Remembering 9/11

Last night, I started watching this video that had a timeline of clips of the news coverage on 9/11. After watching the first clip from 7am, before the attacks occurred, I was struck by how normal the day started out. How the upbeat words "Good Morning, America . . . it's Tuesday, September 11, 2001" seem so out of place now. I wanted to stop the video then, as if that would somehow stop the events that took place.

For a generation of Americans, that day will be forever shrouded in heartbreak and vulnerability. I was looking back at my journal entries as I was living in DC as a college student, and I think they do well at capturing my thoughts and emotions:

Tuesday, September 11: I was awakened by my roommate at around 10am as he flipped on the TV and told me that two planes had been flown into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. We soon learned that another plane had been flown into the Pentagon building, only a couple of miles from the apartment in which I am writing this right now. And a fourth plane went down in Pennsylvania which was supposedly also headed here to DC, reportedly headed for either the White House or the Capitol building. . . . It is a very scary thought of all the lives that have been lost through these attacks. What is even more frightening is the possibility of a full-scale war. . . . Never have I even imagined something as drastic and traumatic as this event. . . . Many thoughts have been running through my head as I have watched the situation unfold . . . First of all, I love my family. The greatest comforts I have had this day were talking to my mom and dad. Second, nothing material in this world is important . . . Third, I want to do all I can to help the victims of this senseless tragedy. Right now, what that means is getting up early tomorrow to go give blood before class, as there is a blood shortage in New York and here in DC.


Wednesday, September 12, 2001: I went to sleep last night wondering how life could ever go on when I woke up. When I did awaken, the first thing I did was turn on the TV again. But after only a minute or two, I had had enough and had to get out. Going to class today was a blessing to get our minds off of these horrible events. Tonight, I went to a candlelight vigil on campus. . . It was an encouraging sight. I have never seen so many students at this campus come together as one. . . . Life will never be the same, but life will go on.


Thursday, September 13, 2001: The air is kind of still today as the situation is assessed, but it seems only a matter of time before retaliation. It's a nervous time to be here in the nation's capital. Pres. Hinckley is giving a satellite broadcast tomorrow and I am looking forward to hearing his words.


Friday, September 14, 2001: I didn't go to class today. But I did attend a satellite broadcast from the church headquarters in Salt Lake City, because President George W. Bush declared today a day of mourning and prayer. At the broadcast, President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke and what caught my attention most was, instead of denouncing violence or retaliation, he said something to the effect that America is a land of freedom and we should do whatever we need to do in order to make sure that those freedoms are not taken away.

And, finally, one more entry from a year later:

Wednesday, September 11, 2002: It's been a year since the day that changed the life of every American. Today has been a really sobering day for me. It was really hard to do work today in the office. I didn't even turn the TV on because I didn't want to be bombarded with memories of last year. But I also refrained from putting on any CDs because I felt silence was more appropriate as a tribute of last September 11. . . . It's very strange - I am not sad or emotional, but I am choosing not to watch these shows or talk a lot about things because I feel that, even though this was an event that brought our nation together, the experiences I had were very personal. I have chosen to kind of withdraw from public observance in order to focus on personal contemplation.


Even now, it is difficult for me to watch 9/11 footage because of the memories and emotions it bring up. Memories of nervousness and uncertainty anytime I heard an aircraft fly through the closed airspace in DC. Memories of walking to class and passing armed, stoic military personnel and tanks on about every other corner. Memories of wondering when life would ever get "back to normal," but knowing that, in reality, "normal" itself had changed.

But even though life has changed, it still goes on. I am amazed when I think of all that has transpired in my life since that day. Among other things, I have been blessed with a beautiful wife and baby girl, and I have always had opportunities for growth with work, church and school.

Since 9/11, what "normal" is for me has certainly changed. But it has changed for the better.

(As a reminder, you can still download the song I wrote on 9/11 for free. More information HERE.)

Tribute to 9/11

Five years ago, I posted the lyrics to a song I had written on 9/11. I made it a goal to get the song recorded and released before the 10 year anniversary this year.

