The Puppy, Kai

July 8, 2005

Somehow I have managed to skip an entire month in the journal. I have collected a number of fabulous excuses though. My computer at home broke and has been out making it impossible to edit images or write anything. In addition to that life has been very busy, most of which this journal entry is about. Here are the events and pictures in order of history!

First I would like to brag on my wife. She was placed in charge of building birthday cake for one of her coworkers. She took a great deal of time and effort to do so and the product looked wonderful! It tasted good to boot! Beckah and I also went to experience another Utah original, Hogle Zoo. One picture we took and were proud of was Beckah’s pet rhino. I, lacking Beckah’s grace and style settled for a safer version of a rhino. We also saw zebras, and we also stuck our head’s in a lion’s mouth.

In other news Eddie has purchased a motorcycle. It’s a Yamaha…uh…2 wheeler…I guess. I don’t know much about bikes. It looks cool though. With any luck he won’t kill himself though. Ah, Eddie! Speaking of Eddie, he has been helping with youth by running sound and playing drums in the band. It’s good to have his assistance. And on the youth subject I have finally decided to quit the youth group for a few reasons. Primarily because I don’t feel I can make much more of an impact on the kids and I think they need someone else to lead them into the future. Also life is so busy and I want to focus on my wife more and have less stress.

June is a month of many holidays including father’s day and mom’s birthday. This year we celebrated both on the same day. Dad got some toys and mom had a great day as well.

Onto some larger news. Holly and Brad from Tennessee came to Utah and visited. It was nice for Beckah to have a piece of home and it was good for me to get to know them better. Of the many events we did that week, we did quite a bit in the mountains because they had never seen REAL mountains before. Up at snowbird they have summer events include a LONG zip line, alpine slides and a tram ride. Beckah and I climbed up this tower and went down the zipline first. Holly and Brad went next. Next was the alpine slide. Beckah suited up and we slid down together. I beat her down the mountain with enough time to take some action shots of Beckah. Holly and Brad went down as well and had lots of fun. Next we went to the top of the mountain on a tram. Its possible Brad got a little dizzy but we three others loved the ride. Once at the top we found snow and cold and quickly returned to the safe valley!! Holly also got a good idea of what a spring river can do when it comes down the mountain. Pure noise and power! All in all the week they were here was fun and only one day got rained out.

The next week a dream came true. Allow me to explain. Beckah and I have been talking about getting a dog. I was firmly opposed to it at first but Beckah was very excited about the idea and eventually I got excited about it as I remembered Nicky, my first dog. So we did some research and eventually found a Cairn terrier. His name is Kai. He was 2.2 pounds when we got him. We picked the name Kai almost at random. Come to find out that it means "the sea" in Hawaiian, "egg" in Taiwanese, "hen" in Greek and who knows what else. We took the name from the word "Coyote" but we like it because it’s short, easy to pronounce and unique. He is very cute…if I may say that and retain my manhood at the same time (and I think I may). He trips over himself and will follow you if you walk away from him. But he does play a mean guitar.

Shortly after buying Kai Captain Paul came to town and we went to Lake Powell. This time mom and dad came along because neither of them had been boating on Lake Powell before. Dad went fishing and was successful. Beckah had never seen Lake Powell so I was excited to be able to show her that. We even talked her into driving the boat. Paul and I went for our traditional hike through the desert and saw some great views of the lake. We also did some VERY dangerous hiking. I swear no trick photography was used. Hats off to the man, the legend, Paul Finnerty. He’s the guy women swoon over and men try to emulate.

My sister created a webpage, not unlike www.CraigGreenwood.com! You can see it at http://oconnellfam.blogspot.com/

Finally we have settled down into a regular pattern of life. Coming up next is MY BIRTHDAY. I’m getting to the point where I feel like I have to start lying about my age. 29 this year. What is that? That’s almost 30. I’m just a kid!!! That being said Kai would like to wish you a special adieu.

Master of Disaster

May 3, 2005

I’ve delayed the journal for a few reasons. The biggest of which was that I had applied for a promotion at work. I was waiting to hear back so I could report good news. I learned today that I failed though and will not be promoted. At least, not to the job I applied for. They reorganized the Motors Support building so everyone is getting a promotion. They gave me the lowest position possible. It’s still a raise. They offered me a “Dealer Support” position. I am not satisfied or pleased at all though. I am wondering if I should apply for positions outside of eBay? I have all ready applied for another position at eBay called a Trust and Safety Workflow Analyst.

The other piece of news is that I am done with the MBA! I got a 3.71 GPA. One would think that would help with the whole job thing at eBay, but apparently it has not. What it has done is add much financial stress. I put my last two classes on my Discover Card but eBay has dragged their feet on the tuition reimbursement so I am paying interest which is turning into a nightmare.

