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!

Going Public

I decided that anyone who takes the time to read this blog is probably close to me anyways.  I might tone down the extremely personal stuff from now on, but still expect good updates on my life, my thoughts, etc.

As a wrap of today, all in all it was good.  I said goodbye to my family, ate a delicious apple from Minnesota that was the size of a softball, and got to see some good friends.

Max Hall made his debut as a starting NFL quarterback.  He did great for being and undrafted rookie.  Watch him get absolutely demolished as he tries to run it in for a TD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh2YwlvVbV8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This week I'm looking forward to Brittany Unalp's birthday this Wednesday, a presentation on Thursday, and 2 intramural games this weekend along with BYU taking on TCU at Fort Worth.

That's all for now!  Check back later this week for some more updates.

Who called it??? Two victories offset the big disappointment

First thing is first:  I called it!  See my post below.  Although I admit I wasn't really expecting it, I predicted BYU to win tonight 24-21.  For those who didn't see it, that was the score!  I'm not taking it for anything more than a lucky guess, but still... that's pretty awesome.

I was proud of my boys tonight.  Before this week, we were the worst rushing defense in the nation.  Tonight, the eighth best offense in the nation was held to -2 yards rushing in the first half and only 53 yards in the second half.   Granted, Lindley was able to pass on us several times, but our new Bronco coordinated defense was able to make big plays when they really mattered and ultimately won us game.  The offense also started showing signs of life.  JJ DiLuigi was our leading rusher but had a great supporting cast with Bryan Kariya and Josh "Juice" Quezada (as a side note, every time Quezada ran the ball tonight fans were yelling "Juice," not "boo.")  Jake Heaps is getting better and better at QB.  I love JD Falsev returning punts and I loved the Matt Marshall fake field goal along with some option plays.  Still disappointed with some of the play calling by Robert Anae, but overall he called a decent game today.  It's going to be a long week getting ready for TCU, which could be ranked #4 by next Saturday.  Should be a good game.  I'll give my prediction on that later this week.

The other victory we had today was our intramural frisbee team.  We won the game 12-3.  I had a couple touchdown catches along with one touchdown pass that was very athletically caught.  With that win, our team goes to 3-1 on the season.

Unfortunately, the only tarnish to today's sports happenings was the Minnesota Twins getting swept by the Yankees.  The Yankees have now beat the Twins 9 games straight in the post season.  Call it a curse or bad luck, but it really was just sad to see a great team get humiliated at home and then travel all the way to New York just to get nails pounded into the coffin.  Hopefully we'll have a good team next year, but the Twins have a tight budget and rely on raw talent in younger players.  We will see what happens.

Check back later for more updates.  If you haven't already, click "follow" on the right side to get notifications for when I post.

ARP-Break Hotel

Elvis Presley once sang about a place he stayed at when he got lonely:


"Well, since my baby left me
Well, I found a new place to dwell
Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street
At Heartbreak Hotel"

Unfortunately, Elvis did not know about a particular room located at Carriage Cove apartments in Provo, UT.  This room is designated as the ARP-Break Hotel (credit for this name goes to Justin Olsen.)  ARP-Break Hotel is for those who are feeling lonely, down, in a bad place, or those who just want to enjoy a night of company rather than spending it all alone in their own room.  ARP-Break Hotel can hold two occupants, maybe three (although we've never tried) and always consists of Kevin and I.  It is also open on Friday and Saturday nights only.  If you're not sure what the significance of ARP is, you are not alone.  Very few people know.  Here is a preview of the layout:

It's easy to see why this is a highly coveted hotel to stay at.  Make note of how easy pillow talk is.  Also notice how comfortable and homely it is.  As an added feature to ARP-Break Hotel, I bring in my fan for noise cancellation purposes.  We also are reinforced by our other roommate's fan which is often mistaken for a jet engine because of how loud it is.

I had an awesome night this evening with my family and friends as we went to see Spectacular and ate Coldstone afterwards.  I upgraded my ice cream size from a  "Like It" to "Love It" because they got me with the whole "it's only 30 cents more thing."  I'm such a sucker.

I'm looking forward to a good weekend.  Frisbee game in the morning, then the San Diego State game.  My overly optimistic prediction: BYU-24 SDSU-21  Go Cougars!

Triple Play Thursdays and Meeting the Coach

Several weeks ago, I saw our inventory manager, Isaac, eating an amazing looking sandwich.  I casually asked him where he got it.  He told me "Sunflower Market."  From what I understood, Sunflower Market was a health grocery store, which didn't really interest me.  Months later, however, Isaac asked me if I wanted to go with him to grab a sandwich.  Little did I know that that Thursday would change my life forever.