Little by little, I got it recorded and have recently released it online. From now until September 11, it will be available to download for free from CD Baby.

Feel free to pass along the link:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrishartwell3

(It should be on iTunes and other digital download sites within the next week or so, but why pay for it when you can get it for free?)

9/11 ... A Look Back

This day always brings back a lot of memories and emotions. I still remember it like it was yesterday and it will always be a defining moment in my life. I found this email that I sent the day after 9/11 and I think it captures my anxiety and uncertainty during that time:

I am doing as well as can be expected considering the
events that have occurred. It was very chaotic here
in DC, which I am sure was nothing compared to NY. I
went up to the roof of my building yesterday and could
see the Pentagon burning only a couple of mile away.
School was cancelled and the city basically shutdown.
The skies were eerily quiet minus the fighter jets and
helicopters every so often. Armed military officers
still are posted on every few block throughout the
city.

I was moved to write yesterday. The mood here was
very somber and gloomy. I sat in front of the TV for
fourteen hours with a pen and paper in hand and these
were the only words I could find to write:

The tears of a nation collectively fall
Through the smoke, through the dust, and debris
That has clouded a once thought invincible land
And has forced us to fall to our knees

But the hearts of the people aren't broken
The voice of this nation is strong
United American spirit will carry us on

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with all the
victims and families and everyone throughout the world
who was affected by this tragedy. I am grateful for
the blessing of life and I know my life will never be
the same.

"All I Fear"

I guess I will follow suit with my own list of 20 things I would do if I had no fear:

1. Pursue a music career full-time
2. Dive into the pool head-first
3. Do a backflip on the trampoline (I guess my wife and I both have that fear)
4. Give plasma (I'm okay with giving blood though)
5. Buy a house
6. Actually invest time in school so I can get good enough grades to get into a top-tier PhD program (in case I decided to go that route)
7. Run for political office
8. Snowboard more often (I'm too comfortable on skis)
9. Invest in the stock market
10. Actually release my "Racing & Retracing" CD
11. Delve more into my scripture study
12. Quit my job
13. Take a dance class with my wife
14. Get in shape
15. Befriend our neighbors
16. Finish the children's book I once started writing
17. Ask my wife and/or father-in-law to teach me to weld
18. Race a motorcycle
19. Leave my door unlocked
20. Live without insurance

So there you have it, folks. My innermost fears exposed. Enjoy. Feel free to post your own list(s).

Christmas Tag

I guess when your wife tags you, you have no choice but to comply. So here goes:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate. I'm pretty sure Egg Nog is against my religion. OK, it's not, but it should be.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa doesn't wrap (he doesn't really rap either). He always left presents unwrapped with our stockings on the couches.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White. Because my wife says so.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope - I don't deal with the decorations at all.

5. When do you put up your decorations? Whenever Deidra says "Go!"

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Pecan Pie, Ham, Peanut Brittle

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? My older brother (Ryan) and I had rooms right across the hall from each other, and we were both just down the hall from where Santa left presents. We would grab our blankets, pillows, and flashlights and try to stay up all night waiting for Santa while keeping each other company.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Ryan figured it out first and called my dad on it one time while we were driving somewhere. My dad didn't even try to deny it.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes. My dad went on a mission to Norway, and that is part of their tradition. One year, Santa even brought skis to us in his pick-up truck on Christmas Eve. Once we got older, we opened all our gifts on Christmas Eve so that my parents didn't have to wake up early on Christmas morning.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I don't really. I let Deidra take care of that. I'm more of a hinderance.

11. Can you ice skate? Definitely. I'm pretty much a pro . . .unless I have to turn or stop or anything.

12. Do you remember your favorite gift? I'm pretty sure I got a cool Chemistry set once year that was fun to play with, even though they didn't have any cool chemicals that would blow anything up.

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Christ and Family.

14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Peanut Brittle and Pecan Pie

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? My family goes skiing together on Christmas day. Because everybody else is busy opening presents, eating Christmas dinner, and caroling, the slopes are usually pretty non-congested.

