Another Amazing Race

It had been a year and a half since we last held the Amazing Race in the Jordan School District (JSD), and that's a year too long. This is one of my favorite parts of working at UEN - I love getting out and having fun with teachers. The JSD is full of wonderful teachers and I've really enjoyed setting up these GPS obstacle courses for them. Today we went even further with the challenges and the course to the enjoyment of all involved.

Last year the race centered on locations just in the Jordan area, this time we took the teachers on a race around town. Naturally you want to "one up" what we did last time, so we added a few new wrinkles into the mix. Rather than have participants use so much gas and time driving around, this year everyone rode TRAX downtown to reach our various locations. We also threw in a new physical challenge this year: the rock wall.

Each team was assigned a country to represent during the race so when they reached Momentum and the rock wall the challenge was simple: climb the wall to retrieve your country's flag and the next coordinate. It was a blast! Teams were able to bond and build memories through this great challenge of endurance and determination. It was incredible to watch some of the teams as their member struggled to reach the summit and grab the flag. It was the highlight of the day. Of course I had to go up the wall since I was there. It was a lot harder than I thought - my forearms are pretty sore...

What a great day to be involved with teachers and technology. Everyone had fun, they learned some new things about their town, they got to use GPS units in some exciting ways, and the schools bonded in a unique and memorable way. I can't wait for the next Amazing Race!

Diary of a Red Sox Fan

Since I lasted posted about the Sox they've polished off the Angels in a 3-0 sweep and already won game one against the Cleveland Indians. That's right I did say the Indians. As much as everyone wanted to see a yankees / Red Sox ALCS I am extremely happy to see the Indians in the visitors' dugout. I think we're the team to beat, but it's a good thing to know that ny won't even have a chance against us this year.

The Sox are on fire right now. Four straight wins and the pitching has been dominant. Both Beckett and Schilling didn't allow a run in the first round and Dice K only gave up 3 in his start (this is a huge improvement from his 8+ ERA in September). As good as the pitching has been, the real story of the playoffs is Manny and Papi. Through the first four games the Dynamic Duo has been up 36 times and they've reached based on 29 of those appearances! They're hitting .632 with four home runs (two each), nine RBI, 15 walks, and 12 runs scored. Where were those numbers Jeter and ARod?!

There's still a lot of series left, but the Sox have a good chance to return to the World Series. I don't want to jinx it, but if the Sox and Rockies make the Series I'm finding a way to Denver for game 3. It's still early, but you never know. Let's go Red Sox!

Photoshop Fun

I've spent the last couple of days teaching some Photoshop basics up in Brigham City, so I thought I'd play around with a recent picture taken of Alex playing outside in the grass.

Conference Recap

Like many of you my weekend was spent watching General Conference. I like conference for two reasons: the chance to worship in your pj's, and the opportunity to hear from inspired men and women. This conference was like the rest in that there were great talks and beautiful music, but it was unique in the fact that we would learn about the new counselor in the First Presidency and a new Apostle.

If you checked the blog last week, you saw the poll about which of the Twelve may become 2nd Counselor. The poll declared a tie between Elder Ballard and Elder Eyring, but the tie was broken on Saturday when President Hinckley named President Eyring the new counselor. Even though he wasn't my vote in the poll I was extremely happy with the choice. If I had one major thought about this conference it was that Elder Eyring truly assumed the mantle of President Eyring. Each talk he gave demonstrated his intelligence and compassion. His ability to share the doctrine, as well as his tender heart. He was great.

As we head back to church this week I need to make some suggestions for the next six months of Teachings for our Times. Here are a few of the talks and speakers that made an impression on me.

• Elder Donald L. Hallstrom - Will you ever forget the image of Easy Street and the Dead End?


• Elder Spencer J. Condie - I loved the line: "And GOD remembered Rachel."


• Sister Julie B. Beck - Mothers Who Know


• Elder Dallin H. Oaks - Trying to choose things that aren't just good, they're better.


• President Henry B. Eyring - Both of his talks, one about living up to our callings and the other about writing down the spiritual events in our lives.

So what about you? Which talks would you suggest?

What's Grosser than Gross?

I read a blog called Dumb Little Man from time to time. Generally, it's full of dumb little hints about living as a man. Today I was totally engrossed (pun intended) by the topic of keyboard cleanliness.

2,202,060How Many Germs Live On Your Keyboard?

That's equivalent to the number of germs on 440 toilet seats. Yuck!