As I entered into the store, I saw the store motto: "Serious food, silly prices."  It looked like an alright place, kind of like Byerly's from back home in Minnesota.  As Isaac stepped up to the counter, he told the lady "Two triple play sandwiches please."  We stood there, and waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  After fifteen minutes, I looked over to see what this lady was doing.  To my surprise and delight, she was hand cutting meats and cheeses.  I also saw her leave to get a head of lettuce and some tomatoes from the produce section.  Then I watched as she slowly cut 3 types of meat (roast beef, turkey, and ham) 3 types of cheese (cheddar, swiss, and provolone) and three types of vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, and onions) all onto a piece of premium bread that was glazed with honey mustard and mayo.  Hence, triple play.  The sandwich looked unbelievable.  Tons of meat and HUGE.  I knew there would be a catch, however, when I got to the checkout line.  

I didn't think you could beat a $5 footlong at Subway, but I was proved wrong.  As I gave the sandwich to the lady at the register, the sandwich rung up at $4.99!  I couldn't believe it!  As I went to swipe my card, the lady politely asked me "Do you have your student ID?  We have a 20% off everything student discount on Thursdays."  NO WAY!  I couldn't believe my ears.  Here I was getting premium meats and cheese, fresh vegetables, bread right out of the oven, now all for $4!

Now I'm not one to get excited over a sandwich (unless it's my Mom's roast beef sandwich, but that's in another league, and I'm far away from home) but after eating this behemoth, I decided to make a tradition out of it.  For two weeks in a row now we have held a Triple Play Thursday in honor of this amazing concoction.  Long live the tradition.  I don't have a photo to post yet, but expect one in the near future.

I also had the honor and privilege of meeting the legendary coach LaVell Edwards today.  If you read my previous post, you would know that I no longer teach classes.  After seeing LaVell on the schedule today, however, I insisted that I should be the one to teach the class.  No one else could appreciate the man that invented the forward pass and essentially the spread offense in college football.  LaVell had bough an iPad the day previous (which is when he got added to the celebrity list) and also bough classes on how to use it.  LaVell was hilarious!  He got so excited when he learned how to move apps that he turned to his wife Patti and said in the typical dry LaVell voice "Say Patti, look how clever I am.  Look what I can do!"  It was an awesome hour to spend with him.  We didn't get to talk too much football, but when I told him that I hope we could beat San Diego State this week he just turned and said "Well, yeah we could really use a win about now couldn't we?"  And then he was off.

And so am I.  Tomorrow my parents come into town.  I will go see Spectacular (a BYU event showcasing the talents of various singing, dancing, and other musical groups) later that night.  On Saturday morning I have an intramural frisbee game at 9 a.m., and then the San Diego State game, then hopefully I'll make it to the girls' soccer game.  Twins are 0-2 against the Yankees.  Sad day.  I should have another update for you this Saturday or so. Check back then!

My Favorite Couples

For those who don't know about Provo, it is a land of singles.  Young adults in their late teens and twenties from all around the country have found that Provo is a neutral site that one can find their soul mate.  After couples get together, they are usually unseen for a while until they get married and want friends again.  The cycle continues until you are found in it.

Despite being in a world (and ward) of singles, most of my friends are couples.  This post is dedicated to my favorite couples who are my best friends.  Despite having a significant other, they have been significant to me in meaningful ways.  Here is a brief overview of my best friends:

Brett and Leah

These two mean the world to me... I don't even know where to start!  I have known Brett since I was a kid.  We grew up together and eventually wound up living together during our freshman year at BYU.  I was with Brett when he met Leah and started dating her.  They recently got sealed in the Salt Lake City temple!  I feel like I've seen them from the beginning of their relationship all the way to the beginning of an eternal marriage.

During my mission, Brett, and especially Leah, would write me more than any of my other friends.  Upon my return, Brett and Leah were extremely influential in getting me to move to Provo.  In fact, had it not been for an invitation that Brett extended for me to go to a BYU football game with him, who knows where I would be!

Getting me to Provo wasn't the only thing Brett and Leah helped me do.  They showed me true friendship and love when it would have been easy not to.  They have never judged me and have always supported me.  They have been there for me whenever I've needed it and Leah is always there to take care of me when my mommy isn't around.  I find myself at Brett and Leah's house more than my own (sorry guys!) and I feel like I can talk to them about anything.  They will forever be two very important people that have influenced my life for the better!

Kevin and Meridith

Kevin is my best friend.  In fact, we have coined the acronym RFL (pronounced like "ruffle") to describe our relationship: roommates for life.

