Gettin' Back in Shape!

Jeff had his three month postoperative Dr's. appointment yesterday and he is a healthy man. Yay! He was cleared to do anything he wants now (except for tackle football) which means I have a workout partner again! He's had a tough time not being able to workout for three whole months but yesterday he hopped back on the bandwagon and worked me over quite hard.

Also, I just have to add this because I'm feeling like a runner again. Today I ran 2 miles in 14:35! Yesterday I did it in 14:52 and somehow I shaved off 17 more seconds today. I'm setting a goal to be able to do it in 14:00 flat by December 31st. That might be a little too ambitious, but we'll see how it goes...

UPDATE: I did not meet my goal. Nor did I try very hard. I only practiced it once during the whole break and then today I scarfed down two pieces of french toast before going to the gym not even thinking about the fact that today is the 31st. After 45 minutes of weights I realized that today was the day I had to meet my goal. And so I tried anyways. I came close but gave up. I was ahead of pace up until 1.75 miles when I thought my breakfast was going to come up and thus I kicked it down to 5.0 mph for 45 seconds. I finished in 14:23 which is my best time so far but I will keep working at it.

Mewwi Chwistmas

Last night as I was on my way to meet Jeff in the Wilk, I wouldn't say that I was in a bad mood, just a I'm-sick-of-school-and-want-to-be-done-with-finals mood and really wanted to get home. But as I walked out of the library, I was approached by a 3-foot tall little boy all decked out in his cute little snow gear. He handed me a candy cane and added a high-pitched, "Mewwi Chwistmas." It was so adorable! I seriously couldn't stop smiling for about 5 minutes because it was just too cute.

After he handed me my candy cane, I noticed that there were about 4 little kids with their parents handing out candy canes to all the stressed out college students coming in and out of the library to study for finals. Creative idea. And I know it may sound dumb, but it seriously made my night.

A Normal Day in Pharmocology

So Kari emailed me this and so all the questions are responding to her. However I sent the email to Jeff as well and he apparently found it very interesting and decided to post it on here. Haha, I just realized that. Anyway, enjoy...

1) Can you cook? ​I think so. And so does Jeff so I guess that's all that matters.
2) What was your dream ​growing up? To marry Zac Hansen of the band Hansen. Ya know, "Mmmbop..."
3) What talen​t do you wish you had? I would love to be an amazing singer. But I'm quite the opposite.
4) If I bough​t you a drink ​what would ​it be? Strawberry lemonade.It's hands down the best. A lot of sugar though.
5) Favorite vegetable?​ Cucumbers in vinegar with salt. Yum. Or just plain old cucumbers.
6) What was the last book you read? ​Lame: Nursing Care for Adults with Acute and Chronic Illnesses. Not lame: the 4th Twilight book
7) What zodia​c sign are you? Taurus.
8) Any Tatto​os?​ No. Not a fan at all.
9) Worst ​Habit? Definitely procrastination. I don't know how I've done so well in school so far because it's a serious problem.
10) If you saw me walki​ng down the stree​t would ​you offer ​me a ride? Of course!
11) What is your favorite sport? Football. It's more fun to play than watch though. Track comes in second. It'd be first if I was still involved in it. But sadly, I'm not.
12) Negative or Optimistic​ attitude? ​Both. It depends on how tired I am, I think. I should be better like Jeff. He's ALWAYS optimistic.
13) What would ​you do if you were stuck ​in an elevator with me? Talk. What else is there to do? Plus, we don't get to talk a whole lot.
14) Worst ​thing ​to ever happe​n to you? Mom died.
15) Tell me one weird fact about ​you? You already know this but I love dill pickles.
16) Do you have any pets? ​No, but one day we'll have a husky and a golden lab.
17) What if i showe​d up at your house ​unexpected​ly? I would be happy! ​
18) What was your first ​impre​ssion​ of me? She'll be a way fun sister-in-law. I'm excited to get to know her more.
19) Do you think ​ clowns are cute or scary?​ Neither and I DO NOT understand why people are afraid of them.
20) If you could ​ change one thing ​about ​how you look, ​ what would ​it be? ​My hair. It's always been a problem. It either needs to be curlier or straighter. And thicker too!
21) Would you be my crime ​partn​er or my consc​ience​?​ Conscience
23) Ever been arrested? ​nope
24 ) Bottl​e or Draft​?​ I don't think I understand what this is asking...
25) If you won $ ​10,​000 dolla​rs today ​,​ what would you do with it? Help my dad get some schooling or something to help him get a job.
26) Would ​you date me? No
27) What'​s your favorite place to hang at? Well I would say that since we go there whenever we have time off, it'd be Kim and Patsy's house.
28) Do you belie​ve in ghost​s?​ Just spirits.
29) Favor​ite thing ​to do in your spare ​time? ​Go out to eat or go on long runs with a partner
30) Do you swear ​a lot? No. Not an attractive habit.
31) Bigge​st pet peeve ​?​ Rude people and busy work in school.
32) In one word, ​ how would ​ you descr​ibe your s​elf? ​Happy
33) Do you believe/​appre​ciate​ romance?​ I totally love it.
34) If you could ​ spend ​ 12 hours ​ with me and ask/ ​do anything you like, ​ what would it be? Work out first (because I love working out with you!) and then shop.
35) Do you believe in God? How could you not?

