Andy's Last Blind Date

My friend Susann called me up about 4 weeks ago and spoke those dreaded words, "I have someone I want you to meet." I had decided that I was not going to go on these anymore but something told me that I should give it one more try. I decided that I would go to be nice. So I put on my nicest U2 t-shirt and headed on over for my Valentines Day adventure.


I had fun that night and did not want to leave but there was really no sparks, just a very comfortable evening at Susann's house. We had a giant heart shaped brownie that was yummy and a great time playing Uno (yes, this is living la vita loca). As I watched her drive away I felt hope in my heart and a nagging voice telling me that I had not gotten her number.


I never would have guessed that 19 days later I would be sitting with her in the Celestial Room of the Seattle Temple with the Spirit burning so strongly in my heart that I was looking into the eyes of my Eternal Companion. Miracles do happen; I watched one that Tuesday evening as our hearts changed, our vision cleared, and I heard the song of my Beloved for the first time, again. So now I am engaged to Constance, my world has turned on a dime, my life is a bit more cliche but I will take this great miracle any day. In fact, I have been searching for this miracle for the last six years. I can hardly wait to see what great things come next!

Not Such A Long Day After All

I had one of those days today. I had a bunch of things to do, more than I could do, and I was sure I was going to miss something important. I got up and picked up my kids at 7, took my daughter to school, played Pokémon with my son, got him ready for school, got me ready for work, dropped my son off at school and drove to work.

I got to work in the middle of crunch mode with three top priorities with no clear "most important" thing to do. I had planned on working late because there was just too much to do. I was stressed out by some of the political things going on. It really bugs me that I cannot vote in a primary or a caucus because I will not affiliate with any party. It bugs me that my boss does not know what I do most of the day and I cannot seem to explain it to his satisfaction. It drives me crazy when people change all the stuff I am working on but do not tell me so I find out later, when I am already behind. It is very hard when the things that I want most in this life are incompatible with each other and so I go without many things that I really want for the other things that I really want.

I did end up getting some stuff done and I do feel very blessed but I was tired. At 5 o’clock I was ready to go home and so I left after talking to my friend Dave for an hour so he could not go home early either (Sorry Dave, thanks for listening).

But when I got home I found this:


And it was not such a bad day after all. I had my Family Home Evening with just me, watched Alison Krauss and Robert Plant on CMT, and ate my pudding. Now I remember why I love my kids so much. Thanks for the pudding Bryan!

Pistachio Bread

I am very excited to post my first recipie! This is not actually mine, I got it from one of the ladies at the temple but it was yummy and I wanted to pass it along.

Pistachio Bread

1 box Yellow Cake mix (this is a great start)
1 small box Instant Pistachio Pudding (yum)
1 cup Sour Cream (trust me, it works out)
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup water

Combine the ingredients and pour into a bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until it passes the poke something into the bread and it comes out clean test.

The original recipie calles for 1 small bottle of chopped up marichino cherries but I decided to pass on those. My kids and I considered putting more pistachio's in as well but decided to go with the simple method first which turned out very green and very yummy!

Donughts With MoJo

My friend Kevin and I made a trip to Portland last month and had a great time. Portland was Kevin's old stomping grounds so we had a place to crash and some exciting things lined up.

We were heading down to go to a Mid-Singles dance organized by Erika that was great. We had tons of fun dancing and met some very groovy folks. One of our friends from Seattle, Kellie, also came down and boogied the night away with us. After the dance was over we were all chatting Kellie mentions this donught shop that is open from 9pm to 6am. When she mentioned this my Junk Food senses were tingling. Then someone else mentioned that they had a maple bar with bacon on it and my Junk Food senses went crazy!

Kevin knew how to get there so we were on our way. It was a cold night but the thought of deep fried dough covered in flavored sugar kept my blood warm. When we did finally find the place around 1:30am there was a line so I was encouraged. My mind was trying to decide if it was disgusted at the thought of bacon on a maple bar or excited. Unfortunately I never got the chance to resolve my internal conflict over the maple bacon bar because they had all sold out. The well pierced lady helping behind the counter offered me a VooDoo doughnut as a replacement. It was a donught shaped like a gingerbread man covered in chocolate with a pretzel stuck in it's chest and filled with rasberry filling. The donught turned out to have enough MoJo in it to assuage my angst over the loss of a maple bacon bar and I was very impressed. If anyone is in Portland late at night and has a craving for a strange doughnut from a mildly raunchy but very funny donught shop I highly recommend VooDoo Doughnuts in Portland. Thanks Erika, Kevin and Kellie for a great time!

