Ever since my physiological psych class with Dr. Yells several years ago I’ve had a strong interest in the brain, its hard wiring and its relationship to behavior, memory and learning.

Along the way I’ve also had a desire to be involved in the technology that would eventually revolutionize again the way we diagnose patients and help them in their journey towards happy existences.

A couple months ago I pulled out the drawings and drafts I had been making over the past several years about my ideas on what I’ve since come to classify as personal medical sensors and monitoring. The simple thought came to me, “I wonder if anyone’s ever thought about these things before.” So I jumped online and started the search. It didn’t take long to find solutions that others had come up with. BRILLIANT!

As I’ve started to learn about the brain again I’ve felt alive again, like I have purpose I guess.

This is not the only thing that’s contributed to the feelings I’ve been having, but learning IS a powerful motivator for me. In fact, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life actually talks about the need for life-long learning to keep your brain healthy. I’m feeling it.

In other news, last week I started doing sales for our company, ioVentures. Invigorating. I realized that I absolutely love meeting new people, sharing what I know about a topic and learning what they’re involved with.

Tonight we had our ioV company party. I was the only one not married, but no worries. I took Shimpie. We had a great time bowling. I got a personal best (156) along with Jason and Larissa. Fun stuff.

Today I found out that I was picked in the lotto to run in the Moab Half Marathon in March… ) Running, it’s become foreign to me. Let’s get back on that horse!

So I was up last Sunday and my friend Arden popped online and we started chatting. We both recalled how great it had been to be really involved in the scriptures on a daily basis. So, without much hesitation we both agreed to a challenge of sorts that would help us in our daily reading.

The next morning I woke up and began to read my Book of Mormon and felt that I had some other friends that also could benefit from stepping it up a little in the Word of God department. So, over the next hour or so I texted many of my friends to invite them to to join me in what I called the Apple Pie Challenge.

Now some didn’t quite understand what the whole thing had to do with apple pie, and to them I apologize. Here’s what that’s all about:

I had a friend recently start reading the Book of Mormon again after a time of famine. He ate it up and said it was like home made apple pie. The Lord told us to “feast upon the word” so I thought that was a rather appropriate metaphor.

The Challenge

The Apple Pie Challenge then was to feast 30 minutes each day on the Book of Mormon for a week’s time. I asked all who accepted the challenge to report to me via text message when the day’s readings were complete and I would do the same for them. This daily reporting I learned served two purposes: 1) It was a reminder of the committment I had made and 2) It was a way to be accountable for it. I also invited those who joined to invite at least one other to join in with them.

Some Group Results

By week’s end 38 friends had joined in the challenge to step up. Reports came in throughout the week of simple, yet powerful and personal experiences. Several friends expressed a clarity that became available in the midst of their trials as they spent just a short time with their Father in Heaven daily. Many also expressed that when began it was boring or hard to get into, but as they continued in faith a change happened and they started to hunger for the word.

My Personal Blessings

While each of our experiences were very personal and sacred to us individually, I feel that I can share at least 3 benefits I received this week from studying the Book of Mormon on a consistent basis:

1. I was given strength to face feelings of anxiety and frustration.
2. I was able to see my situations more clearly and my tendency to be easily distracted was lessened.
3. I felt more motivated to choose the right in the midst of the temptations I face daily.

This coming week I realize that I cannot take for granted these blessings. They are too important to me to proudly claim that I am the source of their origination. I will feast again as before, but I will also add a prayer to the routine both before and after I read.

My Invitation to You

I invite all to join me! If you’re in, just text me, “I’m in!” (361-5002) and I’ll report to you daily when I finish and expect you to do the same. We will be having a real life apple pie party in the next couple weeks to celebrate those who take the challenge and step up.

I had been telling people about my plans for perhaps six months at this point and had several express interest in going with me. So when I finally put out the invitation and the date spots filled up quickly.

When I announced that I was actually going I had many people say, “I hope you don’t die!” or something to that affect. However, I think it’s rather interesting that I never hear that when I tell them I’m heading off to work, in my car, on the road, with other drivers. I mean, we saw two accidents on the freeway on our way up to Ogden that morning. Anyhow, I’d really like to see some stats that show skydiving is inherently more dangerous than driving.

