Minnesota- Where the Playas Play

If you know anything about me, you know how much I love my home state of Minnesota.  This post is dedicated to my homeland!  Here are 10 reasons why Minnesota is awesome:


#10- The Drivers
This may sound stupid, but I love how most people drive in Minnesota.  People are super courteous.  If you want to get in a lane, they let you.  You wave, they wave back.  If they're going slow and you want to go fast, they'll move over.  It's awesome.  The cops can get a little strict, but that's there job anyways, right?  Anyways, after being in Utah for a while, I definitely thought that driving should be included in my top ten list.

#9- The Winters
As cold as it is in Minnesota during the winter, there's something you have to love about feeling your snot freeze inside your nostrils.  I don't think there's a prettier place on the planet as Minnesota during the winter.  The icicles on the houses are beautiful, the snow covering everything looks so clean and beautiful.  Plus you get to ski, sled, ice skate, ice fish, and have snowball fights.  Fathers and sons always get to bond while they shovel the driveway.  Crime rates go down in the cities.  And you always, ALWAYS get a white Christmas!  I love Minnesota winters!

#8- Minnesota is Green
My favorite color is green.  And Minnesota gets SO green during the spring and summer.  It is absolutely beautiful.  There are trees everywhere, but not an obscene amount like the south.  The grass is green because there is plenty of water.  There is just green everywhere and I love it.

#7- The Sports
Granted, the Vikings are struggling right now, but I love Minnesota sports, especially the Twins.  Target Field is probably the most beautiful baseball stadium in the US.  Minnesota has teams for every sport.  Vikings for football, Twins for baseball, Wild for hockey, and the Timberwolves for basketball.  I'm not a bandwagon fan, I'm a whole hearted fan no matter what.  I'll cheer for the Minnesota Gophers too, but BYU still has my heart in college sports.

#6- Minnesota State Fair
The Great Minnesota Get Together has and estimated 3 trillion calories in one place.  The Minnesota State Fair is by far the best state fair in the nation.  Everyone takes it seriously, and everyone goes.  Including crazy people.  The food is amazing (everything is fried and on a stick) and all the stuff that is there is so much fun.  It's something that every Minnesotan loves.

#5- Northern Lights
Minnesota is one of the few places in the United States where you can see the northern lights.  I think technically you have to be north of Minneapolis to see them, but you should at least be in Duluth or even more north to see them clearly.  I saw them when I went to boundary waters and they are so beautiful and amazing.  Everyone should come to Minnesota just to see the northern lights.  The pic below was taken in Minnesota.

#4- Mall of America
For anyone who likes to shop, you've probably heard of the Mall of America.  It is a sight to behold.  The place is enormous.  It has about 900 stores and is 4,200,000 square feet.  In the middle there is a giant theme park with roller coasters and other rides.  It is a fun place to hang out and shop.  Just make sure you have a whole day to spend there!

#3- Minnesota is Clean
Since moving to Utah, I realized that I took a clean city and state for granted.  Minnesota is so clean and nice looking!  In the winter, plows are constantly going through the streets dropping sand and salt so it's safer for drivers.  As soon as the snow melts, however, you can bet that there are street sweepers making the rounds.  On the freeway, buildings and industry are carefully planned so that only beautiful buildings are visible.  Ugly factories and industry are out of sight.  Also, on either side of the freeways and roads, there is well groomed grass and other shrubbery.  It just feels different when you're driving in Minnesota.  Everything looks so nice from the plants to the buildings.  And for a big city, Minneapolis is exceptionally nice.  It is well kept and for the most part, very safe.

#2- Business and Prosperity
Minnesota is the home to many big companies.  Some big name corporations that have their headquarters in Minnesota are:

-PepsiAmericas- The business end of Pepsi
-United Health Group
-Target
-Best Buy
-Dairy Queen
-SuperValu
-General Mills
-Malt O Meal
-3M
-US Bank
-Hormel Foods (invented Spam)
-St. Jude Medical
-EcoLab

And the list goes on...  Even Fortune 500 companies know where it's at.  Also, the Nut Roll was invented in Minnesota.  That's gotta count for something.

#1- The Lakes
Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 lakes for something!  The lakes in Minnesota are absolutely beautiful.  Everyone spends time at the lakes during the whole year either wake-boarding, swimming, fishing, ice skating, duck hunting, etc.  Water is everywhere and it keeps things green.  There's tons of wildlife because of the lakes.  I love Minnesota lakes!

This is the boundary waters canoe area on the border of Minnesota and Canada.

This is Lake Superior, the biggest of the Great Lakes.  Notice that you can't see the other side of the lake.

This is my lake, Lake Marion.  I grew up riding my bike to this lake all the time to be with my friends.

