To My Family, Friends, and Those Who Know Me Not

I have a relative, many actually. This one particular relative has expressed how he/she thinks that I am too religious! This proclamation has been something that has befuddled me for a while since. I grew up without religion. I believe that man has distorted religion I have come to know the truth about religion. I don't think of myself as a religious person! Sure I go to church regularly, try to do what is right, believe in Jesus, Heavenly Father and The Holy Ghost, but I don't consider myself religious at all! How can I go to church and not consider myself religious? I have already stated that I think mankind has distorted religion. I just know why we are here, where we came from and where we are going after this mortal life. With that being said there is one church upon this earth that teaches all truths about those 3 aspects of our lives. It is Jesus' church and He and Heavenly Father will always help us when we are humble and pure of intent. I had a grandmother who passed away a little over a year ago and her funeral was conducted by a church that she attended that was not Jesus' church. I am not going to name this denomination but her funeral was a big let down. I had heard that even with non-secular funeral ceremonies, not long before her passing, that the spirit can still be way strong even with a ceremony carried out by a church that is not of Jesus' church. I went to this ceremony/funeral with an open mind and high hopes that we would be able to feel of the spirit strongly and know that there was love in the room. It became apparent that during this so called "family prayer" before the funeral was to take place that this wasn't going to be one of these strong spiritual experiences! This person, whom was the leader of this particular congregation, had no clue what he was saying. I don't like to go to funerals period, so I don't go to many but this was the worst one I had ever attended. Sure I loved my grandma and I now know that her funeral wishes were met with this church. I am 99% sure that she, having the veil removed her after passing from this mortality, knows now that this particular church wasn't even close to preaching the truth. I say 99% because even beyond this life we will still have the right to believe what we want and still deny Christ if we so desire. Why, would one deny Christ let alone his church after having all knowledge from before is brought back to us once the veil has been lifted? I have thoughts/knowledge on that subject as well but won't dive into those as of yet. This leader of this church, whom is a paid clergyman (which is wrong within itself) of this sect just liked hearing the sound of his own voice. Sure he mentioned some passages out of the bible, which I am pretty sure wasn't a King James version unless they just totally misconstrue a ton of things in their church? Who knows? I have told other family members that I cannot see how anyone can go through life without the church in their lives. I am not saying any church obviously, example above! This one relative, mentioned above, also says that he/she doesn't believe in Jesus! This is heartbreaking to hear. He/she has had a rough life and is probably soured to the entire idea of "why/how could God let this happen to me?" You have heard the same story from all of those non-believers who blame God for what has gone wrong in their lives and/or shut Him out of their lives thinking that He can't exist. He can't exist because if he did, these things wouldn't have happened to me! On that note I always have the same 2 responses! A. Everything that is bad upon this earth is brought about by Satan! B. Who suffered the worst in this existence? If you are a believer you know that answer to also be the only person whom was "perfect!" So on that note about people's arguments about life not being fair they should take into consideration that God, gave his only begotten son. This Son was the perfect example, led the perfect life, and yet was the one who more than we will ever know or imagine! Back to the funeral for my grandma I wanted to grab the microphone from this person and just tell everyone who was there that this wasn't right. He is not telling you truthful things and he is most likely upset he had to give up his Saturday for this funeral, but the blow was softened when he received his paycheck for giving up his Saturday. I am not saying this gentleman is Satan or anything like that, he is just ignorant to the truth or if he knows the truth has chosen to follow natural urges over trying to live the way Heavenly Father and Jesus wants us to live. Why didn't I grab the microphone from this guy? It wasn't the right time. It was my