The Mystery of the Missing Socks

We have this recurring mystery at my house, the mystery of the missing socks. I would love to hire the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency because I suspect Mr. Jenkins has been dressing up as the Creeper and stealing my sock but I cannot prove it yet.

So, while I am waiting for Scooby to show up, I went and did a bit of detective work myself and ventured into my kids rooms. My sons room was not too messy except for the socks laying all over the place. My daughters room was a different story. After digging through all of the socks she has mixed in with all the other stuff on her floor I found it hard to take good notes. I resolved to gather all the socks into one spot on the stairs so I could gather all my thoughts together. It was a very stinky job. I was wondering where Mike Rowe was and if I should have called him first. At least the job would have some witty comentary to go with the stinky messyness of it all. If Scooby were doing this he would have found a big sandwich and a scary monster by now. I was not making nearly as much progress but I kept working.

After I got all the socks I could find I felt that I could start collecting the rest of my thoughts and figure out this mystery without Thelma's super powered brain. Way back in the back of my head there was a thought buzzing around saying I should look at the stairs. I crushed it with the memory of all the yuckyness of the last little while and continued to collect my other thoughts.

The buzzing thought continued to come to the surface of my conciousness though and so I had to do something about it or I would not get any of my work done. So I went to look at the stairs and there they all were. The mystery was solved for now. Thanks brain! You get all the credit. And Scooby, if you are reading this, you should still come over. I have a couple of giant sandwiches and I think that Mr. Jenkins is up to no good!

Grateful For...

I have wondered many times about the tremendous gifts I have been given. At this time of the year (since I am a little behind and should be making new years resolutions) I am feeling so very grateful. I wanted to list some of the things that I feel most grateful for:

1 - My Savior, Jesus Christ. It is fitting that I should list him first. My faith in him has been growing steadily since I first remember praying to know that he was the Son of God and that he loved me. I feel he has prepared the way for me and has loved me when I felt no one could love me. This is a very great gift that I cannot properly express my gratitude for but I will continue to try. Thank you my Lord. I am unworthy but so very grateful.

2 - My Children. Again, I find that the words I am using do not match the feelings I have in my heart. It is a privilege beyond measure to raise my children. This is not an easy task but I have felt more divinity and joy with my children that I ever thought I could feel. When I look in their eyes I can see little glimpses of Heaven and Forever. As we work through the hard things here in this life I feel so very blessed to be able to be their father. We are unconventional and conventional at the same time. I have learned so much of who I am and what is important to me by serving and loving them. Larisa and Bryan, I love you so very much.

3 - My Parents. As I look around me and get to know more of my brothers and sisters here on this earth I realize how very blessed I am to have Doug and Linda as my parents. I was raised in a house where love was the guiding principle and family was the more important than any worldly care. We were taught the gospel of Jesus Christ by our parents who also lived the gospel. I did not realize what a rare and precious gift this was, to be raised by loving and honorable parents who put the needs of their children above their own. As an honor to them I try to give my children the same gift. I fall down often and feel that my gift to my children is not as great as the gift my parents gave to me but I will continue to try.

4 - My Brothers and Sisters. I am so very grateful for my brothers and sisters. I have learned so much from all of you and I draw tremendous strength from your love. It is hard to be so far away from you all and to see you so seldom but I take great joy in knowing that our reunions will be sweet and that our family is eternal. I am so very privileged and humbled to be your brother.

5 - My Friends. I have been very blessed by my friends. My best friend Jacob is such a blessing in my life. I remember the first time I was alone after my divorce, my kids were with their mother, and I did not know what I would do. Since that time I have met so many great and wonderful people that I did not imagine I would ever know or be friends with. Now my life is so much more full. I cannot list you all here but I want you all to know that you warm my heart and help me to be a better person. Your friendship is a precious gift to me. I know that I do not get to see many of you as often as we might like but I hope you all know that I am looking forward to seeing you again and when we do we will have a great time!

6 - My Lord Jesus Christ. It is fitting that He be the first and the last. Thank you again for your great gifts to us. Your love is the foundation of all that is good in this world. You are the Great God who is behind and around all of this earth, who watches over all of us. I am so very grateful that you have helped me as I started this path and will continue with me through 'til the end.