Role Models

I recently attended a talk by Young Mens General President Dahlquist. He visited Twin Falls a week or two ago to talk to us about the youth of the church, and specifically about the Young Men of our Stakes and Wards. I know that I'm not supposed to quote general authorities when they come and visit, so, I'll just talk about some stuff I have been thinking about that was spurred by some of the topics he discussed. Is that vague and general enough?

Anyway, he was talking about hero's and that the young men need role models in their lives. I agree that our young men need someone to look up to, someone with good moral standards and values. I decided to try and find some famous people that had been Eagle Scouts. (do you capitalize eagle scouts?) I wasn't looking for just your run of the mill Eagle Scouts, I wanted someone that the young men would go "WOW, he was as Eagle Scout? COOL!" So, I put my best search engine skills to work. I wanted to find an NBA star or an NFL star that all of the young men would recognize and point to him as being an Eagle Scout. BUT, I didn't find one. I thought for sure that someone would put together a list of famous people that were Eagle Scouts. I did find a short list but it didn't have anyone that a young person today would recognize. I wouldn't think that Bill Bradley, Walter Cronkite, Steven Spielberg nor Ross Perot would be recognizable to our youth. Maybe Steven Spielberg, but the rest, I am sure are virtually unknown names to 12 - 18 year old boys. Steve Young was a scout but apparently never received his Eagle Rank. I'll keep looking and let you know if I come up with any more good names.

Today, I received a copy of the Church News. Along with the Church News, there is now a new publication called the Mormon Times. I noticed on the front page of the times there was an article about missionaries and basketball players. The article was entitled, "Mission experience pays off for college basketball RMs". It is a great little article about return missionaries that are currently Basketball players at Utah State University and other colleges. The best part about this article is that it has a picture of a return missionary from Twin Falls Idaho named Brady Jardine. Brady was a basketball star from Twin Falls High School. He is actually in our Stake and attended church in our same building. We watched him at high school basketball games and even went to Boise to watch him take the Idaho title. He then signed with USU and then left on a mission. This summer, he returned from his mission, traveled up to our High Adventure Camp, and gave a talk about preparing for a mission to our youth. It was AWESOME! He took his place on the USU Bball team this fall and is now a valuable player on their team this year. I don't know if he was an Eagle Scout, but I'll take a good return missionary as a role model any day.

NOW THAT IS A ROLE MODEL THAT OUR YOUNG MEN CAN LOOK UP TO!

Still got it? NOT!

Last night I decided to run over to the church and see if our ward was scheduled for a basketball game. When I got there, I found a number of young men just shooting around at both ends of the court. I quickly rallied them together and started a game.



I held my own against these youngsters and even scored a couple of points. One of which was a 3 pointer.

After several long minutes of play, the "pickup" game ended and the adults began warming up. Our ward only had 2 people (including myself) show up to play. We grabbed some guys that were there waiting for the next game and filled the rest of the slots in our 5 man game.

The game was fast and physical but I held my own against these younger men. At the end, I was exhausted but still felt good about playing in both games. I don't know if I still have it, but it sure felt good to be out there showing them my moves.

Wass Up?

I have always enjoyed watching the "Wass Up" commercial that a certain dealer of a intoxicant produced one year. I have seen many variations of this same commercial which made me laugh as well. I decided, on Sunday morning, that I would re-enact this video using the talented actors and actresses from the Carter Family. I hope that you don't notice that Katie appears in 3 different outfits. Deanna felt I should redo those scenes to keep congruity but I was feeling that I just wanted to get it finished.

Enjoy.

Spirits and Physical Bodies

I have often pondered as to whether spirits can touch and feel things. We know that spirits are more fine and pure. We know that spirits can float and can appear and disappear. I guess there are no scriptural references that show that spirits can go through walls but I've always just assumed that spirits could do that. We also believe that our soul is made up of a spirit body and a physical body. If spirit is more fine and can travel through walls, how does our spirit stay in our bodies? Even more interesting question is, how does our spirit control our bodies? There must be some connection between our physical body and our spiritual bodies. Where is that connection and how does it work? Is there a special connection in the brain that allows our spirit to communicate with our bodies?

The only answer I have come up with comes from D&C 7:7. "Spirit is matter". It says that "There is no such thing as immaterial matter." So, spirits do have matter, but it is finer and purer. There must be enough matter there to be able to make a connection with the body and communicate with it. How it stays inside the body is a mystery and is probably predicated by a law of God. It will be interesting to learn just how spirit bodies communicate with physical bodies once we leave this life and start learning things in the afterlife.

look alike

I've decided to start posting some ponderings of mine.  I'm just going to float them out there into the blogosphere and see what kind of resonses I get.  I already sent one out there entitled Ward vs Family.  I received mixed reviews, however I enjoyed the social banter it created.

I have always wondered about whether I would look the same as a spirit.  We are taught in the Mormon faith that our sole is made up of 2 parts, a spiritual being (spirit children of a Heavenly Father), and a physical being (from earthly parents).  Many people belive that our spirits look just like our physical bodies.  I don't know if I believe that theory.  I do believe that our spiritual bodies are a likeness of our physical bodies but not exactly the same.  How could that be, you ask?  Well, here is my theory.

I believe that our physical bodies are subject to physical rules and regulations.  We receive DNA from 2 parents making our bodies unique.  We also receive a lot of physical attributes and physical features related to our parents.  Many people can look at someone's face and say, you look just like your Dad.  I have heard that time and time again in my life.  When I look at old pictures of my Dad, I do look like him.  My son Coby looks like me.  So, I believe that we look the way we do because of genetics.  Here comes the leap.  How is it possible that our specific spirit attributes looks like our specific physical attributes?  I assume that spiritual attributes come from spiritual parents.  Physical attributes come from physical parents.  So, my guess is that our spirit looks different than our physical bodies.  (facial features, height, hand size, hair etc)  It would be silly to assume that because your physical parents are short, that your spirit is short too.  Or, if your physical parents have a crooked nose that your spirit would enherit the crooked nose.  