grandma's time no matter how wrong the information was. It was her earthly/mortal wishes that were met and I didn't want to intrude on her wishes. I did hope that whatever this dude was saying wasn't sinking in as doctrine that was to be followed by my family members who have no religion! I haven't heard of anyone from the family suddenly taking up this religion since her funeral so for that I am grateful. What is Jesus' church you may be asking if you have taken the time to read this much? It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-Day Saints. The LDS (Mormon church-which is a nickname) church is the only true church on this earth. As a little lad growing up I had seen the Idaho Falls temple and I knew that I was going to go there someday. Why would a pre-teen think/know this if he hadn't ever been to church before in his life? I also knew that marriage was an eternal concept. Why would anyone only want to live with the person that they fell in love with and be devoted to only him or her for this short mortal lifetime? It is the only church that has the priesthood power to marry couples for all eternity and not just until "death do you part!" how did I know of these things without ever being taught them? It was the Holy Ghost that gave me this knowledge! There are hundreds of churches upon this earth and it can probably seem overwhelming to those who want to know God and Jesus and just do not know where to start. This was the issue that a young boy in New York was plagued with in the year of 1820. After reading a scripture in the bible (James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him) was decided to do just that! When Joseph Smith was 14 years old, he wanted to know which church he should join, so he asked God in sincere prayer. In response to this prayer, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph and told him the true Church of Jesus Christ was not on the earth and They had chosen Joseph to restore it. I had felt the Holy Ghost in my life before, telling me not to steal, to obey the teachings of my parents, when to avoid danger and so on, but it wasn't until I was taught the fundamentals of this church that I was so struck with the spirit (Holy Ghost) so strongly that I was unable to speak! I was asked a certain question after hearing the truths of the gospel that were being taught one day by the missionaries and I could not respond. Tears filled my eyes and my chest could barely contain that heart within my chest! I have had this glorious feeling time after time since that day and since being baptized and confirmed a member of Jesus' church. Knowing that I am going to be together "forever" and not just until "death do us part" with my wife gives me this feeling. Knowing that I am sealed together forever with my children also fills me with the spirit as well. It baffles me that people go throughout this life without the one true church let alone any church at all. I cannot remember where I heard this analogy before but it conveys my thoughts on the subject. If our life was a simple walk and from time to time we had to cross fast flowing rivers there would be a few of us who would simply walk over a bridge that is there for us to use. Most of mankind, however, would try with all their might to cross these rivers by wading across or renting rafts that are not strong enough to withstand the fast flowing waters! The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-Day Saints is that bridge! You don't have to drown in the rough waters of life. There is a bridge that Jesus has built to help you cross those rivers each and every time you come to one of these trials in life. Sure the wind may blow, or there may be rain or snow, or the bridge will be icy but why would you ever try and swim? Life is hard enough why would you let Satan win? Satan wants you to be discouraged and hopeless! He doesn't want you to know that Jesus and Heavenly Father love us and want nothing more than to have us find the gospel! I am here for that one relative that thinks I am "too religious," I am here for those family and friends that are struggling and don't know where to turn. I promise you that I know the Church is true. Life doesn't have to be a hard journey upon which you have no hope. I love each and every one of you so much. It is my prayer that you all can know of this truth and the blessings that come with it. It is my prayer that I be not the only one in my family that has these blessings! It is my prayer that you don't wait until you pass from this life and realize that I was correct about this church. If that is the case then Satan was able to throw wrench in the works and hinder your happiness as well as your eternal blessings.