The moral of the story here is that Minnesota is the greatest state in the Union.  I can't wait to go back!

Triple Play Thursday Revisited and Long Beach

Read my earlier post about my Thursday tradition Triple Play Thursday to appreciate this photo.  Let's just say this $4 sandwich has changed my life forever.  Here is the promised photo (courtesy of Kevin Baugh):

Also. I got to spend this weekend with my dad in Long Beach, CA for the Paul Mitchell Owner's Summit meeting.  It was a good experience to learn about Paul Mitchell school's, how they operate, and how the culture is.  I didn't understand all of it, but it made me think about whether or not this is something I want to get into.  Definitely a good learning experience and really fun to spend a couple days with my dad.

I didn't get to watch the whole BYU game, but expect an analysis on that later.  Now it's time to watch Nacho Libre with dad before I have to go to sleep and wake up at 5 a.m. to catch my flight.  Adios!

Commitments

Commit: the act of binding yourself to a course of action (WordNet by Princeton University)

As I've continued in my journey to make myself a better person, I've slowly learned an important lesson: commitments make or break a person.  In fact, I had an epiphany the other day: the measure of man is whether or not he keeps his commitments.  It might be said that salvation is gained or lost by whether or not we keep commitments.  Success and meaningful relationships depend on our commitments and happiness as a whole absolutely requires that we make commitments and then follow through with him.

Let me back up.  Today, we live in a world that tries to keep us commitment free.  I can sign up for internet, phone service, cable, etc without a contract.  Hollywood tries to show us that having sex outside of marriage (a committed relationship) is normal and ok.  TV shows depict people that break promises, lie, and deceive to get what they want.  Businesses go to great extents to make sure that contracts are written with exactness and without loopholes so that clients and financial partners are practically forced to keep their commitments.  Money, pleasure, and comfort are valued at a much higher level than promises.

To me, commitment is a direct form of honesty.  It is being bound by your word.  When you make a commitment, honesty is in your hands.  You are able to decide whether what you say is true and meaningful, or if it's dishonest and unreliable.  If I say I'm going to do something, I should make that thing a priority since I committed to it.  Doing so can directly affect how I view myself, how others view me, and how successful I will be in this life.

If I break a commitment, there are several implications.  First of all, I lied to the person that I committed to.  That may seem harsh when you're in the situation, but it's true.  Second of all, I have let myself down.  When you lie, you feel guilt and your self-esteem (the way you value yourself) goes down.  After all, my words had no value.  When what you say has no value, you start perceiving that you as a person don't have any value, and that's when bad decisions are made and bad habits form.

When you do keep a commitment, no matter how small it is, you have shown up for yourself!  What a novel concept!  It doesn't matter what the commitment was and who it was to, it was really about you.  You have showed yourself that it didn't matter what else came up or what else seemed important, your honesty and integrity was the most important.  When you take care of yourself by keeping commitments, your confidence goes up and you value yourself more.  Interestingly (yet obvious) enough, keeping commitments is one of the most important things for people recovering from any type of addiction.  When they keep commitments to themselves, they gain the confidence to live their lives without their addictive behavior, they value themselves more, and take care of themselves in a healthy way.  I believe keeping commitments directly affects a person's happiness and success in life.  You are valued more in any setting when it is known that you keep your word.

I had this epiphany the other day when I was talking to one of my friends.  He told me about a commitment that he made to himself the other day.  He reported to me that although he agreed to go to bed at a specific time, he missed that time by 7 minutes.  My immediate reaction was "What's the big deal?  That's pretty good!  You only missed it by 7 measly minutes!"  He saw that I clearly didn't get it.  He told me that it wasn't about the 7 minutes.  It was about the commitment.  He let himself down by not keeping his commitment.  It might as well have been 7 hours for him.  The lie was told 1 second after the time and he failed to show up for himself and he was not going to rationalize that away but minimizing HOW MUCH he broke his commitment.  He broke it and that was that.  He didn't beat himself up over it, but he held himself accountable, recommitted to his goal, and started following through.  I'll never forget that conversation.

Let me give another example to illustrate this point.  The example comes from the Book of Mormon.  For those that haven't read it, I'll try to be descriptive enough so you can know what's going on.

In the Book of Mormon there was a certain people that were blood thirsty, war hungry, brutal, and murderous.  Their weakness was violence and bloodshed.  When they were introduced to Christianity, however, they were truly converted and wanted to change their ways.  As a result of their conversion, they made a commitment to God.  They promised God that they would take their weapons of war and bury them, never to be touched again.