16. What tops your tree? Two glittery silver stars.

17. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving. It's fun trying to find the perfect gift.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song? The Little Drummer Boy. My favorite versions are from Jars of Clay and from David Bowie and Bing Crosby.

19. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Not necessarily. I don't think it's difficult to center Christmas around Christ if you make it a point to do so.

My Top 12 of 2012

Since I've left you in the dark during 2012, I figure a good way to catch you up is through listing what I consider the top 12 happenings for me during the year. And since Deidra has been a much better blogger than me, I will link to her take on the events (where possible):

1. Baby brother is on his way: We are really excited for baby number two (and boy number one) who is due on February 28th!

2. Passing my comprehensive exam: The entire first two years of my PhD program was basically leading up to a two-day comprehensive exam on the topics surrounding both organizational behavior and human resource management, including: work motivation, job attitudes, leadership, work teams and groups, strategic human resource management, recruiting, selection, performance management, employee training and development, employee turnover and retention, legal issues, research methods, and statistical methods. I started studying about 5 hours/week in January, 10 hours/week mid-March, and 40 hours/week at the end of April.

On June 26 & 27, I took my exam. Each day, I had one three hour morning session and one three hour afternoon session. I was completely exhausted by the time I was finished. We took off for a much needed vacation with family on the 28th. Upon my return to Lafayette in mid-July, I got word that I had passed the examination. Hooray! What that means is that I have no more required coursework and can begin focusing more on research, and especially a dissertation. Oh, I can can officially refer to myself as a PhD candidate instead of a PhD student. I have found that the right terminology is very important in the academic world.

3. Copper anniversary getaway: I surprised Deidra with a night away from Millie for the first time on our 7th (copper) anniversary. This included dinner at the Copper Kettle, an overnight stay at a bed and breakfast, going to the temple together, and a treat from Copper Cupcakes. All-in-all, it was a fun little vacation, but the best part was Deidra's reaction once she found out we were going away for the night, and not just for dinner.

4. Running the Purdue Half Marathon: I seem to only have motivation to run when I have a goal that I am running to meet. So I decided the inaugural Purdue Half Marathon would be that goal. The race went much better than I expected, and I finished just under my pace from the Top of Utah half marathon a few years ago. I considered that a success, since this marathon did not have the elevation decline that TOU has.

5. Presenting research at a conference (and vacationing) in San Diego: The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) had its annual conference in San Diego in April this year. I was part of four submissions, all of which were accepted into the conference. I was the lead author and presenter for one of the projects, which was my first time presenting in that type of setting. A full run down of the trip can be found here and here.

6. Watching Millie grow: Celebrating Millie's first birthday, seeing her go from wobbling first steps to running, hitting the 18-month mark and sending her to nursery at church, watching her vocabulary explode, and witnessing how quickly she learns has made this a truly awe-inspiring year.

7. Teaching my first undergraduate class: The main reason I got into this whole PhD thing was because I want to be a university professor and hopefully be an inspiration to help some college students find their way in life. My first semester of teaching came this Fall with a senior-level undergraduate Human Resource Management class for business management majors. My class had 91 students and was held in a large lecture hall with theater seating. Some days I wondered if anyone was even paying attention when most students' eyes were transfixed on their electronic devices and no one seemed to be able to answer the questions I posed. But, overall, it was a great experience that I enjoyed and learned a lot from. When the class evaluations came back, I felt good about the mostly positive ratings and comments from students, and even had a few students reach out to me individually to thank me and/or explain to me how I had made a difference for them. It reminded me of why I am here and renewed my vigor for my chosen career course.