Shopping for Christmas

For years growing up I remember on the 24th of December my father would run to to the stores getting all his shopping done on Christmas Eve. You have to give him a little bit of a break. He owned Christmas tree lots. Did he get good gifts? Somehow, someway he always nailed it for me. My favorite father specific gifts consist of shopping sprees, BYU basketball game tickets, baseball bat, pool table, and the best looking ties a young man could ask for. I get a tie every year and I always look forward to it. Add to the great gifts the gift wrapping he would get done and he always did well for himself. I ask the question could anyone else but a man get his entire shopping down in one day? I went the other night and in two hours, my wife's shopping was nearly done. In my shopping I pulled out a piece of paper many times to find sizes and check the list. I did get a few funny look but those never keep a man down. The trick to quick and sucessful shopping is simple, ask them what they want and go get it for them. You don't have to guess for hours and days at a time ending up with the wrong item. That is all it takes for me. I know suprises are nice so set some dollar amount of money for the other person to decide what to get. While shopping I saw and listened to one of the coolest things. A 10 year old kid playing the piano outside of Nordstroms. He wasn't just some cute 10 year old playing okay music. He was good and could play!!! The gifts those little ones have. I salute those who get all their shopping done in one day.

Disco Elves

Bet you didn't know we were that talented, did ya? Thanksgiving is over (and it was fabulous) but now it's time

to get in gear for Christmas. Yay!

BYU VS UTAH AGAIN!!!!!!!

BYU??? UTAH?????? Those two words bring great emotion to my heart and always will. My dad attended the University of Utah, my mom, sister, and brother in-law are BYU alumni. My father has since corrected his path now bleeds blue. My wife and I will be BYU alumni in a year so the family is a cougar family. Growing up I loved BYU football. I watched it, played it (in my head), dreamed it, and ate it. It was a HUGE part of my life. Attending BYU as a student, this desire has only grown. Every football game is important but there is one game that we title THE HOLY WAR which brings passion and hatred for the color of red. BYU VS UTAH happens this Saturday and has divided households, neighbors, and friends for years. My entire family are cougars so unite. These games have been absolutely amazing the past 20 years with the winners split dead even at 10-10. A rivalry doesn't get much closer than that. I just wanted to share a couple of my memories from past games and give my prediction for this year's game (I will be attending in person).

#2. Last year after a defensive battle it came down to a 4 and 18 for BYU. The percentages are very low for that distance so I tried to keep my faith but it was dwindling. Utah fans were thinking they had it won but as we know now they didn't. Hall found Collie for a 40 yard gain and Unga eventually bulldozed into the end zone. I remember that game for the intensity that it brought. Every single play was important and the eruption that occurred after the 4th and 18 I will never forget.

#1. "Harline is still Open" Not a phrase that Utah fans like. It might just be the worst moment of their lives but it lives deep inside of my heart with sheer happiness. Six of my friends went up to Salt Lake to watch this in the freezing November cold. The whole game was nuts. BYU started off 14-0 and then went silent for the next two quarters requiring an amazing comeback to win. I will jump to the end. The play that lasted an eternity. Beck rolled right and threw all the way across the field to find Harline wide open in the end zone. I just remember absolute pandemonium in the stands as all us charged down the aisle looking at depressed Utah fans. Aside from marriage this was probably the happiest moment in my life.

THIS YEAR: I am a loyal BYU fan so I will never will pick against the cougs. The key to this game will be protection of Max Hall. Utah's defense has been susceptible to the pass and if Max gets time I can see him having a big game. I think Utah will score first with a field goal and before the opening emotion dies from the crowd Utah will be up 10-0. Then the second quarter happens when BYU comes to play. I think the halftime score will be 17-13 BYU. The second half will be based on adjustments. Who's will be the best? Bronco Mendenhall has won 22 of the last 23 conference games and his adjustments will be better. The game will go back and forth and BYU will be trailing by 3 with 5:00 minutes to go. Max will drive down the field and connect with Collie for a go ahead touchdown with 2:00 min to go. Now Brian Johnson takes the field and Utah will be ever so confident they will drive the field to win. NOT SO FAST, after 5 games of defensive frustration. They will be the heroes on Saturday stopping Utah for the win. Utah will be throwing for the end zone from the 35 yard line and the ball will fall incomplete. Cougs win 38-34. That's how I predict it, but that is why they play the games. We shall all find out Saturday who is the best team in the conference and the state!!!!!!!! GO COUGS!!!!

