September 17th through October 31st - 282nd day to 326 Day

Ok, I waited a while before I wrote on this.  Hunter won the $5.  Only two days elapsed between the time I wrote the blog and when he said, "Dad, show me the money!"  For the consolation prize, Jenny Jackson called two days after that.  Sorry Jenny!  Life has been GREAT at the Kimzey household.  We have traveled up to BYU every weekend but one so far in September and October.  We have BYU season tickets, so it's been fun to go up and watch the games, plus, we get the added benefit of getting to see Kaylee.  Nicole went all the way up to Idaho to see Amber in early October and had a blast.  I think Amber may be adopted!  She now has two dogs, and she is camping and shooting guns with her husband.  Next thing you know she'll be taking pictures in camo clothes and hanging deer antlers on her wall!  This week was Kaylee's 21st birthday, we drove up on Saturday, took her to Red Lobster with Grandma and Grandpa Burr, then we went to her concert.  I have a 21 year old?  Unbelievable, it seemed like yesterday I was 21 myself.  It was really fun to spend time with her though.   My girls are just so wonderful.   It's so fun to see what they're doing with their life.  It's also fun to be at home with the two boys.  I am blessed with fantastic children who love the Lord, and who love me.  Life is good.  Business has been profitable, but very busy.  It's also been too cold to ride in the morning, so I ride my bike into work at lunch, and then home for dinner.  It should help to keep me in shape during the holidays when I like to eat so much!

It's been an interesting year, trying to truly be kind to everyone.  Sometimes I slip up and am not so good.  Last week I even was angry with my wife because I was grumpy from work.  I felt horrible.  My wife should definitely not be one of the few people I get mad at during the year (it should only be customer service reps!)  Nicole is truly a great blessing in my life.

Well, I better get to work.  Let's make this a little exciting.  First one to call me and say these words, "The bald man is easily separted from his money!"  Gets $10!  I'm uping the stakes people.  I expect this time Hunter will probably take a few days, but hopefully some one else can win this time--maybe one of my college girls.

 

August 23rd through September 16, 2011 - 256th to 281st Day

This blog has become more of a monthly journal for me.  I think I could offer a million dollars to the first person who reads my blog and I'd go the next four months without a phone call.  However, it's cathartic, so I'll continue to write.

It was hard to see Kaylee leave home, it was fun having her around this summer.  She broke up with Dan, so now she's up at BYU in the dating zone again.  She's having a good time, however, and BYU seems to be made for her.  Yesterday she had two boys in her classes ask her out, and then had another one come by and visit her at her apartment, so I think she's feeling loved.  Amber came and surprised Nicole on Labor Day.  We were both very excited and it was fun to see her, even if only for a few days.  I've had to travel quite a bit for business trips.  In August I went to Reno, Nevada, then in September I went to Houston.  Next week I go to Edmonton, Canada, and the week after it's a trip to Madison, Wisconsin.  I had prayed about a year ago and asked Heavenly Father to help me be able to serve a mission in 4 years, and immediately sales began to pick up.  So, I only need a few more hundred companies to call in and buy my software and I'll be set!  Ha. 

It's great having Logan and Hunter around.   They're not home a lot because Logan manages the girl's soccer team (don't ask) and plays soccer and Hunter plays soccer and runs cross country, so neither of them are home very often.  We started the summer by being the welcome home for a foreign exchange student named James.  He was a lot of fun.  He stayed for a month, and ate about 4 months of food!  I've never seen anyone eat like he does.  One day I came in the kitchen and he was making an 8 egg omlette in the middle of the afternoon!  8 eggs!  If I ate 8 eggs at one time they'd have to pump my stomach!  James was placed with another family last week, and then we got two Japanese students, Katsuya, and Auska.  They are very nice, and they are only staying for 11 days, but we've had fun with them.  They don't understand English very well, but it's fun to point at things and quiz them.  They seem to like it here.

Nicole continues to be the best wife I could ask for.  She's constantly leaving me notes, and telling me how much she loves me.  I've very lucky to have her.  

One of my friends on Facebook posted an interesting comment yesterday.  She said, "What if you woke up this morning and only had the things that you thanked God for yesterday?"  It made me think.  I do thank my Father in Heaven for a lot of things, and I realized I'd wake up with my wife, my wonderful kids, family, the missionaries, my friends, my home, food, and the Gospel.   That's about all I would need, except for I would look a little bit weird running around naked all day, so I should probably thank Him for my clothes as well (and maybe my bike).  

