D&D ~ New Calling, Half-Marathon, Car

Monday, September 13, 2021

New Calling, Half-Marathon, Car

Hey Family! 

Fun to read your updates and to see your photos! Here are just a couple updates from us: 

• Calling: Last week I got a call from the Stake Executive Secretary asking if I was able to meet with the visiting General Authorities before Stake Conference this Saturday (as they were choosing a new Stake Presidency). I've been out of the ward and stake leadership scene for a while so I was VERY surprised to be on their list, but I said I'd be happy to meet with them - but that I had a half-marathon that morning so I'd prefer a later slot. They said "you better run fast." :) I met with Elder Weatherford Clayton (my good buddy Jeff Clark is married to his daughter), and Elder Mehr (whose son is in our ward). I could tell they already had made up their mind about the new Stake President and were eager to finish these interviews to get on with that calling. I provided them three names for a potential Stake Pres and left. The next morning they organized a new stake and called the new presidency (two of the three names I suggested). An hour later, Danielle got a text from the new Stake President that said "Danielle - I'm looking for your husband - can I come meet with you guys?" He and his wife came over and called me to be the Executive Secretary. It will be a lot of work, since we need to call a new High Council and all of the new Stake callings and one new Bishop. We also inherited a lot of apartments (into our stake and ward) so it will be busy for a while. I had a good thing going with my primary singing time gig and will miss that! 

• Half-Marathon: Keto continued to go well and I felt really strong for my half-marathon Saturday morning. I got up at 4:00 and my buddy and I drove to Ft. Union and parked, then took a school bus up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was cold and dark! They did a moving tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks before the race started that got me all emotional. Haha - not my "game-face" I wanted. I felt fast and strong for the first 8-9 miles. I was trying to finish in 2 hours, which is a 9:20 pace. I was running at least an 8:20 most of the race, and as fast as 7:41 one mile (which is really good for me). I was in full ketosis and fasting - so I didn't have any food in me. About mile 11 I really hit a wall. That had never happened to me. It was SO painful. Cramps all over - my body depleted itself of electrolytes. I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out. I finally finished at 1 hour 50 minutes. My next race I will plan better and NOT run while in ketosis! Still, I was happy that I was 12 minutes faster than my last half-marathon which was 5 years ago. I came in 44th in my age group out of thousands (I'm at the high-end of the 35-39 age group). :)

• Car: We're needing to get a new car soon. Our MDX is starting to show it's age so we are looking at newer MDX's, and a few similar cars. Shane and Scott have been helpful as they know a lot about cars. Being a Dave Ramsey disciple, we have NEVER had a car payment before and aren't looking forward to one - but we need a reliable car for our little family!

• Family Photos: We got family pics in June at FotoFly at Thanksgiving Point - but all of the pics came out blurry due to a faulty lens! So we got a re-shoot for free. I dropped 20 pounds between June and September so it was nice to see the difference in the pics (which were all the same setups). :)

• Football: I wish SO badly that I could flip a switch and not care about BYU football (or basketball), but the way I see it - fandom for a sport is sort of like sexual orientation - it's not a choice, you just like who you like. I would love to identify as an Alabama fan, but I'm a BYU fan. I was born this way, and I can't change it. It's been a hard 12 years to be a BYU fan when the rivalry game comes around, so it was really nice to see the Cougars get a win this year (and an invite to the Big12). :)

• Influencer Event: Do you ever have a day when you find yourself somewhere and think "wow - I had no idea I would be here today!" Danielle got a call last week from a lady in the neighborhood who she had helped with some free home-design work, but didn't know very well. This lady said "hey - I have a favor to ask! Will you be my +1 to this exclusive social media influencer event? You have 5,000 followers on your home decor account right? You're an influencer!" Haha! Danielle agreed to go, but had no idea it was 2+ hours away and that she'd be gone for like 8 hours! It was fun though and she got a lot of free swag from Hairitage By Mindy - and got some pretty awesome pics. ;) I showed Danielle's dad this photo (attached) and he said: "Derek, if you die last - I think this is how your greeting to heaven will look!" I think so too! 

• Pickleball: Pickleball has taken our community by storm and I'm invited to play every day. :) I play a lot and Danielle has been playing with a group of ladies in one of their backyard courts.

• Music: I've been needing a new Apple Watch for a couple years, but limped by with my Series 1, since it was "sort-of" working. I have a hard time spending money on myself with all the family needs. Danielle kept telling me to buy one, but life is so expensive I couldn't do it! Finally, I decided to check my music sales from my albums and had $300 waiting in their bank to be transferred to me. So I let my music pay for my new watch. It's dumb - $300 is not much for all the work I put into recording those piano albums, but it was cool that all of the streams of my music was able to pay for something that I needed. 

Hope all is well with all of you! Love you all! 

Derek