Memories that last a lifetime

              In this world that we live in, where news is broadcast at a moments notice, where social media reigns supreme, we have created a new kind of journal for not only ourselves as individuals, but us as a society. Occasionally, there are instances when people step up, and will openly and publicly express their support for those in need. While at the moment, it may not seem like a big deal to them, to those who are affected, the words expressed can be the driving force in pushing forward even in the midst of what seems to be a tragic and heart wrenching experience. This is a very tender subject for me, and know that as I write this, there are tears streaming down my face, but that they are not tears of pain, rather tears of gratitude for the people that stepped up to help when we needed it the most. This is a tribute to you.

    For those of you who don't know, my mom gave it her all in the battle against Leukemia. And when I say she gave it her all I am not kidding. From the diagnosis all the way to the end, she never gave up. I can remember talking to her on the phone literally hours after finding out that she was diagnosed, and the first words out of her mouth to me were, "Are you ok?" Like anyone else who is asked this question, it brings out the most raw emotion that a human can posses. "Mom I'm scared." I said with tears streaming down my face.

                          "I am too, but I am going to beat this and everything will be fine."

In the midst of a life changing moment, for all of us, how is it that she was able to keep this optimism about her? Here I am, the oldest child, and the only boy, and the biggest momma's boy ever, and I am asking myself how can she do that? Well I will be the first to tell you that my mom is just that awesome.  However, even in the thick of all of it, I had no idea what to do, and or think. So I shut down and close up. Thankfully my friends who know me well enough know that something is up.

"Josh are you ok?" Again, I don't know what it is about those words that causes me to break down, but it does every single time. My close friend whom I had met just a few months prior quickly knew that something was up and stepped up to the plate in ways I couldn't imagine. It was then when I told him the news that I had received regarding my mom. "Everything's gonna be ok man. She's going to beat this" Knowing that my friends were there to help me during this helped me out more than I think they will ever know. Even my friends in Utah were there for me even though they were 400+ miles away, I still felt their support, even as they were in complete shock about the news that I had given them.

     Months go by, and sure enough through multiple rounds of chemo, my mom, being the resilient woman she is, goes into remission. What a joyful time this is, and one that I look back on and cherish. Also during this time I met Katherine, who I started dating and eventually would marry. She came into the picture at a very interesting time in my life. A time when there were moments when I thought that my world was crashing down, but she was there at my side.

     Over the course of the next few months, I become engaged, and now it's a wedding to plan for. Originally we were going to be married in the Salt Lake Temple, the same temple that I was sealed to my parents, but the Dr.'s had said that my mom's condition wouldn't allow her to travel long distances. That was a hard decision to make for us, because both Katherine and I wanted that to be where we got married, but I wanted my parents there for my wedding. Being LDS, we strive to be married and sealed in the Temple. This is a very sacred ordinance in our faith, and only those members who are in good standing with the church and living the standards set may enter it's doors. The decision had been made to move the wedding from the Salt Lake Temple to the Denver Temple. Which was a lot closer for our immediate families, but our extended families would have to make quite the trip to come. But it worked out in the end.

    August 14, 2010 was an amazing day. My wedding day, a day I will never forget. We were incredibly lucky that day. I look back through our pictures and a flood of memories and emotions come back about that day. I look at the pictures that we took my the wedding party, and especially the pictures of me with my best man and the groomsmen, and I think about how I came to choose them as my groomsmen. I am sure that none of them know this, but I will spill the beans about my decision for them. Each and every one of them had a big role in helping me at the time that I found out about my mom being diagnosed. They were incredibly supportive even though the majority of them didn't know how I felt at that point in time, it did not matter because they did what they could to help me in this time of need.

How grateful I am for them and my friendship with those men who stepped up and did what they could to help me.

          The man that we had asked to be the one to officiate the wedding ceremony had been a close family friend of ours, and one who had known everything that my family had been through up to this point, graciously accepted the opportunity to officiate this occasion for us. It was a beautiful ceremony, one of joy and many tears were shed but they were very happy tears. Most importantly the fact that my mom got to see her little boy get married was definitely a highlight for me, especially on the happiest day of my life.  An amazing day that I will always remember. I loved that day. I was able to have the perfect day with the woman I love, my amazing wife, and I was able to share that with my family and friends.