So, how does it work?  I don't know.  Maybe we will get a choise as to whether we want to look like we did on earth or how we looked in heaven.  Maybe we can pick and choose features that we like.  I know I want to be taller than I am now.

One last thing on this issue.  You remember that after Jesus had been resurrected, he walked with his apostles, and they did not recognize him(that is a paraphrase).  Could this possibly be the answer?  Maybe He chose to show Himself with His spiritual appearance instead of His physical one.

It is definately fun to think about.

Metabolism

I was talked with some friends last night and somehow the topic turned to metabolism. It was very interesting because all of these "middle aged" men mentioned that they noticed when their metabolism started to slow. I'm glad that other people experience the same thing because I am definitely feeling the symptoms of a slowing metabolism.

I have always been thin. As Mr. Monk would say, "its a gift, and a curse". A gift when I played sports and a curse when girls would look at my skinny legs and exclaim, "I wish I had your legs". Yes, that was their comment. BTW, if you ever feel the need to comment on a guy's legs, please do not utter these words. It is a little de-masculating.

I have always concidered eating a need, not a want. I would rather not eat but I have to eat to have energy so I always would eat enough food to keep me going but I never just enjoyed eating. However, I am finding this to change a little as I get older. I am seeing myself eating more at the dinner table and enjoying the food. I have even caught myself putting more on my plate that I can eat. The tastes are so good that I want another helping even though I am completely full.

It reminds me of a trip I made to a restaurant in Boise. I was with a number of friends from my church. We may have been at an all-you-can-eat establishment and we had just finished our meals. All of us were leaning back trying to let the morsels settle. One of my friends exclaimed, "I think I just broke the word of wisdom". I shook my head at the time and thought, yes, you may be right.

History

I was up in Bountiful this weekend helping my mother with a history of my grandparents Loy and Erma Blake. As we were going through the history, I found a couple of really great pictures of our family when we were all younger. Can you pick me out?

New Family Portrait

It has taken us a while, (maybe as long as 6 years) to get our family portrait taken again.  I know, it is sad that it took us this long.




Aren't they the cutest family you have ever seen?

Show me your workplace

I follow a blog by Clark Draney and he challenged me to take a picture of my workplace.  I kept forgetting to bring my camera to work so I just never got around to doing it.  Well, this morning, I was working on a laptop and noticed that it had a built in web cam.  Using my highly trained technological prowess, I decided to turn on the laptop's web cam and point it at my desk so that I would finally have a picture of my working environment.  I don't think the quality is too good but you can see my desk, monitor, and speakers. You may not be able to see it, but there is a layer of dust on my desk.  The dust is not from my lack of cleanliness, but rather, a continuous flow of construction silt that lands on me every day.  Our office is under construction and I don't exaggerate in saying that they have been plastering, cutting, sanding, and hammering for an entire month. I'll take a picture when we are in our new offices and my desk is more organized and dust free.

Carter News Flash

Here is another very quick Carter News Broadcast.

Anniversary of Engagement

Many of you may not celebrate it or even remember it but for some reason it sticks in my mind as a day to remember.  This was the day that I "plucked up enough courage" to ask Deanna to marry me. This day had to be well planned, ring purchased, events organized and flawlessly executed.  The day was March 3, 1993.  It will go down in history as a wonderfully happy day, when Deanna said Yes.

Happy Engagement Anniversary Deanna.

I Love You.

Clint

Video's about the Mormon Church

I follow a blog called LDS Web Talk.  It has great stuff about the church and technology.  Today, I found out that there are some videos on YouTube made by a group called Mormons made simple.Watch the two videos below,  Book of Mormon Made Simple and Attending a Mormon Church Service.

I'm thinking of sending the links to a couple of non-member friends of mine.

Enjoy

Things I've Done or Haven't Done

Bold the things you have done... [comment if you wish...]

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band [Marching, Concert, Symphony, Pep]
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty [floated past]
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked [on my mission]
Taken a sick day when you're not ill [kids were sick]
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Run a Marathon
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language [spanish]
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo's David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling [snorkeling]
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business [eCarters.com]
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout Cookies
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy [I still have pinewood derby cars in my treasure box]
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House [just the outside]
Killed and prepared an animal for eating [fish]
Had chickenpox
Saved someone's life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous [Glenn Beck]
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby [not me but my wife]
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee [wasp]
Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Exciting game

Andy notified me that there was a Bruin basketball game last night and asked if we could go. I found out that this was a "do or die" game for the Bruins to go to State. We threw on our coats and ran out the door. Before we left, I decided to try out my new MP3 player that had a built in FM radio tuner. Maybe I could listen to the play by play while watching the game.



I tracked down MIX 103 for the game and got a really good signal. As we entered the building I looked over at the announcers table to see if I could spot the "caller". He had a headset on and was stationed just below the upper deck of the gym. I decided to find a seat on the opposite side of the gym where there weren't as many people.




We sat and watched the game as the Twin Falls Bruins pulled ahead to create a cushion of 10 points. As we entered half time the announcer on the radio made a comment that he was having trouble staying connected to the radio station by cell phone. He mentioned that his cell phone was running low on battery and he wasn't sure how much of the game he could call. I thought it was interesting that he was using a cell phone.