My Clinicals Are Over!

Today was my last day of clinical for this semester. I can't believe how fast it went by! I'm thrilled cause now I have 16 hours/week free that I didn't have all semester. I have time to sleep and work out and cook and get caught up on homework. Oh this is so exciting!

Two Thumbs DOWN for the Haunting of Molly Hartley

This movie deserves an entire post rather than just a simple review in the margin. Tonight Jeff and I celebrated Halloween by going to the theater to see the new scary movie, "The Haunting of Molly Hartley." I'll admit, we were really entertained until the last 5-10 minutes. The story was interesting, spooky, and seemed to be going somewhere. However, the "scary movie writers" failed again. It's like they can never (or I guess almost never) figure out how to end the stinkin' thing.

They had this story going about how Molly was dead when she was born but her parents sold her soul to the devil in order to give her 18 years of life. Apparently, she was supposed to become some evil demon on her 18th birthday, therefore her mother was trying to kill her before then to save her from becoming something horrible. It was really quite entertaining. But the ending was shocking. People were laughing and booing when the credits came on. No joke!

So since I know most (if not all) of you hate scary movies and won't go see this one, I've got to tell you how incredibly stupid the ending was. Basically, all the religious people ended up insane or dead while the "devils angels" ended up having a seemingly fabulous life of immortality. I don't get it... I guess you probably have to see it to fully understand, but save your money. It's not worth it.

HALLOWEEN CRIES FOR MOVIES

Halloween to me is about movies, movies and more movies. For one, we dress up like we are in the movies. Second, who wouldn't want to star in a horror film. There is something about this holiday that is just awesome. Watching hundreds of kids walk from door to door just for a piece of candy is quite the tradition. Who wouldn't want to be known as the guy who thought that one up? Last week I looked up on my TiVO (best invention ever, no joke, worth every penny) for movies coming on in the next two weeks. After seeing both "I know What You Did Last Summer's, all 3 "Screams", 5 "Halloween's" and 4 "Freddy Kruger's" I knew Halloween was upon us. What a day to the scare the crap out of us. There is something about that rush of adrenaline that gets the body moving. My wife says I get scared more than she does during movies but I put on "When a Stranger Calls" and she's quivering. I watch basically anything but Exorcist stuff. No desire to mess with that crap here.

Here's My Top 5 Scary Movies
5. The Eye - One of the best most recent ones. Jessica Alba (a reason to go right there) stars as a woman who gets eye transplants to see again. Maybe she didn't want them after all. This one had my dad, Ryan O'berry, and myself literally jumping off the theater seat.
4. Mothman Prophesies - Great flick, based on true events that are pretty creepy. Well told story of bizarre events that keep happening.
3. Sixth Sense - Definitely the best the first time, but still a great freaky flick. A little boy who sees dead people. What more can you ask?
2. The Ring - Love the story of this one. Love the acting and suspense as the 7 days are counted down. When you think its over it's NOT!!!!
1. Amityville Horror - I am talking about the most recent remake of it. Get it edited and you are in for a rush of horror, hence the name.

Way Cheap Produce

I just have to tell everyone about this awesome new store in Orem. It's called Sunflower Farmer's Market. I just noticed it last week and thought I would go check it out. I'm glad I did! They had a huge variety of produce (and other healthy and organic foods) at very good prices. I found out that today (Wednesday) is the best day to go because last week's ad ends today and this week's ad starts today so there is double the sales. Just to give you an idea, let me tell you what I got.

3 avocados, 2 cucumbers, 2 heads of lettuce, 2 containers of blackberries, 2 pounds of red seedless grapes and 2 red peppers for only $9.18! Is that a deal or what?

There are two stores in Utah--one in Orem and one in Murray. Unfortunately all of you Idaho readers are missing out on this place cause it's not up there. Anyway, I was quite thrilled!