Life is good, I'm probably not being as nice to people as I should, but I'm definitely more keenly aware of how I treat others this year.  It's interesting to note how well most people treat me.  I'm truly greatful for very good friends.  Nick Weaver left on his mission to Ghana yesterday and Pam was having a hard time.  It was sweet to see how much she cares for her family. 

$5 to the first person who reads this blog and calls me on my cell at 435-619-3056 and says, "I read your blog.  Show me the money!"  I'll bet I go at least a month without getting a phone call!  I think my money is safe. 

July 11 through August 22nd - Day 212 through Day 255

Ok, so it's been a long time since I've written on this blog. What a great summer! It's been hot, but nice. July was nice, I did a lot of bike riding, and had a lot of time to just ponder as I rode up beautiful canyons, up mountain roads, etc. I've determined that life is just too short. I waste too much time watching T.V., or doing things that won't really help me progress in life! Nicole challenged our family to spend 30 minutes a day just pondering and meditating. It's really nice. No TV, no stereo, etc, just quite time. We'll see how it goes. So far, so good.

In August I was able to ride the Ulcer with my brother and Scott Van Orden. It's 107 miles around Utah lake. We were really enjoying things until I ran over a huge rock and flatted my tire at 55 miles. As I was fixing my tire, another cyclist came by and told me to, "get off the road!" I WAS off the road. So needless to say, I wanted to throw my helmet at him and watch him tumble. I didn't, however--I refrained, and I didn't even curse him. I didn't pump up my tire enough, however, so after 75 miles I was beat and my legs were cramping, so I had to stop a few times and only got in at 5:53, but it was fun. Kerry wanted me to do the Desperado 109 miler two weeks later, and I wasn't too tempted. He is getting very strong. In fact, he did the first 80 miles in 3 and a half hours, and then his tire blew at 87 miles, and took him 35 minutes to find another tire and fix it, and he STILL got 5 hours and 34 minutes! He keeps putting us in the same sentence. He says things like "We're really getting faster Kyle, I think we may be able to do under 5 hours." I say, "Kerry, I'm not as fast as you!" Then he says, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." It's now down to basically us two that ride because the others don't want to ride with him. Maybe I should form my own club and call it FASER "Fat And Slow Easy Riders".

This year has been great, as I've been more cognizant of how much better my day is when I treat people nice. I've been able to keep relatively anger free for the most part, except for customer service reps!  So, it's been a great experience.

July 4th through July 10th, 2011, Day 206 -212.

Two names stood out to me this week, Christian Lopez and Johnny Hoogerland.  The first, Christian Lopez, caught Derek Jeter's home run ball.  It was Jeter's 3000th hit and has an estimated worth between $250,000 to $400,000.   As soon as he caught the ball Yankee security personnel ushered him and his father out of the stands, "What do you want for the ball?" the security person asked.  "I just want to give it to Jeter," he said.   Even when told that the ball was worth a lot of money he was asked again, and he said, "I just want to give it to Jeter."

The Yankees offered four seats in a suite for the rest of the season, front row seats in the Legends Suite for Sunday’s game, some autographed jerseys and autographed balls. Lopez nodded. It all sounded great but he really just wanted to give the ball to Jeter.

“He deserves this, he worked hard for it,” Christian said.

Who does something like that?  Would you?  Here's a 23 year old Verison Cell phone salesman who still has student loans!  I was so inspired.  In this world where greed seems more often the norm then the exception, here was a man who could use the money, but thought of someone else before himself.  My hat is off to you, Christian Lopez, I hope you get a million dollars in appearance fees and appear on TV talk shows across the country.  What an inspiration!

Here's the full story;

Fan Grabs Jeter's 3000th Hit ball

Then, in the Tour de France this morning, in the 9th stage, a television car veered into the pathway of some of the bikers, sending one of them, Johnny Hoogerland, flying head over heels into a barbed wire fence at over 25 miles an hour.  He had 7 inch lacerations, and will be hospitalized.  The accident took away Hoogerland's chances of a stage win and he will probably not be able to recover and defend the polka dot jersey, which he was winning (the jersey goes to the best mountain stage climber).  
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"It might be a scandal but I don't think they did it in purpose. Everything's well taken care of over here but... you can be mad but I don't think they did it on purpose," Hoogerland repeated. "I know that I'll be in a lot of pain during the rest day. I hope I can recover. It's a pity, but I'm a Zeelander. We're not easy to tear apart. I'm still alive. Wouter Weylandt wasn't that lucky," Hoogerland said, referring to the Belgian rider who died in a crash during the Giro d'Italia almost two months ago.