As we entered the final minutes, the announcer started to get very anxious, his cell phone was dieing and I could see from across the gym that he was frantically searching for someone that had a cell phone. The radio station then went to commercial because the connection had been lost. I thought for sure that someone else in the gym would notice that he needed help. I sat for a few seconds waiting to see what would happen. After seeing the frustration and the announcer almost giving up on calling the final minutes of the game I quickly turned to Andy to see if he had his cell phone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and I asked, "is your phone charged?". He checked and nodded that it was. I said, "are you sure it is fully charged?" He said yes and showed me the bars on the phone. I then told him to run the phone over to the radio announcer on the other side of the gym. He looked at me like I was crazy. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "here, you take it over." So, I grabbed his phone and ran down the steps and up the other side of the gym. I reached through the fence on the upper deck and held the cell phone and asked if he needed a cell phone.



He looked up, saw the phone and grabbed it out of my hand looking for the microphone jack. He quickly found it and plugged in his headset. There was less than 3 minutes on the clock and they were completely off the air. I could tell he was in a hurry as he quickly tried to figure out how to dial the radio station number. After a couple of attempts he got connected and once again began calling the game. He gave me a big thumbs up after reconnecting with the station. Andy and I returned to our seats to enjoy the rest of the game.

The Bruins won the game by 10 points and secured their spot at a birth at the State Tournament. Andy and I returned to the announcers table after the game to pick up his phone. After they had done the interview with the coach, he was very kind to mention that we had saved the program by letting him use our cell phone.

I found out after the game that the announcer is the husband of Kate's first grade teacher. I also found out that most of the games that are called on MIX 103 are done by cell phone.

Needless to say, it was an exciting game in many different ways.

full length movie? "Just In Time"

This week, I decided to try my hand at a full length, (ok, not full length) movie. We've named it "Just in Time". I created the script, chose my actors and went for it. I tried to add some comedy and drama. You will notice that both of my actors have a hard time not looking at the camera. You might also see them smiling when they really should be smiling. However, they were good sports and allowed me to do my stuff. I'm actually pretty pleased at how it turned out. I learned quite a bit and will use some different techniques for my next movie. Enjoy the show.

Ski Trip

I went with Andy's 6th grade class to Pomerelle ski resort this Wednesday for a ski trip. We received some free ski classes before they let us loose on the mountain. After getting used to my borrowed skis, from my brother Blake, I took my chances on the man made jumps.




Ok, so my jumps are REALLY, REALLY LAME but that is all of the courage I could muster up for the jump. Maybe I'll take it faster next time, which will probably be in a few years when Savanna has her 6th grade ski trip.

The last jumper is Andy. Andy did very good for his second or third time skiing. He was even brave enough to take the jumps.

The weather was perfect. There was 2 feet of new snow and the lines were short. It was just a great day to be skiing.

Carter News Brief

We had some time Sunday afternoon to put together a Carter News Brief. I hope you enjoy the reports.



I think we have some great potential news anchors in our family.

Coby wins a Scholarship

Coby received a scholarship last week from Zion’s Bank. Each quarter, Zion’s bank gives a 100 dollar scholarship to one student that participates in the “Pays for A’s” program. Coby was the winner this quarter so the Bank Manager presented him with the scholarship over at Oleary Junior High. The Principal and Vice Principal were also in attendance and congratulated him for his hard work at getting straight A’s. Coby will be saving this scholarship money to help pay for his college tuition. Nice Job Coby.

Here is the video of the event. It isn't very loud so you may need to turn up your speakers.

Politics

You have probably all been bombarded with the political rhetoric that is being presented on all of the talk radio stations and TV news channels. You may even feel animated to the point that you need to contact your representatives in the US Senate and House of Representatives. I definitely have felt the need to voice my opinion, so, I tracked down the Idaho state representatives and have emailed them my concerns about the "stimulus package" and about the other things happening in Washington D.C.

If you are having trouble finding a way to email them, I'll make it easy for you. Here are the links to their websites.

Senator James Risch
Senator Mike Crapo
Congressman Mike Simpson
Congressman Walt Minnick

So, if you want to contact your IDAHO representatives, click on the links and send them your opinion.

DMJ

In these uncertain times, we (a couple of guys that really like funny jokes) have discovered that we haven't been receiving as many humorous anecdotes, stories and one-liners in our email inbox's. We have studied and researched with almost unanimous scientific consensus, that the economy is causing this huge dip in the amount of jokes being forwarded around the internet. Therefore, in an effort to increase mirth and joviality, we are applying for a 5 million dollar grant to be added to the stimulus package to get the jokes flowing again in cyberspace.

In an attempt to get our humor and economy stimulated, we have decided to form an agency that will have a dual purpose. Purpose #1 will be to create new jobs by employing people to forward funny emails and stimulate a very depressed economy. This will generate a net, 2 new jobs. Purpose #2 will be to forward and create as many funny emails as possible to simulate a very depressed national funny bone. I think we can all agree that the country is not just in a humor recession, but a full fledged hilarious DEPRESSION. To get us out of this depression, we are requesting that our agency be added to the stimulus package that President Obama has been encouraging lawmakers to pass.

This new department will officially be called, “The Department of Mirth and Joviality” (DMJ for short). Our motto will be: "If it isn't funny, you're not allowed to do it!"



Please urge your Senators and Congressman to support this addition to the stimulate package. We will all be much happier and jovial when the package is approved. We promise that you will immediately see more funny jokes flowing into your email boxes which will raise the level of humor in our nation.

New President

I decided to write up a post about the inauguration of our new President of the United States. I tuned in over the internet to watch the procedings but as we got closer and closer to the actual swearing in, the bandwidth clogged up and I was not able to watch the whole thing live. I did, however, watch parts of the inauguration later in the evening on our Tivo.

You have all probably seen the one clip I will be commenting on. The clip was President Obama saying the oath of office. I have seen Barack debate on many occations and I have never really seen him flustered. Even when on The Oreily Factor he didn't seem to flinch with the barrage of questions Bill through at him, however, during his "swearning in" I could tell the Barack Obama was nervous. This should have been a time to focus and repeat the lines of the oath but he was unprepared and the Chief Justice was also a little flustered and the "Oath of Office" was botched. Here are the exact words that should have been said in the Oath of Office as stated in the Constitution.
At the bottom right it says that the new President has to take this oath.