SUSHI MUST BE RECKONED WITH

Does that picture make you gag or desire more sushi? It is a question we all have to face at least once in this life. Sushi has many rumors spread about it. Raw fish eggs, eel sauce, and much, much more. However the choice is ours whether to believe them or find out for yourself. About 3 years ago I was taken to a restaurant in Provo called "Happy Sumo". It carries other food but its specialty is sushi. I wasn't paying--those summer salesman were in heat recruiting me for summer sales--and I will always accept a free meal. I figured since I was not paying, it was worth a shot. Acting like a mature adult who has tried sushi thousands of times, inside I was about to puke. After sticking the piece of crab wrapped in seaweed with a little rice in to my mouth I was quite surprised by my desire for more. I liked sushi that night and sushi has only grown into being a big part of my life. VEGAS ROLL is my favorite and you can't go wrong with a little Vegas. A friend and I try to go to all you can eat sushi about once a month. Now after much persuasion my wife is a sushi fan as well. This past weekend my sister Kari picked "Tepanyaki" a Japanese grill and sushi bar for her birthday meal so add her to the list. My mom and dad tried it that night and actually liked it as well. My desire is for all you out there who haven't tried sushi and are still believing the false rumors, sushi can change your life like it has me. When you're feeling down and depressed, GRAB A SUSHI ROLL!!!!!

Tagged Again

8 THINGS I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT:
1. Jeff
2. Family/friends
3. The Gospel
4. Running (lately there's been very little time for this)
5. Baking treats
6. Nursing (but NOT nursing school)
7. Jeff
8. Jeff

8 WORDS/PHRASES I SAY OFTEN
1. I love you.
2. I'm tired.
3. I hate my job. I DON'T want Monday to come!
4. We have got to start eating healthy again.
5. You decide. I'm too tired to decide.
6. I don't want to study.
7. Hurry! Get that light! (meaning the green traffic light cause I'm always running late)
8. 18 more months! (until I graduate)

8 THINGS WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
1. Be a mommy
2. Run a marathon
3. Serve a mission with Jeff
4. Visit Europe
5. Go to Hawaii/Bahamas/Jamaica/somewhere tropical
6. Go back to Ollalie Lake with my kids and other cool places in Oregon
7. Buy a boat and live near a lake
8. Build our dream house

8 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY PAST:
1. There is always something to be grateful for.
2. Being self-conscious is boring.
3. Procrastination only makes life worse.
4. I'm not invincible and neither are my loved ones.
5. There's no better way to start out your day than with prayer and scripture study.
6. A positive attitude changes everything.
7. Recreation is a must. You'll snap without it.
8. You can only do your best and you should be satisfied with that.

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY NEED/WANT:
1. A break from school!!!
2. An extra day in the week to get caught up.
3. To lose 10 lbs so that I can actually fit into my clothes.
4. A new job!
5. A job for my dad!
6. New white casual shoes.
7. A second form of transportation
8. For BYU to go to a BCS bowl

Three Things

Last time someone tagged me, I didn't end up doing it. Whoops, sorry Kari! So I got on this right away before I let it slip my mind.

Three things I love (besides my family...that's a given!)
1. Dill pickles. They're best when they're cold and really crunchy!
2. Afternoon naps
3. Oregon

Three things I did today:
1. Got called to be the YW Sports Director?!
2. Went to church
3. Made french toast and eggs for lunch

Three things I would love to do eventually:
1. Go to Switzerland and Italy
2. Become an RN (18 more months!)
3. Serve a mission with Jeff

Three things I could not live without (besides my family ... that's a given):
1. Chocolate
2. The gym
3. Soap. Sometimes I'm a germ-a-phobe. Especially when it comes to raw chicken.

Three things that scare me (besides losing my family... that's a given):
1. Heights
2. Free-falling
3. and thus, rollercoasters (I don't want this fear, but they truly cause some serious anxiety)

I tag Candice, Shelby, and Kim

The OR

This week I had my clinicals in the operating room (OR) at IMC in Murray. It was quite the experience! I really thought I'd be nauseous and maybe even pass out because normally I can't even stand to watch gruesome stuff like on TV, but it wasn't bad at all. I saw a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), internal fixation of an ankle, irrigation and debridement of an infected shoulder (even the surgeon was saying that it was disgusting as he was pulling out clumps of pus, haha!), a carotid endarterectomy (removing plaque from one of the neck arteries), and a spinal fusion. Unfortunately, I didn't get to scrub in BUT I did get to intubate a patient which means I stuck a breathing tube down someone's trachea. So cool!

During this experience, I thought about how fun it would be to be a scrub nurse and help surgeons with surgery. But then I kept thinking about how badly I want to work in the mother/baby unit. And then I thought about how great it'd be to be a school nurse and get teacher's vacation with a nurse's wage. But that's the great thing about becoming a nurse: I can easily change the field that I work in with just one degree. So I'm pretty thankful to be in the BYU nursing program!