We did get a chance to go back to Tennessee though. Beckah’s brother in law, Jim, passed away suddenly. It was very sad but also a bit of a release to leave work for a few days and visit. We got a chance to go fishing with Holly and Brad and their kids, Gavin and Tyler. Holly and Brad are coming to Salt Lake in June which should be fun.

Beckah was able to get hold of some tickets to a Stingers game a few weeks ago too. The Stingers of course are the minor league baseball team in Utah. Eddie and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Another adventure Beckah and I had was going to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. I was content skipping stones but you know Beckah. You can't stop her from rolling up her sleeves and jumping in! We also found an odd beach carving that seemed to have some relevance...

I was speaking with Mason about putting his band together and coming to Salt Lake for a show. I was really going into overtime promoting this concert. I wanted a local concert that was free in the park. I had talked to about 10 churches to have their youth group involved on stage during an all day event. I was going to give away free hot dogs and drinks and I had talked to the National Guard about having a rock climbing wall there, I had talked to a car dealership about setting up a car show. It was getting exciting, but then the band called and cancelled due to money issues. Mason and I had worked out payment but it turned out that was not enough and long story short we just cancelled. I don’t want money to get in the way of a friendship. Luckily I could still call and cancel everything that was being set up.

That’s what I have been up to for the last few months. My goal is to have one journal entry per month from now on. Keeping a journal with a job and a wife is actually challenging. But I feel this will be worth it in the long run so that is my goal!

The Death of Wimbleton Place

February 11, 2005

Paul yelled at me for not having updated the journal. You can imagine how awful I feel. Being yelled at by Paul...well...it's actually a pretty standard practice. It wouldn't be Paul if he wasn't complaining! But alas, he was right. I am due for an update. Much has happened.

January has passed. Mom and dad have moved to a new condo, Eddie moved to his condo, I have started school again (which honestly is the primary reason I havn't updated in 2005 yet), I finally saw George Winston in concert, youth band is started at church. Let's get started because this is going to be a long one!

First, mom and dad sold their house and moved and packed. The whole process of moving was smooth I think. Of course I only had to pick up a few boxes. Mom did the majority of packing and decision making so her take might be different. I have some images of rooms of the house so that it will be remembered forever. I figured I would post some memories of each room.

The living room has many memories of many discussions. This is where Christmas happened. I remember Christmas of 1985. Aunt Deanna, Sean, Uncle Bill, Lynn, Grandma Tacker all came. Ten people in the house, presents out to the fireplace. I remember that happened here.

The kitchen has too many memories. I remember spilling boiling water on my hand while making Macaroni and Cheese, I remember the pantry door where dad marked our growth each year (or whenever we asked). Mom would cook up a storm in here.

The family room is where the TV was. Its messy in this picture because we were moving at the time it was taken, but this is where the TV was. Movies were watched here. When I was VERY young dad used to have his yellow foam pad and I would sleep on his arm there and watch TV. I remember when dad layed the carpet in this room.

The dining room is where the catch all table was. It was only used for fancy dinners and doing puzzles and homework and dad had business discussions here with insurance clients. The piano used to be there too.

The garage is where I watched dad work on many cars. I think I learned some swear words in there. That wheel barrow in the picture, I raised a family of frogs one summer in there. I changed many a bike tire and even my own car's alternator once!!

Heading upstairs was mom and dad's room. I remember peeking for Christmas presents in mom and dad's closet (evil grin). Ashli taught me how to do that, so I blame that on her. I remember cutting one of mom's blankets with a knife and then swearing it was an accident when I was really just playing with a pocket knife. I remember mom coming home from work and napping.

This office is really my bed room. For the first 14 years of my life anyway. I played Nintendo here and denied poor Eddie the chance to even touch the Nintendo. He would watch me play for hours. Oh I feel so TERRIBLE for denying a young boy, my brother, the right to play my Nintendo. I was so anal about it. It's one of the biggest regrets of my entire life. I have apologized but it doesn't help the feeling of ugliness. Sigh.

Next is Ashli's bedroom. I remember throwing a trashcan at my sister in a rage of anger once. I remember also talking with her through the heater vents and thinking we were so secret. The whole neighborhood probably heard our vibrating heater vents in the middle of the night.

This room was the kids bathroom. Let's see..clean memories...clean memories...(tapping forehead). Nope, none there. I remember many a solid poo here! I remember Ashli listening to KISN 97 in the morning and putting her makeup on and I would dance around her to brush my teeth trying not to disturb her highness.

Finally we head to the basement, down the stairs. I include this because of the time Eddie fell down in his walker before the carpet was there and also the noise mom had to endure hearing the kids pound up and down those stairs! Downstairs has many memories. In this room dad had a rope on the ceiling attached to a handle which I used with my skateboard. I would shoot the skateboard across the floor and seriously damage the wall. I remember playing soccer in the basement and breaking more than one window. I remember birds would come down the chimney and get stuck in the basement on at least one occaission.