On the next page of the Constitution, the Oath of Office is recorded. Read the first paragraph at the top left.



As I witnessed the error when taking the oath, I started to wonder if they should do it again. It stuck in my mind that if they didn't get it right, they should have started over and made sure that it was said perfectly, no mistakes. I don't know if it was just my church background getting in the way or if I was just paranoid. They seemed perfectly happy to just accept that the new president had come really close to repeating the oath and that maybe it was good enough. I am happy to announce, that Barack Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. got together again and made sure that they got it right this time. Here is the story.

Flip Video

Some of you may already know but for Christmas I received a Flip Video. My Brother Blake got one last year and really loved it, so, it has been on my Christmas list for a about a year.

With the Holidays over, I have finally taken some time to start using it. I had grand plans for all of the movies I was going to make and post on YouTube but there haven't been any full length motion pictures produced by me, yet.

After much thought and lack of time, I decided to start with something simple. There is a small smattering of people that have posted a small video about what they have in their room/house/dorm. If you just type in "51 things" on YouTube you will see what people have been doing. Therefor, I setup my Flip Video camera in the living room on a tripod and told Savanna and Katie to grab 51 items from their rooms. I thought that maybe 51 items was a little to high so I was thinking of lowering the number. As you might imagine, it took a total of 30 seconds for them to amass 51 items.

Below are their videos entitled, "51 items from my room". Maybe I will be a little more adventurous for my next video.

Watch out Hollywood!

Photographer

This weekend Andy had a basketball tournament in Buhl Idaho. He had a game at 10, 12, 2 and 6. With games this close together we really could not jump in the car and head back home because the minute we got home we would have to turn around and drive back to Buhl. So, we stayed in Buhl the whole day. Since we had some time between games, I decided to try out our new digital camera that we got for Christmas from Grandma Carter.

Buhl is not the most exciting place to take pictures but the day we were there was very unique. We have had fog in the Magic Valley for a few days now. In Twin Falls the fog usually vanishes by the afternoon and it warms up to 40 degrees. However, in Buhl, the fog had hung around and never dissipated. So, if you look on all of the trees and even the grass, there are ice crystals that have formed on every pine needle and blade of grass.

I know that I'm not a professional but some of these photos turned out really nice. Here are some of my favorites. If you like them, please feel free to download them and use them as backgrounds on your computer. *wink*


A very cool tree I found in the park near the school. Don't mind the garbage can in the bottom left corner.


Very symmetrical fence line that caught my eye.


My second or third attempt at getting a very close up picture of pine needles.

Dreaming

I don't know why but this past week or so I have had the curse of going to bed and dreaming about work. Now, if my work was to sit on a beach and sip a frosty ice cold A&W Root Beer, then I really wouldn't be complaining. But, I have been stressing about a couple of very important server installations and so I have been dreaming about that all night long. I'll get up and go get a drink of water in the hopes that my brain will focus on something else before my eyes shut and my dreams take over. Therefor, instead of having a nice restful night sleep, I find myself with clenched jaws and worry marks on my face the minute I wake up in the morning. AARRGGHH! I hate that.

Breaking News on "Ward Family"

I just wanted to announce some breaking news. In a previous post I had mentioned that I really dislike people saying Ward Family and that I had never heard anyone mention a Stake Family. Well, it has just happened. This past Sunday it was mentioned from the pulpit that one of the members is part of our "Stake Family". I'm now waiting to hear, during general conference, that we can now start using "Regional Family", "Temple District Family" and "General Church Family".

Glenn Beck's Autograph

I have had to sit on this story for the longest time because I gave this book to Deanna for Christmas. I guess it is time to tell.

I decided to give Deanna a signed copy of Glen Becks new book, "The Christmas Sweater".


Amazingly, Glenn Beck had scheduled a book signing in Twin Falls Idaho at the Barns and Noble book store. So, I just had to figure out a way to get it done. I wanted to do something special so I devised a plan to print up a copy of Deanna's face and I would have him sign the book. I would put Deanna's face in front of mine and have a picture taken so it looked like Deanna had been there. It was goofy but I was going with it. I had to plan this event to the minute because, he was only in town for 1 hour.

I had a computer job to work on in Burley so I was pretty sure that I would not be able to make it over there to get the picture part of it accomplished. I called one of my friends, Connie, that I knew from church that is a HUGE Glenn Beck Fan and asked her if she was going over to the book signing. She said she planned on going, so I asked her if she could take a book up for me and get it signed. She said she would, so I was very excited.

As it worked out, my job in Burley finished on time and I raced back to Twin to see if I could make it to the book signing. I called Connie at the bookstore and she was about 11th in line. I called her again as I arrived in Twin and Glenn was still not there. I jumped out of my car and ran over to the bookstore. The line was all the way out the doors and weaved back and fourth. I squeezed myself through the line to make it up to where Connie was stationed. She was there with a book in hand ready to go. As I explained my idea about the photo of Deanna, Glenn walked in and the crowd went wild. Connie couldn't really hear me but she told me that the line would go really fast and I probably wouldn't have time for my plan to work. I decided just to stand back and take a picture of Connie getting Deanna's book signed. As I sulked away, the person behind Connie said, "Why don't you just step in here and go through yourself". I looked at him with shock as he offered his place in line. "Are you sure?" as asked. He confirmed and before you know it the line started moving and I shuffled myself into the line. I was #13. I didn't have anything for Glenn to sign so, when I got up to the front, I wasn't sure what to say. All I had was a camera and a copy of Deanna's picture on a sheet of paper. When the guy that prepared the books for signatures reached out his hand to get my book, I handed him the picture of Deanna and said, "Thats all I have." He looked at me very strangely and put the picture on the signing table and slid it over to Glenn Beck. I smiled and said, "This is all I have for you to sign". Glenn said, "Who is this?". I said, "It's my wife". He said, "What is this hand sticking out of her head?". This is what the picture looked like.