When we arrived we took a very small lesson, perhaps 5 minutes, I thought it’d be much longer than that. Then we split up into four dive teams and the first team tossed on some colorful jumpsuits and strapped on their harnesses.

The first team went up, but due to unsafe weather conditions came down and we weren’t sure if we’d be jumping that day. We waited, played some cards and after about an hour all the rain and foreboding clouds removed themselves from the sky. I think perhaps it was due to Pam’s extreme excitement and countless prayers offered up in our party’s behalf. She wasn’t going to leave without having jumped!

There were several very nervous people jumping with us that day and they all had a great time! I was strangely calm considering we were going to be falling from 13k feet above the ground. In all honesty I did get a little scared. It happened when we were up high and my tandem buddy started tightening the straps, the video jumpers started putting on their helmets and I started to get pushed closer to the open door of the plane.

Once I jumped however, after a split second of adjusting to the fall, I just felt like I was floating, like I was just leaning against a large gust of wind. And perhaps thanks to some showing off for the camera I had lost the fear that just moments before was giving me the shakes.

We free fell for about a minute and then Sugi pulled the ripcord. I did wonder what would happen if my tandem buddy would have been unable to pull it for whatever reason. Once the chute was pulled we did some turns and that’s when I felt the roller-coaster sensation in my stomach. Pretty fun.

All in all, had a blast. Compared to rock climbing my first time though…didn’t hold a candle, though it was good for a little bit of variety. If you’re looking for thrills, perhaps you should go to a theme park. However, if you’re looking to conquer your fear of heights, skydiving is a good option for you. It happened very quickly, but nevertheless a fun experience. It was kind of like the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land, very good, but altogether over too quickly.

Dangerous? Yeah, probably. Worth it? Most likely. I’d suggest it to anyone who’s thought of doing it but has been scared. Get a group of good friends and do it.

Here’s some audios & pics of me and the group before and after the jump:

• Pre Jump Audio Seg with My Jump Team
• Post Jump Review with those in car
• Pictures on Facebook

I had a neat experience that day as we were driving home and some soft classical music played on the radio. I felt a peace that I can only say I’ve felt most often in the temple. I was going to say something to those in the car, but for some reason I felt alright just enjoying it. It was a beautiful contrast from the feeling of just having accomplished a life goal.

Fantastic Firsts – “We shall not cease from exploration – The end of all our exploring – Will be to arrive where we started – And know the place for the first time.” (T.S. Elliot, 1963; “Little Gidding”)

1. Cruising: Let’s start at the very beginning. I’m friends with Marcello Surjopolos, good kid. Marcello told me about a cruise that a bunch of LDS singles were going on. This would be his third year attending and he’s had a blast every time. Well, he had been intending to go with some friends and when they dropped out he asked if I wanted to go with him. I was a little hesitant at first. Would I be taking too much time off from my little biz? Could I afford it? In the end, as is obvious, I opted to take the plunge and head on my first cruise. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were there going to be people kissing in the elevator early in the morning? Only time would tell…viva la Victory!
2. Art Auction: Everyone chillin’ out in the sun in their swimsuits with music blaring isn’t really my scene. So, I’m an official art collector now. The ship had Park West, one of the largest art collectors in the world aboard to auction off Tip – In raising your bid card to help increase the sale price and have some fun, you better be sure you want what’s being bid on. I now own framed, matted and shipped Tweety and Silvester, not to mention one beautiful Viviana, whom I won for something over a bagillion dollars.
3. Scuba Diving: Marcello is PADI certified and was planning on diving on this trip. He really wanted someone to dive with. For a day or two I considered and even looked into getting certified before I left. I didn’t end up doing so, but on St. Thomas Diver Don was kind enough to take a few of us newbies under the sea. Amazing! I was a bit nervous at first, wondering if I’d end up freaking out and breath in water through my nose. No worries. One of the first things that caught my eye was the rising half bubbles that looked like rising mercury.

Fun Friendships – “I don’t care who you are…that’s funny!”

