In My Opinion...

I got to thinking about being opinionated. I think that everyone has opinions about all sorts of things, but only few are opinionated. I don't think I'm that opinionated. I'm rather passive and non-confrontational when it comes to expressing what I really think during conversation. So this got me thinking about what my opinions really are. So I thought I'd name a few. Perhaps a few of you will like me less - but then what is the point of liking me at all if you don't know me in the first place? So here's a top ten (though they are really in random order):

1. Everyone needs God in their lives, and needs to be spiritually fed. Souls are made up of both physical and spiritual bodies - both will die if they don't have constant nourishment.

2. There is no excuse for drunk driving. I can't think of anything that gets me more furious. There should be a zero-tolerance law with respect to people who drive drunk. Licenses should be permanently revoked, and they should be thrown in jail.

3. Relating to #1; both democrats and republicans have serious problems so long as they continue to allow God to removed from this country. A Godless nation is one that is doomed for self destruction.

4. Having money doesn't translate into happiness, but it can bring some...=] I bought a boat this year. Owning a boat has been a dream of mine for a very long time. Having it out with my family last week at Lake Powell, watching my girls ski, teaching Emily to drive, and skiing with my brothers definitely provided some of the happiest feelings I've ever had.

5. College Football is the greatest sport in the world.

6. God doesn't care about football, he cares about his children.

7. Politicians need to quit the power game and let the voice of the people dictate what they do. We should be tapping our own resources for energy - this is the promised land for heaven's sake! We have enough resources to be totally self-sufficient and yet we have people who can't put food on their table because we're trying to protect a bunch of arctic birds and bunnies. Does that really make any sense?

8. True happiness really is found in family, and in serving God.

9. Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw, and did what he said he did.

10. I'm not a conspiracy theorist - though I do believe that colossal conspiracies do exist - such as the one between the FDA and pharmaceutical companies. All these years in technical and medical advances - yet the last disease to be cured was polio? Modern drugs aren't designed to cure, nor will the FDA allow it. There's just too much money at stake to cure disease.

BONUS OPINION: Emily is the best.

Thank God for prophets.

For Josh...

Here you go bud.

Gay Donatello

Oh man. My brother is a crack up. Clay no longer has a blog, but these pics are definitely blog-worthy so I had to stick them up. Clayton took his son Ben to Lagoon a few days ago. Somehow they won some contest booth and were awarded this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Donatello) stuffed toy. Only Donatello turned out to be gay (according to Clay). So they spent the afternoon posing with Donny in these photos. The captions were provided by Clay. I can just see him laughing as he was taking the pics:

Gay Donatello with Ben.

Gay Donatello posing by a tree.

Gay Donatello hanging from a tree.

Gay Donatello on the Odysea ride with Ben.

Gay Donatello explaining the complicated Odysea controls.

Collie on the mend...

Oh man. 6 days. I can't wait.

The ULCER!

WOW! I mean WOW! I think that was the coolest thing I've ever done. It was so exciting to be a part of. There were 1600 riders that participated. I trained hard for this, and it really paid off. I really surprised myself with how well I did.

To line up the riders, they had 4 categories: team time trials, race pace (20+), medium pace (15-19mph), and everyone else. Rob and I ended up lining up in the "15-19 mph" pace. That seemed about what we had averaged over our big rides. To start, we found some club riders that were moving pretty fast, and just stayed in their draft. It was so cool to be a part of a peloton. The sounds of dozens of tires humming on the pavement, the constant warning shouts and hand signals, the POP! and pshhhhhh! of tires popping, riders going down that you had to dodge - man, it was such a rush. I ended up averaging 20.5 mph over the whole race. It was sweet! I'm still on a high from it.

I made a little video/slideshow of the event. I couldn't help but put it to the "Rocky" theme music, so watch out for corniness - but enjoy!

Barack Rolled

ULCER post coming soon.

More on Cycling...

So with the ULCER coming up on Saturday, I've been working hard to get ready. It's been hard to create time to train. Between training, my calling in the young mens, my work, and my family, it's been a rather stressful summer. I've even developed an ulcer, which I discovered Sunday. Doc says it's time to cut out the stress. How do you like that? An ulcer right before the ULCER. OH SWEET IRONY!

I'm a bit anxious for the race. I feel ready however. We've trained our little buns off. Rob and I did a 75 miler last Saturday. It was good, but difficult toward the end. I forgot my pain killers. In fact, I'd like to introduce you to Rob. This is Robert Yeo (left), my life-partner. I mean my riding partner. This picture depicts basically how I know him. He's always leaving me in the dust. You're actually looking at his better side. This other pic is of me trying to keep up with Rob. I was pretending that there happened to be a sports photographer that was interested in taking shots of me while I was riding. I think this is how I would pose if that were the case. Unfortunately, it's not true. I really just like to take pictures of myself. I also threw in an action-shot to give you an idea of what things look like from the bike seat. Not many people have that opportunity to actually sit on a bicycle after all.

Rob's been a champ to train with - he's strong as an ox and is difficult to keep up with. So a quick note out to Rob - Thanks for working with me bro - there's no way I could have trained for this thing without you. What a great life... I mean riding partner you are.

Yesterday I did my last real training ride. It was my same hilly 20 miler that I usually do. I broke my record again and did it in 67.5 minutes. That was tough - I was pretty beat. I rode hard, and there was a head wind the entire time. These pics are right after that ride. I was happy to have it over with.

Next up, 111.

Self Defense for Dorks

Love the low kicks part.

Anniversary

9th anniversary today. So happy anniversary to my babe. Thanks for making life so great.

lol.

How not to Fly an RC Jet - Watch more free videos

Cycling

Couple things:

Rode 75 miles on Saturday with Rob. It was hard, but awesome. ULCER is Saturday, I'm ready.

Thursday I rode my hilly 20 mile route in 69 minutes, that was the fastest I've ever done it.