Club 33

My time is almost up for my 30 by 30 list and I've already had to modify some of my goals. I'm still working on some and have stories regarding some others (to be told eventually), but haven't had any success (or near success) with my going to Club 33 goal.

During my time in trying to accomplish this goal I know at least a couple of people I know who have been able to go to Club 33. I've tried calling hotel concierges to try to get me in (without any success) and I've even considered paying $6,000 for a partial membership (without the money to do so). Finally, I even considered contacting Nicholas Cage (how exactly?) because someone told me that a waitress told my friend that Nicolas Cage had a membership. I then decided I didn't want to have a restraining order put out on me.

Anyway, I guess this is another call to help. Does anyone know of anyone who can get me into club 33 for sure and is willing to do most of the legwork to make sure it's legitimate and to pretty much get me in? I only have the next couple of weekends left (one really I suppose as I'm suppose to be going camping in two weekends, but I am willing to sacrifice that to go to Club 33.) Weekdays will work as well (with some advanced notice to get time off work). Pretty much any day before July 20th (weekday or weekend) is fine with me. So if anyone can get me and Ryan in to club 33 that would be perfect! I guess if someone can help and get me and Ryan into Club 33 before that time I'm willing to pay for a park hopper for them to come as well (you'll have to provide your own way to the park though I think).

Please help! 

It's been a while

Well I was waiting for Heather to post something here as it was going to be a fantastic post with great news and what's new/old, but that didn't work out to well when I realized we were a little off on our timing. So you'll have to wait a while to get the good post from her. Hopefully not too long, just depends on how much we are in the mood to blog I suppose. We being mostly her.

My post of course is an update on the 30 by 30 that you're all probably sick of hearing about on our blog because we don't post any real "What's going on in our lives" items. I generally leave those up to Heather.

So 30 by 30 is slow at the moment. I've mostly been doing reading and watching some movies. My lists for those still aren't complete for those however. I still need some help with the the whole book list thing a little bit...mostly deciding which piece of classical literature to read and what biography/autobiography to read. Help M&M?

#4-is very nearly done. I'm basically just waiting for the license to come in the mail. #8-had some debate during our last trip to Vegas in January, but nothing was resolved upon. Ideas? #24-was accomplished for the most part in I've had some fried things...that will be a post in it's own someday....I'm thinking I want to modify that post to be 30 fried things (and I'd count lame things like French fries and the delicious Monte Cristo sandwich I had in Vegas), but am still debating if my heart can handle it (and if I can find 30 different fried things). I have however already had 2 other fried things not previously mentioned that would go into that post. One was really good, the other was decent and frying it really didn't add much to it. I know you can hardly wait right?

#27-is complete. Only one more student loan left to pay off.

#21-we are also working on.....any ideas of where we should travel internationally to? So far we've thought of Italy, London, Ireland, Spain, Tokyo, Brazil, Budapest, and our latest are a 16-day cruise down the Danube, Main, and Rhine or a 7 day cruise from Helsinki, Finland to Copenhagen Denmark with some interesting cities on the way. Seriously, I might add a poll for you all to vote on for where to go, or add ideas in the comments. Any one want to shell out the money and come with? Or anyone already traveling internationally and looking for traveling buddies? I know we sort of are.

#29-Heather still doesn't want me to do this one. She apparently saw some hitchhiking once, but when we turned around and tried to look for them they were already gone. She also has apparently seen a hitchhiker when driving by herself, but thankfully didn't pick them up and beat me to accomplishing my own goal.

I still need help with blog modification in putting a nifty banner thing on the top with drop down menus. Sort of like my friend Dan's blog. I tried doing it with our current set up, but it just didn't look as good as his blog. So my 30 by 30 list remains as a side tab deal-ee until someone helps me in person or gives me a good template or something.

Anyway, sorry no pictures or good stories. A new poll though and a new quote wall item for you though. Enjoy!