1. Marcello the Magnificent: Getting to hang out with my good friend Marcello held many rewards. Merely by example he spurred me on to get to know people, get out of my shell and to share my testimony with people. Because of the friendship it came naturally and none of it felt forced. I got to Marcello on a deeper level and there’s a lot of great things there.
2. Cruise Girlfriends: Though I got caught saying that if the “old ladies” could go down the slide atop the boat, I could do it too, I found much fun and friendship in several older ladies, including Frank Sinatra’s cousin. Sweet.
3. LDS Singles: It was great to on a cruise with a group of people my age that hold my same standards and beliefs. I felt in good company. It helped me to feel comfortable in reaching out to others.
4. The Fam: We arrived on land Sunday and stayed at Lisa’s cousins’ house, the Leherbauers. It was such a pleasure to stay there, play with their kids, walk on the beach with them and to get to hear a little bit about how they raised their well mannered kids.

Gospel Goodies - “I had a goal to share my testimony everyday.”

1. “Book of Mormon”s: Marcello had mentioned that there were ample opportunities on the ship to share testimony with great people and that being the case picked up some “Book of Mormon”s for us to hand out along the way. We took 6, we could have handed out more. It was a great feeling to connect with amazing people and to offer to them a core piece of who we are. All accepted very graciously and were thankful for the gift.
2. Walter in the Gym: After we finished running on the windy outdoor track the first day we went to the indoor gym to lift some weights and flex our amazingly gigantic muscles in the wall mirror…always a good ego booster. We worked out a little and then I met Walter, a Christian business owner from It’s not hard to share your feelings when people are asking you for them. I met Walter that day and began to talk about Christ. Marcello came up and we soon had an appointment to visit him and bring him a book. We met Walter’s wife a bit later and she was a beautiful lady, much light in her eyes.
3. Sammy & Fam: I didn’t anticipate running into the little 10 year old heart breaker that took the show at karaoke by singing Bon Jovi. Well, with a little “Wheel chair” sympathy from our bag carrier we right to the front of the line when exiting the ship and going through customs. Turns out that our bag man wasn’t supposed to do that…but what was done was done. Well, we ended up standing right next to Sammy and his family. On the trip this fun little kid was adopted by some of the other single guys on the ship. He had a great time with them and he and his family were open to receiving a Book of Mormon. Sammy kept saying that it was cool. He also did a checkin with our values. “You guys don’t drink, huh?” “You guys don’t do drugs either, huh?” Great Jewish family. I pray they’ll let the message into their hearts.
4. The Brazilians: It wasn’t uncommon to hear Marcello start talking Portuguese to people next to us in line, on the beach or in a shuttle. He loved to connect with people and one family especially saw a quick connection with him as we all talked to them on Coki Beach in St Thomas. The father is a helicopter pilot for the government and he say over and over when extended a gift from the heart, “Marcello, I will read this, I will read this.”

Amazing Activities

1. Beautiful Beaches: Aside from the nudie beach I would suggest the island beaches to everyone. Each had beautiful white sand and clear turquoise water. If you keep your mouth closed you’ll enjoy it more, just a little F.Y.I.
2. ATV Riders: We landed on St. Maarten and a group of us were planning on grabbing some scooters and cruising around the Island. We missed the group, but Heather and I found an ATV rental place. The owner of the place was a Rasta man who showed us the best places to go on the Island. The island was small and we spent the day driving all over. Heather was our captain and she had a blast. It was fun to see the cement houses, free roaming goats and chickens and the laid back islanders who would often wave to us. We didn’t quite make it all the way around the island, but we got to crash a high class condo resort, drive to the airport, and buy some stuff in a little store on the side of the road. When we finally arrived at Oriental Beach where many others where I got a chance to drive April around on the ATV. It was sweet to go exploring and even almost get hit by a car!
3. Non-drinking Games: Instead of dancing I opted to play some sweet ‘ol games with a big group of peeps. I’m not sure just what the waiters in the upstairs dining room thought about our obvious craziness. That’s alright, we had a great time playing the cup game, spoons, “Have a nice day” Uno and others. Had you not known we were LDS you may have thought we’d been drinking. We were quick to let people know the whole cruise however that we don’t drink.
4. Ocean Running: I had the goal to exercise each day on the trip. Success! I hadn’t exercised for some time. It felt pretty good to get out every day and do this. I ran with friends each day and I’d have to say that the fist day was the best. Monday morning Marcello and I got out on the top deck track. It was a bit windy. Each time we’d come around the left side of the boat the wind would propel us forward like it was going to take us right off into the Ocean. We found Heather up top too and she enjoyed the rocket propulsion with us.
5. Dazzling Dinners: Each night we met at 8 in the dining room for a high class dining experience. We could order whatever we wished and many times I did, having the weighter bring out several appetizers and a couple main courses. At dinner we got to know new people on the cruise. We met the LDS cruisers, and also some great ladies from Canada on the table next to one of my dinner tables. I got to talk with them about Joseph Smith and I got to know Steve and hear about nuclear energy, AWESOME!! My main waiter, Jose, was great. He was kind and even danced for us ). Lobster, mahi mahi, shrimp and other seafood…mmm, so good.