New Apartment

Well this is a bit late seeing as how we moved at the end of August, but we thought we'd still post the pics anyway. We moved out to south Orem 'cause a steal-of-a-deal fell into our hands and we couldn't resist. We love the area and the family that lives above us is great. By the way, I have no idea why the picture above won't come below this text. I've tried for a while and now I'm giving up. Sometimes blogger can be so annoying!

Our poor little table looks so teeny in our enormous dining room. But at least we have a dining room now...

These babies are my pride and joy! We are forever done with the laundromat. Hallelujah!

Our apartment is super long and skinny as demonstrated by our super long and skinny hall.

We have an extra bedroom that we use as a study room. It's quite nice to have since we're so far away from the library. By the way, that's the bookshelf that I built. I know, I'm talented.

I know, I know. We probably shouldn't have a TV in our bedroom but we hardly use it since the TiVo only works in the living room. But it's nice to have from time to time.

So, if anyone ever wants to come stay, we actually have room for you now! Having a couple extra people over doesn't feel claustrophobic anymore. We love it here and are so lucky to have found such a good place in a town with two big Universities and tons of young married people.

Hydrocephalus

This picture might be a little more clarifying. The image on the left has hydrocephalus--this is similar to how Jeff's brain looked prior to the surgery. The image on the right is a normal brain with a functional draining system. The ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt was placed in the third ventricle which is the area where the white arrow is pointing to. Pretty soon--if the shunt works correctly--Jeff's brain will look like the normal one. I also thought I might add that when Jeff and I were in the ER Friday night, Dr. Gaufin, the wonderful neurosurgeon, said that he had performed 300-400 of these procedures and that there was a 95% chance of everything going as planned. So we are thankful that everything did!

A Weekend To Remember

This past weekend has been one that I will never forget. Hopefully I can tell you the story of my brain surgery experience. On Thursday I went in for an eye appointment to update my prescription and buy another year's worth of contacts. My eye doctor saw something on the photos of the inside of my eye where the optic nerve is. He noticed a change from last year that he thought might be something significant, but I felt completely normal and had none of the symptoms that he mentioned. He wanted me to go to the BYU health center within the next couple of weeks just to make sure and mentioned he would call them and explain the situation. That night, when I was in class, I received a call from the health center telling me I needed an MRI ASAP. Friday during my lunch break, I went and got an MRI of my brain to confirm that it was nothing. The doctor there told me they would have the results back by Mon or Tuesday. Friday evening at 6:00 PM I received a call with the results back from my MRI. The doctor explained to me that I had spinal fluid blockage in my brain and the pressure was building up in my ventricles. He continued to tell me to go to the ER immediately and see a neurosurgeon about having surgery. Saturday Morning at 11:00 am I went in for brain surgery to correct the hydrocephalus and I had a shunt placed in my brain to help the fluid drain. The shunt goes from inside my brain all the way down into my abdominal cavity where the spinal fluid will now drain when the pressure gets too high. I feel really grateful for my eye doctor who saw something different and had the courage to act and make sure it got taken care of. The surgery went as planned and I was able to come home Sunday evening with some painkillers and an amazing wife to help take care of me. As long as a painkiller enters my body every four hours I am doing okay for having brain surgery two days ago. To think that if the doctors hadn't corrected the problem, serious issues would have risen such as a coma or even death. I feel eternally grateful for all those involved and for all those that helped with me. Life can be short and we need to always be prepared for anything that comes are way. The Lord cares about us and loves us so much. I felt his love through him and all his children that helped me.

Had to make due with the haircut. Ranked #7 in the country how can you not put it on your head.
This is where the tube ends in my stomach.

Here's the scar from the hole they drilled in my skull (dime size) Going for a Walk, I literally felt like a Old Man who was 80 yrs old.

It's Been an Interesting Morning

So far today I have:

1. Built a bookshelf
2. Broken out in hives all over my body. I have never had hives before so it's quite strange.
3. Killed the LARGEST spider I have EVER seen with a hammer.

Kind of a weird start to my day...

-Brianne

Oregon Trip/Jesse and Michael's Visit to Provo

Well we finally made it back to Oregon! I hadn't seen my family since our wedding (which was 14 months ago) so it was great to see them! We drove there and back for a total of 26 hours of driving and whole lot of miles on our trusty Toyota Camry. My younger brother Nick drove out there with us and then Michael and Jesse drove back (along with Nick) to visit for a few days so it was quite the cramped ride on the way back. But we survived and had a ton of fun. My studly little bro, Michael, taking a break at his football jamboree. 10 year olds are so cute in their gear!Visiting my two best friends Danielle and Emma. I miss them a lot!

I was really looking forward to going to the Little North Fork of the Santiam River and spending the day in the water and the sun but it was only 75 degrees so when we got in the snow melt water, it was freeeeezing!!! I was sad I didn't get to show Jeff how fun it is up there. Maybe next time...


