Summer Rocks! at 4:43 PM

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I guess I've been having way too much fun this summer.

First of all, on the last day of finals my sister Jennica and I flew out for a two-week trip to Germany. Being back where I served my mission and meeting up with people I knew and loved was an incredible experience for me. It was also amazing to see the beautiful landscape again and to visit some places I never made it to during my two-year stay. Jennica and I both had a great time and came home with a few too many crazy inside jokes. For a small sampling of pictures from the trip, click here.

Also while in Germany, I got an email that is making my summer a little more painful. My friends David, Austin, and Chris, as well as my brother-in-law Brian, had all applied for a slot in this year's LOTOJA road bike race (a 206 mile race from Logan to Jackson Hole with 10,000 feet of vertical climbing). We knew it wasn't easy to get in, and secretly most of us were hoping we would strike out so we wouldn't have to spend all summer training. But sure enough, the email came confirming our success in drawing out for the race. My first reaction was "oh crap."

Needless to say, I've been on my bike even more since I got home from Germany—and not just to work off the German chocolate. Yesterday, Austin and I had the crazy idea to ride 60-70% of LOTOJA's 10,000 feet of climbing in about 20% of the mileage. Starting at Mutual Dell, we rode up AF canyon to the top of the loop, then down to Sundance, back up, down to Cascade Springs, back up, and back down to Mutual Dell. Walking up the stairs was a chore for the rest of the day, but the pain was worth it.

Speaking of biking, I had a more-than-interesting mountain bike race on Memorial Day. It started in Draper and was supposed to meander up to the overlook for a good 16-mile race. Because the course was still wet from the rain on the previous days, however, the start times were postponed for two and half long and frustrating hours and the course was changed. By the time my category finally started, I hadn't eaten in about four and a half hours, so I just about hit the wall at the start of the second lap. I also crashed twice, all but ruining my rear brake. To finish off a frustrating morning, I threw up as I crossed the finish line in 7th place out of 10 in my category. I figured it was a sign that I should start focusing more on road biking and give the mountain bike racing some time…

Moab Bums at 1:30 PM

Last weekend, it was time again for another Moab excursion (it had been a whole two weeks).  My dad, Danny, Brian and I all headed down for grand old time.  We rode two major rides, soaked in a 300-degree hot tub, filled a plate a foot high with pizza crust at Zak's Pizza Buffet (I think I was still full the next day), and enjoyed breathtaking views.  Savor the pics.

                                                       

At the top of Hurrah Pass

                                                                     

Jackson Hole Portage. What's Moab without hiking up a 500-foot cliff with a mountain bike on your back?

                                                                    

This part wasn't quite as fun as it looks...

                                                                    

We had to take our front tires off to fit through this random slot canyon.

                                                    

Finally on top.

                                                    

It was a lot bigger in real life...

                                                    

You know you love it.

Neuigkeiten at 9:42 AM

Well, the past month has been quite the ride.  The new semester has proven to be a bit interesting--the same 55 people are in all 5 of my classes, and in a way it seems like we're reverting to elementary school.  We have the class clowns, the know-it-alls, and the people who don't at all mind sharing their life story during class.  At least I enjoy two of the classes--Economics of Strategy and Marketing.  I'm not sure how much more of Organizational Behavior I can take...especially with the professor's creepy eyes.

The Utah Boat Show was last week and it pretty much rocked!  The only downside of having a boat expo in February is that I have another four months to salivate before I can quench my thirst.  Jessi might disagree, but the Mastercrafts were AWESOME!  I was even able to get a picture of the both of us in front of a Mastercraft...not sure how I pulled that off.  But to be fair, the Malibus weren't too bad either.  I was actually quite impressed with both their boats and their booth.

My family went to Tepanyaki last night to celebrate my Mom's birthday.  It's been a while since I've been there, so it was awesome to see the incredible food made right in front of us.  Michael was a bit apprehensive, and he pretty much freaked out when the chef started up the fire.  Good times!

LASIK! at 11:06 PM

Well, I finally realized my forever-old dream of having LASIK.  On the 22nd, after years of having 20/400 vision, and after a couple years of only being able to wear contacts about once a week (my eyes randomly got sensitive on my mission), I went to Hoopes Vision and let them laser my eyes.

