Lack of Consistency

Dear reader, I've been doing a lousy job of writing content for this blog.  What was once a part of my normal routine has been pushed to the background and it's hard to make it a priority.  There are multiple reasons for this change:

• I used to watch TV shows on my computer, so opening up the blog to write a post was really easy.  Now with my TV, I have to remember just to turn the computer on.
• Nearly every evening, my time is occupied.  Whether it's a ward activity, missionary correlation, the gym, or just texting Leah, I'm a lot busier than I used to be.
• Leah is taking up a lot of my free time.  That is not a complaint (quite the opposite!), but a statement of fact.
• Facebook makes it easy to post little updates all the time.  Even if I don't post anything there for a week or two, I feel more connected simply by scrolling through my news feed.

I apologize for neglecting the blog and I wish I could say that I was going to double my efforts to update regularly, but I'm actually going to do the opposite: I'm going to two days a week.  I think with the reduced schedule, one that's a bit more practical, I'll be able to actually keep to it (also, that's the most I've been posting for the last couple of months anyway).  My plan is post on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but the days may shift around a bit.

I know some of you rely on this blog to know how I'm doing, so I hope that the new schedule will allow me to do so more consistently.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

On Friday night, all of the wards in the Baltimore area had the opportunity to attend an Orioles game as part of Mormon night.  These sorts of events happen all over the country (including in the land of my nativity, San Diego), so it was nice to be a part of it here.

As you can see in the above picture, we had seats just right behind home plate, which made following the game easy.  Unfortunately, we were way up in the nosebleed section.  Still, I had a bird's eye view of the whole thing.

The first inning was really exciting, with the Orioles scoring five home runs to the Houston Astros' one.  After that, however, the Astros just kept getting home run after home run.  The final score was 8-15, with Houston winning.

Even though the O's didn't perform as well as I'd hoped, I still had a great time.  I sat with Leah and her mom, along with one of Leah's best friends, Katie, and her husband David.  Plus, lots of other people from my ward were there, too.

David, Katie, Leah, me

(Leah's mom, Debbie, had stepped away)

Baltimore pride!

I still don't consider myself a sports guy, but I'm always up for going to a baseball game, especially when the company is so nice.

Close Call

I returned to the dentist this week so that my teeth could be drilled and filled.  Remember how my three cavities weren't very deep?  Well, for some reason, the x-ray didn't show the severity of the decay in my teeth.  It turns out that my cavities run deep, with one going so deep that I narrowly missed having to have a root canal.  I may still get my chance in the future, but for now it seems to be taken care of.  Even so, the doctor mentioned more than once that he was having to drill deeper than expected on all three teeth.

The take away from this experience?  Don't skip dental visits for seven years or your teeth will fall apart.

The City of Brotherly Love

On Saturday, I went to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Temple open house with my ward.  The trip down was a bit longer than expected due to heavy traffic, but the wait was worth it.

The Philadelphia Temple was designed with a neoclassical aesthetic and most of the people I talked to said that it reminded them buildings in the National Mall, like the White House.  The outer walls are covered in granite, while the interior had lots of intricate wood work on wall moldings.  Unique to the Philadelphia temple is a painting in the waiting room depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence, an event that was ordained of God and happened in the same city.

While I was mostly marveling at the architecture and design work, others were impressed with the spirit of the temple, which could be felt even before being dedicated.  Brian, who was baptized that morning before we left Baltimore, felt especially moved while we were in the Celestial room, saying how he can't wait until he's been a member long enough to be worthy for a recommend.  Alex, who's struggled with his activity in the Church, asked the Bishop "What would it take for me to get a temple recommend?"  It's amazing how people are touched, simply by seeing a temple.

The DC Temple has a permanent replica of the Christus, so I've seen it several times very recently.

Even so, it doesn't get old.

Most of the group from my ward in front of the Christus.

After the tour was over, we met up at large indoor food court for lunch, though a late one.  Being in Philly, I had to get a Philly cheesesteak.  The one I got was from a food stand called By George.  It was a really good cheesesteak. It was also huge -- I still have half of it waiting for me in the fridge.

The picture may by posed, but that facial expression is genuine.

While Leah didn't come to the open house with the ward (she's going with her mom later this week), I went to see her after I got back.  I met most of her family at a get-together at her mom's house and they were all very nice, if uproarious, people.