Spiders and Goals

Big news! It has been a while since the last post and a lot has probably past that I should have written about and didn't. Triton has been in soccer for 5 seasons now (they have spring and fall seasons). His first season was a bit boring because the kids are so small and they play on a much shorter field with tiny goals. Triton never "really" technically scored a goal in that first season because the referee didn't see something that he should have. I had coached Triton at home to throw the ball towards the other team's goal when throwing in from an out of bounds position. Well Triton threw the ball in one game and it bounced off an opposing player and went in the goal. The referee didn't see this and so the goal didn't count. The next season and all since have been on a regular school sized soccer field. Triton, being one of if not the shortest on the team, hasn't scored a goal since. He is super good and usually always pays attention to the game but he is just a little too short to keep up with the taller kids. He is a great defender and even though he hasn't scored a goal his play has been admired by coaches and other spectators. This last Saturday, the 4th of October (2014) I had to substitute as our team's coach because the real coach was out of town. We only had 6 kids but we still played and the opposing team only played 6 kids as well when they could have played the normal 7 players. I did a little warm up session with the kids before the game and basically told them two things. Keep the ball with you, which means no kicking the ball and just watching it sail through the air, and don't stop running. If someone gets the ball past you don't just sit there. Anyway, our boys were playing the best I had seen them play. There was really only one kid that was standing in one spot, but he was defense and it was pretty cold outside. We took an early lead 1-0 but then the other team scored to catch up. That is when I saw Triton get passed the defense of the opposing team and was close enough to their goal that he had a chance to score before the bigger kids could catch him. It was one on one with the goalie. Triton and I had practiced many times how he should keep the ball close when driving in and then at the last second kicking it hard into the goal where the goalie would not have enough time to stop the ball. He was a natural driving the ball in pretty quick actually and at the last second kicking the ball past their goalie. Their goalie didn't even have a chance to touch the ball. You might be thinking I was playing favorites and placing Triton in the forward position to give him that opportunity but I really didn't. There were three kids that wanted to play forward and Triton was one of them. We were up 2-1 but then again the other team scored when our goalie didn't use his hands to stop an easy goal. Triton was only in the forward position for the first half. With the score tied I wanted the teams best defender (Triton) to play defense for the rest of the game. It wouldn't have mattered if nobody else would have wanted to play forward except Triton he wasn't going to play forward the rest of the game because he is better at defending. We scored another goal and ended up winning the game. I thought that Triton would have been more excited scoring his first goal, but he celebrated as if anyone on his team would have scored and just went about his business. Even after the game he was not going on and on like I thought he would. Sheri and I went on about it more than he did. We are always proud parents, but more proud in that moment for sure. Spider story is a hilarious one. I was outside a few months ago and Quinn was outside as well catching lady bugs. She was over by the fence when I hear "Daddy there is a spider over there!" I asked her if the spider at her and she said "no." I asked her if she ate the spider and she said "no, spiders are gross!" At this point I decided to keep it going and went on by saying "how do you know spiders are gross Quinn? They might actually taste good." I thought she would just respond by saying the same thing that spiders are gross. I turned away from her and started walking somewhere else and she followed so I knew the conversation wasn't over. This is when I got this response from my 4 year old daughter "well, you would have to cook them!" I started laughing so hard. I must have laughed for like 5 minutes. It was the cutest thing. We have yet to cook any spiders to see if they do actually taste good but who knows, only time will tell. I have been a wannabe golfer for many years now without success. I have won a few tournaments here and there but only in the higher handicap divisions. I had been told that I had a good swing and I felt as if I had a good swing but I knew I was doing something wrong with my hands just before impacting the ball. Well this year has been pretty dang good for me and golf. I have tried a bunch of things here and there that have worked. I might even go so far as to say that I might have caught onto something that is gonna stick. Usually I figure something out that works for a week or two and then it leaves me. So with that said I have always had a goal to shoot par or better once in my life. My uncle Henry, who anyone knows has one of the ugliest swings, had shot a 73 a few years back and I was never able to beat that. My old struggles were off the tee. The driver was not my friend. I fought the duck hook for over ten years. Golf was not a fun game most days. I started to figure something out here and there but the duck hook always seemed to come back. Whatever I have figured out this year has worked. As of right now I am hitting the driver the best I ever have. I haven't duck hooked the ball off the tee with the driver in months. Anyway I met Henry at the golf course one day a few months back and we were forced to play the back 9 first because the front 9 had some 5 groups waiting to tee off. I hate waiting for slow people on the golf course. Not very many people are good at golf, I am one of them, but there is no reason to be slow on top of it. Anyway, I was golfing okay. I started out with a par and then had 4 bogeys and then had 2 birdies to end the back 9 two over par. I didn't know if I wanted to golf the front nine because I wasn't sure if it was going to be way slow. My swing wasn't the best that day so I didn't feel as if I had a chance to break Henry's record. We were going to be up next on the number 1 tee box so I decided to just golf the full 18 holes. I thought it might be a little slow but we flew through the back 9. I hit a really good second shot to just about 4 feet from the hole and made a birdie right off the bat on number one to get me back to one over par on the day with 8 holes to go. It was at the moment that I thought I might have a chance to beat Henry's lowest round ever. I was getting pretty nervous after parring the next 5 holes! I had two par 5s and one par 3 left. I some how birdied number 7 (par 5) and was at even par on the day with two holes left! I told myself if I parred 8 I was for sure going to beat Henry's low round. I parred 8 and was 2 under on the front 9 with one hole left. With one short par 5 left I could beat Henry's low round and maybe achieve a life long goal of shooting par or better! I hit a decent drive and the ball was in play which was half the battle. I had just about 204 yards left for the second shot. This second shot is a daunting one however, there is water left and a huge bunker on the right. There is about ten yards of fairway running up to the green in-between those two hazards. I could have used a 7 iron and laid up like a wuss or I could go for it and chance a double bogey or worse. A smart man would have laid up and tried to get par the hard way. I decided to go for it. I took out my 4 iron and hit a really good shot. I was just barely short of the green and was able to use a putter for my 3rd shot. If I two putt from there I shoot a 69! Forget shooting par or simply beating Henry's low round I now wanted to get a birdie (70). I hit my putt and had a tap in birdie! I was 3 under on the front nine and killed Henry's record by 4 shots! I am so glad that I decided not to lay up and simply beat Henry's record. I went for it and surpassed my own expectations of finishing with a birdie and shooting a 69!