Think about this.  This was a time when people slept with their sword because the whole country could go to war at any given second.  They also used bows and arrows for hunting, axes to cut down trees, etc.  But all of that didn't matter.  They didn't try to rationalize an exception for when they could break their commitment, they just knew that they couldn't handle the weapons.  Period.  And they were true to their word.  Even when they their enemies were preparing to go to war against them, they still refused to even touch the weapons.  Rather than break their commitment, they kneeled down on the battlefield praying to God, and many were killed.

This is so interesting to me.  Many people in the Church of Christ at that time had weapons and went to war to defend their country, their faith, and their families.  It wasn't against the commandments to have the weapons.  In fact, it was just plain weird, even within the church.  But still, this people knew that they couldn't handle and instead of taking the risk of falling back into sin, they buried the weapons as a symbol of a commitment with God.

Why should things be so different with the commitments that we make today?  I strongly believe that integrity is earned by having a track record of keeping commitments, no matter how big or small they are, no matter how it might look to someone else, no matter what the cost is.  I will be the first to admit that I have not been a man of my word in the past, but I am striving to keep my commitments today.  Think about how different this world would be if people kept their commitments.  It would be amazing.

I challenge anyone who reads this to resolve that you will keep all of your commitments no matter what.  Keep your marital, educational, vocational, ecclesiastical, and personal commitments at all costs! If you do, you'll find a new confidence in yourself that will bring you happiness and success.

Nice Guys Finish Last

Here's a part of an article by Dieter Uchtdorf:

"In the 1960s, a professor at Stanford University began a modest experiment testing the willpower of four-year-old children. He placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.

He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.

It was a mildly interesting experiment, and the professor moved on to other areas of research, for, in his own words, “there are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.” But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships."

Lately I've been thinking a lot about patience.  What is it?  Why is it a virtue?  Why is it so important?  These things have been on my mind a lot lately since I'm being forced to practice patience in some areas of my life.

I know I used to have patience at one point in time.  When I was around 4 or 5 years old, I used to beg my mom for a dog.  I wanted a dog SO bad that I was willing to do almost anything to get one.  After months of begging, my mom reluctantly told me that if I saved up enough money and promised to take care of it, I could have a dog when I was twelve (she admits that she never thought I would really hold her to that.)  That was 7 years away!  I didn't even know what 7 years felt like yet!  Nevertheless, I started saving money whenever I could.  I even remember my dad taking me to the bank down the street to open a savings account.  After years, I never lost the vision of my ultimate goal: getting the dog.  I eventually got the dog because I was able to think about what I wanted most rather than what I wanted at the moment.

So what is patience?  As Uchtdorf put is, "Patience is the ability to put our desires on hold for a period of time.  It requires being humble and unselfish... patience requires actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results don't appear instantly or without effort."  That can be pretty hard.  Especially when what you want is a good thing, something that would make you a better person.  We can't have fear and patience at the same time, nor can we be selfish and be patient at the same time.  Patience is actively waiting and enduring things well.

I think patience is really important for a couple of different reasons.  First off, it helps us grow.  While saving for the dog, I learned out to save money, work hard, and learned how hard it is to earn money and how easy it is to spend it.  It also helps us appreciate the thing we were waiting for.  If I had gotten the dog when I wanted the dog, I probably would have been excited about it for a month or so and then stop appreciating it.  Rather, since I had worked so hard and waited so long to get the thing, I took care of him and love him!  The experience was much more meaningful after waiting.  Sometimes when we wait for something, it means much more later than it would have had it been in our lives earlier.

I think the virtue of patience is rare in this day and age and I find myself constantly struggling to find it in my own life.  I get impatient about stupid things, like JJ DiLuigi running the football, traffic, helping people at work, etc.  But sometimes I also feel like my life isn't moving forward and it's easy to get short sighted and forget the ultimate goal.  I know that things will work out the way they're supposed to if I can just have the patience and hope.  I'm so thankful that I have friends and family that make the waiting easier!


So in the end, nice guys do finish last.  But that's good, because they've grown and learned along the way.  I hope to continue to learn and grow as I learn patience and go through hard things while I actively wait.

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."  ~John Quincy Adams

Weekend Debrief

Well this weekend definitely had its ups and downs.

Saturday started off with a solid victory.  We had a frisbee game and won decisively 12-0.  That was the last frisbee game of the regular season.  I'm not sure when playoffs start, but they should be soon.  Overall we were 4-1 and played pretty well.  My ankle actually really bothered me and I didn't play for a lot of the game and when I did play, I didn't go 100%.  Hopefully it will get better before the next game.