We also had a fun time at a barbecue with my extended family and at Rock-N-Rogers where we had the most delicious breakfast food ever.

Highlights from Provo:Visiting the Legacy Hall of Fame. In 10-15 years Michael Rasaka might be in there as he has made it clear he wants to be a BYU football player. Go Michael! Love Jesse's closed eyes...
We decided to go to the BYU track for our workout on Tuesday and this is how we felt when we finished.At the top of the Y on Y Mountain. The hike was a whole lot harder than we remembered. Especially after a sprint workout. The Statue of Christ in the visitor's center at Temple SquareJesse and Michael were troopers. Neither had flown before but they toughened up and flew back to Oregon all by themselves.

Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of our time at Seven Peaks but we all had a blast. The weather was great and the park was way empty. Also, Michael and Jeff were extreme dare devils. They both went down the yellow and blue slides but Jeff even went down the orange one and then he went down the Boomerang backwards! Scary!

In Memory of Robin Rasaka

Two years ago today I answered a phone call in the middle of grocery store only to hear the worst news of my life: my mom had passed away in her sleep early that morning. It seems like it has been TEN years since I've seen my mom, but it's amazing how the Lord blesses and comforts you during life's trials. I know I wouldn't be doing so well if I didn't have a testimony of eternal families and it makes me so much more grateful for the Lord's Holy Temples and the sealing power that is found within.


Here are the top 5 things I have missed since she's been gone:
1. Lying in her bed at night and watching chick flicks and eating chocolate.
2. Going to McGrath's for dinner after a day of shopping together.
3. Her cooking, her decorating, her craftiness, her organization, etc. Basically everything that made our house the Rasaka home.
4. Singing to loud country music (mostly Keith Urban) while driving in the car with her.
5. Calling her whenever anything went wrong in my life and having her tell me it'll be okay. Also calling her whenever anything went right and having her congratulate me.

I wish there was a phone line to Heaven so I could call and chat with her now and then but that would just make life too easy. My mom was the best and I love her dearly. I've been blessed to have her in my life for 19 years!

Another spirit enters the world!!!!

I have been an uncle for many years now. My sister has probably the cutest two little girls on the face of the planet in Sadee and Ava (don't believe me? click on her blog Atkinsons). You just can't argue with curly hair on little girls. Now after 3 years of nothing a new baby has arrived in the family. He finally got here after being 4 days late. My older sister, Alisa, had her first baby boy and first child for that matter this past Thursday. His name is Collin Ryan O'Berry. He is definitely a cute one. I always find it a miracle to think how much of an adventure he is embarking. Times of sorrow and happiness await that little spirit. He'll have many trials and blessings as he learns the plan of his Heavenly Father. It kind of compares to the mission. You have no idea what lies ahead, the lessons you will learn, the trials you will face, the happiness you will embrace. You embark for two years having no idea what's in store for you. Collin is about to embark on who knows how long of a journey. What a special day for his parents to accept that responsibility. Right now I can only imagine that feeling, but it will come soon enough (3 or 4 years) when you have a bunch of little Bri's and mini Jeff's running around the Johnson household creating havoc.

Our First Half Marathon

This last Saturday, Jeff and I ran in the Provo River Trail half marathon. We trained for about 9 weeks and both did better than we had expected. Unfortunately, we had to start the race about 4 minutes late due to a very disorganized morning that caused us to get on the LAST bus up to the starting line. Luckily, I had my watch so I was able to get our actual times.

In my opinion, the first 8 miles were great! I was totally loving it and running between a 6:40 and 7:00 min pace. But once I hit mile 10, I totally hit a brick wall. The last 3 miles were harder than heck for me!

For Jeff, he was cruising along with until about mile 6 when he got a pretty bad side ache. I was waiting for him to catch up to me again (but of course he never did, haha) but apparently the side ache lasted quite awhile.

So that's right, I beat my husband! I only had two goals. One was to beat him and the other was to run it under 1 hour and 50 min. and I did both! According to my watch (since that's what's accurate for us), I ran it in 1:44:43 and Jeff came in at about 1:51:00. It was a great experience and we will definitely start racing more!