I told him that it was my son trying to put rabbit ears on her head but he isn't tall enough. He chucked at me as he signed the picture of Deanna's face. I shook his hand and said "it was nice to meet you". He said the same and that was it. I was shuffled off the end of the line into the crowd.

I snuck back around to find Connie and left her my camera to take some more pictures. I had to get back to work.

Later that week I found out that the Times News had posted a video clip of Glenn's visit and in the clip is shows Connie and Glenn Beck. The clip of her and Glenn is shown from seconds 59 - 55. The book he is signing is the book I gave Deanna for Christmas. There is a flash of light during Connie's visit which is me, taking a picture of Connie and Glenn. I was 2 people behind Connie. It was very exciting.

Viruses and Spyware

I don't know why but I have been inundated with people bringing in their computers that have Viruses, Spyware and Malware. Many of you non-techy people are probably wondering what the differences are and if they should be worried about it. Well, I'll do my best to explain.



A virus is a small program that is copied to your computer by email, web page, downloaded files or from another computer. This small program is malicious and will delete files, rename files, or change files. After it does this, it will try and replicate itself and send itself to other users. Most viruses come through email but have also traveled in flash drives and embedded themselves in music files like mp3's. If your computer isn't too badly infected, you can normally remove them easily.

Spyware is a small program that is copied to your computer just like a virus but spyware has a different function. Normally spyware is interested in feeding you advertisements and popups. Spyware will also track your internet usage. It will find out where you go and what kind of ads you would want to see and start showing you ads that match your interests. Sometimes they just feed you popup ads. Spyware normally isn't that harmful but if you have too many of these little guys running on your computer, it will bog down your PC to the point that it is no longer usable. Some spyware is easy to remove, others are harder.

Malware is a small program that is copied to your computer just like a virus and spyware but has malicious intent. Malware will feed you ads, will pretend that you have a virus, will pretend that it is a spyware removal tool, will pretend that it will fix your registry. Malware is dificult to remove and has become more and more destructive. Sometimes it can not be removed and the PC needs to be erased completely and re-installed.

If you have a Virus, Spyware or Malward, you should run these 3 programs to get it removed. These are the same 3 programs we use at work to find these bugs and stomp them out. All of them are free.

Spybot Search and Destroy
SuperAntiSpyware
Malwarebytes

Movie Review

I watched an interesting movie over the New Year break. Our little girls really wanted to see the movie Marley and Me. The title and previews make it look like it is going to be a story about a dog and that's what excited our girls. If there is a movie about talking dogs, or dogs that play sports, our kids want to watch. I was not excited about going to the theater to watch this movie because that is what I expected. Dogs playing a sport.

The other clue that this was a kids movie was that the movie was rated PG. So, we expected it to be a little kids movie. The ads and the signs also denote that it is a Christmas movie but it is not. You are probably now guessing that this movie did not turn out to be what we expected. It definitely had its uncomfortable moments. It had it's couple of swear words and a couple of sexual innuendos and of course a skinny dipping scene for the Aniston fans. (you only see her back, not her backside) Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson play a married couple that go through the life of a typical marriage and having children. Overall it was a good movie.

I wouldn't even write this blog post if it wasn't for one reason. This movie was about every married couple. It was about MY life. There were no bombs, no guns, no supernatural powers. It is a story about a couple living their life. Both Deanna and I saw ourselves in many of the scenes of this film. The wife (Jennifer Aniston) was frustrated with the rigors of rearing a family (yes, I said rearing and not raising). He (Owen Wilson) struggled with his dream of becoming a reporter while his friend is touring the world on exciting adventures. He finds his career lacking excitement and feels less than successful. Both realize that the life of a husband, wife and parent bring them all of the joy they need in life. The dog is just an undercurrent of what went on in their lives.

I don't know if Deanna will agree with me or not but if you want to see a film about our life, just watch Marley and Me.

I never thought that people would pay money to watch my life, but now I know they would. I might have to break my nose first so I look a little more like Owen Wilson though.

Christmas Morning 08

The Carters get a Wii!
Clint gets a Flip Video.

Ward vs. Family

I know I already offered a post about stuff that is quirky about me or some stuff that bugs me but I have another one that I would like to add to the list.

This post is not for the squeamish so if you don't want to read a controversial topic or you don't want your mind to be swayed by my opinion, please take this moment to exit my blog because some of the stuff I will say, you might not like or you might not agree with. If that is you, please click on this link and visit a happy place.

I don't know why but every time I hear someone get up in church and say "Ward Family", I get the heebee jeebees. I know, it sounds like a very loving way of referring to your ward, as a "family". It is just a warm and fuzzy image that most people seem to love to say. Me, I don't like my ward being referred to as a family. In fact, this last year our church was very much against changing the definition of marriage. Now this, I am in favor. Let us not change the meaning of marriage. It should be a union between a man and a woman. Therefor, why are we changing the meaning of a family? Shouldn't we reserve the word "family" for a unit with a Father, Mother and Children? I know, some families only have a father and children, some only a mother and children, some only a father and a mother. In any case, a family has a definition that should not change. People that are related. Ok, there are many combinations that could also be families such as adoption, grand parents, only children and no parents, etc.

I would prefer that a family unit remain a family, and a ward remain a ward. A ward has a definition of a group of families that is lead by a Bishop. A family is not lead by a Bishop. I know that people will argue that a Bishop is like the Father of the the ward and the Relief Society President is the Mother, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. It doesn't quite work so please stop referring to your ward as a family. For some reason I don't hear people saying, "Our Stake Family", or our "Regional Family", or our "General Church Family". Lets leave families as families, wards as wards and stakes as stakes.