Due to modern medicine, what would of tragically taken my mom from this earth allowed us the blessing to be able to spend another two years with her in this life. I can still remember that phone call that I made early in the morning in Feb. of 2012. The phone call went like this,



Me: "Mom?"
Mom: "Yes?"
Me: "Lucas is here..... he's an amazing little boy"
Mom: "That's awesome, Congratulations.. you're dad and I will be up there in a few hours to meet him"
Me: "I love you mom"
Mom: "I love you too"

In a day that was the longest day of my life, but also the most life changing, that will be a day that I will never forget.



Sure enough, a few hours later, my parents made the drive up to greeley to meet their newest grandson, and the boy that would carry the family name for another generation. I could see the excitement in her eyes. This is what the purpose of life is all about. This is what true joy and happiness is. These moments.

    The week though would make an interesting turn as the doctors would inform us that one of the tests came back that Lucas's skin had a "contaminant" and that they would have to keep him longer. My poor little boy who had just made his appearance into the world just hours later now had to undergo a bunch of tests including a lumbar puncture. If you don't know what that is, it's a procedure where a needle is inserted into the spine to extract a sample of spinal fluid. It's a painful procedure, and somehow my little boy was able to go through this like a champ. During this week, the outpouring of support that Katherine and I received was absolutely incredible. This ranged from members of our church congregation bringing Katherine and I dinners at the hospital since Katherine had been officially discharged. From personal experience, living a week in the NICU was worse than that of being in jail. While I am eternally grateful for the Dr.s and nurses that helped us, the environment was incredibly stressful. But those people who supported us, did more than I think they will ever know.


    Fast forward to September 2012. Lucas is only 6 1/2 months old, and I receive the phone call that I didn't want to ever have to receive. Time was incredible short, and my mom's days were numbered. So we drive down to the hospital where she is at, and there is all of my family there. What an incredible experience that was. The inevitable is there, and we all know it, but you wouldn't know it by the amount of love that is in the room. It was almost like it was our typical routine visits that we had made for the last 2+ years. But we couldn't ignore the news that we had all received. While I will not share exactly what happened there, there is one experience I will share. My mom had ordered her dinner, and with it came some chocolate ice cream. She motioned to me to put Lucas on the bed, and I knew exactly what she was going to do. Up to this point, Lucas had not had chocolate ice cream before, but I knew that time was going to come to an end. The smile on her face as she fed her grandson that chocolate ice cream was priceless. A side note on that subject, when the time comes that I get to see her again, I'm going to let her know that she created his love for chocolate, but that's ok.

       Just a couple days before she left this earth, there was a major outpouring of support from friends and family with everything that we were going through. Social media then became an outlet for people to publicly express their love and support for us. I wish to share some of those with you, because of the incredible impact that it had on me, and showed me just how much my mom had impacted those whom she had met throughout her lifetime.

 As you can see, these are heart felt expressions of love and support for us during this tough time. Seeing my mom make that transition from this life to the next was very eye opening. It was one that I was not prepared for, and that I was not aware of the physical process that the body goes through as  it prepares to move on . While it was hard to watch, I knew that Heavenly Father was in control and that was a crucial thing to keep in mind as I went through this phase of life, that definitely changed me forever.


September 11, 2012, my mom passed away in her sleep at home, just as she wanted. It was amazing to see the overwhelming outpouring of love and support was nothing short of a miracle. My phone was constantly going off with notifications, messages  and phone calls. I felt a great amount of support, especially from my sweet wife. She was there for me in a way that I never knew that someone could. I couldn't have made it through that time without her. As I stood at the pulpit, on the day of her funeral, I looked out over all of those who were in attendance, and there were individuals who were absolutely amazing. They were all there to celebrate this life that had blessed all of us, and it amazed me to see the impact that she had on the community. I have given many talks in front of lots of people, including senators, and other government officials. But nothing would push me to my limits than that of speaking at my mom's funeral. I know that she was proud of me in that moment.