8. Erecting a fence: Those of you who know me, know that I'm not the most handyman-man around. But I am learning a thing or two about working with my hands through home ownership. After replacing a water heater last year, this year's big project was going to be fencing in our back yard so that Millie can go out there and play without being watched all the time. Luckily, 75% of our backyard was already fenced, so I only had to worry about 25 feet or so. But, while the fence was something on our "would be nice" to-do list, the time and costs kept me from really pursuing it.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving morning. Deidra's parents were in town and we got together with some friends to do a little turkey trot 5k run in a friend's neighborhood. During the run, my father-in-law spotted a homeowner tearing down a fence. Knowing of our wish for a fence, he approached the man and a few days later, we had more than enough fence panels delivered to our home free of charge. A few weeks, 6 post holes, a 20 pounds of gravel,and 100 pounds of concrete later, I finally got most of the fence put up before Christmas and our first big snow fall - all that's left is the gate.

9. Prairie Home Companion: We got complementary tickets to go see a live taping of Prairie Home Companion, a throwback radio show on NPR, when it came to Purdue. Having only minimal exposure to the show (I had really only heard the "News from Lake Wobegon" segment, which wasn't my favorite), I didn't really know what to expect. But it was such a fun and amazing experience watching bands play, announcers using different voices, and the legendary vocal sound effect guru Fred Newman. It's one of those things that is so much better to watch live and I am really glad that we went.

10. Getting an "R&R": In the academic world, R&R doesn't stand for rest and relaxation; it stands instead for revise and resubmit. When you send an article in to a journal for potential publication, it usually either comes back as a flat-out rejection or an R&R, which basically is the action editor saying "I think there might be some potential for publication, but here are all of the problems that were found with your manuscript by me and the other reviewers. Try to address these issues and resubmit the revised manuscript and we'll take another look at it." So, my first journal submission (as the 2nd author out of four) got the latter response, which is one step closer to publication. We have now completed the revision and sent it back to the editor for a second round. We'll see what comes of it. (Hopefully it eventually gets published, as publications are vital for finding a professorship after my PhD program is finished.)

11. Cheering on the Washington Nationals: I grew up as an Atlanta Braves fan, but switched my allegiance when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals in 2005. I was living in DC at the time and had the good fortune of going to a handful of games during their inaugural season, which was right before I moved from DC. Since then, I have remained a fan. They have always been pretty horrible, but finally turned things around this year. They happened to be playing the Padres while we were in San Diego for the SIOP conference mentioned earlier, so we even got to go cheer them on in person (and check "sit in an all-you-can-eat section at a major league ballpark" off of my bucket list). I also got a Nationals baseball cap for my birthday. It was fun seeing them do well and even get into the playoffs this year, though their breakdown in the final game against the Cardinals was heart-wrenching. But, there's always next year, as the saying goes.

12. Taking the WEPCO league Fantasy Football Championship: For the second time in three years, I won the championship in the 12-team fantasy football league that I have been running for the last ten years. It's a very low-key and low-commitment league, so the only thing you win when you win the championship is bragging rights. And since I have won those rights, I figured I better use them here.

There were many other memorable moments in 2012: Sunday dinners at the Wallins, a short vacation in St. Louis, going to the beach, Millie's Halloween costume, Scout campouts, visits from family and friends, a summer adventure traveling out west, etc. It was a great year, and I am looking forward to 2013!

100 Little-to-well-known facts about Chris

Following the lead of Nikkala and Deidra, here are a list of 100 things you may or may not find interesting about me:

1. I was born in Ontario, OR, and have lived in OR, ID, UT, VA, DC, IN, KY, and OH, though Idaho and Washington, DC make up the majority of where I have spent my life.

2. I recently got contacts, but still prefer wearing glasses most days (especially when I have to be to work at 6am)

3. I really like eating spaghetti ... with chopped up hot dogs. I obviously rarely get to indulge in this delicacy unless Deidra is out of town.

4. The most challenging church calling I have ever held is the one I am doing currently - Choir Pianist . . . which some may find odd, considering I was a Young Mens president over inner-city DC boys, most of which were being raised in single-parent homes without much support or encouragement.

5. I have written over 50 songs and am in the process of putting together my second CD, which hopefully will be available this summer.

6. I have only been out of the USA twice in my life - once to Spain and once to the Czech Republic. Both trips were with the GWU Troubadours - the acapella group I sang with in college.