Memorable Moments

1. Resort Crashing: So, on St. Maarten as I mentioned Heather and I snagged a 4-wheeler and hopped on the roads. We went up one hill and at the top could see a beautiful beach with a road in the distance that seemed to trace the beachline. Heading out for that adventure we found our way into The Westin Dawn Beach Resort. We partked the ATV, and casually strode onto the scene like we owned the place. I’d say that day we owned more than the resort, we owned the world! Heather suggested we order some fruit drinks, and so we did. We swam along the beach shore and let the waves carry us to shore. The tiered pool wasn’t left out either, we snuck up to the top level and with absolute stealth, rolled off the waterfall, falling into the pool below. Heather says we made a big splash. I agree, I think they loved us there. I also met a Korean lady there and spoke Korean to a stranger for the first time in a while. Was a little rusty.
2. Midnight Boogey: Each night many of the singles would spend time in the Arctic Lounge where they would “get down” until 2 or 3 in the morning. I didn’t feel comfortable early in the week to go dancing. I realized that it’s both the people I’m with and the scene that puts me in the mood for that kind of fun. Friday night for some reason I found my way to the red & black room where a live band played some sweet tunes. Beatles, CCR, Beach Boys and some other goodies. I was with Joel, Michelle, Megan & Brooke boogying to the groove. Had a blast!! Marcello finally wandered in and was shocked to see me getting my groove on because the rest of the trip I had declined to go dancing with them. It was the awesome girls that convinced me in the end to get out there and a perhaps a little bit of Joel’s T-qualizer shirt. No offence Marcello ;o). To make up for it Marcello and I danced with Chalyse and Heather just inside the casino to the sweet snythesized tunes of Jack Music. We gathered a crowd of older cruisers and even enjoyed some applause when we were done. Though I was convinced it was the silliness they enjoyed one of the couples that danced with us said that Heather and I had some potential…if we could get past the silliness that was. I enjoy spontaneity and silliness, we’ll see if I can give that up.
3. She’s Got the Look: So, here’s the story. My roomate back home, Nate Demers, had told me of a psychology experiment/date that he wanted to try. It was to spend 25 minutes getting to know a girl, and then spend 5 minutes looking into each others’ eyes without speaking. The idea came to me and I gave it a try the final night on the open sea. I won’t say who with because I feel the experience was deeply personal and unusually intense, but I will say that this may have been one of the best moments I spent on the cruise. I accomplished another cruise goal, to let someone into my world. In the silence (after there WAS silence, getting started was a bit difficult) I realized that I so often fill the air with words and avoid eye contact so that people cannot see into my soul, get to know me or even come to love me. Thanks secret stare friend! It was a moment I was grateful to share with you ).
4. Aquatic Sunrise: Two times I woke early enough to catch the sunrise. Once was when we were coming into port at St. Thomas and the other was the first day on sea on the way home. We couldn’t see the sunrise the first time because we came into port on the opposite side of the sun in St Thomas. No matter, Marcello had a great talk that morning. He’s pretty good at sharing his feelings. He had the idea to wake up Lisa and Chalyce to watch it with us. I’m not sure they enjoyed it as much as we did ). With only a mere two hours of sleep, Suzanne, Heather and I caught the second of my two sunrises. This time the meeting was planned and this time more enjoyable. The sun lit up the whole sky and colored the clouds with increasingly lighter and lighter shades of red, orange and yellow. It was subtle, but so quick at the same time. I mused how the Little Prince may have felt seeing 44 sunsets in one day.
5. Breakfast in Bed: One night playing games in the upstairs dining room the topic of breakfast in bed came up and I asked Megan, the girl with beautiful eyes and a sunshine smile, what she liked for breakfast. Judging by her face the next morning when Marcello, Joel and I came a knockin’, I don’t think she had a second thought about my seriousness. When I came back to cabin 1430 that night and posed to the other guys, all were in favor. So, two days we woke up, ordered a bagillion things from room service and delivered on a cart, the eloquently arranged fruits and breakfast danishes to several cabins of awesome girls. Marcello said it scored us points, but we all just felt good being able to do some service on the trip, another goal I had written down.
6. Let’s Go for a Walk: Again, I’ll keep the contents of this one private, but following something I remember Marcello saying earlier in the week I went out of my way to get to know several of the girls on the boat one on one on a deeper level. I mentioned to a girl that I’d like to go for a walk with her one evening. I was glad that she didn’t think I wanted to make out and refuse the sincere offer. We talked about her family and about what makes her tick. It’s amazing just how cool people are when you take the time to get to know them. I also enjoyed that there weren’t any “let’s hook up this week” expectations by the girls that I got to know…else if there were, I was clueless. Probably better that way ;o).