My bedroom was the crowning glory. It looks messy from the move but I remember finishing that room with dad. I remember my dog Nicky would sleep with me here. I remember the quantity of spiders that lived there. If you woke up at 3 am you could actually hear the footsteps of spiders walking on the walls. I remember playing guitar in this room. Who could forget mom knocking on the floor of the kitchen to summon me from my room.

Last is the blackhole. I don't know what other families call it. Cellar? Storage? Those families are wrong. It's the blackhole. Dad has his guns in this room. It was a dark dungeounesque room. Every old thing owned by us was here. Christmas storage. You'd always find a new species of spider here too...or fossils of insects from the past.

But the house is no more. Bought by a family with plans to redo it all, and build things in the yard. Its history, but its also just across town. I will always remember my childhood house. Eddie is in his condo but I have no pictures. He has been moving and setting things up. It looks very nice!

Enough memories. School has started for me. I have two classes left, Organization Behviour and Business Law. Then I'm a master degree holder. Its just busy work now. Being married and doing school is just dumb. I am just going through the motions and writing papers. The information means nothing to me. I just want to be done. Its a strain financially and only causes stress. Kids, here is some advice: Finish school before you get married. I can't imagine if I had kids now. That would be awful!

George Winson came in concert to Utah. I have ALWAYS said I would go see him if he did. So I pushed for it. Beckah was working that night so I went with mom and dad. It was like listening to his albums. He's not much for stagemanship. He just says "I'm now going to play this song" and then he does. He played guitar and harmonica too, which was cool. But I think Geogie could do with some dancing elephants or if he would juggle flaming torches and play chopsticks. Something. But I was not dissapointed. It was about as I would expect a George Winston concert to be.

Youth band at church has started. A girl named Kelsey suggested it. She plays drums, her friend Rick play electric. Casey plays bass. I sing. I don't think we are ready for the awards ceremonies yet, but its a lot of fun to depend on musicians and have them show up and be on fire about doing it. It requires more resources but, boy its fun!

With that I conclude this journal entry. I don't want to hear any guff from Paul or anyone else. I'll try to get at least one more before school is done at the end of March.

Christmas With Misourians

December 28, 2004

Christmas 2004 was upon us like a rabid mountain yak and as quickly as it came, it has left. I suppose the holiday celebrating Christ's birth shouldn't be compared directly to high elevation pack animals with diseases, but certainly there was much drool. That's what you get when your 2 year old niece visits you from Missouri with her family.

Ashli and Brian, Abby and Alli were all in Utah for Christmas. The whole family had a wonderful time. Beckah of course celebrated her first Christmas away from Tennessee. That was rough for her I think but she did great. She is assimilating nicely into the Greenwood Borg-like clan. She looked good during the whole ordeal anyway. In fact, Beckah has a great Christmas story. When she was a child she asked if Santa was real. She said late on Christmas Eve one year that if Santa was real he would give her a red rose. Only Santa could do that. So her dad found a red rose and every Christmas since then there has been a red rose in her stocking. Santa didn't fail this year either. He's a trouper, that Santa.

Christmas morning was fun of course. Beckah and I opened presents before heading to mom and dad's to see the family. I got some trinkets, clothes, an MP3 player, a book, some shoes. Fun stuff. Later that morning we partook of the best part of Christmas which is Christmas morning breakfast which is dad's sausage gravy over biscuits and fried eggs. It is the best breakfast of the year. And dad loves cooking it. After breakfast there was a nap that happened. No one saw it coming, but it came and it came hard. It wasn't so much like a mountain yak. I'd say it was more of a mountain slug, or possibly a leach. Anyway, after that Allison discovered the beach boys. She taught me to dance. I still stand very much against dancing. Not for any moral reasons. Just because I really deep down in the bowels of my soul feel that people make themselves look very foolish when they dance and it should only be done if you are making fun of something, entertaining a child, or you have devoted your life to expressing yourself through the art-form of dance. In this case the dance was the dance of child entertainment. And everyone was entertained.

That night we played Cranium. I love that last picture because everyone is looking at dad like he's the wisened old guru, and dad is sitting there with this look on his face as if he's impersonating one of the Smurfs. Anyway, Beckah and I vs. Eddie and Tara, Mom and Dad, Ashli and Brian. Abby was on my team as well. Cranium is of course a cross between Pictionary and charades and Scattergories and several other games. It's lots of fun. We were asked to act out several things. Eddie had to show us "#### Tail Dress" without speaking, mom had to show us how to walk the plank. Ashli and Brian just looked on and laughed because they won, defeating Beckah and I for the first time ever at that game!

