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In memory of...

It's hard to keep in mind that Memorial Day is more than a 3 day weekend, or a chance to get your first sunburn of the year. Memorial Day is a day to remember the ones that aren't with us anymore. As my extended family sat around my grandparents grave in Spanish Fork, UT that past weekend...I couldn't help but get the feeling of how much I missed them. It's been 15 years since they've passed. All my friends never got the chance to meet them, and most of my own siblings don't even remember them. I was only 10 when they died so I can't really even say that I knew them all that well. But, the memories that I have of grandma and grandpa are memories of love. Spending Christmas together as a family with all my cousins all dressed in the same pajamas, compliments of my grandma. Having weekend sleepovers with just me, Nate and my grandparents and them giving us money to walk down to the corner market to buy candy.

Some of my favorite times now as an adult is hanging out with the Mendenhall's and listening to all the stories that they tell of Lyn and Betty Lou and wondering how much we all are like them.

Thank goodness for the knowledge that we will all be together again. And I will get to know my grandparents and my brother more.

Leadership

Leadership

Leadership is an analog job in a digital world.

It is courage to adjust mistakes, vision to welcome change and
confidence to stay out of step when everyone else is marching to the
wrong tune. The purpose of a leader is to grow more leaders. We rise
higher and see further standing not only on the strong shoulders of
those who have gone before us, but on the shoulders of those who are
currently under our command, supporting us and following our lead.

Standing in the front of a room and calling yourself a leader, no
more makes you a leader than standing in the middle of a garage makes
you a truck. Leading others begins when we lead and grow ourselves as
lifelong learners. Remember,

Learners retain:

10 percent of what they read;

20 percent of what they hear;

30 percent of what they see;

50 percent of what they see and hear;

70 percent of what they write and say;

90 percent of what they write, say and do.

So . . . stop, look, listen, copy it down, share it and do it!

Under Pressure?

I don't handle pressure very well. When people want me to do something, all they need to do is put a little pressure and persistance into it and usually, that is all that is needed.

So...how can I overcome pressure?

I was a little on the bored side at work today so I started analizing this whole 'pressure' issue and learn to say no! This is what I taught myself:

To begin with, we must understand three important laws of life.

First, pressure is not something that is naturally there. It's created when we question our own ability. When I know what I can do, there is never any question. If I am unprepared for a school exam, I feel pressure, but if I know I know the answers because I have studied and practiced, there is no question and no pressure. Pressure is eliminated by confidence, confidence is created through consistency, consistency comes through perfect practice. If this is so, any of us can do it and eliminate pressure from our work, school and play.
The second law of life is time. There are only 24 hours in a day, not just in some people's day, but in everybody's day. Time makes everybody equal. The way we become unequal, better or worse, successful or a failure, is determined by how you decide to use those 24 hours. Because I cannot be two places at once and do two things at the same time, instead of worrying so much about how to say no to negative influences, if I use my time wisely by dreaming mighty dreams and setting positive goals and simply saying yes to something positive, I won't have time for the negative; my positive actions will say no for me.

The third law is to realize there are two ways to be controlled and influenced - from within and from without; by you and by others. The solution to pressure, then, is finding out who you really are and what you really represent. Only then will you know what you want to be. As I learn this, others won't be able to adversely affect my actions. In fact, I probably shouldn't even associate with others who don't act or think like I do and, therefore, I'll avoid outside pressure altogether. Remember, if the things you think about are different from the things you do, you'll never be happy. When you're consistently yourself in thought, work, and action, pressure will not affect you.

Good Times

This past week has been SO FUN! I went to the only winning Jazz game of the series (darn that Jazz, they break my heart every year!), has an Arrested Development/Ear Candle party, preformed in our choir dessert show, saw Marcus and went to Wicked! It's been ever so busy...and of course I have taken pictures all along the way. If you haven't tried Ear Candles, you should. I didn't do it that night, but it seems like it cleans super well. I shall try it ... one day.

Working hard all semester really paid off. I think that we sounded fan-freakin-tastic! This year we sang in a CES Fireside, Saturday afternoon Conference and this dessert show. It was super fun...but I am SO glad that it is over and I have my Wednesday nights free again! Yeah!

Saturday night we went and saw the comedian Marcus. I've seen a few of his shows and he NEVER disappoints. If you get the chance to see him...do it! And he is even easy on the eyes! This show was particularly good because there was one person who didn't think a joke was funny and tried to get in a fight with Marcus! I few pushes from security and he was kicked out of the show. Poor Michael J Fox...you know that we are laughing with you, not at you!

I didn't get pictures at Wicked...but it was AWESOME! I liked the Elphaba in this production more than the other one that I saw. The actress played Elphaba was the young Cosette in the ORIGINAL cast of Les Mis. She was SO good. I always enjoy Broadway, especially Wicked...and I LOVE seeing it with people that are watching it for the first time. Everyone needs to try and find tickets before they leave.

All in all...great weekend! What's in store this weekend, you may ask?

ENOUGH SAID!

What would you do?

I received this e-mail today from a friend at work. I've read the story before, but today it just kind of struck a heart string. I don't know if the story is true, but I hope that somewhere this happened because you just don't hear about these things anymore.

"What would you do? ... you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraiser dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?

The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued.


I believe that a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled come into the world, an opportunity presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.

Then he told the following story:


Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'So you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the dame is in the 8th inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'


Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.


In the bottom of the 8th inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by 3. In the top of the 9th inning, Shay put on a glove and plated in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.


In the bottom of the 9th inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game.


Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.


The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over... The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.


Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stand and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.


He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball .. the smallest guy on their team who now has his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circles the bases toward home. All were screaming and all spectators were on their feet. 'Run home shay! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world.'

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial interactions between 2 people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said: Every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

I guess I like this because it really hits home. I don't know if I would be the one to let Shay play. I don't know if it was my choice I would have been that welcoming. It scares me to stand up sometimes to things or people that are different. Sometimes the road less traveled is the hardest one to follow.

...Carlos who?

So...we got a new player on the Jazz. His name is Carlos something...

Whoever he is, I hope that he is here to stay. 23 points and 22 rebounds!! Honestly?

Seriously: I am SO glad that old Boozer finally came back to us! That was one of the BEST games that I have been to! Lame-o Kobe only shot 10% in the first half...that is the first time in 9 years that that has happened to him in a play-off game. We kept Kobe to only 5 for 24 from the floor. Amazing!

I just hope that Okur is well enough to play on Saturday because I have a feeling that the Lakers are going to try and come back with a vengeance.

GO JAZZ!!!