And, unrelated to my visit with her family, Leah and I have decided to exclusively date each other.  That's right: we're going steady.

Leah and me outside of our church building.

This weekend was jam-packed with activities and people, but I enjoyed it all and I'm happy with the results.

Slight Return

My eczema came back.

Kind of.

The eczema returned, but not where it had been before.

Let me start over.  As I previously related, I treated the eczema with steroids, both oral and topical.  The medication worked and my skin healed.  However, once the treatment ended, the rash started showing up in new places: instead of my upper arms, the rash was on my lower arms; instead of my torso, it was on my legs; etc.  So, the treatment worked, but I need to treat everything.  Thankfully, I was able to get back in to see my dermatologist on Monday and get a new round of 'roids.  She agreed with my assessment -- that the treatment took, just not thoroughly -- and was reasonably confident that this would be the end of the eczema (her estimation is that there's a 25% chance of it returning; not bad odds, considering).

So, I should soon be rash-free.

Again.

Surf and Sun

Leah and I have been texting a lot since we first met and during one of our conversations, it was brought up that we both like the beach, though neither of us had been in a long time -- she hadn't been since sometime last year and I haven't made it to the beach since moving to Maryland.  Some time later, she said she wanted to surprise me with a weekend activity, but I needed to pack my swim suit, a towel, and sunscreen.  It seems pretty obvious where we were headed, right?

It's the first place I think of when I think of the beach.

Well, because the forecast called for rain, she decided to go with her backup plan, so we went to a water park.  We went with Leah's friend, Katie, and her husband, David.  We got to the park right when they opened and were able to try out all of the attractions at the park before noon.  After a trip to the van for lunch, we went back to discover that the park was now really crowded.  With the weather outside looking nice enough, we decided to see how long it would take to get to a beach.  Since we could get to one in about an hour, we decided to give it a try.

Leah and me in the backseat

I took this picture at the end of the day because I forgot to take one at the beginning

Well, I'm glad we decided to chance the rain.  The weather was perfect and it was amazing being back at a beach, though this was my first time to one on the east coast.  The waves were great for wadding and swimming, but didn't break properly for surfing (which was just as well since we didn't have any boards).

On the beach with Leah

I planned ahead and wore sunscreen, but we were there long enough that I still got a mild sunburn.  Even so, I'm so glad that I went.  It was great being in the water again, I enjoyed meeting Katie and David, and I had a blast with Leah.  I even helped out by taking a shift driving home when everyone else was too tired.

Now, I just need to make sure that I make it back to the beach sooner than once every three years.

Sunset at the beach is still awesome, even when the sun drops behind the wrong horizon

Public

You may have noticed something different about this blog.  Namely, it's no longer accessible by invitation only but is, in fact, accessible by anyone with an internet connection.  Why the sudden change?  My divorce is final.

You see, I never meant for this blog to be private, but when I first filed for divorce, I was afraid that Allison might use something I wrote against me.  Rather than censor myself, I decided to simply change the privacy settings to invitation only.  With the divorce finalized, I no longer have any reason to keep the blog private, so I've gone back to sharing my secrets with the world.

Thank you to everyone who supported me during my divorce.  Now that I'm a free man, it feels right that my blog matches that sentiment.

Tuesdays with Media: Step Right Up

New story.  See if you can guess the theme...

Called to Serve

On Saturday, I attended my ward's pool party.  It was fun to cook on the grill and swim in the pool and generally interact with the members in my ward, but something unusual happened while I was there: I sat down with the Bishopbric so they could extend a calling to me.  So, despite all of the other people milling about, we sat in our shorts and discussed what my new responsibilities would be in my new calling.  I accepted the call with the promise that it would be announced in church the next day.

Sure enough, on Sunday my name was called for a sustaining vote in my new position as ward mission leader.  There was an opening in this position, so I knew there was a chance that could be the calling, but I still wasn't expecting it.  Interestingly, the Bishop said that while he and his counselors had been considering me for the position, the thing that clinched it for me was how well I handled FHE last Monday.  Apparently, I showed good leadership skills, as well as the fact that I knew how to properly prepare.

I don't really know all of what my calling will entail as of yet, but I'm ready to step up and learn.  We just got a second set of missionaries assigned to the ward, so they need a liaison to the Bishop now more than ever.

I know that the Lord wants me in this calling and I plan to do the best that I can while serving in it.