More to come…there was just so much that I can’t possibly get it all down now. In all, the cruise was an amazing experience physically, socially, emotionally, and…well, financially, ). It was def. a rejuvenation! Thanks all for the fun! I had a blast!!!

I’m very pleased to be writing you this Christmas Update. As I type, I’m in Hurricane Utah with my family, a great place to be around Christmas time.  It’s been good to be with them. We’ve been playing Rock Band. My sister Mindy received it with some other gifts for attending the Ellen Show during her 12 Days of Giveaways. I’ve also enjoyed spending some time playing with my nephew and niece, my sister Melissa’s kids. I’m not used to being around kids all day, so it’s a bit of an adjustment and I’ve realized that I have some feelings to work through, but I’ve been grateful to realize it. After a long day with them I turned on the TV to a talk by Gerald Lund about parenting…go figure, Heavenly Father’s watchin’ out for me and knows what I need.

As far as how things are going with me, here’s the skinny…

Capitalistic Creature

Last year in mid December I was let go from my job at 10x Marketing/Innuity with most of my coworkers (over 20 of us total), one even returned from vacation in Hawaii to no job. Though we all had reason to fester bitterness I am grateful to say that we all landed on our feet and for most of us, in better situations. I had been talking with several friends about starting our own internet marketing company and the layoff gave me the perfect window to jump in with both feet. So, with an old friend Boyd I started working to form a new company. I had actually hired him at 10x a while back, he had left after a month to pursue internet coaching job and we hadn’t talked for some time.

In February we got our first client, brought on Seth, Boyd’s brother who graduated from the U with an MBA, we chose a name with some of your help and officially incorporated as ioVentures, Inc. We’ve had a great ride for our first year, by  year’s end we will have bought on 5 other “Moonwalkers” & “Mission Directors” to help with our growing biz. Our position titles have a space mission theme since “io” is a moon of Jupiter. We had up to 8 clients at one time. We dropped 2 because they weren’t profitable, one bailed due to cashflow issues and something else happened, drawing a blank, but now we have 4 plus two internal projects that we’re working on that have great potential to sustain us if we were to loose all of our clients.

People ask me a lot what I do and most don’t understand what internet marketing is, so here’s what we do: We get links to our clients sites, change up a few things on their sites and by thus doing we get them ranked well in the search engines, this brings them more visitors and ultimately more buyers. We’re good at what we do and we charge keenly for it. To see some of our results visit our seo case studies page.

We wrapped up our first year in business with a trip to Disneyland for all full time employees. It was a great trip. I took my sister Mindy as my date and the others took their wives. All I have to say is, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!!