Oh, and I thought I would add that the picture was taken after the race hence the tired and somewhat unattractive look :)

BYU FOOTBALL PREVIEW: DEFENSE

I have to first apologize for the longing readers that have checked hourly for the past week for my BYU Football Preview. I had finals this past week and it took up my life, sorry. This week the defense steps up on the stand to be judged. Over the last two years the D at BYU has restored what it once had. Bronco has one important stat he uses and thats points scored. The yards given up are important but you keep the points off the board you win. Seems simple, and BYU has dominated the last few years in this category. Take off the Tulsa debacle and BYU had an incredible defense last year. Losing all of our secondary and 3 of our linebackers to graduation will hurt but I don't see the defense missing that much of a beat. Bronco proved last year BYU should be a reloading program and it won't be any different this year. Our defensive line is the deepest its been in years with all starters returning and with the return of Tialavea we should be even deeper. The rest the Defense (linebackers, secondary) I expect to reload. If injuries come like a plague then we could be in trouble but who wouldn't be. I expect a Top 20 D this upcoming year. They should get plenty of help from the offense and the kicking game so don't expect many opponents to get above 20 points a game. My grade B+ Here is a list of some players to keep an eye on.Jan Jorgensen #84

Vic So'oto #37

Brandon Bradly #5

BYU Football Preview SPECIAL TEAMS

This week I preview one of the most important units on the team. Hence comes the name special, they are special and a botched special teams play can change the entire outcome of the game. This past year, the special teams unit was only average. Austin Collie emerged as a dangerous return man with the speed to take it the distance and he has only gotten faster (hopefully his stress fracture doesn't affect him). The biggest addition is Justin Sorensen, the kicker that can kick it a mile. In the first practice he kicked 9 out of 10 out of the end zone with one being 8 yards deep. I don't see many kicks getting returned this year. Hopefully Mitch Payne has stepped up his game or he won't see a down this year. Punt returns won't be anything special but as long as Bryce catches the ball I won't complain. I truly feel last year the special teams cost us a lot of yardage and with new comers I can only see the special teams going forward which it must if we are going BCS. GRADE B+

NEW MANSION IN IDAHO FALLS

As I begin this blog with the mom sitting next to me telling me, "It is not a mansion, I'm embarrassed." Well you guessed it. This weekend we went up to Idaho Falls to help my parents move into their new house. It might not be a MANSION, but it is a big step up from their last house. Other than moving, nothing that exciting happened besides playing with the nieces and seeing Wall-E (which sucked). I won't bore you with moving stories but here are some cool pics of the nice house. They really don't do it justice yet because of the lack of furniture.

Kitchen
Kitchen and Great Room

Family Room Downstairs where projector will be.

Dinning Room Area, kitchen is to the left
Pic of the stairs and entry way.


Here is the front.

Can You Tell What's Missing?

Last Sunday when I was sitting in church, I looked down at my ring and my diamond was missing! Ahhh! Jeff and I teach the 9 and 10 year olds in primary and our class became quite disruptive during singing time as we searched the floor around us for the diamond. After a few minutes of panic, I emptied our church bag and lo and behold, my diamond was in there! It was quite the scare. I'm on my way to the jeweler today and hopefully everything will go okay with the warranty...

BYU Football 2008 Preview COACHING

Here is the weekly layout of BYU Football fall preview. I will begin this week by discussing coaching and giving a grade of the unit. The question in most football minds is what makes a good coach? Many elements go into coaching and I for one do not know them all, but winning makes a good coach in my eyes. Yes back in the growing up days of little league and grid kid football, winning wasn't the most important thing, but at the college level you have to win. Some argue that coaching isn't what wins football games but its the players. I feel both play a role in the winning. Coaching is critical for football especially in college with the role they play in recruiting and the motivating of the players to play at the highest level.
Bronco Mendenhall has been a answer to our prayers here at BYU. After three horrid years, the man has changed the entire state and reputation of the program. Trust me, that isn't easy. Takes a lot of time to do, it is not done overnight. The speed that Bronco has done it is remarkable. The players went from getting arrested for rape to giving Friday night firesides before the game. All this and when we look back and see he wasn't our first choice, kills me. I guess we can still come back to the phrase, "Thanks Kyle, Seriously." You can buy the shirt on cougarfan.com. The university and athletic department may not judge a coach on wins but no matter what you say, all of you want to feel and have to feel the excitement of winning. Why do we get all upset when they lose if we didn't care? I crave wins and want wins and thats what Bronco has brought me and rest of you. We have the longest winning streak in the nation and one of the best records the past 2 years with 22 wins only four losses. I judge coach on wins and thats how it will always be. Its kind of like on my mission, when you really knew if elders were working by baptisms, yes you looked at contacts, invites, discussions, families at church, but in the end the final goal is baptisms. This may not be true for all missions I know but in mine, we wanted baptisms, that was how all of us were judged. No matter what you say, if your team is not winning than your just not that good of a coach. Bronco is winning and that makes him a great coach and will be for a while. At BYU its a little bit different. You can't just win but you represent the church in all that you say and do. Instead of hiding from it like Crowton, Mendenhall has embraced the church and used the spiritual aspect to his advantage. The only thing I can think negative about him is the crazy words he uses, but I feel that reflects his vision and mastery of his players. Will all these praises continue to be said about him? Time will tell as the season progresses, but my vote is they will. How can I not give him a big fat A