So, there you have it. I have probably disenfranchised half of my readership now with my opinion of wards and families. I hope I have not offended and I wish to hear your arguments for and against.

Surprise Birthday Party

As I relaxed on Saturday, after running some errands and going shopping, by brain began to think about the events of the day. My birthday was on Friday and we didn't do much but open a few presents. As my brain started to sift through the happenings, I began to wonder if maybe my wife had planned some kind of party for me later on that evening. We had arranged to have dinner with some friends down at a local restaurant at 7:00pm but for some reason my thoughts were starting to draw some connections that may or may not be reality. There were several events that transpired that on a normal day I wouldn't have thought twice about, but, because they were all happening within a short period of time gave me pause. Either there was a party being planned for me or I was just being paranoid. I really hadn't thought of a surprise party all week so I wasn't sure if I was delusional or what. It is hard for me to describe how I felt because there were a bunch of events that came together very nicely, too nicely I thought.

Anyway, somehow Deanna had managed to make me feel like it was my idea to go over to my parents to practice a song that I was to sing for church. On the way over I was thinking in my head that either there will be a group of people in the house or I was just crazy. I was even thinking of telling her about all these connections I made in my brain while we were eating dinner. But, as I walked into the living room of my parents house I was greeted by a rousing chorus of "SURPRISE". Instead of surprise, I felt relief that I was not going crazy and that my suspicions were correct.

We had a wonderful time visiting with all of the families and friends that were able to visit. We ate snacks and punch and talked all evening.

I must say, my wife was very convincing. She did a wonderful job of keeping this party a secret, inviting the guests and arranging the scheme of how to get me to the house.

Thank you Deanna for a wonderful 40th Birthday Party.

100 posts

I didn't know it until today, just browsing around the "blogosphere", that my last post was post number 101! Can you believe it. I have bloviated with both pithy and verbose prose equaling Mr. Monks perfect number, 100. I really don't feel like I have written such a gaggle of posts but if you just type a few ideas every few days is surely adds up. I am not all that sure that it adds up to something interesting, but it does add up.

In celebration of my 100th post, I have decided to offer you something for free. Here is a link to some free stuff.
Free Cycling
Free Translation
Free gmail
Free Web Filter

Tagged

Ok, I'm not sure if I like being tagged or not. On the one hand, it gives me very specific ideas on what to write on my blog. On the other hand, I hate feeling obligated to do something just because others are doing it. Somehow I have always considered myself a nonconformist even though I conform to almost everything I do, so, I'll conform and finish the tag assignment that Clark Draney tagged me with.

8 favorite TV Shows (in no particular order because my tastes and preferences change)
1. Greatest American Hero (from when I was a kid)
2. M*A*S*H
3. The Apprentice
4. American Idol
5. Seinfeld
6. Hogan's Heroes
7. Candid Camera
8. Medium

8 things I did yesterday
1. drove home from Logan
2. kept basketball stats on Andy's Game (they lost)
3. checked my email
4. orders on eCarters.com (a shameless plug for my web store)
5. stopped at Wendy's and had lunch
6. took the girls to Pets Mart (or is it Pet Smart, or Pets Smart?)
7. scrapped snow off of our car windshield
8. visited Deanna's parents

8 favorite restaurants
1. Olive Garden (love their salad)
2. Chick-fil-a
3. P.F. Chang's (love the lettuce wraps)
4. Panda Express
5. All You Can Eat Sushi
6. Central Park
7. McDonalds
8. Anything but Mexican Food

8 things on my wish list
1. Lexus (not an SUV) (sedan with tinted windows)
2. A big house on either North or South Temple Drive
3. 7 day trip to Bahamas or a Cruise (just Deanna and I)
4. I wish I was a failing bank and could request 300 billion dollars
5. more patience with my kids (same as Clark Draney)
6. I wish I was taller
7. 8 more wishes (got to throw that one in there)
8. a trip to someplace fun with the kids (Disney World or national parks or Mormon Historical Sights)

Tag, you're it
1. Melinda
2. Marni
3. Rachael
4. Analee

Turning 40

I don't have much to say about turning 40. At this time in my life I really don't feel like I am having my "mid life crisis". I think I had the crisis a few years ago when, out of the blue, I stopped into McDonalds and bought myself a Big Mac. I know it was a crazy time but I did it, and I'm not all that proud of it. I have dropped back down into reality and have ordered the two single hamburger meal since the breakdown.

I decided to just list some stuff that I thought were evidence that I was actually 40 since I still look like I'm 15.

Signs that I am 40 years old.

1. I found a hair on my shoulder that was about 40 inches long. That's an inch for every year for those mathematicians reading my blog.

2. If I grow out my beard, (which I used to do to form a goatee) you would notice that I have gray hair.

3. Jumping on the trampoline is not fun any more. It really hurts. It's like I can feel all of my internal organs sloshing around inside and they really don't like sloshing around.

4. My waist line has expanded to 34 inches. I am no longer size 32X32. Even my 34's are starting to feel tight.

5. My hair line is starting to resemble that of Bruce Willis.

6. I don't mind driving the speed limit on the Highway.

7. I listen to talk radio and actually understand the subjects they are talking about.

Signs that I am not 40 yet.

1. I still have good vision.

2. I still like speeding in town.

3. I still have a goofy streak that shows itself every time I do the "Quick Draw McGraw" skit.

4. I still get "carded" when filling up with gas at the local Chevron Station. "Are you old enough to be filling up with gas?" (I then flash my license at the attendant)

5. I have all of my teeth? Well, minus 2 and a half. BUT, I haven't replace them all, yet.

6. I still spin cookies in the church parking lot. Just ask my terrified kids.

Early Christmas Gifts

Deanna and I have already given each other our Christmas gifts this year. I know, I know, we need to wait and be excited for Christmas morning, but we could not wait a second longer. I took our van down to the local Les Schwab and we bought each other new tires. I bought Deanna the right front tire and she bought the left. How romantic.