Any Day

Sheri and I moved into our new home August before last. The church that we go to I believe is the only ward in the city that has inmates (who are within a year of release) attending church. I never knew this until I was asked to teach them at the work center. The work center is where inmates (or offenders as we call them at the work center) who are close to their release dates have the opportunity to work, go to church and live a semi normal life before being released back into society as a free man again. There are four of us that rotate and go and teach these "offenders" at the work center. There is usually some 2-6 offenders that go to this class each week. We teach for an hour on something basically of our choosing that is church related. I have not always been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints so most of the offenders in the class probably know more about the church than I do. Not all of them know about the church but I am sure that each one of them understands my conviction and passion about the church by the time that I leave after that hour we have together. I have always been a very quiet person, especially if it is the first time meeting a person. The first 4 weeks of going to the work center I was required by the state to attend with someone else who normally taught the offenders. Then after that I would be allowed to teach these gentleman on my own. My first time to teach I was terrified. I prepared a lesson and walked in with knots in my stomach. I was not afraid of the offenders themselves but afraid that I would not be able to reach them, give a good lesson and for sure was afraid that I wasn't going to take up the full hour. Where the offenders and myself were basically strangers I wanted my first day to be an introduction. I remember there were probably 5 gentleman in my first class that night and I asked if we could go around the room and introduce ourselves and maybe tell a little bit about what we knew about the church. Most guys took maybe a minute at the most to tell me their name and where they were from and that they had known about the church most of their lives. 4 of the 5 knew of and probably believed in the church but had just had a few things go wrong with their lives when they weren't allowing the church and Heavenly Father to help them. One gentleman did take up maybe 5 minutes introducing himself which I was very grateful. This left me with some 45 minutes to myself now! I had taught one lesson to grown men some 11 years before in an Elders Quorum, and that was horrible! It was probably 3 years after I was baptized and still didn't know much of the church. I was baptized a month before my 17 birthday. Of course I knew more about the church now but my confidence was still (still is) low as far as how I might conduct myself in front of people I do not know. I began to tell them about myself. How I grew up. How I learned of the church and came to know that is it the one true church on this earth. I rambled on and on and remember that I didn't even have time to teach the lesson that I had prepared! I rambled on and on about myself and the church for 45 minutes! I felt so proud! It was the first time in my life that I felt that I did a good job speaking to someone that I did not know! Since then there have been about ten to twelve times that I have taught at the work center and I am no longer afraid of not being able to take up the whole hour. We have a small discussion about their lives, work and what not since our last meeting. Then we have an opening prayer and then I ramble on for the rest of the time! With my confidence growing I was asked this one Sunday by one of these offenders why I am the only member in my family? I have a grandmother whom I am sure has felt the Spirit and knows that the church is true but she never goes to church. I have a half brother who is 12 years younger who was baptized when he was the same age I was when I was baptized but he no longer goes to church. I was able to baptize him and it was one of the happiest days of my life and I will not forget. Knowing that he was doing the right thing and that if he lived with the church being a part of his life he would be blessed immensely. Anyway this offenders question puzzled me. Why was I able to tell these gentlemen that were in front of me about the church (an not shut up about it) but was unable to tell my family about it. I have come to the conclusion that these gentlemen choose to come to my class. It is easy to teach about something when someone wants to hear about it. I have not had the opportunity to give my testimony to any immediate family. My father and stepmother heard me speak at Zack's (half brother) baptism but they must not have been reachable at the time. Anyway I have a (very close to family) friend that has been having some relationship issues. Their significant other doesn't treat them the way that they feel they should be treated. I had mentioned in passing a few times throughout this past year that if it weren't for the church I wouldn't be who I am today. I remember having told this person here or there that I know the church is true but didn't ever get any more questions regarding my thoughts on the church. Anyway just this past week of hearing that he/she is only in this relationship for convenience now and not for love saddened me. Then come to find out that this person didn't believe in God saddened me even more. We are on this earth and we have the right (agency) to do whatever we want. We live in a country where we can believe in anything and any religion we choose. However no matter what country we live in on this earth we have been given the right to do whatever we want. If you or I are walking down the road we could at any moment take a left and see what path that would lead to or the opposite and simply take a right! I had no problem with this person not believing in God but again it did sadden me. I was texting back and forth to this person and let them know that I have no clue how people on this earth can go day to day without this church let alone a simple belief in God or Jesus Christ. This person (who again is basically family [AT THIS MOMENT]) asked me how I knew the church was true! Sure this person isn't family but he or she is in a relationship with someone in my family. I then informed this person that I would not be able to text such a response to that query. I informed he/she that I would have to tell them in person, on the phone or via email. This person of course chose email. I have no problem with email and anything before a year ago (since teaching the gentlemen at the work center) I myself would have preferred email! I wrote a simple email to this person explaining how I came to know that this church was true. It was about a page long and could have been a lot longer but I didn't not want to overwhelm! The next day I received a text from this person informing me that the email I sent them was the most powerful thing that they had ever read! This person said how they cried after reading it. Cried uncontrollably for some 10 minutes. This person then said it was so weird looking up into the world after wiping away those tears and seeing it (the world) in a different way! I have been told that I write well, but I am not taking any credit at all. In the email I explained how I felt the Spirit (Holy Ghost) when I had the missionary discussions and at that time I knew the church was true. Because the Holy Ghost himself visited little ole me to give me the knowledge/conviction that the things that the missionaries had taught me were in fact true. After getting this text about this person having such a reaction to my email I told him/her that he/she had in fact just felt the Holy Ghost! I cannot take any credit in the email for him/her feeling this way. It was the Holy Ghost who not only touched me but him/her as well. I have no doubt that this person when taught the Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will know of it's truthfulness but will also have a blessed life because of it! Any Day is the title of this post because it is any day that we can pass from this earth. Anyone who has taken the time out of their day to read this I hope to one day to tell you about my knowledge of the truth. If you have heard things that have soured you toward the church but you know and love me then let me tell you with my perspective. This life is so short and any minute that we can have with this knowledge in our lives will benefit us beyond measure after we pass on.