7. I have been in a number of musicals. My favorite role was as Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods, but the favorite musical I was in was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (I played Judah).

8. Most Embarrassing moment #1: I split my pants at recess one day in elementary school. The school secretary sewed them up, while I waited in the office supply closet in my underwear with the door closed.

9. I have been to a State of the Union speech in person (Pres. Bush - 2005, I think) and, even though I was impressed by seeing the President live and hearing him speak, the most memorable moment was meeting Boyd Tinsley.

10. I worked for over three years for Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), but I always referred to myself as the most apolitical person you would find on Capitol Hill.

11. I was a finalist in my first grade spelling bee, but lost when I spelled "soap" S-O-P-E.

12. My best friend form high school and I still refer to each other by random nicknames like "Big Dawg" and "Cheiftain."

13. I worked on a dairy milking cows growing up.

14. I have had traffic tickets for all of the following: speeding, inattentive driving, driving on a closed road, and left of center.

15. After seeing Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, I thought Jim Carrey was the funniest guy on the planet. (I still think he's pretty funny)

16. Growing up, my brothers and I liked watching WWF wrestling and then going out on the trampoline and pretending we were wrestlers.

17. I once had a Jennifer Aniston shrine on my dorm room wall in college.

18. I played a lot of baseball growing up and almost switched high schools because my school was too small to have a baseball team.

19. My first crush was on Christine Taylor, when she was on Nickelodeon's Hey, Dude.

20. I am turning 30, this year and I am trying to keep that from freaking me out.

21. My wife came with me to my 10 year class reunion two years ago - her 10 year reunion will be another six years from now.

22. My older brother (Ryan) and I are less than a year apart and were in the same grade throughout most of school.

23. I lost my youngest brother (Stephen) in a car accident when I was 14 and he was 10 . . . my other younger brother (Jeremy) was in a coma for a week and my mom still has a metal plate in her shoulder and slightly limited use of her arm also as a result of that accident.

24. I was also in the vehicle during this accident. While our van rolled twice and I was not wearing a seat belt, I was not thrown from the van and came out of the accident without any more than a scratch. Sometimes I wonder if I was spared for a reason or if I was just lucky.

25. That accident is the defining moment in my life. It happened fifteen years ago and still hardly a day goes by that I don't think back on that day or think about Stephen.

26. I now always wear my seat belt.

27. I went to the National Mall during the Million Man March, just so I could say I was there.

28. In addition to President Bush and Boyd Tinsley mention above, I have met the following celebrities (loosely termed): Ben Folds, Nelly Furtado, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Shawn Bradley, Bill Nye (the Science Guy), Glen Phillips (of Toad the Wet Sprocket), Nate Morris (from Boyz II Men), and Bruce Willis. (At least those are the names I can think of off the top of my head)

29. Embarrassing Moment #2: I once got a nose bleed while in the middle of making out.

30. I own probably close to 10,000 baseball cards and also have a coin collection (both boyhood hobbies).

31. My first attempt at a college major was Speech & Hearing Science, until I attended my first science-based class on the anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing. I dropped that class within two weeks and changed my major to Communication. I figured it was pretty much the same thing without all of the science.

32. Speaking of science, I fulfilled my science requirements in college by taking one semester of CHEM 001 - Chemistry for Non-Science Majors (aka Baby Chem) and two semesters of basic Geology - GEOL 003 & 004 (aka Rock for Jocks). My father, a Chemist who has degrees in Biochemisty and Physics (of something like that) was kind of upset when he found out I was copping out of my science classes.

33. Even though I was good at math and took Calculus in high school, I also copped out of my Math classes in college. I passed out of 2 math classes because of ACT scores and my for other two "math" classes, I took Statistics and Logic.

34. I'm still pretty good at math, and did better on the Math portion of the GRE than the Language portion.

35. I went through a Techno/Dance phase in high school, and still have CDs such as Technotronic, C & C Music Factory, Paula Abdul, and Ace of Bass in my CD collection.

36. My worst grade in college was a "D" in New Testament, followed by a "C-" in Creative Writing, which effectively squashed any writing aspirations that I then had.