It is a sign of true love and affection.

Christmas lights

Finally--we got our Christmas lights up on the house.

It didn't take as long as I thought.

Quirks

I've been tagged by my sister Melinda. Here are some quirks about me. Please keep in mind that they are not in any particular order. If fact, they are arranged in random order. (oxymoron)

1 - My High School English teacher taught me to say "reared" instead of "raised". She said, you raise cattle and you rear children. Now, every time I hear "raised" in reference to people, I cringe and every time I say "reared" I feel weird.

2 - I love whip cream, whipped topping, or cool whip. I like to put a huge pile of it on my pie. Interesting that it is the exact opposite of my sister.

3 - I don't like nuts. Nuts taste ok but I don't like how the little pieces of nuts linger around in your mouth for hours. Not in cookies, not in cakes, not in fruit cake, not in ice cream. I do, however, like nuts in my peanut butter.

4 - I hate swimming pools. I don't like swimming in water that a thousand other people have swam in. If you want me to be more specific, I can, but it will completely gross you out and make you a pool hater too. If you want more detail, send me an email.

5 - I hate getting my fingers dirty or sticky. I hardly ever lick my fingers. I use a spoon to spoon out cookie dough. I would rather eat a donut with a fork and knife than get my fingers all sticky. I like Jerry Seinfeld's idea of eating candy bars with a fork and knife so you don't have to get chocolate all over your fingers.

6 - I am amazed at how often I can associate something in real life with an episode of Seinfeld.

I'm not going to tag anyone because my sister tagged all the people I would have tagged.

Here are the rules.
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag some fellow bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

funeral

There is nothing like attending a funeral to put your life back into prospective. This weekend I attended the funeral of my Uncle Ron Carter. This is my uncle on my father's side. Ron Carter was the father of 8 children. Five boys and 3 girls. As each of the children got up to speak, each of them mentioned how important the family was to their father. Each of them had their own favorite saying, favorite event that was emblazoned in their minds that engulfed the feeling of what their Dad meant to them. As they told these stories, talked about mannerisms, and discussed childhood nicknames, I couldn't help but think about my own roll as a father in my family. What stories would be told about me? How would I be viewed by my kids? What memories would they have of me? I am almost positive that the memories that I have and the lessons that I want them to remember will not be the ones told at my funeral. As we listened (I say we because Coby and Savanna were with me) I could see Savanna writing on a small piece of paper. As I peaked over my shoulder to see what she was doing, I discovered that she was writing down all of the nick names that I used for my kids. This brought a smile to my face and gave me the assurance that maybe I was on the right track.

I have always looked up to the cousins that I have in the Uncle Ron family. I still remember when I was little and the BIG Carter Cousins came over to our house to have lunch. I remember they were all really tall and really good at basketball. I wanted to be just like them. One very vivid memory was when we had a bowl of chips and one of the Carter boys picked up the chip and put the whole chip in their mouth. WOW, that was awesome. I couldn't do that. Latter on in life when I got a little older, I used the ONE BITE technique of eating a chip and that is when I realized, it wasn't that hard. :-) I don't know where I was going with that last comment, I just put it out there.

After the funeral service I had a sad feeling. Not that I was devastated for the passing of my uncle Ron, but that I wished I had gotten to know there family better, because they were all very "GOOD" people. I could tell that all of the children of Ron and Laree Carter were, in the words of my Dad, "The salt of the earth".

One final thought, what does, "Shoot Luke, the sky's full of pigeons." mean and where did it come from?

Ready for Christmas?

I think I have mentioned this in my blog before but I have learned to look for gifts for kids and my wife all year round. I don't just shop the last week before Christmas to get the gifts, I am looking for things all year. Unfortunately, I have run out of gift ideas for this year. Especially for my wife. I normally have a notepad full of gift ideas for Deanna but with her birthday and Anniversary this summer, I have used up all of the good gift ideas. Now, my list is empty and I'm very worried about it. I have the regular gift ideas that have been on the list forever like tennis gear, a car starter, kindergarten stuff but I don't have anything exciting and new. I pride myself in getting her something that she didn't know she wanted, but will love to have. I know what you are thinking, "why don't you just ask her what she wants?". I have asked her several times and the responses so far have been that she would like some piece of clothing. Now, I have been trained and taught from Stacy and Clinton from What not to wear, so I know that I can not just pick out a piece of clothing and expect it to fit. The process of buying clothes requires trying on every piece to make sure that it fits in all of the right places. So, I am not buying clothes. I have also decided not to buy gift cards. I know that if I tell everyone that I am buying my wife gift cards for Christmas, I would have and uprising in the female community that would eclipse the uproar of an angry crowed of disgruntled factory workers.

I guess I'll just have to keep listening for clues to find out what she wants. Oh, one last thing. I was given the advise a few years back, that I should never give my wife a gift that is normally a household item. One year I gave my wife a new kitchen faucet for a gift for her birthday or mothers day or something, (which we needed really badly) and all of the ladies in the office thought I was a clod. So, I try and stay away from these types of gifts too.

If any of you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Movie Review

As a new addition to my blog. I am now writing about current movies I have watched. I really haven't watched a movie for over 6 months so, I am guessing, that these reviews will be few and far between.

The movie I am reviewing today is "High School Musical 3".




I'll start off by saying that this movie is rated G. Even with a G rating you never know what you are going to see or hear. I am very thrilled to report that it lived up to it's rating. I thought the movie had awesome music, great dance scenes and a good storyline and ending. I would recommend going and seeing the movie. You can also review it on Screen It.