My Education

Aside from working in a field that I love, I attempted to go back to school. I loved my classes and felt a very strong passion to learn. I still have a subconscious avoidance going on with homework though. Class time, attention to the meaning of the subject and tests would do me well…or so I thought, until I took Chemistry 1210. This was the first Chem class I’ve taken since I had a great drooling high school teacher that impersonated dead Elvis and blew up the lab several years before I had him. Classes were good, but I crashed and burned this semester. It’s time to do a little reconnaissance mission to pick up my downed confidence and try again.

I love school so much, I love to learn and hear how the world works and to consider new ideas…there’s just something with Ryan and things that I’m told to do….if I choose it on my own I typically go far, when I feel nagged, shoved or forced to do something…it may never be completed. Something I’m working on.

I plan to chill out for a while, establish some good patterns of staying focused and on task and then give school another shot in the near future. Also, knowing me and how I like to think so deeply about things and present quality work, I will not be so ambitious or impatient to take a full load, but rather take it slowly so I can give full attention to the classes that I do take. I am hereby declaring that I refuse to buy into the mentality of “just getting it done.” If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right. I’m not afraid of taking it slow. My pace needn’t mimic what others have done or even expect of me.

The Social  Scene

I spent this year single and pondering the meaning of life ;o). Briefly, I’ll tell you that Emily, the girl that I dated for 8 months, and I broke up in mid March of this year. It was a beautiful relationship that benefited me beyond belief! We still talk and I even took a little trip to visit her in Wisconsin. As usual, those who wish to know about the love life can email for details, cuz I consider that pretty personal and private stuff.

About that same time that we broke up I realized how much of a social animal I am and again got involved in my ward’s social activities. You may have seen the latest masterpiece that came from those social interactions. If not, jump on over to YouTube to see me woo the lovely Ashlee with a heart warming rendition of When You Say Nothing At All .

Though I’m not looking to get married via an online dating service, I HAVE found much fun in joining facebook , an online social networking site and in starting a couple groups. One group stems from a recent desire of wanting to read all the conference talks in between sessions of LDS General Conference, the group is called Walk the Talk . The other group comes from a calling in my ward. I’m helping with our stake’s effort to make sure that we all have Clean Hands to go to the temple.

I’ve ended this year finally engaging in some service which has helped me look outside of myself to the needs that others have. I look forward to continuing doing service in some form or another throughout the next year.

Muscle & Mind

I’ve started to play racketball each week with some kids in my ward and also have been rock climbing with some other friends a couple times, love both activities! I started to train for another marathon with my roommate, but have gotten out of the habit, plan on staring it up again.

As many of you know I’ll be turning 30 this year for the first time in my life and for all interested, I’m planning on jumping from a plane on or near that day to celebrate the coolness of life ). I’m excited and look forward to jumping with other crazy friends.

Speaking of crazy, I was “diagnosed” this year with A.D.D. and I’ve tossed and turned on what it means to me. I’ve felt the relief of being understood. I’ve felt the limiting power of beliefs. I’ve researched my situation and feel at this time that although I was given a prescription I will use behavioral methods to keep me focused now that I know a little better what I’m working with. I’ve been to counseling for much of this year for this and several other matters and feel that I’m growing and understanding myself better all the time. Daily structure is something that I really need and has been very helpful for me to keep focused on my goals.

My Testimony

I’ve felt so empty handed this year and have spent no time shopping for presents. I have however taken much time to think about what Christmas means to me. Christmas time is a time for me to see the Love of God. It’s in that love that I see who I am. I am not Ryan that dropped out of school, or ADD Ryan. I’m not any label the world or even that I would put on myself. I am the divine being that the Son of God came to Earth to save from his own worst self. I am light and I am truth and because of THE Light and THE Truth I am able to shine brighter and live up to all that I’m meant to be. The exciting thing to me is that we’re all divine and though we often feed ourselves loads of negative self talk I know that we’re worthy of love…no matter WHAT we’ve done. I know that we all have a Father in Heaven that cares for us and wants us to live each day with a smile because he’s given us his Son so we can live again with our families after death. He’s given his Son so that we can live happily WHILE on Earth.