Take a look at the picture below of Hoogerland being extracted from the barbed wire.  Would you have been so forgiving.  I'm afraid to say, I don't think I would have been.

Yes, today I was inspired, not once, but twice, and both times by the sports world, who would have thought?

June 21st through July 3rd - 193 - 205 Days

The last few weeks have been Great.  I've decided that I need to serve more, and listen to the spirit more.  So, I decided that when I pray every day I would ask Heavenly Father who I can help.  On Thursday, I prayed in the morning and asked who I should help that day.  During the day, I really felt like I should visit an old friend.   Hunter and I made up some poppyseed bread and I took it by my friend's house.  At first, no one came to the door.  After a few minutes, the door opened and my friend invited me inside.  After we spoke for a few minutes he said, "Why did you come by tonight?"  I said, kind of sheepishly, "Do you really want to know?"  He said, "Yes, I do."  I told him that I had been praying for someone that needed my help and I felt I should visit.  He said, "That's really interesting, because I'm having a hard time right now, and as I was praying over my dinner I asked God to help me, and then when I finished my prayer, you knocked on my door."  We spoke and laughed for over 2 hours.  It was a fantastic night, and I was humbled and overwhelmed that the Lord would use me that way.

On the weekend, we had a bike ride from Jacobs Lake, Arizona to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which was a total of 88 miles round trip.  Kerry and I drove up Friday and went through the route.  I was a bit intimidated, as it was quite a bit of climbing and I'm not quite in the shape I'd like to be.  It also didn't help that the guys I was going to ride with were much better riders than I was.  There were about 20 of us that got up at 5:30 in the morning and began the ride.  The ride started on a hill, and the elevation was 7900 feet, so I was immediately sucking wind, and I thought, "I'm never going to make this."  Then I remembered a video that Jeff Jones had me watch earlier in the week, the video was from a photographer who said, "Like what you do, whatever you're doing."  I decided that I was going to like the ride.  I began to look around at the beautiful pine trees, the green meadows, the sunshine, the flowers, everything.  It was so beautiful!  Even though the wind started blowing at up to 25 miles per hour, and my legs felt like they were falling off, I completed the ride, and really enjoyed it.  In fact, it was one of the most enjoyable rides of my life up to this point.

This last week was just as good.  I closed a large sale at work, went on multiple bike rides, spent some time with my family, went swimming, read, had some great conversations with old friends, and truly had a remarkable and spiritual week.  I have a LONG way to go when it comes to treating others as kind as I would like, but I'm learning the process little-by-little.  My parents are visiting this week, and they are two of the kindest people I know.  It's fun to talk with them, and learn how to be better.

Things I learned the last few weeks:  1st:  If Mike Anderson says a bike ride is pretty hard, that means it's close to insane.  If he's bringing 10 or 12 of his buddies, fa-get-about-it!  2nd, My brother Kerry is older than me and weighs more, and he can still kick my can up the hills--what's that all about?!   3rd, Riding up hill when there are 25 mile an hour crosswinds is kind of like trying to blow bubblegum bubbles into a fan while running through peanut butter, it's just not very productive.  4th, Even though I'm getting older (45 this week!), I have great friends, a fantastic wife, a great family, and they love me, and I love them.  

June 14th through June 20th - 186 through 192 Days

This week was pretty relaxing.  It was my anniversary on Thursday so we planned some good stuff!  First, I went on a 30 mile bike ride, then I went to work until about 2:30.   I then went up to Cedar to watch my son's soccer game.  We then came home, went shopping at Costco, and then to Walmart.  For our anniversary present we bought a bird feeder.  Is that an exciting annivesary or what!   On Friday we went to another soccer game, on our way home, I was trying to find a ringtone for my wife and it said, "Free Ringtones", so I clicked, but didn't download any of the ringtones.  It then told me I had to pay $9.99 for 15 ringtones!  I thought, "What, I didn't download any ringtones."  I immediately cancelled, but the company texted me and wrote, "Your subscription is now cancelled, you will not be further charged."  Further charged!  I was not happy, but I was driving, so I told Nicole to call the company and make sure they didn't bill me.  When she got a live person, from India, of course, she asked them if they had actually billed my AT&T account.  When he said that he had, and that he wouldn't and couldn't reverse the charges, she told him that she needed to talk to his supervisor.  He said, "My supervisors are not here."  At this point, Nicole calmly told him to get the supervisors or she was going to chew him up like a piranha and spit him out like garbage.   The boys and I were laughing hysterically.  However, he still refused to cancel the charges, so what did I do?  I called AT & T and had them cancel the charges.    So right back at ya Motime ringtones!  I looked it up on the internet and Motime is known for fradulent charging people like that, so I wish somebody would put their owners in jail. 

