BYU Management Society Meeting with Greg Clark

Cross posted from my Google Plus account. Email me if you'd like an invitation.

Thanks to Greg Clark (former tight end for 49ers) for coming to our BYU Management Society breakfast this morning. He emphasized two points:

1). Work hard and take chances so that you can make great things happen. He shared a story of being a rookie next to Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and other 49er greats. There was a lot of criticism from the veterans, so he decided that he was going to take all of the advice/criticism he got and work to improve himself. After months of hard work and showing up for his first practice with the veterans, he was matched against a 287 pound lineman defender on the first play. When Steve Young called the hike, he came off the line with perfect technique and floored the lineman. Everyone was stunned, especially the lineman! That play marked success from the hours of preparation.

2). Live a principles-based life and never compromise your principles. After retiring from the NFL, Greg decided to work in real estate buying/selling distressed properties. A practice in that industry was to pay money under the table to keep bids on properties low. This was against the law and against his principles. On January 11 of this year, the FBI did a sting on hundreds of real estate professionals who were engaged in this practice. When Greg's lawyer called him to warn him, Greg said that he was not worried. He had not compromised his principles. On July 1 of this year, eight of those real estate professionals plead guilty, one of them having only accepted one payment under the table! Because of his principles-based decision, Greg continues to have a successful and happy career.

The mission of the Management Society is to promote ethical business practices. These are two great examples that Greg showed.

August 2011 Trip to Washington

We have now successfully made two road trips from San Jose to Seattle. There were plenty of bribes to keep the little one in the car seat, but seeing a little newborn not even a day old made the entire trip worth it. Congratulations Justin and Juliana!

August 2011 Washington Trip

P.S. The best way to keep up with us is on Google+, but we'll try to keep the blog updated, too.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Swing Routine

For those of you who haven't heard the story: Celeste and I met while dancing on the BYU Swing Team. I had just returned from my mission in Russia (two years without dancing) and Celeste was the person who evaluated me during the team tryout. The tryout didn't go well, but with the recommendation of the team captain (who had seen me dance before my mission), I made the team. The first semester, we danced two measures together in just one routine. The second semester, we became full-time dance partners.

Eventually, I asked Celeste out on a date (which is a great story that I'll save for another time). It went well (we even shared a bowl of ice cream from Cold Stone... of course, that was more because I was a poor college student than anything else). Anyway, between dancing and dating, we decided that we were a good match. So we got married!

At our wedding reception, we performed a dance routine to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. We sure had fun performing! It took almost seven years, but we finally got the video posted to YouTube (that is, my brother posted it to YouTube). It is sure fun to see ourselves dance at that special time!



Just a few weeks ago, we found out that there was going to be a talent show at our church. Of course, we signed up to do a dance routine (just three months after having a baby and nine months after last dancing). Since we just saw our wedding dance video, we thought it would be fun if we choreographed a new and improved routine to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. We found a faster version of the song, changed a few steps, dusted off our old costumes, and voila! We like the end product. Let us know what you think!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Aunt Michelle visited for a week, so we visited all sorts of fun places including the redwoods, San Francisco, and Monterey. If you haven't yet checked out the pictures we took at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, you should check them out right now. Dantzel *loved* looking at all of the fish. All of the movement and color were absolutely captivating. Some of the fish were very interesting--the sea horse exhibit especially. Some of the fish looked like floating plants. Took a few seconds to spot their eyes. If you are ever in the area, I'm sure Dantzel would love going to the aquarium again!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Dantzel's Cute New Outfit

Grandma made Dantzel a lot of fun outfits. Today, she wore her animal-themed dress with matching sun hat. She is so cute!

Baby Pictures - Fourth Month

Pictures of Our New Place

I found some pictures of our new place. The selling agent took these pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Our New Home

Exciting News!

After touring quite a few homes (some having way more problems than I wanted to fix), we finally found our new home! It's a townhouse less than one mile from my work (I prefer short commutes). And it is move-in ready, a big selling point for somebody who is not used to being Mr. Fix-It! We'll see whether that changes with home ownership. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Baby Blessing

Dantzel's baby blessing was last weekend. She was so cute dressed up in her white dress. With Matt's entire family in town and Celeste's parents, she had a lot of attention. She was full of smiles!!! Celeste and I are so glad that she decided to join our family!!! Click the below picture to see more.

Baby Blessing

Dantzel's Second Month

Although we take lots of pictures of Dantzel, we seem to be pretty slow to upload them. She has been absolutely wonderful during her second month. It is hard to believe how much she has changed. We are cherishing every minute of it, including:

- The time we were late and then her diaper leaked all over Daddy.
- All of the splashing and smiling she does every time she takes a bath.
- The time her diaper leaked in Mommy and Daddy's bed at 5am. And then, after Daddy cleaned it up, how she spit up an entire tummy full all over Mommy and the bed at 6am.
- How she likes to cuddle.
- The time she refused to go to bed until we put a movie on for background sound and then she fell asleep on Daddy while he very tiredly watched until 4am.
- The time she patiently sat in her car seat as Mommy and Daddy toured five homes and then went shopping.
- The time she dressed up all cute for church and then snuggled on Daddy's shoulder during the whole meeting and didn't make a peep.

I hope all of these things (and more) keep happening. We love being parents.

Baby Pictures - Second Month

We are Parents!!!

It's a Girl!!! With all of the excitement of having a baby, I posted pictures to Picasaweb and Facebook, but failed to update our blog. Yes, we had a healthy baby girl. We named her Dantzel after Elder Russell M. Nelson's wife. Our Dantzel was born on January 4 at 6 pounds 10 ounces. She is a perfect angel sent straight from Heaven and we are so happy!!! Enjoy these pictures (click to see the entire album)! More to come!

Our Little Dantzel

Family Visit - 3 weeks old