on one of the railroad ties. as i got to the cat, the warning bell started ringing letting us know the train was coming.

i'm SEVERELY allergic to cats. and i hate them. in fact, i probably would have left the cat right where it was if nobody was around (probably speaks to my true character); but i couldn't just walk by and let those ladies watch that cat get liquified. so when the train was still about 100 yards away, i reached down and pulled the cat up and held it like a football so that it wouldn't run right in front of the train as it passed. i was holding this cat for maybe three seconds when the train came whizzing by. the cat completely freaked out and scratched my hands all to hell. i dropped the cat and it ran off into the darkness. my hands were bleeding and my shirt was completely covered in hair. by the time i got to work about an hour later, i was completely miserable- my hands were swollen and stinging, i couldn't stop sneezing, my eyes and throat were itching like crazy... it was awful. it took me about two days to fully recover.

i really believe i made the wrong decision that morning. had i left the cat on the tracks, the train likely would have killed it. sure, those ladies would've probably needed to consult a grief counselor, and maybe would've suffered some ptsd, but now what's gonna happen? that cat is gonna go make baby cats somewhere that nobody is going to take care of. and how many of those baby cats will get hit by cars, get diseases and scratch your kids... i should have let that cat die.

five years

five years... it seems like it's been longer. and i mean that in a good way. i don't really remember what single life was like. i can't remember what it was like to get a good night's sleep in a bed by myself. it's been a lot easier than i ever thought it would be too, probably because mary is such a patient and forgiving person.

my best memories of marriage:

• spur-of-the-moment trip to six-flags instead of going to mary's parents house
• sleeping on an air-mattress at my mom's house... for six months
• paris, brussels, new york, minneapolis, san francisco, houston, los angeles, san diego, etc. (we've been spoiled)
• doorbell-ditching the fat, noisy upstairs neighbor
• sunday drives
• dinner "creations"
• sucking at playing tennis
• getting fried at the beach
• sluffing work to play guitar hero and star-wars legos all day

these are just a few of the good times i've had being married. thanks for being such an awesome wife, mary. thanks for being such a great mom. i can't imagine my life without you, sweetie!

carl's jr commercials

so i took a week off work not too long ago after a hellish july. didn't really have a whole lot planned, just did some work around the house, got the vw listed (if anyone reading this knows of anyone in the market for a beautiful passat, i'm your guy), and took it easy for the most part.

anyway, if you've known me for any length of time, you know that my biggest pet peeve is when people make noises whilst eating. in fact, if mary wants to enjoy a bowl of cereal or popcorn in front of the tv, i will have to leave the room until she's done. anyway, for this reason i have come to loathe carl's jr commercials- you know the ones where they show the guy eating the burger and crap is running down his face and onto his shirt and it sounds like the mic is actually inside his mouth with his food. i'm actually getting a little bugged just thinking about it right now.

so during my little vacation, i was running some errands around town listening to the jim rome show (sports talk radio). jay mohr was guest hosting for rome that day (if you don't know the name, do a quick google image search... you know who he is). he had the most perfect take on carl's jr i have ever heard. click on the youtube over there on the right and give it a once over.

man, i really hate carl's jr.

i'm blogging...

after a year or so of hearing various members of relief society and primary presidencies yapping about how cute n awesome each others' blogs were, i was finally able to see first-hand what it was all about when my sister showed me her page. from there i was able to see that my cousin nate had a blog and i realized that it wasn't just for chicks and fun boys (nate has been married for almost 15 years, likes football and has taken the lives of several large animals- his sexual preference is almost beyond dispute).

i'm sure that anyone who has come across my blog already knows who i am, but just in case ... i'm 28 years old. i've been married to my beautiful wife, mary, for five years now (anniversary on saturday- love ya' sweetie!). we have an almost-two-year-old son, calvin. i've worked for skywest airlines for three and a half years.

hopefully i can keep up with the avid bloggers among my family and friends. please leave me some commentary, even if it's brief and vulgar, so i know that i'm not posting in vain.

god speed.