During this trip I also go to spend some musical time with my nieces. Abby and I played various Christmas carols on the piano. Abby's job was to hit middle C at the right time while I manned pretty much all the other notes. We made beautiful music together.

The next day was church and both Abby and Ally showed me their drum chops. Ally was first. She was quite fascinated with the sticks and picked up on it fast. Abby, not to be out done by her little sister was next. Abby tore into some classic Dave Weckyl licks, rich with rudimentary fills including paradiddle and flam-taps, keeping a Gene Krupa style backbeat the entire time. We were all impressed but when she started juggling three sticks while playing the solo without skipping a beat it really brought the house down. It's possible she hit each drum once and then walked away. I forget. Something between those two extremes perhaps.

The family has left now and things are settling back down. This will be my last journal entry of 2004. I realize its been a while since I updated last. I spent the majority of December sick with the plague or maybe a flu. I'm leaning towards the plague. I'm looking forward to 2005. Well, that's what people say anyway. I'm sure I can't argue 2005 into NOT coming, so I say...bring it on!

Holiday Time

November 30, 2004

Much water has passed. Thanksgiving has passed, a trip to Tennessee has passed and Christmas has begun. Let’s do this chronologically. Beckah’s Birthday is in November and things arranged themselves so that we could go back to Tennessee during that time. We stayed at her parent’s house during this time. We spent some time visiting family and friends and playing a card game called Rook. Beckah’s dad, Hurl, is quite fun to play cards with. He enjoys bluffing calls just for the sake of bluffing and really no other reason. Waltyne also plays a mean hand. But all in good fun.

Beckah and I went for a walk in the woods by her house. The leaves were deep and it was very pretty. We also went to the movies and out to dinner with Beckah’s friends. This included Mary and Carol. They were happy to see her again. I’m glad I get her all the time. We went to see a movie called The Incredibles. It was good.

The last night we were in Tennessee we went out to eat with her family. This included the parents, and Aunt Judy, Cindy, Jim. Hurl also paused for a snapshot.

I think overall Beckah had a lovely Birthday. When we came back to Utah, the next order of business was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a magical time when dad gets a glint in his eye and starts muttering things about poultry and how much he thinks birds are the scourge of society. He really loathes any feathered creature. So when it came time for turkey carving, dad was quick to the punch. Really it was a lovely time at the Greenwood house. It was just the immediate family. Tara was there too, she counts as immediate family. Next is Christmas. Beckah and I have 90% of our Christmas shopping done, which I am glad for. Very little stress during this season. We each of course had different Christmas traditions so we had to mix and match and barter about which things to do. One tradition was to erect the tree on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so that is done. I’m actually quite proud of the tree we bought and decorated. The finished product is humble but proud. The room lacks the glory of Christmas because we didn’t decorate every last square inch due to funds but the tree makes up for it I think. The lights of course give it a nice touch. I’m mostly happy because we did it all together!

In all seriousness though, a tree and lights are all fine and well, but very much not the point of Christmas. The point is to celebrate Christ’s birth and no one needs a fiery pine tree in their living room to do that. Freedom Worship Center is going very well and I’m feeling very plugged in and involved there, like I’m really doing something that is going to make a difference for Christ in West Jordan. I am more thankful for that than I am for any blooming tree. I have spoken.

Snow in October

November 8, 2004

I thought I'd update the journal. Nothing too grand to note. Next week Beckah and I are headed back to Tennessee to visit the family. She is looking very much forward to it. I am too because I'll get to see her family in a little more depth than I have had the opportunity to do so. Beckah has been adapting to my family and Utah in general wonderfully. The least I can do is to be equally as open towards a Tennessee trip. Plus I'll be off work, so that's always a bonus!

Halloween came and went without a problem. I've never done anything for Halloween before. Eddie and Tara came over and we watched some Halloweeny movies. We also got a huge snow storm last week which is early for Utah, but I loved it. By now it has all melted but we had about 6 inches at the condo. To celebrate Beckah's first REAL snow storm we went out and built snowmen.

These snowmen, or snow people in keeping with political correctness statutes, were fun to build. I regret to inform you that they did not come to life. Aren't they pretty though? We used various garden implements to build them. Flowers for eyes and corncobs for mouths. They looked good in real life but in the picture it just looks like we are holding the snowmen hostage and filling their mouths with produce to keep them quiet, as if we were prison guards in an Iraqi military prison. Wait, is that politically correct? I'm not sure. Well, I should note that no snowmen were harmed in the creation of this journal entry.

I will update again with some pictures from Tennessee.

Just a Small Update

October 11, 2004

It has been over a month since my last entry and I apologize for that. Life has been very good. Beckah and I are settling in nicely getting into our routines. Her job is going very well. On weekends we try to tour Utah a little. Its fall now so the colors have been great. We have been to Strawberry Reservoir, Jordanelle, Park City, Snowbird, Brighton. I think Beckah's favorite spot so far has been Liberty Park though. She says it reminds her of Tennessee. I can see that. The tall trees, the green grass.