Last Bowling Blog...for 4 months or so

So, two weeks ago was our last night of bowling. We made the finals. We usually always make the finals but I don't want to sound arrogant. It is pretty tough to make the finals in that league because it is a handicap league and we all know that handicap means that anyone can beat anyone on any certain night. Handicaps level the playing field thus the worst bowler could beat the best bowler! This league isn't setup that way, the worst will never have to bowl the best. It is handicapped in a way that the worst bowler on each team bowls the other worst bowler on another. Then so down the list where the best bowler has to bowl the best bowler on the team. On finals night however it is a total pins handicap so it doesn't matter if you beat the bowler you are normally going up against. There were 4 pretty tough teams in the finals. My friend Mike who I have mentioned was in the finals, his team won 2 of the 4 quarters in the league. We beat them in the third quarter if you can't remember by one and a half points. They are the toughest team to beat for sure. Another team has a pretty good bowler but the other members probably aren't strong enough to help him win the whole thing. Then there was this other team that had a bunch of extra pins in handicap and I knew that they were going to be the most likely team to upset Mike's team. Mike's team won it all last year. I have always been a pressure player. If it is the end of the game and I have a chance to have the ball I want to take that last shot. There are those who can't stand the pressure and don't want to be in that situation. This league doesn't pay hardly anything for the finals, but it is the bragging rights that I wanted! Everyone in the league is usually afraid of Mike's team. I relish the nights that we get to bowl against them because I have (even in my slump for the past ten years) never backed down from the challenge of bowling against the best. Obviously Mike has been one of the best in the city for the past three years. With me coming out of my slump I wanted validation on finals night. I wanted to win that league and gain enough confidence to bowl a scratch league next year (scratch means no handicap). Mike's average along with another person on his team was over 215, Mike's was probably 220. Sure I was only at a measly 205, but I only had 4 pins of handicap myself. Even with Mike's team having two players having no pins handicap to start our team was still actually the same as Mike's team or a little lower. So our team and Mike's had the lowest pins to start. Finals night begins and everyone on our team were bowling pretty dang good except for Sheri. She only bowled a 144 or something like that. Barbara bowled a high 180 game. Jeff and I put on a show! Jeff hit a 279 and I hit a 276. We hit the highest scratch game as a team (not just on the night, but the whole year)! We took an early 100 pin lead over the other three teams after game one. Game two wasn't so kind to Jeff as he hit a 179, Sheri bowled over a 200 which helped a lot and I had a good game of 245. Our lead was only 60 going into the last game. The team behind us was the ones that I feared the most. That being the team that had the most handicap. We had an 80 pin lead over Mike's team and I knew they would have to bowl a huge game to beat us, or we would have to really suck. Well, Jeff tried to really suck by only hitting a 178 his last game. Going into the tenth and last frame the handicap team had taken the lead from us! Their last two bowlers had 3 strikes a piece going into the tenth. It looked as if they were going to pull an upset. I told Jeff that if him and I got three strikes a piece in the tenth frame and if both of their last two bowlers (who had the 3 strikes a piece) didn't strike or spare that we still had a chance. Well Jeff stepped up in the tenth and hit his first strike! Their bowler didn't strike and left himself a pretty hard spare which he did in fact miss! Jeff only got a 9 spare in the tenth after his strike, but I knew we still had hope. I needed to strike out and their last bowler needed to open. I watched their bowler leave a horrible split on his first ball! He in fact did open, but I still felt that I needed to strike out to win. I stepped up and threw three great shots and struck every ball! Jeff and I filled 50 pins out of the last 60! We won by 45 pins! Mike's team did bowl dang good and actually passed the handicap team to take second place! We had won! Sure there was good fortune in that last two frames, but I bowled great. I hit a 723. My 5th 700 series in the last 11 weeks of bowling! The following Saturday we went to the banquet to get our money and rewards. I didn't plan on winning anything as an individual. I had hoped that I might win most improved bowler on the year, but on a handicap league that is way hard to do because someone could have a 100 average and end with a 130! 