Later that day, I watched BYU suffer the 31-3 loss to TCU.  While our defense let us hand around for a while, it was quickly becoming clear that we had absolutely no offense to balance what we were doing on defense.  Our defense came in with the right attitude, pumped up, and ready to upset the Horned Frogs.  But every offensive series we had was plagued by horrible play calling by Robert Anae, ridiculous run attempts by JJ DiLuigi, and a true freshman quarterback not making good decisions.  Anae is killing me with his play calling.  I absolutely blame him for the offense not being fired up.  If Bronco can take the worst defense in the nation and dramatically improve it within one week, I would expect at least something to happen on the offensive side.  I personally believe new coaching personnel is needed on offense.   I would also not let JJ DiLuigi touch the ball again for the rest of the season.  It's absolutely pathetic that we consistently give the ball to a guy that dances around with it rather than just running towards the end zone.  Juice Quezada can do it and Bryan Kariya can do it.  DiLuigi had 9 carries for only 11 yards!!!  That's an average of 1.2 yards per carry.  Kariya on the other hand had 12 carries for 53 yards.  Quezada had 1 carry for 6 yards.  Yet Anae insists on using DiLuigi.  It frustrates me to death.  Meanwhile, we won't throw to our tight ends or receivers.  It's true that Jake Heaps could sue them for all of the dropped balls they've had, but if we're not even throwing to them we become totally predictable and have no offense.  BYU has a stretch coming up of 4 games that they should easily be able to win.  They need to win all 4 to get to a bowl this year.  Hopefully they'll be able to salvage what's left of the season and end on a good note.

Church today was also good.  It was ward conference and we got to hear from the bishopric and stake presidency.  Later, I watched the Vikings beat the Cowboys and also watched the movie "How to Train Your Dragon."  Love that movie.

Should be a good week.  I'm going to California this weekend with my dad which should be a blast.  Check back later this week for more updates!

Victory and Prediction

What a great night!

First off, we won our flag football game 27-7.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I think I started talking about it too much, because my friend Sarah finally told me: "Paul, I think you just need to get over it."  She's probably right, but I have so much fun playing the games!  I find myself always looking forward to the next game and I just have a blast playing.  That means our team is now 3-1 for the season.

I had a decent game.  In the first half, I had 1 catch on 2 targets for about 20 yards.  I was struggling on defense finding my rhythm and figuring out how to best defend the middle, short passes since I was playing middle linebacker.  The second half, I was able to really step up my defense and had a couple of pass breakups with some good tackles that prevented first downs.  It was a lot of fun.

The bad news was I tweaked my ankle and it really hurts right now.  I have a frisbee game at noon tomorrow and I'm planning on playing with an ankle brace.  We'll see how that goes.

Tomorrow BYU will play 4th ranked TCU.  TCU has the #1 defense in the nation and the 8th best offense in the nation.  It's going to be a HUGE challenge for an unusually quiet offense plagued by dropped passes, turnovers, and a true freshman quarterback.  However, I think BYU has it in them to beat TCU.  Here are my three keys to tomorrow's game that will allow BYU to make what would be the biggest upset in BYU's history:

1. Be the underdog: If BYU can have an underdog mentality with a chip on its shoulder, we can blindside TCU.  TCU coach Gary Patterson is saying all the right things about not getting cocky before playing BYU, but you know that TCU is getting a bigger head with every single win.  This is reminiscent of the 2006 game when we stunned a 17th ranked TCU at their stadium.  We need to not be afraid and really believe that we can win this.

2. Have long offense drives: I think time of possession will be huge in this game.  Last week, BYU had the ball for 45 minutes of the 60 minute game.  Because of that, BYU's defense was able to stay fresh, excited, and sharp.  If we can keep our offense on the field for a long time by utilizing the run (hopefully more with Kariya and Juice Quezada rather than DiLuigi!), we will do better defensively and offensively

3. Force Turnovers: In order for BYU to have a chance, the defense HAS to cause several turnovers.  They might even need to score for the team to win.  Either way, the defense will have a huge role in throwing this team off.  If we can cause turnovers, TCU will get thrown off balance.  I think part of creating turnovers will be pressuring QB Andy Dalton.

With that said, my incredibly optimistic and almost ludicrous prediction is:  BYU 26  TCU 24

Let's get it done Cougars!

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are by far my busiest day.  Here's my schedule:

10am-6pm: Work
7-9:30pm: Class
9:30-11: Weekly work meeting

It's an extremely long and usually leaves me exhausted by the end of the day.  I have a similar schedule on Thursdays as well (class at 10, work at 11, class again at 6) but the triple play sandwich along with intramural sports usually gets me through.  So, if you can't get a hold of me on Wednesdays or Thursdays, that's the reason why!

Also, just wanted to say happy birthday to Brittany Unalp!  I hope you have a great day!