Beckah is really into drawing. She wants to take some classes and she's very good at it. I have been taking her out and drawing some of the landscapes and things we have seen around Utah. We went to Strawberry and drew a tree, which was too hard! Especially for me. We drew a picnic table and a building at liberty park. So far I have learned that I can't draw. But it has been fun to see Beckah's work.

Last night we had the official Utah reception so that Utah people would have a chance to meet Beckah. A lot of people came. I'm not good at large parties, but it was fun. Mom put a lot of work into making everything look good. I was really surprised. She did a good job. We even had matching shirts at mom's request!

As winter gets closer I have to think about teaching Beckah to ski, or snowboard, or otherwise fall down the mountain. And next month we are going back to Tennessee for her Birthday. So that is the Beckah news. Eddie bought a new truck. No pictures this time but its a big one. 2001 Dodge Durango, 4x4, 4 dour, sort of a gold color. Hannibal is doing very well. I've been into aquatic plants lately. I've been manipulating this plant called a java fern. I have it growing on the skull in the aquarium. Hannibal tends to eat other plants but he leaves the java fern alone. Meanwhile I lost one of my fish at work. He was the smallest one, so I guess Darwin weeded him out. His passing prompted a water change.

That's all my news!

Wedding

September 9, 2004

Well, I am married now. I wanted to try to preserve the memories I had of the whole moment here in this journal, but it is a very daunting task. There is no way I could capture it all and I’m afraid that I will almost certainly miss important details. But it must be done, so here I go!

I spent the previous weeks getting prepared for such a major event. Then it came time to leave. Mom and Dad and I flew on one plane to Nashville. Eddie and Tara would arrive two days later. Seeing Beckah was wonderful in the airport. She arrived to pick us up at the airport and it was so good to see her. Mom and Dad rented a minivan and then Beckah and I drove to Murfreesboro and Mom and Dad followed. Mom and Dad checked into their hotel and Beckah and I went to a park and relaxed and caught up. Then we ended up at Aunt Judy’s and Jerry’s house and talked. Then I went back to the hotel and slept.

The next day we got going on our plans. We went to get a marriage license. My wallet was recently stolen and I had been chasing credit card companies to get my cards back. One thing that was stolen was my Social Security Card and you need that to get a marriage license. So the Rutherford County office had me go to the Social Security Office to get proof. So I went, and we waited an hour for one clerk to clear a room of about 12 people waiting for Social Security solutions. Then back to the clerk's office where we were waited on quickly and obtained the license. Then we were off to get the rings. We went to Houston’s Jewelry and picked up the rings and they had to resize them so we waited and eventually left happy, although I had to resize my ring and later dropped it off after the wedding. As I type this I have no ring but it should come in the mail shortly.

Next we were off to pick up the tuxes. I tried mine on, but all the other groomsmen would not have such a chance. It ended up that they all fit. Renting tuxes is much more expensive than I thought. To rent cloth I would think $20-$30 and you’re done. Apparently the tuxes I picked were all designer tuxes and it was more than I thought! That night we met the Greenwood family and friends and had dinner at Cracker Barrel. Then Beckah and I went to watch a movie at her house but fell asleep. I don't remember seeing one minute of that movie. It was Xmen. Which I have seen since then and its a terrible movie. I can't beleive they made two of them.

The next day was the day of the rehearsal dinner. Beckah and I drove to the site of the wedding and helped decorate. I got a feel for the land and it was nice. Lake, island, bridge. Very nice. It looked rustic, but that’s why we were decorating. I was a little worried it would still look rustic but by the time everything was done it looked quite nice. Then we had the rehearsal which we figured we might as well look nice for. So we drove BACK to Murfreesboro which killed a LOT of time, then back to the wedding site for a rehearsal that was madness. Noone knew where to stand, or who to listen to. It was more like a meeting where everyone pitched their ideas on how to do it, but nothing mattered because when it came down to it everyone just did a standard wedding thing. There was an organizer/coordinator, but it all felt very unorganized. Which is fine for me. I’d rather have a natural ceremony that is memorable than be ordered around and stress about people not in the right place at the right time. In the end it turned out just fine and there was no stress. Just a little disorganization.

Then off to the rehearsal dinner, which is where the fun started. People started showing up. I saw Paul, Michelle, Eddie, Tara, Ashli, Brian, Abby and Allison, Danny, Marvel, Aunt Deanna, Sean, and a whole mess of new Cantrell family members. The rehearsal dinner was very casual and laid back and comfortable which I loved. It wasn’t this big formal affair with ties. It was people sitting back and being comfortable. There were fireflies and macaroni and cheese, and cokes, and it was fun.