On Saturday, we went through the temple with Nick Weaver and it was really nice.  That night we went to dinner for Mike Anderson's birthday at Red Robin resturant.  We had a great time. 

Sunday was Father's Day and my family made me an omelet and sang "Happy Father's Day" to me.  Nicole got me a bluetooth headset, and the kids bought me some Obsession cologne, so now I can smell good and look cool talking on my new bluetooth!   Then, I didn't have meetings so I came home and slept for 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon!  When does that happen?  Never!  Well, I guess on Christmas and Father's Day.  At church, Bishop brought in about 25 pies, cakes, cheese cakes, etc, and we all feasted.  It was quite tasty, to say the least. 

On Monday I rode a very hard ride with my brother and we set a new record for our 21 miles course!  21 miles in under an hour, and a total average speed of 21.2!   Hint:  Make sure to shower at you race for 21 miles.  Even Obsession cologne does not cover up 21 miles of sweat!

June 1st through June 13th, 2011 - 172-185 Days

The blog is not forgotten!  I just have led a really boring life lately, and I didn't want to put anyone to sleep.  June's been nice, but uneventful.   Nicole got sick a week before the Trek, and we didn't get to be parents.   She went into the doctor and he told her she had bronchitis, so the Blakes had to go in our stead.  I was a little bummed, as it sounded like fun.  My boys went, and had a blast.  The first thing Hunter said when I asked him  if he had fun was, "Yeah!  Brinley Bracken was in my group and the food was good"  So, I guess Brinley is cute, so Hunter was pleased with his family.  Logan's response was similiar.  So, I guess all it takes for the boys to enjoy the Trek is to be in a group with cute girls and have good food.  It didn't matter that they had to sleep on rocky ground, and they had to travel 11 miles the first day.   I was proud of them, however, because I heard they did great. 

On another note, I think I've been able to be nice to people, but I'm really trying to not have my first thoughts be negative when I hear someone complaining about something I know they have probably brought on themselves.  This is a bit hard.  My first reaction is always, "Buck up, and quit blaming everyone else."  The other day someone wrote on Facebook, complaining about our church ward, etc,  and my first reaction was, "WHAT!"  Then I realized that if they are feeling that way, I'm not one to judge, and that I should give them room to express their feelings.  Kind of difficult., however.

This last weekend Kaylee was in the Miss Washington County Pagent.  She did really well, in fact, I was confident she'd win.  However, she didn't, she got 2nd Attendant, which was kind of hard, because she was 1st attendant last year, and the girl who was 2nd Attendant last year was 1st this year.   Kaylee was kind of devastated, but I really couldn't have been more proud of her.  The girl that won wore a dress with a slit clear up to her crotch.    Last year, she lost a close race when the girl who won wore a VERY tiny bikini.  I'm not sure if that is what helped them to win, but I told Kaylee I was proud of her for not compromising her standards.   I'm  pretty sure she's never going to enter another beauty pagent, however.

Oh, the other night I had a funny dream!  Not sure what it's saying about me, but I found myself belonging to a "Degenerate" club.   The leader of the club said, "You're all here because none of you has ever accomplished anything in life".  I said, "Wait, I've accomplished a lot in my life."   He said, "Shut up, you're a degenerate."   After we were in the club a while, they gave out awards and at the awards ceremony the leader said, "The award for most inspirational goes to Ben...etc"  At the end of the ceremony, he had a packet of gatorade bottles for an award and he points to me and says, "This award goes to What's his name".   I said, "I'm in a degenerate club and you don't even know my name!"   Anyway, I woke up kind of mad, but quickly got over it.   Not sure what a dream like that means, maybe I'm having an inferiority complex or I'm having an issue with my mother.   Ha.  Anyway, life is good.