37. Growing up, I went though a lot phases about what I wanted to be when I grew up - from Cookie Monster, to a Professional Baseball Player, to a Marine Biologist . . . and I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.

38. I love Mic (pronounced "Mike") the Mac and experimenting with Garage Band.

39. It took 27 years and a countless myriad of relationships to find a girl willing to marry me, but it has been well worth the wait.

40. In contrast, Deidra only had one boyfriend in her life before we started dating and got married.

41. I served an LDS mission in the Kentucky Louisville Mission, which was split about halfway through my mission and I ended up in the Cincinnati Ohio Mission.

42. As a missionary, I spent the last seven month working solely with the Hispanic population - even though I had never previously learned Spanish.

43. I don't remember ever breaking a bone, but there are pictures of me in kindergarten with a cast on my arm, so chances are that I did break my arm and I have a cloudy memory of my early childhood.

44. I am a D.I. shopper. In fact, I recently purchased a left-handed pitching wedge at the local D.I. and look forward to using it this summer.

45. I like golfing, but I suck at it.

46. I have very rarely, if ever, lost a soda chugging contest.

47. I am not a morning person, but I have to be to work at 6am every morning.

48. I like writing, performing, and recording music.

49. I love being married, but sometimes I enjoy when my wife goes out of town and I get to rent guy movies and eat greasy food like when I was a bachelor.

50. I punched a girl in the face and gave her a bloody nose in 2nd grade (sorry Zatelle!)

51. I attended a lot of high school dances at both Declo and Burley high schools, and I never had the same date for any of them.

52. I played both football and tennis in high school (though i was much better at tennis than football)

53. I was once told by the person doing my make-up for Into the Woods that I wood make a good drag queen.

54. I sometimes water-down orange juice so it's not so strong.

55. I know that the Colonials are a cheesy sports moniker, and that I will be paying student loans for years to come because it was so expensive, but I am still glad that I went to the George Washington University and will continue to sing their fight song and root for their basketball team. Go Colonials!!

56. I dream of someday being able to make a living doing music, but know that the chances of actually fulfilling that dream are slim.

57. Embarrassing Moment #3: While skiing at Pomerelle one day when I was younger (like 10 or so), my dad decided we should try to ski a steep run. He coached us on making wide turns and taking it slow, but when we started down the hill I soon found myself pointed downhill and gaining speed too quickly to turn. I shot down the steepest portion of the run while my dad yelled at me from behind to sit down or turn to stop (though I didn't hear him). at the bottom of the steep portion there was a turn, which I definitely missed, and I ran smack into a tree stump. I fell onto the ground motionless and with the wind knocked out of me so that I couldn't breathe or speak. My dad flew down the hill and thought I was dead because I wasn't moving or answering his yells. Luckily, I survived and didn't even break anything. Once I got my breath back and had some time to regain my bearings, I was fine.

58. I am a sucker for recognition, even if it is meaningless. I am hooked on MSN Games because they give you badges for getting high scores on their games. I currently have over 600 badges.

59. I enjoy watching videos on YouTube.com and MormonWebTV.com (the latter is basically just a compilation of Mormon videos from YouTube)

60. I dated a Catholic girl after returning home from my mission and soon found out that the mission rumor mill had gone amuck as I received letter from more than a couple of mission companions still on their missions wondering if it was true that I had gotten married to a Catholic.

61. I look forward to being a father, but enjoy being an uncle in the mean-time.

62. I think shaving is the most annoying thing in the world and I try to avoid it at all costs, which usually means I only shave a) before going to the temple, b) before church, and/or c) when Deidra requests it.

63. I have played over 1,600 holes in less than a year since downloading Tiger Woods Golf on my phone.

64. My favorite band is Collective Soul, but my favorite album is Beck's Guerro.

65. I should be working right now.

66. I own two three-piece suits - one a powder blue denim and the other a dark brown corduroy.

67. I have been to professional basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and hockey games, as well as the Salt Lake Olympics.