30 by 30 - #6, #9, & #10 - Updates

#6 Get Lasik - Update: Done! I got Lasik last Friday and now I am recovering (as in putting in eye drops a lot). Currently my left eye feels like something is in it, but it may just be the dried up eye drops or something. I can't rub my eyes which sucks, but I'll survive. Being able to see without corrective lenses is amazing! I'd recommend LASIK to anyone who is interested and eligible. Make sure you get a good doctor though.

Some of you voted on the poll on the right so I'll give you updates on those that won the poll as well.

#9 Have a Child (if possible): We're trying. No news yet. I'll leave it at that.

#10 Read/study "Preach My Gospel." -I haven't started yet. I wanted to finish The Book of Mormon again before I restarted this one. It will probably be sometime next year by the time that happens though so I may just start it without.

In other 30 by 30 news I've started my lists for my 30 books, 30 old movies, and 30 new movies. I am kind of at a stand still with them right now, but I'll try to finish them and post them soon. Some of the movies/books may be finished by the time I post the lists. Speaking of posting I'm still trying to figure out if I can somehow post them (along with my 30 by 30 list) somewher permanetly on this blog or if I'll have to link to a google document or something. Anyone know anything about blog design and can help me with that (the permanent posting aspect?) Please continue to give me book and movie suggestions though as I need to fill these lists up. I may or may not take your suggestion, but most likely will.

Also we are hoping to go to MOAB this Thanksgiving weekend to do #20 See Arches National Park (preferably hike to the arches).

Please continue to offer your comments, etc. Hopefully we'll have a non 30 by 30 post on this blog sometime soon (that's up to Heather). Maybe we'll even put up some pictures of me accomplishing my first item on the list.

30 by 30 - #6 Get Lasik - Update

Thanks everyone for your input on my 30 by 30 list. I made some comments about your comments (if you commented, if you didn't do!) in the comments section on that post, so be sure to check that out. Feel free to continue to offer comments and suggestions on this list as it gets closer to my 30th birthday which is still around 1 year 8 months away.

I just want to quickly address the poll I had setup on the side before moving on to the update on number 6.  Thanks for voting on the poll. I"ve set up a new poll to gauge what exact number of 6-10 you wanted me to emphasize. If it's #6 Get LASIK I'm kind of emphasizing it in this post so I also left open the option for you to vote for "Some other number." Please vote!

So I went in for a before LASIK eye appointment. I have a LASIK procedure scheduled for Friday. They say I am eligible for LASIK, PRK, or ICL. I'll do my best to explain each of these.

LASIK they lift an eye flap and laser your cornea as I understand it. This helps you have better eye sight. It has a one day recovery period. The cons to this are I may not have enough cornea left to get re-LASIKed if my eyes eventually get worse. However I probably will have enough corena left for at least one touchup and if not I can get PRK as a touch up.

PRK is where they just lazer your outer eye. I think the doctor described the irritation to be like someone scratched up your outer eye. It has the longest recovery period (at least 4 days), but they don't take away any of your cornea and it still gives you super eye sight.

ICL is where they basically put a permanent contact lense in your eye. It's more expensive, but if my eyes get worse apparently they can perform LASIK through the ICL to improve my eye.

I was leaning toward ICL before I found out that with the LASIK I would probably have enough left for a retreatment and that they could perform PRK on my eye if there is not enough cornea left. Also the follow up retreatments/PRK wouldn't cost any more than what I am already paying versus the LASIK eventually after ICL which would cost money to have done after getting the ICL. So now I'm leaning slightly more toward LASIK. My 30 by 30 does say "Get Lasik" not PRK or ICL, but that's not really a consideration for me.

Any opinions or anyone with experience with any of these procedures that want to offer their comments/suggestions? Please do so soon because the LASIK procedure is scheduled for Friday.

30 by 30

Sorry in advance for the length of this however I really hope you read this though and help me out with this on-going project. Also sorry for the lack of pictures. I tried putting some in here but it just messed all the spacing up and I couldn't get the pictures in the right places.