Since then, while it's been hard to continue on, I have been blessed to have the absolute best family and friends who have had my back. I want to thank you all for your continued support

Entering the crazy world of Comic con

      Friday and Saturday, September 6-7th I had the amazing opportunity of attend my very first comic con in salt lake city utah. Not only was this my first comic con, it was also the first convention like this for the state of utah. I had first heard about this convention after the very first announcement that it would be coming to utah and would be held at the south towne expo in sandy, but that wasn’t what got me excited about it.     

           What really got my going about it was the initial celebrity guest list which included none other than my childhood heroes: Adam West & Burt Ward. 

Adam West & Burt Ward from the show

Now if you aren’t in touch with your inner geek then let me explain who these two men are. Yes Batman and Robin from the 1966 TV series was there as part of the guest list. you can imagine my excitement as a long time batman fanatic to finally get to see in the flesh the two actors that in a sense changed my life forever. The original venue was only scheduled for two rooms at the South Towne Expo that really wasn’t that big of a venue. 
   But i didn’t care, because batman would be there. As time passed and the days approached the convention, the number of celebrities that would be attending grew, and so did the venue. 



This was gearing up to be a lot bigger than what people had expected. so let’s fast forward to the sunday prior to the start of the convention. I see a post on their facebook page about volunteering to work at comic-con. This was a totally new concept to me, rather than pay money to go to it all three days, why don’t I work as a volunteer and get what I thought to be more perks than that of a person with the vip.  After some short email exchanges with the organizers of comic con I was selected to be a volunteer. i realized two things when this happened. 1.) this is going to be a lot of hard work, and make black friday in the retail world look like childs play and 2.) this is going to be absolutely amazing. I am going to be a part of history. Well I do have to say, I was right on both of my realizations, it was most definitely a lot of work, to say the least. On the flip side, I got to do a lot of things that one can only dream about.
      

      To Give you a short synopsis, I was given the opportunity to be a celebrity escort to Adrian Paul, who played as the Highlander in the late 90’s which was a fantastic experience. he was a lot of fun to talk to, and really nice, and most of all when i was completed with what i was assigned to do, he shook my hand and thanked me for my help. Here is a major celebrity thanking me for what i have done for him... SWEET!! I also had the chance to meet some of my childhood heroes, some of which you might know, some you may not. Dean Cain was awesome, very nice and very laid back. especially for a man who has the title of being superman.

David Yost aka The Blue Ranger

Walter Jones aka The Black Ranger

David Yost and Walter Jones, whom some of you may think who on earth is that? They were the original Blue and Black Power Rangers from the show The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers.

Ray Park

      While I understand that this may really show how geeky I can be, I don’t really care. :-) the important thing is that I had the fantastic opportunity to meet and interact with celebrities. Some of the other celebrities that I met included Ray Park, who is known as playing Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1, Snake Eyes in G.I Joe, and last but not least, Toad in X-men. For a guy that’s short, he is ripped and not a guy I want to piss off in any parking lot. Henry Winkler who has been around the hollywood scene for a long time, was part of the celebrity guest list, he is a great guy. While the other celebrities were sitting behind their table, Henry was up in front of the table among the fans interacting with them, which I thought was a classy act on his part.

Adam West

       But the highlight of this comic con was being able to work the booth for burt ward, and the ever so famous, Adam west. Even though Adam is significantly older than he was before, he is just as sharp now as he was when he was on the show as batman. Talk about being humble and grateful. Adam West is probably one of, if not the most humble celebrities that I have ever met. (although his agent was a piece of work) Burt Ward on the other hand, not so much. Both Burt and his agent were making all sorts of hissy fits and made it very clear that they were unhappy that people decided to go pay money on Adam West, where the others just wanted to shake his hand. While Burt was throwing his tantrums (and no, I am not exaggerating either) Adam just looked over at burt and chuckled to himself while continuing signing autographs. There were many other stars that I met but all and all I think that for this being a 1st year in the business, this was a huge success!