I met Kevin my freshman year at BYU.  He lived next to Brett and I and the three of us were always together.  After the year was over, Kevin got called to the Ukraine mission.  I'm glad that he had to learn Russian because that meant he would be in the MTC for 3 months which gave me a month overlap to see him.  My very first day in the MTC I was petrified from missing home, my girlfriend, my friends, and BYU.  As I was herded like cattle into the book store wearing my "dork dot" (an orange dot placed on your name tag indicating it was your first day.... I guess so you don't get lost and/or run away??) I saw Kevin.  What a relief it was to see him!  He made a lot of the anxiety go away.  It was great to see him and he helped me through some rough times.

Upon returning home, we became roommates at Liberty Square apartments in Provo.  It wasn't long until he met the beautiful Meridith Andrew.  Meridith is an absolute sweetheart.  The first thing that struck me about Meridith is how kind she is to everyone, how caring she is, and what a good friend she is.  Kevin and Meridith are always making a conscious effort to be with me and be there for me whenever I need it.  Meridith especially is genuine in really caring about me as a person and a friend.  I am so lucky to have them as friends.  They truly have made a huge difference in my life and I love them so much.  I look forward to many PT's and ARP-break hotel stays.  RFLs have ridges.

Justin and Brittany

Justin and Brittany make the second leg of three roommates that are dating three roommates.  I actually didn't know Justin before my mission (although I should have... he was in my freshman ward!)  Upon returning home from my mission, Justin was in my apartment and I quickly became good friends with him.  Trent stole my bed the first couple of weeks, so I stayed in Justin's room and we would talk a lot.  Justin is so down to earth and extremely funny and athletic.  And he can grow some decent facial hair.  What else could you want in a guy?

It wasn't long until he was dating Brittany.  Although we gave Justin crap for dating a minor (just kidding Britt!!!), everyone was drawn to Brittany and her personality.  She is so fun and outgoing and really awesome to talk to.  Whenever you talk to Brittany, she really listens and cares about what you're saying.  And she is always there for you.  Nice catch Justin.  You played up =)

Justin and Brittany have been the best of friends to me.  They are always down to double date (whenever I can find one) and help me out when I'm feeling down.  Brittany especially helped me out this last summer whenever I was feeling sad or lonely.  She would talk to me at whatever the hour in the night and just listen.  Or she would let me listen to her when I didn't want to talk about my issues.  Justin and Brittany will be lifelong friends and I'm so lucky that they still give me the time of day.

Russell and Claire

Where would I be without Russell?  After having Russell as a mission companion for two weeks I opened a letter to see that my year long girlfriend was engaged... I then ran to the shower and cried for a while.  Russell had no idea what to say!  And that's how our friendship began.  While suffering the extreme heat of Arkansas together (and swearing we would get hot wives for enduring it) and trying find normalcy in a unique group of individuals we were working with, we became the best of friends.

After getting home, we stayed in contact for a while and talked about the day we would find a beautiful girl to marry.  Well, Russell beat me to it by meeting his fiancé Claire.  She is as witty, hilarious, and fun as she is pretty.  They knew from the beginning that they had something special and they look forward to marriage this December.

Russell and Claire have meant a lot to me.  Russell especially has been with me through thick and thin and cares about me enough to put me in my place when I need it.  He is a shoulder to cry on when I'm sad and someone who will talk to me and stay with me all night if I need it.  Claire has a similar personality.  She is so smart and quick and can always make me smile.  She is always willing to give me girl advice and talk to me whenever I need it.  They have been engulfed in making wedding plans, but I look forward to seeing them more this winter once the knot is tied!

Trent and Star

Trent and Star are the third piece of the Tri-Force.  After Justin and Kevin got together with roommates Brittany and Meridith, Trent had his eye on a third roommate, Star.  While Star wasn't feeling it at first, the two soon fell in love and the rest is history!  I'll never forget playing Taylor Swift's song "You Belong with Me" to Trent and telling him that one day Star will realize what a great guy he is!  Who called it??

Trent was a great friend my freshman year that I met through Kevin (Trent's sister married Kevin's brother).  Whenever I wanted to have fun, I would make sure that I was with Trent.  Once the year got over, we vowed we would be roommates.  Trent got called to Puerto Rico and while on his mission, he would write me often.  We stayed in close contact and always tried to one-up each other about who's area was hotter.  Trent usually won since I at least had A/C.  


When we got home, Trent supported me in helping me reach my goals.  He would call me out if I wasn't following through with things and he stuck up for me many times as well.  I'll never forget when Trent moved out for the summer.  He sat down with my new roommates and gave them specific instructions on how to take care of me.  He probably didn't know how much that meant to me.