30 pins is going to win most improved all of the time! I had only improved my yearbook by 12 pins, but I was still hoping to win. We get to this mexican resteraunt and first eat. Then the sheets were passed out showing everyone's awards and games throughout the year. I had wanted to figure out what I averaged since having my bowling balls redrilled and since I figured out a new release. I was mainly interested in that. I didn't really pay attention to the award sheets since I didn't figure I was going to win anything. You get a little extra money for having the top three high scores for high games handicap and scratch along with high series. I knew I wasn't going to win any of those because there was a lot of great bowling by other people. I had to only hope for most improved average! After looking at all my scores through out the year I finally turned to the award pages. I see that we obviously took finals, took second in most points won by a team all year (that is where a team makes most of their year end money). Of course Mike's team was first, I think they have won that 4 years in a row! We also won high handicap series as a team or something like that to win a few extra bucks too. Then I turn the sheet over and see that I did in fact win most improved bowler! I was pretty dang happy about that! I got to looking through the other awards and noticed that my name was on another! You can only win one individual award because they want to reward a lot of people. There was a clause though that stated one person can only win one award except for the person that took most improved average! That person is eligible for two awards! What other award did I win? I had to ask because I didn't even remember there being this other accolade? It said bowler best w/lo % of the year Jason! I asked the secretary of the league what that was? He informed me that I had the best win/loss percentage of all the men (actually the entire league). Which meant that you were more likely going to lose against me over anyone else on the whole league! I was going to beat you more times than Mike beat you. There are 4 other people on that league that are pretty dang good bowlers! It is a handicap league which helps level the field which means a person with a high handicap could beat a person with a low handicap. All of that aside I had the best winning percentage! I won just over 66% of my points. I was most pround of the last 11 weeks though. I think I had to bowl Mike twice and I remember taking 8 out of 10 points from him. I bowled this other guy who averages almost 220 on this other team and took all 5 points from him those last few weeks. I probably had the highest series that was printed in the newspaper 4 of the last 5 weeks on that league! It was the first time in over ten years that I was actually sad that bowling was over. It is the first time in those ten years that I wanted to bowl from week to week. To have my highest winter average in all of my life after all these years of being in a slump, after only bowling the one league, and no practice between weeks all year shows me that I can for sure be one of this cities elite bowlers again. If I pick up another league next year (a scratch) and maybe get a few practice sessions in then I have no doubt that I will get that elusive 800 series. I will be asked to bowl city and state tournaments again! I will be feared. I will always now be known as the best bowler in my family. Sorry Josh you tried your best this year. I really appreciate you bowling with us this year. You starting off the year so great fed my hunger to figure this game out again. I owe you for helping me pull my head out! I have to thank Kevin for redrilling my bowling balls as well. With a bowling ball that fit properly I was able to figure out a release that helps me stay consistent. I know that I am not all the way there to figuring out that release, but I am close. I hope with this summer's break that I jump right back in the swing of things next fall! Only time will tell.