Beckah had to stay and take care of some things and I figured “well, I might as well go out with some friends”, so I gathered Paul, Michelle, Eddie, Tara, Danny and myself and found a pool hall and played pool. It was fun, but it was a bar and full of smoke and generally a bad idea. We waited over an hour just to get a table but we had fun when we got it. Danny-boy can play some pool! He’s very good and I would love to shoot some more with him! It smelled awful when we came out and I was looking forward to some fresh air, and came out and breathed all the humid air that TN had to offer. I was looking forward to getting back to Utah!

The next day was the day of the wedding. I slept in, the family ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel and I thought it would be good to write some vows. Not that I put no thought into it before now. I knew what I wanted to say but I wanted my words and thoughts to be fresh. Technically our vows were secret so I won’t repeat them here, but they were good and I was very proud to read them to Beckah.

When the time came we all drove to the wedding site and changed into the tuxes and waited and waited. The video crew was there and we talked with them and I must say I am looking forward to the DVD they will provide. If anyone wants copies let me know. I can’t imagine anyone would. I wouldn’t want to watch anyone else’s wedding, but the offer is there anyway. It’s a DVD, why not offer copies? Beckah was there but I wasn’t allowed to see her. We took pictures of all the families before the ceremony. This included the the best men, Paul and Eddie, and Danny, my parents and many others. I finally did get to see her and take some pictures. She looked lovely but I must say it was not the dress, hair or make up that made her lovely. It was her and the fact that it had been almost 24 hours since I saw her last. I don’t ever intend to spend that much time away from her ever again. Not to be naively romantic though. I mean, I’m sure a time will come when I will spend time away from her, but as for now, I’ve spent the majority of our relationship separated by distance and I intend for that to never again be an issue.

We finished the pictures and Doug Griffin who I knew from my days at WayFM showed up and set up his sound system for the music. He was DJing the wedding and he did a fabulous job and I was very thankful for his offer to help with the wedding and reception. I met Tim, the minister who married us, more family and friends of the Cantrells. The time came.

The wedding began, all the groomsmen and bridesmaids walked down the aisle, Beckah walked down. The whole thing was a vision of perfection. Its how weddings are supposed to be done. The weather was perfect. The sky was clear except one bank of clouds that parked themselves in front of the sun as it was setting. No one had to squint and the sun set on cue as if directed by God himself. Technically the sun set was directed by God himself. I think that’s what he does.

We lit a unity candle on the bridge and said our vows to each other in secret. That means we worked out a series of winks and belches to communicate our devotion to each other. Not really. That's just a joke. During the reception we looked across the lake in the dark. You could see that unity candle burning across the lake like a little beacon and I will never forget that. I thought the wind would blow it out but that candle burned all night.

The reception was busy. I saw Mitch, Joe and Courtney and I was so pleased they came. We did some ceremonious things, toasts and cakes and stuff. I could have done without all that, but I went along. I feel like the whole wedding was created to make me happy, and I don’t know if Beckah did that or if it was just chance, but I went along with some of the traditional things that I’m not really for. And really it was no big deal. I guess its good to go through some of those things.

The time came to go and we made our way to the car and Paul, Rochelle and Eddie doused us with silly string, which totally caught me off guard. The car was filled with balloons and confetti. We spread that confetti all over from Woodbury to Gatlinburg, TN.

We drove from the wedding site to Gatlinburg in one day. The place we stayed, Buckhorn Inn, was VERY classy. In the smoky mountains, absolutely beautiful, dinners were too nice, breakfast served directly to our rooms, fireplace, Jacuzzi, king size bed, hammock, it was clean. They even had a maze and a pond that Beckah got a kick out of! There was many things to do in the surrounding towns. We did drive into Gatlinburg to see the Ripley’s aquarium which was cool. We asked these fish and they thought it was very cool. We saw sharks and piranhas and all kinds of things. We may return someday and enjoy more of the area. But c’mon kids, it’s a honeymoon. What do you expect? We just didn't get out that much!

We drove back to Murfreesboro, had a dinner with the Cantrell family, the next day we packed up a car and left. It was emotional and hard to leave TN, but life had to move on and we went. We did it, for better or for worse to coin a phrase. I think better. We will be back to Tennessee obviously, but it was hard to leave.

We stopped in Springfield Missouri and visited Ashli, Brian, Abby and Allison. That was fun. Abby is so smart. The most memorable thing was when she sang “I don't know, you don’t know, Abby doesn’t know, Craig doesn’t know, no body knows, everybody knows, I don’t know”. She would just do it to get a laugh whenever you asked her a question. She had us rolling. She knows how to make you laugh and smile and she listened when you talked to her and she was a lot of fun. Ashli had all kinds of stories about growing up in Utah, and moving away from home and marital advice. It was fun to stay and visit.