Star is really easy going and so nice to everyone.  She is perfect for Trent and they will also get married this December.  Star never has anything mean to say about anyone and is always looking on the bright side of things.  Besides being beautiful, she is also a serious rugby player!  She made it on the US national team and also plays for BYU.  I'm so grateful to have Trent and Star in my life.  It's too bad that Star and I didn't work out.... Star Starita would be an awesome name ;)

Mike and Karianna

Mike and Karianna are the newest editions to my couple friends.  While Mike and I were riding solo for a while, he found Karianna through his cousin and quickly became attached.

But let's back up.  I've known Mike since I was about 6 years old.  That's a long time.  We have been friends ever since.  Mike is the perfect example of being a good friend all the time no matter what.  He always has your back, he will always talk to you, and he will always be there to cheer you up.  I'm so glad that Mike moved to Provo and that he is now my next door neighbor.

I have only known Karianna for a couple of weeks, but I already have a lot of good things to say about her.  She is super sweet, sociable, and fun.  She's really easy to talk to and a super great girl.  Mike is a lucky man, that's all I have to say.  I'm also lucky to have them in my life.

Ok, sorry that was long!  It's one of those things where I can't really say enough about these people because they mean so much to me.  So to all my couple friends, THANK YOU!  Thank you for being the type of friends that I could never deserve, but will always appreciate.

Mac Daddy

Right now, I work at a store called Simply Mac.  It's an Apple specialist store meaning we're not owned by Apple, but we sell Apple products and do service on them.

I started working at Simply Mac about a year ago.  I'm what they call a "Pro" which is equivalent to an Apple Store "Genius."  I stand behind a bar all day (see photo below) and try to fix software problems on computers.  If I can't fix them, I get the computers to a technician.  I also used to do training for those who buy classes, but they recently decided to keep me at the service bar.

I get some pretty interesting people who come in to the store... Some people are furious that they have to pay for service and can't believe that a man made product might not work.  Others treat you like their savior for having fixed your computer.  Other people that come in are famous.  Here is a running list of celebrities that have come into the store for computer repairs:

-Donny Osmond

-Wayne Brady

-Mindy Gledhill (LDS singer)

-Various BYU athletes (Jimmer Fredette, Dennis Pitta, Max Hall, Brian Logan, Harvey Unga)

-Lavell Edwards

-Bronco Mendenhall

-Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen

That's all for now!  Check back later this week for more.

Doing a blog

Hola.

My name is Paul Starita, and I decided to start writing a blog. I've never been into journal writing so I decided to give this a try.

Let me start off by saying why I'm deciding to do this. There are a couple different reasons:

1. I feel like I've been greatly blessed in my life. And I'm a moron and don't write any of that stuff down. This blog isn't meant to flaunt my blessings, but more of a chance for me to get my thoughts down on the tender mercies of the Lord that I experience every day. By writing it down maybe I can inspire some people while also showing my gratitude.

2. This will give me a great outlet to express myself. At this point in my life, I'm going through some hard times. Writing a blog seemed like a healthy thing to do.

3. I can keep my family and close friends up to date on what's going on in my life. There are people I don't always get to talk to and this is a good way to let them know what's going on with me.

With that being said, let me give some explanation on the blog title and URL. I decided to name my blog "Live High." This is named after a song (click play on right side to hear it) with the same title written by Jason Mraz, my favorite musical artist. In this song, Jason tells people that "justifying reasons why is an absolutely insane resolution to live by." This applies to me because I'm out of excuses. I have the gospel, I know where I'm supposed to be, and now it's time to really improve my life. With help from the Lord I know I can make. The chorus of the song declares exactly what I want to do: "Live high, live mighty, live righteously." Thus, "Live High" is a fitting title to my blog.

The URL for my blog is onestepenough4me.blogspot.com You can bookmark it if you want! This refers to the lyrics from my favorite hymn, Lead Kindly Light. Here are the lyrics:

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

I love that hymn and strive to be lead by my Heavenly Father every day. Don't get me wrong, I screw up often. The purpose of this blog is NOT to put on a show and fake something that I'm not. I am human and I make mistakes. But I am trying.  Part of trying is trusting the Lord even when I don't know what is going to happen.  All I need to know is what is the next step.  One step truly is enough for me.


In this blog you should expect updates on my life in general, funny stories, random thoughts, sports analysis, and acknowledgment of blessings.  Hit the "follow" button on the right side to keep up to date with the blog.

Thank you to everyone who has and is supporting me every day as I go through a hard time in my life. This journey is difficult, but with your love and friendship it has been that much easier.

Check back for more updates later.