        I am excited to be able to say that I was definitely part of history at the Inaugural Salt Lake Comic Con and because of the efforts that I was able put in to this particular comic con, I will be able to volunteer at the comic cons from here on out. The best moment though for me personally was to be able to see a lifetime dream come true with my wife and my son there at my side when it happened.
That right there, made all the headaches and all the stress that came from interacting with thousands of people all worth it. 

A view of the Vendor Exhibit floor on Saturday

**All the images were from the Salt Lake Comic Con website and all the credit for those images goes to them.

Adversity is going to get a nice solid backhand

This post is definitely going to be a little more personal, unlike the previous posts but my purpose is to share with you things that have been on my mind lately, and at some point even help me understand things a little clearer and potentially in a different light. It's funny how writing things out will do that to you.



This life brings some very interesting challenges. These can range is all shapes and sizes, but the biggest question is, how do we handle it them all? I had read a talk the other day about adversity, and one quote in particular really hit me to the core which said "Adversity will surface in some form in every life. How we prepare for it, how we meet it, makes the difference. We can be broken by adversity, or we can become stronger. The final result is up to the individual." (Marvin J. Ashton) While I am not the type of person that will say here is my faith study it because you have to know about it, I am willing to share my thoughts about it, as it pertains to me and if you decide to take that adventure and find out more about it, more power to you. Either way, whether you do or don't, the choice is your's, but I will not force it down your throats. 

That being said, Over the last few years, I have personally faced a lot of various forms of adversity, and I often wonder: 1.) How on earth did I survive that? 2.)Who were the influential people during that time that helped me through it? and finally 3.) How have I grown because of those challenges?

While I don't feel it necessary to explain the events that have led me to this point, I will share my thoughts about the.

To begin, I know that it is a safe assumption that each and every one of us have all gone through various events in our lives that have changed and molded us. I am no exception to this statement. During these times, especially when I was in the thick of the event, I often would ask myself can I make it through this, but I would always remind myself that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. While it may be difficult to keep that mindset, I've come to learn that things will always get better. Just as long as I don't lose that big picture.

There are a lot of people who have always been there during those hard times. I know that as each of you read this you will think in your mind a few individuals that you know that you have been able to turn to in those times of need. Think about what they did or said to help you. I have been blessed that I have the best family and friends that have been there for me when I've been struggling. Lean on them in times of need and they will provide and extraordinary amount of support that is almost out of this world. 

The greatest challenge that I have ever had, is being able to learn from those events that brought a lot of adversity in my life. The overall purpose of this life (and that's not limited to any faith or belief) is to learn and grow, and learning from those tough experiences and growing from them will not only be the greatest challenge in life, but also the most rewarding as well. 

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Joys of Technology

What a cool thing technology is. We live in an age where the world and all the information in it is at our fingertips, and the NSA's. We as a society live in such a way where we are always connected at any given time. How cool is that? 

I can remember when going to the library involved having to know the Dewey decimal system, which today most kids probably have no idea what that is, and then if you wanted to know the location of a book was you would have to look through an infinite (or what felt like an infinite) number of filing cases of 3x5 cards with the books information on it and then hope that the book was Ben there. It almost seems like it was a game developed by the great Waldo himself. 

But now, fast forward fifteen years and you can now go online and reserve the book online and then pick it up when it's put on hold for you.. I don't know about you but that kind of takes half the fun out of the library dash. Driving crazy (or like Utahans, because we all know you drive crazy) and rush to the library for the newest Harry potter, just to find out there is a six month waiting list to get the book for five days. 

Also the news back then dictated when stories would be announced to the public. Now most news stations find out after at least a thousand status updates and tens of thousands of tweets about a news story has been blowing up online. Imagine what George Lucas would of thought had mark hamill tweeted during filming of the empire strikes back, "Vader is my daddy?! Great there goes my Father's Day!! Go ahead dad cut my hand off while you're at it. Next you'll tell me that I made out with my sister?! #vaderfml" that would have created quite the buzz haha 

I won't lie to you, I love the idea of technology and what it has done for us, and what it will do in the future. I'm just waiting for, and hope that I'll be able o see the day of flying cars and hover boards.. Because I'm sure I'm not the only one that saw that in Back to the Future part 2 and said, "Mom can I have a hover board for Christmas?"