Close, But So So Far Away

So Friday I walk in and my average is up to a 204 which I am happy about because that pretty much guarantees me a yearbook of 200 plus this year. I am bowling Mikey and of course I want to beat him even though he has been my doubles partner and best bowling friend since the 6th grade. Plus we all know that he has been one of the hottest bowlers over the last 3 years. The first game I was bowling alright and he bowled like crap, I finished the game really good and beat him like 222 to 170? He might not even have hit a 170? Anyway I knew he wasn't going to stay down under 200 for long and that he didn't! The next game we both start with the first 7 strikes. He finally missed in the 8th and then I lost all confidence in my release! It was like I went back to the last ten years! I actually slopped down the next 3 strikes giving me the front ten! With lack of confidence and being completely lost in how to throw the ball my hands were sweating. It might have been due to a little nervousness but that usually helps me focus. I couldn't remember how to throw a ball though. The 11th ball I was way too quick with my feet and barely hit the head pin leaving the 2 4 5! I hit a 287 against Mike's 279! The last game I realized that I wasn't being aggressive with my release. Thus I pulled my head out and smashed the pocket. Mike and I were at it again. We both started out the last game with the first 5 strikes, I then hit the pocket in the 6th and for some reason the 8 10 remained? It was pretty weird so I opened nonetheless and
Mikey struck another 2 times eventually beating me that game 232 - 224 taking one point away from me. I hit a 733 series and took 4 of 5 points from Mikey. That should get my average up to a 205! I was happy about the series but so disappointed that I forgot how to release the ball in a moment when I could have obtained perfection again! Ahhhh, I guess there is always next week.