The next day we drove to Denver Colorado and Beckah did 100% of that drive. There was a small occurrence that took place in Colby, Kansas. What we learned is that it is possible to exceed the speed limit by at least more than 22 miles per hour in a 2004 rented Ford Taurus station wagon. That lesson cost us over $150, but the important thing is that none of the paint peeled off the car when we broke the sound barrier which I understand rental companies are usually unhappy about.

We stayed a few hours the next day in Denver and ate at J. Alexander’s and shopped around. I admit that I liked Denver quite a bit. It was clean and new and very pretty. We drove in I-70 to Utah and the mountains there were very nice. We hit snow in the higher parts of the mountains and had a great time. We got to West Jordan late that night and had no other problems.

The next day we relaxed and unwound, went shopping, started unpacking. Mom and Dad and Tara and Eddie put together a poster board to welcome us back home and gave us some food and that was very nice.

So now I am married. Life is forever different. It’s all still so new I don’t know or notice all the changes. But I have to admit its fun so far. Beckah is so good. She was made for me. I don’t want to sound naïve or foolish. I’m not expecting everything to just be blooming roses for the rest of my life. But I have no doubt that any obstacle can be overcome if I have Beckah with me. Life isn’t perfect, but I say “Bring it on”. I can do anything.

A New Car

August 24, 2004

I am 5 days away from being married. This is my last entry as a single man. I wanted to update the journal on a few of my activities and memories as I prepare for this. I have been busy getting ready for life with Beckah. She is moving across the country and I want to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible for her. This is mostly a bunch of little things. Making copies of keys, getting a new garage door opener, and getting rid of things so she has space to put her stuff. She also needed a car and there was many decisions on what to do about that. We didn’t know if it was best to buy a car in Nashville, or off eBay, or here, and we didn’t know when exactly to buy it. So we thought and talked and I hate the stress of making such a decision. So jumped the gun and bought a Dodge Neon.

It’s a 2004 with 7000 miles. Basically it is brand new but technically it is pre-owned. I went in to the dealership with no plan to buy at all. I had no immediate need. I just wanted to get familiar with the process of buying cars and talking to salesman and seeing what exists and what that whole world is about. I went in looking at pre owned Kia’s but both Beckah and I liked the Neons. I test drove a Kia and wasn’t really impressed because it was a little older and had a knock in the wheel. I had the salesman run some numbers so I knew what to expect for financing and his answers matched my estimates. So I was happy at that point.

Then the salesman brought out “What do I have to do to put you in a car today?”. I thought “Oh boy, here we go.” So, not wanting to buy a car, I thought I would pull a ridiculous price for a Neon, let him play his game, he would say no, and I would leave. So I said “I’ll take that white Neon for $11,000 right now. But other than that, I can’t buy. My budget is only $10,000.” Which was a lie. Beckah and I had discussed spending more, but hey, I’m playing the game here.

The salesman laughed, looked at me like was a fool, which I didn’t mind. I didn’t want the car. Well long story short they came back with another offer. I said, “no, $11,000 or I walk.” I even looked at my watch to show I was in a hurry, which I wasn’t at all. This repeated 2 more times, finally they agreed at $11,000. I put $1000 down and that was that. Now we have a car.

In other news, Dad and I went fishing near Flaming Gorge. I would have pictures but we didn’t catch a blooming thing. We saw plenty of fish though. Fun trip though.

In yet other news, Eddie and I went to a pistol shooting range and shot pistols. I have never done that before. We shot a 9 millimeter and a .357 caliber something or other. We both did fine as far as hitting the target. They are a LOT louder than I expected. Maybe it’s because the shooting range was small and inside but it was loud. And the guns were powerful. I thought the 9mm would feel weak and like a little spit gun. But it has a good little kick to it. I think my aiming was better with the 9mm. The .357 was much louder and more powerful though. It also kicked out smoke which was fun. Those bullets are bigger obviously and put a much cleaner hole through the paper target. The 9mm put a hole with tear marks around it. The .357 looks like a paper punch hole. I’m glad we did it. I’ve been wanting to for a long time. I did manage to cram my finger in the ammunition case and bruise it up. So remember, guns don’t kill people….guns severely bruise your ring ringer. It’s the bullets that kill people.

Thursday I fly to Nashville. This should be a fun week. The video people my mom hired are going to provide a web page with details of the wedding. I will be posting that to this webpage so that will be good coverage of the ceremony. My next entry should be a fun one!

Last Road Trip as a Bachelour

August 3, 2004

The big old trip has finally taken place!! There were many adventures most of which I intend to summarize here. I got off work on Friday and we were on the road 30 minutes later, headed to San Francisco to pick up Michelle. We stayed in a hotel in Reno. We listened to every single Beatles album we had to pass the time. Paul has a book that explains the meaning behind each song so we discussed every song from “Beatles for Sale” to “Let it Be”. Great fun. Luckily we forgot most of what we learned so we’ll have to do it again on another road trip.