Although there is tons to blog about and I am way behind in my new year's resolution (sorry I broke that one I guess) I'm deciding to blog about something that isn't chronicling one of our many travels this year (and believe me there are a lot). If you want a taste of those (hopefully we'll blog about them someday) you can go here or here or basically read Amy and Ryan's blog about what occurred during our outstanding road trip with them (look in their late July/August posts).

Inspired by our friend Michelle we've been working on our 30 by 30 list (in Heather's case 31 by 31 on the 31st (her golden birthday)). If you haven't heard of something like this before it's basically a set of 30 goals to accomplish by the time you are age 30. I'm blogging about this and will probably in the future add polls, a countdown, the list, etc. to the sides of this blog, and continue to blog about this as it gets closer and closer to my 30th birthday (which is still a little less than 2 years away). I'm blogging these to at least a.) Write down my goals and b.) have you all keep me accountable to this list (which I hope you do and hope you help me with this list (by offering suggestions, encouragement, etc.)

Anyway, here is my 30 by 30 list. Heather is still working on her 31 by 31 list and who knows she may or may not also blog about hers. I've done my best to categorize this list:

Personal Development (These are goals that will development me personally, either physically, emotionally, personality, or in some other sense:

1.) Read 30 books. This may not seem like a lot...but it is for me. As a side to this I want to read at least one classic fiction, one non-fiction, one biography or autobiography, one LDS fiction, and at least one LDS non-fiction. All of those being separate books and not counting in more than one of those categories. Any suggestions? Hopefully eventually I will put on this blog a virtual book shelf (as in a list) of books I'll read, and maybe your suggestions will be on there...so start suggesting.

2.) Be in a play or at least try out 3 times for one(s). I did a lot of plays in High School and Middle School and really enjoyed it. It makes me super nervous to think about memorizing a script again for one. I think this will be a good personal development project though (as it will build confidence and acting ability and get me out of the house) and we'll see how it goes. If you know of any play tryouts in the North Salt Lake area where the play doesn't conflict with my busy season let me know.

3.) Give at least $30 in at least $1 increments to 30 new charitable organizations (as in ones I've not heard of before or donated to before). This is a personal development goal because I will get to find out about new interesting organizations that I can help even if its in a small way. It also helps as a tax write-off, but I'm not doing this one for that reason. Just an added benefit of it.

4.) Get my CPA. This one shouldn't be too hard as I'm almost there, but I'm not there yet and I needed more than just "Just for Fun" goals.

5.) Work out at least once a week for at least once a month. This goal is important because I don't currently work out, and I'm probably very unhealthy in the inside. Know of any good workout routines or good suggestions to get this one going?

6.) Get LASIK (this one I'm already on my way toward so is kind of a filler item. I've always wanted to have perfect/near to perfect vision without any aid (contacts, glasses, etc.) I go into the doctor in about a week to ensure that I am well qualified to receive LASIK. If I'm not....well I may need to have a replacement goal...any suggestions?

7.) Jump from a high dive. This is in personal development because I've never done it before, and it sounds really scary to me. This will hopefully increase my bravery, thus a personal development item. Preferably this would be done into a body of water (is there even any other way?). It doesn't necessarily have to be off an actual high dive, I suppose it could be from a high cliff or something like that.

8.) Do something semi-dangerous (yet to be determined). Something Heather doesn't immediately approve of like flying a plane or helicopter, sky diving, bungee jumping, hiking angel's landing. Also Amy Fitzgibbons has to approve it thus making Heather approve of it (also a new year's resolution). This should probably be in another category, but it will strengthen my relationship with Heather and make me a braver, better, well-rounded person. Any suggestions here? Help?

Spiritual Development(goals that will develop me spiritually):

9.) Have a child (if possible). The if possible portion is on there because we are trying and it hasn't happened yet. I put this as a spiritual goal and not something else because I think having a child would really increase me spiritually because it would probably motivate me to be a better person, etc. Really it could go in all the categories though.

10.) Read/study "Preach My Gospel." I won't even count this as one of the books in #1. I was a missionary before this came out and I still haven't completely read/studied it. I've started to at least once, but never quite studied it completely.