One can only wish.

Scratching The Surface

While viewing this whole "Blogging" thing, it has generated a lot of various thoughts such as, "If I were to blog, what on earth would I write about that would be interesting to other people?" or "Am I going to code the entire layout myself? or just used the generated stuff?" (yes that was an actual thought and yes I will eventually code the entire layout myself.) Thus was the proceedings that went on in my head.

I realized that no matter what I write, two things would in fact be achieved in the endeavor known as blogging: the first is that there are some people in this world that might actually get a kick out of what I have to say, and how I say it. (Or so I hope) The second, that one day I will still keep this going and my kid(s) will be able to look back and read what their old man had to say and think back when they were little, or in the current case, while Lucas is little.

Hint Hint Wink Wink

For the benefit of those of you readers who may not know me, I shall give you a slight preview about me. No that will not include things like, "Hi my name is Josh, and I am a gamer (Hi Josh)" or "I like to take walks along the beach" although someday I would like to say that, but I can't considering I have never seen the beach. **Insert predictable gasp now** I am however a proud husband and father. My wife is pretty awesome if I do say so myself. (You should, after you're finished reading this piece of writing epicness click on the hyperlink that says wife... I dare you ;-) haha) I also have the coolest kid on the face of this earth. Some may say that I have a bias opinion, which may be true, but all you have to do is spend 10 minutes with him (assuming he has taken his naps) and you will see that he is the coolest kid this world has to offer. So between that, working full time and going to school, life is nothing short of craziness. However I would not change it for the world. 

There are many things in this world I enjoy. For those who truly know me, I could give them 3 guesses as to some of my interests but they can 99.999999999999999998% of the time guess them all. Unless they're under the influence of something that the F.D.A. doesn't approve of, then they probably won't.. maybe. 

So for this beginning blog, I wish to address something that has been creating quite the hullaballoo in the entertainment industry. Ben Affleck's recent announcement from Warner Bros. about his role as Batman. I will be honest, at first I was completely against the idea. Like this is a dumber idea than that of putting nipples on the Batsuit. Which still ranks high on my list of dumb things that the entertainment industry has done second to thinking that Justin Beiber is actually a good artist. While I don't completely understand the logic behind this decision of having Mr. Affleck as The Dark Knight, I have come to some certain conclusions about the topic, that I wish to share with you now.

1.) Christopher Nolan will have his hands in the project. This is a key aspect that I think everyone needs to keep in mind. Christopher Nolan, the genius behind the Dark Knight Trilogy will be (according to rumors) producing the next Man of Steel film just as he did with the first, which I have to my unfortunate dismay, have not been able to see yet. However, from what I have heard and read, by the sounds of it the film did very well in bringing the franchise back to a proper superhero film, after the Superman Returns debacle. (I'll be honest, and I don't care what the fanboys will say, there were many aspects of the film that I enjoyed.) 

2.) The other Bat-men have spoken out in support of Ben Affleck in his new role. The best came from my hero, who I get the opportunity to see at the Salt Lake Comic Con, Adam West when he tweeted:

therealadamwest Remember Ben, with the cape and cowl comes great responsibility (and lots of heat). Bring deodorant. #batman @BenAffleck 8/23/13 3:31 PM

Let's face it people, there are two aspects of that tweet that are amazing, (1.) Adam West totally pokes fun at Marvels characters by using (not stealing because we all know he probably got the good game slap from Stan Lee to use his line) from Spiderman, and (2.) He has all the authority to be the voice of the people about Batman.

(couldn't help it haha) 

So In Conclusion, (my teachers absolutely despised that haha) While we all will express our distaste for their decision as who will play Batman, I say let's wait. Yes I know some of my reader(s) will say, "But Josh you said..." I know what I said earlier, and I am making this my official statement on the matter, that I will wait and see just how he does, and if he blows it, then he can sit at the bottom of the food chain with George and his bat-nipples. 

***If you happen to be curious about what's going on with the new superman/batman film I recommend checking out Batman-news or Batman-on-film. Side note: neither site has contacted me to endorse their websites. I personally like them and enjoy what they offer, and wish to share it with you.