Something else I really liked about it was that the boys that were dancing and singing in the movie were actually cool. When the actors needed to look like they were good at basketball, they were actually really good. Most of the time, they get an actor and try to make them look like they are good at basketball. For example, Michael J Fox playing basketball. He is supposed to be good, but it is obvious that he is not. Also, the boys singing and dancing in this movie show young boys and youth that it can look cool to dance. The dancing scenes were macho when they needed to be and graceful in others.

My only complaint was actually with the movie theater itself. If you go into a movie theater, you expect AWESOME sound and effects. For some reason, the only speakers that were audible were the very front speakers. The music was awesome but without full surround sound, it sounded very flat. I felt I could get better sound out of my hoky speakers on my computer than we had at the movie. I complained twice to management but they just said, "That is just how they must have designed the movie."

Two thumbs up from me on this movie.

Enjoy.

Book Club

For all of you who know me to any degree, you know that I do not enjoy reading books. I am a little dyslexic and I feel I am a slow reader. Reading to me is a chore and may even be hard work. What I am about to tell you may be a huge surprise so please take a minute to take the last bite of the cookie that is in your hand and sit down. Make sure that the glass of milk next to your keyboard is out of striking distance.

I have joined a book club.

AARRRGFGGHHHHH!!!!! Splatttt!!!!! Curpluink!!!! Curfuffle!!!!

I warned you.

Yes, 5 manly, matcho, masculine, ruff and tumble dudes have organized a book club exclusively for men. The first book that was recommended by this group of raging, robust males was "Enders Game". And, if you are a current subscriber to my Blog, you would know that this book is one of the only books that I have re-read in my life. Therefore, when I found out that this book club would be reading books like this, I decided to join.

Last month we read "Never Cry Wolf" which was a good book. It is funny and easy to read. We had great discussions about wolves, politics and hunting. (interestingly enough, none of us hunt, but we could if we had to)

This month, we will be reading, "Me and the Geezer". We will see if the other brave gentlemen enjoy this book about baseball as much as I did.

The interesting thing about Me and the Geezer is that it was written by my Uncle, Ron Carter. The story is written from the son's prospective which would be my cousin. The Geezer is Ron Carter himself as the father. Some of you might already know that Ron Carter is a notable author which wrote the "Prelude to Glory" series.

Grand Champion

Every year at Sawtooth Elementary there is a pumpkin decorating contest. Yes, decorating because if it was pumpkin carving then after about 2 days the pumpkins that are displayed in the library would start to rot and stink. So, all of the kids are invited to decorate a pumpkin. This year Savanna decided that she wanted to decorate a pumpkin like a porcupine. Hummm, not the easiest but probably a very creative idea. I pondered over many ideas and even scoured the internet looking for an idea for a porcupine pumpkin. You may all be astonished to find out that there really aren't that many Porcupine Pumpkins out there in circulation and believe me, I employed all of my internet searching talent to find something to spark some creativity. I really didn't find anything to help me out of this artistic hole so I decided to just make it up. We went to the store and picked up some wooden skewers, googly eyeballs and some play-doh. This is what we came up with as a finished product.



The pumpkin sat at the end of a bookshelf in the library for a week and on the final day I received a phone call from Savanna. We had one a prize for our entry. Not just any prize. We were really thinking we would get something dorky like, "Most Porcupinee'est". We received the award of "Grand Champion". This is not just an award they give out willy nilly. They only give out 2 of these per year. One for the K - 3 grade and one for the 4 - 6 grades and Savanna's won Grand Champion for the 4 -6 grades.




I have mixed emotions. I am thrilled that we won, of course, but this also means that Dad will be expected to create a high level of pumpkin decorating prowess for years to come. I don't know if I'll be able to match the success we had this year. Maybe I should do as Dennis Miller always says. "Always be closing!" And Seignfield said on his TV program that if you had a great laugh off of one of your jokes, quit on a high note. "That's it for me folks, you've been great!"

Clint Carter for President?

I think someone nominated me for President and there is a lot of people out there willing to vote for me. Watch this news clip!!!

http://wordle.net/

Now here is a fun little exercise. Connect to http://wordle.net/ and input your blog address and it will give you a quick summary of words that are used the most in your blog and then arranges them in a cool little pattern. Give it a try.

Here is a Wordle of my Blog.



Here is a Wordle of my Family.

Halloween 08

When I was a kid, we used to get out all of Mom's acrylic paints and paint the front window in our house. We had a huge front window which consisted of one large paine and 2 smaller windows on each side. Rachael was our artist in the family and it seemed like every year she would draw a design on the window, with a crayon at first, to outline the images we would paint. Then, we would paint over the crayon markings with black paint to give detail to the pictures. Then, the fun part. We filled in the blank spaces with all sorts of colors. We really loved painting the front windows.





I decided one year, to give it a try on our front windows. I am definitely not an artist and everything I draw has to be plagiarized, but the kids really enjoy painting our front windows. Here is a sampling of our work.


Fun Looking Monster

Pumpkins and Trick or Treat (which I had to write backwards to look correct in the window)

Cat and Pumpkin

Ok, so the pictures are not great and the camera that took the photos were from my cell phone so they look very very rough, but I think you get the cut of my gib. (a quote from Dennis Miller)

Savanna Published on LDS.org

I have been following a blog called LDSWebGuy for a few months now and he always has some interesting "tech" information about the Church. One of his posts a few weeks ago announced a place where the Youth in the church could comment about how they felt about General Conference. I liked the idea so I sent the link to all of my kids to see if they would comment.

Savanna was the only one that picked up on it and typed something up. I wasn't sure if they would use her comments or not but when I looked today, her post had been published on the LDS Website. She typed this all by herself without any help from her parents. In fact, I asked her yesterday if she had written something and she said she had but didn't remember what she had said. I think it is awesome that they added it to the youth comments.

Here is the LINK to that page. Great Job Savanna!