I love my family and it is my testimony that a prophet like Moses lives today and reveals God’s loving will to me so that I can live with peace in my heart towards them and all men. I love my Savior and know that he leads to Church to which I belong, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am honored and indeed humbled by the great trust that I’ve received at the hands of men with authority, even the trust of God’s mighty priesthood. On my own I fall short, but in Christ I stand tall.

I am thankful for repentance that isn’t something to dread, but rather like dropping a backpack full of dead weight. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon. It saved my life and brought me to love my family before my mission and is again saving me from the natural man, or rather from anger, hatred, depravity and baseness. I love the calm I feel from studying its teachings.

I am grateful for my life and I want each of you to know that you’ve been a blessing to me and in my journey in this life. Thank you all for your kindnesses, for your examples, for your encouagements, and for the opportunities that I’ve had to serve and know each of you!!

I love you and pray for you all the best Christmas that you’ve ever had!

Sincerely,

Ryan Mendenhall

We landed in Long Beach Airport after several times circling in the runway because of a noise curfew in the area. Palm trees, Christmas music, small outdoor baggage carousel, so cool! The airport wasn’t a big nice facility, if felt like we had landed on an army base on a Pacific island…very cool!

Once we met up with Brig we walked to the front of about several rides including Pirates of the Carribean, Indiana Jones, Super Railroad with Rattlesnakes, and etc.
Afterward a small lunch break with Mindy we got back together with the rest of the ioV crew and headed to Tomorrow Land. My personal fav so far has been the Buzz Lightyear ride/game. You get to ride around and shoot targets. At game’s end you can see your score and email yourself a picture of it for free.

By the time we got to Space Mountain I felt like a kid again…VERY cool & very fun! Got the picture of that too.

We’ve had a great day. Thank you ioV for the fun! We’ll see you again tomorrow!

Check it out! Wicked Trailer

Although this was my third time to hike this beautiful natural beauty, by the time I finished the hike at 12:00 pm the following afternoon it sure felt like the first time that I’d EVER been hiking.

Each of my three ascents to the top of Mt. Timp have started at night. The latter two started began from the Timpooneke Campground. Beginning here as opposed to the Aspen Grove trail head means a smaller elevation hike, but a longer distance hike.

After arriving at the trail head and making sure that we all had headlamps we began our journey. Turns out that if you want to hike a mountain and have everyone stay together you can’t put the fastest people up front. After 20 or 30 minutes we had split into two groups and about an hour later that 2 turned into 3 as I took the caboose with two other hikers, one of which had sprained her ankle about 10 minutes into the hike…courageous soul.

The night remained warm and there was no need for my sweater. We walked the entire night and reached the saddle just as the sun rose. We never stayed still long enough for the cold to catch us. Once up top and after resting a bit, two friends and I ascended to the summit. It was a first for all of us. THAT’S where it began to be cold. Now on the front side of the mountain (west side), we felt strong colder winds. While the skies were blue, they were preparing to gather the gray clouds that would eventually drop their rain moments after we reached the bottom of our hike.

I had a great time filled with detective footprint tracking and great friends. I’d do it again. Pretty much the coolest thing ever!

Boiled down, its pure intent
A goodness for mankind,
With one and one united
There’s a joy in life to find

a peach with dripping goodness
sandy shells with pearly tint
sharing hidden spiderwebs
a picture of innocence

Honest words give service
An honest heart does too
Thus your gift of kindness
Has drawn me close to you

~ luf ya Emilyon

For sure it was at the E-Center with my fam….

AND

Dum, dum, dum…

NEIL DIAMOND baby!

He’s getting older, but still puts on a great show! He’s got a band that’s been with him 30 years. Nuts!

He was crackin’ jokes about other people singin’ his Red Red Wine. Funny stuff.

Well, although there were no cameras allowed… someone I know *no names in case the NSA or FBI are zeroing in on this little covert operation* got these pictures. Thanks mystery person!

Truly nice beyond all niceness…

See that?! Neil says that I’m number one…Ryan’s number one! Okay, so he was pointing to a leak in the ceiling asking if they could get it fixed, but you weren’t there, you wouldn’t have known the difference.

A night to remember. Much better than the marathon, no broken hips, a plus.

Love to everyone!

K. Arthur