What's Next

So, this last week we were all able to take a trip to Disney Land! It was my first time there and obviously the little ones first time too. We went with Sheri's mom and step-father, as well as her half sister and her husband. We left last Monday and came back on Friday (I couldn't miss bowling)! That isn't the real reason we came back on Friday, it was just time to come back is all. We visited Disney Land that first night and the next day, then drove to Sea World on Wednesday and then back to Disney Land on Thursday. It was way fun, busy and it wore Triton out each night. Quinn would get in a little nap around 1:00 or 2:00 while in the stroller and then she would outlast Triton through the night.

Quinn was able to go on more rides than I thought she was going to be able to and Triton was just barely tall enough to go on Splash Mountain. That was probably the scariest ride that he went on. There was one other roller coaster that he was able to go on that was fast, but no big drop like Splash Mountain. Every time he would get off a ride, he would say "What's Next"? It was pretty cute how he just wanted to go and go. The lines were pretty long, but him and Quinn did pretty good while waiting in lines.

So many thanks to Crystal and Trevor as well as Darrell and Laura for watching the little munchkins while Sheri and I jumped on some bigger rides that the little ones weren't tall enough to ride on. Here are just a few pictures to share of the trip.

Not too sure what Triton is trying to do with his face?

This is Sheri and myself after riding the Atlantis ride at Sea World. You can't really tell but my shorts are soaked as could be. I actually did scream on this ride, but it wasn't because it was scary or cold. I was sitting in front and you can see the big drop just behind us there? That isn't where one gets most wet! There is another drop in the back where nobody can see and that part is where I got about 75% of the soakage that I have in the picture. I screamed because I was in front and I knew before it happened that there was going to be no escaping the wall of water that was coming! I screamed in frustration of not being able to escape the water. So again it wasn't because the water was cold or because I was scared! It was simply the fact that I had no change of clothes and I knew I was going to be wet as can be!!

Nothing Big

Just as the title of this blog is nothing big. I really don't have anything to say that is important, just going to give a quick update on how I bowled last week and maybe other stuff who knows. Last week we bowled on lanes 11 and 12. I have always hated these lanes because it seems that no matter what I don't get the carry I deserve on those lanes. I think I have had maybe one 700 series on those lanes and a high game 290 on those lanes. They must have had the flu on those nights. This night seemed classic 11 and 12 though. I started out practice striking like 4 or 5 times and was throwing a good ball.
The league started and scoring began and I was bowling pretty dang good. I was hitting the pocket and nothing wanted to fall. I threw a couple of bad balls, but was happy with the way that my ball was reacting I just wasn't getting the carry. I hit a whopping 155 or something? I didn't get a strike that whole game? I finally got my first strike in the second game first frame. I was using my Trauma Recovery (which is the ball that I have basically thrown 90% this year) and I think I might have gotten one more strike with it toward the end of that second game. I switched bowling balls to my Track in the tenth frame of the second game. I think I threw 8 out of 12 strikes with that ball. Guess I should have switched earlier? Kind of weird that I was throwing a better ball with the Trauma, but the Track carried better with a worse pocket entry? Some nights are like that I guess. I got an open in the tenth frame of the third game for a whopping 215. Shot a 550 series the worse that I have had in probably 4 months and I blame it on the lanes! Sure it sounds as if I should have just switched bowling balls sooner and maybe that is true, but it still doesn't change the fact that I didn't get the carry that I deserved. I had my average up to a 203 before that night and I imagine it might drop a pin after that 550? So, I need to work to maintain my 200 average in time for the yearbook numbers to be taken (which is the first couple of weeks in April).