BYU FOOTBALL 2008

I recall back in January of this year after the last football game depression of an entire summer with no football. Usually my summer is filled with excitement of pennant races but when your team (Seattle Mariners), is the worst in the whole MLB I find it rather difficult to rant and rave of their success. So enough of the baseball talk, its time for byu football, let me repeat that, ITS TIME FOR BYU FOOTBALL BABY!!!!! This blog will start a succession of blogs of probably outside my wife and the Lord the most important thing in my life (sorry father but I can't hide my true passions). Much excitement is boiling through my veins with the fans here in Provo in what could be one of the greatest years in BYU football history. This is no guarantee but will require skill, hard work and some luck. For the next five weeks I will be previewing my opinions of each unit (offense, defense, special teams, coaching) and will finish it with my preview for each game this season beginning with Northern Iowa at home. For the last few years I have only been one game off so you all better listen in. I also advise you to read Jarom's blog (see link below on my friends). He will add many if not better insights than I will.

My patience is being tested!

Well today and yesterday have been extreme tests of my patience. In both incidents I felt like my head was going to burst because I was SO mad (and rightly so) and ended up crying instead because that's what happens when I get really mad. The tears just come and there's NOTHING I can do about it. It's kind of funny actually. Anyway, I need to vent, so here are the stories:


1. The Car
So this story starts out with me taking the car to All Tune and Lube to get our timing belt fixed because when Jeff called around for quotes, they were the cheapest. Here is the list of frustrations that we encountered:
-The day I took the car in the guy told me it would be $430 instead of $330. Um, big difference! Not knowing what to do, I called Jeff who called the store and was luckily able to get them to stick with the originally quoted $330. Alright so far, but it gets worse as we go along.
-After picking the car up an hour later than they told me it would be, I drove to Jeff's work to pick him up. On the way, I noticed a strange sound. Something was wrong. We called them and they told us to bring it back in as soon as possible.
-I brought it back and waited for an hour for them to fix it. After leaving, there was ANOTHER DIFFERENT sound this time. At this point we were very annoyed.
-So once again I brought it back. I sat and waited for half an hour before the guy came and said we would have to come back when there was another mechanic around. What's that about???
-Yesterday was my millionth trip back (and my last EVER as they totally have lost our business) and I was quite annoyed to be there. However, throughout this whole ordeal, we both kept our cool and acted very rationally. So I'm sitting there and the guy says that I'll be out of there in half an hour. "Okay," I think, "That's not bad." Well 45 minutes later I was still waiting and decided to ask how much longer it would be. This is when I got mad. The guy tells me that the part is not there yet and he doesn't know when it'll get there and then it will be another half an hour after that until I could leave. I had to get up and walk out of the store to stay calm and I called Jeff who helped me relax. I was furious! Seriously, who has to go back to a freakin' store 4 times for them to get something right?!! Although I so wanted to give him a piece of my mind, I was as nice as possible to the guy in the store and just let the tears flow once I got in the car. IT WAS SOOO RIDICULOUS!
2. Okay, I'll make this story a little shorter since I've written so much already. Back in December I got an Ipod Nano and for my birthday I got Nike+ shoes and the Nike+ adapter (it connects the shoes to your ipod and it's like a GPS/coach in your ear as you run--way cool). I've loved it! The ipod was working fine until about a month ago. It just stopped working for no reason. I took it to a Mac store in Orem and since they didn't know what was wrong, I then took it the Apple store at the Gateway. The people there were horrible. They told me that my ipod had been "exposed to large of amounts of water," and told me "sorry, we can't do anything about it." Excuse me? What? Large amounts of water? I think not. I am more than 1000% positive that my ipod has NOT been exposed to ANY water let alone "large amounts" of it. Yes 1000% positive! So I finally got around to calling someone about it last week and got nowhere. I called again today and with all of the How to Win Friends and Influence People principles in mind, I was still getting nowhere. But I refused to let it go because it's ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS that a $150 product can all of a sudden stop working and when I try to confront someone about it, it's all of sudden my fault. Bogus! I was on the phone for over an hour (most of it was sitting on hold and writing this blog entry) talking to three different people and feeling like it was a lost cause...but guess what? I thought this entry was going to start negative and end negative, but it's not! I just got off the phone with a wonderful person named Chad who is going to make sure that my Ipod is fixed free of charge! Can you believe that?! Even though that's what I expected in the first place and that's what I deserve, I'm still shocked! I seriously have had a trial with patience lately and I feel like I have just past the test!!!