11.) Bare my testimony in fast and testimony meeting while successfully fasting at least once. This is on here because I honestly can't remember the last time I've done this and it was at the least sometime before I was married. I add the successfully fasting part to this goal because I have trouble fasting as well (although I've been 100X better about that than I have been with bearing my testimony).

12.) Write in my journal at least once a week for at least once month in a row. This is also something I haven't done since before I got married. I don't even think Heather is mentioned in my personal journal which is quite unfortunate....hopefully blogging has been a type of journaling, but I really need to write in my personal journal.

13.) Attend the temple at least once a month for at least 3 months in a row. I've actually been back to the temple a number of times since being married, but I really need to get in a better habit of going.

14.) Volunteer at least 30 hours in a year to some good organization. If I accomplish this in the year before my 29th birthday, do it again in the year before my 30th birthday. If I don't get it done in a year at least get 30 hours in before I'm 30.

Just For Fun (self explanatory, but probably the biggest portion of this 30 by 30 list):

15.) Get a set of golf clubs and go golfing 3 times (9 holes) or 1.5 times (an 18 hole time and a 9 hole time) or 6 times (driving range), or 12 times (mini-golfing) or a combination of these counting up to the equivalent of going golfing 3 times at a 9 hole course. If I accomplish this before I'm 29, do it again before 30 (the golfing part not the buying the clubs part). Hopefully the clubs will be a set that fit me but if I am rapidly approaching 30 I may need to get a junky goodwill pair.

16.) Watch 30 new films and 30 old films (from the time I've posted this blog). This could be considered in the personal development portion as I would like to watch some "good classic" films. Any good suggestions? Maybe I'll put up a list of the movies I decide on eventually here as well (See explanation of #1 if you don't know what I mean).

17.) Go sailing. I've been trying to do this since I married Heather as my father-in-law Joseph does have a small sail boat I've been wanting to go on.

18.) Go to Cherry Hill Water Park. I've been trying to do this since I've known about Heather's trips to Cherry Hill as a kid with the Registers. So in order for me to accomplish this goal it has to be with the Registers and with Heather. 2 summers left!

19.) Go on a wave-runner. I've been wanting to go again for a long time...since like I got off my mission.

20.) See Arches National Park (preferably hike to the arches).

21.) Travel abroad (as in internationally). I've gone international twice in the last two years, but I really love to travel outside of the U.S.A. and see everything there is to see. I figure I can see more of America (which I do want to see) when I have kids and less money. :-)

22.) Take Heather to Hawaii. One of those things that we've been meaning to do...but instead we go to Australia and New Zealand.

23.) Go to club 33. I think that to accomplish this goal Ryan Fitzgibbons has to be there or it just won't be as magical for me.

24.) Eat something that's cool that's fried (like a fried snickers bar, Twinkie, a Smore, or something like that).

25.) Have an 11/11/11 party. Save the date, you are all invited.

Financial Goals:

26.) Buy life insurance. I think this one won't happen until #9 happens or until at least Heather quits her job. Anyone know what type? How much, etc. would be good?

27.) Pay off a student loan.

28.) Invest short and long term. I'm kind of already investing long-term by having a 401k plan, but want to have some more personal short and long term savings/investments. Any suggestions on what would work best?

General Goals (goals that don't quite fit elsewhere):

29.) Help a hitchhiker. I think this should be under another category but Heather said to put it here as I think she's afraid I'll be murdered or something. Really it's helping another person so I think it should be like Spiritual or something, but I'll just leave it here.

30.) Successfully grow tomatoes. Should be easy right? Well we planted a garden this year (solely in my opinion) to grow tomatoes....well other than the strawberries that's the one thing that didn't grow completely this year. Squash, flowers, and spinach grew just fine, but not tomatoes. If this doesn't work next summer than I might have to get one of those indoor things as I might not trust my 3rd summer trying to grow tomatoes.

So please offer your help, check the sidebars of this blog (in the future) for polls, etc. Any suggestions, comments, encouragements, etc. are more than appreciated.