We finally got to San Francisco and met some of Michelle’s family and then we left and headed down to see some of the touristy sites, fisherman’s wharf, Alcatraz, pier 39, etc. We saw all kinds of musicians and various people performing for money. Life is funny. What is it that drives people to be street performers? And I say performers loosely because not all of them are really trying very hard. We saw a bongo player who did the same rhythm for more than hour. Now there is something to be said for consistency, but an hour long bongo solo with no variation is less than entertaining. There were also street dancers and steel drum players and tourists and boats and seals.

We grabbed some pizza to eat and being refreshed I called my friend Adam Kim, former lead guitar player of my band in college called Carousel. Adam was gracious enough to pick us up and give us a tour of the city through a local’s eyes. That was fun and I would have more to say about that but I forgot my camera. It was very fun to see Adam again though and catch up. He didn’t believe me when I told him I was getting married. Did you know there is a statue of Christopher Columbus in San Francisco? Well there is. Why? He was never there. It doesn’t make sense and it boggles the mind. I was offended by the lack of accurate history. I liked San Francisco but I could never live there. Its very expensive and big and just…city life. Nice to visit but that’s about it.

The next day we all headed up to Monterey CA to see the Monterey aquariums. More musicians were there including a trumpet player who was not even near the crowds of people. He was a few blocks away in a residential area just blowing out “Maria” from the West Side Story as slow as he could. Again, I don’t know what drives him. Maybe he was just practicing? The aquarium was very cool. I was quite taken with many of the displays. They had 4 foot tuna fish swimming around in a million gallon tank, kelp beds with sharks, sardines that glistened with silver and much more. There were so many people there though that it was kind of miserable. You couldn’t sit and watch in silence. Kids were screaming and you had to look and move on so someone else could see. Other than I really liked it. They had an outside area where you could see people scuba diving and apparently they filmed part of Star Trek 4 there. We also saw the saddest fish in the world there. Can anyone identify this fish?

After we left there we walked around the town, ate and there, lo and behold was Homer Simpson himself. He wasn’t very talkative but I took a picture with him anyway. Meanwhile Paul found a lesser known Saint and grabbed a picture. We also found a very confused drum circle. I took this picture and they looked at me as if I had invaded their family dinner time. But, hey I figure if you play a drum in public, people are going to take pictures of you.

We headed out and stayed in Sacramento and the next day we hit the Donner Party’s death camp and Lake Tahoe. If you don’t know about the Donners I will catch you up. Back in 1846 The Donners struck out with about 80 people from Illinois headed for California. This was pre gold rush so I don’t know why they were going. Maybe they knew something. They were delayed in their trip and by the time they got to Nevada people told them “Hey, its October, you better not go further or you will be snowed in!!”. But the Donners said “psht, what’s the worst that could happen?”, and they went and got snowed in. Twenty-two feet of snow, as high as the top of this monument. About half as many survived as died. Paul and I mounted a rock that honored their death. All in all the Donners picked a lovely place to die though. I mean, if I was going to starve to death in the mountains and eat my own kin for survival, this is the place I’d do it.

Just up the road from there is Lake Tahoe. If I was a Donner I would have rented a canoe and paddles to California, but that’s just me. I forced Paul and Michelle to eat wildflowers so I could take a picture of them at the lake. Don’t be confused by the smiles on their faces though. Paul was especially unhappy to be eating wild vegetation.

We finally got back to Salt Lake, rested for about 3 hours (actually a full day) and we were off to Lake Powell. Another 8 hour drive to see a lake that is lacking 60 feet of water due to drought. It was still fun to see the lake that low though. Some of the canyons became very thin. This was Michelle’s first time to Lake Powell so we hit some classic sites like Rainbow bridge. Rainbow bridge is 700 feet tall. It was only discovered by white men in 1909. I don’t know when white women found it. They say lake Powell is full of giant fish and lake trout. I have only ever caught little tiny pathetic 6-8 inch fish from it. One of the fish I caught was the first blue gill I have ever caught though. I used a very old lure from my dad’s tackle box. I caught some other unidentified fish. It was just as tiny though. On this trip Paul and I also went for a death walk in the hot sun about 2:00 in the afternoon. It was pretty and we didn’t even reach our destination due to the low water level. But it was fun.

The next day we drove back, relaxed, went to church, Michelle left and now things are winding down. All this took place over the last week and a half. I am tired and actually looking forward to going back to work. But I have a few days off so I can list some items on eBay to make room for my new roommate, Beckah! The wedding is August 29th and we are very excited about it.