The surgery apparently went perfectly.  My left eye cleared up to about 20/20 within a few hours, but my right eye started irritating me after I got home and stayed blurry.  I was pretty worried, but thankfully I found out the next day at the post-op appointment that there was just an abrasion on my right eye, and that it should clear up within a few days.  Until then, I'm trying to survive having different vision in each eye.

In case you're interested, here's a video of the second part of my surgery.  The flap had already been created at this point by a different laser.  It looks like my eye's being cut open, but really the flap is just being lifted up.  I was awake the whole time, but couldn't feel anything.  Enjoy!

Oh...and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The BYU-Utah Embarassment at 2:26 PM

Good news!  Pepperidge Farm has come out with a brand new product just for depressed BYU fans:

I thought it was funny...

Of Weddings and Reunions... at 2:51 PM

Last Friday had to rank among the busiest and best days I've had in a while.  Here's the rundown:

• 9:00 - Two of my best friends from high school, namely Jen and David, decided it would be cool if they got married...to each other.  They were nice enough to invite me to the ceremony, so I made the pilgrimage to the Salt Lake Temple to be there.  It was awesome.  I'm way happy for them.

• 12:30 - Wedding luncheon.  It was great to hang out with old friends and eat freakin' delicious food and hear endless tributes to David and Jen!

• 3:00 - I raced back to Provo only to be late for a meeting with my business mentor.  Since I just got accepted to the business school, I'm required to work with a BYU alumni with business experience in my area of interest.  My mentor started his own company and told me all about it and what made it successful. It was an awesomely worthwhile experience.

• 5:30 - The long-awaited mission reunion.  My German mission president flew all the way over from Berlin just to be here, and it was so cool!  It was great to see so many mission friends and to find out how many kids everyone has (not completely joking).

Me and President Rakow

• 8:30 - I drove back up to Alpine for Jen and David's reception. It was awesome to see them so happy, and it was also a lot of fun seeing old high school friends.  Wedding cake isn't a bad bonus.

• 11:30 - Sleep.
  

Random Updates at 11:21 PM

Oh man...it's been forever so I have a lot to write about.  Get excited.

Summer's been over for a month, yet I'm apparently still in that mode. I started school a few weeks ago--I've finally made it through generals (though at times I thought they would last forever) and into my major, Business Management.  I'm actually loving my classes (which is a little hard to get used to), but I have serious problems forcing myself to sit down and do homework...I would much rather be on a mountain bike or a boat or in the mountains.

Recently, however, I did purchase a wicked awesome road bike (it gets the job done, at least).  I realized it would be hard to keep up on mountain biking living in an apartment south of campus, so I wanted something to keep me riding.  I'm still breaking it in, but it's definitely serving me well.

I figured it deserves it's own picture ;).

I also recently put my MTC teaching job on hold ("quit" seems way too harsh).  Holding two part-time jobs while trying to keep up with school didn't sound very appealing to me, so I put a lot of thought into it and decided to stick with my translating job.  It seemed like the better option during school.  I've definitely been missing the MTC though...it's been an incredible experience, and I would have never guessed how close I would come to my missionaries.

This was the first group that I taught for their whole MTC stay...and it was probably my favorite.  It felt almost like family whenever I spent time with them.  I've gotten letters from several of them and they're doing awesome! (they are all now in either the Swiss mission or the Germany Munich/Austria mission (my mission, a.k.a. world's best mission)).

This is my second full group--also incredible missionaries and fun to be with.  Despite my awkward expression, I really was having a good time.  These missionaries went to the Berlin and Frankfurt missions.

Another awesome occurrence (actually probably the most exciting) is that I am now a double uncle.  That's right--my sister, Brendi, had her second child, Carson, about a month ago.  It's been really good being able to see Carson right from the beginning (I came home from Germany when Michael was 1 1/2 years old, so I missed out on a lot).  About a week after Carson's birth, he developed Meningitis--it was a really scary time for all of us, but it also revealed what great parents Brendi and Brian are.  Carson made a great recovery and is now back to full health.

The whole family soon after Carson's birth.

Stay tuned folks...