68. Sometimes I miss singing in an acapella group and performing in musicals, and other times I remember how much time they eat up in rehearsals and performances I am grateful that I am not.

69. This number will always remind me of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

70. I own an electronic dart board that has been relegated to the closet in our apartment, but I'm definitely putting it up somewhere once we move into our own house.

71. I also own both an upright piano (willed to me by my grandmother) and an organ (a close-out, going-out-of-business purchase by my parents as a Christmas gift for me), both of which are still in my parents' house until Deidra and I settle down and aren't moving around so much.

72. My mom doesn't want me to take the piano because she has started taking piano lessons again.

73. If it wasn't for Brandt Pullins, the other Mormon kid that lived on my floor in my college dorm, I may never have made it through my first semester of college without succumbing to some peer pressure. He will always have my utmost respect, thanks, and admiration.

74. Reading The Kite Runner makes me feel physically ill at times, but I can't put it down.

75. I have kept a journal on-and-off since I was 14, though these days, my blog and my notes from church on Sunday are about as close to a journal as I get.

76. I like to think I was a catalyst in my family's musical boom. I did show choir, musicals, acapella, piano, voice lessons, University singers, etc, while none of my family did anything musical. Since then, both my dad and Jeremy have been in musicals, my mom is taking piano lessons and participated on the board of their local community theater, and my dad has sung with the local barber shop chorus.

77. I am proud to have a father who served during Vietnam and is now an active member (and president) of the local chapter of the American Legion.

78. I am proud to have a supportive mother who is an elementary school teacher that loves what she does.

79. I am proud to have an older brother who played college football and who now has a full-time job, wife, and two-year old daughter (I never thought he would actually stat growing up and being a responsible adult). :)

80. I am proud to have a younger brother who has overcome (and is still overcoming) a variety of challenges, trials, and limitations in his life, served an honorable mission, holding down a full-time job, and going on dates as often as possible (more now that he's finally taken Deidra's advice and gotten a haircut).

81. I am proud to have a wife who is graduating this semester, is an excellent cook, is working almost full-time while finishing her degree, and who - quite simply - makes me happy.

82. I miss DC a lot sometimes, and Deidra and I often talk about returning to live there.

83. Most of the time, I enjoy my job - but some days I loathe it with a fiery passion. (Today is an "enjoy" day, so far.)

84. I once started writing a children's story that I hope to actually make time to finish someday.

85. I once broke up with a girlfriend through email, and I still feel bad about it to this day.

86. I really like my in-laws.

87. I drove cross-country with my wife (fiancé, at that point) and my dad when I moved from DC to Utah . . . and I actually enjoyed it and would do it again.

88. Deidra and I like to highlight our atlas with a marker whenever we travel by car somewhere that we haven't been before.

89. I have a reoccurring dream that I am back in high school and can't remember the combination to my locker.

90. I am already looking forward to Fantasy Football for next year.

91. I had an overwhelming positive winning percentage and batting average when I pitched for the "Lucky Spuds" in the U.S. Senate Softball League.

92. I passively collect old version of LDS church books.

93. While I took a number of music classes in college, I refused to major or minor in music, mainly because I didn't want to have to take Music History classes.

94. If I ever made a sizable amount of money through a music career, I would want to donate to some of the programs/organizations that helped me to grow musically, i.e. The GW Troubadours, the Oakley Valley Arts Council, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and Declo High School.

95. I want to invest more in the stock market.

96. I like listening to my own music when i am alone, but I hate listening to it when others are hearing it for the first time.

97. I once had long hair down to my chin.

98. 11 1/2 years ago, I put together a 10-year time "capsule" (it's actually a foot locker) with a childhood friend. It remains unopened because we are never in Idaho at the same time.

99. When working in the Senate, I sometimes enjoyed going in to work on Saturday, just because the rest of my office wasn't there.

100. Making this list has elicited more memories and reminded more about who I am, where I've come from, and what I still have left to accomplish than anything has in a long time. It's been rather therapeutic, fun, difficult at times, and personally thought-provoking. I highly recommend it.